Page 17

ALLURE

Steam curled around me like a soft exhale as I stood under the rainfall shower head, letting the hot water beat down on my skin.

The shower floor was heated and my nostrils opened at the scent of eucalyptus drifting up from the soap I lathered between my fingers.

My body was still catching up to what my mind already knew.

I was free.

Not in a dream. Not in a fantasy I’d conjured while staring out a window or folding laundry for Boaz. This was real. The ache in my feet from walking through the club. The weight of Riot’s hand on my skin. The heat of the water as it traced every curve of my body. All real.

And yet… I still didn’t know how to feel.

My hand rose to my chest, just over my heart. It was beating steady but hard, like it was trying to break out. For the first time in ten years, I didn’t have to cook for anyone. I didn’t have to bathe anyone else. I didn’t have to serve or smile or bow my head. I didn’t have to answer to Virgin .

I wasn’t his.

I was mine.

Tears slipped down my cheeks before I realized I was crying. They mixed with the water, slid down my neck and over my breasts, disappearing into the drain. My knees weakened, and I leaned my forehead against the cool tile.

So many years. So much stolen. And now?

Now I had no idea what came next.

I wanted to find my family. I needed to see my father and mother. I needed to know if the people who loved me even remembered me—if they still wanted me.

Would they recognize me after everything?

Would I recognize myself?

I closed my eyes, grounding myself in the now. The sound of the water. The heat pressing against my muscles. The faint scent of him in the air.

Riot was everything Boaz wasn’t. Warm where Boaz was cold. Gentle where Boaz had been violent. Protective without being possessive. And then there was his body—hard muscle under smooth skin, a mouth that was gleaming, and that voice? It unraveled me in places I didn’t know I had.

He hadn’t even touched me like that… and yet, I could feel my body responding to him. Every glance, every quiet command—it made me ache.

I shouldn’t want him.

Not now. Not when I was still figuring out who I was. But want wasn’t logical. It was instinctual. And something about Riot felt like gravity.

I took my time washing every inch of my skin—washing off years of obedience, of trauma, of being touched only by duty. I wasn’t rushing this.

By the time I stepped out and wrapped myself in a thick towel, I felt lighter.

Still healing.

But no longer caged.

And for the first time since I was sixteen…

I felt alive.

My thoughts were swirling in my head. This was the first time in years where I was walking through a place without fear or stress. I followed the scent of breakfast food to a vast kitchen.

Riot was already seated at the kitchen island, tapping something into his phone. When he looked up, his smile was immediate.

“There she is,” he said, nodding toward the stool across from him. “I was about to come get you.”

“This house is so huge, you should’ve left a breadcrumb trail so that I could find you.” I joked.

“You’ll get used to it. I’ll give you a full tour after we eat,” he pointed at the seat across from, nudging me to sit.

He pushed a plate in front of me. French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Next to it, a glass of orange-tinted bubbles sparkled under the overhead light.

“A mimosa?” I lifted a brow.

“Of course,” he said with a smirk. “Welcome to freedom.”

I sat slowly, eyes bouncing between him and the plate. “Madeira did a great job.”

“Yeah, she’s a beast. I arranged it though.”

I picked up my fork, laughing softly. “Yeah. Very symmetrical.”

“Thank you. You ain’t never gonna meet a nigga that can arrange some french toast like me” he said, watching me take the first bite. “That good?”

I nodded, mouth full, holding in a laugh. “Mm-hmm. It’s soooo good. This is the first meal, I’ve had in years that I didn’t have to cook.”

“Damn he worked you like a slave, huh.”

“Yeah,” I glanced to the side.

“Listen, if the cancer don’t get to him before I can, I’m killing that nigga for what he did to you,” he spoke.

“Honestly, I want to be the one to pull the trigger.”

“Of course,” he replied.

“Why are you doing this for me?” I asked looking him in his eyes. The attraction between us was undeniable but I couldn’t understand why he would help me out.

“One, you captured me that day by the pool. You got a rare essence and I want to protect. No, I need to protect. Two, man, my brother got me on some kill the predators shit. It’s a long story but I feel like it helps me bring balance back to this cruel world.

He started killing pedophiles, then I joined in.

I just can’t stand to see women and children taken advantage of. ”

His words were sincere but something told me there was more to it than that. I could tell there was something more in his heart that he was fighting to fill.

“I wish there was some way I could repay you. I had no plan last night but I knew that I needed to get away from Irina.”

“Perhaps it was fate. It was fate that I was even there. I was coming for you and those girls either way. I was in plotting mode but you got out before I could get to you. And speaking of Irina, she is freaking out. My cousin Rollo called me this morning to tell me.”

“I feel bad about that but I can’t live my life as a slave so that she won’t get in trouble with her father.”

“Exactly. She’ll be aight,” he reassured me.

My eyes searched his face. The quiet promise behind his words made my chest ache in a way I didn’t know how to explain. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t just attraction—though there was plenty of that. It was something like trust. Like gravity.

“So, where’s Madeira?”

“She’s out back. Supervising the team that comes to feed the animals.”

My stomach tightened. “I forgot you were the animal dealer.”

“I’m so much more baby girl,” he said, catching my tone.

“Oh, I can feel that.”

I didn’t like that he kept exotic animals. Nothing wild deserved to be caged but now wasn’t the time to bring that up.

Our eyes lingered on one another for what seemed like a lifetime. It was awkward but also fiery. Shit, what am I doing? I can’t be falling for some guy. I was just a slave.

We finished breakfast, and got to know each other better. When were done he stood and gestured toward the back doors.

We walked down a stone path that led through lush gardens and into a wide, enclosed area with sprawling greenery. It was hard to believe we were still in Jersey. Beyond the fencing, I heard birds screeching and the low growl of something big.

He walked beside me, hands in his pockets, his voice casual but firm.

“I’ve got a couple white tigers, some exotic birds, a chimpanzee, and a rescued python.”

We reached the tiger enclosure first. A white tiger lounged beneath a tree, tail flicking slowly.

“He’s… beautiful,” I whispered.

“That’s Ghost,” Riot said. “Raised him since he was a cub. He’s still mean as hell, but he respects me.”

“He’s beautiful,” I murmured, inching closer to the glass. “Does he bite?”

“Of course, it’s a damn tiger,” he laughed

I laughed, “I don’t know what I was thinking with that question. I feel like there’s so much I don’t know though. So much I haven’t seen.”

“Yeah, you’ve never seen a lot,” he said softly.

I turned to him, catching something in his eyes. A kind of quiet anger. Not at me—but for me. For what I’d endured. I swallowed.

“You grew up with all this?”

He nodded. “Kind of…” He paused. “It’s complicated. My father was smart, but violent, powerful and sick in the head.”

I didn’t push, just listened.

“We’re cleaning up our business though. We have one foot in the underworld and another out.” he continued. “We’re building out our legal legacy now that our father is gone.”

“I still don’t know what happens next,” I admitted. “Part of me wants to run to my family. Another part doesn’t even know where they are. What if I go back and they don’t want me? What if I’m not… the girl they lost?”

“You don’t have to figure it all out right now,” he said. “You just need time. And a little peace.”

“Peace feels unfamiliar.”

“It shouldn’t.”

He stepped a little closer, his voice lower now. “Let me show you what it looks like.”

I met his eyes.

And for the first time, I didn’t flinch at the idea of needing someone.

Because maybe I didn’t just want to survive anymore.

Maybe I wanted to live.

And maybe… that started with him.

“I’d like to talk to them though. Can I use your computer?”

“Yeah. I gotta go to the city later. I’ll pick up a phone for you while I’m out. And if you tell me your size, I’ll get some clothes and shoes.”

“You’re gonna pick out clothes and shoes?” I looked at him skeptically.

“My buyer will.”

“Anything else you need?” he asked, voice quiet.

I hesitated. The truth was caught somewhere between my ribs.

“Time,” I said. “And space. To figure out who I am now.”

His eyes held mine, dark and unwavering. “You’ll have both. As long as you’re here, you call the shots. Nobody owns you. Nobody touches you unless you want them to.”

That last part?

It landed deep.

And I saw the way he looked at me after that—slow, intense, like he was reading every thought I hadn’t said aloud.

He took a step closer, just one, but it made everything in me burn. My heart pounded in my chest as his hand lifted to brush a stray curl from my face. His fingers grazed my cheek, light as a whisper, but it was enough to send heat spiraling through my core.

My lips parted. His eyes dropped to my mouth.

The space between us vanished.

I could feel the warmth of him now, the tension that lived beneath his calm exterior. He tilted his head, just a fraction, and I felt his breath against my cheek. I closed my eyes, heart pounding, waiting?—

“Riot!” Madeira’s voice rang out from the patio door. “You’ve got a call. It’s Creed. Says it’s urgent.”

I jerked back, breath shaky.

Riot blinked, jaw flexing slightly as he turned toward the sound. “Yeah,” he called out. “I’m coming.”

He looked at me once more, like he didn’t want to leave. Like maybe the world could wait just a little longer.

But it couldn’t. Not yet.

He gave me a small nod, one that felt like a promise. Then he turned and walked back toward the house, his broad shoulders pulling the sun with him.

I exhaled the kiss that didn’t happen, lips still tingling, fingers still twitching with want.

One day, I told myself.

One day soon.