Page 29 of Hers To Keep

“Ms. Masters, the social worker who––”

“Who put you in that foster house because he asked her to. He wanted you and Jade close in case he needed leverage against your parents.”

“But how… why did she?”

“She’s his ex-girlfriend, but she hates him just the same. She said after he asked her to move you and Jade, she quit her job and cut all contact with him. Supposedly she helped him out of fear of what he’d do to make sure you and Jade were brought there, with or without her help.”

“That was stupid, even for you, to go alone and risk gettingcaught.” I can see the hint of worry in her eyes, hidden under all her frustration. “Something could have happened to you.”

Her eyes lower watching me as I slowly approach her. “I’m okay, baby, nothing bad is ever going to happen to me, or to you for that matter. I promise.” On my way back, I decided not to tell her any more information I discovered, or who else was there in order to not further worry her. If she knew who it was, that found me snooping around, she’d surely have a meltdown. I’ll just keep the rest of it to myself. Though I knew she’d want to dig deeper, so I brought the list of potential suspects Hargrove gave me, even though I already know who is in charge.

Does that make me a liar, once again, withholding information from her?Yes, but it’s for her own good. And I won’t apologize for trying to protect her.

“Don’t say things like that. Don’t make promises about things you have no control over.” She steps away, dashing toward the path that takes us down to the beach house.

I reach my arm out grabbing her, slowing her down enough for me to speak. “How about this then,” I say as she tries to pull away, but I pull her closer, tenderly caressing her cheek, tracing my finger down to her chin, gripping it softly, and tilting her face up to meet mine. Her blue opal eyes staring back at me try to explain what they feel, as she struggles to speak the words to tell me herself. “As long as I’m here I will do anything and everything in my power and make all sacrifices to ensure you’re never harmed.”

I place a chaste kiss upon her lips and instead of pushing me away as I believed she would, she deepens the kiss. Her hands move slowly upward as she grips the back of my neck pulling me closer, closing the gap between our bodies.

She kisses me frantically, her body taking over her mind which surely is telling her to step away. But then she pulls back abruptly, a dark desire pooling in her eyes, as she gazes wantonly at me. The lust radiating from her eyes shoots straight to my cock which is grinding into her, loving the warmth between her legs. Thewarmth I feel seeping through the fabric of her panties, and my jeans. Her stare burns deeper as she feels my erection pushing into her trying to break free from its confinement in my jeans.

“I shouldn’t feel this way about you,” she whimpers breathlessly. “I should hate you, for all that you’ve done to me, for all that’s happened to me as you just sat back and watched. It’s why I’m in this predicament, why I’m being punished for my thoughts, my actions. It’s because of you and this burning need to have you.”

“Lust isn’t a sin, Scarlett, it’s an emotion. The strongest of emotions, with the strongest influence of all, a total loss of self-control. You can’t hide your lust from me. It’s in your gaze, in your body language, in the rapid beating of your heart, in your unsteady breathing. You want me as much as I need you. Why continue to fight it, instead of just embracing it?”

Chapter

Eighteen

SCARLETT

“So, do you want to like, I don’t know, go see a movie or something?” Ace asks, in a hushed tone, his body tensing beside me on the living room couch.

After school and the bomb he dropped on me, we came down to the beach house to hang out alone and look through the documents he brought from the office of his uncle’s accountant. Well, I’m looking through them since he already did and found nothing. Ace is just leaning back against the couch, watching me as I scan each sheet of paper, over and over, angrily coming across nothing of use. I lean back, looking up at him, as he stares down at me eagerly awaiting my response. I can tell he’s nervous. I can feel the rapid beating of his heart on my back as I lean against him.

“Are you asking me on a date, Ace Servite?” I mock, smirking at him. After his comment earlier about giving in to what I feel for him, instead of constantly pushing him away, the foolish and equally horny voice in my head shouts,fuck it, why not.

“Forget it,” he growls, abruptly standing up and causing me to fall back against the couch.

“I’m kidding,” I say, setting my laptop down on the table beside me. “It’s just we’ve never gone out on a date.”

“Exactly, isn’t that what normal couples do and shit.” He struts toward the floor length window, his hands anxiously shoved in his pockets as he inhales a deep breath, staring out at the wavering ocean, whose waves crash roughly against the shore. The sky is gloomy, a storm headed our way, closer than earlier.

“Ace, babe, we’re anything but normal.”

“I know, believe me, I know. But don’t girls like that shit. Dinner, movies, walks along the beach.” He turns back to me, a look of sincerity flashing across his cobalt irises. And in this moment, he suddenly looks his age. Like a teenager, young, carefree, and dare I say, kind. Not the cold and callous king they cower down to. Not the brutal prince I so foolishly trust.

That’s the Ace I see every time we are alone. When the world turns a blind eye, when we’re hidden from prying eyes, just us two. He’s affectionate, still dominant, but also attentive. It’s why I am drawn to him even more than I was before, why I keep coming back no matter the consequences, no matter his offenses. This little sliver of hope of the good, outweighing all the bad.

“For a guy who doesn’t date much, you sure know what it entails,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

“Do you want to or not? Cause I can rescind my offer and just fuck you here and now. No need to wine and dine you when I already have you.” He walks back over to me, and with every sensual step he takes my body trembles.

My mouth turns dry as I swallow, trying to hide the effect of his carnal gaze. But it’s in my eyes, obvious in the way my body shifts, my thighs squeezing together to tame the ache in my loins. All of this and he hasn’t even touched me. I mean for God sakes he isn’t even that close to me.

“A little sure of yourself, aren’t you?” I ask coyly, his grinwidening as he approaches. He kneels before me, his eyes roaming over my body hidden under the school uniform I still have on. His cold, calloused hands slowly glide up my knees, moving to grip the heated flesh of my thighs underneath my skirt. I bite down on my bottom lip trying to suppress a moan, failing miserably in hiding my arousal. “What if we don’t know how?” I whisper breathlessly, sounding like I just finished running a marathon, when I’m only panting from the lustful gaze in his eyes.

Like two bottomless wells, his eyes stare deep into mine, breaking down the remaining walls and looking straight into my soul as he contemplates my worry. “What if we don’t know how to be normal? Our relationship is flawed. It was built on lies, it’s pillared by endless sacrifices, collapses constantly from continuous lies and betrayals.” I lean forward, placing my hands on his face, leaning in closer to him. “What if we actually realize, if we’re not fighting and having mind blowing makeup sex, we don’t actually like each other?”

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