Chapter 42
MADISON
Ipushed against his wet chest.
Waves of water smacked against the marble tiles around the tub as we struggled.
“You bastard! You knew! You knew he wasn’t dead! You knew I didn’t kill him, and you had me arrested anyway!”
His cock was still deep inside me, and even as I struggled against him my body clenched around him, tightening. Every move I made sent a thrill through my core as he pressed against my G-spot.
Pierce snatched my wrists. He yanked me down onto his chest, growling, “Madison, stop it. You don’t understand. I had to.”
“Fuck you!” My wet wrists easily slithered out of his grasp.
He had to? No. He wanted to.
Fuck him—and his he had tos. It was all bullshit.
Tears pricked behind my eyes. I hated him, almost as much as I hated myself for getting lost in his touch.
I twisted my torso to the side, bucking my hips off him, breaking our intimate contact.
I lunged for the other end of the tub, slipping and sliding but determined.
When my stomach pressed into the side I pushed upward. A sharp pain stabbed against the base of my skull; Pierce grasped my long, drenched curls, and held me in place.
His body slammed into mine from behind, bending me over the porcelain edge of the tub, the side digging into my stomach.
I shrieked and stretched my arms out, grasping for something to defend myself with.
My fingers skidded over the wet tile—finding nothing I could reach, nothing I could hold onto or wield against him.
His arm reached around my hips and pulled my ass back to rest against his abdomen. His hard length pushed between my thighs and he leaned over me.
He thrust deep into me as he ground out, “I was protecting you, you little fool!”
He drove into me again and again, each time harder than the last, taking my breath away. The dull ache from the tub digging under my ribs just intensified the desire that was forced through me. I couldn’t hold back my moans or the pressure that built.
Even his hand still tangled in my hair added more pain, which mixed with the pleasure, turning it into something…different. Something more primal, savage even.
I hated how much I craved it.
He ran his mouth down the column of my neck.
I curled my fingers into a fist. What he was doing was wrong, how he was manipulating me, taking and claiming, was wrong… even if I wanted more. “You expect me to believe that?”
“You’re alive, aren’t you?”
I shook my head. “No! No, fuck you! I’m not listening to any more of your lies!”
I tried to climb out of the tub again. My foot slipped out from under me before I could gain any traction.
Pierce grabbed my legs and pulled until my body slid under the hot bath water.
I flipped onto my back and rose, sputtering for breath.
Everything around me was a maelstrom of splashing water, bubbles floating in the air, grasping limbs, flashes of lightning, and the still ever-present rumble of thunder shaking the windows.
I pushed myself up to a seated position, dragging air into my lungs and clinging to the sides of the tub.
The moment I did, he claimed my mouth, breathing his own oxygen back into my lungs as he pulled us both back under the water.
As he did, he pried open my thighs and pushed his hips between them.
My lungs were on fire.
The moment I broke the surface, there was a euphoric rush of air into my lungs as Pierce thrust back inside me.
He anchored my knees to my sides, sealed his mouth over mine, and dragged us beneath the sloshing water again, thrusting into me while kissing me literally breathless.
He was killing me and kissing me at the same time.
We were fighting and fucking.
I teetered on the verge of death, but this was still the most alive I had ever felt.
Both held and yet restrained by him.
Pierce’s cock swelled inside me, becoming impossibly thick, just on this side of too much.
I knew in that moment he was releasing his sweet poison into me.
My inner thighs tightened.
My body became weightless, every muscle seizing and releasing with bliss.
My limbs floated as if they were rose petals drifting on the surface.
Suddenly, I lost the urgent, raw, animal panic to breathe. It didn’t feel important anymore.
Sparks of light floated past my inner eyelids, a wave of warm euphoria washing over me. A loud rushing sound filled my ears, like thousands of glass marbles spilling to the floor at the same time.
* * *
I was only slightly aware of being lifted out of the tub. My head rolled back onto my shoulders before resting against something hard and solid.
Pierce wrapped me in a large, soft towel and carried me back into the bedroom.
Unseen hands had started a roaring fire.
Sitting in one of the upholstered damask chairs, Pierce settled me on his lap.
For an eternity, we stared at the fire in silence. The amber and crimson flames gently danced while I came down from my high and processed what had happened.
Finally, I spoke. “What did you mean when you said that I was alive?”
Pierce tucked a wet curl behind my ear. “Jameson used the accident to fake his own death. He used you so there would be a witness to the crash. The grieving girlfriend pulling everyone’s focus, so no one asked too many questions. When I messed with that plan you became a loose end…a target.”
“I will never tire of hearing how you used my life as a game piece to fuck with your brother.”
“Haven’t I apologized for that?”
“As a matter of fact, no, you have not.”
He nuzzled my neck. “I’ll have to remember…later.”
I bit my lip to keep from moaning as he kissed the sensitive spot below my earlobe. I tried to focus. “There was a body. The paramedics. The police—”
Pierce caressed my back in slow, soothing circles. “You’d be surprised what money can buy.”
My back stiffened as I pulled away from his touch. “Actually, I wouldn’t.”
He gently pulled me back.
With no energy left to fight him, I relented.
I tucked the towel up higher between my breasts. “So how was your framing me for murder protecting me? You locked me in a cage so he would know where to find me.”
His hand stilled.
I bit my lip and winced, internally chastising myself for asking him that now when I was alone and vulnerable.
I held my breath. Now that it was out there, I wanted to know if he would actually answer truthfully.
The silence stretched. I tried one more time. “Fine. You don’t want to give an answer to why you ruined my life. So answer me this. Why does Jameson want me dead? It’s not like I was talking to anyone, claiming the accident was fake. I thought it was real…I thought he was dead.”
A log in the fire popped, making me jump.
After a long pause, Pierce circled his hand on my back again…caressing it. “You’re tired. It’s been a very long day.”
My shoulders dropped. He was just the same. An arrogant, entitled asshole.
One brother used me as a prop in a staged accident.
The other used me as a piece on his chessboard.
One would have killed me for ruining his plans.
The other…
I turned to meet Pierce's searching gaze. Images slammed through me—his hands forcing me beneath the water, his body driving into mine.
The other had tried to kill me while his cock was deep inside of me.