Chapter 25 Jules
JULES
By the time Ezekiel Moore breathes his last, it’s already the middle of the night. And even though I slept until past sunset, I’m so exhausted that I can barely walk straight.
I stare at my hands as Elias leads me to his trailer. I washed them before leaving the brothers to do whatever it is they do with dead Prophets, but I still feel like they’re covered in Ezekiel’s filthy blood.
“Is it the first time you hurt someone?” Elias asks calmly.
I blink up at him, my eyes stinging from the brightness of his porch light.
“I… no,” I admit. “It’s not.”
Elias lifts an eyebrow, though he doesn’t look too surprised.
“Will you tell me about it, Little Sapphire?” he asks as he unlocks the door and gestures for me to enter.
Can I tell someone again? Whenever I shared as a kid, I was met with disbelief. So I just… stopped. Got the hell out of my hometown as soon as I could. Stopped using my full name. Changed my look.
I toe off my boots before crossing Elias’s threshold, not wanting to track any blood that might be on them inside.
“Yeah,” I answer as I take one last deep breath of the night air. “Let’s take a shower, and I’ll tell you in bed.”
Elias chuckles, shrugging out of his suit jacket. “Bossy girl. You’re growing braver.”
“Well,” I huff. “You’re not planning on killing me anymore, are you?”
He cups my face in his palms. They’re dry and warm, belying the violence he’s capable of doing with them.
“Worse,” he breathes. “I’m never letting you go, Jules.”
I try to evade his piercing gaze, looking anywhere but at him.
“You might change your mind,” I say miserably.
He grabs my chin, applying enough pressure to let me know he means business. He doesn’t speak until my eyes meet his.
“Does my past make me any less desirable to you?”
“Wha—no!” I blink at him. “Oh…”
How is my story worse than his? Because people said I must have asked for it?
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Elias kisses the top of my head before herding me to the shower.
“Don’t apologize, baby. Bet it’s not every day you meet someone with demons bigger than yours.”
Demons. I never thought about the shadows of my past like that, but it’s fitting.
In the shower, Elias carefully washes every inch of me, then drops down to his knees before me.
“What are you—”
I don’t get to finish before his mouth is on my pussy, his hands roughly gripping my thighs to pull them apart. I grab his shoulders for balance, holding on for the ride as he feasts.
One of his hands leaves my leg, and I look down to see him part my nether lips and fill me with a finger.
“Elias,” I breathe when he beckons inside me, hitting that perfect spot.
He looks at me with those otherworldly eyes, water droplets clinging to his eyelashes, his hair darker and slicked back.
“You’ve been a good girl tonight, Jewel,” he murmurs over the sounds of the shower. “You deserve a reward.”
All I can do is moan my appreciation.
Elias adds another finger, tapping against my G-spot with unerring precision on each thrust. As he holds my gaze with his, he extends his tongue to flick it over my clit.
“God, Elias. You’re so fucking hot,” I whimper as my body twitches from the onslaught of pleasure.
That signature cocky smile returns to his face.
“Show me how much you like this, Little Sapphire. Flood my mouth with your sweet juices.”
He must be done speaking, because as soon as the last word leaves his sinful lips, he presses them back against my weeping cunt.
He takes my clit into his mouth, sucking rhythmically, in tune with the thrusting of his fingers.
His other hand grips my thigh, his fingers digging into the soft flesh there so hard, I know I’ll have bruises for days. And I’ll love seeing them every time.
It doesn’t take him long to get me there—he’s that damned good.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I moan repeatedly. “You’re making me come.”
He’s now practically hammering against that bundle of nerves inside me.
“That’s it,” he hisses against my pussy. “Feed me, baby.”
His words send me over the edge. My body clenches as a powerful wave of pleasure engulfs me, and I feel myself starting to squirt. I look down in time to see Elias lapping it up, too far gone to feel embarrassed. Everything he does only turns me on.
When he wrings the last tremor from me, he shuts off the water and wraps me in a soft towel.
He carries me to the bed, bridal style, and when we’re lying on our sides, facing each other in the near dark, I almost don’t feel like ruining the peace.
But he’s looking at me expectantly, waiting patiently…
“When I was a kid, an older cousin didn’t take no for an answer,” I say in a rush, not wanting to chicken out halfway through. I close my eyes, but Elias’s hand on my cheeks makes me open them again.
“What happened then?” he asks, no judgment in his voice.
“I told my mom and dad,” I say, my throat suddenly feeling thick. I thought I was over this. Well, at least somewhat. “They told me to stop making things up.”
A low growl rumbles from Elias’s throat, his fingers twitching against my face, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Told my uncle next,” I continue. “He slapped me and said if I ruin his son’s life, he’ll ruin mine. That I probably seduced him. Sick little whore.”
“Motherfucker,” Elias hisses, his rage a balm to a sore wound. “I’m gonna kill him.”
“Could be dead already.” I try to sound like I don’t care, but I’m not sure I manage. “I’m not sure what he loved more, Special K or cheap hookers.”
He snorts, then scoots closer, intertwining our legs. “It wasn’t him you hurt, then?”
“Nope. See, Rick, my cousin, got real ballsy over the years, seeing what he can get away with.” I clench my fist, recalling the last time he slipped into my bed.
“I was fifteen. It was Christmas, and the family was staying at my uncle’s big, beautiful house.
My parents, grandparents, and my mom’s sister with her family. ”
“Your cousin tried to hurt you while they were all there?” Elias asks with a dangerous rumble.
“He sure did. And I knew he would; he’d been dropping hints all evening. So I took my aunt’s fabric scissors and waited for him.”
“That’s my girl,” he praises, swiping his thumb over my cheek.
“Yeah. Stabbed him in the ass as he crawled on top of me. He started squealing like a pig. Everyone ran in.”
I grin, thinking about the expressions on their faces. My mother and father looked embarrassed. My uncle was furious. His wife seemed to be ready to check herself into a facility. Aunt Sarah was the only one who seemed angry for me, glaring at Rick and her brother.
“What did they do?” Elias prompts, bringing me back to the present.
“Well, Rick was naked in my bed, half on top of me, with scissors poking out of an ass cheek. Hard to claim I was making shit up with the proof bleeding right in front of their faces,” I say bitterly.
“Let me guess,” Elias mutters. “It got swept under the rug.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course it did. They called 911 and said he fell into the sewing table. We never got invited over again, which my parents blamed me for.”
“Fucking shit stains. How did you get away?”
I slowly exhale through my nose while exploring his chest with my fingertips.
“I interviewed a lot of abuse victims. Many go down a path of self-destruction. Failing school, doing drugs, unable to keep a steady job. Me? I threw myself into textbooks, got a scholarship, left the second I could. I had my stuff packed for months.”
Elias tucks my head under his chin and hums.
“Want to bring that stuff over here in the morning?”
I chuff and wiggle, making myself comfortable against him.
“You realize this is insanity, right?” I question. “We hardly know each other.”
Is this really my life now? Running off with the circus?
“I know enough,” is all he says on the matter. “Thank you for sharing your story with me.”
I kiss the hollow of his neck in reply, taking in his citrusy scent. It’s like a drug personally designed to calm my senses, and my eyes quickly grow heavy-lidded.
“Sleep now, Little Sapphire,” Elias whispers. “Tomorrow’s a new day.”