Forced: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (The Blackthorn Brothers Book 1) (12 page)

“This is one hell of a gorgeous home, Ash.” It looked like it could be in the pages of a magazine, balancing very current and modern touches with classic pieces—and the master bath rivaled that of any luxury spa.

But before I could say anything else, Ash’s mouth was on mine in a sweet and passionate kiss, as his hands slipped under my dress, warm against my cold, wet skin, breaking our kiss for just a moment so he could pull it up and over my head, as I fumbled with his jeans. His t-shirt was the next to go, along with anything else that remained, abandoned haphazardly on the bathroom floor, before he maneuvered us into the large walk-in shower and turned on the water.

Multiple jets pounded the hot water into me, as Ash trailed kisses down my throat and shoulder, cupping my breasts before biting my nipples and sucking one after the other into his mouth, each tug making my clit ache, heavy with need. But instead of giving me more, he backed off, covering my skin in gentle nips and kisses that made me crazy and desperate. “I need you to fuck me, Ash.”

“We’re going to try something a little different…” His hands were no more than a whisper over my body, his fingers caressing my curves and the underside of my breasts, brushing my nipples with barely a touch, making my body ache and hunger for him.

Desperate for more, I reached out and stroked his cock as I kissed him, our tongues clashing as he groaned into my mouth, the water cascading over us. But then he was breaking away from our kiss and spinning me around, raising my hands up above my head as he pinned me to the wall, his hard cock pressed against my ass and his mouth by my ear as he spoke. “Don’t move, Wren.”

With my arms above my head, my skin was pulled taut over my body, so that each touch, each kiss, each nip, was amplified as he continued his slow torture, my body screaming to be taken, to be fucked, to have him claim every part of me, so there was nothing but the two of us. “Ash…
please
…”

“Hush, love.” He grabbed some body wash and with his hands now slick, they glided over my body, only making matters worse as my body ached to have him. But when his fingers slipped down between my thighs, I couldn’t help but rock my hips into him, desperate for more, though he did little but tease me, his hands moving down my legs, leaving me wanton.

“I can’t take it. Please…just fuck me…make me come.” Each touch, each kiss, each nip, had my body tensing in anticipation with the hope he’d show me some mercy, but he knew all too well what he was doing, and right now, what he wanted was to tease and torment me.

He pulled me to him, kissing me as we were enveloped in steam and hot water, his hands slipping over my curves and down to my ass as he rinsed me off. With his cock trapped between us, I reached down between us to stroke him, deepening our kiss as he groaned into my mouth. But then he grabbed my hand, and turned me around, slapping my ass with a smile as he turned off the water. “Come on, love.”

He had to be kidding me.
“Ash…you can’t just leave me like this.”

His lips curled into a smile as he wrapped a large soft towel around my body and tilted my head back for a lingering kiss that only stoked my need for him. “But just think how amazing it’ll be when you do finally get to come.”

“Or we could finish what we’ve already started—and you could make me come again a little later.” Teasing him, I reached down to stroke him, desperate to get him to change his mind. But he gripped my wrist and carefully twisted it behind my back, even as he pulled me to him, trapping me against his broad chest. “You’re such a bastard, Ash. This is cruel.”

“Cruel would be making you wait until our wedding night—and teasing you up until then. So don’t tempt me, Wren.” He leaned in and bit my bottom lip, my clit throbbing, already so heavy and aching with need. “Besides, I’m starving, and we don’t want to leave Sammie alone for too long when she’s still adjusting to her new home.”

I wanted to groan.

“Fine.” Though I swore, I’d be taking matters into my own hand—quite literally—if he dragged out this little game of his for too long.

Sammie had been waiting for us just outside the bathroom door, her tiny tail wagging excitedly the moment she saw us. And just like that, as I slipped my fingers over her short silvery fur, some of the pain that strangled my heart melted away, so that I found myself breathing just a little easier. Sammie and I both carried scars from our past, two kindred souls that were finding a way to trust again as we started a new life together. And it made me realize that of all the people I could trust, I now knew I could trust Ash not to hurt me again, even if I didn’t think I’d ever find the words to tell him what had happened to me.

I tossed on a pair of sweats, a tank top, and then stole one of Ash’s flannel shirts, loving that it smelled like him. There was a bit of a chill in the air, and having lived in San Francisco for the last few years, Seattle’s weather was a bit colder than I was used to.

“I like you in my clothes, little bird.” Ash wrapped his arm around my waist from behind me and kissed my cheek. “Let me order us some dinner. Pizza okay?”

“Perfect.” It turned out I was starving, but luckily, it didn’t take long for them to show up with our food. We sat down together on the sofa, our plates on our laps, as I took another bite, savoring the flavors. “This is so good. Hands down some of the best pizza I’ve had in a long time.”

Ash offered Sammie a chunk of his crust, which she took gingerly from his fingers. “Are you going to be okay living in Seattle?”

I had left for so many reasons, and being back in Seattle had me on edge. It was dredging up all sorts of memories that were better off left buried. “I don’t have much going on in San Francisco, but Seattle…” A shiver crawled up my spine as a weary sigh escaped my lips before I could hold it back. “You know what? Don’t worry…I can make it work. And this is an amazing house.”

“Wren…” But in the end, he let it go—and maybe that was what changed my mind. The fact that he was trying so hard not to push me for more information, and he was doing all he could to make me happy.

The words stuck in my throat as I tried to muster the strength to finally tell someone the secret I’d kept through a thousand hells. “It…it was Steven.”

I struggled to say more, but couldn’t. And yet Ash didn’t need a whole lot more to figure out what I meant, despite the fact that I didn’t have the courage to tell him what happened.

“Your stepbrother?”
He spoke the words through clenched teeth—not that he needed an answer when my eyes shimmered with tears. He set aside our plates and pulled me into his arms, holding me to him, though his body was so tense, I didn’t think he could even breathe. “Wren…what? When? I don’t even know what to say.”

My words stuck in my throat like I was choking on a thorny briar, my tears rolling down my cheeks and my heart bleeding from the wounds I’d carried for well over a decade. But I couldn’t look at him…couldn’t face the pity I feared I’d see in his eyes.
What if he now looked at me and couldn’t see past what had happened to me?
He didn’t even know any of the details.

“Can we just forget about it?
Please?
”

My rage was like napalm in my veins, and it took all I had not to smash my fist through the wall. Repeatedly.

Her fucking stepbrother.

Sick fucking bastard.

She hadn’t said what he’d done to her, but it didn’t matter. Because Steven never should have touched her—period. And whatever he’d done, it sure as fuck had left its mark on her soul.

And I’d been too fucking stupid to see it
.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it, Wren. But… Fuck. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I don’t even know what to say.” All I could do was hold her tightly in my arms, desperate to erase her pain, though I knew it was impossible. Something like that didn’t just go away. Not ever.

“I shouldn’t have said anything.” She pulled away and swiped at her tears, managing the smallest of smiles that didn’t come close to reaching her eyes. “Can we please just forget about it? I’m begging you, Ash.”

I wish I could. But how the hell was I supposed to let something like that go?
Especially when I had a million questions—none of which I really wanted the answers to. “I don’t know what hell he put you through, but I swear, if he was still alive, I’d have fucking killed him with my own two hands…torn him to pieces.”

She shook her head, her eyes still refusing to meet mine as tears slipped down her cheeks, wrenching my soul. “Killing him…it didn’t put an end to my nightmares. But…I don’t think anything will.”

She couldn’t really mean…
“Wren… Are you telling me that
you
were the one who shot him? Not some enemy of your father’s?”

“
I had to, Ash
. I had no choice. Once you left…
it started all over again
. I tried to stop him, but…I couldn’t. It was the only way.” She choked on her words with a sob, her confession like a knife to my heart as the pieces fell into place…

It was no wonder she hated me for breaking things off between us
. “I’m so fucking sorry, love…I didn’t know. I never should have left you.”

“You didn’t know because I didn’t tell you—and I’m done discussing this. I just can’t do it. Not now.” She shook her head, looking panicked as I pulled her into my arms and tried to calm her, her pain doing my head in.

“Hush, love… Not now, then.” I cradled her against me, doing my best to comfort and reassure her, until she finally settled.

Letting out a ragged breath, she pulled out of my arms just enough to look up at me, as I brushed away her tears. But I couldn’t stop my mind from racing through my memories, wondering what clues I’d missed and whether or not there was anything I could have done.

“I know you’re not ready, but…at some point, Wren…you’ll need to talk about it. Dealing with all this on your own can’t be good.” I’d get her whatever help she needed.

“I don’t want to deal with any of it. I just want to forget it ever happened. Bury it under new memories. So…if you can help me with that…I’d appreciate it.” She reached down and pet Sammie, who was curled up by the sofa.

“I’ll help any way I can, love.” I nuzzled her, kissing her slowly, as my heart ached for her. I had no doubt she’d been dealing with this for far too long.
But why the fuck had no one put a stop to it?
“Wren…does your father know?”

She let out a frustrated sigh, since I clearly wasn’t putting this to rest, though she gave me an answer anyway. “No. He doesn’t know—and it’s going to stay that way. I don’t want his last memories of me to be of my stepbrother repeatedly raping me. The guilt alone would send my dad to his grave. The murder…he assumed it was one of his enemies.”

And there it was…the confirmation I’d hoped never to have to hear.

Fuck!

I wanted to murder the bastard—and I couldn’t even do that, ’cause he was already dead. All I could do is curse him to a thousand hells, and do my best to see Wren through it all. “Why didn’t you tell your father when it happened? He would have put a stop to it, Wren.”

“Don’t you think I wanted to? But…I couldn’t.” She dropped her head in her hands, fisting her hair as she choked back a sob. “Steven made me think it was somehow my fault. That I wanted it to happen…that my father would think I was nothing but a whore if I told him. He threatened to tell him that I’d been the one who’d snuck into his bed. And he made me feel like I was nothing…that I should be grateful for the attention he was giving me…that no one else would ever want me.”

“Please tell me you know none of that’s true, love.”
That fucker. He’d totally manipulated her.

“I know that now. But back then…I was only fourteen when it started, and I was too young and stupid to know any better. And…he had me so fucking scared.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, and though I was glad she opened up to me, it also killed me to hear what that asshole put her through. “But now…I look back on it all and wonder how I could have been so stupid?”

“You were only fourteen, Wren. You were just a kid and he abused you. He fucked with your head so he could take advantage of your fear.” And given that Steven had been a few years older than Wren, he knew full well that what he was doing was wrong on so many levels.

“Still…I should have found a way to stop him.” Her eyes shimmered as a fresh wave of tears fell, though what killed me even more was the guilt in her voice. “But he…he’d just hurt me more when he thought I was getting too brave. So that by the time he was done, I’d do whatever it took not to go through that again, even if it meant keeping quiet about what he was doing to me.”

I couldn’t hold back the growl of fury and frustration, a feeling of helplessness engulfing me until I thought it might consume me whole. “I don’t even know what to say…what to do.
He never should have fucking touched you
.”

But instead of pulling away from me, she slipped her arms around my neck and let me hold onto her, her head bent to mine. “I just need you to forget about all of this.
Please
.”

She was asking me for the impossible. “I just don’t know how I’m supposed to do that. It feels like everyone failed you—including me.”

“You didn’t know, Ash. And you did keep me safe for the few years that we were together.”

Except that I broke things off, and let that fucking monster abuse her again
.