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  He panted short wet breaths against her temple. He didn’t back off, he kept her sandwiched there, leaving Flick without enough room to take a deep breath.

  ‘I love you, Kitten,’ he murmured eventually.

  ‘Tell me what’s different,’ Flick said, still sensing the danger ahead. ‘You’re different, something’s different. Something’s about to change, isn’t it? What is it?’

  ‘I’m leaving.’

  Flick heard what he said, but it took her a dozen seconds to react. ‘No, you’re not.’

  Explicit Detail

  Copyright © 2014 Scarlett Finn

  The right of Scarlett Finn to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  First published in 2014

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  For April

  Couldn’t have done it without you, Coach.

  Acknowledgements

  The biggest acknowledgement has to go to Laura, she comes before even my son this time! You’ve tested every page and I have tested your patience. Thank you for joining me on this adventure. We got there in the end, as we always do!

  My beautiful boy gets a nod for always putting up with me and for joining me on a new adventure every day. Every day you teach me something more, thank you, Angel.

  I would also like to acknowledge another long sufferer. Mike, I apologise for commandeering your wife as often as I do, but it is for a worthy cause I assure you. Rushe fans everywhere thank you.

  So, who gets top of the bill? April, there are no words.

  I honestly would not have gotten to this stage without you. I know not how I survived this process without your counsel. You are a diamond wrapped in starlight and your radiance shines around the world illuminating the path I would lose had I not you.

  This is for you. Thank you and enjoy.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  ‘Would you relax?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Ask a stupid question,’ Flick muttered to herself, and then she pushed her shoulders back against the poolside chair to tilt her chin toward the blazing sun. Except that action only made Rushe’s eyes narrow further. She opted to ignore him.

  ‘You’re doing that on purpose,’ he growled. ‘We’re all aware of your tits; you don’t have to put them on show.’

  ‘Rushe, Baby, I love you, but we came out to the pool to relax.’

  ‘No, Kitten,’ he said. ‘You came here to relax.’

  ‘You didn’t have to come with me.’

  ‘You’re wearing a bikini,’ he said, as though it required no further explanation, and actually... it didn’t.

  ‘If you thought I was the type to run around on you then you’d have dumped me three months ago. You’d have walked out of my studio apartment with Jansen, and I wouldn’t have seen you for dust.’

  ‘If I thought you were that type, I’d have chained you to the wall weeks ago.’

  ‘You have... once or twice.’ Her oversized shades concealed her eyes, but Flick let her head roll toward him anyway. ‘You could’ve at least brought a bathing suit... do you own a bathing suit?’

  ‘We didn’t come here to swim. We came here ‘cause you enjoy baiting me.’

  ‘You didn’t have to—‘

  ‘You’re wearing a bikini.’

  Flick brought herself upright while twisting her feet off the reclined chair. Their pool chairs were parallel to each other, and there had to be forty similar loungers all around the glistening outdoor pool. But when she tried to glare Flick was distracted by those burning eyes. Rushe had gone so far as to remove his tee-shirt, which gave Flick an up close reminder of his possession of her, and of how his body lured hers.

  ‘You’re here to protect my virtue from other sexual predators.’ Rushe did his own sexual stalking of her on a daily basis. ‘But when you look at me like that... I’m the only person here.’

  ‘I’m looking at you,’ he said. ‘But I’m aware of exactly where the other thirty-seven men are.’

  ‘You counted them,’ she sighed. ‘Of course you counted them. There must be fifty women here.’

  ‘That I hadn’t noticed.’

  Rushe never tried to romance her. Sweet nothings definitely did not feature in Rushe’s repertoire of skills. But he could charm her, though usually it was unintentional.

  ‘I’m going to get something to drink,’ Flick said, sashaying away from their seats without giving him a chance to retort.

  Rushe was right that there were many other people here. Flick had to weave through various groups to reach her aim. As she progressed, the one constant she was most conscious of was Rushe’s eyes burning into her spine. His stare was so intense, and already Flick knew it so well, that being protected by his gaze was second nature to her.

  At the refreshment stand, she ordered for herself, and for Rushe too. The vendor disappeared to fill the order, so Flick drummed her fingernails on the counter.

  ‘Let me buy that for you.’

  Flick didn’t want to turn around. She didn’t want to give face to the words because there was one thing she knew for sure – the speaker hadn’t been Rushe.

  ‘No, thanks,’ Flick said, leaning over the counter in hope to see the vendor return with the drinks, but he was nowhere in sight.

  ‘A beautiful thing like you shouldn’t be buying her own drinks.’

  ‘I’m not,’ Flick said. ‘My boyfriend opened a tab when we arrived.’

  ‘Is that your standard response? You must get hit on a lot.’

  ‘Not so much recently, if I’m honest.’

  These days Flick was aware of when she drew men’s attention, partly because her more recently found vigilance made her look around, also because when men looked at her Rushe went on high alert.

  ‘I’ll change that if you turn around and talk to me,’ he said.

  ‘No, actually, that’s not a good idea.’

  ‘What do you mean—‘

  ‘Problem?’

  And Flick knew they definitely had one now. ‘No problem,’ Flick said.

  ‘I wasn’t asking you,’ Rushe said.

  Flick spun to see Rushe bearing over the man who had spoken to her. ‘Said boyfriend,’ Flick said by way of explanation. ‘I did try to warn you.’

  Rushe hadn’t been having fun, but now he had a hapless victim in his sights. He would remind Flick that it was impossible to be a hundred
percent sure what someone’s intentions were. This guy didn’t pose an obvious threat, but Rushe had been bored and now he had sport.

  Flick knew this couldn’t end well; at least it couldn’t end well for the guy who didn’t have a shred of a tan left. Likely, his pallor had more to do with the invisible pressure Rushe exerted than the lack of sunlight.

  ‘Maybe we should go,’ Flick said. Though her words were vague, the intent of her intonation was to convey how adamant she really was.

  ‘You’re having fun,’ Rushe said, without taking his attention from the shrinking man.

  ‘I was having fun,’ Flick said, although sitting by the pool with Rushe hadn’t been fun so much as foreplay.

  Rushe was commanding in the bedroom at the best of times. But subtle actions on her part could push him closer to the edge. Rushe was a man who took what he wanted, when he wanted it, and Flick didn’t make a habit of refusing him. In fact, she could count on one hand the number of times that she had.

  The stranger spoke up, ‘Man, I didn’t mean anything by it, she’s a good looking woman and—‘

  ‘Trust me, you’re only making things worse,’ Flick said, coiling her fingers around Rushe’s wrist. ‘I want to go home now.’

  ‘I’m busy,’ Rushe grumbled, in that way when his lips didn’t move.

  ‘Ignore him, he intimidates for a living,’ Flick said.

  Rushe didn’t say anything, but the guy shrank even further back, so Flick dug her nails into Rushe’s skin.

  ‘He’s good at it,’ the guy stuttered.

  ‘I want to have sex,’ Flick said.

  ‘I don’t,’ Rushe replied.

  ‘Yes, you do. You’re just being ornery.’

  ‘And you’re trying to distract me.’

  ‘Even so,’ Flick said. ‘You get sex out of the deal.’

  ‘If I want sex, I get sex. I say when.’

  Rushe knew how to take control, and he liked to imply that sex was for his pleasure above all else. But when his pleasure came from controlling her orgasms time and again, Flick was at ease with the illusion.

  ‘I want sex now, and if you won’t supply...’ Flick released his wrist, but she didn’t get two inches away before Rushe’s hand snapped up to seize her wrist.

  ‘You want me to hurt people?’

  ‘No,’ Flick said. ‘Hurting them is your choice. All I’m looking for is a little attention... topless sunbathing is allowed around here, isn’t it?’

  Rushe’s growl wasn’t audible, but Flick felt it all the same. Her smile spread when she knew she’d achieved her goal.

  ‘I’ll get the car.’

  He turned and hooked her hand into his back jeans pocket. Flick bestowed her smile briefly on Rushe’s stricken almost-victim, then trotted along behind. From the strength and the breadth of his gait, Flick knew Rushe was sufficiently tormented to make every second of their next joining count.

  No one would miss how dangerous Rushe was. Flick’s own first encounter with him was in voice only; she hadn’t seen his face. The deep resonance of his tone had made her stop and take notice. It was just a shame that she hadn’t heeded the instruction those words of his were giving her. Except if she had, Flick wouldn’t be with him now.

  Walking into that bar, in spite of Rushe’s warning, had thrown Flick into the path of criminal depravity. But when Flick had thought her safety lost, Rushe stepped in to protect her. Until it was safe to free her from the criminals’ hideout, Rushe had kept her under his wing, and then when the time was right he cast her out. His harsh behaviour had saved her life, except the evil brought her back, twice. Each time Rushe protected her, to his own detriment, until...

  Together they’d fallen in love, and at the penultimate play, they’d confessed their feelings. The truth was revealed when there was no way out; their lives were to be taken from them.

  To this day Flick wasn’t sure how they’d triumphed, the odds had been against them. But liberating Rushe from his confines had ensured that she and Jansen, the undercover cop working with her, would win the day.

  With most of the criminals vanquished and the others behind bars, Flick had a choice. She could remain in her mediocre life, with a sub-par job, without friends to trust, and estranged from her family, or she could be with the man she loved.

  Flick was under no illusions, Rushe was a man with a chequered past, a vagrant lifestyle, and some serious trust issues. He wasn’t on any system; the system had failed him from almost the moment he was born. He’d never known who his parents were, he’d never had family, and he’d always relied on himself.

  One tragic episode in Rushe’s pre-teen years had shaped everything about him. A woman he’d barely known was tortured and killed, and though Rushe had witnessed the perpetrators carry the woman away, he had been powerless to stop them.

  To look at the man he was now it was difficult to believe he could ever be powerless, but he’d spent his life ensuring that he never would be again.

  Flick stretched her toes in her sandals and wiggled them while trying to peek at the solid form of Rushe in the driver’s seat. He hadn’t said a word since he’d powered out of the pool parking lot. But they were nearly home now, and Flick struggled to keep her eager anticipation in check.

  During the mission that brought her and Rushe together, Flick had been held for ransom. Though no one had known it at the time, Rushe had been the one to pay the demanded amount. Through the course of events, the truth was exposed. Beyond that point Flick was aware that Rushe had money. He’d told her that the job paid well, but Flick hadn’t known exactly what that meant.

  His bank balance was healthy, but he lived modestly. His car wasn’t new, and while his apartment complex was respectable, he had the financial means to secure better.

  When Flick had queried the abode, Rushe had told her to spend what she wanted because he didn’t care where they lived. Flick hadn’t wanted different, she just wanted to understand why a boy raised with nothing wouldn’t take full advantage of the means he now had. But his response had broken her heart.

  ‘It doesn’t pay to get attached to anything,’ he had said. ‘Attachment is another word for weakness.’

  Men like him didn’t get attached. No matter how many times Rushe had said those words to her, he hadn’t been able to resist their bond. Once, Rushe had told her he resented their love. Flick knew he didn’t mean it. The contempt wasn’t resentment, it was fear, and men like Rushe didn’t experience fear.

  Having her, accepting their union, was a risk for Rushe, and he tried to minimise those. Now that they had each other, Rushe’s emotional issues flared up. He feared trusting her, and their feelings for each other, because losing her, or letting her down, was his biggest burden.

  Pressing a button on the dash made the shutters for the underground parking area open. Rushe drove down the ramp and parked up in their usual place.

  ‘So, Lover,’ Flick said into the ether. ‘What now?’

  ‘Sex.’

  There was the monosyllabic man she loved so dearly. Rushe slammed out of the car and Flick took her time about unfastening her seatbelt. Just as she predicted her side door was wrenched open and he hauled her out without ceremony.

  Dragging her to the elevator, the doors opened to grant entry as soon as Rushe pressed the call button, as though the carriage was intimidated by Rushe’s mood too. A few seconds later, a ding declared them on their floor and he proceeded to pull her down the hall to their door.

  The apartment was spacious, with half the external wall made up of windows from the ceiling down. To the left upon entering was a solid partition, hiding the otherwise open-plan kitchen from the rest of the living space.

  Dragging her past the dividing kitchen countertop, Rushe took her straight to the alcove hallway, which contained the doors to the family bathroom and bedrooms, though the second bedroom was presently half study, half gym. He hung a right to take her into their large square bedroom, housed in the corner of the property. They had
a wall of built in storage, and on the other side of their bed was the entrance to their shower room.

  Now that they were in the bedroom Rushe relaxed, and with a generous nudge, Flick stumbled onto the bed. Before she could correct her position, Rushe took hold of her hips to pull them up, presenting her rear for his delectation.

  His grunt of satisfaction made Flick smile, and while his hand skimmed her curves, she straightened her arms to prop herself up on all fours. Describing Rushe’s skills as a lover never did them justice. Flick knew it was true when Rushe told her that she was the only woman he’d made love to in his entire life. This was a man who didn’t do soft, but Flick had been patient and it had paid dividends.

  Rushe’s fingers stayed over her bathing suit but they advanced downward, between her legs, until they found her opening. With slight pressure, he began to circle it.

  ‘You think you’re smart, don’t you, Kitten? You think you’re a bad girl, you think you’re tough... Playing games with me is dangerous, Kitten, very dangerous.’

  Curling one finger around the crotch of her suit, he pulled it aside. Two fingers plunged inside, and on instinct Flick pushed back to meet them.

  ‘Oh,’ Rushe said with that dry, sinister amusement he utilised so well. ‘I know you like that, Kitten. I know just what you want. You’re my horny little slut, pleasure on demand, that’s what you are to me...’

  His fingers came out of her, but the bite of her disappointment didn’t have time to manifest itself fully because Rushe dragged her suit down to expose her rear. He took it down her thighs, just enough to reveal her most intimate area, then he stopped, everything stopped.

  ‘Are you going to fuck me?’ Flick asked.

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘Maybe?’

  She hadn’t meant to sound quite so indignant, but his heavy hand smacked her ass in immediate retribution.

  ‘You been screwing around?’

  ‘What?’ she barked, completely flabbergasted by the bizarre question.