Ruthless Salvation

24

His touch was assertive yet devout. My breath shuddered, and my body arched into his, desperately needing more. No matter how soundly my mind believed Torin was bad for me, my body and heart disagreed. The conflict devolved into outright mutiny.

“Tell me you don’t like what I’m doing. Tell me to stop.” He breathed against my heated skin.

My shaking hand clasped his shirt in answer, pulling him closer.

I felt his lips pull apart in a smile. “That’s my girl. You want this just as much as I do.” His hand slipped effortlessly into the waist of my leggings. Not only did I not stop him but my eyes rolled back into my head as I spread my legs for him.

His touch unraveled me.

Maybe I’d simply gone too long without s*x. I didn’t have an explanation. I just knew I needed to feel him touching me more than I needed life itself.

In seconds, he stirred a storm of sensation, a tsunami of pleasure threatening my shores. Right before the wave could crest, he stilled.

“I can stop, Stormy. I can walk out of here and leave you alone. Is that what you want?”

I shook my head frantically, embarrassing myself with how quickly I’d abandoned my principles.

“Not enough, beautiful. I need words.” He gave one lazy stroke over my c**t. “Did you like it when I f****d you?”

Like it? I freaking loved it. His otherworldly touch was the only reason I couldn’t think straight.

“Yes, I liked it. I wanted it,” I conceded hoarsely.

“Mmm…” His masculine rumble purred across my skin, summoning an army of goose bumps. “Tell me to make you come. Make me believe you mean it.”

“Please, Torin. I need it. Please, let me come.” I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. This Stormy wasn’t the woman I knew. This was Torin’s Storm, and she frightened me. She did exactly as she pleased; consequences be damned.

“f**k, you’re perfect.” Torin’s voice was pure reverence. “You’re my little taste of heaven, and I’m going to make you come so hard you’ll forget the word boundaries ever existed.”

He was half right. He did make me come, and it was spectacular. So exquisite that it took a half hour of waiting tables before I felt steady on my legs again. But I didn’t forget about my need for boundaries. All he did was solidify in my mind that my heart was a damn fool.

I had zero control where he was concerned.

First thing the following morning, I started my job search. I would try to move within the city. If that didn’t work, it would be time to disappear.

OceanofPDF.com

Present

I SHOULDN’T HAVE ADMITTED WHAT A CREEPER I’D BEEN, BUT DAMN DID IT feel good.

At first, I’d just wanted to see her set aside the constant sunshine and show me what lay underneath. That felt pretty f*****g phenomenal, but I was surprised at how good it also felt to come clean about my true nature and not have her run screaming. Far from it. She possessed so much strength and tenacity—her courage was incredible. I was drawn to her warmth, but the fight inside her captured my respect.

Storm didn’t cower from me. I’d let her see more of me than I’d shown anyone else, and she accepted me exactly as I was. Begged me to touch her.

Please, Torin. I need it.

When I heard those words, I felt like I’d won a f*****g world title.

Except I hadn’t won anything. She technically wasn’t mine, and that fact chafed more and more each day. Everything about Storm was a slippery slope, and I inched nearer to the edge with each interaction. If I wasn’t careful, I would lose myself and careen to the bottom in a mindless plight to claim her.

I tried not to dwell on that eventuality. If I began to believe I had no control over the matter, I’d surrender myself to my cravings for her. That was dangerous for both of us.

Fortunately, her modicum of surrender had quelled my insistent thirst. For the moment. Enough to allow me to regain some semblance of rational thought. I was able to let her be even though I could tell she still wasn’t her usual self. The rest of the night was uneventful—girls danced, horny men tossed money at them, and I stuck to the shadows as I watched the woman who was slowly driving me insane.

I WAS WORKING on monthly numbers in my office with Keir the following day when Oran came by. While he had an office across from us, we usually worked opposite hours, so Keir and I didn’t see him.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.

Oran sat in the vacant guest chair, elbows propped on his knees. “I want to look into what happened to Darina, the server who disappeared. I know Caitlin said the woman was dead, but I want to know exactly what happened. Thought if you had an employment file on her, it would give me somewhere to start.”

“Yeah, let me see what we’ve got.” I sifted through the filing cabinet behind me and extracted her folder. She hadn’t worked for us long before she quit showing up without even asking for the week’s worth of money she was owed. We found out later that Oran’s psychotic wife Caitlin had gone after the poor woman, hoping to hurt Keir because she’d seen the two together. The whole situation was f****d. It was a good reminder of why I didn’t like outsiders.

Oran looked at the admittedly thin file and grimaced. “That’s it? No background check or anything?”

“We only do those for the dancers to make sure they’re of age. If we did checks for every staff in and out of here, it’d be a full-time job.”

He shot a disapproving look at Keir, who was totally unaffected. Those two had always had a strange dynamic. They were the same age, so they were close as kids, but vying for positions in the family business seemed to put distance between them. The great thing about family, though, was that no matter how pissed we got at one another, we were all still blood at the end of the day.

“There’s nothing here that I can use except for an address. I suppose it’s a start,” Oran muttered.

Keir finally spoke up. “The other staff might know more. She was friendly with a few of the girls. And you had a couple of conversations with her, right?”

“Yeah.” Oran frowned. “But I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have.” His voice was thick with guilt.

“Is this some form of punishment—you looking into her disappearance?” Keir asked, point blank. He never was one to bullshit. That was why I preferred working with him over any of the others.

“Caitlin said the girl was gone. Never said she was dead. I’d say I owe it to her to make sure there isn’t anything I can do. My ex was a f*****g coward and a liar. I wouldn’t put it past her to have manipulated the truth.”

Keir dipped his chin in a nod. “Fair enough. You need a hand, let us know.”

Oran was most likely beating his head against a wall, but we all had our demons. Who was I to deny him his?