Chapter Thirteen
Braxten
D usk has long since fallen as I head toward the gun shed, a place where my brothers and I construct the deadliest weapons used in the military.
Despite the upgraded security surrounding this property, I want more ammunition with me at the house.
I have no doubt this asshole is just biding his time before he finally gets the courage to strike.
When he does, I’ll be waiting, trigger finger ready, barrel locked and loaded, but not before making him suffer first. He will bleed for every wound he left on Alice before I steal his last breath.
Entering the shop, I find all the lights on but no one inside. It doesn’t take long to realize this is where Knox has been all day. Pieces of his next creation are scattered amongst the steel counter where several other finished projects rest, just waiting to be tested.
We’re all good at what we do, but no one can build anything more lethal than my brother.
He spends more time in here than the rest of us.
It’s just another way he fights the demons that plague him, a place he often seeks solitude.
Which is why he has been in here all day, avoiding me and everyone else…
Shaking myself of the guilt that thought brings on, I focus on what I came to do.
Walking over to the locked cabinet, I pull down several rounds of ammunition, grabbing enough to take out the war that has been waged upon us. Just as I lock it back up there’s a light rap on the door.
“Knock, knock.”
Alice stands in the doorway, the outside light shadowing the night behind her. The glow along with the white dress she wears makes her look every bit as pure as I know she is.
An angel I want to corrupt as badly as I want to protect.
“Sorry to intrude. Your father told me I could find you here.” She tucks a piece of blonde hair behind her ear, the signature act making my cock stand to attention.
“You’re never an intrusion, Alice, I always want you around.”
A smile slips over her face as she walks inside, taking in the space with ample curiosity. “So, this is where the magic happens, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess it is.”
She wanders around the open room, taking note of the sofa and seating area, before moving to the counter and trailing her delicate fingers along the cold steel, encountering Knox’s current masterpiece.
Her questioning gaze lifts to mine.
“A work in progress,” I explain.
She moves to another piece at the end of the counter where the surveillance monitors are, finding the mother of all machines. A Gatling. One of the best back in the day. Rapid-fire, spring loaded, and hand cranked. It could blow away an entire army within half a second.
She looks up at me again, eyes wide. “This one looks serious.”
“Very serious,” I reply, amused. “That’s for the more, shall we say…experienced.”
She doesn’t miss the double meaning, a pink hue spreading across her cheeks. “Experienced, huh?”
I nod, loving that she takes the bait. It’s like an igniter, fueling the flames that constantly burn between us.
“So, what would you start someone like me with?” she asks quietly. “Someone…not so experienced.”
The loaded question surges through my body like a live wire, the image of her holding the deadly weapon turning my cock even harder.
Stepping up to the counter, I slide in behind her, intentionally brushing her shoulder and smirk at the sound of her breath catching.
It’s been like this all day, the tension between us mounting, taunting me with everything I want but am unsure she is ready for.
Fitting my hand in the small, hidden nook beneath the table, I let the computer read my finger print. A beeping sound ensues before the top flips up, revealing the stock we keep hidden beneath.
“Whoa.” She steps closer, enamored by all that is revealed.
Reaching inside, I remove a smaller hand gun and point it upward before pulling back the slide. “Small to hold and lightweight to carry, but no less efficient.”
She eyes the weapon hesitantly, but there’s also no denying the fascination hidden there.
“Come here.”
She follows the command, coming to stand before me.
I move in close, crowding her back as I place the weapon in her delicate hands. Her body quivers in response, fingers trembling as she accepts it.
My face turns toward her cheek, nose skimming the soft skin there. “Nervous?”
“A little,” she whispers.
“Don’t be. When you hold one of these in your hands, you wield all the control. You have the ability to take out any threat, to steal the enemy’s last breath. There’s no fear. No pain. Only power.”
In a swift move, I turn our bodies, taking aim at the target pinned to the board and pull the trigger. She flinches at the snap, a gasp escaping her before realizing there’s no bullets.
My mouth turns towards her ear as I lower our arms. “One day, I’ll put a loaded gun in your hands, baby, but not until you’re good and ready.”
“Maybe I am ready.” The response tumbles past her lips in a breathless manner, the underlying meaning setting fire to the blood that pumps through my veins.
Keeping the gun in my hand, I bring the other up and gently wrap it around her throat, forcing her head back on my shoulder. “Be careful what falls from that pretty mouth of yours, Alice. It’s just you and me here. There’s no one around to save you this time.”
Quick, shallow breaths race past her slightly parted lips. “What if I don’t want to be saved from you?”
“What if you’re not ready for me?”
It’s my biggest fear, taking her too soon and fucking this up.
“What if I am?” she counters right back, despite the nerves drowning her voice.
A half chuckle, half groan escapes my chest. “Damn, Wonderland, you sure are being awfully brave right now.”
“Actually, I’m terrified,” she admits quietly. “But it doesn’t change what I want.”
“Yeah? And what is it that you want, Alice, hmmm? Do you even know?”
Her answer will either make or break this moment.
“Not exactly, but I do know that I like being around you. I-I like the way I feel when I’m with you.”
The confession has me pulling her in closer, every part of my body aching to touch hers. “And what is it you feel when you’re with me?”
“Warm,” she reveals. “I’m always warm when you’re near and cold when you’re not.”
Those words rock me down to my fucking core.
“I also feel safe. Like, I’ll never know pain as long as I’m with you.”
My jaw locks at the vulnerability lacing her voice. Turning my face into hers, I soak in the warmth of her skin. “That’s because you are safe with me, baby. I’d never let anyone hurt you. I’d kill anyone who tried.”
She relaxes deeper into me, her trust in me as pure and innocent as she is.
“Tell me what else you feel, Alice.” I want to know it all. Every thought, every desire, every wish so I can make it all come true.
“Things I can’t explain. Things I don’t think I have ever felt before,” she whispers, her nerves making another appearance.
“Like sometimes, the way you look at me has my heart skipping a beat. And when you get really close, like now, I find it difficult to breathe let alone think. Even the slightest touch from you can make me completely breathless.”
My eyes close at the sincerity falling past her lips.
“But most of all,” she continues softly. “I get these feelings that consume every part of my body, making parts of me…they…”
“Ache?” I finish for her.
Biting down on her bottom lip, she nods.
“Where?” I growl.
Silence captures the moment before she expels a single word. “Everywhere.”
I decide to test that truth out. Bringing the gun up, I place the cold metal against the side of her neck.
Her sharp intake of breath pierces the air before I trail the tip of the barrel down her throat, passing it over her collarbone until reaching the top of her dress. The gun lingers along the swell of her breasts, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession.
“Here?”
Swallowing audibly, she nods again.
I drop the barrel into the top of her dress, sliding the steel over one bare nipple. “What about here?”
“Yes,” she gasps, the blazing sound shooting straight to my cock.
Pulling the gun out, I let it fall to her leg before slipping it under her dress and inching the cool metal up the inside of her naked thigh.
Her body stiffens, but she doesn’t get time to think about it before the barrel makes contact with the sweet spot between her legs.
“Oh god!” A fiery cry pushes past her lips the same time her knees buckle.
My arm tightens around her waist, keeping her upright.
“Easy, baby. I got you.” I slide the tip along the seam of her panties, swiping it back and forth with firm pressure.
“What I wouldn’t give to fuck you with this gun right now, but no way am I going to let a mere object penetrate what belongs to me. ”
“Braxten.” My name flees her on a needy moan, a hint of confusion mixed in with it.
“I can take this ache away, Alice. Make it better for you. Do you want that?”
Her response is a heated mewl as she squirms against me, seeking the friction her body instinctively craves.
“Tell me,” I growl. “I want words.”
“I want it,” she expels on a panting breath. “I want you to touch me.”
Dropping the gun as if it’s hot metal after an active shot, I let it clatter to the floor before spinning her around.
Our gazes lock for a powerful moment before I stake my fucking claim, taking what I have wanted since she looked up at me in that field all those weeks ago—bruised, helpless, and so goddamn beautiful it changed my very existence.
The collision is like a bolt of lightning, striking the very ground I stand on.
I consume her gasp as she inhales my groan, the sounds colliding, creating the best fucking symphony that has ever fallen upon my ears.
Just when I think it can’t get any better, my tongue pushes past her lips and it’s life altering.
The taste of her is like liquid fire, incinerating me down to the depths of my black soul, sealing both of our fates forever.