27. SHANE
27
SHANE
I t’s been a while since I’ve seen Lilly. Our night together is still at the forefront of my mind, but she’s been on nights this week, and I’ve been on days and other than texting, we’ve not had time to see each other in person or on a live.
Until tonight.
She thinks I’m working, but I couldn’t resist surprising her. I’m sick, craving her next orgasm like an addict craves his next fix. I’m no better than her brother, reduced to an animal with a hunger that can’t be satiated.
With my handcuffs clipped to my belt and a blindfold in my pocket, I use the spare key I have to let myself in at this late hour. My boot creaks the floorboard in her hall. I should get Kane to fix that, but this whole house creaks and groans as if it has a life of its own.
Gripping the bannister with my leather gloved hand, I’m about to take the first tread on the staircase when I hear voices from the living room. I slink down her hall, keeping my back against the wall, lifting the balaclava mask at the side to hear better.
“I don’t care if she’s your son’s mother. I refuse to believe anything that comes out of Jodie’s mouth. She knows you’re a good man and will help her. She’s using you.”
“You don’t know her, Lil. She’s telling the truth.”
When I hear Asher’s slurry voice, I clench my back teeth under the mask. I knew it wasn’t gonna be long before he started sniffing round his sister. Fern did the right thing years ago, washing her hands of him. I just wish Lilly would do the same.
Leaning my head back against the hallway wall, I try to keep my anger at bay by regulating my breathing. All I want to do is march in there and dispose of him like you would a cockroach.
“Have you got the results from the DNA test?” Lilly says.
“Not yet. I don’t know what’s taking so fucking long. But I believe her, Lil. All the dates add up.”
“Not being funny, but since when were you any good at maths?”
I snigger under the mask. I’m surprised the lad knows what day it is, let alone what or who he was doing twelve months ago.
“I know I’m shit at maths. I’m shit at everything. Most of all, I’m a shit brother. You know I hate asking you for money.”
Any rage I’d suppressed is back tenfold, bubbling in my veins. That piece of shit has been leeching money from her.
My fucking money.
A shadow appears in the kitchen. I keep myself pressed against the hallway wall in the darkness. Her body comes into view through the glass door that leads to her kitchen as she rifles through her purse.
“This is all I have on me. I should have another two grand coming next month.”
Realisation hits that she’s only seeing me for the money. Somewhere along the way, the lines had blurred and our business arrangement had become personal. At least from my perspective. I thought she felt the same way. That this was more than a business transaction and that she might have developed feelings for me.
I rub the sting in my chest and swallow down the bitter taste in my mouth as anger bubbles over, clouding my mind. Pumped with adrenaline, I pull the mask over my ear and open the kitchen door.
“Who the fuck are you?” Ash shouts, clutching a wad of notes in his hands.
“I’m your worst fucking nightmare, you piece of scum.” I swing for him, my fist collides with his jaw, sending him backwards into Lilly’s dining table.
“Please, he’s my brother,” Lilly cries, clawing at my arm as I pin his throat to the wooden table, but her fingers are nothing more than a whisper against my skin as my biceps bulge with anger.
Ash kicks his legs, his hands grasping at mine to release his tattooed throat. “You know this psycho?” he asks Lilly, before his face contorts as I tighten my grip.
Lilly clutches my arm, pulling at it, pleading with me to let him go. “Please, he’s harmless. Please don’t hurt him.”
I stare down at this poisonous rat. “Do you know what she’s been doing for money?” I bare my teeth under the mask. If he could see me now, he’d see a wild animal ready to tear him to shreds. “I should kill you right now for what you’ve put her through.”
His bulging eyes stare up at me. The mask I’m wearing hides my face, twisting in disgust.
“Please,” Lilly cries, tugging on my arm. “He hasn’t put me through anything I didn’t want to do. Please.” She sniffles. “If it wasn’t for that, we’d never have met.”
My heart stutters. A slither of hope creeps into its cracks. Maybe she does care about us after all. But that doesn’t excuse this scumbag, leeching from her and taking my money. Money that was meant for her to make her life more comfortable. Not throw down the drain for some gutter rat.
Just as I’m about to release him, white hot heat spreads through my side.
Lilly screams. “Ash, what have you done?”
I step back, searching her for injuries, her hand covering her mouth as tears pool in her eyes.
The next thing I know, two hands push against my chest, forcing me backwards. I catch the glint of metal covered in red under the kitchen spotlights as Ash pushes past me, dragging his sister with him. “Come on.”
I grab a hold of his hood. “She’s not going anywhere with you.” At the sudden movement, an aching pain cripples my side. I press my hand to my abdomen, wetness seeping through a tear in my top. “Fuck.”
As I look down at my hand slick with blood, I clench my fist and pound it into his face. “You’ve just ruined my fucking night.”
He lets go of Lilly and waves the bloodied knife in front of me. “Come on then, fucker.”
“You think you’re a big man carrying a fucking knife?” I clench my other fist, slick with blood, and land another blow to his face. I slam his hand against her kitchen unit. The knife drops, clattering against the floor.
“Stop,” Lilly shouts, stepping between us.
I stand back, not wanting to hurt Lil, but kick the knife away from him.
She faces her brother as if she’s shielding me. “Just go, Ash. I know him. Just get out of here before I kill you myself.”
I watch over her shoulder as Ash collects the littered notes from the floor before he legs it out the door. My chest rises and falls under my long-sleeved black top. “Are you all right?”
She presses her hand against my stomach. “I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.” She lifts my top to reveal my wound and looks up with tears dripping from her lashes. “Sit down. I need a better look at this.”
I grip her wrist, pulling her hand away from my stomach. “That was a dirty knife.” I take the few steps over to the sink, my gash burning with every step, but I need to wash her hands and check she’s safe.
“It’s fine. I don’t have any cuts. I’m okay.” She pulls from my grip and turns the tap on, washing the blood from her hands in the sink. After scrubbing her skin, she holds her hands up. “See?”
Holding my side, some of the tension from my shoulders leaves when I see Lilly’s not hurt.
She opens a cupboard and pulls out a first aid kit. “Now sit down before I stab you myself.” Her steely blue eyes penetrate my mask with a fierce look that you don’t want to mess with.
“I can deal with it. Just give me a needle and thread.” I open the first aid box, looking for something I can use.
Pulling on a pair of gloves, she says. “If you don’t sit down and let me take care of this, I’m calling 999.” Her jaw tightens as she presses her luscious lips together.
I roll my eyes, scrape a chair along the floor, and sit at her table. Leaning against the wooden backrest, lifting my top, I make sure the rest of my abdomen is covered. Only a small fraction of the skull on my stomach is showing. I can’t be the only man who has a skull tattoo, but I’m probably the only one she knows with a skull chewing a bullet. Fuck’s sake. I silently curse my choice of tattoos as she wipes the area.
She kneels on the floor between my legs and washes the blood from my stomach with a wet cloth.
“If I knew you were giving my money to him, I’d have—” I suck in the air through my teeth as she wipes at the open wound, cleaning it with some pink liquid.
“It’s none of your business what I do with my money.” She wipes more blood from my stomach as it trickles from the gash. “I think some glue and steri-strips will be enough, but you should really go to the hospital to get this checked out. I’m no expert.”
“I trust you. Just glue it. I’ll be fine.”
She opens her first aid kit on the table, setting out the equipment she needs. “He could’ve killed you.”
I huff out a puff of air under the mask. “I highly doubt that.”
My stomach clenches as she pinches my wound, holding the edges together to apply the glue. I grip the wooden chair beneath me and hiss.
“I thought…” She swallows, then wipes her eye against the back of her hand. “I thought he was going to kill you, or you were going to kill him. If I lost either of you, I couldn’t bear it.”
Pulling off my glove, I caress her tear stained cheek. “If he wasn’t your brother, he’d be dead already.”
She leans into my touch, rubbing her cheek against the palm of my hand. “Promise me you won’t hurt him.”
I hiss through the mask. Every bone in my body wants to break his. But he doesn’t need me to destroy him. He’ll do that on his own soon enough. “You know I’d do anything you ask of me.”
She lets out a sigh of relief, her shoulder relaxing on the exhale. “Thank you.” Her lips press against my palm that cups her cheek.
We fall silent as she applies the steri-strips. I grit my teeth and silently curse under the sweltering mask. I’d come here tonight with plans to tie her up and make her squirm, but thanks to her fucking brother, it’s me doing the squirming as she puts the last strip on.
She attaches a dressing, smoothing her hand over the white pad. “If the wound gets red, hot, or more painful, don't be a hero and get some antibiotics.”
Her lips press against the small section of exposed skin on my stomach, and it’s like all the pain is gone for a moment. With her head so close to my groin as she kneels at my feet, my dick twitches, waking up despite the pain in my side.
I groan inwardly at having her like this, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. My fingers run through her black hair, stroking and patting her head as if rewarding her for being a good pet.
She kisses more of my stomach, working her way down, and starts to unbuckle my belt. My dick grows against my zipper. Thoughts of those luscious lips around my cock and her two front teeth scraping along my shaft have me practically weeping from the tip, but I need to go.
“Not tonight, nightingale.” I fist her hair, forcing her head back. “I'm not touching you until I get that knife checked and make sure your druggie brother didn’t give me anything.”
She nods in agreement. “My brother isn’t sick, but I don’t know where the knife’s been, so you should go to the hospital and get some anti virals just in case.”
I stand with a groan, holding my side, the pain making me nauseous as the pain of a hot poker tears through my stomach. Holding Lilly’s hand, I pull her to her feet. “Close your eyes.”
She does as I ask, her palms rest on my chest.
Before I go and lick my wounds, I lift my sweat coated mask to my nose and wipe the moisture there before pressing my lips to hers. Not knowing when I’ll see her again, I need something to sustain me for the foreseeable future. I’m unsure how long it will take to get tested and get a clean bill of health. I don’t trust Ash or any of his buddies. But I made Lilly a promise not to hurt him. I can’t go back on my word.
She slips her tongue into my mouth and clings to the fabric of my top. Everything melts away, her lips like butter, her tongue gently licking against mine, and I’m drowning in this woman. All pain forgotten, I bask in her warmth, her touch soothing as I lose all sense of reality.
She deepens the kiss, and I’m a slave to her whimpers. She’s my kryptonite. My weakness. The one person I would die for. And right now, I’m dying of a broken heart, knowing this is all we’ll ever have. Stolen moments behind a mask.