• thirty-two •

“You have a dirty mouth.”

Rumor

King stood at the door of the cottage as if he was guarding it.

“Do I just get a few things? How long do I need to stay at the stables?” I asked him, still not sure I believed his reason.

He seemed tense, and the way he kept scanning the area, as if he was ready for someone to jump out with a gun and start shooting, was making me nervous.

“Put all your things in the suitcase,” he said, taking one more look out over the property before closing the door and locking it. He turned to me then and nodded his head toward the bedroom. “I’ll help you. Come on.”

I pointed at the fridge. “What about the food? It’ll go bad.”

“I’ll send someone to get it. You just worry about your things.”

He made his way toward me and smiled. It wasn’t his real smile. He was on edge and trying to cover it up.

“Maybe it’s time you take me to a bus stop,” I suggested.

He froze and stepped closer to me. “No. Pack your things, sweets. You’re going to the stables. My room. Not a fucking bus station.”

“This is about me. You’re lying. The shooter was after me. Hill has someone looking for me, doesn’t he? I’m bringing this all to your door. To Maeme’s door.” As I said the words, I saw the truth in his eyes. I was right. They were hiding me. Trying to protect me. I shook my head. “NO! I am leaving. I will not have you or Maeme shot because of me. I don’t want this. I won’t stay here!” Panic was rising in my chest as I said the words. Fear for the people who had helped me. Fear that I might not live another day.

I had to run. There was no other answer. My time was up.

He reached out and wrapped his fingers around my arm. “You aren’t leaving. We are safe. You will be safe. Here. With me,” King said through clenched teeth.

I tried to pull my arm free of his grip. “I can’t stay here!”

King’s much larger body backed me up until my back hit the wall. “You will do as I say, Rumor. You’re gonna pack your things and get in my truck. We’re going to the stables.”

Tears filled my eyes. “I don’t want to be here.”

He grabbed my jaw. “Yes, you do.”

“Just let me go,” I sobbed as a tear rolled down my right cheek, then my left.

King’s nostrils flared as he stared down at me. “I’m not letting you go. I’m keeping you safe. I swear to God, the only ones who will get hurt are the ones trying to get to you. Trust me, sweets. You gotta trust me.”

I laid my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. I felt so helpless. This was a disaster that I had created. I should have never run. I should have stayed.

“I did this,” I whispered.

“The fuck you did,” he said angrily. “That bastard you were married to did it.”

I opened my eyes and stared up at him. “Were? I’m not divorced.”

His jaw flexed, and there was something there in his eyes. He knew something. Did he know where Hill was? Was Hill dead? Had I missed that on the news?

“Is he dead?” I whispered, almost afraid to hope. Ashamed to hope.

King nodded his head once, and I let out a sob as my knees buckled. He was gone. Dead. He’d never find me. I’d never have to see him again. I was the target of the Mafia right now, it seemed, but Hill was no longer a nightmare I had to face.

“Rumor,” King said, almost like a warning.

I wiped at my face. “He’s dead.” Just saying the words gave me the strength to live. I could survive this. Whoever it was after me. I had survived Hill.

“Yeah, he is. Why the fuck are you crying?”

I let out a long sigh. “Because I’m a bad person. I’m glad. Relieved.”

King ran a knuckle over my cheek to catch a tear. “So, these are happy tears?”

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“Thank fuck,” he muttered, then lowered his mouth until it covered mine.

There were moments in life when you made a decision. Accepted who you were. What you had become. This was one of those times. I wasn’t good. Living with Hill had twisted me inside. I hadn’t realized it until now.

Running my hands up King’s arms, I held on to his biceps and went up onto my toes to press closer to him. Take more of what he was giving.

My feet left the floor as he lifted me up until I wrapped my legs around his waist. Then, we were walking. Through the house. His lips never left mine. The minty taste of his mouth continued to take more and give at the same time. I buried my hands in his hair as I moaned, aching for what I knew he could make me feel.

When we reached the bedroom, his lips left mine as he laid me down onto the bed, then jerked my shorts down, along with my panties. My breaths came in short, quick, anxious gasps as he tossed them down, then unzipped his jeans. His eyes felt hot as he stared down at me hungrily. As if I was all he wanted. It was a powerful feeling.

“Fuck,” he swore, pausing from getting his jeans out of the way. “No condom,” he said, letting out a heavy breath as his eyes met mine.

There were two choices that could be made here. One was responsible, and the other was the inevitable.

“When were you tested last?” I asked, already knowing I didn’t care. I should, but with King standing there over me, I couldn’t bring myself to.

“A month ago. I’ve not…I always use a condom,” he replied, then ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated scowl.

“Okay,” I replied hesitantly.

He stared at me, as if waiting for me to say more. “You trust me? With this?”

“Yes, and everything else,” I admitted.

The pained look that crossed his face wasn’t what I’d expected. What had I said wrong? When he didn’t move, I started to sit up, but he cursed and shoved his boxer briefs down with his jeans and climbed over me, forcing me back onto the bed again.

“I need this, sweets,” he said huskily before thrusting inside of me, then stilled once he was as deep as he could go.

The sting from the way he stretched me had become something I craved. Lifting my hips, I urged him on. I was ready for more. His jaw was clenched tight as he held himself over me. I stared up at him and things stirred inside my chest that I knew were dangerous. What we were doing wasn’t going to end well. I was already feeling it. The heartbreak of when I would leave. When this would be over.

King pulled out slowly, then rocked back into me. He hissed through his teeth as he closed his eyes. “Fuuuck, that’s incredible.”

I wanted to reach up and caress his beautiful face, but that would make this…more. I was afraid it would scare him off. That we wouldn’t get to do this again. Instead, I moved under him, pressing for more. His eyes opened, and the dark, fierce gleam in them caused an excited shiver to run over me.

He stood up, then grabbed my hips, pulling me with him. He began to drive into me. I watched as the muscles on his arms flexed with each movement. The veins on his neck stood out while he stared down at where our bodies met.

“So fucking wet, hot,” he growled as he began to pump faster, his breathing heavy.

I lifted my legs up and over his hip bones and arched my back off the mattress as the delicious tingle began to build. “AHHH!”

“So goddamn beautiful,” he said with a grunt and sank into me with more force than before. “I love this fucking pussy.”

The array of emotions already stirring inside me, mixed with the way he played my body, like an instrument he controlled, sent me crying out just before the wave of release hit me. My body shook as the wet gush came from deep inside me. Words fell from my lips, but I wasn’t sure what they were. I was being tossed into a spiral again of supreme blissfulness.

“FUCK! FUCK! That’s it! Coat my cock with that sweet juice. FUUUCK!” He ended with a shout as his body shook, then jerked. His fingers clutched my hips, tightly holding me against him. “GAH!”

I could feel it. His release filling me. Each hot jet, deep inside. I tried to get closer even if it wasn’t possible. He trembled slightly, and his grip on me eased as he opened his eyes and stared down at me. The slow smile that curled his lips was one I wanted to burn into my brain. Never to forget. It was hedonistic, sated, and I’d put it there.

“I want to see it.” His voice was hoarse from the shouting.

“See it?” I asked, still trying to catch my breath.

He pulled out of me, then took my ankles and bent my knees, placing my feet flat on the bed. Holding my legs wide open, he stood there and stared at my completely exposed vagina. I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing when his gaze darkened.

“Damn, that’s pretty.”

I covered my face with both hands, embarrassed. “Are you done?” I asked.

“Just let me watch a little more trickle out, sweets.”

Sucking in a sharp breath, I realized what he was doing. He’d said he wanted to see it, but that had been in the moment. I hadn’t really thought…oh my God.

“King…” I trailed off, not sure what to say.

“Yeah, sweets?” His tone was soft.

Just the sound of it made me feel warm and tingly all over again. My eyes flew back open, and I moved my hands from my face when I felt his finger slide over my opening. His complete focus was between my legs. The fascination in his gaze silenced anything I was about to say.

“Just let me play,” he whispered, not looking up at me while he ran his finger inside of me, then all around my sensitive flesh. “Damn, that’s nice.”

Snapping out of whatever this was, I closed my legs with his arm still between them. His eyes swung up to my face with a confused look. As if I had taken something away from him and he didn’t understand why.

“Stop it,” I told him.

A crooked grin touched his face. “But I was enjoying myself.”

I reached up and pushed his hand out of my legs. “I saw that, but I was the one lying there, exposed.”

“You’re not cleaning it up,” he said. “I want my cum in your panties.”

I laughed then as he took my hands and pulled me up to stand in front of him. “You have a dirty mouth,” I told him.

“And you like my dirty mouth. Especially between your legs.”

Before I could respond, King’s phone started ringing. He let out a heavy sigh and reached down to get his jeans and take it out.

“Yeah,” he said into the phone, putting it to his ear, then pointing at my panties on the floor and nodding for me to get them.

“We’re finishing up now,” he said, watching me as I put my panties back on.

“I know,” he all but growled into the phone, then ended the call.

“We have to make this quick,” he told me as he went to get my shorts. “Get dressed, sweets.”