Her cuteness wrenches in my chest.
“The movies? If it’s okay with your daddy, I’ll go with you. I used to watch it with my dad when I was a little girl. Grits and Ariel are my favorite.”
Tears, they sting my eyes when I think about the gift I brought. A little mermaid costume that my mother made for me. I dragged it out of storage yesterday, washed and ironed it. The thing looks brand new. It’s one of the few things I have left of my mother. And, I have it because Renita snatched it along with several other costumes when she was fired.
“Can she, Daddy?”
Lane clears his throat. “Of course she can take you, sweetie. Excuse me; I have no idea where Seth went. Lexi, please take Ellie out to Uncle Logan. Thank you again, Ellie.”
Gratitude passes through his eyes, and I’m not sure why I sense he wants to say more, maybe about the absence of his daughter’s mother. I don’t know where she is; I do know Logan told me she hasn’t been in their lives since the day she had her. Makes me admire Lane all the more. The guy is mother and father to his daughter. It’s just as much endearing as sad.
“You’re welcome, Lane.” Purpose settles inside me right then and there. No matter what happens between Logan and me, I’ll find a way to remain in this little girl’s life.
Rejecting the heavy lump that wants to lodge itself deep in my stomach, I force myself up and grip hold of the bag containing Lexi’s gift. When Logan mentioned how obsessed she is with Disney princesses, mostly, The Little Mermaid, I knew right away the costume would be perfect for her and my mother would want her to have it.
I can still feel my fingers tracing the soft material on the fins. Remembering my dad bending down and tying them around my ankles. The look of adoration as he adjusted the bright green skirt with a tulle overlay.
The way he took hold of my hand and we’d people watch, well, he would, I mostly asked questions as we walked the streets collecting candy on Halloween while Mom stayed home to hand some out.
I remember my father explaining that just because we all look, dress, or act differently, it doesn’t mean people aren’t kind. He taught me to give and not expect anything in return. He taught me many things. However, as I grew to understand how life worked, I’ve done everything in me to live by one thing he showed me more than anything else. To be kind to those who deserve it, because there are very few things in this world that don’t come with a price. And kindness is one of them.
But when I step outside, and Lexi points to where Logan is standing with a group of women before she takes off running toward a half dozen or so little girls. A familiar twinge runs up my arms, and it isn’t kindness. It’s filled with dread — a strong sense of hatred.
Someone here wants to do more than hurt me.
They want me dead.
Chapter 16
Logan
“I like your friend, Uncle Logan. She’s pretty, has the same middle name as me and likes The Little Mermaid and, and she has the same color hair as Snow White. That means she’s not a queen like you said, Ellie is a princess like me.”
Lexi throws me a sweet glance, her little finger resting at the corner of her mouth, nose scrunched like it always is when she’s thinking. At the moment, it’s as if her brain is adding up all the reasons why she likes Ellie.
I fling my gaze from the cuteness toward the woman she’s rattling on about, Ellie has my girl wrapped as much as me. Standing over there so sincere and fascinating as she talks with Lane and Gabe, all that black hair weaved in two sexy as fuck braids.
I want to tug on them like reins while I ram into her from behind.
It’s hotter than hell out here, and she has me sweating more than this unbearable heat. So beautiful and noticeable, it’s hard to ignore her.
Blinding. Just like the sun.
My conscience starts bashing against my skull, a reminder that I’m a disgusting piece of shit.
“You do, huh? I like her too.”
And that’s the thing; I do like her — a hell of a lot.
My heart skids to a stop in my chest when Lexi grips my face, pushing my cheeks together and leaning in until our noses touch, face all serious, eyes big and round like her mother.
Damn good thing her worthless mom isn’t around or this precious girl wouldn’t be who she is — all sweet and pure.
“Don’t tell Daddy this. I heard him tell Uncle Sef you were going to hurt Ellie. Hurting people is bad, Uncle Logan. Ellie is my friend now so you can’t hurt her, or I’ll be mad at you forever and ever.”
My lungs draw in air. Didn’t think the pressure in my chest could weigh me down any further.
It does, from words of a little girl who just put me in my place.
“I won’t hurt her, sweetheart.”
Another reason why I’m going to Hell slips out of my mouth — lying to a five-year-old. My insides vibrate with my death sentence, and my black heart jumps into my throat.
Heavy and hurting and dripping with poison.
“Okay. Thanks for the party, Uncle Logan, and my gift. Ellie said she’d teach me how to make the friendship bracelets you gave me.”
Jesus Christ.
Ellie’s sincere kindness is dripping off her worse than my sweat.
Decent and wholesome. Humble and genuine. All kinds of right and I don’t deserve forgiveness because I’m unquestionably a dark storm creeping in to destroy her light. To shut it off and swallow the beauty and goodness in my pool of deceit and unforgivable betrayal.
Still doesn’t stop me from wanting between her legs. To give her more pleasure than I did before. Watch her beg and shake and come hard around my cock.
I choke down my lie, those emotions kicking in as Lexi takes off running, her swimsuit hidden underneath the Little Mermaid costume Ellie gave her. One I have a feeling was hard for Ellie to part with.
The woman is a saint with all kinds of steamy desire begging to get out. I need inside her soon, or I’m going to explode.
Lust has been hanging in the air. It started when Ellie sat and played with Lexi and her little friends — only making me want her more.
And even though I wanted to march her perky ass anywhere but out here where she’s been looked at as if she was intruding, I knew if I did, we’d be spending the rest of the day with her tied up in bed — fucking like wild animals.
I rise, finish my beer and remove the rest of the leftover hot dogs off the grill. The second I turn to take them into the house, Lauren — a woman I used to fuck on the regular, and who I’ve pretty much ignored all her little taunts and teases of sexual fantasies she’s whispered in my ear all day —meets me at the slider and takes the plate from my hand and carries it into my kitchen.
Bitches are all standing around in the air-conditioned house. They moved inside less than five minutes after Ellie arrived watching her through the goddamn window.
They shouldn’t be in the kitchen if they can’t take the heat from a beautiful woman that puts them to shame.
Worthless, and here I tapped into shit like that.
Fuck.
Makes me wonder if any of them are the ones who went after her. Whoever did is like a ghost.
I take a seat to watch Ellie part from Lane and Gabe and wander around with Lexi and her friends. My cock jerking as she bends down to the girl’s eye level and I catch a glimpse of what I’m sure are bottoms to a pink bikini.
Sensual as any one woman could be. The kind of woman that if a man had a chance, he wouldn’t want to fall asleep at night out of fear he’d wake, and she wouldn’t be real.
That taste I had was nothing compared to what this woman can give me. Knew the minute I buried myself inside her it didn’t matter how many times I saw her, how many times I tasted her, it was never going to be enough.
Ellie is sweet and sinful. Brave and beautiful, a fiery blaze of a million bright stars twinkling in the night. Sexy and seductive.
My cock stirs, and my chest tightens. Emotions that fuck with my head, coming out of now
here.
Decency.
Morals.
Ethics.
They are all I hear, all I’ve been thinking about since I kissed her the first time.
Momentarily, what grabs my attention is the way Ellie picks up handfuls of magnolia petals, rubs her fingers across the silky flower before dropping to her knees and placing handfuls into each girl's cupped hands.
That woman symbolizes the description of sexy in a way I’ve never noticed in a woman before. She is the entire package of everything any man would want to wrap up and claim as their own. She’s down to earth, doesn’t give a shit if she gets dirty and she’s the only woman here who has given her undivided attention to the kids.
Also, Ellie is the only person who brought a gift that was worth more to Lexi than any other she received. Everyone else brought clothes and expensive jewelry. I mean for fuck’s sake, who the hell gives a five-year-old a gold bracelet? The rich assholes I hang out with, that’s who.
Fuck me straight to hell.
“Here you go, Logan; you look like you could use another.” Lauren sets a beer on the table next to me. Her tits hard to ignore, spilling out of her too tight bikini top as she leans over a little longer than necessary.
Lauren is beautiful, and she’s the kind of woman I could easily slip away with and fuck. The type of woman reminding me who I was, and what I enjoyed doing. She studies me, her eyes shooting down to my cock. I try imagining my dick sliding between the crack of her ass right before I lube her up with juices dripping out of her and fuck her tight little behind, making her scream. The image disgusts me. My dick doesn’t even twitch, but my mind does in loathing at the thought.
“Thanks. Don’t know what game you think you’re playing. You and everyone else know I’m off limits. Not going back, Lauren. Stay away from Ellie and me or suffer consequences that’ll hurt your daughter. Make sure you spread the word to your fake friends inside my house. I’m done with it all, you understand?” I leave the beer where she placed it as she huffs and walks away without another word. Bitch knows when enough is enough.
I’m no longer thirsty anyway when I’d much rather get a buzz from the woman who has taken my niece under her wing.
“Jesus, I think my daughter is infatuated with Ellie as much as you are.” Lane plops down in the seat next to me and crosses his feet at the ankles. Gabe takes the bottle of beer, tosses it in the trash and sits in the other. My heart rate kicks up, a punch of unease hitting my senses.
I’m about to get ambushed.
“That she does. Ellie’s good, Lane. Don’t pull your protection shit and not let her spend time with Lexi because of me.” Watching Ellie give her undivided attention to Lexi is what my niece needs. A woman who cares.
“Fuck you. That woman right there is what my kid needs — someone who isn’t going to screw her over. I hope you’re considering telling Ellie soon. You’re out of your comfort zone, asshole, and if you don’t choose your next move wisely, you’ll be doing more damage than you can fix.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I know what he’s going on about without him having to clarify. Regardless, he isn’t going to guilt trip me by tossing Lexi in my face no matter how much he’s right.
“Fate, brother, she’s a wise bitch. My daughter’s mother didn’t give a fuck she was given the best gift a person could get. Our mother didn’t either. Take a hard look at Ellie with those girls. They are sitting in the dirt, putting flowers in each other’s hair and making bracelets. I have to believe Ellie’s in our lives for more than her being a plaything for you. I’m referring to you doing what’s right no matter what, Logan. Ellie doesn’t want you for your money; she’s long term. She’s a one-man woman. Quit thinking with your dick for once in your life.”
I run a thumb over my bottom lip, contemplating my answer, when what I’d love to do is plow my fist into his truthful mouth.
“I know what kind of woman Ellie is. You don’t need to remind me.”
“Yeah, right. I’m beginning to wonder if you do. Not one of these bitches would drop in the dirt, let alone say yes when a kid asks to go to the movies. Hell, they don’t even take their own. Bet you didn’t know she told Lexi she’d take her? Woman doesn’t even know my daughter and she’s over there making her see how special she is. Ellie deserves better, my daughter deserves to have a woman figure in her life, and I might love you, man, but my little girl, she comes before your game.”
“It’s not a game.” Fuck him, he knows it’s not.
“The two of you keep your goddamn voices down before you give the crazies more shit to go on about. Listen to the two of you fighting with each other when you got the same blood running through your veins. Support each other, stand by each other and help figure out a solution.”
“There’s only one solution, Gabe. You know it as well as I do. It’s called the truth.” My brother’s words simmer with anger.
“For fuck’s sake, Lane, walk in Logan’s shoes and ask yourself what you would have done.”
I bow my head, Gabe’s tone hemorrhaging with sympathy. I don’t want it. Don’t deserve it.
A surge of guilt pulses at my veins as I watch Gabe head into the house, and a boulder lodges itself in my throat.
Silence falls upon Lane and me. The wedge between growing wide.
“I want more with her. I’m running out of time, Lane. I can feel it. I care about her. Honest to God, I do. I don’t know how to tell her, brother.” The words fall from my mouth effortlessly. It’s the first time I’ve admitted something I never thought I’d say.
“I know, Logan. I’m trying to save Ellie and you from being hurt. Tell her and then prove you’re a changed man before it’s too late. The longer you wait, the harder the fall.”
My mind spins, and my heart pummels against the cage containing it. Hate, I could taste the bile of it crawling up my throat.
I lean forward, watching Ellie and Lexi. Their innocent laughter is ringing through the dusk settling air as Ellie ties a bracelet around her tiny wrist, and Lexi smiles.
Ellie must feel the heaviness of my stare because her head jerks up, nose and cheeks looking a little sunburned, and I swear on my father’s grave, the world sucks me into oblivion from the smile that spreads across her unforgettable face.
I rub a restless hand over my chin, mind battling my body with what to do.
“I love you, Logan. I’m not saying another word, that look in your eyes tells me all I need to know. Don’t come running when she’s gone.”
I respect my brother who can barely stand the sight of me. I might not like the way he’s lashing out his concern, but he’s right, I’ve done made up my mind. I’m not telling her today. If I could get away with holding my secret forever, I would. I should have told her from the beginning. She might have forgiven me then.
My body stiffens as Lane walks away and Ellie glides like an angel toward me.
The second she’s within reach, I stand, my hand firing out, and I grip her by the waist.
A gasp flies from her mouth, her hands sliding up my stomach and clinging to my shoulders.
Desperation. It’s adhering to me like a new layer of skin.
“She’s the cutest thing I’ve ever met. I was nervous about meeting her and your brothers and Gabe. Where did Seth disappear to?”
Probably passed out drunk somewhere in between two women.
“Not sure. Come here.”
I take hold of her hand and walk us to the door leading into the pool house and press her against it the second I close it behind us.
Bringing her in here while Lexi’s party is going on will likely cause another confrontation with Lane. I don’t care.
“Once everyone leaves, I’m going to make sure you can think of nothing but me and have you begging for my mercy. I won’t stop.”
I focus on the way her lids grow heavy. I listen to her light breaths, sinking in the flawless depths of her gorgeousness. Her warmth and open heart, her body pressed against
mine is a need I can’t ignore.
I’ll feel this woman inside me for a lifetime. For the first time in my life, I feel frantic and weak and defenseless.
And I have the proof of my weakness in my arms, her tight, hot cunt pressing into my thigh.
I can feel it now — that heavy feeling of never seeing Ellie again. Of wishing I could have peace in my life with a woman who would care about me for me.
Ellie calms me, and I’ve never had that feeling in my life.
My heart pounds when she slides her hand out of mine, palms my cock through my swim shorts and lets out one of those sexy as fuck moans.
Curling a hand at the nape of her neck, the other sliding up her thigh, I forget there are people outside. Couldn’t care less for giving the women who see Ellie as a thorn in their side another reason to hate her, and tilt her head to the side so I can take hold of those lips I want to be wrapped around my cock.
The rise and fall of her chest speed up as I kiss the hell out of her and slip my hand underneath her bikini bottoms, sliding a finger through her slick wet heat.
“I want you moaning while I finger-fuck you to orgasm against the door, but if you scream, I’ll stop.”
Not giving her a chance to reply, I plunge my middle finger into her pussy, and nuzzle my face into her neck, her pulse fluttering like butterfly wings.
Rapid and frenzied.
“I can’t wait to get you naked, legs spread wide, body shaking, pussy drenched, and mind on the edge, mouth begging me to slam inside and fuck you unconscious. That proof you wanted about me being clean. It’s upstairs on my bed waiting for you.” I blow out every word as I brush kisses down her neck.
Jesus, I’m so hard it hurts, balls aching and pulling tight.
Unravel (Unbound Trilogy Book 1) Page 17