Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
DAMON
I block Blake with my body as we get out of the car. Something doesn’t feel right. There’s a stillness in the air that has my hairs standing on end. “Stay behind me.”
With a trembling lip, she nods, following my quiet footsteps. I keep to the edges of the property, doing a quick sweep around. Finding it clear, I gesture toward the stairs, gripping my pistol as we round the corner.
“Wait here,” I whisper, once we’re standing outside our door. I let all thought leave my head and focus on the here and now, steeling myself for the worst. Slowly turning the knob, I peer into the apartment. “Hello! Anyone there?”
At first glance, the place looks exactly as we left it. Energy drink cans lining the counter. Breakfast dishes in the sink. Shoes left by the door. The place is dead quiet, more so than it’s ever been.
I do a walk-through, checking each room thoroughly and finding nothing out of place. “Blake, you can come in.”
“Everything’s okay?” she asks, worrying her lip with her sharp canines.
“It looks like it.” I peer out into the hallway again before closing the door. Something’s off, I feel it in my gut. The way Leon called to interrupt my time with Blake was so unlike him. “I feel bad that we had to cut our night short.”
“Don’t feel bad. We have the place to ourselves. It’s never this quiet in here.” She arches her brow. “And I’m still wearing my vampire fangs.”
“Does that mean I have you all to myself until sunrise?”
“Maybe,” she teases. “But first…” She dips out of the room and comes back with her cake. “We owe it to Mrs. Langston to try her cake.”
While Blake sets it on the counter and pulls out a knife, my gaze is fixed on the cake. I realize what feels so off. I felt it earlier but now it’s like a neon sign in my face—the silence. Our nightly soundtrack of Mrs. Langston’s soap operas blaring at full volume is missing.
“This looks amazing. Does she bake for you guys a lot?” Blake chats, while she cuts into the dessert.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Without another word of explanation, I grab my pistol and hurry downstairs. She runs out the door to follow me. I should have known she would.
“What’s wrong?” she asks frantically.
I bring a finger to my lips, gesturing that she stay quiet. If she’s going to follow me down, there’s no way I’m letting her get hurt.
We head outside and around to Mrs. Langston’s entrance. I knock on the door with a heavy hand. “Dolores? Are you up?”
After a few seconds of silence, I twist the knob, finding it unlocked. Ushering Blake inside, I gesture to the corner of the living room, near her well-loved recliner. “Can you call Leon while I check the place?” She nods, her eyes full of fear. I don’t let my gaze linger. The pull to comfort her is too strong. “Dolores?” I call again.
At first glance the place looks the same as always, until I reach the bedroom. Dolores is laid out on her back with a bullet hole through her skull. Bile threatens its way up my throat. “Fuck… Blake, don't come in here!”
I double over, letting loose a stream of curses. This is all our fault. We weren’t here to protect her. We did this. I don’t know what to do, but I can’t leave her like this. With blurred vision, I glance around the room and find a hastily scribbled note on Dolores’ side table.
I’ll take what I’m owed with bullets and flesh.
Your move.
Blake’s gasp pulls me to the present. “Oh, my God. Should I start CPR?” Her voice wavers but I can tell she’s channeling her med school training. She rushes to Dolores’ side to check for a pulse. “Sh—she’s gone. Someone killed her?”
There’s no sense in confirming what we both already know. “What did Leon say?”
She stands over her, holding her hand while tears stream down her cheeks. I don’t have time for this, I need to take action. Pulling out my phone, I call Leon. He answers on the first ring.
“I’m trying to get out of here but Falin’s somewhere with that skeleton guy and Jasper is nowhere to be found.” Music filters through the speaker along with the incessant chatter of drunk partiers. “Should I leave them? What’s going on?”
I step into the hallway and lower my voice. “Dolores is dead. They left a note. Just leave them, I need you here.”
“Fuck,” he draws out the word. “Alright, mate. Hang tight, I’ll be there soon. In the meantime, I’ll call Ray.”
“Ray?” I ask. What the hell will he do to help us?
“Unless you think we should get the cops involved, we need him. He has a crew that handles this kind of thing.”
“He’s a fucking cleaner too?” I’m shocked. I guess our ex-detective isn’t so by the book after all.
“Whatever you want to call him. It’ll cost us though.” He curses under his breath. “I’ll need to call my father and get a wire transfer.”
“No, I’m sure we can handle it.” There’s no way I want to involve Leon’s sperm donor. We’ve gone this far without much direct contact with him. Leon gets his monthly stipend and that’s been enough to keep us comfortable, along with the side jobs we take on.
“You got an extra hundred grand laying around that I’m unaware of? This isn’t like the asshole in Palm Cove. Mrs. Langston needs a proper cremation. She deserves that.”
Not only that, but New York lacks the necessary amount of gator-filled lakes. Florida was good for a few things.
“You’re right.” I blow out a breath. “Maybe we call this in? I’ll take the note and we can claim we have no idea what happened?”
“What does the note say?”
I lean against the wall, desperately wanting to slide down and rest my head in my hands. “You can read it when you get here. Just move your ass.”
The next few hours are chaos. Leon and I, along with Ray and his team, make sure every ounce of evidence from Dolores’ place is secured. Ray has an in with a cremation worker at a funeral home a few towns over. He’s promised to make sure she’s well taken care of. After I say my goodbyes and watch Ray’s guys drive away, I slump on her couch and rub my eyes. Leon joins me a few minutes later.
“Jasper’s going to lose it,” Leon says.
“I know.” I light a smoke, inhaling with my head hung low. “You talk to your father?”
“Nah, I got his assistant, but she said he’ll get back to me. I gave Ray a big chunk to keep him happy. He knows we’re good for it.”
As I watch the cherry burn, I say what I’ve been thinking for a while. “What if we just get the fuck out of town? I could try and get Blake to transfer schools. We could start a security business somewhere or pick up more of whatever the hell it is that you do. Fuck, we can even open a gym. I didn’t hate that idea when we were playing around with it in Florida. Start fresh. Live our lives.”
Leon stares at a framed photo of the Langston’s when they were young for what feels like an hour. When he faces me, his eyes are rimmed in red. “You want to give up on Bailey? Just fucking pick up and start a new life with Blake? Go buy a house in a gated community, join a country club, play some golf? Well, fuck off. Bailey’s out there and I refuse to give up on her. So go ahead, leave. If Blake will even go with you.” He stands and makes his way to the front door but I jump up and block his path.
“What do you mean if she’ll go with me? She will. This isn’t just some hookup for me. I love her, man. You’ve gotta know how it feels to do anything to protect the one you love?” Leon’s eyes simmer with unspoken rage. I realize what I’ve said and wish I could punch myself in the face. “Shit, sorry man. That’s not what I meant. Listen, we’re tired. It’s been a long fucking day. The sun’s about to come out already. Let’s go get some sleep and talk about shit when we’re rested.”
“Does she even know what you’ve been up to? How she’s not the first woman you’ve gone mental over? Does she know about the cameras and the pictures and your special secret box?” He scoffs. “Don’t fucking tell me shit about love. You haven’t got a clue.”
He storms out the door and a few seconds later I hear the sudden roar of his bike coming to life. By the time I make it outside, the only trace of him is the distant buzz of his engine from down the street.
I stare after him, hoping with everything in me that he doesn’t make a dumb mistake. We all can be reckless, that much has been proven time and again, but the Leon that I’ve known for years is slipping away. With Bailey being gone this long and whatever shit he’s been dealing with from his father, he’s different. Short-tempered. Withdrawn. I know I struck a nerve and I feel like shit, but he threw some low blows and now I’m in my head.
Maybe I haven’t been as open with Blake as I should? Would she stay if she knew all the shit I’ve done?
Fuck.
I can’t deal with this now. Not with Dolores’ body still imprinted on the mattress and the fucks who did it still out there. I should be working with my brothers to figure this out, not fighting. That’s on me.
Before I go upstairs, I pull out my phone to text Leon.
Me: I’m sorry, brother. I don’t know what I was thinking. Be careful, alright?
Blake looks so serene asleep in my bed. Exactly where she should be. Her dark hair lay like a satin sheet beside her head. Her parted lips, still stained in fake blood, expel slow and steady breaths. In these still moments, when she’s vulnerable and free from the mask we wear for the world, I’m drawn to her more than ever.
I quickly strip down and rinse off, letting the water beat on my tired shoulders. When I come back into the bedroom, I find the blanket shifted, revealing Blake’s gorgeous bare skin.
After everything we went through today, my need to be inside her is overwhelming. To erase any distance between us, eliminate every molecule separating our bodies, so there’s no telling where I end and she begins. The desire coursing through me is more important than breathing. At this point I’d rather asphyxiate than spend another second without her.
I pull the blanket down and climb in beside her, tracing her curves with a feather light touch. She murmurs and shifts closer, pressing her full ass against my cock. I was already hard from watching her sleep, but feeling her soft skin against me, I’m fucking done for.
I reach around and slide my hand into her panties, suppressing a groan when I find her wet for me. Spitting into my palm, I fist my cock and stroke, making sure I’m wet enough to slide into her with ease. My patience has all but run out. Pulling her panties to the side, I line my aching cock against her slit and push inside, staying still while her walls tighten around me. My muscles tense with the urge to pump my hips, but I sit with that need, letting our bodies relax before plunging all the way inside her, not leaving an inch between our skin.
I breathe through the urge to move but it’s all-consuming. Seeing how quickly Mrs. Langston’s life was snuffed out was the gut punch that I needed to wake the fuck up. We’re not guaranteed a single second on this earth, and I’ll be damned if I waste one night hiding who I am.
Blake is mine.
My fixation.
My singular reason for existing.
I’m fucking drowning and she’s the air I breathe.
She has no choice but to accept who I am. I’ll hold onto her with every fiber of my being. Keep her safe from the monsters of this world. I’d rather die, than live without her.
I wrap my arm around her waist and cup her breast, circling her nipple until it hardens into a perfect bud. She reacts to my touch with a murmur and slight shift. I brush the pad of my thumb over her nipple again and ever so slowly grind my hips. She feels too damn good.
I need to move.
To fill her.
To mark her as mine.
Biting my lips to keep from groaning, I hold her hips steady and slowly pull out to the tip. As she starts to stir, I push back in, using my grip on her hips to guide the movement. Her hand finds mine, and she squeezes.
“There’s my angel. Waking up for my cock like a good slut.” She arches her back and gasps as I grind into her.
Now that she’s awake, I don’t hold back. I can’t. My thrusts are rough. Erratic. My hands are everywhere. Biting into her hips, molding her body to mine. Incoherent moans mix with the sound of skin slapping against skin. It’s music to my ears.
“I need to fill you, baby. You’re mine, you know that right?” I drive into her as I let spill every one of my obsessive thoughts. “I’ll fucking watch you wherever you are. Have cameras on you. Kill anyone who looks at you.”
She hums in response, sending me into a damn frenzy. Releasing those thoughts into the open air feels almost as good as coming. It’s a release I desperately needed, only I didn’t know it until this moment.
Unable to suppress my madness, I pull out, flip her onto her stomach and spread her wide, burying my face in her slick pussy. Her taste and the way she responds drives me wild. I lap at her entrance, gliding my tongue to her swollen clit.
“Oh my God, right there.” She juts her hips higher, shamelessly grinding her greedy pussy against my lips until she’s shaking and moaning my name.
I slide up her body and plunge into her again, hissing at the way she chokes my cock. “Your pussy is so fucking tight, Blake. Feel what you do to me. How you drive me crazy.”
Ragged exhales leave my lips as I relentlessly pound into her. My eyes are half-lidded, clouded by ecstasy, but watching the way her body takes me, stretches for my thickness, demanding to be filled, is an out of body experience.
Hoarse moans fill the room, I’m so fucking gone, I don’t know if they’re coming from me or Blake. “Fuck, baby, rub your clit. Come for me.”
Tingles run the length of my spine and my balls draw in tight. I’m so fucking close to shooting every drop inside Blake. I push her body into the mattress, locking onto the back of her neck as she quivers beneath me, pushing me over the edge. With a guttural moan, I still, coming inside her while her walls pulse around me.
I’m so goddamn spent that my vision blurs at the edges.
Keeping my cock inside, I roll us both back to our sides and crush Blake against my chest. She’s trembling and breathing heavily but manages a hushed laugh. “What the hell was that?”
“I think you know what that was.” I trail my fingers over the curve of her waist, tucking in closer.
“Damon?” Her hand covers mine and she brings it to her lips, kissing the center of my palm. “Are you going to stay inside me again?”
“You’re asking questions you already know the answer to, Angel.”
It’s the only way I’ll get any sleep tonight. Our breathing slows, and I feel myself drifting as Blake whispers, “Did you mean what you said?”
“Remember when we first met? What’s one of the first things I told you?” I shift, feeling myself grow stiff again.
“That’s a loaded question.”
Brat.
“I told you I always keep my word. I choose my words carefully and always mean what I say.” She’s quiet again, so I add, “Why do you ask?”
“I’m trying to decide who’s more messed up: you for all the things you said or me for loving it.”
I let out a slow, sleepy laugh. “We’re cut from the same mold, baby. Your light dances with my darkness to create the perfect shade of gray. There’s nothing messed up about residing there in the in-between. The difference between us and all the other miserable souls out there is that we’re not afraid.”
“I guess when you put it that way, you’re not wrong,” she says, sounding as drowsy as I feel. “But I don’t know if you’re right either.”
“I’ll show you how right I am,” I say, brushing a kiss below her earlobe. As tired as I feel, I’m not done with Blake this morning, not that I’ll ever be.
By the time we crash, it’s mid-afternoon and I’ve almost forgotten about the tragedy of the previous day. Almost.