by Aria Grace
“I know. He’s already stolen too much of my life. He’ll just have to deal with this as I take what’s rightfully mine.”
“Good for you,” Dodge says, tilting his glass toward mine and toasting to my newfound bravery. “You deserve every bit of it. Fuck him.”
“Yeah.” I clink his glass with a grin. “Fuck him.”
Chitchat over dinner covers a world of topics, including several we’ve already discussed. But Dodge and I eat quickly, each ready to get back to his place for the dessert portion of our meal. By the time he’s paid the check and we’re both in his car, it’s not just the car’s engine that is revved up. My body is aching for Dodge’s touch, and based on the way he’s racing down the backroads to his house, I’m guessing he wants me just as badly.
The door to Dodge’s place is barely open before he sweeps me into his arms and begins to kiss me as we cross the threshold. His body is taut and pulsing with excitement as he drags me through the hallway and to the couch.
“No bed?” I ask between kisses.
“I can’t wait,” he replies as he uses his lips to kiss a trail of heat down my face and across my neck. He pulls my shirt off before peeling off his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt. When he reveals the smooth muscle underneath, my heart picks up a few beats. His pecs are firm, and his stomach is chiseled. He’s definitely my wet dream.
Dodge pops the button on his slacks and pushes them down, revealing a rock-hard, thick shaft that’s begging for attention. When he stands in an attempt to bring me up so that he can pull my pants down, I take advantage of the moment and slide my lips over his shaft.
He growls as I lick up and down his cock, giving every inch of his circumference attention. Thick veins pulse as I suck forward and then cover his dick with spit on my way down. Using my left hand, I place it at the base of his shaft and work in tandem with my lips. Dodge shivers as I move faster, stroking and sucking on his cock.
I don’t think he was prepared for what I was doing because before either of us realizes what’s happening, Dodge lets out an intense cry, and the first burst of come erupts from his cock and hits the back of my throat. Looking up and meeting his gaze, I release his cock but keep my mouth wrapped around the tip. Wave after wave of thick, creamy seed fills my mouth and dribbles from the edge before I swallow his load down.
When I pull fully away, I jut out my tongue, making sure to collect every drop Dodge gave. Taking care of Dodge is something I love doing, and I already want to do it again.
“Damn,” he says. “You’re fucking good at that.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“Your turn.” Dodge tries to reach for my cock, but I push his hand away, which garners me a frown.
“Let’s wait.”
“For what?” Dodge looks disappointed as I deny him the chance to pleasure me. But he doesn’t know that I really want to try edging. And taking his load had me near the brink.
I shrug. “For a few hours…” When I’ll be ready to really blast a load.
“Okay, if that’s what you want.” His eyes seem to understand what I’m asking for. “I’m going to shower off. Care to join me?”
“Actually, I want to grab something from my mom’s that I think you’ll find interesting. It’s her journal from when I was a kid. You go hop in the shower, and I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll see you in a minute, then.” Dodge leans in and kisses me hard on the mouth, tasting himself on my lips. He pulls back with a smile. “Salty.”
“Delicious,” I reply with a smirk.
As Dodge heads upstairs, I walk outside and cross the street to the house that now technically belongs to my brother and me. Dusk is beginning to settle, making the old house seem mysterious and a bit creepy. After I unlock the door, I step into the front room and turn on a lamp. Everything is where I’ve left it, but for the life of me, I can’t remember where I put Mom’s journal.
I walk around the room, mentally retracing my steps. Her bedroom is the last place I remember having it before I left earlier, so I walk up the stairs and start looking around. The room is weird without her here, leaving me feeling cold and isolated. As I make a path from the dresser to her closet, stacks of papers and small boxes of trinkets I’ve managed to sort through cover the area. But her journal doesn’t appear to be anywhere.
Her bed is made, so I know it’s not tucked into the covers, but perhaps it fell on the floor, and I wonder if I kicked it under by accident.
Dropping to my knees, I lift the rose-printed bed skirt and glance around. It’s hard to see underneath, so I pull out my phone and use the flashlight app to illuminate the area. Her journal doesn’t appear to be there, but I see something else.
A red pill on one of the floorboards catches my eye. Dammit. Another loose pill that I’m sure my mother dropped when she was having to care for herself. The fact that Joseph pretended to help her but never really afforded her any true assistance makes me even more pissed off at him.
The red capsule is probably one of many my mom was taking. I look at the table at her bedside, wondering which of the ten bottles scattered across the top holds the same pills as the one I’m holding. I examine each bottle, looking at the shapes on the label, none of which appears to match the one I’m holding.
The pill is big and would need to be in a larger container, so I check the biggest bottle first. What I find inside are several small, round pills scored down the center. They look a lot like baby aspirin, which is odd since the medication inside should be for her cancer treatment. I shake a few pills into my hand when a sound behind me stops me instantly.
Turning slowly to look over my shoulder, I see Joseph standing in the entryway of our mother’s room. His eyes are bloodshot, which means he’s been drinking, and the scowl on his face confirms he’s pissed.
83
Dodge
My warm shower was absolutely perfect after the release Nathan provided. Now I’m completely relaxed but still excited for our second round. Tousling my hair with a towel again in an attempt to get the last drops of water that are clinging to the strands, I head into my room.
“Nathan, are you back with the journal?” Silence greets me as I zip up a pair of jeans and grab a T-shirt from the closet. Assuming he can’t hear me from downstairs, I move toward the stairs, calling for him as I descend.
“Hey, Nathan. Did you find it?”
Silence.
He should be back by now unless he couldn’t find what he was looking for. I look out the front window, hoping to see him on his way back across the street. An upstairs light is on as well as the light in the living room.
That’s when I notice Joseph’s ride parked out front. The noise from my shower must have blocked me from hearing his loud engine as he pulled in. Annoyed at myself for leaving Nathan in a vulnerable situation, I slip on some shoes and quickly head for the Greenly house.
The front door isn’t fully shut, so I walk inside unannounced. There are muffled voices coming from upstairs, so I head up before Joseph’s voice stops me. The words are sharp but don’t seem threatening, so I listen without making my presence known.
Something about what he’s saying tells me I don’t want to interrupt…yet.
“What are you doing in here, Nathan?” There’s obvious anger in his voice, but they both have been on an emotional roller coaster where their mom is concerned.
“What’s going on, Joseph? What is this, and why is this medicine bottle filled with baby aspirin?”
Nathan’s words surprise me. What is going on?
“Why are you going through Mom’s things? You think you can just come in here and do what you want?”
“The things in this house belong to both of us, or do I need to remind you of that? The will left half of everything to me too.”
“No, you don’t need to remind me. You don’t deserve any of it. You haven’t even been around, and then you show up here and try to take what’s mine.”
Nathan blows out an exa
sperated sigh. “You’ve been drinking.”
“That’s none of your business either.” Joseph’s slurred words are confirmation enough that Nathan’s correct.
“What are these, Joseph?”
“You are such a fucking tease…my little omega.”
“I’m not yours, Joseph. Don’t call me that.” Nathan sounds angry, not scared. Good boy.
I swell with pride as Nathan stands up for himself, but as the situation continues to build, I quietly move up the stairs, getting closer in case I need to intervene.
“Answer me. What is going on?”
Joseph takes a moment to answer, but his words are unmistakable. “I should have been a little more careful I guess. Although, I don’t know where you found that red one. I thought I counted those…”
“More careful?” Nathan sounds as confused as I am.
I never trusted Joseph, but as he continues to speak, all the air in my lungs seems to be sucked out.
“Yeah. I forgot I was holding two of those babies in my pocket. I guess one slipped out. But that doesn’t matter, the other one did its job.”
“What the hell are you talking about. What job?”
Joseph ignores Nathan, oblivious to the question being asked as he continues with the story at his own pace. “Those little aspirins helped make sure she wasn’t getting any better. The damn bitch owed me, and I couldn’t have her recovering again, could I?”
I listen in shocked silence at the realization of what Joseph is saying.
“For years, I had to play the dutiful son, taking her to doctor appointments and nursing her back to health. If only she would have just let go the first time, I could have avoided all this.”
“All of what? What did you do, Joseph?” Nathan is trying to hold it together, but the quiver in his voice is so heart-wrenching, I’m not sure how much longer I can stay hidden. I ease closer, not wanting to alert Joseph or cause him to stop confessing his sins, but I can’t stay away.
“But no…you had to come along. After all these years, you had to traipse back into her life. Just when she’d lost all hope of ever seeing you again. Once you were here, she had a reason to get better. And I couldn’t have that. Not after dealing with this bullshit for the past three years.”
“Joseph, I can’t believe you would be capable…”
He scoffs, and I hear his heavy footsteps move deeper into the room. “Of killing our mother?”
“Yes.” Nathan’s voice cracks.
“She would have died on her own, eventually. Honestly, it’s not like I murdered her. I put her out of her misery. It was a mercy killing, really.”
“With the red pill?”
Joseph’s laugh is more like an evil chuckle. “The doctor said the poison would only take twenty-four hours. Hell, I saved you months of playing nurse too. You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?” Nathan is pissed again, so I exhale and lean against the railing at the top of the stairs. “You’re a monster. You always have been.”
“You loved it, little omega.” Joseph’s voice is more of a singsong. “You loved it then, and you’re gonna love it again.”
“Mom loved you…and me. She wouldn’t want you to hurt me.” Nathan’s voice is still shaking.
Joseph’s tone becomes spiteful. “She loved herself. If she loved me, she would have been there. And we both know she didn’t give a shit about you. I laughed for a week when I heard what she said to you. She might as well have given me a written invitation to be your alpha.”
“She didn’t understand. She always had to work…to take care of us.”
“Please.” Joseph’s slurred voice raises in pitch before returning to its normal, anger-filled vibrato. “That bitch didn’t take care of us. I took care of us… I took care of you.”
“You never did anything for me.”
“Oh yeah? That’s not what your sweet omega ass thought.”
“You’re disgusting.” It comes out as a whimper, and I can tell tears must be streaming down Nathan’s face.
Now, he needs me.
“I’ll show you how much you liked it.”
As I’m approaching the doorframe, Joseph’s figure vanishes into the room. I race behind him just as Nathan cries out.
“Hey,” I scream from behind Joseph and place a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to turn toward me. When the shimmer of the blade comes at me, I shift my weight and twist to avoid contact. The blade misses all but a small piece of flesh at my side. Pain shoots through me, but I ignore it and press forward, ducking as Joseph swings the knife at me.
Nathan screams out again. “Joseph, stop!”
“Just shut the fuck up.” Joseph turns to me, brandishing the knife again. “And how much of that did you hear, you nosy fucker?”
“Enough. Joseph, you need to give yourself up. You can’t take us both down, so it’s time to give up.”
“Watch me.” He lunges again, aiming for my stomach. I’m able to move back and to the left, so I can grab his arm and pull him forward. His momentum face-plants him into the doorjamb, and when he turns around, blood is spewing from his broken nose.
“You’re dead now, Dodge.” Joseph scrambles at me again, but I lunge forward and duck under the blade, grabbing him around his midsection and pushing him out of the room.
“Nathan, call Oliver.” The words are barely past my lips when Joseph hits me against my back, causing me to stumble and release him. The knife drops from his hand as we both tumble onto the floor, and it skitters across the landing toward the top of the stairwell.
Joseph and I glance at each other before we both jump toward the blade. I’m unable to reach it before he grasps the hilt and begins swinging it again. I continue to move, hoping I can find a way to unarm him again before he does serious injury.
Waving the knife around, Joseph is like a madman. Blood is still dripping down his face, and a few other bruises are beginning to show. His eyes are crazed, proving his desperation to get out of the situation he’s found himself in. His mind isn’t right, and now that he has nothing else to lose, he’ll do anything to protect his secret.
Another jab comes flying at me, and as I dunk, he crosses me with a blinding hook from his left hand. The sound of bone against bone rattles my jaw as shooting pain crosses my right eye, and everything becomes blurry.
I continue to dodge and duck, wishing now that I’d taken boxing in high school. A burning sensation shoots up from my left arm as he slices the blade across my skin. Blood seeps from the wound as I try to avoid his next attack.
“Oliver is on his way with backup!” Nathan’s voice distracts me as Joseph comes toward me with the knife, I step backward into nothingness. In the split second it takes me to realize I’m losing my balance, I reach for his hand to keep from falling. Instead, I wind up pulling him with me as we tumble down the stairs.
84
Nathan
Time seems to stand still as Dodge and Joseph begin their descent down the wide staircase toward the hardwood floor below. The look of panic as Dodge loses his footing and begins falling into the empty air is not something I’ll ever forget.
I can’t hear anything but my pounding heartbeat as I watch them fall.
Dodge and Joseph are still struggling as they tumble, each step they hit jolting one or the other into an unnatural position. Their journey seems endless as each flip and bounce causes my body to react to the pain they must be feeling. Moreover, Dodge is being hurt, which is not something I want to ever happen, especially because of me.
I race for the stairs, and they finally hit the floor below with a loud thud. Time resumes as I take two stairs at a time to reach Dodge. The two of them are lying side by side, but neither is moving…or breathing.
Panic strikes as I bend over Dodge, sliding my fingers along his neck and searching for a pulse. I don’t feel anything, and my heart begins to sink. Oh god, he’s dead.
The knife… Where’s the knife? I look around frantically, trying to loca
te the silver blade that has caused Dodge so much pain. His wounds are covered in matted blood, and one of his eyes is swollen, turning black and blue.
“Dodge, no. Don’t leave me.”
A gasp followed by a sputter of blood comes from Joseph as he sits upright. “You fucker. I’ll kill you!”
Before I realize what’s happening, Joseph lunges at me, knocking me away from Dodge and onto the floor. He straddles my body, pinning me to the hard boards as I scratch and claw at his arms.
Joseph balls up his fist, and I turn my head just in time to avoid damage to my eye as he slams into my head. I feel dizzy and the room spins, but I don’t have time to focus before his hands wrap around my throat. I flail at him again in an attempt to get him off me.
With one quick motion, he picks me up a few inches and then slams me back down. The pain that shoots through my head makes me want to vomit as his fingers press against my flesh again.
“Die, goddammit. You deserve to fucking die. Fuck you for ruining my life, Nathan. Fuck you!”
Air doesn’t come to me when I open my mouth. My hands are searching frantically for anything I can use to injure Joseph so he’ll let me breathe again. Spots form in front of me as the room surrounding us begins fading to black oblivion.
This is it. I’ve lost Dodge, and now, I’m going to die. Joseph wins. He always wins.
Flashes of the life I suffered through with Joseph play out in front of me. Night after night of torture as he came at me are right in front of my eyes as if I’m back in that room and watching from the corner. He loved to use me for his sick and twisted pleasure. Beating me and causing me pain was his only joy. Impregnating me and forcing me to have an unsafe abortion. Depriving me of the ability to ever have a baby with someone I truly love.
The last of my air is running out, and I begin succumbing to the darkness. I’m ready. I don’t have to suffer anymore. I can move on and be with Dodge.
Then I feel the edge of something solid. Although I’m not sure what it is, my fingers clasp on to it in one last-ditch effort to save myself. My hand instinctively brings the object upward, and I swing as hard as my fragile and weakened state will let me.
