The Moth and the Flame (When Rivals Play Book 2)

by B. B. Reid

  It was a full minute since she had disappeared underwater and just as I was about to call her name, she appeared a mere foot in front of me.

  “Come here,” I growled, growing tired of her toying with me. I couldn’t even muster the patience to wait and swam to her instead. The moment I reached her, I gripped her hips and lifted her. She wrapped her legs around my waist while holding me captive with her excited gaze.

  “You have me. Now, what will you do with me?” Lou flirted.

  I did the only thing that felt right. I kissed her. I was lost inside a black void, and she was the flame lighting the way. I couldn’t resist its call. “I’m going to take you inside,” I said when I finally came up for air. “I’m going to make you come.” I started kissing down her neck. “And then I’m going to put you to bed.” Lowering my head, I drew her nipple inside my mouth, and she gripped the back of my neck while pushing her breasts out for more. Just as she began mewling, I released her.

  “Don’t stop,” she moaned.

  “I won’t,” I told her as I unwrapped her legs from around my waist. “If you come back inside like a good girl.” I heard her frustrated growl as I swam away and didn’t have to look behind me to know she followed.

  Back on the beach, she looked absolutely miserable as she shivered with her arms wrapped around herself, and I smiled. Her plan to get me inside her might have failed, but she got an A for effort.

  “Come here,” I said gently. “I’ll warm you up.” Despite her obvious impatience with me, she eagerly came into my arms and placed her head against my chest. “I’ve done some bad shit, and if you knew, you wouldn’t forgive me. So now I have to pay the price, Lou, and my penance is never to have you.”

  She was silent for a long while before she lifted her head. “You’re mine,” she told me, blue eyes sparkling with hope. “Aren’t you?”

  I pulled her close and buried my nose in her hair, inhaling deeply. “Yeah, Lou. I’m yours.”

  Standing on the tips of her toes, she nipped my bottom lip. “Then it doesn’t matter what you did. What’s mine is mine forever.”

  I closed my eyes and tried not to let myself hope. She had no idea. No fucking clue, and I still couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth.

  Back inside, and after the long hot shower e took together, I kept my promise. I kissed her all over, I touched her all over, but God help me, I left her pure.

  “Aren’t you going to ask me for your camera back?” I asked Lou as we lay in my bed. She hadn’t used the guest room once since I’d brought her here three days ago. My grandmother would probably beat me with a stick if she knew I had a girl in my room. She was a little old fashioned, and I’d just spent the last two days breaking every one of her rules.

  “After what I saw, I don’t think I’ll ever take another photo again,” Lou answered solemnly.

  At that moment, I wished Fox was standing in front of me so that I could bash his skull in. Last night, just when I thought Lou had escaped any lingering trauma, she’d woken up screaming from a nightmare. She’d relived it all over again, and then she told me with such bleakness in her eyes that she never stopped reliving it.

  “You’re stronger than you realize, Lou. I wouldn’t count yourself out just yet. Besides, you haven’t truly lost anything. Taking pictures of strangers was never your dream.”

  “Come again?”

  The serrated edge of her question made me grateful that she couldn’t see my face because I couldn’t stop my smile. “It’s something you found that you’re good at, but it’s not what you lay awake wishing for every night.”

  “Oh?”

  I heard the challenge in her tone and gripped her hip as I rose to the occasion. “You want a home and a life that you can’t run away from.” And one way or another, I’d give it to her—even if it meant that I wouldn’t be in it.

  I heard the snag of her next breath and felt the pause in her toes that had been lazily sweeping mine. It happened so quickly that if I weren’t already tuned in to every single breath Lou took, I would have missed it.

  “Well, I hear prison is nice this time of year,” she mocked, and I knew she didn’t like feeling so open.

  Her body jerked within the curve of mine when I pinched her side. “Behave,” I warned, but it sounded more like a purr. Like I was some goddamn house cat eager for a scratch behind the ears.

  She turned in my arms, and my hand found her ass when I drew her even closer. “You smell like me,” Lou whispered, and then she pressed her nose into my bare chest. “I’m all over you.”

  She then pushed me onto my back and straddled me. The only thing she wore was my T-shirt, so I felt her warmth and wetness, both mine for the taking. I gripped my fists in the sheets so I wouldn’t do just that, but then she started trailing soft kisses down my stomach.

  “Lou,” I called in the sternest voice I could muster, but she pretended not to hear me. I knew where she was headed, and I knew what she intended. We’d been going hot and heavy for two days, and somehow, I managed to keep my dick out of it, but Lou seemed determined to destroy what was left of my honor.

  Fuck your honor, and fuck your conscience, my dick seemed to say when Lou’s hand slipped inside my boxer shorts.

  She wrapped a hand around me, and I almost exploded like I was twelve instead of twenty.

  “Lou, don’t.”

  She peeked up at me and held my gaze as she trailed a finger up my dick. “You got to taste me,” she said, reminding me of our first morning in Sunset Bay. “Can’t I have just a drop?” I closed my eyes and swore, and as if on cue, my dick began leaking precum. “Hm,” she said, taking notice while her finger inched closer. “Your mouth says no, but your dick says yes.” She sounded truly torn when she said, “Which one should I listen to?”

  My eyes slowly opened, but my mouth remained shut as I stared back at her. She looked wide-eyed and innocent, but it only took a few seconds for her to get the message, and when she reached for my boxers, I knew I was irrevocably fucked.

  I WAS CELEBRATING MY VICTORY for all of two seconds before Wren stood from the bed, all-powerful and graceful like a feline. I watched him cross the room before shoving his boxers off his hips and giving his full attention back to me.

  My heart skipped a beat.

  I couldn’t put my finger on it, but he was different. Something deeply rooted inside of me told me that I no longer had control. My belly warmed as my thighs pressed together. I didn’t understand the reaction, but Wren’s gaze lighting up told me he did.

  “Take that off,” he ordered, referring to his shirt that I wore, and I eagerly did as I was told. “Come to me.”

  I stood from the bed on legs that shook, but when I stepped toward him, he shook his head.

  “If you want to suck me, you’ll have to get on your knees.”

  I sank to the floor, but then I frowned once my knees touched the carpet. “But you’re over there,” I argued. “How can I come to you if I’m on my knees?”

  His only response was to lift a brow.

  “You expect me to crawl?” I couldn’t hide the anger in my tone, but thankfully, I could hide the wetness pooling between my thighs.

  He shrugged as if he were asking me for the time instead of my pride. “I’ve been playing this game your way, Louchana. Now it’s time we played it mine.”

  “And what’s your game?” My eyes narrowed. “Humiliating me?”

  His head tilted, and when his gaze suddenly softened, I could feel myself wanting to go to him. “There’s no one else here but us, Lou.”

  I looked around the room, assuring myself that we were alone. Even if we hadn’t been, would I care if people knew that Wren had brought me to my knees? I knew without a doubt that I had brought him to his. Probably long before he or I ever realized.

  Slowly, I lowered onto my hands until I was on all fours. Wren’s loving gaze never left mine, and somehow, it felt like he was carrying me in his arms as I crawled to him. There was no trace of arrog
ance or triumph, and when I reached him, I sat back on my heels, and he leaned down to kiss me.

  “You really are mine,” he whispered with wonder in his voice. As if he couldn’t believe it—or was afraid to.

  “Yes.”

  He kissed me again before standing to his full height. “Then have your way with me, little Valentine.” He folded his arms behind his head with a grin that would have melted my panties if I were wearing any.

  With shaking hands, I reached for his cock. It was long, thick, and impossibly hard. The thick veins running down the length even made it look angry, and if that wasn’t intimidating enough, the fact that I had no idea what I was doing was enough to make me contemplate backing out.

  Maybe Wren knew I would.

  Maybe that was why he’d given in so easily.

  Feeling ravenous for more than just a taste of him, I parted my lips to take him inside, but he quickly gripped my chin.

  “Tell me again,” he ordered, and I knew he wanted to hear the words I spoke to him the night we trampled over the boundaries of friendship once and for all. This was our first time making it past second base, but he still made tell him every time we made out. For some reason, he needed reassurance. He was almost desperate for it.

  “What’s mine is mine forever.”

  He looked so tortured as he stared down at me. He was breathing harder than he should have been, and I knew if I placed my hand over his heart, it would be beating out of control.

  “I really hope you mean that.”

  “I do.” And to show him, I held him with my gaze as I licked the head of his cock. “I mean it now…” I licked him again, earning his groan. “Tomorrow.” A drop of cum emerged, and I licked that, too. It was salty and thick, and I wanted more. “Forever…” His legs shook a little when I ran my tongue up the shaft. “And always.”

  The moment my mouth watered, I slipped my lips over the thick head of his cock and tried to swallow him whole. He was even bigger in my mouth than he was in my hand, and I ended up gagging and coughing as my eyes welled up. Fucking porn stars made it look so easy.

  “Slow down,” he chuckled, sounding a little cocky. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

  I shook my head and held his gaze as I tried again. I gained an inch, but this time, he flinched and cursed when I grazed him.

  “Teeth, baby. Watch those teeth.”

  Hearing him call me baby for the first time stirred something in me. I wanted to hear it again. I wanted to earn it. Pulling my lips over my teeth, I pretended his cock was one of those cherry popsicles I loved so much growing up. And when I grabbed the base of his cock to keep from getting overzealous again, he groaned. On instinct, I began stroking him, using my spit for lubrication, and Wren rewarded me with a gasp and grabbing a fist full of my hair as he began pumping his hips.

  Having him so entirely at my mercy made my pussy throb until I was reaching between my legs with my free hand to relieve the ache. As my mouth worked his cock, my fingers stroked my clit.

  Seeing this, his eyes became wild and unfocused. “You want to come?” he asked me in a thick voice.

  Mouth full, I nodded eagerly.

  “Then be a good girl and come with me, Lou.” His hips began to lose their rhythm, and knowing he was close, my fingers sped up. A second later, I came with a cry that was muffled by his spurting cock. I started to pull away when he gripped my hair tighter.

  “No,” he barked. Wren’s blue eyes sharpened when our gazes met. “Swallow.”

  I knew he wasn’t fucking around, so after taking more of him, he threw back his head, and his abs contracted as he released a guttural groan. I felt his cum, hot and thick, ease down my throat and fill my belly. I already wanted more.

  “Fuck.” He fought to catch his breath, and then he kissed me. Deeply. I thought it was weird since I could still taste him, which meant he could too, but after only a second or two, I didn’t give a damn and kissed him back.

  He lifted me in his arms after we finally came up for air and carried me inside his bathroom where he cleaned us both up. By the time we had finished, and he carried me back to his bed, I was already plotting what we would get into next.

  Unfortunately, I knew more would have to wait when he brought reality crashing back.

  “I have to go, Lou. I have to go back.”

  I sat alone on the couch, drinking Granny Harlan’s gin—I never actually learned her name—and watching reruns of The 100. I always ended up sneering at the television whenever Bellamy came on screen. The longer I watched, the less dreamy he seemed, and I couldn’t believe I actually crushed on him. He was a selfish douchebag, and if he were real, I bet he would have been Wren’s best friend instead of me.

  Best friends…

  I scoffed even though there was no one around to hear me. Friends don’t fuck, and if they did, a good friend didn’t let another friend go down on them and then say, “Hey, see you later!”

  Only cocksuckers did that.

  But oh, wait…that was me. I’m the one who blown Wren and then got ditched. He left the morning after, claiming he had to talk to Fox. To stand before him and beg for my life as if it was his to take in the first place.

  That was over a week ago, and I hadn’t heard from Wren since.

  For all I knew, he was dead. Maybe Fox killed him just for being my friend. For wanting to protect me.

  There wasn’t a judge or jury alive who could ignore the evidence I had without raising suspicion. That was why Fox wanted me dead. I was a problem he couldn’t pay his way out of. I shook my head. Until now, I never thought Wren could be so naïve.

  But what if he succeeded?

  Perhaps that was the real reason I was upset. If Wren managed to convince Fox to keep me alive, Wren would never be free of him. He’d work for him until the end of days, which could be any day now. There would be no hope left for him.

  I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt the tears running off my chin. I angrily swiped them away feeling pathetic. Wren didn’t deserve my tears, my friendship, or my body. And it was better I told him—if I ever saw him again. I didn’t want to love him anymore. I didn’t want this pain. It wasn’t worth it.

  Tomorrow, I’d go to the police with the evidence to put Fox away for good. Wren might not forgive me, but one way or another, he would be free, and that innocent family would have justice.

  Not at all at peace with my new plan or having confidence in my ability to stick to it, I reached for the gin. My eye caught the colorful flyer lying on the coffee table. Some chick my age had been handing them out when I defied Wren’s orders and made my way into town a couple of days ago. Halloween was tomorrow, but unlike everyone else who didn’t have a price on their head, I wouldn’t be celebrating. I felt bitterness pooling on my tongue, so I drank until it didn’t matter—until nothing mattered.

  The world was spinning when I woke up the next morning, and with some effort, I peeled my eyes open to see that I was safely tucked in bed inside the guest room. Sitting up quickly, I clutched my head and grunted from the pain. The disorientation, however, didn’t distract me from the fact that I’d passed out on the couch last night.

  Before I could consider that I’d somehow drunkenly stumbled upstairs, the door opened, and Wren stood there looking very much alive if not all that well. He sported bruises that looked a few days old, and when he stepped inside, it wasn’t with his usual swagger. He limped across the room, and I forgot all about my hangover as I rushed to meet him.

  “Wren!” I threw my arms around his neck, and he grunted. I quickly stepped back and looked him over, wondering where he was hurt.

  “I’m okay,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “You don’t look okay to me! What did he do to you?”

  “He taught me a lesson about loyalty.”

  “Why?” Wren was the most loyal person I knew. Incidentally, it’s why I wanted to hate him. He was loyal to a man who didn’t deserve it.

  “Because he ordered me to
bring you to him, and I told him he might as well kill me.”

  “And he just let you go?”

  He laughed then, but there was no humor in it. “Fuck no. His son helped me escape.” Wren’s expression quickly turned troubled. “And Fox will make him pay for it.”

  “Fox has a son?”

  He nodded. “And a daughter. You’d like them. They’re little shits like you.”

  His eyes twinkled when I glowered at him. “Maybe he should have done us both a favor and left you to die.”

  Wren’s eyebrows nearly kissed his hairline. “What the fuck is your problem?”

  For a moment, I considered lying and walking away, but I knew he would never allow me to do either. “You left me.”

  “To save you,” he countered.

  “And if Fox had sent someone after me?” I shot back. I remembered how easily he found me and getting cornered in that alley. If it hadn’t been for Miles and Leo…

  “He doesn’t know where you are, Lou.”

  “And how do you know you didn’t lead him here?”

  “I was gone long before Fox got wind I was, but I still waited a couple of days before coming back to make sure I wasn’t followed.”

  “But if you hadn’t left in the first place—”

  “What did you expect me to do? Hide here with you forever?”

  Yes. “We could go to the police.”

  His hand shot out, and he yanked me into him. “We won’t be talking to the cops because I don’t trust them,” he dictated bitingly. “Any of them would sell you out.” His forehead came to rest on mine, and I could feel him soften as his hand found my hip. “I won’t take chances with you. That detective you saw killed was the only one who would have helped us.”

  “So what do we do?”

  Gripping my nape with his other hand, he kissed me softly. “We run.”

  “Okay,” I agreed all too easily. I should have been more hesitant about giving up the life I had in exchange for another, but it was as Wren said—I’d yet to find a life that I hadn’t wanted to run away from. “But before we go, can we do one thing first?”