5. Lainey
FIVE
LAINEY
My body is on fire.
Every part of my skin where Marcus touched me blazes. Like I’ve been waiting my entire life for this.
I have no idea what he’s even doing here. The Summit is the last place I expected to see him. He’s more the lone wolf, cabin-in-the-woods kind of guy. Not the kind who wanders into a crowded event full of people he doesn’t know—or care to know.
My mind races as I try to piece it together.
Axel and I just got here about forty minutes ago. We were supposed to meet Derrick’s friend, hand over the money, and leave. At least, that was the plan. But nothing about tonight has gone according to plan.
After I gave Enzo the money, Axel and I got into an argument. I ducked into one of the private rooms to get away for a minute. I was just about to send a text to Ruby when the door flew open.
And then Marcus barged in out of nowhere.
He backed me up against the wall, kissed the shit out of me and then threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.
I barely had time to gasp before he was striding out of the room with me dangling over his shoulder like some kind of prize.
Now, his shoulder is digging into my stomach while he carries me through The Summit’s back hallways.
My body melts at how small I feel in his grasp. I’ve never been touched like this before. Never felt small and delicate and completely owned by a single point of contact. Every flex of his fingers makes me throb in places I didn’t even know could ache like this.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask softly.
His massive hand slides higher on my thigh. “Home.”
I wriggle in his grip. “You can’t just kidnap me. I have things I need to do tonight. Important things.”
The possessive growl in his voice liquifies my insides.“Watch me.”
Marcus pushes through a set of heavy wooden doors, carrying me deeper into The Summit’s back hallways. The pounding bass fades as he takes a service corridor, then another.
A kitchen worker freezes mid-step as we pass, quickly averting his eyes. Two security guards straighten to attention, stepping aside without a word.
No one tries to stop us.
No one even looks surprised to see Marcus carrying a woman through the staff area.
The hallway narrows and slopes downward, industrial concrete replacing the polished floors. A blast of cold air hits us as Marcus shoulders through the metal service entrance into the loading dock.
Goosebumps rise along my bare legs as Marcus strides through the empty concrete expanse toward the employee parking lot. He carries me past sleek sports cars and luxury SUVs to a massive black truck.
To my surprise, his touch turns gentle as he sets me down in the passenger seat. He reaches past me to grab a blanket from behind the seat. Something inside me cracks when he settles the blanket over my lap and tucks it around my bare legs.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I tell him.
As much as I love the warmth of the blanket and the way his hands linger just a moment too long, I can’t help but protest. It suddenly feels like too much.
But Marcus just tugs the blanket tighter around me and says, “Yes, I do.”
The look in his eyes is unreadable—intense, possessive, but there’s something else there too. Something that makes my stomach flip.
He slams the door shut and circles the truck, his boots crunching on the gravel. I watch him through the windshield, his broad shoulders cutting through the darkness as he climbs into the driver’s seat.
The engine roars to life, but I barely notice over the pounding of my heart. As we pull out onto the dark road, his hand slips under the blanket and finds my thigh again. This time, his grip feels less like claiming and more like anchoring, like he needs the contact as much as I do.
The rational part of my brain must be broken because all I want to do is curl into his warmth. My body keeps trying to lean toward him like he’s gravity, which is completely insane. Everything about this should terrify me, but instead, I’m fighting the urge to slide closer, to see if he’d wrap that massive arm around me.
Marcus’s voice cuts through the darkness.
“What were you doing at The Summit tonight?”
I swallow hard. I think about telling him the truth, but the words stick in my throat. How do I explain that I was there with Axel without making this even more complicated?
Instead, I deflect.
“You first. What were you doing there?”
His eyes stay fixed on the dark road ahead, but I see the corner of his mouth tick up.
“My friend Reign was working a job. I was helping him out.”
“What kind of job?”
His hand tightens on my thigh, and I can feel the tension radiating off him.
“Security.” His tone is measured, but there’s an edge to it—a warning not to push too hard. “Reign and I run a company together. ”
I bite my lip, torn between curiosity and self-preservation. “Is Reign the guy you were with at the diner yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“So, what’s it like? Working security, I mean. Must be nice not having to clock in every day like the rest of us.”
He glances at me briefly, then back at the road.
“A lot of sitting around, waiting for something to happen. But when it does, you have to be ready.”
“Sounds intense.”
“I don’t think about it too much. Just do what I need to do.”
I nod slowly, trying to picture him in that world—stoic, focused, always one step ahead.
“Is it just you and Reign at your company?”
For a moment, he doesn’t answer. Then he lets out a low breath, and I catch the flicker of something in his expression before it’s gone.
“Yeah,” he says finally. “Just us.”
There’s more to that answer. I can feel it. But the way he says it—like he’s closing a door—makes me think twice about pushing further. Instead, I let the silence settle between us, the hum of the engine filling the space as we wind our way deeper into the woods.
As I watch the trees blur past in the darkness, a pinch of fear creeps in. My stomach twists, and I realize how insane this is.
I barely know Marcus. And now here I am, letting him drive me into the middle of nowhere, my body humming with something I can’t quite name but can’t ignore either.
I shift in my seat, trying to shake off the unease, but it clings to me like a second skin. My throat feels dry when I finally speak, my voice light but laced with nerves.
“You’re not going to hurt me or anything, are you?”
The words hang in the air for a beat too long before Marcus pulls the truck over onto the shoulder. The engine idles as he turns to face me, his amber eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that makes my breath catch.
“I would never hurt you, Lainey.” Each word falls with deliberate weight. “Ever.”
I believe him.
I don’t know why, but I do. Still, there’s a part of me that feels like I should be running—should be opening this door and bolting into the woods like some kind of heroine in a horror movie. But instead, I stay rooted in place, my heart pounding as he reaches out and brushes a strand of hair from my face.
“Okay,” I tell him.
His gaze drops to my lips, and for a moment, I think he might kiss me again. Instead, he lets go of my chin and shifts the truck back into drive. Then we merge onto the empty road, surrounded by darkness and towering pines.
I glance out the window, watching unfamiliar trees flash past in the moonlight.
“Um, my apartment is the other way.”
“I’m not taking you to your apartment.”
The city lights fade completely as we drive deeper into the mountains. I’ve lived in Cooper Heights my whole life, but I’ve never been this far into the wilderness. The moon hangs heavy and full above the pines, painting everything in silver light that catches on Marcus’s harsh profile. His jaw remains set, those amber eyes focused on the winding road ahead, but his thumb never stops its maddening circles on my thigh.
These aren’t the manicured slopes of Fit Mountain or the familiar trails behind the diner. This is true wilderness. Ancient. Raw. The trees press closer to the road, their branches creating dark tunnels that swallow us whole. Now and then, I catch glimpses of eyes reflecting in the darkness -- creatures watching our passage through their domain.
I know exactly how they feel. I’ve been watching Marcus for months too, pretending I wasn’t prey recognizing a predator.
My breath catches when we finally turn onto a private drive.
The cabin emerges from the darkness in stages - first the warm glow of security lights, then the massive silhouette against the stars. As we draw closer, the full scale of it steals what little air I have left. His cabin dominates the clearing, rough-hewn logs stretching two stories high.
Rough-hewn logs stretch two stories high, moonlight turning the massive windows into mirrors that reflect the star-filled sky. A wraparound porch circles the structure like a lover’s embrace.
Marcus kills the engine, and in the sudden silence, I can hear my own ragged breathing.
“Wait here,” he says. Then his fingers flex against my thigh one last time before he releases me.
He’s at my door before I can catch my breath, moving with lethal grace. His hands find me in the darkness - one arm behind my knees, the other at my back. Then the world tilts as he lifts me against his chest.
I nearly swoon from the way he handles my curves.
I’m not exactly rail thin. I’ve got curves that don’t quit, hips that sway when I walk, and thighs that could crush a watermelon if I tried hard enough. I’ve spent years trying to make myself smaller, but Marcus manhandles my body like it’s exactly what he’s been starving for.
His flannel shirt rides up as he carries me toward the cabin steps, and the cool mountain air makes me painfully aware of how wet I am. His fingers dig into my thigh as he climbs, each step pulling me tighter against him.
At the top of the stairs, he pauses. Moonlight spills across the wraparound porch as he sets me on my feet. The way he does it is pure sin, a slow slide down his body that lets me feel every ridge of muscle, every hard plane that fits perfectly against my softness. His hands grip my waist, and fuck, they’re so big they nearly span my entire ribcage.
When I look up at his face, his jaw clenches hard enough to crack, his eyes burning with something primal.
Something starving.
Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his truck keys. I stare at them, confused by this sudden shift.
“I won’t take you back there.” Marcus growls. “But if you really want to go, you can.”
A choice. He’s actually giving me a choice.
I look at the keys. Then at the road that would lead me back to civilization. Back to being the good girl who never takes what she really wants.
My eyes find his in the darkness. I shake my head once.
Pure male triumph flashes across his face. He tucks the keys away and reaches past me to open the heavy wooden door.
The light from inside spills across the porch as he steps back, waiting. Then I walk through the doorway, feeling his eyes burn into my back as I step inside.