Page 94 of Devilish Ink

He was trying to knock me out.

Or kill me.

Either way, I would not survive whatever he had planned if he succeeded.

I scrambled around on the carpet, ignoring the sting of broken glass. I grabbed something heavy and cold: a giant metal butt plug.

With a scream, I sent it crashing down atop Balor’s head.

He blinked slowly and toppled off of me. It was all I needed to make a run for it.

I didn’t know whether I’d just stunned him…or killed him.

But I wasn’t waiting around to find out.

I fled the mansion in the middle of the night, clothes torn, body bruised and bloody.

Fear shivered down my spine as I heard him yelling after me as I ran.

I hadn’t killed him.

I’d just pissed him off. Pissed off a sadistic billionaire who knew where I lived.

“I’ll fucking kill him.” Liam’s voice echoed through the silent room, shaking with rage. “Tell me where he lives. Where he took you.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. His car had tinted windows and I wasn’t paying attention to where we were going.

“That’s why you left Dublin.”

Tears filled my eyes as I nodded. I blinked them open and Liam caught the first falling drop with his thumb.

“I made the cabbie stop at my apartment just long enough to shove a passport, cash and clothes into a bag. I cleaned myself up at the train station. Got on the first train to Belfast. From there, I took the first flight out. I made up some lie to Rian. Some bullshite about needing to see the world.”

Liam pulled me in tighter.

“I never wanted to leave,” I admitted. “Dublin was my home.”

“And you didn’t ever tell Rian?” Liam asked.

“I couldn’t.”

“Why not?”

It was a complicated question. And an even more complicated answer.

“I…he would have told me to stay,” I said slowly. “He would have believed he could keep me safe. I…I couldn’t risk his life.”

Liam was silent for a moment. Then he kissed the tears off my cheeks. “I understand why you took so long to tell me. But Ryleigh,” he said, his voice growing fierce, “you are mine to protect now. You don’t keep things from me anymore, you got it? You don’t carry this shit alone.”

Inside, a little part of me dared to hope he was right.

Liam drew me to him. I felt the racing of his heart as he pulled off my top and pressed my breasts against his warmth.

He lowered me onto his length and tried to teach my heart how to beat in time with his.

“Mine to protect,” he said over and over again as he fucked me, as he made unbreakable promises to me with his body. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

I almost believed him.

---