Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2)

by Caroline Peckham

  I locked my arm around his throat, cutting off his air supply and driving my blade into his kidney. His scream was kept quiet by the pressure I was applying on his throat, but his elbow came back, using some bullshit army move to get himself free.

  He dove on me and we hit the ground, blood spilling from his wound as he took his own blade from his hip and tried to stab it into my throat. I jerked aside and the knife slammed into the ground instead, sinking in deep.

  Adrenaline pulsed through my veins as my fist crashed into his ribs and a loud crack made him cry out. My hand slammed over his lips at the same time to muffle the noise and I locked my legs around his waist, rolling us over and shoving his head down in the dirt, his knife lost and my advantage regained.

  I brought my own blade up to finish the job but his fingers locked around my wrist, pressing some pressure point that made me release it.

  I punched the asshole in the face as he tried to roll us over then my hands latched onto his throat and I knew I’d never let go. He clawed at my arms, fighting and kicking as I clenched my teeth and held on, squeezing and squeezing as my muscles locked in place and every part of me detached from anything human or moral in my brain. He fought until the very last second, but his gaze flashed with fear as he finally realised I wasn’t going to release him. And I watched, unblinking as the life was snuffed out like a flame in his eyes and my fingers finally unlocked from his throat.

  I stood up, panting as I flexed my hands and gazed down at the scum at my feet, spitting on him for good measure. No one touched Rogue Easton. That was a law I’d lived by for as long as I could remember. That hadn’t changed now. And so long as I was still drawing breath on this earth, I’d abide by it.

  “Rick,” Rogue breathed and I turned, finding her staring at me with wide eyes. She saw me now, unveiled and unchained. The dark creature I was. The beast who would bleed the world dry for her. Even to this day.

  I didn’t acknowledge her, turning and walking straight past her to check on my shipment. I pulled my shirt back on and hoped no one would notice the new scratches on my forearms as I walked back to the men loading the cocaine. They were just finishing up and filing onto the boats, so I didn’t need to linger here any longer.

  I clasped my hands behind my back to hide the marks and barked out orders to them. “Colten’s driving back with me. Take the shipment to my new warehouse. I want it unloaded before dawn and you will all report to me at Bellow Hill when you’re done for your payment,” I called.

  I chorus of yes sirs carried back to me and I nodded, walking away and weaving through the containers, passing by the guy I’d shot who belonged to their crew. He was an ex-Harlequin, his gang tattoo still in place on his arm. A little birdie had told me he’d run from the wrath of Fox after raping a girl and killing her boyfriend, but The Dead Dogs didn’t know that. He was a false message to Shawn, telling him exactly who’d stolen all of these drugs from him. And that certainly wasn’t me.

  Have fun figuring that shit out, Foxy Boy.

  By dawn, every one of the men who’d worked this job for me would be feeding the sharks far off the coast of Sunset Cove. Colten’s gang of thugs lived down in Mexico when they weren’t being bought off as guns for hire by the shadiest motherfuckers in the US. I’d done my homework and knew what they got up to when they were out of the country. They were a bunch of animals, butchering women, children, raping, stealing, murdering innocents. So I’d bought their time with a bunch of cash I planned on taking right back out of their pockets the moment they lay bloody at my feet. I didn’t need loose ends with flapping tongues that could speak my truth to Shawn Mackenzie. And these assholes were overdue their deaths.

  I strode back to Rogue, unlocking her cuffs, picking up my bag and keeping her hand in mine as I towed her up the hill. I felt her eyes on me, but she said nothing as we walked into the dark side by side. And for the first time in a long time, I was certain the sun would return tomorrow and my lost girl would once again be there with me to watch it rise.

  R ick hauled me down the path and back to his van with bloody fingers curled tight around my hand and I gritted my teeth as I just let him. It wasn't like I had any choice in it now anyway. We needed to get the fuck out of here and I could wait until we were on the road again for my answers.

  He stayed silent as he opened the driver's door and shoved me inside, forcing me to crawl across the seats to my own seat and no doubt giving him a nice look at my ass in the freaking shorts he'd bought me.

  I folded my legs beneath me as I took my seat and Rick started up the van, wheeling it around and driving us back out of this little slice of shitsville.

  His jaw was locked tight, some demons circling his mind which he clearly didn't want to give voice to, and I looked out into the dark rather than watching him as he drove.

  Minutes ticked by one by one until I finally gave in, blowing out a frustrated breath as the silence just stretched on endlessly and I realised he was perfectly willing to leave it that way.

  "Why make a deal for me to come with you if you had no intention of using me?" I asked, watching him in the blurry reflection cast against my window instead of turning to look at his stupid face.

  "You shot the flare," he pointed out.

  "Fuck you. The only thing I did was follow you into danger so that you could string me up to a motherfucking tree where anything could have happened to me."

  "I wanted to keep you away from those men. Colten in particular. It was fucking stupid of me to bring you at all. I thought you'd be safe where I left you...I guess I fucked up on that account." Maverick's bloody knuckles flexed against the steering wheel and I huffed out another breath as I turned to look at him.

  "Well I guess I should be thanking you for killing that motherfucker," I muttered. I didn’t want to think about how terrified I’d been when that asshole had found me, of the vile things he’d promised to do to me or the look in his eyes which said he’d done it a hundred times before. I didn’t even want to think about how relieved I’d been to see Maverick or how I’d felt while watching him kill that man for me; the way he’d looked dressed in violence and death, the way his muscles had flexed and his eyes had flared with a passion that burned right the way down into my soul. Nope, wasn’t gonna think about it. "Even though I could have easily managed it myself if you hadn't tied me up like that..."

  Maverick shot me a dark look and I rolled my eyes.

  "What? Are you expecting me to thank you more profusely than that? You want me to suck your dick for you while I'm at it, oh great and wonderful saviour?" I mocked.

  "I wouldn't be opposed to it," he replied, gripping his cock through his jeans provocatively. He tossed me a filthy look and I licked my lips slowly, leaning towards him and moving to lean my hands on the seat between us. Maverick watched me with interest, his eyes not staying on the road nearly enough as I leaned in to speak in his ear.

  "Pity I'd rather suck on a dead man's dentures then, isn't it?" I flicked him in the ear and jerked back to make sure he couldn’t retaliate.

  Maverick snorted and cursed me then shot me another look which almost made me feel like he wanted to say something else, but then his gaze fell on the road once more and it was gone.

  "If you and your band of merry assholes had died back there, you do realise I would have been left for Shawn to find, right?” I added. “Or did my fate following your death not occur to you when you ran into a gun fight with a knife?"

  "Don't be dramatic, beautiful. I was never going to die."

  "And I guess that guy you hired never would have raped me either, right?" I clucked my tongue and looked out into the darkness again as I dropped back into my seat.

  "Colten and his men are a means to an end. They're a bunch of villainous scum who make me look like a fucking saint. Not one of them will survive tonight, I can assure you of that, baby girl. And if you want me to promise never to handcuff you to a fucking tree again, then fine - I promise. That good enough for you?"


  "Depends on what snacks are left," I muttered, leaning down to rummage through the bag of snacks he'd picked up earlier and grinning to myself triumphantly as I found the can of cherry soda. "Okay. I forgive you," I announced. "So what's next?"

  "We drive home. Those men will get the shipment of cocaine tucked up safe in my new, better guarded warehouse ready for the cartel to come collect as planned. The motherfuckers in question will never know the drugs I had been holding for them got burned, meaning none of us get skinned alive. I’ll kill the assholes I hired for the job to make sure there's no one left who can talk about it. And tomorrow the sun rises over Sunset Cove once more and it's just another day in paradise,” Maverick deadpanned.

  "You forgot about me," I pointed out. "There's no one left to talk about it, besides me."

  "You think I should kill you too?" he questioned, his dark gaze moving over me and making me wonder if he might.

  "I think there are worse ways I could die," I replied honestly, cracking open my soda and taking a long swig.

  Rick side eyed me like I was fucking insane but also like he liked that, so I guessed we were good.

  "I'm not gonna kill you tonight, beautiful," he said eventually.

  "Good. Then I want out of the sauna. I could have run tonight and I didn't. I could have shot you and I didn't. But you chained me to a tree like a fucking animal and left me for the rapists to find. I deserve a break."

  "Christ," he muttered. "How can you just joke about shit like that?"

  "Come on, Rick. I think you know as well as I do that life for people like us is full of a lot of dark fucking shit. So I made my mind up a long time ago to sniff that shit real good, take a big old shitty lungful right down into my gut and tell myself it smelled like roses over and over again until I almost believed it. Life might wanna fuck me over, but that doesn't mean it can't get me off while railing me like I'm a good little whore."

  Maverick turned to stare at me and I grinned at him over my can of soda. He stared so long that the van veered off the edge of the road and he cursed as he yanked the wheel around to right it again.

  I swore as cherry soda sloshed over my fingers and he reached out to catch my wrist, making me transfer the can to my other hand before he sucked my wet fingers into his mouth to clean them off for me. My body heated and a zip of energy raced right through my core until I was clamping my thighs together and snatching my hand back.

  "I wake at the slightest thing anyway, so you can sleep in my bed with me," he said. "No chance of you sneaking off on me or pulling any shit in the night."

  "You live in a hotel. Surely there's another room that I could-"

  "Take it or leave it, beautiful. I'm either locking you up where I know you can't escape from me, or you're bunking in with me so I can keep you under my watch at all times."

  I pursed my lips while my traitorous vagina got all caught up in the idea of that. Maverick was the kind of mistake I definitely shouldn't make. Which meant that a girl with my kind of bad shot calling skills could be in real trouble in that scenario. That said, I was pretty sure I could keep Lady V in check for the sake of sleeping in an actual bed.

  "I'll take it," I agreed. "But you can keep your monster cock to yourself. The Ride-a-Rogue attraction is closed for business."

  "Whatever you say."

  We sped off into the night and I settled myself in for the long drive back to the Cove. I didn't really know what way this whole thing was going to play out for me. I still wasn't any closer to achieving what I'd come back here for and I had more than a few vendettas to strike off of my list. But for now, I was comfortable enough right here, as a captive of the boy I'd once known, taking a road trip in the middle of the night and singing I’m Not Mad by Halsey at the top of my freaking lungs. Life might like giving me lemons, but I was a fucking pro at squirting the juice in someone else's eyes and I wasn’t gonna stop squeezing now.

  ***

  I must have fallen asleep at some point on the journey back because when I woke, we were driving the van off of a boat back on Dead Man's Isle and Maverick was utterly covered in blood.

  He glanced my way as I pushed myself upright and I arched a brow at his appearance.

  "You dealt with the rest of those men then?" I asked in a low voice, unsure how to feel about that.

  "I can give you a list of the crimes they've been responsible for if you want it?" he offered. "The six of them were mercenaries for hire, pulling jobs all over the world and taking bonuses in the lives of innocents. One of them was particularly fond of young boys and-"

  "I believe you," I said, seeing the truth in his eyes and not wanting to hear the list of atrocities those monsters had been responsible for. The world was clearly better off without them.

  "You're just a regular Robin Hood, aren't you, Rick? Stealing from the bad guys and killing sick fuckers for the poor."

  "That seems highly inaccurate," he replied, opening the door and jumping out.

  I yawned widely but didn't follow him, not wanting to deal with the cold air out there and wondering if I could just doze off in here again instead.

  Of course, that wasn't allowed and I cursed as Maverick opened my damn door, tugging me out into his arms and holding me against his chest instead of tossing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes for once.

  "You still sleep like the fucking dead," he commented as he started walking towards the hotel, his men moving forward to deal with the van which I was guessing needed a clean down thanks to all that blood. "I shot six men and loaded their bodies into the back of that van without you even stirring."

  I shrugged. "Rosie used to snore like a fucking pig with a blocked nose back in the group home. If I learned how to sleep through that then I can sleep through anything."

  "Apparently so." We made it into an elevator and Rick hit the button for the penthouse suite, barking some orders at his men which I didn't pay attention to as my eyes fell shut once more.

  When we made it into his rooms, he walked me straight to the shower and set me on my feet.

  "Make it fast, beautiful. Or I'll follow you in there and let you get better acquainted with my cock."

  I flipped him off over my shoulder and quickly stripped off, figuring he'd strapped me naked to that fucking chair in the freezer anyway, so it wasn't like I had any modesty left to protect.

  “So are you gonna keep on pretending you didn’t kiss me out there or are you going to explain why you mouth humped me out of the blue?” I called over the sound of the running water.

  “Call it curiosity,” Maverick replied. “I wanted to know if you tasted like a candy cane or only looked like one.”

  “And?”

  “You taste like sin, beautiful, which just so happens to be my favourite flavour.”

  My skin prickled at his words and I decided it was best if I focused on washing the muck and blood off of my body instead of giving them too much of my attention. But as I ran my tongue over my lips, I couldn’t help but remember the way his had crushed to mine and the way it had made my stomach flip over like it was on a trampoline.

  Bad Rogue. Psychos aren’t hot. They’re terrible people. Terrible, terrible, really fucking hot people.

  Fuck.

  I made my shower as quick as possible, washing off the blood that he'd transferred to my skin without thinking about it too much and keeping my hair dry before towelling off.

  Maverick reappeared as I finished drying myself. "Sleep naked or help yourself to my clothes. And stay where I can see you - don't wander out of the bedroom."

  "Aye aye, Captain Dick Bucket," I said, saluting him with as much sass as I could manage and heading out to steal his shit.

  I found a white tank in the top drawer of his dresser and grabbed it, tugging it on before slipping into his bed. Luckily the sheets smelled as fresh as a daisy, so I didn't have to worry about there being any gross Mia contamination on them.

  I glanced back through the open door to the bathroom where Maverick stood butt
naked in the shower, scrubbing the blood from his flesh and I let myself look for a few minutes to give my dreams some nice ammo. He was smirking like he enjoyed the attention and I sleepily flipped him off while studying his mega cock and sexy as fuck tattoos. Those tribal dick tattoos really must have hurt but I was going to vote for that pain being worth it because I was having trouble looking away from them.

  No way I was going to fuck the big, bad, psycho in real life. But dream Rogue could whore out all she liked, so I was dedicating that shit to memory for her.

  "Night, asshole," I muttered as my eyes fell closed and his reply followed me into sleep as I drifted away.

  "Good night, lost girl."

  ***

  A shiver danced across my skin and I rolled over, cursing beneath my breath as I reached for the sheets to pull them up around me and found them missing. As my hand swept back and forth across the spot where I expected Maverick to be, I found him missing too and I frowned, cracking my eyes open and looking around at the dark space.

  Had he even come to bed? One glance at the clock told me it was almost four in the morning and that shit wasn’t cool. I hated early mornings. But the fact that he might not have come to join me at all was weird enough that I made my eyes stay open so I could look for him.

  The cool air which had woken me up was coming from the balcony door which was cracked open and as I squinted out at the moonlit balcony beyond, I spotted Maverick standing there in his boxers.

  He had something in his hand and as I pushed myself upright, my breath caught as I spotted a revolver in his grasp. I watched him load a single bullet into the chamber and he looked out towards the horizon with tension filling his posture.

  Maverick set the chamber spinning as I pushed to my feet and the whirring sound of the metal canister twisting filled the air before he flicked his wrist to lock the bullet inside the gun.