Chapter 7
Beth
Annie poured some tea and brought it to Beth. Ruby was taking a shot of hard liquor.

"Could you just give me a splash of that in here?" Beth asked holding her tea cup out.
Ruby poured a heavy amount of liquor into her cup, "How are you feeling? I know I felt like I was having a heart attack when Cisco called to tell us what happened?"

"Maybe I'm just numb at the moment, but after the guys took him away, I just got in my car and went to see Kenny. I think we're all becoming really desensitized to this life or something. I haven't broken down yet." She explained running her hands through her hair, "Thank you guys from coming to my rescue."

"We just knew something had to be wrong, Sis. I'm just glad the guys made it here in time." Annie said rubbing her sister's leg.

"We're just so gangsta now." Ruby mumbled as she took another swig out of her bottle.

Beth and Annie looked at each other and laughed.

"Are we? We're so gangsta?" Annie chuckled throwing her head back on the couch.

"I mean, yeah we are! Look at what we've done the few weeks. We're not longer basic bitches and I think we should be slightly proud of how we've handled things. Can you imagine how we would have handled this before we robbed Fine and Frugal?" Ruby explained.

Beth nodded, "You know, you're right. We are a little gangsta. Damn. I don't when it happened. We just like transformed."

"Well," Annie held up her glass, "here's to three gangsta bitches!"

"They all clanged their glasses and downed their drinks.

Beth and Rio

Beth looked over at Ruby and Annie sleeping on her couch and smiled. Those two would probably never know how much they meant to Beth. She carefully got up, so not to wake them and covered them with the throw blanket. She quietly gathered up the glasses and walked toward the kitchen where Rio was waiting on her. She stopped in her tracks and he took the glasses from her and set them on the counter. She always expected him to be there when she turned a corner, yet it still surprised her all the same. Rio had a whimsical look on his face. She had been waiting for him to come back to her. Beth needed to see him and look him in the eyes again. They stared for a moment and the tears started to fill in her eyes as she thought about what had happened earlier… What he had saved her from. Rio sighed understanding everything that was racing through her head. His pinky brushed her hair from her face and caught the tear that had started to fall down her cheek. She leaned into his hand, savoring the feeling of it. Rio took her by the hand and led her down the hall to her room and closed the door behind them.

She didn't make a move. She waited to see where he was going to take this because with Rio she never knew what to expect. She leaned up against her dresser and waited for him to speak.

"I thought-" He began before pausing to gather his thoughts, "I didn't know when I got here today if I was going to find you dead or not. That scared me." He looked up at her and her eyes were staying on his, "This life is not for the faint hearted and it's not easy to care about me. And you have a funny way of showing it sometimes."

"Rio-" She tried to speak.

"Just wait. Let me say this. I don't know what this means. Any of this because I haven't been here in a long time. I do know the fear I felt for you tells me something. I don't know if I can trust you but I also don't know if I can make myself stay away from you anymore." Rio took a deep breath trying to decide if this next part was worth sharing. It could possibly break something that hadn't truly started just yet. "When I left here the other night, I went to a woman's house. A woman I've been sleeping with on and off for a long time now and I couldn't do it. I tried. I went over there with every intention of fucking her into an oblivion to make myself try and forget about you. And as she stood there in front of me, I felt guilty. You're all I could think about and I left before anything happened. That's gotta mean something, right?"

Beth stood there dumbfounded as the bad butterflies filled her stomach. She wanted to slap him for going to a woman's house after he left her here broken and a mess, "I don't know what to say. I'm mad that you went to a woman's house, but I don't have the right to be because you're not mine. You have every right to do it, just like I do, but I don't want to."

"That's my point, Elizabeth. I don't want to either." Rio said going to her, "I wanted to be here with you. But you saw today what being with me could be like."

"But you got to me in time." She argued.

"What if I don't next time?" He asked.

Beth put her hands on the sides of his face and made him look up at her, "Then get there in time, every time."

Rio looked down as she continued to hold his face, "We can say that all day long, but you know I can't make that promise."

Beth wasn't sure if he was getting closer to her or if he was slipping away. She didn't want him to slip away again. They were on the brink of something. He made his feelings obvious, though he was still struggling with them. She was, too.

"You've changed me. You've awakened this whole different person and I don't want to lose it. I like how I am now and I like the way you make me feel. I feel more in charge, yet out of control at the same time. It's almost indescribable. You did that for me." She explained.

He smiled and shook his head, "You did that for yourself- the second you robbed that grocery store. You made this person, not me. You should give yourself more credit."

"There's lots of things we should do for ourselves. For instance, you should let yourself feel what you're feeling without fear of what could happen. Life is always a 'what if' and sometimes you have to say fuck it." Beth said, "I took a leap and told you how I felt. So, what are you going to do?"

Rio stepped back and slipped his jacket off, "I'm going to take a shower."

Beth furrowed her brow, "A shower?"

Rio cocked an eyebrow and smiled, "Yeah. You're coming right?"

A look of wide eyed surprise came across her face and she dumbly nodded. He lowly chuckled at her as he began unbuttoning his shirt. Beth's breathing became a little heavier as she watched. Rio realized that Dean hadn't done something like this for her in a long time, if ever. He discarded his shirt to the side revealing his toned, tight arms and stomach. Then he placed his hands on either side of Beth's shirt finding the hem and pulling it over her head.

Beth felt more exposed than she had in many years. Dean had been the only one to see her like this since before college. Rio continued to lay little pecks along her jaw, undoing the button on her jeans and sliding them over her hips. When they fell to the floor, Beth felt her insecurities flood to the front of her mind. When was the last time she did this with the lights on? She couldn't remember. But it was as if Rio could sense her tensing up.

He kissed on her collarbone before he stepped back and looked down at her body, "Do you know how sexy you are?"

Beth grinned shyly and shook her head, "No."

Rio turned her around to face the mirror on her dresser. He pressed himself against her back and let his hands roam her waist and her hips, "This is what a woman should look like. Soft," His hands grazed the top of her chest, "firm," He grabbed a hand full of her ass, causing a squeal from Beth, "with a lot of bounce in this area."

Beth watched the two of them in the mirror, almost hypnotized. She loved how dark his skin was in comparison to hers. She just watched as his hands roamed her body massaging and gripping bits of her body. She closed her eyes and it took her a moment to realize he wasn't behind her. She heard her shower start. Her legs began to move and she saw his naked body checking the water and grabbing two towels. Her thumbs slipped in the band of her panties and shimmied them down her legs and unhooked her bra. Rio watched her almost breathless as the bra slid down her arms revealing her chest to him. Something he had only dreamt about, and while they were good in his dreams, they were even better when awake.

She walked over to the shower and stepped in and he followed her lead, closing the door behind him. Beth stood under the water, needing the heat to wash away the thoughts of what happened today. Rio watched her as she closed her eyes and let her mouth take deep breaths through the water falling on her head. He grabbed the loofah and her body wash. She opened her eyes when she felt his hands on her. He began rubbing delicate circles on her back side with the sudsy sponge. He was in a trance as he watched the bubbles dance on her back side. She smiled lazily and turned around for him to wash her front side as well. He smirked at her as he began scrubbing her chest and down her breasts. Her eyes stayed on his as he moved his hands.

The ache between them was becoming too much. She needed his comfort and she wanted it in kisses. She took the loofah from him and tossed it on the shower floor. He pushed her back under the water, wrapping up her in his arms. She felt jolts through her body. He looked down at her and took her lips with his. He kissed her hard and good. It was soft and real and full of the passion they had for each other. Beth became weak in the knees. She had never been kissed like this before. Dean had never touched her like this or looked at her with so much desire and raw animal instinct. She didn't have to sleep with Rio to know that he would do everything so right.

Rio reached behind her and turned off the water. They stumbled out the shower as they kept kissing. He haphazardly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her. She dried off a little before using the towel to dry him.

"Come on, Mami." He whispered. He took her by the hand and lead her to her bed.

Beth crawled in and laid on her back. Rio slid in top of her wrapping his arm underneath her. They were both tired and their adrenaline was dwindling, but they weren't going to fall asleep without knowing how it felt to be together.

He lazily kissed on her collarbone as she dragged her fingers up his toned back. She could feel him growing hard and she had been ready since before the shower. His lips found hers again and without warning he slid in causing Beth the yelp in his mouth. Hurriedly she spread her legs further apart allowing his to sink in further. Rio moaned in her ear as he pulled out and pushed back in again. He filled her up completely and Beth's eyes fell closed and her mouth fell open. He began to move with a rhythm and she dug her heels in and matched his movement. Rio's breath caught in his throat as she moved. He watched her breasts jiggle again his chest and he could have cum if he kept watching them. His hand grabbed her leg propped it over his shoulder. Beth dug her nails into his shoulders as he moved faster. She could feel it coming. He was so thick and she stretched around him in sweet ecstasy.

"Rio." She said breathlessly. "I'm- I'm so close."

"Come on, Mami. I want you to finish. I want to feel it." He said in her ear.

A few more strokes and Beth's back arched up and she gripped his back leaving claw marks. "Rio." She moaned as she came.

Hearing his name like that… Out of her mouth sent him over the edge and he released. His movements became more urgent and Beth moaned loudly.

"Fuck, baby." He growled as he finished and collapsed on her.

Beth took deep breathes and looked at him to make sure it was still real. Rio lifted his head and smirked at her.

"What's that look for?" She asked grinning.

"Talk about slippery when wet, Mami." He grinned as her mouth dropped open, mocking feeling offensive.

Rio laughed and nipped at her earlobe. Beth got goosebumps as she felt the heat of his laugh on her skin. She began laughing and her cheeks turned bright red. His face found comfort in the crook of her neck and his breathing became steady. She looked down at him laying on top of her and she felt the most comfort she had in years. She wrapped her arms around him, laid her cheek on his head, and closed her eyes.