32. XXXII
XXXII
Echo
I carried a sleeping Spencer into my room, bypassing hers without a second thought. To have her near, I couldn’t fathom the thought of depositing her into the bland, empty space she once stayed. The reminder of her leaving sent shivers up my spine, the trauma of the potential loss too much to bear.
Gently tipping forward, I laid her on top of my comforter, then beelined for the bathroom to fill the jacuzzi bath.
Once complete, I turned and flinched. Spencer stood right behind me, completely naked, the iridescent blood stark against her unblemished skin. The silent assassin had entered without a sound, foretold by the resounding heartbeat that echoed in my ears.
Noiselessly, I hooked her hand in mine, guiding her into the shower as I stepped in after her. I washed us both with methodical hands, never straying into lust, never deviating from the sole purpose of cleaning our bodies, despite my length hardening between us.
I didn’t want any piece of those fuckers on me or her, wanting every drop, every piece of contaminated DNA washed down the drain.
When we were clean, I led Spencer to the bath, the heated water sprinkled with scented oils. I watched, mesmerised, as she secured her luscious locks atop her head with a pen, a few auburn strands trailing down her neck, her face. Saints, she’s beautiful, hauntingly so.
Spencer released a contented sigh upon entry, and my jaw nearly dislocated by how hard my teeth ground together.
We had so much to discuss, almost too much to convey.
Deserve her.
My eyes fluttered closed on the wet seductress, and when I raised to leave, a soft hand tugged on mine with a single word to follow. “Stay.”
That uttered syllable was my ruin as her gentle touch felt as heavy as a ten-tonne truck. I was unable to move.
“Tell me you don’t want this? Want me?” Spencer whispered.
I didn’t know whether it was her tone or the uncontrollable orbit we found ourselves in. Either way, I was sick of fighting against it. So tired of pushing against her when it was the last thing I desired. With every impulse screaming at me to run, instead, my lids opened to her unrelenting gaze, and I gave her the truth… My truth. “ Want you ?” I asked, my voice beseeching. “I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.”
“Then why put us through this?”
“I’m trying to protect myself.”
Gripping onto my hand ever tighter, Spencer pulled me down. “I’ll protect you. I’ll protect us both. Be brave , Echo.”
“Be brave.” I sighed. “I don’t want to taint you with my past, Ghost. I’m contaminated .”
Spencer gave a soft snicker. “And you think I’m not? Give me all your poison. Mark me with your venom, and I’ll give you mine in return.”
“I’ll take it all, Spence. Every lethal drop.” With the seal of that unbreakable vow, I stood and slipped in behind her. Spencer’s plump ass sat between my legs as her back melded against my chest.
I wasn’t used to that type of contact, my insides writhing at the unfamiliar sensation when Spencer grabbed my hands, winding them around her waist to settle comfortably over her abdomen. “Start from the beginning.”
Turmoil reared its ugly head for the split second it took for that statement to process. Yet, despite the internal panic, my tongue loosened, and I kept my promise. I gave her all of me.
Deserve her.
“How’d you know about this job again?” I asked my best friend and closest confidante, Gordon. We were side by side, laying on our stomachs in the dirt, watching this bland grey warehouse for hours. Night had fallen, and the time for infiltration was near, apparently.
Gordon flashed me his crooked teeth and nudged into my ribs. “Imagine retiring at the tender age of sixteen, Noah.” I hated when he used my legal name, and he knew it. We’d found each other on the streets as kids and watched each other’s backs ever since. He was the only one who still called me that, one of the last remaining souls who knew my original name. So, because of our past, I grit my teeth and let it slide.
He continued to ramble on, skimming over the subtle dig he’d sent my way. “No more dodgy jobs, no more risks. On the other side of that unsuspecting roller door is our future.” He always was a dreamer, forever scoping for that next fix to miraculously pull us out of poverty.
Gordon was impulsive, ignorant and never thought about the consequences. Hence, I was the leader of our little rebellious duo. I always chose jobs where we wouldn’t get caught. However, low risk equated to low reward, which meant we were always on the hustle.
A couple of days earlier, Gordon had come to me with a phenomenal job that was guaranteed to change our lives forever. I’d never seen him so passionate, so energised for change. I didn’t have the heart to shut him down and ruin his mood with practical reality. Although his reasoning was questionable most of the time, I trusted him above all others. So, I relented and followed through with his plans—or lack thereof, since he didn’t want to share them with me. He was enjoying the leadership role a bit too much.
“How’s it going, boys?” a familiar voice sounded from behind.
Gordon groaned and accusingly snapped under his breath. “You told her?”
Camilla army crawled up to my opposite side, looking ever gracious for someone slumming it in the dirt alongside us.
“She can be our lookout,” I whispered back to Gordon placatingly. He just huffed in return. Those two were always butting heads.
As Camilla settled beside me, she nudged against my shoulder, her lime green hair tickling over my neck from the action. She had adopted my habit of switching up her hair colour. And she suited each and every one, but lime green seemed to stick.
“I’m here to help Gordon. I’ll follow your command,” she said, her comforting, soft tone soothing some of my anxiety. Her voice was what first attracted me to her, the melodic cadence a weakness to my Variant. It also helped that, despite her upbringing, she was gentle, placid, sweet with a beautiful face. From the first, I had a ridiculous notion to protect her, much to Gordon’s disgust.
“So, what are we waiting on?” I asked, impatience lacing the question. I was cold, dirty and starving, ready to get on with it.
Then, the lights surrounding the warehouse abruptly cut out, pitch-black engulfing the area.
“That. Showtime my friend. Fucking showtime,” Gordons giddy voice lifted in the dark.
We were successful. The mission went off without a hitch and we were now riding the high of becoming the kings of the fucking world.
We’d stolen two suitcases full of expensive shit that we’d sell on the streets. Guns, drugs, wads of cash. I didn’t know who it belonged to, but at that point, I didn’t give a shit. Gordon pulled through with the biggest hustle known to man, and now we were set for the rest of our days.
I laid back on the ratty bed of our shitty apartment in Hangman’s Block, toking on the gas cylinder while a toothy grin widened on my face.
“That’s a scary sight,” Camilla said, leaning against the doorframe, watching me with sultry eyes.
I lifted a lazy brow, letting my gaze roam over her with lustful, unabashed fervour. I wanted it all.
“I’ve never seen you smile like that,” she said. Is it the high or is her voice dripping in desire? Then, she stalked towards me, her hips rocking from left to right before she straddled my waist. “Like you want me so bad.” Yep, definitely desire.
“I’ve always looked at you this way. I just never let you see it.” I ditched the pipe and raised my hands to settle on her waist, which began to gyrate back and forth over my growing length.
Camilla removed her shirt, her breasts bare and bounding in front of me. “Let me see.”
I gulped. “Where’s Gordon?” The walls were paper-thin. No doubt he’d hear everything that was about to happen.
“Who cares,” was her simple reply when she bent overtop of me and sucked on my neck. Right. Who cares?
In just one night, all my worries disappeared alongside my criminal acts. Entirely worth it.
I had money, I had my best friend and I had my girl. What more could I want?
And as Camilla lowered on my virgin, condomed cock, giving me my first taste of pussy, I was fucking done for. The world was mine to take, and I’d own it all.
As I climaxed, it wasn’t just my dick being drained. Camilla’s fingers dug into my chest as her face strained with concentration. Pure bliss coloured her face, but it wasn’t from her orgasm alone.
She was siphoning my Variant. I could feel the pull, my sixth sense being tapped, pulled and dragged from my very flesh like a damn succubus.
“ What are yo uuu doingg?” I asked, my voice lagging with drowsiness. It wasn’t the drug—I was now seeing double, unconsciousness luring on the outskirts of my mind.
When she was finished taking every last drop of my Variant, Camilla retreated, leaving me a hollow, naked husk on the bed, depleted to empty. I couldn’t move as if a heavy weight laid on my chest, anchoring me to that one position.
As soon as she was fully dressed, Gordon walked in, assessing the scene. Thank fuck he heard the commotion. He’ll take this bitch to task.
Instead, he turned to Camilla with a serious expression—the most serious I’d ever seen on him. “It’s done then?”
She nodded with a smirk and left through the doorway, her retreating back causing blatant anger to seethe through my muscles. That last bit of emotional turmoil gave me the ammo to launch from the bed after her. I didn’t get far, Gordon punching me in the stomach before I keeled over at his feet.
My lungs strained with a laboured wheeze, and my chest hurt with each minute movement. Looking up at my best friend, I asked the obvious. “Why?”
“Didn’t I tell you to never fall in love, Noah?” That one statement caused a cascade of memories to filter through my mind. All the times he had warned me against Camilla. The countless occasions he had scoffed at the idea of me loving her. He cautioned that any type of affection could be used against me, for someone to use and manipulate to get what they want. I just didn’t think those rules applied to me.
My eyesight shifted in and out of focus while I remained comatose in the bedroom doorway. Yet, I still processed Gordon and Camilla hand in hand, closing the front door, dragging the two suitcases behind them. They didn’t look back, shutting that last barrier on our decrepit apartment and our entire past.
To Gordon, love was an illusion, and they had just proved that by crushing my aching heart.
His final warning penetrated so deep in my psyche that when oblivion took hold, I processed that one single concept and scored it on my soul.
Never fall in love . A vow I’d stand by for the rest of my life.