I think on it a little while, and the last image of Maiya on the I-pad screen pops into my mind. I scramble to remember the last time I saw her before then. It was when she was sweetly comforting me from my nightmare. It seems like an eternity ago.
‘I can’t honestly remember the last time I saw her. I’ve been staying here for? How long have I been here now, Jared?’ I ask him, unsure of what my answer should be since I’ve completely blocked out some periods of time.
‘Around about three weeks, maybe more, I’d say,’ he responds. I look at PC Turner and agree. I can see his beady eyes assessing me, and the female officer—I can’t remember her name now—is busy assessing what Jared has to offer. Bitch. I hold out my hand for Jared, and he quickly threads his fingers through mine. I watch her closely and see disappointment flash in her eyes, but she recovers quickly. Mine. I tell her as if she can read it in my eyes. I see Howard in my peripheral vision, smirk and turn away, washing his cup up in the sink.
‘Yeah, that sounds about right,’ I agree.
‘Well, it’s been at least two weeks, maybe more, that Miss Middleton has been missing. We can’t determine the exact timeline because there have been messages sent to her parents but no actual contact with anyone.’ So they had been clever and used her phone.
‘How many of you live in this house?’ Pc ‘wandering eyes’ asks.
‘Seven.’ ‘Eight,’ we answer at the same time.
‘So which is it?’ the officer asks looking directly at Jared this time.
‘Eight, including Devon,’ he says smiling at me.
‘Seems you have a lot of transport in the driveway for just the eight of you.’
I look at Jared, but it’s Howard who answers.
‘Like I told you, we had a get together last night, and being responsible we don’t want people drinking and driving,’ he says, winking at her. She clears her throat as if he’s affected her and redirects her eyes to Jared and me.
‘What was the occasion?’
I stay quiet. And Jared just laughs.
‘Do students need an excuse to party?’ He grins as if that’s all we do.
‘I guess not,’ she says smirking at him. Oh my god, I’m right here!
‘So is there anything else I can do for you?’ I ask sternly, moving into her line of sight, which just so happens to be in front of Jared. His arms, as if on queue come around my waist and he pulls me into him. I smile up at him, and he gives me a knowing look, busted! He caught me. Oh well, as long as she gets the memo that he’s taken, then it’s all good. PC Turner clears his throat. He’d been taking notes. I’m not sure on what because we’d said zilch that would be of any help to him. In fact, he’d probably imparted more info on the situation than we had. We knew they had nothing—not even a correct timeline. So we were good. But I was clearly a puzzle to them, and one they intended to crack.
‘Someone informed us that you had disappeared around the same time as Miss Middleton, Miss Hathoway, so you can understand how glad we are to find you safe and well. However, you must also agree that it seems a little strange that she should disappear around the same time you move in with your…?’ He looks toward us for confirmation, which Jared provides eagerly.
‘Boyfriend,’ he states clearly like he’s making sure everyone in the room is clear on that fact. Even though it’s pretty damn clear from the way he’s been stroking my hips for the last few minutes. Again, it makes me smile. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, bitch. He’s mine. I hear Howard stifle a laugh. The cops in the room won’t have caught it with their inferior hearing, but I did.
‘Well, I guess that’s a coincidence?’ I ask. When they say nothing I continue, ‘I feel bad—like I should have spent more time there, but in honesty, she never seemed to lack in the friends department. I figured she’d be glad to have the room to herself.’
‘Well, we may need to speak to you again, so I have to ask that if you have plans to travel anywhere, that you inform us before you do?’
‘What? Why?’
‘Because you are possibly the last person to have spoken to her face-to-face—we haven’t determined that yet—and until we do, you need to stay in the area so we can contact you again.’
‘You could just use the phone,’ I state a little obnoxiously, knowing damn well I wasn’t going anywhere but hating the fact I had to ask permission first.
‘That’s no problem, Sir,’ Jared informs him while squeezing slightly at my hips, telling me to back down. Howard walks them to the door and PC ‘eye fuck’ admires Howard in the same way she had Jared only moments ago—desperate much? I roll my eyes as Howard obviously flirts with her. Then when the door closes, he drops his smile and heads for a seat at the table. Jared’s face is serious, and they both look at me.
‘What?’ I ask, no clue why they are looking at me like that.
‘I’m trying to figure out exactly what they do know?’ Howard says first.
‘Well, we had Brad take all the digital shit off the grid after we found Devon,’ Jared tells him, ‘so they don’t have that to go on. And they have no evidence whatsoever that you were the last person to see her,’ he tells me. I nod my head. This is all running through my mind at breakneck speed, and it’s a little hard to organise my thoughts right now. I want to get this all straightened out.
‘We just need to find her guys. I need to know what’s going on with it. Jared, I’m sick of sitting in the house. I need to be doing something. Right now I want to be out there with the rest of you looking for her.’
He starts to protest, but I cut him off. ‘Jared, please. I can’t stand it. I need to go out. I promise I will do everything you tell me too, and I won’t do anything stupid or reckless.’
He looks glum, but I can see him cracking.
‘It could be good to get her out there, Jared. It could potentially bring them to us?’
Jared suddenly looks furious, and he turns on Howard, practically biting his head off.
‘You’re not using her as fucking bait! Are you fucking MAD?’
Howard shrugs his shoulders, ‘Think about it. We have had no sign of them any-fuckin-where. We have what they want. We could set up the perfect trap, and they would come to us. On our terms, not theirs.’
‘You’re out of your fucking mind. If you think I’m putting her anywhere near them fuckers…’
I sit and listen to what they are both saying—my head going back and forth like I’m watching a game of tennis.
‘Jared, they won’t even get close to her.’
‘I know they fucking won’t ‘cause she isn’t doing it.’ He gets up from the table and starts pacing. Howard looks at me and shrugs his shoulders. I stay quiet. But I have plenty to say. I will wait until we’re alone though and try to convince him that it’s a good idea.
‘Jared, you need to get past thinking that she’s delicate and needs protecting. She’s a part of this pack, and if it were any other female, you wouldn’t give it a second thought. They would be planted and in place in minutes.’
‘Listen up, fucker. Don’t tell me I need to get over it. You don’t lie next to her at night and listen to her fucking nightmares! You don’t see her wake up every morning thinking she’s still there. Yes, she’s part of this pack, but she wasn’t born into one and has no fucking clue yet how this shit works! So spare me the fucking lecture, Howard—she isn’t doing it. Get that through your fucking skull and leave it the fuck alone.’ He walks out, slamming the door, and I’m left sitting at the table with Howard. I fiddle with my hands on the table—really not sure what I should do. Do I follow him? Does he need a minute? I didn’t even realise he knew those things still haunted me at night. He’d never mentioned it. Howard sighs, exasperated, and flops down on the bench at the far end of the table from me. I still don’t say anything. But I can tell he’s itching to.
‘You know I don’t want to put you in danger right? That I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, any more than I would let someone cut my throat?�
� Urgh, what an analogy. I look around the room, not really sure how I should feel about this whole situation. I mean Howard and I don’t really talk that much at all. He is expecting an answer though. I know I should answer, but my mind is still reeling from what Jared had just said.
‘I know you mean well, Howard, and you are right—’ a knock on the inner door interrupts me, and Imogen pokes her head around it, ‘We all clear to get breakfast ready?’ she asks. I nod and smile, as she comes in followed closely by Logan.
‘Good, I’m starving,’ Howard states. ‘What are you making?’
‘The usual, times about a hundred, to feed everyone,’ she says rolling her eyes. ‘If we’re lucky we may get finished just in time to start on lunch.’ She laughs, and I can’t help but laugh along with her. I’ve never seen so many men stay in one house together. They had a tough job.
I use that moment to slope off from the conversation with Howard, and I slip silently through the door and up the stairs. I find Jared in the shower. I don’t join him because I need a clear head for the conversation we need to have. So I wait. I decide to send my dad a text. I don’t expect to hear back from him yet, so I’m shocked when it buzzes almost immediately.
Hey, sweetheart. You don’t call, you don’t text. What am I to think?
What the hell? My dad doesn’t speak to me like that? I reply with a simple
Dad?
Of course. Sweetheart. Who else would it be?
I’m not convinced—it doesn’t feel right. I’m just about to call him when Jared comes from the bathroom looking all fresh and tasty, rubbing his hair dry with a towel with another slung low on his hips. He hasn’t noticed me sitting on the bed. His eyes brighten when he sees me, and he comes directly to me. I still have my phone in my hand, and I must still have a look of confusion on my face because he picks up on it right away.
‘You okay?’
I purse my lips and frown at my phone.
‘It’s probably nothing but…’ I show him my phone.
‘Okay?’ he asks, prompting me for more information.
‘It’s just my dad never speaks that way. He never calls me sweetheart and doesn’t really joke—it’s out of character.’
‘Maybe he’s particularly happy today? You haven’t really spoken to him much since he went home right?’ I nod in agreement. I hadn’t really, and now I felt bad about it. ‘Well, maybe now he knows we are bonded, he knows he doesn’t need to worry so much?’
‘Mmmm maybe, but I still don’t like it. I think I’ll give him a call.’
‘Okay, but I think you’re overreacting.’ He kisses me, and I forget for a moment what I was about to do as he pushes me backwards onto the bed, letting his towel fall to the floor and begins crawling up my body, in all his naked glory. I want him, but then my thoughts come back to the conversation downstairs, and I suddenly feel the need to talk it out.
‘Jared?’
‘Mmmmm,’ he replies as his teeth tug at my nipple through my t-shirt. Arrgh my eyes roll, and I almost give myself over to the moment. But I don’t.
‘Jared!’
He sits up, looking at me, questioning my firm tone with a small frown on his face.
‘Overreacting?’ I ask, and he looks even more confused. ‘You said I was overreacting?’
He nods. ‘Devon, where is this going? I can think of so many other uses for our mouths right now—’
But I don’t let him distract me. ‘Jared, I think you are overreacting too.’
He sits up fast. And groans. ‘Baby, let’s not do this now, okay?’
‘Okay, if not now, when? After we’ve fucked? During? Or should it wait until I’m ready to leave for a shift today?’
‘Shift? What are you talking about?’
‘I want to go out. I think Howard has a valid point, and I want to be active in looking for Maiya.’
He gets up and wraps the towel back around his waist.
‘NO.’ He walks back into the bathroom, but I’m not done, so I follow him.
‘How am I ever going to be capable of taking care of myself, of being able to contribute to this pack, if I’m locked away while everyone else is cleaning up my mess?’
‘Cleaning up your mess? You’re being stupid, and I’m done with this conversation.’
That just plain pisses me off!
‘Oh, you’re done with it? So, that’s it. I’m supposed to shut my mouth and stay quiet?’
‘Chance would be a fine fucking thing,’ he mumbles, but I hear him just fine.
‘Okay, so I know I’m not real clear on the caveman rules of the pack, but I didn’t sign up to be a mouse who does as she’s told. If that’s what you want, TOUGH SHIT!’ I shout at him and proceed to the bedroom door. I snap it open, and I’m just rounding it when he comes growling after me. Naked. In the hall. He grabs me by the arm, spins me around, and frogmarches me straight back into the room. I pull my arm free, and he closes the door, filling the width of it, with his arms folded across his chest. His cock is huge and very erect, bobbing up and down from the movement. My body betrays me, and I get wet, but I could absolutely kick myself because my eyes zero in on the pure beauty of him, and I know that my arousal is clear in the air, just like his is. But I want to be mad. I am mad. And he does this to me every single time. I put up my hands and ward him off like you would a wild animal. I know if he gets another inch closer I am a goner. He has an arrogant little smirk on his lips.
‘No,’ I warn, as he steps toward me. ‘No!’ He takes another step. ‘Jared!’ Another step. ‘Sto—’
He smashes his lips to mine in an aggressive kiss. He picks me up from the floor and throws me up and over onto the bed. He has a feral look in his eyes—one that tells me to shut the fuck up and do as I’m told. He stalks over to me, caging me in with his arms and legs before he takes my mouth again in an unrelenting kiss. He isn’t giving me a choice. He is proving a point to me—that he is the alpha male and he’s the boss. Arrogant ass. We’ll see. I push back and slide my hand between us, grasping his rock hard cock in my hand. I swallow his moan as I spread his pre-cum around the head of his cock. He stills for a minuscule moment as I move up and down his shaft, and that’s all it takes for me to push him over onto his back. He’s submitted, and he doesn’t even realise. I move down, kissing at his chest as I go further south. I place a kiss on the head and move right on past. I feel it kick up in my hand in protest, and I can’t help but smile as I work my way down his, leg flicking out my tongue and tasting his freshly washed skin. He grumbles low, and I almost relent. That sound calls to my very core—it’s like turning on a faucet. My vagina gushes at the simple sound. I moan at the heat and need in my core. I am almost humping his leg when I realise he’s chuckling.
‘You ass,’ I tell him,
‘What?’ he asks feigning innocence.
‘You know what!’ I slap his chest in mock horror.
‘You mean I’m topping from the bottom?’
I frown. ‘If you mean that you’re just letting me think I’m in charge, then yes, topping from, whatever. Anyway, you’re an ass.’
‘Well, I may be an ass, but I was really enjoying letting you think you were in charge, so do carry on,’ he says waving his hand toward his still fully erect cock. I shake my head in disbelief.
‘Has anyone ever told you what an arrogant asshole you are?’ I ask grinning at him.
‘Umm, yup all the time, in fact, if I remember rightly, you told me that the first time we met.’
‘Yes, I think I did. Well, it’s still true!’
‘Fair point, Now, how about less chatter and more sucking?’ he says, mocking me in his bossy tone. I laugh. I can't help it. And he has a very tasty cock. Before he says anything else I lick around the swollen head, and am rewarded with more pre-cum. I’m still clothed, and as I take him into my mouth and lap at the small slit, I feel his hands slipping into my pants, unbuttoning and pushing them over my hips. Once they're at my knees, I release him, and shimmy out of th
em, taking him deep again the moment they are off. Then I feel his fingers bunch up the bottom of my tee and he pulls me up, and his dick pops out of my mouth with a pop. It's so fucking sexy. He pulls my tee up and over my head and unhooks my bra in the beat of a second, and I scramble back onto him like his cock is a lifeline. But he stops and turns me, so my knees are perched on either side of his head.
‘Sit,’ he orders, ‘and ride my face while you’re sucking my dick.’ He thrusts my ass down towards his face and his tongue pushes into my wet core. And oh my god. I almost come apart at the first stroke of his tongue. DIVINE. I ride his face so hard I don’t know how he can breathe but I can’t stop. I’m squeezing his cock in my hand, and I keep losing my rhythm because I can’t concentrate. I want to make him come like this. I want to come with him, like this. I want to tell him I’m almost there, but my mouth is full, so I hum the words as they catch in my throat, and I swallow him as far down as he can go, and I feel the hot jets of his cum, hit the back of my throat, just as the heat from my orgasm hits the bottom of my spine and spreads, working its way through me, and rocking me to my core. He has his fingers inside me, and his tongue works magic on my clit, and I explode so intensely that I see colours flash over my closed eyelids. I try to pull up and away from his face as I jerk out the remnants of the orgasm, but he holds me tight, clamping his arms around my legs as he sucks and laps every drop of my cum from me. I turn to jelly as my body jerks in his arms. And I can no longer hold myself up.
‘BREAKFAST, BITCHES,’ comes screeching through the door courtesy of Brad. And Jared laughs against my now extremely sensitive clit. I fall forward off his face and catch him licking his lips and fingers.
‘Uurgh.’ I screw my face up.
‘What? You didn’t mind when I had my face in your pussy so why when I lick your pussy juice off my fingers?’
I shrug, not really knowing the answer. After all, it doesn’t make sense.
‘It tastes fucking beautiful, baby. Come here, and try some.’ He pulls me in for a kiss, and his tongue invades my mouth like he’s waging war in there. He pulls back to look into my eyes. ‘See?’ he says matter of factly. ‘Best taste in the world,’ he says as he saunters off for the bathroom. I lay on the bed a little while, basking in my post orgasm state, when Brad comes again, this time hammering on the door. Jared comes flying out of the bathroom, sensing the urgency that I could hear in the way he knocked. He wasn’t playing—something was up. I wrap myself in the towel Jared had earlier dropped, and he pulls some pants on as he opens the door. Brad looks grey, a pretty hard feat for a black man.
Forbidden Love (Stone Pack Book 1) Page 27