Page 19 of Don’t Break My Heart (Secrets of Ravens Hollow #3)

I take the stairs two at a time, my heart racing frantically. I don’t know where I’m going. All I know is I need to get away from them all. I need to get this grimy feeling off my skin. I sprint into my room and see the pool.

I run right for it, throwing myself deep into the middle.

Water splashes out everywhere. I don’t care if my swimming is still dodgy as fuck.

I need to be cleansed of the terrible, dirty feeling that has crawled under my skin.

I don’t think I will ever be able to rid myself of it.

That fucking piece of shit Emilio, I want to kill him over and over again for the hell he has caused.

Holding my breath for as long as my body will let me, I stay under the water, trying to block out all the horrendous thoughts of what he did to those innocent women, how badly he hurt them and destroyed their lives.

Too many must have died at his hands, and the others would have suffered every day from the evil operation he was orchestrating.

My head whooshes. The water surrounds me, blocking my ears as I start to feel light.

In here there is peace, quiet. Out there is only pain and suffering.

Water moves around me more quickly now, and I feel strong arms wrap around me, tugging at me, pulling me from the water. I don’t fight them, I have none left, my limp body happily being dragged back into the light .

When I glance up, I make out Reef’s blurry face as he drags me to the pool stairs, gripping me so damn tightly his fingers are going to leave bruises on my shoulders.

He huffs out strained breaths, looking down at me through sad, destroyed eyes.

His happiness is gone completely. This world has broken him as well, I can feel it.

“What the fuck, Sloane, are you trying to kill yourself?” His angry words vibrate off the walls, sending shivers over my skin.

My chest aches and my head spins as I stare back at him, blinking away the mix of chlorine and salt from my tears, not able to form a sentence that makes any sense through my struggling breaths. I never considered killing myself, I just wanted it all to stop for once.

He shakes me, his fingers pressed firmly into my shoulders, looking so worried it makes me feel sick all over. What I must look like to him, a total train wreck.

A sob comes from me as I try to find words to explain so he doesn’t think I’m insane. “I have to block it all out, Reef, it’s so fucking awful,” I whimper, reality crashing down on me like a ton of bricks. Heavy and suffocating. What these people are doing is so horrific, I can’t stand it.

He pulls me closer to him, hugging me so tightly I can feel his racing heart under his soaked shirt.

“I know, wildcat. I know.” He kisses me softly and clings to me like both our lives depend on it, because right now, it feels like they do.

I’m giving up on it all, and I wonder if he is as well.

He’s been so quiet since we arrived in Italy, so out of sorts.

I miss his happy side. He was my light in the dark, and now, now I can’t see.

I cling to him on the side of the pool forever.

If nothing else, I have him in this moment, and he feels safe.

When both of our breathing returns to some sort of normal, he carefully helps me up the stairs and out of the pool.

His strong body supports my weak one every step of the way.

He leads me toward the showers and flicks on the waterfall showerhead to warm. Steam fills the air as the water heats.

With delicate strokes over my skin, he carefully removes my bra, unclasping it from behind and sliding it down my arms. Then he drags my panties down my legs and tugs his own shirt off and pants until we’re bare for each other.

He leads me under the warm spray and pulls me back to his solid chest as we stand under the warm shower together.

My beautiful, sweet Reef; this world wasn’t made for him.

He’s too kind, too sensitive to survive it, and maybe I am as well.

Locked up in my little safe bubble at The Raven’s Nest, I could pretend I had all the control and I was making a difference.

But the reality is so much worse than I ever could have imagined.

I run my hands up his hard chest and into his hair as I stare up at him, his haunted green eyes staring right into my soul.

He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Things have to change, we will make sure of it,” he says as if it’s a promise, and I know he’s trying to assure me. “Romeo and Orlando aren’t their papa.”

“So much damage has already been done, so many lives destroyed, and for what? Money, power, the pleasure of evil. It’s disgusting.”

“It is.” He cups my face in his hands as water cascades down all around us. I feel so close to him right now, like he’s the only one who truly gets me. “I will help you make a change; the other boys will as well. This is what Romeo wants too, he just didn’t do very well explaining it to you.”

I offer him a soft smile, knowing it’s a nice fantasy, but the reality is a different story altogether.

I’m not stupid, I know how complicated it will be to bring down an operation that has been running for so long.

My hands run through his hair, and I hang onto his neck, clinging to him.

I never want to let go or leave this shower. In here with him, I am safe.

“I love you, Sloane,” he whispers softly as his lips meet with mine. “Please don’t scare me like that again.”

When we pull back from our kiss, I glance back up at him.

“I love you too, Reef.” My heart aches as I say it because admitting how I really feel hurts, as much as it feels like a weight off my shoulders.

Fear of losing what I have grips me tightly.

What if this gets too much for him and he walks away.

What if one of them is taken from me like Orlando nearly was?

This life is cruel and brutal and wasn’t made for anyone to fall in love, but I have with four of them, and the further I fall, the more fear it instills in me.

I pop up on my toes and press my lips to his again. “Give me an escape, Reef.”

“Anything for you, wildcat.” A small glint of heat registers in his eyes, bringing him back to life.

His lips dust kisses down my neck as his hands slide over my ass.

He tugs me closer to him so I can feel how hard he is for me already.

Then he shuts off the water and finds a couple of plush towels, and we dry ourselves off.

Then ever so sweetly he takes my hand and leads me to my bed.

He pulls back the covers and climbs in beside me, his hands back on me immediately.

He kisses me everywhere— my mouth, then my neck and down my chest— his hands running over my naked body as mine trail over his, and I kiss him back with just as much passion.

Over his chest and neck until I’m sucking on his earlobe.

I can’t get close enough to him even though our bodies are pressed to each other, my leg hooked over his thigh, my tits rubbing against his chest.

He moves us so I’m on top of him, my legs going to either side of his torso as we keep making out. We’re in no rush to get to the grand finale. When we’re together, it’s as if time stands still and all I can do is feel.

I slide my wet pussy over the length of his hard cock, teasing myself as much as I am him. My body shudders already, fresh arousal pooling between my legs and dripping down my thighs.

His hands run over my tits, toying with my nipples as I do it again, sliding my wetness over his cock. My hands running into his hair, I hold him close to me, never wanting to break this kiss.

His fingers dance down my back, finding my hips, and he lifts me, lining me up with his cock as I slide back down onto him, taking all of him in one slow push forward. I moan into his open mouth, his thick cock stretching me deliciously as he moves his hips in slow deliberate circles.

I try to suck in breaths as my head spins, but I can’t pull back from him.

I need his taste on my lips, his scent filling my nostrils and his skin on mine.

Like this I can forget the danger I’m in, the hell happening all around us, even if it’s only for a short time. Reef can take me away from it all.

I rock back and forth, trying to adjust to his size as my pussy begs to be fucked harder.

Fresh arousal coats his cock as I slip up and down.

Like this, his shaft rubs against my clit in the most devious way, every stroke sending tingles over my skin.

I pant and moan into his mouth as my head starts to spin.

His hands come to my tits, massaging them in a way that makes me want to beg for more.

I push my hardened nipples further into his hand, greedy and desperate.

He plucks at them, softly at first, and then he gets rougher, his touch sending waves of pleasure and pain over me.

It’s unbelievable, and I cry into his mouth as my pussy clenches and I cum in a mindfuck of an orgasm.

Groaning and writhing over his cock, I rock my hips like I’m possessed.

I cum over and over again, my clit throbbing, my pussy clenching around his cock as I suck on his tongue.

When I eventually break our kiss and collapse down onto his chest, completely wrecked, he scoops me up. Adjusting his position so he’s sitting up more, he cradles me in his strong arms. Then he really gives it to me. “Your so fucking beautiful like this.”

I can’t respond but so is he. I groan when every rock of his hips hits my clit in the perfect way. I’m so oversensitive it feels like nothing else, like too much and not enough at the same time.

“You like that, wildcat?” His fingers dig into my hips a little more firmly, and he uses the traction to control the pace.

“Fuck yes, Reef,” I cry, as I start to lose control again already.

Sweat drips down my spine, my body trying to deal with his deep thrusts.

This man is a god. A sex god, and I am in heaven.

He blurs as I’m transported to another universe, my pussy spasming around his cock as I cum in a rush, a flood of liquid covering his legs as I continue to convulse in his strong arms.

He lifts me at the waist and deposits me back on the bed, so my back is on the sheets.

He stares down at me, his eyes filled with dark dangerous lust as he takes hold of his cock.

He doesn’t give me a second to catch my breath before he’s back inside of me, filling me so damn deeply with my legs held by the ankle in one of his hands.

He has all the control like this, and I can see how much he’s enjoying it.

He’s so deep and so big, and I’m already gone, floating in a cloud of pleasure and everything Reef.

But I don’t want this to be over. This is the perfect escape, my beautiful Reef fucking me like there is no tomorrow. And I’m here for it.

He thrusts into me savagely, fucking me like an animal, and I cry into the room, gripping onto the sheets for support so he doesn’t knock me off the bed.

Sweat drips down his forehead, and the muscles in his arms bulge with the sheer force he’s using to control my body.

I have never seen him like this before, and I know he needed this just as much as I did.

I stare up at him, feeling something come over me.

An overwhelming sense of completeness. “I love you, Reef,” I gasp out in between ragged breaths.

His green eyes flash with pure fucking pleasure, and he plows into me again, his cock twitching as he fills me with his release.

“I love you too, wildcat.” He collapses down on the bed beside me, pulling me close to him, his hands still roaming over my body everywhere.

His fingers slip between my legs, and he strokes me, spreading his cum all over my pussy.

“Oh God, Reef, I’m not sure I can handle any more.” I gasp when he pushes two fingers inside of me again.

His lips come to my ear, and he bites gently into my lobe. “You need to sleep, wildcat. I’m going to fuck you into the deepest sleep you have ever had.”