31. Worse
Chapter 31
Worse
MARCO
B efore she could blink, Callie was off the counter and on her feet facing it. I pulled her pants and panties down. She reached to stop me, but Cole gripped her wrists so she couldn’t.
“Since you just broke an important rule by lying to both of us, that means five spanks from him and five from me,” I said.
“Ten?” she gasped.
Cole chuckled at the indignation on her pretty face. “I would’ve made it ten from each, but Daddy Marco is a softy.”
Daddy Marco.
Fuck, I liked that far more than I’d expected.
“How is that being a softy?” Her wide eyes went even bigger as I moved in close so she could feel my hard-on. “Nope. Definitely nothing soft happening.” She whipped her head to the side to glare at me. “You like this?”
“I like everything about you, baby girl,” I said simply.
“If that were true, then you wouldn’t threaten to hurt me.”
“Hey,” Cole bit out harshly, but I kept my temper.
I used her braid to force her to look back at me as I pinned her front to the counter. My other hand was a gentle stroke across her bare hip. “It’s not about hurting you.” My lip ticked up. “But I do like that, so feel free to keep throwing attitude my way, and I’ll add more spanks to the count.” She pressed her lips together, and I chuckled. “That’s what I thought.”
“I’ll answer,” she said in a breathy whisper. I wasn’t sure if it was from anger or lust.
“Good.” I stepped back, and she tried to twist away, but between my grip on her and Cole’s on her wrists, she didn’t get far. “You can tell us after we’re done because I wasn’t just threatening to hurt you.”
In one smooth movement, I lowered her torso to the counter as my gentle hand on her hip pulled back to swat her ass cheek before she had a chance to fight. The smack of my large palm against her bare skin rang out.
“Ouch!” she cried, trying to shift away.
“Just say stop,” Cole reminded her, waiting expectantly for her to say it.
I did, too. I took a lengthy pause before landing my next one. I worked through my five as she thrashed and cried.
But never once did she say stop.
Cole’s five were faster, each connection scattered to spread the burn.
Precum leaked from my cock to stick to my slacks as I watched, but I worked to ignore the need to sink into her.
A need that grew when his last spank was aimed between her legs. When he pulled his hand away, it was coated from her soaked pussy.
Fuck, all that talk about rules, and I’m tempted to break one right now.
He pulled her upright from the counter but remained behind her. I took my spot in front and wrapped my arms around her. Helping him hold her. Comfort her as giant sobs shook her body.
I’d pulled my blows so they stung enough to be uncomfortable without causing any real pain. I couldn’t speak for Cole, but since he’d barely left redness, I was betting the same was true.
It was nothing that should’ve caused that severe of a reaction. Not unless she hated it.
Apprehension and regret crept in.
Why didn’t she say to stop?
“Callie—” I started, ready to beg for forgiveness.
She got there first.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m really so sorry.”
“Whoa, hey,” I tried to interrupt, but she didn’t let me.
“I’m sorry for lying. I won’t do it again. I do know Abraham, but I was trying to protect?—”
My brows raised at the abrupt way she cut herself off, looking up to meet Cole’s eyes over her shoulder.
His furrowed brows showed he shared my confusion.
I was about to ask for clarification until she took another shuddering breath. “Please don’t leave me.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Cole promised. “Not now. Not ever .”
“But I made you mad.”
“You didn’t. Even if you did, that doesn’t mean we’d leave. Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know. I kept thinking that if you were mad enough to spank me, you were mad enough to leave.”
“Fuck no,” I said. “You broke a rule that’s in place to keep you safe. We punished you. It’ll happen again. Once it’s done, that’s it. We move on.”
Her sad eyes and small voice broke my damn heart. “I’ve never been punished before. I’ve never had anyone care what I’m doing.”
“ We do,” Cole said. “That’s why we gave you the rules and why the punishments are part of it. So we know you’re safe. And so you know we care enough to set and enforce these boundaries.”
My expression tightened with concern, worried I’d fucked up. “Was it that bad?”
Her hand reflexively rubbed her ass. “No. Especially now that I know that you’re not leaving.”
“Never,” Cole promised again.
One day, and we’re already making insane proclamations. It’s a good thing she doesn’t know better, or she would be hauling ass from two obsessed assholes.
Three, if Freddy was here.
“You ready to talk now?” At her nod, Cole ordered, “Tell us why you’re trying to protect Abraham.”
“What?” She shook her head. “No, it’s you both I’m worried about. If I told you what he’s like, you’d go there. And you can’t do that.”
“We already went earlier,” I shared.
She tried to push me back so she could move, but I didn’t give her the space. “Why would you do that? What did you say? What did he say?” Contrary to her attempt to shove me away a second ago, she clutched the lapels on my jacket and yanked me closer. She looked over her shoulder to include Cole as she repeated, “Why would you do that?”
“I’ve already been there before,” he reminded.
“Right. With Ash about his wife. No offense to him, but I don’t really care if he puts himself in Abraham’s path. I mean, I do because he seems nice and stuff, but he’s not my Daddy. You both are. I don’t want anything happening to either of you because Abraham is delusional.”
“How so?” Her lips pressed together, and Cole pushed. “Daddy asked you a question, goddess .”
Cheeks flushed, a distressed whimper escaped her. “He said something.”
“He called you his goddess.” Rage at the memory filled me just as strongly as earlier.
He thinks she belongs to him.
She’s ours.
Only ours.
She rolled her eyes, but there was fear in them, too.
Instead of turning her repeatedly until she got dizzy and fell, I lifted her back onto the counter so we could see her at the same time.
She hissed at the unforgiving surface on her tender ass, and my dick jerked.
Cole’s shifting said he had the same reaction.
At least if I’m a sick fuck, I’m not alone.
“I told you, we’re careful,” Cole said. “We wouldn’t go half-cocked into the heavily guarded center full of witnesses to go after Abraham.”
“Not until we can do it right,” I added.
Cole tore his focus from her to give me a little headshake. “She doesn’t want to hear about that part of our day.”
So long as she knew the truth about who she was letting into her bed and between her legs, that was fine by me. I would rather leave all the bullshit behind and enjoy the beauty that was Callie when I was with her. I sure as shit didn’t want to put images in her head that she wouldn’t be able to unsee.
He looked back at her. “You don’t have to protect us. But you do have to be honest so we can protect you.”
She hesitated for a few beats. “My parents moved me to ES when I was fifteen. Right from the start, Abraham paid a lot of attention to me. Too much, but at the time, I thought it was just how he was. A friendly authority figure. Once I realized it was more than that, I pretended to be oblivious. ES was way better than the other places we’d lived. I had my own cabin. My parents were happy. His adoration was better than the animosity I’d faced elsewhere. And I still thought it was mostly harmless.”
“When did you realize it wasn’t?”
“It’d been changing for a while, but like I said, I was burying my head in the sand. But the week before I left, he called me into his office for an enlightenment meeting. I thought he was going to question why I wasn’t doing any of the coursework or maybe take back the unearned beads on the bracelet I didn’t even wear. Instead, he declared that I was a goddess.”
Maybe it would be worth the risk to go rock his fucking jaw.
“It wasn’t the first time he called me it.” She met Cole’s eyes. “I’ve always said oh my goddess or thank goddess . It was a side effect of hippie parents. He noticed the quirk shortly after I moved in, and it became my nickname. Again, I thought it was innocent. Like he was poking fun at me for not saying the real phrases. I stopped saying it. I stopped even thinking it. But he continued.”
Cole’s jaw clenched.
Like she knew where his thoughts went, she grabbed his forearm. “Don’t even think about stopping. I like it when you call me goddess. It feels safe and special. And he controlled so much of my life for four years. I’m not letting him take that, too.”
It took a long couple of seconds before his muscles loosened, and he lifted his chin.
“Anyway, when he said I was a goddess, I thought it was the looming proposition I’d known was imminent. But it was more than that. He didn’t just want to fu… date me. He wanted to present me to the members as some gift from the universe because of his commitment to Eternal Sun. He thought he was a god and wanted me to be the goddess at his side.” She waved her hand. “There was more about authority and recruitment. I didn’t get it, but I knew I had to get out.”
I got it. Fuck, did I get it. From basically the first time she’d smiled up at me, I would’ve followed Callie anywhere. That’d only grown the more time I spent with her.
If Abraham weaponized that appeal, he could sure as shit get more followers. More money. More power.
“What can you tell us about his tech?” Cole asked.
“I have no clue. There’s a computer in his office for necessities, but he says that electronics are a toxic distraction from the blessings of the real world. Their usage is frowned upon. Why?”
“I tried to pick up their Wi-Fi or another signal I could get access through, but there were none. It doesn’t make sense since the guard was on a phone.”
“My last little while there, they’d begun using some blocker thingy that only allowed approved devices. Again, he says it’s so people aren’t distracted.”
Riiiight .
“And his obedient lapdog?” I asked.
“Thomas?” She gave a soft giggle. “That’s exactly what he is. He goes where Abraham says. Does what Abraham says.”
I lifted a brow. “Any chance he’s who attacked you?”
Her laugh grew as she shook her head. “I have no fighting skills, but even I could’ve kicked his ass.”
“Have you seen him around since you left?” Cole asked. “The store, Moonlight, anywhere?”
“No, why? Did Abraham have someone spy on me?” She sighed. “Of course he did. This is what I’m trying to protect you from. He didn’t let men come near me. If he found out that we’re, uh…”
“Dating,” I filled in as I gripped her chin. “Not just fucking. Not seeing each other like something casual. We’re yours. You’re ours. Dating . Got it?”
“I know that.” She rolled her eyes, and it made my dick harder. “Trust me, you made that perfectly clear last night. I trailed off because of the cocky smirk on your face. You told him, didn’t you?”
“He might’ve been able to piece it together when I got in his face.”
Alarm and amusement warred on her gorgeous face. “Just you?”
“I played it smarter,” Cole said, and I gave an unapologetic shrug.
“Good. One man, he might be able to hold his ego. Three?” The alarm overpowered the amusement. “You need to be careful. Both of you. All of you.” She closed her eyes and whispered, “He really is dangerous.”
“We know, baby girl. But don’t forget.” I pressed between her legs. “We’re worse.”