Sinners' Playground

by Caroline Peckham

  “Alright, I won’t tell you,” I said lightly, leaning back against the machines as I turned to her, keeping my expression neutral.

  “Jesus, fuck,” she spat. “Why would you do that?”

  “Why are you so angry about it?” I laughed, but she scowled, shaking her head.

  “Because your first time should be-”

  “Special?” I scoffed. “Yeah, and there’s a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, and Santa Claus exists.”

  “Don’t be a dick.” She walked towards me, capturing my hand and I realised she’d put the fucking shark tooth bracelet on. And man, it looked stupidly hot on her.

  “Was your first time special?” I asked, thinking of Maverick with a knot in my chest.

  “No,” she said, her eyes turning cold. “It was awkward and fucking uncomfortable and I did not expect the blood by the way, so thanks for that Mother Nature.”

  I frowned and she did too, and I realised I didn’t want to know if it was Maverick. The past was the past. Right now was all that counted. And right now, I didn’t want Rogue frowning for a single second longer.

  Suga Suga by Baby Bash and Frankie J started playing on the radio and I jerked my chin toward the row of dryers down the centre of the room. “I gave you a show tonight, how about you give me one up there?”

  She arched a brow. “And why would I do that?”

  “Because I dare you to, and as far as I remember, Rogue Easton never backed down on a dare.”

  She ran her tongue across her teeth then shrugged lightly, twisting away from me and climbing up onto the dryers. I walked over to the radio, turning the music up and she laughed, flexing her arms above her head. Then she started to dance. Like holy shit, this girl can dance, dance. She had that thing I always hunted for in my dancers, that I-don’t-give-a-fuck-who’s-watching-but-this-makes-me-feel-good way of moving her body that couldn’t be taught. You felt music in your soul like that or you didn’t, and Rogue really fucking did.

  I walked to the end of the dryers and rested my hands on them, watching with a lump in my throat as she pushed her own shirt up, nearly giving me a glimpse of her bra beneath then dropping into a squat that had my dick rock hard and my pulse skipping.

  She was so fucking hot. And as she turned, bending forward to give me a view of her ass and a glimpse up her skirt, I knew I couldn’t fight this need in me anymore. I had a failed first kiss to rectify. I’d sucked a fucking blanket instead of finding her mouth in the dark, but I wasn’t going to miss this time. That moment still haunted me.

  "Just a couple more years and we'll all be free to do what we want," I said firmly. "We'll get jobs and shit and become respectable people." I snorted at my own joke and she chuckled.

  "I don't ever want to be respectable. If you ever see me doing my taxes and wearing some ugly ass pant suit, shoot me in the head. Just a clean shot. No warning. It's already too late for me."

  I breathed a laugh then reached out and brushed a lock of deep brown hair behind her ear before I could overthink it. "I couldn't kill you, Rogue."

  "Not even a pant-suit wearing, tax-filing, ass-eating version of me?" she asked, her eyes dancing with light.

  "Well you didn't mention the ass eating before. Is that literally or metaphorically?" I teased and she shivered as my fingers grazed down to her neck though I wasn't sure she even noticed it.

  "Hmm, literally ass-eating my boring accountant husband." She mimed puking

  "At least your sex life is lively," I said. "You sure you'll still want to die then?"

  "Yeah, because there's only one love of my life." She beamed and my heart beat harder and harder.

  "Oh yeah?" I breathed. "Who's that?"

  I leaned closer to her, my tongue heavy as I gazed at her mouth, a crazy part of me wondering if maybe it was me she wanted. And after all that had happened tonight, I just wanted to get over my fucking fear and show her how I felt. I was so tired of craving her, watching her, never having her. I wanted to be brave like she had been. I wanted to prove I was as manly as any of my friends, and that in another year I'd be able to put all of them on their asses. And if I kissed her like a man then she'd know I was one.

  I got closer, almost nose to nose while she grinned.

  "The sea," she said but I couldn't remember what the question was that she was answering.

  I just nodded, mumbling something that sounded like dolphins before figuring fuck it and just lunging at her, mouth half open, eyes sort of closed but not quite. My mouth hit blanket and I opened my eyes fully in surprise, finding her yawning, her head dropped back onto the pillow and my whole body burned with shame. Did she just reject me? Or did she not notice? Oh god, what's worse?

  Rogue walked up right in front of me on her tip-toes on the dryers and I caught the backs of her ankles, running my hands up her legs and she bit her lip as my fingers slid beneath her skirt. I leaned forward, biting down on her knee and she gasped as I dragged my tongue up her thigh. She tasted like coconuts and fucking poetry. I wanted to taste her everywhere and show her what this grown ass man could do to her body.

  My fingers grazed her panties and I looked up at her, my gaze locking with hers as I pinged the elastic against her flesh. She pushed her fingers into my hair and I withdrew my hands from her skirt, grabbing her hips and lifting her down, sitting her ass on the edge of the dryer.

  I stepped between her thighs, making her skirt bunch up toward her hips. I grazed my fingers down her jaw as she fisted her hands in my shirt, her breaths coming heavily and making me wonder if she’d let me fuck her right here.

  “I tried to kiss you the night we dumped Axel’s body in the sea,” I told her, picturing that moment all too fucking clearly. “When we were curled up together in the arcade at Sinners’ Playground.”

  “When?” she asked, frowning like she had no idea and I cursed, gripping her chin between my finger and thumb.

  I sure as hell wasn’t going to fuck it up a second time. And she was going to remember this for the rest of her damn life.

  I crushed my mouth to hers and she gasped, her back arching as I spread her out over the dryers like butter over bread and tangled my tongue with hers. My cock ground between her thighs, her skirt hitching up over her waist and I groaned as she rocked her hips, grinding her pussy against me.

  I fisted one hand in her hair as she met the furious movements of my tongue with her own. My heart was thumping to a hungry tune and every fibre of my being was on fire as I kissed away every asshole who’d kissed her before now. I erased every memory of them with this single one and proved to her how good I could make her feel.

  She moaned into my mouth and I devoured the sound, knowing I could do better than that. I pushed one hand between us, finding her soaking panties between her thighs and rubbing my knuckles against her clit. She bucked against me, wrapping her legs around my waist and clawing at my shoulders as I laughed into her mouth.

  “Asshole,” she panted, but I didn’t let her get another word out as I kissed her again, continuing to tease her clit through her panties as my cock demanded I take more of her.

  “Mr Brooks!” Ana Maria’s voice cut through my thoughts and killed my little fantasy dead.

  Rogue shoved me away and I pulled her off the dryer, tucking her behind me as she tugged her skirt down.

  “Lo siento, Ana,” I chuckled, cocking my head to one side with a puppy dog expression.

  She planted her hands on her wide hips, scowling at me. “No traigas tu trabajo aquí!” she reprimanded. Don’t bring your work here.

  “Ella no trabaja, Ana,” I promised her Rogue wasn’t work. “Ella es mi novia.”

  “I’m not your girlfriend.” Rogue punched me in the arm, stepping around me and I wondered when the hell she’d learned to speak Spanish. “Lo siento, Ana. JJ es un manwhore.” She shrugged innocently and Ana Maria laughed wildly.

  “I like this one,” Ana said, then planted her ass on a chair, giving me a firm, cock-blocking look and I rearranged
my sweatpants before heading over to the washing machine with a sigh.

  My heart was still beating out of control and I couldn’t stop fucking smiling. I probably looked like Anastasia after she’d just been spanked by Christian Grey. Only instead of a red ass, I had blue balls and a hard on that wouldn’t quit. The sweatpants were doing zero to hide it and the way Ana Maria and Rogue were now murmuring and giggling together in Spanish, I had a feeling it was the current topic of discussion. But my dick liked the limelight these days. And with Rogue’s pussy sweet scent still coating my knuckles, nothing could banish my good mood. Because I’d just shown Rogue how hot I could get her in under two minutes. So she was going to be left wondering what I could do to her in ten.

  I t was rent day for my trailer and yet here I sat, stuck in Fox's house, just as much of a prisoner as ever. I mean, okay, I had a bit of freedom now because technically I was allowed to go out and shit, but he also always assigned either himself or one of the others to go with me if I did, so I wasn’t basking in this new supposed freedom much yet. And with the tracking software he'd placed on my cellphone, I had to make careful consideration about where I went and what I did even if I did head out alone.

  I wondered how much attention he could even be paying to it anyway. Was it recording the places I went, or would it just ping back the information to him if and when he looked?

  I groaned at the thought of trying to out-fox a Fox and rolled over in my sleep. It wasn't even time to get up yet. I swear, it was some ungodly hour like nine am or maybe even eight. Yuck.

  But I needed to get out of here today and give my rent to Joe, go visit my poor, sweet, lonely little trailer and assure her that I wasn't abandoning her. And more importantly than that, I was going to head on up to Rosewood Manor and see if Miss Mabel remembered me.

  The old lady who owned the sprawling Manor House out to the east of Sunset Cove, just on the edge of the town limits had been one of, if not the only, adult I'd ever known who actually seemed to give a shit about me.

  My mom was a distant, faded memory who I had been informed favoured her drug habit over her kid which was what had landed me in the system. I’d bounced from place to place a lot between different foster families before ending up in the group home down on the shitty side of town. Which in a town like Sunset Cove was saying a lot.

  Mary Beth who ran that fine establishment for teenagers had done me the solid of setting a nine pm curfew which she was insanely strict about, providing bland and boring meals which there was never really enough of to fill the ache in my stomach, and yelling as a form of communication. Safe to say, she hadn't made me feel all loved and gooey inside. I guessed the odd teacher had been kind over the years, but not enough to really do anything about my situation or get to know me at all. But Miss Mabel had actually found me and Chase squatting on her property one night and instead of calling the cops, she’d been sweet to us.

  We used to be allowed to hang out in the summer house in her sprawling grounds and if we went over there during the day, she'd offer out treats and lemonade. And the five of us had actually managed not to be little assholes about it either - we'd done jobs around the place for her when we had the time and I used to love just sitting on the sprawling porch that fronted her home and shooting the breeze with her about everything and nothing. She was...nice. Like probably the only truly nice person I'd ever known. Lord knew Sunset Cove didn't attract many fine upstanding citizens, especially in the lower quarter.

  I needed to stop trying to cling to sleep and accept that the day had begun, so in a sudden move, I threw the blankets off of me and sat upright.

  A scream of terror escaped me as I found a man sitting in a chair to the right of my bed. My brain only computed the fact that it was Fox after I'd lunged for my nightstand and yanked the gun I'd been keeping there out of the drawer and pointed it at him.

  "What the fuck, asshole?" I shouted half a second before Fox dove on me, grabbing my hand holding the gun and throwing it back against the pillow.

  My finger curled against the trigger automatically in fright, but the safety was on so there was just a dull click in the silence that fell between us as he pinned me to the bed.

  Adrenaline, anger and a healthy dose of hate was warring through my body, so I blamed that for my other fist snapping out and clocking him in the jaw.

  "What the fuck are you doing, Rogue?" he snarled, catching my other wrist and pinning that above my head too.

  The blankets were gone and Fox was only wearing a pair of shorts while I'd slept in one of JJ's wifebeaters and my boob was getting dangerously close to slipping out of it.

  "Me? How about you tell me what you're doing in my room in the middle of the night like some freaking creep?"

  "It's almost eight am," he snapped. "I've been out for a run and I came in to wake you up for breakfast." Now that he mentioned it, those sculpted, powerful muscles of his were all gleaming with a fine layer of sweat, the kind that was fresh and sexy and made me consider the prospect of giving him another workout seeing as he was camped out on top of me right now. But no - he was a super douche. Le sigh.

  "Get off of me," I demanded

  "Where did you get that gun?" he tossed back.

  "Your closet is a terrible hiding place for a weapon," I replied with a taunting look. "Now answer my question about why you were sitting there watching me sleep."

  Fox's green eyes narrowed the smallest amount. "Because I miss you," he said roughly. "I've been missing you for as long as I had you and it fucking hurts, Rogue."

  My throat tightened up with all the words I wanted to hurl at him, all the insults and curses and hatred and I just stared at him instead.

  Fox leaned forward slowly and my frown deepened as he closed the small distance between us. I scowled as I got the feeling he was about to try and-

  He turned his head to the side, pressing closer still before his mouth found the hollow of my collar bone and he placed a kiss against my skin which was rough with stubble and made a shiver run right through the centre of my being.

  "Stop," I gasped though my back arched of its own accord, my nipples grazing his bare chest through the thin shirt I wore.

  "When we were seven, I punched Turner Forbes for pushing you off of the monkey bars," he said before moving his mouth a little further up my neck and making my breath catch as he kissed me again. "And when we were ten, I took Ronnie Thomas's school workbook and made him burn it because he'd written down your initials with his and circled them in a heart."

  "Fox," I growled - not a sexy growl because the heat in my veins was rage without any lust at all.

  He kissed my neck a little higher again, his knee pressing to the mattress between my thighs and drawing way too much of my attention.

  "When we were twelve, I heard a rumour that Colten Baxter was going to ask you to go to the movies with him and I slammed his face into a wall hard enough to knock one of his teeth out." His mouth moved up again, pressing to that deliciously sensitive skin beneath my ear as I tried to pull my wrists out of his grasp and failed. His stubble raked over my skin, followed by the hot press of his tongue and a breathy absolutely-not-a-moan escaped me.

  "When we were fourteen, I pushed Oscar Falkner off of his bike and broke his arm so that I could take his place as your lab partner," he growled as he moved his mouth over my jaw and for some reason, even though I'd never known he'd done any of these things, I knew they were true, I just had no idea what I was supposed to think about them.

  "I'm warning you, Fox," I gritted out, stealing myself to fight him off as my anger with him grew while he tried to dominate me.

  "When we were fifteen, Mike Gaskall was going to ask you to go to the winter formal with him, so I broke his nose," he murmured, his mouth drawing dangerously close to mine as he kissed his way along my jaw.

  "Why?" I demanded, his stupid stories making me curious despite myself.

  "Because you're mine, hummingbird. And I was never going to let another guy near yo
u. The only ones I made allowances for were the boys. And even then, I would have done whatever it took to keep them back if I thought they were trying to cross that line with you." He said it so seriously, so matter of fact, like he didn't sound like a fucking psychopath and it was perfectly acceptable for him to have just decided that I belonged to him without ever asking me what I thought of it. And that was like a fan to the flames of my fury over everything he'd done to me. "Once you stop trying to fight it, you'll see. We fit, Rogue, always have. It's you and me, hummingbird."

  His lips made it to the corner of my mouth and he clearly took the growl that escaped me as encouragement as he pressed his mouth to mine in a hot and urgent demand.

  But he was fucking deluded if he thought he was going to win me over that easily and just bend me to his damn will however the hell he pleased.

  I recoiled into the pillows, then swung my head forward to crack his nose with my skull.

  Fox jerked back with a curse, narrowly avoiding the blow and I drove my knee up into his balls for good measure before scrambling out from beneath him as he rolled off of me with a groan of pain.

  "As much as those stories made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Badger," I growled as I backed away from him. "You forgot the most important one of all. When we were sixteen, you pushed me down in the mud and told me I was nobody. You looked me in the eyes and tore my fucking heart from my chest and let that motherfucker drag me away like I was nothing at all to you and never had been. So you can keep your bullshit declarations. I don't want them. And the girl who might have cared to listen has been dead a long damn time."

  I turned and stormed out of my own room, throwing the door closed in his face as he got up and started chasing me and I hurried away down the stairs to the kitchen.

  JJ was there, looking like he'd been out running too as he dished out a couple of plates of toast and moved to take a seat at the breakfast bar. I hopped into the empty seat at his side, flashed him a smile while I thought about the way Fox had grunted when I kneed him in the balls and started on the toast sitting beside him.