by A. R. Breck
"What was that?" The edge in his voice makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
"Nothing." I spare a glance over my shoulder at him, and watch his heated eyes land right on mine. Shit. I turn around and try to control the shiver that tries to make its way through my body.
What is it with him and his eyes? They lock me in. Every. Single. Time.
I walk up to his front door and wait for him to unlock it. He comes up behind me and I can feel the heat radiating from his body as he presses up against my back, leaning forward and unlocking the front door with a click. He pushes the door open but doesn't move. He just stands there, hovering over me and making my body heat up to hellish levels.
I can feel the whisper of his breath as he breathes in and out across my neck. I swallow down a groan. His smell is so, so manly. If I could, I would rip the smell right out of him and keep it for myself. Inhale deeply like I want to. Like I would, except I don't want to embarrass myself.
He leans down so his lips graze my earlobe, "Are you going to walk in or would you prefer to stand out here all night?"
I snap into action, walking inside with purposeful steps. Once I get inside though, I have no idea what his plan is so I end up just standing there in the center of his living room. He walks in behind me and shuts the door, locking it with a sort of finality that I feel all the way to my bones.
He walks past me and stalks towards his room. I have no idea if he wants me to follow or not, but I don't know what else I'm supposed to do, so I quietly pad behind him until we're both standing in his tiny room.
Easton is walking around his room, setting down his stuff on his worn, wooden dresser in jerky movements. His keys rattle against some spare change that was lying in his pocket. Once his pockets are emptied, he yanks open a drawer and pulls out a shirt before reaching behind his neck and yanking his tee off in one quick movement.
I inhale a quick breath at the sight of his ripped abdomen. I swear, I've never seen abs that are this perfect before. Each ripple in his stomach looks like it is made from stone. He notices my change in demeanor and stops what he's doing. Glancing up at me behind his long eyelashes, he gives me a smirk that makes my breath catch in my throat. He lifts his hand that's holding the shirt, holding it midair.
Then he drops it.
The looks he gives me makes me realize what's about to happen. My hands start shaking so I squeeze them together, my fingernails digging into my palms. I need the bite of pain to take away the rush of panic I'm suddenly feeling.
He walks over to me and shuts his bedroom door, clicking yet another lock that secures me away from the outside world. He lifts his arms and cages me up against the door, his scent assaulting me in the most delicious way.
"I'm doing everything in my power not to tear into you about not listening to me. Why don't you ever listen to me?" He rasps.
"I can assure you that I'm not five, so I don’t need a babysitter or another useless parent. I'm capable of taking care of myself. So please, tell me why I need to listen to you all the damn time?"
"Because I have your best interests at heart."
I guffaw. "My best interests at heart? It was my decision to go see Corey, so that's what I did."
"And see where the fuck it got you?" He growls.
I shrink back at that one. "I'm not usually this…accident prone. Shit never started happening until you came around." I narrow my eyes at him. “And I would have had it handled even if you and your goons didn’t come running to the rescue.”
"My goons, huh?" He chuckles at me.
"Yeah. They made Corey even more unpredictable than he already was. It wasn't good. I'm not sure what Corey was about to do until you showed up."
He chuckles. "Well it's a good thing I'm here then, isn't it?"
"I don't know."
"Why is that?"
"Because since you've come around, I can't get you out of my head. Its… distracting. You’re distracting.”
A cocky smirk crosses his face. “Having a hard time getting me out of your mind, Rose?”
“No… well, yes. It’s frustrating. What the hell are you doing to me?”
“Whatever I want, baby.”
"And what if I don't want it? What if I said no?" I'm lying to myself even thinking these thoughts, but I'm hoping the more I try to get away from him in my head, maybe my body will start to listen, too.
"Is that what you want? Me to back away from you right now? Because Rose, I would never force you to do anything. But… from the way your thighs are quivering, and that fuck-me look that’s bleeding from your eyes, I think not wanting me is that last thing you want."
I think back to his truck, and how I was finally going to just let go and be who I want, not who I'm expected to be. And the first time in my life – I decide to be bold.
My hands go up around the back of his head, grabbing onto the hair there and holding on for dear life as my lips crash into his. I attempt to take control, but I knew it would be too good to be true when it comes to Easton. He grabs onto my hips and pins me even further into the wall, half of me melting into the wall, and the other half of me melting into Easton's body.
He plunges his tongue into my mouth and I let out a tortured moan, my body going from five to one hundred in only a second. I feel like I'm burning from the inside out and it's taking everything in me to not tear off my clothes and show him how much I want him.
His fingertips trail along my abdomen around to my back, being delicate when I know he wants to ravage me just as much as I want to ravage him.
Except we can't. We can't tear into each other because I know we're both afraid there won't be anything left in the end. We will both be obliterated. The tension and the heat between us will make us combust into flames.
I haven't known Easton long, but the feelings I have for him go beyond just sleeping with him and calling it a day. I have never been the person who is okay to just willingly give up their V card like it's a slice of cake at a birthday party. I've always had the thought in my mind to savor it – to give it to someone special and who means something to me.
Easton might be that someone.
I'm about to disconnect from him to let him know this when I hear a bang of the front door slamming shut. My eyes fly open, but Easton seems to be lost in his own world of lust, pulling my hips even closer to his and pressing his startling large erection into me.
Good Lord.
I get momentarily distracted once again by Easton and his cock that is seemingly trying to poke a hole through his jeans. He lets out a grunt and starts trailing his hands higher and higher up my body until pounding sounds at his bedroom door.
"Easton! You home? Your truck is out front." Comes a voice that I've never heard before.
"Shit!" Easton yanks his hands away from his body and runs his hands through his hair in irritation. He looks over at me and a look crosses his face that I haven't seen on him before.
Apprehension.
"Who is it?" I mouth.
"It's Rich." He grumbles. I try to think about who the hell Rich is when it suddenly clicks in my head.
Rich. Easton's father. The drug lord.
The murderer.
My eyes grow wide and my hands start to shake as Easton stands on the other side of his bedroom trying to adjust his erection. I look towards the window but see it's so tiny I know I would never be able to fit through it.
Easton chuckles. "Yeah, good luck with that. Get ready, looks like you're about to meet daddy dearest."
"But-" I'm cut off when Easton walks over and opens up the door, revealing a hulk of a man who looks like an older version of Easton, except with dead eyes.
Easton has some evil eyes, eyes that I would never want to be on the wrong side of.
Rich, though?
Rich's eyes look like they have seen everything under the sun. He looks like an emotionless killer that would break my neck with a flick of his finger.
Absolutely frightening.
"Oh. My apologies. I didn't realize you had company." He says to Easton before turning his soulless eyes over to me. "Rich Malone. And you are?"
"Rose Strauss." The quiver in my voice is unmistakable. I want to bolt the hell out of this room and all the way home.
"Strauss? I think I know a Strauss. Do you know-"
"I'm sorry, but why are you home? I thought you and Hugo had some business to take care of today."
Rich narrows his eyes at Easton for interrupting him, but I think Easton was trying to save my ass from getting the third degree.
"Meeting was postponed until next week. Which really puts a shit on the whole deal, but we'll get it done."
Easton nods at his father like he understands what the deal is, although I am completely clueless to the whole thing.
Probably a good thing.
We all stand there awkwardly for a moment until Rich clears his throat. "All right then. I will leave you to it."
"Actually, I was just heading home. It was very nice to meet you, sir."
"Nice to meet you too, Rose Strauss." His voice gives me the chills. I don't think he meant to creep me out in how he said my name, but it did anyway.
"Let me bring you home." Easton says.
I nod at him because I don't want to walk, and honestly, I don't want to even think about bickering with him in front of his father anyway.
"I'll be back soon." Easton says to Rich.
"I have to be back at the office in a few hours." Easton nods at his father and I know that was a cue to hurry back here.
Without another word, we book it out of Easton's trailer and into his truck. No words are said and the spell that we were both cast under earlier has been broken. My heated body has turned into a chilled body.
No wonder Easton is called the Reaper. He was raised by that man.
As we near my house, I keep glancing at him and noticing the way his fists clench the steering wheel over and over. I try to ignore it, but I am Rose Strauss after all. I can never be a docile mouse.
"Are you all right?"
"Fine."
"Are you sure? Back there-"
"Rose, I said I'm fine. Okay?"
"Okay." I turn back towards the window as we take the last turn.
I tried to talk to him. If he doesn't want to speak to me about it, then I'll let him be silent and mope.
He pulls up to the curb in front of my house and shifts his truck into park. Glancing over at him, I say, "Thanks."
I open up the door, ready to hop out when he clamps his hand down on my wrist.
"What the hell, Rose?"
"What?" I ask, confused.
"That's it? Thanks?" He says through gritted teeth.
"Well…yeah? What else is there to say?" What does he want from me? He was barely speaking to me a few minutes ago.
He looks up to the sky and mumbles a few words under his breath before yanking me forward and sealing our lips together.
His hands tangle in my hair and he holds onto me for dear life – like he doesn't know what to do with me, yet he doesn't want to let me go. Like I am his light, and yet I am also his darkness.
Like I can heal him, but I might destroy him.
Easton releases me with one last kiss and looks me right into the eyes, letting down a sliver of his wall and revealing the vulnerable person that lays beneath the armor.
"That's what else, Rose. Have a good night." And then his armor is back in place and he shifts his truck back into drive, waiting for me to exit the truck.
"Have a good night." I say as I hop out of the truck and stand there as it speeds away into the night, the muffler loud enough to be heard in the next town over.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Easton
He who does not punish evil commands it to be done. – Leonardo da Vinci
Well, my plans for the evening have been tossed into the grinder
It wasn't even my intention to let things get that far with Rose, but the moment she looked up at me with those big blue eyes of hers, I knew I wouldn't be able to walk away even if they used a pliers to pry us apart.
And what the hell is up with Rich?
When I saw him earlier, he looked ready to head out to Illinois. What happened? Is it serious?
I never would have brought Rose to my house if I thought he might show up. My business and personal life have always been separated, and I have always intended to keep it that way.
The whole situation doesn't sit right with me.
"Fuck!" I slam my hand on the steering wheel as I navigate through traffic and swerve around stupid kids who are using the middle of the street as a playground.
Once I pull back up to the trailer, I hop out and quickly walk up the stairs to the door, ready to get this shit over with.
"Rose Strauss, huh? Pretty little toy you've got there." Rich says as I open the door and watch as he sits down on the ripped and stained couch in his expensive suit, puffing on an equally expensive cigar.
My back stiffens straight and I'm not sure how much I can battle him or even how much I should show of my emotions in this conversation. I don't want to let on how much I actually care for her – because the moment I do, Rich will be able to use her as a ploy for me to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
He might not be a man who hurts kids or abuses them – but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have the means to get the job done in other ways.
"What about her?" I ask, sounding bored. I head over to the refrigerator and grab myself a beer. Sounding as uninterested as possible is probably the best way to approach this. Making her sound like a groupie slut is better than making her sound like someone who has dug her way into my empty chest.
"What do you know about her?" He asks, letting out rings of smoke in my direction.
Taking a sip of my beer, I swallow it down while trying to contemplate how to answer. "She's new to town. Don't know much about her besides she used to have a lot of money, and now she doesn't. She lives across town with her mom." I shrug, hoping this will appease him.
It doesn't.
"Do you know who her father is, Easton?" He asks, tipping his head to the side and narrowing his eyes.
"No. She's never mentioned him." At least that's the truth.
"Does Leonard Strauss ring a bell to you?"
My eyes grow wide. Leonard is her father? Holy fuck.
Leonard is someone that dad has worked with for years. He has operated a couple of our distribution centers and a laundry business just north of Minneapolis. He was a good business man until about a half a year ago when it was brought to Rich's attention that some of the money has gone missing from the laundry business.
Rich tried to talk to Leonard, but he has been MIA since.
"Do you think she knows anything, son? Is she some kind of rat trying to figure out something for Leonard?"
I shake my head vehemently. "No, fuck no. She's clueless about our world. She knows nothing."
"And we will keep it that way." Rich says sternly.
"Yes, sir." He looks at me for a moment to check the honesty in my answer. Once he's sure I'm not lying, he changes topics.
"Hugo informed me on our way to the airport that Sanders may be up to something in Michigan. I didn't think it would be smart to move another shipment here from Illinois until I know what the hell Sanders is up to. I can't afford another rat."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to let them think I went to Illinois for the week and wait for the next shoe to drop." He looks nonplussed, and I'm not really sure what to make of it.
"All right then. So, what, you're just going to hole up here for the next week?"
He shrugs. "That's the plan. Is that a problem?"
"No. No problem." I finish off my beer and go to throw it away. "Haven't had you home in a while, anyway. I have a fight on Saturday, though. Not sure how much I will be around after tomorrow."
"Ah. Who are you fighting?" He tries to keep up with my sch
edule, but often times his own schedule gets in the way and loses track of the latest.
"Luke Jakes."
"Mmm. He shouldn't be a problem for you."
"I'm not worried about it."
He stands up and comes over to pat me on the shoulder. "That'a boy. Keep it up." He glances down at his phone. "I've got a call to make. You sticking around for the night?"
I figure the last thing he wants to hear is that I want to leave and sneak in Rose's window again. "I'm staying in."
He nods his head in approval. "I'll be done soon. Maybe we can put a dinner together or something."
We have nothing that isn't expired in this house, but I decide not to tell him that. "Sounds good." I wave him off and walk into my room, shutting the door and sitting down in my bed.
Shit. A week with Rich? Fuck me.
I hate getting wrapped up in Rich's shit more than I need to. And him being home? That means I'm at his beck and call while he's here.
I just hope the shit with Sanders doesn't blow up and I get roped into killing someone.
Although, maybe after a week with Rich, killing someone will be the least of my worries.
Fuck.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Rose
I said to my soul, be still, and wait...So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing. - T.S. Eliot
After the rumbling of Easton's truck can only be heard in the distance, I finally walk up the steps towards my house. Opening the door, I notice the lights are on, which I hope means that my mom is awake and coherent, and not passed out drunk.
Although, the moment that I open the door, I hear voices – my mothers and a male voice.
What the fuck?
Rounding the corner, I see my mother on the couch with a man I've never seen before. They both look up as I enter the room.
"Oh! Rose. You're home. I wasn't expecting you." She fiddles around nervously and then gains her composure. "Jeff, this is my daughter, Rose. Rose, this is Jeff, one of the dentists at the office."
Jeff is a tall, skinny man with slightly graying hair. This is not my mom's type. Although, she never really dates at all, the men she would usually gawk at were men with gold flying out of their ears and enough money that they could sneeze one hundreds. This man, though? This man looks like an average Joe. He looks like he can stand on his own two feet and makes an honest living out of himself. I'm surprised, and honestly, a little freaked out.
