But what else was a dead girl to do?
I ’d been bored shitless since Rogue had left. And it made me realise that I’d been bored for years before she came back into my life. The kind of bored that led to me murdering someone just so I could feel the rush of life leaving their body and claim a piece of it for my own in the wake of their death. It never lasted though. I always circled back around to the numbing nothingness of my life with only a head full of dark memories for company.
I hadn’t played my little Russian roulette game since Rogue had thrown my revolver away, but then one of my men had shown up with it at my door tonight. Once it was in my grip and the nightmares started circling in my mind, the temptation was too great to ignore.
So I’d stood on my balcony just hours ago, pressed the revolver to my skull with one bullet loaded in the cylinder and pulled the trigger, but for the first time since I’d started that tradition, I’d hesitated. Just a moment of madness in a lake of deathly calm. My mad moment had belonged to Rogue, a thought of her mouth on mine, her smile against my lips. But I’d pulled the trigger anyway to see if death was thirsty for me yet. I guessed it had other business tonight though, and I was once again left on this earth to see the Harlequins dead.
Rogue’s call had been one I’d been quietly hoping for ever since she’d left. I’d expected a text that had never come. I’d even considered reaching out to her before I realised I not only didn’t have her number, but I would be a fool to risk one of the Harlequins finding a message from me if they happened to be beside her.
I’d pictured each of them fucking her in great detail followed by me slitting their throats and stabbing until they bled out once they were done with my girl. The fantasy always seemed to go that way. It would play out in full, them owning the girl we’d all loved once while I just watched the show until my fingers got twitchy and I needed to watch them die instead. I’d finally shaken myself out of it at last though. My mind was rife with her and she was getting her hooks in me. But I wasn’t going to let her affect me anymore.
Rogue Easton was a distraction which had taken my eye off the prize, but my gaze was focused once more and I wouldn’t let it stray again. It was my duty to destroy the Harlequins and she would assist me in that endeavour. If she was fucking every one of them to get the job done it made no difference to me whatsoever.
I sat in a low-lit booth in The Dungeon across from Kaiser Rosewood with his stepdaughter beside me, her hand on my knee under the table. I had no appetite but was forcing myself to eat a meal with him as I nudged the conversation in the direction of the Rosewood manor.
“How are the renovations coming along?” I asked as Kaiser took a large bite out of his burrito.
He was constantly distracted by talking to the people in this place, apparently knowing half the clientele. He was a socialite who liked poker, whiskey and guns. I was yet to be invited to one of the illegal poker nights he held at his manor, but I was angling for an invite tonight. As soon as I got into the grounds of that place, I could get a lay of the land, figure out how much work he’d had done, if he’d done anything to the crypt, maybe even get myself a tour.
“Slow,” Kaiser said with a sigh. “You can’t get good labourers these days. Bring slavery back I say, it’s the only way to get a job done right.”
I fought against my lip curling back in distaste. This motherfucker needed a good couple of bullets between the eyes to brighten up his piece of shit face. He resembled a well-oiled old motorcycle with his shining black hair, his voice like the deep, drone of an engine. He wore a maroon shirt under a black blazer with the buttons undone down to his chest, revealing a gold chain with the Rosewood crest on it nestled amongst the dark hair there. His outfit would have been embarrassing on anyone else, but Kaiser had a lot of friends around town and no one dared piss him off by pointing out his unfortunate sense of fashion. Including me.
He hosted a bunch of underground gambling nights across my territory and I took a small cut to turn a blind eye to it all, but I was well aware that Kaiser was using the Rosewood Manor as a sort of private casino for the rich assholes in town and it wasn’t just me whose pocket he was keeping fat. He had cops in his inner circle too, cops who – according to Mia - dined at his house and no doubt gambled while they were there too. The amount of power Kaiser was quietly accruing in Sunset Cove might have worried me if I was Fox Harlequin, and I vaguely wondered if he was aware of how fast this asshole was building a network of his own gangsters right under his nose. Lucky I’m not Fox Harlequin then.
“Daddy,” Mia scolded with a pout. “That’s not nice.”
“Oh I’m just joking, Mi-Mi,” he cooed, reaching over the table to boop her on the nose. What was she, a fucking eight-year-old?
“If you need good labourers, I could lend you some of my men. For the right price of course,” I offered, taking Mia’s hand from my knee and kissing the back of it, pretending I was all lovestruck and shit.
“Hmm.” Kaiser finished his burrito and licked his fingers. “I’ll think on that, Mav. Thanks for the offer.”
I despised that he called me Mav.
He pinched a waitress’s ass to get her attention and I glared at the smarmy motherfucker as he pulled her closer to the table by the back of her bare thigh. She looked like she was about to punch him in the face, but then she saw who’d grabbed her and schooled her expression. Powerful men who used their position to abuse people made me trigger happy. By the time I was done getting what I wanted from this asshole, I might just shoot him. So long as I’d taken the stash from the crypt and made sure Fox and his boys were run out of town, I could risk the wrath of Kaiser’s empire for the sake of ending him. Because I didn’t give a fuck about anything after that; I’d follow the Harlequins to wherever they might run and finish them off for good.
“Get us a round of tequila shots, will you love?” Kaiser asked her, his hand travelling higher up her thigh.
She nodded and ran away before his fingers disappeared up the back of her skirt and my blood turned icy. Mia leaned in to kiss my cheek, tugging at my shirt to try and make me turn towards her mouth. I indulged her as Kaiser’s eyes flicked our way, pecking her lips as she tried to full on thrust her tongue into my mouth in front of her stepfather. Jesus fucking Christ.
I pulled away, getting to my feet and jerking my head at her to let me out of the booth.
“I need a piss,” I lied, wanting some space.
Kaiser spread his arms across the back of his booth seat, his eyes now on a couple of scantily dressed girls dancing and grinding up against one another in the crowd of people beyond the balcony beside us.
Mia let me out of the booth, but got closer as I stood up, running her hand over my cock as she covered the movement with her body. I hadn’t fucked her since before Rogue had come to Dead Man’s Isle, and she was getting needy as fuck. I wasn’t sure I could put it off much longer, but my cock was like a dead weight between my thighs as she tried to stir it into action.
“You wanna meet me out back in the alley?” she spoke in my ear, her teeth grazing the lobe which did absolutely nothing for me. “I’m so horny.”
My gaze hooked on a flash of colourful hair by the bar and my heart thrashed in my chest, my ears going deaf to Mia as she started to purr all the filthy things I could do to her if I had the mind to.
“Uhuh,” I said vaguely, my gaze sliding down Rogue’s back to her ass as she bounced up and down in her heels, trying to get the barman’s attention. She was dressed in a sparkly little number which glittered and caught the light, making her look like a fantasy creature tailored exactly to my desires. A lot of guys behind her noticed her bouncy ass and a growl left me that made Mia shiver and press closer to me.
“Oh hello, big boy,” she purred, rubbing her hand over my cock again which was now almost full mast.
Ah shit.
I grunted, pulling her hand off my dick and covering the move by kissing her lips hard to keep her quiet. When I pulled away
from her, I found Rogue’s gaze slamming into mine as she held two beers in her hands, looking like a savage as she glared at me. Then she turned casually away like I meant nothing to her and headed off through the crowd. Oh no you don’t.
“So, five minutes?” Mia asked as I stepped past her.
“Yeah, sure,” I agreed to who knew what and shoved my way through the crowd, hounding after my little unicorn as she tried to do a disappearing trick on me. But her hair was a dead giveaway and I caught sight of it once more as I pushed past some tall motherfucker and found her closing in on a group of her friends.
Before I could get close, she reached them and I cursed under my breath, moving to stand in the shadows near a couple who were making out. She placed one of the beers in the hand of a blonde girl in a red dress then glanced back over her shoulder curiously, though she couldn’t spot me.
I’m right here, baby girl, hunting you in the dark.
My cock had been inactive for days, but apparently now it was making up for lost time as it strained against the inside of my jeans and begged me to plough it into the rainbow haired chick I was staring at.
Rogue finally broke off from the group again, heading straight past me toward a restroom twenty yards away. I moved back into the crowd, following close behind her as my gaze dragged down the length of her body, taking in her tanned legs and the tight dress which showed off all my favourite parts of her body. Barring one of course.
She stepped into the restroom and I didn’t think as I walked straight in after her. She slipped into a cubicle and locked the door just as the women by the sinks spotted me with parted lips and widening eyes.
I pointed them out the door and they all fled like my finger was a gun, leaving me and Rogue alone in the restroom. Though she didn’t know that yet.
I slid the lock across on the main door, folded my arms and leaned back against it. There was music playing through some speakers in the ceiling and Rogue sang along with Not Your Barbie Girl by Ava Max as she peed, making a smirk pull at my lips.
The toilet flushed and she walked out, heading straight to the sink without noticing me as she washed her hands, rocking her hips to the song. She finally looked up and her eyes snagged on mine in the mirror, a gasp escaping her before she swung around to stare at me.
“Were you listening to me pee like a creeper?” she demanded.
“I wouldn’t use the word creeper.” I kicked off of the door, walking slowly towards my prey as every drop of blood in my body rushed towards my throbbing cock.
“What else do you call a guy who sneaks into girls’ restrooms?” she asked coolly.
“Why are you so angry?” I taunted. “Didn’t you miss me, beautiful?”
She tossed her hair lightly. “I’ve had plenty to distract me, looks like you’ve had plenty of Mia to distract you too.”
A dark, teasing smile pulled at my lips. “Jealous little thing, aren’t you?”
She started backing up, looking for a place to run as I closed in on her, but I had her cornered and she’d have to go through me if she wanted to escape.
“I’m not jealous, Rick,” she scoffed. “We’re not a thing, never have been. Your dick is a free agent just like my pussy.”
“You’d sound so much more convincing if you weren’t currently creaming your panties for me.”
“Fuck off,” she growled.
“Oh but you aren’t wearing panties are you?” My smiled widened. “Because you’re desperate for me.”
“Ha,” she laughed hollowly. “As if.”
“Let me check then,” I said, smirking cruelly. “If you’re not wet and bare for me, I’ll leave you to your night.”
She tasted her lips, considering that then shrugged like she didn’t give any shits about it. Her back hit the wall, perfectly timed for me to rush forward and strike, pinning her to it with my hips.
“Prepare to lose,” she said boldly and I laughed like an asshole, kicking her feet wide and sliding a hand between us.
I dragged my fingers up her inner thigh in a slow path, her silken skin making my cock throb even harder and she could definitely feel every inch of it grinding into her. Her eyes become hooded as she tried to keep her hard mask in place and I ran my fingers higher, taking my sweet time before I hooked her dress over her hips and looked down.
She wore a large, bright pair of Green Power Ranger panties and a laugh got stuck in my throat at her ridiculous defiance.
“Well you’re not bare for me, but are you wet?” I leaned in close, so hungry for her I realised she was the exact reason I hadn’t wanted to eat my meal with Kaiser tonight. I’d wanted the taste of this wild thing on my tongue and nothing else could even come close to sating that kind of appetite.
I dipped my hand into her panties, waiting for her to crack as I dragged my thumb over her clit and she bit down on her lip as she fought her reaction. My fingers slid between her thighs then onto her soaking pussy and her slender throat bobbed as she stared up at me.
“Bone dry,” she panted as I circled my fingers in her wetness and I growled my approval.
“You ever been to a desert, baby girl?” I asked, grazing my slick fingers up to her clit and making her suck in a gasp as I massaged it with my thumb.
She nodded at my question. “It was just like this. Not a drop of water in sight.”
I laughed deeply and she raised a hand to grip my bicep as I continued to tease her needy clit between my fingers.
“Mine,” I told her plain and clear.
“I’m not yours,” she growled at me, apparently still pissed about Mia.
“Are you sure about that, Rogue?” I shoved two fingers inside her and she moaned filthily, her head tipping back against the wall as I pumped them in and out of her. “Who’s been here since I last claimed you?” I demanded. “Did you think of me like you promised?”
“I didn’t promise…shit,” she said through heavy breaths.
I gripped her chin, not letting her look away from me as I fucked her harder with my hand, anger coating my insides at the thought of someone else having her while I couldn’t.
“Did you crawl back into bed with Johnny James?” I demanded as she moaned again and her pussy clenched on my fingers as she got closer and closer to coming. “Or was it Fox who you gave into this time?”
“Fuck…you,” she gasped.
“Chase?” I guessed. “Did the broken boy throw you around like his daddy did to him?”
Her nails dug into my arm as she bared her teeth at me. “Shut up.”
“I guess it doesn’t matter,” I decided, unzipping my fly and freeing my ragingly hard cock as I pulled my hand free of her tight hole. “By the time I’m done with you, your pussy won’t remember anyone but me.”
I grabbed the backs of her thighs, hoisting her up and she wrapped them around me. The moment I tugged her panties to one side, I thrust into her in one furious drive of my hips.
She cried out and the repetitive thump of the music in the club hid away the sound of us as I showed her no mercy and fucked her furiously against the wall. My cock practically hummed with how happy it was to be back inside her and she swore under her breath as she took every inch of me, the chunky heels of her shoes, driving into my back and spurring me on.
She felt like heaven around my cock, the hot, wet tightness of her so perfect I was already close to blowing my load. Her mouth collided with mine and we kissed like we were gonna die and the only chance of life was each other. I hated that about her almost as much as I loved it. She was the breath of fresh air I’d been gasping for my whole life, and how dare she come back here and remind me of the good times when I was on the verge of burning the world down?
I pounded her against the wall until she fell apart in my arms, coming so hard, her pussy clamped around my cock and forced me to follow her into her release. I slammed my hand to the wall above her head, pulling out of her and pumping my cock in my hand as I came all over her thighs and panties while she watched me make a
dirty mess of her with wide eyes. I gave her every last drop of me before I let her fall to the floor and she hiked her dress higher to save it from the mess as I laughed.
“You asshole,” she snarled.
“Hey, I’m just saving you from getting knocked up, beautiful,” I said then grabbed her panties and ripped them off of her.
“Rick!” she snapped, but I just used them to mop my cum off of her legs then tossed them in the trash with a shrug before pulling her dress back down.
“There,” I announced with a crooked smile and she slapped me hard enough to leave a mark.
“Those were my G.P.R.Ps!” she yelled.
“What?” I balked.
“My Green Power Ranger Panties. My favourite panties,” she hissed venomously.
I saluted the ruined panties in the trash. “R.I.P. G.P.R.Ps.” I snorted and she scowled at me.
“Bring a condom next time,” she growled.
“So there will be a next time?” I smirked and her eyes narrowed to slits.
“Not if you’re gonna disrespect me there isn’t,” she snarled and my gut tugged as she stalked past me to try and leave. I twisted around, grabbing her hand and pulling her back against me.
“Wait,” I commanded through my teeth as she tried to pull her hand free. “What progress have you made with the keys?”
“Is that all you care about?” she hissed. “No, hi how you doing, Rogue? How’s it been living with your enemies? Did you find out anything interesting about the night they abandoned you?”
“Well yeah, those things too.” I scrambled for the right thing to say but came up short.
She yanked her hand away with a cold look. “I got another key, and I’ll get the rest soon. See ya, Rick.” She tossed me her middle finger and walked to the door, casually checking her hair in the mirror and wiping her smudged lipstick from the corner of her mouth before stepping out of the room and leaving me there.
Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2) Page 33
