Chapter 32

*IRIS*

I heard the voice and recognized it immediately. I jumped out of the car, "Deacon, why are you not at the hospital?" I said running over to him. He was all bandaged up and his arm was in a sling. "I had to come. The security team called me. What the fuck happened?" He sounded worried and angry. "Deac, I told you to stay at the hospital!" Now Ryker sounded angry and worried. I looked from one to the other. "Listen, boss, I am not sitting in that damn hospital while you are having hitmen show up in your house. It was the one from that fucking club? Was he connected to that group there?" He was using codewords probably not thinking that Ryker had told me anything. "Do you think it was her that called? Was it Ivy?" Deacon was still talking. "It sure sounded just like her man. Hell, I don't know. Maybe some kind of voice software?" Deacon was nodding and taking in the information. "Where are you all heading?" he asked looking back towards the security building. "We were headed to check on my friend, he is supposed to be in the hospital." The sarcasm was thick. Deacon laughed but immediately grabbed his stomach. "See brother, you should be in the hospital." Ryker was more worried now. "I am fine Ryk, they gave me some pain meds when I left the hospital." Ryker locked the car and we walked back towards the house. I noticed as I looked around there were many more security around the house. "Already on the job, eh?" Ryker must have noticed too. Deacon nodded and patted him on the back with his good arm. When we got inside I could only see the blood on the floor. It wasn't there anymore, but I could still see it there. I looked up towards the ceiling and shook it off, looking again to see nothing there. My phone buzzed in my pocket so I excused myself and walked towards the hall. When I answered I heard Adam on the other end of the line. "Hello, Iris, are you there?" He sounded very worried. "I am here, What's up?" He told me he was wondering if I was okay. I hadn't been in class and he hadn't seen me on campus. I lied. I told him I had a family emergency and wasn't sure when I would be back. He told me he would email me notes and assignments, and let me know if there is anything I need to be present for. He promised to record lectures and send them to me as well. I smiled as I talked, enjoying a brief feeling of being a normal college student. Despite lying to my friend and not being there to do the work. Adam was so nice, "If you need anything, Iris, you let me know. I will fly to Ohio if I have to." I knew he meant what he was saying which made me feel worse about lying to him.

After hanging up, I walked back into the kitchen to see Ryker and Deacon sitting at the bar. I walked towards them and Deacon quickly went quiet. "That was Adam, from the university. He was worried." Ryker looked over at me slowly smiling, "What did you tell him?" He asked looking to the floor. He looked sad, almost, defeated. "I told him I had a family emergency. He is going to email me lectures and notes, and send me assignments." I was talking fast feeling a certain tension in the room. "That's nice of him," Deacon spoke up. "Yes, yes it is. I will let Skinnle know to spread the word that you are out with a family emergency as well." He reached out his hand to me and I grabbed it. He pulled me into him and breathed me in, making me feel weak in the knees. I leaned my head on him and grabbed a glass from the bar. "Wine?" he asked and I shook my head no. "Burboun." He smiled and poured me a small glass. I drank it slowly feeling a slight burn in my throat. "So you think Ivy is sending men after you?" Deacon spoke up breaking the silence. I looked up at Ryker who looked just lost. "If not her, then the men from that club, but why now?" He said that you could see the rollercoaster in his mind, the thoughts running through the track, looping and swirling in his eyes. "Why would the men send someone after Iris?" Deacon said placing a good hand under my chin and smiling at me. I felt Ryker tense but he didn't say anything. "What makes you think someone came after me?" I asked looking up at Ryker again. "The fire." He said shortly. "Originally they thought it was accidental, but they found accelerant." I took a deep breath in. "So someone caught the dorm on fire?" I said with a small voice, almost like a child. "You are safe here Iris, I know you probably don't feel like it, but I promise I won't let anything happen to you," Ryker said pulling me closer. "I have this place surrounded now as well. I have so much security around this house that you will feel like a fucking first lady." Deacon said chuckling. I smiled but felt sick to my stomach. I sat there quietly while they talked, hearing just part of their words, before something popped into my head. "Ivy sent them after me because she was jealous," I said out loud. I didn't mean to blurt it out, it was an "ah ha" moment.

No one said anything at first, but Ryker nodded at me. "She might be. She was my last real sub before I met you. When she disappeared, I looked for her for months. When I left the city, I still had people looking. When I saw you, I stopped. I knew I wanted to make something happen with you and I decided to completely let go. No one knew I was even looking anymore really. Maybe she did, and she realized I stopped." He said which made sense to me, only, why would she even care if he was looking if she hadn't reached out. Why was she hiding from him? Why did she disappear in the first place? I started to feel myself getting angry. I was furious at this shadow that haunted Ryker. "I am not afraid of her," I said out of that same anger. Deacon smiled at me, "You have nothing to fear Iris, trust me." I looked back up to Ryker who was smiling at me too. "I know, I am just stating that I am not afraid." The smiles disappeared momentarily before Deacon started to chuckle again. "Fiesty," he said standing up and walking towards the door. "You have no idea," Ryker said giving me a dark look. "Oh, I think I do," Deacon said shaking his hand. "I am going to hobble out here and talk to my men and then go to the security house and get some rest. If You need me, boss, just call me." He walked over to me and hugged me, kissing me on the forehead. I looked at Ryker, worried he would be upset, but he wasn't. "Goodnight Iris." He said before walking back and heading out the door. I looked at Ryker as he shut the door behind him. "He doesn't bother me, I would trust Deac with my life." He said walking over to me and wrapping his arms around me. "I felt you tense when he grabbed my chin," I said out of curiosity. He looked down at me grabbing my chin himself, pulling my eyes to his level. I took a deep breath in. "It was the way he did it, it's dominant. It's a way to get your sub to pay attention." He smiled leaning down to kiss me. I felt my knees get weak again. "Oh," I said when he pulled away. "I let it go because I trust him, but if another man would do it, I would probably break their arm." He kissed me again this time gripping me tightly across the waist and lifting me to the bar. He pinned my arms above my head and ran his hand up my shirt. "Don't move," he said with a grow as he gripped one of my breasts in his hand. I moaned out, and he squeezed harder. He reached for the other one. I threw my head back moaning louder. "Don't move." He kissed a trail down my neck and removed my shorts and underwear. He fit himself between my legs before releasing his shaft. Before I could prepare myself he slammed deep inside of me.

After we finished he walked me to the shower. We stripped and stepped inside. The water felt good on my body after the long day. I leaned against him and he ran the washcloth over my body. "You are so beautiful Iris," he said into my ear, I could feel the goosebumps rising on my skin. He continued to wash me. After the shower, he led me to his bed I crawled in under the blankets into the satin sheets. He crawled in beside me wrapping his arms around me. "Get some good rest, sweet Iris." He smiled and kissed my forehead before closing his eyes. I closed mine too. I drifted slowly into dreamland. Within what felt like minutes, I heard a phone ringing, loud noises, and again Ryker yelling. "If you are going to call me bitch, at least have the balls to say something to me."