by J. L. Beck
“Seth…” His name came out in a whisper.
“Angel…” He smirked and my heartbeat skyrocketed.
Chapter Three
Seth
It took everything in me not to grab that son of a bitch by the throat and show him just who it was that he was fucking with when he touched Taylor.
“I’m sorry.” The asshole apologized for her with a fire flickering in his eyes as he twisted her arm, ripping her from my hold. My teeth ground together as I acknowledged what he said with a tip of my chin. I watched as he ripped her away from me, the possessiveness of his touch driving me crazy.
The look of fear in Taylor’s eyes was astounding. Whoever this fucker was, she didn’t want to be near him and that bothered me. This couldn’t be the douchebag that had her skipping town every few weeks.
My gaze followed him as he guided her roughly in the direction he wanted her to go. He dressed like he had money and I could tell that he was packing from the bulge in the back of his suit.
What the hell was I going do? I had everything figured out before I got here and saw her but now, now things had changed. Now I knew she was in a shit situation and I needed to be the rescuer- a role I had never played before.
“Can I get a whiskey, please?” I asked one of the passing waitresses. She acknowledged me with a smile and said, “It would be my pleasure.” I almost laughed, this was the shit show job that angel had gotten herself into?
I returned my attention back to Taylor, her eyes refusing to meet mine even though I saw her watching me out of the corner of her eyes. Did she just expect me to leave? If so, she didn’t know me as well as she thought.
Hell, I didn’t even know myself anymore. Three years had passed since I last touched Taylor. Since I last tasted her sweet lips. Even back then she was intoxicating, like a drug you just wanted to keep taking from until it either killed you or knocked you the fuck out.
The waitress reappeared seconds later with my drink in hand. I wondered for a moment if asking her who the asswipe was was a bad idea.
“Hey, who’s that guy…” I whispered, pointing in the direction of his back. The waitress’ eyes grew to the size of saucers before she shrunk back and answered.
“That’s Antonio. He owns this place and basically everyone in it.” The fear that resonated through her when she spoke reminded me of the fear I had evoked in people. I hated anything that could remind me of the person I used to be. The person my father had created.
“Thank you.” I thanked her, my eyes never wavering from the scumbag who I now knew as Antonio.
I rubbed a hand against my jaw knowing if I did what I planned to do I would be starting a potential war with a man I didn’t know, on territory that wasn’t mine. Still watching Taylor serve drinks to greedy, old, rich men didn’t sit well with me, and knowing that Antonio was putting his hands on her in such a shit way in a public place, never mind what he did behind closed doors, enraged me.
She’s needs an out. My subconscious encouraged my bad behavior.
I knew she needed a way out, and I had every intention of getting her out, but I didn’t want to become that man I had worked so hard to let go of.
Seconds ticked by as I slammed back the whiskey, my fingers clinging to the glass as I let the warmth of the liquid settle into the pits of my stomach.
I watched Taylor for a few more minutes deciding when to act. I noticed her shapely body and her plump ass, both things she didn’t really have back when I had first bought her. She was more mature now, and it made me ponder longer than needed about her virginity. Had she already given it to someone else even though it had been mine to claim?
I shook my head, forcing the negative thoughts away. I could always ask her these things but I would never get the chance if I didn’t get her out of here.
Without hesitation I acted promptly, pushing away from the table I had claimed at the back of the room toward the bar. I didn’t want to make a scene, I simply wanted to come in unseen and slip out the back without being seen. That was going to be harder to do than I had anticipated now that I knew Taylor had gotten herself into an assload of trouble.
I made my way in her direction, my eyes cast at the floor. I stopped at the bar just as she was coming up to it to get her drinks refilled.
“Excuse yourself to the restroom,” I whispered low enough that only she could hear. She blinked and then nodded her head gently before excusing herself to the restroom. I followed a few seconds later, noticing her body leaning against the wall near a set of coatracks.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed, worry marring her features. Didn’t she know no one would hurt her in my presence?
“I’m here to claim what is rightfully mine, of course.” I smirked at her playfully, though my grin faltered when I saw the anguish in her eyes.
“You can’t be here, Seth.” One of her small hands pressed firmly against my chest as if she thought she could move me with it.
“It’s a little too late for that now, wouldn’t you agree?” I was already here and I wasn’t leaving without her.
“What you saw back there was nothing… If you don’t leave now Seth, you’ll meet an evil far worse than yourself.” Something deep inside me twisted, ripping open the wounds of my past. Blood gushed from the gaping hole that was left in my chest. The evilness that lurked inside of me because of my father was far greater than anything this egotistical douchebag could do.
“I don’t really give a fuck what he can do and what he can’t do. Have you forgotten the things I’ve done? The people I’ve killed…” My teeth clashed together as I spoke.
She shook her head no, her blonde hair that gave her the nickname Angel slipping from behind her ear and onto her cheek. The urge to reach out and touch the smooth lock was almost overtaking me. I had gone way too fucking long without a woman’s touch.
“We’re leaving and we’re leaving now. If he wants you back then he’ll have to go through me to get to you.” Taking Taylor’s hand in mine, I pulled her toward the back door that was just down the hall. I had scoped the place out a little bit before finding a table. We jogged out the door, escaping the confines of the casino without even a scuffle.
I unlocked the SUV and we got in, our doors closing at the same time. I knew it wouldn’t be long before that jackass came looking for us. When I got the phone call that she was working at the casino I knew something bad was going on.
“Why were you looking for me?” she questioned, tears lingering in her eyes. Frustration hit me hard. Did she really think I would let her go and that I wouldn’t do whatever the hell I could to get her back? She was the only light in my life during a really dark time. I let her go because I had to, not because I wanted to. No matter what happened, she was still mine.
“Why are you working for that douche nugget?” I shot back starting the SUV up and throwing it into drive so we could get the hell out of here.
“It’s a long story. One that I will never be able to tell you if you don’t let me go back inside.” I could see the anxiety on her face and all I could was shake my head as I drove us away from the casino.
“Seth!” Her words were filled with so much anguish and pain. “He will kill my father if I go missing.” I didn’t care if her father went missing or ended up dead on the side of the road. Taylor was in this predicament with me because of him, and obviously he hadn’t learned his first lesson because Taylor was here sticking up for him again.
“Do I look like a I give a fuck?” I countered, my frustrations finally surfacing. I was trying to fucking rescue her and all she wanted to do was go back to that dick. Was he better than me? Did he care for her better? There was no way he did, I could tell just from the way he grabbed her arm.
The tires squealed as I pulled away from a stop sign heading in the direction of the cabin I had acquired.
“No but I do….” Her voice cracked and my grip on the steering wheel grew tighter. “Plus you can’t just come and take me like I still belong to you or some
thing. I don’t. Not anymore.” I could tell that whatever she had endured over the years or even months was wearing on her. She was protecting herself, but she didn’t have to protect herself from me.
I slammed on the brakes and she used her arms to stop herself from slamming into the dash.
“What the fuc-“
“Listen here, Angel… You don’t know the person I am now or the things that I’ve done to get here. I paid a pretty penny for you three years ago and that debt still hasn’t been settled.” I leaned across the seat, making sure she could see and hear exactly what I was about to say.
“You belong to me sweetheart and I’m going to do everything that I can to keep it that way, so while you might hate me for letting you go only to come back and make good on my agreement, just know that I will in fact be making good on our agreement.” Her light blonde eyelashes fluttered against her cheek.
“There’s no agreement, Seth. When you let me go everything between us ended.” My heart ached with the words she spoke. My molars ached as I ground my teeth together, stopping myself from saying anything further.
“Think what you want Angel, but that sweet cherry between your legs is still mine… You might be able to tell everyone else including yourself that you don’t have feelings for me, but we both know you can’t hide your body’s reaction to me.” I felt sick to my stomach, silence filling the SUV. Taylor could hate me all she wanted right now but soon she would be on her knees for me, begging and pleading for whatever I decided to give her.
Chapter Four
Taylor
I could feel the heat from his eyes on my exposed skin, a shutter making its way down my spine as my thoughts turned from anxiety induced to lustful. Seth was playing games with me, games I had always wanted to play with him.
He knew exactly how to get me where he wanted, and here I was at his mercy. Still I was better off here then with Antonio, the real living, breathing monster. The sound of glasses clanking together caught my attention, slamming out the horrible thoughts that were forming in my mind.
“Drink?” Seth asked. I nodded my head yes, staring at him as he poured two glasses of Bourbon, his favorite drink. It had been three years since I last saw Seth and looking at him now, it was as if time hadn’t changed him at all. He was still the same handsome man, with a perfect body and a jaw so sharp it could cut you if you touched it.
“You haven’t changed much…” My voice came out quieter than I intended it to. Seth’s eyes met mine as he handed me the glass full of brown liquid courage.
“Maybe not on the outside but on the inside I’ve changed a ton.” I bit the inside of my cheek, letting the pain saturate my emotions. The reality of all of this was that I didn’t really know Seth like I thought I had. The man that I wanted was nothing more than a figment of my imagination.
“In what ways?” I countered, wanting to know how he had went from cold and heartless to whatever he considered himself to be now. I brought the glass to my lips and tipped it back, letting the smooth whiskey coat my insides. Warmth blanketed my body.
“Do you really want to know the answer to that?” Seth leaned against the couch, his body looming above me. I swallowed past the lump that had started to form in my throat and took another drink from the glass.
“I want to know how the man you used to be just disappeared. Unless he hasn’t disappeared and he’s still inside you, laying dormant….” My voice trailed off as I watched the glass slip from Seth’s hands and to the floor below the brown liquid spilling across the wood.
Seth was on me, his hand wrapped around my throat in a second. There was a fire that flickered deep in his eyes that threatened to consume him if he let it.
“He stole you. My property. My virgin.” His voice was deadly. “He put his hands on you….” His eyes roamed over every scrap of flesh on my body.
“I changed, Angel. Not because I wanted to but because I had to. It was killing me. Eating me alive. Then I try and come back to the one thing that seemed to hold me together through all the dark times and guess what? She’s on the run…” I could tell he was seething with rage. His pain sliced through me cutting open old wounds.
“YOU!” I shouted my voice cracking. How had we gone from talking so quietly to having our voices raised and our tempers burning? “YOU left me!” I shove his hand from my throat and he lets me, anguish marring his beautiful features.
“You were better off without that version of me, sweetheart.” He rolled his eyes as if he didn’t care about my feelings and that only seemed to make me angrier. I had been living with a man that didn’t care about what I thought or said for months, a man that wanted me for nothing more than my body and the money that I could bring in for him.
A humorless laugh ripped from my throat, and this time it was my turn to get up from the couch and pounce on him. The girl he left behind might have been an innocent angel but the woman he had now, right now in his presence was anything but that.
“That wasn’t your choice to make, Seth!” I roared, my chest slamming into his. I could see the fierceness in his eyes reflecting down at me. He was holding it together but barely, just barely, and honestly if I was going to pay for being here with him later, I would at the very least make the best of it.
“You’re going to need to take a step back, Angel…” He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. His voice was eerily calm and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before he snapped.
“Or what, Seth? You’re going to show me the old you? The man that I wanted three years ago? The one that gave me up to another billionaire…” That was the nail in the coffin, the one that did it. In the blink of my eyes he had his hand wrapped in my hair, the sting of pain mixed with the pleasure that was rushing through my veins was almost too much for me.
A moan slipped from my lips as he brought my face closer to his. “Do you have a death wish, Princess?” I couldn’t help but smirk at his comment, because after everything I had been through I probably did. Maybe it was Seth’s turn to be the angel and my turn to be the dark destroyer with a troubled past.
Without thought of what might occur I whispered, “Kiss me.” My eyes flickering from his and down to his full lips as I waited on pins and needles for him to connect our lips.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” He looked at me like he was the one tainting me. What he didn’t know was that I had already been tainted. I had already been broken and beaten down.
I leaned into his face, my lips a mere inch away from his. The hold he had on my hair tightened, and I loved that I had him right on the edge of wanting to let go.
“I’ve wanted you since the day you plucked me up off that stage and told me I would be the only virgin you ever took.” There was a shift in the air; it grew heavier and hotter making it harder to breathe.
Seth licked his lips and all I could think about was the way his tongue would feel as it flicked against my clit roughly.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Angel. We haven’t seen each other in three years. Shit’s changed between us, but don’t think for one fucking second that you’re in charge. I might’ve changed but I still fucking own you. You still belong to me. The debt hasn’t been settled.” My teeth ground together as need and pain collided deep inside of me.
I was nothing more than a means to an end for Seth. He had unfinished business with me. He didn’t come back to rescue me, he came back to finish me off. To remind me that it was him that had always owned me, and that no matter how much time passed, that that would never change and if that was the case, I could do my best to remind him just who I was.
“Kiss me!” I ordered, and this time he didn’t hesitate. His warm lips slammed into mine with so much intensity I felt like the heat from his kiss was going to burn a hole straight through me. We were fire and gasoline meeting for the first time. The match had been lit, and now we were burning away all the pain and need we had endured over the last three years.
“I want to spank the
fuck out of you for misbehaving and telling me what the hell to do.” Seth’s teeth clashed with my lips as he spoke, my body rocking against his as we tumbled to the leather couch. I didn’t care about the darkness that would soon catch up to us. It was just Seth and me here now.
“Then do it,” I taunted. My belly filled with desires that I had only ever dreamed of having fulfilled. We were hungry with need, my hands ripping at his dress shirt and the button on his pants.
“I’ve dreamt of this moment with you since I let you walk away.” My eyes slid from his perfectly sculpted chest and up over his shoulders, and finally coming to rest on his face.
I had nothing to say, nothing that my body couldn’t say itself. Instead I slammed my lips against his and let my emotions show through my movements. I was coming undone with every scrap of clothing Seth removed and threw to the floor. All the things I tried to hide underneath the clothes I wore seemed more visible when I was in Seth’s presence. It was like I couldn’t hide the pain from him no matter what I did.
His hands were rough, his calloused fingers trailing down over my shoulders and arms. My body trembled with need and desires I didn’t know how to fulfill. Seth maneuvered me just as he saw fit, gently pushing back onto the leather couch.
“Spread your legs for me, Angel. I need to taste you.” My body reacted all on its own obeying his command without a single thought. My eyes trailed down to where his pants were, the top open and unbuttoned, just enough to show me a glimpse of his cock.
“You want me as badly as I want you, don’t you?” I licked my lips nodding my head yes. I wanted him so bad, bad enough that I could almost taste him on my tongue. A breath escaped my lungs as he dropped down to his knees in front of me. He smirked down at me before taking a finger and pulling my thong to the side, exposing my pussy to him.
“Seth…” I hissed his name and he looked up at me for a second, his eyes begging me for permission. “Please?” I begged, and he smiled before dipping between my legs, his mouth honing in on my clit before I could suck in another breath. Pleasure rocked into me, my entire body floating as Seth flicked the little bud back and forth.
