by B. B. Reid
I was being pulled in two different directions—the need to hurt him and the need to protect him.
The sweet scent of his breath was intoxicating, and then I felt it—his lips near my ear.
He whispered, “And I just want inside you.”
I felt the rush, the clench, and the goddamn fucking need.
Each encounter, no matter how close he got to me or how far he stayed away, made it harder and harder to keep my promise.
“Your scare tactics are getting old, Keiran. We won’t be in high school forever.” He pressed against me from behind but didn’t make any further movements.
“If you think I’m trying to scare you, then my seduction skills need serious work. Besides, I don’t need fear to control you anymore. My cock is pretty good at making you do what I want.”
“And what will you do when I’m thousands of miles away and no longer vulnerable and available?”
“Who says I’ll let you get that far?”
“And how do you plan to stop me?”
“In whatever way that works.” He flipped me around to face him. I had seen the intent in his eyes before I was falling backward, engulfed in the now stifling heat of my bedsheets.
“Keiran… no.” The knife continued it’s descent of my torso, slicing and ripping away my barriers. He wanted me exposed in every way. He needed me vulnerable. “Don’t do this.”
When he expertly ripped away the remnants of my shirt, ignoring my struggles, I screamed. A sound so unnatural and desperate it actually pierced my gut painfully and shook my body. He jerked upright to stare down at me in stormy surprise, but it was too late. The need for survival had already consumed me. My teeth sunk into the flesh of his right shoulder. I didn’t stop biting. Even when I was assaulted with the metallic taste of his blood, I didn’t stop.
I heard his curse and grunt of pain, but it only spurred me on. He could have easily dislodged me with a quick, merciless flick of his knife. The floodgates opened and released, turning my gaze murky.
Careful hands banded around my upper arms, lifting me away but keeping me close. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, shaking me.
Was that a serious question? I shoved him away in disgust and if I weren’t feeling so damn crazed, I would have laughed at his look of astonishment. “I won’t let you make me a scared little girl again.”
“Lake? Open the door! I heard you scream—should I call the police?”
Shit. I’d forgotten Aunt Carissa was home.
We watched each other for the longest time, both waiting to see what I would do. I held Keiran’s gaze as I answered. “Uh… yes, I’m fine. I stubbed my toe and thought I broke it.”
“Do you want me to look at it?”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll be down in a moment to ice it.”
Her retreating footsteps were the only sound between us as we stared at each other. “You need to leave,” I ordered, rising from the bed once I was sure my aunt was out of hearing range. We now stood facing each other.
“Do you want those six weeks back? Do you want the isolation, the distance, the hard sex without an inkling of a connection? Do you want to feel like you have no way out? Do you want to feel forced and used? You might have come every time I touched you, but I know what it did to you, and if I pushed for a little more, you would have broken.”
He grabbed me by my waist and yanked me to him without warning. “Give me the word, and I can make you feel like that again.” He bent low to whisper against my lips, “Helpless…” He took my bottom lip between his teeth. “And thoroughly fucked.”
My earlier resolve began to melt away with a whimper. “You are my scared little girl, Lake.” I melted more at the sound of my name on his lips. Using my first name was a clear indicator I was affecting him at this moment—as much as he was affecting me. “And I am your big, bad wolf.”
He kissed me for the second time today, and I let him.
In his arms, I didn’t have the strength to fight him. I didn’t have the strength to care that he was a monster carved from a past that was undoubtedly dark. I Just. Didn’t. Care.
“Every time I get near you, I can’t remember why I have to stay away,” he groaned when he finally released my lips with a final nip.
That makes two of us.
“Are you staying away because you’re mad at me or because you think you are protecting me?”
“I am protecting you.”
“Yeah. Almost being kidnapped was a clear indication of that.” I rolled my eyes. Did I blame him for almost being kidnapped? No. I blamed the people who he came into this world blindly trusting to protect him.
“So what are you saying?”
“I don’t know what I’m saying. When I woke up this morning, I hated you, and I wanted nothing more than to see you behind bars. I went to Detective Daniels and Detective Wilson offering to get evidence of everything.”
I chanced a look up at his eyes, expecting anger but seeing only questions. “And?”
“And nothing. The first time I went, they turned me down saying it was too dangerous, and they couldn’t risk me as a witness.”
“And the other?”
I took a deep breath. “I went after school today.” I waited for a reaction, but he only nodded and remained silent. “They told me they weren’t pursuing you anymore.”
“I made a very detailed confession today, but they are willing to overlook it.”
“So long as you help them catch Mario and Arthur.” His eyebrow shot up in surprise. “I kind of wrestled it out of them with guilt.”
“Nice,” he praised.
“Do you know they will pursue the death penalty if you don’t bring them in?”
“Yes.”
I ripped myself away from him and pushed him back. “Why are you so calm about it? They are going to kill you. You’ll die. ” I wanted Keiran to pay for many wrongs, but I didn’t want him dead. I wouldn’t be able to handle it. I didn’t realize I was crying until he wiped away one of the many tears from my face.
“And that scares you?”
“Doesn’t it scare you?”
He laughed. The fucker actually laughed. “I’m not afraid to die. I’m just unwilling.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“We?” His smile was radiant, and his eyes twinkled as he stared down at me.
“You know what I meant.”
“I love it when you pout.”
“I’m not pouting.”
“First, you are going to have to stop trying to set me up to go to jail.”
“It’s not a setup if you actually did it.”
“I didn’t kill them, Lake.”
I tried not to smile at him saying my name and asked, “Well, then who did?”
“Mario.”
“Mario?” It only just occurred to me that I never met the mysterious man who brought Keiran to Six Forks and helped him to seek revenge against me. “But I thought he was like a godfather or mentor to you.”
“We were both a means to an end for each other. He just wasn’t honest about his end. I thought we wanted the same thing, but he just wanted to make more money.”
“He used you.”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to kill him?” A small part of me hoped he would say yes—then I realized Keiran might have actually succeeded in corrupting me.
“Bloodthirsty, aren’t we?”
“You’re one to talk.”
“I won’t kill him if I don’t have to. There is a lot more at stake.”
“What?”
“The day Arthur tried to take you, he offered to help Keenan get a lung if I gave him Mario. He knew I was working with Mario to set him up.”
“How can he get Keenan a lung?”
“He wouldn’t say, but it’s my brother—I have to believe it because I can’t lose him.” I didn’t miss the vulnerability and sadness in his eyes when he spoke about Keenan. I knew he missed him. I did, too.
<
br /> “You have to save your brother.”
“I will.”
“But how are you going turn Mario and Arthur in and keep your promise to Arthur?”
“I’m going to turn them in together, but not before I get that lung.”
“Keiran—”
“I know it sounds complicated and probably won’t work, but I’ll die trying before I let my brother die.”
“This isn’t just about your need for revenge then?”
He picked me up and laid me on the bed again, laying me down before crawling in between my legs. My hair had unraveled from its bun and fallen in my face, so he brushed it back while staring into my eyes. “Not anymore.”
I let him remove the remaining clothes on my body, and after he had removed his, he hooked my thigh in the crook of his elbow and lined his body with mine.
“Do you remember the night I first took you? It was right here, baby. Do you remember?”
“Yes.”
“Did you want me?”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always had a choice and you made it.”
“I don’t see how any of it matters now.”
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
He lowered his face to gaze at my breasts before meeting my eyes again while he sunk into me slowly. “And do you want me now?”
“Yes.”
He spent the rest of the night swallowing my screams with his mouth while my unassuming aunt slept down the hall.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Keiran
The perfect way to end a school week was having Lake pinned against the side of her ride while trying to suck her face off. It had been a week since we called a truce, and since then, my hands had been glued to her body.
“Keiran,” she moaned. It came out muffled because of my tongue halfway down her throat, but if there was anything I recognized it was the sound of my name coming from her beautiful- lips. She managed to wrestle her face away from me earning a hard look. “Don’t look at me like that. You need to go to practice or you’ll be late.”
“They can start without me.” I looked down at her attire and cursed the person who invented jeans for women. Then again, I didn’t like other men looking at her bare legs either…
“You’re the Captain.”
“I know,” I said and went for her neck, but when a worried look flashed across her eyes, I stopped. “What’s up?”
“Is Dash okay with you taking the spot back?”
“Yeah… Why wouldn’t he be?” She fidgeted against me, but when she ducked her head, I guessed why. “Dash doesn’t care about all that, and frankly, neither do I. It’s just a title, babe, and I trust him with my life.”
“Okay.”
“Now go before I teach you how to fuck in the backseat of a car.”
“Keiran!” I rolled my eyes, lifted her, and placed her in her seat before buckling her in. When she continued to stare at me with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity, I took her keys from her hand and placed them in the ignition, starting the car. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll still teach you—just not here.” I quickly kissed her lips and slammed the door. I hung back to watch her drive off.
When the taillights of her car were no longer in sight, I turned to head for the gym. A steady buzzing sound filtered up from the inside of my jeans so I fished my phone out. An unknown number flashed across the screen and my entire body instantly went on alert. I might never understand why I answered.
“Hello, son.”
Mitch.
“Why are you calling me?”
“I think we got off on the wrong foot.”
“Is that what you call the intention to kill your son for money—the wrong foot?”
“This all could have been so different, son. It should never have come to this. Your mother had dreams of love and a family that made pancakes together on a Sunday morning. I offered her money, status, and security, but it wasn’t enough. Greedy bitch.”
“Say you kill me, Mitch. Say you actually succeed.” The sarcasm and disbelief in my words were hard to miss because we both knew he wouldn’t succeed. Mitch was just greedy and desperate enough to try despite the odds. “What happens when the money’s gone again? Will you gamble and drink it all away like you always do?”
“You don’t know me, boy. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
“You’re right. I don’t know you, but I know a shitbag when I see one. You all smell the same.”
“Watch your mouth, boy.”
“Hit a nerve, did I?” I chuckled into the phone hoping to raise his anger enough to do something fatally stupid like come out of hiding.
“They really did a number on you, didn’t they?”
“I think it has been pretty obvious that if you weren’t twisted enough to sell your own son, my life would have been pretty much the same.”
“Did you know that you almost died, son? I was forced to settle for a home birth because your mother was less than cooperative. I couldn’t risk taking her to a hospital for obvious reasons. Despite the promise of wealth and status, your mother wanted to end things, but, of course, I couldn’t let her escape with my meal ticket.”
“Is there some point to your rambling?”
“Yes. By some stroke of misplaced luck, you came out in time, and the midwife I hired was able to unwrap the cord from your neck. If I had known what a waste you would be, I would have just let you die.”
“At least you know what your first mistake was because, when I find you, I will kill you slowly and painfully. The last thing you do in your pathetic life will be to scream and beg for mercy.”
“Those are some bold promises, son. They taught you well. I would have thought, by now, you would have forgotten about that part of your life and became… domesticated.”
“How much did they give you?”
“Pardon me?”
“How much was I worth to you?”
“It wasn’t a matter of how much you were worth to me, but how much I could get for you.”
“How much?” I pushed through clenched teeth.
“I was paid ten grand for you. I wanted twenty, but they were a little less than compromising,” he chuckled.
“I’m not buying.”
“Oh?”
“As hard up as you claimed to have been for money, you sold me for ten measly grand?”
“Believe me, nothing about it was ideal to me, but I had no choice. I couldn’t be caught with you. My brother isn’t an idiot. He would have suspected me, but he also would have known if he took the chance and accused me without proof, he would be leading me to Sophia. He wasn’t willing to put his precious son at risk. You, however, were dispensable.”
“He’s not John’s son, you dumb fuck.”
“Watch your mouth, boy. I am still your father.”
“Yeah? Well, you’re someone else’s father, too. Care to take a guess?”
“What are you saying, boy? Spit it out.” I smiled into the phone at the visual of my father’s ruffled feathers and smooth demeanor cracking.
“It seems that when your men put my brother in the hospital after you ran like a coward, it was discovered that John and Sophia’s blood wasn’t a possible combination match.
A brief silence descended before he laughed into the phone.
“So the little bastard is mine. I might have known…” I could imagine him stroking his chin as an evil leer spread like poison on his face. “All the better—more money for me.”
“Why don’t you come out of hiding so we can handle this man to man?”
“Man to man?”
“I’m not a little eight-year-old boy anymore, Mitch.”
“No, you’re not. You’re all grown up, and you even got yourself a lovely piece. I can tell you really like her. A smart man would keep her close. Tell me, son, are you close to her now?”
Fuck. Lake.
“Stay away from her, old man, or you’ll be wearing your
balls around your neck at your funeral.”
I’d already done a one-eighty and was in my car before I finished the threat. His humorless chuckle filtered through the line as I clutched the phone to near breaking. I listened for background noise to gauge where he might be but didn’t hear anything past his slimy voice. I cranked my car and peeled out of the lot.
“We had a great conversation the last time we talked… She’s a good listener.”
“She’s inconsequential. I’m sure you know where I am, so why don’t you tell me where you are, and we can settle this once and for all.”
“The only thing needed to settle is your death certificate so I can collect my paycheck.”
“Then come fucking get it. What are you waiting for?”
“The opportune moment. I’m desperate, but I am not foolish. I like to think you got your brains from me,” he chuckled as if we were old friends. I never before felt the pressing need to watch the life fade from a person’s eyes.
“The only thing you gave me was a wasted existence.”
I jammed my finger on the end button and sent out a quick text to Monroe all the while weaving in and out of the thickening five o’clock traffic: Where are you?
Just a couple more miles, and I would be able to calm my racing heart and still the pounding in my ears. My phone flashed less than a minute later with an incoming text: Shouldn’t you be practicing?
As I turned onto her street, I replied with one word: Mitch.
Seconds later, I was in her driveway and exiting the car just as her front door flung open, and she exited with a bewildered look. I wasted no time bounding up onto her porch and whisking her back inside.
Monroe fired off endless questions filled with panic as I quickly checked the windows and doors of her house.
“Will you stop for one second and tell me what is going on?” She wore a crazy look on her face as she followed me into her aunt’s bedroom. I didn’t give a fuck about intruding on a stranger’s privacy.
“Mitch called me about you.”
I heard her suck in a breath before she asked, “When?”
“A few minutes ago. I think he was watching us.” I exited her aunt’s bedroom and took her hand in mine, leading her into her bedroom. I sat on the edge of her bed and pulled her down onto my lap. I couldn’t explain the strong, unfamiliar emotion I was feeling, but all I knew was I needed to hold her close. She didn’t object to my handling. Her gaze was fixed on my face, and I could tell she was overwhelmed. “Will your aunt be home soon?”