I ran my fingers along the seam of her panties. “Say it baby.”
“Jake.” She squirmed against my hand, trying to put my fingers where she needed them, but I needed the words first.
I pulled the crotch of her panties to the side, my fingers running over her bare flesh, her moan loud in the quiet night. “Say it Lanie.”
“I need you.” She whispered.
That was all I needed to hear and I shoved two fingers into her wetness, covering her mouth with my own to absorb her scream, her muscles contracting around my fingers.
“I need more.” She panted, reaching for the zipper on my pants. Fuck yes, I’d help her with that, I needed more too.
We worked my zipper down, yanking my pants and boxer briefs down just far enough that she could wrap her hand tight around me. My head fell back and I thrust harder into her with my fingers until she pulled me closer and swung her leg up around my hip. I followed her direction, shoving her against the house, yanked her leg up higher and slammed home, covering her mouth once again with my own. I pulled my mouth away only a fraction, wanting to hear her pant and she did not disappoint.
I thrust in slow, but hard, trying to drag this out, knowing I needed her to feel us together, to have that to hold onto for a while yet. Her head snapped up when voices moved closer to where we were, but I didn’t stop thrusting. She let her head fall back against the house and closed her eyes. The voices sounded clearer so I knew they were moving closer, but there was no way in hell I was stopping so I continued to thrust hard and slow. I knew she was right there. If I went a little faster or just laid my thumb on her fucking clit, she’d explode and I wanted to watch that, but not as much as I wanted to draw this out, keep her as close to me as I could for as long as possible.
Loud voices swirled through the air around us and she shook her head, biting her lip. I leaned in, putting my mouth right beside her ear. “Stay quiet Lanie. We’re in the shadows, they probably won’t see us if we’re quiet.”
Her muscles clenched, squeezing the hell out of my cock, causing me to push my mouth against hers to absorb the groan I couldn’t stop. Was someone listening to us? Was the possibility of being caught exciting her?
I pushed my face up again, positioning my lips next to her ear. “Does that excite you baby? Do you like that they could catch us?”
She panted, but said nothing. She didn’t need to, her body was speaking for her by again clenching around my stiff cock. Fuck I was hard, harder than I’d ever been. At this rate I wouldn’t be surprised if I black out when I finally let myself come.
She ran her hands around my back, grabbing my ass and pushing against it hard forcing me deeper into her body. “Yes.” She hissed. “Like that Jake, please.”
Her head rolled side-to-side against the house, her body trembling with the need to come. The voices became faint again and I couldn’t be slow anymore. I slammed into her body, going hard and fast, listening to the hitch in her breath and knew she was on the edge. I reached down between us and wrapped my finger and thumb around her clit, rubbing only once before she threw her head back. I slammed my mouth against hers, absorbing the scream that never seemed to end while I thrust harder and faster than I ever had, chasing my own orgasm.
I was right, I saw fucking stars when I came, having to lean against her to keep from falling down. It had to be the longest fucking orgasm of my life, my body shaking and jerking against hers, still trembling from her own. I buried my face into the side of her neck, her leg slippery now from sweat, slid down from my hip, her foot landing on the ground.
I don’t know how long we stood there, but we didn’t move apart until we both had our breathing under control. I felt the goosebumps along her skin, the sweat drying on my own causing a chill after the intensity of that. She moved away from me and I let her, but not too far. I wrapped my hand around her arm.
“Lanie…” I started.
She shook her head. “No, Jake. That shouldn’t have happened.” She angled her face to stare at the ground. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, what happens when I’m around you.”
I put my other hand on her other arm, running them up until they lay against her neck, my thumbs pushing her jaw up to look at me. I couldn’t read her expression, but it was one I knew I never wanted to see again.
“Lanie, listen to me.” I had to tell her, at least some of it, maybe ask her to stay away from me and I’ll do the same until we get Julie to talk. I couldn’t let her go thinking what we did was wrong when nothing in my life had ever felt more right than her.
She shook her head and jerked back hard. “I need you to stay away from me Jake.”
“Lanie,” I reached for her, but she backed away.
“If you ever truly cared about me you’ll do this for me.” She took a few steps backward. “Please Jake, leave me alone. Don’t follow me home, don’t come to my house, don’t look at me the way you do sometimes.” She took another step back. “I just can’t with you Jake, I can’t, I’m sorry.”
I didn’t reach for her again. I’d lost her, I could tell by the look on her face, exactly what I’d been afraid of, what Brody warned me would happen, what I couldn’t control. I stood completely still and watched her turn her back to me and move quickly towards the front of the house, knowing she was leaving, knowing I’d let it go too far. There was only one person to blame.
I moved to lean against the house, sliding down until I sat on my ass, my head buried in my hands and for the first time in my life, I felt real pain.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
LANIE
Driving home, I cursed myself over and over again. Slamming my hands against the steering wheel, I swallowed back the tears threatening to fall. I had no idea if the tears were because I was sad or angry or maybe a combination of both. I was so mad at myself for letting him get to me, for letting his soft words and clever hands make all of my arguments seem insignificant.
Pulling into my driveway, I stopped, shutting the car off and sat, laying my head back against the seat.
I was in love with Jake.
How the hell did I let this happen? He’s involved with someone else, he practically threw her in my face, he watched me walk away that night in the bar and he didn’t even offer an explanation.
He abandoned me.
My old insecurities reared their ugly head that night while I was walking away from the dance floor, thoughts of being left, unwanted from the time I was born, plagued me and haven’t let up since that night. I sent Paige and Pike away that night, telling them I was fine, that I wasn’t surprised Julie and Jake had reconnected and I really wasn’t. I was surprised that he didn’t just tell me, but instead snuck around with her and avoided me.
But tonight felt different. It felt deeper and real, more like what I always thought it would be with someone I’d love, which I do, but even what was coming from him felt real. I ran my hand across my forehead, confused and lonelier than ever after walking away from him.
Taking a deep breath, I threw open my car door and got out, grabbing my purse from the passenger seat. I smiled when I could hear Beasley barking. He must’ve heard me pull in and either wanted a treat or to go outside, otherwise he wouldn’t have moved from the couch.
I walked to the front steps, still lost in my thoughts, and I would blame that later for not paying attention to my surroundings.
I didn’t hear anyone behind me, until I was grabbed around the waist and pulled back hard against a solid body. I knew it was a man by the size of his hand covering my mouth.
He leaned his head down, his hot breath smelled like stale smoke when he pressed his lips next to my ear. “I liked your panties. Even took some with me.”
I shivered, this was the same man who had been in my bedroom, who’d gone through my drawers, destroyed my clothes, my bedding, my security.
He walked me forward until we came to the railing on my steps to the porch and he spun me around to face him.
My eyes widened and
I gasped. Trey stood before, but he looked different, his eyes were cold and almost blank like he wasn’t really seeing me.
His arms were around me at a funny angle now because he’d turned me around. “I’m going to uncover your mouth now, and then we’re going to walk into that house and I’m going to get what I should’ve had before.” He leaned in close, his horrible breath causing me try to turn my head, but he just pushed his hand harder against my mouth.
A noise, almost like a shuffling sound ripped through the silence and he froze, standing straight again, listening and glancing around. I knew he was distracted, I hadn’t fought, I hadn’t done anything yet and I knew this was my chance, maybe the only one I would get. I pulled my knee up and aimed the best I could in the dark while still restrained, forcing it into what I hoped was his crotch. He gasped and dropped his hands, his eyes lit, from excitement or anger it was hard to tell, but I knew my time frame was small, so I pushed him as hard as I could and made the decision to try for the house, the car seemed too far away at this point.
He stumbled back, only a small amount, but enough that I could push past. I only just turned, had one foot on the first step when he grabbed me by my hair and pulled me back. I lost my footing, slamming to the ground, the side of my face and head cracking against the concrete landing. He’d stumbled too, but only fell to his knee from what I could see. I fought through a wave of nausea and pushed up, but his hands grabbed me by the waist and he forced me to the ground, on my back, him looming over top of me, pinning me with his body.
His breath was coming out hard but he was smiling, a sick, twisted smile. “I like this fight, bitch. I didn’t think you had it in you, but save some for inside.”
I had no way of getting him off of me, so I did the only thing I could think of and lifted my head slamming it into his. I’d seen it done on television and heard it’s sometimes taught in self-defense, but I was not prepared for how bad it would hurt. I tried to blink the spots away flashing in front of my eyes, forcing myself to concentrate on Trey who had pulled back and fell to the side of me. I scrambled to stand up, but he grabbed my ankle, pulling me down to land half across him before shoving me off onto my back again. He knelt beside me and I watched him cock his fist. I squirmed, I kicked, trying to move my head out of the range of his fist, but he had me pinned with his other hand wrapped around my throat.
The blinding pain from getting hit in the cheekbone from a man’s fist was something I couldn’t have prepared for, being it was worse than I even imagined it would be and I’d imagined it was going to be pretty awful. I fought against the darkness trying to swallow me, knowing if I gave in like my body and brain wanted, he would get me into the house and the possibility of anyone hearing or seeing anything would be nil. At least if I kept him outside maybe a neighbor would hear us.
He stood then, his nostrils flared when he leaned over where I was laying. His booted foot kicked out, landing on the side of my hip, causing me to roll to my side and wrap my arms around my head fearing he’d kick me in the head next and I knew if he did, it would be lights out. Trey was quiet for a moment and I realized I didn’t hear Beasley anymore; he must’ve given up on me coming inside, so thankfully us being outside would keep him safe too.
Trey squatted down next to me and grabbed my hair. “I’m done fucking around with you bitch. I don’t want to knock you out because then you won’t be awake for the fun parts coming, but one more fucking move like that and I will.”
He pulled my head back, his face getting right into mine. “Tell me you understand me.”
I didn’t answer right away and he pulled my hair, jerking my head to the side. I cried out in pain.
He gritted his teeth. “Tell me.”
“I understand.” I whispered, even whispering was enough to make my head throb harder.
I tasted blood in my mouth and could feel something warm rolling along the side of my face. Trey pulled me up to standing, but my legs buckled, dizziness overwhelming my body. I swallowed back another round of nausea when he started shoving me forward in front of him. We started up the steps and I guess in one last effort to save myself from what was surely going to be the worst moments of my life, I threw my elbow back, catching him right in the stomach. His grip loosened enough that I could slam both elbows back, causing him to lose his balance. I reached my hand out quickly, grabbing for the railing, knowing if he lost his balance and with the grip he still had on me if he fell, I’d definitely go with him.
His body teetered back and he swore. “Fuck.”
I swung my other hand to grab the railing and held on feeling him pulling my body too. The wood from the railing dug into my hand, feeling like glass cutting through my skin, but I held on. His leg flew out, slamming into the side of mine, causing my knee to buckle and I went down, face first onto the top step, my head once again bouncing off the cement. I grabbed the edge of the top step, not looking back, pulling myself up to my knees to crawl across the porch to the front door, praying it was unlocked, that he’d already been inside and let out a breath of relief when the knob turned and the door pushed open. Still on my knees, I pushed the door open further when I heard a noise, not a growl, but a snarl that sounded so vicious to my ears, I shrank back against the door jamb.
Beasley jumped over my head, landing on the edge of the top step and I screamed his name, my head flopping back against the jamb and I winced. He leaped from the step, never even turning back when I called for him, his eyes on Trey who had just stood, looking wobbly on his feet and he landed, knocking Trey on his back he stood over him, wrapping his mouth around Trey’s neck, snarling. I’d never seen anything like it outside the movies, but he held him to the ground with only his mouth around his throat. Trey kicked and punched at him, hitting his sides, but he didn’t even flinch.
I knew I needed to call the police, but I also knew I wasn’t going to make it back to my phone, I couldn’t even remember where I’d dropped it. I looked up to see the alarm that Brody had installed, hanging beside my door. He’d said if I ever felt danger to push the panic button and it would be sent to him and the police station. I pushed up on my knees, my head swimming, black spots dancing in front of my eyes. Reaching up, I couldn’t quite touch the box, so I wrapped my hands around the door jamb, wincing from the pain, nausea rolling through my body when I saw the amount of blood dripping along the wood from my hand. I pulled myself up enough to press the panic button and the sirens on the alarm immediately begin screaming through the blackness. I leaned against the wall, knowing I’d done all I could, and felt my body slide back down, hitting the floor.
I let the darkness overtake me.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
JAKE
I sat in a folding chair, it’s back wrapped in white cloth, my legs sprawled in front of me and looked around the yard at the dwindling party. My brothers were all standing together, talking and laughing, the boys from Elite Securities joining in, the lights from the party illuminating the area, making it feel like daytime. I watched Gia move across the lawn to stand next to Brody who wrapped his hand around her waist immediately, almost unconsciously and pull her into him, her chest against his. He bent his head and smiled, whispering something that made her smile before turning his attention back to the boys.
I’d wanted to leave when Lanie walked away from me, follow her home, beg her to forgive me, tell her how much I hated doing what I was doing. Tell her how I really felt about her. Since the boys asked me to help them I’d done a lousy job at keeping my distance from her, tonight being a great example. When I smelled her skin, felt her body against mine, all thoughts except wanting to feel her as close as I could get her left me. I shouldn’t have touched her, she’s like a drug to me, one taste and I’d do anything to get more, do anything to just be around her.
And I’d lost her.
My eyes narrowed when I saw Brody jerk in surprise and pull his cell from his pants pocket. I was out of my seat, dread sitting like a weight in my gut, when his ey
es flashed to Striker. I ran towards him, he was already moving, shouting orders, but nothing mattered except I’d heard Lanie’s name. I ran faster towards my truck, people including my parents moving out of the way, yelling after me, but I didn’t stop until I was standing beside it, digging my keys from my pocket.
A hand touched my shoulder, and I swung out, but was pushed against my truck. My head snapped around, my hand fisted, ready to strike out when I met Luke’s eyes. He held out his hand, palm up. “I’ll drive, brother.”
I knew I wasn’t going to win and I sure as hell wasn’t going to waste time arguing, so I tossed my keys into his palm and jogged around the front of the truck to the passenger’s side. We were pulling out, tires squealing before I’d even shut the door, and all I wanted to do was yell at him to drive faster.
It wasn’t a long drive to Lanie’s house from my parents, but it felt like hours. We pulled into her driveway right behind Brody and Cam, my eyes glued to the sight in front of me. I jumped out of the truck right behind Luke only to stop and stand in a line, staring at one of the scariest fucking things I’d ever seen.
Beasley’s massive body was pinning a man to the ground, his eyes watching us, only able to be seen because the front door was hanging open and the light from inside combined with the motion light lit the yard. My eyes scanned the yard, but I couldn’t see Lanie, and the fact that she wasn’t outside but Beasley was scared the shit out of me.
“How the fuck are we gonna get past the damn dog?” Cam said aloud.
“Does she have a word she uses to stop him, a release word or something?” Striker asked.
I shook my head and started to move forward slowly, heading to the porch.
“Beasley.” I called out to him. “Where’s Lanie boy?”
His lips lifted in a snarl, baring his teeth, the noise he made was terrifying. I stopped and put my hands on my hips. The sound of a vehicle pulling into the driveway did not distract Beasley from where he stood, his eyes remained locked on me, I was assuming because I was the only one who dared to move.
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