Chapter 24
TWENTY-FOUR
Garett
Before
I’ve never been this nervous before. I’ve killed, kidnapped, maimed, and mutilated; and yet, this tiny creature’s appraisal is making me sweat like nothing ever has before.
The hold she has on my heart is unmatched.
There never has been, and never will be, anyone, anything, that matters more to me than Allison Clarke.
And now, she’s mine.
Truly and completely mine. Without barriers, without lies, without walls or anything coming between us. Assuming she doesn’t run again, of course.
“So,” she begins finally as she continues to slowly spin and take it all in. Her eyes narrow in on the bouquet of lilies sitting on the counter. “The house, the land, the…everything, was to lure me in?”
I close the distance between us slowly. She’s like a terrified hare caught in a snare; if I move toward her too quickly, she’ll sense the predator approaching and bolt. I push my hands into the pockets of my dark jeans to stop myself from touching her.
“Lure sounds sinister, Princess.” I cock an eyebrow at her. “I did it so you’d have your dream home once you arrived.”
She stops moving and stares at me for a moment. Her hair has become messy over the last few hours, strands of fiery red hang around her face. She looks wild, undone, free. I’ve never seen her more beautiful.
“You are sinister,” she snarks back with heat burning in her hazel eyes. “But sweet,” she concedes and I can’t stop the corner of my mouth from tilting up.
“So, to recap…” She turns and begins slowly walking through the home, taking everything in through a new lens.
She’s lived here for the last few weeks, but now she’s seeing it all through different eyes.
I just hope she likes what she sees. “You became obsessed with me, stalked me, realized I was with someone else, left to become a gazillionaire—“”
“Multi-millionaire,” I correct her but she’s undeterred.
“Came back, found me again, built my dream house—which we will have to come back to the question of how you’d even know what type of house I’d want.” She spins and levels me with a cold look.
“Stalker, remember?” I shrug my shoulders and shoot her what I hope is a winning grin.
It’s true—this house was built for her. Every single inch was meticulously planned with her in mind. I wanted it to be cool but bright, full of nature and color, with an art studio so she could paint again. She used to love to paint but hasn’t in years.
“So not from Iowa?” She asks with a cock of her eyebrow. “Not afraid of the water? Just a creepy ass stalker?”
I chuckle at the memory of the lies I fed her, the lies she willingly ate up. “Would you have gotten on the sailboat with me if I told you the truth?” I ask as I shove my hands into my pockets and shrug.
She doesn’t answer. She doesn’t need to. I see her face glass over, the memory of what happened next still haunting her. I hate that she still doesn’t feel completely safe. I only ever want to see her smile.
“And then what, Garett? How did we end up here? Don’t tell me I fell into your arms by coincidence? I found the mask, your weird room of screens, videos. Tell me the truth.”
She comes to a stop in the kitchen, spinning and landing her hands on her hips.
She’s so fiery, so full of life. I’m immediately intoxicated with her fight, her spice.
I want her to yell at me and be angry and alive.
I want it all from her—every last messy piece that makes her the masterpiece she is.
She’s been so dulled and reserved for so long.
I want my Sleeping Beauty to finally wake up and find her escape. As long as it’s with me, of course.
I stalk toward her, closing the distance between us in just a few steps.
Her bravado falters and I watch uncertainty flit across her beautiful face.
It’s dark outside now, but the low light of the moon reflects off her porcelain skin.
I pull my hands from my pockets, bracketing them against the island and caging her in.
She lets out a small shocked noise when she hits the stone behind her.
“The truth?” I lean in, running my nose along the column of her slender throat.
She smells like sweat and sex, and I damn near growl knowing that she’s covered in me.
“The truth is that I did whatever I had to do, Allison. And I’d gladly do it again if it meant we ended up here, with my marks covering your flesh and my cum still dripping down your thigh. ”
She shivers beneath me, letting out a fractured exhale. Her sweet little noises go straight to my cock, as does my blood. I’m going to need to buy some electrolyte mix so I can keep fucking her morning, noon, and night; fucking her until the only thing left on her mind is me and my co—
“Did you kill Celeste?” she asks, pulling me from my thoughts as her hands instinctively reach out to wrap around me. Even in the face of murderous truths, she knows she’s meant to be mine.
“No,” I tell her truthfully. “I would have, I planned to, but things took an unexpected turn.” That turn being that my best friend Luke got involved.
Several months ago, I lured Celeste Briggs, Ali’s coworker into the woods on Halloween.
The plan was to kill her and frame Ali’s husband.
It was a win-win, Brody would go away for murder and there would be a job opening at Ali’s work that gave me daily access to her.
But my best friend and partner in this plan decided he wanted to keep the little angel for himself.
So, we had to plan a disappearance instead.
The lack of a body has caused my plan to move much slower than anticipated.
If I didn’t love Luke like a brother, I’d gut him like a pig for ruining the plan.
“And you planned to kill her, to what? Frame Brody? Why?” she asks as I begin to pepper kisses along her neck, unable to stop myself from touching her.
She doesn’t shove me away, in fact, she tilts her chin, allowing me more access.
My girl is just as dark and depraved as me, even if she tries to hide from it. “Why him?”
I can’t hold back the growl of anger that rumbles through my chest when I think of Brody fucking Clarke.
“One—he had you. And he didn’t deserve you.
He never treated you right.” I swiftly pull back, spinning her so she faces the countertop.
Ali sucks in a sharp breath as I bend her at the waist. She’s still not wearing pants after I cut and tore hers to pieces, leaving her exposed.
I bring my hand around the front of her and let two fingers graze her lips, caressing the tender flesh between her thighs.
She mewls lightly. “He never took care of you like you deserved, did he?”
I know the answer. I watched enough times through hidden cameras as he flopped on top of her like a fucking fish while she laid there looking bored. I slide my fingers further into her folds, finding her needy nub and rubbing lightly.
“I’d come into your room, you know?” Her thighs begin to quiver as I stroke her clit slowly. “When you were asleep, passed out, and I’d fuck you.”
“What?” she asks through a moan as I slide a finger inside her. She’s still slick with our combined cum.
“I waited until you were passed out, Princess.” She whines when I curl my fingers and stroke a certain spot inside of her.
“And then I claimed your body. Because you make me wild, Ali. I’m addicted to you.
No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t stay away from you.
You bring out the beast inside me.” I growl the last words into her ear as I fuck her ruthlessly with my fingers.
She whines and moans, writhing her hips against my hand. She doesn’t push me off, doesn’t pull away, doesn’t fight me, even as I lay my darkness out for her to see.
“Did you make me come?” she asks between gasps and moans.
Her question surprises me, so much so that my fingers stop their exploration of her sweet cunt.
She whines in annoyance. I chuckle darkly at her desperation.
What a dirty little thing she is. My fingers of my free hand thread into her soft red locks as I pull her head back, forcing her gaze to meet mine.
“Every fucking time, pretty girl,” I growl before adding a third finger inside her and fucking her roughly. She cries out in shocked pleasure and her head tries to bow back down but I hold her tightly, forcing her eyes onto me.
“I’m not the hero of this story, Allison.
I’m a bad man who’s done terrible things.
I’m a man consumed by need—need for vengeance, for pain, for suffering.
But most importantly, I’m consumed by my need for you.
I would do—will do—anything to have you.
” She moans as her walls clench against my fingers.
She’s so fucking beautiful like this—flushed and feral as she chases her release.
“Your light, your beauty, your fire is everything. I’ve been yours from the moment I first laid eyes on you, and my soul will be yours long after my flesh has rotted from my bones. ”
“Did you do all this…” She pants and mewls between each word, caught between finding her truths and her pleasure. “Frame Brody and everything just to get to me? Wouldn’t there be easier ways?”
I answer her question cautiously, carefully. I don’t want to lay too much on her at once, especially not when she’s about to come all over my fingers.
“He’s a bad, bad man, Ali.” My fingers move faster, pushing her closer to the edge with each confession.
“He hurt a lot of women, a lot of girls. One was my sister.” Ali’s eyes close and her walls tense around my fingers.
“That’s my second reason for all of this chaos.
He deserves to suffer for all the women he’s ever harmed.
” Ali’s mouth falls open on a silent scream as she falls over the edge.
Her pussy clamps around my fingers and her orgasm shakes her entire body.
“For you. For my sister. For all the women he used and abused.” Ali lets out a low noise of ecstasy as wave after wave of pleasure contracts her muscles. “He will pay. He will suffer.”
I pump her through the remainder of her orgasm, letting her ride out the high as long as I can.
Eventually, she slumps forward, her body shaking with aftershocks of euphoria.
I pull my hands out from inside her once her muscles relax.
She sags further as exhaustion hits. I rub soft circles on her back, basking in the beauty of her sated tranquility.
“What happened to her?” she finally whispers with her eyes closed. “To your sister.”
I freeze instantly. I haven’t talked about this since I was sixteen. It’s the ghost of trauma which lurks just outside my consciousness but which has impacted so much of my life. A lump immediately forms in my throat but I do my best to swallow it down.
“They got her drunk,” I instantly stumble over the words, my nerves making it difficult to speak.
“They took turns. Filmed it.” I feel Ali tense beneath me despite her exhaustion.
“The video was spread around and she—” My voice cracks as the memories come flooding back.
“She couldn’t take it. She ended her life. ”
Ali lifts her head slightly, glancing at me over her shoulder. There’s fire and fury swirling in her eyes. “He took her life. Now you want to take his?”
She gets it so easily, as if her mind is connected to mine. She understands. Without question, without judgment, without hesitation. She is my match in every way, this is just further evidence of that truth.
“It started as revenge,” I confess. “But then he married my soulmate, stole another person that I loved from me.” I squeeze her thigh, right where I carved my claim into her flesh. She sucks in a sharp breath. “Now, it’s about so much more.”
“Your revenge. My freedom,” she whispers as her eyes fall shut again.
“Our freedom. Our new beginning,” I agree as I slide my hands beneath her legs, lifting her in my arms to carry her to bed. Her head falls against my chest, her hair tickling my skin.
Sleep is calling her name, pulling her under swiftly.
But my cock is rock hard. She will take me once more, then I’ll let her rest. I carry her up the stairs toward our bed.
As we reach the landing and I pad down the hall, she whispers two words that have my heart pounding against my rib cage. “Our forever.”