Gemma’s friend and the irritating, infuriating street rat that I play with for my own amusement at school.
The initial shock fades and my hands flex at my sides.
She’s a thorn in my side, pulling her pickpocket tricks right in front of my boys. She doesn’t fear me like she should, her stubborn brazenness like a bug I can’t squash.
This little cockroach just signed her damn death warrant.
The rage comes on fast, unstoppable and all-consuming. It flares like the strike of a match, my entire body burning up with hatred for this bitch.
A rough growl tears from my throat as I rip the door open.
Blair yelps, but it doesn’t satisfy me. Her sleek inky ponytail swings back and forth with her agitated movements as she scurries into motion. She flashes me a look mixed with defiance and frustration.
Not fear, though. And that just won’t fucking do, will it?
“No!” Blair shouts as she tries to scramble across the center console.
I reach in after her, snatching her wrist in a blink before she can get far. Her beat up shoe scuffs against the wheel while she kicks.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” I snap. “Get back here!”
Her foot flies at my face, hitting my ribs when I duck back. I grunt at the burst of pain. Little bitch. The kick caught me off guard, but I don’t release her wrist.
Blair Davis is going to pay for this. I’ll make sure of it.
Tightening my hold on her, I yank on her arm until she yields. When I’ve pulled her from my ride, I cage her in and use my height to trap her against the car.
Her pale cheeks are flushed, but her whiskey-colored eyes are sharp and focused. She looks every inch a hobo, even more than usual in a faded black long-sleeve t-shirt that has a threadbare neckline. There’s no trace she’s sorry, only pissed she got caught.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snarl.
Stubbornness is all I see on her face. I glare at her. She doesn’t know the monster she’s crossed. What I do to her at school is fucking child’s play compared to what I want to do now.
Blair tests my hold and I clench her bony wrist tighter until her eyes fly around the room.
Giving her a shake, I lean into her face. She locks her gaze on me, tilting her chin up because she is the type of woman to look death in the face and fucking laugh. My lip curls back, and I hiss out a breath between my teeth.
With a grunt, I shove her aside so I can lean in the car to cut the engine. I don’t see the key fob, but she could have it hidden. That’s a problem for later, once I’ve dealt with her. I’m not letting her escape. When I slam the car door, she purses her lips.
“You are in way over your head, you thieving bitch,” I seethe, tightening my grip on her wrist. To drive my point home, I grab her upper arm and squeeze. She’s skin and fucking bones, but it doesn’t stop me. “You’ll pay for this.”
Blair tenses, but still gives me a cool look that makes me grind my teeth.
“Let’s go.” I drag her out of the garage.
Three
Devlin
Something tells me she’s slippery, waiting for me to drop my guard. Not a chance, little thief.
Blair remains silent as we enter the kitchen. The tenacity of her fight when I first caught her in the car has bled away, but I doubt it’s simply gone. She must be trying to play up that she’s weak against my strength.
I don’t want to bring her to my room. The kitchen’s my best bet for something to restrain her.
Drawer after drawer, I come up empty. All I’ve done is make a load of noise as I search. Blair tests my hold, attempting to wrench away. I dig my fingers into her pale skin with a growl. Frustration sears in my chest as I search for cooking string or some shit.
Christ, how do I not know where this crap is in my own house?
“You seem unprepared for taking someone captive,” Blair deadpans.
I round on her, letting my angry gaze glide over her petite frame. “If you’d rather, I’ve got a pair of handcuffs in my bedroom. I’d chain you up to my bed, but I don’t want you to get it dirty.” I pause to feign thoughtfulness. “Then again, I guess I could give you a flea dip first.”
Blair’s lip curls and I return to my search.
Her stare speaks volumes, pricking the back of my neck as I tug her in my wake. When I shoot a glance at her, she’s taking in everything around her with a calculating interest that irks me.
Her pulse doesn’t lie though. It jumps beneath my fingers when I jerk her forward another step by her wrist.
“Take it in, Davis,” I spit, sweeping my arm. “It’s the most money you’ll ever be near.”
Her brow ticks up and her pouty lips twitch, the only responses to my words. She’s so practiced at containing her reactions when I attack her in school. It irritates me that she won’t fight me here, either.
Fucking say something. Do something.
It becomes difficult to rummage through the drawers with one hand while I drag her in circles around the room.
Biting back an annoyed grunt, I spot the pouch attached to her belt. Maybe she’s got something I can use. The poetic justice of using her own shit on her is too good.
In one fluid movement, I spin her around and hook one of the metal-backed stools by the island with my foot. The jarring scrape against the tiles makes both of us tense.
Stepping into Blair’s personal space, my hands lock on her waist. This close I can spot the tiny freckles dotting the bridge of her nose and across her cheeks.
Her breath hitches at my proximity, her eyes widening a fraction. “Get away from me!”
I smirk as I hoist her up with ease, dropping her none too gently on the stool. She shoots her hands to the seat to steady her balance. I bring a hand to her throat, grinning when her lips move together in a displeased twist.
“Don’t think about going anywhere,” I croon in a mocking, flirtatious tone. “You’re not escaping.”
I expect her to fight me. She has a fire inside to unleash against me, one I crave—if only for the chance to squash her by force. But she stills, her hands clenched on her knees. Interesting.
She could be biding her time. She’ll wait all night for an opportunity that isn’t coming. I’m not letting her get away with any trick.
Blair’s intelligent eyes sweep the room, lingering on the doors.
I wind her soft ponytail around my hand, then dig my fingers into the elastic and undo it so her dark hair spills like a curtain around her face. It was hard to see in the struggle, but it’s no longer the color of an angry storm cloud I’ve grown used to searching for in the halls at school. It was dyed the unnatural color when I flailed cash on a fishing wire hours ago. Now it’s as black as mine.
Blair remains silent, even as I slide my hand from her hair, down her baggy shirt to her hip. It doesn’t get a rise out of her. When I snatch her pouch with a quick move, she finally loses that bored expression. The corners of her eyes tense.
A brittle chuckle drops from my lips and I give her neck a slight squeeze. “What do you have in your bag of tricks?”
Blair cuts her eyes to the side, her thick lashes sweeping over those freckles that wink at me like the stars. Her lower lip sucks between her teeth slightly instead of answering.
I set the zipper pouch on the counter and dig through it with one hand. My brows shoot up at the lock picks, pliers, a screwdriver, and a ring of keys that look similar to the set Bishop and I have for the school for our own mischief. My little thief isn’t playing around.
The corners of my mouth curl in satisfaction when I pass over a thin cord. Perfect.
Snatching her wrists, I force them low behind the chair, tying each tightly to the metal backing.
“You think you’re scaring me with this? You’re not.”
“I caught you, didn’t I? You’ve been a bad fucking girl.”
Blair twists her head far enough to glare at me from the corner of her eye, her hair cascading down her bac
k. I bury my fingers in it and tug her silky strands, directing her head to bend backward. She meets my eyes, and a sinister grin slashes across my face.
“That’s right. Struggle all you want.” I lean close to touch my nose to her temple, inhaling. She smells like cheap imitation vanilla, but I like it. The sharpness of it suits her. “You’re under citizen’s arrest. I’m in charge and you’re not going anywhere.”
Blair scoffs under her breath. My fist tightens in her hair and a small sound gets stuck in her throat.
I speak against the side of her face. “Watch that attitude. Or you won’t like what I do to you.”
Releasing her, I check the integrity of the knots on each of her wrists, ensuring she can’t wriggle free. They’re snug enough to nip into her skin without cutting off circulation. Just right for discomfort. Once I’ve finished securing her, I come around and pat her thigh. Folding my arms, I tilt my head, considering my intruder.
“You’ll stay like that until the police arrive.”
“You haven’t called the police.” Blair cocks her head, matching my movements. She crosses her legs. “And you won’t.”
My arms drop and I advance on her, halting inches from her face with my hands braced on the backrest of the stool. It’s tall enough that it gives her some height, but still doesn’t bring us on an even level.
The bravado has to be fake. She can’t think she has any leverage as the captured thief in this situation.
“Won’t I? I’ve rained hell on people for less than what you’ve done.” The threat hangs in the small space between us. “You were stealing my car.”
“That gaudy piece of shit?” Blair taunts in a frosty tone. “What an eyesore.”
I hold back a growl. This will be over too fast if I don’t tread carefully. She deserves slow torture for her disrespect. I touch her hair again, twisting it between my fingers as I consider my tactics.
“Did you dye your hair black for the full criminal aesthetic? Now you really fit into the trailer park you suck dick at, don’t you?”
She sets her jaw, shooting daggers at me. I flick the lock of hair away.
Blair looks like a goddess of trickery and misdeeds tied to the kitchen stool with a challenge in her eyes, a porcelain-smooth throat begging for my hand around it, and a fuck you tilt to her pouty mouth.
It’s a tempting sight.
She’d be beautiful if she wasn’t such a goddamn pain in the ass.
“Turning tricks isn’t paying the bills, so you figure you upgrade from your brazen pick pocketing to this?” Another dangerous smile curves my mouth. “Or are bruised knees more your mom’s area of expertise?”
“Shut up!” Blair jerks against the stool with a rough sound. Her hair hides her face as her shoulders rise with her sped up breathing.
Ah, a weak point.
I cup her face, pressing my thumb under her chin to force her face back to me. I drive the knife in harder, hitting her back where I can hurt her with words.
“So that’s it. Wait until the student body at Silver Lake hears the truths I’ve uncovered about Raggedy Anne’s home life.”
She bares her teeth. The fire I’ve been craving bursts out. I want to fucking fight her for crossing me.
“There you are, you little demon.” My thumb nudges her head back further. “I’ll finally get you out of my damn school once the cops arrest you for trespassing, breaking and entering, and attempted theft.”
“Asshole,” she growls. “You’re a pathetic shithead.”
I laugh in her face, leaning closer. She rears back as much as she can in the awkward position I’ve put her in, her nose scrunched.
“Do you really want to dig a deeper grave for yourself?” My voice is soft, at odds with my words.
“You would’ve called the cops already. You haven’t.” She thrashes against the knots binding her wrists. “You’d rather play this sick game of pretending you have any control over me.”
Everyone else at school has always seen me as a cocky playboy, the big flirt. But not Blair. No, she sees through all the stage diversions I put on. As if she knows. She could never know what things are like. Not a worthless gutter rat like her.
My jaw tics and I grip her face, squeezing her cheeks. “Maybe I just want to break you first. But you’re definitely ending the night in a jail cell.”
“Where’s that, your basement?”
A mean smirk twists my lips. “Is that what you want? You’re wishing in that messed up little head of yours that this is the start to some fairytale, where I’ve got some tower to keep you in? I know the girls at school like to talk, but I’m no prince. I’m your worst nightmare, sticky fingers. I’m going to make you hurt for touching my car.”
“I could’ve told them that before they degraded themselves bouncing on your diseased dick.” Blair tries to grin, but my hold on her face stops it. “All I see is a pathetic asshole who surrounds himself with a kingdom of fake idiots. You can’t do anything to me. You don’t have the balls.”
“You seem to be missing the fact I have you tied up in my kitchen. Don’t wish for mercy.” I snap my teeth close to her face. “You won’t find any from me.”
“For someone who loves that ridiculous car, you’re sure taking your sweet ass time calling the authorities to take me away.”
She sounds smug, like she’s got me figured out. Yeah, right.
This is what drives me crazy. She acts like she knows everything about me. She knows nothing.
“If you’re in such a hurry, then…”
I spin away from her. Once I dial, I slowly angle to face her once more, hand tucked casually in my pocket.
Blair stares me down, a crack in her brave facade. Her brows pinch together as I start to whistle. She twitches.
“Ok, wait—hang up. Seriously, I’ll,” she cuts off, taking a heaving breath. She uncrosses her legs, no longer playing this like I’m not a threat. Watching her pride break and hearing the desperation flooding her voice is a feast of vindication. “Devlin—please.” Her eyes go wide as I open my mouth to answer, snapping my attention to the phone. “I’ll do anything! Don’t!”
Lifting a brow, I let the moment stretch. Her expression has lost every ounce of confidence, now that the real consequences loom. I switch the phone to speaker and slide it across the granite. It stops near her, twirling around.
“Thanks for calling Jimmy’s Pizza Palace, can I take your order?”
Blair darts a shocked look from the phone to me. “You…called for delivery?”
“Hello? Pick up or delivery?”
Instead of answering her or the person on the phone, I hit the end call button. “What did you just offer?”
Blair shifts on the stool, licking her lips. Grudgingly, she repeats, “I’ll do anything. Just…don’t call the cops. I can’t go to jail. Whatever way you want to get back at me, fine.”
“Anything?” Ice crystalizes my voice, turning it jagged and sharp. “You’re giving me carte blanche to take the law in my own hands.” I click my tongue and shake my head, gaze raking over her. “Dangerous power to offer someone.”
She shrugs.
“You know.” I step closer, sliding a hand up her leg. I squeeze, my thumb pressed high on her inner thigh. “Rumor has it you’ll give it up for the right price. Let’s say we waive that fee for starters.”
Blair visibly struggles to respond, flicking her eyes away and tucking her chin to her chest. Her breaths come fast and harsh.
“If that’s what you want.”
Amusement zips through me at the tortured twitch in her expression.
“On second thought…” I trail off, frowning severely. “I don’t want to catch anything from a filthy gutter rat. And I don’t slum it, not when I have primo pussy on lockdown.”
The fall of her face makes my mouth twist into a caustic smile.
“You’re a pig.”
I step back, dropping my hand from her thigh. Swiping my phone from the counter, I wave it in her face.
“Go on. Beg me nice and pretty not to call the police.” I dip my chin down a fraction and raise my brows. “For real this time.”
A struggle crosses her face. The way she yanks on the cord feels like a victory.
“Please,” she mutters.
“You can do more than that. And you’d better.”
A grunt of frustration escapes her. When it’s clear she isn’t going anywhere, she collapses against the backrest of the stool and looks skyward, as if she’ll find an answer there.
Blair speaks to the high ceiling. “I didn’t have a choice. You have so many, it made sense. You could just buy another.”
“What are you talking about?”
Blair heaves a stilted breath. “I have…someone counting on me.” She lifts her head to pierce me with a world-weary look. “Money isn’t a commodity to you like it is to me. Plus, you’re an asshole.”
I stare at her for a beat. “I think I should call the police still. You don’t sound sorry at all.”
“I’m not,” Blair snaps. “I’ll do whatever it takes for the people I love.”
For a brief moment, I’m thrown off by her conviction.
An idea pops into my head. I trace my lips as I turn the thought over, examining it from all sides. It’s a little crazy, even for me. But it will teach Blair a lesson—one that sticks this time. She’s not sorry? By the time I’m through with her, repentance will be the least of her worries.
Touching my tongue to my lower lip, I peer at her through hooded eyes.
Destruction.
Control.
Revenge.
I’ll take it all and make her wish she’d never met me.
Crossing my arms, I face her. “You can either sign your soul over to me, or the cops. Take your pick, angel.”
Blair’s glare returns in full force.
I tamp down on the urge to laugh. Taming her will be an entertaining experience.
“I’m no one’s angel,” Blair swears.
Four
Blair
“So, what’s it gonna be, Davis?” Devlin leans his hip against the kitchen island.
Tempting Devil: Sinners and Saints Book 2 Page 3
