Chapter 17
The Monster
I t’s been a long time since I’ve felt this light. As if all of my troubles have been lifted from my shoulders, allowing me to float in happiness with Ainsley. It’s an addicting feeling.
“I can’t wait until we’re home,” I tell Ainsley as I drag her back to the car. “Say it again.”
The back door opens as I tug on it, allowing me to climb in and sit in the roomy seat. I pull Ainsley in with me, making sure she doesn’t hit her head as she ducks in. She knows exactly what’s about to happen as she straddles my lap.
“You can wait,” she assures me. “We’re only two minutes away.”
Despite her words, she cups my face in both of her hands and leans down to place a kiss against my lips. Her tongue sneaks into my mouth, and then she’s gone.
“You can wait,” she repeats.
Whatever game she thinks she’s playing, I’m going to win. With my hands on her hips, I direct her to sit up so she’s no longer in my lap. Once I have enough access, I push my hands between us and undo my pants. She moans as I push them down and allow my cock to spring free, letting it rub right against her pussy.
Before she sinks down, I push her panties to the side. At this point, I should just rip them apart. They’re probably going to be ruined after tonight, but I want the chance to properly strip her out of them.
“Say it again,” I command her.
“You can wait,” she groans, clearly on the verge of losing her own patience.
“Ainsley,” I growl. I need to hear her say it again. I want to hear her say it every second of every day, for the rest of our lives.
“I love you,” she finally whispers. As the words fall from her lips, I pull her hips down until she’s fully seated on my cock. “Fuck.”
The curse falling from her lips is addictive; almost as addictive as the way her entire body opens up to me as soon as she feels me.
“Still want me to wait?”
I don’t really care if she says yes. I’m sitting still inside of her, and it’s driving me insane. My cock is begging me to move, to take my pleasure like she’s no more than a whore that hopped on my lap.
To my relief, she answers me by rising, sliding my cock almost all the way out and then sitting straight down. While she gets to work, I remove the straps from her shoulders and pull the front of her dress down, letting her breasts pop out. She’s always a glorious sight, but seeing my teeth imprinted around her nipple makes me fucking ravenous for her.
“Fuck, baby, I love seeing my mark on you,” I groan. She stops her movements, her eyes popping open to find me staring at my mark on her skin.
“When do I get a turn?”
My eyes track from her face to the way my cock is sitting inside of her, telling her without words that she’s taking her turn right now. She grips my chin and pulls my gaze back up to her, forcing me to look at her as if there’s anything else I want to be doing right now.
“You leave your marks on me all the time, when do I get a turn?”
Did I hear that right? Only an hour ago, she was refusing to say my name. Now, she’s said my name, told me she loves me, and asked to mark me while sitting on my cock.
I was hoping to hit this point by the end of the week, but I didn’t expect it all to happen today.
“Whenever you want, little one,” I offer. It’s almost a test, because I don’t think she’ll actually do it. To my surprise, she leans forward and places her face in the crook of my neck.
I brace myself for her to be a little rough, but instead, she places a gentle kiss against my skin.
“I hate to break it to you, but that mark won’t last,” I tell her.
She raises her hips and slams back down on me, instantly making me shut up. “Time to see if you like a little pain with your pleasure.”
This time, I feel her teeth gently graze my neck with barely even a love nibble.
“Come on, baby, you can do better than that. Fucking mark me,” I command her. She’s always been good at following the orders I give her, so I probably should have considered that before I spoke, but I don’t have a single regret as she sinks her teeth deep into my skin.
She stays there, biting into me harder as my hands grip her hips and start moving her. I’m sure she’s broken skin, but the thought only makes me go faster.
“Harder,” I command, and again, she doesn’t disappoint. I wince as she sinks her teeth even deeper, her teeth embedded so deep in my skin I may have to permanently wear them. The harder she bites into me, the harder I fuck her weeping pussy. She’s getting off on this just as much as I am.
“Bite me, mark me, fucking claim me,” I growl out. She moans against me as I slam deep inside of her. I’m just holding her in place now, using her as my own fuck toy as I pound into her and take my pleasure. “I’m yours, just as much as you’re mine.”
She cries out as her teeth pull away from my neck and her pussy clamps around me, so tight it almost sends me over the edge. As her face comes into view, I see my blood staining her lips a deep red. That’s when I lose it.
My hips slam into her one last time as electric heat shoots through my body and I spill inside of her. At this rate, she’s going to end up pregnant by the end of the week, and I’m not even close to being done with her. She moans again as she feels my cock pulsing inside of her and reaches her hand down to feel me inside of her.
As her fingers search, mine graze across her lips, smearing my blood on my fingers. When her fingers reach my cock, she looks at me, watching me pop my blood covered thumb into my mouth.
The copper taste of my blood explodes on my tongue. As she watches me sucking my thumb into my mouth, her tongue sweeps across her lip, licking up the rest of my blood.
My neck stings, but it’s a victorious feeling. She actually marked me as hers, for everyone to see. She claimed me as much as I’ve claimed her.
The thought nearly makes me hard again, but this time, I’m determined to make it home. I’ve fucked her against a house and in a car today, she deserves to be in a bed next. After that, I might finally be able to take a break and let her clean up.
“Get back in the passenger seat before I’m tempted to take you again,” I warn her. With a smirk, she sits up enough to pull me out of her, but she doesn’t climb off my lap.
I watch with interest as she leans in and places her lips next to my ear. “I can feel you dripping out of me,” she whispers.
At her words, my hands grip the seats next to me, wishing they were her hips. She climbs off my lap with a maniacal giggle, and fuck if every cell in my body isn’t screaming at me to drag her back on top of me and teach her a lesson.
We’ll be home in two minutes , I remind myself. Those two minutes are going to feel like an eternity.
As she climbs out of the car to get back to her seat, I rush to the driver’s side, not even bothering to buckle my seatbelt as I throw the car in drive.
Trees fly by the windows as I rush down the back roads, doing well over the speed limit. By the time we’re pulling into the driveway, I’m so desperate to get her to our bedroom that I can barely contain myself. She climbs out of the car first, obviously as impatient as I am, but as I turn the car off, my phone rings.
I could ignore it. Should ignore it, really. What could be more important than spending an entire night showing Ainsley that no other man can satisfy her the way I can?
But, as the name lights up my phone, the one answer to that question sounds in my head. The only thing more important is making sure that Ainsley is safe.
“Canton,” I greet him as I answer the phone. Ainsley looks at me over the hood of the car, a question lighting up her eyes, but I don’t have the answer for her yet.
“He’s at Guerra’s again,” John tells me, jumping right into the reason for his call. It’s one of the things I’ve always appreciated about him. He knows when to cut straight to the point.
“How many men are there?”
“There’s a few of us here, waiting to see what happens.”
Fuck. I want to throw my phone on the pavement at his words. I should be there with them, ready to ambush my father. They shouldn’t be doing this alone, but I’m not willing to leave Ainsley, and I would never take her on a mission like this.
“Don’t engage,” I order through gritted teeth. “Just watch and report back.”
“Are you sure? We’ve got plenty of men to take him down.”
“No. Let him go. If you take him down now, we won’t know what he’s up to.”
“What’s going on?” Ainsley asks me as she walks around the front of the car to come to my side.
“Let me know if you change your mind,” John answers before the dial tone fills the line.
“Nothing important,” I answer Ainsley. She’s still too fragile after everything that happened, I don’t want to reopen wounds that are finally healing.
“No more lies, remember?”
Sometimes, I wish she couldn’t read me so well. It would make these little white lies a little easier.
“Fine, it’s something, but you don’t need to worry about it,” I tell her.
She steps toward me, getting into my face as much as she can to show me the fire in her eyes. “I’m yours, and you’re mine,” she reminds me. “That means we’re in this together. So, either you can tell me, or you can break my trust and I can call John while you’re sleeping and get the answer anyway.”
Did I create this side of her, or was it always there, just waiting for the chance to shine through? As much as it irritates me right now, I have to admit, I’m proud of her for standing her ground.
“He won’t tell you,” I answer with more confidence than I feel.
“Are you so sure that you’re willing to risk everything we’ve gained tonight?”
On the contrary, I’m sure he would tell her without hesitation. He’s almost as desperate to earn her forgiveness as he has been to earn mine. If spilling some secrets will give him that, he probably wouldn’t even hesitate.
“Fine,” I give in. She flashes me a victorious smile, which I respond to with a scowl. “My father was spotted at the Guerra’s compound again. He was there the other day, but we don’t know why. We destroyed their entire cartel, so the compound is completely abandoned. When he was spotted the other day, it was the first anyone had seen him since he disappeared after taking you.”
The victorious smile on her face fades as my words sink in. Just like that, she’s being thrust back into her trauma. Except, this time, I will keep her safe. No matter what it takes.
“Why are we just standing here? Let’s go,” she answers. Surprise flashes through me right before anger kicks in.
“No. Absolutely not.” She opens her mouth to argue, but my hand covers it and prevents her from speaking. “I will not drag you back into this. You’re safe this time, and I won’t compromise that for my revenge.”
She pulls my hand away from her mouth long enough to throw her two cents in. “I’m safe? He’s still out there, the one person who organized my kidnapping and sold me to the devil himself, and you think I’m safe? I won’t be safe until we deal with him. And it’s not only your revenge, Cain. It’s mine, too.”
“Then you’ll get it some other way,” I tell her. As much as I want my revenge, and I want to see her healed, it’s just not worth it. We’d be going in blind, having no idea why he’s there or if anyone is with him.
“Do you trust me?”
Ainsley looks at me with vulnerability shining in her eyes. What am I supposed to do, lie to her and tell her I don’t trust her? Of course, I trust her. It’s everyone else around her I don’t trust. I nod my head, giving her my answer.
“Then trust me to take care of myself, but also trust that I trust you to keep me safe.”
“Ains -”
She cuts me off, not wanting to hear me tell her no again. “You want me to be your wife, right?” Again, I nod my head. The only thing I want more is to one day see her with our child in her arms. “Prove it. Treat me like your wife.”
It’s a trap , my mind screams at me immediately. I don’t know how, but she’s playing some kind of trick that’s going to backfire on me.
“How?”
“Husbands and wives are equals,” she tells me. “Which means, if you would trust yourself to do this, then you need to trust me to go along, too. If you can’t do that, then you’re not ready for a wife.”
There it is. The other shoe drops as she looks at me, one eyebrow raised and her hands firmly planted on her hips. Her sass is shining through, and fuck me because all I want to do is carry her upstairs and throw her on our bed when she looks at me like that.
But, not for one second will I allow her to think she’s anything less than my equal. She sure as hell won’t think I’m not ready for a wife, either. That was her trap all along.
“Get in the car.”