16. Chapter 16
Evan
Evan couldn’t think. Mindless, boneless in the arms of the enemy.
Frankie’s lips were possibly the softest in existence.
Velvet soft, which was a stark contrast to the hard edges Evan knew she was capable of.
Plans to escape Frankie’s mind games had evaporated the moment they’d opened the closet.
There, Evan’s repressed desires came to light in the darkened walk-in space.
They’d had fantasies of being held down during sex ever since they’d watched the stash of old porn Caleb had kept under his bed. Discovering Frankie was a Domme …
So much about her now made more sense.
“I want you to be mine. No one else’s,” Frankie murmured against Evan’s mouth before capturing their bottom lip between her teeth.
She gave it a gentle tug, and a cross between pain and pleasure raced up Evan’s spine.
“If you were my sub, we could play for real. Just imagine what it would feel like to be fully cuffed and at my mercy, little thief.”
Evan’s lips parted, and they were certain something sensible would eventually come forth, a polite decline of the offer perhaps, but Frankie took the pause as an invitation to devour them once more.
Evan’s eyes fluttered closed again, and they stifled a groan as Frankie’s tongue expertly fucked their mouth.
Arousal shot straight to Evan’s core, but it didn’t stop there.
The delicious sensation of Frankie’s silken tongue owning their mouth set fireworks off inside them.
Their legs buckled, but before Evan could fall, Frankie scooped them up in her arms without ever breaking the kiss.
The fuck is happening right now? was all Evan could manage as Frankie carried them to the bed.
They weren’t just an observer, however. Evan’s arms somehow found their way around Frankie’s neck, and they were pulling her closer, gasping for breath when Frankie broke their kiss long enough to shove her toys aside to make room for them.
“If you were my sub, I’d spend hours testing out each one of these on you. Filling you up, fucking you with them while you are tied and begging me to let you come.”
“Oh shit,” Evan moaned, and images of Frankie doing just that flashed across their mind as Frankie kissed them again. So hot, she was so fucking hot that Evan gleefully welcomed the fantasy of being bound and pounded into oblivion. An orgasm from Frankie would be wild.
Frankie nibbled on Evan’s bottom lip again, before placing wet kisses along their jaw. “Can I touch you, Evan?”
Evan blinked through the sensual fog of their arousal, Frankie’s question reaching them slowly.
She was on top of them, the part in her silk bathrobe far enough open now that Evan caught the flash of areola with each movement.
Wait, was that the edge of one of her piercings?
Evan’s mouth watered, completely preoccupied as they watched the robe slip open and close.
“You can look, but no touching,” Frankie said between kisses. Arousal flushed her cheeks as well, but it wasn’t until Evan stared up at the smoldering intensity of her brown eyes that the spell broke.
“N-no, get off me!” Evan drew their leg up sharply and knocked their knee as hard as they could into Frankie’s backside.
Frankie fell forward, but just as she would have landed heavily on top of Evan, Evan rolled away. “The fuck, little thief, stop.” Frankie grabbed them up in her arms easily, holding them in place. “Calm down.”
“Let me go!” Hot, panicked tears sprung forth, and Evan thrashed against Frankie, successfully catching an elbow to her face before she released them again.
Holy fuck, I just made out with Caleb’s killer .
Evan fell off the bed, taking a handful of sex toys with them.
A dildo landed on their face. They were going to be sick all over the floor if they didn’t hustle ass.
“Evan, talk to me.” The concern in Frankie’s voice was just another lie. Evan stood and stumbled out of the room to the bathroom. They slammed the door and locked it before collapsing in front of the toilet.
What have I done? Nausea thundered through them, making their mouth water, but the only thing that left them was more tears.
You’re pathetic and weak . Cecil wasn’t there to remind them, but they knew.
It was no wonder Cecil had favored Caleb.
Evan’s brother wouldn’t have botched an assignment and developed an attraction to the target.
“Stupid, stupid,” Evan spat, banging their fist against their forehead. They weren’t just stupid, they were sick to find Frankie alluring. The same woman who had taken Caleb from this world and gotten away with it.
A soft knock sounded on the bathroom door. “Evan? Please talk to me. I’m sorry if I overstepped. I got carried away.”
Evan covered their mouth, smothering a sob.
They squeezed their eyes shut, desperate to block out the bullshit worry in Frankie’s muffled voice.
Tension radiated through them, coiling their muscles until they sat rigid on the floor.
They would not utter a sound. Frankie didn’t deserve an ounce of explanation from them.
“I’m so sorry, honey. I-I’ll give you space.”
Frankie’s retreating footsteps weren’t enough to release the grip around Evan’s chest, but at least they could go back to sobbing openly.
“Hell, no.” They were not going to do that.
Crying was for pussies. That’s what Cecil had always told Evan and Caleb growing up.
Channel the unnecessary feelings into something useful.
Like revenge. Take back the control. Just take Frankie out of the picture and move on.
Fuck trying to bring down her business. After they were done with Frankie, she’d be too dead to care about her business anyway.
Evan forced their body to uncoil enough to stand.
They flicked up the lever on the sink tap and stared themself down in the mirror as they splashed cold water on their flaming cheeks.
Their eyelids were puffy and red, not at all indifferent like the vigilante they’d set out to be weeks ago.
It made no difference. Evan shut the tap off and patted their cheeks and hands dry.
Their stomach still rolled slightly, like a washing machine at the beginning of its cycle, but they took a deep breath and squared their shoulders anyway.
There was no sign of Frankie as Evan crept through the silent apartment.
Both bedrooms sat with the doors ajar, so chances were she was beyond one of them.
Likely hers, unless she was sitting in wait for Evan to return so they could have a friendly chat.
Evan inwardly scoffed as they padded silently into the entranceway.
They wouldn’t risk trying to get to the backpack in their room in case Frankie was waiting, but luckily, all they needed was tucked away in their leather jacket.
Usually strapped to the inside of their boot, Evan retrieved the small hunting knife from the jacket’s breast pocket and carefully unsheathed it.
The hand with the knife trembled slightly as they hid it behind them on the way to the bedrooms. Their mouth had gone dry, but thankfully, so had the tedious tears.
They could do this. They could avenge Caleb and go home.
Cecil would be so proud that Evan would finally get to see their mother again.
Seven years later, did she still blame Evan, too?
They inched Frankie’s bedroom door open first, wide enough to peek inside.
Her bed was made, and a yoga mat rested unrolled by the bay windows looking out onto Davie St, but she wasn’t there.
Evan crept back out, swallowed the massive lump lodged in their throat, and continued to the guest bedroom.
The largest, nicest room out of the two, and now Evan knew it was because it wasn’t a guest room at all. It was Frankie’s kink room.
Fuck off , Evan reprimanded their traitorous body as tingles of awareness flared low in their belly. Taking a deep breath, they nudged the door open with one foot. If they could catch Frankie unaware, they’d sneak up—
Evan stilled as Frankie came into view. She was cleaning off the bed and putting her many toys in the large leather bag they’d come out of, and she was crying.
Nothing loud and messy, but enough that she had to pause every few seconds to wipe the tears away.
Evan’s chest clenched at the sight, and they gnawed on the fleshy part of their cheek until blood oozed over their tongue.
What does she have to cry over? She didn’t almost fuck a killer.
It was then that Evan noticed Frankie was speaking to someone.
“They looked at me terrified, Danny. L-like I was about to … assault them .” Frankie choked out the last two words.
Evan caught the Bluetooth earpiece as she turned to sit on the bed.
She was so distracted that she hadn’t yet seen Evan watching from the doorway.
“A-after what I went through, I would never .”
What she went through? Evan narrowed their eyes.
An uneasy feeling niggled at them as they backed out of the room.
Something about this didn’t feel right. A cold killer wouldn’t break down because she thought she’d harmed Evan.
Frankie was supposed to act nonchalant, making Evan’s decision undisputable.
This new information was unplanned. Evan couldn’t lash out now no matter how in their feelings they were.
Despite their upbringing, Evan liked to think they were still a decent person. No, they wouldn’t kill Frankie.
Not until she’d shown all her cards.