Chapter 20
Declan
One month later
I sprawl out on the sofa, both my arms stretched out across the back of the cushions, and watch Silas and Hayden argue back and forth through the window to the back deck. Who knows what they’re fighting about now? My guess is probably Emelia.
Fucking Princess can get them riled up even when she isn’t here.
Hayden throws his hands up in the air and storms off, leaving Silas staring dejectedly out into the dense forest that surrounds our house. I heave out a sigh and push to my feet, heading outside to check on my brother. “What was that about?” I ask as the door bangs shut behind me.
Silas shrugs his shoulders and kicks at a loose deck board. “He got a call for another job,” he mumbles and refuses to meet my eyes. “He wants to take Emelia. Like murdering people is a fucking date for them.”
“I mean…” I scratch the back of my neck with my fingernails and chuckle. “It kind of is, Si. They’re not quite on this side of normal.”
“It’s dangerous!” he snaps and throws his hands into the air. “What if something happens to them? I don’t think I can stomach it. I can’t…” His voice trails off and he shoves his hands into the front pocket of his gray MIT hoodie.
“Listen, I think that even if something did happen to either of them, the Devil would kick them straight back up to the main world to keep them out of Hell.” I smile at the thought. “Not even he could handle that much crazy at one time.”
“It’s different now,” Silas explains softly.
“It’s really not. We’re all still the same people we were a month ago,” I say, trying to reason with him, but I know what he means. There is something different about the dynamics now, I just can’t put my finger on it.
“No… Before… Before I didn’t have my heart on the chopping block,” he whispers and twists his lower lip between his teeth. “Before I didn’t give multiple people power over me. Power to ruin me.”
“Yes you did, Silas,” I say and wrap him in a tight hug. He stiffens for a moment before pulling his arms free and wrapping them around me. “You just didn’t know it then.” He sniffs but says nothing. “Come on. Let’s go get everything set up. I fancy a movie night.”
A few hours later, Emelia is curled up on the sofa with Hayden and Silas on either side of her. Neither of them can keep their hands off her. Silas has his fingers threaded through hers and Hayden is twirling strands of her dark hair around his forefinger. “What are the options?” she asks as I set the mixture of popcorn and M&Ms on the coffee table in front of them.
“Whatever is on the streaming platforms,” I respond with a shrug. “Pick your poison.”
“I already did,” she mutters maniacally with a giggle. “It should be kicking in any second now.”
This girl is a few screws shy of a toolbox. I roll my eyes at her empty threat. Hayden tugs on her hair and Silas chuckles. God these idiots are smitten. Sure she’s a great lay, but the woman is batshit crazy. Surely the two of them don’t expect whatever this is to go much further than a casual fuck.
Do they?
I look back over at the three of them as they talk quietly, the tension between Silas and Hayden momentarily forgotten, and take a deep breath. I note the way they each react and hang on to every word Emelia says.
Oh, fuck no.
By the looks on their faces, neither Silas nor Hayden will be coming out of this alive. This goes beyond fucking now. They’re past all the stages. The obsession is rooted deep, and it isn’t coming out with everyone intact.
“How about ‘The Mummy’?” Emelia asks suddenly and leans forward, nearly sending Hayden falling to his face behind her.
“Sure,” I say and toss her the remote. “If you can find it on there, we’ll watch it.” I watch the three of them settle back into the cushions and bite my lip against the sudden surge of jealousy that pulses through me.
What the fuck? They’re cuddling on the couch, what the fuck do I have to be jealous about? I want no part of any of that. She’s literally just a warm cunt for us to fill with our seed until this job is done. Then we will move on. She is ruining our brotherhood, one man at a time, and I am not going to fall for her shit.
Hayden chuckles at something that Silas says as Emelia tosses the remote to the table and grabs the bowl of snacks. I can’t help but notice the lack of tension on both Hayden and Silas’s faces. They look so carefree. So happy in this moment. Another wave of emotions swirls inside me, and I fight the urge to jump to my feet.
Nope. I’m not doing this. Fuck this shit. This girl truly will be the death of us.
My phone vibrates on the cushion beside me. I look down and let out a long sigh. “Don’t bother pausing it. I’ll be right back,” I say and head toward the hallway.
“He’s seen this movie a bazillion times,” Silas mutters quietly. “It’s one of his favorites.”
“Mine too,” Emelia whispers, and I catch her eyes before disappearing around the corner.
“O’leary,” I sigh into the phone. “What can I do for you?” I knew I was going to be catching his wrath at some point because we still haven’t managed to get any closer to Em.
“The clock is ticking, Mr. Kennedy. My patience is wearing thin,” he snaps quietly. A loud metallic crash echoes in the background, followed by screams of agony.
“You sound a bit preoccupied. Would you like to have this conversation another time?” I ask, irritation prickling my spine.
“Oh this isn’t a conversation,” he says slowly. “This is a deadline. You have seventy-two hours to present me with the head of The Black Crown.”
I clench my jaw and roll my shoulders. “And if we make no headway in seventy-two hours?”
“Consider yourselves dead to the Irish.” The line goes dead.
I lower my hand and press my forehead to the wall.
Seventy-two hours.
Fuck. Me.
I slink back into the living room and drop down heavily onto the sofa, the cushions grown under my weight. “Just work,” I mutter and wave off the questions I see in their eyes. All three of them visibly relax, and I take note of how they are sitting. Emelia is still between the two boys, but she’s leaning against Silas’s chest with her feet pressed against Hayden’s thigh.
Hayden is rubbing up and down her leg with one hand, the other is braced against the back of the sofa. Silas’s hand is doing something similar to her arm. My eyes zero in and I realize that Silas and Hayden’s fingers are barely intertwined along the back of the couch behind Emelia’s head. I bite my lip to hide my grin and turn back to the movie. It really is one of my favorites.
“Declan?” A small voice penetrated the darkness around me.
I blink open my eyes and jolt in surprise. I’m still in the living room, under a blanket. The TV is off, and Hayden and Silas are nowhere to be found. “What time is it?” I ask huskily and look around for the source of the voice.
Emelia steps into the moonlight filtering in through the window and tucks her hair behind her ear. God she looks so innocent, but I know what those little hands of hers are capable of. “Everyone has gone to bed. I drew the short straw,” she explains with a small smile. “Neither of them were brave enough to wake the sleeping bear.”
“And you were?” I ask and arch an eyebrow.
She shrugs nonchalantly and steps forward until she is right in front of me. I open my legs, settling my hands on her hips as she steps closer. “I know your secret,” she whispers, and I tense every muscle in my body. I’m alone, in the dark, with a murderous woman that could kill me six ways to Sunday.
Yep. This is how I die.
Her fingertips trace along my skin, starting from my wrists and moving down over my elbows and then up to my shoulders. I shudder at the featherlight touch and narrow my eyes at her. “Do you now, Princess?” I ask softly and dip my fingers into her back pockets, giving her delicious ass a squeeze. She really is sinful in a pair of tight jeans and a worn band t-shirt.
If she knew what we were really planning, she would murder us all in our sleep without batting an eye. I have to tread carefully here. My eyes search her face for any tell but find nothing but a glint of humor in her green eyes.
“Yes,” she whispers and swings her legs over my own, straddling my lap. Her lips curve into a wicked smile, and I’m not sure how to read it. Every fiber of my being is on high alert. She’s either going to fuck me within an inch of my life or stab me within an inch of my life, and at this point, I don’t know which direction this encounter is going to take. My dick hopes it’s option number one. It presses against the seam of my pants painfully.
I squeeze her ass again before dragging my hands up her back and placing them on her shoulders. “Tell me,” I order softly and brush her long hair off her shoulder, revealing the column of her neck. My hand travels up to her throat, and I rub my thumb in circles across her pulse point. My cock throbs painfully, and I feel a drop of precum stick to my boxers. I haven’t touched her since that day in the warehouse, and I am starving for a release.
Her breath hitches and she shifts on my lap, grinding herself slowly along my aching erection. “Everyone thinks you’re such a big, bad bear. They’re afraid of you,” she whispers breathily and presses herself harder against me.
“As they should be, Princess,” I chuckle and give her throat a gentle squeeze. “Are you afraid?”
“Of you?” she asks quietly, and I nod once in answer. “No,” she responds immediately. “Because I know that deep down…” She leans forward and presses open-mouth kisses along my exposed collarbone. “You.” Kiss. “Are.” Kiss. “Just a.” Kiss. “Teddy bear.” Her tongue drags from the base of my neck to the shell of my ear, and I nearly arch off the sofa.
“Fuck, baby, do that again,” I command with a groan.
Emelia grins and repeats the motion on the other side of my neck, eliciting the same response. My spine tingles and my cock is the hardest it’s ever been. I breathe a small sigh of relief because she doesn’t know every secret, and it doesn’t look like I’m going to get stabbed tonight. “The other two have gotten to have their fun a lot lately,” she says and dips her fingers underneath my shirt. “But you haven’t touched me.”
“I haven’t,” I admit quietly and flex my hand around her throat. The truth is I wanted to find her every single day and bury my cock in one of her holes every hour, but I’m trying to be a good team lead and not let pussy distract me, no matter how gorgeous it is. I meet her gaze and notice the slight pouty set of her lips. “Does that make you sad, Princess?”
She nods once and bites her lip. “I don’t usually do well with being told what to do. I don’t take orders very well, but with you…” She trails off and grinds her hips against me again. “I want you to tell me what to do. To take care of everything. I just want to feel,” she admits, her voice raw.
I let go of her throat, slip my hands under her thighs, and stand suddenly. She lets out a quiet squeak and wraps her arms around my neck. “Well then.” I kiss along her neck and the sides of her face. “Allow me to make you feel. Feel my hands on your skin. My tongue in your mouth. My cum dripping from inside you. You’ll feel all of me, understand?”
“Yes, sir,” she whispers, and her head falls back against her shoulders, exposing her throat to me.
I drag the flat of my tongue up her throat, leaving a wet trail along her skin. She shudders and it’s all I can do to get to my room and lock the door. I want to make this last. To draw this out until she is begging for mercy, but I’m not strong enough for that. I’m barely holding myself together. “On the bed. Lay on your back,” I command and set her down in front of me. “Wait,” I say as she turns to walk away. “Strip.”
Emelia lets another wicked smile cross her lips as she grabs the shirt and pulls it over her head, revealing a pair of bare, delicious tits. My mind glitches as I watch her slide the skinny jeans down her legs and steps out of them. She has no underwear on.
My eyes roam over her body as she stands before me completely naked. She quirks an eyebrow at me, and I nod for her to get on the bed. God fucking dammit, her ass is gorgeous, and I am not going to last five minutes once I am inside her.
“Please,” she whispers and cants her hips in slow circles. “Declan, please don’t make me wait.”
My name on her lips is my undoing. I shuck my clothes off so fast that my shirt rips. “Come here, Baby, let me see how well you take me.” I dip my fingers into her wetness and moan as two of my fingers slip inside her easily. She is more than ready for me. I climb over her and cover her body with mine. My lips find hers in a blistering kiss, and she groans when I rub my dick against her slick entrance.
I line up and sink into her in one slow, agonizing thrust. A low groan escapes me as her walls clench around me. Emelia gasps when I pull back only to sink even deeper into her delicious heat. “Normally,” I whisper and lick the shell of her ear, “I would restrain you so you can’t touch me, but I’m not going to lie to you.” I thrust sharply. One. Two. Three. “I want to feel your fingernails sink into my skin when I make you come undone.”
Her body quivers beneath me, and she cries out as I start a brutal pace. She grips my shoulders and claws at my skin, her fingernails leaving burning tracks across my back. My cock jerks at the pain. “Declan,” she gasps and her walls pulse around me.
I rear back and look down at her with a smirk. My right hand circles her throat again. I place my fingers in the spots that allow me to squeeze without crushing her windpipe. “What a pretty necklace for you, Princess, it looks so good around your neck.” I squeeze a little harder and watch as her face turns pink.
She drops one hand to my wrist and the other grips the sheet above her head. Will she stop me? Will she beg for more? Emelia closes her eyes, submitting to me. My heart twitches in my chest at the amount of trust she’s giving me. Fuck. I know at this moment that I’m as screwed as the other two dumbasses that trail after her like lost puppies.
“Such a good girl,” I croon as I thrust my hips hard. Her pussy tightens, and I know she’s almost at the edge. “Come for me, Baby,” I urge and feel her walls start to milk my cock. “Come for Daddy,” I whisper with a groan and release her throat as she falls.
She screams her release, pulling me over the edge of ecstasy with her. I still and empty myself inside her with a hard shudder. I brace myself above her with my hands on either side of her face. “Lay still,” I whisper and brush the hair from her face. She moans and winces when I pull out and disappear into my bathroom for a towel.
I come back with a warm washcloth and kneel between her open thighs, intent on wiping her clean. I smile slightly when my eyes narrow in on the cum slowly dripping from her stretched cunt. Mine. The thought jolts me out of my lust-filled daze, and I nearly fall backwards off the bed.
She can’t be mine. She can’t be any of ours. She’s a loose end that will need to be burned when this job is done. I need to get a fucking handle on myself. My fingers trail up her thighs and she twitches slightly. I gently clean her up, toss the cloth into the hamper, and pull her up into the bed with me.
Maybe she can be mine, if only for tonight.