Killian’s Vengeance

9. Killian

Chapter 9

Killian

I walked out of the bathroom, a smile still on my face. I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist changing the water temperature. Her little act of rebellion had my dick hardening and my hand itching to spank the disobedience right out of her. I could already see how well she responded to my dominance, how she naturally bent to my will. However, I liked this little streak of mischievousness in her. It made me desperate to correct her.

Interacting with Willa was a revelation. I’d never spent time with women outside of sex, never engaged in silly, flirty banter or waited for them to misbehave just for the opportunity to deliver some swats on the ass. Not that Willa understood fully what she was doing.

I knew I was drawn to her. The sexual chemistry had been a low hum underlying all of my interactions with her, even when I’d thought she was Lily. Knowing she wasn’t Lily allowed that banked fire to burst into flames. Now that I didn’t have to bury it or pretend the attraction didn’t exist, all I wanted to do was stoke it, indulge it, let it burn out of control. I saw how she looked at me, her eyes skating down my body, lingering on my lips. How she got soft and pliant when I touched her.

All I had to do was convince her—which I nearly botched with my shitty apology. Even though my stomach twisted with regret over the hurt and pain I, apologizing was still an awkward, uncomfortable, unfamiliar experience that I’d nearly fucked up completely. It wasn’t like she didn’t deserve an apology; she absolutely did. I just fucking hated admitting I was wrong.

Even though I wasn’t known for my ability to sweet talk women, I’d dug deep to find the words that would convince her to stay. I was driven by the twin demons of lust and vengeance. I had been willing to say anything to keep her here.

Christ, I wanted her.

I went out and grabbed a small table and some chairs and quickly set them up in the bedroom, then went to the wardrobe and grabbed what I’d need to take care of her back. My fingers, and my dick, tingled with anticipation at being able to touch her again.

There was a knock on the door and Cara opened it holding a plate of bacon, eggs and toast, her face set mutinously. “Here,” she said in a bratty tone, thrusting the plate, utensils and napkins in my direction. She knew that normally such an attitude would get a severe rebuke from me, usually over my knee, which was probably why she did it.

I’d played with Cara several times in the club, but it had never gone beyond that. She was hot and fun, but I wasn’t remotely tempted to have a relationship with her. This jealousy she was displaying was unexpected and definitely unwelcome.

I took everything and set it down on the table. “Thank you. You’re free to go.”

“Who is that girl?”

I looked up to find her standing in front of me, hands on her hips, her chin tilted in challenge. What the fuck was going on here?

“None of your business.”

“None of my business? You acted like you liked me. Like we might start getting more serious.”

My jaw nearly dropped. What the fuck? “Seriously? We’ve played together. That’s it. I don’t know your phone number. I don’t even know your last name .” That last part wasn’t true, but I needed her to understand just how not together we were.

She gasped as if I’d stabbed her, her eyes brown pools of hurt. I was unmoved by these theatrics because that’s exactly what they were. Overwrought melodramatics by a girl who was used to getting all the attention. I knew for a fact she’d hit on Cullen at some point, but he turned her down. We didn’t fuck the same women.

As if suddenly registering the full extent of my apathy toward her, she ran to me and started rubbing her hands on my chest. She was wearing a short black skirt and a black bustier, her cleavage bulging over the neckline. She rubbed her exposed cleavage into my chest as she patted me. “I’m sorry, Kill, I just get a little possessive of my men. Nobody makes me feel like you, and I don’t like other girls trying to take my toys away.”

I stared down at her, aggravated to have to deal with drama when I made such an effort to avoid it at all costs. I’d never had a woman make assumptions about our relationship because I was usually too much of an asshole for them to get the wrong idea. But Cara was new. While I’d been coming here for years, Cara had just started working here about two months ago. She was the spoiled daughter of the shipping magnate, Bryson Blanchard, and only took a job here to aggravate him and get her kicks. She’d gone after Logan initially, but he did not fuck his employees, so she moved on to me.

I wasn’t even going to touch her comment about me being her toy. She’d probably said it to piss me off, which it did, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of rising to the bait. And to be honest, considering how much money she’s had all her life, she probably did consider men toys.

I lifted her hands off my chest, giving her a hard stare. “We’re not together, Cara. We were never together. I can spend my time with anyone I want.” My hands still on her wrists, I gave her a slight push toward the door. “You can go.”

Her eyes flashed and cheeks reddened with anger. Cara wasn’t someone who was accustomed to being turned down, for sex or anything else, I suspected. “Fine,” she spat and swept out the door.

I let out a breath and rolled my eyes. Jesus Christ, like I needed more on my fucking plate right now. As if on schedule, Willa emerged from the bathroom, a cloud of sweet-smelling bath products wafting around her. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders in damp, blonde waves. Her skin looked translucent and flawless, her cheeks scrubbed clean and delightfully pinkened.

My mouth went dry as my eyes skated over her body, which was beautifully revealed in the outfit I’d provided. I only had fetish wear or men’s clothes to choose from, and there was no way I was picking men’s wear for her.

I found her a little baby doll dress, which was one of the tamer outfits the club had, because I thought it would be most comfortable with her lash marks and also because I couldn’t fucking resist. Christ, my dick was like a brick in my pants as I stared at her.

The dress was short, white, and spaghetti-strapped with a light-blue, satin sash under the bust. I didn’t think she even realized it was fetish wear and how fucking transparent the material was. I could just see the outline of her nipples and it was already driving me fucking crazy.

“Was this really the only thing you could find?” she asked, looking at me dubiously.

Okay, maybe she did know.

“Yeah. Everything else would have rubbed your lash marks,” I said, my voice gritty with lust. “Come here, I need to put some arnica on your welts.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the bed. Though I was hesitant to use the bed, just for the memories it probably had for her, it was the easiest place to apply the lotion

“Lie down on your stomach and pull the top of your dress down.”

She looked at me like I was out of my fucking mind. Fair enough, considering the circumstances.

“Willa, this stuff will greatly reduce the pain of the welts. In fact, you probably won’t really feel them by tomorrow if you let me put it on.” A bit of an exaggeration, but it would make her feel better. I was also desperate to get my hands on her skin.

Though her blonde brow puckered with a suspicious frown that I found fucking adorable, she scooted around me, got her knees on the bed and laid down. Once she was settled on her stomach, she pulled her dress down to her waist, her breasts still pressed against the mattress.

I walked over and straddled her thighs, careful to not brush against the cane mark on her ass. My dick was already throbbing in my jeans. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get through this without coming in my pants, especially as I stared at the lashes I put on her skin. Remorse and desire lanced through my body in equal measure. Her true suffering didn’t bring me any pleasure, but it was hard to control the surge of lust at seeing my marks on her beautiful skin.

I quickly grabbed the bottle of lotion and warmed some in my hand, then rubbed it gently on her whip marks. She shivered, probably both due to the temperature of the lotion and the sensitivity of the lacerations. I continued to gently apply it until all the marks on her back were covered, thankful that I’d only been able to give her four strikes. While I was applying lotion, I also massaged muscles that became tight and knotted while she was immobilized on the bed. The deep, relaxing motion of my hands quickly had her groaning and sinking into the mattress. I smiled in satisfaction, while my cock jerked at her throaty moans.

After long minutes of rubbing lightly rubbing her muscles, I paused, my hands holding the hem of her dress. “Willa, I need to lift your dress to put lotion on your cane mark and whatever marks you have from the flogging. Are you okay with that?”

Long seconds ticked by as I anxiously awaited her answer. The pause made me aware of how much I wanted this woman—a woman who at any minute could hop up, tear out of here, head to the police station, and land me in deep shit. Not that I didn’t deserve it, but still.

“Okay,” she said in a small voice, as if agreeing went against her better judgement.

I lifted her dress and sucked in my breath. “Willa, where are your panties?” Thank fuck I hadn’t known she was bare earlier, or I would have never lasted during that massage.

She raised her head to answer me. “I put them on, but they rubbed the mark. I knew I’d be sitting down to eat, so I thought I’d leave them off for a bit. I didn’t know you’d…you’d be lifting up my dress!” she said, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“Okay, okay. Relax,” I said, rubbing my hand against her lower back in order to soothe her. It worked, as she put her head back down and relaxed her muscles once again. “I’ll take care of it. It won’t hurt anymore,” I said, eager for her cooperation and the opportunity to lessen her discomfort.

I didn’t want her to feel any pain unless it was for her pleasure and right now all these marks on her were only for my pleasure. I fucking loved seeing that perfect, even stripe on her ass, especially knowing no one had ever marked her skin like this before.

I took a deep breath—I had to control myself. Was I sweating?

I knew Willa was attracted to me. I read her body language throughout our interactions loud and clear, but I needed to be careful and not come on too strong. We needed her to help us find Lily, not to mention keeping myself out of jail. I couldn’t do anything to make her too freaked out. A bungled seduction by the guy who just kidnapped and whipped you against your will was just the type of thing to freak a person out.

I lightly applied lotion to the welt, becoming obsessed with the perfection of her ass, greatly enhanced from the flogging. As I rubbed it gently with lotion, I became even more obsessed with idea of spanking it, marking it, fucking it. I reached down and squeezed my cock, trying to get it under control. Jerking off in Logan’s office felt like a long time ago right now.

I massaged her ass and hips a bit because I was having a hard time removing my hands from her body. Her hips started to shift on the bed, and I wondered if she was getting turned on. My thumbs massaged just under her ass, skating to her inner thighs and I was tormented by what was so close, but so achingly out of reach.

I needed to get off her because I was seconds away from jerking her legs open and shoving my face between her thighs.

I quickly arose and painfully adjusted my dick in my jeans to ease the pressure before urging her to get up. “Okay, that should make you feel a lot better. It should only be a little sore by tomorrow.”

She rose up slowly from the bed and I almost groaned out loud to see her nipples poking stiffly through the fabric of her dress. Christ, I needed to get her some different clothes.

“Sit here and eat,” I said, gesturing to the table and chairs. Her food was probably cold by now.

She walked to the chair and gingerly sat down, shooting me a look of surprise as she did. “It doesn’t hurt nearly as bad anymore.”

I sat down on a chair next to her. “The lotion helps a lot, but your pain was also mental. You were in shock and under stress which exacerbates the discomfort.” I spoke in this detached tone, like I had nothing to do with creating those conditions in her. God, I was a dick.

She nodded her head and looked at her plate, a small grimace forming on her mouth.

“What's wrong?”

She looked up at me. “What?”

“I saw the look on your face. What’s wrong with the food?”

“Uh, I’m a vegetarian,” she said, her icy blue eyes peeping at me to see how I’d react to this confession. She was still nervous around me and sometimes I liked it and other times I hated it. This was one of the times I hated it.

I simply grabbed the bacon off her plate, crunching loudly as I woofed it down. “Okay?”

She snorted. “Yeah, that’s fine.” She cocked her head, long blonde hair cascading to the side like a waterfall. “You’re pretty good at reading body language.”

I leaned back in the chair and studied her. “It’s been a pretty mandatory skill since childhood. Being able to predict how someone is going to act, what’s going on in their mind, it’s a survival skill.” Why did I say that? Why the fuck did I bring up my childhood?

Whether it was wise or not, it certainly got her attention. Her blue eyes softened, and she reached her hand over to rest on my forearm. “Your childhood? Was it…rough?”

That was a fucking understatement, but I definitely didn’t want to share all that shit with her. I understood that positioning myself this way, as some sort of victim of a bad childhood, would probably endear me to her and make her more willing to help us, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I shrugged. “Aren’t they all?”

She shook her head as she scooped eggs into her mouth and chewed. “Not mine. My parents were actually pretty great.”

I gave her a humorless grin. “Not to be a dick, but they couldn’t have been that great if they produced someone like Lily.”

Her shoulders slumped as she mindlessly chewed on a piece of toast. “They were actually pretty tormented about how Lily turned out. They couldn’t believe they’d raised someone so shallow, so selfish. They were so disappointed and confused. So was I. Lily always made it clear that she had no desire to be my sister and she used my parents as her personal bank for as long as she could.”

This was a great time for me to steer the conversation to her helping us, while she was reviewing Lily’s list of unappealing qualities, but an annoying part of me wanted her to continue to talk about her childhood. I shook off those ridiculous, sentimental impulses.

I had to remember I was doing this to avenge Mac. That was the goal, not behaving like a lovesick asshole with Lily’s sister. “Look, Willa, I know I have no right to ask you this, that what I’ve done is reprehensible, but you have to understand the situation. Your sister conned one of my best friends, took his money and when he looked into her and what she was up to, she got him killed. I know it sounds crazy, but I want you to help us. Help us find her so we can get to the guy who killed Mac.”

She blew out a breath, as if she knew this question was coming, though I doubt she did. I doubt she’d been prepared for any aspect of the last twenty-four hours. “Are you going to kill her?” she asked in a high, thin voice.

Okay, I could lie here and say no, absolutely not, but for some reason, I didn’t want to fucking lie to her. “I don’t know. If I said no, would you be more willing to help?”

I’d spare Lily for Willa if it would let us get our hands on her fucking boyfriend. It was actually a great bargaining chip to get Willa to agree to help. She’d be thinking she was saving her sister’s life and we’d be getting our revenge for Mac. Whether we killed Lily or not really depended on what she was willing to tell us. I had a feeling I’d be letting Cullen handle Lily, if only to absolve myself of whatever happened to her.

She dropped her fork and stared at me looking overwhelmed and conflicted. She put her elbows on the table and dropped her face into her hands, taking deep breaths before she spoke. “Killian, I…I’m so confused. Lily is the reason I’m here, the reason this all happened to me, but I don’t want to see her dead. She’s my sister and the only family I have left. However, staying here and helping the guy who kidnapped me and tortured me feels just as insane.”

Exhilaration and adrenaline shot through me as I realized she was truly considering staying and helping us, though I wasn’t sure what had me more excited—increasing our chances to capture Lily or continuing to have access to her.

I reached over and massaged where her shoulder and neck met, calming her down, soothing her and hopefully reinforcing her decision to stay and help. “I know this is tough, Willa. It’s not only about saving Lily; it’s about getting justice for someone who’d never harmed a soul in his life. Mac wasn’t like me and Cullen, our other best friend. Cullen and I have fought and killed untold numbers of people, first for our country and then for whoever had the money to pay us. If this had happened to either of us, we’d think it sucked, but we’d also understand the karma of it all. But Mac…he was so harmless and gentle. He was into computers and academics, never so much as got in a fight in his life. He didn’t deserve what happened to him and we can’t rest until the people who took his life are dealt with.”

Willa bit her lip, her teary blue eyes shining like jewels. “Oh god, that’s awful. I’m so sorry about your friend. So sorry he ran into my sister and that she may have contributed to his death.”

Her wording stoked my anger. “May have? No, Willa, she did contribute to his death. She was directly responsible for it.”

“Well, you said it was her boyfriend that killed your friend, Mac, right? Maybe Lily didn’t know?”

I blew out an aggravated breath and realized I needed to tread lightly and be tactful. I wanted to go the fuck off, scream at Willa to get her head out of the clouds and take a long hard look at her grifter sister. She knew Lily was trouble, that she was selfish and narcissistic. “What the fuck, Willa? You know your sister. You know what she is capable of. Why are you lying to yourself?” I said harshly.

Tact was not my wheelhouse.

Willa hopped up and started pacing back and forth, her wrinkled brow and tightly compressed lips indicating the internal conflict simmering inside her. I had to stay focused on her words and not the gentle sway of her tits under the thin fabric of her dress. “I know it looks bad, but while Lily was always shallow, I have a hard time believing she’d actually kill someone. Not on purpose,” she tacked on, looking uncomfortable.

I stood up and put my hands on her shoulders, lightly rubbing. I needed contact with her and used any fucking excuse I could to get it. I also wanted to pull her out of the spiral she was descending into. “I know it’s hard, Willa. I know she’s your blood and if she’s innocent, if she was manipulated by her boyfriend, then we’ll find out. Okay?”

She took a deep breath, still looking troubled. Her muscles relaxed under the steady massage of my fingers and I was relieved to see her defensive body language melt away as her shoulders dropped and her lips softened. “Okay.”

I rubbed my thumb along her lush lower lip, the need to taste it, taste her, nearly overwhelming me. It was a completely foreign impulse. I never kissed women I slept with. What was the point? The fact that Willa’s mouth is damn near irresistible should be ringing alarm bells in my head, but without thinking, I slammed my mouth on hers, my tongue thrusting inside needing to devour, to consume, to dominate.

She jumped slightly at my unexpected aggression, all those muscles tightening again. I brought my hands up to gently cradle her face, my tongue making gentle, but thorough sweeps of her mouth. Her body relaxed and when I felt her arms slide around my waist, I ramped up the force of my demanding tongue.

I banded my arms around her, eager to feel the soft curves of her body pressed against mine. One hand slid up into the damp tangle of her hair, holding her head still as I slid my mouth to the curve of her neck, biting and sucking gently on the curve between her neck and shoulder, leaving a mark there. Her neck must be incredibly sensitive because the minute my teeth sank in, her hips started twisting against my stiff dick, moving restlessly as her desire started to build.

I slid my other hand down to cup her ass, unable to resist running my fingers lightly over the welt I should feel guilty about giving her but didn’t. The feel of the cane mark turned my dick to steel. Knowing she wasn’t wearing underwear nearly sent my pulse into orbit and it was taking a great deal of restraint not to throw her down on the bed, spread her legs and start pounding into her. All my strategy to gently woo her to my side, keep her feeling comfortable and safe flew right out the fucking window as I felt her hard nipples drilling into my chest.

I reached and pulled one of her straps down, eager to wrap my lips and teeth around the hard bud, when I heard the door slam open.

“What the FUCK?” I heard Cullen’s voice boom.

Shit. I guess someone told him what was going on with Willa, presumably Cara.

Fucking bitch.

I stepped in front of Willa, who had whirled around and stared at Cullen in terror and confusion, her lips still swollen and shiny as a result of my hard, possessive kisses. I could understand her reaction. Cullen resembled an angry bull. His nostrils flared, his jaw clenched as he bared his teeth and his hands curled into fists in anticipation of swinging them.

That wasn’t going to happen. No fucking way.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Kill? You know what this bitch did to Mac and I fucking find you in here with your tongue down this cunt’s throat?”

I felt Willa’s hands fist in my t-shirt as she stood behind me, using me as a human shield. She had good instincts because Cullen looked ready to snap her neck.

“Cullen, she isn’t Lily. She’s Lily’s sister, Willa. Lily set her up to make us believe she was Lily and she’d take the fall for what happened to Mac.”

It was as if I was speaking a different language because Cullen’s body language didn’t change one iota. “If she’s the bitch’s sister, then we tie her down and fucking torture her until she tells us where the fuck Lily is.”

I heard Willa squeak in terror, tremors of fear wracking her slight frame as she huddled closer to my back. “Cullen, she already agreed to help us. We don’t have to do anything to coerce her, she already said yes.” This wasn’t strictly true, but I certainly wasn’t going to say that to Hathaway in his current condition. I think he’d been doing nothing but getting shit-faced since we last spoke and he was already half in the bag then.

He looked at me with disdainful scorn. “You want the pussy, Kill. You’re not looking out for Mac. That bitch could be telling you anything in order to protect her fucking whore of a sister. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

I took a deep breath because what I wanted to do was plow my fucking fist into Cullen’s sneering face. He was drunk, he was irrational, he was in pain. I had to find a way to get him out of here without him jumping Willa or me jumping him. Cullen and I were about an even match in fighting, but he was drunk and that would slow down his reflexes and give me a definite edge, but I didn’t want to fight him. He had a right hook like a fucking sledgehammer.

“Cullen, step outside. We need to have a fucking talk and we can’t do it here.”

Cullen was still breathing heavily, his lips pressed together, like he was resisting the urge to tell me to go fuck myself, which he probably was. “Fine,” he spat as he stormed out of the room.

I let out a relieved breath. That could have been a fucking mess.

“So, that was Cullen. He’s also on our side,” I said, trying to inject a little levity.

“On your side, maybe,” she said, also trying to joke, but still sounding shaky.

I cradled her face, unable to resist rubbing her still swollen lower lip. “I’ll take care of Cullen, Willa. He’ll come around when I explain everything.”

She looked doubtful. “If you say so.”

“I do,” I said, hoping I was right. I leaned in to giver her a kiss, but jerked my head back. What the fuck was going on with me and the kissing? “You have to be exhausted. It’s late, why don’t you try to get some sleep.”

“Here?” she asked, gesturing to the bed. She didn’t know this was the room I routinely used, so I definitely wanted her here.

“Yes.”

“How do I know that guy won’t break in while I’m sleeping.” She was wringing her hands as she glanced toward the door as if Cullen might barge back in at any moment.

“After I leave, I’ll flip the deadbolt. I’m the only one with the key. If it will make you feel better, I'll come back and sleep in here with you,” I offered, as if I was just being a hell of a nice guy and had no ulterior motives, like nailing her into the mattress. I wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want, but I sure as fuck wanted to be with her should the mood strike.

She nodded her head. “I’d like that. Just in case,” she said, once again glancing at the door. I knew she agreed because she wanted the extra protection of my company, but Christ my dick was hard anticipating spending the night in bed next to her.

I ushered her into the bed and under the covers, her eyes already drooping.

I leaned down to give her another kiss, but stopped myself again. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I said, never meaning anything more fervently.

She nodded. “Okay. Don’t forget to lock the door.”

“I won’t.”

I left the room, closing and locking the door behind me and praying that the lock wouldn’t be tested. I needed to talk to Cullen.