Forty
Elias
Wicked Game - HIM
The rain patters against the window of my office, but thankfully there’s no sign of snow. The metronome in the corner of the room ticks rhythmically, keeping me grounded and present. I’m working from my home office today. The thought of leaving Kat after she almost fucking died is not an option.
It’s been four days since I found her lifeless body on her kitchen floor.
Four days, and my brain still hasn’t really accepted the fact that she’s alive.
Breathing. Every time I close my eyes, the memory rewinds itself like an old VHS.
The door splintering under my boot, the metallic smell, her crimson-stained hair.
But the memory that twists the knife the most is that half a second when I thought I was too late.
That half a second when the rest of my life without her played out in full color in my head.
The memory makes me wince every single time.
I’ve been trying gently to pry more information about her stalker, but she’s silent.
I don’t miss the way her eyes dart to the nearest door whenever I ask, or the way she’s had a nightmare every single night since.
She thinks she’s great at making people believe she’s fine, but I don’t think she knows how transparent she truly is.
I’ve spent most of my life reading people who are trying to hide things—I wouldn’t be the leader of The Circle without top notch body language skills.
Fear leaves traces that are so fucking obvious. And Kat is terrified.
Since I found her, I’ve had a lot of time to let my mind wander.
Too much time, really. My brain keeps circling the same ugly possibilities, each one worse than the last. I have an idea of what she’s running from, but I want to hear it from her mouth.
I could push—God knows I have ways of getting answers when I want them.
But forcing the truth out of her would only make this another thing being taken away from her.
And she’s already had enough of that. I owe this to her. It’s her story to tell.
Freddie hasn’t left her alone the entire time.
Fucking loyal cat. He only leaves her side to use the litter box or to eat.
I tried to coax him away with that stupid feather toy he likes, but he wasn’t interested.
In fact, I swear he gave me the fucking side-eye.
The little fucker actually hissed at me when I tried to move him yesterday.
Hissed. At me. In my own house. But I’m silently thankful for him.
Every time Kat shifts in her sleep, he’s instantly there, nose pressed against her like he’s checking if she’s still breathing.
Which, if I’m being honest, is exactly what I’ve been doing too.
I rub the back of my neck, easing out the tension as I scan over the sixth report of the day.
After the third report, all the numbers begin to look the same.
All the numbers are green, which is all I really care about right now.
I switch off the monitor and lean back in my chair.
The pressure of everything is pressing down on my shoulders, and my eyes are growing heavy.
After we said those three words to each other, we lay together in bed until her body stopped shaking with sobs and her breathing evened out. We didn’t speak—we didn’t need to. The room was a comfortable silence except for the soft hitch of her breath and the rain tapping against the window.
I haven’t told that story in a long fucking time.
Bringing up the past isn’t something I like to do, but I needed her to see me.
All of me. Every stained fucking part. I waited for the moment when the way she looked at me changed.
A flicker of doubt, a grimace of disgust. But when the words ran out, she didn’t pull away.
She just looked at me like a puzzle piece was clicking into place, and I swear something in my chest cracked.
And when she looked me in the eyes, despite everything I had just told her, and told me she loved me too?
I could have crumbled to dust at her feet.
A small knock at the door derails my train of thought. “Come in,” I respond without thinking.
The door opens, and Kat appears. Four days ago, she could barely even hold a glass of water without help.
Now she’s standing in my doorway with her hair done, like she didn’t almost die.
And she’s wearing one of my shirts. One of my shirts that barely covers her ass.
Now is not the time for my cock to be stirring in my sweatpants, but here we are anyway.
I rush out of my seat and walk over to her.
“What are you doing? You should be in bed.”
“I can’t stay in bed anymore, Elias. I want to do something other than watch reruns of Gilmore Girls all day.” She gives an exaggerated eyeroll, but we both know how much she loves that show. Fuck, even I’m starting to hum the theme tune to myself.
I guide her towards my desk and motion for her to sit in my chair. But she turns and grabs my shoulders, pushes me down on the chair instead. I don’t have a moment to think before she lowers herself onto my lap, her arms draped across my shoulders.
“Little rebel,” I grind out, willing my dick not to move. “You should be resting.”
“Please don’t make me rest. I want to help in some way. What are you up to?” She turns and looks at my screen, but I don’t miss the way she ever so subtly presses herself into my lap.
“Just looking at some reports. Cain is on his way over.”
“How long is he going to be?” Her eyes turn hooded, and her voice is thick.
“I don’t think this is a good idea. You’re still healing, and in case you didn’t listen to me before, you should be resting.” I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth.
“Don’t treat me like glass, Elias,” she breathes out, her bottom lip trembling slightly, and I know it’s not from anything I said—she’s just hurting.
“I’ve survived worse than this without breaking.
I need to feel you. To feel something. Please make me feel something.
” Her voice breaks on the last word, and the last shred of my resolve breaks along with it.
I kiss her. It’s tender, it’s soft, it’s everything she needs.
But I know it’s not what she wants. She wants me to make her thoughts disappear, to erase the darkness lurking there.
She kisses me back, her hands tangling in my hair, pulling me in to deepen the kiss.
Our tongues clash lazily, like we have all the time in the world to taste each other.
My cock grows in my pants, and she notices, letting out a soft moan as she gently undulates her hips.
This little rebel is going to ruin me.
“Do you want this?” I ask, pulling back and searching her face for any sign of hesitation.
“Yes, Elias. I want this. I want you. I want it all.”
She pulls me back in, our lips meeting again. I slide my hand up her exposed leg, and I find her bare, soaked pussy. I can’t stifle the groan that comes from me.
“So ready for me.”
I rub lazy circles over her clit, her hips bucking to meet my hand.
I pull back just enough to still relieve the pressure, but not enough to give her what she needs.
She lets out a frustrated moan, chasing the friction from my fingers.
I dip my fingers inside her soaking pussy, curling them in just the right spot until she’s shaking above me.
Her breath comes in hot pants against my cheek as her arousal drips down my hand.
I know I’m going to have a wet patch on my sweatpants, but I don’t care.
I continue rubbing the sensitive spot inside her.
The moans coming out of her are fucking filthy, and my cock strains, as if it’s gravitating towards her soaking entrance.
Her thighs start to shake around my hips, and I pull my fingers out quickly.
The obscene wet sounds tell me exactly how close she is. She lets out a moan in frustration.
“Elias, please let me come,” she breathes, rubbing her throbbing pussy against my thigh.
I move my fingers up towards her lips. “Taste yourself. See how sweet you taste, little rebel.”
She takes my two fingers into her mouth.
She lets out a soft moan as her tongue swirls around the digits, tasting her arousal.
I pull them out slowly, leaving a trail of saliva and her juices across her bottom lip, and pull her face towards mine.
Our lips meet again, and I taste her on her tongue.
My cock aches painfully at the brief reminder of how delicious she tastes.
She grinds her hips against mine, rubbing her hot pussy against my cock through my slacks.
“Yes. Take it. Make yourself come,” I groan as I watch her pussy slide up and down the outline of my cock, leaving a dark wet patch slick with her arousal on the light gray fabric. But in this moment, there’s nothing fucking hotter.
Her body tenses as her orgasm draws near, her nails digging into my shoulders as she frantically bucks her hips back and forth against me.
“That’s it, Kat. Come for me. Come all fucking over me,” I whisper.
Her body locks up, and I push three fingers inside her as she screams and shatters against me.
Her pussy clamps around my fingers as her body twitches out her orgasm.
Her face is contorted with pleasure as she rides the waves of her climax before her breathing turns heavy, and she goes limp in my arms.
We stay together like this for a while, our breaths in sync as she mindlessly grinds softly against my still-hard cock. Movement on the screen to my left catches my eye, and I let out a frustrated groan.
“We’re going to have to finish this later, little rebel,” I say, buzzing Cain through the gate.
I move to get up, but she stays firm in my lap.
“I’m not leaving. I mean it when I say, I want to help. I want you. I want all of you. I don’t want to be kept in the dark anymore, Elias,” she says, her eyes locked onto mine, holding my gaze.
My chest swells with pride.
That’s my girl.
She goes to move to the other chair, but I tighten my grip around her waist, turning her back to my chest.
“You’re staying right here where you belong. Not to my left or to my right. With me.”
Her eyes turn watery at my statement, and for a split second, I see a flash of something flicker across her face. But there’s no time to explore the feelings before the sound of the office door opening cuts the moment short, and Cain walks through the door.
Surprise flashes across his face as he takes in the scene in front of him.
His gaze flicks from me to Kat sitting comfortably on my lap, then back again.
I strategically place my hand in her lap, spreading my fingers casually across the fabric of my shirt pooled over her thighs.
I’m the only other person in this room who knows she’s not wearing underwear, and I’d like it to stay that way.
Kat stiffens on top of me before relaxing again, clearly catching on to what I’m doing.
The corner of her mouth twitches. I’m glad she finds this amusing because I fucking don’t.
Cain, unfortunately, notices everything.
He lifts a dark eyebrow as his expression shifts from surprise to poorly concealed amusement with the twitch of his mouth. The fucker is enjoying this.
“Should I come back later, boss?” Cain asks with a devious grin on his face.
“No. Anything you have to say can be said in front of Kat. It concerns her after all.”
I feel her stiffen in front of me. Shit, I probably should have briefed her on what this meeting was about.
“Are you okay?” I whisper to her as Cain takes his seat in front of us.
She gives a brief nod, but she stays ramrod straight.
“How are you doing, kiddo?” Cain asks Kat.
“Better,” she says, throwing a sly smile towards me, which Cain doesn’t miss.
“So,” he says, breaking the tension. “I don’t have any more intel on the hooded fucker. We’re still working on that.”
I see Kat’s face drop.
“You’re safe here, this house is impregnable,” I say, tightening my arm around her waist for emphasis.
“I do have bad news.” Cain tosses a manila folder onto the desk.
I pick it up and open it. My heart drops. “Another one?”
That makes four fucking disappearances.
I scan the text of the folder, my eyes stopping dead on one line. I read the line again, making sure I’m seeing the words correctly.
Residence: Ninth Street, Bridgeport.
“That’s two blocks from my apartment,” Kat says, taking the folder from my hands.
My blood runs cold.
“When did she go missing?” I ask, although I know the answer before it’s spoken.
“Four days ago,” Cain replies.
White-hot rage seeps into my veins, turning them to molten lava as a sick, creeping certainty settles in my chest. This girl wasn’t the intended target. There’s no fucking way. They wanted my girl. My hand tightens instinctively around her waist.
“What’s the plan, boss?” Cain asks, eagerness and bloodlust in his eyes.
“Assemble The Circle. They’ve got some fucking questions to answer.”