Chapter Eleven
The next day, when they went to work, the day seemed a little brighter. Her soul a little clearer. Jade touched her more, and she realized she liked his touches and kisses and hugs.
At the end of the night, Jake raced out of there, saying he had a date, leaving Apollo and Jade to clean up, not only their stations, but his as well.
One of the men usually took out the trash, but since they were busy, Shiloh gathered it all and left out the back door, careful to prop it open.
As she tossed it all in the dumpster, arms came around her.
Heavy chains suffocated her. Fear pulsed through her veins like a snakebite, filling them with venom.
She was paralyzed as memories tumbled through her head.
Not again!
Help me! Somebody, anybody.
Save me!
“I got you, bitch. You know how long I’ve stalked you to find a moment when that God-damn biker wasn’t with you?”
That voice ... it wasn’t his. Her demon hadn’t returned to drag her back into Hell.
It released her frozen limbs, and she struggled to get free.
She refused to go back into the darkness.
Refused to be a victim once again. She had barely survived the first time.
She hadn’t been with Jade all that long, but in their small time together, he gave her back her strength.
Her stubbornness against being a wounded casualty.
“Stop squirming, bitch! You made my girlfriend run from me, so this is going to be fucking payback.”
The man from the alley!
His girlfriend left him? That made her happy.
With the clarity of who this assailant was, she pushed away the terror and paralysis. Once those shackles had fallen, her self-defense kicked into gear. The asshole had her arms pinned to her body, so she stomped on his foot. Once, twice, and the third time with all her body weight.
“Shit! Stop that!”
Right. Like she was just going to roll over? She stomped the other foot.
“Cut it out!” he roared.
That had achieved what she hoped it would. He bent forward as he tried to step back, so she snapped her head backward so hard she heard a sharp crack. The sound of his nose breaking.
“Fuck!”
The arms holding her let go, and she immediately twirled and brought her fist back, aiming low.
Directly into his crotch. With a strangled moan, he fell to his knees.
Blood poured down his face as his face swelled, but she had no sympathy.
Shiloh brought her foot up and kicked him in his chest so hard that he fell sideways, gasping for breath.
“Does that hurt?” she asked him coldly. “That’s why your girl left you. She was tired of the pain you inflicted on her. Men like you don’t deserve to live.”
She pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and called Jade. He answered on the second ring.
“Shiloh?”
“There’s a man who tried to hurt me,” she said in a flat, emotionless voice. “I think I want to kill him.”
“What the fuck? Where are you?”
“At the dumpster behind the shop. I broke his nose and punched his tiny dick. I really think he needs to die.”
“Don’t do that. I’m on my way.”
“Okay.”
She hung up.
“You stopped moaning,” she said to the man.
“Fucking bitch,” he gasped again, although his voice was garbled since his nose no longer worked correctly.
“That right there.” She shook her head. “You’re not regretful enough.”
He was struggling to get up, and she didn’t like that.
So, when he put his hand on the ground in an effort to get leverage, she brought her leg up and smashed it down on his fingers.
Once more he cried out in pain, and she smiled.
When he snatched it back, cradling it in his body, she walked behind him and kicked him in his back.
In retaliation, he tried to swing his fist back to hit her, but she stepped back.
“I bet you’re thinking, how is this skinny girl causing me so much pain? It’s because I’ve been right there in your position. I know how it feels to have your nose broken. To have your fingers crushed. And I know the excruciating pain when someone forces themselves right between the legs.”
Just then Jade appeared, with Apollo right behind him. He gave her a quick once-over before sparing a glance at the downed man.
“What happened?” he asked her.
“This is the man from the alley,” she replied calmly. “He admitted to stalking me. Wrapped his arms around me from behind. So, I hurt him. But I really want to see him dead.”
The man got to his knees and started to stand up. Jade walked over and, with one punch to the already broken nose, rendered the man unconscious.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Jade muttered. He walked over to her and lifted her chin to study her. “Did he hurt you?”
“No, but he brought back my PTSD.”
Apollo stepped forward and smiled at her before glancing at the unconscious man. “You fucked him up, Shiloh?”
“Yes.”
“Awesome,” he said and held out his fist.
She bumped it with her own.
“Hold him,” Apollo said. “I’ll run back to the compound and bring back the car. We can take him to our barn.”
“Sounds like a plan. Let me get the zip-ties.”
He disappeared for a moment, but returned quickly and grabbed the man’s arms while Apollo picked up his legs. They essentially hog-tied him and taped his mouth shut.
With a jaunty salute, he hopped on his bike and sped away. Jade pulled her into his arms, and a wonderful warmth filled her. Something she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Her arms lifted and hugged him back, and right there, she broke.
All the pent-up emotions. The fear. The hate. The thoughts of self-harm. Missing, yearning, hoping. Scared to be alone, but also scared to be with others. He’d taken it away. He’d taken everything from her, and left behind a shell.
A rumbling happened, and it took her a moment to realize that Jade was humming. Low and soft, he calmed her. Soothing her like he was hypnotizing an Asp. The venom drained away, cleansing her soul. Bringing life back to Lazarus.
“Once Apollo comes back, I want you to take me home, Jade. Your home.”
“Are you sure?”
Shiloh nodded. “I’m still giving him power over me, and I don’t want to live like this anymore. Make love to me over and over and burn his memory away once and for all.”
Desire filled Jade’s eyes, along with darkness.
A beautiful vengeful fury, all for her. They stayed locked in an embrace until Apollo returned, and the two men threw the asshole into the trunk.
Then, Jade placed her on his bike, and she held tight all the way to his home.
The bike screamed through the night, and when they finally hit his driveway, she was wet from the vibrations between her thighs.
She was desperate for him, and apparently, he was for her.
As soon as they made it inside his house, he pulled her shirt over her head, then captured her mouth in a searing, bold kiss.
He reached to unbutton her jeans, and she pushed them to help gravity work them down her legs.
She stepped out of her jeans, leaving her in tiny panties and a bra.
When they broke apart to breathe, they locked gazes, and he slipped a finger beneath the crotch of her underwear to stroke her sensitive folds. Although it felt heavenly, she wanted something besides a finger. When she wiggled her hips impatiently, his finger disappeared to peel her panties down.
The sound of his zipper was loud between them, but in the next instant, he took hold of her ass and hiked her up to pin her against the wall.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, and in the next instant, he sank her down onto this cock.
Moans erupted, mirroring one another. He held himself deep inside her body, giving a moment for them to savor one another.
Then, Jade started a rhythm that made her pant.
Wild thrusts plunged into her wet depths.
A primitive animal being fucked with no thought beyond the pleasure of it all.
Beyond reason, beyond control, beyond anything but sensation.
Harder, faster. A pure, perfect second of oblivion before soaring on the highest peak of eternity.
Sublime. Exhilarating.
Magic.