Page 10 of Under the Boardwalk

“No, no cops. Please,” she says, shaking her head vehemently and sitting on her knees, pleading with me.

“Alright, baby, calm down.” I sigh, sitting on the bed and pulling her into my arms. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. How do I console her if I don't know exactly what's going on? How can I fix this and protect her if I can't get the whole story from her?

“Baby, you're going to have to give me something here. I have to keep you safe, but if you don't tell me what's going on, I can't do that,” I whisper to her, kissing her hair as her shoulders shake. I hate this; I hate feeling, hearing, seeing her cry. It’s ripping my heart to pieces.

“Okay,” she says, simply pulling out of my arms. She sits back on her knees and wipes the tears from her face. I want to do that for her, but she pulls her shoulders back, and I know she's going to give me the details I need. I’m scared to move, to breathe, in case it makes her clam back up. I hold my breath as her lips tremble.

“The story I told you about leaving the diner and being attacked in the alley.” I nod in encouragement when she pauses. She takes another deep breath before blowing me away. “All that is the truth. The only thing I left out was that I knew who attacked me.”

I keep quiet as she bites her lip and tears well in her eyes, threatening to fall over. I want to hold her, but she needs to get this out, and I need to know who it was. Still, the thought of her suffering in any way is killing me, and when that next tear rolls down her cheek, I almost cave. I almost pull her into my arms, but she tells me the truth before I get the chance.

“The person who attacked me. It was my brother.” I gasp, but she doesn't give me a chance to speak. She closes her eyes tight and rushes out, “He’s always been sort of a bully, but he’s never actually hit me before, just always told me the truth, no matter how hurtful it was. Still, last night, something happened. He looked off, almost scared. He told me to hand him all the tips I had made, and I just got so angry. So tired of him being mean. I told him no, I stood up for myself, and he just went crazy.” Her voice hiccups, and she looks at me with worried eyes before bowing her head and whispering so softly I almost don't hear it, “I-I'm sorry.”

She sounds so defeated, almost like she expects me to up and leave her right now, like this was somehow her fault. I can't take it anymore, so I grab her, and pull her into my arms, turning and twisting so she's lying on the bed, and I'm hovering over her, careful to not touch any of her cuts or bruises. I hold my body up with one hand and use the other to wipe the hair from her face.

“Siren baby, look at me,” I say, softly kissing the corner of her mouth. When her eyes finally meet mine, I give her a soft smile before replying, “You don't have to worry about anything, sweetheart. Never again, I'm going to take care of it.”

There is determination in my voice, and I know she can hear it. Looking into her eyes, it's like I finally realize where I belong. What I was put on this earth to do, and that is to protect this woman with everything in me. She’s made me come alive and see the world through new, open eyes. For her, I will do everything in my power to hopefully one day erase the shadows that seem to haunt her eyes and replace them with rose-colored glasses made special just for her.

Chapter Nine

Alina

I sigh as I sink deeper into the tub, letting my head sink halfway into the water and then blowing bubbles as I laugh at the noise it makes. It’s been four days since my brother attacked me, and strangely enough, I’m happier than I've ever been. I’m still at the cute beachside inn, staying with Riley and holding up in our own little bubble. I know it's almost time for reality to creep back in, but I'm just not ready to let go of the magic this room seems to have held.

The first two days after the incident, as I’m now referring to it, Riley and I both took off work. Luckily, Riley had already had one day off, so he only had to skip one day of work. I took off the entire week, not wanting people to ask questions about my face. Hopefully, it's healed enough for me to cover with some makeup soon. For the past two days, Riley had to return to work, but he stops in and checks on me regularly when he can get away from the front desk. He brings me food constantly, too, causing me to smile at his thoughtfulness. I've never been cared for like this before, and I'm scared I've already gotten too attached to it. How am I supposed to return to my reality when I have everything I could ever want here?

Well, almost everything. Riley seems to want to keep treating me with kiddy gloves. I swear that first night he laid me on the bed and hovered over me, vowing to protect me, that memory is burned into my brain, and I never want to let it go. It was the sweetest and hottest thing to ever happen to me, and I've been trying every night to get him to take the hint. That's the kind of closeness I want again. Still, no matter what I do, he just softly takes care of me, gently holds me, and occasionally kisses me here and there.

I finally got up the courage last night as we were lying in bed. He leaned over to kiss me softly, and I took the opportunity before he could pull back to run my tongue lightly over his bottom lip. He froze for only a second, not giving me enough time to have a panic attack, thankfully, before groaning and pressing his tongue inside my mouth to explore. I got lost in the bliss, in the feel of his hands on my waist, gripping my sides and making me feel wanted. It was magical and addicting, and it's all I can think about. I wrapped my leg around his waist and lifted my hips, and that somehow broke the spell. He pulled back so quickly my head was spinning. He quickly hopped off the bed and headed straight to the bathroom, closing and locking the door.

That was when I started to panic. Did I do something wrong? I hope I didn't make myself look like an inexperienced idiot, or worse, a very experienced hussy. I sat up and pulled the covers close to my chest even though I was still fully dressed in one of Riley's shirts and a pair of basketball shorts that were three sizes too big. I quickly climbed out of bed, my face heated and embarrassing tears gathered in my eyes, but when I walked past the bathroom, I heard a noise that had me stopping in my tracks.

Riley was in the bathroom and he was groaning. I stayed there even longer, creeping closer to the door, almost close enough to palace my ear to the door. I know I shouldn't be eavesdropping, and I swear I would die of embarrassment if he opened the door and caught me listening. Still, the moaning coming from the other side of the door had a massive ache, a throb hitting me low in my belly. My breasts felt sensitive, and I swear I was about two seconds away from pressing my hands against them to try to calm down. I heard a noise coming from the bathroom, followed by my name.

That's when I had to clamp my hand down over my mouth and scurry back from the door. He said my name. While he was climaxing, it was my name that he had called out. It made me almost combust right along with him. After that, I realized I hadn't done anything wrong. He was just too worked up. I almost giggled at the thought but instead kicked my butt back in gear, climbed back in the bed, and snuggled underneath the covers.

When he came back out, I didn't want him to be embarrassed, and one look at my face would have given me away, so instead, I pretended to be asleep. It seemed to work. Riley climbed into the bed, pulled me back into his arms, and kissed the back of my head.

I heard him whisper softly, “You're safe with me.” He took another piece of my heart, just like that. I couldn't fall asleep after that. I just lay there and listened to his breath even out, basking in the feelings of safety and care his arms provided. I never wanted that moment to end, and I knew in that minute he was the one. I was pretty sure before then, but the way he thought of me and my comfort first, told me everything I was still hesitant about regarding Riley.

He’s one of the good ones; he is the absolute best in my book. He doesn't realize that the heroes in the books he reads are just words. They don't hold a candle to him, but I get to make it my reality. If I’m brave enough to take that step and take it for once, it will finally be all I've ever wanted. In that moment, I knew I had to do something drastic, so I lay there planning my next move. The bravery came easily in the late hours and darkness of night.

Now, here I am, sitting in the tub and shaving myself from head to toe, making sure every surface of my body is sparkly clean, and getting ready to put my plan into motion. Okay, ready is a very, very strong word. I would actually use determined but still scared absolutely shitless at the idea I concocted. I still don't even know how I'm going to go through with it, but I know if I want this to be my future, if I want Riley as mine, I have to be the one to take this step. If not, I’ll hide in the shadows and be that wallflower for the rest of my damn life. I’ll find comfort there, living behind Riley instead of beside him.

Hoping out of the tub, I check the time and see I have exactly three minutes before he clocks out, which means four minutes before he’s walking through that door. I use that time to lather myself down with some lotion I had in my purse. It's my favorite lavender scent, and I don't wear perfume, but isn't that what you're supposed to use when trying to seduce a man? Ugh, I have no clue what I'm doing here. I grab the robe from the closet and wrap it around me. I stand in the middle of the room, waiting for Riley to walk through the door. This was my genius plan.

Yup, not kidding. Stand here in the middle of the room in a robe and drop it as he walks in the door. He won't be able to resist a naked woman standing there in the middle of the room offering herself to him, right? But the longer I stand here, the more uncertain I get.

What the hell am I doing? This isn't me? I'm not some sexy temptation he's going to fall to his knees for. Especially seeing as my bruises have not fully healed and my skin is still an ugly mix between purple and blue from the attack. I hear the key in the door right in the middle of my freakout, and it only makes it worse. He’s going to laugh at me. This is going to be the most embarrassing moment of my life. I could make a break for it, run to the bathroom, and lock….

“Siren, I…” He stops when he sees me in the middle of the room. That's it. All the bravado leaves me, and I turn to run to the bathroom, but the tie on the robe trips me, and I start to fall. How could this get any worse? Now I'm going to burst my face open on the floor. Though I brace for impact, I’m caught in two strong arms before I can hit the ground. My arms wrap around him, and I don't realize the robe is completely open until my naked chest is pressed against his polo shirt.

It's like an electric current running down my body, and the moment is frozen. He doesn't let go, and I look up. His eyes are darker, and he looks at me as if seeing me for the first time. I lean forward, pressing my lips against his, and the sensation sends a tremor through me. We are standing so close that there's barely an inch between our bodies. The scent of his cologne invades me.

The kiss deepens, and I am overwhelmed by a surge of desire. We pull back and stare at each other, not quite believing what happened.

"You taste like chocolate," I whisper, feeling shy.

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