Page 23 of Tainted Saints

All the breath whooshes out of me as I collide with something hard, strong hands gripping my biceps and steadying me before my face crashes into a firm chest.

“Easy there, sugar,” a low voice sounds above me, and I look up, tears blurring my vision to see beautiful, green eyes staring back at me.

“F–Forest?” I stutter, my heart racing as my hands grip his soft, cotton hoodie tightly back. I sag in his arms, all the tension in my body leaving and his brows lower, his large hands holding my arms as he takes in my flushed cheeks and watery eyes.

“Aspen! Come back here right fucking now!” Albert’s voice demands, and I sink further into Forest’s grip, my fingers tightening in the front of his hoodie. Forest's head snaps up, a scowl on his beautiful face as he looks behind me, pulling me into his chest and wrapping his arms around me. I’m engulfed in his rose, gin, and leather scent, and it calms my racing heart, allowing me to breathe for the first time in what feels like hours. “Get your filthy east side hands off her,” Albert snarls, and my eyes widen in shock as my body tenses. Did he just really say that?Elitist pig.

Forest just laughs, the vibrations making me shudder, the deep sound caressing my skin through my clothing as if he just ran a fingertip along it. I am definitely regretting my choice of stockings and a suspender belt rather than tights, I feel like it gives his voice too much access to my bare skin.

“I'd be mindful of what you say, son,” he replies to Albert in a deep purr, pulling me even closer until our bodies are pressed so tightly together that there’s not a sliver of air between us. God, he smells as amazing as I remember, like summer nights heady with the promise of a thunderstorm, and I bury my face in his chest, inhaling him into my lungs as I try to further calm my breathing and racing heart. “You're on our turf now.”

I look up and around me, startled to see that he's right, the buildings around us have a dilapidated look, weeds growing in the cracks of the pavement, and a general air of neglect that tells me we’re not on the west side anymore.

“Come over here, baby,” Albert coos, and I twist my head to see he's talking to me, one hand out. Bile fills the back of my throat, remembering why I ran in the first place. “We can go back to my place and I'll explain.”

I snort, turning in Forest’s arms so that my back is pressed to his front, but not stepping away as I'm enjoying the feel of them around me far too much to give it up. There’s something safe about him, even if he’s in a gang from the wrong side of the tracks.

“Will it go something like ‘She tripped and fell on my dick’?” I spit out, the alcohol making me bold as anger replaces the hurt and humiliation of catching him with his dick shoved down that woman’s throat. Forest chuckles behind me, his head dipping as he brushes a light kiss on my neck. I have to release a slow breath as tingles race from the point where his lips meet my skin, the move turning some of my anger into pure, unadulterated lust.

Albert’s face turns a mottled purple, his jaw clenching, and I'm not sure if it's a reaction to my words or to what Forest just did, but I find that I just don’t give a shit right now.

“Your father should have told you the expectations of our world,” he bites out, and I stiffen, all lust-filled thoughts for the man behind me disappearing.

“Expectations?” I ask coldly, ice filling my veins and knowing what he's getting at but daring him to boldly state it.

“Wives love their husbands, give them heirs, and look pretty on their arms when they go to important business functions,” he informs me, his tone patronising, and I can feel every muscle in my body tighten. “And they don't ask questions if they smell someone else’s perfume on their skin.”

My jaw drops. Did he just tell me, his supposed girlfriend, that my lot in life is to have a husband who cheats on me? I mean, I'm not surprised given my parents’ cold and fucked up relationship, but Jesus.

“Well, here’s a newsflash, Albert,” I scathe, sinking deeper into Forest's comforting embrace. His arms wrap tighter around me, his fingers tracing a pattern on my hip. “I deserve more than that shit. I deserve someone who won’t even look at another woman because they can’t take their eyes off me. I deserve someone who wants to spend every moment with me, wrapped in my arms. I deserve someone who wants to spend hours buried inside me, who can’t get enough of me, who rushes home from work just to throw me up against the wall and fuck me hard and fast because he's so consumed by me he can’t control himself.” I’m panting, my chest heaving, my speech surprising even me with its ferocity, but it’s all true, that’s what I want. Not what Albert is offering and certainly not what the Ambassador is demanding.

“I volunteer as tribute,” Forest whispers in my ear, and I would laugh but he thrusts his hips slightly so I can feel exactly how much my words have affected him. Then he straightens up behind me, his impressive hardness pushing into my lower back.Damn tall boys!“Well, Albert, baby,” he drawls, his arms loosening only to have one hand slide possessively down my side, setting butterflies fluttering in my stomach. “The lady has spoken, and it seems to me you’re not what she’s looking for. So be a good little rich boy and run along out of my fucking territory.”

Albert stares at us, his mouth opening and closing unattractively so that he looks like a fish. I bite my lip to hold the chuckle in, my chest warm with the fact the Forest just stood up for me. I’m not sure anyone ever has before, not until I met the Saints anyway.

“Fine,” my now ex-boyfriend of a few hours snarls, an angry slant to his lips. “Stay here with your gangbanger, but don’t come crying to me when he fucks you and leaves you like all the others! And don’t think for one minute your father won’t hear of this!”

I flinch at his yell but pull my lips back to bare my teeth. “I’m sure my father won’t be too pleased when I explain that I found you, dick down the throat of a staff member in a public place. That kind of indiscretion is most definitely frowned upon,” I volley back, my heart once again pounding as I will him not to tell the Ambassador about this. It won’t only be me who is punished if he finds out that Forest has his hands on me like this.

His upper lip curls unattractively, and with another snarl, I watch as he spins on his heel and storms off. My body slumps against Forest, and I let him hold me as the adrenaline leaves my system. It’s not until Albert has completely disappeared from view that I speak.

“Thank you, Forest.” My shoulders droop as my breath huffs out of me in an audible sigh.

“I will always take care of you, Little Lady,” he breathes in my ear. “I’ve craved you from the first moment I saw you holding Blaine’s hand in county jail, sugar,” he confesses, spinning me in his arms so fast that I gasp as the world spins around me. “And that little speech, well shit.”

He pushes me backwards, my spine slamming into the wall of the building behind us with such force that plaster dust fills the air, a sharp tingle racing up my spine as my heart thuds in my chest. It’s not fear that makes my pulse thud, it’s anticipation and a need that leaves my knees weak.

His large hand cups the back of my head, cushioning the blow before it can make contact as his eyes bore into mine, lust making the green as dark as a nighttime forest. My hands automatically come up, grabbing his muscled arms which flex under my grip. What is it about a man’s biceps that’s so fucking hot?

“And this prim and proper outfit,” he comments huskily, raking his eyes over me and the pleated wool skirt, shirt, and cardigan I’m wearing, my jacket also in that fucktard Albert’s car. The skirt ends just below my knees, quite modest really considering what some of the girls here wear, but it seems to be Forest’s cup of tea if the fire in his green eyes is anything to go by. “It would tempt a damn Saint,” he tells me, smirking at his own joke. “And we all know that I’m a Tainted Saint.”

His fingers tease down between my breasts, popping the buttons of my cardigan, and then making quick work of my blouse, my lace-covered breasts exposed to the cold night air. I’m aware that it’s the middle of fucking winter, but I couldn’t swear to it with the way my body is burning under his touch.

“So beautiful,” he murmurs, leaning down to place a soft kiss on the swell of breast that’s just above the lace edge. My nipples pebble, my hands sliding to his shoulders as he moves his lips over one peak, sucking it and the lace into his hot mouth.

“Forest,” I moan, unable to tear my gaze away from his dark-blond head as he teases my nipple with his tongue, his teeth scraping the sensitive bud. He moves to the other side, giving my other breast the same attention, and I couldn’t stop him even if I wanted to. He feels too fucking good, worshipping me in a way that I’ve never experienced before, and I want more. “Please, Forest.” I don’t care why Forest was there, or how I managed to bump into him just when I needed him. I couldn’t give a shit if anyone is around, in fact, the idea of being seen has lightning tingling up my spine. All I know is that right now, I need him more than I need to breathe.

I watch the smile play on his lush lips, his palms gliding down my thighs. My breath comes in fast pants as he lifts the soft fabric of my skirt, bringing it up with him as he straightens to his impressive height to expose my stockings, suspenders, and lace underwear.

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