Page 29 of Rake

She rubs her shin.

“Your brother seems like a nice young man. Lots of potential.”

“Leave my brother out of this.” Her voice is angry, but fear creeps in at the edges.

“He wants to find the men who hurt you. I could give him that.”

She glares at me. “Don’t set him up like that. Isn’t what happened to me bad enough?” Her hand still caresses her leg. “He’s a kid, Finn. Just let him be.”

“You have to let him be a man sometime.” It’s not what I intended to say. I’m not sure where that came from. “You can’t always keep him safe. You need to let him make mistakes and figure things out for himself.”

“We don’t have the luxury of fucking up. You saw my father. Would you want to fuck up if it means that’s your future?”

Her honey blonde hair looks pretty in the fire’s glow.

“I suppose not,” I relent. “How about another deal, then? If you give me the name of the lead organizer on staff, I’ll make sure your brother gets his college degree paid for.”

She opens her mouth, parting those pink lips, and takes in a small breath. This would solve her problems. One of mine too. I have a lot of connections in the academic world from all the time I spend at the Boston Athenaeum. Pulling some strings for Benjamin isn’t a problem, if she makes it worth my while.

“Think about it. Really think about it, Sasha. Think about your father and see if you want to keep your secrets if it means throwing away a chance to get your brother his education debt free. It’d be a big turning point for your family.”

She continues fussing with her leg, her fingertips going white again despite the heat. It happens when she’s nervous. I wonder if she’s nervous that she’ll give in, betray her contact.

“What’s wrong with your leg? I didn’t hurt you earlier, did I?”

I say it partially to make the heat rise to her cheeks again, but partially because I need to be more careful with her. Her full, luscious tits and ass had distracted me from her fragile frame until her delicate wrists were so easily immobilized by just one of my hands.

I’d noticed the thick scar on the back of one of her wrists. A relic from her time with Hamish and P.J., I’m sure.

“No,” she says. “I’m okay. My shin aches where the bone broke sometimes.”

Another relic.

I need to put my part in that out of my mind.

“Sit next to me, I have to tell you something.”

She looks dubious.

But then she licks her lips as her eyes flick to my cock.

She wants me to touch her intimately again, even if she’s not ready to admit it to herself. I’d love to give her that, make her come for a second time. But it might lead to something she’s not ready for, and I don’t want to do that. She needs me to be patient. But I can touch her in other ways that she’ll enjoy.

“Here, on the other end of the couch.”

She reluctantly gets up. I guide her to the couch and have her stretch out her sore leg. Easing up her pant leg, she shivers as I start massaging her calf.

“I used to get the worst shin splints,” I say, shifting to her shins and doing a thumb iron up next to the bone. “They hurt like hell—it’s the muscle tearing away from the bone.”

“You a runner?” she asks, wincing.

“Not consistently, but my brothers and I—well, and Catriona—play rugby together whenever we can.”

“Your sister? Ow.”

I ease off for a minute. “Yes. Middle sister. The other girls weren’t interested, but Catriona always marches to her own drumbeat.”

She nods. “I never was any good at sports. Benjamin’s a great athlete though.”

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