The Runaway Viper (Viper #2)

by Kirsty-Anne Still

  I halt as arms snake around my waist and clench around me fiercely. I’m frozen in these arms, but melt when I feel Jace bury his head into the side of my neck, kissing me.

  “I woke up lonely,” he says with a pout on his lips. “Not a good sign for day one of wedded bliss.”

  “I was planning a breakfast surprise,” I admit to him. I turn in his arms, and see him look over to the can of cream and strawberries, laughing.

  He gives me an all-knowing gaze. “Was that a plan for seduction?”

  “Like I need a plan,” I murmur smugly as he kisses me, arousing my body to the morning glory.

  He picks me up and places me on the countertop, my legs wrapping around him. I giggle in anticipation but am quickly silenced by kisses. I feel Jace’s hand roam around my body, racing up and under my pajama top. My body is starting to wake up from this electricity, the desire for Jace multiplying.

  “I told you we should have at least given them until midday!” Jake’s voice plows straight into the moment, killing any and all lust.

  I lean my head against Jace’s, as we both look to the group now gathered before us, and I can feel my cheeks heat with bashfulness. With my arms still wrapped around his neck, I kiss Jace’s cheek delicately before letting him go.

  “Why are you here so early?” I ponder out loud to them. “On my first morning as a married woman.” I’m teasing, I’m happy to have them here, but so early? In all honesty, my life with Jace has just begun and I have forever with him, but with these people, I don’t have long at all before they have to fly back to New York.

  “Well, I know you, Gilbert, you’re bound to want to know how everyone’s doing back at the club,” Eli states, and I hate how well he knows me.

  “Plus, I asked them to come over,” Jace interjects and looks at me. “They’re only here until tomorrow evening, so I thought we’d use the time wisely.”

  I’m silent for a moment before I twist my lips together and nod. “I want every single detail.” My comment is followed by a direct look at Eli, my inside man.

  “I guess we best go outside then,” he comments, immediately agreeing.

  I hop down from the countertop, taking Jace’s hand as we head outside to the poolside. I’m guessing by how comfortable Josh’s wife is, she knows all the details. The same goes for Jake. I relax the best I can, basking in the morning sun and absolute terror.

  “Where do we begin?” Eli starts, wringing his hands together in worry. He sighs, dropping his head lower. “The club is an absolute mess.” He looks back up, his gaze setting upon me heavily. “From the outside it seems perfect, but behind the scenes,” he pauses to shake his head, “it’s absolute anarchy.”

  I sit forward for this and feel Jace’s hand on my thigh. My heart is beginning to race, and I’m panicked at what I’ve caused. What I’m about to hear has been defined by my selfishness to run away with Jace.

  “Cassidy was elected head girl, replacing both you and Brianna. For her indiscretion, Brianna is now at the bottom of the group. Luca’s striving for second best.” Eli’s eyes are cast over with darkness, like it’s a perpetual storm in New York. “Girls are punished far easier than before and Clara has loosened the reigns to allow BDSM take over.” He wrings his hands together more. “Your room is actually the play room.”

  “Why would she do that?” I ask aghast. I can feel the shock filtering into the air around all of us. “That was one thing Clara was against. She never wanted her club to be defined by that. We were just girls for men to get some kicks, not enact fetishes.”

  Eli shrugs. “She lost her best girl; she had to up her game.” His comment startles me, my status now proven to me after seven months of ignorance. “Joely, you need to know she will do everything she possibly can to get you back. Men ask for you, even now. They compare the girls to you. Even those who bought some time just to have you sit with them.” He gulps before finishing his final part. “You were Clara’s golden girl without even knowing it.”

  I shake my head. “No, I wasn’t. I was never the girl who gave in easy to her games.”

  “That’s why you were you were so vital to her! You didn’t lose yourself to the lifestyle. You showed strength, and you didn’t just lie down.” I can see how passionate Eli is about my time as a Viper Girl, but I’m more reserved.

  I look at him - our eyes meet - and I can see the ferocity of events in his eyes alone. Admittedly, I was easy when I started, but as my time as a Viper Girl grew and my status heightened, I lost the easiness which made men want me for my stubbornness.

  “Brianna was the same,” he begins, “Until you disappeared.”

  “What?” I question dumbly. “What does that mean?”

  “Brianna lost everything. She punished herself for what she did to you, and Clara punished her for being able to go against one of her own. It wasn’t well appreciated and all the other girls shun her now. I guess they’re scared of what she’ll snitch on them, so they don’t run the risk.” His tone is lowering with every word that escapes his lips. “She’s back to the girl she was when she first signed up.”

  I listen, and I feel my heart thud away. It's slowing and it's becoming a painful mantra within my chest. Listening to how Cassidy is now the only Viper Girl and how Brianna is an outcast kills me. I know she brought this life upon us, but she is a weaker soul. She doesn't have the strength that some of us girls survive by. Some of us have sheer willpower and unbreakable optimism. Brianna is riddled with addiction and weakness. What she has in sexual prowess and ability to lie, she lacks in willpower and strength. When presented with a grievously dangerous situation she is never going to make the right move. She will always fail.

  Now she's paying for it. She might just be another girl, but the lasting effect of losing such a prestigious stature is a far worse disgrace than ever caving to any sort of drug-induced euphoria.

  “So she's using again?” I ask, assuming the worst. But I know Brianna, and I know how she reacts to things.

  Eli's face twists and darkens further. I know the truths are tortured ones. “She overdosed just before Christmas.”

  And that’s the Gods honest truth of how bad it has become.

  “Oh God,” I whisper, my eyes watering heavily at the thought.

  “As I said, she’s punishing herself and, in turn, Clara’s punishing her.” Eli looked around, seeing everyone as consumed as I am in the story. “She’s getting deeper and Clara refuses to intervene until she’s learned a lesson. She hasn’t been to one of the parties since the one where you vanished.”

  “This can’t be happening,” I murmur breathlessly. I cannot believe how much the club has changed and how no one seems to want to step in and help Brianna. I forgave her a long time ago when I realized Jace was working our way to freedom. She helped us in the end. She made us realize how much in love we are and how hard we can fight for the other.

  "Why are you so concerned?" Josh asks me. "She sold you out, Jo."

  "She's still my best friend. She was still the only person I had when I didn't have Jace or Eli by my side." I see how they’re all looking at me – like I’m the one who’s lost their damn mind. But they do not realize that I am the only one who Brianna really divulged every corner of her past life with. I’m the only one that knows how she fell out of an abusive home, only to fall into an abusive situation where drugs were her only escape. I’m the only one, besides Clara, who knows how The Viper Rooms helped her clean up her act.

  I never thought I would be a catalyst to making her that desperate.

  “I understand that, but Lee, she’s the only one who caused us to run,” Jace rationalizes, keeping calm. “You cannot worry yourself with what happened after we were forced to desperate measures.”

  “But I am the only one who understands her,” I state, not moving from my point. “She was like my sister, and Clara used her weakness against her to get back at me. What happened, happened. I can’t and won’t change it now. It could have easily been the othe
r way around.” I put my hand out, reaching for Jace, making a point of what I mean. Had we not be forced into the messy predicament we were, we never would have married yesterday. “She needs help, and I want her to have that.”

  There’s a moment of silence, and I feel of tremor of disappointment at the fact that no one seems to understand how I feel. I am helpless here, powerless to help Brianna. I can’t go back. That would be the craziest move if I were to walk back into the club.

  “When I get back, I’ll try,” Eli volunteers, and immediately my heart swells with hope. “Everyone’s been weary of her because of what she did to you. No one trusts her anymore, so she’s had no one to turn to.”

  “Please help her,” I plead with him. I can hear my own voice sounding desperate and he nods graciously. “Thank you.”

  “What about Clara’s search for Joely?” Jace breaks into the tension, changing the subject. “How is that going?”

  “So far she hasn’t made it past Mexico,” Eli advises us. It’s weird having him as an insider for us, but I constantly worry and panic he’ll be caught.

  “And you two have been all over, she’s looking for a needle in a haystack,” Josh added in, offering a little solace.

  “He’s got a point,” Jake added in. “You’ve kept moving for so long, it’s time you settle.”

  “Which we will be,” Jace muses confidently, sitting forward and grabbing my hand. “As soon as this little honeymoon is over with.”

  ***

  Since everyone was settled for the night in their rooms, I’ve found myself more thoughtful. All through showering and getting ready for bed, I just drifted off, wondering about The Viper Rooms, Brianna, and Clara. It all took over. Even now, as I lie in bed with Jace, I can feel the thoughts clawing at me, ready to consume me for the entire night. But pleasantly, I feel my mind shut off, allowing me to sleep. In the vulnerable state between consciousness and unconsciousness, I hold onto Jace a little tighter.

  “You are entirely safe,” he whispers sleepily to me, obvious to my gesture.

  “How do you know that?” I ask back, my eyes opening a little to stare into the night air around us.

  “Because I loved you yesterday,” he breathes against me, the midnight quietness shattering around us. “I love you still. Always have and always will.” He completes the old quote with the soft touch of his lips against my skin. It’s delicate and holds all the passion a lustfully heavy kiss would have. “You’re now my wife and I plan to only love and to protect you the only way I know how.” His voice is nothing more than carried forth with a whisper, but I lay stiffly still as I listen, intent I won’t miss a thing. “With all my heart.”

  My eyes close as they water and he kisses my hair again.

  “I won’t allow anyone to take any of this way from me now,” Jace vows and goes silent.

  I remain awake a little longer, only to allow his words to sink into my soul.

  Chapter Six

  Yesterday I was basking in the tropically beautiful weather of Barbados, fighting tears and trying to prolong the goodbye I had to endure. Jace and I went our separate way while Eli headed back to New York with Jake, Josh, and Sarah.

  I’m now standing on a runway in Sydney after leaving the private jet Jace chartered for us to fly in safely. I’m just standing and looking around as Jace sorts our bags, getting ready for us to head to our new home. He’s been impatient throughout the entire flight, nervous to the extreme. At times I worried he felt like he was making the wrong decision, others I just chalked it up to getting us settled.

  Whichever it is, has had a direct effect on me. My mood is darkened; I can feel the frown tightening across my forehead. I’m on edge right now, looking at everyone as if they’re an accomplice of Clara’s. I know my paranoia is uncalled for, but I have a lot to worry about – Jace’s mood, the lack of security, the lack of certainty, the life I left behind, and the friends I let leave my life.

  It’s these thoughts that cloud my mind and leave me numb and on auto-pilot. I know I’m heading through to arrivals, declaring we’re finally here and then getting into a car, but every nerve in my body is panicked over Jace and his behavior. The only thing that shakes me awake is the stopping of the car and the driver announcing we’re here.

  Jace and I climb out, Jace telling the man he’ll open the gates. I’m presented with this large white house, surrounded by tall walls and hidden amongst the trees and shrubs. I noticed how affluent the build up of the neighbourhood was as we drove passed mansions and driveways full with flashy cars and yachts ready for weekends away. I can already see the plot of land widens as it goes further back and I’m ready to get inside and explore.

  “You’re going to love this house. We’re part of Rose Bay. It’s literally part of our backyard, Lee!” He speaks with ounces of excitement. I can tell he’s been sitting on his hands waiting to showcase this beautiful home. “I wanted you near open water,” he states taking my hand. “I know how you love the water.” He releases my hand and draws me close to his body. “Can I carry you over the threshold, Mrs. Mason?”

  “I want nothing else,” I admit to him.

  I didn’t realize how true he was to his word until he picked me up. He held me in a fireman’s carry, my arms looped around his neck. I reach up and kiss him, telling him to go. He walks over to the keypad, and I watch mesmerized as he punches in a combination of mine and his birthdays. I listen to the doors jolt to life, parting as they pull away on their hinges. He carries me up the drive, the cab behind us following behind us slowly. Our driveway isn’t large, maybe big enough for two cars. The front door is large and alluring, pine and glass combined. I can see the neutral colors playing on the house inside already. It’s a perfect canvas to bring to life.

  Awkwardly, Jace manages to retrieve the key from his jean pocket and works it into the lock. As the door flies open with a gentle push, I can hear an alarm, and as we pass over the threshold of our new home, Jace refuses to put me down quite yet. He turns it off and walks a little further into the house.

  My attention is flittering around onto every surface possible. There’s gorgeous furniture, eloquent artwork, flowers - scenery everywhere. When Jace stops I’m met with a large row of enormous panel windows and patio doors.

  “Welcome home, Mrs. Mason,” he greets me, leaning in to give me a kiss. “I hope you love it.”

  As he puts me down onto my feet, I say, “It’s perfect so far.” I have no other words to describe it and I step toward the large cascading windows, drawn in by the calm water just beyond our house. I don’t even take any notice to the driver who brings our bags in, or Jace tipping him. I’m mesmerized.

  Then it hits me again – Jace made this happen.

  My heart shrinks a little at how willing and giving he is to me. The little lost girl come Viper Girl. I never realized the tornado I’d be cast into the moment we were introduced. He kicked my heart into rhythm, gave me a sense of morality, and gave up his life all for me.

  Gave up his life all for me.

  My own words resonate within me. They sober me and dampen the buzz of excitement that was growing inside of me. The realizm of my dream world becomes prevalent, and I’m left with a strong dose of ‘wake the fuck up’! I feel my body go icy cold. All this time I have been taken from country to country, kept moving so much my head hasn’t had time to settle. But in Australia my crazy mind already knows this is it. This is our life and the threatening truths I had kept forbidden from rearing up, are now on full attack.

  “So,” Jace breaks into my dangerous reverie. “What do we explore first?” he asks and comes in behind me, his arms lacing around my body. “The deck, the kitchen, the bedroom?” When I don’t respond, I feel him slacken his hold on me. I’ve fallen into the rabbit hole of my thoughts, and I’m a victim of their treacherous ways. “What’s wrong?” Jace asks, tugging on my arm to make me face him.

  I shrug nonchalantly. “Nothing.”

  “Don’t lie,” he admonishes f
iercely. I can see the jetlag has gotten him in its vices. “You’ve been scowling for most of the flight, have gone quiet on me, and now won’t look me in the eye.”

  “It’s really nothing,” I repeat and walk away. “This house is beautiful.” I use a deflection method in the hope it’ll work. I don’t want to rile up something that I am sure is part of my imagination.

  “Joely,” he groans at me, unable to listen to my lie. “Please, don’t shut me out. It’s tearing me up to see you look like you’re haunted by something. It’s been a long time since I last saw that look.”

  “Fine,” I break and already know the shit storm I’m about to erupt. “Is this really the life you want?” I ask him, but before he can respond, I continue. “Because, to be honest, Jace, your attitude is confusing to me. In Barbados you were all in, but since leaving there you’ve barely spoken to me, let alone looked at me.” I see him stand stock still, unreadable before me. “Am I one of the biggest mistakes of your life?” Again, silence. “Because I can’t stop myself from feeling like it.”

  “What?” he says to me, as if he’s breathless. “Do you hear yourself?”

  I nod sadly. “I do, which is why I’m asking you.” I take a struggled breath, the intake shuddering. “I’ve made you leave behind your family, your business, everything, and it’s all my fault. You’ve wasted so much of your life for me, so much money that I panic you’re going to start doubting ever taking me from that party.”

  My head falls forward, my tears beckoning forth. I sniffle before I fall into a full blown sob. The heaviness of the thought is monumental and my pounding heart is threatening to stop dead in my chest if my fears are confirmed.

  As I sink further into despair, Jace cuts it short. He grabs me by my biceps, his grip tight.

  “I need you to listen to me, can you do that?” he asks me. I look up, and I just nod. “Good. We won’t be running forever, and my family will always be there, as will yours. But the reason I’ve been so quiet is because I was panicking about if I had picked the right house for us. It’s our first home together, the first time we get to set some roots somewhere without the thought of having to leave. I got pissed at myself because I promised you the real start this seven months ago, and I’m only now giving it to you.” I can see the conviction lacing his eyes, he’s concerned, the soft blue orbs of his eyes showing all the raw emotion. “Do you not think I panic that you’ll leave me because I seem to only hand you empty promises.”