by Ally Vance
Chapter Eight
Becca
I pressed my palm against my racing heart and took a deep breath. This nervousness coating my insides was absolutely ridiculous. Especially after the way I’d already lost all my inhibitions with this man.
It was also entirely possible that I was mistaking nerves with excitement.
Choosing to go with that line of thinking, I lifted my hand and tapped my knuckles against the imposing wooden door. I was not prepared for the sudden rush of emotion to wash over me when it swung open.
Something as important as breathing became almost impossible when faced with the sight of Santiago standing before me in slacks and a dress shirt with the cuffs rolled up over his inked forearms.
Beautiful did not do this man justice.
I wanted to wrap myself around him and rub against the dark scruff peppering his sharp jaw like a cat seeking attention.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to fuck you right where you stand.”
I rolled my lip over my teeth and squeezed my thighs together. It was one stupid sentence, but the way he said it had my entire body going up in flames. Because, holy shit, I wanted that. I wanted him to have his way with me right there on his porch with absolute zero regard for who would see.
And then as if he knew my deepest, darkest thoughts, Santiago was right there. His mouth on me; big hands fisting my hair as I tasted the sweet slide of his tongue against mine. He pulled back and rasped Spanish words against my skin that I thought translated to “what the hell are you doing to me?”
With the level of turned on I was I couldn’t be sure of anything, though. Especially not when one of his hands slid between my legs. It didn’t matter that I was still fully dressed in my denim and t-shirt, not when the way he was rubbing me had shock waves zipping through my veins.
Without warning his dark head dipped, his mouth closing over my still-covered breast. Flicking his wrist, his hand moved faster, pressing harder against my throbbing nerve-endings. I threw my head back and gasped.
The sharp edges of his teeth sank into my skin. The sting of pleasure-pain enough to send me spiraling over the edge, free-falling into ecstasy. My entire body shook with the force of it. Air refusing to leave my lungs as I desperately tried to catch my breath.
“That’s it… Fall apart for me, princesa.”
His lips moved over my skin; kissing and nipping at my neck, my jaw, the corners of my mouth. He kissed me like I was something to be worshipped. I couldn’t remember a time where a something as simple as a kiss had me feeling this cherished.
“Now that that’s taken care of,” he murmured against my lips. “Why don’t we go inside, hmm?”
There was no stopping the smile tugging at my lips. “Inside sounds good.”
Santiago laced his long fingers through mine and led me into his house. I trailed behind him, my gaze bouncing from wall to wall to admire the intricate pieces of art.
He made no secret of the fact that he liked expensive things, but it wasn’t in an in-your-face-show-off kind of way. It was tasteful, beautiful.
We reached the living area, and I was a little surprised when he turned into a hallway and just kept walking. “Where are we going?”
“Bed.”
“Oh.”
He stopped so abruptly, I slammed into his back. Spinning around, he clutched my chin between his thumb and index finger. Slowly tilting my head back, his face inched closer to mine until our lips almost touched.
“You have a problem with that?” His low rasp set off a myriad of fireworks inside of me.
Rolling my lip over my teeth, I swallowed hard. “No, no problem.”
Santiago’s eyes dropped to my mouth for a long, hot second before he lifted them to meet mine. The smirk touching his lips just about set my underwear on fire. “Good.”
Then we were moving again, walking a lot faster than we had before. When we entered his bedroom, he flicked the switch before turning the dial to dim the lights. I wanted to take in every detail of his space, but my eyes had barely landed on the massive bed when his lips were on mine again.
His tongue plunged into my mouth with so much force, it stole the breath right out of my lungs. The warmth of his palm seeped into my skin as his hand curled around the back of my neck. I smoothed my hands over his chest, fingers fumbling with the buttons of his shirt.
By the time the garment was completely undone and pushed over his broad shoulders, I had to take a step back so I could see him. His beautifully tanned skin stretched taut over muscles he clearly spent a few hours a week defining.
I wanted to touch, lick, and kiss every single inch of him. It was that thought that had me sinking to my knees in front of him. His sharp intake of breath filled the room when I brushed my fingers over the bulge straining against his slacks.
Knowing that I could affect him like this made me feel all sorts of powerful. So powerful that my hands didn’t tremble when I worked to loosen his belt and undo his pants. A second later, he was standing before me naked and beautiful.
Unable to resist, I reached out and wrapped my fingers around him. He was hard, his skin hot beneath my touch. Tilting my head back, I looked up at him and licked my lips.
Even from my perch, I could see the muscle in his jaw jump with the force he bit down on his teeth. His nostrils flared on a ragged breath. “Take me, princesa.”
Grinning, I leaned forward and did exactly that. Inch by inch I swallowed him down, pulling the sexiest rumbles from his chest. I wanted more of that. Wanted to do to him what he did to me. Make him lose control.
Using my hand and my mouth, I was well on my way to doing just that when, without warning, Santiago suddenly hooked his fingers under my arms and pulled me to my feet.
Licking my lips, I protested, “I wasn’t done yet.”
“That mouth.” He gripped my chin and drew my face to his. “That damn mouth.” Then his lips were on mine again, his tongue tasting, teasing.
Oh, how this man could kiss.
I could’ve easily spent the rest of my days drowning in Santiago Morales’s kisses. Then he gripped the hem of my shirt and tugged it over my head, and I just knew whatever was coming next would be so much better than this.
My jeans and underwear went next and then he was straight back to kissing the smart right out of me. Hands touching, tongues tasting, our limbs moving like we were doing some intricately choreographed dance.
I was on my back on the silky sheets with him hovering over me barely a breath later. Or maybe it was minutes later since time had no value when I was in his arms. My body shivered when his hand moved to the back of my thigh to push my knee to my chest.
Then the breath left my lungs on a low moan when he snapped his hips forward and filled me completely. I didn’t have even a second to adjust before he started moving, tearing animalistic cries from the back of my throat with every brutal thrust.
Pleasure, indescribable pleasure started building low, low inside my belly. Goosebumps coated my skin as a delicious shiver started at the very tips of my toes and worked its way to the top my head.
I felt fearless. Free. Like I was standing backward on the edge of a cliff with my arms spread wide, ready to let go. To fall into the unknown. Screwing my eyes shut, I sank deeper into the pillow, deeper into that feeling.
And then when I was right there, firm fingers grabbed my chin. My eyes flew open and I was immediately met with Santiago’s dark, heated stare.
He moved faster, harder. Once, twice was all it took for my world to explode. I tried to throw my head back, to catch my breath, but Santiago was right there. His soul-searching eyes carefully taking in every emotion fluttering over my face.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I begged, “Kiss me.”
His gaze flitted to my mouth for a long, hot second before he bent down and covered it with his own. Unlike the way his hips were moving with mine, his kiss was slow and oh-so-sensual.
And when the damn fi
nally broke for him, he sank his teeth into my bottom lip and somehow managed to pull more pleasure from my body. Breathing hard, Santiago dropped his forehead to my shoulder and murmured against my skin, “I never planned on you.”
A frown pulled my brows together when I woke up and the space beside me was empty. Hugging the sheet to my chest, I sat up. The stillness coating the room almost eerie. My gaze flicked from one dark corner to the other, my heart’s pace picking up speed.
There was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep again. Slipping from Santiago’s impossibly comfortable bed, I snatched my clothes from the floor and quickly donned item after item.
Well, everything except my panties. I didn’t know why the heck he kept taking them and I wasn’t about to ask either. Glancing around the room one last time, I padded down the hall. Everything was dark save for one room at the very end.
I couldn’t explain why I had this sudden need to get to that light, to get away from the darkness that felt so cold… and scary. My feet moved faster and faster until I could curl my fingers around the doorframe and slip into the lit-up space.
The first thing I saw was the imposing desk, taking up almost half of the space. It was big and masculine just like the man who sat behind it every day. The man that still seemed to be missing.
Somewhere inside my jittery brain, I knew I should’ve just opened my mouth and called to him. But instead of doing that, I found myself moving toward his desk. My fingers trailed over the smooth surface as I slowly moved around it and sank into the plush leather seat.
I had visions of Santiago sitting in the exact space I was occupying, looking all serious and businesslike while I sauntered in here and seduced him. Throwing my head back, I laughed at the creature this man had turned me into.
Deciding it was probably best to go look for him, I pushed off the seat and accidentally bumped against the desk. The action had the sleeping screen flicking to life.
My stomach bottomed out; bile burning its way up my throat while my trembling hands shot to my mouth. The world around me shifted, my lungs on fire with every ragged breath I tried to pull in.
This couldn’t be happening.
“Becca… What the hell?”
I heard his voice, saw the movement in my peripheral vision but my jagged brain couldn’t piece the images together. Not when everything around me kept spinning. I kept trying to suck air into my body, to remind it we needed it to live. Nothing but fire and fear coated my insides. My hands shot out, palms smacking down on the surface of the desk as I desperately tried to steady myself.
I squeezed my eyes shut, but it was too late; hot thick tears were already sliding down my cheeks. One breath then another and another before my lids finally parted and my gaze locked on to the images on the screen once again.
My mouth opened at the same as Santiago’s hand smoothed over my back. Probably the same hand that’d brought pleasure and held my face. All the confusion and fear I’d felt mere moments ago morphed into red-hot anger.
I reared back, but Santiago was faster. His long fingers curled around my upper arm, digging into my skin to the point of pain. “It’s you!” I spat. “It wasn’t my imagination; you’ve been stalking me!” Every word fell from my lips in a broken sob, but I refused to look away from his cold dead stare.
I tried to pull my arm out of his grasp but his grip on me only tightened. “Why do you have pictures on there of me and my brother?” Even though my arm was hurting, I wouldn’t stop trying to free myself. “Why are you doing this? What do you want?”
For the first time in my life, I saw murder flash in someone’s eyes. It scared the crap out of me. Santiago bared his teeth, a look of pure malice flashing over his devastatingly handsome features.
He used my arm as a lever and harshly yanked me flush against him. I cried out in pain but quickly swallowed it when his face inched closer to mine. “What I want is for Jack Martin to suffer,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. “For him to understand what it feels like to hurt so much you want to claw your heart out of your chest just to make it stop.”
For a fraction of a second, I saw pain flash in his eyes but the unchecked anger coursing through his veins drowned it out just as fast. I forced my lips to move. Made myself ask, “Why? What did we do to you?”
He roared out in fury. The sound of it bouncing off the walls, filling my entire body with dread. Roughly he let go of my arm but before I had time to blink, he grabbed a fistful of my hair and shoved my face toward the computer screen.
Thick tears streamed down my cheeks while he maneuvered the white arrow toward a folder on his desktop. Two clicks later, horrible, horrible images filled the screen. One by one they popped up. All of the same woman.
Naked, awkwardly sprawled out on a bed with a needle sticking out of her arm. Her eyes were open, lifelessly aimed at the ceiling.
I was going to be sick. My stomach rolled, my shoulders folding forward. My body painfully convulsing with the dry heave that left it.
The fingers in my hair tightened. It felt as if every strand was being ripped from my skull. Mercilessly, Santiago shoved my face closer to the images, my nose almost touching the screen. “Her name was Isabela Morales. She was my sister, and your brother took her from me. He fed her the same shit he feeds every other woman right before he fucks them without their permission. Whatever he gave Isa, killed her.”
“No,” I sobbed. “Jack would never—”
The words were barely out of my mouth when he yanked me up and grabbed my face, fingers digging into my cheeks. “You defend that pendejo?” Dark, dark eyes scanned my tear-filled ones. “He doesn’t deserve it.”
“You’ve got it wrong.” I choked on the words as air and tears and snot all fought for space. “Not Jack. He wouldn’t.”
Santiago shoved me away from him, his bitter laugh short on my heels. My hands shot up, fingers trembling as I pressed them to the tender skin of my cheeks. He watched me and try as I might, I couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes.
Bending over, he scribbled something on a piece of paper while my brain frantically tried to make sense of everything. Which proved to be a lot more difficult when the only thing I saw was that poor woman’s lifeless body.
Santiago was wrong. There was no way Jack was responsible for that. He’d always been my safe place, the person I could call at 3 am because I had a bad dream. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, hurt anyone.
“Go to this address,” I heard Santiago bark and when I blinked, he was right there in front of me shoving a piece of paper into my hand. “See the man you idolize in action.” He leaned in close, his breath blowing over my lips with every growled word. “Then tell me who’s got it wrong.”
Chapter Nine
Becca
I should’ve ignored everything Santiago had said and gone straight home. Instead, I’d tried to phone Jack and when he didn’t answer, I headed to the address Santiago had shoved into my hand before I fled his house.
My trembling hands stilled on the gate, eyes roaming over the dark house in front of me. The fact that this was one of my uncle’s properties had a strange feeling of foreboding creeping up my spine and settling inside my bones.
What if…
No. He wasn’t in there. There was no way my brother inside that house doing the things Santiago had accused him of. Straightening my spine, I pushed through the gate. Determination to prove my brother’s innocence fueling every step I took.
I reached the porch in no time at all, my heart sinking a little when I found the front door unlocked. Again, my feet refused to move. My heart flip-flopped inside my chest as the sound of skin slapping against skin reached my ears.
This couldn’t be what it sounded like. It just couldn’t.
I stepped inside and the moment I turned to the right; I saw it. The old, worn-out mattress in the middle of the empty room… And the people laying on it.
On instinct my hands came up to cover my eyes, but it was too late. Nothing would
ever erase the terrifying scene I’d just walked in on. Jack’s ragged movements. His labored breaths. The girl… oh my goodness, the girl.
I squeezed my lids together but instead of chasing the image away, my brain provided me with an entirely different one. Santiago’s sister. Naked. Lifeless. His words, his accusation, split through my skull.
“No!”
My feet began to move before my eyes were fully open. When I reached the bed, I twisted my body to slam my shoulder straight into Jack. He stumbled to the side before tripping over his feet and landing on his ass on the floor.
I didn’t have time to worry about him; the girl on the bed needed me. In the space of a breath, I was hovering over her with my fingers pressed to the vein in her neck. I swear, the entire world went deathly still while I tried, and prayed, to find a pulse.
Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead.
Never before had I felt the relief that rushed over me when a faint ticking registered against my fingertips. That relief was short-lived when rough hands tangled in my hair and pulled me off the bed.
“What the hell are you doing?”
I hardly recognized the man yelling at me as my brother. And the way he was tugging on my tresses like I was a rag doll hurt my heart more than the physical pain I was feeling.
“What are you doing?” I fired back through the river of tears rolling down my skin. His eyes bore into mine, but his stare was blank. Unrecognizable. My brain barely had time to process when my hand came up and connected with his cheek. Hard.
The sharp sound of the slap reverberated through the musty room and for a split second I saw my brother. Then his eyes glazed over. His big paw returned the smack I’d delivered. The force of it whipping my head to the side.
“Who are you?” I cried.
Instead of answering me, his hand wrapped around my neck and he drove me backward until my back slammed into the wall.
