Taking Her Innocence (Killer of Kings Book 1) Read online

  “Sorry,” he said, sucking his thumb into his mouth, to get rid of his blood. They stood in the elevator, and he saw how pale she was. “You’ll be safe here.”

  “You have so much security, even more than my family had. It’s kind of … reassuring.”

  “But it scares you?”

  “Doesn’t it you?”

  He placed a hand on her back, wishing there wasn’t any fabric between them. The sudden desire to see her naked, to have her bent over the nearest counter or up against the wall was strong. Gritting his teeth, he controlled his desire, and fortunately the elevator opened. “In my line of work, you realize the risk you take, and you take precautions. If every mercenary was smart, they would have a home exactly like mine.”

  “It’s a dangerous world that you live in.”

  “Kill or be killed. I’d rather be the one that’s doing the killing.”

  “You don’t feel remorse?”

  “Most of the people I killed are bad people.” He kept on walking but she stopped, and he turned to her.

  “I’m not a bad person. I’ve never done anything mean to anyone in my whole life.”

  He saw the tears shining in her eyes, and knew this had to be shock. She was a normal woman, a rich-normal woman. She had never lived the life he had.

  “It’s a greedy man who wants to kill me. How many kinds of people like me have you killed? You know, for the right price?”

  For the first time in his life, Viper didn’t like being judged. She wasn’t judging him, no. All Pepper was doing was asking a simple question.

  “I don’t talk about what I did, or how I did it. Come on, you’re hurting, and I want to see the damage.” He took her hand, and led her toward the bathroom. With her limping, he slowed down so that he didn’t upset her.

  All of his life he’d known pain. That was what he’d been trained to do—to hunt, to kill, and to never ask any questions.

  “Do you own any books?” Pepper asked. “I don’t see any.”

  “No.”

  “Oh, I love books.”

  Of course she did.

  “Let me guess, romance.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with loving a little romance,” she said. “It makes me happy.”

  “Romance is just a bunch of lies.”

  “How would you know? I bet you’ve never even read one.”

  “I’ve never read any book,” he said, entering his large bathroom. He loved luxury, space, and everywhere he went inside his home, there was some kind of weapon within easy reach.

  He lifted her up onto his counter, and she gave a little squeal. After turning on the light, he got a good look at her bruise.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not fine. You’re hurting.” He took hold of her chin and turned it this way and that, muttering under his breath. “That first guy really did a number on you.”

  She touched her face, and winced. “It does hurt.”

  “Yeah, there’s not a lot we can do with your face.” Sliding his fingers down her arm, he stared at where the men had gotten close to injecting her. There wasn’t a single mark on her skin, and for that he was thankful. Just the thought of those animals putting that junk into her veins made him angry. He should have been allowed the time to torture them properly. “They didn’t get to you.”

  “It was close.”

  “I know. I wouldn’t have let them actually put that shit in your veins.”

  “How were you going to kill me then?” she asked.

  “Huh?”

  “You know? I need to die of natural causes. The drug overdose seems natural. A daughter’s guilt over losing her mother, and not being there. How would you have killed me?”

  “I hadn’t thought about that.” He lied. He wasn’t about to tell her that he’d intended to drug her, place her in the bath, and slit her wrists.

  She laughed. “Wow, you were just going to play along or what?”

  “There are ways of killing you that wouldn’t come from an overdose, or a beating, or a mugging. Besides, I have no intention of killing you … now.” He didn’t need her thinking stuff that wasn’t the truth.

  Kneeling down on the floor, he lifted up her skirt and touched her ankle. He’d noticed she was favoring one instead of the other. Running his fingers around her ankle, he heard her wince. If it was broken, she wouldn’t be able to stand on it, so he knew without a doubt that it was sprained. Opening up her sneaker, he slowly eased it off and tossed it aside. “You need to take a shower, and get out of these clothes. If you were on the run, why did you use your own name?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I didn’t know he was chasing after me. I didn’t want to be at home where he was hurting me. I want him to be thrown in jail, and the key tossed into the ocean or something. He killed my mother. Ever since he came into her life, her health declined for no reason. There was a lot more I’ve seen. I just know he did it.”

  Viper released her other sneaker, and tossed that aside. He stood up and pulled off his shirt. “First of all, princess, no one is investigating your mother’s death. It was completely natural. You don’t know that he killed her.”

  “For your information, I caught him feeding her bleach. I watched him do it, and when I tried to stop him, he said no one would believe me. Why are you getting undressed?”

  “You need to shower. It’s getting late. Food and sleep are what I have in mind. You can’t stand on that foot, and right now, I don’t really trust you. I have this feeling that you’re going to be on some kind of mission to get your stepfather thrown in jail. Just a word of warning, everyone is out looking for you, not him.”

  “I want him to suffer,” she said. “He took everything from me.”

  He helped her down off the counter, and began to pull up her dress. She fisted the fabric, and shook her head.

  “You want to stink?” he asked.

  “No one has seen me naked before.”

  Her cheeks were a beautiful shade of red, and he smiled. “I’ve vowed to take care of you, so you’ve got nothing to hide from me.”

  She fought him for another few seconds, and then finally gave up. He liked that she still had that fight inside her. For her to survive he needed to work on her desire to live. He’d already seen up close and personal how she viewed herself, and he found it sad. She was a beautiful woman that believed she wasn’t.

  It hurt him to see how much belief she had that she was a horrible, ugly person, and that simply wasn’t the case. When he looked at her, he only saw beauty, and a strong spirit. She had been hurt, but deep down inside she was a fighter.

  “But I’ll be naked.”

  “So will I. We’ll both be naked together.” He pulled her dress up over her head, and let it fall to the floor. There was some bruising on her ribs, and he assessed the damage. She’d been really lucky. There was nothing broken, but it would hurt for a few weeks. “You’re going to be fine.”

  “How are you going to keep me alive?” she asked. “He’s hired so many people to kill me.”

  “Boss will be taking care of it. Right now, you’re with me, and that’s your best way to stay alive.” He reached behind her and unsnapped the clasp of her bra. Those glorious breasts sprang free. More than anything he wanted to cup those big tits, but instead, he knelt at her feet, and helped remove her panties.

  The fine hairs on her pussy were so light that it looked almost bare. He wanted to taste her, and to have those tears changing to cries of pleasure.

  Not yet.

  He turned on the shower, waiting for the water to run warm.

  Then, picking her up, he carried her to the stall, easing her inside. She winced when she put pressure on her foot. He hated seeing her in pain.

  “Hold onto me,” he said.

  “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

  “I’m going to help you whether you like it or not. Hold onto me now.” He held onto her waist.

  She placed her hands on his shoulders, and he loved it. He
loved her soft curves. Compared to him she was softness and light. For once in his life, he wanted to experience that same kind of feeling, to be soft.

  “This is really weird,” she said.

  “What is?”

  “You’re the first guy that has seen me naked, and I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or not because you’ve left your jeans on.”

  He smiled. “That’s easily dealt with.” Within seconds he was naked. He’d kept his jeans on as he didn’t want her to be embarrassed by his very happy state of being with her. His cock was long and thick. “This is what you do to me. I was hoping to save you any discomfort, but I am very happy to be naked with you in the shower.”

  She gasped, and he chuckled.

  Her gaze went to his face. “But I’m fat.”

  “I think you’re beautiful, and I’m starting to think that fleshy ass of yours needs a good spank. Stop calling yourself shitty names. It’s not very attractive.”

  ****

  Pepper couldn’t believe she was standing in the shower with a man, and he had an erection. His cock was so close that he nearly grazed her stomach with the tip. The pain in her ankle didn’t help her to focus on something else besides his cock.

  This man was a killer. She had to remember that.

  Every time she was in his arms though she felt safe.

  He protected her, even against that woman back at the shitty hotel.

  “Do you bring all the people you need to save here?” she asked.

  “No. This is my place. You’re the first person here.”

  “What about when, you know, you want a woman for the night? Are you married?” Crap, what if he had a girlfriend?

  “I don’t have anyone. All I need is a hard wall when I want a fuck. There are whores, high class and low class, for that.”

  “Oh.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m clean, and I don’t have any diseases. I wear a condom, and after any moment of weakness, I get tested.”

  “So you get hard for any woman?” she asked.

  He spun her around, facing the wall. He placed her hands on the tile, and she watched as he reached for the soap.

  “You think my dick is hard just because you’re a woman?”

  “I—”

  “Don’t start, I don’t want to hear this crap. My dick is hard because I find you very attractive, and if you must know, Pepper, right now, I want to put my dick inside your pussy, and claim that little cherry for my own.” She gasped as his hands landed on her stomach. His hands were covered in soap, and she moaned as he began to stroke her body. “These tits, for instance.” He cupped them with his fingers. “They’re so big, and I just want to see them as you fuck me, see them sway, begging to be sucked. You have large nipples, and I love it when my woman is on the bigger side so I’ve got something to hold onto. I grab these tits as I fuck you hard.” He then pressed her breasts together. “Let’s also think about how good it would be to have my dick sliding right here, with your tongue licking the tip.” He released a groan. “Damn, one day soon I’m going to see how good that looks.”

  She couldn’t believe that she was even listening to this. It was insane, totally, completely insane, yet she couldn’t pull away, nor did she want to. She had known this man a matter of hours, and yet she was attracted to him.

  He let go of her breasts and moved his hands down her stomach, going between her thighs. She cried out as he touched her pussy. His finger slid between her slit, and when she attempted to let go of the tiled wall, he ordered her not to. She couldn’t resist him, even if she wanted to.

  His hands on her body felt so right, and she didn’t want him to stop. Not at all.

  “You’re wet, Pepper.” His lips grazed her neck, and she closed her eyes, loving the way he touched her. “Don’t worry, I won’t pop that little cherry yet, but you and I both know it’s only a matter of time before that becomes mine.” The hand on her hip left her body, and with the sounds coming from him, he was playing with his cock at the same time he pleasured her.

  Two fingers stroked over her clit.

  “No man has ever touched you here?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Good. No man will ever touch you but me. This body, you, it now all belongs to me.” He sucked on the pulse at her neck, creating so much sensation. “You’re so close, aren’t you, baby? So close to making yourself come all over my fingers.”

  “Viper?” She didn’t know what was happening to her or how to control it. She was a little scared, and totally enthralled by his power.

  “Come for me, Pepper. You won’t be judged by me. You need it, and you want it. Let yourself go. Enjoy it.”

  She fisted her hands on the wall, and cried out his name as the pleasure hurtled into an orgasm that she had never felt before. There had been many nights where she touched herself, hoping to find that peak she had read about, only to forever be evaded by it. This was like something else entirely. For a few short seconds, she was taken completely out of her own head, where nothing mattered.

  Behind her, she heard Viper grunt, and something warm landed on her back, and neither of them could speak for several seconds. The pleasure slowly began to fade. Pepper didn’t know what to expect. She didn’t feel guilty, just happy. Water cascaded around them, and Viper pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

  “You sound beautiful when you come,” he said.

  “Is that what you just did?” she asked.

  “Yeah. You didn’t for a second think that I wouldn’t take something for myself?”

  She chuckled. “You’re a man that takes what he wants.”

  “I am, and right now, I want food.” He turned the shower off, and it was like reality set in. This wasn’t a man she had met on normal terms. He was a man she had hired to help save her.

  “Do you think you would have killed me?” she asked.

  She held onto the wall as he left the shower, taking a towel. He dried his scarred and heavily inked body. Never did she think she would fall for such a rough man, and yet, she couldn’t think of anyone else. The boys she grew up with were always pretending to be men. She couldn’t stand them for longer than a few minutes at a time.

  “We’ll never know.” He held the towel against her body, and before she could protest, he was already drying her. She noticed that he kept most of the weight off her foot, and for that, she was grateful. “Are you hungry?”

  In answer, her stomach growled.

  He chuckled. “I’ll get some food going.” He lifted her up and carried her through to his bedroom where he placed her on the bed.

  Within seconds he had on a pair of sweatpants, and handed her a shirt, and a pair of boxer briefs. He helped her change before they went to his kitchen.

  “I can help,” she said when he dumped her in a chair at the counter.

  “Your ankle must be hurting you. I can cook. I’ve been doing it for a long time.”

  “Will you tell me something about yourself?” she asked, curious about this man who had saved her, fingered her, and might have in fact killed her.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “How long have you been like this?” she asked. She ran fingers through her hair, trying to get rid of some of the knots.

  Viper paused, and glanced back at her. “Always.”

  “Always? What does your family think of that?”

  With each word she spoke, he grew tense, the hard line of his back, ramrod straight.

  “I didn’t have any family. This is the life I have always known, and one that you can never escape from. What about you? What is your family like?” he asked.

  “Oh, well, it was fun. Unlike some kids, I didn’t get shipped off to boarding school. I went to a private school instead, which was still really scary now that I think about it. Rich kids school I think some people call it. You don’t have any family?”

  Viper closed the fridge and turned toward her. He was about to speak when his cell phone went off. He picked up
the cell, turning on the speaker on so that she could hear the conversation.

  “I take it you’re at your safe place?” Boss asked.

  She recognized the voice.

  “We’re safe, and she’s alive. She’s bruised, and in a little pain, but other than that, her injuries are not life threatening,” Viper said.

  Her cheeks heated as he looked over at her body. She remembered the feel of his fingers on her pussy in the shower.

  “Good. It would seem her bone-head stepfather put out a worldwide bounty.”

  Viper cursed.

  “What does that mean?” she asked.

  “It means, sweetheart, that unless we kill him, you’re never going to know a moment’s peace.”

  “I want him arrested and thrown in jail,” she said.

  “That’s not how this works. He’s alive, the bounty exists, and there’s always a chance to pay up.”

  “But he can’t pay,” she said.

  “That’s the thing, some people don’t mind getting the deed done, and then collecting the bounty after the fact, Pepper. Your life for their money. It depends on what he has offered, how much he has offered, and what they have been promised.”

  She sat back in the chair, shocked.

  “For Pepper to go back to her way of life, we’ve got to kill him,” Viper said, finally speaking up.

  “Yeah, otherwise they won’t stop coming, and, Pepper, you’re going to live the rest of your life waiting to die,” Boss said.

  “I don’t want that,” she said.

  “Then we kill her stepfather.”

  Chapter Six

  It felt good being on his own territory and not having to look over his shoulder every second. But after three days of lock-down, they were both getting squirrely. It had taken a herculean effort for him to keep his hands to himself, too. He’d been sleeping on the sofa, when he wanted to be in bed with Pepper. It wasn’t easy living with her after he’d seen her naked, and made her come on his fingers. She was so eager and receptive. So fucking soft. Normally he wouldn’t put his needs to the side, but she was different. She was his. Knowing she’d never been with another man only made his claim stronger.

  The sun dipped low on the horizon, the sky morphing into shades of orange and pink. He noticed Pepper standing near the floor to ceiling window in the living room. It was ironic that he lived so high up, only a layer of glass separating him from the massive drop below, because he’d never liked heights. People who knew him swore he was fearless, but he had that one phobia, one he kept to himself.