Malice (Dahlia Saga Book 1)

by Natalie Bennett

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The black dahlia had been a last-minute idea. I knew the flower would be a dead giveaway that I had arrived.

  She looked the same, albeit exhausted, which wasn't hard to imagine when I was the one who took care of her. Call me cocky if you'd like, I was aware of what my wife needed.

  Right now, she needed my hands around her throat and punishment that would make her want to chain herself to me. A penalty that was already planned.

  I waved my fingers at her in a come-hither motion, smiling when she gave a slight shake of her head. Ever the rebel. I'd planned for this, too.

  Jerking my chin, indicating she should look across the room, I watched her turn her head. Luca had gone through the back door; he was saying something to Dakota that had her visibly tensing. He looked over at Morgana, giving her a small wave and a shit-eating grin.

  I knew she wouldn't make a scene, that in less than five minutes her anxiety would overwhelm her if she didn't get her ass in gear. Quicker than I'd estimated, she was out of her booth, saying something to Dakota before flying out of the diner.

  Her steps faltered for a fraction of a second, and then she was practically running. Right back to everything she loved and hated. Right back to me. I concealed all emotion and held back from grabbing her by the hair and dragging her into the car.

  "Do what I tell you, and I won't hurt her, or the cop."

  I was going to wait to drop the Kieran bomb, but the more compliant she was, the better.

  "What do you want?" she snapped at me. I couldn't hold back my smile this time. The fire in her olive-hued eyes turned my cock to stone.

  Walking around the car, I opened the passenger side door. "Get in."

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  He didn't say a word.

  Neither did I.

  When he pulled into the parking lot of Ruby's, I didn't dare ask how he knew exactly where I had been. I'd surpassed my limit of what I could handle long ago.

  He got out, coming around to open my door for me. Ever the gentleman, he swept a hand outward indicating I should walk in front of him.

  Moving quickly, I went to the door of my room and inserted the key card.

  I'd just pressed the handle down when he pushed it open, almost bowling me over as he shoved me inside.

  The immediate familiarity of him was overwhelming. The undaunted strength he possessed currently had my back pressed against the door, slamming it shut.

  His pale green eyes bored into mine. I waited for him to yell or hurt me; he never did.

  Instead, his arms wrapped around me in a suffocating embrace that made it hard to breathe. He moved back so he could cup my face in his hands, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.

  "We have so much to talk about, but first…" He let me go to retrieve his cell phone, giving me the dimpled smile I'd fallen in love with. He grabbed my hand and led me away from the door.

  "What about—" He cupped a hand over my mouth to hush me and put the phone on speaker.

  "Are we on?" Luca asked as soon as he answered.

  "No, keep her sedated and take her home. Make sure Kieran is dealt with accordingly." Smacking his hand away from me, I glared at him.

  "Accordingly? That's not what you said—"

  "I promised you they wouldn't be hurt. And they won't.” He looked around the room as if searching for something before bringing his attention back to me.

  I'd slowly been inching towards the door. He quirked a brow, shaking his head at my blatant attempt to get away from him.

  "If you run from me again, I will make sure you're locked away somewhere only I can get to you. You're certifiable enough."

  "And you aren't?"

  He scoffed like the idea was absurd.

  "We can talk later. There's something I need to do." He made a come-hither motion, beckoning me to walk to him. Taking my time, I went forward at a snail's pace, keeping my eyes trained on his face.

  When I was in front of him, he bent down and scooped me into his arms.

  Once settled on the edge of the bed, he proceeded to yank up the skirt of the cheap summer dress I was wearing.

  Only Julian would immediately check to see if I'd been hurting myself, and only now did true shame set in, knowing he saw the fresh cuts over and my burnt skin.

  His entire body tensed beneath me, a deep exhale came from his slightly parted lips, fingertips skimming over what I’d done.

  "You fight me every step of the way. Why? Look at you. Look what you've done to yourself.” He all but shoved me off him, standing up to pace the room in a predatory way. “When are you going to admit it?”

  "Admit what?"

  "I am what keeps you grounded. You are what keeps me sane. Together, we are perfect for one another." He stopped pacing, giving me a look so sinister, chills raced up my spine.

  My body began reacting to his proximity, even as my mind raced. He was the addiction I had naively tried to cure, failing miserably to do so.

  "Jules." Shaking my head, I cast my gaze to the floor. He was in front of me before I could blink; hand in my hair, yanking my head back.

  "Here's what's going to happen." He spread my legs with his knee. "You're going to take my cock out and show me how much you've missed it." I swallowed, looking up at him, unable to move my head.

  "I can't hear you, Dollface." He dug into my scalp, making me whimper. There was no option to deny him. I couldn't fight him and risk what he may do to me, just as I couldn't tell him about the baby.

  Only when my options had been fully eliminated, and I was imprisoned inside his home would I give up on finding a way to give this kid a chance at a normal life.

  "Let me touch you," I whispered. His grip immediately loosened.

  With shaking hands, I undid his belt, pushing his slacks over his hips until I freed his cock.

  He watched on silently as I lowered my face.

  Swiping my tongue across my lips, I opened my mouth slowly, taking him inside, gripping him with one hand.

  "Did you forget how to suck a dick, Dollface?" He gripped my hair once more and took control, beginning to fuck my mouth. He shoved himself inside, hitting the back of my throat, receding and pushing back in.

  I choked around his thickness. My eyes watered as I struggled to breathe. Attempting to slow him down, my hands went to his thighs. He abruptly pulled away from me, letting his pants fall the rest of the way down his toned legs.

  He pressed against me until my back was flat on the bed. The cotton underwear disappeared, the mint halter dress with them. Left completely nude, exposed for his hungry eyes to feast on, I refrained from covering myself, knowing I needed this as badly as I secretly deserved it.

  She was the embodiment of perfection. No women had, or ever would, hold a candle to Morgana. Her eyes watched me; her hands fisted by her sides. She kept herself exposed, letting me drink her in.

  Flawless, smooth caramel skin, hair hanging around her shoulders, hiding perfect, perky round breasts. Hips with curved definition and legs that looked even better wrapped around my waist.

  She was radiating nervous energy, and while I ached to teach her a lesson, it would have to wait until we were home.

  I settled my face between her legs and wrapped my hands around her thighs to hold her in place. Spreading the lips of her sweet pussy with my fingers, I started pushing my tongue as far inside her as it would go.

  Taking my thumb, I began to roll her clit, continuing to swirl my tongue, dipping it in and out to run up her slit. It didn’t take long before she started to shake; her legs tried to lock my head between them.

  Digging my nails into her skin, she gasped, threading her hands through my hair. Knowing she was close to coming, feeling her tremble in my hands and hearing her moans grow louder, I moved my mouth higher and sucked her clit inside, torturing her bundle of nerves before biting down.

  She gripped my hair, making me growl like a fucking animal as she cried out, coming inside my mouth. Not bothering
to remove her juices from my face, I slid up her sexy body, hooking her legs over my shoulders with ease.

  Before she could catch her breath and come down, I drove my dick into her cunt, fucking her as hard as I could, giving her no reprieve.

  "Jules...please." Her begging was a symphony to my ears, her soft cries harmonized in my brain.

  "Keep begging." I thrust faster, pounding into her. My balls slapped against the groove of her ass, mixing with the sound of her moans and the headboard slamming into the wall.

  She screamed, begging for a mercy she wouldn't get from me. I wanted everyone in town in a thousand-mile radius to hear me fucking what was mine.

  I wrapped my hand around her throat, adding enough pressure to disrupt her air supply. Leaning low, causing my dick to hit her G-spot, I bit down into her shoulder until she brokenly whispered my name.

  "Julian!" she cried out seconds later, trying to run from the climax that possessed her body, making her quiver and come apart. Her pussy clamped down on me, forcing my dick to spasm.

  When my balls drew up tight, I made sure I buried myself to the hilt, pumping my seed into her.

  Her hands came up to cradle my face. I rested my forehead against hers, feeling her body tremble from the aftershocks of her climax.

  Now that I was temporarily sated, it was time to go home.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  With one swipe of his tongue, he had me right back where he wanted me. He'd made my body come alive for him, giving me a minimal amount of pain.

  I closed my eyes, already feeling the effects of all things Julian. I was already craving more of him. More pleasure, more pain.

  "We need to leave." He placed a chaste kiss on my forehead and pulled away. His clothes were fixed in seven seconds flat. With a swipe of his hand, his hair was tamed back into its sleek style.

  He gave me my dress, sans underwear. I slid into it and did my best with my own mane.

  "Tell me about my sister. Why did you make me think she was in that room? What he did to her…" My tattered heart shredded, replaying the visuals in my head. It forced me to think of my father, which made me think of Lacy Tidwell.

  I knew Julian had every answer to my questions. I also knew getting him to tell me those answers would take time, or he simply never would. Now was as good of time to demand answers as any. I should’ve done that from the time he stepped into this room. Not give into him again and again.

  "Because I'm a bastard. It was selfish. And partially to shield you from it."

  "You mean to control me?"

  "Yes. And I would do it again. It kept you obedient." He looked down at my exposed legs, then back at my face.

  "Tell me, Morgana. How do you tell someone their father owns part of something like Dahlia? That he's one of the most requested performers?”

  “Or that he dragged his daughter into a room to torture and then sleep with her, day after day, before killing her?"

  I wanted to cry, but my eyes were dry. I'd already cried so much over my father, who he really was, and the painful things he'd done to my sister.

  "Penny used to lure girls and boys out for him. All those friends she had, all the boyfriends? I guess it wouldn't cross your mind to wonder why the same ones never came around." Rejections filtered through my head at his confession, but I knew he wasn't lying.

  "Penny wasn't sick."

  "I know. She was what you call normal, which really makes her sicker than either of us."

  Could I argue that point?

  This was all so exhausting. It made me feel empty. The things everyone made me believe, lies spun around me in a suffocating web of cruel intentions.

  "We need to leave here," he repeated, moving around the room, checking for who knows what.

  I gave a resigned shrug, giving no indication of what I planned on doing. Something I could never let him find out about.

  The stars in the sky gave beauty to a dark night.

  I'd dozed for the first forty minutes of the drive, but now a soft thud kept waking me.

  "What's wrong with your car?" I unintentionally snapped. My overall sour mood and exhaustion had my patience on empty.

  "Nothing," he answered calmly.

  "What do you mean, nothing? What is that––who is in the trunk?"

  The inside lights on his dash were the only thing that allowed me to see one side of his mouth tilt up in a smirk.

  I was right; he had someone in the goddamn trunk.

  "Julian, who is in the trunk?" My nerves were shot. He wouldn't give me any answers on Dakota, and his possessive nature had a murderous look spreading across his face when I asked about Kieran.

  "Someone my brother put there."

  "How long have they been in there?" Fuck, I wasn't ready to deal with this.

  A bright florescent light temporarily blinded me. The green and blue sign for some unknown gas station. No other vehicles were in sight.

  “Stay put,” he warned climbing out of the car.

  I watched until he was inside, talking on his cell phone. Moving as fast as I could, I unbuckled my seatbelt and dove across the seat. He'd taken the keys with him, but I was more concerned about the person in the trunk. Pulling the lever for trunk, I heard the telltale pop.

  Scrambling out of the car, I darted to the rear, lifting the lid. The smell of excrement had me gagging. A curvy woman was inside in nothing but her bra and piss-y underwear.

  She sobbed from behind her gag; her wrists were tied behind her back. Glancing up, my stomach dipped. Julian stood staring out at me from the front store-window, his expression unreadable.

  "You have to get up, we have to—" Looking at her legs, the one she rested on was leaning at an odd angle. It was broken; there was no way she could run, and I couldn't carry her.

  "I'll be back." I didn't make any promises; what I was doing was reckless. It made no difference to me when someone died—I could even watch them be tortured—but toss an injured person in front of me in need of help, and suddenly I was a saint. A hypocritical hero.

  Storming towards the gas station, the closer I got, the clearer Julian's smile grew.

  I barged right inside, barely glancing at the man behind the counter. “You have to let her go.”

  "Why would I do that?"

  "Because it's wrong!"

  "Is everything all right?" The guy came from behind the counter, walking towards us.

  "We're fine; my wife hasn't had her medicine for a few days. She gets delusional."

  "I'm delusional? You're crazy!"

  Come on, we still have little ways to go." He brushed past me so calm and collected, making it seem as though I truly were insane.

  I turned boldly to the employee. "He has a woman in his trunk. She's covered in piss, and her leg is broken."

  The man's face visibly paled, but he made no effort to move.

  "Why are you just standing there? Call the police!" He still stood rooted in place. Attempting to move past him to call myself, he reached out and grabbed me by the shoulders.

  If I could have foreseen the consequence of his action, I would've never gotten out of the car.

  Julian pulled the man away, steadying me so I didn't fall on my ass, and then his hand was around the man's throat, lifting him off the ground.

  "Jules, no!" I tried to pull him away, failing miserably. The man's pale face turned a bold shade of red. He gasped for air, flailing his arms around.

  "Julian, put him down!" I screamed until my voice turned hoarse. He sighed and looked at the ceiling before lowering the man to the floor.

  "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have touched her," the man whined.

  "That's right, you shouldn't have fucking touched her." Julian retorted; his voice as deceptively calm as always. I'd just started to feel slightly relieved when he gripped the man by the back of the neck and slammed his face into the ice cream freezer.

  I heard the bone in his nose crack. Blood sprayed across the glass. The man slid to the floor, sobbing, as Julian s
tepped away.

  Rushing behind the counter, I searched frantically for a phone. Julian walked towards me, taking his time without a care in the world.

  Spotting a handgun, I grabbed the heavy piece of metal and pointed it at him.

  He never stopped walking.

  "Go ahead, pull the trigger." He kept coming until he was right in front of me. His green hues staring into my olive ones, unblinking.

  “What are you waiting for? Shoot me.” He reached out and grabbed my hand, bringing the barrel of the gun to his forehead

  We could have stood there for minutes, but it felt like hours. I couldn’t kill him. I needed him as much as I tried to hate him. A sob tore through my chest and my grip loosened; Julian easily took the gun from my hand, winking at me.

  "Poor thing,” he sighed. “Oh, and your safety was on.” He did something I couldn't see on his way back to the employee.

  "Julian, don—"

  He pressed the gun to the man's temple and pulled the trigger. Some type of chunky matter and blood splattered across bags of chips and the tiled floor.

  "That's gorgeous," Julian admired, adding, "Not as gorgeous as you, of course." He slipped the gun into his back pocket and strode back to where I was standing with my feet shackled in place.

  "He didn't...how could you do that to him?"

  "He touched you. That was me being nice. I had every right to put him in the trunk and take him home. Now come." He walked around the counter and grabbed my limp hand, practically dragging me back to the car.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  A man was dead because of me.

  There was a woman in the trunk on the way to what I was certain would be her painful last days, all because I couldn't pull a trigger.

  "I need a cleanup on Route 18." Julian spoke into his phone, said a few more words, and hung up.

  "How do you get away with this? Killing so many people?" I leaned my head against the leather seat and stared at him. He was beautiful yet, at the same time, he was terrifyingly ugly.