by Ace Gray
“Cole?” Elle’s voice was still a wreck, a perfect mirror of my insides. Her hand tentatively found my shoulders and pulled.
My body reacted immediately to her touch. I turned abruptly and grabbed her. We were a tangle of limbs and legs as I shoved her up against the stone wall closest to us. I leaned in and bit on her bottom lip.
Cherry.
My tongue traced along what my teeth were violating. My hands gripped tighter on her wrists and thumped them against the wall once or twice. I shoved my knee between hers, forcing her to hitch her leg around my hip.
“We can’t here,” she said breathlessly into my mouth.
I didn’t hesitate, I simply took her wrists and pinned them over her head. I shifted my grip so I could hold her slight bones in one hand. My free fingertips brushed down her cheek, along her jaw, pressed firmly across her neck for a few leisured kisses, then worked lower.
My hand was under her skirt and I was tracing the legs I suddenly adored. I tried to find the spots on her inner thighs that had been slathered with me but one shower had erased my mark.
I growled into her mouth and kept exploring. Eventually I brushed her pussy only to find her slick and waiting. I thumped her against the wall again and did what I could to devour her.
Elle kissed me back just as urgently. Her hands tugged at my grip and her thighs shuffled against my hand and wrist.
She made it all fade away. My past wasn’t on the other side of that stone wall, my nightmares weren’t living, breathing ghosts. For the moment, only she was real. For the moment, I was home.
I couldn’t stop kissing her—I wouldn’t.
My fingers were slick from exploring between her legs. I pulled away from her and watched as her lips followed mine, searching just for a split second. Her eyes fluttered open as she flopped back against the wall. I took advantage and shoved my Elle-flavored fingers in her mouth.
She gasped and her big doe eyes snapped to mine. I couldn’t smile for her but I let my guard down completely, I let her see everything happening inside of me. Something about it encouraged her to bite down, close her lips around me, and suck. Hard.
It was my turn to groan as I let my hand twist in her mouth. My nose skated along her jaw and neck for a split second before I pulled her mouth open and latched my fingers around her throat. I dropped her wrists from above and grabbed her hips instead, yanking her flat against my body. My grip on her neck tightened as I found any space of free skin to suck along her neck.
Ragged sounds slipped from Elle’s lips over and over. My lips wandered over her skin, relishing the taste. I was sucking too hard, biting too hard but I couldn’t stop. When life got hard again—and it would get hard again—this is what I’d close my eyes and remember. Her and the way her body bent beneath mine.
I pulled back to look at her, her red face desperate for air, her knees knocking together, her golden hair still blowing in the slight breeze. The small tears pooling in the corner of her eyes got to me. I wouldn’t see her cry real ones again. I swore an oath to myself right then.
My fate was sealed.
My lips crashed back to her collarbone as my hand fell from her back to fumble at my belt. As soon as I got the fabric out of the way, my cock was searching for Elle’s sweet folds beneath the wispy fabric of her skirt. When I found a tiny scrap of lace fabric in my way, I yanked. She whimpered and shoved her hips toward me. When the fabric finally split across her thighs, she screamed into the parking lot.
I tucked the lace into my pocket just before I guided myself into her.
It was my turn to moan into the open air as I started thrusting. Her face was getting darker, her breathing shallower, both of which somehow made her lips far plumper. She was gorgeous. And for the moment, she was mine. I needed her kiss. I dropped my hand from her throat only to steal her breath all over again. The faintest taste of her pussy hung on her lips. I kissed her all the harder with no intention of ever stopping.
My thrusts picked up speed and I gripped her standing leg, lifting her easily off the ground. We crashed back against the stone of the church as Elle’s arms wound around my neck. As soon as she had a good hold, I wound my hand underneath her skirt and found her clit. She was soaked and slippery as I circled on her. There was a gentle rock of her hips against my thrusts that had me gritting my teeth. I pulled away just enough to brush her lips as I spoke.
“Fuck, Ladyface, I’m gonna come. I can’t…”
Elle’s wild moans cut me off. Her eyes had slammed shut and her mouth made a perfect O. Her breasts trembled above the neckline of her dress as she forced her hips to keep bucking against me.
I let myself go when her orgasm rolled along my dick. Little muscles waved along me as I shot into her. For a minute the world melted away. Heaven was within reach rather than hell.
Heavy breathing replaced the moans from earlier, then church bells rang over top.
“Cole?” Elle’s voice quivered “What just happened?”
“Ladyface, if I have to explain sex to you, I think we have some problems.” I tried to smile down at her but couldn’t quite manage.
“Cole.” She playfully smacked my chest but couldn’t get her face to match the gesture.
I blew out a deep breath as I set her back to her feet. I snatched her torn underwear from my pocket and used it to clean up as best I could when I pulled out.
“You don’t want your cum all over me?” She squeezed on my biceps as I tended first to her, then tucked myself away.
“Course I do.” I kissed her forehead as I buckled my belt. “Just thought we were pushing our luck enough with a church parking lot.”
She managed a wry smile. “Explain Cole. I went from ranting at my stepdad to being a pawn in a game I don’t understand. Don’t let me walk in there blind.”
“You won’t be a pawn, Elle. I promise.” I’d made up my mind about that before I fucked her.
“Don’t do this. Jimmy does this evasive, sit down, shut up because you’re a woman thing. Give it to me straight.”
I sighed loudly again and turned to rest flat against the wall next to her. Her fingertips brushed against mine and I wove my fingers into hers.
“I take it you’ve heard of the Maloney Family if your stepdad is Jimmy Ponies?”
“Yeah. They cast a long shadow that’s made my family pretty dark for a pretty long time.” Her voice got quiet and thick.
“Dark’s an understatement. Death is more apt.” I squeezed her hand. “I don’t know the story, Elle but if they’re here. And I mean here, this church. Your mom’s death was Maloney related. If I had to guess, Maloney caused.”
“I knew it!” She shot off the wall and was barging toward the entrance without a second thought. Luckily, I had her hand.
“Elle.” I yanked her back in. “That’s what happens when you get tangled up with them. Jimmy has been fixing races, letting them use the back barn for shakedowns, and hiding bodies for years. Something went south, way south if he owes Mick something other than money. Your mom already paid for it, and it wasn’t enough. Now they want you too.”
A tear trickled down her cheek and I curled her into the crook of my shoulder.
“Don’t worry, Ladyface. Okay? Promise me you won’t worry. I know how to handle this. When I told you about being on the streets, about deep, dark secrets…Just trust me, okay?” The organ started reverberating through the walls but otherwise we sat in silence, taking turns rubbing the back of each other’s hands. “We should get in there,” I finally murmured.
I leaned in and slowly kissed a trail from her shoulder up to the corner of her jaw, only to nip at her ear. That seemed to bring her back to life the smallest bit. She squeezed my hand harder as she gracelessly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.
The crunch of our shoes seemed to get louder as we got closer to the door. Each footstep was heavier too. Perhaps it was because of my own personal memory lane. Perhaps it was the death march I knew I was walking.
&nb
sp; We stepped inside and a weight crashed onto my shoulders. It came in the form of the red candles flickering on each side of the entryway that I’d lit too many times. They still cast a sullen light on the already morbid resurrection scenes depicted in stained glass. The burgundy carpet was still well worn between the darkly, polished pews that led to a site that was just as familiar as the small details of the church.
A dark black polished casket sat front and center, closed and coated with lilies to hide the fact that the body wasn’t in a state to be seen. I’d had to put a few of those bodies in those coffins. Once or twice I’d had to arrange the lilies on top myself. And now…
“Elle, go take a seat. I’ll be right there.”
She shot me a look.
“Just go, okay? I’ll have to punish you later if you don’t.” I managed a smirk and turned her down the aisle toward the pew she’d share with Jimmy and whoever had actually killed her mom. Mickey always liked to remind the living they were that way because he allowed it.
I turned toward the back right corner of the church. Mickey sat alone in the back row, with Horse and Siobhan just in front of him, his other enforcers across the aisle.
I shook my head, trying to clear the memory of the many times I’d sat in front of him, right next to Horse. I didn’t know if they were better or worse than the times I sat at the end of that front pew next to a grieving family. Without making up my mind, I slid across the polished wood of the pew. At least four thugs stood up.
“He’s fine.” Mickey held up his hand. “How have you been, Cole?”
“Good, Mick. Real good.” I sighed and let my head fall into my hands, my every move a contradiction to my words. “But we both know you don’t give a fuck.”
“But I do, laddy. I mean look at who you walked in with. She’s something, isn’t she? Jimmy didn’t do her justice.”
I knew without looking up he was staring hungrily at Elle.
“You can’t have her, Mick.”
“Sure, I can. Jimmy owes me. She’ll choose to play along once I lay her options out for her.”
His sentence made my stomach turn. I knew she’d play along too. Anyone who wanted to keep breathing did.
“What if I have a different option for you?” The words were heavy in my mouth. Thick and jagged and sour all at once, but I forced them out.
“I’m listening.” The smile was obvious in his voice.
This was the last chance to back out. To chalk Elle up to hot airplane sex or a perfect weekend and wash my hands of her. I could turn my eye and let Mickey keep doing what he always did. I was sure he’d done it a million times since I’d gotten free. Once more wouldn’t bother him. It shouldn’t bother me.
But Elle…
So, I did the only thing I’d been able to think of. My fingers dug into my temples and I had to clear my throat before I said it but I managed.
“Mick, take me instead.”
7.
Elle
Something had shifted inside Cole at the church. The moment Mr. Maloney walked up, maybe even the moment Cole saw my stepdad his world shifted. We might have buried my mom minutes ago, but it was him that needed consoling, not me.
“Cole?”
He jumped at my whisper even though we were alone in his loft. Then like he’d done a few times today, gathered me into his arms and pinned me to his chest. Each time he’d folded me in closer, tucking me into his shoulder and resting his chin on the top of my head. This time he lightly kissed my forehead.
Something was way off.
“What happened back there, Cole? What did I miss?”
I was pretty sure whatever it was had happened when he slid onto the back pew, but the massive man they’d called Horse had blocked my view.
“Nothing, Ladyface. Nothing important. Guess just now that the funeral is over, you’ll be leaving. I’m not real fond of our expiration date.”
“Liar.” My word was muffled by his chest.
“So you’re staying?” His voice was equal parts excited and…scared?
“No. I can’t. But that’s not what I was saying. This morning you were choking me, now you can’t stop holding me. Something changed.”
“You want me to choke you?” He nudged his cock against me and I reached down to grab it.
I cradled his shaft through the fine fabric of his suit.
“All I have to do is squeeze.”
His hand appeared at my throat. “Me too.”
“Cole, come on.” I rested my hand into his loose grip and let my other one fall away.
He sighed and our hands dropped, only for his to wrap back around me.
“What do you know about Mickey?” he finally asked, his grip getting closer to the way he held me during sex.
“Mr. Maloney?”
He nodded.
“Not much I guess. I know Jimmy got money from him and that he burned down one of my mom’s houses when he didn’t get paid back on time. I know he and my mom…” I trailed off. I couldn’t say Mickey forced her, she’d certainly been a willing participant, as had Jimmy, but I still couldn't formulate the words to tell Cole what I’d walked in on. What forced me to leave the city at sixteen.
It had never crossed my mind to share the family secrets hidden behind my dark black fortress walls but with Cole, they just fell out. I wanted to reel them back in the second they were out. No one deserved to be mixed up in that shit.
“He does that.” Somehow, he’d read my mind and I arched back to look at him. “Have his way with anybody that owes him…anything. I’ve seen him do it plenty of times.”
“You’ve seen it?” I gasped, unable to wrap my head around a perfect stranger sharing a thread that fate had woven for me.
Cole shivered and I nestled into him this time.
“Yeah. I used to be part of the family, Elle. I got out but the things I saw…” Cole, the tattooed hunk of chiseled stone, swallowed a giant lump in his throat and his voice went weak. “He likes it when people watch. He likes to watch. He’ll command a scene to remind people of their place in his world—beneath him and as pawns.”
Cole pushed away from me and bolted for the kitchen. Before I could even move he wretched into the sink. I scampered over to rub his back while every one of his gorgeous muscles tensed and heaved with him. When he finally stopped, he bent to drink from the faucet and swished water around in his mouth. He scooped a handful and let it wash down the back of his neck before shutting off the water. He stayed gracefully arched over the sink while he started talking.
“Are you okay?”
“I can see it all sometimes, the things we did. The things I did. It’s like they’re happening all over again. Mick’s watched me before.” Cole’s body heaved beneath my hand again. “I wish that was the worst thing he’s made me do.”
My hand wavered against his back. This gorgeous man who tenderly held me had a reason he liked choking. Deep down he was a savage brute who’d done horrific things. And to innocent people. But it made him sick. Truly, physically sick.
“Is that what he meant about me fulfilling Jimmy’s debts?” I was afraid of the answer, but I had to know.
Cole’s whole body responded again, this time all the more violently. I rubbed along his spine, tracing the contours of his muscles as he dry heaved into the sink. I was desperate to hold him but he bunched and coiled far too wildly.
Inwardly, I blew out a deep breath. Whatever he’d done, whoever he’d been, this was the man he was now. A man in pain at the thought of what might happen to me. Something inside me jolted awake. Something about a foot north of where Cole usually sent shockwaves through me.
When his body calmed beneath my hand and he started swishing water through his mouth again, I grabbed a washcloth. I wet it and patted the damp towel to the back of his neck. A few beads of water dripped down to his collar and turned the white of his button-up sheer.
Tanned, tattooed skin poked out through the fabric. I squeezed the towel all the harder, sending riv
ers of water down his neck to wet the fabric. My lips were drawn to the see-through spots and I was kissing over top of them before I even realized it. They moved along the wings of the eagle on his back adding nips as I went.
He shuddered beneath my mouth, letting me explore the way he had last night with my finger on his torso. I moved squarely behind him, wrapped my arms around his chest as I kept up my tracks through the soaked fabric across his back. It wasn’t until my lips were scratchy from the cotton that he turned.
Cole’s lips found mine as if they were always meant to land there. His hands came to my cheeks and skated along my jaw to cradle my face. His shoulders crept up as he kissed me with everything he had. I could barely come up for air, his intensity was fully focused on the way we kissed. My fingertips found his forearms and dug in.
We were frozen like that for a while, only lips and tongues moving besides thundering hearts. Cole was the first to move. His hands went to my zipper, mine simply slipped up his arm in response.
“When do you leave Elle?” His breath was warm against my ear just before my nose traced up along it.
“Tomorrow,” I barely whispered back.
He didn’t answer, he just started in on the zipper as he kissed along my neck. When the zipper was all the way down he stepped back and let it fall to the floor. I reached for his belt, only for him to grab my hands and kiss my fingertips before pushing them back to my sides.
“One last time, Ladyface.”
Those words made me want to puke.
“Don’t say that,” I murmured.
I couldn’t stay with him, but I couldn’t walk away either. Maybe in the future, maybe every once in a while, some sliver of hope had to exist.
Cole didn’t answer. Instead his hands were at my bra, gently unhooking it and tossing it to the side. I stood naked in front of him and he sucked in a deep breath. I wanted him back against my skin, I wanted to feel him take me. Whether it was the gentleman or the beast, I didn’t much mind as long as it was Cole.
