Damaged Queen (Darkness Within Duet Book 2)

by Sam Crescent

  “And if I don’t do this? What then? You’re going to kill me? Draven wouldn’t allow that. He’d be your problem.”

  “If you don’t go in the next twenty minutes and be out of Stonewall, I’m going to kill Draven and his boys. First though, I’ll make sure that Draven knows you did this. You caused this, and I will make them all beg for mercy before I do it.”

  Even now, she felt that same fear. The thought of losing Draven, of losing any of them had filled her with such fear. She’d never been so scared, not even when she got her mother out of the bathtub. “You’re bluffing.”

  “I figured you’d say that.”

  Then Alan finally took it to the next level. He made the man show her that Alan was always one or maybe even two steps ahead.

  “So my little guest here knows it’s you, turn in a circle.”

  The guy had done just that, had shown her exactly how much control Alan had. How he was willing to kill his son, his friends.

  “Good, I want you to kill all of them,” Alan said.

  This was where her life changed forever. She watched as that gun rose, and with it, she’d seen the bullets, the death, everything that would take the men in her life away from her forever.

  Harper opened her eyes and stared at her own reactions. The horror. The fear.

  The man raised his gun, and she watched as it went off, the bullets lightning quick as it fired into the crowd.

  Harper watched her reactions, and this time she saw how Alan watched her. She hadn’t seen that back then. Right then, all she could see was Draven ducking and her hope that the others did as well. Did any bullets touch them? What the hell happened?

  She saw the fear again. The pain.

  “No! Stop!” She screamed. Again, it didn’t show the screen going blank, just the panic and her tears. So many tears.

  “Wait,” Alan said.

  “I’ll do it. I’ll go. I’ll do anything just please don’t hurt them.”

  Alan smiled. “Keep them in your sight. Don’t let them leave.”

  He hung up his cell phone, and Harper watched as he once again grabbed an envelope from across the desk. So many actions she recalled back then that were happening now.

  “My guy here, Laser, will take you to the bus stop. He’ll make sure you leave.”

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked, tears in her eyes. Harper had tears in her eyes now. “I love your son.” The confession he was never supposed to hear.

  “Aw, that is sweet. The thing is, I’ve got plans, lots of good plans, for Draven, and you are standing in my way of accomplishing them. I’m being nice, Harper. Not only am I letting you live, I’m not going to keep you.” He reached out, stroking a finger down her breast. She pulled away. He laughed. He repulsed her then, and still to this day, he did. “Well, I’d be careful who you go showing your pussy to. You come back here and your life is mine.”

  “There’s nothing else you can do to me.”

  “Oh, yes, I can. I can use you day and night. I’ve got a huge appetite, and seeing as you’re fresh pussy and ass, I could work you until you bleed. I’m not squeamish. I’d love to fuck you raw.”

  She stumbled back, and Alan laughed.

  “I’ll be keeping this.” He held up her cell phone as if it was some kind of trophy. “Harper, if you think for a single fucking second this is over, think again. I’m going to need some … leverage. If you don’t do exactly as I say, I’ll make sure Draven says his goodbyes.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  Alan smirked as he stepped up to her. “Let’s just say I’ve got evidence of you running off with my enemy. With Draven’s enemy. He’s never going to want to see you again, and if you want him to live, whenever I need you to do little jobs for me, no matter where you go or what you do, you will do them. If not, I’ll make sure to torture every single one of them. Contact Draven, and I will find out. Anything you do, everything you do, is mine and mine alone. Get out of my fucking house. Go.”

  This was the end of the line for her in that office. She’d never been back, not even when Axel came for her, ten years later.

  Draven had moved up in the world, and in doing so, she was no longer in his office.

  She watched as Alan whistled, laughed, and clapped his hands. Just then, the cook came into the office.

  “Our boy is going to be eating out of my hand,” Alan said.

  “Did you really have to get rid of the girl? She makes him happy.”

  The smile disappeared from Alan’s face. “Are you questioning me?”

  “No, it’s just that Draven…”

  She didn’t finish her words as Alan backhanded her.

  “My son will do exactly as he’s told. The little shit thinks he’s better than me. Thinks he can change what he’s got to do. He’ll stay in line, and now that little slut is gone, he’ll be easy to deal with.”

  “I think we’ve seen enough,” Axel said, turning the video to pause on the screen.

  Harper stayed on her knees, fresh waves of tears falling down her cheeks.

  This was not a victory, not to her. Getting to her feet, she wiped the tears from her eyes. They would know she was crying.

  She turned toward them.

  Axel’s emotions were turned off. He looked bored with everything. Harper looked toward Draven, and he seemed devastated.

  “I just … I’m going to go to my room now.” She left the office and didn’t look back. There was no need to.

  What had been done couldn’t be changed.

  ****

  Draven stared at the screen. His father looked so fucking happy with himself. His heart raced, and anger unlike anything he’d ever felt filled him up.

  “You okay?” Axel asked.

  “I…” He moved toward the desk, put his hands flat to the surface, and tried to breathe in. “Why didn’t he just kill her?”

  “He couldn’t just kill her. Think about the mess and the fact he’d have to come up with a reason for her disappearance. We knew he didn’t want her around. This way, Alan got rid of her and made it look like she betrayed us. We fell for his lies, believing the worst of her.”

  “He figured out I wouldn’t be able to forgive her betrayal. Running to the enemy,” Draven said.

  “But he also had the evidence she was still alive. Laser didn’t look like the fucking enemy there, Draven. He was working for Alan. Every single time you came close to go to her, he’d randomly find information about her helping our enemies. Another way for you to hate her and to become more and more like him,” Axel said. “It was kind of clever, really. I didn’t think Alan had that kind of patience.”

  “He also had the fact that Buck had just died.”

  “There is also that.”

  Draven threw his arms across the desk and yelled. “That fucking bastard. I believed him. I believed Harper couldn’t handle it, and all that time, all the time he was laughing at me. This was all part of his plan. To take from me. To make me do this … shit!”

  The computer, the paperwork, the pens, all of it was thrown across the room.

  “Draven?”

  “Don’t, Axel. Do not come near me. He killed everyone who could tell me the truth. Who could look me in the eyes and tell me that he took my woman from me. He’s the reason Buck is not here. He’s the reason Jett is not here. It had to be him that set that man on him. We were the only ones that knew what he was fucking doing!”

  Draven dropped to his knees.

  “I … I had her tied up. I had her whipped and put on display.” Tears fell down Draven’s face, and he wiped them off.

  “You got to get a grip, man. All of that shit happened, but Harper’s still here,” Axel said.

  “Do you want her?” Draven asked, looking up at his friend.

  “What?”

  “Do you want to fuck her? To take her as yours. Is that why you did what you did?” he asked.

  “No. I don’t want Harper. I never really did. Sure, it was fun with the
whole initiation and what we thought would happen. It might have worked too. I know Buck and Jett adored her. She’s not my type.”

  “What’s your type?”

  “I like my women who don’t attack me. I saw the way she was in the ring. It was fucking fierce, but I guess I like a lady.”

  “You like a lady?” Draven asked.

  “Come on, Draven, you were never going to share her long-term. We all knew that.”

  He said nothing. What could he say to make anyone else think differently when he didn’t even know anything more himself?

  “You believed her?” Draven asked.

  “I had a … feeling. I don’t know. I just didn’t think it was as clear cut as your father told us. I’d seen Harper grow in that short time, and to be honest, I never entirely believed him.” Axel shrugged. “Now we’ve got our proof. It was the last place I looked.”

  “Where did you look?”

  “The cave.”

  “The one from the story?” Draven frowned.

  “Yes. I didn’t think to look there.” He shrugged. “Why would I? At least the truth finally came out. I’m out of here.”

  Draven didn’t stop him. He stared at the office that had been his for so long now. This wasn’t his place.

  Stonewall didn’t belong to him. It had been his father’s.

  Turning to the television, he stared at the man who’d taken everything from him.

  Harper.

  Buck and Jett.

  His plans.

  It was all wiped out in a single day.

  Alan had known it, had known with Harper around, he would have never gotten what he wanted. Draven wouldn’t have unleashed a hell that had changed the course of his life forever.

  He knew what to do.

  First though, he was going to have one night. One night where he wasn’t this man. Where he wasn’t accusing Harper and threatening to kill her.

  He left his office and went to his room. He took a long shower, cleaning the cuts from his hands until they stopped bleeding, and when he was clean and fresh, he changed into a robe and made his way down to Harper’s room.

  Draven found her sitting on the edge of the bed, crying. Tears fell down her cheeks, and his heart broke for her, for what he’d done.

  He moved toward her side, and she stood up.

  “Why are you here?” she asked.

  “I’ve not come to start a fight or to do anything.” He held his hands up in surrender. “I just want to spend some time with you. I know you’re not going to marry me. I’m not going to ask you to. Just come here.”

  “What?”

  “Please, come here.”

  She looked around the room, clearly looking for a reason not to even approach him. He waited, and finally she relented, getting to her feet and moving closer to him.

  When she stood right in front of him, he stared into her eyes and smiled. “Fire.” He’d not broken her.

  They were both a little damaged, but he’d not broken her. The fire in her eyes told him that.

  He held her chin, turning her face this way and that, staring into her beautiful bright eyes. She looked so beautiful, so fresh, so warm, so amazing.

  Harper hadn’t changed, not really.

  “You know, seeing you again after all these years, I knew I couldn’t let you go.”

  “Draven?”

  “I don’t care who was there before me. I love you with all my heart. I have done for some time.” He took her hands and kissed each of the knuckles. Ones he’d seen bleed from fighting. “I’ll always be sorry for what happened here. What happened between us.” He cupped her cheek, wiping away the tears. “I’ll never ask for forgiveness. I don’t deserve it.”

  He ran his thumb across her lips, staring at them.

  Damn, he wanted to kiss her so much, to taste her. He wanted to wipe the memory of all that he had done to her and let her know he was so very fucking sorry.

  “Kiss me, Draven. Please, kiss me,” she said.

  “Harper, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop. Not if I start.”

  “I don’t care. I need you to kiss me.” She held his shoulders, pressing her body against his and moving in close to him.

  She was so soft compared to him. Her curves drove his need for her even higher. Beneath the robe, he was naked, and he wanted her.

  Just this once, before he took care of business, one last time.

  Gripping the back of her head, he slammed his lips down. She moaned. The sound filled the air, making him ache for more.

  With her body pressed against his, he was in complete and total bliss. She was like a drug to his system, and he couldn’t get enough of her. She’d been part of his soul, and it had been a slice his father had never been able to rid him of.

  Whenever she was near, he had no intention of hurting her, or killing her. He loved her so much, so completely.

  Her hands moved down his body, going to the belt of his robe. She opened it up, pushing the fabric from his body to spill to the floor. Her nails scored the flesh, and this time he moaned.

  “You drive me crazy,” he said.

  “Good. You’ve always been able to do that.”

  She ran her hands down his body to his cock. She sank to her knees, and he saw the smile in her eyes. Even with them red and a little puffy, she still looked like the most beautiful woman in the world to him.

  He loved her more than anything.

  Yet, he didn’t deserve her. To some they may have been perfect for each other, but he knew it wasn’t true.

  She licked the tip of his cock, sliding down the length, going to his balls, then back up. Her tongue left a trail of her saliva. When she finally took the whole tip of him into her mouth, he was in heaven.

  He hit the back of her throat, and he gripped her head, pushing his cock against her. She didn’t fight him, swallowing him before pulling off with a moan.

  Over and over, she bobbed her head onto his length, and he loved watching her, seeing her take as much of his cock as she could and then gagging on the length. He gripped her head, using her to thrust within her.

  After a few minutes of using her mouth, he pulled out of her and brought her to her feet. Taking possession of her lips, he heard her moan and he stripped her out of her clothes. Pushing her to the bed, he spread her legs open.

  “Now it’s my turn, and you’re not allowed to come until I say so.”

  “That’s so not fair.”

  “Life’s not fair, baby. It is what it is.”

  She laughed, which turned into a groan as he licked at her pussy. Sucking on her clit, he slid his tongue down to her entrance, pressing within her, fucking her with his tongue.

  He held her still, keeping her beneath him as he worked her pussy, wanting to feel her orgasm, begging for it.

  “You feel so good,” Harper said, gasping. “Please, more. I need to come. Please. Don’t be cruel. Please.”

  “Come for me, baby,” he said, finally giving her permission, even though he’d not waited too long.

  He didn’t know how much longer he could wait to be inside her.

  When she came, he used his fingers on her pussy, watching her come apart. He loved seeing her orgasm. She always let herself go, and he marveled at the pleasure on her face. He brought her close to a second orgasm by teasing her pussy.

  This time, he didn’t allow her to come. When she was so close, he moved between her thighs, finding her entrance and sliding deep within.

  They both gasped.

  Taking hold of her hands, he locked them above her head, keeping them in place. Staring into her blue eyes, Draven lost himself to the pleasure they could experience together. This woman, who didn’t even realize it, owned his very fucking soul.

  Over and over, he worked his cock inside her, making love to her. He felt every pulse and ripple as she fell apart.

  Driving in deep, he pressed against her clit with his thrust, and as she came to her second orgasm, he joined her, filling her cunt with h
is cum.

  He didn’t pull away, nor did he let her go.

  He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, knowing in his heart, there would never be anyone quite like Harper. Never again for him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Harper woke up alone. She looked across the bed, and the space where Draven had been last night, was gone. Empty.

  She touched his pillow and even that didn’t have his indent.

  She sat up, holding the blanket to her chest, and sure enough, he sat in the chair in the corner. He was fully dressed and … cold.

  Draven stared at her. He held a gun in his hands, and it was pointed at his head, resting against his temple.

  “Draven, what are you doing?” she asked.

  “I’ve got shit I need to do. You’re free to go.”

  “What?”

  “I want you out of my house and out of Stonewall. If you don’t, I will kill you.” The gun was now pointed at her.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “What? You think because we fucked last night that something has changed? That I’ve changed? I want you gone, Harper. Out of this house and out of Stonewall. You’ve got ‘til six o’clock this afternoon. I’ve already called Ian. He’s coming to collect you. I suggest you get your shit and leave.”

  “You have all my shit,” she said.

  Her heart was breaking, but she couldn’t let him see. Not now.

  He was pushing her away, and she got it. Boy, did she get it, but why now? He wouldn’t let her go every other time, but now he wanted to—and the irony was she didn’t want to go.

  Draven pointed the gun to the corner, and she turned to see that her bag was waiting for her. It hadn’t been touched, or at least to her it didn’t look like it.

  “I suggest you leave quietly and without causing a scene.”

  “Draven, didn’t last night mean anything to you?” she asked.

  “I got laid. That’s what it meant.”

  He left. Harper stared at the door and felt so alone. When she first arrived, she wanted to run, but now, she didn’t want to.

  Climbing out of the bed, she rushed to the bathroom, and threw up everything she ate last night. After they had made love a second time, they’d gone downstairs, raiding the fridge, and all of that came back up now.