“Fucking bastard,” I hear him grumble as he stops dead in his tracks and releases my arm. “Stay here,” he commands.
Confused, I look to see where he is going and notice a scrawny looking guy, a little older than me, leaning up against the wall of the club. A cigarette hangs between his lips as he blatantly exchanges drugs for money.
I shake my head at his lack of discretion and fold my arms over my chest. “Idiot,” I say to myself.
Jeff moves over to stand beside him, and the guy turns to him with a self-confident grin, obviously expecting that Jeff is a new customer.
He turns to Jeff and shows him his stash, asking how many he wants.
Jeff gives him one of his most charming smiles before his arm shoots out, and he clasps his hand around the guy’s throat, slamming him against the wall. All I can hear is a low threatening growl as Jeff speaks into his ear. The pills fall to the ground and scatter around the pavement, causing the group of buyers to drop to the concrete, grab what they want and take off for the club.
I start to edge my way closer, my eyes wide as I watch the panicked look on the guy’s face while his eyes bug out, and he struggles to breathe.
“Don’t ever let me catch you dealing around here again,” Jeff spits at him, digging around in the guy’s pockets and taking out the wad of cash. “This is mine. You stole from me tonight.”
He tries to shake his head and voice his protest, but Jeff’s grip is too strong. Only strangled sounds come out.
A moment later, Jeff releases him, and he starts sucking in the air, trying to get his breath back while he rubs at his throat.
“If you ever see my face again. You’d better run,” Jeff growls, pulling his fist back, then landing a punch in the guy’s guts. I hear a loud ‘oomph’ sound as he doubles over and slides down the wall.
I take a step forward, expecting that this is the end of it. But it’s not. Jeff grabs the hair on top of the guy’s head and slams his head back into the wall.
Bile rises in my throat as I watch Jeff kick him repeatedly, continuing even though the guy is on the ground, curled up in the foetal position.
He seems too still, and I hope to god that he’s just passed out. “Jeff!” I call out, trying to grab his attention and make him stop. “Jeff!”
He pauses and looks over his shoulder at me, his face dark and stormy. It scares me.
The young guy is covered in blood and laying fairly still on the concrete at his feet. Jeff turns back to him, kicks him in the kidneys one last time, then spits on him.
“He’s all yours,” he says calmly, and I notice that the bouncer from the back door is standing not far from us. The bouncer nods once and watches as Jeff strides toward me and ushers me into his car as if this is a normal occurrence. “Let’s go.”
I’m slightly frozen and stumble as my feet refuse to move at the speed Jeff is dragging me, which only seems to make him more furious. He opens the passenger door and deposits me, roughly, inside. I just manage to get my feet tucked safely inside when he slams the door and stalks his way over to his side of the car.
We drive home in complete silence. I have no idea what I should do or say. I don’t think that he’s capable of hurting me, but I can’t be sure. Honestly, I never thought he’d beat that guy up the way he did. He just didn’t seem the type to me.
The moment we arrive home. I reach for my door handle to get out. “Wait,” he commands. So I do.
He gets out of the car and stands a few metres away, making phone calls while I wait quietly in the car. I can see him running his hand back and forward over his head as he speaks, and as much as he is scaring me, I can’t help but admire how strong and attractive he is. It saddens me that someone I’ve only known to be kind and giving can have such a dark side to them.
After almost half an hour, he comes over and opens my door, holding his hand out for me to take. He still isn’t smiling. His anger is rolling off him in waves, but he seems to be in quiet control.
I take my cue from him and place my hand in his without speaking, without smiling. I make eye contact and try to silently tell him that everything will be ok. But I don’t really know that do I? I mean, what if he’s really hurt that guy?
Once inside, he closes and locks the door, still holding my hand as he does. I simply stand by, waiting and watching, unsure of what I should do right now.
I’m standing between him and the door, and he edges closer to me, pressing me, pinning me, between him and the cool wood. He reaches up and wraps his hand around my jaw, so his thumb is on one cheek, and his fingers are on the other. He tilts my head up and meets my eyes.
His are searching, challenging, but I hold his gaze and keep my breath steady. After what seems like an age, he crushes his mouth against mine, kissing me fiercely as if he’s trying to somehow absorb me.
One hand snakes around my waist and pulls me tightly against him, while the other grabs tufts of my hair at the base of my skull and tugs. Still holding me tightly, he walks us over to the dining room table then spins me around so he’s behind me. His kisses and heavy breathing move along my jaw and neck, and turn into firm sucks, then painful bites.
I close my eyes tightly and breathe. I just need to keep calm.
He pulls my shirt over my head and drops it on the floor, his hands curling around me to knead at my breasts. There is nothing gentle about what he is doing, but even though I’m afraid, I’m walking that fine line between wanting to stay and wanting to run.
I suck in my breath involuntarily when he pinches my nipple, the pain is a little more than I’m comfortable with. He removes his hands from my front and pushes me forward, so I’m bent over the table, my hot breath making fog circles on the smooth surface.
Still, he hasn’t said a word. It’s strange to me because he normally talks a lot when we’re together, always telling me how much he wants me and what he’s about to do. The silence and not knowing what he’s planning is driving me crazy, but I’m not sure if it’s in a good way. I think the best word to describe how I feel right now is – unsure.
He pulls my pants roughly down my legs, and I obligingly step out, making sure I stay glued to the table top. Something tells me that he wants me a very specific way, and I’m not willing to risk having his desire turned against me in rage.
He moves my feet apart with a push of his and for a few moments, he does nothing. I hear him crouching down, then he places his hands at the very top of my thighs and pushes my legs wider.
It’s the first time I can hear something from him, the deep breathing of arousal. The familiar throbbing starts between my legs as I wait, the anticipation begins to excite me.
I feel his breath first, and then his tongue as he starts at my clit and drags his tongue upwards, all the way to my anus, where he spends a bit of time, working it with the tip. Surprisingly to me, it feels amazing, and I start panting.
He lets out a slight moan as his fingers reach up, and he teases the entrance of my now dripping pussy. He slides them back and forwards before pushing them inside me, pulsing them in and out while he continues to rim me.
I’m close to exploding when he pulls both his fingers and his mouth away from me and stands. I hear him removing his pants and the sound of crinkling foil. It sounds as though he’s putting on a condom, which isn’t something he normally does.
When he steps between my legs, he reaches between them with his hand and inserts his fingers into my depths, dragging them out and up over my anus, where he circles me with a little pressure, probing at my tightness.
I hold my breath, feeling fairly certain about what he wants to do. I’m not sure I’m ready for this.
He presses his cock against my other hole, and I let out a slight whimper. It’s completely unintentional, and I wish to god it hadn’t escaped my lips. I hear him blow a short, hollow, laugh out his nose, and I breathe a sigh of relief when he pushes himself inside my pussy instead.
The relief floods through my body and makes the whole exp
erience feel so much more intense. I moan as he plunges into my depths, over and over again. My fingers squeak against the table as I press against it, griping my insides tight around him. I’m so close to coming.
When he suddenly pulls out, I whimper again. I want to come. I was almost there.
He runs his hand between my legs, probing my insides with his fingers before moving again toward my back entrance. He presses his finger lightly at my opening, testing my resistance.
“Relax,” he whispers. The first sound of his voice throughout this whole encounter, echoes throughout the quiet of the house. I let out another breath as he repeats himself. “Just relax.”
He pushes his finger inside, and the sensation is a mixture of pleasure and discomfort. I do my best to stay calm and relax as he said. I can imagine that fighting it will cause the discomfort to win, and I don’t want that right now.
Removing his finger, he presses his tip up against it, parting my skin with his hands as he starts to push in. “I’m going slow. Just breathe Paige. Relax.”
I’m trying. I’m trying so hard to relax, but this doesn’t feel so great. Slowly, he pushes himself, in and out, further and further each time until suddenly, the discomfort turns into an overwhelming sense of pleasure.
“Ohhhhh!” I moan as he moves back and forth. My core is throbbing, threatening to explode at any moment.
“Play with yourself,” he whispers to me.
I feel too frozen to move right now. I’m scared that the moment I do, this won’t feel so good anymore.
“Play with yourself,” he demands, more gruffly this time, commanding me to do it.
I force myself to move my arm, adjusting myself slightly so I can get my hand between my legs. The moment I touch myself, I’m catapulted into a state of pure ecstasy that causes me to explode, a burst of warm liquid surprises me, and it flows out over my hand.
I start calling out my orgasm and go to remove my hand, but Jeff stops me.
“Keep going, put your fingers inside you,” he growls. His voice ragged and thick with his own need to come.
I push my fingers inside myself as he continues to move inside me. I can actually feel him there through the thin wall between the two holes.
Finally, he pushes in hard and deep and holds himself there, a strangled moan escaping his throat as I feel him pulse inside me. His fingers dig painfully into my hips as he holds me there, frozen, with my own hand, halfway inside me.
When he pulls out, I’m not sure if I should move from the table, but I do remove my hand and wait to see what he is going to do next. As he walks toward the garbage bin and removes the condom, I push myself up and turn to face him.
“Go and take a shower,” he orders me, his voice completely devoid of feeling, as he walks over to the sink and washes his hands. “I’ve got some more calls to make.”
Tears prick at the backs of my eyes as I nod quickly and pick up my things, taking them with me to the bathroom. Once the shower is on, and I’m standing under the warm stream, I lean my head up against the tiles and cry. I’m confused and don’t know how to feel about what just happened. I don’t think I ever want to repeat that sexual experience again.
Chapter Fourteen
Jeff is on edge. I don’t know if it’s me, or if it’s because of that guy he beat up at the club the other night. But he’s not his usual self. I miss his usual self.
His phone keeps ringing, and he leaves the room to talk quietly to whoever is on the other end. He’s snappy and moody, and I feel like I’m in the way.
I try to be available for him, whenever he needs me, which is a lot. But we seem to have lost that deep sexual connection we once shared - our love making has turned into fucking - and I don’t know how to get it back.
Tonight we’re going to an alcohol-free band night. It’s for under 18s, so Jeff will need to wait for me outside. We’ve done this before, it’s a fairly easy place to sell. It’s held at a scout hall, and the crowd gets so big that it spills outside and surrounds the premises.
It shuts down at midnight, so we arrive around nine p.m. It’s dark now and people are starting to get bored without alcohol giving them a buzz.
There’s security milling about, and it’s their job to find and remove anyone who is found to be drinking or concealing alcohol. Taking an E is the perfect solution to a fun night without alcohol. So when I arrive, they’re more than ready to part with their money.
After doing a lap through the premises as well as one outside, word is getting around that I’m here and ecstasy is available. This is normally when I get going, because teenagers can’t always be trusted to be discreet.
I’m on my way out to Jeff, when I get pulled into the bathroom and bailed up by a few giggly girls who want to buy some tabs. Problem is, they want more than they can afford, and I’m not willing to bargain with them.
“I can’t help you then,” I tell them turning around, ready to walk away. Instead of finding an empty doorway, I’m faced with the instantly recognisable blue shirt of a police officer.
His hands are on his hips as he looks down at me disapprovingly. “You wouldn’t be the girl with wild curly brown hair and light coloured eyes whose supplying kids with happy pills are you?”
I shake my head from side to side quickly and try to step around him. “No officer. There must be someone else,” I say as confidently as I can.
He steps to block my path. “Well then, you won’t mind showing me what’s in your pockets then.”
“I don’t have to do that.”
“And I don’t have to move if I don’t want to. I can arrest you on suspicion alone.”
We stand staring at each other for few moments. My mind is racing as I try to think of a way to get out of this.
“Fine,” I say eventually. “I’ll empty my pockets.”
A crowd has formed outside the door of the bathroom, and the girls who wanted to buy from me are trapped behind me. I fake reaching into my pocket before kicking out at his knee. Hard.
He stumbles slightly, and I take the opportunity to run past him. When I reach the door, I slam right into the female officer who was accompanying him, and send her sprawling on the floor. Her head snaps back, and even over the din of the music, I can hear the loud thud.
I pause momentarily, worried that I’ve severely hurt her. But my need to escape is greater, and I start to take off. The crowd instantly parts but a hand shoots out and grabs me by the hair. I kick back, connecting with the shin of the first officer.
“Stop kicking me,” he demands, his voice strained as he yanks on my hair.
In the small space I have to move, I don’t have many options. I twist my body toward him, feeling as though my hair is coming out by the roots, and bring my knee up, landing the blow square in his crotch.
He makes a sound like ooff as his face turns red, his eyes bug out and water forms around their edges. He releases my hair. I run.
The crowd is thick, but I make it through. I push and bump against bodies who know I’m running, and bodies, who have no idea, and are still dancing and laughing with their friends.
When I make it outside, I make a beeline for the car, walking as fast as I can without calling any extra attention to myself by running.
“We have to leave,” I tell Jeff the moment I get into the car.
Without questioning me, he starts the car, and we drive off at a normal speed with me crouched down low and Jeff carefully watching our surrounds.
“What happened?”
“Cops.”
“Did they see you?”
“Yes, one grabbed me, and I accidentally knocked the other one out.”
“Shit Paige! How could you be so careless?!”
“I wasn’t. I was on my way out.”
He slams the steering wheel. “FUCK!”
“I’m sorry!”
“Did they get the stash? The money?”
“No,” I tell him, sliding up into my seat. “I still have everything.”
/> “Fucking stay down Paige!”
I slide back onto the floor. “I’m sorry,” I tell him again, trying my best to stay strong and not start crying.
“Just… Just stay down and be quiet. I need to make sure we’ve gotten out of this.”
For the next hour, we drive around aimlessly, while Jeff makes sure we aren’t being followed by anyone. Once he feels safe that no one saw us leave, he heads home.
My legs are cramping, and my back is aching from being curled up in such a small space for so long. I’m in pain, and I feel like a complete failure. I just wish I could close my eyes and have the world swallow me whole.
When we pull up outside the house, Jeff cuts the engine and sits there for a moment bouncing his leg in agitation.
“Get out,” he demands.
I struggle out of the cramped space and make my way out of the car. Jeff is standing at the front door, glaring at me while he waits for me to go inside.
The moment he shuts the door, he locks it tight and makes sure all the drapes are pulled. “Sit,” he tells me, pointing at the chairs surrounding the dining room table. I do as he says and watch him, biting my lip in worry, as he paces the room in front of me, running his hands over his head and not saying a word.
Finally, he pauses in front of me, his hands on his hips and his face set in anger.
“I’m sorry!” I blurt out. I don’t know what else to say right now.
He readjusts his stance slightly, and before I know what’s happening, light explodes behind my eyes as he strikes me across the face with the back of his hand.
The force is enough to tip me off the chair. Sprawled on the floor, I clutch at my face protectively as pain radiates heat through my skin.
“Get up,” he growls. In a panic, I do as he says and climb back onto the chair in front of him, my whole body shaking in fear as I do. “Now tell me exactly what happened.”
I take a deep breath and relay everything that went on in the bathroom and how I escaped the cop. I couldn’t meet his eyes while I was talking. I was too afraid of what I’d see there.
When I finish, he’s still standing in front of me, his hands on his hips as he shakes his head from side to side.
Phoenix: The Beauty in Between (A Beautiful Series Companion Novel) Page 6
