2. MAKE IT STOP HURTING

VIOLET

I had just walked in on a man twice my age stroking his thick, veined cock to a half-naked photo of me.

He didn’t startle. He didn’t apologize or scramble to cover himself. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on my phone screen and gave himself one last slow pump before tucking his thick cock back into his pants with the calm control of a man who’d merely been interrupted checking his emails.

He didn't look embarrassment at all. If anything, a flicker of mild annoyance crossed his rugged face as he zipped up.

“You do realize this is men’s restroom, right?” His voice was low, rough, and edged with irritation, as if I were the intruder who had ruined his private moment.

My stomach plummeted. I glanced around wildly, my cheeks burning. Of course. Of course. In my desperate haze to find somewhere—anywhere—to cry, I hadn’t even glanced at the sign on the door

My mouth opened and closed, but no words came. What could I possibly say? I had just caught a complete stranger masturbating to a half-naked photo of me… and somehow I was the one standing here frozen, mortified beyond words.

He took one slow, measured step toward me. Instinctively, I backed away, my heart slamming against my ribs. With every confident stride he advanced, I retreated, the click of my heels echoing sharply off the tiled floor until my shoulders hit the cold tiled wall.

His gaze dragged down the length of my body with slow, shameless predatory hunger. Heat flared unwanted between my legs, so sudden and fierce it nearly buckled my knees.

A slow, dangerous smirk curved his full lips, as if he could read every filthy reaction my body was betraying me with.

“Most women keep their boyfriend, their dog, or a pretty sunset on their lock screen,” he drawled as he took another step. “But you… you chose this." He raised up the phone to my face. "A picture of yourself looking like you’re two seconds away from getting fucked senseless.”

My mouth went bone-dry. A treacherous flutter twisted low in my belly at the crude image his words.

He closed the last bit of distance until his broad, solid chest was only a breath away from brushing my breasts. The heat radiating from him seeped through my thin dress, warming my skin, making me acutely aware of how close he was. He lowered his face until it hovered mere inches from mine—close enough that I could see the tiny scar near his left eyebrow, the way faint silver threading his dark stubble, and the couple of tattoos peeking just above the collar of his shirt.

His warm breath ghosted across my mouth, making my lips tingle and part on a shaky exhale.

“So tell me, sweetheart…” he murmured, the deep rumble of his voice vibrating through my chest like a caress. “did you leave that picture there hoping someone would find it? Hoping a man like me would see exactly how fuckable you look?”

The sheer audacity of his words stole my breath.

“Excuse me?” I managed, my voice trembling despite my attempt at defiance. “It’s my phone. My body. My choice. I didn’t put it there for you or anyone else!”

He tilted his head slightly, those piercing eyes studying me with unnerving focus, as if I were a fascinating puzzle he was determined to dismantle piece by piece.

“You sure about that? His gaze flicked down to where my thighs pressed together. “Because the way you’re squirming right now… says you’re enjoying exactly what you walked in on.”

“What the?! I didn’t! ” I snapped, lifting my chin in a show of defiance even as my thighs trembled with the effort of not clenching them harder, not giving in to the pulsing need his presence ignited.

“Then why haven’t you run yet, little girl?”

“Why should I run when you still have my—” The words died in my throat as my eyes caught the way his tongue slowly, deliberately traced his lower lip, his intense stare dropping to my mouth like he was already imagining claiming it.

“Look,” I whispered, trying desperately to steady my voice. I placed a tentative hand against his chest, intending to push him back, but the solid wall of muscle beneath my palm only sent another unwanted spark of awareness through me. “I didn’t come in here for whatever filthy fantasy you’re spinning in that head of yours. I left my phone after I… after I broke down crying.”

“You were crying?” The cold edge in his voice softened instantly, but the raw heat beneath it only burned hotter, darker. For the first time, genuine surprise flickered across his face. He studied me more closely now, almost gently, yet the commanding presence never left him. “Why?” he asked, quieter, deeper. “Tell me what happened.”

“It’s none of your business,” I muttered, my gaze betraying me as it flicked down to his lips before I could stop myself. My heart pounded against my chest. “Just… give me my phone back.”

I reached for it quickly, but he pulled it out of reach with ease and caught my wrist in his large, powerful hand. His grip was firm, impossibly strong, reminding me with terrifying clarity just how easily he could overpower me, pin me against this wall, and do whatever the hell he wanted.

And the worst part? A dark, secret part of me wasn’t sure I would stop him.

“I disagree,” he rumbled, his voice dropping to a dangerous timbre that vibrated through my bones. “It is my business now. I don’t like seeing a beautiful woman cry. It makes me want to find whoever hurt her and make them regret it for the rest of their miserable life.”

The protective growl in his tone cracked something fragile open inside my chest. A warm, fluttering sensation tried to bloom there, but I shoved it down hard, refusing to let a stranger’s words affect me like this.

“I don’t need your help,” I snapped, reaching for the phone again with my free hand. He simply raised it higher, keeping my wrist locked securely in his grasp, his body crowding me even more against the wall.

“Tell me why you were crying,” he ordered, voice calm yet leaving absolutely no room for argument. “And I’ll give it back.”

“That’s blackmail.”

“That’s negotiation.” That slow, predatory smile returned. “You have ten seconds before I walk out of here with your phone. Ten… Nine…”

My heart hammered violently. “You wouldn’t—”

“Four. Three. Keep testing me, princess. Two"

“Fine!” The words tumbled out before I could stop them—raw, ugly, and broken. “I flew here to surprise my boyfriend of three years for his birthday. Instead I walked in on him fucking his childhood friend who’s now carrying his child. He’s been using my money to support her while I sent him every spare dollar. And right after I caught them… he still had the nerve to ask me for another twenty thousand.”

A broken, hollow laugh escaped me as hot tears spilled down my cheeks.

“So there. That’s why I was crying in a damn men’s restroom. Are you happy now? Do you feel better knowing how pathetic and stupid I’ve been?”

His expression darkened instantly, something dangerous and fiercely protective flashing through those icy blue eyes. The air around us grew thicker, heavier.

"Your boyfriend is a pathetic, greedy little boy,” he said quietly, contempt dripping from every word. “He had a woman like you… and he choose someone else while draining your bank account.”

I let out a shaky breath, the pain twisting sharper. “Yeah. Clearly I wasn’t enough—”

“He didn't do that because you weren’t enough.” He cut me off sharply, his large hand suddenly cupping my jaw with surprising gentleness. His thumb brushed away my tears, warm and tender, as his face hovered mere inches from mine. “He did that because he’s a disloyal coward who never deserved a single fucking minute of your time.”

The unexpected kindness in his voice shattered the last fragile wall I’d been clinging to. More tears slipped free. He caught every one with his thumbs, wiping them away with a tenderness that felt completely at odds with the raw power radiating from his body. His lips were so close now—warm breath mingling with mine, the faint scent of his cologne wrapping around me like a drug.

“Tell me how I can make you feel good again,” he murmured, his mouth ghosting over my lips without quite kissing me. The almost-contact made my entire body tremble with need. “Tell me what you need right now, princess.”

Princess. The word sank deep into the raw, aching hole in my chest and made something warm, needy, and dangerously alive unfurl right alongside the pain. My thighs pressed together instinctively, the slick ache between them growing unbearable. I hated how wet I already was—how my pussy throbbed and clenched at nothing, just from his voice, his scent, his touch. I hated that my body was responding like this minutes after my entire life had imploded.

I should have demanded my phone and walked away. I should have felt disgusted with myself for even considering this.

“Make it stop hurting,” I whispered, my voice cracking despite myself. “Just… make me forget him."

His eyes darkened to near black, pupils swallowing the icy blue. “You want me to bend you over that sink and fuck the memory of that worthless boy right out of you, don’t you?” His voice was a dangerous growl that vibrated straight through my core, making my clit pulse hard.

I nodded frantically before I could stop myself, heat flooding every inch of my body like liquid fire. I knew it was reckless. Dangerous. Completely insane. I should walk away, book the next flight back to Denver, crawl under my covers and cry for days. That was what a normal, heartbroken woman would do.

But God, I didn’t want to be normal right now. I wanted to be consumed. I wanted the pain drowned out by something raw, overwhelming, and all-consuming.

Even if I regretted it the second it was over.

He stared at me for a long, heavy moment, something unreadable flickering across his handsome, rugged face.

“As much as I want to bury myself inside you right here and now,” he drawled, “I have urgent business I need to attend to.”

He started to pull back, reaching for my hand and pressing my phone on it.

He was turning me down? After he’d stroked his cock to my picture? After looking at me like he wanted to ruin me?

Another man choosing not to want me. The sting of it burned worse than George’s betrayal in that moment.

Before my pride could catch up, I dropped my phone and grabbed his suit jacket, yanking him back down enough to crash my mouth against his in a desperate kiss.