Chapter 24 – Rae
The five hundred measly bucks burned a hole in my pocket.
I’d stolen before, and I learned at a young age not to let it bother me.
But this...this was different. Uncle Theo didn’t deserve it.
He might not vocally defend me against the tyrannical housekeeper like he should, but he’d given me this job.
He’d covered for my many disappearances. He saw how hard I worked.
And what did I do?
Throw it back in his face.
I’m such a bad person.
Like mother, like daughter. I swiped at my eyes, refusing to let the tears of frustration fall. I wasn’t weak. I wouldn’t let myself cry about shit that was out of my control.
Sneaking through the house, I made my way downstairs. Franky and Uncle Theo would be up in a little over an hour. I kept the garage open on purpose. But it had taken too long to pack. It was like my exhausted body protested the impending doom.
Dropping my letter to Theo on his kitchen table, I snuck into the garage, hefting my suitcase over the threshold. I tossed it in the trunk, dropped my purse on the passenger seat, then stood to look out at the yard. A sweltering breeze snuck into the shelter to caress my face.
“I’m going somewhere warm,” I muttered. Screw the fantasy about cold weather.
Although I hadn’t tested the theory, I strongly doubted I was built for a northern winter.
Vegas had a lot of classic cars. Maybe someone at one of those garages would hire me, and I could build a reputation for restoration and custom work.
Smiling sadly, I slid behind the wheel.
The crap with the dope would blow over. In a decade or so, the people my ex was involved with would be dead.
Those low-class, no-good drug dealers didn’t have long life expectancies.
I just had to stay low, keep hidden, until that happened.
Which was why I left my phone on the kitchen table.
If they couldn’t track me, they couldn’t find me.
Pushing in the clutch and turning the key, I whispered, “We’re starting over, girlfriend. Just you and me, Cherry Pie, on the road. Ready to explore a new place—” A hard thud landed on the trunk. “Gracious fucking alive!”
In the rearview was the face of the devil himself.
Illuminated in the red glow, Nico looked like the monster from a horror film. Rage burned in his eyes. Heat licked up my spine. He leaned into the car, as if he could stop the machine from backing up with sheer force of will.
“Move, you idiot,” I spat.
Tears swam in my eyes, threatening to fall.
Nico rumbled something.
I cracked the window. “Move. Now.”
“Magnolia Rae, get out of this car,” he thundered.
“No,” I choked.
He pushed, and the car swayed.
I slowly depressed the brake, giving just a touch of gas to begin slowly backing out.
Nico cursed violently in Italian. He slid to the side, hand grazing the side of my freshly painted vehicle. I continued to sneak past him.
I should have locked the doors. Maybe that was my subconscious wanting him to rip the door open.
Which was exactly what he did.
I stomped on the brake to keep the door being ripped off by the partition of the garage. In my flustered state, I didn’t press the clutch, and the engine cut with a violent jerk.
“Get out of the car,” he barked.
“No!” I forced the word past the galloping in my throat. “No, I can’t!”
“E che cazzo, Rae! I’m not messing around.” Nico bent and grabbed me.
Why the hell wasn’t I wearing the seatbelt?! I struggled, but he tugged me out. I kicked and pushed. His grip was hard. Unrelenting. Possessive. He shoved me against the side panel.
“I knew you were fucking running,” he bit out. “Why?!”
A sob racked my chest. “How?”
“You said goodbye, not goodnight.” He pinned my arms. “I’ll repeat the question: Why the fuck are you running?”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t lie.” He stabbed a finger in my face. “Don’t you dare fucking lie to me.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. Just tell him.
No. No, I couldn’t! I fought the tears, the stupid, embarrassing tears. I would not appear weak in front of this man. Hell could swallow me whole, but I would not let him see me cry.
“Dammit, Rae.” And then his mouth was on mine.
The kiss seared every thought from my mind. There was nothing gentle about his mouth. It bruised and demanded.
And damn me, I was weak.
I caved after three pitiful heartbeats. I opened under the flick of his tongue.
Nico growled. I felt the sound vibrate against me. It was fierce. A clear warning of what was to come. My resolve shattered, and I gave into the promise of the most carnal, sinful pleasure that this man offered.
He must have sensed my surrender, because he broke the kiss, spun me around, and bent me over the front end.
“Grab the hood,” he commanded and flicked open the button of my jeans. “Hold it tight.”
A breath that was part sob ricocheted through me. There was barely enough time to grasp feebly at the metal before he tugged my pants down and pushed his fingers through my slick center. He didn’t bother removing the thong, merely shoving it to the side.
“This—” he pushed his fingers into me, making me whimper “—this is mine.”
I shuddered. His words set off a volley of fireworks inside me. The way he claimed my pussy messed with my head. It almost, almost made me believe this was something more than raw, animalistic desire.
Too quickly his hand was gone, and I had a moment to sag against the cold metal of my Camaro.
His zipper snapped in the air. Anticipation quickened my pulse.
This time, he snapped the center strip of my underwear, not bothering to remove it before he tipped my hips back.
The tip of his dick pressed against my center.
There was no warning as he thrust deep inside me.
I gasped and clawed against the car. There was no purchase for my grip. I was instantly full, completely at his mercy.
Nico growled, pulled back, and slammed deeper.
The intrusion sent another flicker of tears through my eyes. I was filled to the brim, stretched to the edge where pleasure met pain. But with each thrust, my body adjusted to take his thick, long cock until there was nothing left but the delicious feel of him pumping in and out.
“I was trying to be good,” he whispered before pulling back. As he shoved deep again, he added, “You made that impossible, my little bomb. You make me forget why I should.”
He pounded into me with such ferocity that the car rocked with each slam of his hips. My fingers and palms scraped helplessly against the cold metal. His loud breathing mimicked my own. Those fingers that killed with such ease dug into the flesh of my hips, keeping me pinned in place.
Nico fucked me hard.
It was unrestrained. Brutal. Without forgiveness.
There was no escaping this monster. Both my heart and body acknowledged that truth, and my mind was temporarily silenced. It couldn’t have argued if it wanted to.
Nico reached around to grab my throat. His touch was hesitant at first. As if he were asking permission. Checking that this touch was okay with me. Unable to give him a verbal answer, I wrapped my fingers around his wrist—and squeezed.
His fingers tightened. His breath was hot against my ear. “I’d rather be the monster haunting your days and nights than let someone else pretend to love you, Rae.”
I whimpered, but the sound was cut off with the pressure of his hand. Those lips closed over my ear, teeth scraping against my piercings as he tasted me.
“I’ll fuck you as many times as it takes for that to sink in,” he promised, before flicking his tongue against the industrial bar.
Air left my lungs in a strangled burst. He allowed me to inhale before he cut off the flow again. The give and take repeated. It matched the tempo of his thrusts. I was allowed to breathe when he pulled out. Oxygen was restricted when he plunged into me.
Nico fucked me like a god of old. Powerful and full of wrath. Pleasure coiled deep in my core. It built higher and higher, until it was the only thing left. It and the one giving it to me.
“Tell me you feel this too, Rae,” he snarled, sounding exactly like a creature from the shadows. “Tell me so I don’t have to destroy everything just to prove it’s real.”
“Yes,” I gasped around the loose hold of his fingers.
Nico’s roar was a clap of thunder. It shook the very air and sent me over the edge. My orgasm shattered reality, more powerful than anything I’d ever felt. I spun into the void, blackness creeping around reality.
And then his fingers loosened. My lungs sucked in a desperate gasp of air. In that brief brush with consciousness, I witnessed him come undone.
His cock rammed once more, reaching the deepest, furthest place inside me. It pulsed violently, spilling his cum. The inner muscles of my core convulsed in wave after wave of release, milking him dry.
Slowly, his fingers released my throat. I sagged against the Camaro. Air filled my lungs, and I greedily filled them with deep gulps. Nico smoothed his hands over my lower back. That touch was warm and soothing, wildly different from the way he’d held me a mere moment ago.
I whimpered when he pulled himself free. But it was nothing compared to the sudden flare of panic as warmth dripped down my inner thighs. We hadn’t used protection!
Heat bloomed on my cheeks again, and I dropped my forehead against the hood.
Nico was back a heartbeat later, dabbing between my legs with something. Then he pulled my jeans back over my hips.
“I know something happened,” he murmured, turning and lifting me. He carried me to the driver’s seat, set me inside the car, and bent in front of me. “And I know it wasn’t because we were almost caught tonight.”
A short exhale huffed past my lips. What could I say? He was spot on.
“Tonight was on me,” he added. “It won’t happen again, but if you think you can run away from this, you’re wrong. You can’t.”
I lifted my eyes to the roof of the car, as if the molded interior held the answers. “I have to leave.”
“And you’re going to tell me why,” he coaxed.
I can’t!
He laughed roughly and without humor. “I won’t lose you, Rae.”
“Why?” I snapped, because it was either get angry with him or end up crying again. And I sure as hell wasn’t doing that.
“Because.” He kissed my right knee. “You’re.” He kissed the left. “Mine.”