Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Caleb
“ R eady?” My gaze dances between Joshua, Alesso, and Cristian as we wait outside the two-story cabin nestled in the middle of a forest in the Hudson Valley where fuckface is hiding out. It didn’t take long to pinpoint his location or prove he’s the one who was stalking Lili. As soon as I had proof, I dropped in to see Alesso at the CH building where he works because I knew he’d want in on this. To say he was enraged is an understatement.
“Let’s get this fucker,” Cristian says as the three of them slide their hands into black gloves.
The property is owned by a friend of Sebastien’s, and we don’t want to leave evidence of our crime.
“We’ll take the rear,” Joshua says, and I nod as he and Alesso take off for the back of the property, keeping hidden between trees.
Cristian wears an orange lightweight mesh jacket and matching cap we stole from the delivery driver when he showed up ten minutes ago. The dude is currently taking a “nap” in the trunk of his Prius. I shove the takeout bag in my buddy’s hand and flash him a devilish grin. “Showtime!” I flex my hands, enjoying the glint of silver glimmering under the moonlight from the brass knuckles I’m wearing.
I creep up behind Cristian as he advances toward the door, keeping behind his back so I’m not seen if fuckface looks out the window.
I stand to one side with my back plastered against the wooden structure as my buddy rings the bell. As soon as the door is fully open, I reach around, grab fuckface by the shirt, and ram my fist into his face. He screams like a bitch as blood gushes from the cuts I’ve just opened, stumbling back as we push our way inside. Cristian shuts and locks the door as I thrust my fist into the other side of Sebastien’s face, relishing the spurt of blood that splatters over my shirt.
He doesn’t put up much of a fight as we drag him by his arms across the lower level of the cabin toward the back door where Alesso and my twin are waiting. I slap a piece of tape over the asshole’s mouth as Cristian opens the door to the others. Alesso grabs Sebastien outside and goes to town on him, pummeling his face repeatedly while I kick him in the ribs, his stomach, and between his legs.
J disappears inside the house to take care of the cameras while Cristian, Alesso, and I drag him farther into the woods and away from the cabin. Alesso dumps the bag with supplies on the forest floor while I get to work stripping the bastard who hurt my girl. He’s whimpering and clutching his stomach like the pussy he is.
When he’s naked, we tie him to a tree and douse him in ice-cold water. Joshua shows up a few minutes later, nodding to confirm the cameras are dealt with. I calmly remove the baseball bat I customized earlier from the bag. Sharp nails protrude from the tip and the sides, and I pin him with a malicious grin as I approach. I rip the tape off his mouth and hover over him. “Any last words, fuckface?”
“Yeah, asshole,” he pants, spitting blood onto the forest floor. “I fingered her first.”
Alesso rams his fist into the dick’s stomach before shooting his kneecaps. Blood gushes from the gaping holes as Sebastien howls in pain.
“Not so brave now, dickwad.” I bury the end of my bat into his left knee and twist.
Anguished shouts pepper the air, but there’s no one around for miles to hear him. Tears stream down his face as he loses control of his bladder. We hop back, chuckling as he pisses all over the place. “Please,” he says, finally realizing the gravity of the situation he’s in. “I’m sorry. Just let me go, and I won’t tell anyone.”
“You think you can hurt the girl I love and live?” I swing the bat at his groin, reveling in the animalistic sounds lacing the air. “Fuck you, fuckface. You were never going to live.” I bring the bat down on his body, raining vengeance on every inch of him as I swing it over and over, ripping skin and pounding bones. Every cry of pain is music to my ears, and I zone out, going into that dark place in my head, as I make this fucker pay for hurting my Lili.
Blood covers me as I continue beating the fucker until he’s an unrecognizable pile of broken limbs and shredded skin.
“Enough, Caleb.” I come to as Alesso and Joshua are trying to haul me back. “He’s dead,” Alesso says. “He can’t hurt her or threaten her again.”
Throwing the bloodied bat away, I breathe deeply as I watch Cristian and Alesso untie what’s left of Sebastien from the tree and toss him to the forest floor. Cristian adds his hat and jacket to the pile with my bat. Joshua dons a full plastic face mask and he’s wearing protective gloves as he carries the empty barrel over to the bloody pile. Cristian and Alesso help him to put Sebastien’s remains and the other evidence into the drum, and then they back away, coming to join me as we watch my twin work magic.
Joshua carries the vat of hydrochloric acid over to the container where he carefully pours it inside. We watch in morbid fascination as it literally melts away skin and bone until fuckface is nothing but chemical soup. Joshua seals the drum with a secure lid, and then we carry it to the truck we came in, depositing the drum and truck at the chemical plant we stole it from on our way back to the city.
I’m covered in dried blood as I step foot in my penthouse sometime later. I disposed of my brass knuckles, socks, and shoes in the incinerator on the ground level before coming up in the elevator. I don’t want to trail muddy, bloody footprints across my pristine hardwood floors.
The lights are out downstairs, but I’m guessing Lili is still waiting up for me. She knew we were going after her ex, and I doubt she could sleep knowing I wasn’t home. When I step into our bedroom, I see I’m right. Shock splays across her face when she sees me. Setting her book down on the bedside table, she slides out of bed and comes over to me. She links her fingers through mine. “I don’t need to ask how it went,” she adds, pulling me into the bathroom.
The monster residing inside me still wants to play, but I ball my hands into fists at my sides, working hard to leash the beast. In the past, I’d have gone to Club H and fucked my way through the orgy room to expend the remaining aggression. Lili turns the shower on, and steam begins filling the room. Her hand darts out to remove my shirt, but I hold her wrist, stalling her. “Don’t.” I step away, willing the adrenaline racing through my veins to calm down.
“You don’t scare me, Caleb.”
“I should.” My entire body is trembling from sheer bloodlust. “I’m not fully in control now, Lili. Go back to bed. I’ll join you in a while.”
“I want to help,” she says, moving a step closer.
“Don’t come any closer, Elisa,” I warn, sidestepping her. “I just need some time to calm down.”
“What do you normally do?” she asks, standing before me in a pure angelic white silk nightie.
I bark out a laugh. “You don’t want to know.”
“I do.” She juts her chin up as steam swirls around the room.
“I’d go to a sex club and fuck, angel. Hard and fast for hours and hours until it was all gone from my system.”
She gulps. “You can fuck me. You know I’m ready.”
“Hell no.” I vigorously shake my head. “I’m not doing that to you.”
Hurt flares in her eyes. “Because I don’t know what I’m doing?” she asks in a timid voice, and my protective side surges to the fore.
“No, Lil. That’s not it. It’s because you’re too good to be fucked like a whore.”
“What if I want you to?” Her chin juts up again. “What if I like it?”
Jesus Christ. She’s really not helping. “If that’s what you want, we can do it.” She moves toward me with her lips curling into a smile. “But not tonight. I’d traumatize your pussy for life if I fucked you raw your first time, and it wouldn’t be enough. I’d want to do it all night.”
She steps right up to me. “I want to be good enough for you, Caleb, and I don’t want you holding back.”
“I’m not fucking you tonight, Elisa. I’m saving your first time for Canada.” I hadn’t told her yet. I was keeping it as a surprise, but I need her to leave this bathroom before I lose my control and pounce on her.
“Canada? What’s in Canada?”
“The royal suite in a fabulous hotel in Banff, surrounded by mountains and forest and a lake. We’re going there next weekend, and I’ll make love to you the right way. The way you deserve. Now, please, be my good girl and go back to bed. Let me handle this myself tonight.”
“Okay, but we’re talking about this again.”
I slump against the wall when she finally leaves, thankful I didn’t give in to my pleading dick and ruin all my carefully laid plans for a romantic first time.
“Morning, babe,” Elisa says, walking into our bedroom carrying a tray. I’d only just woken up and reached out for her, frowning when my hand touched cool sheets. She was still awake when I finished fucking my hand repeatedly in the shower last night, and she’d opened her arms for me offering silent comfort. Finally exhausted, I’d curled up against her slim body and instantly passed out. I fully expected her to still be sleeping when I woke.
“What time is it?” I ask over a yawn, pulling myself up against the headboard.
“Late.” She places the tray table over my lap, and the scent of creamy scrambled eggs, crispy smoked bacon, and buttery toast tickles my nostrils and tempts my taste buds.
“This smells delicious. Thanks.” I stretch up and kiss her lips.
She slides onto the bed beside me, wearing a green silk patterned robe that ties at the middle and rests at her knee. “Are you okay now?” she asks as I take a drink of freshly squeezed orange juice.
“Yes. I’m sorry if I scared you last night.”
“You didn’t.”
I raise one brow as I shovel bacon and eggs into my mouth, moaning as the delicious taste explodes in my mouth.
“I know who you are, Caleb, and I know what you do. The blood and violence don’t scare me. I’ve grown up surrounded by it even if my parents shielded me from a lot. What scares me is not being able to be there for you. I understand why you didn’t want to fuck me last night, but I need you to understand I’m not some precious princess. I can handle rough sex.”
“Angel.” I sweep my fingers across her cheek. “I love you for accepting me, faults and all, but you don’t yet know what you like or don’t like, and I refuse to pressure you. We’ll take things a step at a time, and after you’ve experienced sex, if you want to try it hard and rough, we can, but I never want you to feel like you have to be a certain way to be with me.”
“I know you have needs, Caleb,” she says as I shove more food in my mouth. “I know you are used to sex a certain way and I just want you to know that I can be who you need me to be in the bedroom.”
“Lil, I just need you to be you . The rest will take care of itself.” I don’t know how to say I don’t want her to be like the other women I’ve been with without hurting her, but I’ve got to try because she’s getting hung up on things that really don’t matter to me, and I don’t want her stressing out. “I don’t want things to be the way they have always been because this is different.” I cup her face. “Everything we have done so far is different and infinitely better because I love you and I’m so hot for you. I’ve never had that level of intimacy with anyone else before, and I’m loving it.”
I lean in and kiss her tempting lips. “I’ve been happy to wait to have sex because the anticipation is exciting for me. I know when we make love for the first time it’s going to change me. It’s going to undo everything I thought I knew about myself, and I want to prolong that feeling.” I rub her lower lip. “Please don’t compare yourself to others or think that you are somehow failing me because you are not.”
“I love that you’re so considerate of my needs and so gentle with me, but I’m not breakable, and I want to explore everything with you, Caleb. Just promise you won’t treat me with kid gloves. Let me decide what I like and what I can handle, and I’ll only know if we try everything.”
“Okay. Just don’t push me or tempt me to do something until you are ready. I couldn’t forgive myself if I hurt you in the name of my pleasure.”
“You wouldn’t do that. You couldn’t.” She places the fork back in my hand. “Eat. You must be starving.”
“I am.” I take a large bite out of my toast.
“I just want to say one more thing, and then we’ll table this discussion.”
I continue eating and slurping my coffee as I watch her work her way up to saying whatever is on her mind.
“I’m not opposed to going to Club H with you.”
I almost spit coffee all over the comforter. “What?” I splutter, sure I must be hearing things. There is no way my pure innocent Lili wants me to take her to a sex club. My ears must be playing tricks on me.
“I’m not a prude. I’m just inexperienced, and I want to experience everything with you.”
I shake my head. “I’m not taking you there. I won’t share you, and your naked body is for my eyes only.”
She rolls her eyes. “Do you realize how sexist and hypocritical you sound right now?”
“Don’t care,” I say before shoving the last of the bacon in my mouth and chewing. “Unless you want me to slaughter every fucker in the place for even breathing the same air as you, we’re not ever stepping foot in Club H.” I canceled my membership months ago, and I have zero interest in taking my woman there. Unless she’s curious and she wants to look, and then we can fuck in one of the private rooms. I’d be down for that, but all this talk of sex clubs is premature until we’ve had sex and she learns what she likes.
I can’t wait to teach her.
“Those are famous last words, Caleb,” she says, waggling her brows and swaying her ass in my face as she slides off the bed and saunters into the bathroom.