by Liv Bennett
Lindsay snuggles up against me on the couch in my living room, pulling my head down against her chest, distracting my troublesome thoughts. I’m thankful for having her as my distraction or else I’d have no idea about how to pass a second knowing Chloe is in danger and not being able to help her.
Lindsay’s heartbeats are loud and fast, so must be the fear running rampant in her head. I should have the same conviction as her and believe we have a chance to turn the tables against Michael, however small that chance might be.
My arms are loosely around her waist, her hands holding my shoulders. Her body feels like an extension of mine, so natural, even necessary, and makes me marvel about the false feeling of security I’d shrouded myself in before she came into my life. Having Lindsay’s body around mine, like a shield guarding me, provides me with a more tangible sense of safety than I’ve ever felt in my life, despite the severity of the circumstances surrounding us. While it should have been me as a man doing so she has generously taken over that duty.
“We need a plan,” she whispers, her breath against my hair. I wish I could prolong the silence and peace I have while in her arms, but she won’t calm down and let go without sharpening her knives ready for a bloody fight. “For that, we need to find out why Michael wanted to hire me in the first place. I have no doubt he wants more than just to have me as his fake girlfriend. He’s after something big, I can feel it. That’s why he’s using Chloe, but I have no fucking idea what he could want from me. If I knew it, I’d give it to him right away. Nothing is more important than your sister’s life.”
Her words pinch at my heart. She’s right. If Michael is playing dangerous, that means he’s after something big. Perhaps he won’t kill Chloe —he’s not that much of a monster, I hope— but every minute she’s in his hands must be traumatizing for her. And I don’t have the slightest idea what he’ll do to my friend, Diana.
“Do you have any idea what he might want from me?” Lindsay asks, tilting her head up to meet my gaze.
I straighten up and shake my head no. “No idea.”
“I thought you’d say that. Well, let’s brainstorm about the options. I’m a relatively famous woman thanks to the video where I killed someone. I’m also a mathematician with only one year of experience, an orphan, the sister of a successful businesswoman, and have a history of a sexual harassment lawsuit. Any of that jog your brain?”
I can’t help smiling. I wasn’t wrong in my first impression that she has an interesting persona. “I have to admit, I don’t know much about how or why you killed that woman.”
“Macey Williams was the half-sister of my sister’s ex-husband, Jack. After Jack died, he left Taylor an inheritance of several million dollars.” She looks up at the ceiling, drawing her eyebrows together, while she’s thinking. “More than a hundred million dollars actually. Macey tried to get rid of my sister to get her hands on the money and kidnapped me to lure Taylor in. Taylor was pregnant at that time.” Her voice falters and I notice a tear slipping down her cheek.
“Let’s do it later if it’s hard for you to talk about it.”
“No, I’m fine. It’s just … it was very hard for us all because Taylor’s baby had a birth defect. She’d been trying to get pregnant for so long, then came the birth defect.”
“I’m sorry, baby.”
“Anyway, Taylor wasn’t in good condition health-wise, and when Macey kidnapped us, Taylor went into labor. I thought she’d die with the heavy blood loss, and I lost my sanity for a few seconds. I don’t remember much about how I killed her exactly, but I remember being filled with rage seeing my sister so close to death.”
Fear overtakes me with the thought of Lindsay being face to face with a maniac. The circumstances she had with Macey Williams haven’t changed much. Michael is as insane as Macey was, only with more money and better-calculated plans.
“I just slapped her with all the anger boiling inside me,” she continues. “I didn’t think what would happen to her. I just wanted to stop her before she could hurt my sister, but I ended up stopping her for good.” More tears follow and her pink skin glows with moistness.
I slip my thumbs across her cheeks to dry them. “You’re dangerous when you’re angry, you know that?”
She snorts and shakes her head. “Don’t get started with how scary I am again.”
That’s not a bad thing to be, but I keep that thought to myself. “Tell me more about your sister. Did she start the construction company?”
“No, not at all. She didn’t have the slightest idea about the construction business. She inherited the company from her deceased husband. Adam, her current husband, helped her a lot in the beginning. It was a relatively small company until they took over Michael’s residential project. Apparently, it’s the biggest project they have ever had and it brought a lot of attention to Taylor’s company and helped them get more projects from other clients.”
“Do you know anything about the project?” I ask.
“I was gonna ask you that. You don’t?”
“No, not at all. Michael doesn’t share anything regarding his business with me.”
“Well, you know the property used to belong to Chloe’s boyfriend’s family.”
I nod and she continues. “I think it was a great idea to turn the country club to a more useful area with residential buildings, single homes, and town houses. Half of the territory is already planted with trees too, or so I hear. So in theory, it’s a great project because Michael will make lots of money and for people looking for a good location to buy homes close to LA. I mean country clubs are just a waste of land. Don’t you think?”
“Sure. Is the construction going well?”
“Of course it is. My sister and her husband are a great team. So, does anything sound suspicious to you? Can Michael be after me for something related to the construction project?”
I shrug. “I can’t think of a reason why. If he wants something specific, he can simply order them to do it. He doesn’t need to go after you; after all, he has the money and the complete control over the project. How about the company you worked for in New York? Was it a governmental agency?”
“No, not even close. It was a cosmetics company, and I worked in the marketing department.”
“Did you work in the same department with the man who tried to …” Fuck! I can’t keep my hands from forming fists at the thought of a man coming close to forcing Lindsay into sex. If I had that motherfucker in front of me right now, I’d make sure he couldn’t use his dick anymore, even for urinating.
“Yes, he was the director of the marketing department.”
“How did it happen?” Not that it’s relevant to our case with Michael, but I have to know the details even though it’ll make me angrier than anything else ever has.
“You don’t wanna hear that.” She moves close to me, bringing her face only an inch away from mine. Her stare is full of provocation and also pleas. I see the hurt and fear deep down in her eyes that glow like onyx with the tears still moistening them. What has she gone through? There’s so much I don’t know about her.
“No, I don’t but I have to. I want to know your deepest secrets, Lindsay, even if some of them are wounding.”
“His name is Don Sheridan. He was very kind, very helpful, during my first months at the company. Everyone in the department loved him and praised him for being a great boss. He was also a family man—father, married with four kids. I didn’t think much about his friendliness at first. I just thought he was doing his job by showing me extra attention as a beginner on the team. I even met his wife and kids during a Christmas party he hosted at his home.” She pauses to make sure I want to hear the rest and continues as soon as I nod my encouragement. “Then, his closeness took new heights. He wanted to go to lunch with me, take me to conferences in other cities. Started asking about my private life, if I was dating anyone, if I wanted to marry my then boyfriend, saying things like I was too young to take any relationship seriously, I should en
joy my youth and beauty and be with as many men as possible … and more bullshit like that.”
I swallow, working hard not to show my anger, but it’s fucking impossible while picturing Lindsay defenseless against a man.
“The incident happened during one of the conferences. He walked me to my room in the hotel where we were staying, and when I unlocked the door and told him goodbye, he covered my mouth and pushed me inside …”
“All right. Enough.” I can’t take hearing more details. My hands start shaking, and my breath becomes shallow and heavy. “Take your jeans off,” I order.
Her eyes widen with shock and maybe dismay. “Does that arouse you? My fucking rape story turned you on, didn’t it?”
“No, fuck. I can’t bear the thought of a man being so close to you. Now do what I say.”
She smirks and throws herself back at the sofa across from me, and of course doesn’t do what I asked her to do. I sneak my hand between her legs to cup her crotch. She flinches at my rough touch but doesn’t push my hand away. I rub it roughly with my palm first and push my thumb against her entrance through the jeans. She gazes at me with curious eyes that are hooded with her heavy eyelids and moans softly.
“I can’t share you with another man.” With my other hand, I unbutton and unzip her jeans. Her hips move back and forth against my hand, and I imagine the warm wetness that is awaiting me behind the fabric of her jeans.
“You watched me having sex with …”
“Stop,” I yell. I’ve been trying to erase the memory of JJ having her in front of me from my mind. Without any success obviously, because now her moans while JJ was inside her fill my head again. Fuck it.
Pulling down her jeans, I yank them away. My sister is kidnapped. Michael is likely hatching a series of vicious plans to destroy me and the people I love, but all I can think of, all my mind can register right now is the acute desire to watch Lindsay startle as I explore the swollen lips of her sex with my fingers. Hear her moan as I force myself inside her. Feel her love as I make her mine again. “Did you want your boss to approach you?”
“No.” Her eyes grow wide with anger in an instant and she glues her knees together.
Her denial of access to me infuriates my own rage. “Did you find him attractive?”
“No.”
“Did you want to fuck him?”
“Cut it out. I didn’t want to do anything with him. I don’t fuck married men.” Her voice shakes, and I won’t be surprised if she tries to punch me in the face for my insult. My heart pinches at the hurt expression playing on her face, yet I can’t find it in me to cool down.
Slipping a hand between her thighs, I force my way down to her panties and move over to her. She tightens her thighs to stop me, but I reach down and grab the inside of her panties, feeling her soft, moist flesh with the tip of my fingers. “You won’t fuck another man, single or married,” I hiss. “You’re mine now.”
I never had a possessive streak in me for a girl in my life. I wouldn’t flinch a finger if one of the women I had sex with slept with another man in front of my eyes, but the possibility of Lindsay being intimate with someone else is enough to make my blood boil.
“You’re mine,” I repeat, this time with a softer, less hostile tone. She’s breathing heavily, most likely calculating how best to kick me in the crotch or give me a taste of her iron slap to show me my place. She wouldn’t be completely wrong for choosing violence against my hostility. Who claims ownership of a girl after merely two days of what, just sex? However, nothing comes; no hitting, no opposition.
I slip my index finger through her swollen folds, then inside her channel to probe a reaction out of her. She must be shocked at my outrage, that’s all. Once it wears off, she’ll show me. The idea of getting her heated up thrills me even more, add to that the tight wrap of her insides around my finger, and I’m seconds away from launching myself onto her petite body. My cock springs up to life, pushing against my own jeans as my finger goes deeper and deeper.
“Aghrrr.” She closes her eyes shut and drops her head against the arm of the couch. I come an inch away from crushing my lips down to hers when she murmurs, “Okay,” in the middle of her moan.
I’m an idiot for asking her for clarification, but I do it anyway. “Okay what?” I bend my index finger like a hook and slowly slip it out of her, its tip grating against the heated flesh of her sex.
Her body arches up with my drawn-out insult, and she spreads her legs open. “I’m … oh God. I’m yours.”
It takes very little strength to rip off her panties and a short time to get rid of my jeans and boxers, and soon, I’m positioned between her thighs, our hips against each other, her sex opening up to me with a welcoming heat. My entire body throbs with the need to feel her insides. I want to get lost in the fire of lust her body is radiating and leave everything else into nothingness.
She’s giving out soft moans as I slide into her to the hilt. Her hands are grabbing my arms as a warning to take it slowly, as if it’s her first time. I ride her with gentle strokes, trying to grasp the novelty of having sex with a girl who I just declared to be mine and to sort out the wild emotions that are making my heart beat fast and furious inside my chest. To figure out if this is the right way to go. She’s a target for Michael. My unusual interest in her will upset him more than anything. He’ll attempt to ruin her too, as always he did to everything and everyone I cared about.
Her legs move up and lock around my hips, and I let my body fall on her, squeezing her fragile torso against the couch. Her cheeks are glowing red. Her eyes are following me with intent but close each time I drive into her.
With each new thrust, I’m engulfed by newfound confidence and assurance that I can stand up to Michael, although this is the cruelest I’ve ever seen him be. It’s as if Lindsay is transferring her inner strength into me, turning me into the man I should have been years ago, rather than the coward I’ve been all this time, the one who always shut his eyes against Michael’s viciousness.
It’s true what they say. A man’s true strength comes from the woman behind him. Only, Lindsay doesn’t just stand behind me, she’s beside me, and I have no doubt she will fight to get in front of me at the first opportunity.
I lean down and lick her lips, parting them apart. She accepts my tongue in and sucks it ferociously. My hands work the buttons of her shirt until I reach her bra. Pulling it down, I start rubbing her erect nipples. She pushes her body against my hands with need. Her sex squeezes my cock close to a hard release.
She’s perfect for me, the sensual contours and crevices of her petite figure, the silky smoothness of her skin, the responsiveness of her body. The constant dare in her fierce eyes, the sweet softness of her lips.
She’s been the faceless woman in my erotic fantasies. But what makes her the ideal woman for me is her entire being—her outspokenness, fearlessness, and her readiness to make sacrifices to protect her loved ones. That’s why my fall for her was quick like lightening, and I’ll be damned if I let her go or out of sight even for a day. I don’t have any control over her interaction with other men in the past, although it pains me to think of the two men that touched her are from my business. But, I’ll do anything to keep her interest in only me and protect her from Michael’s associates.
Anything.
I couldn’t be there for my mother. I couldn’t stand up for Chloe. But I’ll not let anyone hurt Lindsay, and this’ll be the greatest test of my life. If I fail it, I don’t have a reason to live.
The Ex
I don’t know where all this is coming from. I’ve never been claimed by someone, much less after only a couple weeks of having met. Ace, however, not only just declared himself as my owner, but also convinced me with mere words that it’s indeed the truth.
The way he touches me, careful like I’m an exquisite piece of china worth millions of dollars, yet his kisses selfish and ruthless like I’m a sex doll made only for his enjoyment, heat up my blood and loosen my re
solve. If anyone should be allowed to use me that way, it’s Ace, because seeing him orgasm inside me and with me is a sight worth life itself.
His hands roam all over my body, rubbing my sensitive skin close to the pinnacle. What we’re doing is insane. Mating, while danger is only a few steps away? While someone’s life is in grave danger? But I let him be as rough with me as he wants. He needs this, and I’d be lying if I said the urgency to be with him isn’t getting under my skin and pushing me to madness.
I close my eyes, feeling his hot breath on my skin, trying hard to memorize each second, engrave the thrill running wild through my body into my mind, so I won’t forget how beautiful sex actually is when the most difficult of times comes if—most likely, when— Michael offers me to his guests as a sex slave.
I want to cry my eyes out for the happiness pouring out of me with each forceful kiss from Ace and the possessive touch of his hands as if he won’t let anyone hurt me. But I know there’re things we can’t avoid no matter what we do.
What will become of me afterward? Will I be able to feel the same sweet sensations again? Or will I hate men and everything related to them? I don’t have the slightest idea how sadistic men can be, or if I’ll be able to keep a piece of myself despite the horror, but at least I have something to hold on to, someone to be there for me.
I hug him and kiss him, letting my body go loose as the climax hits me wild and strong and rolls through my body like a violent storm. This very second where I can see through the eyes of my soul, feeling the breathtaking beauty of uniting with someone as special as Ace should be my reference point when everything starts crushing down on me. I should remember this once-in-a-lifetime encounter of two lost souls finding each other in the midst of filth and terror.
There must be a reason why I entered Ace’s life and he mine. Why I find myself in the middle of the dirtiest of intrigues … Why he has such a strong, undeniable pull on me … I can feel it in the deepest, darkest part of my heart that it is to put an end to Michael’s cruelties: his maltreatment of Chloe, Ace, even Zane.
