“Sitting out back. Pobre niñita.”
“You think she’s lying.”
“I do, Edge. I think there was something more to it than her bumping into someone. She said he must have left. Does that sound like anyone who works on the ranch?”
It sure as hell didn’t. And if someone had seen what went down, whoever the guy was would’ve been fired and escorted off the property. Not for bumping into Rebel, but for walking away and leaving her to clean up the mess. It wasn’t the way the Alexanders did things around here.
“No idea who it was?”
“I didn’t see him, but I thought I should call you.”
“You did the right thing. I’ll be right there.” I ended the call. “Where’s Decker?” I asked Grinder.
He pointed, looking at me like I was daft.
I stalked over to the same table he’d been seated at earlier. “Rebel had a run-in with a hand in the dining hall. I want to take a look at the security footage to see who it was.”
Decker nodded, pulled out his mobile, opened an app, and stood. “Let’s go.”
I followed him out the front door and into his truck. He peeled out of the driveway and onto the dirt road.
“What’s going on, Deck?”
“I need to double-check the footage. He did a good job hiding his face.”
“Bloody hell,” I muttered.
He had a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel, and his jaw was as tight as mine felt.
While Decker checked the security equipment at the dining hall, I went in search of Rebel. I needed my eyes on her. Tee-Tee had said she was out back, so that’s where I went first. I saw her right away, headed toward me.
“Hey, Rebel.”
She shielded her eyes. “Edge. What are you doing here?”
“Let’s go inside.” Once I made sure the door was closed and locked behind her, I motioned for her to follow me into the dining hall.
“I heard you had a run-in earlier.”
“I guess that’s what you could call it, since I ran into someone.”
“Tee-Tee said that one of the hands bumped into you and then left.”
“That’s right.”
“What did he look like?”
“I didn’t get a good look at him. What’s with the questions, Edge? I broke a couple of plates.”
“I think there was more to it.”
Her eyes stayed steady on mine. “There wasn’t.”
She was lying to me, and I didn’t like it. “I need to find Decker. When I get back, there are some things I want to talk over with you.”
“Like what?”
“For starters, I want to make sure you’re armed. Do you know how to handle a gun, Rebel?”
She stared at me and cocked her head.
“If you don’t, I’ll teach you.”
“Sometimes it’s very obvious you’re not from Texas, Edge. Do I know how to handle a gun?”
I put my hand around her arm, and she flinched. “What was that?”
“What do you mean?”
“You flinched.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Now I was livid. Her lies were piling up. “What did he do to you? Show me.”
“Edge—”
I took her hand instead of touching her arm again. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“You said you had to find Decker.”
“It can wait.” I realized that I’d ridden here with Decker, and the truck was back at the house. “On second thought, stay right here.”
“I have work to do, Edge. We have to get ready for lunch.”
“Not today, you won’t be.”
She put her hands on her hips. “What did you say?”
I stalked back over and got in her face. “I said, you won’t be working today.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“I’m the fucking man you’re lying to, and we’re getting to the bottom of why.”
“You’re making way too much of a couple of plates.”
“Am I? Are you absolutely certain of that, Rebel? Tell me this, if you or someone else gets hurt because you aren’t willing to tell me what really happened, will I still be making too much of it?”
She didn’t answer. Didn’t so much as move her head.
“Wait here. Do…not…move.”
I flexed my hand as I walked away. The damn thing had been spasming the whole time I talked to Rebel, only serving to make me angrier. If she was in danger, if someone on the ranch had the ability to get to her, my bloody hand had to work. I had to be able to fire my fucking gun.
I couldn’t find Decker, so I rang him. “Where are you?”
“Office.”
“Have you figured out who it was?”
“Yep. I’m scanning the rest of the feeds for him now. My fear is he’s already left the property.”
“And if he hasn’t?”
“I’m putting the entire ranch on high alert. Full throttle protocol.”
“I’m taking Rebel back to the house. I need your truck.”
“Go ahead. I’ll let you know when I find the sonuvabitch.”
When I got back to the kitchen, Rebel wasn’t where I’d told her to wait. I pulled out my mobile and opened the tracking app. She was almost back to the house, and that meant there would be hell to pay.
19
Rebel
As I walked into the bedroom, I felt a tear slide down my cheek and cursed my damn self-pity. I threw myself on the bed and pounded my fists into the pillow, hating how powerless I felt.
The whole way back to the house, I went back and forth. Edge knew I was lying to him, but the guy who was sent to threaten me had made it perfectly clear that Tee-Tee would be the one in danger if I divulged what he’d said.
So what the fuck was I supposed to do? I rolled to my back and stared up at the ceiling. What had the guy said that was any different from what I already knew? I’d been arrested for murdering Possum. Wasn’t that me paying? And if I somehow got exonerated, wouldn’t that mean Edge or someone else had found the real killer? In which case, wouldn’t that person pay? How the fuck was I supposed to call “my dogs” and lawyer off if I couldn’t tell anyone what he’d said?
I wished instead of trying to walk away, I’d kicked the fucker in the balls. Done something. At least then I’d feel more like myself.
I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. This wasn’t who I was. I was never the girl who sat around and let bad things happen either to myself or anyone I cared about. I was Lucy-fucking-Rebel-Marks. I climbed out of bed, went into the closet, and looked for my clothes. Not the little Mary Sunshine shit that woman had given me. My shit.
I laughed as I stripped, thinking about Edge asking me if I knew how to handle a gun. Someday, when I managed to get out from under all the crap that had descended on my life, I’d show him exactly how much better I handled a gun than he did. Okay, well, maybe that was stretching it. Edge was a goddamn spy. He better be able to handle a weapon better than me.
I was about to pull my boots on when I heard Edge walk into the bedroom.
“Rebel?” he called out.
“What?”
He turned on the light I hadn’t bothered with. “What in the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?”
I brushed past him. “I’m going back to work.”
“No. You’re not.”
I spun around on him. “Yeah. I am.”
“I told you before, you aren’t working for the rest of the day. Even if you showed up, Tee-Tee would send you back here.”
“You have no right.”
“I have every right. You’re in my custody. It’s my job to keep you safe.”
I took a step forward and got in his face. “Just because you posted my bail, doesn’t mean you own me. And if that’s what you think, then take me back to jail right this minute. I’ve been on my own a long goddamn time, and I don’t—”
Fuck! He did it again. The bastard grabbed my neck and k
issed me. Just like every other time, it was hard and deep and long. Also like the other times, my goddamn traitorous body melted against his like I didn’t have a brain in my head…or any pride. Somehow, I willed my arms to work and pushed against him. “Don’t do that!” I shouted.
He got right back in my face. “You’re so fucking hot when you’re angry. I can’t keep my bloody hands off you as it is, but when you—”
This time I grabbed his neck and plastered my mouth against his. Fuck if he didn’t light a fire in me, especially when he got all demanding and threatened me with consequences. I kissed the shit out of him, and he gave it right back to me.
As if every part of my body suddenly operated independently of my brain, I began ripping at his clothes. I wanted Edge naked, and I wanted it right now.
I tore at his shirt, and once he took over and threw it to the ground, I clawed at his belt buckle. Why in the hell were these things so damn hard to unfasten? Weren’t guys ever in a hurry when they had to take a piss?
I took a step back and watched as Edge shed the rest of the clothes he was wearing and then stalked toward me.
“You better fucking want this, Rebel, because it’s going to be bloody hard for me to stop if you don’t.”
“You stop and I swear to God…”
He ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath.
“I’m warning you, Edge. Don’t you dare hold back on me. I want everything you’ve got. You promised you’d take care of me. You said you’d wring me out and then come back for more. Don’t even think about disappointing me.”
Edge closed the short distance between us like a bull. Between the two of us, I was naked moments later. He picked me up, threw my ass on the bed, and crawled on top of me.
“Put your hands above your head,” he growled, wedging his knee between my legs and then spreading them wider with his hands.
He shifted his body down and blew his warm breath on my already-overheated pussy. When I moved my hand to grab his head, it was like lightning the way he grasped it. “Over your head, Rebel, and don’t move. If you can’t do as I ask, I’ll force you.”
A flood of arousal gushed from me. “How?” He hesitated and I wanted to cry. I thrashed instead. “How, goddammit?”
When he shook his head, I tried to get out from under him, but he was too strong. “I’m going to bind you, Rebel.”
I stared into his eyes. “Do it.”
He straddled me like he had before. “Do. Not. Move.” He climbed off of me and was back in less than a minute. “Close your eyes and keep them closed.”
He took my wrist in his hand, wrapped something soft around it, and then pulled it taut. As much as I wanted to see where he’d tied it off, there was no way I’d open my eyes and give him a reason to stop. He did the same with my other wrist.
I waited in anticipation for what he’d do next, never dreaming that I’d feel his hand wrap something around my ankle.
“Do not open your eyes,” he warned, as if he’d read my mind and knew I was about to. I squeezed my lids shut. My breathing accelerated when I felt him bind my other ankle.
His hands grasped my waist as his mouth landed on my drenched pussy. He dragged his tongue through my slit again and again. When he stopped, I squeezed my eyes again in a desperate attempt not to look to see what he’d do next.
“Open them,” he demanded instead, and I did. He rested his cheek against my belly and smiled. “You’re all mine now, little Rebel, and I intend to wring every ounce of pleasure there is out of this hot…fucking…body.”
“Please,” I begged, trying to stop from writhing beneath him.
He raised his head. “Where shall I begin?”
“Where you were works for me.”
He smiled and shook his head. “You forgot your consequences. You don’t get to choose, Rebel.”
Over the course of what felt like hours, Edge painstakingly slowly got to know every inch of my body. He used his lips, his tongue, his hands, his fingers. Every time I was close to coming, he stopped what he was doing, waited a few seconds, and then began his assault somewhere else.
My nipples ached. My pussy throbbed. I was almost crying I wanted to come so badly. When I felt as though I was about to lose my mind, Edge made it worse by moving away from me.
“No,” I cried.
“No?” he asked, holding up a condom. “Are you certain?”
“No. I mean, yes. Please. God. Edge. Please.”
He smiled. “If you’re sure.”
“Please,” I moaned again.
“Are you ready for me?” he asked, thrusting long, thick fingers inside me. “Yes. I believe you are.”
I wanted to close my eyes again and focus only on how it felt when Edge was finally inside me, but I couldn’t. I was mesmerized by his every movement. He was as graceful as he was powerful. At the same moment I felt his hardness at my opening, he leaned forward and bit my nipple. I cried out in pain at the exact moment he thrust into me, and the orgasm that he’d held at bay came crashing through me.
He fucked me harder, longer, deeper than anyone ever had before, each thrust more powerful than the last.
I longed to touch him, wrap my arms around him, feel the muscles in his ass flex as his cock pounded into me. Before I could ask him to release my hands, it was as though something in him let loose. What I’d thought was his all before, felt soft compared to the way he fucked me now. When he bit my other nipple and I cried out like I had earlier, he roared. “You are mine, Rebel. Mine. Do you understand?”
“Take me, Edge. Take all of me,” I cried as he thrust harder and harder into me. “I want to touch you. Let me touch you,” I pleaded.
He slowed with my words, and I wanted to cry for him to keep moving.
“You will, little Rebel. I told you, tonight I’ll wring every ounce of pleasure from this body. And when I’m done, we’ll begin again. Whatever you want, you’ll have.” He stopped moving completely and stared into my eyes. “And whatever I want, I’ll have too.”
He thrust into me again, slowly at first and then picking up the rhythm until he was slamming into me. “Come with me,” he growled and I did, clenching him with my body as I felt him shudder and pulse inside me.
My sweaty body chilled when he rolled away, and I groaned.
“I’ll just be a second.” True to his word, he was right back, untying both my legs, rubbing each one in turn before releasing my arms and doing the same to them.
Once he had, he lay on his back. “Come here.” He pulled me on top of him. My legs on his; my stomach on his; my breasts against his chest; my head resting on his shoulder.
He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed. “You feel so fucking good.”
“So do you,” I murmured.
With one hand, he brushed my hair from my face. “Kiss me, Rebel.”
I did. Starting with where my mouth rested against his pulse, working my way down the length of his body and then back up again. Finally, my lips met his. Edge grabbed the back of my neck and thrust his tongue in my mouth, kissing me longer, deeper, and harder than he ever had before.
“Fucking amazing,” he whispered, stroking the side of my face with his finger. “You felt it too, right?”
Felt it? My body hummed with it. Every muscle screamed in exhaustion, and yet I wanted more. I doubted I’d ever get enough of Edge, and with that thought, my eyes filled with tears.
20
Edge
I hated that Rebel was crying, but I felt that if I asked her about it, I’d only make it worse. After sex like we’d just experienced, part of me wanted to cry too. It was that good. That mind-blowing. That earth-shattering. That gut-wrenchingly brilliant.
The sun was setting, which meant dinner was over. I’d get no argument about going back to the dining hall. I studied the bruises on her arm where someone had obviously grabbed her. I still wanted answers, and I’d bloody well get them, but not now. First, I had to get her to tell me why she was crying.
I tried to wait to let her be the first to speak, but the longer she remained silent, the less I could stop myself from giving her comfort. I put my fingertips on her chin and lifted her face so I could see her eyes, even if they were closed. I touched her cheek with the pad of my thumb, wishing I could climb inside her brain, dance around in her head, and know everything that made this little rebel tick.
She was so fierce, so on fire earlier, that I was powerless not to kiss her. Fucking her? Jesus, it was every dream I’d had of her come true. Her body, while slight, felt so goddamn perfect under me. The memory of the look on her exquisite face every time she went crashing into ecstasy made me steel-hard again and again—including now.
But there was so much more. I wanted to know everything about the woman I held in my arms. What little I did know barely scratched the surface, and yet, there was a part of me that felt as though I’d known her forever.
She was passionately independent, but what choice did she have? She was alone in the world. Was. Not any longer. From now on, she had me. I knew in my heart it wouldn’t be easy to convince her she did. She’d fight it. Fight me every step of the way. She’d tell herself she wasn’t good enough for me, when in reality, I didn’t hold a candle to this mesmerizing creature.
“I want to be a part of your life, Rebel,” I blurted.
Her body shuddered. I flipped us both over and rested my elbows above her shoulders. Her eyes were closed, but I could see her. As I told her what I wanted, I’d be able to watch her expression, gauge her fear.
“I’m not going to fall by the wayside.”
She shook her head from side to side; she didn’t believe me.
“Look into my eyes.” It took a while, but finally, she did. “I want to be in your life. Not just today. Not just until we exonerate you. Not just until you think I’ve had my fill of you and you decide it’ll be easier if you leave me first. I’ll still be in your life, sweetness. I’m staying, and I want you to stay too.”
Edged (The Invincibles Book 2) Page 10