by Jordan Marie
“You asshole! Leave her alone! Haven’t you done enough damage to her?” Katie yells, pain in her voice. Beth turns so that her side is to Matthew, wiping the blood off her lip. When he hauls off and kicks her hard in the ribs sending her back down on the ground, I’ve had enough.
“Kick her again and I’ll cut your fucking leg off and feed it to you,” I growl, storming in.
He’s got his gun down because he’s been torturing Beth, so I point my gun straight at him, daring him to move. Torch screams and takes the butt of his gun to the man’s head who stands over the women, sending him flying. I watch out of the corner of my vision as Torch slams his steel-toed boot into the man’s junk over and over. The final time, he shifts his foot around, making sure the damage is permanent. Briar sends off two quick shots to Matthew’s other men, burying a bullet in each of their brains and effectively taking them out. Now the odds are much better. Though, this is clearly not all of Matthew’s men.
Beast and the other two storm in when they hear Briar’s shots, surveying the damage. I’m momentarily distracted and Matthew makes a move for his gun. I fire a shot into his arm. Fucking asshole! Who exactly does he think he is fooling with?
“Told you not to move, gilipollas,” I tell him, enjoying the way the red flow of blood oozes from his three-thousand-dollar suit. I don’t think that can be dry-cleaned. “Beast, take the men and secure the perimeter. We need to know where Matthew’s other men are.”
He doesn’t answer, but they head out.
“How’s Katie?” Beth asks, trying to look around me to see her sister.
“Get up and see for yourself so I can clean up the fucking mess you’ve made,” I growl, my anger at her starting to bubble over. Mierda! Even now, she’s sitting on the floor in front of him like she stupidly has all day.
“I had things under control,” she argues, and the anger in her face when she looks at me pisses me off even more. Who the fuck does she think she is?
“It sure looked like it. Were you trying to wear his fists out with your face? Real great plan, Beth. Christo,” I mutter, disgusted.
“I had a plan!” she argues.
I snap. “Briar, watch the fucker,” I tell him, talking about Matthew. I’m not going to get distracted by Beth and let the son of a bitch get away. He will die before I leave this damn cabin.
“What kind of plan? You que mujer estúpida!”
“This!” she growls, thrusting her hand up towards Matthew’s balls. At first I think she’s just going to punch them, which I’m okay with. She’s crazier than I thought if she assumed that move would save the day. Then, I hear Matthew scream out, and when I look to see where her hand connects, there is a small blade sticking out of his crotch. She stabbed at least one of his balls. Interesting. My Beth has developed claws. She twists the knife for good measure before pulling it out. Matthew drops to the floor and Beth wipes the blade on the jacket of his suit. “Call me stupid again, Skull, and I’ll give you the same as I did Matthew, and honest to God, I might enjoy it even more,” she warns, her eyes spitting fire at me.
Damn. She does have claws, and the twisted fucked-up mess that I am, I apparently love it because my cock is rock hard.
Cagar!
I’m totally lying out of my ass. I, in no way, had things under control. Once Katie was shot, I folded like a damn cheap pair of pants. I was going to kill Matthew, but I knew I’d end up dying in the process too. I accepted it. Doesn’t mean that I didn’t still worry over Gabby and wish things would be different, but there comes a time in your life where you quit running, a time when you reach the end of what you can take. I had been there for a while, but being under the same roof with Skull and having to face his anger and hate has pushed me beyond that point. I’ve had it. I’m done, and when I say that, I mean completely and utterly done. He gave me a taste of him in a kiss and walked away. I hate him for that—for reminding me of what I don’t have anymore.
“Did you honestly believe that what you just did would have saved you? Did you not see the men with guns before we got here?”
“You asshole! Of course I saw them! They shot my sister!” she huffs, walking around him to get to Katie. “Are you okay?” I ask her, dismissing Skull. He’s not important. Not anymore.
“I’m…”
“No, you’re not fucking fine,” Torch interrupts. “You’re shot. In your fucking bad leg. What in the hell did you think you were doing, Katie?” Torch rips open Katie’s pants to better inspect the wound.
“Gee, I don’t know, Hunter. I was thinking, wow, it’s a beautiful day today. I wonder what a fucking bullet would feel like in my leg!”
“I would watch your tone with me, Katydid, because I’m a man on the fucking edge right now.”
“I’m not exactly happy-go-lucky myself, and quit yelling at me! I’m in pain!”
“Get used to it, sweetheart, because when I get you home, your ass will be sore for a fucking year.”
I stand back as they go at each other. I rake my hand through my hair, feeling my adrenaline start to ebb. I didn’t think I would live past this point. I should be thankful that I am. It might be easier if Skull wasn’t breathing down my neck. Literally. He grabs my arm and spins me around, looking only slightly less intimidating now that he’s put his gun up. I look over to see that Latch has come back and helped Briar subdue the men inside.
“Eyes on me, Beth,” Skull growls, instantly pushing me back to the edge.
“What is your problem?”
“My problem? You did something incredibly stupid here! You could have been killed!”
“What do you care? You don’t even like me! What I choose to do is none of your damn business now, Skull!”
“Maybe not, but you almost got the others killed, and they are a part of my club. They are my concern.”
His words couldn’t have hurt me more if he had slapped me across the face. His face is full of hate—all for me. I’m so sick of being the one to blame. I might have been stupid when I was younger, but this… this is not on me!
“I tried to get them to stay behind!” I scream, so sick of him blaming me for everything. Next thing you know, it will be my fault for the drought in Bum-Fuck Egypt.
“Lay off Beth. We made our own decisions,” Candy says.
“Damn straight. We wanted in on this,” Sacks chimes in.
“Woman,” Briar warns.
“It’s the truth,” Louise adds. “We didn’t really give her a choice.”
“You know what, Skull? You can just go to hell. This war isn’t yours. It’s my sister’s and mine,” Katie says, but her voice is full of pain.
“Katydid, you need to…”
“Just drop it, you guys. Torch, get her to the doctor,” I tell him. In response, all I get are glares. Perfect. I just sigh, wanting this night over with.
“You were planning on doing this alone?” Skull asks and his eyes are appraising me.
“Yes.”
“You would have been killed. You almost were!” I don’t say anything to that. There’s nothing to say. “That’s what you planned all along, wasn’t it, Beth? You were just going to walk in and risk your life without a thought to…”
“All I do is think, Skull. Every damn minute I think. I think about all I lost. I think about all my father and grandfather stole not only from me, but from Katie. I think of how they hunted my mother. I think about how they lied over and over. I think of all the hell I lived through. I think about losing you. I think about denying Gabby a home with two parents. All I do is think and I’m tired of it. I’m so tired, Skull. So sure, I would have probably died tonight, but by God, I would have taken Matthew into hell with me and I would have made sure his filth never touched my daughter. And you know what, Skull? That was a win for me, at this point!”
His eyes are locked onto me and I can’t read anything from him. I turn away from him. It’s time I go.
“What are you doing?” I cry when Skull’s hand wraps around my arm and pulls
me back around to face him.
“Everybody, get the fuck out. Right now!” Skull growls, and there’s so much anger in his face, alarm bells are starting to go off.
“Hold on,” Katie protests. “You can’t just…”
Torch ignores her argument and picks her up, carrying her outside. I can hear all the ladies arguing, but I can’t take my eyes off Skull.
I think it would be dangerous to at this point if I did.
I wait while Briar and Latch drag Matthew and his henchmen from the room while Torch carries a screaming Katie and makes the other women walk in front of him. It takes a few minutes, but the room is completely empty now. Beth doesn’t speak during all this time. Her gray eyes are locked on mine.
Me, I’m seeing red. Rational thought has fled and let’s face it, it’s never too close around when Beth is, regardless. She was walking to her death. She was walking to her death, again. She was trying to handle it all by herself—again. Moving ahead, not counting the people she had around her.
I’m not letting her get away with it this time.
“What do you think you are…?”
I’m tired of hearing her talk. I’m tired of her not thinking I can’t handle whatever is thrown at her. I’m tired of accepting that she doesn’t have faith in me. Fuck, I don’t have faith in me. How can I expect her to? So, I do the only thing I can at this point. I shut her the hell up with my mouth.
She’s rigid in my arms at first. Holding herself so taut that it pisses me off. My hand moves up to her breast, cupping it in my hand. I squeeze it through the black sweater she wears, loving the way it overflows in my hand. Larger than before, but fitting in it, feeling like a lost piece of me. I groan, because I can feel her nipple pushing against the palm of my hand even through her sweater.
Beth still hasn’t opened her mouth to me, though her hands have moved up to my shoulder and her fingers are biting into my arms. I suck on her bottom lip. Instantly, the taste of sugar sweet vanilla hits my taste buds along with another flavor that is all woman, but even more. It’s all Beth. A taste that I had forgotten over the years. A taste I barely experienced with our last kiss and a taste that hits my system like a fucking drug.
I can feel the shift in her body and I know it’s hitting her, too. Frustration fills me that she won’t give in to it. I bite her lip. Not hard, but definitely not gentle. She gasps, her hands tightening on my arms to push me away. It pisses me off. She doesn’t want to kiss me? Fine.
I break away, holding one side of her neck tight in my hand. I run my lips along the opposite side, tasting the skin and letting my tongue trail up the path my lips make. When I reach her ear, I suck the lobe into my mouth, biting on it with the same exertion I expended before. Beth breathes out, the sound loud, ragged, and loaded with want. It calls to the need clawing inside of me.
My fingers wrap in her hair. How could I have forgotten the feel of that over the years? How right it felt when each strand grazes against my skin.
“You never learn, querida. Always pushing ahead with what you think is best. Never considering your options,” I growl against her ear before moving my lips back down to the inside of her neck and biting into the tender skin and sucking on it, marking her in ways I’ve never been able to mark her on the inside.
“I do what I have to do,” she whispers breathlessly, but her voice is stubborn.
“I got this. I got you. This is not your fight alone, querida, it never was,” I tell her, my voice hoarse with anger, regret, and pain. Always where Beth is concerned, there is pain.
“Maybe once you were right, Skull. Not anymore. I’m not yours,” she responds, and maybe it’s wishful thinking, or maybe it’s just plain stupidity, but I think I hear regret laced in her words.
I want to concentrate on that, but the anger inside, the raging monster that has been festering inside of me since the day I watched that ship explode, is there. It claws inside, wanting out, and her words are just a reminder of what I have been denied. A reminder that she doesn’t realize what I did that first day when she was standing on the street. I knew the moment I saw her. How did she miss it? Maybe it’s time to remind her.
“You’ll always be mine, Beth,” I growl, pinching the hardened nipple of her breast and tugging on it.
“Skull, no,” she cries, but her hips thrust into me.
“You’ll always be mine, querida,” I tell her again. “Your body knows it. Maybe it’s time I remind you,” I growl, my hand sliding down to the waistband of her pants. Her skin is soft and warm, searing me.
“We shouldn’t do this,” she whispers, but she’s pushing my t-shirt up and scoring my stomach with her nails.
I pop open the button on her pants. I don’t bother unzipping them, choosing to just thrust my hand inside. The heat of her pussy wraps around my palm, warming it instantly and making my dick throb out of control. My fingers immediately go to pull the lips of her pussy apart and rake against the swollen clit. Beth whimpers and shifts her body, whether to try and get away for more, I don’t know, nor do I care. I slide my fingers apart in her pussy and work them like scissors to pinch and hold her clit so it plumps out over the top of my fingers. The pressure teases her, giving her a taste of what she needs. The muscles in her thighs tighten and she pushes into my hand, craving what only I am giving her. What only I should ever give her.
Mine. Motherfucking mine. If I can never have her heart, I will tie her body to me. She’s wet, but not like my Beth used to be for me. She’s trying foolishly to hold herself away from me, to not give in to what her body is craving.
“Do you want my cock, mi cielo?” I whisper into her ear, biting down on the lobe as my fingers continue to work her clit.
“I shouldn’t,” she breathes, as her nails continue to bite into me, holding me close to her.
Mierda! I could come now, but that’s not how this is going to end.
“Maybe you should, querida. Maybe this is the only thing that’s ever made sense between us,” I tell her, spinning her around and pushing her into the wall. Her hands go up to brace herself and I put my much larger ones over them. Pushing my fingers in between hers and clenching my hand so she’s forced to do the same. I grab her clothes pushing them down off her hips in one quick movement. Revealing that beautiful ass of hers that used to keep me up at night. I squeeze the cheeks, letting my thumbs push into the crevice and push against her entrance there.
“Tell me, Beth do you still want my cock in your ass? We never got to experience that did we mi cielo? I was taking my time with you. Maybe I should fuck you right here, forcing you to take my cock, without even preparing you.”
“Just give me your cock. God Skull, quit teasing me, if you’re going to fuck me! Fuck me!” she demands and I slap her ass hard for daring me. She cries out, pushing her ass hard against me and I spank it again.
“I ought to make you wait until we get back just because I can,” I groan. “I just fucking can’t,” I tell her, unzipping my pants. My dick is killing me, dying to get free. My breath is lodged in my chest at just the thought of getting back inside of her. It can’t be as good as I remember. There’s no way that could be possible.
“Skull!” she cries and for a minute I let my mind drift back, back before the pain, the heartache, the distrust. Back to a time when it was just me and her and our bodies. My hands bite into her hips as I pull her out from the wall, pushing her legs apart. I push down on her back—getting her into the position I need.
“Hold on, mi cielo, hold on,” I warn her, grabbing my dick and rubbing my shaft against her pussy, letting it push through her lips and glide in her sweet juices. “You’re so wet and eager for me aren’t you, Beth? Dying for me to fuck you,” I groan, as my tip grazes against her clit. She’s so hot and warm.
“Quit talking about it and just do it already!” she demands.
“Greedy little puta,” her hunger turning me on like nothing else could. I push my cock up, feeling my way by instinct and sliding into her sweet d
epths. Her walls instantly close in on my cock, sucking him in. I pull back out and then plunge back in, deeper, not stopping until my body is pressed tight against her and her sweet creamy juices are dripping onto my balls.
“You feel so good,” Beth gasps. I reach around, cupping her breasts in my hand as I thrust back into her, grinding myself deep inside. I massage them with my hand, kneading them and working my cock in and out of her. She thrusts back into me, each time I withdraw. We work together in perfect time and I can feel her cunt tightening against me, the muscles fluttering as she nears her climax.
“Skull, baby,” she whimpers and hearing her voice so close to the edge, full of need, nearly destroys me. Emotions that I don’t want to feel right now come close to the surface. I fight to lock them down and instead concentrate on pounding her pussy, on driving myself so deep inside of her she can taste me…on fucking…
One of my hands moves from her breast to her hair and I grab it, fisting it as I fuck her harder.
“Take it, Beth. Take what I give you. God, mujer, you’re so fucking tight…”
“I told you,” she gasps, working my cock like a fucking pro. “I haven’t had anyone but you. It’s been so long…..” she cries as the first ripple of her orgasm starts to take hold. I feel every contraction, every slick, wet, flutter of her walls and when she squeezes tight, trying to choke my dick I know I’m going to blow. I take my hand, grab hers and move both them down the front of her body until I hit her center. I brace my fingers against hers and search out her clit. She cries out my name as our fingers work together to find her clit and move over the swollen, pulsing nub. I work it harder, and faster in tandem with my thrusts.
“Skull! I’m coming!” she screams, as I push our fingers hard against her clit. I make one final thrust deep inside of her, and I can feel my cum jet out rocking me and her with the force of my release.
Mine! My brain cries and as much as I want to fight against it, I know in my soul that she is. She always has been. That’s the thought that keeps echoing in my brain and we both slide to the floor, our pants around our legs like some fucking teenagers too eager to get undressed.