Chapter 23
Hollis
I’m twitchy.
It’s nothing new. I hate being around people.
I normally avoid it at any cost, but the drive-thru line was backed out to the street.
I was mistaken, thinking that coming inside would be faster.
I placed my order ten minutes ago, and yet I’m still standing off to the side, right alongside five others waiting for food.
I’m not the type to complain to management, and I wouldn’t in this situation if I were. It’s clear they’re shorthanded and working their asses off. It’s jerks like myself that choose to eat here that are causing all of their problems.
“Fred!” the guy behind the counter yells into the microphone.
“Fucking finally,” I mutter as I approach him.
He nods at me.
“My drinks?” I ask, wondering why they don’t have the fucking machine out here so we can get them ourselves, but this tired fucker doesn’t make that decision. He’s probably questioning why he got out of bed to come to work today.
“Shit, sorry, man.”
He checks the receipt in my hand as if people actually lie about what they got and turns around to make the drinks.
I’m able to clasp one in each hand and still keep a hold on the bag as I walk toward the door.
“Fuck, sorry,” I grumble when I nearly run into someone.
I freeze a second too long before I can get myself under control at the sight of Nash standing in front of me. He finishes throwing his trash away, giving me a smile.
“Hey, man,” I say, calm and cool, like I would any other time now that I’ve come to terms with him being right in front of me.
It says a lot about my level of distraction that he’s been in here the entire time, and I never noticed him.
He doesn’t seem like he suspects anything.
We’re only about ten minutes from the Mission Mercenaries’ office, so it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility for him to be here right now.
He follows me outside.
“I gave up on trying to find that girl. I think the cartel is somehow involved because nobody is fucking talking. Cortez is able to keep everyone silent with just threats these days. It’s not often they have to prove just how powerful and evil they are.”
“I came to the same conclusion,” I say, wishing the guy would just back off.
“Got company?” he asks, staring at the two drinks in my hands.
“This fucking heat,” I say without missing a beat. “Can’t fucking stay hydrated.”
“Saw some pretty fucked-up shit, tracking the Severino family.”
“Tried to do a little research myself,” I say, balancing one cup on the rail edge of my truck so I can open the driver’s side door. “Wasn’t able to find much which says a lot.”
He hums his agreement. “We need to get together sometime. Maybe another guys’ trip to the beach?”
“I doubt Liam would go now that he’s locked away with that woman of his.”
“We could invite Fox.”
I glare at him.
He chuckles as if I’ve told a joke. “Yeah, maybe not. That guy fucking scares me. Maybe the new guy?”
I tilt my head. “I’ve been on vacation from work. Haven’t met the new guy.”
“Come to think of it, he may be crazier than Fox. Soulless fucking eyes, man.”
“Just call me if you come up with a plan. I’m always ready to sink my toes in the sand and drink a beer.”
I wave at him as he backs away, praying the fucker doesn’t really call me.
We aren’t exactly friends. We were both acquaintances of Liam and met through him, but I’m not really a person who spends much time with others.
I prefer solitude more than anything else, plus, I have an issue waiting back for me at the safe house that can’t be explained easily.
I consider that my luck is changing as I hit every green light on the way back to the house.
The air inside makes me sense a change, and my jaw nearly hits the floor when Madelene walks out of the bedroom completely naked.
I’ve done my best to avoid her since crossing that line in the bathroom days and days ago, but I’ve never not been aware of her.
“Mads,” I breathe, knowing she’s playing some kind of fucking game.
I haven’t asked her to pay for a damn thing since eating her delectable pussy.
“You’re the only one that has ever called me that,” she says, leaning her shoulder against the bedroom doorframe. “I’ve always been Madelene. A few kids in elementary school tried to get Madi to stick, but it never happened.”
“You need to get dressed,” I snap, forcing the drinks down so hard on the table I’m surprised it didn’t split the Styrofoam cups. “I’m not playing that game any longer.”
She doesn’t say a word as she walks up, causing me to take a step back.
She sifts through the bag, grabbing her food before backing away.
She doesn’t find that damn dress of hers, but it’s almost as damn appealing as the sight of her bare flesh with the way it teases her thighs, the strap falling off her shoulder, reminding me she doesn’t have a bra here to wear.
“I have to pay you,” she says as she crosses the room. “Is this payment enough?”
She places her drink and food on the side table before sweeping her hand down to indicate her nakedness.
“Is this enough for payment?”
I swallow a lump threatening to form as she takes a seat, immediately pulling her legs up and letting them splay open.
She’s red and swollen as if she’s been touching herself while I was gone. It both turns me on and angers me that I might have missed watching her.
“Or do you require this for payment?”
Her fingers sweep down her stomach. I swear I open my mouth to tell her she doesn’t owe me a damn thing, but no sound comes out. It’s not that I feel like she should pay to eat. Despite telling her she had to, I don’t think I would’ve denied her if she flat out refused.
Her eyes sparkle with mirth as her fingers travel lower, and I swear to fucking God, I can feel her skin on the tips of my own fingers even though I’m several feet away.
“Mads,” I warn as she begins to tease her clit with one finger, my teeth scraping over my lower lip.
My cock strains in my jeans, but I don’t reach for the damn thing.
Her lips part, her breaths coming out in short bursts, her body twitching occasionally when she touches herself in the most perfect way.
Before I know it, I’m standing so close, the warmth of her body can be felt through my clothes.
She’s naked, open, so damn pink and slick, my mouth waters to taste her for a second time.
“Is this payment enough?” she asks, reaching up and swiping her arousal-drenched fingers across my lips.
I lick at them immediately, instinct taking over more than anything.
I could blame curiosity for letting her dictate what happens, but I know better. I know it’s some form of addiction that allows her to reach up and pull me closer.
“Sit,” she whispers, her breath on my cheeks. Like a fully trained puppy, I obey.
I keep my hands at my sides as she shifts to straddle me.
I don’t know if it’s inexperience or her own fear keeping her lower half three frustratingly huge inches away from my cock, but she maintains it.
Maybe she’s trying to tempt me, trying to force me to act, but I’ve already given in too much to give her everything she wants.
“Mads,” I say again, my hands clenching into fists in an effort to resist touching her.
“Hollis,” she whispers, my name carrying a mocking edge to it that should bother the shit out of me.
If it’s her intention to annoy me, she’s losing. I swear on everything holy, if she rolls her hips even the slightest amount, I’ll shoot off in my fucking jeans without being touched just like that day in the bathroom.
“Is this enough?” she asks, her words growing breathier as she presses her perfect fucking tits to my chest before standing on the couch in front of me. “How about this? Does this pay for my lunch?”
I’m supposed to be the one in control. She should fear me, but her taunting and teasing, the way she has her pussy two inches from my mouth, make it very clear who’s in control of the situation.
When she lifts her leg, her right knee on my shoulder, I’m certain she’s going to put me out of my misery, but then the bitch grabs me by the hair, the sting of it not only making my cock harder but it turns me into a feral fucking monster.
“What about this?” she taunts with my face buried in her hot cunt.
It’s impossible not to taste her, so I don’t waste a second trying to resist. I lick at her, breathing the scent of her into my body, no longer able to leave my hands at my sides.
I’m ravenous, my tongue swiping at every available part of her.
I don’t know how long she’s laughing before the sound meets my ears, but the sound grates on my nerves once I’m aware of it. Although interrupted with moans of pleasure, it sounds mocking and contemptuous, as if she’s been playing me this entire time, and I’ve fallen for every trick.
I imagine every word from her fucking mouth has been a lie.
That she had more power over the Severino brothers than they ever had over her.
The tales about her father, her brother, her mother…
all fucking lies. She used Ellie’s memory to get under my skin.
She used the torture and death of an innocent girl to make me feel sorry for her.
Everyone is capable of manipulation, but not many are able to get the upper hand over me.
Nothing matters to me except setting things right.
I growl my rage at falling for her shit, grabbing her by the hips and pulling her down.
Her eyes widen as if she couldn’t believe I’d finally figured her out.
She whimpers, the sound so real, I almost believe that she’s a little scared of what’s going to happen, but I can’t give into that side of me that still wants to trust her.
It’s a matter of seconds, less than a handful of breaths, before I have her sprawled out on the floor, one hand in her hair and the other working open my zipper.
I groan when my cock breaks free of its restraints, the tip of me meeting her warm skin.
“Hollis,” she pants, her eyes wide and full of emotions I’m not bothering to analyze right now.
She created the monster I’ve become and no amount of begging will make me stop.
“I’m going to fuck you,” I say, the only warning I’m going to provide. “If you beg me to stop, I’m only going to fuck you harder.”
“Yes.” She pants the only thing she could possibly say to make me pause.
I stare down at her, my cock leaking against her lower belly, the pulse in it matching my erratic heartbeat.
Her lips tempt me, but this is on no level a romantic, passionate occurrence.
Her hips roll upward, her need as evident as my own.
It isn’t fear in her eyes but need.
It’s another manipulation, just one more way for her to control what’s happening. She isn’t pushing me away. Her fingers are curled into my biceps, pulling me toward her.
“So fucked up,” I mutter, wanting desperately to pull away, to not give into any of this shit, but my balls are drawn up tight, my cock controlling me more than it ever has in my life.
I’m a lunatic, a madman, completely deranged as I watch her.
I consider for the briefest of seconds that it’s looking into her eyes that’s fucking me up so badly.
I grind my teeth, wanting to wrap my hand around her throat.
“Turn over,” I growl, moving her before she’s even had a chance to do it herself.
I shove the tiny coffee table out of the way, gripping her hip.
“Ass up.”
She whimpers again but does as I say. Fuck me if it doesn’t put that glistening pussy on display again, her lips dark pink and swollen, her entrance begging to be invaded.
I can’t tell if this is still part of the game. If she really believes I won’t take it all the way. If that’s the case, it’s a serious miscalculation on her part.
I grip the base of my cock, swiping it from her ass to her clit, groaning at the warmth of the slickness coating her.
I’m half a breath away from slamming inside of her when I realize just how much I fucked up.
“It’ll be the last thing you fucking do.” The words hit just as cold steel presses to my temple.
My first instinct is to cover her body with my own. I don’t know if it’s to protect her as a person or to prevent anyone else from having what I was planning on taking.
It’s as if everything happens in slow motion—Madelene looking over her shoulder, her eyes widening. She scrambles away, real fear in her eyes, and I know instantly the difference in the way she looked at me versus what she’s seeing now.
I never thought I’d want to protect anyone else after trying to protect my mother didn’t work, but that’s my first instinct at the terror I see in her eyes.
I know for some fucked-up reason I’m willing to die for her.
“He was going to rape me,” she cries, and my world falls apart.
I realize her fear has always been real, and I’m just one more monster she’ll have to overcome.