Unmask (Adrenaline Series (Stand Alone) Book 4)

by Neal, Xavier

  “You prance.”

  “I do not.”

  With a wide smile I state, “It would be easier to ask me what I didn't miss about you being here.”

  “Which is?”

  “Nothing.”

  A small swoon comes out of her. “I've missed you too.”

  “Good.” Pushing the piece away from me to dry, I ask, “What time did you get in?”

  “This morning,” she answers. “It all ran fairly late and Omar figured I could crash at his apartment. I got in early this morning with a long list of things to fix and deliver, so I didn't get to make you breakfast.”

  “You can make it up to me later,” I assure. “Dinner?”

  Mel nods. “Definitely dinner.”

  Relieved she will be around for that I ask, “Speaking of...how was last night?”

  Doing her best to pretend whatever she witnessed didn't frighten her as much as it did, she clears her throat. “Turns out The Devil had the prince you're impersonating kidnapped last night. I um...delivered the Mind Erasers for it.”

  “Mind Erasers?”

  “It's basically a combination of drugs that erases your short term memory. It's mixed with a hallucinogen, so that you're not certain if what you've experienced is real or not, if you even remember at all.” My jaw drops but I'm not sure how to respond. “Typically it's what I give if we kidnap someone and plan to set them free. The Devil doesn't kill as often as you would think. Hell until recently it was only when necessary.”

  “And now?”

  “I think it's a combination of spite, frustration, and fear.”

  “The Devil afraid?” I chortle. “Of what?”

  “Losing everything. His empire is falling and he can't find the brick causing it to collapse.” She briefly looks away. “Last night...last night he poisoned another cop insisting desperate times call for desperate measures.”

  Preaching to the choir on that one.

  “He knows it's not you McCoys, which just pisses him off more.”

  “How does he know that?”

  “Video footage,” she sighs.

  There's a long quiet pause before I cautiously ask, “Nina is the one taking care of my brother, right?”

  Melody tries to hide her nervousness. “Yes.”

  “Is he okay?”

  Her eyes flash the temptation to lie.

  “Tell me the truth.”

  “He....he could be doing better.” Quickly she adds, “He will. As soon as she gets that package.” Before I can ask any more questions, she heads towards the back door. “I have to take care of a few things, but I'll see you for dinner, alright?”

  I wiggle my eyebrows. “And dessert.”

  Melody rolls her eyes before disappearing. Once she's gone panic tries to settle in my chest.

  What do you think is wrong with Daniel? Do you know? Do you think he's suffering from weird aches and pains like me? I swear it's just the mattresses or maybe the stress of all this, but that look in her eyes reminds me of the one I see when Omar is around. The dark side of the moon. Just...just do me a favor and if you know something let me in on it? We're family. That's what we do.

  **

  My forehead hits the glass door with a frown. The rain continues to pour violently, beating up the patio and erasing the corner of privacy we've found.

  Fucking. Rain.

  “No matter how hard you pout, it's not going anywhere,” Melody announces from behind me. “Now come eat.”

  On a sigh, I turn to see her placing two plates down on the coffee table. “I really wanted to have dinner where prying eyes couldn't catch us.”

  “Shit happens.” She shrugs nonchalantly. “Just be grateful we get to eat together at all tonight.”

  “True.” I sit down across from her on the floor. Glancing over the BBQ chicken and mashed potatoes makes me smile.

  Reminds me a little of home. We're almost out of here. Just hold on a little longer. And a little tighter.

  My fork damn near jumps in my hand. “Looks better than frozen pizza.”

  She snickers. “You act like you've never eaten frozen pizza before?”

  “I've eaten more of that shit than could possibly be healthy for a person.” When she giggles again I declare, “However nothing compares to having a home cooked meal by the hottest chick you've ever seen in your life.”

  Instead of rolling her eyes like I expect, she bites her bottom lip. A groan comes from me. I adjust my crotch.

  Could you stop looking down there? It's not polite to stare.

  Dinner conversation progresses the way it normally does. She asks questions about life out from under The Devil's thumb and I tell tales of the crazy stunts me and my brothers have completed on and off our bikes. Memories from all the McCoys, dead and alive, flow from my mouth to her ears at such a rate, she stops eating to get lost in the stories. For once instead of feeling like just another part of the McCoy clan, I feel like the most important member. I feel like I'm king of the world and top shit.

  Strange considering I'm being held hostage, but let's just let that go.

  “Knox sounds amazing,” Melody giggles and pushes her plate away. “Except...”

  “Except what?”

  “Except, well, okay. Why is she just waiting around for Madden like that?”

  “Tricky question. You'd have to ask her.”

  “Well, why does he treat her like that?”

  “Trickier answer,” I mumble and lean back on my palms. “I don't think he wants too. I think what happens more often than people care to admit, is you wear a mask. You put on the face people expect to see. You start living up to the expectations of your name or reputation or expected behavior and the real you stays hidden. I think sometimes you wanna take it off. Show the world who you really are, but are afraid they won't like it. That they'll reject you or even worse, you'll reject you. You'll start to hate the person behind the mask because you've worn it so long that that's the real you and the person you thought you were hiding either no longer exists or would just be a different mask for you to wear because you have no idea who you really are anymore.” Looking down at my empty plate on the coffee table I whisper, “Or maybe that's just me...”

  “It's not just you,” she confirms. “Being Triple D is your mask, isn't it?”

  Her question lifts my eyes back up.

  “Do you know who Drew is?”

  “After almost ten days of being just him? I think so.”

  She curls her lips into a smile. “If it matters, you'll always be Drew to me. That's who I'll always see.”

  See what I mean? How could I walk away from her? How could I want her anywhere else but with me?

  The lights shut off as thunder rocks the house. While the outage is very brief, it's enough to get my mind wandering. “Back up?”

  “Eden has back up generators.”

  “But the cameras?”

  She smiles again as she shakes her head.

  Come on Thor! Knock that power out again so I can knock that pussy out in peace. What? Of course I really just said that.

  Melody stands. “I'm going to do the dishes and read on the couch for a bit.”

  I rise and attempt to grab dishes. “Will I see you later?”

  With a flick of her wrist, she shoos me away. “Yes. Now go. Just in case we have an audience, we should keep up the usual routine.”

  After a short nod, I start to walk backwards towards my room. “Night Mel...”

  While heading towards the sink, she calls back without turning around, “Night Drew.”

  Knowing there's a thunderstorm prevents me from my normal routine of scrubbing away the art leftovers of the day. Instead, I give my teeth a good brush, shed my clothes and crawl into bed. The anticipation of her in my bed is enough to feed my mind for hours, but the minor aches that seem to occur before I crash are already beginning. For a few I lie still willing them away. At first thoughts about the different places I can't wait to fuck her outside this place fl
ood my brain. Before my dick can't handle being any harder, I switch to the idea of showing her around the McCoy mechanic shop. Introducing her to my brothers. Explaining to her Madden and Knoxie both bark a lot harder than they bite...well, to friends of the family anyway. I start to consider what she might find to talk to Destin about. Easily my mind starts to float towards Daniel, the idea that he's fucked up without help clawing at more than my conscious.

  I can't lose another brother. I won't.

  Eventually I drift off to sleep figuring it's a better idea to rest a little since I won't be the rest of the night. I'm not sure how long I'm out before Melody enters the room, but the minute the bed dips beside me, I swiftly roll on top of her.

  She giggles, “You were dead asleep.”

  “Parts of me,” I yawn as my cock that sensed her before I did nudges between her legs. The second it brushes against her dripping wet panty-less pussy a groan creeps out of me. “Damn, Mel. I missed you.”

  “Missed me or parts of me,” her playful counter is followed with her wrapping her arms around my neck.

  On a grunt, I remove her hands and pin them above her head. My knees part her legs and without further warning I thrust harshly inside. Her body arches off the bed. With my lips beside her ear I declare. “You.”

  “Drew,” she whimpers as I pump once more, her pussy determined to swallow more and more of me with each push provided.

  Releasing her hands, I place my lips greedily over hers and start making up for lost time with my tongue. Our mouths fuse together determined to match the speed of our frenzied hips. Between ardent kisses, my hands roam her soft skin, her nipples easily requiring more attention than anything else.

  Come on...we haven't spent that much time together.

  When I tug softly, her mouth slips from mine and she cries my name loudly.

  It's like body bingo.

  My pumping slows down as I draw my body slightly upward anxious to hear her make those sounds again. I roll my fingers across her other nipple and repeat the action. She bucks her hips and mewls for more. The small but effective torture has me smiling and wishing I could see this in more light.

  When we get out of this place, we are never fucking in the dark again.

  Once I've had my fill of her begging, I drape her legs over my shoulders. She tenses at the new position. “Relax baby. I'll take care of you.”

  “It's so deep, Drew,” she whimpers, her muscles trying to expel my dick, the tight pulses making it hard not to fuck the shit out of her like this. “I don't think I can take it...”

  “I.” My lips kiss her calf. “Promise.” I kiss the other one. “You. Can.” With a gentle scraping of my teeth against her ankle, her pussy welcomes my cock. Slowly I plunge deeper, my eyes shutting in pure rhapsody. The pumping continues in long drawn-out motions, wanting her to feel everything I can offer as much as wanting to experience everything she's awarding me.

  And trust me. Her pussy is a prized piece. Not just because it's so tight, but because it's a perfect fit for me. Do you know how rare that shit is?

  When I slip my thumb to her clit to assist in making her come, she moans her hands gripping my biceps. “Make me come, Drew....”

  With a crooked smirk I whisper, “Always baby.”

  I rub in the pressured circles I know she enjoys while I continue to push deeply. It doesn't take long before her body is a withering mess. The sound of her breath being lost acts as the best aphrodisiac a guy could dream of.

  Not that I needed any help.

  “I'm coming,” she cries out loudly, her moans easily now screams, the shaking of the house in tandem with her body. “Drew!”

  Overwhelmed by it all, I drop her legs, so she can wrap them around my waist. In her ear I command, “Again. Call my name out again.”

  “Drew!” Her lips effortlessly sing the hymn with each jackhammer of my hips.

  The repetition cultivates the ravenous beast she's created inside. I thrust harder and harder, shamelessly saying, “I'm gonna mark your body, Mel. It's mine.” Her flexing muscles that are warning another orgasm is near cause me to growl. “It belongs to me. You belong to me, Mel.” The throbbing of her pussy starts milking my weeping dick. “And I belong to you...” At that moment a hot surge fills her as cries of devotion leave us both reverberating with such force I'm not sure who is making more sound, the storm or us.

  In one swift motion, I drop onto my back, pulling her frame over to embrace mine. With my arms tucked tightly around her, I plant a kiss on her forehead. The feeling of her face smiling against my chest has me feeling like I'm in paradise.

  “Does the house have power?”

  “No,” she sighs, her fingertips stroking my abs.

  Desperate and not afraid to show it, I beg, “Will you stay the night with me then? Here. In my bed.”

  I can feel the apprehension that often arises, return. “Drew-”

  “Please, Melody.” Feeling my own explainable fear, I plead, “I need you tonight....”

  The room falls silent to voices, the beating rain seeming more like it's punching the house rather than falling on it.

  “Is this about Daniel?” Hearing his name stops my hands from stroking her shoulder. “Are you worried about him?”

  “Yeah,” I quietly confess. “And losing you. Every time you leave, I worry The Devil's gonna do something and I might not see you again. Maybe that makes me a pussy-”

  “It doesn't.”

  “Well I feel like a pussy,” I mutter under my breath. “Could you just...sleep with me for a bit? You can sneak out before the sun rises, but can I have that part of you just once?”

  Her chin pops up on my chest. However she doesn't say anything.

  Talk about deafening silence.

  “I'll stay, but we have to talk in the morning, okay?”

  Worry tries to battle with the sleep that wants to settle in. “About what? Is something wrong? Should I-”

  “Just rest, Drew.”

  “But-”

  “Rest Drew...just trust me and rest.”

  “Okay,” I whisper on another yawn shutting my eyes. “Thank you for staying, Mel.”

  And thanks to you too. You've been a good friend this entire time. Thanks for keeping it real with me. Oh, and thanks for keeping me company in the world's weirdest prison cell.

  Melody

  A word to the wise. Bliss in The Devil's world is always a short lived state.

  “Don't you two look comfortable,” his voice springs my body upward.

  Oh. Shit. Oh shit.

  He compliments with a cigar dangling from his lips, “Beautiful rack might I add.” I reach for the sheet to wrap around me just as Drew starts to stir. “Much better than the one I saw last night.”

  “Eyes off my girl,” Drew's growl isn't as impressive through the large yawn he's exhibiting.

  “Your girl?” The Devil chuckles. “That's cute. Isn't that cute, Omar?”

  My head whips around to see Omar with a displeased expression leaning against the door frame. “Disgusting.”

  “Such a sour kitten that one,” The Devil says while shaking his head. “Honestly, I think it's cute McCoy. You've fallen for the girl actively killing you.”

  Shame forces my head down.

  Drew questions, “Huh?”

  “I know you McCoys are a little slow, but you can't possibly be that slow.” When Drew doesn't say anything else, The Devil sighs, “You bunch give me a headache. It's why you'll never sit at the top of the mountain.”

  “What. Do. You. Mean. Killing. Me?”

  “Your skin discoloration. The aches. The pains. All results of the poison you've been ingesting every morning thanks to Eve.”

  My eyes fall closed.

  No. He's not lying. Yes. You can hate me now. But I was going to heal him! Let me explain-

  “P-p-poison?” Drew barely spews.

  “Yes. That little vixen in your bed has been killing you and your brother since you two arrived. Isn't
that right?” I don't reply, which makes him repeat, “Isn't that right, Eve?”

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  “No. No. Look at me,” The Devil commands my face upward. “I like to look at my weapons in all their glory.”

  With tears falling from my eyes as much as they are down the back of my throat I stare at the man who has made me into the killer I am.