Tingle (Revenge Book 2)

by Burns,Trevion

  He nodded into her shoulder. Embracing her in a hold so tight it stole her breath.

  She embraced him back, feeling the tremble over every inch of his body, so strong it made her tremble too.

  “You’re shaking so bad,” she whispered into his neck, hugging him as tight as she could.

  A silence fell, and his whispered words barely reached her ears. “I was scared.”

  Veda’s eyes widened, and even though he’d mumbled those words softly into her neck, she heard them like he’d said it over a loudspeaker. Her arms instantly clapped around his neck, hugging him close, as his breathing grew heavier and shakier.

  “I was scared—” His voice broke when she tightened her arms even more.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she promised in his ear, kissing it softly. She only let herself relax when he embraced her in return, exhaling like it was a breath he’d been holding for years.

  The warmth of the hug almost blinded Veda in glaring light, enough to sustain her for the rest of the day. She couldn’t stop her hands from traveling up into his silky hair, down his muscled back, over his pulsing arms and even down to his ass, which she squeezed with a soft whimper that warmed his ear. Soon, he’d followed suit. The heat of his fingers, clawing all over her body, mixed with the fire of his hands as they traveled under her top and clutched her breasts, took her breath away.

  She was barely able to croak out her next words, digging her fingers into his hair and whispering in his ear. “Do you still want me to meet your family?”

  Gage pulled back, his eyes ripe with feeling, mouth falling opening softly.

  “Because…” Veda cupped his cheeks and ran the beds of her thumbs over every stunned crease in his face, loving how happy he looked. “I want to. I want them to see that what we have is real. That I’m going to be beside you every step of the way. Whether they like it or not.”

  Hands still under her shirt, Gage released his hold on her breasts and moved them around her back. “Yes,” he said, so softly she barely heard it, emotion stealing his voice.

  “Yeah?” Veda whispered, drinking in his everlasting light like heroin. She felt addicted. Addicted to the feeling he sent powering through her with so little effort. Like a junkie who needed a hit, her fingers snuck under his jacket, pushing it down his shoulders.

  His smile grew coy as he shrugged it off. “Here?”

  “Wouldn’t be the first time.” That smile triggered the euphoria center in her brain, over and over, getting her high as a kite, making her shift and turn her back to him, giggling when he was immediately on her, pressing his erection into the folds of her ass. He angled his head over her shoulder, and when she looked up at him, he caught her lips in a fervent kiss. The smack of their hungry tongues filled the room for several minutes, sporadically joined by their gasps and the rustle of their clothes under their non-stop wandering hands.

  “I missed you so badly, Veda.”

  Veda whimpered as he grew harder by the second, pressing herself back against him while staring at his gorgeous face over her shoulder. She lifted one arm from where she was braced on the desk and stroked his cheek, accepting another passionate kiss from him, a kiss that sent her over the edge.

  “Do you want it in my ass, baby?” she whispered.

  His smile vanished, his wandering hands froze at her hips, and a dark desire washed over every inch of his face, reddening his cheeks and parting his lips. His fingers dug into her hips, pulling her back against him so fervently he nearly took her off her feet.

  Veda breathed out a laugh, taking that as a yes, reaching down and pushing her scrubs and panties down over her ass.

  Gage frowned at her, but a smile broke free, as if he couldn’t decide whether or not she was pulling his chain. The one sexual favor he’d been begging her for since the first night they’d slept together, the one she’d been adamantly against, being served on a silver platter? In his office of all places? Veda didn’t blame him for being suspicious, but as his gaze fell to her bare ass, his fingers clenching its softness appreciatively, his eyes went to another place. He pressed his nose into her hair before slowly sinking down. No part of his face left her. The tip of his nose dragging down the back of her scrub top, breathing her in, his fingers digging hard into the front of her thighs, making sinkholes, his lips getting trapped and chafed against the fabric of her shirt until he hit his knees, arriving at the soft globes of her ass, one of which he immediately sucked between his lips. His teeth. His moans warmed her skin as he took each kiss a little further until his tongue was dipping into her drenched center. He palmed her ass and spread her cheeks wide for easier access.

  The pleasure shot through Veda like a rocket, falling forward on the desk under the ferocity of his lips and tongue as they lapped at both her entries, desperately, as if he couldn’t decide which tasted better. Her stomach tightened with every new and surprising place his mouth landed until they finally settled on the untouched bud of her ass. He suckled it patiently while sliding two fingers inside her pussy with ease, aided by her wetness, letting his thumb press into her clit.

  Veda clawed her purple nails into the desk, screaming into the wood. Some distant part of her worried that his assistant could surely hear them, but she couldn’t make herself care. Not with the euphoria shooting through her, or the unrivaled pleasure of his strokes—his licks—lighting up every part of her he could get his hands on.

  Gage clearly didn’t give a shit, either, though it wasn’t his screams that filled the air, but the music he made with his lips and tongue as he sucked and licked every inch of her, drenching it in both their juices until every part of her was soaking wet.

  Veda whimpered when his mouth left her, but the frown was gone the instant the weight of his body encased her from behind, followed by the sound of him ripping open and ruffling through the drawer of his desk.

  She knew what he searched so desperately for, the same thing he always searched for when they lost control in his office. He suckled at her neck as he found what he needed, and Veda’s eyes slammed closed at the cool feel of lube as he encircled her ass with an ample amount. He ensured it was spread far and wide before he tested it, pressing the very tip of his pinky past the snug bud.

  Another gasp slipped from her lips. Her second manicure of the week was in grave danger as she nearly split the wood desk under her clawed fingers.

  He gave her all of his weight, his frenzied pants in her ear, his need—his desire—loud and clear as he whispered, “Are you okay?”

  She turned her head and met his eyes, feeling her own just as heavy and hooded as his was. She parted her lips, silently begging for his tongue. He obliged, diving in and covering her mouth with his just as he pressed his pinky all the way inside.

  Veda gasped, forcing their lips apart. He moved his kisses to her neck. She reached up and buried her hand in his hair, tilting her head to the side to keep them there.

  “Fuck me,” she begged.

  His pants moved to gasps. The jingling of his belt buckle and the releasing of his zipper filled the room, and then he’d filled her, with just the tip, the grunt that left his lips and burned the crook in her neck displaying how difficult it was for him to stop himself there.

  But he did stop, arms encircling her and cupping her breasts, groaning against her skin. “You okay?”

  “Yes.” Veda smiled at his sweetness. “Just go slow, okay?”

  “My God, Veda, it’s a million times tighter than I could’ve ever imagined.”

  “It feels good, baby?” she purred.

  “Fuck, you have no idea.”

  She smiled at the smile in his voice. Pushing through the tiny hint of pain, guided by the promise of overwhelming pleasure she could sense in the distance, Veda relaxed her muscles as best she could, letting him deeper inside, slowly. Inch by inch.

  “I love you so much,” he croaked, as he made it in, balls deep.

  “I love you.” Her breathy moans mixed with his as their lips met in
time with their hips. In the next instant, the pain was gone, and she was fucking him with just as much passion as he was her, matching his thrusts until the skin of her ass was slapping against his, the sticky music their juices made only making the sound louder.

  “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “Don’t you ever…” Veda swirled her ass when the familiar sound warmed her ear—the one he only made when his orgasm was near. “Ever…” She squeezed her inner muscles, sighing when his warmth filled her, followed immediately by his strangled cry and an uncontrollable twitching of his hips. Savoring both his orgasm and his loss of control, she bit her lip and looked at him from over her shoulder, drinking in his astonished expression as she milked him dry. “ Ever… Leave me like that again.”

  He collapsed on her back, hardness still twitching inside her, and encircled her in his arms, squeezing so tightly it made it hard to breathe.

  And for Veda, it was enough.

  Even if only for a moment.

  It was.

  15

  “My boyfriend can’t ever know this is happening.” Veda looked across the pick-up truck, the smooth leather seat rumbling under her ass going still as the engine growled to a halt. “He can’t know we speak outside the hospital. He can’t know I’ve seen the inside of this truck. He can’t even know we’ve breathed the same air unless we had absolutely no other choice. Regardless of how good our intentions. He won’t be able to handle it.”

  Linc pulled his car keys from the ignition, kept his gaze forward for a moment, and then slowly let his amused green eyes move across his truck to the passenger’s seat. His hair was hidden under a slouchy black beanie, as well as his earpiece, leaving his eyes to take center stage, glowing under the yellow streetlights sneaking through the windshield. He clutched the wheel under his hand while giving her a knowing look.

  “Your boyfriend wouldn’t piss on me if I were on fire, nor would I, him,” he said. “I doubt we’ll ever catch ourselves having a conversation. Especially not one about you.”

  “He really is different, you know. I mean, yeah, he’s a rich boy, a little sheltered, a little spoiled, and there’s obviously something really off with his parents and their business, but… he’s different. He’s a good person.”

  “Gotta be the hundredth time you’ve recited that speech to me.” Linc raised his eyebrows. “Starting to wonder which one of us you’re trying to persuade.”

  Veda shifted. “I was really surprised when you called. It’s been over a week since I gave you my number. You have a great memory.”

  His eyes went back to the windshield, his wedding band gleaming under the moonlight where he clutched the wheel. It shone so brilliantly Veda was waiting for it to shoot a spotlight straight into the dark night sky. At the bottom of the hill, the ocean waves crashed against the black rocks. The mist they created mingled with the fog that rolled down from the hill’s peak, leaving the truck’s interior a little muggy.

  She searched his profile. “Why did you come to the hospital that day and touch my nails?”

  His eyes flew to her. They stayed for a while.

  Veda’s back straightened under his unwavering gaze.

  “I thought I saw something,” he said.

  Her heartbeat quickened. “What did you think you saw?”

  His attention shifted back to the windshield, his eyebrows shot up, and he nodded towards the line of shacks he’d parked next to. “We got action.”

  “He’s here?” Veda looked toward the apartment they’d parked outside of just in time to see Luke Greer unlocking his front door. Her hand flew to the car’s door handle.

  Linc reached across the console and clapped his hand around her upper arm. “Remember the plan,” he growled. “If you feel unsafe…”

  “Say the code word. I got it.” She tried to reclaim her arm, distantly thinking of how he was reminding her of her father when he didn’t release her. “It’s just Luke Greer, for God’s sakes. What’s the worst he could do? Fall asleep in mid-sentence because he’s too high to hold his head up? He’s harmless.”

  “It’s not Luke I’m worried about.” Linc tightened his hold, the roughness of his hands disagreeing with her skin—even though she knew this was his idea of gentle. “I meant what I said. These people are dangerous.”

  “I can handle it.” Veda looked back at him. “If we’re going to have any chance of finding Greta, Zena—finding your wife—we need all the information we can get.”

  Silence. The tightening of his hand around her arm. The clenching of his other hand around the wheel, making the glare of the streetlight move sharply across his platinum silver wedding ring. His nostrils flared as he sucked in a breath.

  Then, he released her.

  Veda left the truck with a laugh, shaking her head all the way up to Luke’s door, scratching the itchy wire under her shirt as she gave it three solid knocks. Her eyes rose to the colorful shacks that surrounded her as she waited. Barefoot children with no shoes or shirts pattered by her, the echo of their laughter floating in long after they’d gone, and Veda wondered if any of them had a curfew.

  She knocked again. An empty coke can rolled by, clattering down the unpaved road of the alley and stealing her attention. She knew most people would be terrified, but she found herself comforted, realizing that hill would always be home.

  She rolled the sour apple lollipop around with her tongue, and her eyes shot to the door when it swung open, and Luke Greer appeared. She breathed in deep, drinking in the ocean scent that had made it all the way to the top of the hill while she snatched the sucker from her lips with a plop.

  “Hey, Luke,” she said.

  “Oh. You.” Luke no longer wobbled from foot to foot, one false move from collapsing. His pupils had returned to normal, his speech clear as day and his body steady. Still, Veda didn’t miss the way his knuckles went pale as he clutched his door. The color also drained from his face. She recognized the distinct horror that crossed every one of his features because it was the same horror she fought to ignore in her own body every day.

  “Looking better today,” she said.

  “Made it to an AA meeting this morning.”

  Her heart warmed. “That’s great.”

  “Yeah, look, I got nothing to say.”

  Veda slammed her hand on his door when he tried to slam it closed. “You certainly had a lot to say when I was here the other day.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I got nothing to say.”

  Veda frowned. “I’m just here to ask you a few more questions about the day Greta went missing. I found new proof that Eugene was involved in her disappearance. The alias he used with Madame Nikki’s agency? Octo? That’s Latin for eight. Isn’t that the number you said Greta was chanting, over and over, on the phone that night? Eight, eight, eight?”

  Every time Veda said that number, Luke flinched.

  She went on. “A man using that same alias, Octo, was also the last person who saw Zena alive.”

  If it was possible, Luke’s eyes got even larger. He licked his parched lips and leaned forward, peeking out of the front door. He looked both ways down the alley, saw it was empty, and stood tall again, lowering his voice. “Look, I was high as fuck the other day, okay? I was just talking shit. I have no idea what Greta really said on the phone the night she went missing. She could’ve said anything.”

  Veda went to speak, but he beat her to it.

  “Please, if anyone asks…” His eyes fell, and he scoffed, lifting his pleading eyes to hers. “If anyone asks, I didn’t say shit about Greta. I didn’t say shit about Eugene. I didn’t say shit about Blackwater Cruises…” The pleading in his eyes moved to desperation. “Alright?”

  “But…” Veda’s heart skipped. “You didn’t say anything to me about Blackwater Cruises.”

  Luke’s face collapsed. He spluttered. Then, without another word, he stepped back and slammed the door in her face.

  Veda jolted. She
squinted at the door and knocked again. She knocked for what had to be another ten minutes. The knocks had moved to bangs before she finally gave up.

  Minutes later, she climbed back into the passenger’s seat of Linc’s truck, staring ahead in disbelief.

  Silence.

  Then, she shot her eyes to the driver’s seat.

  “Did you just fucking hear that?” she asked. “What he said about Blackwater Cruises?

  Linc was leaning one arm out of the open window of his truck, legs spread wide on either side of the steering wheel, running the beds of his fingers over his lips as he nodded softly.

  A moment later, he sat forward and started the truck. “Eugene got to him.”

  “God. He hasn’t even been out of the hospital for a week, and he’s already hard at work shutting Luke up?”

  “It’s what they do.”

  Veda scoffed. “Do you think Eugene threatened him?”

  Linc’s voice remained grim as he pulled out onto the street. “I think he paid him.”

  Veda sighed in defeat, collapsing back into her seat as Linc perused the streets.

  “It’s not coming overnight, Veda,” he said, once he’d stopped at a light, responding to her silence and peeking a look at her from the corner of his eyes. “It’s not coming for free.”

  “You sound like an at-home workout video.” Veda looked at him, feeling the irritation staining her eyes. “I’m not giving up. I’ll never give up until these people finally understand that they’re not invincible. If they won’t stop fucking with innocent kids on the hill then it’s high time a couple of kids from the hill—” she motioned between them, “—starts fucking with them.”

  Linc smiled gently. “Easy.”

  “I won’t go easy,” Veda beamed, becoming more and more irritated by the grin on his face. “Stop laughing at me.”

  Linc came to a red light and looked at her. He took a deep breath, his eyes falling to her lips. “You’ve gotta be keeping the sucker industry in business, single-handedly.”

  Veda snatched the sucker from her lips. “It relaxes me, okay? A powerful little ball of sweet, sour apple sanity conveniently infused on a white paper stick. What a time to be alive, huh?”