Don

^SEVERAL YEARS AGO^

~Wren heard the knocking on the door. She hurried to open it. Lisa had said she would be there two hours ago.~

~“Thank goodness! I was worri…” Wren covered her mouth to keep the scream in.~

~Lisa stood in the doorway, blood flowing freely from a gaping wound on her side. One eye had been completely gouged out, and the other was almost swollen shut. Her body was bruised, and it was evident she had several broken bones. She coughed, blood splattering all over the door, wall, and Wren.~

~“What happened?” Wren cried, reaching for her phone and immediately dialing nine-one-one.~

~“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”~

~“Please hurry. My friend is dying,” Wren cried as Lisa crumpled onto her chest. Wren held her close as Lisa struggled to speak.~

~“Don…don’t…go…”~

~Wren watched as Lisa’s body went limp, and she knew there was nothing she could do to save her friend.~

~She took Lisa’s hand, taking the note from her friend’s lifeless fingers.~

See what happens when you defy me.

You are next.

~Wren covered her mouth and held on to her friend. It no longer mattered what Don did to her. She had nothing left.~

^PRESENT^

Wren shot up in bed, still screaming.

“Wren! Wren? Are you all right in there?”

Wren could hear Talon’s voice through the door. She scrambled to open it, throwing herself into his arms before he could enter the room.

Talon stroked her hair as he lifted her off the floor.

He quickly entered the room. He hoped they did not have an audience.

Her scream could have woken the dead. He was not leaving until morning.

He gently set her on the bed as she continued to sob in his arms.

“Talk to me, honey,” he said.

“He—he—he killed her!” she sobbed. “He killed her because of me.”

“Shh. It is okay. He cannot hurt you or anyone else,” he said.

“But I killed her,” Wren sobbed. “If she had not helped me, she would still be alive.”

Wren asked the question she had wanted to ask him since the night he had told her he loved her.

“How can you not hate me?”

“Why would I hate you? You cannot change what happened to you. I am sure your friend had no regrets when she died.”

“How do you know that?” Wren tried to stop the tears that were flowing freely.

“Because if she had, she would have handed you over to that monster.”

“I cannot accept this part of me.”

“I know.”

“How can you?”

Talon was quiet for a moment.

He knew she was obsessed with this, but to him, it was such a trivial thing.

He had taken people’s lives.

His sins were so much larger than hers, and yet she accepted them because they were a part of him.

“Because I accept you,” he told her. “And I will continue to accept you and walk beside you as you learn to accept this part of you.”

“Oh hell…” Wren reached up and pulled his head down, immediately slipping her tongue into his mouth.

She needed to taste him and know he was there and not just another dream she would wake up from.

Talon wasted no time, sliding his hand around one breast as his other hand slid between her legs.

“Honey…are you sure?”

“Oh yeah. I am sure.” Wren scrambled up and straddled him, pressing against him. “Make love to me, Talon.”

Talon could not refuse such a blatant invitation as he watched her pull her nightie off, leaving only the red string thong he dreamed about nightly.

“As my lady wishes,” he murmured as he took her down to the mattress and kissed her soundly.

He slid his hand over her smooth skin, memorizing the feel of it beneath his fingertips.

Her body was hot to the touch, and her skin soft.

He wasted no time, sliding one and then two fingers into her already slick core as he continued to explore her mouth with his.

Wren reached down and pushed Talon’s sweats down off his hips, freeing his cock from its confinement, sliding her hand down his length.

He was smooth and felt so good against her hand.

“Sorry, honey, I will take it slower next round, but right now I need to be in you,” Talon growled, his cock tingling where her hand was wrapped around him.

The urge to sink into her was becoming stronger and stronger.

“Talon? What is…”

Talon slid into her heat in one fluid motion.

“Hold on, this might get rough,” he said.

He pulled out and pushed back in as the tingling spread from his cock to the rest of his body.

He felt her body answering his.

Her hair began to stand on end, and her body glowed as if surrounded by white lightning.

He felt his orgasm hit as she tightened around him, blacking out from the sheer pleasure.

Wren felt Talon enter her, and she tightened her hold on him as her body started to tingle from head to toe, radiating from her core.

She watched Talon’s eyes glow, and fire engulfed his body.

Her own body cradled him as her orgasm hit, and she knew no more.

***

The next day was mad chaos as Wren helped her sister prepare in the morning.

When it was time, she watched her walk down the aisle before slipping into the back row to watch the ceremony.

They had not planned on her being here, so she felt no shame in sitting in the back.

She wished her brother were there, but he had moved overseas and was not able to make it home.

She missed him and wished Talon had been able to meet him.

She was sure they would get along.

She stole a glance at him and then blushed, looking away when his eyes met hers.

She had woken that morning in Talon’s arms.

He had smiled so sweetly at her when she had woken him up and then spent the next half an hour making love until she had sobbed his name.

It had been so different from the first time, more intense, more satisfying.

Hours later, she was still feeling the vibrations from her orgasm.

***

The reception followed after, and Wren was expected to stand and give a speech since she was the sister of the bride, after all.

She had tried to get out of it, but it was no use.

It would look bad on her parents if she did not at least act like she was happy to be there.

After she was done, she headed to the back table where Talon sat and collapsed next to him, glad it was over and ready to go home.

No matter how much she wanted to skip the next part of the reception, she could not.

It would be rude, and her family did not do rude.

“Now watch the drinking begin,” she commented dryly.

“What?”

“You will see.”

Over the next hour, he watched as everyone got plastered and could only shake his head at some of the actions of those around him. Her family and friends did not bother them, and the longer they stayed, the more he was glad she was coming home with him.

“There you are, darling,” Wren’s mother approached them, a glass of champagne in her hand.

“You are needed in the kitchen. Clean-up will not do itself.”

“I am sorry. She is not cleaning tonight.” Talon stepped in.

“You”—Claire stepped in close—“stay where you are. This is between me and MY daughter.”

Talon rose from his seat but stopped when Wren’s hand touched his arm.

“Stay here, Talon. I will be right back.”

“Exactly.” Claire turned from Talon and headed for the kitchen.

“Come, Wren. There is much to do.”

Talon sat back down, seething with rage. If Wren did not return in fifteen minutes, he was going in.

***

“Take the trash out back.” Claire gestured to the overflowing trash cans.

“Yes, ma’am.” Wren gathered several of the trash bags and wrangled them out the back door, hearing it click behind her.

“Now, where is the bin?” Wren rounded the corner of the building, catching sight of the trash bin. She distributed the trash and headed back to the kitchen, intent on entering the same door she had exited.

She tried the door handle, but it would not budge.

“Great,” she muttered.

She looked down at her heels and then at the grass. With a sigh, she removed her shoes. Guess she would be taking a walk around the building.

“Hello, ~babe~.”

Chills ran down Wren’s spine at the voice. She slowly turned, staring directly into the face of the one man she had hoped never to see again.

“Hello, Don.”

Don grinned, looking at the woman who had ruined his life. She had lost weight.

“It seems you have already forgotten all of my teachings.” Don’s grin contorted. “It is hello, master.”

“You are ~NOT~ my master.” Wren stood her ground.

She fought against the fear that was crawling up her spine. She would not let it or HIM control her again.

“You are less than scum and not worth the time it takes to walk away from your sick, twisted person.”

She turned away, determined to escape before things got ugly. She knew why he was here. He wanted her head, but she would show him he no longer held any power over her.

Don removed the butcher knife and moved swiftly, coming up behind her, raising the knife to plunge it in her back when he was pulled back and flung fifty feet across the yard.

“I will kill you.”

Wren swiveled at Talon’s words. Don was on the ground. Talon moved in quickly, his daggers ready to remove his head.

Wren did not think before she was moving, drawing her own weapon and blocking Talon’s before they made contact with Don.

Talon jumped back. “What the hell, Wren!”

“No.” Wren stood between the two men, facing the man she loved. “I will not let you kill him.”

Talon looked at her in shock. ~Did she just demand I NOT kill him?~

“Damn it, woman, get over yourself already. The man is a murderer and deserves death. If I had not intervened, ~you~ would be dead!”

Wren came up to Talon. “I will kill him myself before I let you kill him.”

She sheathed her weapons and placed her hands on either side of his head.

“I will not be like King and whoever else you worked for and have you take someone’s life for me. I will ~NOT~ allow you to lower yourself to that level again.”