“How long has it been? Five years?” He takes a few steps toward me, and I want to take a few steps back. The guy behind me is built like a tank, making it impossible to get away.“I think I’ll take care of this one myself.”
“I’d rather you just beat me up and let me go,” I say, not joking one bit.
The entire bar erupts in laughter.
“Still a smart-ass, I see.” Ryder stalks up to me, grips my arm with bruising force, and drags me through the crowd and to a door beside the bar. The sign on the door says,Employees Only. Either he works here or doesn’t care.
We end up in a brightly lit hallway. As soon as we are alone, he pushes me against the wall with my cheek flat against the cold bricks. His mouth is right next to my ear when he whispers, “I almost didn’t recognize you without your glasses and fucked up front teeth.” His breath smells of cigarettes and booze. Both I amvery familiar with. My body instantly stiffens, associating those smells with getting hurt. I close my eyes and wait for some kind ofpainto come next, but Ryder just holds me still.
“Don’t worry, you can work your debt off with me.” He runs his hand through my hair, catching a lock between his fingers. I wait for him to pull on it harshly, but he just keeps playing with it as if he is testing its softness. “You smell nice.”
He leans in even closer, his nose brushing against the skin on my throat.
“Are you scared, little owl?” I think I’m beyond scared. I have been scared for so long, sometimes it’s hard to tell what I’m feeling. “Answer me,” he growls into my ear, making me jump.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Good, you should be. Because I’m going to make you pay for what you did to me… I’m going to break you.”
I almost laugh at his words.He is going to break me?There is nothing left to break. I’m already broken beyond repair. My life shattered in so many pieces it’s impossible to find all the parts again. I can never glue the pieces back together.
“Hey, I want a turn with that fine piece of ass,” some guy yells from somewhere down the hall.
Ryder leans away from me but leaves one hand between my shoulder blades, keeping me pinned to the wall. “You know how this works, Buck.”
“Yeah, yeah, you get first dibs,” the guy name Buck says grumpily.“Doesn’t mean I can’t have some later, though…” My blood freezes in my veins.Please, god, no!
Ryder spins me around abruptly. “Come on, little owl, we’ll go somewhere private.”
Never taking his hand off me, he leads me to a room at the end of the hall. It’s small and dark, with a queen-size bed and a chair in the corner. A concrete floor and bare walls with no decoration make this room look more like a prison cell than a bedroom. He closes the door and locks it behind us before sitting down in the chair.
“Strip!” he commands, looking at me like a king on his throne.
Wrapping my arms around myself, like that could protect me, I shake my head. “I can’t do this, Ryder. I can’t do this with you.”
“Okay.” He shrugs. “There is the door.” He lifts his chin to the only exit out of this room. “I’ll even let you slip out the back this time. But after that, you’re on your own. If one of my guys catches you, you’re fair game.”
Karma has a way of getting back at you, and I think this is a prime example. I’ve made mistakes, many… and now it’s time to pay up.
I’m out of options, and he knows it. It’s either him or some guys I’ve never met. Ryder might hate me, but at least he is not some stranger. I can give him this, maybe that will make up for what I did. Maybe this will ease the guilt eating me alive.
I can do this; I just can’t do this with someone else.
“If I do this with you, will you tell your men not to touch me?”
“I haven’t decided yet. We’ll see how tonight ends.”
My heart is beating so fast, I think I might pass out. With shaking hands, I pull my shirt off andover my head. When I unbutton my jeans and pull the zipper down, my body trembles. I slip out of my shoes, push my pants down my legs, and step out of them. With a puddle of clothes on the floor, I’m left in panties and a bra.
“Everything,” he orders, looking nothing but smug.
I reach back to unclasp my bra and let it slide off of my arms. The cool air in the room has my nipples hard and tingling. Pushing the sensation aside, I pull down my panties—the final piece of clothing protecting me from his taunting eyes and the wicked grin plastered on his handsome face. Clearly, he is enjoying himself.
“Come here, kneel between my legs.”
Thanks to Tommy, I’m used to following orders without a second thought. I close the distance between us with three steps and kneel on the floor in front of him. The concrete is cold and unforgiving on my bare skin. I can’t help but wonder how many other girls have kneeled here before me. Were they thinking about the icy floor too? Probably not.
I put my hands in my lap, waiting for his instructions. Somehow, I feel better now that I’m kneeling so close to him than I did when I was standing up on display. He unzips his own jeans, and his erection springs free. I gulp down nervously. I’m guessing he wants me to give him a blow job. Should I tell him I’ve never done this before?
