The Initiation (Darkness Within Duet 1)

Turning off his cell phone, he climbed out of his car, locking it. He didn’t go to the front door. Instead, he walked to the side of her house, and began the walk up to her window. It was locked, and he gave it a tap. The curtains were drawn.

She didn’t keep him waiting long. He saluted her, and she pulled the window up.

“What are you doing?”

“I wasn’t going to start shit with your dad, not yet. Are you okay?”

He climbed through the window, stood and tilted her head up so that he could get a better look at her face.

“It’s fine. Really.”

There was a bruise on her face, and he gritted his teeth. The son of a bitch had died early. “I’m so sorry we got there too late.”

“It wasn’t too late.”

“He hit you.”

“He wanted to do a hell of a lot more. You saved me.” She wrapped her arms around his back and pressed her head against his chest.

Cupping the back of her head, he breathed in the scent of her. He’d not taken the time to just hold her, not yet, not really.

“I missed you,” she said. “Jett kept me company until an hour ago.”

“I know. I got his text. Have you made a decision yet?” The threat posed from his father was a real one. He didn’t know how long he’d be able to keep him at bay. They needed to move quickly, as otherwise he’d lose her.

“It’s a lot to take in. I need a little more time.”

He twirled her hair around his fingers. She pulled away, and he stared into her eyes.

She licked her lips. “Don’t I owe you something?”

“You want to pay up?”

“There’s no time like the present.”

He chuckled. “I’m going to shower first. I’ll be back.”

Pulling away from her, he entered her bathroom and took a quick look at his appearance. He looked a fucking mess, no doubt about it. His hair was all over the place, and his clothes were covered in dirt. Stripping down, he stepped beneath the cold spray of the water.

He had no doubt one day he’d be following in his father’s footsteps. He was a Barries, and with it came a shitload of responsibility.

Memories of what his father did, starting with the girl he knocked up and fed her drugs until she killed herself, filled his mind. At eighteen, he’d seen a lot of bad shit. Auctions with women and kids. Even men and boys. He’d watched them be put up for sale, even witnessed them being used. All in the name of business.

Not one of them was given money for the use of the body and lives.

His life had been filled with so much blood. He’d witnessed his first murder at age five. One of the nannies that had been assigned to him over the years was stealing from the safe. She’d been caught, and as she played tea parties with him, his father had walked up and shot her in the head.

He’d watched dogs trained to savage people, their flesh being pulled, tugged, and yanked from their bones without a care in the world. Alan liked to also drown people. There was a well on their land, out near the forest. He’d strap men and women to it, and dunk them under until he got bored and leave them to rot.

Each memory served to reinforce his manhood.

Alan Barries wanted a son who could take over, a monster. Someone ready to do whatever it took to get the job done.

He used Harper’s soap. The scent of her helped to rid him of the memories of all he’d done. Once he could no longer stand the spray of the water, he climbed out, wrapped a towel around his waist, and entered his bedroom.

Harper sat on the edge of the bed. She wore these cute shorts and a crop shirt. The buds of her nipples pressed against the front, making him want nothing more than to suck on them.

She stood up, and he stepped right up close to her.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine.” He teased her hip, sliding his fingers beneath her shirt, touching her flesh.

“Draven.”

“I will never do anything you don’t want me to do. I won’t hurt you. I’ll always take care of you.” With his other hand, he placed a finger beneath her chin, tilting her head back to look at him. “But I need to kiss you. To feel you against me.”

She nodded.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he groaned. Her sweet tits crushed against his chest. He wanted her so fucking badly, he could taste it.

“You drive me crazy, you know that?”

She shook her head.

“I think about getting you naked, sliding your legs open, and fucking you. I want to take that cherry, Harper. To make it mine.”

He captured her lips once again, and she moaned his name. He silenced her, moving her back to the bed until she had no choice but to fall back. Draven slid his knees between her thighs, opening her up to him. She didn’t fight him, kissing him back as he pushed her shirt up.