Page 68 of Burn for Me

‘You’re safe here,’ I spoke the words with confidence, hoping they’d soothe her.

‘I feel sick every time I think about it. When I close my eyes I see him there, the gun pointed at me, my family's bloodsplattered over his expensive suit. His eyes. God they were filled with so much hate.’ Laura trembled in my arms, her breathing growing more rapid with each word.

‘It’s okay,’ I said into her hair, kissing the back of her neck softly. ‘I’ve got you, Laura, and I won’t let him hurt you.’

I only hoped it was true. Massimo used his power to corrupt far and wide. I’d been one small part of his extensive chain of terror. There were many others who’d sell their right bollock for the chance to give him information he needed.

‘No one even knows my birth name. They’ve never seen my face. The boat is still registered under my uncle’s business partner, and they’re both dead.’

Laura turned in my arms, her brow quirking. ‘Will you tell me your name?’

I hesitated for a moment. ‘I buried it a long time ago. My uncle just called me boy, or something far less kind. When I started burning for pay, I assumed the name Phoenix.’

‘You don’t have to,’ she assured me, her fingers moving up to slide into the back of my hair.

But I wanted her to know every part of me. Even the parts I’d long hidden from the world.

‘It’s Thomas.’ I stumbled over the name, it felt alien on my lips after so long. ‘Thomas James Porter.’

‘Thomas,’ Laura repeated, the name sounding far more pleasant from her.

‘My dad used to call me TJ,’ I said, a blurry version of his face sifting through my mind. Not for the first time, I wished I had a picture of us all together. A reminder of the boy I’d once been, and the people who I’d called my family.

‘My dad used to call me pudding. And not in a sweet way.’ Laura shrugged and then laughed. ‘God, they sucked.’

‘They really did,’ I agreed, pushing a strand of hair away from her face with my thumb.

‘Do you want me to call you Thomas?’

‘No. It’s a name that died when they did.’

‘Good, I like Phoenix much better. My man who rose from the flames.’ Laura’s eyes fell back on the roiling water outside. ‘Phoenix, I need you to make me forget about Massimo for a while. I need a break from the worry.’

‘What can I do for you?’

‘Fuck him out of my head.’

Iknew what she needed. More than a quick romp in the bed, or a fuck in the shower. Laura was asking for an escape. To be pushed to a place where she’d be so lost in sensation that she wouldn’t even remember her name.

Stoking the fire-bins on deck, I had them roaring, sending an orange wash over everything on deck. The wind was picking up, waves crashing against the stern, salt water splattering against my shoes.

I pulled Laura up onto the deck, her eyes covered in a makeshift blindfold. She shivered as the wind hit her naked skin, instantly pebbling those perfect nipples.

The boat rocked and she fell heavily against me.

‘Phoenix,’ she breathed, her voice trembling.

‘Trust me,’ I crooned, running a hand over her round ass.

I’d spent many a stormy night on the deck, feeling the power of nature. Nothing made me feel more insignificant inthe face of an issue. What were our problems in the face of the power of the sea?

Guiding her toward the railings, right to the point where they stretched out over the sea, I used a reel of rope to fasten her wrists behind her, stretched to the rails to the left and right. The metal rail cut into the soft flesh of her stomach, her tits suspended over the wild sea below.

I pressed against her, pulling her hair tight in my fist and tipping her head to the side.

‘Tonight, you’re going to feel fear and lust combine. I’m going to push you until there’s nothing left in your head but me. Do you understand?’

‘Yes,’ she moaned, already melting beneath my touch.

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