“We’ve really gotta go Dad. I’m sorry,” Blake sighed. “But hopefully when we do what we’ve got to do, it won’t be long before this vaccine gets out to everyone in the world.”
A deep crease formed on Cooper’s brow as Blake pulled away and my heart tugged at having to leave him here alone.
“Your mom would be real proud of you,” Cooper said, clutching Blake’s hand in his as his throat bobbed with emotion.
“Her son is going to help save the world,” I added with a grin and Blake ran his fingers through his hair with a low laugh, but I didn’t miss the way his eyes darted to his Dad in hopes of approval.
Cooper’s gaze swirled with some thought I couldn’t read. “Wait here a sec, I’ve got something for you both.” He headed away through a door and Blake gave me a tight smile.
“I hate leaving him here,” he muttered. “He’s lonely.”
“The sooner we get the vaccines to someone who can help create more of them, the sooner he’ll be able to get back to his life,” I said with a sad look.
“Yeah,” Blake said. “I just wish he had Mom.”
I wrapped my arms around him and he rested his chin on my head as the weight of our grief washed between us for a moment. We’d both lost parents, we both knew the taste of that pain all too well. And I also knew there was nothing I could say that would ease it. It was what it was. And at least we had each other to lean on in moments like this.
Cooper returned with a little wooden box in his hand, his cheeks a touch red. “When I met Blake’s mom, we were juniors in high school,” he spoke to me. “I was the captain of the football team, and a complete asshole might I add.” He laughed at himself and a smile tugged at my lips. “Anyway, Blake’s mom was the quiet type, dedicated to her studies. She wanted to be a lawyer and there was nothing in the world that was gonna stop her. I spent so much time playing football that I basically started failing a bunch of my core studies. So the principal insisted I get a tutor. My dad was gonna hire in some top of the range, Harvard guy and I refused because, well I was an asshole remember?”
“Dad,” Blake groaned like he’d heard this story a thousand times and was already embarrassed by it.
“I told the principal I wanted Blake’s mom to tutor me,” he said. “I’d been crushing on her for weeks after she’d done this speech on drunk driving in an assembly. She was so…passionate.” His eyes glittered for a moment, but then his pain was masked and he went on. “I’d been looking for a way to get close to her for ages and I finally had a chance to do it. And the principal convinced my dad it was a good idea after showing him the straight As she got in everything. Anyway, I wooed her heart out and the rest is history. But when we went steady together, I bought these as a gesture of my devotion.” He opened the box and my gaze fell on two bracelets. One was a delicate silver band with a glittering row of pink sapphires arrange in the shape of half a heart. The other, was a black leather band with a silver crest that had the other half of the heart engraved on it.
“We weren’t whole without each other. That’s how it felt,” Cooper rasped and emotion welled in my chest. “I can see you two feel the same way about each other. I’d recognise that look anywhere. And it would make me so damn happy if you’d take these.” He looked to Blake. “Mom asked me to give them to you when you fell in love.”
“Dad, I can’t,” Blake croaked. “They’re yours.”
“No,” Cooper said seriously, moving forward to press the box into his son’s hand. “They’re yours. It’s what she wanted. And your mother always got her way.” He smiled sadly and a tear dripped down his cheek. He crushed Blake into another fierce hug and suddenly grabbed my hand, pulling me into it too.
“You look after each other,” Cooper growled. “Don’t make me regret letting you kids walk out of here.”
“We won’t,” I promised. “Thank you.”
He let us go and I was surprised by how much it hurt to say goodbye. We headed back to the elevator and Cooper waved as the doors closed.
“He’s great,” I told Blake, smiling at him and finding him staring down at the bracelets in the box.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “He is.” He took the silver one out and offered it to me, making my throat tight at the weight of the offering.
“Are you sure?” I breathed. It was his mom’s, and it felt like accepting a piece of his soul by wearing it.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything or anyone,” he told me in a deep tone that brought heat to my cheeks.
I held out my wrist and he clasped it in place then I did the same for him with the other one while he pushed the box into his pocket.
“It’s beautiful.” I admired the jewellery on my wrist, the sapphires catching the light. I grabbed his shirt in my hand, tugging him close. “I love you, Blake. You’re my dark soldier, and I see the depths of your scars. I’ll spend forever trying to heal the marks left on your heart.”
He lifted me up, crushing me to the back wall of the elevator as his mouth came down on mine. I tasted the weight of his love, his pain, his desire. He was my beautiful, broken, golden boy and I needed to draw the sunlight out from the darkness in him and see it shine from his eyes once more.
I clutched his shoulders and ran my fingers up into his hair, his hands sliding under my shirt at the back, so I felt the burning heat of his flesh against mine. His mouth broke away from my lips and his teeth grazed up my cheek to my ear, leaving a hungry fire in its wake. His cock firmed between my legs and he ground into me so it created friction against my clit and I gasped in pleasure.
“I need to be inside you,” he growled and a shiver rolled smoothly down my spine.
“Then get inside me,” I half demanded, half laughed as the elevator doors opened on the bottom floor. He carried me through the atrium and out to the car, ripping the door open and laying me down on the back seat. He climbed in on top of me, tugging the door closed and kissing me hard. I kicked my shoes off and lifted my hips so he could pull my sweatpants off with my panties then he tugged his own pants down to free his hard length.
“Are you wet enough for me, sweetheart?” he asked, dropping his hand between my thighs and I gasped and bucked my hips as he circled his knuckles in my soaking heat. “Fuck yes.”
He clutched my hips, lining himself up with me and thrusting inside me without mercy, making my whole body arch beneath him.
He smeared his knuckles over my mouth, his eyes lighting up at the sight. “Taste how much you want me, Cinders.” I sucked his fingers greedily, my hips rocking to meet his fervent thrusts as he claimed me. I was enraptured by him, getting off on how filthy and good this felt as he tore my shirt up and over my head and smirked villainously at me as he yanked my bra up to gain access to my breasts too.
“God you’re fucking perfect,” he growled, my body tightening around his as he lowered his mouth and sucked my nipple, dragging his teeth across it in the most amazing way.
I clamped my thighs around his waist as he rolled his hips, rubbing some delicious place inside me and drawing a wild moan from my lips. I was so hot for him that I was coming apart already, especially as he moved his body over mine just right to build up friction against my clit. He slowed his pace a little until every thrust became full of intention to deliver me pleasure and his hands held me down as he worked his magic between my thighs.
“Fuck, Blake,” I groaned, tipping my head back as he worked my body as well as if it was his own. He knew exactly how to touch me to make me shudder and convulse, and as he circled his hips once more, I came hard, pleasure crashing through me and making my muscles bunch and flex.
Blake cursed. “You’re so fucking tight.” He groaned like a beast, burying his face in my neck as he found his climax and I felt him filling me up.
We were hot and sweaty and unable to catch our breath as we lay there in a tangled mess which made me impossibly happy. His light was back and so was mine. And it didn’t feel like anything in the world could bring us down from
this high.
Blake started laughing as he lifted his head to look at me and I laughed too. “Saint’s gonna freak when we get back,” he said and I gripped his jaw, tilting my head up to steal another kiss which was all bite and passion.
“I’ll handle Saint,” I purred.
He grinned and I felt him hardening inside me again already. “Well in that case, Cinders, how about round two?”
I was staring out of the window in the movie theatre bar as the headlights of my car came into view at the far end of the street and my racing heart finally slowed. I hadn’t felt concern like that since we’d rescued Tatum from my father’s hold and spending the night experiencing it once more was a perfectly exquisite kind of torture.
My headphones poured O Fortuna by Carl Orff into my ears and I let the intensity of the music permeate my soul, grounding me, reminding me that I was flesh and bone, brutal and breakable and oh so very insignificant when it came down to it. And insignificant was precisely how I felt right now, so it fit me well.
The lack of sleep had me feeling a little edgy, but if I was being totally honest with myself, I knew that these strange surroundings had more than a little to do with my discomfort too. It had been a long time since I’d been thrown into the turmoil and upheaval of a sudden relocation like this and if I was being totally honest with myself, I could admit that it was causing my demons to come out and play.
Between worrying about Tatum and Blake, I’d spent much of the evening tangled in a web of memories I wished I didn’t have to face. But I knew from experience that the only way to banish them to the corners of my mind again was to face them, look at them, experience them and relive them. It wasn’t pleasant. But I had little choice.
So instead of spending the night surrounded by the family I’d built myself, I spent it reliving my nightmares and facing the worst of my father. Sometimes when I got caught up in memories of him punishing me as a child, I found it hard to breathe. Found it hard to even think straight. And I ended up wondering if I was just deluding myself about being able to take him on and win. Yes, he’d crafted me in his image but he’d weakened me too. And some part of me couldn’t help but fear that once all was said and done, I’d find myself alone and at his mercy, locked in the boiler room with no water again, sweat rolling down my spine and hallucinations making me believe I was being cooked alive in an oven just ready for him to devour.
My hands shook the smallest amount as I dragged myself out of that shit show of a memory and I fisted my fingers to make them stop. I refused to be brought to heel by memories of a bully who flexed his power above me to intimidate me. I wasn’t a child anymore. And I wouldn’t allow him to ever put me in that kind of position again.
I watched the headlights move along the street in silence, my music centring me as I waited while they pulled into the underground parking lot and I allowed myself a moment to just feel relief over their return before the anger in my soul consumed me once more.
I pulled my headphones from my ears and stood slowly, having had no sleep while I worried about Tatum and Blake and I moved out of the bar, glancing at the brief messages they’d sent to reassure me of their location. But it didn’t matter. If they’d wished to visit Blake’s father, we should have discussed it as a group. The fact that they’d chosen to sneak off instead spoke volumes about their trust in me, and the lack of it didn't sit comfortably with me at all.
I opened and closed the door to the bar, making sure my new phone was set to loud in case the camera in the parking lot detected anyone getting too close to our hideout and the motion sensors sent me an alert. I wouldn’t be caught out while punishing them. No one would get the drop on us while I had something to do with it.
The stairs which led back down to the old movie theatre were shrouded in darkness and in my black sweats and hoodie, there was no chance of anyone seeing me in the shadows as I descended them silently. I moved across the foyer like a wraith and headed up to the apartment to lay in wait for them there.
Just as I slipped inside the dark space, Tatum's laughter sent a mixture of rage and relief crashing through my chest as she and Blake came up the stairs a beat behind me. They made it to the door and I watched from my position hidden in the dark as Monroe was roused from his sleep on the couch.
I'd chosen not to inform Nash and Kyan of Blake and Tatum's absence after giving it some consideration. We had no other car here and they'd told me quite plainly where they were when they’d messaged me. I didn't like it. But the others had already fallen asleep, exhausted after such a trying day and with us having no way to be able to chase after them, it seemed pointless to wake them up and worry them.
Nash swiped a hand down his face as he got to his feet and moved towards the door, the dim green light from the emergency exit sign above him illuminating the broad slope of his bare back as he walked.
The door burst open and Blake threw his arms around Monroe's neck, leaping up to wind his legs around him too while hollering, "Honey, I'm home!" at the top of his lungs.
Tatum laughed as Monroe stumbled back a step beneath his weight and Blake placed a dramatic kiss on his forehead before leaping down again and bounding away to where Kyan was sleeping on one of the double beds.
"Where the fuck have you two been?" Nash asked in a voice scratchy from sleep as Tatum stepped close and pressed a kiss to his lips.
"We went and gave my dad a vaccine," Blake announced excitedly, a broad smile on his face as he bounced like a puppy on the edge of Kyan's bed.
"You'd better lube up if you wanna smuggle that eggplant out of here without anyone seeing," Kyan muttered nonsensically, still not waking despite the ruckus.
"You snuck out?" Monroe asked with a frown, looking over his shoulder at Blake. "That could have been dangerous. Why didn't you just tell the rest of us you wanted to go?"
"Saint," Blake replied with a shrug like him not trusting me to understand how important it would be to him to get his father vaccinated was no big deal. And I had to admit that stung.
I didn't move though, still hidden in the shadows while Tatum sighed and reached out to slide a hand inside Monroe's boxers. "It didn't seem worth the drama of an argument with him," she replied. "You know how he gets."
If Monroe had any further protests to that, he didn't voice them, his cock clearly taking control of the decision making for him as he leaned down to kiss her again, his hand slipping inside her shirt to caress her breast as she moaned softly.
I remained where I was, those words of hers echoing around my skull like my head was a pinball machine with no hole for them to drop out of.
Blake was playing a game where he poked Kyan then ducked aside as the big bastard took a swipe at him in his sleep. It would probably end with Blake's nose getting busted, but it was his face to take risks with. Besides, I wasn't inclined to save him from a dose of pain after the worry he’d caused me tonight.
Nash had pushed Tatum back against the wall while she pumped his cock in her fist and I watched as he tugged her sweatpants low on her hips and eased his fingers beneath the waistband.
At another time, the sight might have aroused me, but I was so deep into my anger that I knew I wasn't going to be distracted by sex. I needed her punished. I needed it more than I needed to breathe and the moment I lost this battle with myself and moved out of the shadows, she was going to feel my wrath.
Tatum tipped her head back, moaning in pleasure as Nash fucked her with his hand and I watched enraptured, waiting as he built her up and up and up. When her moaning turned to pleading and I knew she was about to come for him, I stepped out of the shadows and cleared my throat.
"Holy fuck," Nash cursed, flinching and pausing in his movements for a moment as Tatum gritted her teeth at the denial of her release.
"We need to talk," I said in a deadly calm voice as Tatum's panting breaths filled the room.
"We're a touch busy," Monroe grunted and I almost felt bad for denying him too. He wasn't the one who had fucked up after
all.
"Yes. I am well aware that our dear Miss Rivers is trying to dig herself out of trouble with you by using her sexuality as a weapon, but do you really think she deserves to come after the stunt she just pulled? I can't be the only one of us who recalls the way she is being hunted. Who remembers what it felt like when she was gone?"
Nash's frown deepened as Kyan muttered, "It’s Mrs Roscoe," from his bed, clearly awake at last. One glance his way showed me Blake's busted lip and Kyan's angry scowl. Good. An accomplice.
"Perhaps we need to discuss the boundaries of this relationship. And the punishments we can dish out when one of us oversteps?" I suggested.
"I'm down for that," Kyan growled and Blake huffed irritably.
"It was my dad, man. I already lost my mom to this shit and even waiting this long to get him a vaccine after we stole them had been killing me. You have to know-"
"I understand perfectly. And I was already concocting a plan for us to deliver a vaccine to him safely." I turned my dark gaze to him and he swallowed thickly before nodding.
"You're right. I fucked up. I'm sorry, dude, I should have just trusted you and come to you about it. But you know how crazy I can get about family and I guess I just convinced myself that you might say no or something and I really needed it to be done. I couldn't take another sleepless night worrying about him catching it."
I considered his words for a moment then nodded. His impulsive behaviour was understandable even if it was infuriating. But he was led by emotion and his love for his father. Tatum however, had never met Blake's father. She had no emotional attachment to him beyond just wishing for him to be safe for Blake's sake. She should have known better.
My gaze travelled to Monroe and Tatum as they still stood there, hands within each other's underwear, eyes hot with passion and need.
"Do you think Tatum deserves to come after pulling that stunt, Nash?" I asked him, my gaze fixed on his while Tatum's lips popped open into a little O of shock and frustration.
"I guess not," Monroe agreed, giving our girl an apologetic look as he tugged his hand back out of her sweatpants and she whimpered in disappointment, reluctantly releasing his cock too.
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