by Amarie Avant
He took hold of her shoulders and looked down at her. “Not Dylan. You only use my given name when attempting to manipulate me. You’re highly aware that I don’t take kindly to deception.”
She pressed her mouth to his in a searing hot kiss, one that left her as breathless as she hoped he was at the moment. “Even if sex is involved? There’s a lot of road between here and L.A. I don’t mind dropping you off on my way to Mexico, but you can’t whine when I grab a wallet or two along the way.”
“Let’s not disregard the fact that this is my rental. But you have a bag full of money!”
“Old habits die hard.”
“Whose habit was that? Mallory’s or Megan’s?”
The happy banter died down. It took her a second, but she mustered up the courage to speak. “Mallory’s. Then again Megan liked to use sex to get what she wanted.” Her fingers nestled in between his belt buckle. “I know exactly what I want, Officer Dylan Wulf.”
She crushed her mouth to his, demanding a fierce kiss. She feasted on his mouth, his tongue, his sexy lips. Could I blow your mind enough to come with me?
Her hands worked their way to the back of his neck. Mary Jane pulled up on her tippy toes as he moaned into her mouth. Lust pulsated between the depths of her thick thighs, but she thought better of jumping up and wrapping her legs around him as she’d done during one of their trysts on their first night together. Wulf’s abdomen needed to rest a while. As her tongue wiggled into his ear, she ordered, “Open the door and get in.”
“It’s daytime.”
“Oh, let’s not make that a problem.” She winked.
She got into the passenger seat as he adjusted the driver’s side and closed the door. She unzipped his pants and pulled out his erect dick. Her mouth watered as she stared at the sex in his eyes. Licking her lips, she leaned toward his length and opened wide with a warm laugh.
Slowly his muscular frame began to relax. Mary Jane marveled in how much power she had over him in this instant. Her breath caressed the tautness of his cock. Her tongue slipped out and twirled around the magnificent king’s crown. Flicking, teasing, and pleasing were part of her plans as her throat expanded to receive him. Arousal pooled into her mouth and she gulped it down along with half of his cock as she sucked.
His erection banged against her tonsils with each thrust.
“Fuck me,” Wulf groaned, twining his hand around her ponytail. He pumped her up and down. Her mouth fucked him sloppy, leaving a wet gloss along the hard, never-ending ridges of his cock.
She moaned and groaned as his cock beat against the back of her throat with each thrust.
“MJ,” he sighed, hardly able to speak. “Fuck, beautiful, I’m about to come.”
Every inch of her body tensed, the warmness inside her gone. The anticipation of pleasing him frozen in time.
“MJ, don’t tease me,” Wulf begged, his eyes opening. The warm, wet, tight funnel was no longer over his cock. When he noticed the tears in her eyes, Wulf caressed her cheek with his callused palm. “Beautiful, what’s wrong?”
She sat back in the seat. Oh, God, this is exactly why I can’t ruin Wulf’s life with my story.
“Tell me.” His voice was woven with authority and serenity.
She dabbed at her eyes with her palm. “Mallory was bitten by a dog.”
“What?”
She gagged, having a vivid image of Vin.
“MJ, talk to me, what’s wrong?”
His concern was tangible, wrapping around her shoulders. But Mary Jane couldn’t get the disgusting taste out of her mouth. Nor the thoughts from her head. Mallory looked to be about fifteen years old. The first time Vin had tried to get her to go down on him, she’d bitten his penis. His pit bull had retaliated at his master’s screech and bit her in the back of her calf muscle.
He cautiously moved into a seated position with her next to him. “Why are you crying?”
“I can’t tell you.” She turned away in embarrassment. His tender eyes were too much. She drowned in his sincerity.
He maneuvered around, grimacing slightly in pain. His callused thumb took hold of her chin, gently pulling her gaze back to his. “MJ, you can tell me anything in the world. We’ve been through so much shit.”
“We are tied together,” she murmured in agreement, still stuck in another world. Damn it, but his beautiful deep voice and the promises he began to make couldn’t bring her back. Vin and his foul taste clung to her.
“MJ, I’ll always be there for you. If you want to run around Mexico for a while, I’ll go. Shit, I will not let anything happen to you in this world, so I am going.”
“Wulf, we’ve connected in ways I’ve never thought possible in just a few token days. But no matter what crap you and I went through, I’d still feel guilty. I haven’t even told you their stories. You’ll want to get rid of me,” she sighed. “I don’t want to know.”
She couldn’t get the image out of her head. Vin had popped the dog on the head after the pit bull had gotten good and locked onto her calf muscle.
“I gotta get out.” She tried to open the door, but her finger slipped on the handle and pain instantly shot through her nails. “I can’t even be Mary Jane with you. I wish I could, but I can’t.” She continued to struggle with the door, tears blurring her gaze.
Wulf took her arm. “Wait, what’s wrong?”
She couldn’t tell him. She’d be so ashamed and disappointed if she was Megan.
“I know how to figure out who I am. Regardless of matching DNA, I could tell you who I am, Wulf. I know how to tell now.”
“Fuck, Mary Jane. Just tell me how you know?”
“I can check the back of my leg. As a teen, Mallory was bit by a dog. Peter always said it was her only imperfection when he was angry.” She lifted her foot onto the seat and began to shove up the tight jeans.
“Wait.” Wulf placed his hand over hers. Their eyes met again. This show of emotion made her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t break their connection. She’d spent days wracking her brain, wondering just who she was. Mary Jane was now plagued with two identities. Of all the questions she’d had, Wulf proceeded to ask the most important one, “Who do you want to be?”
Her lips curved slowly. “Mary Jane.” No connection to Grienke or Portman.
His hand went to her cheek. Wulf reached over, fighting through the pain at his side, to kiss away all of her worries. “Then be Mary Jane.”
Volume II
ONE YEAR LATER
When love is not madness it is not love…
Pedro Calderon de la Barca.
26
El Paso
Mary Jane Aguayo sang along with the Spanish music as she swayed in the upstairs bathroom of her small home. In a red lace lingerie set, she puckered her crimson glossed lips with an hour left to prepare for her papi—sugar daddy. The light on the curling iron beeped. She pulled down a section of her thick, black hair and began to twirl it around the rod, so it would be perfect for him.
A faint ringing sound reached the bathroom door. Mary Jane pursed her lips. She had an hour to go, and Papi was never on time. The doorbell rang again. Mary Jane unclamped her hair, leaving the one perfect spiral underneath.
“If I’m not presentable, then you came too early,” she mumbled to herself. Her ample hips caught the rhythm of the quick mariachi music while she ambled down the wooden stairway. At the front door, Mary Jane plastered a fake smile across her face, then a genuine curl ticked up the edges of her thick lips as she thought about his money. He had a big mouth that he used for all the wrong reasons—like complaining—but his pockets were bigger. She opened the door.
“Papi…” Mary Jane pressed back on the heels of her stilettos, so as not to fall into the stranger. The man before her had taken up the entire space of the doorframe. Though she was confused by his sudden close proximity, she eyed his muscular build.
“Uh…” She attempted to speak English, knowing that the stranger wasn’t Mexican. An unsettling fe
eling churned low in her abdomen. Mary Jane glanced around. With the rose bushes that pushed all the way up to the stairs, her neighbors would have to be right in front of her house to notice what was going on. In addition, she had no neighbors across from her, except for an empty field.
“Mary Jane?” The unexpected visitor uttered her name as if he’d known her for a lifetime and loved her even longer. His tone set her at ease. Too bad he didn’t look rich enough in jeans, a white undershirt, and scuffed steel-toe shoes. If one could drink in looks, then she’d be drunk already.
“Me no speak, eh…English.” With a friendly smile, she tried to shut the door on the stranger. His steel-toe boot wedged between the space.
Mary Jane’s deep browns burned with rage. She spouted off in a mix of English and Spanish, “You loco—”
Searing pain as hot as lava pierced her chest. It took an eternity to realize she’d been stabbed. The pointed object jabbed into her chest, her abdomen, and shoulder blade in quick succession. Her knees crumbled. The stranger tried to hold her by the shoulders and let her fall gracefully to the floor.
Tears burned her eyes as the pain subsided and total shock took over. And then her scalp stung sharply as she was dragged.
Blood smeared across the wooden floor, leaving a trail of pain, sadness, and confusion as her murderer pulled her along the living room floor and behind the couch.
Jake watched Mary Jane intently. The rage boiling within his veins felt awkward. This was not enjoyable, not a single bit. Setting aside his feelings, Jake took in her peaceful face. Her breath was shallow; the screwdriver hadn’t finished her off.
More time would help. He needed more time with her. Every single time she died…he stopped his rushing thoughts with a quick shake of his head. As if the mere act eased the mental torment.
His obsession was with killing Mary Jane.
He always told himself to be patient, take his time before murdering her. Patience was a necessity he’d all but forget the moment his eyes would land on hers.
“We never have enough time, do we?” Jake sighed.
Her pretty little mouth opened. He reached over and swiped a hand across her lips. He preferred the natural color not the painted red stuff.
Mary Jane began to pant. The shock, so vivid in her eyes, caused him to smile.
“See how I save you, MJ,” he told her. “This isn’t the life for you. They won’t bother you anymore.”
“I spent a lotta money on you. Dolled you up! Let you take pretty pictures. This is the thanks I get?” Beasley’s fleshy fingers coiled through Mary Jane’s hair. They were at the mansion in his master suite. There were professional photography cameras and lights all around. They’d just finished the photo segment that he planned on having flyers for and posting on billboards around the state.
Jake stood at the door. His teeth gritted as Beasley pushed Mary Jane back on his bed. Her arms flew, hitting him wherever she could. Somehow, he turned her around. Her face slammed into the mattress.
Hands balled into fists, Jake shouted, “Beasley! You, just spent a fortune on the girl.”
Beasley let go. She gagged and swallowed air. And then grabbed the silk sheets from the bed and wrapped them around her body. Jake waited for her to look his way, meet his gaze. The sweet look in her eye was what he survived off of; he thrived off saving her. crouched onto the ground, not the strong woman his mind had conjured up.
Mary Jane should’ve been stronger. Albeit, he’d always save her if necessary, but she was badass. They were assassins. This was their mission. Like a fucking movie, they had to work Beasley, and then he’d ultimately save her from Beasley—
But there are greater threats another voice whispered in his mind.
Jake disregarded that thought. Beasley gave her one last look before storming out of the room.
“Come with me, MJ. Let’s get you cleaned up. I’m Jake.” He held out his hand. This moment filled him with elation. Saving her. It hurt his heart that she always forgot about it, but he’d saved her a million times.
Her gaze met his. Not with those sweet, confident eyes, but with a dark rage. She gritted her teeth. “I will—”
“Kill me,” he finished her sentence. “Shit, I deserve to die a hundred deaths.” He placed a finger to his temple. “But bad people don’t go down easily, sweetheart. And you, darling, are the luckiest broad to step foot into The Petting Zoo. From today on, you have me.”
Jake blinked as the memory began to fade away. He was sitting beside her, on the floor, leaning against the back of the couch. This was all the comfort he was able to provide, his closeness.
Blood began to pool at her abdomen.
There it was, the slight tremor. She still lived.
“I’ll always save you from them, Mary Jane.” He stood.
Jake rubbed his hand onto a crocheted blanket draped over the back of the couch. Red tarnished the vibrant blues, oranges, and purples of the soft material. He turned away from her, slowly fading away and looked at the photos on the side table. One, in particular, caught his eyes as Mary Jane lay dying on the floor. It was the reason he’d dragged her body over, to get a closer look. He picked it up. An eight by eleven of the beautiful Latina, her lips puckered in a kiss that had to be for the photographer. His thumb smeared Mary Jane’s blood over her face in the frame, obstructing her view. He placed the photo down and picked up the phone.
He dialed nine-one-one.
The dispatch replied promptly. “What’s your emergency?”
“The name is Jake. And I’m killing Mary Jane…again.”
“Sir–”
Jake pressed END.
A small vibration came from the pocket of Jake’s pants. He grumbled, not really wanting to answer the phone, but unbeknownst to him, his brain was prewired to cooperate.
UNKNOWN: Did you kill her?
JAKE: Working on it. Can I?
JAKE: Or do you want something else?
This should’ve been a peaceful time for him. This ritual of allowing Mary Jane to rest in peace for all time, but the new boss had started the micromanagement bullshit when Peter went to jail.
UNKNOWN: Get it done.
Jake’s eyelid twitched. He shoved the phone back into his jeans pocket. He picked up the ceramic clay sun from the end table and weighed its heaviness in his hand. With both hands, he raised it high. Swiftly, he brought it down on Mary Jane’s face with a loud crunch. He did it again and again. The slushing sound of her brain and skull being crushed helped his heart rate slow.
The breathing stopped.
The innocent could finally rest in peace.
For now.
27
Generosa, Mexico
White crisp sheets covered her curves. Mary Jane grinned as Wulf reached beneath the linen to grab the meat of her thigh. Their bodies were warm, naked, and couldn’t be any closer.
“Someone’s awake,” she said before locking her calf around his leg to hoist herself up onto his thick waist. Her finger dawdled over taut, flawless skin.
“What are you doing, MJ?”
“Wondering how hot you’d look with my name tattooed on your chest.”
His growl was sexy. “I meant, what are you doing awake? You woke before me.”
“Did I? Maybe I sleep-walked—ahem—sleep-crawled down the bed while dreaming of tasting you.” She arched an eyebrow and glanced down at his thick shaft. “Then Detective Wulf woke.”
“Nope, not going to happen.”
“What?”
“You referring to my dick as Detective Wulf. I hate that shit.”
“All right, officer. As I said, I dreamt of tasting you. Obviously, I was asleep. Then I was stabbed in the eye by ‘you know what.’ So ‘you know what’ woke me up.”
A hard laugh rolled through him.
“You are beautiful. Crazy beautiful,” Wulf said, cupping her face before he tasted her mouth.
“What does that make you?”
He shook his head. She always
had the last word. Her almond-shaped eyes brightened when Wulf flipped her above his steel girth, pressing their bodies together, chest to chest. Her hair draped over them, tickling at his biceps. “That makes me a lucky man.”
“No. Not lucky; it makes you crazy for rolling with me.”
This time his mouth dominated hers, the silly grin on her lips disappeared. A hunger took over as her strong limbs tangled with his larger, denser ones. Wulf growled and clasped her neck, holding steady, while giving her a hard kiss as Mary Jane began to pull away. Her tongue coiled with his once more before her lips pressed a bruising kiss against his. Next, she made her way down his thick frame.
A sigh of pleasure hummed down her throat when she wrapped her lips around his manhood. Mary Jane started off slowly, savoring the taste of him. Loving the feel of the rippled veins in his powerful flesh, each one of which she took great pleasure in and knew by memory.
“MJ.” His deep voice coaxed her movements to quicken. He gripped her ponytail and pulled.
Mary Jane grinned, lips flush against the head of his cock. She climbed back up and positioned herself just above his groin. As wet as she was, Mary Jane arched her hips and easily slid down onto his length. With the taste of his cock still on her lips, Mary Jane grinded down onto him.
Swoosh. Her ponytail slapped against her cheek as Wulf dominated the bed. Now, his heavy muscles were above her. In one fluid motion, her thighs were around his waist. His mouth slammed a moan back into her throat as he kissed and made love to her.
