Page 103 of Vicious Deception

“Oh,fuck.”As the sensations wash over me, I let myself get lost in them—in being completely wrapped up in Rhett. Inus.Nothing can compare to it, especially when he has me collared and he’s looking at me with that possessive heat in his eyes.

Rhett chokes out a groan as cum shoots from his dick. I bite my bottom lip to stifle my whimpers, not wanting to distract Wren. My cum coats the back of my hand, and I slow my strokes on instinct. It’s too much.

“Don’t stop,” Rhett commands me. “Keep going. I know you can take it.”

I do as he says, shuddering at the heightened sensations. I’m so sensitive, and hearing the tightness is his voice and knowing he’s feeling the same things I am only adds to it.

“Rhett,” I rasp, half wondering if I’m going to explode from the overstimulation. “Ahh,ahhh,I don’t think I can—”

His hand covers mine gently as he gives me silent permission to stop. My hand slows, and as my vision clears, I find him smiling up at me.

“You did so well,” he whispers. “I’m proud of you for listening.”

With an exhausted groan, I let myself collapse on top of him and fit my mouth to his. My lips move against his clumsily as I try to express just how much this means to me.

Rhett unhooks the leash and sets it on the bedside table. I’m about to head to the bathroom to clean up, but he pulls me into him.

“Just a few minutes,” he murmurs. “Let me hold you.”

Resting my head on his chest, I let out a content sigh. My hand is all sticky, but I don’t mind if it means I get to cuddle with Rhett for a few minutes.

His fingers trace over my bruises lightly, but he doesn’t pry. At some point, he’ll need to know what happened, but not now.

“You’ll be okay,” he tells me softly, his voice laced with pain and regret. “We’re here for you no matter what, O.”

His gentle assurance dispels the memories that are creeping into my consciousness. I relax into his hold, yet again appreciating the reminder that I’m safe.

Rhett is right. Iwillbe okay. We all will be. It’ll take time, but we have support. And most importantly, we won’t let something like this happen ever again.

Chapter thirty

Elliot

Myhandtravelsupand down Wren’s arm as I watch her chest rise and fall. Getting the message in our group chat that Thomas attacked her was the last thing I expected. It scared the shit out of me. Even now, I have to fight the urge to hunt him down and kill him—not just because he hurt her, but so he never has the chance to again.

But it’s not my call to make, and I don’t think Wren wants to kill her stepfather. Never see him again? Of course. But I don’t think she’ll agree that he deserves to die.

A closed book sits in my lap. I’m not sure how much Wren remembers of the last couple chapters I read. After her breathing evened out, I kept reading, not sure if she was fully asleep yet. I only stopped fifteen minutes ago.

Leaning down carefully, I plant a soft kiss on her forehead. She moans and rolls over to face me, her hand coming to rest on my thigh.

If I still had doubts about Wren, the last couple days would’ve erased them completely. She and Finn worked nonstop to come up with a way to get us out of Ludo’s grasp. If it wasn’t for her, we’d still be locked up—or dead.

Not that I stilldohave doubts about her. I haven’t for a long while. Even in the beginning, my issues were with our lifestyle, not her. I didn’t want to see her get hurt. Even though we failed to protect her, I couldn’t imagine life without Wren.

I’m not sure how we’re going to break it to her what Ludo did to Oliver. Or to me, I suppose. Every time I close my eyes, I see the woman I killed—the one who reminded me of Wren. The second I was able to, I looked her up. She seemed perfectly ordinary, unlike her husband, who used to work for Holloway.

If I had to guess, I’d say Ludo wanted her dead as payback. It looks like her husband betrayed him, and Holloway always gets creative with his punishments. She didn’t seem involved in her husband’s business, and they seemed to love each other a lot. God, I’m just glad they never had kids.

I should’ve found another way.

But deep down, I know there’s no way I could’ve. At that point, I didn’t know I could trust Axel, and we had no way out. But I can’t get around the fact that she’s dead because ofme.I know I didn’t have much of a choice, but I don’t think she’ll ever stop haunting me.

And Wren . . . I know she’ll think it’s her fault. She already does. She’s wrong, but how can we convince her of that? Once guilt takes root, it’s almost impossible to expel it completely.

“It wasn’t your fault, love,” I whisper.

I stay for another fifteen minutes before slowly moving her hand to the mattress. If I could lie down and sleep with her, I would, but I want to check on the boys. We need to figure out what to do for dinner, anyway.

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