9. Brook

9

brOOK

I’m trapped.

Hands are wrapped around my ankles and my wrists and I’m being held to the ground. I can taste the dirt in my mouth and feel the gravel digging into my exposed skin. I fight as hard as I can, but nothing I do sets me free.

I’m a prisoner, and I know it’s about to get worse.

The man with the beard that is sweaty and smells of stale cigarettes is in my face, staring at me with his gray, beady eyes. He doesn’t care about a ransom or any codes. He’s a bad man, and he wants to do bad things to me.

When he reaches for me, his hands going to my waist, I start to buck against him and scream for help as loud as I can.

“Brook, baby, it’s okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

I open my eyes, and I’m crushed against Walker’s chest. He’s holding on to me, his hands stroking up and down my back. I’m a mess. The hot tears are rolling down my face, and I stutter, trying to catch my breath.

Over and over, Walker says my name, his voice soft and calm in my ear. I can feel his heart racing underneath my cheek, but it’s a pleasing feeling, reminding me that I’m here and I’m alive. Things could have been so different.

“Talk to me. Tell me about the nightmare,” he says, kissing my forehead.

I clench my eyes shut. I don’t want to go back there. I can’t.

“No. Please, Walker. Talk to me about something else. Anything else. I don’t want to even think about it.”

He’s quiet, and even though I’m already flattened against him, he pulls me in tighter. “Okay. How about a story?”

I sniff and bury my face into his chest. “Okay.”

He takes a deep breath. His voice is steady, calm and clear in the darkness. “There was once a man that lived day to day, not caring about his future. He’d seen bad things, done bad things, but he was trying to make up for them. He created a team of people that could help others. They are all specially trained, and he knew it was his way of giving back. He had more money than he would ever know what to do with. He had power and friends that would literally die for him. But he wasn’t happy. Then one day, he was in his Distillery.” I freeze, realizing he’s talking about himself. This story got real in an instant. I don’t say anything. I try to breathe slowly and quietly so that I don’t miss a thing.

“He was in his office, watching from the big bay window when a woman came in to apply for a job. From that instant, his world brightened. He gathered all the information he could on her. She was beautiful, smart, funny, loyal. She was everything he wasn’t, but he couldn’t stop thinking of her.” Oh my God! Oh my God! My heart is racing in my chest. I want to ask, but I don’t want him to stop.

“So he hired her. He had planned to ask her out. But then there was a particular mission that went really bad. Threats were made, and he knew that if he did what he wanted, if he made the woman his, then she would always be in danger. So he tried to put his feelings to the side. For five years, he worked with her. Every day he looked at her, watched her, longed for her... he loved her and wished she was his. Then she was threatened, hurt, and taken from him.”

Breathe, Brook. Breathe . I lean my head back to look at him. With the moonlight shining in the window, I can make out the features of his face. He’s staring at me, and my breath hitches. “Walker?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t lose you, Brook. I won’t. I need you in my life.”

His voice is thick and filled with emotion. I put my hands on each side of his face, still not believing that this is happening and that this is real. Fuck, if I’m dreaming I don’t ever want to wake up.

I lean in, knowing that I need to kiss him. I need to feel his mouth on mine. Our lips mesh, and I ignore the pain of my cut lip. There’s nothing that will stop me and have me pull away now. His hands are everywhere, stroking my arms, then down my back, across my waist, down my hips, and I drown in the feeling. It’s perfect. He’s perfect.

My hips flex, seeking his, and his hardness presses into me. “Yes,” I say at the same time he pulls back. He’s panting, his voice raspy. “Brook, baby, we can’t. Not like this. Not after the night you had.”

I blink, dazed. He really is a good man. “I wanted you, Walker. From the first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew that I wanted you to be mine. For five years, I’ve dreamed about lying in your arms, kissing you.... loving you.” I push him back, and he goes easily. I move over top of him, ignoring the pulled and hurt muscles in my body. “Please don’t stop. Don’t take this from me.”

His hips lift, and his cock presses right to my core. He’s hard and hot, threatening the strength of my silk panties between us. “Please,” I sob, overcome.

His hands go to my face, cupping my cheeks and pulling me down to look into my eyes. “Are you sure? I can wait until you’re healed. As long as you’re in my arms, I can wait, Brook.”

I’m shaking my head. “I’m done waiting. I need you,” I plead with him.

He removes my shirt, pulling it from my body. His shorts and my panties are off, and our bodies are pressed together. His kiss is heated, his hands cupping my ass, holding me to him. He grunts when I position myself, and his cock slides between my thighs. He’s not even in me yet, but the feel of his rod along my swollen slit has my whole body tightening in expectation.

His hands kneed my skin, massaging me and making me feel good... feel whole again. I wasn’t lying; I need this. I need him.

“Was your story true?” I ask him breathlessly.

He pulls his head back to look in up my eyes. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Brook. This right here is something I’ve thought about a thousand times, hell, a million times. You’re mine. You always have been, you always will be.”

I nod, and he shakes his head. “Tell me. I need to hear the words. Say you’re mine.”

I smile at him, my heart mending in this moment. “I’m yours.”

He gingerly pushes me onto my back and hovers over me. His look is full-on possession. He owns me. I know he does, and I’m completely all right with it. “I’m yours, too, baby. Don’t hurt me.”

I gasp at the thought that I could hurt him. He’s Walker, one of the strongest men I know. He’s everything, and he thinks I could hurt him. Before I can even question him, he tells me, “You could, you know. You could destroy me in a minute. Leave me, date another man, hell, even look at one and I’ll come undone, Brook. Anything you want or need, I want to be the one to give it to you.”

He positions his cock at my entrance, and I sigh. “You are the only one that can give me what I need.” I say it slowly, letting him know how sincere I am.

He pushes into me, his arms around me, kissing my breasts, nipping my shoulder, licking everywhere he can reach while he pummels in and out of me. He’s filling me up, taking me to the edge and bringing me back.

I groan, and he stops instantly. “Are you okay?” He tries to pull away, “Fuck! We shouldn’t be doing this, not like this.”

I wrap my legs around him. There’s no way he’s stopping now. “I feel better than I’ve ever felt, Walker. Don’t stop.”

“Your ribs... your face.”

I shake my head and grab his hand, moving it down between my thighs. “I don’t even feel pain. All I can feel right now is you. Make me feel good, Walker.”