by Liza James
I rush to her, refusing to let this be it. Never again, we already decided. This is fucking it for us. "We'll figure this out, okay? Don't do anything crazy, don't worry about all this bullshit. Let me talk to Ruby, you go find Aura. We'll make a plan and come back to you both with the details."
She inhales deeply, "Okay. You're right, we're doing this together now. We're always stronger together."
I smile, but I don't think it reaches my eyes. Because there's another whisper lingering in the back of my mind while I attempt convincing her to stay put.
The idea that maybe, Ruby and I can handle this ourselves while keeping Aura and Lyp safe.
I'm lying to her, again. And it rips through me like a knife, scarring my flesh and weakening this already fragile connection between us.
But I have to do this, and I have a feeling Ruby will be on the same page with me.
"Promise?" I urge her, knowing full well I'm double-crossing her in the same breath.
"I promise," she replies, her sweet voice like silk in my darkness. I reach for her desperately, my lips crashing against hers as I kiss her.
What if this is the last time I'll have this? Feeling her against me and her energy melting with my own.
It won't be though. That's the thing, there's no other option than to end The Nation, my family, and then come home to the love of my fucking life. My other half, my soul.
Calypso.
I'll be back simply because I can't go on without her.
"Go find Aura, I'll come to you in a bit."
“What the fuck did you just say?" Ruby's leaning against the closed bathroom door and I rush forward while slamming my hand over her mouth.
"Be quiet so the girls don't fucking hear us," I remind her, and Ruby suddenly rips my hand from her mouth while her lips curl back in a snarl.
"You're telling me, they want Lyp and Aura delivered to them tonight at midnight. Or we all fucking die. Those are my fucking options here." Her arms cross tightly over her chest, and a sick smile pulls along her face.
"Those are the options they gave me, but those aren't our only ones. They do know where we are, they had a fucking camera in my room and I didn't realize it," I explain, my stomach sinking with nausea when I think about them getting off to Lyp and I having sex.
Fuck them. Disgusting fucks.
"When did they even get in here while we were gone?" Ruby tries to rein in her voice, but it's rising with each newly angered word and revelation.
"I don't know." I rub the palms of my hands over my eyes, turning and pacing across the small space while we talk. I don't know how the hell they got in here. "I've no fucking clue. But this is why I'm saying, if you and I go alone tonight, we can figure out a way to dismantle their operation, take them out without bringing the girls into it."
"You want us to lie to them," Ruby replies dryly. Clearly not hot on the idea of lying to Aura.
I pause, my own instincts whispering to tell me this may not be a good idea. "I know, I get it. I don't want to lie to Lyp either, especially now when we're finally getting back to a good place. But at the same time—" I halt my words, uncertain if I'm ready to speak this out loud or not. "Lyp means everything to me, Ruby. I couldn't go on without her. And at this point, I'll keep her safe at any cost. She's been through too fucking much as it is."
Ruby lets her head fall back against the wall, lifting her hands and running her fingers through her hair in irritation. Her foot is tapping incessantly, and she sighs on a defeated groan. "Fuck, fuck. Yeah, I get that. I feel the same way about Aura."
"So, we do what we have to do."
"Fine, fuck. Okay, but how the hell are we going to get out of the house without them?" Ruby proves a valid point. I've had my eyes on Lyp like a hawk since we got her back, and Ruby has been the same way with Aura since they found out Dom was getting close again.
"If Dom thinks we're bringing the girls directly to him, they won't be here at the house. I pulled the camera so they can't continue watching, and I'll do another sweep of the apartment just in case they've hidden anything else. You keep an eye out too, and we'll sneak out while the girls are asleep." I explain, leaning back against the bathroom counter and crossing my arms over my chest.
I have this lingering feeling, swimming and burning under my skin. It's pulling tightly and whispering that this is still a bad idea. But I shove it away, refusing to acknowledge the probability of this going incredibly wrong.
"This doesn't feel right," Ruby says quietly, meeting my eyes with doubtful ones.
I look down, kicking my foot against the floor a couple of times before looking to her again. "I know. So, let's get it over with and come home to our girls."
She nods, and turns around without another word, an edge of bitter anger tensing her movements as she walks out of the bathroom.
I follow behind her and the two of us walk toward the living room, finding Aura and Lyp nestled together on the couch with a show playing on the television—Parks and Rec.
"Nothing beats Leslie Knope, literally nothing." Lyp says as she lifts a few bites of popcorn to her mouth and points at the tv as we walk in.
"I don't know about that; Andy Dwyer is a close second." I mutter, remembering how intense her love of Leslie is.
"Take that back right now, there is no second to Leslie. There's only her, and everyone else," she snaps, but I can hear the humor in voice as her gaze settles on me.
It's as if we're ignoring the major weight in the room, and Aura's the one to turn things back to our reality. "We wanted to watch something light, take our minds off things for a bit."
Ruby nods, and I catch her nervously running her hand up and down the side of her arm as she looks to Aura.
"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," she replies, and Aura's eyes narrow slightly on her girlfriend. Lyp is watching me, and it's like they can both feel something's up.
We already fucking suck at lying to them.
"What's going on?" Lyp asks, adjusting herself on the couch so she's sitting a bit straighter. She sets down the popcorn and runs her hands up and down her thighs.
I focus in on the movement, on her creamy skin and soft touch. For a split second, I think she's teasing me because her legs shift a bit wider apart, her hand moving to her inner thigh while my mind switches to a new vision. Her naked body below mine, her legs spread and her hand moving—
"Distracted much?" Ruby elbows me in the ribs, and my eyes immediately rip up to Lyp's face. I swear, there's the tiniest hint of a smile, and I narrow my gaze at her.
"Sorry," I mutter before continuing. "Let's just take the next couple of days to breathe and rethink things. Watch Parks and Rec, read some books, focus on each other. And then we'll come up with our game plan."
"So we're putting it off a bit longer," Lyp replies, an edge of disbelief in her tone, as if she doesn't think we're actually doing that.
Come on, Lyp. Just fucking believe me and let this go.
I glance to Ruby, and I can already see the resolve settling in her shoulders. "Yeah, we are. But we'll figure out a way to fight back once we're all prepared and take them on together."
Aura sits in silence, as does Lyp. Both of them with their eyes glued to our frames. The air in the room shifts into something stale and disappointing. Shit, they can fucking feel this, I know it. But maybe we can table this until Ruby and I have already taken care of things.
This is going to be a shit storm to come home to once we're finished.
"All right," Lyp says, her shoulders straightening and her tone turning into something plastic and fake. "Sure, let's take a few more days to ignore this."
"Yeah, totally cool." Aura adds, her own narrowed eyes alight with fire. "We'll just hang around here until you both are ready to fix this shit."
Ouch.
My hands fall to my thighs ,and I nod, my lips flattening into a straight line as I turn around and walk back to my room. Ruby follows me for only a moment, whispering in my ear before I reach my bed
room door. "We've fucked up."
"Look at me," Lyp breathes out slowly, her hands grasping either side of my face as we sit apart from each other on my bed. "Tell me what's going on."
I quickly glance to the clock, my heart thundering at the fact that it's already eleven at night.
One hour.
I have one hour to get Ruby and I there before we are stormed by these horrific fucking men.
"Nothing is going on." I reach up and pull her hands from my face, holding them in my lap while I watch her.
I'm trying to keep my emotions locked away, my feelings at bay while I rush us through this shitty moment. But fuck it's hard when I look at her. When her eyes are flooding with everything I could want to see, her lips breathing with the breath I want to keep.
Passion. Need. Desire. Strength and power.
All of it, the light to my darkness, the strength to my own weakness.
"Why do I feel like you're lying to me then?" she whispers, her gaze now shining with tears.
"Don't cry," I say, leaning forward and pressing my lips to the space just under her eyes. "Everything is working out exactly as it should. I promise that."
"I don't believe your promises," she replies, and suddenly her voice is turning cold and her energy is detached.
"Don't do this right now, please,” I beg her, because fuck, if this is some of our last moments? I need them to be good.
"When should I do it then, K? When I wake up and find you gone?" She speaks the words with such confidence, as if she already knows my exact fucking plans.
But she doesn't. And it destroys me inside knowing she can see through me this well.
I'm silent, wondering how the hell I confront this with her. How do I explain that I'm doing precisely what I told her she was never allowed to do again?
Scoffing in realization, she suddenly pulls back and scrambles off the bed in an angry motion. "Jesus Christ, what the fuck is going on, K?" she snaps, and I'm anxiously wondering how I'm going to make it out of here without her seeing.
I hurry after her and watch as she throws her hands up into her hair, pacing over my floor without looking at me. I roughly grip the back of her neck and yank her toward me, twisting her around so she's forced to look at me.
I'm hovering over her, her head tilted back to look at me. Her long eyelashes are splayed over her cheeks, small tears clinging to the strands before she lets them fall.
"We're almost through this, just a little while longer." I urge her, my voice twisted with the pain I'm feeling unravel in my own stomach. I hate this, I hate feeling it, experiencing it, watching it unfold in the girl standing before me.
"Together. You said together," she grinds out through clenched teeth and suddenly her hands fly forward to grip my face tightly. She drags my forehead against hers, our chests pressed firmly against each other as we breathe heavily.
"I know," I whisper, refusing to give her move than this. I fucking can't. I can't risk her following us. "I know what I said, and I still stand by that."
"If it's me. You stand by that if I'm the one risking something." Her voice is hoarse, and her lips tremble before me, begging to be kissed, consumed—devoured.
I give in, colliding with her mouth in an effort to stop this conversation and take what's finally mine. I stalk us back toward the wall, until she's pressed up against it and gasping for breath beneath my lips.
"K," she breathes out, but I don't let her speak. I kiss her again, slipping my tongue along her bottom lip until she opens, and I push inside of her. I sweep along her skin, tasting her flesh over mine. We're starving, and in the wake of potentially losing each other again, I can't seem to get close enough.
"I want to bury myself inside of your flesh. Scar your thoughts with only me, your memories, your future. All of it, it's mine. Until you've forgotten there was ever anyone before me." My hand slips down to her pussy, brushing my fingers along her core while she gasps at the touch. "How wet you are, how you feel when I'm fucking you, the sounds you make when I'm begging to come. Those are mine, and I'll never allow anyone else to take them."
"Fuck," she breathes out, and then my world shifts all together in one single instant again. "I love you."
"Say it again," I urge her, slipping underneath her panties and feeling how wet she is. I bite down on her lip until she whimpers, and pull back so I can hear those sweet words again.
"I love you, K."
Jesus Christ, I'm so turned on. So, fucking wet at hearing those words from her mouth. I never anticipated feeling this way, not off the affection of someone else—no. How did I not realize how powerful this was?
Loving someone else.
It's a vulnerability I didn't realize held such intoxicating strength as well.
I slip inside of her, and she gasps and moans at the same time. "Again," I demand, pulling out and pushing back in as I grip her thigh and drag it over my hip.
"I love you." Over and over again, I make her say it, pumping into her so quickly I can hear and feel just how wet she really is.
I want to taste every inch of her, but I know the time is coming quickly to where I'll have to run from this again.
She comes around my fingers, her tight pussy pulsing against my flesh and soaking me with her own arousal.
I lean forward, lifting my hand from her and dragging her cum over her lips as she's done to me. "I love you," I release the words against her ear, feeling the way her chest swells beneath mine. Her hands bite tightly into my shoulders, moving to my neck, clawing over my skin as if we're becoming one in this moment.
She grips my jaw and twists me toward her lips, claiming my mouth as that eager hunger comes thrashing back to the front of her persona. Her dominance, her power, ripping forward as she kisses me fiercely. Her lips move over my mine, her tongue warring and colliding with my own. She tastes me and takes me in one intoxicating show of craving desire.
Suddenly, we're both breathing heavily against each other, our hearts pound in one synchronized rhythm. Our hands are buried in each other’s skin, refusing to let go of what this moment is, what we've finally given to each other.
But when I pull away just briefly, I see the time is ticking far quicker than I'd like to admit. I take her hand and pull her back toward my bed, hoping she can fall asleep in the next half hour so I can break away.
I hate this. Every single moment of it. But even with the intensity of what we just experienced, I'm solidified in the fact that I could never lose or risk the light she gives me.
We climb into bed and I tug her against me, wrapping my arms around her waist with her beck pressed to my chest. Her fingers weave through mine, and my thumb brushes along her skin. I'm memorizing every detail of her figure, of the feeling of her warmth against my cold. The way her lighter blonde hair mixes with my darker shades.
Every detail. Her breath. Her words. The sound of her voice.
Whether I'm here or not, she'll always be mine.
We shut the door quietly behind us, leaving Lyp asleep on my bed and Aura passed out on the couch. Ruby is tense and anxious, but with her own anger and hatred toward Dom than us sneaking out.
I'm sure it all correlates together, but she's just as hungry to end him for good for what he's done to Aura as I am with Lyp.
We're rushing toward my bike in silence when my phone suddenly pings from my pocket. I pull it out, looking to find a text from Alex on my screen.
"If you aren't here in twenty, we're coming to you." I repeat the text out loud for Ruby to hear and she's already lifting her hands and cracking her knuckles in front of her. I have my gun with me, but Ruby preferred the knife she's kept on her since I gave it to Aura all those months ago.
"Well then, let's show them who's coming," she replies. I nod and climb onto my bike after shooting a text back and saying we're on our way. Ruby jumps on behind me, and we're immediately on the road headed in the direction of the club.
The air whips over my skin, and I have my hair pulled up on top o
f my head. Neither of us wore a helmet, and sometimes I wonder if it's because I prefer the danger of riding without one now. I used to be adamant about wearing it, and I always make sure Lyp wears one if she's with me.
But for myself? I don't know...I want to feel the adrenaline in my blood. The electrical vibration under my frame and working through every inch of my body. My eyes remain focused on the road, my grip tight and intentional as we near Pandora's Box.
"I don't know where they'll be here, other than on the back side of it. I'll park across the street in the old lot first. We can watch them from behind the trees over there before making our move." I shout out over the wind as Ruby leans closer and listens.
I see her nod out of the edge of my eyes and slow the bike as we come up to the lot from the opposite side. No one should be able to see us here, and I'm confident it'll give us a good vantage point to see what exchange is happening with Dom.
I wouldn't say our plan is fool proof. It's not a stone cold, crisply laid out idea to lock them all behind bars or slaughter the lot.
Unfortunately, Ruby and I both work best off pressure and flexibility. Recklessness tends to be our preferred method of attack. So, when I park the bike and we climb off, we're already hurrying behind the large set of trees nearby, ducking under branches as we seek out our enemies.
"What the fuck are we going to do when they realize we don't have the girls," Ruby asks, glancing my way as we watch one man emerge from the darkness. He's holding a phone in front of his eyes, wearing all black. I narrow my vision, trying to make out who it is when my phone suddenly rings in my pocket.
"Fuck!" I whisper loudly, scrambling to silence the sound as Alex's name flashes across the screen. I look back up and down again, realizing it is indeed my brother standing on the other side of the street. "Ah shit, that's him—my brother."
"That guy? Easy. I love taking out manipulative, shitty men," Ruby says with a wicked smile on her face. But then a second man comes up behind them, and I can hear Alex irritatingly cursing at my lack of answering his call.
