Redeemed (The Dark Redemption Series Book 2)

by Lane Hart

  I never want this moment to end. I never want our bodies to separate. But when I feel the tremor run through her body, and her pussy tightens on my cock, I know it won’t be long now. I have to come so bad my balls hurt. God, it’s so worth it.

  Holding Blair all the way down on my shaft, I thrust my hips up into her one last time, so hard she whimpers, her face pressed into my neck before she trembles with another orgasm or the first one keeps on going. Either way, she milks me dry. I groan when the last wonderful jets of cum pulse from the head of my cock, coating the inside of her, claiming her, marking her, making her mine. It’s the first time I’ve ever shot my release inside a woman, because I’m not stupid. But with Blair, I suddenly feel incredibly possessive and protective of her. And honestly, the usual worries and concerns of unprotected sex are so fucking absent it’s almost scary. Maybe it was knowing I almost lost her because now there’s this warmth in my chest for this woman that makes me want to be with her for the rest of my life and never let her go. She’s it for me. I want to go to sleep with her at night, and wake up with her every morning, and make babies with her…

  The SUV swerves, unfortunately bringing the real world back into focus. The one where we’re on the run, my brother has also fucked my woman, and her father wants her dead. I look up into the rearview mirror and meet Aden’s gaze.

  “We’ve gotta stop,” he chokes out. “Twenty miles to Virginia.”

  “Get to Virginia, but don’t stop at the first hotel you come to,” I warn him.

  “Ha! Easy for you to say,” he counters.

  My hands soothe up and down Blair’s bare back while her head rests on my shoulder, my semi-hard cock still buried inside her because I don’t want to pull out yet. I just want to stay like this with my angel in my arms, comforting her, because after all the hell she’s been through, she gave herself to me. While I’m sure it was somewhat painful, I also know part of it felt good to her. Hopefully enough that she’ll let me fuck her again. Soon. Once she’s had time to heal.

  “How you doing?” I ask her.

  “Amazing,” she replies softly, making me smile when she winds her arms tighter around my neck.

  I know I don’t deserve her, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever be able to give her up. It’s selfish of me to want to keep her, yet I’m pretty sure that letting her go now would kill me. I’m addicted to the way it feels to actually take care of someone else, to have her appreciation and trust.

  “Bridge coming up,” Aden says, unfortunately reminding me of the dead body in the back. Shit. Blair is probably gonna freak out when she realizes…

  “Stop in the middle,” I tell him, hoping that’s where the water is the deepest, with the least chance of the asshole’s body washing up on shore right away.

  Gently lifting Blair over to the seat next to me, I zip up my pants and slip my shirt and jacket back on before telling her, “I’ll be right back.”

  “Why? What are you doing?” she asks, her small hand clutching my forearm like she doesn’t want me to leave her, even for a second. That blackened organ in my chest beats harder. I had no idea that having someone depend on me to be their protector would be so goddamn gratifying.

  “Won’t take but a minute,” I promise her.

  When Aden opens his door to get out, the dome light shines brightly on Blair’s wide green eyes and the bruises on her neck, face and arms. I hate seeing that shit on her, and I definitely don’t want her to see what’s in the cargo area, so I hit the overhead button to turn the lights off. Leaning forward, I kiss Blair quickly on the lips before I climb out and meet Aden at the back of the SUV.

  He looks around the darkness for oncoming cars before quickly lifting the hatch.

  “Let’s go that way,” I tell him softly, nodding over my shoulder behind us, so there’s less chance of Blair seeing his body. Since Aden’s near Roger’s upper body, he grabs his arms, avoiding his bleeding head, and I grab his legs. Between the two of us, we quickly guide him over to the guard rail.

  “On three,” I say. “One, two, three.” Together we toss the dead man into the creek, and he lands with a splash. Aden and I both lean over the rail and watch him sink until his pale, naked skin disappears into the dark depths of the water.

  Instead of remorse, all I feel is relief and anger. I shouldn’t have trusted Roger, but I don’t regret the day I took the phone call from him. If I hadn’t answered, would he have called someone else, someone who wouldn’t have fallen for Blair and just killed her right away? There could already be someone else tracking her, tracking us to do just that, and the anxiety makes me want to pull my hair out because she’s counting on me to keep her safe. What if I can’t?

  “Fuck, I need a smoke,” I tell Aden as we walk back to the SUV.

  “What’s wrong? You run out?” he asks.

  “No,” I reply as I remove the nearly full pack from my shirt pocket and fling it over into the creek. “I’m trying to quit.”

  Easing into the back seat, Blair immediately climbs on my lap, still naked except for her panties, winding her arms around my neck, and burying her face in my collar. God, why does her body feel so fucking good on mine, and why do I feel worse about her seeing a dead body than I do for taking a man’s life? Blair’s a smart girl, so I’m sure she’s figured out what we were doing, even without the light on, which I absolutely hate. At least she’s not acting revolted by the fact that I’m a killer.

  “You okay?” I ask her.

  “Thank you,” she says, settling herself against me. There’s barely any clothing on her, yet in this moment, sex is not on my mind. Maybe because we just had a fantastic round, but more than that, I know she’s seeking comfort in me right now, and nothing more. I owe that to her. I actually want to give that sense of security to her. In fact, I revel in being the one she depends on to keep her safe.

  We sit like that while Aden drives for maybe ten minutes, before all hell breaks loose.

  “Oh, fuck,” Blair says before her body tenses in my arms.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, reluctantly easing her away from me. Shit, did she just realize that we didn’t use a condom and regret it?

  “There’s a car behind us…”

  “Goddamn it! Aden?” I ask.

  “Shit,” he says before the siren blares.

  “Oh God,” Blair gasps before her breathing becomes shallow and rapid. When Aden slows down and puts on his right turn signal, she loses it. “No, I can’t go back! Don’t stop!”

  “Calm, down, baby. It’s gonna be okay. We’re not gonna let anything happen to you,” I assure her before trying to lay her down flat on her back on the passenger seat next to me.

  “No,” she says, clinging to the front of my neck with both hands. “They’ll arrest you!” Her chest is rising and falling too fast. She’s hyperventilating.

  “Shh. It’s okay,” I tell her, omitting the fact that I want her down in case they start firing on us. Once her back’s on the seat, I shift my weight so I can stretch out over top of her, holding my weight off her chest. I lower my lips to hers, trying to distract her and trusting that Aden knows what he’s doing.

  If I had to guess, I would bet that my brother is pulling over to act like we have nothing to hide, and as soon as the officer gets out of the car…

  “Hold on,” Aden says before he floors the accelerator so hard the SUV fishtails. I hear a click of what is likely the headlights going off. And after a series of jerks to the left, then the right and then left again, he pulls to a stop with the absence of sirens.

  “Lost him,” Aden says, sounding out of breath.

  “Thank fuck,” I mutter at the same time Blair exhales in relief underneath me.

  “We need to find another car,” Aden states the obvious before he climbs out of the driver seat and shuts the door.

  “No shit, Sherlock,” I mutter as I raise up off of Blair and pull her to a sitting position. After I hand her dress to her, she pulls it on while I step out into what looks like
a cookie-cutter residential neighborhood. Since it’s probably three or four a.m., the whole street is silent. Before I forget, I go around and open up the front passenger door, grabbing Blair’s photo album and offering it to her when she lowers her feet to the ground.

  “Oh my God. Thank you,” she says in surprise, clutching the book to her chest. “These are the only photos I could find of my mother.”

  “You’re welcome,” I tell her, kissing her temple.

  “Let’s look for something a few streets over,” Aden suggests quietly. I grab Blair’s hand, but she doesn’t move when I give it a tug.

  “Um, I don’t have any shoes,” she says, glancing down at her pale legs and feet that practically glow in the darkness.

  “It’s okay. We’ll find you some,” I tell her before scooping her up, cradling her with the book in her arms to my chest.

  We cross through four streets in the neighborhood before we start looking for a decent ride.

  “You know how to hotwire, right?” I ask Aden as we start peeking inside a few cars parked along the curb to see if we can find one unlocked. Would it be too much to ask that the owner left the keys inside it too like the SUV?

  “Ah, no, I don’t,” Aden replies before yanking on the car door of a Buick, clearly a senior citizen’s vehicle. Thankfully it doesn’t open. “You can, though, right?” he asks.

  I grumble a non-answer as I peer inside of a white, two-door Honda. Sure, it’s too small to have sex in the back, but it should be fast and inconspicuous. Still holding Blair, I maneuver her to try the handle, and thank fuck it opens.

  “Bingo,” I whisper when I set Blair’s feet down on the pavement. She won’t have to stand on the cement barefoot for long if we can get this bad boy started.

  “This should work,” Aden says when he walks up. “You hotwire it while I stand watch.”

  “I would, if I knew how,” I tell him. Sliding into the front seat, I reach over to check the glove box and center console for a spare key. “Nothing. And I’m gonna have to turn on the overhead light to even try to figure out how to wire it up.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” he asks. “What kind of criminal doesn’t know how to steal cars?”

  “I’m an assassin,” I explain. “Stealing cars has never entered into the equation of putting a bullet through someone’s head. And I’ve only ever had the bike, so I don’t know shit about cars.”

  “Wow,” he says with a shake of his head. “What the hell are we gonna do? The longer we stand around here twiddling our thumbs, the more time they have to find us.”

  “Surely someone left the keys inside. I mean, we lucked up with the SUV, we’ll find another ride,” I assure him as I ease out of the car to pick up Blair so we can keep moving, only…she’s gone. “What the fuck? Where’s Blair?” I ask, spinning around in a circle to try and spot her in the dim glow of the street lights.

  “Shit!” Aden exclaims as he starts wandering further down the road whisper-yelling her name.

  My heart is racing in my chest trying to figure out why she ran this time as I move in the direction we just came from. I thought we were good, better than good. Everything seemed perfect other than running for our lives. She hadn’t even looked upset. Well, not until the police chase.

  Is that why she’s gone? Because she’s scared and doesn’t think Aden and I can take care of her? Or did she hear me talking about putting bullets through people’s heads and realize that I wasn’t, and couldn’t ever be, the white knight that she’s imagined?

  Chapter Three

  Blair

  Walking through the grass that’s damp from the dew already starting to set in, I clutch the photo album to my chest like a shield and head for the front door of the two-story townhouse. The one with a little lawn flag with butterflies on it, flapping in the soft night breeze.

  If I had to guess based on the small, red Mazda at the curb and the butterflies on the flag, a single woman lives here. Taking the three small steps up to the porch, I lift the potted plant next to the welcome mat and find the spare key. No, I’m not psychic. It’s just the exact same place my mother used to keep ours. Not the safest place, but always handy if you lock yourself out.

  Sure, I feel a twinge of guilt for what I’m about to do, but the rush of excitement humming through my veins is thrilling, just like when I escaped the hospital, the first time I stole a car, rode on the back of Brede’s bike, and every time he or Aden touch me.

  So maybe I’m an adrenaline junky, but I think I’ve earned a little excitement in my life.

  For whatever reason, jamming the spare key into the lock reminds me of sex, which is when I realize that I’ve now had unprotected sex with two men. With Aden, it was exhilarating not knowing what he was going to do to me once he had me restrained, and that didn’t end so well. And then when I was with Brede, it was like a frenzy taking over my body. I needed him right that second, like my life depended on it, and Brede definitely didn’t disappoint. We were both desperate for each other, and it was an incredible feeling, despite the hint of pain.

  Of course, I’m not an idiot and know enough from books and TV that I’ve put myself at risk of STDs and pregnancy. But after almost dying, and them saving me, I’m starting to think that while these two men may have their own agendas when it comes to me, maybe it’s more than that. It could just be wishful thinking, but something is definitely different between Brede and me. He’s kinder and gentler, like he actually cares about me. And I know that there’s more to Aden too, but something’s holding him back, something that makes him need to tie me up so I can’t touch him.

  I’m confident that Brede killed Roger to save me. And I guess that’s the reason why the police are after us. When I saw the sirens approaching, I nearly had a panic attack, worried that Brede would get a life prison sentence just like his father, and I would be sent back to the mental hospital. There’s no way I can ever go back there, and I don’t want to lose Brede either, especially not for something he did because of me. I’m a freaking curse on their entire family.

  Sighing to myself, I hold the photo album closer to my chest and ease into the silent house, thankful that the door doesn’t creak. I don’t want to wake anyone up, so my plan is to slip in and get out quickly.

  There, right in the foyer across from the front door hangs a woman’s brown leather purse on the coat hanger, just as I predicted. Releasing one of the hanging straps, I reach in and dig around for the cold metal of keys. When I find the set, I clasp them tightly in my fist so that they won’t jingle as I remove them.

  Easy.

  After slipping the spare key inside the purse, I lock the front door from the inside and then tiptoe back outside, gently and soundlessly sealing the door shut.

  It sucks to think about some unknown woman waking up in the morning and noticing her car has been stolen, but we’ll ditch the vehicle in a few days, if not hours, undamaged for the police to find and return to her. I try to think of it as borrowing and not stealing. Although, I guess that little old lady up in Maryland will be getting an insurance check instead of her car back since it was likely totaled when I wrecked it.

  My body is still sore, but at least now I’m safe with Aden and Brede. I never intended to destroy her car, so I’ll blame the police in my father’s town for chasing me and ruining her vehicle.

  “Blair!”

  Shit, was that Aden or Brede calling out for me? I probably should’ve told them my plan, but they were too busy arguing. Besides, I’m certain Brede would have never allowed me to sneak into someone’s house and steal the keys, and I wanted to do it. Having my heart race inside my chest and my hands shake with excitement makes me feel alive. It’s such a drastic contradiction to the lifelessness of all those boring years being confined.

  “Blair!”

  Treading barefoot through the wet grass again as quickly as my aching body can take me, I come up on Aden whispering my name from the middle of the street.

  “Aden,” I call out s
oftly. “I’ve got keys.”

  “Jesus, are you trying to give us heart attacks?” he asks as I unlock the driver side of the Mazda and slip inside. It only takes a second to crank the engine.

  “Thanks. Now get your ass out so we can hit the road,” he says. “Found her!” Aden calls loudly down the empty road.

  …

  Brede

  Thank God.

  When I hear Aden’s voice saying he found Blair, I don’t even care if he wakes up the entire neighborhood at this point. I start jogging back toward him when the headlights of a car on the curb come on, blinding me to the point I have to put an arm up in front of my face.

  “What the hell?” I ask when I approach Aden at the open driver’s side door and see Blair climbing out of it, smiling until she sees my face.

  “I found keys,” she says.

  “You scared the shit out of me!” I tell her, wanting to grab her shoulders and shake her. At the same time, I’m worried I’ll be too rough with her because of my anxiety, so I keep my hands off of her already sore body. “For like the tenth time in twelve hours I thought I had lost you. Don’t do that again!” I shout.

  “Sorry,” she whispers as she saddles up to me and wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head on my chest. I let out all the pent-up worry in a heavy exhale before pulling away to open the passenger door for Blair, indicating for her to get her ass in the backseat.

  “We need to get the hell out of here. Were the keys inside the car?” I ask Aden before joining Blair in the back.

  “No. Blair went inside the house and got them,” he tells me, followed by a chuckle before he sits down in the driver seat and buckles up.