Carnival Hill (The Harlequin Crew Book 3)

by Caroline Peckham

  "Tell Rick I love him," he called out after us. "And I want him home soon."

  "Will do," I agreed, holding the door for Mutt as he raced out onto the beach and promptly started chasing his tail excitedly.

  JJ gave me a look that said Luther was batshit and I wholeheartedly agreed, but I wasn't gonna be calling the psychopath out on it, so here we were.

  JJ led the way down the private jetty outside the house, picking out one of the slightly bigger boats seeing as Fox had taken the fastest speedboat with him when he ditched out on us ten days ago.

  I took JJ's hand when he offered it and climbed in behind him, glancing back at Mutt as he took a running jump from the jetty and landed in the boat with a triumphant yap.

  I shot Maverick a text to tell him we were coming to see him then I sat back in one of the padded seats as JJ started up the engine and tipped my head back to look up at the darkening sky as we raced away across the waves towards Dead Man's Isle.

  Night had fallen by the time we pulled up at the dock and for once, Rick's men didn't start yelling and waving weapons around, instead helping us to dock the boat and even offering me a hand to help me climb out.

  "He's waiting for you in the bar," Dave grunted, giving me the stink eye. Fucking Dave. I was going to make a special effort to find his packed lunch and eat it while I was here just for that look.

  The sound of thumping music reached me as we started towards the huge hotel complex and JJ threw an arm around my waist, his hand sliding into my back pocket as he pressed a kiss to my temple.

  "Fuck it feels good to let the world know you're mine," he muttered as I leaned into his touch, stealing some strength from him and holding onto him tightly as I wrapped my arm around him in return.

  I was still all kinds of messed up over Chase and Fox, but JJ had a point. Being able to show my feelings for him to anyone who cared to look felt seriously good after so many months of sneaking about like we were doing something wrong. I mean, the sneaking had been hot in its own right, but I was more than ready to let the entire world know that Johnny James was mine.

  I led the way into the hotel, guiding JJ down the gleaming hallway towards the bar. After spending time with Maverick here after Chase had abandoned me on that ferry, I knew the whole complex well.

  The music got louder as we approached and Shout Out to My Ex by Little Mix rocked the speakers.

  We pushed through the doors and Mutt scampered ahead, rushing over to Rick and licking his ankles where he stood leaning against the bar. He was wearing a pair of black jeans with a short sleeved white dress shirt unbuttoned over his tattooed chest and the look he gave me as his gaze fixed on mine was all animal.

  "What's this?” I asked, glancing around at the club lighting and the bottle of tequila waiting on the bar. "A party for three?"

  "Well I only wanted to invite people I like and the list is surprisingly limited," Maverick replied, sipping his tequila like that shit wasn't liquid fire. What a psycho.

  "Oh, sweetheart, I didn't know you liked me," JJ mocked, clasping his heart dramatically.

  "Well, I like watching you fuck my girl," Maverick corrected. "And I don't find your personality totally abrasive, so there's that."

  "Come on, Rick, you can admit you love him. I know you want to," I pushed, closing the distance between me and him as JJ released me to grab himself a drink.

  Maverick smirked at me, licking the pad of his thumb before swiping his saliva along the groove of his collar bone and shaking some salt onto the skin. He tilted his head to the side, jerking his chin in a command and I obediently tiptoed up, slowly licking the salt from his flesh and pressing my hands to his abs as they contracted at my touch.

  He raised a shot of tequila to my lips and I knocked it back before he held a wedge of lime to my mouth for me to suck on last.

  "Hey, beautiful," he said in his deep voice, his gaze devouring me as I licked the last taste of lime from my lips and looked at his mouth.

  But instead of giving me the kiss I wanted, he beckoned JJ closer and placed another line of salt on his neck.

  "I didn't realise you liked me like this," JJ teased, while Maverick just shrugged.

  "I'm testing the waters. But I'm thinking I'll prefer the feeling of her mouth on my body over yours."

  I bit my lip as JJ leaned in, making a show of licking the salt from Maverick's skin before accepting his shot and lime. I sucked in a sharp breath as I looked between the two of them and JJ gave me a dark look as he leaned in to kiss me slowly.

  "Dance for us, pretty girl," he breathed against my lips.

  "I'm too sad for dancing," I murmured.

  "Because Foxy boy fucked up your life and sent Chase away?" Maverick asked and I frowned at his candid question before nodding. "I bet you really hate him for doing that, don't you?"

  "You know how pissed I am at Fox for doing that. But seeing as he's run off and won't even answer my calls, I'm stuck waiting for him to decide he gives a shit about any of us again and comes back," I snapped, wondering why he felt the need to bring the mood down by rehashing this.

  "Yeah, Fox is such a dick. He's turned on all of us now, hasn't he? Goes to show what he really thinks of his so-called family," Maverick said, sinking another shot without bothering with the lime or salt.

  "Yeah, well fuck him," JJ muttered, the hurt in his voice clear beneath the anger. "All he really gives a shit about is what he wants. He clearly never gave a single thought to what the rest of us need to be happy."

  "All I want is for him to see sense and bring Chase home," I said, slamming back another shot too. "That's it. But in this moment that isn't going to happen, so I say we all get fucked up and try to forget about the mess he's left us in for one night. I'm so fucking tired of hurting all the time."

  Maverick and JJ exchanged a wicked look before Rick raised his glass in a toast. "To forgetting all about Fox fucking Harlequin then. And being a whole lot happier without him trying to control our fucking lives."

  JJ grunted, knocking back his own drink alongside Rick but I just glared into mine. "Fuck that," I muttered. "But I'll drink to forgetting all the things I have to hurt over and trying to chase happiness tonight."

  "To emotionless oblivion then," Rick agreed and I snorted half a laugh before downing my shot.

  My head spun a little at the onslaught of the alcohol and as the music shifted to So What by P!nk I took JJ's hand and pulled him away from the bar to dance with me.

  Maverick watched us with a smirk lining his lips as I pressed my back to JJ's chest and let the music have me. I was so fucking angry and I needed an outlet for it, so I was going to dance with my boys and tell the world to get fucked tonight. It would still be waiting to destroy me in the morning anyway and I didn't have to let it ruin this too.

  The music moved on to more angry fuck you break up kinds of songs and I swear they were just playing my pissed off feelings over this whole Fox situation out loud.

  Maverick didn't keep his distance for long, pushing off the bar and tugging me against him as the three of us started dancing in a heated, sweaty, press of bodies which made my flesh tingle and burn for them. Their hands roamed over my body and I fisted one hand in JJ's hair behind me while winding my other arm around Rick's neck and pulling him closer in front of me as we just danced and danced.

  One song ran into another and their roaming hands tugged at the edges of my clothes while their mouths brushed my neck and jaw, never quite crossing that line while still riling me up until my entire being was reduced to a needy, desperate kind of desire.

  When I felt like the tension between the three of us was going to explode and I was about ready to come from the friction of us dancing like that, Rick suddenly drew back, tugging me towards the bar.

  JJ started kissing my neck as he followed and a breathy moan escaped me before Maverick tugged me away from him and pressed my back against the bar.

  He leaned in like he was going to kiss me and my lips parted hungrily, but he d
ropped his mouth instead, running his tongue along the line of my collar bone before repeating the move on the other side.

  He shifted back and JJ already had the salt waiting, sprinkling some over my skin as I leaned my elbows back against the bar and waited.

  "Beg for us, beautiful. I wanna hear how much you love taking us together," Maverick growled, his gaze flicking over my head as a dark smirk filled his lips.

  I glanced over my shoulder to see what he'd been looking at and spotted his phone there wedged between two whiskey bottles on a shelf and pointed right at us.

  "Are you recording us?" I asked, making a move to straighten, but his hand locked around my throat as he pushed me back to keep me where I was.

  "What's the matter, beautiful? Don't you wanna watch the video when we're done? I just wanted some material to jerk off to when you leave me all alone out here again and you know this is going to be more than worth recording."

  "You're an asshole," I gritted out, but I was also definitely going to be watching that video myself multiple times because fuck yeah, that sounded hot as shit.

  "You are," JJ agreed, shoving Maverick half-heartedly. "And you'd better not show anyone else that thing."

  "Who the fuck do you think I am?" Rick asked, giving my throat a squeeze which I felt right down to my core. Jesus. "I swear no one outside of our little family will ever see it."

  "Okay," I agreed, wetting my lips as I looked between the two of them. I was so turned on and so full of all this vicious energy that I needed the outlet more than I cared about some sex tape. In fact, the idea of us being on camera made it even hotter and I released a breathy moan as I clamped my thighs together in hunt of a little friction.

  The noise cut off any more discussion from the two of them and my heart leapt as their eyes filled with hunger, Rick’s dark and endlessly deep and JJ's the most delicious shade of brown known to man.

  Their mouths fell to my neck simultaneously, both of them devouring the salt on my skin and making me moan even louder as the scrape of Rick's stubble and bite of JJ's teeth set my whole body buzzing.

  Maverick yanked on my shirt, half ripping it off me and groaning at the sight of my bare tits before handing JJ a shot of tequila.

  I almost protested before they spilled the glasses down my chest but I ended up gasping and moaning as they moved to lap it from my skin, the two of them sucking and teasing my nipples as I just clung to the bar beneath them.

  JJ unbuttoned my shorts and Rick helped tug them down over the curve of my ass, bringing my drenched panties with them as they both dropped to their knees.

  They yanked my sneakers off as they tossed the last of my clothes aside and clearly no one gave a fuck about the lime as they pushed my thighs apart and moved in on my throbbing core instead.

  I cried out as their mouths both fell on me at once, the two of them forcing my thighs wide to make room for them and my moans getting more and more desperate as one of them sucked my clit into their mouth. I couldn't even tell which one of them it was, and my head spun with the thrill of that as Rick slung my leg over his shoulder and I was left to hold myself up on the bar.

  "Fuck," I gasped, my hips rocking into the movements of their mouths before fingers were pushing inside me too, pumping and thrusting and demanding I fall for them. And within a matter of seconds I did, my screams of pleasure rising above the music as I gave in to what I needed, finally finding some relief from all the hurt and heartache I'd been feeling recently.

  They got to their feet before me as I sagged against the bar and JJ yanked his shirt over his head while Rick just stared at me hungrily.

  "Make her scream, Johnny James. Make sure everyone can tell exactly how much she loves your cock."

  "Aye aye, Captain Control Freak," JJ mocked before stepping forward and lifting me up onto the edge of the bar.

  He leaned in to claim a needy kiss from my lips then shoved me back so suddenly that I squealed in surprise as my back hit the bar.

  He wrapped my thighs around his waist and sank his cock into my soaking heat in the next breath, taking his time and making sure I felt every single inch of him.

  Maverick rounded the bar as JJ started to thrust in and out of me slowly, driving himself in with deep, languid strokes as he groaned about how tight and perfect my pussy felt wrapped around his cock.

  I blinked up at Rick as he stopped by my head, licking my lips as I reached for his belt, wanting to taste his cock, but he caught my hands and pushed them away.

  "No, baby girl. I don't want to come in your pretty mouth today. I'm gonna choke you out while you come all over Johnny James's dick, then I'll be taking that sweet pussy for myself while he fucks your tight ass and you scream for us so prettily. Would you like that?"

  Fuck that man had a filthy mouth and I was so here for it.

  "Yes," I gasped as JJ slammed into me harder and the breath was stolen from my lungs.

  "Beg for it then,” Rick insisted and I gave in again because I needed this and I was aching for him to give it to me so who gave a fuck if I had to beg, especially when he loved me doing it.

  "I want your hands on my neck while he fucks me," I panted obediently between moans as JJ fucked me harder. "Then I want you both fucking me together and making me feel so fucking much that I can hardly take it."

  "Good girl. We'd better get started on that then.” Maverick smirked like an asshole as he wrapped his hands around my throat and JJ upped his pace, striking me deep and hard like I needed.

  I moaned loudly as I pawed at my tits before finding my clit and rubbing it in time with his thrusts, wanting more and more and more.

  "Filthy, perfect girl," Maverick growled, his eyes burning as he watched the show, his grip on me tightening in the way I fucking loved as he took control of my breathing.

  "Fuck yeah she is," JJ agreed and I moaned even louder as he drove into me harder and I prepared myself for their destruction on my flesh because this right here was my happy place, and I was going to be spending as long in it as I possibly could.

  I tugged at the ropes bound around my body and tethering me to an armchair in one of the hotel rooms as I was forced to watch this fucking horror show on a fifty inch TV on the wall in front of me.

  At first I’d tried to look away, but the sound of Maverick and JJ fucking Rogue filled the whole room through the speakers and I’d ended up giving in to the inevitable as I watched them all carve my heart clean from my chest.

  Rogue was splayed out on a bar and I spat air between my teeth as JJ fucked her hard and brutally, her pants turning to begging as he built her up into a frenzy.

  Maverick occasionally threw a smirk over at the camera as he palmed her breasts and rubbed the huge bulge in his jeans, making my skin prickle and burn all over.

  “I’ll kill you!” I bellowed to no one, because wherever they were it was too far from this room for them to hear and clearly no one was coming to save me from this torture. But I had to let the words rip free of my lungs regardless because I’d felt sorry for Maverick before, even had thoughts of trying to bring him home after everything I’d found out about him, but this? This was the monster he’d become, and he was purposefully stabbing a blade into my chest over and over with this move. I wasn’t anything to him anymore, that was clearer than ever. Even being shot at by him hadn’t felt as deep of a betrayal as this.

  JJ stole a hungry kiss from Rogue’s mouth and she held onto him like the world began and ended right there against his lips. I cringed, turning my head but my gaze was only drawn back again, like this fuck fest was a magnet for my unwilling eyes.

  My shoulders heaved as my lungs worked harder, dragging more and more oxygen into my body like I was hyping up for a fight. And that was what I wanted, a murderous, bloody battle between me and Maverick, and if Johnny James was there too then all the fucking better.

  Rogue moaned in a way that made me hurt and burn at once as Maverick dragged her over the bar, forcing JJ’s cock to part with her as they both cr
ied out in anger.

  “Jesus, Rick,” JJ snarled, grabbing the bottle of tequila and following Maverick to an armchair where he forced Rogue to straddle his lap.

  “Asshole,” she said breathlessly.

  Maverick only laughed as he gripped her hips, unbuckling his belt and freeing his dick from his jeans before lining himself up with her pussy and she sank down onto his cock, her head tipping back in a moan. JJ took the opportunity to pour some tequila between her lips and she swallowed it down in one gulp, the rise and fall of her throat sexy as hell. My anger merged with something darker in me as my gaze hooked on her and her movements alone. She was a goddess working to steal her pleasure from mere mortals and my fingers itched with the longing I’d always had in me to please her. But as my treacherous cock grew hard and throbbing for her, I bit down on the inside of my cheek and looked away, a wave of absolute rage engulfing me. Fuck this.

  My muscles bulged and the rope bit deep into my flesh as I fought against its hold, knowing the moment I got free that death would descend on this place and Dead Man’s Isle would live up to its name. Because its self-proclaimed king would die by my hands for this. There was nothing I had ever been more certain about than that.

  My gaze moved back to the screen as it always did and I watched as Maverick’s palm scored up and over Rogue’s tits to lock around her throat. A sneer twisted my lips at him touching her like that, the way Shawn had touched her when he’d tried to put her in the ground. But her hips rocked fast and breathless, frantic moans left her lips like she wanted more of what he was offering, more of his demons, more of him.

  It was clearer than ever that I’d never been the one she wanted. She was lust embodied between them both, her eyes wide and flicking between the two of them like they were the centre of her universe.

  She reached for JJ, her fingers grasping his cock beside her as she pumped him in her hand and he knotted his fingers into her hair hard enough to turn his knuckles white. She rode her way into another fucking orgasm and I spat air through my teeth in frustration as I begged any god who was listening to give me the strength to break these binds.