by K. Langston
Steven draws in a slow and steady breath, his tight expression making my adrenaline spike.
“Whatever you say, man,” Steven scoffs. “You finished?”
“For now,” Asher states as he reluctantly steps aside.
I open the door and call for Lyla to grab her bag. Steven pins me with a glare but I shift my eyes away. I know he’s angry and upset but I don’t care. Every single maternal instinct I have wants to lock her away and not let her go with him but there’s not a damn thing I can do to stop him. The only comfort I have is knowing that even though he’s a lying, manipulative asshole, he does love his daughter very much.
“Daddy!” Lyla greets as she rushes over to hug his leg.
“Hello, sweetheart.” Steven lifts her up in his arms and kisses her cheek.
“I sure did miss you,” he says, setting her back down on her feet.
“I missed you too, Daddy.”
“You all set?” he asks, his voice completely devoid of the anger now.
She hands him her backpack. “Yep!”
Lyla turns to give me a hug goodbye. I squat down and wrap my arms around her, not wanting to let her go. “I love you, baby girl. Be good, okay?”
“I will, Mommy. I love you, too.”
Then she turns to Asher, reaching her tiny arms up toward the man towering over her. He kneels down and gives her a tight squeeze. “See you Sunday, kid.”
“Bye, Asher,” she murmurs, and my heart twists in my chest at the love and affection they have for one another.
The moment he releases her, Steven takes her hand and leads her down the stairs but it’s the look he gives me when he walks away that sends a chill down my spine.
Once we’re back inside, I breathe a sigh of relief but my heart is still heavy.
“You okay?” Asher asks.
I nod, my throat constricting around the tears threatening to fall. “I hate sending her with him. I hate it so much.”
He gathers me in his arms, resting his chin on top of my head. “I don’t like it either.”
Chapter 20
Asher
I can’t believe she was ever married to that piece of shit; someone as beautiful and kindhearted as Marley being tainted by that ass has anger simmering in my veins. I can’t imagine what it’s been like for her to have to deal with him alone, but she won’t be anymore. Last night it took everything I had to keep my cool and not pound his face in, but I knew that’s exactly what he wanted. And it would have been ammunition against Marley and I’m not about to let that happen.
I decide to take Marley out for dinner tonight to get her mind off everything. She’s messaged Steven more than once today to check on Lyla and while he’s responded back that she’s fine, I know Marley is still worried and won’t be able to relax until Lyla is back home tomorrow.
We walk inside the restaurant, and we are seated right away at a table overlooking the river. Candlelight flickers against the windowpane and I can’t help but smile as I pull her seat out for her. I’ve never been a romantic kind of guy. Hearts and flowers really aren’t my thing, but I find myself wanting to give her those things. I find myself wanting to give her everything.
Leaning down, I drop a kiss to her bare shoulder once she has her chair scooted up to the table. “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”
A deep flush stains the contours of her cheeks. “Thanks, you don’t look too bad yourself,” she replies as I take my seat across from her.
I try to keep the conversation light, talking about things like work and the weather and it’s not long before her mood shifts. She seems more relaxed and at ease. There’s a sense of pride in knowing I can instill that calmness in her. I like being someone she can lean on. Someone she can trust to help shoulder her worries or take them away. I never thought I could feel this way about a woman. That I would want to give so much of myself to someone so selflessly. But since the beginning I knew this woman would be a game changer for me. That she would change my life unequivocally.
After we finish up dinner, we decide to take a walk down by the river.
“I’ve been thinking about taking a trip to New York soon to visit my folks. I want you and Lyla to come with me,” I tell her.
She stops walking, facing me. “Really?”
Wrapping my arms around her waist, I hold her close. “Yes, really. Will you come?”
She blinks at me, shocked I would even ask, then her mouth spreads into a smile. The kind of smile I want to put on her gorgeous face every single day.
“Are you sure?” she asks.
“Fuck yes, I’m sure. I can’t wait for you to meet them. They’re going to love you and Lyla both.”
Looking down, she toys with one of the buttons on my shirt, biting her lower lip.
“What is it?”
“This just feels like it’s happening really fast. Does it feel that way to you at all?”
Curling my fingers beneath her chin, I lift her gaze to mine. “I don’t know how we got here but maybe that’s exactly what I needed. Someone who could make me forget where I came from. Forget my past. Someone who could make me love without knowing how to fall.”
She gasps, part of my name tumbling from her lips as my mouth covers hers. Her arms circle my neck as I deepen the kiss, pressing my hard cock against her belly.
“Asher, please,” she breathes between kisses, her nails scraping at my neck.
“What is it, baby? What do you need?” I ask, pressing my forehead to hers.
“I need you.”
Who am I to deny this woman anything?
Now I just need to get her home and out of public before I fuck her right here for God and everyone else to see. The drive home is a master feat. She can’t keep her hands off me.
Or her mouth.
Her lips are all over my neck while she strokes my cock through my jeans. I keep a tight grip on the steering wheel and my focus on the road, damn near breaking every speed limit law in the city.
“I can’t wait, Asher. I need you now,” she purrs in my ear.
“Five more minutes.”
“No. Now,” she demands, squeezing my dick.
I swerve right, taking the next exit off the interstate. I used to patrol this area, and I know the perfect spot. One minute later, I’m pulling into the deserted parking lot behind an old industrial park.
Throwing my truck in park, I attack her mouth. She climbs over the seat to straddle me. “God, why can’t I control myself around you?”
“Because this pussy needs be filled by me and only me,” I tell her, unzipping my jeans and pulling out my cock. There’s no need for foreplay here. I know how wet she gets for me. And she knows I’m coming for her. As predicted, my woman doesn’t disappoint. I plunge into her hot, wet hole, reveling in that first moan as I fill her. Like her soul is exhaling around me. Her mouth crashes against mine.
Hot.
Needy.
Carving out a place of her own with that goddamn tongue.
She begins to ride me, using the leverage of her knees to push herself up and down, starting out nice and slow at first but then her movements grow more eager.
Almost frantic.
I feel it, too. The bottomless hunger.
Desperate need.
My fingers dig into the curves of her hips, gripping tight, guiding her every move, but it’s me who’s surrendering to the wave crashing against my heart, because fuck knows she controls the tide. My name pours from her lips as I capture her mouth with my own when she falls apart, her pussy squeezing me so tight it dims my vision. I bury myself to the hilt, filling her with cum, but it’s my soul that feels like it’s extracted from my body because she owns it.
She owns every part of me.
I don’t know how long we stay there, breath upon breath being exchanged in the darkness of my truck, but I do know one thing for certain, no other woman has ever possessed me like she does.
And no other woman ever will.
Chapte
r 21
Asher
“He should have been here by now. Something is wrong. I know it.” Marley has been pacing and trying to get in touch with Steven for the past half hour. The bastard is over an hour late dropping off Lyla.
“Has he ever been late dropping her off before?” I ask.
“No, never. He’s always on time or early.”
It makes me wonder if this has to do with our encounter on Friday.
“That’s it, I’m going to his apartment. I can’t just sit here,” she says, grabbing her purse and heading for the door.
“What if they show up and you’re not here?”
Her shoulders sag in defeat “You’re right.”
“I’ll go,” I say, grabbing my keys from the counter then I touch my lips to hers. “I’ll call you when I get there.”
She nods, biting her lower lip. “Be careful.”
“Always.”
Irritation nips at my gut on the drive over as I think about all the stress he’s putting on Marley. He’s fucking with the wrong woman if he thinks he’s going to make a habit out of this, especially if this has to do with our encounter on Friday.
Half an hour later, I pull up in front of his apartment building, I scan the parking lot for his vehicle but it’s nowhere in sight. I throw my truck in park and take the stairs two at a time. My emotions are all over the place right now, because all I want to do is break down his goddamn door and strangle this motherfucker, but for Lyla’s sake, I can’t do that.
I bang on the door, pounding with the base of my fist for several minutes before I pull out my phone to call Marley.
She picks up right away.
“Did you find them?” she asks, hope in her voice.
“His car is not here and he’s not answering the door.”
Her breath hitches. “Asher, I’m freaking the hell out here. I’m so scared. I’ve been calling hospitals since you left and they have no records of either of them. Now his phone is disconnected. What if something bad has happened or what if—what if he took her? Oh God, Asher. I don’t think I can take this.”
My fingers clench into a fist as rage pours over me. When I do find this piece of shit, it’ll take every ounce of control I possess not to kill him on the spot for making her worry like this.
A sob tumbles over the line and my heart cracks a little in my chest.
“Marley, listen to me, baby, I promise I’m going to find her but I need you stay calm. We’ll give them another hour and if we haven’t heard anything by then, we’ll take the next step.”
She sniffles, her soft cries echoing in my ear. “Okay.”
“Heading your way now,” I assure her and end the call, slipping the phone back into my pocket as I climb inside of my truck and haul ass back across town.
Chapter 22
Marley
I’m a basket case. I’m pretty sure I have walked a hole in the floor and my mind is spinning in a million different directions. Every possible scenario worse than the last. I’ve never felt so helpless before. Not even when my parents died. But right now, I feel like I could fall apart at any second.
Thankfully, Peter arrived not long after Asher left. When I called to let him know what was going on, he came right over. He knows something is wrong too, he knows Steven is never late. He’s too OCD for that.
“I hope Asher finds him and beats the shit out of him for making you worry like this,” Peter says from the couch.
I make another pass across the floor, stopping to look out the window. “All I care about right now is getting Lyla back safely.”
Then I’m taking him back to court. If he can’t comply with the order we have in place already then there’s no way in hell I’m letting him take Lyla again. Not without supervision.
Between Peter’s presence and knowing Asher will do everything he can to find her, I am just able to remain calm and collected.
The waiting is the worst. The absolute worst. My mind is constantly worrying. Constantly wondering where she is. If she’s okay and where they are. Steven would never hurt her, I remind myself. He loves her. He’s a good dad.
Then why do I have this uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach?
I’m trying to stay strong but in the back of my mind I know I’m slipping off the edge. My fear and constant worry are beginning to consume the rational fragments of my mind and I’m finding it hard to push back. Losing my parents nearly broke me but losing my daughter, it will end me altogether. She’s my whole world.
My reason I breathe.
Calm down, Marley. Stop thinking the worst. Everything will be okay.
It has to be.
The knock at the door startles my thoughts. Peter and I share a look before I rush to the door. I fling it open, hoping to find my daughter safe and sound on the other side, but the cold, icy hands of dread squeeze what’s left of my beating heart when I find Steven and the gun in his hand, aimed directly at my head. Only, he’s changed his appearance. His brown hair is now blond. His normally smooth jaw is sporting a five o’clock and he’s wearing a baseball cap low on his brow.
I gasp as he pushes through, shutting the door behind him. “Where is she?”
“Shut the fuck up,” he snarls.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Peter rise from the couch.
“Don’t you fucking move, faggot, or I’ll put a bullet right between her eyes.” Peter remains where he is, pushing his hands up in the air. “Give her the keys to your car,” he says to Peter, but his eyes are still trained on me and so is the gun in his hand.
“Steven, please,” I beg, trying to reason with him. “Don’t do this.”
“Too late. It’s already done.”
His eyes shift to Peter. “Keys. Now.”
Peter slowly approaches, extending his hand to offer me his keys. When I take them, Steven reaches out and slams the butt of his gun to Peter’s head. He falls to the floor with a sickening thud. A scream erupts from my mouth but I quickly suppress it as I kneel down next to his unconscious body. Blood trickles from the wound on his head but I don’t have time to assess it before Steven is grabbing me by my hair and pulling me to my feet.
He pushes the front of my body up against the door and I send up a silent prayer as the cold barrel of the gun is pressed to the back of my neck. “You’re coming with me. If you even think about running or drawing attention to yourself, I’ll kill you. Understand?”
“Why are you doing this?” I cry. “I don’t understand.”
“You shouldn’t have pushed me, Marley.”
Steven opens the door to look outside first before pulling me out with him.
We take the stairs down and he leads me out to the parking lot to Peter’s car. He orders me to the passenger side then rounds the car and folds himself into the driver’s seat.
“Steven, please don’t do this.”
He answers with a punch to my face. Pain explodes in my head as his fist connects with my jaw. Blood pours from my mouth as he cranks the car, putting it in reverse. “Just shut the fuck up and ride.”
Leaning over, he opens the glove box and pulls out a wad of napkins, tossing them in my lap. “Clean yourself up.”
Tears burn the back of my throat as I lower the visor to look in the mirror. Blood seeps from my busted lip. I dab the napkin on the wound in an effort to get it to stop bleeding. I remain silent as he demanded, not wanting to upset him further.
Mile after mile, he drives in silence. The houses get fewer and fewer, or so it seems. It’s dark so it’s hard to see anything but the passing trees on the highway. Two hours later, Steven turns down a gravel road, swerving to miss some of the sunken in spots. It feels like an eternity before a house finally comes into view. It’s a nice house, two stories with a wraparound porch and several lights on. If I wasn’t caught in my worst nightmare I would think it looked like a normal home.
When he rolls to a stop and shuts off the engine, I reach to unbuckle my seatbelt.
“Stay put
,” he orders.
The tone of his voice freezes my body, anxiousness coiling like a snake in my belly. In the years I was married to him, he never looked this evil, but right now there is no other word to describe him. He looks like someone I don’t even know. Someone I never even knew. Bile rises in my throat, thinking about the years I shared with this man, the years I laid next to him when all I could see was our future together, and right now all I feel is pure hate.
He exits the car and I watch carefully as his dark shadow passes in front of the windshield.
Opening the door, he wraps his fingers around my upper arm and pulls me out, pressing me against the car. He tucks his nose to my neck. I turn my head away, wincing as his tongue darts out to taste my skin.
“Despite how much I want to hurt you right now, I’ve really missed you, Marley. You always smelled so good.”
His words make me cringe, blood running cold with disgust, but his fingers grip my chin, forcing me to look at him. “What? You haven’t missed me?”
“Where is she?”
“She’s inside, but before we go in there are rules.”
“What rules?”
“If you want to keep her alive, you’ll do exactly as I say. That means if you make one wrong move, if you even think about escaping, I’ll kill you both.” His cold, dark eyes hold mine as he leans in close. “I’ll squeeze every breath of life from her tiny body and make you watch before I put a bullet in your brain. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I swallow thickly and nod. I’ll do whatever the hell he says as long as it keeps her safe.
“Good girl.” His fingers caress my cheek and my skin crawls with revulsion. “We’re going to be a family again, Marley. Me, you, and Lyla. Just like before. Just like it was always meant to be.”
“Whatever you want, Steven. I’ll give you anything; just don’t hurt her. Please.”
I breathe a sigh of relief when he tucks the gun into the back of his jeans and reaches for my hand to lead me up the porch steps but we don’t even make it inside before I feel the sting of a needle being injected into the side of my neck, plummeting me into darkness.
