Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2)

by Caroline Peckham

Shawn moved forward to get me up himself this time and I did the only logical thing I could think of right then. I grabbed hold of that fucking rattlesnake and as he dragged me to my feet, I threw it in his goddamn face. He yelled in alarm, knocking it away from him and it landed on the guy to my right’s foot, immediately sinking its fangs in to his leg. The guy’s gun went off as he screamed and Shawn threw himself to the ground, narrowly missing the bullet as his shotgun tumbled across the dirt.

  I grabbed Chase’s arm, hauling him away from them and running for our lives as Luther shouted, “Cover them!” and a storm of bullets rained down around us.

  I shoved Chase under the trailer, following him beneath it as we started army crawling towards the other side through the dry mud. My heart pounded madly and adrenaline skittered through my veins as we moved as fast as possible. But then booted feet came in to view on the other side and shots rang out all around us.

  Gunfire ripped through the trailer and Chase lurched towards me, covering my body with his. I tried to fight him off as bullets tore the world to shit around us, but he wouldn’t fucking move. He grunted sharply and I felt the impact of the bullet as it hit him.

  “Chase,” I growled in alarm, crushed to the fucking ground by his bulk as pieces of the trailer were torn off and shouts clamoured all around us in an endless cacophony of war.

  He jerked again as another bullet struck him and panic rushed through me as I fought harder to move. He wasn’t going to die for me. Fuck that. He was my brother. And we were in this together.

  “Stay down, asshole,” he snapped, wrestling with me as I arched my back and tried to move.

  A body hit the ground just beyond the trailer ahead of us and lifeless eyes stared in at us from one of my Harlequins. Worry spiralled through me over my dad and I prayed he’d brought enough men with him to win this fight.

  “Hey!” a guy barked behind us and Chase lifted his weight enough for me to turn my head.

  One of Shawn’s men was there, crawling under the trailer and tucking a knife between his teeth. Chase kicked at him then groaned in pain from his wounds and I forced him off of me at last, kicking at the asshole myself as he came for us. He took the knife from his mouth, slashing it at my leg and I narrowly avoided it, scrambling towards the way out as Chase tugged my arm to get me moving.

  The psycho kept following us as we frantically scrambled out the other side of the trailer and Chase swore as the bastard got hold of him. I jumped to my feet, grabbing his arm and wrenching him up beside me as the guy tried to crawl out after him. I kicked and kicked him like a wild man until his neck broke and the motherfucker fell still.

  I turned, finding Chase looking pale with blood washing down his left arm while he clutched his ass.

  “It’s fine,” he answered my frantic look and I spun him around, finding his right ass cheek bleeding like hell. Jesus Christ.

  I grabbed a couple of guns from the dead Harlequin on the ground and passed one to my brother, his fingers slick with blood from his wounds as he took it.

  I still had Shawn’s death to deliver and I pressed my back to the obliterated trailer, keeping Chase close to my side as I moved to the edge of it and threw a look around it. Shawn was climbing into one of the trucks as Harlequins swept through the clearing and finished off his men.

  I roared out in anger, sprinting from my hiding place and unleashing hellfire on the vehicle as he accelerated off down a dirt track into the woods. I released every bullet I had until the gun rang empty and fury crashed through my chest as the truck disappeared into the darkness.

  Luther ran into view, colliding with me and hugging me tighter than he had since I was a kid. He checked me over for bullet wounds as Chase made it to my side, clutching his bleeding arm with one hand and his ass with the other as he limped along.

  “You okay, kid?” Luther asked him as his brows drew together.

  “Just a couple of flesh wounds,” he gritted out and I pulled up his shirt sleeve to find the chunk taken out of his arm. I tore off a piece of my own shirt and tied it tight around the wound to stem the bleeding, but there wasn’t much I could about his ass right now.

  “You shouldn’t have done what you did,” I snarled at him.

  “What did he do?” Luther demanded.

  “Laid on top of me when the bullets started flying,” I spat then whipped my eyes onto Chase. “Don’t ever do that again.”

  Chase stared at me with a look that said he had no regrets and he’d do it time and again regardless of what I ordered him. I made a mental note to forcibly change his mind on that, but right now we needed to get out of here.

  Luther clapped his uninjured arm. “Good man. You two head home. And get those wounds taken care of, Chase. I’m taking my men after Shawn.” He nodded to me then strode away to where Gordon was standing by the fire, looking around at the devastation. Luther raised his gun and shot him twice in the chest then once in the head, a cold detachment in his eyes as the man who’d betrayed his order slumped dead to the ground.

  “Move out!” Luther ordered the Crew and I helped Chase walk as we headed back the way we’d come and left them to hound after Shawn.

  I didn’t think he’d have much luck though, Shawn was long gone already and he’d go to ground the second he got out of the woods.

  I picked up mine and Chase’s phones by Shawn’s seat, passing Chase his before trying to call JJ once more. There was still no answer, and my pulse beat unevenly as I shared a look with Chase then tried to call Rogue. Nothing.

  I was in one foul bitch of a mood, and I’d be damn well giving Rogue hell for giving my guys the slip tonight of all nights.

  You’d better hide from me well, hummingbird, because if I find you tonight, your ass is gonna be as sore as Chase’s by the time I’m done punishing you.

  M y ass was pressed to the cold counter of the kitchen island while JJ claimed a punishing kiss from my lips and drove his cock deep inside me and I dug my heels into his back demanding more. I was still wearing my freaking sneakers and my bra had only been yanked down to expose my tits, but the two of us were too into what we were doing to do any more about getting rid of our remaining clothes and JJ’s pants were still bunched around his ankles too.

  We were both panting and moaning, lost in each other as we moved closer and closer to our final release. JJ was close to finishing now, I could feel it in the tension of his muscles and the desperate way he was kissing me and there was no fucking way I was letting him pull back from the edge this time.

  His cock drove into me harder and harder, his hand grabbing my ass as he encouraged my movements and my thighs squeezed his waist in a clear demand.

  The sound of a car engine rumbled somewhere nearby, but I couldn't spare a thought for it because JJ's cock was thickening inside me and I was coming apart at the seams. My fingers tugged on his hair and I kissed him even harder as with a final thrust, my pussy locked tight around his thick shaft and the two of us free-fell into ecstasy together.

  I slumped back onto the counter, tugging JJ with me as his mouth moved to trail kisses against my neck and I lay there trying to catch my breath while my heart raced to a rampant tune.

  The sound of someone cursing and feet moving up the stairs from the garage made JJ jerk upright suddenly and I gasped in alarm as I recognised Fox's voice.

  "Just lean on me, I've got you, brother."

  "Shit," JJ hissed, jerking his cock back out of me and yanking his sweatpants up without even removing the full condom from his dick.

  I scrambled to get off of the kitchen island, catching my pink sundress as JJ tossed it into my face and throwing it on.

  The footsteps were getting closer and Chase's pained groan caught my ear. I hunted around for any sign of my panties as I yanked my bra up to cover my nipples again with my fingers shaking from a mixture of the fear of being caught and the high of what we’d just done.

  JJ found my panties by the fridge, but before he could toss them to me, the door to the garage
swung open and I hopped down from the counter as he just shoved them into the pocket of his sweats with the condom wrapper instead of trying to give them back to me.

  Chase and Fox stumbled through the door together and I sucked in a sharp breath as I spotted the blood covering the two of them, a curse escaping JJ as we hurried towards them to try and help.

  "What happened?" I demanded, stopping between the two of them, looking from one to the other as I cupped both of their cheeks in my hands and forced them to look at me so that I knew they were okay.

  Fox's green gaze was fixed in concern, but Chase's blue eyes were written in pain.

  "Where the fuck were you?" Fox shot at JJ as he moved closer behind me and I looked around at him in alarm as I dropped my hold on the two men before me.

  "Working, dude. You know that. What the fuck happened to the two of you?" JJ asked.

  "Shawn," Chase growled and I looked around at him again as my heart leapt in fear at that name. Fucking Shawn?

  "Why didn't you tell me you were going to deal with him?" I demanded furiously as I realised they'd ditched me specifically to go find him. Even after knowing that I wanted a shot at him myself for what he'd done to me.

  There's a good girl, sugarpie. I swear for a moment I heard his voice in my ears and a shiver raced down my spine at the mere idea of it.

  "Because you would have wanted to come and there's no fucking way I was going to let you near him," Fox bit out. "And I suggest you hold back on any ideas you might have about shooting your mouth off at me right now, hummingbird, because I know you fucking ran off again tonight and I'm already more than pissed at you."

  "You're pissed at me?" I demanded incredulously. "You are such an overbearing, controlling asshole. Where the fuck do you get off giving me babysitters and keeping me away from a fight which I had every right to take part in?"

  "I have a fucking bullet lodged in my ass cheek, so can we focus on that for a minute?" Chase snarled and I threw a poisonous look at Fox as JJ grabbed Chase and started helping him over to the couch.

  Fox let them go and snatched my wrist into his grasp, shoving me back against the wall and placing his hands either side of my head as he leaned down to speak right in my face.

  "You are not and never will be going anywhere near Shawn Mackenzie ever again," he snarled. "I don't give a fuck if you want to be the one to end him. I'm sure there are more than a few survivors of his fucking tyranny who want to claim his head for their own, but I can promise you, you won't be the one to take it. And yeah, I'll happily assign you babysitters and lock you up and do whatever the fuck I have to to keep you safe from him and I don't give a shit if you hate me for it either. You're mine, hummingbird. And the thought of him ever laying his filthy fucking hands on you makes my skin crawl. I can promise you that he won't ever lay so much as his eyes on you again, let alone anything else."

  "You're fucking insane if you think that I-"

  "For once in your fucking life, just do as you're told!" Fox roared at me and I flinched back against the wall, my heart thundering in my chest. "Do you have any idea how close the two of us came to death tonight at the hands of the man you used to spend your free time fucking? And then I find out that you've run off again to fuck knows where and I have to worry about you too! So no, I don't care if you hate me for it and no, I don't give a shit if you want to curse me out or call me insane or any fucking name you like. You. Are. Mine. And you'll figure that out sooner or later, but either way, you're going to start doing as you're fucking told."

  Fox's fist slammed into the wall beside my head and I jerked aside in fright. But he was already storming away from me, ripping off his bloody shirt and throwing it towards the trash before taking the stairs two at a time and disappearing. His bedroom door slammed hard enough to make the walls shudder a moment later and I had to blink a few times to clear my eyes of the tears that had sprung to life in them. There was no fucking way I’d be crying for him.

  I found Chase and JJ looking at me from across the room where Chase was lying on the couch on his front and JJ held a first aid kit in his fist beside him.

  "Pretty girl," JJ murmured softly, a hand reaching out towards me like he thought I might bolt. And maybe I wanted to, but as my gaze fell to the blood soaking its way through Chase's pants and the tourniquet on his arm, I blinked the tears away and raised my chin.

  "I can help," I said, ignoring Fox's outburst and striding towards them. "I learned more than a few things about patching people up over the years - my healthcare plan was shit in my last job."

  JJ tried to smile at me but couldn't quite pull it off and Chase just swore as he shifted his position on the couch.

  "I need a piss," JJ said, his gaze meeting mine and I was willing to bet the condom he'd left hanging from his dick was causing him some issues.

  I didn't need him to say a word about keeping my lips shut over what we'd been doing here tonight. Fuck knew what Fox would do if he found out and I wasn't going to risk him hurting the only man in this house who actually gave a shit about me and what I wanted. Fox just wanted to control me, force me into a pretty little cage and take me out to play with him whenever it suited him. But he didn't care about what I wanted. That didn't matter to him at all. I was a possession to him and that was it. And Chase...well, Chase had been happy to destroy my life and send me to prison to rot for fuck knew how long rather than have me in this house.

  So I had no fucking idea why I dropped to my knees beside him and picked up the first aid kit to help him out.

  JJ walked away and the moment he was gone, Chase spoke.

  "Your dress is on backwards," he muttered and I raised my eyes to meet his, finding pain there that went beyond the wounds he was sporting.

  I glanced down at myself, finding he was right and clearing my throat uncomfortably.

  "It will destroy Fox when he finds out about you two. And then it will destroy the rest of us in turn,” he added.

  "I guess you wish your plan had worked and I was tucked away in a nice supermax somewhere right about now then," I replied bitterly, tugging my arms out of the straps of my dress as I twisted it around so that it was on properly again.

  "That wasn't my plan," Chase grunted, his eyes shifting from mine to watch as I pushed my arms back through the straps of my dress again. "I had a lawyer who was supposed to come and offer you a deal. The cops were paid off, it was all set up. It shouldn't have gone to shit like it did - they brought you to the wrong fucking precinct. Then my guy told me that you'd taken the deal, took the pay off and the car and had fucked all the way off again. I thought it was done, you were free to start up somewhere new and we could go on being happy without you getting the chance to destroy us. By the time I realised he'd given the money to the wrong fucking girl, Maverick had already come to snap you up and everything had gone about as wrong as it possibly could have."

  Chase glanced towards the stairs in case either of the others were on their way back and I tutted.

  "What makes you think I would have taken your fucking deal?" I hissed. "You wanted rid of me before then, so why would I refuse until that moment then suddenly change my mind and grab the cash?"

  "I was offering you a lot of money," he growled. "And I would have offered more. Everybody has a price, little one. I just wanted you in a tight spot while we made the negotiations. You would have taken the deal rather than end up in fucking prison and we both know it."

  "No we don't," I said, grabbing the back of his pants and yanking them down to expose his bleeding ass cheek. Chase grunted in pain, but I just smirked at him as I slapped a wad of gauze down over the wound. "I don't and never have wanted any of your filthy money, Chase Cohen. There isn't a price that you can place on what I want from you, and I would have preferred to rot than take a pay out from some asshole who thinks he can decide my fate for me. That being the case, I have to assume you would have let me go down for it when I refused."

  "No," he snapped fiercely, catching my hand and making me
pause as his eyes flared with emotion. "I never would have let you go to prison, little one. I just...wanted you gone. I wanted it to hurt now so that it didn't hurt worse later because we both know that's how this story ends. Look at Fox - he's losing his goddamn mind over you and he hasn't even fucked you yet. He's barely holding it together knowing about you and Shawn, not to mention Maverick and now JJ is involved and the whole thing is going to blow up in all of our faces if we don't stop it now. Or then. Because I can see that the time has already passed. You're like a splinter that's worked its way back beneath the skin of my family and I don't see any way to get you back out again without cutting a lump of flesh off now."

  "Or maybe I'm a limb that was missing for ten long years. You learned how to limp along without me but now I'm growing back, and the process is making you itch.”

  Footsteps on the stairs made us drop our glare off and I quickly unscrewed a bottle of iodine before pulling the bloody gauze from Chase's ass cheek and tipping it over the wound.

  "Motherfucker!" Chase roared and I gave him a sweet smile just as Fox and JJ made it back into the room. Fox was dressed in clean clothes and his damp hair made it clear he'd rinsed off too.

  He didn't say a word to me, striding forward to grasp Chase's shoulders to keep him still while I picked up the pair of big, metal tweezers and eyed the glint of metal lodged inside Chase's butt cheek.

  JJ strode around us, his fingertips brushing against my shoulder for the briefest moment before he moved to straddle Chase's legs to pin him down.

  "Can I at least get a shot of rum first?" Chase snarled as he fisted the cushions and his muscles flexed in preparation of our home surgery.

  "No," Fox snapped. "You're off the booze and you brought this on yourself by shielding me with your damn body. Maybe next time you decide to throw your life away for mine, the memory of this pain will make you reconsider."

  My eyebrows arched at that revelation and I could hear the underlying fear in Fox's tone despite the way he tried to deliver those words with anger.