Tears flooded her eyes again when she realized he was real. Leaning up, she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him as tightly as she could. “You came for me,” she whispered into his neck.
“Of course I did. I will always come for you, baby.” He tugged on her hair so she would look at him and then wiped away at a tear that fell down her cheek. “Why wouldn’t I come for you? Haven’t I come for you every time?”
“Yes, I…” Lake looked down and away from his intense eyes. “I just thought that you might’ve gotten sick of coming after me now.” Instinct and feeling told her this time was different. She had run off from him too many times, pushed him away too many times. I thought he might not want me anymore.
Vincent’s thumb caught another tear. “I will never get sick of you, Lake. I love you.” His voice slightly changed to a darker tone. “But we will talk about you running from me when we get home.”
Nodding, she understood her feelings had been right. I have broken the last straw.
When his lips crashed down onto hers, it wasn’t like any other kiss he had given her before. This kiss held a different promise, one of possession. His mouth owned hers in one long, hot caress. Her body shivered when he pulled away, and she came face-to-face with the darkness inside him.
Lake licked the dryness of her lips as she stared at him. This other Vincent wasn’t trying to hide, showing her he was there to stay.
Maria softly came up the stairs while her eyes remained unable to move from his crazed baby-blues.
“I want you to stay up here with Maria.” His voice was as cold as his eyes.
Oh, God.
She grabbed his hand, stopping him from getting up. “Why?”
He merely stared at her, his eyes saying it all.
Lake blinked back the tears, holding his hand tighter. “Vincent, please. I lo—”
His thumb covered her lips, hushing her before the pad of his thumb began to rub her kissed-swollen bottom lip. “You will not tell me that now. If you still feel the same tomorrow, then you may tell me.”
She stared in shock while he got up and whispered to Maria. Her eyes fell shut as the fresh tears ran down her face, unable to watch him leaving. There was no pleading or fighting with someone that dark. It would only make the outcome worse, his eyes promising her as much.
Maria sat down on the bed, taking her hand when Vincent closed the attic door once more.
“Maria, please go talk him out of it. He might listen to you.” Lake’s tears only multiplied.
“I can’t,” Maria whispered to her as she laid Lake’s head on her lap, gently smoothing her hair.
“W-why not?”
She continued the rhythm of stroking her hair. “Do they not deserve it after all they have done to you? I just saw them, Lake. They have gone mad and lost all sense of reality. When you are born insane, you have to keep some kind of anchor to keep you grounded, to keep you in touch with reality. The moment you lose that, you have lost your humanity. They need to be dealt with for the sake of other people and for themselves. To know you have lost it like that—to the point of no return—can be the ultimate suffering.”
Lake could see that her mother and John had gone crazy, and whatever they deserved for hurting her was something she would never take into her own hands; therefore, the choice wasn’t up to her. Still…
She tried to keep it together, shedding tear after tear. “She’s my mother, my family, my blood.” Lake didn’t know if she was trying to convince Maria or herself anymore.
“Family cannot be determined by blood. Family is determined by actions. Family is about trust. Family is about acceptance. Family is about love. True family is earned, not born.” Maria’s voice was clear and strong, giving her strength with each word she spoke.
The tears slowly started to stop as she took in Maria’s words…
Family is about trust… I’m sorry, honey. He made me get you here.
Family is about acceptance… You little trailer trash whore.
Family is about love… Lake, I love you. You will never understand how much I fucking love you.
The tears in her eyes finally stopped. Everything was finally clear.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
You’re Gonna Burn, Motherfucker
Vincent shut the attic door without feeling bad for what he was about to do. Seeing her up there like that, not knowing if he was going to come and save her, had killed him almost as much as thinking she might not be alive. He was going to have no regrets with what he was about to do, and he sure as fuck didn’t feel sorry for it.
Heading down the other hall, he went inside the open bedroom door. Maria had told him Ashley wasn’t there, but she also had told him that he should take a look at her bedroom.
Walking in and looking around, he saw bags and bags of stuff, all of it unworn or used, the tags still on everything. He knew immediately they were all things her mother had probably bought for Lake, only for Ashley to have taken them. Even though Ashley couldn’t wear most of the items, she clearly didn’t give a shit, wanting simply to take anything she could from Lake.
It was honestly unbelievable the amount of stuff she could have returned yet didn’t. Ashley also could have thrown it away, but she hadn’t. Instead, she had hoarded it while constantly looking at the dominance she had over Lake. It was obvious John’s feelings for Lake had warped Ashley’s mind, as well. They both wanted control over her, but that fucking shit had finally come to an end.
Going downstairs, Vincent saw Nero and Amo had taken the pleasure of tying them to the kitchen chairs.
“Fuck, thank God. I can’t take these stupid fucks another second,” Amo said, tying John’s wrists behind his back tighter.
“There’s no way this bitch is Lake’s mother.” Nero set the keys to the moved cars down on the table.
John started to laugh. “I told you she’s dea—”
Vincent’s fist hit his face right over his already-broken nose, causing a terrible sound to erupt. “Motherfucker, do not say that about her again. She’s not dead, and you fucking know it.”
John was unfazed. “She is! She’s nothing without me, just like her piece of shit mother was nothing before me! Do you know why I call her trailer trash?”
Picking up a heavy sock from the table, Vincent started swishing it around, hearing all the change inside rattle.
“Because her fucking father was born and raised in a trailer park. His parents were probably fucking inbred retards. And her mother is a fucking whore who left him to fuck anyone with money. Do you know what trash plus trash equals? Fucking trash!” He started laughing again. “They even named her Lake because they fucked on a lake, and that’s where she was conceived. You see? She’s a fucking retard like her father and a fucking whore lik—”
Vincent swung the sock full of change across his face, and then he began to beat him with it. The sound of tiny pieces of metal hitting hard flesh satisfied him as he heard Lake’s mother cry.
Pam forced her face in the opposite direction, unable to look at the brutality of what he was doing. “Please, he made me do it! I would never hurt my baby!”
Stopping the beating, Vincent left John as he started coughing up blood to focus on her mother, grabbing her face and squeezing her jaw.
“Did he beat you to lure her here? I don’t see any fucking bruises. Every fucking time she came over here, you pretended you didn’t know what he and Ashley were doing to her, but you fucking knew. You put on a fucking show for her every time, calling her ‘honey’ and ‘baby’, buying her shit. It was all just to keep her mouth shut and get her to continue coming every weekend, because if she didn’t, then I bet he didn’t let you spend any of his money.”
Pam shook her head. “No, that’s not—”
His hand closed over her throat. “Tell me the fucking truth, bitch.”
“Okay!” she choked out. “He liked watching her clean and cry! He’s my husband; I’m supposed to keep him happy. If I keep him hap
py, he returns the favor. That’s how it works!”
He stared at her, hearing the sickest thing he had ever heard in his life. Rearing the sock back, he hit her hard and fast on the side of her head multiple times, giving her a semi-quick death. The bitch had given him Lake, but he desperately needed to kill one of the two if he wanted to make the other one suffer longer. He was close to fucking offing both of them with their fucking mouths, but he needed to draw the death of the other one out.
Turning to John and giving him a few more hits in the ribs, he then shoved the sock full of coins in his mouth.
“Motherfucker, while you sit here and die, I want you to think about how you will never be able to call Lake another name, how you will never be able to tell her what to do, how you will never watch another tear go down her face. It killed you to think about how you never got to break her down after all these years, didn’t it? You knew you never owned her, and then, when she left and didn’t come back, you realized you were never going to be able to finish what you had tried so hard to fucking do for years.”
Vincent grabbed one of the gasoline tanks off the table and started hosing him down. “Lake is mine, motherfucker. She was never yours, and she will never be yours.”
Setting down the tank, he looked at Nero and Amo. “Hose down the rest of the house while I get Lake and Maria.”
Nero and Amo nodded before they picked up the tanks and started to get to work.
Vincent went up the stairs, still feeling no remorse. The two had completely lost it since the last time he had been there. Those ‘people’ were no longer people. That was why he didn’t deal with them as people.
She’s a fucking retard like her father and a fucking whore.
He ran a calming hand through his hair, telling himself it wouldn’t be much longer.
That’s why you’re gonna burn, motherfucker.
* * *
Lake let Vincent lead her downstairs and out of the house after she had promised to keep her eyes shut. You would think it would be hard not to look, but it was rather easy from the deafening silence and the smell of gasoline. Once the chill, summer night air hit her face, she felt like she could breathe again.
Neither one of them said anything or looked at each other until he put her in the backseat of the car, telling her he would be right back.
By the time she began to smell it, the car doors were opened with Amo and Vincent jumping in, the burning smell entering with them. As the car started down the long driveway, she stared into the rearview mirror at the smoke and the flames, which grew with every inch down the road.
Seeing her house of tortures burned to the ground was something that was hard not to look at. She figured burning what took place that night in that house was for the best. At least when she turned on the news, read the front paper, or heard gossip in the city, she would never know how they had done it.
That was why it was easy for her not to look. I don’t ever want to know how they died.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Touch Me and There Will Be No Running Until I Am Done With You
Lake walked down the hallway behind Vincent. The whole way back home, they hadn’t said a word to each other. Vincent didn’t once come close to touching her or even looking at her. She found herself aching to be touched, aching to be looked at the more and more she stared at him, but she knew she shouldn’t. Not after what he did.
When he opened the door, she followed right behind him then closed it behind her. Vincent walked to the couch, sitting down and placing his hands on his thighs, silently sitting and staring at nothing.
She stood still by the door, watching him take his place. The dark Vincent sitting there like that looked frightening, yet she wasn’t scared of him like she usually was. There was no fear in her anymore when it concerned Vincent. There is no reason to be. He had changed his whole life around for her, taken endless care of her, saved her over and over, and lastly, he had given her chance after chance.
Lake knew she shouldn’t have walked out that door without telling him. If I had, today would have gone a lot different.
Lake walked until she stood by the stairs without moving her eyes off him. When he still didn’t move, she continued to walk into the living room. She stood in front of him then went to her knees so she could face him at eye level. Looking into his eyes, it was as if he looked straight past her, like she wasn’t even there.
Biting her lip, she reached her hand out, going to the top button of his shirt.
Vincent snatched her hand, holding it tight. “You do not want to do that right now,” he warned her in a low growl.
She moved her other hand to his shirt, only for it to be grabbed, too.
“I am trying to be fucking nice to you right now,” he ground out, putting her hands back to her sides. “Go. To. Bed.”
Looking into his eyes, she saw they were glowing a fierce blue. She had never seen them glow like that before, and it only added to his frightful appearance.
You don’t scare me anymore.
Her eyes trailed down to his chest. He had never let her touch him, explore his body, or even fuck him back. She knew it was because he couldn’t take it, too afraid the darkness would come out. She had given up touching him, too afraid to meet it, as well, no matter how badly she had wanted it. But at that point, she sat on her knees in front of that darkness while he gave her a chance to run because of what he had done. Even the sickest part of him didn’t want to touch her with the blood he had on his hands. She could see the torment of that written all over him, and she wanted it gone, forever.
She scooted closer to him, going between his legs, careful not to touch him although her hands were itching to do so.
“Please, Vincent. Let me touch you.”
Vincent gave her one final, cold warning, “Touch me and there will be no running until I am done with you.”
Lake licked her bottom lip in anticipation, her hands reaching out again. That time, she was able to touch his top button, sealing her fate. There was no turning back.
She undid the first one and then the next, each button revealing more and more of him. Wanting a better view, she spread open his shirt and her gaze roamed over his hard, toned body. Her mouth began to water when her hands were finally able to lie on his chest.
He is so fucking perfect it hurts.
Leaning down, her lips lightly kissed over his skin, and then she moved closer to one of his nipples. Looking up through her lashes at him, her tongue flicked out. When he didn’t move and only the slightest hint of desire showed in his eyes, she moved lower, kissing and licking down his abs. Her hands moved down his body to the tops of his pants, undoing the button.
Vincent kept his hands on his thighs, not moving his eyes off her as she slowly unzipped his pants. When his hard cock sprung free, she was finally able to see the feelings he was hiding.
Lightly grabbing his dick, she almost expected him to finally move. When he didn’t, a wave of wanting to please him rushed over her body, making her stroke him up and down.
Bending down, her tongue licked at the tip before she swirled it around the head of his dick. Taking it slowly in her mouth, she began to softly suck. That was when she could hear his low growl in response. She started to take more and more of him, the sounds coming from him making her only want to please him further.
Looking up at him again, she could clearly see the desire in his eyes, but he still hadn’t moved a muscle. She let it slip out until just the tip was between her lips, waiting a moment before she filled her mouth completely.
Finally, Vincent’s hands went to her hair, making her smile, and she started a motion of bobbing up and down on his dick. As his hands began to tighten in her hair, she moaned onto his cock, finding enjoyment in pleasuring him.
Holding her hair even tighter, he began moving his hips, fucking her mouth.
Lake was stunned at first yet then found it erotic as he moved in and out of her mouth. She relaxed her throat, letting him sl
ip deeper, which only made him fuck her faster. As he let her up for air, flames spread over her body. Staring at him, she slowly started to lose control. That was only the start, a taste of what was to come, and her body burned in anticipation.
She eagerly took him back into her mouth as he started fucking it again. She felt his cock throbbing for release, and she didn’t expect it when he pulled out of her mouth.
“Take off your clothes then get down on the floor on your hands and knees,” he harshly told her, gripping her hair tighter before he let it go.
Her breath was heavy as her chest fell up and down while she removed her clothes as quickly as she could. The heat and need between her legs was almost painful by the time she made it to the ground. Lake faced away from him, doing as he asked by going to her hands and knees. Please, hurry. She felt as if she was going to explode waiting for him to finally touch her.
She could feel him move behind her and when he went to his knees, it made it all the more torturous.
Vincent grabbed her ass. “I have waited so fucking long to fuck you like this.” His hand ran up her back and pushed her head to rest on the ground.
With her ass sticking straight up, she wiggled her hips as he only continued to squeeze her ass.
Bending over, he took a bite out of one of her perfect globes, making her raise her head in response.
“Keep your head down,” he commanded.
Lake put her head back down, whimpering. She needed him inside of her.
Feeling the tip of his dick rubbing at her wet pussy caused her to bite back her scream, certain she could almost orgasm if he did it again.
He quit rubbing her with his dick, completely removing it from her opening. “Do not hold back your screams or moans anymore. I want to fucking hear you scream for me.” He pressed his dick against her opening. “Do you understand?”
“Yes!” Lake screamed out when his touch returned to her. She had received no physical stimulation, but she felt as if she could orgasm at any second.
“Good girl.” His hand slapped down on her ass before grabbing it roughly.
Vincent (Made Men Book 2) Page 28
