Page 8 of Beatitude

RONAN

THREE

My hunting trips always follow strict routines which are carefully planned out to ensure a smooth and undetected return home. But this time, there's a glaringly obvious factor that threatens to disrupt my plans: the beautiful glowing flag that is my angel.

I watch the man, a local woodsman, slap her across the face before roughly grabbing at her hair and I feel my anger and protectiveness flare up inside me. Every instinct screams at me to go in and rip his hands off before fucking him in the ass with them for touching my perfect girl. But as I take a step to intervene, my sweet angel surprises me once again with her fierce determination and strength. She fights back with everything she has, scratching and clawing at her attacker until she finally manages to reach for my lighter. And as she holds it up, I can't help but wonder if she’s reading my name, and what she thinks of it.

My smirk turns into a cruel snarl as I watch her burn the man's hand, relishing in his cries of agony as she scampers to get away. I’m very impressed at her quickthinking, but that swiftly turns to confused annoyance as she drops to her knees, searching for my lighter.Why? Just leave the fucking thing.She clutches it protectively, hiding it back in her bra like some precious treasure. Before I can make a move, the man slams her against a nearby tree and his filthy hands roam over her pure body. My blood boils and I charge toward them, my control slipping away. I’ve had enough. I allowed her to have independence before, but now I’m taking complete possession of her.

“Please,” she gasps, her voice a strangled plea that grips my heart like a vice. I’ve never felt this pain before. “Ronan!”

My name falling from her lips is too much. She’s calling for help,from me.She knows I’m here; she knows I’m going to find her. She knows that I didn’t leave her and she is begging forme.

A protective fury unlike anything I’ve ever felt consumes me as I charge them. I wrench the man's head back by his greasy hair and slam it against the tree trunk with all my might, over and over until the sickening crunches fade into a wet, sloppy mush. Blood sprays onto my face as I bend down and rip his belt from his fallen pants and bind his arms behind his back, dislocating his shoulder in the process. With satisfaction, I fling him to the ground and turn to face my trembling girl. My once innocent angel looks broken and bruised. Kneeling before her, I meet her tear-filled gaze, my eyes burning with murderous intent.

“You came,” she breathes in disbelief. How foolish of her to think I wouldn’t come for her. There is no escape for her. I will always find her.

“I told you I’d find you,” I whisper softly.

“Ronan.” I despise my name. It represents a past that I’vetried to forget and leave behind. The people who were supposed to love me unconditionally ended up rejecting me and casting me out like Lucifer from the Gilded Gates, damning me for daring to question the status quo. That's why I discarded my wretched name, taking on the one Sister Agatha would hiss at me before choking me with her rosary. But now, as I hear it spoken with such grace from her lips and see the look in her eyes as she stares up at me like I’m her hero, her savior... There is no name I’d rather be called.

“Everly.” My eyes snap to hers as I furrow my brows.

“What?” I ask, noting the fucker next to us is coming to, not that it matters, he’ll succumb to those injuries after a few agonizingly painful moments.

“My name, you asked me at the coffee shop, my name is Everly.”

"Everly," her name rolls off my tongue as if it belongs there, a perfect fit for the woman before me. It's soft and melodic, like a song I've been singing for years. The syllables blend together seamlessly, it’s timeless, sensual and perfect—everything she is. “Everly,” I repeat, loving the way her name feels. “Such a beautiful name and you go byPip.” She lets out a laugh of surprise and the feeling that sound awakens inside me, it’s damn near terrifying.

“No, I… Pip is short forPipsqueak.It’s what my boy—ex-boyfriend called me.”Boyfriend?She has—hada boyfriend? A boyfriend who took her to that shop, would buy her coffee and did so regularly enough that the staff knew her by that atrocious nickname. A boyfriend who would touch those lips, look into those eyes and taste that sweet pussy. To say I’m not a fan of this turn of events would be an understatement. The thought of another man laying claim on what’s mine, what wasput on this Earth for me, it’s enough to cause me to snap.

“Boyfriend huh?” I huff while standing up, the urge to hit something becoming overwhelming. “What a romantic nickname,” I sneer while reaching into her shirt and plucking out my lighter.

“Ex,” she corrects as I light my cigarette. “We broke up.”

“When?” I ask before taking a long drag. I note the redness in her cheeks as she looks away.

“I don’t know how long we’ve been ummm…in the car but, it was the night before the coffee shop.” My cigarette falls from my mouth at her words.

“Three days ago?” I’m in complete shock at this. My angel, my beautiful creature has truly been put precisely in my path for a reason. It’s destiny, fate, divine intervention. How else can you explain it? “You are hours from your last fuck and already getting wet for another man?” I smirk, while stepping on my fallen cigarette. “You probably still have him inside you and yet you’re begging for me?”

“I never begged!” she huffs, full of indignation. “And he and I haven’t in…well it's none of your business but it’s been a while.”Lies.No man would dare lay claim over her and not bury his cock inside her every fucking night.

“My pretty girl, why? Why would you lie to me? It’s okay, that was before us, I can’t fault you for that. But to lie about the last time?—”

“I’m not lying, he preferred other girls. And there is nous.” I glance down at her still naked pussy, bare and singing my name. I’ve been a gentleman up to this point, keeping my eyes off her exposed flesh but now, now I need her. Knowing that just hours before she crossed my path, she was breaking up with another man, it fills me with an urge to take her, toconsume her.

“Ronan,” she gasps as I lean over her while she moves back on the large rock she’s seated on. “Y-You don’t have to do this.” Her words come out breathy as her hooded eyes stare at my mouth.

“Don’t I?” I murmur while my hands find their way up her silky thighs. “I believe I won our bet, meaning I get to claim my prize.”

“But, he’s…” She gestures to the twitching, garbling man who’s staring at us with the one eye still in its socket.

“You’re right,” I state as I stand and jerk her up. “He’s not going to want to miss this.” I lean her over the rock as I palm her ass roughly.

“Ronan!” She gasps and tries to pull away. “We can’t! He’s dying and staring at me!”

“And yet,” I whisper as my hand slaps her full, glistening pussy lips, causing her to cry out. “Your greedy cunt is dripping at the thought.” I ram two of my fingers inside and nearly fall to my knees in worship. This woman will own me the second I’m inside her, I know it. And to think I was going to kill her. “Tell me you want him to watch as a real man fucks you,” I growl while fingering her harder. “Say you like the thought of the last thing he sees is his killer fucking you senseless.”

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