Chapter 8
DRAVEN
B lack hair. One blue eye, one brown. It’s her .
Fuck.
I can smell the jasmine from across the room. But why the fuck is she sandwiched between Bones and Aries in what looks like a heated debate?
I make a direct line for them, walking as fast as I can without looking desperate. That fucking dress she has on. Black and skintight. I’m guessing she’s not wearing any panties. Just like the last time we met.
Why the fuck is she still in town? I figured she’d be long gone by now. Off to wherever she came from to recover from our autumn equinox festivities. I can’t have this girl here right now. Not with all the fucking shit I have to deal with.
A storm brews inside me as we lock eyes. A tug of war between my dick and my head. The anger and rage I felt after that night sparks in my veins again. The fury of knowing that the brief time I spent inside her pussy were the only minutes of peace I’ve felt in years. So long that I can’t even remember when the last time was.
But the closer I get to them, the more the knots in my belly twist. Something isn’t right. Lettie is visibly upset. My mystery girl is, as well. Aries’s shirt is wet, and Bones looks like he’s about to brawl. Fucking hell.
I stop in my tracks. No. Fucking. Way. It can’t be her. If I get any closer, then it will be. And my fantasy will be destroyed. Decimated.
It’s the body language. The way she backs away from them, her eyes full of rage. A picture says a thousand words. Judging by the look that Aries tosses me, this picturesque moment has only two words that matter…
Mia Harker.
Sweet fucking hell.
I take a deep breath and flip the switch, instantly burying any lingering feelings I had for the girl who brought me peace in the bathroom at Duff’s. I don’t owe her anything. And I will be damned if I give up an entire legacy of poison for pussy. Even one as fucking perfect as hers.
Her mouth drops open when I approach. It looks like she’s figured out who I am too.
“Well, I didn’t expect to see you ever again. It seems like you really are trouble, after all, Mia .” I can’t rid the sour taste of her name from my mouth. She’s been causing me nothing but grief since she moved here.
Her lips quiver as she looks up at me. “You… This was your plan all along. You think your dick is so magical that I’d just sign over everything I own to you after one night of riding it?”
Now it was my friends’ turns to look shocked, their mouths agape. Aries snickers while Bones shakes his head.
I unbutton my cuffs and roll up my sleeves. I smirk as her eyes light up when she sees my ink. If my body is her weakness, then I’ll fucking play that angle. “I could say the same thing about you, Trouble . Maybe you think your pussy is so sweet that I’d just forget all about the fact that you’re sitting on fifty acres of baneberry.”
Her face turns bright red. “I just moved here. How the fuck was I supposed to know that you were the asshole sending his lackeys to harass me? You orchestrated the whole thing.”
The tension between us is carnal—unnatural. I have to fight the urge to shove my fingers down her throat. “You bumped into me at the bar, remember? Pretty fucking convenient.”
We both know that neither one of us knew who the other was, but I’m enjoying the fuck out of getting her riled up.
She huffs as she turns toward Lettie. “Thank you for the invite, but I’m leaving now. Please lose my number. I’m sorry, but I can’t be friends with you if they are who you hang out with.”
Oh, hell, no. Lettie is a fucking angel. I grab Mia’s arm and spin her back around. “You don’t get to unfriend her because we are forbidding her from hanging out with you .”
“Dray, stop,” Lettie orders. She pries my hand off Mia. “She’s right. This is why I have zero female friends in this town. They’re either afraid of the three of you or pissed off because you fucked them and never called them back. Let her go.”
Lettie is like all of our little sister, not just Bones’s. She’s sweet and kind, but when she gets that tone, you don’t argue. I give her a nod. “Sorry, Lettie.”
I look back at Mia while I will my cock to forget what she feels like. “This conversation isn’t over, Trouble.”
She glares back at me with the disdain of a hundred angry demons. “It actually is. You can talk to my lawyer from now on. Have a nice life, Slick . Or don’t, actually. I hope you have a miserable fucking life.”
I watch her walk away, my stomach twisting with each shake of her hips as she stomps out of the garage. But I can still smell that fucking scent of jasmine in the place where she just stood. My lungs burn from it .
“Everyone upstairs. Now. Except you, Lettie,” I rasp. Now that I know who Mia Harker truly is, the rules are about to change.
Bones could live anywhere he wants—the country estate his parents gave him on his twenty-first birthday five years ago, Aries’s house, my house—but he loves this fucking garage. So much so that he built himself a loft above it. I personally don’t know how he can sleep with the smell of gasoline and tar constantly hanging in the air. But then again, Bones has a lot going on in his head.
Sometimes I think the smells and the sounds of bikes and old cars keep him grounded. Focused. Otherwise, he’ll slip back into old habits. Bad fucking habits that almost cost him his life once. I can’t watch his family go through that again. I can’t go through that again.
We gather around Bones’s poker table, the only actual table in here. His loft is a true bachelor pad, complete with a wet bar, weight set, and a flat-screen TV that takes up an entire wall. My tastes are more refined or, as Bones would say, uptight . But nothing compares to the pristine, so-clean-you-can-eat-off-the-floors house that Aries resides in.
“You fucked her?” Bones growls.
I pinch the spot between my brows in an attempt to stifle the migraine that’s forming. “I didn’t know who she was that night. We agreed on no names. She was just some slut I fucked in the bathroom.”
Aries snorts. “Apparently not. I think it’s only fair that Bones and I get to fuck her too.”
The absurdity that comes out of his mouth sometimes. “Yeah, she looked really interested in both of you tonight,” I quip.
Bones lights a cigarette and takes a deep drag as he glares at me. “When I had her pinned on the table… her panties were soaking wet. Like she was enjoying it. ”
Aries leans back and unbuttons the top two of his shirt. “You didn’t tell me that part. You broke in wearing a ski mask… Fuck . Sounds like our little lamb has a dark side.”
“She’s had the devil attached to her since she was born,” I snap. “Dark side doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
Bones huffs. “I don’t give a fuck. The darker, the fucking better.”
My head is about to explode. “Calm your fucking dicks. Both of you. No cute pet names and no deviant fantasies. We just need her to sign the papers and move out.”
Bones arches an eyebrow at me. “That’s it. That’s what we’re doing wrong. Instead of trying to scare her into signing—”
“We make her cum so hard she’ll do just about anything for us,” Aries interjects.
Fuck me. I cannot be around Mia Harker without feeling anything but pure fucking rage. But maybe they have a point. “Do whatever you have to do to get this done. But don’t kid yourself into thinking she’s going to spread her legs for you now.”
Bones and Aries exchange a devious grin. “We’ll see about that.”
“Why is your shirt wet?” I ask.
Aries rolls his eyes. “She threw a drink in my face.”
Bones chuckles. “She’s not as timid as she looks. She might be more of a wolf than a lamb.”
I pound my fists on the table, sending a stack of poker chips crashing to the floor. “I don’t give a fuck if she’s little red fucking riding hood. If she doesn’t sign by the end of next week, I’m going to kill her.”
Bones gives me a nod. “I’m on it.”
“We’ll get her to sign, Dray. If not, we’ll be right there next to you when she takes her last breath,” Aries adds.
I fly out of the chair and storm from the room without another word. I rip off my tie on the way to my SUV, wishing I hadn’t given Rodrick the night off. But as pretentious as I can be, pulling up to a party in a limousine isn’t my style .
I stuff the tie in my jacket pocket and blast the AC. Sweat clings to my body like a disease. The migraine has now taken a full assault on my brain, and I’m close to vomiting. Fuck. I close my eyes and listen to the hum of the engine, knowing full well that there’s only one cure for this panic attack. I hate that it’s her.
“Fuck,” I yell as I slam my palms against the steering wheel. “Fuck this,” I mutter to myself.
I throw the car in reverse and peel out of Bones’s driveway. As soon as I hit the main road, I put it in drive and floor it. With all the windows down, the cold wind whips through the SUV. But it does nothing to calm the inferno in my chest.
I run my hand through my hair, pushing it back from my forehead as the filth rotting in my gut twists tighter, making it harder to breathe. I hate that her house is on the way to mine. Fuck.
I can’t fucking take this anymore. I slam on the brakes as I pass Harker Mansion and shift back into reverse at full speed. I fly all the way past it and then shift forward and punch on the gas. This stubborn fucking girl is making me lose my goddamn mind.
I don’t let up on the gas but, instead, push the pedal down farther. I’m crazed, wild, the most unhinged I’ve been in a long time as I crash through her iron gates going thirty miles per hour.
BOOM .
My entire body jolts forward on impact, nearly throwing me through the windshield. “Oh, fuck!” My head bounces back against the seat, making my migraine from earlier seem like a wet dream. I glimpse pieces of iron flying through the air as my tires spin, pulling the entire vehicle into donut circles around the front yard.
It only makes my anger grow hotter, deadlier, as I scramble to right the SUV. The side of my head meets the inside of the car door with a whack, and stars blur my vision. But I don’t stop.
I grunt and finally get the tires straight and under my control, but I’m still plowing down her front drive at about twenty miles an hour .
I see her now, watching my destruction from the safety of her porch. Safe . I snicker. I’m going to give her back the hell she’s given me. My heart caves in on itself. The darkness pulsing through my veins sparks like a fucking meteor shower. I can drive up the steps and keep going if I want to. Plow right into her. Who will fucking stop me?
Our eyes lock through the glare of the headlights. She doesn’t flinch, steadfast in her position on the porch. Her brown eye darkens while the blue one glows like a firefly caught in a mason jar.
She’s barefoot and barely clad in a thin white cotton dress. I slam on the brakes just inches away from her. And she still doesn’t move a fucking muscle. But the rage in her eyes… well, she looks how I fucking feel. Murderous .
As she takes a step toward my wrecked SUV, the sky cracks with lightning, like the devil himself is shaking his fist at me. Rain pours down in buckets, soaking her and everything around us. She glares at me, her chest heaving from the cold and her rage.
I have to jam my shoulder hard against the driver’s door to get it open. I stumble out and almost slip in the mud. The rain drips down my face and through my lips. The acrid taste of metal mixes with the rainwater and fills my mouth. Blood . Fuck. I hit my head so many times, now I’m pissed and deranged.
She’s shaking, her fists clenched at her sides. “What the actual fuck is wrong with you?” she screams.
I take another fumbling step, not sure what I’m going to do or say when I actually reach her. But I’ve come too far now.
“You’re crazy. Look at what you did to my gates. Look at your car, for fuck’s sake. Don’t take another step closer, asshole.” Her bottom lip quivers, but she makes no attempt to retreat.
I keep going, stalking toward her, hell-bent on unleashing every evil thing inside me. I picture my hands around her throat, squeezing the life out of her. But the closer I get, the more the ache in my chest burns. Her dress is soaked through, revealing the shape of her body, her hard nipples, and the sweet fucking slit of her pussy .
“ You are what’s wrong with me.” I slide my hand around her throat, but I don’t squeeze.
She gazes up at me, her long lashes wet. “Why are you here, Draven?”
“You pissed me off. So I wanted to return the favor.” My heart races at the feel of her pulse throbbing against my fingers, beating as fast as mine.
“You can’t just show up here whenever you want and destroy my property. We’re a bit old for temper tantrums,” she snaps.
Who does this woman think she is? Insulting me, driving me mad with lust and rage. “Like the one you just had at Bones’s party?” I tighten my grip on her neck and almost lose it over the way her throat bobs.
She latches her hand onto my wrist. “Seriously? I threw a drink. You drove through my front fucking gates.”
My breath hitches as she strikes another nerve inside my chest. We shouldn’t be allowed to touch each other. Not like this. “Because you infuriate me, Mia,” I scream in her face.
A devious smirk pulls at the corners of her lips. “Good,” she yells back. “Because ever since I heard the name Draven Blackwell , all I want to do is bang my head against a wall. I wish I’d never come here.”
I don’t like my name in her mouth. It sounds too familiar, too comfortable. Like she isn’t a stranger I fucked in a bathroom but a piece of something holy that I don’t have the right to touch.
The rain is coming down harder, numbing my fingers and lips. But all I can think about is this villainous creature in front of me driving me mad. “And ever since you came to town, my life has been hell. You have no idea the evil that lives inside me, Mia. The things I want to do…”
She sucks in a sharp breath. “I think you’re a coward.”
“Mia,” I warn her. I’m so close to the edge.
She arches her back, tilting her head up to look deeper into my eyes. “You sent Aries to try to get me drunk. When that didn’t work, you sent Bones to scare me. But all it did was make me wet.”
The thick rot that lives in my veins is churning, tempting me to lose control with every torturous word out of her mouth. I squeeze her throat harder. “Watch your fucking tongue.”
She grins like the devil. “And now you show up, acting like a child who wants to break all his toys. You’re pathetic.”
“Shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth,” I grit out.
“Or what? You gonna kill me, Draven?” Her chest is heaving out of control. We’re both trembling, freezing in this storm that seems to rage only for us.
I look down at her body. Her dress is useless, plastered to her skin like wet paper. And mine wants hers so fucking bad. My soul wants to relive that sliver of peace again. Even as her very existence is the catalyst for my madness.
I don’t want to kill her. Not tonight. Not yet. Fuck. I let go of her throat and inch my hand down her chest. “You’re going to freeze to death, and that’s not how I want you to die.”
“You’re a psycho,” she fires back.
It’s the ache in her voice that breaks me. I swoop her up and carry her inside.
“Wait, what are you doing?” She pushes against me, trying to wrangle free.
I set her down in front of the fireplace and start taking off my clothes. “I’m going to hate fuck you until I get you out of my system. Because I swear to the ravens if I have to hold my breath every time I get a whiff of jasmine, I’m going to check myself into an asylum.”
Her eyes darken, even the blue one this time. “Charming as ever.”
I notice how her pupils dilate when I slide off my pants and boxers. She can’t take her eyes off my cock. “Don’t fucking act like you don’t want the same thing. ”
She licks her lips before finally lifting her gaze back up to mine. “But I hate you, Slick.”
I nod as I step toward her and rip her dress off in one swift move. “Yeah, I fucking hate you too, Trouble. I hate that we’re going to make each other cum so hard that we forget that part.”
Before she can utter another traitorous word, I thrust my tongue into her mouth.