by SM Olivier
“No,” I begged him as I slowly sank down on him further. My eyes widened when I realized he hadn’t even entered me all the way. “Be with me,” I begged him.
He kissed my lips with a pent-up passion he had never shown me. I could feel myself responding to him and my desire elevated. I rocked against him once more. Taking more of him. I waited for my body to adjust to him.
“Shit, Blake,” he hissed. “You’re so damn tight.”
“Be with me,” I repeated to him, when I knew he was completely in me.
He growled low in his throat before he drove up into me. I gripped his shoulders trying to hold onto him. He was like an unleashed beast as he continued to push in and out of me.
“I can’t last much longer,” he said in a pained voice.
I continued to rock against him, feeling my own tension build in me. He roared above me as I frantically moved against him, finding my own release. I screamed in abandon, knowing someone would have to be standing directly outside of the door to hear me. The music downstairs drowned out my cries.
I was physically trembling at my release. My hands and feet numb.
He took a few steps back and stumbled to the couch in his office. He began to fervently kiss me all over my face. “I’m so sorry, Blake. I was too rough.”
“No, you weren’t,” I insisted. “Plus, I asked for it.” I tried to joke.
He groaned. “I’m a monster and you should stay away from me.” When I looked at the bleakness in his eyes, I could see that he truly believed that.
I sat back and took his face in my hands kissing him with all my pent-up emotions. I didn’t know the right words to say to him, but I wanted to show him that he was mine, demons, monsters, and all.
When I woke up the next morning I was in Remy’s bed. We had walked back here before the party had even ended and explored each other all night. His room was the only room that was completely furnished. I stretched and noticed the pain and soreness I felt, but I didn’t mind. I rolled over and didn’t find him beside me any longer. I sat up with the blanket clutched to my chest.
I was pleasantly surprised to find out I wasn’t hung over or feeling any residual side effects from drinking last night. Remy had plied me with plenty of water and some Tylenol before we finally fell asleep.
I looked around and wondered where he had gone. His room was by far my most favorite room. It was made up of mostly glass, the sheer white curtains revealed the city’s landscape beyond. Up here it felt like I was the only person in the world.
Remy opened the French doors as he walked back in the room. He was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and white t-shirt. He had two coffees in his hands, and I could see the tension was back in his face and body. He took my duffel bag and put it at the foot of the bed. He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, handing me my coffee.
“Why didn’t you tell me about yesterday morning?” he asked with his eyebrows knitted. His blue-grey eyes pinning me with his intense stare.
I frowned and shrugged. “I thought you knew. I texted you yesterday and you never responded.”
He sighed and rubbed his face wearily. “Get dressed. We’re leaving in 15 minutes.” He said before getting up and leaving the room.
I growled in frustration. After last night, I thought we had taken steps forward, now I felt like we had taken gigantic steps back. We were further then where we started. Part of me wanted to refuse, but the other part of me knew this was important.
I got up and padded naked to his ensuite bathroom. I turned on the shower, and then turned back to pin my hair up. Some of the waves had returned, but they were still manageable. I didn’t want to wash it if I didn’t have to. I took a quick shower, using his soap, before I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and put on a light coating of makeup.
I went back out to his room. I pulled out my skinny jeans, white V-neck fitted tee, and light weight black leather jacket. I picked up my black ankle boots. He had adopted the same habit of no shoes in the house.
I left his room and saw him immediately. He was beautiful to look at. He was built like a mountain and just as majestic. He was leaning against the half wall surrounding the roof. He was looking off into the distance with his coffee braced in his hands.
I slid up behind him and hugged him. I felt him stiffen for a moment before he turned and lifted me onto the wall. He placed a long lingering kiss on my lips before he took my hand and led me down to the service elevator that didn’t go through the house but went straight down to the garage.
We didn’t talk. I didn’t ask him where we were going or why. I knew right now wasn’t the time for words. I could see his inner struggle as we walked into the garage. He walked over to a black bike I had never seen before. He handed me a helmet, slid on his own leather jacket and his matching helmet.
I couldn’t have worn a better outfit if I had planned it. It was a totally inane thought, but I was feeling baffled and confused at the moment.
He slid on the bike and held out a hand for me to slide on behind him. I put my feet on the pegs and grasped his middle. He started the bike and the low rumble filled the garage, before he hit the remote that would open the far bay.
I was enthralled by the sights as we drove through the city. After being on it for about ten minutes, I knew I had to have him teach me. I wanted a bike. Like yesterday. It was exhilarating, exciting, and I felt so free on it as he continued to increase his speed. We hopped off onto the exit leading to the highway and he increased his speed once more.
I wondered how I could get my license and buy a bike. I didn’t have either, but I was determined for both. Will had gotten me a Jeep Wrangler, and Remy had planned to teach me how to drive, the last time I turned 18, but then Horatio screwed up my life.
I hadn’t bothered going to driver’s education in school. I knew it required a parent or guardian to ride with you a certain number of hours, before they would even issue you a license. Heidi never had a reliable vehicle. They were constantly breaking down or getting towed away, when she parked them in restricted areas. That normally occurred when she had been drinking or high.
I knew if I had purchased a beater, she would have taken it or sold it. She would have never driven around with me. I didn’t think it was worth the aggravation or headache, so I had walked or taken the bus. Bus fares were low and affordable on my waitressing tips.
Maybe after I turned 21 and received my inheritance from my father’s death, I could buy a bike with it. I would have to make sure I set some of it, if not most of it, away for the kids. I knew Will would always take care of us, but having a rainy-day fund would make me feel better.
I had been so lost in my musings, I hadn’t noticed we had hopped back off the interstate and headed to a picturesque little town. We got off onto a side road and headed towards a cemetery. I was confused when he finally stopped the bike and helped me off. He took my hand and placed our helmets on the bike. I wanted to gush about the thrill I had just felt. I wanted to ask him to teach me how to ride, but I knew now was not the time or place.
He led me towards a little angel head stone. A plaque beneath it read Anna Mae Pierce. I read the date of birth and the date of death and gasped. She had only been six years old when she died, and the anniversary of her death had been yesterday.
“Anna was my baby sister,” Remy finally spoke. His voice was scratchy from his prolonged silence. He sat down in front of her tombstone and brought his knees up to his chest, bracing his arms across them. “I never knew my dad. My mother was a lot like your step mother. She loved to drink and do drugs. We lived in a rundown, hovel of a trailer park. Molly, my cousin, lived right next door.
“My mom met my step dad when I was nine. She got pregnant shortly thereafter. He hated me. He beat me for shits and giggles. Especially when he drank, and he drank a lot. Molly moved in with us when she was ten, I was thirteen. Her dad and mom were in jail again, and the state placed her with her only living relative.
“Together, we p
retty much raised Anna. She was—" He cleared his throat, and I knew he was trying not to get emotional. I sat down beside him and started to run my nails across his back, trying to sooth him. “She was such an angel. She was such a good baby and little girl. At thirteen, I knew I had to get us out of there.
“I started picking up odd jobs here and there. I was always a tall kid and looked older. There were plenty of places that would hire me and pay me under the table. I hadn’t realized until nearly a year later that the sick bastard had been molesting Molly, but by then it was too late. One of her teachers saw what I couldn’t. She called the cops. The state placed her with a nice family in the gifted community. We hadn’t realized at the time how befitting it was. Since Molly hadn’t gotten her gifts until she was thirteen.
“They put him in jail for one year, because there was no physical evidence. He never left any physical evidence. My mom denied all of Molly’s accusations. She gave him an alibi. The day he got out of jail, my mom was supposed to take Anna trick or treating. I was working. She never told me he was getting released that day, that she was going to get him and bring him home.
“When I got home. I couldn’t find Anna. I looked all over. My mom and my step dad were passed out on the couch. I finally called the cops and…” He paused, putting a fist to his mouth and tried to control his emotions once again. “Anna decided to go trick or treating by herself. She was with a group of friends. She wanted to be a black bat that year. When I bought her costume, I didn’t think about broken street lights and visibility. They were out past the time they should have been. She was running across a busy street and didn’t look both ways. She was hit by a car. She died instantaneously.” He paused once more, and I hugged him from behind.
“At first, I had to deal with the pain of losing her, for blaming myself. I should have requested the night off. I shouldn’t have bought her that costume. I should have known better,” he continued. “Then we got to see the police records. The other man was an influential, successful businessman, he truly wasn’t at fault. There was no way he could have seen my sister. My step dad and mom tried to sue him for their pain and suffering, and they went after the state, too, for not maintaining the broken street lights in that part of town.
“And they won. The day they won, they were celebrating and bragging about everything they could get. I confronted them. I told them I was going to the police and telling them that they neglected their daughter, that they didn’t even know where she had been. My step dad came after me, but I was bigger now. I knew I was stronger. I felt this surge every now and then. My fear and anger must have triggered my gift.
“I picked my step dad up and threw him through the window. I went outside and started beating on him. It took ten men to pull me off him. The lawyer had my charges dropped after I told her why I had gone in a rage. I showed her my scars on my back from his past beatings.
“He lived, but he’s living in a wheel chair. My mom chose him over me. She gave me up to the state.
“Will read about a 135 pound, 15-year-old boy who threw a 240 pound man through a window, nearly killing him. I sat in front of Judge Myers that morning and was given a not-guilty verdict, and by that afternoon he had placed me in the care of Pops.”
“I’m so sorry, Remy,” I was sobbing by the end of the story. “I know that sorry doesn’t help or bring her back, though.”
He turned and embraced me, and I could feel his shoulders shaking. We sat there in that cemetery for a long time. Drawing from each other. Seeking the comfort, we longed for.
“Sometimes I feel that same monster rising within me, and I’m afraid I might lose control,” Remy said as we sat together on an outside patio of a quaint little diner in town.
We were hungry, so we stopped to get some brunch. It was a surprisingly mild day, so we elected to eat outside. I ordered a sausage, spinach, and feta omelet, while Remy ordered pancakes, over-easy eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, and rye toast.
I took a sip of my coffee. “We all have a monster within in us,” I said resolutely. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But my monster can hurt people,” Remy stated dryly.
I rolled my eyes. “So, can mine. You were just trying to exact justice.”
He snorted at me.
He was silent for a little while, before he said pensively. “I hate the fact that you were taken from us, but I’m glad that bastard didn’t have the opportunity to try and rape you again, or that other girl. I felt nothing but satisfaction when I got the chance to kill him the second time, but now none of that happened, so he’s still out there.”
I paused with the fork next to my mouth. I had begun to realize the guys had started getting their memories back. They would drop tidbits of information like this all the time. My stomach cramped up. “I never thought about that. I wonder if Will could find him for us. He needs to be taken off the streets before he can harm anyone else.” I pushed my plate away, losing my appetite.
Remy cursed under his breath. “I’m sorry, Blake. I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories.” He picked me up and placed me on his lap. “The first time I disappeared, I couldn’t handle my anger seeing the way you had lived. You reminded me too much of me, of Molly. I had to get away. I had become good at hiding my feelings, repressing memories, but they were all coming back. The second time I disappeared, it was around the anniversary of her death. I have never disappeared to be with anyone else, since Drake confirmed our connection the first time.
“Molly showed up the other night, and she wanted to know if I wanted to go visit Anna with her. After she was buried, I refused to visit her grave. I purchased the angel for her about four years after she died. My mom and her dad never bothered to get her a headstone, but I still didn’t want to visit her.
“In my mind, she isn’t there. Her body is, but her soul has moved on. She’s happy now. Molly tries to get me to go with her every year, but I can’t. I don’t want to see her grieving. I don’t want to remember that Anna was taken too soon.
“I know I don’t handle emotions well. I know I’m known for shutting people out. I need time to myself to lick my wounds and come back when I feel mentally capable. I don’t like talking about my feelings.
“I realize now, I can’t shut you out,” he stroked my arm. “We almost lost you yesterday, because I couldn’t answer my damn phone.”
I turned and stroked his cheek. “We’re both broken people, we all are, so we’re going to have to learn how do this right. Yesterday wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t,” I insisted before I leaned in to kiss him.
We shared a sweet kiss full of promise, before he pulled away and I had a fork full of pancakes with strawberries on it, in my face.
I giggled before I took a bite. He didn’t care for strawberry pancakes. He preferred blue berry or banana fosters. He had ordered them for me.
Chapter 26
“Wake up, Baby,” Remy grunted when my alarm went off for the third time.
“Ugh, do I have to?” I grumbled, burying myself in deeper on his chest. “Can’t we sleep in and skip the games today? We can just show up afterwards to the meeting.”
He chuckled, his voice still thick with sleep, “I wish, but we wouldn’t want to let our team down.”
I groaned. “Team, seam, I want to sleep more. Maybe if someone hadn’t kept me up most of the night.” I teased.
He pinched my butt, making me yelp in surprise. “If I recall, it was you that was the initiator and you who suggested I didn’t leave.”
“Semantics,” I grumbled as I slid out of bed, and he chuckled at me.
Ever since he let me catch a glimpse of him yesterday, he had been smiling more often. His austere features were arresting and captivating when he smiled. I loved seeing him this relaxed.
I walked over to my closet. I pulled on a pair of yoga pants, a sports bra, and a racer back tank top. Remy had brought his clothes in the night before, so he wouldn’t have to go back to his room this morning. When
I turned around he held out a familiar hooded sweatshirt. The lettering was faded and had clearly been worn and washed several times.
“You remembered,” I declared happily as I slid it on.
“It was the first memory I had of you,” he said gruffly, as if he was embarrassed at the small gesture. “The night you were here with Gavin. You ran into me, and when you stood up, I had a flashback of you wearing my hoodie. We were at a football game and you were standing on the seats, cheering your little heart out. You were so beautiful.”
I climbed onto my bed, so I could be eye level with him, and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Thank you,” I kissed him softly. “I really missed it.” I buried my head in the neck line, it still smelled faintly of him. “And I forgive you for keeping me up all night and pinching me,” I patted his face, with a cheeky grin.
He chuckled at me, before he lifted me up and kissed me soundly. “Let’s get going, we’re going to be late.”
This was the most Knights I had seen in one place. It was hard to believe there were so many of us. All fourteen teams were present. As with most teams, trash talking occurred. Each team thought they were the best. We had finally decided to put it to a test.
Will, Steven, Beth, and a few other members of the board had thrown together an obstacle course for us. It was supposed to test our physical abilities as well as our gifted capacities. The first team back had bragging rights and the opportunity to pass on certain assignments. Generally, teams were made of six to ten people.
Our team consisted of Remy, Jace, Troy, Noah, Drake, Jaxson, Rachel, and myself. Terrance, John, Michael, Dawn, Sam, and Marcel had petitioned to run with us, but was denied, so Gavin and Jemmy volunteered to go onto their team. We still had every intention on working together. Especially after we found out some of the teams were going to be working together and gunning for us. The new team Ned was placed on was one of them.
I was surprised to see Rose on one of the other teams determined to take us down. “I thought she wasn’t that gifted,” I whispered to Jemmy as I looked pointedly at Rose. “Plus, why is she running when she’s pregnant?”