Chapter 8

Aaron rolled over, turning away from me with a groan. He'd been treating me weird since the day I slept with Ryan. He set it up. He'd been the one who wanted it, and now he was mad about it. Maybe it was his job? I had no way of knowing because he wouldn't open up to me. He just opened me up.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" I asked.

He responded with a low noise in his throat.

I took a risk. "Is it about Ryan?"

That drew his attention. His gaze snapped to me as he lay on his back.

"You were different with him," he said in a small voice. An insecurity I'd never seen.

"He isn't like your friends. He didn't do what they did. So yeah, I was different. It was different."

His eyes narrowed at me.

"I wouldn't have slept with him by choice, you know," I said. He needed to remember all of that was for him, not me. I wouldn't sleep with anyone else if he didn't need another man to perform.

"Yeah, yeah." His words were dismissive.

I got out of bed with a scoff and went to the living room. I lay on the couch; a swirl of memories surrounded that piece of furniture. Pain. So much pain from men like Samuel and Aaron's brother. And pleasure. From Ryan. The scent of blood and depravity circled me, trying to suck me into the eye of the storm. The reminders of pleasure and welcomed touches kept me grounded. I wanted the comforting embrace of the good memories. I needed less of the daunting and angry ones that kept hold of me by their prevalence alone. I wanted Ryan.

Fuck.

* * *

When wasa marriage considered broken if it was already fractured in the first place?

Nothing felt the same. Whatever troubled Aaron had seeped between us and created a divide. He wanted nothing to do with me when I was unfucked and unfilled, so we couldn't call a truce with our bodies. There was nothing worse than feeling rejected for something you didn't cause.

He wanted me to be a heartless vessel who would long for no one but him. His fatal mistake was coercing someone who wasn't like him. Someone who showed me I was more than what Aaron made me. I fell for Ryan because of Aaron's desire to share me. He fucked himself by making me fuck. How ironic.

The doorbell rang. My eyes jumped to the clock. It was seven p.m. Aaron was late coming home from work, but he wouldn't ring the doorbell. My heart raced. Did some new, sick Aaron kink wait behind the door? I pulled out my phone and opened the app connected to the camera feed. They'd been unarmed. My stomach dropped further into the depths of my abdomen. What if he'd planned my murder?

What hitman rings the doorbell?

I sucked up my nerves. "Who is it?" I called through the door.

"Ryan."

I whipped the door open, forgetting it could all be an elaborate plot to get rid of me. But there was no plot. There was only Ryan, and he would be the last person Aaron would use for such a task, even though I could tell Ryan had been a killer at some point. As big and tough as he was, he wouldn't hurt me, let alone kill me.

I pulled him inside and wrapped my arms around him. "Wait, why are you here?"

Aaron wouldn't have sent for him. He was too jealous to let me sleep with Ryan again. He was a liability now.

"I needed to see you. Aaron has been acting fucking clinical at work, and I worried something happened to you." He pulled me into his chest and kissed my head.

"Nope, I'm here, alive and unwell," I said with a humorless laugh.

Ryan dragged me to the couch, and we sat beside each other.

"He's going to be home any time now." My shoulders dropped as realization washed over me and weighed me down.

"I'm betting on it," Ryan said as he leaned back and rested the back of his head against his hands.

I cocked my head at him, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Reasons." His words were dismissive, and I was getting pretty tired of being dismissed.

"Tell me," I commanded. If anything was going to happen that would change my life, I deserved to know about it.

Ryan stood, lifted his jacket, and exposed the pistol tucked into a holster on his waistband. I sat up taller, my eyes wide. I stared at the small of his back, where freedom nestled against him. It made me excited and scared, but also a little sad.

"Don't hurt him," I whispered.

"I hope I don't have to, but I have a feeling he won't take too kindly to me stealing his wife."

"Why can't we leave before he gets home?"

"Reasons," he said with a smirk.

I groaned.

We sat together in thick—and somewhat erotic—silence for what felt like an eternity. Thirty minutes had been added to the clock since I last looked. It was clear we wanted to jump each other's bones, but those bones remained firmly planted a few feet apart. I pulled out my phone and tried to bring up the cameras, but I couldn't arm them.

"They aren't going to work," Ryan said.

"You had something to do with this?"

He nodded. His steadfast confidence was enough to make me melt into the upholstery. I don't know why I trusted him, but I did.

Wheels rolled over the driveway, and Ryan's eyes flew toward the sound. His finger shot up to silence me, as if I had something to say. My eyes darted in panic.

Is this what I want? Oh God.

Ryan crept toward the door. He reached back and drew his pistol from its holster. His hand wrapped around the grip with his finger extended beside the trigger guard. On silent feet, he slipped into the room just off the front hallway. He lurked in the shadows, lying in wait.

The door opened.

Aaron's eyes met mine, an annoyed expression already on his face as he started toward me. "What's with the cam—"

Thud.

His body fell forward after a nauseating crack to his head from the butt of the pistol. He lay limp on the ground, blood pooling to the surface of his head wound. I fought the urge to run to him. To help him.

Ryan noticed my temptation. "He'll be fine," he said as he holstered his weapon.

He leaned over to grab Aaron by his arms, and my eyes were drawn to the silver pistol resting within the muscular curve of his back. After placing the limp body into the recliner, Ryan rifled through his pants pockets and pulled out a handful of zip ties. He tied off Aaron's wrists and ankles.

"Now we wait," Ryan said with a smile.

"Wait for what?" I asked.

"Go get ready." His intense gaze left me no room for negotiation.

I went into the bedroom and pulled out a bag filled with clothes. I prepared for the day I'd leave long before Ryan stepped into the house. I packed it the day after I first met Samuel and kept it on reserve ever since. I knew I'd get out one day, whether it be on my own or in a body bag. I was glad it was neither. I wasn't alone or dead. Yet.

I tossed the bag over my shoulder and returned to the living room. As I turned the corner, Aaron stirred awake. He groaned, and his eyes narrowed.

"Fuck," he whispered. Pain and confusion laced his voice. "Scarlett?"

His eyes met mine, and for a moment, my resolve weakened. My body wanted to run to him, to comfort him, strictly out of habit. Ryan saw the flicker of movement in my muscles. He grabbed me, wrapping his arms around my waist, keeping me from taking a step toward Aaron.

"Scarlett, what is this?" Aaron asked.

I couldn't speak. His presence sucked away any ability I had to form words. His master persona dominated the room, even when he was tied up.

Ryan cleared his throat, sucking the power from Aaron before my eyes. "You want to know what this is, Aaron? This?" He pulled me into him, groaning against the crook of my neck. "This is me taking your wife, you selfish piece of shit."

He'd use my body to seek revenge, but it was more than that. He was angry about how Aaron treated me. His body tensed with such strength and hunger for me—a driven attraction I'd never felt. Not from anyone. My breath halted in my throat, trapped where his breath rolled over the skin of my neck. Ryan was driven to hurt Aaron in the most explosive way he could, and I was the gunpowder.

Aaron was rich, and he had prestige he didn't deserve. He had everything he could ever want. But Ryan wanted to ensure Aaron lost the one thing he couldn't buy.

Love.

He could buy company. Sex. He could pay for torture. But he wouldn't have love. He'd never have someone who loved him like I had. Who'd give her pride, dignity, and body away to show it.

"Scarlett isn't going anywhere," Aaron snapped. He struggled against his restraints.

"You like to lay your claim on her, don't you? Be the last one inside her so everyone knows she's yours? So she knows she's yours?"

Ryan's words were low and seductive—breathy syllables rolling over my skin. His hands rubbed down my body, hovering on the waistband of my shorts. He grinded his pelvis into my ass. I was torn. I wanted to play along—to get retribution for every strike, choke, or cock I was forced to endure—but part of me still didn't want to hurt him.

"I'll show you what claiming really is. What it means to call a woman yours." Ryan tugged me to the couch and sat me on the leather cushion. The piece of furniture that swirled with pain and pleasure, blending until it was impossible to tell whether the sun would shine on your body or if you'd have to endure a hailstorm. "I don't need another man to hurt her or make her come." He hooked his fingers into the waistband of my shorts.

"Don't you let him fuck you, Scarlett!" Aaron commanded, though he was in no position to negotiate. For once in his fucking life, he was helpless.

"She's not just going to let me fuck her. She wants me to." Ryan yanked my shorts down my thighs and pulled me to the edge of the cushion. "See how wet she is?" His hand dropped between my legs, rubbing his fingers along my clit. When he pulled his hand away, my excited wetness clung to his fingers. "When was the last time you made her come?"

His caustic words ripped the flesh from Aaron's bones. Ryan dropped to his knees and wiped a hand through his beard before burying his face between my legs. He hooked his arms around my thighs and devoured me.

Every moan that slipped past my lips infuriated Aaron. Inhuman sounds flew from his mouth, and I let them fall into the recesses of my mind. Aaron got off on my pain, but he was broken by my pleasure.

I grasped at Ryan's hair and tugged him deeper into me, stalling the motion of his tongue as I grinded against his face. He curled the tip of his tongue along my clit. My thighs trembled, and I moaned louder, blanketing the sounds of Aaron's anger. Ryan didn't stop until I begged him to. I spasmed and shuddered against his mouth.

"Fuck," Ryan said as he got to his feet and wiped his mouth. "You truly have no idea what you've tossed away." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of duct tape. He tugged off a piece with his mouth and walked over to Aaron.

"You're a dead man," Aaron hissed.

Ryan smirked as he put the tape across Aaron's mouth, silencing him. "We'll see about that." He wrapped another strip around Aaron's chest, making two passes over him and the back of the chair.

I panted for breath as Ryan grabbed my arm and tugged me onto the carpeted floor. Fibers that burned my knees so many times before. He bent me over and made me face Aaron's crazed and glassy eyes. Ryan unbuckled his belt. A metallic clank rang through the room as it came apart. The sound of his falling zipper made me shiver. I felt dirty and guilty, but I was equally excited and vindicated.

"Look at that incredible woman at your feet." Ryan sucked his teeth. He pulled himself from his boxers, and stepped beside me.

I sat up on my knees and looked up at him. His fingers laced through my hair and guided my mouth to his swollen cock. I took him in. He groaned as he made Aaron watch me suck him off. Aaron's face reddened with anger, and I thought he might explode. Ryan's dick was at the back of my throat, and it infuriated him. I loved it.

Ryan pulled his cock from my mouth, and a line of drool clung to my chin. "We're two very different people, you and I. I could go your route and hurt her. Cause her pain." Ryan grabbed my chin in a firm grasp. "Use her." He dropped my chin and circled behind me, dropping to his knees and positioning himself behind me. His hands ran down my back and over my hips, cupping my ass. "Or I could do things my way." He surged inside me, knocking me onto my elbows. "Please her. Make her grip my cock in pleasure and stake that precious claim inside her." He thrust with unstifled desire as he spoke. Each word radiated through the pulse of his hips.

Aaron tried to stand up, but the tape kept him pinned. His intense stare made my cheeks flush. His writhing, angry body was so close that I felt the heat radiating off him.

Ryan leaned over and kissed my shoulder. A tender touch contrasting with the hard thrusts of his hips. "The last person inside her owns her, right?" His words were gritty and raw as he pulled out and laid me on my back. He crawled over me, and I wrapped my legs around him. "This is how you fucking claim her."

He growled and dropped his mouth to mine, kissing me with a passion which swam around us and numbed the sounds of Aaron's protests. His thrusts pulsed through me, exciting every inch of my body. He wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and drove his hips deeper into mine. So deep I thought we'd become one with the floor. That we'd be trapped there forever. He groaned against my mouth, and for a moment, we forgot Aaron was in the room at all.

"You're mine now," he growled.

His cock throbbed inside me, pulsing until he rode out every wave of his orgasm. He kissed me once more before pulling out of me. I collapsed in a sweaty mess on the sticky carpet. He tugged his boxers up and zipped up his pants. With a smug smile, he ripped the tape from Aaron's mouth.

"Fuck you!" Aaron cried out. "I hope you enjoyed that, because the moment you go to jail, she'll be crawling back to me, begging for the life she had."

Ryan rubbed his beard. "I thought you might say that." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "It says here a withdrawal of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars came from none other than Aaron Peters." He held the unfolded paper to Aaron's face.

Mine and Aaron's mouths dropped open in unison.

"How?" Aaron asked, shaking his head.

"Remember when you called me the guy? Back in the military, I knew someone who makes me look like a toddler playing on an iPad. He's the guy, and you're the proud owner of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars stolen from your own company." A wide smile stretched across Ryan's face. "And just to be extra sure, all traces of me have been wiped from your company. I'm a ghost." He leaned over and hovered close to Aaron's ear. "Boo!"

For once, Aaron was speechless. For the first time since I met him, he had nothing to bargain with. He was as human as I was. He was made to feel lower than dirt. Like I was.

Aaron readied himself to start shouting again, which would have alerted the neighbors. A quick thump of the pistol against his forehead put him back to sleep. We left him tied up and helpless.

I stood on the front porch and let the fear finally wash over my face. I looked back at the doorway. Aaron kept me trapped for years, like a fish on a fisherman's line. Even once the line snapped and I was free, the danger wasn't over. The hook was still embedded in my mouth. But Aaron would be stupid to come for Ryan. He would need a small army to take Ryan down, and even a pig-headed man like him had some semblance of self-preservation.

Ryan squeezed my shoulder reassuringly, as if he knew the thoughts plaguing my mind. He leaned in and kissed me. "Don't worry, Scarlett. No one will ever lay a hand on you again."

His words against my mouth read like a promise. And I believed him.

"But the way you fucked me..." I whispered.

"Like I owned you?" His hand brushed through my hair. "You being mine won't be how it was with him. Claiming you. Owning you. They're all words unless I show you how I treat what I own. I'd kill another man who touched you, not beg him to fuck you. I don't need someone to abuse you so I can step in and seem like your hero. I'm just going to be your goddamn hero."

I couldn't speak, but I drew up enough of what I wanted to say and used it to spill my thoughts into his mouth as I kissed him. I didn't need words to tell him he was my hero already.

I looked back at Aaron once more. The wolf had shed his skin, leaving a sad little dog in the heap of everything that once made him a predator. I closed the door on what was once my dark little fairytale.