TWENTY-TWO
Harper
Around age seven, a school friend’s intoxicated father wrongly accused Harper of theft, snatching a toy from her at a birthday party and hurting her arm.
It wasn’t the pain Harper recalled vividly. It was seeing her dad appearing like a demon in front of her, scooping Harper up, soothing her until her mom took over, and then her dad beat the living shit out of that guy.
That day, she realized what it meant to see someone look thunderous. Her dad would have killed the man for hurting her.
And now, another thunder-possessed man flew across the tiled foyer to rip Damon off Harper. It was like an apparition. Had it been any other circumstance, Harper would have burst out laughing, seeing Damon being flung across the floor and how he comically rolled, but nothing was funny. The asshole deserved a gun in his mouth for grabbing her. No one touched her without her permission.
That was when Cain loomed on the stair below hers and cupped her face. Okay, he always touched her without permission, and she hadn’t put a gun in his mouth. Yet. The day was still young.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No, I didn’t hurt her, you fuckstick. I think you broke my wrist.” Lying on the floor like a mangy dog, Damon groaned a curse.
“Shut your fucking mouth if you have one brain cell left. I’ll deal with you in a minute,” hissed Cain, his eyes trained on Harper.
Her belly flooded with nervous energy, and she had the impulse to lean into his heaving chest so she could watch how deadly his gray eyes fired.
“Did he?”
She owed no loyalty to either of them, yet felt aligned with Cain. As for Damon, he could be thrown through every wall for all she cared. She hoped Cain broke every bone.
“He grabbed my arm.” She relayed and witnessed Cain baring his teeth, his thumb rubbing her cheek like he thought she was made of silk.
“You told me to stop her from leaving.” Damon, who didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut, added, picking himself up off the floor and cradling his arm like a wimp.
“Did I tell you to fucking manhandle her?”
Her eyes tracked Cain as he stormed across to Damon. When he poked his friend in the chest, Harper felt a bubble of happiness. She hoped the bone-breaking was about to start.
Not finding Cain in bed when she woke was disconcerting, unsure how to proceed. She’d used the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and then dressed, intent on leaving. Until the assface blocked her path, acting all smug, taunting her about what he’d heard in the night.
She’d told him. “You can fuck off all the way to hell.” Only for Damon to smirk, pressing her into the wall when he’d replied, “Wait until Cain gets bored, cutie, and he gives me his scraps. We’ll go to hell together.”
She grasped his meaning perfectly. That’s when she’d tried to leave, only for him to manhandle her.
The pair continued to argue back and forth. She never saw Cain grab Damon. It happened in a blur, and Harper’s mouth dropped open as she plopped her ass on the stairs to watch the show. It was a pity she didn’t have snacks; she was starving.
Cain shoved Damon so hard against the door, right where she’d been last night, but his treatment of her was much more pleasurable.
“You do not touch my stuff .”
Wait a fricking minute. Her eyes rounded. Was Cain talking about her as the stuff?
Oh, the shit.
Why was her stomach burning? Why was her clit aching?
She was stuff to him.
And she… liked it? Damn him. A night of sex had warped her otherwise intelligence. He’d fucked the smart out of her.
Cain growled in Damon’s face real low, like a warning animal ready to attack.
The shiver rushed down Harper’s spine, captivated by Cain losing his shit.
She couldn’t have dragged her eyes away if her life depended on it.
He was just immense. All over. And the power oozed out of him like continuous waves of electricity. Even her fingertips tingled, and she rubbed them on her skirt.
“You never touch my fucking property.”
Another hot pulse shot through her clit, hearing his delicious anger.
“Take it easy, man. I was following orders.”
“I should rip your fucking face off.” He snarled, and Harper had to press her thighs together because the gnarly rumble of his deep voice did wicked things between her legs.
She was turned on by being called property. Great. Just wonderful. Alone and away from the villain, she planned to have a stern discussion with her distorted libido.
“I told you…”
“You’ve told me nothing.” Shouted Damon, trying to shove away, but Cain kept him pinned to the door with one meaty fist at Damon’s throat.
Harper was rapt.
“Ever since she came along, you’ve told me fuck all. Expecting me to follow you to this cold fucking igloo. And nothing you’ve planned has come to pass since her .”
Should she be flattered? It was undecided.
“The fucking rubies encrusted gash has distracted you from what you’ve planned for years!” grated Damon. Even as Harper inhaled, ready to dispute being called that disgusting word, Cain cranked his arm back and knocked Damon out with one punch. He fell like a stone. When he came to, he was groaning in pain. Cain dragged his friend up from the floor, got in his face, and said in the darkest voice she’d ever heard before.
“You have ten minutes to get your shit and get the fuck out of this house. I mean it, Damon. If I see you after ten minutes, I’ll put a bullet in your fucking skull. You know me, so you know I’m not lying.”
It appeared as if Cain was taking her side and throwing his friend out for the nasty thing he said about her. But he’d been treating her worse, in a way. But that was okay?
Villains were so confusing.
“Are you serious? Because of her .”
“Don’t bring me into your boy tussle.” She tutted. Damon shot her a vicious stare. Cain didn’t look her way, but his voice warned. “You be quiet, wife. I’ll deal with you in a minute.”
Oh, goodie.
She hoped some food would be served with his little lecture because she was ready to chew the staircase.
“You’re losing it, Cain. We had big ideas for this town. Now look at you, being led around by the pus—”
“Finish that sentence, and you’ll be standing here dead.” Cautioned Cain.
“Consider me gone. Fuck you, Cain. I’ve always done whatever you asked, and you toss me out because you got some. I was following fucking orders to stop her from leaving!”
Before the angry man reached the stairs, Harper quickly rose, and he stormed past her.
“And you’re a fucking idiot if you think your sweet-tasting snatch will stop him from killing everyone you know. Men like Cain don’t change their mind because they smile at you,” he warned, smirking, before walking up the stairs.
“Get down here, Harper.” Cain issued in a rusty rasp. He pointed his finger like he expected her to trot over. She narrowed her eyes, even as her exhales became a little faster.
It was extraordinary how this man had descended in her life like a hostile takeover only a short while ago, and now, when he looked at her with those hooded eyelids, making his eyes glitter, she wanted to ride his face like a bucking bronco.
“Don’t start on me just because you fought with your BFF. I wanted you to break his bones.”
“I still could.”
“Would you have shot him?” she asked, curious, as he approached. She’d yet to move. He was coming to her, and she liked that very much.
“Yes.”
She believed him, so she smiled and saw his eyebrow wing up.
“You like that? Little savage.”
“He grabbed my arm and said I couldn’t leave.” Anyone deserved a bullet for that.
“That’s what I want to talk to you about. You don’t leave. I left you sated in my bed, Harper.”
“And?” he was so close she could have touched his broad shoulders. He might have had his wicked way with her all night long, but that didn’t mean she’d turn into a fawning wife. “I didn’t realize one-night stands needed to sign a guest book before leaving.” She taunted and watched how his facial features reacted.
Cain carried her swiftly across the foyer, pinning her against the door with his body while she wrapped her legs around his waist. She hung on automatically. Her belly was burning and fluttering like crazy.
“Do you have a door fetish? There was me last night, Damon a few minutes ago, and me again.” She pointed out.
“You’re my wife. I’ll put you up against any fucking door I want to.”
Oh, god. Her vagina went into spasms, and Harper moaned a little in her throat.
She was sore. Places in her body had been used that hadn’t ever been touched before, and she was tender. Even having her legs lassoed around Cain’s trim waist made her inner thighs twinge with pain. A reminder of what salaciousness he’d put her through last night.
The logic dictated that after yesterday’s marathon, she wouldn’t consider another today, but against reason, her body was readying itself for more.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked, shocking her into blinking a few times as she stared.
“From him or you?”
“Him.”
She was close to laughing; he’d been hurting her for months, and it didn’t seem to bother him.
“You arrived before he started lashing me with his belt.”
Cain growled ferociously, making shivers shoot right down to her toes. And then he kissed her, forcing her lips open. And when she tasted him, she went into freefall. Her logic went to sleep and desire attacked like a missile.
It was a war of kisses.
A war she was ready to surrender to when she heard, “How fucking cozy the married couple looks.”
Damon approached them with a large bag, his angry expression evident in his stride. A bruise was forming on his cheek.
Necessity, not embarrassment, drove Harper to slide down Cain’s body. Though Cain’s hand rested low on her hip, they moved away from the doorway.
“When you come to your senses, call me.”
“Don’t make this about anything that it isn’t, fucker.” Cain snarled, his fingers twitching on her hip. She covered his hand. “You know what you did.”
“And with anything else, you would have laughed.” Snarked Damon, snapping his gaze at her again like any of this bullshit was her fault. She had no control over Cain. If she had, her signature wouldn’t be on several legal documents, and he’d be out of her life. “You’ve lost your fucking mind, man, and when it all goes to shit, you’ll only have yourself to blame. I’m out.” He announced, leaving the door wide open.
“Well, as fun as that was. I’ve held up to our bargain, and now I’m gonna leave, Cain. I have a class soon, and I can’t wear yesterday’s underwear.”
“Take them off.” He said, and she flustered because he’d said it in the same sex-smoked voice she’d listened to all night, and the sound did something wet to her pussy.
“I’m not taking my panties off. And I’m not having this conversation with you while it’s so early, and I’m so hungry.”
“Grab your jacket. I’ll drive you home. We need to talk, anyway. I bought pastries. They might be battered; I dropped them.” He jutted his chin to the white and pink box by the door.
Harper instantly became alert and swirled around to face him, wearing her angriest eyebrows.
“You went to Paige’s shop?”
“Yes.”
On the verge of scolding her husband for approaching her family, he mentioned, “I saw your parents there.”
There was maturity laced through Cain’s voice. She’d always enjoyed it. But now she couldn’t determine if he was lying to get a reaction from her.
Harper’s emotions were worsening with each passing moment. She was frozen in place, her heart pounding wildly.
He’d spoken to her parents.
And then it dawned on her that she was too afraid to ask questions. Dreading the answers.
Cain helped her on with her jacket, then walked her to his car, but she didn’t say a word, even after he got in beside her.
“They’re both fine, Harper.” Cain sighed impatiently. He plopped the box of pastries on her lap. “Eat something while I drive you home.”
She supposed she’d better eat and get all those good sugars into her bloodstream if she was going to kill her husband.