by L. P. Dover
“It’s okay,” he murmured. “You’re here now.”
“Now all you have to do is get better.”
A sad smile spread across his face. “You know that’s not going to happen, son. I’m losing this battle.”
I knew it, but I didn’t know what to say. The only thing I could do was make sure I killed the man who took our family from us, before he passed away. “I should probably go, so you can rest.” I stood, but saw the panic build in his eyes.
“No,” he pleaded. “Don’t go. All I ask is one more night with your old man.”
We used to be close, always fishing and camping together every chance we got. “Emma’s outside. I don’t want to leave her alone.”
“You don’t have to. She can stay too. Glenn bribed the hospital into allowing me everything I needed. I need you here. Please.” I gave in with a nod and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I want to know everything about you and this girl.”
I chuckled. “It’s a long story.”
He smiled. “We’ve got all night.”
Emma
“Thank you,” Preston said, stopping me at the car with his hands on my hips.
I leaned against him and he held me tight. The sun peeked through the trees in the distance, and my eyes felt heavy. “You’re welcome,” I replied with a yawn. “I enjoyed talking to your dad. It was awesome hearing stories from when you were a boy.” Turning around, I gazed up into his tired, gray eyes. “All your fears were for nothing. He loves you so much.” But I could see the pain on his face.
“He’s not going to last long in there. I have to work fast.”
Once we were in the car and on our way, I asked, “Why didn’t you tell him someone broke into your house?”
He sighed. “I wanted to, but more stress is the last thing he needs. It’ll only make things worse.”
Clasping his hand in mine, I held it tight. “How about, after we finish at the theater, we go back to your house and I search through your sister’s room? Doesn’t hurt to have another pair of eyes.”
We stopped at a stoplight and he looked over at me. “You sure you want to do that?”
I nodded. “Maybe there’s something you can’t see that I can. Girls are good at hiding things,” I said with a wink.
He smiled and blew out a heavy breath. “Okay, we can go tomorrow. Tonight, it’s just me and you. There’s still so much you don’t know.”
“And I’m not going anywhere.” We were coming up on the café by the theater. “I lied,” I said, pointing. “I know we don’t have much time, but I need my hot chocolate. If you pull over, I can run in really quick.”
“You haven’t changed a bit,” he said with a laugh. There weren’t any parking spaces in front of the café, so he pulled around back.
I got out and shut the door, bending down so I could see him. “Want anything?”
“Coffee, black.”
I winked. “Got it. You sure you don’t want to go in with me, in case John’s in there?”
Preston’s mischievous smirk made me shiver. “I don’t think I have anything to worry about on that end.”
His confidence made me wonder what more he’d said to John than he’d previously let on. Shaking my head, I took off across the street and around both corners of the café to the front door. It was a busy Wednesday morning. People were everywhere, trying to get their morning coffee runs in before the midweek slump.
I ordered our drinks and snuck a bite of my blueberry scone while waiting for the girl to put whipped cream in my hot chocolate. Preston’s coffee smelled wonderful, but I hated the taste of it. My phone rang, so I moved down to the end of the counter and set the coffee down to reach for my phone. It was Andrea.
“Hey,” I answered.
“Hey, yourself. Been too busy to call me?”
If only she knew. “You have no idea.” I laughed. “I have so much to tell you. Unfortunately, I can’t say too much at the moment. I’m in a public place.”
She gasped. “Did you and Preston have sex?”
“Of course, that’d be the first thing you thought of.” I paused for a second and smiled. “But yes, we did. Things between us have been going amazing, for the most part. But that doesn’t even begin to cover what’s been going on.”
“Now I’m intrigued. You’ll have to tell me all about it. Looks like I’ll have plenty of time on my hands here for the next few months.”
“Oh yeah, why is that?” The lady at the counter handed me my hot chocolate. I mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to her, and slipped the small paper bag with my scone inside my purse. Picking up the drinks, I jostled my way to the front door.
She sighed. “The doctor wants me to take it easy. Apparently, Matthew wants to come out early.”
“Oh no. Is Cliff going to stay home and help you?”
“Yes, he‘ll be here with me for part of the time. My mom’s going to help too.”
Hands full, I looked at the door. A little girl with pig tails saw my dilemma and hopped out of her seat to open it for me. “Aw, thank you, sweetheart.” Once outside, all I had to do was get to the car without spilling our drinks. “Sorry about that,” I said to Andrea. “I’m trying to keep myself from spilling fiery hot liquids all over myself.”
“I understand.” She giggled.
I cringed. “Ugh. I need to check up on my parents. With everything going on, I haven’t had time.”
“I’m sure they’ll understand. You work for a powerful man.” She had no idea.
The phone was about to slip away from my ear so I stopped and set the drinks on one of the small tables. “That I do. I promise once I’m done in Charleston, I’ll head up to Maine. I’m hoping Preston will decide to come with me.”
“Oh my God, that would be amazing,” she gushed. “It’ll be just like when we were in college.”
I doubted that, but I was hoping it’d help him. “All right, babe, I need to get going. We have to listen to a few more bands before we make our final decision.”
“It’s a shame Silent Break couldn’t make a debut again. You guys were amazing.”
Memories of us on stage at the local college club and at frat parties flashed through my mind. “Yes, we were, but it might be a little too late for that.”
“Never know.”
I snorted. “I’ll talk to you later. Make sure to get your rest.” We said our goodbyes, and I slipped my phone back into my purse. Preston and I only had a couple of minutes left before we had to be at the theater. Picking up the drinks, I started toward the side of the building. Before I could turn the corner, I came to a screeching halt, narrowly missing a man rounding the same corner.
I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes, heart racing. The man laughed. “We seriously need to stop meeting like this.”
My eyes flew open at the recognition of his voice. It was the man I’d bumped into at the café the other day. “Yes, we do. It would’ve been bad today,” I said, nodding toward the cups in my hands.
He chuckled. “Yes, it would. Did you just move here? I’ve never seen you at the café until just recently.”
“No, I’m here on business. I’ll be going home soon.” I really needed to get back to the car, but I didn’t want to be rude.
Stepping to the side, he waved me by. “I don’t want to keep you. Maybe I’ll see you again.”
I smiled to be polite. “Maybe.” I walked past him and around the last corner.
Preston waited outside the car, leaning against the door. When he saw me, his shoulders relaxed. “Everything okay?” he called out.
I hurried across the street and handed him his coffee. “Yeah. Andrea called and then I ran into someone.”
His eyes darkened. “John?”
“No,” I said with a laugh. “I bumped into him the other day, and I almost spilled our drinks on him this time. I swear, I’m the clumsiest person in that café.”
Preston winked. “What else is new?”
Rolling my eyes, I smacked
his arm. “Let’s go. We have a busy day. I’m ready to get it started.”
“Have you decided which bands you liked?” I looked over at Preston, the golden rays of the sun setting brought out a sparkle in his tired eyes. We were on my balcony, with notes from the auditions scattered in front of us on the table. The day had been long and we were kicking up our feet for the rest of the night.
He handed me his notes with his two band choices on it. “These guys were good.”
I rocked back and forth in my rocking chair, hating the fact I had to pick only five bands out of the amazing group of people we had the honor to audition.
I passed him my choices. “So are these.”
His lips pursed when he read the last band name on my list, First Sanity. He knew it was John’s group. “How did I know?”
I snatched the paper out of his hand. “They are really talented, and he has the personality for this type of work. He’d be good with the crowd. Besides, you’re the one who’ll be guiding him. That’s your job. I’ll be working as Wade’s assistant before too long.”
He huffed. “I don’t think that’s going to work. I don’t want you traveling everywhere with him.”
I shrugged and tucked our notes back into my notebook, before the pages could fly away with the wind. “It’s my job.”
Getting to his feet, he reached for my hands, lifting me up. He tilted my chin and brushed the hair out of my face, holding it back with his hands. “You could always work for me. Wade can find someone else. I’m sure Glenn wouldn’t mind.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist. “If I worked for you, we’d never get anything done.”
“We’ve done just fine here,” he said in all seriousness.
Leaning into his touch, I smiled. “You know, I never told you what Andrea said.”
His brows furrowed. “About what?”
“She thinks we need to bring Silent Break back to life. With Glenn backing us up, we could really do something with ourselves. I’m sure Cliff would love to be a part of it.”
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. “We’ve been out of it for so long, Emma. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
Bringing my hands to his cheeks, I leaned up and kissed him. “That’s what you have me for. I was always the smartest in the group.”
Preston’s eyes darkened, his smile fading. His body grew hard against my stomach and I bit my lip. “If you were the smartest, you wouldn’t be here with me right now,” he murmured.
I shrugged. “Maybe, but I kind of like having you around. In fact,” I said, reaching between his legs. His cock jumped when my hand slid down his shorts, earning a strangled groan. “There’s something I need from you right now.”
He lowered his forehead to mine, his breathing deep as I massaged him. “Fuck, you’re killing me. I’d do anything to have you in bed every single, fucking night.”
Lifting up, I sucked his lip between my teeth. “What’s stopping you?”
“Not a damn thing.” His hands snaked up my T-shirt and he tore it away from my body, unsnapping my bra next.
The blowing wind sent goose bumps up and down my arms, nipples pebbling. He bent down and closed his lips over a hardened peak and sucked, pulling and biting until I cried out in pleasure.
Sliding his lips up my neck, he closed them over my lips. “I used to think about doing this every time I was around you,” he murmured low.
I grabbed his hand and slid it under the waistband of my jeans. Using my hand to push his fingers against my wet heat, I moaned. “And every time I touched myself, I used to imagine it was you.”
He paused and stared down at me, his eyes wild. Pulling his hand out, he unbuttoned my jeans. As soon as he was done, we worked together to push them down enough to where I could kick them off. Standing before him, naked on the porch, I watched as he tore off his shirt and slid his pants down, never breaking eye contact.
His cock bulged behind his boxers and I bit my lip as he rubbed his thick length through the material, allowing his eyes to travel up and down my body. He then slid his boxers down and stroked himself in long, slow movements. Watching me watch him was the single most erotic thing I’d ever seen.
“Come here,” he demanded, his gray eyes blazing with an intensity that made me tremble.
I’d never seen anyone stare at me like that. It was kind of scary, but good, in a primal way.
Stepping toward him, my excitement was at an all-time high. What pleasure would he wring from me this time?
Preston wasted little time, he grabbed my arm and flipped me around. “Grab the chair,” he grunted.
I bent over to put my hands on the arms of the porch chair, just as I felt him press against me, his knee nudging my legs apart. Grabbing onto my ass, he pulled me wide, running his tongue over my center, tongue lapping at my clit. Before I could groan in appreciation, he stood, tip pushing against my entrance.
Growling deep in his chest, he plunged in as far as he could go. I screamed and dug my nails into the chair as he bounced me up and down his cock, hard. My core stretched to fit all of him, but the pain of it made my eyes water.
Preston leaned over me and bit down on the soft spot behind my ear, sending chills cascading down my body. What made it even better was that he didn’t stop there. Reaching around me, he fused both of his hands to my breasts, squeezing my nipples.
An orgasm built between my legs and judging by his strangled groan, he knew I was about to come. Standing up, he pulled me off his dick long enough to sit on the chair and pull me up on his lap.
“I want to see you when you come. Ride me,” he commanded, squeezing my ass.
Lifting my hips, I sat down on him until I got a good rhythm—my clit rubbing against him in the most delicious way. My body clenched. I was so close. “I’m going to come,” I warned.
“Keep going, baby. I’m gonna come inside you.”
I threw my head back as my insides tightened. Just the thought of him releasing inside me sent me over the edge. “Yes,” I cried breathlessly. My movements slowed as my climax hit, stomach quivering uncontrollably.
His fingers dug into my hips and he held me down on his cock as he took over, pushing up into me at a furious pace. I braced my arms on the back of the chair as he chased his own release. Then he yelled out, all hot and primal, his body jerking in spasms.
Laying my head on his shoulder, my heart beat out of control. “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” I marveled.
Brushing my hair to the side, he gently kissed my neck and held me tighter. “Just remember, angel. You asked for it. Every night, I’m going to find you and take you. There’s no turning back.”
Moaning, I pulled my head back enough to come face to face. Nipping his bottom lip between my teeth, I said, “I’m counting on it.”
Later that night, we laid in bed and listened to the crashing waves just outside, the wind blowing the salty sea air into the bedroom. Preston traced his fingers along my side in the same pattern, over and over.
“What are you drawing?”
His fingers stopped. “Sorry. I didn’t realize what I was doing.”
“It’s okay,” I said, turning around to face him. “I was trying to figure out what it was.” I snuggled up closer to him while he looked down at me, leaning on his elbow. There was something in his eyes he was trying to hold back, like a caged animal ready to be set free.
“I was tracing the symbol for my group. Glenn calls us the Circle of Justice.” Sitting up, he turned around so his back was to me. He had tattoos across his shoulders, arms and back; there were so many. “If you look just below my neck, you’ll see the sword and scales. The scales are supposed to represent justice.”
There was also a snake wrapped around the sword hilt, with a date on the blade. 10/27. “What does the snake mean?” I asked softly, tracing my fingers across his skin.
He laid back down and slowly released his breath, his eyes churning with emotion. “It represents me. I strike hard and fast, ki
lling every enemy that crosses me.”
“And the date in the blade?”
Swallowing hard, he closed his eyes, his jaw muscles tensing. “It’s the day my mother and sister were killed.”
I had a feeling that was it, but I needed to make sure. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I want you to be able to tell me these things.”
He opened his eyes. “If I told you some of the things I’ve done, you’d run away and never look back.”
Letting the sheets fall from my body, I sat up. “That’s not true. I’ve already seen you kill a man, Preston. And I’m still here. I’m not afraid of who you are.”
He sat up and leaned against the headboard. “You say that now, but what’s gonna happen when I get back to my job? Will you be waiting for me when I get home, after I’ve just ended someone’s life?”
I wasn’t going to let him scare me. Keeping my gaze on his, I straddled his lap, loving the way his cock twitched between my legs. “If you let me, I’ll be there for you every night.” I clutched his face in my hands. “You’re a hero, Preston. Think of all the innocent lives you’ve saved over the years. Who knows, I might’ve been one of them. I used to walk by those woods all the time, right where you saved Janie.”
He hung by a thread and I didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t killed in a few days, or if it was something else. I didn’t want to keep him from doing his duty to our country.
“How many people have you killed, Preston?”
For the longest time, he just stared at me, as if contemplating on whether or not he should answer.
“You can tell me.”
This time, he averted his gaze. “Three-hundred and eighty-seven.”
Frozen, I sat there speechless. That was a lot of people. I’d been thinking more like dozens, not hundreds.
He flit his eyes back to mine. “Ready to run yet?”
His voice snapped me back. “Stop saying that,” I huffed. “I’m just a little . . . shocked. That’s a lot of people to track down.”
“It’s what I do, angel.”
“Does everyone in your group go after the same kind of people? What about Wade, Ian, and Bryce? What does Glenn have them do?” It was hard to picture them doing the same thing as Preston; they were all so different. None of them struck me as assassins. Maybe that was why they were so good at it.