18. Chapter 15 - Hillary
T he earth shuddered beneath my feet as I stumbled through the darkness, raucous wind whipping my hair into vicious knots. Flashes of foreboding red light clung to my periphery, but when I turned my head to catch its glow, it disappeared; a nebulous, terrifying omen. A sticky film coated my hands, its resinous residue crawling up my skin in painful, jagged tingles. My bare feet dragged on rocky ground, sharpened stones pierced my heels, hobbling me on my path forward... Into nothingness.
Ominous chuckles broke through the whistling of the wind, the dark laughter echoing all around me in a cacophony of dizzying sound. Terrified chills skittered across my skin. Despite the sweat on my brow, my body froze with panic.
A broad hooded figure came into view, floating toward me shrouded in shadow, before stopping to hover in front of my marbled form.
“Hello, Hillary,” the masculine voice rumbled, the demonic tone evil personified. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Blondie. Blondie!”
My body writhed within the soft duvet as powerful hands pinned me in place against the mattress. An awful, ragged scream of pure terror flooded my ears as I fought to make sense of my surroundings.
My earphones had been removed, and the garbled sound of a man’s Irish lilt was muffled against the shrill screams that hadn’t abated—the piercing sound of them about to cause a migraine.
“Blondie! Hillary! Shyte,” the man shouted, just before my sleep mask was ripped off my face. The abrupt brilliance of light blurred my vision before my eyes settled on … Lucky.
Sleep-rumpled Lucky, dressed in nothing but a pair of black boxers, had me pinned beneath him on the bed, his brows knitted into a panicked frown.
The screams—still the screams. Where were they coming from?
The bleary-eyed Irishman cursed and then leaned in, abruptly putting his mouth over mine, coaxing my tongue against his in a frantic kiss. The faint taste of mint toothpaste washed over me.
The screams abruptly stopped. Oh—they were mine. The banshee impression had come from me.
The wild horses in my heart hadn’t stopped racing despite the warm body holding me hostage. Blood pounded in my ears as I leaned into his kiss, desperate for a distraction from the relentless nightmares and their torture on my mind.
He leaned away from me, breaking the kiss and his hold on me, searching my eyes for answers. I didn’t have any I could give him; not without exposing every solemn secret that had taken sanctuary in the depths of my soul.
“I need you to fuck me,” I blurted, my cheeks pink because of my moment of vulnerability, not at the frantic tone to take his cock.
For once in his life, Lucky was speechless. As soon as I said it, I knew it was exactly what I needed—sex would help me escape my mind through the use of my body. I needed to get lost in Lucky; to get swept up in his pillowy lips and molded body and thick cock—the one I’d stroked, but never had inside me.
I needed him .
“Please,” I begged; tears pricked at my eyes, but I was desperate for them not to fall. I’d be embarrassed in the morning, but I couldn’t consider it now—not with my heart still pounding and my brain still spiraling. “Please, Lucky,” I pleaded softly, conveying the pain in my chest through my eyes, hoping he’d give me this one out—just this one night.
All his hesitation faded. The green of his eyes darkened to a rich olive, and a raw hunger swam in their depths. He grabbed my chin roughly and his lips descended on mine, demanding entrance.
He held me firmly in place; I was entirely at his mercy as he plundered my mouth and took what he wanted. He forced me to open up to him, as if the kiss could release every demon that ever shackled my mind. I let him whisk me away, just as I’d begged him to. I gave in to the heat of his body, the comforting sweet scent of cedar and cherries, and masculine sweat, the strength of his muscular form as he melted into me, just barely holding his full weight off of my body.
Firm lips became soft and pliable as he abruptly shifted the nature of it. Frenzied desperation dissolved into the most tender of kisses; careful caresses of delicate touches as his kn uckles ran up and down the sides of my ribs, before his large thumbs settled on the outline of my nipples in the silk sleep shirt.
He rolled his thumbs in tandem. A heated electric current flicked through my chest and straight down to my pussy. His lips moved from my mouth to my jaw, his stubble scraping along my sensitive skin as he nipped a trail along the shadow of bone leading to my ear. His hard length dug into my stomach; I could feel the twitch of it every time I arched to meet him. A dark satisfaction overtook me; I affected his body with the same power he did mine.
“My beautiful Blondie,” he murmured into my hair, before rising on his knees to stare down at me, the fires of potent lust burning in his gaze.
“Do you need an escape, lass? Do you need me to feed you my fingers and my cock until you can’t think about anything but me, filling you up and making you scream?”
My pussy gushed at his dirty words, my body completely overtaken by animal instinct and the need to fuck—all cognitive function on the sidelines as I lay beneath him, waiting for him to fulfill his promises.
Kellan gave me an escape through submission. Aaron gave me an escape through mutual dominance. I never imagined Lucky could do the same—teasing me into a roiling mess of desire.
“Ah, ah,” he tutted, the devilish smirk raking across his perfect face. “I’m gonna need an answer, lass.”
He held my gaze and bent down, his toned abs rippling with the movement, until his face was situated right above my pubic bone. He grazed his teeth over my clit through the silk fabric of my shorts. The slight nip soaked my panties and my body bowed off the bed at the sharp sensation.
Normal me wouldn’t play his game; I wouldn’t allow him the satisfaction and I’d turn the tables in my favor; punish him with his own game for reducing me to a begging fuck-girl.
But I wasn’t normal me. The nightmares, the exhaustion of this crusade, and the continuous feeling of not doing enough—I had been reduced to the begging, desperate fuck-girl simpering beneath the Irish playboy.
In this moment, I relished the freedom that came with being his toy.
“Fuck me.” The words came out on a whimper, not a command, as I gave in to being his pretty little pawn for the night.
I would take back my throne by force tomorrow.
His smile rivaled the Cheshire Cat, laced with dark intent, as he yanked off my shorts and slid them down my legs. On his way back up to the bullseye, his nose traced a line up the inside of my thigh, his bristly stubble sending shivers up my spine. He stopped at the apex and inhaled deeply.
“Fuck, I love the scent of you.” He quickly buried his face right into my pussy and pulled back again to look at me, dew drops of my arousal clinging to his chin. “I want you to mark me, lass. Have you ever squirt before?”
Eyes widening, I nodded mutely, although I didn’t tell him I’d never squirt at a man’s touch. My own, with the right toy, yes. Even a few women in college had managed the feat—but never by a man.
“I’ll have to leave my mark on you too, then.” Lucky winked. The routine action was downright sinful when he was hovering above my pussy. “Wouldn’t want yeh thinking someone else can do it better.”
Without warning, he shoved a single finger inside me, then another, the two curling together, stroking my walls. My hips bucked up to meet him, but he held me in place with his forearm banded across my middle, keeping me where he wanted me.
I wanted to say I hated it; that this act was simply one of distraction and I would have fucked any man in my vicinity to rid myself of the painful thoughts. It’d be a lie. Someho w I had known Lucky could be this man for me; who could safely tear me up and stitch me back together with laughter and light.
“That’s a good lass,” he praised as he pulled his fingers free, sticky arousal thickly coating them. He sucked them into his mouth, closing his eyes with a soft groan as he licked them clean.
“So sweet,” he growled, palming the rigid outline of his cock in his other hand before dropping it back to touch me again.
Three fingers twisted inside me in a methodical rhythm; I shuddered, so close to coming, before he drew one of them out, sliding it to my ass and nuzzling my entrance there with a tentative swirl.
“No lube tonight, Blondie.” His wicked grin told me exactly what he would do when he had some. “But I’ll be coming back to get of taste of you here when we do.”
“Won’t. Be. Another. Time.” I panted as he eased his finger into the hole, the stretch and sting giving way to molten pleasure.
“Oh, yes, there will,” he crooned, as he stretched my pussy and my asshole at the same time. His fingers worked in such a practiced motion, I realized making women squirt was likely his signature move.
“Do you know how many fantasies of mine you star in? How many times I’ve fucked you in my dreams? How many times my cum has filled your pussy?”
I searched for the cocky grin, but his face held nothing but serious concentration, his fingers working so well together. The crescendo of my orgasm was just a bar away in the song.
“I’m not letting you alone until I’ve discovered every single way I can make you come undone, lass.”
His other hand moved up to my clit and his palm provided much needed friction and weight. The fingers inside me rubbed along my sensitive wall, and I could feel them a lmost touch through the membrane. An intense pressure built up in my abdomen, like I was going to pee.
“Let go, love.” His command was a suggestive whisper, and every sensation in my body built up to the pinnacle of tension before my body snapped like an errant bow string.
Ecstasy raced through my veins like a hit of the most potent drug, toe curling tingles worked their way through every cell of my body; the purest rush of euphoria burst from my core like a supernova explosion, the heat coursing in my blood a close comparison.
Warm liquid flooded the bedsheets, and Lucky quickly ducked his head down, his mouth closing over my gushing pussy to capture what remained of it.
“Fuck, Blondie.” His growl sounded territorial, an animal claiming his prey. “I’m going to rip you apart with what you do to me.”
He shucked his boxers in one smooth push and his thick, veiny cock sprung free. A pearlescent drip of pre-cum seeped from the tip. He pushed my thighs open, lined up, and thrust into me without hesitation. He bottomed out, unable to get deeper.
My pussy stretched around him, thoroughly warmed up and aching for more. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, meeting his gaze for a solitary moment.
Time stilled. I saw so much in his captivating eyes, though the usual lightness in them held nothing but hedonistic intent. For that single second, I caught a glimpse of the authentic man beneath—without the cocky arrogance or the sly remarks—a window to the soul of a man who needed my comfort as much as I needed his.
Was he as surprised by this connection as I was? Was this basic evolutionary chemistry, or did Lucky actually have something I needed? Something I… wanted?
“Hold on,” he gritted through his teeth, before slamming into me, pushing me deeper into the mattress with hard, desper ate ruts. The raw need to fuck like animals came out with each thrust.
He fucked me hard and fast, adjusting my hips to get the deepest angle, the most delicious friction between his pubic bone and my clit, sliding his hands all over my skin with each pounding movement.
My pussy was going to be a swollen, battered mess, but I didn’t care. I wanted to be so thoroughly spent; I wanted to feel him for days and remember how Lucky took my pain away. How he granted me this escape.
Another round of fiery tingles swept up my spine. My body detonated around him as my orgasm pulled a ragged cry from my throat; I melted into the sheets, my limbs letting go from their stifling hold around his body.
Lucky thrust into me three more times before pulling out, jets of hot cum painting my torso and breasts. He massaged the mixture into my skin, a possessive gleam in his eye, before collapsing next to me.
“I’ll get tested for you,” he joked as he nuzzled into my side, stroking my hair with a gentle palm. “Then I’ll paint your insides white like a Jackson Pollock painting.”
A snort escaped me, then a giggle, and then an outright guffaw; the seriousness of what we’d just done and what it might mean disappearing as Lucky lightened the moment like he always did.
We laid in a mess of our own juices, collecting our breaths as we came down from our high. Eventually, he interlaced our fingers and tugged me upward.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.” He lifted me off the bed and, cradling me in his arms, carried me to the ensuite. “Then, sleep.”
I was wrong. I hadn’t been Lucky’s pawn. He’d worshipped me as his Queen, and I would feel every part of that worship when we woke up in the morning.
I would come up with a solution for this problem tomorrow.
A s hrill alarm sounded from my phone; all of my ‘do not disturb’ settings came on as soon as 11 pm hit, save for Winter calling or three specific alarms—one for my home, one for my office, and one for… The Palace.
My eyes flew open, and I was shocked to see I wasn’t wearing my sleep mask. Or my earphones. A warm body curled around me; Lucky was cradling the pillow next to my ear, soft snores rumbling from between his pouty lips. His fingers were loosely interlocked with mine.
Huh. I hadn’t slept without my sleep aids since… Fuck, the alarm.
I shot up out of the bed and grabbed my phone to see the warning message flash across the screen.
The Palace. The Palace was compromised.
“Lucky,” I shouted, scrambling out of the duvet cocoon and racing to throw on some clothing. “Wake up!”
“Hrrummf,” he mumbled as he came to; I pulled on pants and frantically scrolled through the camera footage with my other hand as I did so.
Alec’s cell was empty. So was Sandra’s. And we were four hours away.
“Fuck!” I grabbed a hoodie and raced into the ensuite, grabbing Lucky’s clothes on the floor and tossing them at his head. “Get dressed. I’m going to need you to drive.”
Whether it was the panic in my tone or the deranged killer in my eyes, Lucky didn’t ask questions, just yanked on his own clothes and followed me down the stairs and out into the driveway.
I would call Winter later and make up some bogus emergency. I had no time to waste.
I tossed Lucky the keys and jumped into the passenger seat; him taking the wheel as I frantically called Aaron on my phone.
“ What do you need, Mi Reina ?” he answered calmly, as if he hadn’t been in a deep sleep and was just waiting for an opportunity to serve. A short dose of relief flooded through my racing mind before panic took up once more.
“I’m going to send you a series of codes to get out of the apartment. I don’t have time to explain, but there are two people who were being held captive upstairs that just escaped. I need you to grab a gun from the bedroom closet and try to lock them down. I’ll explain everything later, but we’re on our way.”
This was the very last way I’d want to explain my vigilante vendetta, but I didn’t have time to think about that right now. Not when my prisoners were out in the wild, risking my entire operation.
“Done.” A muffled rustling of fabric came through the line. Then the racing of feet on the tiled floor told me he was already moving towards the closet.
“I have to call Kellan—I’m sending him as backup. We’ll be there as soon as possible. Be careful, mi caballero oscuro .”
I hung up the phone and frantically dialed Kellan, who answered on the second ring.
“The Palace is compromised.”
I quickly summarized what I had told Aaron, with no need to explain. Kellan knew the purpose behind the building, and while he didn’t know who I had in there, he’d known I’d intended to use the cells for this very purpose. I didn’t need to tell him what the stakes were.
“On my way. Rodriguez and I will catch them, Killer. Dead or alive?”
“Whatever way you can get them.”
I wasn’t willing to risk everything I’d built to keep up Alec’s lifelong torture. And Sandra was going to end up dead, anyway.
I hung up and immediately brought up the camera footage to review on the drive. I needed to figure out just how in the fuck one of the most secure facilities in America got compromised.
Lauchlan didn’t question, didn’t even make jokes as he broke every speed limit in the county on back country roads to get us home as quickly as possible.
These three men were going to help me fix this. We were going to fix this. We had to fix this.
If not, I was unbeli evably, undeni ably, inextricably fucked .