I rip my ear phones out and look at the bastard who scared me and I look into the handsome face of Devlin.

“What the fuck?” I scream.

Devlin picks me up like I weigh nothing and gently places me on the floor.

“I’m sorry.” He laughs. “I tried not to.”

“Yeah I can see that.” I roll my eyes.

I can’t miss the look of lust in Devlin’s eyes. Oh shit. We’re all alone, I’m sweaty again and he’s looking sexy.

“I should get going.” I pick up my water and start to leave but Devlin stops me.

“Why you rushing off?” He asks, frowning down at me.

His eyes turn a shade darker and have a look of intensity about them as he stares down at me. My legs shake a little from the shock of feelings he’s bringing alive in me. I don’t realise that I lose my balance until Devlin’s hands are on me. I only have a thin top on that leaves my arms bare, so I can feel the heat radiating from him.

We make eye contact for a couple of long seconds until I decide not to do this again. I can’t have a repeat of yesterday; his lips tortured me for the rest of the day.

I clear my throat and back away a little, regretting that his hands are removed from me. I bet lying next to him, skin on skin, would be amazing. I wonder if every inch of his body is as warm as his hands.

“What’s that?” Devlin asks, breaking me from yet another day dream.

“What’s what?” I look around.

Devlin holds out my arm and points at a scar, right at the top of my shoulder. It’s quite a big one, but not the biggest I have. It starts in the middle of my shoulder blade and lashes across to finish on the back of my neck, just above my spine. The scar begins so far up on my shoulder that most tops hide it, but I didn’t check this morning.

“It’s nothing.” I say, trying to snatch away my arms.

“No.” Devlin scowls, keeping my arms in place. “It’s definitely something Tash. It’s a fucking scar.”

I bite down on my bottom lip and cringe. I don’t want him to see me as ugly. I’ve loved having him looking at me as if I’m the most beautiful person in the room. A tear rolls down my cheek and I quickly try to swipe it away with the back of my hand that’s still holding the water bottle.

“Hey.” Devlin sooths and holds me tightly against him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“No, it’s me.” I sniffle. “Sorry.”

Devlin holds me back. “Tash, you have nothing to be sorry about.” I see him thinking over things as he looks down at me. “The Devil’s did that to you?”

I nod my head in answer.

“Fuckers!” He shouts making me jump. Devlin holds me tight again. “Shit, sorry I didn’t mean to scare you. I just hate thinking about what they did to you.” After a couple of minutes Devlin returns to his flirty self. “I’m not used to seeing women in here.” He says and I keep shut about Throttle and Flex told me earlier. I laugh, deciding that coming here today was a bad idea. I don’t know why I thought it was good to begin with. I should have just jogged around the garden.

“I shouldn’t have come here.” I begin. “It was a mistake.”

“Yeah it was.” Devlin agrees. “You’re lucky it’s me that found you. Not every man is honourable like me babe.”

I laugh loudly. “You?”

“Hey!” He laughs. “Any other man would have seen you in here and would have wanted to have you for himself!”

“Oh, and you don’t?” I ask, feeling a little let down by his words.

“Not me, I wouldn’t want to push against that wall behind you and feel every little bit of that body of yours.” He looks at me and my body calls to him. “I wouldn’t want to undress you, or have you bent over my knee for daring to come in here.”

God his words have me in a frenzy that I’m fighting with myself to keep my clothes on! Scars or no fucking scars! I don’t care right now. Devlin has made me so wet for him that I need him.

“What would you do then?” I dare to ask him.

Devlin shocks me by walking towards me and I back up until my back hits the wall. When I’m trapped, he takes the bottle from me and throws it away. Water splatters everywhere behind him but he doesn’t give a shit, his attention is all on me. Devlin shads wrap around my neck and brings me closer to him capturing my mouth against his. I moan loudly as his tongue invades my mouth. I taste him not caring where we are and just live in the moment.

Suddenly, he picks me up and my legs wrap around him. Through the very thin material of my leggings, I feel his rock hard cock as it strains against his trousers. I feel him walking but I don’t care to open my eyes. Eventually, he stops kissing me and looks into my eyes.

“I would escort you out and give you the privacy you deserve.” I look around and see that we have ended up in his room. I haven’t been here since we first time we kissed. It’s a small room and very basic, but it’s not as messy as you would think which makes me adore him even more.

“Thank you.” I whisper.

“Just treating you like the princess you are.” He softly kisses me.

“I’m not a princess.” I smile against his mouth, still fully aware of the bulging erection rubbing me.

Devlin looks at me with those intense dark eyes again. “But you are.”

We kiss again and he gently lays me down on his bed. His body covers mine, but he doesn’t put his weight on me. Instead he keeps his distance and I want nothing more but for him to rub against me. I need it. When he realises what I want from all my pulling and moving around, he stops the kiss.

“Tash I don’t want to rush this.” He softly kisses my neck. I get what he’s saying and I love him for it. Wait! What?

“Come on, I’ll take you home.” He stands and holds out a hand for me. As much as I want to stay on his bed, I take his hand and let him take me home.

Today it’s time to talk business with Franky. I’ve dressed appropriately, even though I don’t need to impress him, I just want to look professional. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dressing in business attire. I’ve decided on my black skinny jeans, a white blouse and black heeled boots.

“How do I look?” I ask Lauren as I spot her in the living room.

“Perfect.” She smiles.

“I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard, but I don’t want to seem like I don’t care.” I stress as I look down at what I’m wearing.

“Tasha, you look great. Stop stressing.” Lauren assures me. I take a deep breath and go to collect my phone and car keys.

“I’ll call you as soon as I can.” I let her know before I open the front door.

“No need.” Lauren answers from behind me. “I’m coming.”

“What?” I ask. Lauren gives me a smile, shaking her head whilst getting her handbag.

“Laura wanted some of us over for a catch up and she decided today would be perfect seeing as you and Drew would be talking with Franky.” She reveals.

“How did I not know this?” I ask.

“You did.” Lauren laughs as we make our way to the car. “She said about it yesterday, right in front of you.”

“Oh.” I think back to yesterday but I can’t remember anything she had said.

Yesterday I was stressing over this meeting with Franky and thinking over what had happened with Devlin, so it’s no wonder I didn’t hear anything she said. I decide to let Lauren drive because I’m starting to feel sick. I don’t know why I’m feeling so nervous, it’s only Franky but I guess it’s because this is so important to me. Locked up in that dungeon, I didn’t think I would ever be set free, never mind get to do something I had only dreamed of. Now, thanks to my amazing new found family everything I never thought was possible is becoming a reality. I reach down and pinch my arm so hard that I wince.