Page 7 of Safe and Sound

He sits on the bed beside me and runs his fingers over the fallen strap, “Where did this come from?”

Am I still having nightmares or is this real? What is going on?

Chapter Six

Rennik

The picture my little stepsister makes is an enticing one pushed up on her elbows in nothing but a few scraps of silk. I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and touching her if my life was on the line. I trace the edge of the fallen strap but don’t take my eyes off the pretty pools of green that stare back at me with something akin to panic in them.

“Who bought what you are wearing?”

“W…what I’m…,” she shallows and tries to sit up more but I don’t move out of her way or let the strap go. If she sits up, it will push us closer together and cause her breast to pop all the way out.

“Where did you get what you're wearing? Who bought it?”

If I find out one of those fucking little shits from her high school got this for her I’ll rip it the fuck off her. She must see it in my eyes too because she answers me right away this time.

“Me. I did.”

She reaches for the strap and continues.

“From, um, a gift card,” a blush hits her face, “you gave me for my birthday.”

I can’t stop the smile that hits my face. She might have chosen the outfit, but I gave her the means to obtain it. I should not have such a gut reaction to knowing that. I shouldn’t want to hand her my wallet and tell her to buy them in every color. And two in this one so I can rip this one off her.

She did exactly what I asked her to do last night and went straight home. I know because I followed her. I watched as she punched the security number into the gate and stayed to make sure it shut behind her. I went home myself afterwards and poured myself a large drink but no matter how much I drank I couldn’t get her or the taste and scent of her out of my head. She followed me into my dreams and by the time I woke up this morning I had made my mind up.

“What are you doing here?”

“Just visiting.” I run my finger up her bare skin to where she’s still wearing the choker with the ‘R’ hanging from it. “At least, that’s what I told your mother.”

“Mom?”

“She told me to come up here and get you,” I pause just long enough, “for breakfast.”

I use my fingertips to circle the little strip of material.

“Breakfast’s done.”

“O…okay. I’ll…I’ll be down in a moment; I have to dress.”

“So.” My fingers brush against her cheek, my eyes taking in the circles forming under her eyes. My naughty little girl didn’t get much sleep last night.

“I have to get dressed, Ren.”

“Don’t feign shyness now, Princess.”

“Ren, mom, she’s right downstairs.”

“Mm, that is the problem isn’t it.” And I’m a man who knows how to fix a problem. It’s what makes me so good at the businesses I run. “You didn’t sleep well last night, did you, Estella?”

“What?”

She tries to pull away from me, but I grip her by the back of the neck sinking my fingers in her silky hair. I become caught up in the feel of it. Last night might have been rough for Estella but for me, it was… eye-opening. A lot of things started making sense, things I had been fighting for a long time. One of the things I am realizing is that I don’t like it when she pulls away from me. I don’t like that shit at all.

“Estella,” I pull her close, so we are practically nose to nose, “don’t ever pull away from me. It…does something to me that won’t lead to what you want it to.”

“Get dressed, sweetheart, and come down to eat.”

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