Sinful Torment: A Romantic Suspense Novel

by Tia Lewis

  “Wait. How did you get back from the lake?”

  “A nice old lady gave me a ride back to Miss Jones’ place,” I responded as I looked out of the window. “She reminded me of someone special that I used to know.”

  Tess forced a smile. “Well, I’m glad you’re safe because I was so damn worried,” she admitted.

  “Where’s Miss Jones?”

  “She said she’s going to stay in a motel tonight and go home tomorrow.” Tess licked her lips, and my mind turned from violence to how perfect she looked right now. The jeans were ultra-tight around her ass, making her delectable ass cheeks more luscious than ever. “She said that she might go away soon—in a couple of days.”

  “That’s probably for the best,” I said. I turned the key, and the engine rumbled to life. “Let’s get out of this piss hole of a town.”

  I shifted the stick into gear and pulled away, driving through the heart of Upton and toward the road back to South Boston. I watched Tess out of the corner of my eye.

  “Did the Russians say anything to you?” she asked as we drove past a sign which read, “You are now leaving Upton. We hope you enjoyed your stay!”

  “Yes. I know who has my goddamned money.”

  “Zharkov has it, doesn’t he?” she asked, her voice becoming quiet and fearful.

  I shook my head. “No.” I swallowed as the thought of the fellas at the Drunk Harpy entered my mind. If I was a soldier, they were my brothers-in-arms. Or, they had been. Now, they were the enemy, and I would have to kill them to reclaim what was my mine. Family and loyalty were what they vowed but stealing my money were the ultimate act of betrayal, and they had to pay. “Boss has it.”

  “Boss?”

  “Yeah. My Boss. The head of the Bianchi crime family and the man who used to be my Boss. Before I saved you, anyway.”

  “Oh…” Her forehead creased again. “Why would he have it?”

  “I don’t know. One of the Russians said Zharkov was a smart man, and that was why he took it, but that don’t make much sense to me.”

  Tess casually moved her hands up and down her legs, from her knees down toward her upper thighs near her pussy. Damn, the memory of that pussy around my cock was fresh and vivid in my mind. The warmth of it, the tightness of it... It was the kind of pussy to drive a man to madness. My cock pitched the fabric around my groin upwards. Tess looked around the car, from the muscle man who dangled from the interior rear-view mirror to the steering wheel and then down to my crotch.

  “Are you ever not horny?”

  “When I’m around you?” I smiled at her. “No. I’ve told you that already.”

  She smiled.

  “I think I know what the Russian might have meant,” Tess said, glancing out the window.

  “Yeah? And how the hell would you know that? You weren’t even…”

  “No, I wasn’t there,” she interrupted. “But don’t forget, I know Zharkov. I know the kind of games that he plays. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that he isn’t laying a trap for you Liam. He gave that money to Boss so that you would go back. He gave that money to Boss so that you would get yourself killed.”

  I nodded. “You may be right. But I’m not letting them keep my goddamned money. That’s one thing I’m damned sure not going to do.”

  “Even if it means your life?”

  “Don’t worry about my life, Tess. Worry about your own.”

  “I am worried about my own!” she retorted hotly. “But if you die, what will happen to me?”

  “You’ll go on, I assume. I think you’re stronger than me in a lot of ways.”

  We were about ten miles outside of Boston when we came to a motel called the Wanderer’s Pillow. It was a one-story building with a parking lot that was almost empty. The concrete was covered with chewed up gum and cigarette butts, and the doors of the rooms had been vivid green once, but neglect and sunlight had turned them dull.

  “Look at this five-star hotel,” I said, totally being a smartass as I slowed the car near the motel.

  “This is not the time to be funny, Liam,” Tess glared, not taking her eyes off of me. “What do you mean I’m ‘stronger’ than you?”

  “I mean that I’m good at killing. You’re good at surviving. That’s what I mean.”

  “I guess,” she replied, glancing over at the motel.

  “We’re stopping here?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I need to ring my Fixer. There’s some stuff I’m gonna need.”

  “Fixer? Stuff for what?” She seemed confused.

  “Revenge.”

  I pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car just outside of the main office. I noticed a ginger cat sat on top of the short building, purring down at an old couple who walked toward their rooms. I wonder how long it’s been up there, I thought. The man smiled up at the cat, rubbed his wife’s arm, and pointed at it with a trembling forefinger. Their wedding rings sparkled as they looked up at the cat, the woman oooohhhhing and ahhhhhing. Tess and I watched the couple for a few moments.

  “That’s cute,” she said. “They look so in love.”

  “Is that love? Staring at a cat?”

  As we watched, the old woman leaned over and kissed her husband on the cheek.

  “Staring at a cat, sharing the moment, and then kissing? I think that’s love.”

  “Maybe you know more about it than me then,” I deadpanned.

  We climbed out the car and into the bright sunlight. It was a hot and humid day, so hot that I could feel the concrete burning through the soles of my boots. I walked toward the main office with Tess at my side.

  I opened the door to the office and led her inside. The teenager who sat behind the desk wore a skull pendant around his neck and had black eyeliner framing his puffy green eyes. The room smelt of aerosol, either hairspray or deodorant but definitely not air freshener; it had a stale tinge to it, and I could feel it drift down my throat.

  “Hey,” the teen greeted us, looking down at the desk.

  “We need a room,” I said.

  “Name?”

  “Guest.”

  The teen studied me. “Room for two? For how long?”

  “Today and tonight.”

  “Oh. Okay,” the teen stuttered, going red for no reason. I guess that he was one of those anxious, socially awkward kids. He opened one of the manila folders and pulled out a piece of paper. “We have five rooms available. Do you want one or two beds?”

  “One,” Tess answered. She turned to me and gave me a look from under her eyelashes that made me feel like my balls might explode on the spot.

  “Yeah, what she said.” It was so on.

  “Okay, that will be eighty dollars, please.”

  I pulled out the wad of cash that I had stolen from the Russians, ignored Tess’s wide eyes, and handed him a hundred-dollar bill.

  “You know what, kid?” I said. “Keep the change. But don’t put it in the motel owner’s pockets. Keep it for yourself.”

  “Oh, wow, really, man?” He smoothed his finger over the cash like it was magic. “Wow,” he repeated.

  “Yeah, wow. Can we get our room key?”

  “Of course!” he exclaimed, leaping to his feet and reaching for a rack of keys that hung from the wall.

  The kid handed over the key and met my eye briefly. He smiled and then looked down at his feet. I twirled the keys around my fingers and walked out of the office back into the parking lot.

  “Why did you do that?” Tess asked as we walked across the parking lot toward the Mustang.

  “He didn’t look happy,” was the only response I could give.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I laid the suitcase on the bed and Tess took a seat on a chair in the corner. The room was larger than the motel room at the Sleepy Inn. There was enough space to walk around the king-sized bed. The carpet was white and spotless, and there was a wooden rocking chair in the corner. Two paintings hung on the walls: one was a portrait of a Victorian woman, her face stern.
The other was a landscape of a green, sunflower-dotted valley.

  “What’s the plan now?” Tess asked, stretching her legs out.

  I opened the pillow case that held the blood and cum-soaked sheets.

  “Disgusting!” she turned up her nose. “I forgot we had those.”

  I grinned and tapped my jean’s pocket just to be safe. The bullet casings were still in there. I’d moved them when I changed clothes.

  “When it’s dark I’ll get rid of these,” I said. “We’d be damned fools if we went back to South Boston holding evidence.”

  Tess nodded as she watched me take out the bullet casings and wrap the stained sheets around them. When that was done, I shoved the sheets back into the suitcase and zipped it up.

  “Ohhh! I get it… I think.”

  “So, are you ticklish?” I asked, and looked down at her with a mischievous smile.

  She smiled back.

  “Yes…”

  “Good.”

  I pounced on her with my staggering speed and picked her up. She squealed and kicked as I carried her across the room to the bed, but I held her close to my chest. I could feel the heat of her against me, the small vibrations of her fast-beating heart, and her warm breath on my neck.

  “Oh, my God!” she laughed at my childish behavior.

  I laid her on the bed and tickled her delicate stomach and her neck at the same time, moving my hands over her and provoking squealing giggles.

  Her face and neck bloomed red, her tendons straining as the giggles exploded out of her. “No, no!” she panted, trying to roll over, snickering like crazy. Her laughter filled the motel room like sweet music.

  “Liam! You’re crazy!” Tess screeched. I tickled her harder which made her face become a beautiful shade of crimson.

  “What’s that, Tess?” I laughed with her. “What did you say? I couldn’t quite hear you!”

  I tickled and tickled until it looked like her face was going to burst. Then I ran to the other end of the room and stood beside the rocking chair, which still rocked slowly from the force of pulling Tess out of it. She leaned up and held her sides, squeezing her stomach and panting rapidly.

  “Never again,” she grinned from ear-to-ear just as I was.

  “I thought I would lighten the mood. Do something different, you know?”

  “I’ve seen you put a bullet in a man’s head, but I can honestly say that I’ve never imagined a hitman would be the one to tickle me.” She grinned wider, catching her breath. She cleared her throat and tilted her head back, looking down her nose at me.

  “One does not tickle a lady, you must know. One would be positively foolish to tickle a lady of my standing!” I loved this playful side of her.

  “You know your accent just makes my cock harder, right?” I slumped into the rocking chair and rested my arms on the armrests.

  “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to not use that kind of language in my presence.” Tess smiled coquettishly at me. “I think you’ll find that I’m a highly respectable lady.”

  “Yeah? Let’s see how long it takes this respectable lady to cum all over my tongue. Let’s see a lady stay respectable when my tongue is pressed against her clit or my cock is inside of her.”

  She let out a small moan.

  “Where’s your accent now?” I let out a naughty grin, rose to my feet and walked to the bed. Staring down at her, I could see down the front of her shirt. I admired her kissable tits and her rock-hard nipples that begged to be sucked and pinched. Her body had completely cast a spell on me. My cock pressed so hard against my jeans that I thought that the waistband might snap. She didn’t say anything, just looked up at me, her mouth half-open, and her cheeks reddening.

  “Do you want to cum on my tongue?” I asked, my voice smooth. My eyes were burning into her, all my muscles were tensed, and my cock was engorged at the thought of eating out her tight pussy. “Tell me that you want.”

  She nodded, confirming her desire and biting her lip in anticipation.

  I slowly reached down and moved my fingers through her long blond hair. My fingers spread over her scalp and then I grabbed her hair in a tight bunch, pulled her head back, and exposed her fragile neck to me. I had never seen a woman so pure as Tess. It was magic to my cock; I ached for her so badly that I felt like I might cum in my boxers right then and there.

  I released her hair before lazily stripping off my shirt. Tess moved across the bed to prop herself on the pillows, and against the headboard. Her gorgeous blue eyes teased me the entire time. I took my time lowering myself to all fours and crawling after her. I stalked her across the sheets, a playful predator on the prowl, with my giggling prey in my sight. She hadn’t fully tamed me, though; there was enough inherent danger in my slow approach for her naked body to quiver with anticipation.

  “I said tell me how badly you want my tongue. In. Your. Pussy.” I growled.

  She let her head drop against one delicate shoulder, her eyes half-lidded and dark with lust. Her back arched, and her tits jutted up towards the ceiling. Her perky nipples were erect. She knew that she was tantalizing, and teasing me.

  “A picture’s worth a thousand words, they say,” she breathed out huskily.

  “But how can I see the whole picture when I’m all the way down here,” I volleyed back. I dipped between her thighs, lips pursed and skating roughly along the edges of her pussy, tongue darting out to tease her, just a taste. “I’m gonna need some more… vocal… direction.”

  “Oh, Liam,” she sighed above me. “You feel so good. I need you to fuck my pussy with just your tongue until I cum all over it.”

  I growled playfully again, biting down lightly on her inner thigh before burying my face into her heat and shoving my mouth into her soft folds.

  “You’re such a bad girl.”

  “Mmmmm,” she moaned in agreement, and I blew my hot, hungry breath against her pussy lips before chasing it with my tongue. I shaped it into a spear, jabbed it into the soft, velvety depths of her pussy, savored the juice as it dripped into my mouth.

  “Use your words, baby,” I teased, before diving back in even as I delivered a light slap to the meat of her ass with my palm. She cried out, wracked with a full body shudder that made her wetness vibrate against my cheeks. “I want to hear you calling out my name in that posh accent.”

  “Liam,” Tess half gasped, half sobbed. She raked my sides with her feet, sliding her legs around me, trying to grip me tighter between her thighs. I hummed contentedly, slapping the other butt cheek before palming it like a basketball, shoving her deeper into my face.

  I teased her clit then moved on in search of her G-spot, fluttering my breath and my tongue over that one little spot that lit her whole body up like a Christmas tree, her ass vibrating under my fingers. She reached down to run her hands through my hair, tangling it between her own fingers, seeking purchase, something to hold on to as she rode my face. I played the part of the bucking bronco then, wild and untamed. Anything to give my baby the ride of her life.

  I ran my hands down her thighs, lifted her hips, and shoved her higher up on the bed against the headboard. Her smell, her scent, her warmth, it was all driving me crazy; it was all so overwhelming. I drank it all in as I ate her out, thirsty and voracious and not even close to being full. I could never have my fill of this woman.

  Her desperate whimpers and frantic cries spurred me on as I lapped at her pussy like some kind of wild animal. It all reached a fever pitch, her ache for release and my hunger to give it to her crashing together in a collision that had her thighs quivering on either side of my face, gripping me between her legs like a vice.

  “Yes,” she sighed, her muscles going slack and dropping lifelessly against the mattress. I raised my grinning head from between her legs, swiping my tongue across my lips with a satisfied smirk. I was content to savor the taste of her, displaying the evidence of my prowess like a trophy. Tess peered down at me from the headboard, a lazy smirk twitching at her own lips.
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  “You look far too pleased with yourself.”

  “Is there a reason why I shouldn’t be?” I rolled on my side and traced spirals into the sweat-slicked skin of her leg.

  “I’m torn between not wanting to encourage you, and well, wanting to encourage you,” she said.

  I shrugged, deliberately rolling the muscles of my shoulders and back and watching her track them with her eyes.

  “I’ll remember that next time you’re pretending to be a proper lady.”

  She rolled her eyes but seemed to lack the breath for a full-fledged retort. I just grinned again and settled down, resting my head on my elbows as I stretched out alongside her.

  We laid in that position for a few minutes.

  “I’m going to go freshen up,” she announced as she walked to the bathroom.

  I laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

  I could hear Tess yell from the bathroom: “Are you hungry?”

  Her voice faded away as thoughts of what would happen next ran rampant through my mind. What happens next, brother? I heard Kevin’s voice and the sound of it brought me down from my orgasmic high.

  I only wish that I knew.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “After everything we’ve done, you’re not going to tell me anything?” Tess asked with a mouth full of food.

  We sat on the edge of the bed with containers of Chinese food around us which we ordered in because I wasn’t planning on going into a Chinese restaurant again anytime soon. A container of chicken wings and shrimp fried rice sat on the edge of the mattress. I held a bowl of beef chow-mein and Tess nibbled on fries and a fishcake.

  “What I’m more curious about, Tess,” I said, “is who orders fries and a fishcake from a Chinese takeout joint?”

  We ate with knives and forks, which I had specifically asked for—I wasn’t going to mess around with chopsticks. The smell of the chicken, beef, and the sauces filled the room, mixing with the aroma of passion and turning into something surprisingly pleasant. The sun was setting, the blinds glowing orange-purple. The only noise from outside was the steady hum of the traffic and the occasional laughing or swearing from the motel guests.