Moth to a Flame

25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Regan

“Time to go home.” Landon has a hand on the back of my neck and one at my waist, walking me through the store and toward the exit.

“Rosemary.” My feet are planted in place.

My sappy and sweet emotions from a second ago are gone. Washed far, far away. Terror and panic take their place. More than this morning. More than any other time in my life other than that night in Central Park.

They’ve let him out.

How could they have let him out?

“Don’t make me tell you twice.” His voice is strained.

“We have to tell her we’re leaving.”

“She knows the plan.” He smirked when we heard Rosemary’s pained cries. He’s not amused anymore. He’s mad.

He’s protective.

We’re standing in the middle of my store.

The sun starts to set, but it’s not an orange glow that bathes the streets. It’s dark gray. An omen. A bad one.

“I’m getting you the fuck out of here.”

A customer I don’t recognize pushes the door and walks through the door. She’s about my height, her blonde hair piled up on her head in a messy bun and she’s holding out her cell phone.

Landon throws me behind him, protecting me from the girl. From the world.

“I need to get my phone fixed, please.”

“Not today. Leave,” he thunders. His shout shakes the walls of our shop.

My bones shake.

The girl doesn’t hang around to find out what else he’s capable of. I hear her sneakers pounding against the pavement as she runs off.

“Regan.” Rosemary hurls herself out of the repair room. I look over my shoulder, as much as Landon’s grip on me allows. She’s crying. Her mascara leaves black streaks on her cheeks. “Regan, I’m so sorry.”

“We can’t leave her alone.” I tug at his shirt.

“We aren’t doing that. She’ll be with your parents. Like we planned.” He turns to me, his hands curling around my neck. “Listen, I’m going to repeat this one last time. I’m not sorry he’s out. You won’t hear that from me. I’m going to make sure you’re locked up and safe at home. Where no one can get to you. No one’s allowed on our private beach strip, either. Remember that. That’s where you’ll be. Then, I’m going to get him.”

The guards he bribed at Brinestone are still very much on Landon’s payroll. Seeing how his phone is blowing up with messages, I’d say it’s them. They’re probably texting him that Lester was paroled and giving him his address. He wouldn’t have been let out of there without one.

My phone blows up too. I don’t look at it. I’ll call my parents on the way to Landon’s.

This. I have to deal with this first. We had this plan, but apparently, I’ve changed my mind. The reality of the situation has me questioning everything.

It’s the strangest feeling, like I can tell Lester is coming for me. He must have realized I was somehow responsible for his lost penis. Plus, I’m the one who got him in there in the first place. The only one who could identify him.

The only witness.

He wore a mask with the other ones. Had gloves on. I’m sure there were other girls he attacked from the things he said to me.

I like them younger.

No one else came forward. No other cases were linked to his DNA.

Me.

Only. Me.

It will take little to no digging for him to find out where I live. Where my parents live.

“What if he comes here? Or to my parents?” I put my hands on my hips. Landon’s glower would’ve put fear in anyone’s heart. Anyone that’s not me. “What if he’ll hurt them when he doesn’t find me in either place? He will. He will. He will.”

“Regan.” Landon’s roar grounds me.

Partly.

“I’m okay,” I lie, staying firm in place.

“Come.” He pulls me to him. “Regan, so help me, if you don’t start moving right this second…”

“We’re not changing plans. I’ll take Mojo with me to Mom and Dad’s.” The shuffling noises from behind me sound like Rosemary’s grabbing her purse from under the counter. And Mojo’s leash.

Poor thing must be confused. He yaps and barks, his nose pushing at the back of my leg. When Landon tugs on my arm again, he growls.

“It’s better this way. Remember the plan?” She’s at my side, no longer crying. Her hand is on my shoulder. “We can’t go together. Mom and Dad will lose their shit if we both go to your home. To a man’s home, one they’ve never heard of. They’ll think we’ve been kidnapped or something. They’ll never believe us if we say that over the phone.”

Rosemary nods as she speaks, reminding me of the reasons we have to split up.

“I have to go there. Dad told me that he’s already hired security to stand outside the building and their home. I’ll tell him you ran away to somewhere safe. We’ll be fine.”

Landon pulls me, and this time I let him. I’m tired and scared, allowing him to drag me outside the store and into the street.

Someone honks their car’s horn. A woman laughs, and a man joins her. The sounds are dulled like I’m standing in the middle of the ocean instead of a bustling street in Brooklyn.

“They’re ex-military.” Rosemary locks up, Mojo staying close and at her side. He won’t stop barking. “Dad gave them Lester’s photo and ordered them to shoot him on sight. Go home.” She cups my cheeks. Mojo’s leash digs into me. “You’ll be safe there. By this time tomorrow, it’ll all be over. You’ll be safe.”

On its own, my hand goes to my stomach. To the scar. To my tattoos.

My wife.

My property.

My good girl.

Mine.

That reminder usually lends me strength. Landon’s shadow, the heat of his body, his authoritative words, they do it too.

Nevertheless, I don’t feel particularly strong right now. I feel…

Paralyzed.

From head to toe.

“I’ll burn this motherfucker.” I can’t see my sister anymore. All I see is the pavement beneath me after Landon’s hauled me over his shoulder. “Whatever I had planned, I’ll make it hurt worse. For this.” Landon’s gait is wide and confident. “For scaring you like this. Son of a bitch.”

We walk past people, turning into the alley where we’re parked. I’m being unceremoniously disposed into the passenger seat. Curse after curse, Landon puts my seatbelt on, kisses my cheek, then rounds the car to his side.

He’s reading his messages while he walks, eyes narrowing. The vein in his temple throbs.

Once he’s inside, he dumps the phone into the console and peels out and takes off to merge into traffic.

A car swerves at the last second before they crash into us. As long as we’re both alive, I don’t think Landon gives a fuck.

The rage consuming him bleeds into the car. It’s in the air just as much as my fear is. For my family, mainly. Lester has no way of knowing where I’ll be. But they…

“What if the new security detail they hired fuck up?” My voice is small, hardly recognizable. “He’ll hold my family captive. Like in that movie, The Strangers . Have you seen it? Have you seen it, Landon?”

Despite being on the highway, he cuts his glance at me. Black eyes bore holes into mine and he laces our fingers together.

“You’re strong.” Not your family will be safe . Not everything will be alright . “You’re strong. You fought me. You survived. You’re okay. You’re here.”

“I don’t know.”

“Say it.” He’s driving at a terrifying speed while he keeps glancing my way. “Say you’re strong.”

“I’m strong,” I whisper.

“Not good enough.” It hurts when he squeezes my hand like that. It’s grounding. “You’re strong. Again.”

“I’m strong.”

“Better.” Landon presses the gas harder, and we zoom past three cars in what feels like a second. “Louder now.”

“I’m strong,” I scream. I try, at least.

“You trust me.” Another squeeze.

“I do.”

Though it’s more of a breath than actually saying the words, he lets out a sigh of relief.

“You have every reason to. And I’ll give you another one before I leave.”

“What?”

No answer. I only get his strong profile staring at the road ahead of us.

“Landon, tell me what is it? You’re scaring me.”

“You’ll have to learn to really trust me.” He’s terrifying. Downright homicidal. “You’ll be a good girl and wait for us to get home.”

The rest of the drive is quiet.

I can’t bring myself to call my parents. They would hear the terror and confusion in my voice, would’ve seen through my brave act. Rosemary will convince them I’m all right, that I’m locked up somewhere safe. At an Airbnb in San Francisco where Lester will never get to me.

That sick feeling returns in full swing.

He’ll get to me. At the very least, he won’t stop searching. Putting him behind bars was bad enough. Taking his dick?

He’s coming for me.

Landon throws the car into park in the driveway. I’m too stunned to move.

That’s not a problem for a man like him. He storms out of the car, comes to my side, and pulls me out.

Over his shoulder I go, and I cling to him as he walks into our home. I need him more than I’ve ever needed anyone in my life.

My boots land on the den’s floor. Landon slides his hands up to my cheeks. “You said you trusted me.”

“I do.”

“Not so sure about that.” His grip is punishing. Bruising. Like he’s angry.

I’ve known him long enough to realize he’s not angry with me. It’s just who he is.

A deadly force.

“Please, there’s no time,” I whine, a tear rolling down my cheek. “He’s out there. I swear, I trust you. You have to leave. You have to get out there and kill him.”

His nostrils flare. “By the end of the day, he’ll be dead. I’ll make sure his last hours on this planet will be an endless nightmare. The demons in hell will pity him. That’s how badly he’s going to hurt. But I’m taking care of you first.”

“What if he gets to my family?”

Landon strips me out of my T-shirt.

“Landon?”

He tears the lace off the cups of my bra, exposing me to him.

“What’s going on? Tell me.”

“Foot up,” he demands from his place on the floor after dropping to his knees.

“You have to explain.”

“I have to be here for you.” My boots are off. Socks and leggings and panties are out of the way. He fishes the chastity belt’s key from his pocket, turns it in the lock, and frees me. “That’s what I have to do. You’re not okay.” He stands up, whipping his shirt off his muscular chest. “I won’t leave until you are, so save your breath.”

My pulse is deafening between my ears. I feel precious and his. So his.

I stare up at his unhinged glare, silently begging for answers. I get them through actions rather than words.

Landon flips me so I have my back to him, then bends me over the arm of one of the leather armchairs.

Not just any armchair. Oh, no. Oh, no . This isn’t a random chair that he’s chosen.

“Do you see it, Regan?” He has his hand in my hair, pulling on it. “The things I’ve done for you…”

I hear his zipper rolling while I’m being forced to look at the three jars we have on one of the shelves in the den. Two sets of eyeballs floating in ethyl alcohol. One toe.

Bile should be rising in my throat. At the very least, I should feel nauseous. Lightheaded.

Should.

Don’t.

I’m turned on, panting and moaning as Landon pinches my clit, rolling it between his fingers.

“Answer me.” He tugs, and I scream. “Do you see it? The things I’ve done for you?”

“Yes.”

He kicks my knees apart, shoving three fingers inside my pussy. The harsh stroke punches the air out of my lungs. “Tell me what you see. Be specific.”

“Eyeballs.” I whimper at his sadistic handling of me. At his fingers hitting that spot that makes my toes curl, ruthlessly, unapologetically. “A toe. A man’s toe.”

“Why are they there, hmm?” His head aligns with my entrance. My walls clench around him, my body begging to have him inside me. “Why’d I bring them to you?”

“They fucked up.” I push my hips back. He tilts his away, refusing to let me have what I’m desperate for. “Okay, okay. They looked at me.”

Whatever I said seems to be the right answer. Partially. He gives me more of him. Barely an inch. “Go on…”

“The toe man, he said he’d ruin my mouth with bleach.” Needing to hold on to something, I bury my fingers into the cushion.

“That’s my girl.” A scream rips from me at his forceful invasion. I’ll never get used to how big he is. How my body has to stretch to accommodate his cock. “They looked at you. Thought about you. They never touched you.”

“No.” I’m growing dizzy, breathless, with each violent thrust.

He bottoms out over and over again without loosening his grip on my hair, not once.

“Can you imagine”— grunt, and his cock is impossibly deeper inside me—“what I’d do to the monster who had his hands on you?”

“Yes.” Tears of relief cascade down my cheeks and drop to the cushion. “You’ll torture him. You’ll slaughter him.”

“Will anyone be able to stop me?”

The severed organs. The promise of death. Of revenge.

His cock inside me.

My body can’t take it. I can’t take it. I come so hard that I scream, moan, and curse seemingly all at the same time.

“Good girl. That’s it. That’s my good girl.” Landon drags his cock back out, shoving it all the way inside me. He repeats the movement, emphasizing his words as he fucks me. “Nothing and no one will stop me from taking care of you. You’re mine. It means I’ll spend the rest of my life protecting you. Loving you. Avenging you. I will not fail. You hear me, Regan?”

I believe him. I see it now. “Please. Please come inside me. I need you.”

“Yes, you do.” His feral growl reverberates through the house. Then his thrusts become erratic and harsh. He won’t let my hair go as he comes inside me.

He forces me to hear the sounds of his pleasure. Feel him filling my pussy. I come again, while both of us are staring at the body parts in front of us.

“Never doubt me again.” His mouth trails hot kisses up my spine. His cum leaks down my thighs. “Never question my love and decisions when it comes to you. You’re mine. You’re mine. You’re mine.”

“I’m yours.”