My hands move to unfasten his jeans.
“Cassandra, baby . . . not here.” Such a guttural request fires my desire to play with his control more. I want him at my mercy, begging, calling my name, gasping for air as I touch him and make him come.
“Where then? I’m done waiting for the right moment.”
His eyes darken as he hears my voice vibrate with emotions.
“I’m suffocating, Mark. I want to feel free from all the turmoil.” My eyes burrow into his, hoping he’ll understand my desperation. Today, I feel the chasm of darkness more potent than ever.
Those whiskey irises sparkle with such intensity and brutal need, but he waits not giving in. My guts twist with fear he might refuse me.
“Are you sure?” Mark strokes my flaming cheek, knowing we’re going to battle the family to stay together.
I nod, not understanding what these intense feelings mean. But Mark makes me feel empowered, adventurous, and not afraid of my own sensuality. Perhaps because he knows about my emotional scars or because he has his own, but I feel bolder and braver with him. He makes me feel like I’m worthy and beautiful.
Mark’s stubble grazes against my neck as his hand roams my body to cup my aching breasts. The heavy globe rests in his warm, callused palm, rubbing the tip between his fingers.
“Stop playing, Mark.” But my concentration’s melting, the pleasure dissolving my restraints. My mouth parts and I arch my back, locking my legs tightly around his waist. I pull him closer, grinding myself against his hard cock. “Take off your pants.”
“Careful, Lovebird, you might try to chew off more than you’re capable of handling.”
But then he steps away and unzips his jeans, holding me hostage with a smoldering look. His hard cock with thick veins bounces free between his parted masculine legs and then he leans over, caging me in. My focus snaps to his handsome features I want to explore with my tongue and teeth, feel his scruff against my skin, and wind my fingers in his golden-brown hair as he fucks me.
“If we go further, there will be no going back, Cassandra. Do you understand this? I’m not going to play like a good boy and let you slip through my fingers. I’ll use every trick in the book to seduce you, melt your resolve, and enslave your heart. You better be sure, because I won’t stop until you’re moaning and screaming my name, and know no other man but me.”
My gaze snaps to his dilated irises as I hear a jealous underlining in his possessive statement. I expect many things from him, but not envy. I touch his jaw and stroke his lips, mapping their shape with my fingers.
“There is no other man, just you.”
I smooth the crease between his brows and kiss it, needing him to lose this edge and let the energy coursing through us mend the broken. The seductive power is so potent and fierce, I struggle to breathe and think clearly.
He pulls me against him and cups my neck, bringing my eyes to his as if he wants to force those thoughts from his head to mine. “Isn’t there?” I flinch at his harsh tone.
He can’t mean Logan, can he?
My bare chest constricts, and I swallow a lump. I push him away, jumping off the island to grab the discarded T-shirt from the floor.
“What are you doing?”
I turn to face him.
“Dressing up, Mark. What else?” I snap, annoyed and hurt, trying to keep tears at bay. It seems like my past is haunting me again.
“Cassandra . . .” His rasping voice full of need tugs at me, but I can’t let him make me feel guilty about those people I loved and lost. “Lovebird, please . . .”
“Logan was a huge part of my life, okay? You can’t be jealous of the dead man.”
Mark’s shoulders hunch over as he looks down at his feet, lost for words. But then he grabs his jeans and starts to dress up too.
“Mark . . . look at me.”
He slowly raises his gaze to me, and I see such a deep chasm of darkness reflected in their depths. I feel like I might fall in there and never be able to come back. I move before I realize what I’m doing as if to soothe him. Grabbing his neck, I bring his face to mine, letting him see the gulf of my own darkness.
“I know loss, agony, hollow loneliness the way few people do. And I think you understand better than anyone else what it’s like to live with that chasm of pain. Logan and I belonged to a different era. I was a different person back then. Why are you so afraid of my past?”
“I feel like I’ll never measure up to him, like he’s everywhere, in your home, in your bed, in your memories, in your heart.” His gaze locks up on the photograph hanging above the side table and many others scattered around the space. “I wonder where my place is, if I’ll ever have all of you.” The last part he speaks softly, hesitantly.
I shouldn’t have told him about Logan, about our love and loss. It made him insecure.
“We could make this relationship whatever we want it to be. But Logan is the father of my children. These are the only reminders I have of him. I can’t recall every memory due to my head traumas, and my kids are too little to remember him. So yes, these photos are important pieces you’ll have to get used to. I won’t be breaking the hearts of my children because you feel insecure about your place in my life.”
His shoulders hunch and his head lowers to the floor as he stands there like a lonely soul who also needs a place to belong. Without his hands wrapped around me, and his presence curling in the dark places of my heart, the distance between us makes me empty.
Since I don’t have all the answers, I don’t try to give them just because he wants them now. Instead, I pull his face toward mine and mesh our lips, reassuring him the only way I can.
“A-hem,” someone clears their throat and we pull apart.
I flinch as light pierces the room and screw my eyes shut to adjust to the brightness. Mark’s hands tighten around me as he stares at someone over my shoulder.
13
Obstacles
~Mark~
Something possessive flares in those pale gray eyes as Lucas watches my hand wrap around Cassandra’s torso.
“You should leave, Mark. It’s too late for a visit.” His voice rumbles with authority, aggravating me even more.
This needs to stop. They all need to back the fuck off and let us breathe. But as I watch him, I worry Lucas might be struggling with his feelings on a different level than a brother should.
Cassandra stiffens in my arms, and I feel livid seeing the embarrassment glow on her face. She’s not a little girl to be told what to do. How dare he humiliate her this way? Anger filters through me hot and demanding, but I stay put, knowing Lucas is dear to her, and I might just make it worse. Besides, her warning about my own jealousy’s still fresh. She might feel the same about Lucas’ odd behavior.
She uncurls from my embrace, stepping closer and locking her pale eyes with him. I hope she won’t allow him to dictate her life. But again, I don’t really know what she’ll do. Cassandra tends to take a peaceful route to solve issues with her family.
“I invited him, Lucas.” Her voice sounds firm and her spine straight as if she knows how to fight with Lucas.
Holding the marine’s gaze, I clasp her waist and pull her back into my chest. Unable to curb my instinct to brush my lips against Cassandra’s neck, needing her to know I’m on her side. Cassandra’s frame melts into my chest, and she trembles as my cock pulses against her. Lucas' hands curl into fists and his face tightens with anger as he watches me stake a claim in front of him. He steps closer, but then he stops as if he remembers his place.
That’s right, buddy, back the fuck off. She is mine!
“They are my children, and this is my home, Lucas. And whoever I bring into my bed isn’t any of your business.”
His eyes blaze like hot steel about to be dunked into the water.
“You’re wrong. I’m your family. It isn’t smart to bring a stranger into your kids’ lives so soon. You’re a mother, Cassandra, their feelings matter too. Besides, this man might ru
in you as well.” He digs a claw into my heart with a never-ending discussion about our inappropriate choice to date.
Lucas is clearly trying to make her feel guilty and doubt her choices, using her insecurities against her. He’s doing it not because it's right but because he’s jealous.
“How about you leave motherhood decisions to Cassandra and act as a supportive brother instead?”
He moves a menacing step closer, his nostrils flaring like a dragon’s ready to singe me.
“You think you get to tell me how to talk to her?”
Her frame stiffens as the vicious energy saturates the air.
“You speak like a jealous lover instead of her brother-in-law. You tend to forget how this relationship is supposed to work,” I taunt him as my heart pounds in my chest, watching his fists ball at his sides, and my muscles get taut, ready to respond.
“What’s happening here?” Helen descends the stairs in a silky pale gown, giving us a disapproving glower over her delicate shoulder. Cassandra’s spine stiffens like steel next to me, vibrating with tension as she watches her getting closer.
“We’re having a disagreement about the boundaries with Lucas,” I offer.
Helen looks between us. “I’m sure these issues could be solved in the morning.”
But the marine’s gaze stays fixed on me, his six-foot frame fired up for a fight. He was always a sensible one. I’m yet to see him unhinged. But something in his gaze makes me believe he’s determined to prove me wrong.
“Lucas, I’m a grown-up woman. I can handle my guest.”
I want to growl with frustration because we haven’t had time to talk about what we are, and I can hear a hesitation when she calls me ‘guest.’
“Cassandra, perhaps Mark could find a room in a hotel. We have no rooms left for him to stay.” Helen looks down at her with biting contempt, and now I know why they decided to stay over. So they could control us, keep us apart.
“Helen, thank you for your concern, but Mark’s going to sleep in my bedroom tonight.” The air cracks with tension as her gasp of disbelief like a snap of the whip filters through the space.
“In the room you and my son used to sleep?” she shrieks, and my insides tighten as if she just twisted a knife deep inside of me.
Helen looks at Cassandra like she’s a repulsive human being. But I’m done with their mingling ways and disrespect toward her. Cassandra deserves better than to be beaten down for Logan’s death. She didn’t cause this devastation and they know it.
“I’m not taking your son’s place, Mrs. Cade. I’m making my own,” I growl my statement, knowing she used this exact argument to force us apart. She knows how to hurt me, but I know how to hurt her, too. “Logan is dead, and we both are alive.”
She stumbles back, but Lucas catches her before she hurts herself in the corner of the console table.
“His time is over, and mine has just begun.”
Helen’s delicate chin wobbles and a pang of guilt sneaks under my skin, but I stay firm, needing to make a fair point. She knows what I’m getting at.
“She has suffered enough. We all did, but life goes on,” I add.
Something dark triggers in Lucas’ gaze as I see him move so fast. I only have time to push Cassandra out of the way and brace for the impact. The punch hits my jaw like a brick, bringing the familiar sting of pain. The impact rams me into the table, and my chest explodes with violent energy. I strike him in the guts and then his ribs, shoving him off me.
The metallic taste of blood flares in my mouth, and I get high from the adrenaline coursing through my system like fuel, flooding my senses. My temples throb, but I can’t hear or feel a thing.
At some point, we both stagger into a shelf, pushing it to the floor and shattering the entire contents. But we don’t stop or take a break. We can’t. There is too much history between us, too much pain and secrets destroying us from the inside.
“This woman is no longer yours to take care of. She is mine, and I won’t allow you to stake the claim and keep me away from her,” I growl at him. They all tried to keep us apart, afraid I might tell her the truth. Afraid of what she will do.
“Lucas, Mark, stop!” Her melodious voice filters through the room, but Lucas smirks at me, and we both dive back.
“Darren, stop them! They’re going to kill each other!” Helen’s shrieks pierce the room, but we’re beyond caring.
Until someone plunges between us like a sledgehammer, forcing us apart.
“Hey, hey, stop it, right now! Mark, stay down! Lucas, dammit, don’t move!”
But I see Lucas is about to get through the barricade, regardless of Darren’s attempt to stop us. He’s about to push his father out of the way, but Leif joins the force.
He gets in my face, still high from adrenaline, and my punch flies into his face.
“Fuck, I don’t mind a bloody lip, but you need to calm the fuck down!” And then he barrels into me until I hit the wall, losing my breath. “We have kids upstairs, and you make enough noise to wake the neighbors.”
I want to fight him as we did so many times in the past when we were kids. Both looking for trouble and a way to take the edge off.
“Mark.” Cassandra’s voice penetrates the bloody haze. I find her standing a few feet away with her son, Leon. With eyes huge like saucers, he clutches her hand in his.
“Cassandra.” I shut my eyes and suck in a breath, seeing her disappointment clawing at my chest. I realize she called her sister’s husband, who lives a few houses away from their residence, to separate us. Fuck, I only helped this family to prove Lucas’ point.
“Mark, you should go, it's late. I’m going to call you tomorrow, all right?”
My hands clench at my sides and my shoulders slump forward, defeated. Lucas reduced me into a violent teenage boy, and I let him. Her son shouldn’t have seen us fighting. Regret bores into me as I lock my apologetic gaze with hers, hoping she would understand.
“Lucas, you should also go.” Surprised, I snap my gaze to Lucas to see how he’s going to counter her request. But he nods, not even arguing. He knows what he did.
Lucas looks rough with a busted lip and his eye slightly swollen, but otherwise, he’s like a mountain ready for another round. And I wonder if he did this to force me out of her life.
“Mark, I trust you to act like an adult and take Lucas to the hotel.”
I nod, straightening my spine.
“And if I have to go bust you out of jail, I promise, you won’t step in this house ever again. Do you get me?” Her quiet command sends heat down my spine and straight to my cock. She looks sexy as fuck when in charge.
Glancing at Lucas, I nod in silent agreement. Afraid if I speak, I might say something I won’t be able to fix with a few apology words. My blood still boils thinking about his possessiveness and my hands itch to make my point.
“You know where the door is. I want you both gone.” And just like that, she turns and goes upstairs. Leon studies me with his sharp pale blue gaze until they both disappear from view.
Fuck! How did I mess this up? I glance at Lucas, and the idiot tries to hide his satisfied grin into his bloody fist.
“Let’s go, before I decide we aren’t done here.” He snorts but stops because of his father, glowering at him with those formidable eyes of his.
“You two better not get into a fight again, you hear me, boys? Or I’ll lock you up to teach you a lesson.” The warning sends tremors through me, and memories like demons rise to the surface, triggered by his threat.
Me in a cold cell, abused, raped, and left to die. Except I would wake up the next morning just to live that nightmare again. I rein in my dark memories and stay silent, knowing I have done enough damage here. Darren won’t understand. He never did.
“Let’s go.” Lucas moves toward the door, and I follow him, but before I leave, Leif grasps my arm, halting my exit.
“What are you doing, Mark? Let her go. Cassandra has been through enough. She is Logan’
s, not yours.”
I yank my arm from his grip and get in his face, but Leif stands his ground like a mountain of tribal tattoos and harsh lines. He was never a weak man, and part of me is glad he isn’t even now.
“She was his, but not anymore. Logan has nothing to do with the way she feels about me.” I grit my teeth as his eyes flash with pity.
“We both know why she’s drawn to you. Stop fooling yourself into believing otherwise. You’re both going to get hurt. The only difference is you know the truth, and she doesn’t.”
“Stop trying this hard to separate us. We all know this isn’t why you all want me out of her way.”
Leif glances at his mother enveloped in his father’s hands, shaking from stress. It’s her who can’t stand the idea of me being close to Cassandra.
“Mark . . .” She opens her mouth to argue, but we all know I’m right.
“You don’t get to decide who I date or take to my bed. You don’t get to play with me like I’m your son either.” They had a chance when I was a teenage boy looking for someone to love me and protect me, and they blew it. I’m not willing to play this game again with them.
Helen flinches as I glare at her.
“Because I’m not him. I refuse to be your boy-toy. Find someone else to feed your obsession with.”
“Enough.” Darren marches toward me, grabbing my shirt and shoving me against the wall. “Have some respect, son. We saved your life. We gave you a home to live. I have no problem teaching you a lesson.”
I chuckle, shoving him off me. He stumbles back, but Leif steadies him from behind.
“Mark,” Leif’s warning brings a pang of guilt, but not enough to stop me.
“I had enough of perverts forcing respect down my throat.”
Tangled IN LIES (Book#3, IN YOU) Page 15
