The Eastwood Series

by M. E. Clayton

  An ambulance also had to be called because of the two Ridgeview players that had been knocked out. After we’d all been attended to, we’d left the police with all our information and promised to be available for any further questioning. Even though it wasn’t right, mine and Duke’s last name and being star athletes at Eastwood had helped us in this case. Our cops were Eastwood born and bred and they were probably more inclined to listen to our side in all this.

  Once we were allowed to leave, we all crammed into Duke’s Range Rover, Charlie perched on Raiden’s lap, and we headed straight to Eastwood Memorial to check on Alistair. The staff wouldn’t let us back because we weren’t family, but he was released within twenty minutes of us showing up, and he looked awful when he walked-or rather, hobbled into the waiting room with Amelia at his side.

  The girls had rushed forward and had fawned all over him, while we stood back and let him collect himself. I didn’t know Alistair Brown very well, but he’d always seemed like a decent guy. We’d never had any problems with him, and now, we were just grateful to him.

  Amelia had promised to see him home, and after helping her get Alistair into her car, I had called a tow truck company and made arrangements for Alistair’s car to be towed and have the tires changed out. It was the least I could do for the beating he took on Charlie’s behalf. Now we were all at my place, sitting in the den, watching all the parentals lose their shit for the past twenty minutes.

  My parents had miraculously kept their word and had kept their romantic trip to just overnight and had returned earlier while me and Duke had been in school, so they were here, too.

  Ford’s mom, Heather, and stepfather, Roy, were here, and they had brought the twins, Rachel and Tally, who we had ushered into the game room. They’ve been to our house before and knew exactly where the game room was and how to have fun in there.

  Raiden’s parents were also here, and Mrs. Cruz had been doing her best to keep Mr. Cruz from driving to Ridgewood and burning the entire town to ashes. Martin and Kathy Cruz had no other children, so Raiden was their pride and joy. Raiden was a good guy with a promising future, and Martin Cruz was livid that Raiden’s life plans had been put at risk over some rich, pompous assholes.

  Charlie’s parents and Mackenzie’s mom were the hardest to face and deal with. When I had forced my way into their lives last night, I had promised them that their girls were safe with me. I assured them that Charlie and Mackenzie would be looked after and that they had nothing to fear.

  And fucking look at us now.

  “I know who William Mahoney is,” my father seethed to no one in particular. “And I don’t give a fuck how much money he has. I will see his son buried by the time I’m done.”

  “There’s no way those assholes are buying their way out of this,” Mr. Harden added. “To kidnap my baby…fuck that. Fuck them.”

  Charlie had been sitting next to her mother on one of the couches, while Mackenzie had remained tucked under my arm by the fireplace. I glanced around the room and knew I had to own up to my failures. “This is all my fault,” I said, Mackenzie tensing in my arms. “I promised the girls would be safe, and…I…failed.”

  Mackenzie stepped to stand in front of me. Her purple eyes were glassy, and I knew she was hurting for me. “Samson-”

  Before she could say anything more, Charlie’s voice interrupted. “It’s not your fault, Samson.” She stood up and looked around the room. Her voice sounded strained and regretful as she confessed her sins. “I…I didn’t take the threat seriously enough. And…and I was…oh, God, this is all my fault.”

  “No, it’s not, honey,” Erin Harden remarked, trying to soothe her only child.

  “It is, Mom,” Charlie argued. “I…I got mad at Raiden this morning, and…I was mad at him. And instead of doing the safe, responsible thing, I convinced Alistair to give me a ride home. I did it out of spite and stubbornness, and it got Alistair sent to the hospital and put Raiden, Samson, Ford, and Duke in a dangerous spot.” Tears were streaming down her face as she told all. “I…I’m so sorry,” she cried. “I’m so, so sorry.”

  No one said a word, and no one commented when Raiden walked over and pulled Charlie into his arms. I knew all the parents had to be confused because, as far as anyone knew, Raiden and Charlie weren’t a couple. Hell, we were all confused by the relationship-non-relationship these two had going, so I knew our parents didn’t know what to make of her confession or the way Raiden held her.

  It was fucking awkward.

  But then, Mackenzie turned around and said, “Actually, it’s all my fault.”

  “Mackenzie-”

  “No, Mom,” she said, and I wrapped my right arm around her waist and pulled her to me. Her back hit my front, and she laid her arms over mine. “If I had reported Brayden the first time he ever hit me, he never would have been bold enough to do what he did.”

  “You don’t know that, Mack,” Silas Harden replied.

  “Yes, I do, Uncle Silas,” she argued. “If I had gone to the police and made what he did to me public, he would have had to watch himself. There’s no way he would have continued with what he was doing.”

  “Mackenzie, sweetheart, abusive men are unpredictable. No one can say what this kid, Brayden, would or wouldn’t have done had you reported him,” Mrs. Freeman, Ford’s mother, interjected.

  “His father could have just bought the problem away, and then what? He’s free to kill you?” Mrs. Cruz added. “It happens, you know.”

  “Mackenzie, you’re talking about a boy who feels so entitled that he thought he could kidnap someone,” my dad remarked. “You showed us the video. He didn’t even flinch when he knew you were recording him.” My dad shook his head. “Reporting him to the police without something substantial enough to put him behind bars could have led to a whole lot worse.”

  Mackenzie stepped out of my arms. “What’s worse than Charlie being kidnapped, Alistair ending up in the hospital, and all the guys risking their futures?” she shrieked. Her purple eyes beseeching and racing around the room. “And it’s not even over,” she added. “Now we have court appearances and…oh, God, the video was live. Everyone who’s anyone has seen the video by now. If people weren’t already staring and whispering about me before, this is definitely enough to put me in the spotlight.”

  “Macken-”

  She whirled around and shot Ford a withering look. “I’m Ridgeview, Ford,” she snapped. “I come here, and in the first goddamn week of school, I’m embraced by the most popular boys in school and caused a fight between rival teams. You think these people aren’t going to blame me or hate me more than they already do?” Mackenzie was spiraling and I didn’t know how to help her.

  Guilt was a motherfucker and we were all feeling it. Mackenzie for not reporting Brayden. Charlie for not being more careful. Me for failing to keep the girls safe. And I knew Raiden, Ford, and Duke were drowning in the same guilt as I was. Men’s only purpose was to protect.

  “Look, as far as I’m concerned, there’s only one person responsible for all this, and that’s Brayden Mahoney,” my father said. “And I’m going to make sure he fucking pays for it.”

  “Samson-”

  My dad looked down at my mom where she was sitting on one of the armchairs. “If I have to spend every cent we have to make sure that boy and his family have learned their lesson on how to treat people, I’m going to do it, Clara,” he told her. “You don’t fucking treat women like that.”

  My mother looked up at him and gave him a small, tentative smile. “I know, Samson,” she said softly, trying to calm my father. “I was just going to suggest maybe a counseling option for the girls.” My dad reached down and pulled my mother into his arms, and he didn’t care who was in the room. This subject was obviously hard for him. It was hard for all of us.

  “It’s late,” Ford’s mom said. “Why don’t the kids all stay home tomorrow since it’s Friday, and we can all get together Saturday to talk some more.” Agreements were mutte
red all around room, and everyone started to say their goodbyes. However, I told both my parents and Mrs. Kingston that I wanted Mackenzie to stay the night with me. I was surprised when they all agreed it’d be okay.

  But then, they must have known I was barely hanging on by a thread.

  Chapter 23

  Mackenzie~

  I was surprised when my mom and Samson’s parents agreed to let me spend the night here. But then, they were probably worried Samson would run off and murder the entire Mahoney family if they didn’t. Plus, my mom wasn’t stupid or naïve. She knew I probably needed the comforting that only my boyfriend could give me.

  There was comfort you got from your parents and comfort you got from your siblings. There’s also the comfort you got from you friends and concerned adults. But then, there’s the comfort you got from the person you love and loves you. That’s a different kind of comfort and support. It’s the kind that can make you believe that everything really will be alright.

  Now I was dressed in one of Samson’s t-shirts, sitting on his bed, watching him undress for bed. “You know, your parents seemed very casual about all this,” I remarked.

  “My parents aren’t hypocrites,” he replied. “They know they’re…a bit neglectful. They know I’ve been raising myself and Duke without them for years. They’re not going to start diligent parenting now that I’m eighteen and don’t really need it.”

  “It’s still not a good look,” I muttered. “I can’t imagine what they’re thinking about me.” That thought had been beating me up since everyone had arrived this evening. I showed up in Samson’s life only a few days ago and have caused him more problems than he’s probably had in his entire life. And now, I was spending the night in his bed, and I hadn’t even pretended to put up any modest objections. I let the decision be made and I followed Samson up to his bedroom without a word of protest. Not to mention his house was huge. There were plenty of guest bedrooms that I could have chosen from, but I hadn’t.

  Samson came and sat down next to me, his chest and feet bare, with only his jeans on, and I don’t know what was wrong with me. But the sight of his bruises and scrapes had my core clenching in pure female appreciation.

  It was hard to concentrate.

  “Mackenzie, my parents know about you,” Samson said, surprising me.

  “What?”

  “A couple of months after I saw you at the game that night, my mom had casually mentioned that she had a friend with a great daughter she’d like me to meet. My mother thought we’d make a good couple.” My chest hurt with a jealous pang that I knew was ridiculous. “That’s when I told her I’d already met the girl I was going to marry and to, please, don’t set me up with anyone.”

  My heart started racing. “You told her that?”

  He nodded. “I told her the truth, too,” he added. “I told her how I met you, who you were, that you had a boyfriend, and that I didn’t know how I was going to survive you, but I would figure something out.”

  “Samson…” My voice was barely audible with how much emotion was assailing me. Maybe it was his words, maybe it was the adrenaline crash, maybe I was just a mess, but whatever it was, it felt like my emotions were swirling all around me.

  “The second I found out you were going to Eastwood, I sent her a text telling her I finally got you. She’d been worried for me that I’d never find happiness if it weren’t with you, so I texted her to ease her mind.”

  I reached out and touched one of the bruises on his chest. “This whole thing is such a mess,” I muttered sadly. “And no matter what anyone says, I know this is all my fault.”

  Samson reached over and pulled me onto his lap. I was straddling him with only his t-shirt and my panties, and I started to ache. I knew his parents and brother were in the house, but I didn’t care. I got comfortable and wanted what would come next.

  “Here’s what I don’t think you understand, Mackenzie,” he said, his large hands warming my skin as they ran up my thighs to stop on my hips. “The fighting isn’t your fault. The fighting will never be your fault. Because, I gotta warn you, baby, I’ll lay a motherfucker out for so much as looking at you too long.”

  I choked out a laugh. “Samson, behave.”

  He pulled me closer. “I’m serious, Mackenzie.” His hazel eyes were serious as they peered into mine. “Yeah, a lot of this was about Mahoney, but a lot of it was still about me, and what I feel for you.” His brows drew down over those hypnotic eyes of his. “I’ve waited my entire life to love you, Mackenzie. If you think I won’t swing fists at any asshole who thinks he can take you from me, you’re very, very mistaken, baby.”

  I knew I should be advocating against his penchant for violence, but it was turning me on to hear him talk about how he’d stop at nothing to keep me his. It was turning me on to hear him tell me how much he wanted me, and how long he’s loved me.

  I ran my hips across his lap, and he let out a low moan. “Mackenzie…”

  I brought my arms up and circled my hands around his neck. “I know your parents are home and your-”

  His hands tightened on my hips. “I don’t give a flying fuck about my parents or my brother, Mackenzie,” he said, his reply gritty and rough. “One, their bedrooms are far enough away that it doesn’t matter how loud you scream with my cock inside you.” Heat curled in my stomach. “Second, my parents are probably already expecting it of us.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” I mumbled.

  “Mackenzie, as much as I don’t want to talk about my parents when my dick is hard and pressed up against your pussy, I can tell you my father is probably mentally demanding I claim you tonight after some other bastard dared to go after you. My father is a firm believer in love and protection. In fact, he probably would have been disappointed in me had I not insisted you spend the night with me.”

  This gorgeous boy was mine, and he kept making me fall deeper and deeper in love with him every time he opened his mouth. “I want to feel embarrassed, but I don’t,” I confessed. “I want you, Samson.”

  He lifted my hips and I braced my weight on my knees as Samson undid his jeans and shoved his clothes down and past his thighs. I looked down and his dick was rock hard and pulsing. I reached down and positioned his hot heat where I needed it. And as he pulled my panties to the side, I lowered my body onto his and the painful stretch was just what I needed to drown out all the events from today.

  “Fuck,” he hissed when my ass hit the top of his thighs. “Your pussy feels tighter than it did yesterday.”

  I pulled his face to my chest. “It’s because I’m sore and swollen.”

  “If you think that’s going to make me stop or make me go easy on you, you’re wrong,” he said right before taking one of my nipples into his mouth through his shirt, making me moan.

  “I don’t want you to go easy on me,” I rasped out. “I want everything that you gave me yesterday.”

  His hands immediately went to the hem of his shirt I was wearing and he pulled it over my head. “God, I love how your big tits bounce, baby,” he murmured around my nipple.

  My hips began to move, needing to feel more. “I love the way you feel,” I rushed out. “I never thought I could feel this way.”

  Samson laid on his back taking me down with him. His hips thrust upward as I came down on him. “These fucking things are in my way,” Samson growled right before he ripped my panties apart. They hung dangling on my high, but they were out of the way like he needed. “Now, ride my cock, baby.”

  I braced my hands on his hard chest, not caring that he was bruised or that he might be in pain, and bounced on his hardness and chased that feeling I now knew only he could give me. “Yes,” I moaned, my head thrown back.

  Samson reached up, cupped the back of my neck, and forced my head back down. “No way, Mackenzie,” he panted. “I want those purple eyes on me when you cum all over my dick.”

  I groaned and my body clenched. “Samson…”

  I was supposed to be
riding him, but he was doing most of the work as he kept thrusting hard inside me. “I’ll never get enough of you, Mackenzie,” he swore. “Never.”

  “Please, Samson…”

  He grabbed my hips and flipped me over. Now his large body was covering me, his thrust more powerful than before. “Please, what?” He paused as I used my feet to push his pants further down his legs, so that he was just as naked as I was.

  “Please, everything,” I said, not making sense but praying he understood.

  His hand slid underneath my body and he anchored his hand over my shoulder, holding me in place, forcing my body to take every inch of his invasion. I let out a painful whimper, and he didn’t care. “Take it, baby,” he grunted. “Take every fucking inch of this cock. The only one you’ll ever feel.”

  That did it.

  His promises of forever had my body exploding all over him. “Samson!”

  “Fucking perfect,” he groaned as he rode me through my orgasm and didn’t stop.

  He didn’t stop until I started crying and begged him to.

  Chapter 24

  Samson~

  I came while she was screaming and crying and begging me to stop, and it had been the most powerful release I’ve ever felt in my life.

  I had wanted to ask what the tears were for, but Mackenzie had passed out and I hadn’t felt like disrupting her with questions she was probably too emotionally exhausted to answer. I also knew her begging had been because she couldn’t articulate what she’d been feeling. And I should probably feel like a heel because I hadn’t stopped when the first tear fell, but I’d been feeling some type of way about how she was letting me possess her body.