by Rebel Farris
He offers his hand, and I shake it. A full-dimpled smile spreads across his face.
“Now that we got the introductions out of the way… we should probably talk about the eight-hundred-pound elephant in the room.”
“Dex, I told—”
“I’m talking about that,” he says, gesturing to the weight bench near the wall.
Another flower lies across the seat, with another rolled-up piece of parchment, tied up in black satin. My stomach drops. I hadn’t even seen it, though; my mind had been elsewhere. My vision starts fading. It isn’t until Dex lays a hand on my shoulder that I realize that I’m holding my breath. I take in a big gulp of air, my legs giving out as I drop to the mats. This is really happening again.
“I can take this into the station tonight,” Dex says, crouching in front of me, concern stamped on his face. “We don’t have to bring anyone here. You wouldn’t happen to have any gloves or Ziploc bags around, would you?”
“I think we have both in the pool closet.” My voice comes out flat and emotionless. “Caleb uses the gloves working with the chemicals. And I’m pretty sure there are some Ziplocs leftover from a barbecue.”
Dex looks around as if we’re standing in the pool closet.
“It’s accessible from outside,” I answer his unasked question. “The door facing the pool.”
He nods. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”
On his way out, he bumps into Evan, who’s coming in, looking sheepish.
“You come to get your ass whoopin’, Son?” I joke, but with my lack of enthusiasm, it falls flat.
Evan runs his hand over his head. “You know I was just messing with you, right? I deleted that video the moment I found it.”
“Good,” I say with a wan smile. “Though I’m over it, really. Doesn’t seem important after that.” I motion to the flower.
Evan’s eyes narrow as they land on the items, and his jaw ticks.
“It’s really happening again, isn’t it?”
“Looks like it.” He shakes his head, frowning.
“I don’t know if I can do this. I barely survived last time.” I release a shaky breath. “You know how bad it got.”
“I know.” He sits next to me and pulls me into his side. “But you’re stronger now, Mads. We’ll catch this guy, and you’ll come out of this stronger than ever.”
“We’ll see. I know one thing for certain—I won’t let this guy drag anyone else into it this time. That’s for damn sure.”
“Got it,” Dex says.
I turn around to see him striding through the door with a small box in each hand. He sets the boxes down next to the flower and takes out a pair of yellow latex gloves and gallon-size plastic bags. He carefully places the flower and ribbon in separate bags, then starts working on flattening the parchment and putting it in its own bag. When he finishes, he lifts the note to read it.
Swiftly, he pulls out his phone and hits a number. “I’m going to need a black-and-white unit to…”
My attention to what he’s saying falters as my focus on the note increases. I stand on shaky legs and make my way to Dex. His lips press into a flat line when I approach, but he hands me the note, reluctantly.
The boy won’t be a problem anymore
the note reads in the same crooked type.
Holy shit. Caleb. My heart thumps at erratic speeds as I turn and head for the door. Fear infuses me. I may not like the boy, but I don’t want to see him harmed because of me. I feel so fucking powerless, tears well in my eyes.
Evan catches me around the waist to stop me before I can reach the door. He takes the note still clutched in my hands and reads, cursing under his breath.
“Stay here, Maddie,” Evan says and nods to Dex. “Let them handle it. That’s what they’re here for.”
The doorbell rings, and I roll over, facing the alarm clock. It’s half past five on a Tuesday morning. Seriously, my alarm hasn’t even gone off yet. I drag myself out of bed, thinking of all the ways I’ll dismember the person who just rang the doorbell a second time. I cringe at the loud noise as I grab my robe and slip it over my nightgown.
The police detail on Caleb left last night; there should be no emergency. He was fine when they showed up. The police questioned him, and he claimed to know nothing. He said he didn’t have a clue what anyone was talking about, but I think the prophetic message worked anyway, because his father told me I’d have to find a new pool boy. I haven’t seen the kid since.
I make it to the foyer just as Evan is dragging himself down the stairs with a yawn.
“I’ll get it,” I say as I pass him.
I look out the window, and Dex is standing there, drink carrier, donut box, and a paper sack in his hands. What in the actual fuck? I open the door to my now-least-favorite person in the world.
“Why are you here so goddamn early?” I say without preamble.
“Just trying to be a good boyfriend,” he says with a wink. His eyes trail over me.
I tug my robe closed and tie the belt.
“I brought breakfast.” He lifts the stuff in his hands and pushes past me.
Audra, appearing from the darkness behind him, follows him in, looking about as happy as I am to be up this early. She mumbles something about, “Sorry… crazy dad doesn’t… kids need their sleep.”
“Good morning,” I say and hug her. “Why don’t you go crawl in bed with the girls?”
She nods and trudges up the stairs, dragging her feet.
“What’s up, man?” he says to Evan, who’s standing on the bottom step still looking half-asleep.
“Coffee?” Evan replies with a yawn.
“You take it black? If not, I’ve got the extra stuff in this bag and some breakfast tacos.”
Evan perks up and follows Dex to the kitchen. “Thank God. You have no idea what it’s like staying with a non-coffee-drinker.”
I drag my feet after the guys. If I close my eyes right now, I’ll probably go back to sleep standing here in the foyer.
“You never answered my question,” I say, yawning and taking a seat next to Evan on a barstool at the kitchen counter. “I don’t eat breakfast.”
“I know,” Dex answers. “I thought I’d feed you something besides that protein shit stick you had yesterday for breakfast.”
“It’s not a shit stick. It’s healthy,” I defend. “It’s part of my training.”
“Training for what?” He raises an eyebrow at me as he sets a foil-wrapped package in front of me, calling me on my bullshit. “Coffee?”
“Now that truly is shit. No, thank you,” I answer, deciding to ignore his penetrating gaze. “Whatever, just grab me a coke.”
He hands Evan a coffee and a foil package, then places the donut box between us. He comes back with a Coke and then leans on the counter, sipping his coffee. He’s looking at me, so I open the foil package. The smell of eggs, bacon, potato, and sausage permeates my senses, and my mouth waters. I look back up at him as I take a bite with zero amusement on my face. He grins.
My mind runs over my schedule for the day. It’s the first Tuesday of the month, so I’m heading over to the Mad House, my other business. I’ll be there all day to review the books and do my monthly checks. I really don’t want to take him there.
“Do you really have to go everywhere with me today?” I ask, meeting his eyes. “Can’t Evan come? Or one of the security guys and leave it at that?”
He sets down his coffee and leans over, propping his elbows on the counter. He steeples his fingers together at his chin as he watches me. I try not to squirm, but I don’t feel comfortable when he gets intense like this.
“Why don’t you want me to come?”
“Because it’s boring, and a little weird to bring your boyfriend to work, don’t you think?”
“It wasn’t weird yesterday. I was even helpful. The question is—what’s on the schedule today that you don’t want me to know about?”
&nbs
p; I look away. He was helpful yesterday at the office, but this is an entirely different situation. Bridget has gone to great lengths, legally speaking, to keep my name far away from it. Only a handful of people even know of my involvement.
“You’re going to the House, right?” Evan asks.
“Yeah,” I answer, keeping my eyes trained on the counter in front of me.
“The House?” Dex says, pressing his steepled fingertips to his lips repeatedly. “Sounds fun.” He slaps his hands on the counter with a grin.
I honestly think it entertains him more when I’m bothered by his presence than if I were happily clinging to him all day. Fucking men, I’ll never understand them.
He moves around the counter and sits next to me. I finish off my food, in a hurry to get away from him.
“You should go get ready,” Dex says. “I’ll get the girls up.”
He brushes the hair back from my shoulder, and it’s too much. I stand.
“Okay, I’m gonna hit the shower. Then we can go.”
He’s smirking at me as I turn to go to my room. Fucking evil torturer.
Then
“I’ve something special planned for tonight, if you’re up for it,” Law said as he crossed from the door to my bed in my tiny dorm.
He was wearing a black button-down shirt and dark jeans. Kind of fancy for him, since he was usually in his I’m-a-badass-nerd gear.
It’d been a year, and we were still seeing each other. Well, still fucking each other. Seeing implies a whole level of relationship dynamic that we weren’t.
Saturdays and Sundays, I went back home, alone, to be with the twins. He never questioned what I did, or who was there, just gave me strict instructions not to orgasm without him. Though edging was encouraged. We’d never had a conversation that defined what we were to each other. We just kind of fell into a rhythm together and never got off beat.
He placed a medium-sized gift bag on the bed in front of me and sat on the edge, leaning his back against the wall.
“What could this be?” I eyed the package warily, tapping my finger on my lower lip. “It’s not my birthday. You don’t need to buy me things, you know?”
He grabbed me and pulled me onto the bed, rolling me underneath him in one smooth move. He pushed my hair back from my face.
“I know.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine. “Perhaps that’s why I like doing it. Because you don’t expect it.”
“So, if I start expecting you to buy me things, you’ll stop doing it?”
“No, silly girl, I won’t. I like spoiling you.” He grinned, giving me dimple. “Now open it. It has a specific use for tonight, but I won’t tell you about it until you open the damn thing.”
He climbed off me and dropped the bag on the center of my stomach. I sat up, scooting back on the bed. The bag was a black-and-white damask pattern with black tissue peeking out the top. I pulled on the tissue and removed the first item. It was a slinky black spaghetti-strap dress.
I looked to him, frowning.
He motioned me to continue. I pulled out a pair of black leather spiked heels that looked like they were hand-picked by Sloane, not something I’d wear. I retrieved the last item—what seemed to be a thin, black scarf. It was not a scarf. I held it up. It looked like Zorro’s mask.
“Is this a new role play? I’m sexy Zorro, and you’re—” I couldn’t think of the name of Zorro’s enemy.
He laughed. “No. It’s the dress code for a party. I want to take you.”
“We go to masked parties now?” I asked.
The role play was more believable than that. We did that quite a bit. Like the one time Law had me tied up with ropes like a damsel in an old western stuck on the train tracks. He did have a thing for old movies. And tying me up.
“It’s a club. The Black Mask Society is unofficially a part of my school. They’ve been extending an invitation to me for years. I’ve never been interested until now. You have to bring a date. It’s just not like a normal party. It’s a place where people experiment.”
“Experiment?”
“Yeah, like… sexually. Whatever you want, it’s on the menu. There are rules, though, so if we go and you’re not comfortable, we can leave, and nothing will happen.”
“Rules?”
“Uh-huh, no uninvited touching. No going into occupied rooms uninvited, except the main rooms.”
I nodded, absorbing this without judgment.
“And no names.”
“You wanna try this?” I asked, and he nodded slowly. “What’s the point? I mean, what’re you expecting from it?”
“I’ve no expectations. I just love watching you. When you learn something new that you like, your mouth turns into this little O of amazement.” He smirked. “It’s—” He shook his head. “It turns me on like nothing else.”
He was good at that—low-key pressure. A nudge in the right direction, the temptation of pleasing him, which always ended with my pleasure. A gentle push outside of my comfort zone, but never too far. I’d changed so much in the last year, though I had no complaints. Truly.
“Okay,” I answered.
“Okay?” He looked at me to confirm he heard me right.
I nodded.
“I’m serious, no expectations. You’re in charge. I won’t do or try anything unless you give me the green light. Okay?”
I smiled at him. “I get to be in charge? That’s a first.” I quirked an eyebrow and laughed.
He threw my pillow at me. “You know what I mean. You get to say go, and like always you get to say barnacle.”
I laughed out loud as I lay back.
“We really should find a new word if I’ve to start using it in public.”
“Get dressed.” He pointed to the dress, his eyes darkening with lust.
I stood up and pulled off my flannel shirt. I pushed up the bottom of my tank top, exposing my stomach and enjoying the way his jaw went slack. I popped the button on my jeans and slowly pulled the zipper down. The sound echoed in the tiny, quiet room. I loved the way his eyes rounded, and he swallowed as he got a peek at my black lace Brazilian hipster underwear. Sloane was right. They accentuated all the best parts of my ass. Though she instantly regretted the recommendation, knowing her brother was the only one who’d get to enjoy them. I smiled thinking of it. I’m pretty sure she brought out my evil streak. Or Law did.
I pulled my tank top over my head and looked back at Law. He pulled his cock out and started stroking himself. I was hypnotized. My eyes tracked the up-and-down motion of his tattooed fingers. I licked my lips.
“You need to put that dress on, now. Before I have my way with you and we never make it out of this room.”
I walked over to him, still entranced. I kneeled between his knees. “Perhaps I should take care of you before we go. So you won’t feel any pressure.” I whispered the last part, my eyes drifting half-shut.
“Put your hands behind your back.”
I moaned, letting my head fall back, eyes shut. I knew what that tone meant, and I loved when he did this. My hands, already by my side, moved to position.
He got up from the bed, walked behind me, and grabbed the silky mask. He tied it around my wrists, not really binding me, just tight enough to remind me where to keep them.
“God, you’re so beautiful,” he said, stroking my hair. “So willing, so eager.”
I grew impossibly wet. I loved it when Law talked to me. He had the sexiest voice and said the sexiest things.
“Please,” I begged. I’d no idea how he had turned me into a wanton sex kitten, but he absolutely did.
He walked around to the front of me, his cock bumping against my lips. I leaned forward, opening the line of my throat and running my tongue along the bottom of his shaft from hilt to head, toying with his piercing to elicit a moan. I swirled my tongue around the tip and then waited for him to slide in all the way. He gripped my hair, pulling. I moaned as he began to mov
e in and out, bumping the back of my throat with every stroke. It’d taken some training to get me to the point that it didn’t make me gag.
I looked up to his face, watching him lose control. The absolute pleasure he couldn’t hide made me feel powerful. He wasn’t a man you got to feel powerful with often, but this was my time. I felt him pulse when I unsheathed my teeth and pushed up with my tongue. He jerked and slowed, then stopped as he spilled down my throat. I sucked and swallowed everything. He dropped to his knees in front of me, grasping the back of my head with one hand and undoing the mask off my wrists with the other.
“You absolutely undo me, Laine.” He kissed me deep and passionately, moaning when he tasted himself on me. I crawled into his lap, and he stilled. “Get dressed.”
I gave a frustrated sigh and rubbed myself against him.
“Do you want to leave this room?”
“Yes,” I sighed and moved away to pull the dress over my head. Once finished, I looked back, and he was leaning against my dresser, all put away. He watched me silently as I moved to my desk to pull out my brush and makeup mirror. I fixed my face, but my hair still looked pretty good, falling in long, mahogany waves down my back. I looked through Sloane’s things and found a black clutch and stuffed my phone, some cash, and the mask into it, then turned to face him.
“Ready,” I stated.
“Let’s go.” He held out his hand, and I took it as I followed him out to the parking lot to his bike.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked, yanking on the sides of the dress. It rode up my thighs with him between my legs.
“Yes, it’s fine. No one can see anything with me sitting here. Though I kind of wish I could see this from afar.” He ran his hand down my thigh, making me shiver. “If this party is a bust, we can always go for another ride.”
I smiled as I put on my helmet, remembering that day he took me out to Hill Country, speeding along stretches of back roads. When my adrenaline was nice and high, he’d pulled off the road behind a group of trees and laid me on the front of the bike, making me come twice with his mouth and fingers. Then he’d had me flip, straddling the bike with my hands gripping the handlebars as he pounded me from behind. Yeah, that was a good day.
