by Amber Lacie
“Bring me the girl and I’ll let you walk away. No strings attached. Now, should you fail, I will own you for the rest of your life. Decide––find the girl or take your place next to me.”
“The girl.” Lies. There was no way in hell I was going to just waltz into my father’s place carrying Piper on a silver platter. No, I was going to hide her until I could take him down. I just needed to bide my time. Piper is going to be officially put on lock down when I get home, I thought to myself, making a mental note.
“I figured you’d choose that option. Just to be clear––when you fail, I will fucking own you. Anything you do will only be because I allow it. We clear?”
“Fucking loud.”
“Good. You have three months. After that, you belong to me. Oh, and while I have your attention…I wouldn’t recommend crossing me again. Your mother may have loved you once, but I never have. Brooke was by far my greatest accomplishment and because of your negligence, she’s dead.”
“My negligence?” I asked, my tone clipped. “I was in fucking jail when she died because I took the fall for you. You did this. Not me.”
Ox’s eyes darkened as he jumped from his chair. Swinging his arm, he knocked the tray of liquor from the woman’s hands, sending it crashing to the ground. “You know nothing of her! Fucking nothing.” He took a long breath and wiped his sweat from his brow. “The deal has changed. Bring me the girl to me and you get to live. Fail, and I will personally see to your death. Now get the fuck out! Oh, and make nice with the girls downstairs before you go. I wouldn’t want them to think they’re not good enough for my only son.”
Only. The only son he knows of, or the only son he admits to having? Tate Oxley had fucked so many women over the years, there was no way I was his only offspring. I envied them. They didn’t know who their father was or the monster he truly was.
It was well after midnight before I finally made it home. Piper was already sound asleep, the sheet loosely draped around her waist, exposing her thigh. I watched as she stirred in her sleep. Carefully sneaking on top of the covers, I gently rested my hand on her arm to calm her. Rolling into me, she snuggled closer. With a sleepy breath she whispered, “Ben, don’t hurt me.”
The air froze around me. The beautiful girl I was so afraid of hurting was once again calling out for me in her sleep. Looking down, I inspected her for any sign that she was awake. There was none, she was fast asleep.
I fell asleep that night, taking my secret with me. If Jim knew what Tate had asked of me, he’d have lost his fucking mind. There’s also no doubt in my mind that he would run to Aaron first chance he got. I couldn’t tell him. The safest thing to do was to keep her next to me, even if I was the one who was supposed to be hunting her.
I wonder what she would think if she knew the wolf had fallen for Red Riding Hood.
The emptiness surrounded me. Being alone wasn’t a new feeling for me. Jim and Ben were always discussing things in harsh whispers. Jim would disappear for days, only to come back looking worn and exhausted. Then it would be Ben’s turn to leave. Oddly, it was his absence that hurt the most.
I remember lying on a sleeping bag, tucked in the corner underneath an overpass with my sister. Neither of us had pillows, so she balled her only sweater up and tucked it under my head. The sadness in her eyes made her look so much older than she really was. It was one of the few rare moments where she had let her guard down just enough for me to see her for what she really was. My sister. In my mind, she was this brilliant heroine, complete with a shield and sword, ready to fight the world for me. To see her in pain, to watch the brokenness take over her, was rare. On that particular night, while laying my head on her sweater, I watched her wipe a tear away.
“Are you sad because you’re cold? You can have your sweater back.”
“No,” she sniffled, turning her back towards me. A long silence fell over us before her soft voice broke the air around us. “Tell me, Pipes, have you ever felt completely alone, when you’re not really alone? Like there are all these people going on with their lives, passing you by, and as much as you want to reach out to them, you can’t. So instead, you just continue to stand there, alone, watching everything crash around you. I feel that way sometimes.”
But she wasn’t alone. I couldn’t imagine what she meant, at least not then. “But you have me.” I tried to offer myself to her as if I were some great reward. She turned slowly, looking over her shoulder at me.
“And you got me, kid. Forget I said anything. I think I’m just a little too tired is all.”
“Okay.” I could tell she was far from okay, but I closed my eyes anyway.
“Night, Pipes. Get some rest.”
Smiling sadly at the memory, it was oddly one of my favorites. I had grown up to completely understand that feeling. It would often find me at night, wrapping itself around my heart, squeezing it, suffocating it a little more each time. Eventually, I relinquished myself, letting that feeling take me over. It’s how I survived. If I didn’t feel wanted, if I didn’t feel alive, then I could go on being empty forever. It had to be better than what I had lived through so far. But then Jim came. And then Ben.
I felt the safety in Jim’s promise to get me out of the house. It gave me hope. Of course, when Ben showed up with Saint’s blood splattered on his face, I second-guessed everything. Anything was better than where I was right then, so I took his hand, and in doing so, I felt protected. He warned me against seeing him as anything other than a bad man, capable of evil that I couldn’t dream of. But I didn’t see him that way. I couldn’t help it. Once our hands touched, another piece of hope snuck into my heart.
I wasn’t naïve enough to think he would ride off into the sunset with me on the back of his bike, but I believed he would save me. That’s where I had gone wrong. He didn’t want me like I wanted him. Everything he did confused me. One minute I had a room of my own, the next minute I was laying in his bed with his arm around me as I slept. Somehow, he held back the demons that slipped into my dreams. Surely, he couldn’t be as bad as he said. As if to prove my thoughts wrong, he would avoid me entirely during the day. I thought after he caught me in his arms, after our fight, after the kiss things would change. They didn’t.
The morning after the kiss everything was awkward. I didn’t know where we stood. Were we a couple? Was I just a little action while he was home? Did he even truly want me there, or was I just part of his plan? Jim must’ve caught on to what I was feeling because every time he looked at me, he gave me a soft, sympathetic smile. It was as though he was trying to say, ‘I know. I don’t understand it either.’ The emptiness that had once encircled me, before meeting Ben, was back.
I was lying in bed, letting it consume me, when I could hear voices growing louder in the kitchen. Jim and Ben were arguing again. I knew if I walked out there, even if just to grab a bottle of water, they would both stop mid-sentence. Whatever they were planning, I wasn’t allowed to know about it. I didn’t blame them. They didn’t know me from Adam, other than what they knew of me from the house. Why would they trust me? The loud voices continued for a few more minutes. My head was beginning to throb, so I decided I’d step into the room to a get a drink and they could go back to whispering when I left.
As my feet gently touched the floor, I reached down for a pair of pants, but decided against them. I was wearing one of Ben’s t-shirts and it went far enough down my thighs to cover to my ass and then some. The plan was to get a drink and come straight back to bed, so there was no real reason for pants. Peeking out of the room before stepping out into the hallway, I made my way into the kitchen.
“You failed to mention any of this to me before. It’s been fucking weeks since you met with him.” Jim was pissed.
“What was I supposed to say? Huh? The plan hasn’t changed. I’m bringing him down.” Ben slammed his fist down on the counter causing me to jump in my skin.
“He put a fucking mark on your head. Are you even hearing yourself right now?”
>
“You think I don’t know that? That’s something I have to live with.”
“Ben––that may work for you, but what about Piper. You told me he didn’t know about her.”
Ben leaned against the counter and dropped his head into his hands. “I lied, okay? I thought when he didn’t ask about her the first couple times, he didn’t know about her. Then all of a sudden, he brings her up. Ironically, it’s right after Beckett comes by snooping for her. It doesn’t add up. He shouldn’t want her.”
“But he does. Don’t throw more lies at me. You are a fucking asshole. He sent you to bring her in and you failed. I cannot believe you kept this from me, man. The mark isn’t just for you. It’s for both of you…together. He knows.” Jim’s voice was low and harsh. I could feel the anger radiating in his tone.
“What do you want from me? I’m not just going to hand her over. We stick to the plan. If we move her now, he’ll know.”
“So what? We just keep her in the dark. Let her think everything is fine when it’s not. What if you’re gone and they come for her?”
“They won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t, Jim. I don’t fucking know. All I know is that the girl in that room is mine. She’s fucking mine. Nobody gets to breathe by her unless I allow it.”
It was at that moment Jim looked up and saw me standing at the edge of the hallway. “She’s yours, huh?”
“She. Is. Mine. This is so much bigger than you and me. I don’t care what happens to me, but she deserves the world. I can’t just stay here and wait for them to come and destroy her. I’m taking him out.”
“That’s a nice sentiment and all, but maybe you should think about telling her about your plan. After all, she is yours, right? She should probably know that.” Jim stepped to the side and tilted his head in my direction.
Ben slowly straightened. Turning to face me, worry seemed to crease itself in his forehead. He didn’t say a word. He simply watched me as I stepped closer, moving around him to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. Reaching out, his hand gently clasped mine as I bumped the refrigerator door closed with my hip. “I thought you were sleeping.”
I debated in my mind whether to let him keep holding my hand or to pull it away. “I was. It’s hard to sleep with all the yelling.” He gently dropped my hand from his. I guess I didn’t need to decide what to do after all. He did it for me. Staring down at his hand, I imagined it reaching up towards my face and pulling me in for a kiss. Hearing Ben clear his throat, my daydream disappeared, bringing me back to reality. The same reality that had me standing awkwardly in the kitchen, staring at him like some lost puppy. It was pathetic. “Right. I’ll just go back to bed then.”
“Piper.” His voice froze my movements. In my head, I was screaming at him, demanding to know what it was he wanted with me. On the outside, I was just a skinny girl in a t-shirt, waiting for permission to move. I hated that he controlled me so easily. When he didn’t speak again, I began to walk away.
“Piper, just wait a God damn minute. I’m trying to fucking talk to you.”
My emotions rolled under my skin in waves. Longing, lust, sadness, and then anger made their way to the surface. “Are you? Because it doesn’t sound like it to me. You say my name and I wait for you. You touch me and I wait for you. You kissed me, Ben, and I fucking waited for you. I waited for more. And you know what I got? Fucking whispers behind my back.” I wasn’t waiting for him anymore. Jim gave me another soft smile as I leaned up on my toes to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“What was that for?”
“Coming back for me. I realized that I never said thank you. I owe you my life.”
“Nah. You got that all wrong.” Nodding in Ben’s direction, he continued. “That guy there saved you, and I knew he would.”
I stared over my shoulder at Ben, who was leaning against the counter. His jaw was clenched, most likely a reaction to the kiss I had given Jim. Gently brushing my hand down Jim’s arm, I kept my eyes locked on Ben. His nostrils flared and his eyes darkened at my movements. Seeing the look on Ben’s face, Jim took a step back causing my hand to fall to my side. Snapping my head back, I gave him a questioning look. That’s when my heart sank. I could see how uncomfortable I had made him, all to get a dig in at Ben. It wasn’t fair to him. He was my friend.
“I’m sorry, Jim. He just makes me insane.”
“It’s all good. He’s crazy enough to make anyone lose their mind. Just don’t use me to get to him, cool?”
“Yeah.”
A big grin spread across his face as he grabbed his keys off the hook by the door. “Look, I got shit I gotta take care of, since the fucking asshole over there insists on doing this the hard way. Behave, kid.” Shooting a glance in Ben’s direction, he narrowed his eyes on him. “Ben, sort your shit out before I get back, or I’ll sort it out for you.” The look Jim gave Ben wasn’t as friendly as the look he gave me. I had earned myself a friend with Jim, and knowing I just pushed the boundaries between us stung a little. Just because Ben was an asshole didn’t mean I needed to be a bitch. I promised myself, right then and there, I would never use him like that again.
Once Jim was gone it felt like apartment walls were closing in around Ben and me. It was the first time I didn’t want to be in a room with him. “We still need to talk.” The deep timber of his voice scratched at the hard exterior I was trying keep up for appearances.
“I don’t want to talk to you. I want to forget you.”
Stepping away from the counter, he moved around the island and stopped just behind me. The hairs on my arms stood on end. I felt torn between running from him and turning around to face him. My head was always a mess when I was near him, and I hated it. I could feel his hot breath on my neck as he leaned down by my ear. “You can’t forget me.”
“And why not?”
“Because I won’t let you.”
“Just like you won’t let me do anything without your permission, right? I can’t leave. I can’t talk to anyone who’s not in this apartment. I’m not allowed to touch you. There are too many rules, Ben. I can’t breathe.”
I felt his fingers lightly brush against the nape of my neck. “Without the rules—”
“I know––you’ll hurt me. But did you ever stop to think that maybe I want you to hurt me? I want to feel. You can’t blame me for that.”
“Baby, I don’t blame you for any of this. This craziness is all on me.”
Biting the bullet, I turned around to face him. “Do you want me?” I asked, my eyes searching his for a sign.
“It’s not as easy as that. I’ve fucked up so many lives. I’ve destroyed people. You don’t even know what I’m capable of.”
“Because you won’t show me. I’m a ‘learn by living it’ kind of girl. Warnings never work for me. Show me––make me see how bad it can be.” I rubbed my fingers against my clammy palm waiting for him to snap out of whatever haze he had himself trapped in. I was done playing his games and he knew it.
Ben gently raised his hand and cupped it behind my neck, drawing me closer to him. His thumb softly swirled in little circles as his eyes combed my face. “I was with someone before you, and I hurt her. It was bad. I wanted so badly to prove to myself that I was a good man, that I deserved her––Piper, I didn’t deserve her. And I don’t deserve you either.”
“Maybe.” Slowly reaching out my hand, I laid it on the collar of his black t-shirt and began to trace the edge of it. It was the closest I had been to him without him making the first move. “Maybe she wasn’t meant for you,” I whispered. “None of that matters now. I’m here, not her. Do you want me, Ben?”
“Baby, I want you more than anything.”
My fingers slowly slid up around his neck while my other hand pressed against his firm chest. He wasn’t willing to break his stupid rules, but I was. Standing on my tiptoes, I stretched my lips towards his. He sighed. In the next instant his mouth was all over me as he lifted me from the
floor, spun me around, and set me on the island behind him.
His hands sensually roved over every curve of my body. My heart was beating so fast it felt like my chest was going to explode. Leaning in, his teeth nipped at the skin just below my ear, followed by sweet, soft kisses. Trailing his hands up my body, he gently lifted my arms above my head and slowly pulled off the shirt, being sure to keep his hands from feeling every inch of my naked flesh. I smiled as he quickly tugged his shirt off and tossed both of them behind him in a pile on the floor. His hands found my waist and I dug my nails into his back, scratching him as I tried to pull our bodies closer together. A hiss escaped his lips, and I was rewarded with a bite on my shoulder. God, yes.
I wasn’t going to let him stop, not this time. “Ben, please,” I begged.
“Please what, baby?” he whispered, nipping and sucking at the skin just below my ears. Shuddered breaths fell from my lips as goosebumps spread across my body. It was the first time in a long time someone was actually touching me, and I wanted it. I wasn’t being invaded; my body wasn’t being used against me as a weapon. His touch seeped into my skin and my entire body buzzed with excitement. “Tell me. What do you want?”
Fuck. He was asking me what I wanted, and I could barely keep track of my thoughts as they raced through my mind. “You.”
“Where?” he whispered into my ear as his hand slid between us, tracing my thigh to the edge of my cotton panties.
“Everywhere. Fucking everywhere.” My breaths came out ragged as I grabbed onto his wrist, leading him to where I was most desperate for him. He chuckled as he slid his fingers under the elastic band, only stopping once he found what he was looking for. My back arched as he slowly eased one finger inside of me. Slipping it back out, he slowly slid it up to my clit, circling it with just enough pressure to elicit soft moans from my lips.