“Fuck,” he groans as I bite and lick his skin.

We’re in a frenzy, and when I lean down and capture his cock in my mouth, he bellows loudly. He thrusts his hips, fucking my mouth with force, and I become so wet I can feel my arousal coating my pussy. I need this cock inside me, but first I need more of this pressure. I need more of this rough play. Rainer jerks my hair and fucks my mouth like a mad man, and I reach around, cupping his hard ass and driving my nails into his skin.

“Fuck,” he roars, jerking me back. “Get on your hands and knees.”

I do as he asks, turning over and presenting my ass to him. He hikes my dress up further and then his hand is cupping my ass. He massages the skin there, and before I can think too much further, he’s driving his cock into my warm heat. I’m so wet he slides in with ease. I mewl desperately, clawing the ground as he starts fucking me with the same force he was just using with my mouth. It’s frantic, wild fucking. Our skin is slapping together, and we’re both panting and crying out. It’s intense.

“So tight. So fucking wet,” he bellows, pinching my skin as he holds onto my hips with his fingers.

“Rainer, God, yes,” I squeal, pushing my ass back into him.

“I’m going to come all over that sweet ass. Are you ready for it?”

“Yes,” I pant, feeling my own orgasm. “Yes, yes, yes!”

It hits me and I scream. My hands go out from beneath me and my face hits the floor with a harsh thud. My mind spins, but I’m experiencing so much pleasure I don’t feel the pain. Rainer roars his release and jerks his cock out just in time for hot strands of come to hit my ass. I feel the warmth and I can hear his hand working his cock frantically as he gets it all out.

As we come down from that incredible high, I realize that my face actually hurts. Rainer pulls me up and his hand instantly goes to where I hit the floor, stroking my cheek. “Shit,” he says, pulling me up farther and spinning me around. “That’s going to bruise. Why didn’t you tell me you hit that hard?”

“It was too good,” I admit, groaning in pain as he rubs his hand over my sensitive cheek again.

“Come on. I’m going to get you some ice.”

We both stand, and I straighten my dress while he pulls his shorts up. He runs his fingers through my hair, holding my gaze the entire time, and then he leans down and kisses me long and deep. We’re interrupted when the door opens and Max comes in, followed by Belle and Pippa. I flush and pull back from Rainer, but we’re both panting and there is no doubt about what we were doing in here.

“Jesus, what the fuck did you two just do?” Max says, eyes wide.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Belle giggles.

Max grins at her, and nods to my face. “What happened?” I touch my cheek and flush harder. Max’s eyes get big and flash to Rainer’s. “You fucked her so hard you gave her a black eye?”

Rainer grunts. “I didn’t hit her, man. She fell forward.”

Belle’s eyes get big now, too, and she starts laughing. “Oh my God, you animals.”

“Excuse me,” Pippa says softly. “I need air.”

She turns and walks out. That was probably an insensitive conversation to have in front of her, but she has to know Rainer and I are doing these kinds of things. I turn to Rainer, but he’s already running out after her. I press my fingers to my bruising cheek. Once again, Pippa comes first.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THEN – MALI

He’s frantic, I can see it, but I don’t know what’s going on. We’re sitting in his room and he’s looking out the window, just staring into the distance as if someone is going to come past and murder him at any second. I reach over and stoke his arm, but he flinches away. Something is definitely wrong. I can see it in his face. He turns and stares at me, but his eyes are empty.

“Rainer?” I try, reaching over and stroking his arm again.

“You need to go, Emalie,” he says, his voice empty.

“But . . .”

“I won’t ask again. You need to go.”

I stand and walk around, stepping in front of him. He doesn’t meet my eyes. I reach down, taking his face in my hands and finally he looks up at me. He’s got an odd expression on his face, and he looks as if he’s trying to fight something. He’s holding back his emotions, I can see that, but I don’t know why. We’ve come this far—why the hell is he trying to push me away now?

“Rainer, you know I’m not going to leave you. I love you.”

He reaches up and takes my wrists, removing them from his face. “You need to go, Emalie. I’m done here. It’s too hard.”

“No, you’re doing it because you’re trying to protect me and I get that, but you can’t—”

“Can’t what?” he bellows, leaping up. “Protect you? Well too fucking bad. Until this is done, I don’t want to see you. If that means I lose you then fine, but you need to go, you need to stop calling me, and you need to leave me the fuck alone.”

“Rainer,” I whisper, hurt rising in my chest.

He steps forward looking into my eyes, his expression fierce. “Emalie, you need to do this for me.”

“But I love you and . . .” My voice trails off.

He cups my face. “And I love you, okay? Fucking so hard. That’s why you have to leave. Let me go. Don’t call. Don’t try and see me. If you love me, you’ll do that for me.”

“Rainer, I’m scared. I don’t want to lose you.”

“Then the best thing you can do for me is go.”

“Please,” I whisper.

He leans down, pressing a kiss to my lips. Then he steps back and looks into my eyes. “I’m giving you a choice. Go and let me deal with this, or stay and watch me walk away.”

“Rainer . . .”

“I’m not waiting for you to make up your mind.”

“I don’t want to lose you!” I cry.

“Then walk out that door.”

I step back, my hands shaking. He meets my eyes and I can see he’s serious, dead serious. Tears tumble down my cheeks as I take in the eyes of the man I love. He’s beautiful, and I want him to stay that way, but if me being in his life right now is putting him in danger, then I’ll do what he says. I’ll walk away.

“I love you,” I whisper.

“I love you too, kid.”

Then I step forward, kissing his lips softly before turning and walking out the door.

My heart is breaking.

~*~*~*~

It’s been twelve days.

He’s not back.

He hasn’t been to the house, he hasn’t called—he has just disappeared. He asked me to stay away, to not call him, but today I tried. His phone is disconnected. Unable to take it anymore, I call the police. They went around to his house, but found nothing. They said unless they had solid evidence, they couldn’t track him. As far as they are concerned, he’s just a young boy who has run off.

Rainer wouldn’t do that to me.

He wouldn’t just leave.

Would he?

~*~*~*~

Twenty-one days.

It feels so long.

I barely get out of bed most days. I just stare out my window, waiting for him to return. I go over our last conversation in my mind, and all it does is bring pain to my heart. The bracelet hanging around my wrist is the only thing I have left of him. I don’t eat. I don’t sleep. I’m barely hanging on. My parents are worried, but not enough to do anything about it. It’s just a broken heart, they say. She’ll get over it, they say.