Rangers of the Dark

by Michelle Hart

  “I'll do it, Mayor.”

  “Wonderful!” He clinked his glass against mine. “I'm glad we could come to an agreement.”

  I drank the last of the whiskey and left the limo. I thought the only thing I had to worry about was getting Lilly back. But now life had gotten more complicated.

  Chapter Six

  Lilly

  That first night at Club Matrix was exactly what I needed with Samantha. Dancing and drinking the night away until Kellan was just a distant memory. It was so much fun that I didn't even remember walking back to my place and sleeping in the same bed.

  I woke up to a hammering headache. I poked Sam to get up but she just rolled over and groaned. It took some convincing and Sam finally got out of bed and dragged herself home.

  But one night wasn't enough. The distraction helped keep my mind off Kellan and his rock-hard abs. I called Sam and she answered in the shower. I barely got to ask about going back to the club when she enthusiastically answered yes.

  My hangover be damned.

  Sam showed up at my door wearing the sluttiest thing ever. A tight black dress with a plunging neckline of straps that showed off all of her tits. “Trying to send out a message tonight, Sam?”

  “Yeah, my legs are open for business. I haven't been laid in a week and I desperately need a man.”

  My mind flashed back to Kellan taking me in my bedroom. I could still feel his sweaty skin sticking to mine as he pumped in and out. It gave me goosebumps all over my arms.

  “Where did you find that sexy dress?” Sam asked, twirling me around. I picked out a short red off-the-shoulder that didn't show as much skin as Sam but still made me look really good. “You're going to be fighting off the men tonight.”

  Not exactly what I had in mind.

  We took a cab over to Club Matrix which was the only place of its kind in Saint Marks. The building used to be an old meat-packing plant that they converted. Outside, a red carpet with a line of men were waiting to get in. Girls didn't have to wait in line so we strolled right by the bouncer.

  “Hey Mama” by David Guetta was blasting through the speakers. The bass rumbled through my chest as Sam led me through the crowd and to the bar. She ordered us two watermelon mojitos and I stood to the side and watched the crowd dance.

  “Here you are,” Sam yelled over the noise.

  I tasted the watermelon through the straw and instantly felt good. Sam tossed the straw and gulped the entire drink down. I copied her but couldn't handle all the liquid. Sam laughed and almost blew snot through her nose. Tonight was going to get crazy.

  The DJ mixed in Rihanna's “Cheers.” “This song is my jam!” Sam screamed at me. She had to get out there and shake her ass.

  The dance floor was a large wooden square set in the middle with the DJ raised up at a station in the front. Green lasers beamed through the club. The floor was packed like sardines and it took us awhile to cram our way to the middle. But once we got there, Sam and I let loose. I acted like I was the only one out there dancing, swaying my hips side to side to the beats.

  A hand rested on my waist, squeezing my hips from behind. I imagined that it was Kellan grinding up against me, his hard manliness pressed between my cheeks. But Kellan wasn't here. My eyes shot open and I spun around to find a stranger behind me. He had a dirty mustache that reminded me of the gross Sheriff Buckley.

  “Don't touch me,” I yelled, tearing his hand off my side.

  The man pulled me close to him. “Come on, baby, just one dance. An ass like yours can't be ignored.” I struggled in his grasp but couldn't escape. I glanced over at Sam and she came to my aid.

  “Get your fucking hands off her, you creep.” She tried to pry his hands off me but the guy was too strong.

  He wrestled me away from Sam and we were lost in a sea of people. I kept calling out her name but she was gone.

  “We're going to have some fun tonight,” he breathed, his hand running up my bare thigh. I had to do something before he got any further. I raised my knee as hard as I could between his legs. The man just laughed and kicked my leg to the side. “I like 'em when they squirm.” I looked for a security guard but there were only people dancing around, too caught up in the music to notice what was happening.

  Was this it? Was this when my life ended? At some stupid club?

  “Let the girl go,” a deep voice growled behind me.

  The stranger turned around with me still in his clutches. Kellan was standing there looking better than ever. I stopped squirming in the man's arms. I knew everything was going to be all right.

  Kellan cocked his arm back and sent his fist flying into the man's mustache. I saw some teeth fly out as the stranger finally let go of me.

  But it wasn't over yet.

  The man rushed at Kellan, knocking them both to the ground. The crowd of dancers moved out of the way like a school of fish but continued dancing. Sam caught up with me and held me close as we watched the two men battle it out.

  Kellan kicked the man in the groin where I failed. As the stranger doubled over, Kellan swung with all his might and uppercut him, knocking him onto the ground unconscious.

  Security had finally been alerted and rushed over. Kellan grabbed my arm. “Let's get the hell out of here.”

  I followed him through the crowd and out the back door. “Wait, what about Sam?”

  “Sam will be fine. She can take care of herself.”

  The alley behind the club was dark and filled with dumpsters. The outside air chilled me to the bone and the short dress was looking like a bad decision. Kellan took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around me. His chivalrous act didn't distract me from the craziness that just happened.

  “What are you doing here, Kellan? Were you following me?” The buzz from the mojitos was making it hard to concentrate.

  “I was looking for you. Sam's roommate told me she was going to this club. I knew you'd be tagging along. Good thing I showed up too.”

  “I didn't need you, Kellan. Security would have shown up and thrown the guy out.” I knew it was a lie the instant it passed my lips. If Kellan wasn't there, that man could have done anything to me. My phone buzzed in my clutch.

  I pulled it out to see a text message from Sam.

  Sam: WHERE ARE YOU?!?!

  Writing in all caps made her sound hysterical which she probably was. I wrote her a quick reply that I was safe with Kellan and I'd call her later.

  I started to walk out of the alley when Kellan stopped me. “We need to talk, Lilly.”

  I planted my feet on the ground and crossed my arms. I shouldn't be mad at him after he saved my life but I couldn't help it. “I don't want to have the same conversation over and over again, Kellan.”

  “This is about your father.”

  My arms fell to my sides. “What about him?” The worst came to mind.

  Kellan put both hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.“He's the reason I went to jail, Lilly.”

  Kellan

  Lilly backed away from me, shaking her head. “You're lying, Kellan.”

  “Doesn't it make sense, Lilly? Your father always hated me. He didn't want me anywhere near you. When we went against his wishes, he had me arrested on trumped-up charges.”

  “If you're telling the truth, how could my father even do that?”

  Lilly loved her dad and I hated that I had to tear him down. “A few key bribes would get the job done. All it took was money and we know your father has plenty of that.”

  “If you were innocent, then why did you plead guilty? A jury would have seen that the case didn't fit. My father's lawyer would have gotten you out of it.”

  I couldn't keep secrets from Lilly anymore. It was time to tell her the real truth. “When I was brought into the police station, I waited and waited for the lawyer but he never showed up.”

  Lilly's legs wobbled. “But my father said he had a whole team of lawyers working on your case. That is, until you confessed.”

  “I didn
't meet with anyone, Lilly.”

  The realization hit her face. “Did they torture you to get the confession?”

  “Not physically, but emotionally. They told me that if I didn't confess, they'd arrest you and make sure you got thrown out of school. I couldn't let them ruin your life. So I pleaded guilty and took the jail sentence.”

  Lilly's face softened and tears welled up in her eyes. She reached up with her hand and gently placed it on my cheek. “You always protected me, Kellan.”

  I couldn't stop myself anymore. I wrapped my arm around Lilly's waist and pulled her to me. Our lips met, my tongue sneaking into her mouth and tasting her. Lilly pressed against me, my cock in my jeans growing harder and harder.

  My hands moved down her back and to her ass, squeezing each cheek over the thin red dress fabric. Lilly moaned into my mouth, fueling the hot desire in my pants. Her off-the-shoulder dress made it easy to pull down and spill out her bountiful breasts.

  Lilly quickly covered her chest. “What if somebody sees us?”

  I tore her hands away from her tits and held them behind her back with one hand. “Then let them see that you're mine.” I bent down and kissed her bare breasts, sucking on her nipples until they became long and hard in my mouth.

  “I need you, Kellan,” Lilly breathed.

  I ran my fingers up her thigh and under her dress. Her panties were completely soaked. “You're so ready for me.”

  I quickly undid my jeans and dropped them to the ground with my boxer briefs. Lilly bit her bottom lip as she glanced down at my length. I let Lilly get a good look before spinning her around and bending her over a dirty dumpster. The smell of trash choked the air but that wouldn't stop me from taking what was mine.

  Lilly glanced over her shoulder at me, her eyes filled with need. “Fuck me hard, Kellan.”

  She didn't have to tell me twice. Her short dress barely covered her ass but I hiked it up even further to get a greater view. I looked around the alley to make sure nobody was watching. My hand crashed against her soft ass and Lilly cried out. I slapped her other cheek, rubbing in the pain.

  I slapped her over and over again until her ass was bright red. Now she was ready for me. I pulled at her panties until they snapped and then filled her with every inch of me. We both screamed as I tore my way deeper and deeper inside her. Lilly backed her ass into me, meeting every thrust.

  I reached out and wrapped her golden hair around my fist, snapping her head back. I used Lilly's hair as leverage to fuck her even harder.

  “Don't...stop,” Lilly begged. Her breathing quickened and muscles tensed.

  The pleasure flooded my veins. I wouldn't be able to handle anymore. I clenched her side as I pushed in and out, slamming Lilly against the dumpster.

  “Say my name,” I ordered.

  Lilly whispered, “Kellan...”

  “Louder. Make everyone hear that you're all mine.”

  “Kellan!” she yelled. Lilly convulsed on the dumpster, tightening her pussy around my cock. I found my release, spurting inside her until she overflowed with my seed. My breath was ragged and my heart pounded in my ears.

  I pulled out and couldn't hold myself up anymore, falling down on the alley floor. Lilly stayed on the dumpster, plastered to it. I got a good view of her ass and my cream leaking out of her.

  Lilly finally pried herself off the dumpster and joined me on the ground. I gathered her body in my arms, my fingers running through her hair. “You can't say that was a moment of weakness this time.”

  Lilly shook her head. “I love you, Kellan. I'm all yours.”

  “I love you too, Lilly.” We kissed and the throbbing in my pants returned. But I needed a break.

  Lilly looked down at her red dress that was all stained. “I really need to take a shower.”

  “You can do that at my place,” I said.

  Lilly smiled at me. Everything was going back to they way it used to be. But what was I supposed to do about Mr. Spencer and Mayor Peterson? If I didn't follow his orders, the mayor would send me right back to prison. I couldn't let that happen. I'd never leave Lilly again.

  Chapter Seven

  Lilly

  The chirping birds outside woke me from my blissful sleep. I rolled over to find Kellan, naked and inked, sleeping next to me with the covers kicked off. The memory of last night rushed back to me—Kellan taking me in the alley, going back to his place and fucking in the shower. I was so exhausted that I fell asleep with a towel still wrapped around me.

  I lay there and admired his shredded body and watched him rest. Kellan deserved it after all the hell he'd been through. Was everything he said really true about my father? I couldn't fathom that he would send the man I loved to prison just to keep him away from me. My father was everything to me. I had to get to the bottom of it. Maybe he had a good reason? I knew I was fooling myself but the only way to find out was to straight out ask my dad.

  I didn't want to wake Kellan so I got dressed quietly and left him a note by the bed that I was out doing errands. I walked through Kellan's one-story house and it was exactly how I remembered it—sparse furniture, stained carpets, and broken drywall. Nothing had changed because Kellan had been imprisoned.

  I went to the kitchen and took the keys to his Ford truck that he only used to haul stuff. His Harley was parked next to it and was tempting to ride. Kellan had never let me drive it before and he'd freak if he found out I took his bike without asking. The truck would do fine to get me to my apartment.

  My phone rang as I started the truck. The screen read Sam.

  “I'm so sorry, I totally forgot to call you last night,” I blurted out.

  “What the hell happened last night?” Sam replied.

  “There's too much to talk about over the phone. I went home safe and sound with Kellan.”

  “Want me to come over and we can talk?”

  I desperately wanted to spill my guts to Sam but my father took priority. “I have a couple things to do but I promise we can talk soon.”

  “You sound different, Lilly. Is everything all right?”

  I didn't even know how to answer that question. Kellan and I were back together but my father was probably the reason he was in jail for all those years. “I'm fine, Sam. Just have a lot of things on my mind. I'll talk to you later.”

  I hung up the phone and raced over to my apartment to change. I tossed the red dress into the laundry hamper and put on jeans and a black blouse. I needed to look respectable if I was going to my father's building to interrogate him.

  –

  Spencer Enterprises took up almost an entire city block and was the pride of Saint Marks. My father provided jobs to more than seventy percent of the town's population. Over the years I'd only visited him a handful of times at his office. My dad was a busy man and I normally needed to make an appointment.

  But today was different. He was going to speak to me no matter what.

  I pulled up to the security booth and showed the guard my driver's license. “I'm Mr. Spencer's daughter.”

  He took off his sunglasses and looked at me and then my license. “Good to have you back here again, Ms. Spencer. I'll ring up and let them know you're coming.”

  I took a special elevator that went straight to the top of the highest tower. The doors opened to an enormous lobby with a tiny desk at the far end. A blonde woman—younger than me—sat behind the desk, her nails clattering against the keyboard.

  “You must be, Ms. Spencer,” she stated. “Your father is in a meeting right now that could take a couple hours. You can come back if you want?”

  I didn't care about some stupid meeting. Nothing was as important as this. “No, my father will see me now.”

  The secretary tried to stop me but I reached the door to my father's office before she could get her hands on me.

  My father's office was as big as my apartment. Expensive paintings covered the walls and floor-to-ceiling windows showed off an impressive view of the town. His huge oak desk stood at on
e end with a long rectangular table surrounded by office chairs on the other end.

  My father sat at the far side of the meeting table and almost every chair in the room was filled with business suits. Everyone turned their attention to me.

  My dad stood up in his chair.“Lilly, I'm in the middle of a meeting right now. If you could wait until it's over and then we can talk.”

  “No Father, we're going to talk right now.” I rarely ever crossed him so he knew it had to be serious.