It could have been so perfect. I was already marrying her, for hell’s sakes. It was like destiny had surrounded us both, herding us to the altar and a future together, even though it wasn’t what either of us wanted. Had wanted at the time.

  We would have gotten married and just stayed that way. Had babies. Watched them grow. Snuggled our own grandchildren someday. Watched age spots form, gray hair replace our natural color.

  Now?

  I slowed, breathing hard, a stitch pinching at my side.

  Now, we could still have that. Maybe a little soiled by the video, but it was nothing that couldn’t fade away.

  I looked around, trying to orient myself and realized I was close to Rhett Hamilton’s building. I needed to talk to someone. Maybe I could talk to him.

  His doorman was there immediately to offer a polite welcome and discretely called up to announce my presence. Within seconds, the elevator was called, and I was soaring to my boss’s penthouse.

  Maybe this wasn’t smart, mixing business with personal. But hell, everything that was happening to me affected the Beasts… and my parents’ corporation.

  Rhett was already at the door when the elevator opened, two drinks in his hand. He handed me one without a word, and I tossed it back. He grinned and handed me his. I tossed that one down too.

  “Sit.”

  Taking both glasses, he went back to the bar while I sank down into one of the white leather club chairs sprinkled around the enormous room. Most everything was various shades of white, I realized. The floor, furniture, walls. It should have felt stark and clinical, but didn’t.

  “I’d ask if you’re okay, but I can see that you’re not,” he said and took a seat in a chair across from me.

  I sipped at this one; the alcohol of the others had already gone to my head. I didn’t drink a lot. I needed to stay focused, and alcohol made everything blur. But blurry would be good right about now.

  “Still processing,” I told him honestly.

  “I’m sure. It’s a great deal to take in.”

  “And I’m also sorry for bringing all this shit onto the team.”

  Rhett laughed. “Son, we’ve had shit smeared all over us before.”

  “I know, but this is more than a little wild partying and too many women, this is…” I didn’t even know how to finish the word.

  Seemed like I didn’t need to, he simply nodded. “It’s ugly. What was done to your girlfriend—”

  “Fiancée,” I corrected him, feeling an intense need to make my relationship with her clear.

  He smiled. “Right. Fiancée. What was done to her was irreprehensible. My understanding from Katrina is that the man was a college boyfriend and she didn’t know she was being filmed.”

  I nodded. “Correct.”

  “I can’t even imagine her shock. Or yours.” He eyed me carefully. “I’d imagine you’re feeling about a million different emotions right now, and you’re not sure which one to land on.”

  I lifted my glass. “You’d be right.”

  Rhett exhaled a long breath and took another sip of his scotch. “I’ve escaped the altar a couple of times, once by the skin of my teeth. Don’t know that I’ll ever be the marrying kind. Don’t know if there’s a woman out there who could stand me long enough to find out.” He lifted a shoulder. “But I’m envious of what you men have. Calvin, Ace, Todd, and the rest. Now you.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’ve still not figured you out.”

  “What’s there to figure?”

  “I know your background. I know who your family is, yet you work hard every day on the field. Not that I’m complaining. That’s what I’m paying you for. That’s why I chose you, but you have to admit it’s a contradiction.”

  I nodded. “I guess it is.”

  “It’s also a contradiction for you to be fucking a porn queen one week and engaged the next, to a sweet, wholesome young thing to beat it all.”

  Smiling, I thought of freckles and sweet tea.

  “It’s a contradiction that you’ve known a woman for a couple weeks, yet you look like a love-struck fool right now.”

  “So, are you saying I’m completely fucked in the head?”

  He chuckled. “No, I’m not saying that at all. Love is messy. People are messy. And you need to know one thing. Whatever you decide to do, I’ll support you. Understand? If you think this girl is the one, then you bring her to the game tomorrow, and everyone on our team and staff will help protect her. You don’t let her hide away, you hear me? She wasn’t doing anything you or I haven’t done a thousand times. She just happened to be with a pig who is now probably cashing in on the news that she’s connected to you.”

  “Yes, I thought about that.”

  “Don’t be surprised if you don’t get some type of phone call or email saying they’ll destroy any other tapes for a million dollars or some shit.”

  I puffed out a disgusted laugh. “Every now and again, I think about having a family and worry that some asshole would steal my kid for a ransom. It never even crossed my mind that I’d need to pay a ransom for something like this.”

  “And it might not happen, just don’t be surprised. You getting the cops involved?”

  “Private investigators for now.”

  Rhett nodded. “That’s good. Track that bastard down and hang him up by the balls.”

  I rose to my feet, feeling steadier after our talk. “Will do.”

  “I’ll talk to Katrina. What’s happened to your fiancée has happened to a lot of young ladies. I remember reading about some laws that are being passed to stop revenge porn, I think they called it. It would require website and search engines to take those things down if requested. It’s a long way from solving the problem, but the subject is getting a lot of attention.”

  Revenge porn. For some reason, the name itself made me uneasy. I liked the idea of simple greed better than revenge.

  “Maybe what happened to… sorry, what’s your girl’s name?”

  “Eliana.”

  “Pretty name. Maybe through the Beasts’ PR machine, we can bring attention to revenge porn. The connection might help people have more sympathy toward Eliana, or at least not so much high-and-mighty hate. There will still be trolls, can’t avoid those, but maybe normal people will see the truth behind what happened.” Rhett looked far away in his thoughts. “Hell, I’m seeing a commercial out of this.”

  I shook my head. “Does your business mind never quit?”

  He chuckled. “Never. But think about it. There’s more than one way to rape a woman. Every eye that lands on that video is a rape, a violation. If we, through a commercial, could stop people from clicking, then it might reduce the number of uploads. Or at least help.”

  More than one way to rape a woman.

  Rhett was right.

  That Winston asshole had almost raped Eliana once, although I’d never asked her about what happened. And now… two million prying eyes. The letches. The predators. The curious.

  And where was I right now?

  I know where I wasn’t. I wasn’t holding her, reassuring her that it was alright.

  Punching the elevator down button, I felt an urgent need to go, to get back to her now.

  “Thanks, Rhett. This has been a big help.”

  “Anytime, Kane. Go take care of Eliana.”

  The doors slid opened, and I jumped in.

  “Don’t worry, sir. I will.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Eliana

  After the door closed behind Kane, and after I was able to lift myself up off the floor, I stripped with the motions of a robot and stepped under the hot water, turning my face to the stream. Pouring shampoo in my hand, I washed my hair and scrubbed my scalp, wishing I could open up my head and scrub my brain too, washing the memories of the past few hours away.

  I stayed there until the water turned cold and I was shivering. Stepping out, I dried off and pulled on a robe, wrapping my hair in a towel. At the door, I hesitated, unsure what I should do next.

  Maybe I should just go.

  I didn’t have many possessions anymore so it would be easy to pack up what I had. I could take off Kane’s grandmother’s ring and walk away from this ridiculous agreement. What had we been thinking anyway? Marrying after only two weeks of knowing each other, to make someone else happy?

  But I’d been happy too.

  Absurdly happy.

  Like maybe-this-might-actually-work-forever-and-ever kind of happy.

  Then a virtual bomb dropped. I still couldn’t wrap my head around it.

  Why now?

  It had been well over a year since I’d seen Brett Southerland. No email. No Twitter message. No text.

  We hadn’t even parted in a horrible way. Sure, I’d been hurt when I learned he was screwing a cheerleader, but I hadn’t been in love with him, so it hadn’t been hard to walk away. There hadn’t been a fight. No big drama.

  Now this?

  Why?

  Why the fucking why?

  Feeling numb, not from the cold water, but from what I needed to do next, I stepped out of the bathroom and headed to the closet, pulling out a suitcase Kane’s mother purchased for me.

  With trembling fingers, I packed my things, including Kane’s Beasts t-shirt I loved to wear. It would be my reminder, something I could hold on to during the lonely nights I foresaw in my future.

  I jumped as the bedroom door knob turned and Kane stepped inside. He looked from me to the suitcase, then back at me. “What are you doing?”

  I mustered up a smile. “Getting out of your hair. I really appreciate you letting me stay with you after the fire. It was—”

  He stepped closer. “Why?”

  “Because it’s time. I’ve embarrassed you and your family enough.” I looked down at my hand, at his sweet grandmother’s ring. With a savage yank, I pulled it off, the skin of my knuckle singing as I did so. I held it out. “Here.”

  He didn’t move.

  Emotion pricked the back of my eyes. “Kane, please. Take it. This is for the best. Once I’m gone, you’ll be relieved.”

  He still didn’t move, so I turned and set the ring on his nightstand before zipping the suitcase shut.

  “You’re just leaving?” he asked. “Like that?”

  Picking up the suitcase and my purse, I stepped toward the door. He stepped to the side, blocking my path.

  “Kane, please.”

  The corners of his lips twitched. “No, I can’t let you go this way.”

  I heaved out a sigh. “Why? I promise, it’s better to make it quick. You’ll see.”

  He took a step in my direction, then another until he was in front of me. He took the suitcase from my hand and set it down. Then he reached for my head and… crap. I’d completely forgotten that there was a towel still up there.

  Chuckling, he unwound it, tossing it to the floor, and pushed my hair back from my face. “See, I couldn’t let you go like that, or…” His fingers opened the tie of my robe. In a fluid movement, the sleeves were falling down my arms to land in a puddle on the floor. “Ever.”

  Naked, I stood before him. Raw and vulnerable, but full of trust. Hope. And surprisingly, desire. It was good to know that I wasn’t so broken that I couldn’t feel.

  He kissed my forehead, my cheek, my nose. I lifted my face, and he kissed my lips.

  “Are you sure?” I whispered, needing him to not only be doing this for me, but also for him. I didn’t want to be anyone’s pity fuck. “You don’t have to—”

  He kissed my protests away, plunging his tongue deep into my mouth, taking me, branding me to him.

  I gladly accepted and gave in return, wrapping myself around his body as he lifted me. When my back pressed into the mattress, I took his weight as he followed me down, our lips never parting.

  Fighting his shirt, I pulled it up his back so I could touch his skin, feel his life under my fingers. He moved away but only long enough to remove his clothes, then he was back, and I was kissing him with all the passion and pain inside me.

  “Need you.”

  He lifted up, looking down at me, green eyes blazing. “I need you too.”

  When he moved off the bed, I groaned but was distracted by his gorgeous body walking to the dresser to retrieve a new box of condoms.

  When he was next to the bed again, I rolled up to a sitting position and scooted to the edge. Before he could roll a condom on, I reached for his cock, wrapping my fingers around his shaft.

  He groaned, and I slid closer, taking him into my mouth. His hands fisted into my hair as he controlled the speed and depth. I let him. I would let him do anything he wished, I realized, then froze… I was in this exact same position in the second video.

  A sob escaped, and I backed away, crab-walking across the mattress until my back was against the headboard.

  Kane followed, pulling me into his arms. “Eliana, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry. I was… it’s just that I was doing that in the…”

  “Fuck. I understand. Do you want to talk about it?”

  I laughed softly. “A guy who actually wants to talk?”

  He nuzzled my neck. “I’d rather be fucking you…”

  “Hard,” we said together, and I felt myself relax.

  “Yeah, that. But if you want to talk, I’ll listen. It will be good practice for when I’m in a boardroom, trying to pay attention to a bunch of suited-up blowhards.”

  “Blowhards, huh? Do you think I should try to blow you hard? You know, push past my current mental limitations?”

  He kissed the top of my head. “Is that what you want?”

  I gave it some thought and realized I did. Too often in my life, I’d ignored or turned away from the things that hurt me or made me uncomfortable. Now, I wanted to face them.

  With him.

  “Yes, it’s exactly what I want.”

  He smiled and rolled onto his back. “Then take it.”

  Pushing thoughts of everything aside, I focused only on Kane and leaned over to kiss him, my hand moving to his cock. He pulsed and began to fill again, the blood coursing under my fingers.

  Kissing down his body, I paid attention to each crevice, tracing them with my tongue. I tasted the salt from his sweat, smelled the musk of his exertions from the day. It was sexy, and I wanted more.

  His cock twitched in anticipation when I reached it, but I bypassed it to tongue and stroke his balls. Kane cursed, so I did it again, taking one in my mouth then the other. When I was done, I traced the thick vein of his shaft to the tip.

  Feeling in complete control, I licked the pre-cum leaking there before taking him into my mouth. Wanting more, I engulfed him, felt him sliding into my throat. His hand moved into my hair, holding me there for a few seconds, not that I wanted to be released.

  Looking up, I met his eyes as I made love to him with my mouth. He pulled my hair harder, forcing my head back until he popped from my lips. Wrapping his hands around my arms, he pulled me up his body until our mouths connected, his hard cock trapped between us.

  “Fuck me, Eliana. Show me how much you want me.”

  Cupping both sides of his face in my hands, I kissed him again before reaching for a condom next to the bed. I rolled it on slowly, wishing we didn’t have this barrier between us. Wishing I could feel his skin inside me as I rode him, his cum fill me, one day make a baby.

  Sinking down on him slowly, I felt every inch invade. When I was fully seated, we linked fingers as I ground back and forth, leaning forward so that my clit pressed on his pubic bone. Perfect.

  “You like that?” he asked. “You like riding me? Like being in control?”

  Rocking on him, I answered honestly. “I like everything we do together.”

  “Touch yourself,” he ordered and let go of one of my hands. Leaning back, I did. My eyes rolled back as my fingers circled my clit. Within seconds, I was crying out in a powerful orgasm.

  Grinning, he flipped us until I was on my back, my knees over his shoulders as he sheathed his cock in a powerful thrust, reaching the end of me in one forceful lunge.

  I wailed, but he didn’t stop. “It’s my turn to ride. I’m going to fuck you so good, Eliana. Make you forget everything else but me.”

  Reaching up, I took his face in my hands, feeling the stubble of his beard under my palms. “Only you,” I promised. “It’s only you.”

  He growled and pulled out until only his tip held me open. I braced myself for the impact I knew was coming.

  “Tell me you want this.”

  His eyes were greener than I’d seen them yet. “I want this,” I told him, whimpering the words. “I want you.”

  Our bodies rocked together, my breath leaving me from the force of his invasion. I gulped in air just before his mouth claimed mine with an urgency matching the fierce joining of our sex.

  My body coiled tighter as each thrust pushed me toward the edge, but I didn’t let go of his precious face. I watched him watching me. The sweat building on his brow. The tightness of his jaw as he grew closer to his own release. It was all beautiful, and sexy, and… mine. For now.

  “I’m crazy about you,” he grunted, each word in time with a stroke. The words were urgent, broken, as the music of our skin connecting filled the room around us.

  I wanted to say the same, wanted to tell him more, tell him how I felt. That I loved him. But the words refused to leave my throat.

  Instead, I pulled his head back down, trying to show him with my lips what my mouth wasn’t able to say. He kissed me back hard, his teeth scraping down my tongue, tugging my lower lip before he pulled away.

  “I want to see your face when you come.”

  It was as if his words triggered the reaction, and I screamed, my body shuddering, my fingers digging into the only thing I could hold onto. Him. He growled again, plunging harder and faster as my body quaked and shuddered.

  “More,” he said as he fucked me with all the power inside him.

  Yes. More.

  I didn’t want this to stop, even as I shuddered through another mind-altering orgasm that rocked me to my very soul. His mouth was on mine again, devouring as he ripped me apart.