Chapter Four
Legend
We took another lap around the country club, eyeing the grand iron fence, manned entrance, and cameras sweeping the lawn.
“Ellis chose this place like he expected trouble.”
“He does and so do the bastards that accepted his invitation.” Cairo marked a check on his list. He spotted yet another security camera. “There’s a reason we didn’t hear of this sooner. Jeremy and his boys messed up the offense. Now they’re going back on defense, making their moves in the shadows.”
“So is Dante.”
“But he’s using us to do it,” Roan said, speaking up from the back seat. “We’re being put in the middle of two shits we have to take down. I hate to say it but—”
“Then don’t,” Cairo cut off.
“—we should think about telling Ellis what’s going on. The man has money, resources, security, spies, and more on Cavendish than likely even Ivy had. He could help us take down the Black Letter Crew. He’ll be motivated to do it anyway when he finds out they want him and his sons dead.”
Cairo made a harsh noise in his throat as I turned the corner on Rivera Street, coming up behind the club. Hunter’s Crest Country Club was the kind of place you expected to house the uber rich. A two-story mansion converted into restaurants, meeting rooms, ballrooms, and a golf course and tennis court in its backyard. It wasn’t like there were armed guards ready and waiting to tackle us, but sneaking in unnoticed became more and more unlikely with every check on Cairo’s paper. The cameras would pick us up coming and going.
“You have to admit she has a point,” Roan pushed.
“I’ll admit she’s slippery. Her manipulations slide and stick in your mind like she has in your, Arsenio, and now Jacques’s bed. Tell me, how long did it take for you to fall for her moon eyes and promises that she loves you?”
Roan smirked in the rearview mirror. “Fell for it instantly. Never actually unwound my dick from around her finger, if I’m honest. But what’s that got to do with us, Ellis, and the fact we now have four days to either find your father, or gamble that Dante will stay his execution if we kill the Ellises?”
“It’s got everything to do with it. The way she thinks. The stuff she says. Ivy is colder and more manipulative than—I’ll fucking say it—either of us could be. Ellis isn’t giving us shit for free. He’ll strike back to help himself, but he damn sure won’t do it for my dad. And if he did, it’d be at another cost we can’t pay.
“This is all a game to her. She doesn’t care about the pawns getting sacrificed because she’s already got what she wanted. The farm and us.”
“She wants the Black Letter Crew dead,” I heard myself say. “We know whatever moves she’s making, that’s the endgame.”
“She’s not in charge or calling the shots,” Roan said. “It’s one fucking suggestion.”
“Yeah, she always has those at the right time, doesn’t she? After swearing up and down she didn’t know anything about the Black Letter Crew, she floats the idea that they broke off from Ellis because he wants the money and they want the town.
“Then again, she perches over Jacques’s shoulder, whispering in his ear that Cavendish filled his crew with bitter, vulnerable little bastards that were ripe for grooming. And then again with Dante’s deadline hanging over our heads, she shares the thought that Ellis would know a few places to hide a hostage.”
“Cairo, it’s not some big conspiracy. Ivy isn’t playing us.”
“Yes, she is,” he said, low enough he could’ve been talking to himself. “She has from the very beginning.”
“What’s that mean?” I asked. “Are we warning Ellis or not?”
“How the fuck is that conversation going to go? Some unseen guy is blackmailing us to kill you and those bitch boys you spawned? Oh, who’s that you’re calling? The cops? Makes sense.”
Cairo had become three times as sarcastic and twice the asshole since he stopped screwing Ivy.
“No,” he said flatly. “There’s no reason approaching Ellis would end the way we want. We’re in the same place with him that we are with Dante—no leverage.”
“Then, what do you suggest?” Roan asked. “If we can’t get to your father in time, we’re not actually going to kill them just because Dante says so. We’re all smelling a setup.”
“I’ve said it for the last time. We don’t take orders from anyone. If we don’t find my dad before the party, we buy him more time by making the world think they’re dead. Jeremy, Micah, and Papa Ellis are going to meet a violent, grisly end. The party will never happen.”
“How do we pull that off?” I asked.
“Stop the car.”
I hit the brakes, easing out of traffic and pulling up to the curb. Cairo pointed in the distance. “See what I see?”
Following his line of sight, my brows drew together, shot up my forehead, and finally smoothed out—stretching with my grin. “Now, that could work.”
“It’ll definitely work,” Roan said. “Even better, this will be fun.”
JACQUES
Bark scraped an uncomfortable greeting against my back. I barely felt it as I watched her—one of the names on the list only I knew.
She tossed her head back, laughing with her friends over salad bowls and smoothies. The normal college student living the normal college life.
I told them I had ways of finding out if the people Ivy picked were the ones following Dante, or even Dante himself. A fact I overstated.
I’d been going to school with them for years. Some since high school. Most since elementary school. If I didn’t see what they were in all that time, observation wouldn’t reveal something to me now.
I needed proof. Evidence. A confession.
And I needed it in four days.
I peeled myself off the tree, approaching the group. She glanced up at my call.
“I need to speak with you. Do you have a moment?”
Zara glanced around like I couldn’t possibly be talking to her. I’ve never addressed her before. Her surprise was understandable.
“Uh, sure.”
That’s why I must choose my words carefully. Zara and I strode away down the path from Homer Green. If she is one of the Black Letter Crew, I’ve raised her suspicions just by talking to her.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, pulling up under an oak tree. “Is Rainey okay?”
“This isn’t about her. I saw you have two classes with Adriel Burton. What’s he like? How does he act when a Bedlam Boy isn’t around? Is he pushing for the return of Crystal Canyon?”
Zara’s expression smoothed out. “Ah, this is about Adriel. Well, honestly, I haven’t seen or heard him do anything. He just sits there, takes notes, and walks out at the end of the period. Maybe he doesn’t care about the vote or Crystal Canyon like he keeps saying.”
“Or maybe he knows that after everything Jeremy and his Crow buddies did, he has to play this much smarter.” I gave her my back. “Goodbye.”
“Huh? Wait— That’s it?”
I peered over my shoulder. “Do you have something else to say?”
She blinked. “Uhh, guess not. You just... You looked so serious when you walked up, I thought someone died.”
“I’m told I always look serious—”
“Hey! Look out!”
Zara snapped around, eyes bugged. The cyclist squealed his brakes, bellowing as he barreled toward us. Swerving, he was too late.
The handlebar clipped some random kid, popping him off his feet and landing him flat-backed at Zara’s. He groaned—wind knocked out of him.
Everyone watched, and rushed, the scene, but I watched Zara. My attention fixed on her—nothing and no one else. Before that day, I never saw a trace of the homicidal monster who descended on Ivy’s house in the middle of the night, killed her sister, and fractured Ivy’s mind. I had no formed opinions on anyone outside of my circle. I didn’t bother to get to know them, so it didn’t register if they did something out of character.
But in this case, the person who surprised me was Paris. She, of anyone I knew, was a good judge of character. She saw Cairo, me, Arsenio, Roan, and Legend for exactly who we were—even if she didn’t know the full extent of what we did for Bedlam. But if someone told her, I figured she wouldn’t flap an eyelid in surprise.
Zara Singh had been Paris’s friend since middle school. She had two involved parents. She obviously had a circle of friends that backed her up and supported her, but still Ivy picked her out of the pile due to something that happened long ago.
When she was a little girl, her parents left her at her great-aunt’s house and flew off on a week-long second honeymoon. That night, her great-aunt dropped dead from an aneurysm.
Zara didn’t know to call nine-one-one. She didn’t know to go to a neighbor for help. So, for three days she was alone in that house with a corpse. The three days it took for her parents to freak out over their calls going unanswered and end up calling Sheriff Jack to check and see if everything was all right.
Again, she had parents who fussed and cried and comforted her. They put her in therapy immediately, and over the years, she’s had no trouble making friends and living a seemingly happy life.
I questioned Ivy on this pick—her unaware she chose one of her own friends as a possible member of the Crew.
“Why did you choose her?” I asked. “She didn’t go to see the school’s therapist because of that ill-fated visit. She went because she was having a hard time after her boyfriend announced he was transferring out of state and dumped her. Her great-aunt only came up because it was in her history.”
“Believe me,” Ivy told me. “She found someone she loved dead. She felt the horror, pain, and confusion of calling their name while lifeless eyes stared back at her. She stayed there for days while the cold realization that they weren’t coming back bit into her. That changes you, Jacques. It changes you permanently.”
Zara flicked down to the groaning man at her feet and—
My gaze sharpened, seeing a look in her eyes that I would’ve missed if I wasn’t watching at that exact millisecond.
“Oh my gosh,” Zara cried, dropping down beside him. “Are you okay? Stupid idiot, racing around campus like that. Did he hurt you? Can you get up?”
Her fussing faded into noise in the back of my mind. Ivy de Souza, it’s your judgment I will never question again.
I stood to the side, my back once again scraped by bark while Zara and two other guys helped him up and carried him to the health center. Show over, the crowd melted away—leaving only the cyclist. He came up to me.
“That was fun,” he mused. “I’m putting ‘do my own stunts’ on my actor résumé. Got something for me?”
I smacked two hundred dollars on his palm as promised.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Stone.”
I nodded, my mind returning to Zara the second he left. I had to get creative to get the nine to reveal something without suspecting I was looking for it. If only I could count on the others making it this easy for me.
I set off, heading to the first class of the morning, which happened to be held in the same building where the next person on my list also had a morning class.
One down, eight more to go.
LEGEND
I blinked awake in the dark, my vision coming into focus on my darkened canopy. I couldn’t say what exactly woke me. It wasn’t the tightness nipping at my wrists—that was nothing new. It also wasn’t the weight and warmth pressing into my left side. Put it down to naturally honed instincts that tell you something was off, but the reason my hands were now tied to the bed and someone was sleeping next to me, wasn’t due to Roan.
“Ivy.”
She wiggled, burrowing deeper into my side. “Hmm?”
“Do I need to ask questions, or are you going to explain this yourself?”
Her husky, sleep-deepened voice found me in the dark. “Seems pretty self-explanatory. I miss waking up next to you, but you’ve been so irritatingly stubborn, I’ve had to take matters into my own hands.”
“So you tied me to my bed.” Saying it out loud wasn’t helping either.
“Untie me.”
“No.”
My brows shot up my forehead. If I needed further proof this wasn’t the woman I knew, she gave it to me. The only one she’d ever taken charge with before that night on the bridge was Roan, and that was because he demanded no less. The woman currently dropping kisses on my jaw did not take no for an answer. She had taken back Roan, Arsenio, and Jacques. Looks like I was next.
“I never thought I’d say these words before, but I’m not having sex with you. Walk out of here with some dignity, de Souza. Whatever the hell you’re trying to do won’t work.”
“Roan seems to think it’ll work. Who do you think told me where you guys keep the silk ties?”
Irritation ticced my jaw. “Roan put you up to this?”
“Yep, but he only confirmed what I knew. The key to you is persistence, Legend St. James. Your parents didn’t work very hard, or at all, to have a relationship with you. They turned you over to nannies and housekeepers and went about their lives—only noticing you when you were useful to them.
“You may be the one pushing me away, but if I give in. If I let you go without a fight, I’m only proving I’m like all the rest. I love you, Legend, and I’m not going anywhere. I won’t get you back until I prove it.”
A rough snort rocked my chest. “I wish the lights were on so you saw how hard I rolled my eyes. Save the lonely-little-rich-boy, psychobabble nonsense for someone else. I’m not pushing you away as some kind of test. I just don’t want to be with you,” I dropped. “I’m not attracted to you anymore, and I sure as fuck don’t love you.”
I shook my wrists. “Matter of fact, this little stunt shrunk my balls and sucked them up in my body. That’s how turned off I am right now. Rainey was a tasty, submissive little treat who dropped on her knees and took a paddle on command. Have you met my fucking boyfriend? What made you or him think that this would work on me? Untie me and get the hell out. I wouldn’t fuck you again if you paid me.”
Ivy propped her chin on my chest. I saw the outline of a smile traced in moonlight. “This is also what you do. Get vicious. Think if you hurt my feelings, I’ll go running off, and you’ll have protected yourself from losing another person like you lost who I thought I was. It’s not going to work, so relax, baby.” She caressed my stiff chest. “I once promised that I’d never let you sleep alone.”
My lips peeled off my teeth. “Ivy, get out.”
“Make me.”
“You do not want to play this game with me.”
That smile melted into a smirk. “What are you going to do? Spank me? I learned my lesson with Jacques and tied you to the metal frame. You’re not getting out of these.”
Zeus save me, why the fuck didn’t I stick with men? I’m bi. I have no excuse.
“You’ll have to let me out sometime.”
“And I’m looking forward to it. You’ll find out how well I take a paddle then.” She kissed me bold as shit. “It’s three in the morning. I’m going back to sleep. Want me to fix your pillow, or pull the blankets up?”
My glare burned her alive.
“Okay, then, good night, baby.”
I stared in complete disbelief as she pulled up the covers, dropped her head on my chest, and dozed off.
The doorknob rattled. Roan snuck inside, wearing nothing but silk boxers slung low on his hips.
“Good, you’re here. Let me out of these things.”
He cocked his head, closing the distance. “Why would I do that? You’d only kick our shared pet out of bed.”
“Roan.” I barely recognized the growl as coming from my throat. “I fucking swear.”
“Can’t do it, love.” The bastard popped another mocking kiss on my lips. “But I promise you can punish me for it in the morning.”
“Count on that.”
“Oooh,” he teased, sliding in on my other side. He slung his arm over the both of us—his erection poking my thigh. Even the thought of his coming punishment turned him on. More threats would only get him harder, and would not secure my release.
I stewed for a full two hours, alternating between yanking on the ties and glowering at the schemer and traitor using me as their pillow. At some point, I drifted off and woke to the shower running. A look from left to right confirmed I was still tied to the bed, but Ivy and Roan weren’t with me.
The water shut off and Roan padded out, clad in a towel.
“Where is she?”
He shook out his hair, splattering me in droplets. At this point, he was being an ass to increase the number of lashes his bare ass had coming. The shrink was right. Roan’s need to make a situation worse was pathological.
“She’s gone. Had an early morning class.” Dropping the towel, Roan straddled me. “You look tense, love. Want a blowjob?”
“Did you tell her to do this!” I strained in the ties, bellowing. “What the hell are you thinking, Roan? Were you trying to sabotage her? Because you know the only thing that was going to do is piss me off.”
Roan reached between us, palming my cock. I was surprising myself with the feral snarls I was making. This guy was doing a terrible job reading the mood.
“No,” he said, his palms slick and wet sliding on my dick. “I wasn’t sabotaging her. It was the best way to get you two in the same room and talking. You’re being very stubborn and I’m getting tired of it. She isn’t a different person, Legend. Not in any way that matters. Why are you holding this against her? Ivy didn’t want any of it.”
I gritted my teeth, fighting the wave of pleasure spreading up my chest as he rolled his thumb over the precum gathering on my tip. Distracting me with sex would work as well as guilting me.
“She is a different person. How do you not see it? Everything is different from the way she talks, eats, thinks, and what she says. We’re the sum total of our experiences, Roan, and for two years, she had someone else’s experiences in her head. What is it that you’re not seeing that everyone else is!”
Roan didn’t slow his pumping. “I do see all of those things. She orders a latte with her cinnamon sugar bagel instead of iced tea, and watches crime shows instead of sci-fi now. But all of that is surface, Legend. Know why? Because she never had her sister’s experiences in her head. She didn’t live her life, love, she only shared it with her.
“Ivy copied the things she saw and heard Rainey do, but all she was ever doing was playing pretend. Everything else was Ivy. The pain of losing her grandmother—that was real. The effect of Cavendish’s and the Black Letter Crew’s torture—that was real. Falling for five unrepentant bastards and choosing not once, but twice to stay with us—that was real. Sacrificing herself to save us—that was real, Legend.”
He picked up the pace, trapping a grunt in my chest. Pissed or not, I couldn’t deny the man gave good hand jobs.
“What other experiences could possibly matter besides those?” Roan demanded. “Everything else is trivia. Ivy is loyal. She’s ours. And she still wields a riding crop like the yummy little minx she is.” Roan released me the moment my balls tightened, climbing off the bed.
“Hey!”
“Admit it, Legend. This isn’t about Ivy, it’s about you. Whatever hang-ups you’ve got, you’re going to get over it because I’m sick of this. We finally found the perfect third, and you’re screwing it up.” He loosened the straps on one hand. “You’ve got a week to work it out with her, because if I’m not fucking her pussy while you’re doing me up the ass by then, your sex life is taking a hit too.”
Roan slammed out the door—naked and uncaring. He really was angry with me. He didn’t even wait around for his punishment. That didn’t matter of course because I stormed after him and delivered it anyway, but his eyes said clearly what the ball gag didn’t. I either handled my problems with Ivy, or for the first time in years, the two of us would have some of our own.
IVY
Wednesday morning, I curled up on the couch, drinking coffee, and pretending I didn’t see the skin-peeling glare coming from the kitchen. Legend wasn’t pleased with me tying him to the bed. He wasn’t pleased I did it again the night before either.
Not my fault the man’s a heavy sleeper.
Arsenio came in carrying shopping bags. He dumped them on the kitchen table, the only invitation I needed to snoop.
“Polos? Khakis?” I blinked at him. “Is this some weird sex thing? What are you doing with these?”
“One animal tail butt plug and she thinks I’ve got some role-play fetish.”
My face heated remembering that interesting day. He claimed not to have a fetish, but as I recalled, Arsenio very much enjoyed walking his pet on a leash from room to room, and screwing me in each one.
“No,” he replied, dropping next to me. He snaked his hand around and under my shirt, teasing my nipple with his usual casual ownership of my body. “This is for Friday. Hunter’s Crest Country Club is hosting a golf tournament. It’s open to outsiders as long as they pay the obscene buy-in fee.”
“Will you play in the tournament?”
He dipped his chin. “We’ll have to, but in exchange, we’ll get weekend passes that’ll give us access to the entire club. When crashing won’t work, get an invitation.”
“Wow. It’s genius in its simplicity. Everyone else goes home for the tournament while you guys hang back until the party starts.”
“No one’s going to look twice at us carrying golf bags or clubs either. We’ll pack the shit to knock out and tie up the Ellises, use the clubs to smash the security cameras, and then haul their asses onto a golf cart and take off.”
“And now we’ve left simplicity behind,” I cried. “How in the hell do you expect to pull all of that off?”
Arsenio pinched my nipple, eliciting a soft squeal. “I believe you meant we, de Souza. We’re buying three passes for three participants and three caddies. That includes you. You’ll find a way to get the Ellises alone. You’re the only one who can claim to have business with them because of the contract.”
“A contract that’s probably void now. I betrayed Micah and Jeremy. Lured them into a trap and got their asses tied to stakes in the town square. That’s got to be a breach.”
“And finding out is the perfect topic of discussion.” Arsenio tipped my chin, capturing my lips. I melted as he swiped my lips for entrance, then plunged in without permission. His tongue wrapped around mine, demanding its surrender as he plundered me down to my very soul.
I broke away dizzy. His kisses were all the more powerful for how rare they were. And the jerk knew it. His smirk stirred my middle.
“This is the only way. They’re hardly going to step into an empty room with one of us.”
“So, you’re really going to do it,” I whispered. “You’re going to kill them.”
Arsenio didn’t answer right away. My skin tightened with each passing second.
“No.” He slid out from under my shirt. “We can’t be sure of who knows what. Killing the Ellises and then having Foundry’s board carry on in their place would solve nothing. We won’t be forced into what’s ultimately a stupid move. We won’t benefit from it, but Dante will as long as he has the power to put us on death row.”
I blew out a breath. “Okay, then I’m in, but what if I came at it another way? Instead of showing up out of nowhere, I could call Steven Ellis, say I’ll be in town on Friday, and ask if he’ll give me ten minutes to talk.”
“There’s no guarantee he’d say yes or invite you to the club.”
“But what if—”
“The plan’s all worked out, de Souza.” Legend shoved away from the kitchen table. “Stop trying to change it.”
He came over, plucked my coffee from my hands, and drew me up. “Let’s go. It’s time for class.”
I blinked. “Let’s go as in... let’s both go? Together?”
“That’s right.” Legend grabbed our stuff and made for the door. I didn’t move.
“Are you luring me away somewhere to kill me?”
His grin did not reassure me. “Why would I do that? You’re not worried a little thing like holding me hostage in my own bed and turning my boyfriend against me would set me off?”
I am now,I thought, spine stiffening as that grin widened.
“You coming or not?”
“I’m coming.” I approached him slowly, eyes narrowing as he swept open the door and gestured for me to go ahead. “Bye, Arsenio. I love you.”
“Last words, de Souza?” Amusement laced Arsenio’s reply. “I’ll put them on your tombstone. Make sure the world always knows you’re mine.”
That was his asshole version of saying he loved me too, so I accepted it and let Legend close the door behind us. We set off in silence.
Bare trees led our way—stripped by winter’s chill. The dark events that happened in this town—that have followed it since its creation—should’ve cast a pall that clung to every stone, twig, and branch. But the fact remained that Bedlam... was beautiful.
Our town didn’t get cold enough for snow, winter coats, or dreamy nights curled up by the fire while the sky hid the grass until spring, but we did get couples walking the lane sharing warm cups of cocoa and a scarf around them both. We had fairy lights in the trees, leaves crinkling beneath our feet, and an excuse to cuddle up by that fire whether we needed it or not.
I drifted closer to Legend, indulging his warmth. I couldn’t help but be close to him. Why else would I tie the guy to the bed just to sleep with him again?
“Aren’t you going to say something?” I spoke up. “I assumed that’s why you’re walking me to class. To tell me exactly what you think about holding you hostage and turning Roan against you— Which I didn’t do, by the way. I told him what I did to get Jacques’s attention and he told me to do the same to you. It was all his idea.”
“Why do you think he can’t sit down right now instead of you?” Legend grasped my waist and pulled me in, doing point-blank what I was aching to do. “But no, I’ve got nothing to say. You’re going to do the talking now.”
I stopped in the middle of resting my head on his shoulder. “What does that mean?”
“Roan claims that you’re not a different person. Everything that really matters about you and us hasn’t changed.”
“It hasn’t.”
“He also says,” Legend plowed on, “that if I don’t make up with you, he’ll turn off the tap and deny me sex.”
My brows blew up my head. That was news to me.
“I’m not sure if he’s capable of such restraint, but I won’t find out.”
Pressure swelled in my chest. “Does this mean...?” Slowly I cupped his cheek, turning his jaw. I placed the lightest kiss on the corner of his mouth. “We’re back together?”
“Course not.”
The pressure burst like a balloon.
“You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?” He snorted, setting my teeth on edge. “No, what it means is I did all the work the first time. Tamed my little pet. Made her obedient and semisweet. Fashioned her into the perfect slice of bread for our sandwich. If you want back with me, it’s your turn. Seduce me. Convince me. Make me want you so badly, I’ll do the impossible and forgive everything that’s happened.”
His speech spread through my swirling mind. “Seduce you like you did me? Are we calling chasing me through the woods and paddling SLUT on my ass seduction?”
“Seeing as it got you wetter than a Slip ’N Slide, yes. Don’t pretend like we haven’t given you exactly what you wanted. There’s no lock on the front door, de Souza. You could’ve left whenever.”
My boots click-clacked on the path, the echo to my heartbeat. “No, I couldn’t. You guys would’ve chased me to the ends of the earth. This is who we are. We don’t let go of what we own. What we love. I can show you how much I want you, Legend, but would you really give me a fair chance? Are you open to getting back together, or is all this just to make sure Roan doesn’t turn off the tap?”
He shrugged. “You know me. What do you think?”
I think it’s the latter one hundred and ten percent, but that changes nothing. If Legend truly wanted to be done with me, he shouldn’t have opened the door the tiniest crack. Seducing him will be my absolute pleasure, and greatest accomplishment.
He walked beside me—expressionless but still so achingly handsome, it hurt. Wind chill teased his skin, teasing dots of color along his cheekbones. Cold chapped his lips, and I immediately pulled my lip balm out of my bag, drawing it on for him. Our gazes locked over my fingers.
Legend wasn’t roughly handsome like Cairo. Coldly beautiful like Jacques. Impishly gorgeous like Roan. Or uniquely dishy like Arsenio.
There was a softness to his perfection. A warmth in his autumn-brown eyes that shone through whether it truly existed or not. His full, plump lips made you lean in for a kiss in an almost trance. The soft waves tickling his brow begged you to run your fingers through them. Everything about Legend was designed to draw you in. Whether he invited you to or not, you wanted to make Legend St. James love you.
“Okay, you have a deal, but if you want me to tell Roan you gave me a real shot, you can’t make it difficult for me by kicking me out of your bed, or refusing to talk or be alone with me.”
“Starting right off with blackmail. Interesting choice.”
I cracked a smile. “This is how we are, Legend. I won’t give you what you want, but I’ll always give you what you need. Meet me here after class,” I said as the poli-sci building came into view. “Since Roan’s holding out on you, I’m sure you’re in need of a blowjob, or three.” Winking, I drew out of his embrace. “I’ll make that happen for you.”
“De Souza, if I drop my pants, I’m putting my dick in more holes than your mouth.”
A shiver climbed my spine. “That’s fine with me.”
“I bet it is,” he replied, chuckling. “But I’m no cheap date. You want to get in my pants, you’ll have to work for it. I’ll be back here after your class. Better come up with something to keep me around, or we can call this a fail on day one.”
I watched him lope off, stuck between loving him and wishing I’d left him tied to the bed, shouting all day for someone to free him.
I was even more useless in class than I usually was. Most days, I jotted down notes to give myself something to do. That morning I didn’t bother putting on the show.
Roan’s ultimatum wouldn’t make a difference. The guy loved riding Roan’s ass as much as I loved him riding mine, but Legend didn’t bow his head and surrender to anyone. He would make this needlessly difficult because he was still in love with me but admitting it... was too much like surrender.
So what could I possibly do to make him bring down the walls he’s building back up? Especially if he won’t let me use sex as a side door.
An hour and a half dragged into eternity. I was first out of my seat when the clock struck ten, weaving through shuffling students and coming outside to a brighter day.
The sun escaped the clouds, raising the temperature on campus a few degrees. Legend abandoned his coat and leaned against the stone railing in a tight blue sweater and black pants. It wasn’t right that people spent hours choosing their outfits, putting on makeup, and accentuating their features just for him to slap on the simplest, if expensive, clothes and achieve model-like beauty.
“You’re here.”
“I said I would be.” Legend didn’t react to me molding myself to his body and resting my head on his chest. “You’ll get a fair chance to screw this up, so Roan can’t give me any crap.”
“We’re not just here because of Roan.” I kissed his smooth jaw. “You missed me.”
“Now I see how you sustained that delusion for two years. You have an active fantasy life.”
That was meant to sting, and it did, but I brushed it off. He could call it lonely-little-rich-boy, psychobabble nonsense but I knew him. Legend put on a fake, gentlemanly show for people he didn’t care to know, then he brought out his acid tongue and vicious tricks for those that tried to know him. Only those who saw past the first and cared enough to fight through the latter were worthy of earning his loyalty.
He wasn’t scaring me away. I’ve survived much worse than an obstinate ex-boyfriend, and the ex part was only true in his delusion. According to me, we never broke up.
“Are you ready to go?”
“Go where?”
“On our date.”
His tone sharpened. “I never said it was a date.”
“Nope, but I did.” I tugged him after me, setting off across Homer Green. “Come on. We’re taking your car. My next class isn’t until four, so that gives us plenty of time. Although, I’m not bothered about skipping.”
“Taking my car where?”
“It’s a surprise.” I tossed a smile over my shoulder. “I’m driving.”
“The hell you are. No one drives my car but me.”
“You don’t know where we’re going.”
“That’s why you’re going to tell me.”
We stepped off the sidewalk into the parking lot. Legend’s car—one of them—was a Bentley Bentayga. Very sleek. Very sexy. Very expensive. But that’s not why he didn’t want me to drive. The man just had to be in charge every minute of every day.
“My date, my rules.”
“It’s not a date.”
Spinning around, I grasped his shoulder and shoved him up against his car. Legend raised a brow at this, which rose higher as I slid my hand between us, rubbing him through his pants.
“Come on, Legend. Trust me. I have something special planned for you. I know you’ll love it.”
“What is it?”
“A surprise,” I teased, tracing the outline of his cock. My not-so-small friend raised his head in interest.
“I hate surprises.”
“You know, for someone who said they’ll give me a fair chance, you’re being very difficult right now. Give me the keys and I keep this”—I cupped his package—“up the whole way.”
He plucked off my hand. “I told you you’re not getting in through my cock.” I shrieked when he picked me up. Legend rounded the car, unlocked the door, and plopped me in the passenger seat. “And you’re not driving either. Tell me where we’re going.”
I didn’t tell him shit. Instead, I just said to drive and told him when and where to turn. He was not going to find out until he saw the signs. In between directions, I told him stories.
Stories of growing up on the farm. Stories of my early life in Chicago. Stories of my parents—the few that I had. And stories of Gran and Rainey. Legend listened in silence, neither commenting nor offering memories of his own.
But he listened.
“Gran and Dad had a real relationship. They were close,” I said. “He’d talk to her on the phone every week. We visited as much as we could. One year, Dad paid for a farm sitter, so she could come on a cruise with us. It’s funny now, remembering her in a floppy hat and floral muumuu, kicking back on the beach with a fruity drink. I never saw her that relaxed and free again, but at least I got to that one time. That one memory of my family all together and happy. At least I have that,” I whispered.
For a long time, neither of us spoke.
“We weren’t always this way.”
I stilled—not moving, not looking away from the trees whipping by my window.
“My folks and I,” he clarified. “Right now, they seem like the stereotype. A rich couple that’s too wrapped up in their money and each other to remember they spat out a kid twenty years ago. But it wasn’t always like that.
“My mom suffered six miscarriages before becoming pregnant with me. I was their miracle baby. The child they longed for. When I was born, Dad took leave, and left the running of the business to his second. The two of them were all over me when I was little. They took me everywhere. We did everything together. I had three shadows.”
I chanced a peek at him. His expression was as blank, relaxed, and handsome as it always was. Was it hurting him to tell me this? I couldn’t tell, but he was telling me.
“What changed?”
“It’s what changes for nearly every family. They’re no stereotype, de Souza. They’re like every other parent who wakes up one day and discovers they’ve given birth to an individual, not a copy of themselves. I was their only child. The one they poured all their hopes and dreams into, and I was perfect—as they told me every chance they got. Their perfect son. Their angel.
“Until I started showing interest in men and women, and Dad didn’t know what to do with that. Then Mom started organizing acting auditions and modeling shoots for her handsome little boy, but all it taught me was how to act like I enjoyed it. Their interests, plans, and hopes for me weren’t mine. So... they pulled back.”
Cautiously, I touched his thigh, rubbing soothing circles. “I’m sorry, Legend.”
“Don’t be.” He didn’t take his eyes off the road. “I never thought they did it because they stopped giving a shit about me. The opposite actually. I had a feeling they were just... scared. Scared if they pushed too hard, I’d hate them. Scared if they said the wrong thing, they’d damage our relationship beyond repair.
“They thought I wanted them to stop smothering me and”—he inclined his head—“some days I did. But what I really wanted was for them to accept me the way I was. But that’s nothing new. Like I said, billions of sons and daughters have said the same about their parents. It’s almost boring how typical the St. Jameses are.”
“It may be typical, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. Not being accepted by the people who are supposed to love you unconditionally? That’s how Dantes are made.”
He chuckled. “I’d be offended, but considering what I do as a Bedlam Boy, you may have a point.”
“That wasn’t a dig at you.” Sitting up, I pointed out the window. “Right here. Take this right.
“I’m just saying. Humans don’t do well when they don’t feel loved. That’s one thing Jacques and I agreed on. No one from a sweet, loving family with great friends and a support system is running with the Black Letter Crew. Those monsters are broken,” I rasped, fist balling. “They’re broken beyond repair.”
“Hard to argue that,” he said simply.
He’s talking. We’re having an actual conversation. A depressing one, but real.
“Can I ask you something?”
“You will anyway.”
I laughed hoarsely. “It’s the Society of Sisters, so your mom is one of them. She gave her perfect and only child the green light to become a Bedlam Boy. Why?”
“This town means just as much to her. Before she became a St. James, she was a Lyman. Before the revolt, there were three Lyman sisters who inherited their father’s tailor shop when he died. They were the only women in town who owned their land and a business. That—”
“—made them a target of the Men of Honor.”
He nodded. “They were relentless in their harassment. Raiding their shop and destroying their fabrics. Bricks through the window. A mysterious fire started in their home in the middle of the night. It all escalated to one terrible night when they chose one of the sisters for the Hunt.
“The things they did to her were so horrific, Mom wouldn’t let me read it in the old journals that survived and were passed down. She still won’t and I’m a grown man. I just know it was an attack so brutal, it left her unable to have children.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, sickened by the people who did that, and those today who raised them up as some kind of heroes.
“When the revolt kicked off, the Lyman sisters not only took up arms, but they shielded women in their shop—defending them when the Men descended with guns and torches. When the fighting was done, only one sister survived. She rebuilt her family’s legacy and passed it down to us,” he said. “Mom would say that if she wasn’t willing to fight half as hard as they did to protect what we have, she didn’t deserve it in the first place.
“She’s proud of me for being a Bedlam Boy. In this, I’ve made my parents very proud.”
I gazed out the windshield, his reply turning in my mind. Gran’s voice came to me so clearly.
“That’s the blood that runs through your veins. You came from the strongest of people. The fiercest. People who would give up their lives before surrendering their freedom. Never forget who you are, girls. Fighters.”
“I think my grandmother would be proud too. She raised me to fight. Like she fought for our home and family. Like I’m fighting for them now. I haven’t done everything perfectly,” I admitted, “but me here with you guys—stopping Ellis and Dante. I know that’s what she’d want.”
If Legend planned to say something, he was interrupted by me spotting the final turn.
“This is it. Turn here. I bought our tickets online, so we can go straight in.”
Legend slowed, then hit the brakes short of the sign. “Hunter’s Crest Zoo? You’re taking me to the zoo?”
“Yes. Go on, pull in.”
He didn’t move the car. “Why in the hell would I want to go to the zoo?”
“You’ll find out in approximately ten minutes.”
“I won’t find out shit. I was brought here half a dozen times when I was a kid. There’s nothing in there I haven’t seen.”
“Ah, your parents brought you back here to see the python family they adopted you from? It’s good to be among your kind. We’ll drop in and say hi on the way out.”
His brow twitched. “Cute.”
I bit back a smile. “Legend, if you haven’t been since you were a kid, then you haven’t seen what I’m about to show you. It’s a new exhibit. You’ll understand everything when we’re inside. Now, take your foot off the brake, find a parking spot, and stop being the most stubborn date on the planet.”
“This isn’t a date.”
“What did I just say?”
I thought I glimpsed a grin as he finally pulled off and turned into the parking lot. Early morning on a weekday, there were few people about. That didn’t stop Legend turning into a deserted part of the lot—far from everyone and backed by trees. He wasn’t risking a ding to his ride by parking next to a stressed-out dad, too focused on wrangling his sugar-crazed kids into the car to pay attention when he was backing out.
“You have a need for control,” I said, linking my arm through his.
“That a problem?”
“No, I find it very attractive. Especially because it gets you so deliciously riled up when I tie you to the bed.”
“You will not like the consequences if you try that again.”
Oh, but I would.I knew my guys. Roan was the only one of them who enjoyed being at my mercy. Legend, Arsenio, Cairo, and Jacques would unhinge like wolves in a trap, chewing off their own leg. Thinking of the resulting effect on my pussy made me stumble. I wouldn’t walk right for weeks.
Together we walked past the ticket booth, heading inside. I’d also been to Hunter’s Crest Zoo many times. When I was searching for the kookaburra in Cavendish’s letter, it brought me here even though the park employees kept telling me they didn’t have any here. After the first time, I’m not sure what I kept coming back to find. But I did keep coming back to walk under the canopy of leaves, finding an odd sense of peace as a light mist washed over, and critters chirped, screeched, and huffed around me.
Animals didn’t know malice. Yes, they killed to survive, but only to survive. They didn’t taunt their prey. Drag out the fear and pain for their own enjoyment. Sacrifice a creature to advance selfish ambitions. They just lived their lives in the only way they knew how.
On my worst days living Rainey’s life, I came here to be surrounded by innocence.
Legend and I passed by the panda habitat, spotting the fluffy, lazy creatures lying on a rock slab and watching us go by. He let me hold on to his arm, my chin propped on his shoulder. I loved being this close to him after weeks of him keeping a football field’s distance between us.
“Are you hungry?” I murmured. “Afterward, I was thinking we’d eat lunch in the café. They’ve got a perfect spot on the balcony that overlooks the giraffe habitat. We can eat chicken wraps and shortbread cookies while we watch them graze.”
“Watch them? How closely do you watch me? How do you know I like shortbread cookies?”
I poked his side. “Don’t act like I’m some kind of stalker. We do live in the same house. The only thing sweet or sugary I’ve seen you eat are shortbread cookies. Not too big a leap to guess they tickle your sweet tooth.”
He grunted something in response.
“My favorite are white chocolate strawberry cookies,” I went on. “You never see them in stores, but Gran made them special and she taught me. I’ll bake you some one day.”
“Why?” He was genuinely asking. “We just confirmed I only like shortbread cookies.”
“You’ll like these too. Trust me.”
“I won’t,” he dismissed, turning to the tiger exhibit.
I sighed. “How did you and Roan get together? Is it because your stubborn refusal to give in to him brought out his devil imp side? Every no just made him work that much harder to have you.”
I didn’t imagine it that time. A definite lopsided grin teased his soft lips. “Would it surprise you that I pursued him? I decided I wanted Roan, so I had Roan. The one who didn’t get to say no is him.”
“Hmm. Actually, that doesn’t surprise me. Roan wouldn’t give me anything until I took it from him too. So, was your seduction routine the same for him as it was for me? Did you chase him through the woods and paddle him until he came screaming on your couch?” I was very glad there was no one else nearby on our walk.
“A hunter doesn’t use the same tactics on different prey.”
I eyed him. “Do you truly see me as a different person now?”
To my surprise, he turned and gazed at me head-on. “Do you see yourself as the same person?”
“I...” Looking into his eyes, I tried to say something, anything else. “I don’t. The person I was the last two years wasn’t me.”
Vindication curved his lips.
I quickly added, “But the way I feel about you and the guys hasn’t—”
“You said there’s something you want to show me,” he sliced in. “Where the hell is it? I’m getting bored.”
Swallowing my annoyance, I led him right on a forking path, heading for the exhibit that had seen a lot of me since I received Cavendish’s letters. Legend unwound his arm from me and followed behind. The mood shifted between us, but I would get it back. Legend knew what it was to play a part. If anyone should understand that didn’t make the person underneath it any less real, it was him.
The path narrowed, bringing the leaf canopy close enough to block the sun—shading us in cool and mist. A small, darkened tunnel entrance loomed at the end of our path. I reached behind, lacing my fingers through Legend’s. “This, baby, is what I want you to see.”
We stepped out of the gloom into a vibrant, living paradise.
Birds of all colors zipped through the trees, flitting from the greens, purples, pinks, and reds of the flower-filled paradise. The sweet scent of honeysuckle blanketed the space, filling me with calm as I gazed up at him.
Legend looked around, his face unreadable, but something—the tiniest flicker—shone in his eyes. “They’re hummingbirds. You brought me to a hummingbird habitat.”
“Some of the rarest species in the world live here. They started a program three years ago to ensure their survival. They’ve got glittering starfrontlets and royal sunangels. Hummingbirds get the most beautiful names,” I said. “They’re free to roam the whole habitat, so there’s no guarantee we’ll see one, but we can try.”
Legend flicked to a bird flying overhead. “I didn’t realize you thought I was this sentimental.”
“You did get a hummingbird permanently inked on your body.” I bumped his shoulder. “You don’t have to say I nailed it. I know I did.”
Legend let me link our arms again. He didn’t say much while I led him down the winding paths. Actually, he didn’t say anything at all. He looked at the birds I pointed out, and nodded a few times at the things I said, but otherwise, I didn’t have a clue what was going on behind those brown eyes.
Twice we did the rounds—me just enjoying holding him close. On the last lap, I asked, “Anything else you want to see while we’re here?”
“Since I’m not a seven-year-old girl, no. If we’re done, let’s go back.”
My smile dimmed. “Don’t you want to get something to eat first? The shortbread cookies here are really good.”
Legend wasn’t asking anymore. He hooked around my waist and took off, ducking through the exit and taking us out of the zoo and into the parking lot.
I didn’t know what to say or do, so I said and did nothing. Was he annoyed? Mad? Done with me? Had I ruined my first and last chance to win him back?
All I wanted to do was show him that I knew him. I listened to him. The late nights we spent in bed, talking about the little things while Roan slept pressed against my back—they mattered to me just as much then as they did now. I could live a thousand lives and that would never change.
“I’m sorry, Legend.” He beeped the car open. “I truly thought you would enjoy it. I’ll think of something better for next time.” Legend’s hand rested on the small of my back, guiding me around the trunk to my side. “What if I make us a romantic dinner? Shortbread cookies from scratch. Or we could do something the three of us. You, me, and Roan—”
A hand clamped on my jaw, constricting my gasp. He hauled me to his lips, eating another gasp as he bit my ear.
“Damn, woman, you need a lot of validation. You know you nailed it, so stop fishing for me to say you did.”
My eyes went round. “But— You said—”
Legend crashed his lips on mine. I responded instantly, twisting around and linking my arms behind his head. A faint beep sounded in my ear. I didn’t register what the sound meant until Legend picked me up and plopped me back-flat in the trunk.
“Uhh. If this was a trick to lock me in here, I’m telling you right now, you’re the one who’ll face the consequences.”
His grin could only be described as wicked. “I’m almost tempted to find out what those would be, but no.” Calloused fingers tickled my leg, leaving a teasing trail under the hem of my dress. “I had something else in mind.”
“What—”
Legend tore my panties clean off. I choked on a noise when they went sailing over his shoulder, into the trees. This is why he didn’t want cookies. He had another kind of dessert in mind.
“Leg—” He pushed two fingers past my folds and they were off, pumping and finger-fucking me as my legs flailed for purchase and found none. The man really didn’t want me to talk, which was good because all thought of doing that flew out of my head.
My head bumped against the rough fabric. I was only half in. My ass was propped up and hanging over the lip. Legend flipped my dress up and it fluttered over my face, muffling the moans I was already fighting to hold in. Thank goodness there were barely any people here on a Wednesday morning. That didn’t mean I needed a homeschooling family of four to stumble on this sight.
I batted my dress out of my face, just in time to see Legend free his cock. I tightened on his fingers, whimpering in anticipation of that smooth, thick rod moving inside me.
It had been a very long time.
Legend crooked his fingers, angling them to undo me while his thumb caressed my clit. My eyes crossed. He added a third finger, stretching me just to the point of my limit. Goose bumps rolled down my flesh, the visual proof of what this man did to me. Intensity rippled through me again and again like a thumping bass—reverberating in my soul.
He caught one of my legs and hooked it around his waist. “Take your dress off.”
I scrambled to heed his order. Wasn’t easy when I was the wrong side up and maneuvering in a tight space. Finally, I got it off and quickly shoved it under me when he reached for it. He wasn’t tossing that into the woods too.
Chuckling, Legend drew a line through the sweat collecting between my breasts, over my stomach, and slipped among the digits working my pussy. He swallowed that finger to the knuckle. “You’re wrong, de Souza. Shortbread cookies aren’t how I indulge my sweet tooth. You are.”
I swallowed hard. As I thought, I nailed the date and it stirred something in Legend I didn’t understand, but wasn’t about to stop for all the money in the world. If he wanted to forget how angry and distrustful he was of me, who was I to remind him?
“Tease me,” he ordered.
Rough pants heaved my chest, and it was getting his divided attention as he palmed his cock. I cupped them without a thought—pushing them together and delighting the hitch that small act caused in his breath. My nipples were hardened pebbles, begging for Legend’s mouth on my breasts, or his dick pumping between. They settled for me rolling and tweaking them between my fingers as his eyes glazed.
My time was up.
Legend tore his fingers away without so much as a goodbye. Positioning my hips, he buried inside me to the hilt—rolling my eyes up into my head.
I clapped a hand over my mouth when he started pumping— No, when he started jackhammering my hole like he was looking for diamonds. Moans leaked through my fingers. My pelvic bone bounced on the rim, collecting bruises that revealed the proof of my first time in a trunk.
Legend’s perfectly coiffed hair was a mess. It flopped in his eyes, sticking to his damp brow and drawing my attention to those plump lips—now tinged red and pulled back over his teeth as he tried to hold in his groans. It was unnatural how gorgeous he was, but I didn’t mean his looks.
Somewhere along the way, the sweet kid who was doted on by his parents was buried under the feeling that he’d never measure up to their expectations, so why try? I didn’t care about what he told himself, or what others led him to believe to make him think something so ridiculous could be true. Legend never needed to be anyone other than his searing-hot, possessive, domineering, hummingbird-loving self. He would fall in love with me again because we both knew... I loved Legend St. James, and wouldn’t change a thing about him.
The car bounced with his thrusts. We both did. Over and over, my hand smacked the roof and my head banged against the trunk. I was too far gone too long ago to care.
Legend grasped my hips, lifting me up and angling me into place for one, two, three punishing thrusts dead center on my—
“Ahh!” I screamed, contorting my body in a shape it was never meant to go.
I came hard—flopping, kicking, and scraping my back on the unforgiving fabric. Throwing his head back, Legend went rigid.
“Yes, baby. Come for me.”
Sticky warmth spilled inside me, setting off another orgasm that bowled me over, filling me with bursts of heat and electricity. Felt like I grabbed a downed power line and bolts of sinful pleasure were coursing through my veins. I had no doubt it’d kill me if it could, and what a beautiful way to go.
My hips jerked, rocked by a violent spasm.
“Whoa— Shit!” Legend popped off his feet. Scrabbling, he grabbed at the lid to stop his fall, and down they both went.
“Ah!”
One hundred and sixty pounds of man collapsed on top of me, then the lid dropped on us—concealing us in darkness. For a breath, neither of us moved.
A sound leaked through my lips. I covered my mouth, trying to stop it, but it was too late. I laughed so loud and hard, if the entire parking lot didn’t hear us having sex, they definitely heard that. Two seconds after me, Legend cracked up too.
“Date Roan for a week and you don’t think you have any firsts left,” I giggled. “Guess we proved that wrong.”
“Definitely the first time I fucked myself into a locked trunk in the parking lot of a zoo.”
“Tell me we’re not really locked in.”
“Nah.” Legend was nothing more than a vague outline in the dark. “I’ve got the keys in my pocket, but...” There was shuffling, the clink of his belt, then hands found my hips. “We don’t need to go anywhere just yet.”
“I was about to say the same thing.”