Cruel

by Raven Kennedy

  “You’d better be sure, Scar,” he said, fisting himself and making me groan. “This is serious, and I’d lock you in this room and never fucking let you leave if I thought it would protect you,” he said as he made his way over to the bed and stood above me. He yanked the skirt from my legs and tossed it on the floor, then ripped open my shirt, making the buttons go flying across his bedroom.

  Fuck, that was hot.

  The brute force of his hands nearly made me come undone. “You know I’d fucking lose my mind if anything happened to you,” he whispered before trailing his lips up my inner thigh.

  He ripped my panties from my body with his teeth, scraping a sharp line along my skin as he grabbed the black lace and shimmied it down my legs. I struggled to keep my eyes open when he positioned himself over me, his hot breath feathered along my pussy. In the next breath, he wrapped his lips around my clit and sucked. Whimpering, I threw my head back, my nerves firing off as he soaked me with the sweep of his tongue.

  I was so needy, begging for more while fighting the instinct to grind against his mouth. I wanted him to be in control. I wanted to be at his mercy while his strong body pressed into mine. I wasn't sure what that said about me, but I didn't care. Giving myself completely to Rogue Kelly was worth the loss of control, and I knew that he needed to feel it before we went into this situation where control would be out of his hands. It was all I could give him, but I gave it gladly.

  He sucked again, and then pumped two fingers into me, curling them to scrape against my g-spot. “Come on my fucking mouth right now, Scar. I want to taste it.”

  “Oh, God,” I writhed. I burned. I rushed up to the peak.

  “That’s right. My girl likes my mouth on her pussy, doesn’t she?”

  “Yes!”

  Another lick from the flat of his tongue while he continued to pump his thick fingers into me, and I was ready to explode. “This pussy is mine. I want every drip of your cream, and you’re gonna give it to me, Scar,” he growled, making my pulse race. “And then, I’m gonna fuck you so hard you’ll know that you can never belong to anyone else but me. Fucking come for me, Scar. Now,” he demanded, before leaning down to give one more hard suck of my clit. That, paired with his filthy, possessive words, made me shatter. I came with a scream, my entire body on fire.

  Before I could come back down, he gripped my hips and flipped me over. I braced my palms against the mattress and gasped as he slid the head of his cock along my ass, taunting my hole with his length, but never entering. “I need you to survive this, Scar. And when we're done, this ass is mine.” A hard slap landed on my right cheek and I moaned as he immediately rubbed the sting away.

  “You gonna listen to me? You gonna stay at my side the entire time?” he asked while sliding his cock along me once more, coating me with his precum and my wetness.

  “Yes,” I replied before biting my bottom lip. His hard palm landed another slap, and I felt it in my core. He leaned down and bit the skin, making me jolt. “I promise,” I whimpered.

  “Good girl.”

  I watched him over my shoulders, salivating at the thought of taking him in my mouth, but before I could ask, he reached for his nightstand and pulled a condom from the drawer. He swiftly put it on then plunged into me from behind, and I squirmed at the invasion of his thick cock. I pushed back against him with a moan. “Harder,” I begged.

  He pulled back and then slammed into me again. I could feel his tip hitting deep inside, pounding that sweet spot that had my skin buzzing. Again and again, he punished without pause. My head smashed against the headboard as he rode against my body with each thrust.

  We fucked away our worries. We worked each other to that blissful place that made us feel invincible. My body craved his brutal thrusts, but my mind craved the way he could make me forget everything except him. It was almost enough to make me forget how delicate everything was and what we were about to face.

  We came together, and Rogue collapsed against my back as I pressed into the mattress.

  “I love you,” I whispered as he rested his forehead on my head, both of us coming down from the high of our clashing bodies.

  He kissed my neck. “I love you, too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  This was it.

  I could feel it in my bones. I could see it in Rogue’s tense muscles and Godfrey’s ticking jaw. I could hear it in the way Luis cracked his knuckles and the way Bonham shuffled on his feet. Every fucking sense had my body on edge.

  We stood in front of the storage facility, with only a row of dim, yellowed streetlights to cast light around us. It was midnight, and the Savannah sky was angry with thunder, the clouds threatening to open up and wash us away. Seemed fitting for a dangerous night. Even Georgia thought hell was at our doorstep.

  Rogue held my hand firmly in his, so tight it hurt, but I didn’t say a damn word. It was grounding me. Godfrey had his lips in a straight line as he stood at my other side. Luis's playful brown eyes looked stern and unyielding in the dim light. Bonham was at the end, his blonde hair messy from running his hand through it repeatedly. It was exactly midnight, and Johnny Jack and his men were set to be there any moment.

  Anxiety clawed at me like a feral cat, but I didn’t move to bite my nails or pinch my bottom lip between my chattering teeth. I just held onto Rogue, trying to look as brave as he seemed. He was too attuned to my movements and my emotions. I had to be calm so he could focus.

  “They’re coming,” I heard Bonham mutter in a grave tone, and in the next second, my ears perked up at the sound of cars heading our way.

  Rogue looked down the line at us. “Stick to the plan.” Yeah. The plan. I went over it in my mind. I had one job: don’t say anything, and keep next to Rogue. Or run if shit hits the fan.

  All four of us nodded, and I saw Luis grip the strap of his rifle that was flung over his shoulder. I hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.

  Two dark SUVs pulled up, blocking off either end of the narrow road and boxing us in between the storage units at our back and front. We expected this, but it still made me feel flighty. Luckily, I could leap over a car in a pinch. Thank you, gymnastics.

  Like they’d rehearsed it, I watched as all the doors of both vehicles got thrown open at the same time. Within moments, we were surrounded by guns and scary ass motherfuckers dressed all in black, except for one guy.

  “Johnny Jack,” I murmured to myself, as I watched the crime boss saunter forward.

  He wore a pale blue suit with fucking ruffles on the shirt like a true southern beau right after having sweet tea with his mama. I looked at his boots as they clomped across the concrete. He was a big man. Tall and meaty with a stomach that hung over his large belt buckle.

  “Well, well, well,” he said, strolling up cool as can be, while his men lined up behind him, aiming their guns at our chests. I noticed Dean O’Banion standing off to the side, smirking at us like a jackass. I don’t know why he looked so confident. Rocco’s words filtered through my mind. He was just a fucking pawn. But then again, so were we.

  Sweat coated my palm that was attached to Rogue’s hand, but I knew he wouldn’t let me go. “Y’all have made a mighty fine show of makin’ trouble ‘round here, but I see you’ve finally come to your senses,” he said in his thick southern drawl, his eyes flicking down to the three boxes of photographs we had at our feet. His accent seemed forced, like he had spent decades perfecting the art of sounding like he grew up a southern gentleman.

  “We’re here to make a deal,” Rogue answered.

  “Nah, boy. You’re here to grovel,” Johnny Jack corrected, and as soon as he took another step forward, the light from the streetlamp revealed a face no older than forty, with a thin brown mustache above his upper lip and slicked back hair. He looked purposely harmless, though I knew he was anything but.

  “You stole from me, boys,” Johnny Jack said, taking a cigar out out of his inside jacket pocket. The man to his left immediately hurried to lift a lighter for him.
Johnny Jack puffed a few times on the large roll of tobacco, like he was enjoying taking his time. “The only reason I didn’t have your throats slit that very first night, was because I’m a Savannah man, through and through,” he said, shooting us a wide smile that made me want to hide behind Rogue. “You’re the illustrious Heirs,” he said mockingly, lifting his meaty hands at the guys, and turning around in a circle at his men as if to show us off.

  I felt Rogue’s hand squeeze mine even tighter, but I didn’t move. “If I killed you four, there’d be questions. And I don’t like when people ask me questions, boys,” Johnny Jack went on. “But I can’t have people runnin’ around, doing just whatever they please, now can I? That would be no way to run a business. Your daddy knows all about that, Mr. Kelly. Same goes for you, Mr. Taylor.”

  Rogue and Godfrey tensed, but said nothing.

  “Your daddy assured me that you’d come crawling to me with your tail tucked between your legs,” Johnny Jack said to Godfrey. “Guess he was right.”

  When Johnny Jack’s eyes hit me, his smile widened. “Ah. Scarlett Livingston. So glad you could join us,” he drawled, taking me in. “Well, ain’t you prettier than a summer daisy.”

  Rogue shook, barely containing his anxious anger. “We give you the photographs, and you leave us alone. No more threats. No more of your henchmen following us. That’s the deal,” Rogue gritted out. I was counting the seconds. Shouldn’t Rocco be here already to ambush them?

  Johnny Jack took a long draw on his cigar before flicking it to the ground. It rolled towards our feet, and I felt it hit the front of my shoe as smoke streamed in front of me. “Tell you what, Mr. Kelly. How about you drop to your knees, and I won’t torture you. I’ll just kill you the same way you killed my man,” he said, and my heart stuttered as he locked his volatile eyes on Rogue. “You think I wouldn’t hear about that body you’ve got at the bottom of your daddy’s lake?”

  My chest constricted. We should have run. We should have never tried doing this. Rocco told us he only cared about getting his daughter back. Expecting him to swoop in and save us was so stupid.

  Bonham sighed, his cool demeanor making me shake as he pulled the rifle off his back and aimed it at Johnny Jack. “Or I could just blow your brains out right here and now,” he said with conviction as Rogue manhandled me further behind him.

  At that threat, Johnny’s men all lifted their guns up, various barrels aimed haphazardly at us. I licked at the sweat collecting on my upper lip.

  “Oh, pretty boy’s got some balls, y’all!” Johnny Jack said to his crew with a cackle that made me shiver. “You gonna shoot me?” Johnny rolled his neck before slipping his hand into the waistband of his pants, as if to rest it there like a pocket. He tossed a charismatic smile to the group before using his free hand to pull a weapon from his holster. With a laugh, he began spinning his automatic pistol in his palm. “You know what the difference between a man and a little boy is?” he asked, while stalking closer. “A boy dances with the trigger. A man shoots.”

  Johnny Jack stopped spinning his gun on a dime and aimed it at Bonham’s foot. One exhale and a smile was all the warning we got. He released the bullet without hesitation.

  I let out a shrill scream as blood, bone, and Bonham’s leather soles burst, splattering on the concrete. My sweet Heir collapsed to his knees and screamed out in pain. The moment he landed, he dropped his rifle and clutched his shin, as if holding it could somehow stop the pounding pain in his foot. He screamed so loud I could see the veins bulging in his neck. He grew pale, his lips white as he stared down in shock at his foot. The smell of flesh and blood filled my nose, and I had to stop myself from vomiting.

  All at once, everyone moved. Another shot went off, and I searched the group to see where it came from. Rogue was trying to yank me back towards the car when my eyes landed on Godfrey’s outstretched arm, clutching a smoking gun. There was a man collapsed at his feet, crimson blood and brains pouring from his skull onto the concrete. My mouth dropped opened as I stared. I was frozen, feeling helpless and shocked all at once. How did we think this would end differently? And where the fuck was Rocco?

  My head was shoved down as Rogue tried to shield me with his body, and more gunfire went off around us. He pushed me towards his SUV, still blocked by Johnny Jack’s fleet of cars, but we didn’t make it. Someone tackled Rogue to the ground and another ripped me from his arms. I felt like a lifeless doll, being effortlessly jostled around. Time seemed too slow and too fast all at once, and there was so much noise that I couldn’t focus on any one thing. The shock acted like anvils sitting on my response time.

  I was still picturing Bonham’s writhing form when I was shoved again. It knocked me out of my stress-induced haze. I landed on the rough concrete and I tried to roll away, but I was too slow. A man grabbed hold of my ankles and pulled me backwards. Scissor kicking, I aimed for his chin but missed.

  My own chin scraped against the ground and I clenched my teeth as two men bound my legs together with their strong grip and picked me up. Another man grabbed at my torso, locking his arms around me to keep mine in place. I jerked my hips up and down and twisted in their hold but I couldn’t break free.

  No, no, no. I couldn’t let them take me.

  I caught a glimpse of Rogue, who was on the ground receiving blow after blow by two other men.

  “No!” I screamed, my voice so loud it felt like it would rip my vocal chords.

  Both his eyes were already swelling, blood pooled in his mouth as he coughed and fought for consciousness. I saw the struggle in his body, but I couldn’t get to him. I flexed each muscle, using my strength to fight my way out of their grip, but they were too strong. And when I finally saw where they were carrying me, I screamed again. I couldn’t let them take me to their car. If I did, I was as good as dead.

  I twisted and jerked, thrusting my body up and down while bending my knees and kicking out to break free. All the while, I was screaming at the top of my lungs.

  I tried to look for help, to let someone, anyone, know that I was being taken away. But there was no one to hear my screams.

  Twisting to get one last look at my guys, I watched in horror as a bearded man pistol whipped Godfrey, and he went down hard. The men carrying me stepped over Bonham’s body. He was passed out, likely from the pain and blood loss from the gunshot wound to his foot. I couldn’t see Luis.

  Oh god. What were we going to do?

  I shot my head back, hitting the man behind me in the jaw. I heard his teeth crack at the intensity of my hit, and although my head was ringing and my face was cut up, it made me regain a little bit of the power they’d stolen.

  “Fuck you!” I screamed, when one of them tossed me into the back of the town car. I lunged for the door, trying to crawl out before they could shut it, but I wasn’t fast enough. Clutching the door handle, I tried to open it, but the child lock was on, keeping me locked inside.

  “You’ll live longer if you sit quietly,” a small, resigned voice said. I whipped my head around to look at who’d said that, and gasped when I saw a skinny blonde around my age wearing a sequined dress sitting on the leather seat beside me. She had black circles under her eyes and track marks trailing her arms. I didn’t have time to assess who she was though. I had no idea if she was dangerous, or if she needed my help. The front door to the car opened and Johnny Jack, who was sporting a black eye and a shredded arm, slid into the passenger seat.

  “Fucking knife-wielding bastard,” he seethed, while poking at the meat of his arm where debris and blood clung to the skin that was peeled back. Did Luis do that?

  The driver started the car, and I jumped forward to attack Johnny. I knew that if I let them take me away, there would be no hope. Wasn’t that what Mama always heard on the nightly news? Don’t let them take you. Once they take you, your chances of survival nearly disappear.

  I plunged my thumb into the wound on his arm, making him scream so hard that spit collected his lip, dripping down his chin as
his face turned bright red in agony. Using his uninjured hand, he reached over and circled it around my neck, even as I struggled to move my torso over the seat so I could hurt him more.

  I touched the bone of his arm with my thumb nail, nearly gagging at the sensation, but forced myself to keep doing it. The adrenaline surging through me was making me shake as I flailed, but I didn’t dare stop fighting for my life.

  “Fucking bitch!” Johnny Jack roared, before leaning forward to bite my finger, digging into my digit with his sharp teeth.

  I snapped my hand back, taking bits of his torn skin with me,

  “Get goin’!” Johnny Jack snarled at the driver, and the man gunned the gas.

  While he was distracted, I tried to dig my bloodied hands into his eyes, but he shoved me so hard that my head snapped back, and my teeth bit down on my tongue. I didn’t give myself a moment’s reprieve. I scrambled forward again just as I saw him try to go for the pistol strapped to his hip.

  The traffic zoomed past us, and I bumped into the driver, deliberately trying to get him to swerve and lose control of the car. I could survive an accident, I couldn’t survive Johnny Jack.

  But Johnny was fast. In the next second, he had a painful hold of my hair, and I was looking down the barrel of a gun. I could practically taste the gunsmoke on my tongue.

  His manic eyes were locked on me, and I knew I was gone. This was it.

  I thought of Rogue, of the Heirs. I remembered Mama and Daddy before they’d started hating each other. I saw the guys and me playing. I thought of my balance beam. I imagined lips at my neck and a calloused but gentle hand wrapped around my throat. I saw it all. My life flashed before my eyes and all I could think was how much I wanted more time with my best friends.

  My inhale was a sharp gasp as I tensed, prepared to choke on the bullet headed for my throat. If this was it, I’d die with pride. Fuck him for what he did to those girls. I wasn’t going to beg. He was a sadistic monster, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.