Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
W hat the hell is wrong with me?
The thought barely registered before feeling took over, warm tingles spreading all the way to my bare toes.
His tongue brushed against my mouth, asking for something, and I answered, parting my lips, and he slid inside. He tasted of champagne, and I wondered if I could get drunker from just his kiss.
Shivering, I slid my hands to the back of his neck, my legs spanning either side of him. We were covered in blood and dirt, and I didn’t give a shit, not with his mouth on mine. I’d swim in a pool of mud if it meant Cole kept kissing me as if his life depended on it.
No, that isn’t right. I can’t feel this way. Not for him. It was against all my rules.
“What are we doing?” I murmured against his mouth and started to sit back, but Cole groaned, the hands on my ass pushing me back closer.
He nipped at my lower lip, dark and playfully, and the quick flash of reason vanished. “If I need to explain it to you, Killer, I’m not doing something right.”
The problem was…he did everything right.
Cole picked up the broken lock charm dangling just above the dip in my corset. His fingers brushed over the mounds of my breasts. They ached heavily, lifting with my sharp inhale, dying to feel the pressure of his hand or, God forbid, the wet heat of his mouth, the scrape of his teeth, and the coolness of the silver hoop in his lip.
“What do you want?” he murmured against my lips. “Do you want me to stop?” He kissed the corner of my mouth, then my cheek, moving to my ear.
I want so much , I thought. I wanted everything. And not a single one of those thoughts involved him stopping.
I sank into him as his hands glided up to cup my breasts, the corset in the way. A whole storm of feelings and needs descended upon me, and I moaned when his fingers pushed the material aside to rub his thumb over my nipple.
I brought our lips together again, grinding against the hard length of him straining against his pants. Other than the flimsy cotton of my underwear, his pants were the only thing in the way. My center ached to have him fill me, but I settled for creating a bit of friction with our bodies. I whimpered into the kiss, my back arching into his touch.
His fingers moved to the clasp in the front, fumbling with the fastener, and all I? —
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Something vibrated against my inner thigh . Ignore it. Just keep kissing ? —
It went off again, pulsating against my skin. “You’re vibrating.”
He kissed the corner of my mouth, eyes heavy. “What?”
“I think your phone is going off,” I said, the sound finally clicking in my brain.
Stark hunger spilled out of his eyes, nearly consuming the specks of gold in them.
I exhaled in a wild rush, staring into his lust-brimmed eyes. The same swirling conflict spinning inside me reflected in his gaze. “They seem pretty persistent.”
With me still on his lap, Cole leaned to the side, retrieving his phone. The screen lit up the dark limo, and the scowl sculpted on his lips intensified. “If you’re not being held by a gun or bleeding to death, then fuck off,” he growled into the phone.
“Let me guess, you’re with a girl,” the man on the other side said loud e nough for me to hear because I was still in Cole’s lap and he had the volume turned up.
“None of your fucking business. What do you want?” Cole demanded, his hand at my hip stiffening.
“Did you go?” the mysterious caller asked.
“What do you think?” Cole snapped back.
“And he didn’t know?”
I squinted, trying to place the voice. A nugget of familiarity nagged at me. I’d heard it before. But where?
“Does he ever?” Cole frowned, and I leaned forward to kiss it away but stopped myself.
What the hell?
“I owe you,” the nameless man said, sounding as if he meant it. Did that mean this person was important to Cole?
“Twice. You owe me twice,” Cole corrected.
“If you’re getting your dick sucked in the back of the car right now, I’d say we’re even. How is our little?—?”
I fell back to the side, untangling my legs from around him, no longer interested in their conversation. Did the other person know about me? Know what Cole offered me?
Cole’s eyes were on me, watching me intently. “I can’t talk right now,” he said, ending the call without a goodbye but not before I caught a mischievous chuckle from the other end of the phone.
I could pretend as if I hadn’t been eavesdropping, listening to every word exchanged, or I could own it. I didn’t see the point in pretending. There’d been enough of masks, lies, and charades tonight. I wanted those deceptions gone when it was only Cole and me. I wanted the truth from him. I cared little about the parts we played when we weren’t alone. I needed honesty from him. Still, I wasn’t sure that gave me the right to ask, but I did so anyway. “Who was that?”
“No one,” he answered flatly, shoving a hand through his hair.
Irritation flared inside me at his response. I hated being given the brush-off, and it wouldn’t work with me and our partnership. We either did this thing together, whatever the fuck it was, or we didn’t. That simple. Or it could be if Cole stopped complicating it with his secrecy. “It didn ’t sound like nothing. It sounded like you were covering for someone tonight. Your brother?” I guessed.
He undid a few buttons at the top of his shirt, his clothes wrinkly. “You hear too much, Killer.”
“It’s not like you were being very discreet. You took the damn call with me on your lap,” I reminded and was rewarded with a flash of gold in his eyes, but the shadows from the brief call remained.
We wouldn’t be picking up where we left off.
“It was my brother,” he confirmed, and the hard set of his jaw when he said it made me realize I wouldn’t get much more out of him. I could deduce a speculation of my own.
“He was supposed to be here tonight,” I gathered from the short call.
Cole nodded, giving me nothing more.
“Do I daresay it was sweet of you to cover for him tonight even if you won’t tell me why? Not that I blame him. After one night, I’m pretty sure I can go the rest of my life without ever stepping foot inside that house again.”
The barest smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, and combined with the silver hoop winking in the dim car sent me to the sexual edge.
Cole stretched out his legs, invading my space, but given his height, he needed it more than I did. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t have a sweet bone in my body, Killer. My brothers and I have a pact, especially when it comes to our father.”
It should feel awkward to be sitting in the back of a car without pants, but oddly, I was fine. “I didn’t think arranged marriages were still a thing.”
He rubbed at his temple. “It’s a business deal. The only thing my father is good at.”
“And you resent him for it.”
“Hmm,” he grunted, all the confirmation I would get.
The drive home took less time due to the late hour and no traffic on the roads. I glanced out the window, seeing the familiar houses along the Strand. We were almost home. Eagerness to put space between us—and to toss on some dry clothes—grew within me.
The driver didn’t bat an eye when he opened the door and watched me climb out of the car in my underwear and twisted corset, thanks to Cole ’s wandering hands. He did a stellar job keeping his gaze straight ahead and his expression neutral, but I knew what he thought. He wasn’t entirely wrong either.
“My pants got wet,” I explained, but I had no idea why I felt the need to justify the state of my attire with the driver. I had a feeling we’d be seeing a lot of each other this summer, and it would be great if he didn’t have the wrong impression of me.
Probably too little too late.
Cole’s lips twisted as he followed me out.
Fuck it. Let him think whatever he wants.
I left my ruined pants and shoes in the car and sauntered like I walked around half-naked every night of the week with my head high. Cole punched in the code to unlock the door and waited for me to enter first.
“I need to shower,” I said, heading for the stairs.
“We could always take a dip in the hot tub,” he suggested.
And pick up where we left off in the limo? Not a good idea. My hand paused on the banister as I tossed a feeble smile to Cole. “Tempting, but I should go to bed.” Before more mistakes are made.
Cole slipped off his shoes, bracing a hand on the wall. “Goodnight, Killer.”
I bit my lip, reconsidering. I really wouldn’t mind seeing his abs again. I shook my head. What the hell am I thinking?
No. Absolutely not.
Why can’t he be ugly? Or at the least be less attractive than he is?
Cole stretched his arms over his head, and my heart beat like hummingbird wings in my chest, quick and fluttering. I dragged my gaze away from him and trotted upstairs, making a beeline to the guest room where I’d stashed my stuff. I shut the door behind me, pressing my back into the door. “What am I doing?” Running a hand through my hair, I stared at the ceiling.
Tomorrow I’d check on Dad, and then after…after I’d reevaluate.
I couldn’t sleep.
My mind whirled with twisted images of masks and contorted animal faces. It was like being stuck inside a circus in hell with the devil as the ringmaster.
No stranger to restless nights, I tossed the covers aside and slipped out of bed, tiptoeing silently out of the room into the hall. The door across from mine remained closed. No light shone under the door, so I could only assume Cole slept, probably like a damn baby.
How fucking infuriating when my mind wouldn’t stay quiet for a moment. I’d managed three hours. Three measly hours of rest. I’d survived on less.
Letting out a whispered huff, I crept carefully down the stairs, avoiding any creaks and groans. Unlike my house, the subfloor wasn’t ancient and didn’t have little quirks. Good for sneaking around in the middle of the night.
My feet were nearly soundless as they padded over the shiny wooden floors. I made it to the kitchen and flipped on a low, overhead light above the sink, giving me enough light to see and make a cup of chamomile tea. It wasn’t boba, but it would do. I made sure to take the pot off the stove before it started whistling.
With my steeping tea in hand, I turned toward the hall leading to the library. If I couldn’t sleep, then I might as well make good use of my time, and what better way to spend the wee hours of the night than deep in the pages of a book? I might be able to finish one at this rate. A concept so foreign I couldn’t remember the last time I’d completed such a task in a week.
A book would be so much more enjoyable than the obscured dreams I?—
Creak.
My feet halted and my free hand paused in front of me like I’d been playing a game of freeze tag with the shadows. I whirled toward the sound, nearly spilling the tea onto my hand. What the fuck was that? Hadn’t I just thought this house too new to have all those little characteristic noises like mine did?
The air in my lungs built up as I held my breath, waiting and listening, poised in the dimly lit kitchen. I swore it had come from behind me, the direction in which I had been only minutes ago when I’d snuck downstairs .
The obvious conclusion was Cole. Maybe he couldn’t sleep either.
“Cole?” I whispered. “Is that you?”
As the beautiful silence stretched, my adrenaline slowed, and I released a jagged exhale. My imagination going haywire seemed like a rational explanation. It had been a long night, and I had little sleep. Completely reasonable I’d be a little jumpy.
The tension in my body relaxing, I turned back, my mind returning to the book waiting for me in the library.
Except I was no longer alone.
A shadow filled the doorway leading into the formal dining area, which would have taken me to the sanctuary I sought. A masked intruder stood between me and my book.
I should scream. I should definitely scream right now.
My arm moved, not my mouth, and I swore my body malfunctioned. Or perhaps my brain’s ability to command my body was on the fritz. Either way, what the fuck?
I didn’t even know what my arm did until the ballsy burglar hissed, letting out a string of colorful swearwords I might have appreciated in another situation. I’d tossed my scalding tea into his face.
From the faint kitchen light, I saw the stain on his dark hoodie. He lifted his hand to wipe the hot liquid from his face with the back of his arm. Something glinted in the light. Something that stopped my heart and made my blood run cold.
The intruder had a knife.
“You little bitch,” he hiss-growled, the timbre of his voice deep and gravelly.
Me? He was the fucker creeping in the dark, wearing a mask to my great nightmarish delight, in a house I was damn sure wasn’t his.
He came at me.
Holy shit. I’m going to be murdered.
Reacting on instinct and pure fear, I threw my empty mug at him and spun, taking off through the kitchen. The cup shattered on the floor, and heavy footsteps pounded behind me. I made it to the edge of the hallway before fingers tangled into my hair and yanked me backward.
Searing pain erupted at my hair follicles, tears pricking at my eyes. My back hit his chest, and I could smell the cigarette smoke on him. I reache d up, grabbing at the hand holding me hostage, everything in me screaming to free the fingers causing me pain, but his hold was tight, and he had strength and height on me. I used my nails, clawing and scratching at his arm, my fear making me forget the knife until he pressed it to my throat.
He hissed in my ear, “Make a sound and I’ll cut you.”
The threat pretty much stopped me in my tracks, and as my heart thundered in my ears, I tried to think, to be smart. What am I supposed to do in this situation? What the fuck had I learned in that one gym class I had in high school on self-defense?
I remembered the knee to the groin, an obvious maneuver, poking them in the eyes, screaming, and fighting back. It caught them by surprise. Most predators didn’t expect a female to fight back.
I wasn’t alone in the house. If I screamed, I hoped Cole would hear me—if he hadn’t already been woken up by the shattering cup. The prick better not be a light sleeper.
Letting my arms go slack at my sides, I wanted to give my assailant the impression I would comply with his demands.
His chest exhaled against my back. “That’s a good girl.”
I screamed.
Good girl, my ass.
Nothing infuriated me more than being made to feel helpless and being called a pet name like I was some damn dog being rewarded for good behavior.
The fingers ensnared in my hair wrenched, enticing new, torturous pain. It cut off my cry for help, and the second I gasped in pain, he freed my hair only to slap his hand over my mouth. “You stupid bitch.”
As if I wasn’t going to use my teeth. Idiot. I bit him, coming down as hard as I could on a finger. He didn’t wear gloves, and the taste of his salty skin made my stomach recoil, but I pushed through, holding on to him like a pit bull. The tang of blood touched my tongue, and I gagged.
He immediately ripped his hand away from my mouth, but if I thought the torture was over, I was wrong.
Grabbing my throat, he whirled me around and slammed me into the wall. My head hit the drywall with a thud, and I gasped in agony, only for it to be cut short as his fingers tightened, and my lungs struggled for air. My panic levels reached new heights.
“Where is he?” he demanded. “Where is Crew?”
“What?” I rasped, doing my best to process what he wanted while also trying not to fucking die. My survival instincts were snuffing out common sense.
“Don’t play dumb with me. Where is he? What room?”
My vision darkened along the edges, my lungs shrieking. “H-he’s not here,” I stammered, my eyes stuck on the knife. Is he here to kill Cole?
Taking me by the throat, he slammed me into the wall again. “Don’t lie to me. His car is parked outside.”
“I’m not. I swear. I’m here with Cole.”
“You're dead if I find out you’re lying.”
My eyes widened right before my assailant’s eyes did., Cold steel was now pressed to my attacker’s temple. The cocking of the gun echoed like a bomb in the kitchen. “Let her go or I blow your brains out. Your choice but choose quickly. I won’t wait long,” Cole said, his voice steady but laced with icy fury.