Sinners' Playground

by Caroline Peckham

  “It doesn’t matter, because they’re dead,” she said and the breath went out of me in relief, but that didn’t mean I was any less confused or angry. And it certainly didn’t explain the bite marks on her throat.

  “Tell me where you’ve been. How the fuck did you end up in this state?” I grabbed a towel, wetting it in the sink and tilting her chin up as I started dabbing at her split lip.

  She winced but didn’t pull away and I was glad as she let me work from cut to cut. It reminded me of the night she’d killed Axel, standing in his restroom as I checked her over for wounds, gave her clothes to get changed. It made me want to wrap her in cotton wool and never let her go.

  “So you remember how you were all like ‘don’t go to The Divide’,” she said in a terrible impersonation of me.

  “You went to the fucking Divide?” I roared, crowding her in against the door to the shower, her body pressed flush to mine.

  “I mean, I went to a Divide. Can’t say for sure if it was the Divide. But Rick was there so I’m guessing-”

  “Maverick?!” I bellowed in her face, panic pounding through me. “Did he do this to you?” I’d kill him. I’d take a boat, cross the fucking water to Dead Man’s Isle and not stop shooting until he was bleeding out at my feet.

  “He left the bite marks but not the rest,” she growled defensively. For that asshole? Why? Why would she defend him? “He shot the pricks who did this to me. For a second I totally thought he was gonna shoot me too, but he didn’t so…yay.” She smiled, but then it fell away again.

  “Why did he bite you?” I snarled.

  “I dunno, because he’s gone cuckoo?” she said and I had to agree with that statement.

  “You didn’t ask for it?” I asked in a tight voice.

  “No,” she scoffed.

  “Who brought you home?” I demanded. “Was it Carter?”

  “No. But I saw what you did to his face. Why the fuck did you do that?” She scowled at me, but I knew she didn’t really give a shit about that little prick.

  “Because he looked at what’s mine.”

  “You mean me?” she scoffed.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m not yours.”

  “I asked you a fucking question. Who brought you home?” I demanded angrily and she huffed as she dropped the Carter bullshit and gave me my answer.

  “No one. I took a car but it choked out and died several blocks after I got it and I had to walk back. Then one of my heels broke and I had to have a funeral for my shoes on the side of the road. A racoon came, but honestly I think he was just there for a mouldy bit of tuna sandwich someone had left on a-”

  “Rogue,” I growled, pinning her in place and pressing my forehead to hers. My heart was beating too hard like it was trying to fight its way out of my body into hers. “Why would you go there?” I rasped, the pain of it too much. Of all the places in all the fucking town, why there? Why towards him? Maybe Chase was fucking right. She’d come back for Maverick.

  My world started crumbling and I turned away, leaving her there, unsure how to handle this. I could keep her from everyone else. Anyone else. But if she went to him, if she chose him-

  I threw my fist into the wall and carved a hole right through it into Rogue’s bedroom and she gasped in surprise. This would break me. I couldn’t fucking handle it if she was back in town for him. My adopted brother, the man I’d betrayed and who’d betrayed me right back. The man I was at war with, who’d tried to kill me, JJ and Chase.

  I was shaking, the bloodlust inside me like a hungry beast that was desperate to be fed. Rogue’s hand landed on my back and I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t hear what she was going to say.

  “It’s okay, Badger. I’m home now. And I’m also like dead tired so I’m gonna be pissed about that hole in the morning instead of now,” she joked, clearly trying to lighten the mood but I couldn’t shake off this rage. Her hand slid further up my back and I didn’t know if I wanted to hear the answer to my next question or not. But I had to know. Not knowing was worse than knowing. It had to be.

  “Do you want him? Is that why you came back?” I asked gruffly and she took her hand away, her warmth, everything. All of her receded and it left the most hollow feeling in my chest. Please don’t leave again.

  “Rick?” she questioned and I nodded stiffly, my gaze fixed on the hole in the wall.

  “I came back because my ex dumped me here in a grave,” she said bitterly and if she was trying to calm me down, she was doing one hell of a job of it.

  My back tensed and I shut my eyes as I tried to tame the possessive beast inside me that wanted to burn down the whole world so only she and I remained. It seemed like the only logical way to keep her safe in that second.

  “Answer the other question,” I prompted in a growl, every muscle in my body rigid as I waited for the axe to drop.

  “I didn’t come back for him. I didn’t come back for any of you. I don’t know what I’m really here for, or how long I’ll stay, but…”

  “But?”

  “But I’m here now. At least for a while.”

  I opened my eyes, dragging in a deep breath and nodding. She was here for now. And I’d do whatever was within my power to do to make sure she remained here. I half turned, catching her hand and drawing her into the bedroom, pushing her toward the bed before tugging off my shirt.

  “What the fuck are you doing, Badge?” she balked, but her eyes dropped to my abs, to the tattoos adorning my flesh then moved back up to my face which was set in a hardened, impenetrable, unnegotiable wall that said she was going to get nowhere refusing this. “I’m staying. End of discussion.”

  “You’re so fucking bossy,” she snapped. “Maybe I don’t want you to stay, did you ever think of that?”

  “No, and I don’t give a shit.” I grabbed her shoulders, turning her around and undoing the zip of her dress. It ran all the way down to her ass and she shivered as my fingers grazed the angel wings tattooed over her shoulder blades and running down the length of her back. I leaned down, kissing each of them and a little gasp escaped her as I tracked my finger down her spine. “I’d ruin you, baby. I’d prove there’s no other man on earth who can make you feel the way I do. You deserve to be fucking worshipped. I’d show up at your church every day and get down on my knees for you. Every. Fucking. Day.”

  “How about you start by turning away while I get changed, because my church is closed,” she said breathily and I watched her as she strode to her closet and picked out a pair of pyjamas which were a pale blue shorts and cami combo.

  She let her dress fall to her ankles and my throat tightened at the sight of her ass framed by the lace of the black frenchies she wore. She had no bra on and it was the most tempting sight I’d ever seen in my life. I dropped my jeans, kicking them off with my socks and dropping down onto her bed.

  “You don’t sound like a person who’s not looking,” she said irritably but then she dropped her panties and I had to bite down on my damn fist to suppress a groan.

  “What does a person who’s not looking sound like?” I asked, my voice coming out rough and full of desire. I swear I could see the goosebumps spreading across her flesh from here, so why wouldn’t she just admit she wanted me like I wanted her? Sure, I was an asshole, but at least I didn’t try to hide that shit. I was genuine to a fucking fault. Wasn’t that what girls were always demanding guys to be?

  “I dunno, less watchy.” She pulled on her pyjamas and turned to me, her eyes falling to the huge bulge in my boxers and her lips popped open. “You looked,” she accused.

  “Yeah, I looked,” I growled. “Now get into bed.”

  I pulled the covers back and she shook her head.

  “This is insane. I just wanted to come home and curl up in my bed and relax after the night I’ve had. But how am I supposed to do that when you’re here making demands of me in my own fucking home?” She went full on pout lip and I shoved out of bed, lifting her into my arms and tossing her down ont
o the mattress.

  “Hey!” she squealed.

  “You can do those things with me,” I insisted, dropping down beside her and drawing the covers up over us before switching the light out. My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, a crack in the curtains allowing the moonlight to filter in and I sighed, my heart beginning to slow at last.

  “Don’t go back to The Divide,” I said firmly.

  “I can look after myself,” she insisted.

  “I know,” I admitted. “But if you wanna defy me, do it with your smart mouth and your ballsy attitude. Don’t go there. Please Rogue.”

  She sighed. “Why are your possessive ways cute sometimes?”

  I smirked. “I’m anything but cute, baby.”

  “I disagree.”

  “Did you go through my things while you were lurking in my house?” Rogue asked suspiciously and I was glad she’d decided not to fight this any harder.

  “Yeah,” I admitted, because she was gonna find the destroyed vibrator and condoms sooner or later.

  “You’re such a fucking dick,” she said through a yawn and I shifted closer to her, seeking her hand out and brushing my thumb across her busted knuckles. I hated that she’d been fighting tonight but there was something hot about the fact that she’d won too.

  “I know,” I said. “But you missed me, right? Ten years is a long time, you must have thought about me. I thought about you every fucking day. You know it’s not normal for a girl your age not to have social media? I searched every girl with a name that even sounded remotely liked yours. I even checked out a profile for a man called Raul Esteban.”

  She laughed and the sound lit me up from the inside. “Well like Chase says, I guess I’m a ghost.”

  “Aren’t you going to tell me anything about where you’ve been?” I pushed. “Anything, Rogue. Just give me something.”

  “You don’t deserve something,” she said bitterly and I shifted closer, the heat of her body radiating against mine.

  “I know, hummingbird,” I said in a low tone. “But I’m asking anyway.”

  Silence pooled between us, then she spoke in a quiet tone that had my utter, rapt attention.

  “Okay, I’ll answer one question.”

  I opened my mouth and she spoke over me before I could ask who the fuck had hurt her.

  “But not about the guy who buried me,” she said firmly and I huffed.

  “Fine. Tell me about your first boyfriend then.”

  “That’s not a question,” she sing songed and I clenched my fist.

  “Was he good to you?”

  “Well…he was okay at first, I guess. He took me out for meals which was like a serious appeal as I went hungry a lot back then. And he was nice sometimes I suppose. Especially before we erm, got serious… He had a nasty streak though. It was just a shame I didn’t realise it sooner because I ended up kinda dependent on him, sleeping at his apartment and stuff. Because, you know, I had no home and all. But then one day we got into a dumb fight and he hit me. I punched him back and all, but that was it for me. So I took my shit and ended up sleeping in a bus stop for a week. An old lady bought me a ticket to another town eventually, so I guess it all worked out.”

  “Worked out?” I snarled, my blood pounding furiously through my veins. “That’s not working out, baby. Jesus. What was the fucker’s name?”

  “Cody,” she said.

  “Surname?” I growled and she laughed.

  “Hell no.”

  “He’s dead, there won’t be any traces back to you. Just give me a surname, age and-”

  “Fox!” she smacked my arm. “You’re not killing him, what’s the matter with you?”

  I tried to calm myself down, but I felt like a rhino about to charge. Rogue’s fingers brushed up and down my arm and the sensation drew all of my focus until I could finally think clearer again. Clearer about his imminent death, that is.

  I pulled her into my arms, just holding her and she actually melted into my body, her breath skating against my chest. When she finally pulled away, I trailed my fingers along her jaw and down to her throat where her pulse pounded wildly. I smirked at feeling her reaction to me. She could fight me all she wanted, but her heart wanted me. And I’d find a way to win it somehow.

  “Your body’s a traitor, hummingbird,” I purred and she smacked my hand away.

  “You’ve obviously been the big bad Harlequin in this town for a while, Badger, and it’s gone to your head. Not every girl wants you, and I’m one of them.”

  I clenched my teeth in irritation. “But you want Maverick?”

  “I never said that.”

  “He killed my uncle a few years back, you know? Dragged him to Gallows Bridge, cut deep wounds into his thighs, bound him by the arms and threw him over the bridge to hang there on a rope while he bled out. By the time we arrived, it was too late. That’s no fucking way for a good man to die. For family to die.”

  She remained quiet and I sighed.

  “I’m only telling you because I care about you,” I said seriously. “If he ever hurt you-”

  “He wouldn’t,” she said like she really believed that.

  “You don’t know him anymore,” I growled.

  She reached out, seeking the scar on my neck Maverick had left there with a bullet and grazing her thumb over it. “Maybe it’s a miracle I came back to find you all alive,” she breathed.

  “Would you have cared if we weren’t?” I asked, my throat constricting.

  “Yes,” she gasped immediately then hurried on. “But that doesn’t make anything okay.”

  “I know. So let me make it okay. And stop fucking lying to my face about how you feel.”

  “I hate you,” she growled, but there was no bitterness in it like usual.

  “But you want me too,” I pushed. “The rest is minor details.”

  I ran my hand down her neck, waiting for her to catch my wrist, to tell me no, but as my fingers brushed her hardened nipple through her top, a breathy noise escaped her that told me all I needed to know. I grabbed her hips, swinging her up to straddle me and she yelped in surprise. I ground her against my cock and she gasped then slapped me hard across the face. I swore, rearing up and biting her nipple through the thin material of her pyjamas, making her claw at me and hiss in pain.

  “Ow – asshole!” she shouted and I started sucking through the material instead as her hips rocked over my rigid length, making me groan. “Fox,” she snarled, locking her hands around my throat and pushing me back.

  I looked up at her darkly, my patience wearing thin with this shit. She was quivering on my cock, so why couldn’t she just give in to this fire raging between us? I had anger in me too over everything that had happened. It wasn’t her fault, but I could be angry at the world. I could be angry at the injustice of it all.

  She squeezed my throat tighter as she glared at me and I frowned, reaching up and locking one hand around hers in response.

  “You’re mine,” I demanded and her thighs clenched, her hips rocking so her pussy ground against my dick and another curse fell from my lips.

  “I’ll never be yours,” she hissed.

  I forced her hands away and leaned up, clutching her ass and holding her in place against me.

  “Tell me no then,” I whispered, my lips brushing hers. “Say it.”

  I teased her full lower lip between my teeth and she moaned, her back arching as she pressed into me. “I hate you,” she reiterated, a shudder running through the whole length of her body as she rolled her hips again, sending pleasure sparking through my cock.

  “It gets harder to believe every time you say it, baby.” I smirked against her mouth and her fingernails dragged down my back, my muscles flexing under her vicious touch. “I want anything you have to give me, hummingbird. Fight me, cut me, leave your mark on me. Whatever makes you feel better, but I’m not going anywhere. I’ve laid my claim and you’ll have to summon an army of demons from hell if you want any chance of keeping me away from
you.”

  “I don’t need an army of demons, Fox,” she said breathlessly, grinding on me again and drawing a deep noise of pleasure from my throat.

  She abruptly swung her leg over me and got off the bed, scooping up my clothes and marching out of the room.

  “Hey!” I barked, jumping to my feet and stalking after her with testosterone clouding my fucking head.

  I found her tossing my shit out the front door and spat a snarl, lunging at her and catching a fistful of her hair. I wheeled her around, driving her against the wall and slamming my mouth against hers. She clawed at my shoulders, fighting me back, but I hooked one of her legs over my hip and drove my rigid cock between her thighs, rubbing it against her clit through the thin clothes parting us.

  She moaned loudly, her head falling back against the wall and I pushed my tongue between her lips. She kissed me as fiercely as she clawed at me, tearing bloody marks across my flesh as I laughed into her mouth.

  Rogue yanked her thigh free of my grip, kicking off the wall and sending me stumbling backwards until my ass hit the kitchen counter. I clutched her against me, lifting her up and forcing her thighs to wrap around my waist as she bit my tongue then kissed me hungrily, her hands locking in my hair one second before tearing at me the next. She tasted like she belonged to me and I was going to make sure I was branded on her so thoroughly tonight that she’d never question who owned her ever again.

  She broke our kiss with a face like thunder. “Fuck you, asshole.”

  I shoved her back against the wall hard enough to bruise, ripping her hands off of me and pinning them above her head as I dropped my mouth to her throat. Her thighs squeezed my waist like she was trying to hurt me and she wriggled one hand free of my hold as I forgot to care, lost in the presence of her. Nothing she did could hurt. I’d craved her touch for too long, and I didn’t care if she wanted to burn me at the fucking stake, I’d still enjoy her fucking company while I went up in flames.

  I sucked her throat, wanting to brand her skin and wipe away the marks Maverick had left to her. She cursed, trying to force my head away from her while she continued to grind her pussy on me. I left a bright red hickie on her throat before lowering my mouth to do the same to her breasts and she shoved my head back, fighting to get her other hand free as I tightened my grip on it. She caught a picture frame from the wall, smashing it over my head and I swore as I dropped her, shaking the glass from my hair. Mutt barked loudly and I knocked the box of chicken treats onto the floor so they scattered everywhere and he fell on them with a yip of excitement.