by BJ Harvey
“I love all of you. You’ve all done so much for me already. I wouldn’t be here without the three of you.”
He looks down at me and smiles, a genuine, heart-warming smile that melts my heart. “Now, I’m gonna kiss the shit out of you, then we’re going to get on that train and go home where you’ll be lucky if I make it through the front door before I have my wicked way with you.” He snakes his hand around my waist, moving it down until he’s gripping my ass. “Because God knows I’m struggling to keep my hands off you now.”
Seeing the train pull up behind me, I decide to ramp up the teasing. Still wrapped up in Brax’s arms, I pull myself close to him until our bodies are pushed together, shoulder to pelvis, with nothing but a few layers of clothing between us. I pull his head down so that my mouth is right by his ear.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to wait that long,” I say huskily, my voice laced with desire and want.
“Damn,” Brax mutters under his breath as he takes my hand and leads me into the last train car. Not surprisingly, the only car that’s pretty much empty for this time of night.
I turn to face Brax, walking backwards into the train car. “Who’s going to break first, fiancé of mine?” I ask with a smirk. Memories of the last time we played this teasing game come flooding back.
“Oh, I’ll be the first to admit that I have no will power when it comes to you, Miss Halliwell. No will power at all.” He stalks towards me, getting closer with every step.
“Well, it seems you might have a problem with self-control Mr. James,” I say in my most seductive sounding voice, relishing in the frustration painted on his face.
Looking down at his now tight pants, I can’t help but giggle. “But I’m sure I can help you with the most pressing problem.” I turn and run down to the end of the train car, no missing the replying growl from Brax as he sits down beside me.
I’ve never been one of those guys who can’t control themselves. I’ve always been able to keep it under wraps until we’re behind closed doors and alone. But seeing Elle beckon me with her finger, and giggling at my tented pants, breaks my resolve. I’m going to have her on his train, one way or another.
Realizing that there are only two other people in the train car, both sitting near the front, Elle leads me to the rear of the car. I sit down next to a now glowing Elle and can’t hold back the growl at the back of my throat. She’s hiked her denim skirt up to mid-thigh, and the silky smooth skin beckons me, but I know I need to wait. It’s the wait that is going to kill me; the anticipation of knowing what that skin feels like under my hands, the way she shudders when I drag my lips against her body. Just knowing that she is feeling this too has me harder than steel right now.
Soon enough, the train starts moving, and the rattle of metal against metal soothing as the train picks up speed and leaves the city behind. I grab Elle’s hand and entwine our fingers, placing them in her lap. My thumb starts its automatic rhythm, stroking across her knuckles, tracing circles on the soft skin, fantasizing that my hands were somewhere else, caressing her.
The dark night welcomes us as the train reaches ground level, the passing countryside whooshing past. The train remains bright, the fluorescent lights illuminating the whole car. I stand up, shrugging off my coat before taking my seat and placing the coat over Elle’s lap. She looks over at me, eyes full of confusion, until she feels the palm of my hand touch her knee under the coat, then slowly inch my way up her parted thighs. I turn towards her, leaning in to kiss her bare shoulder, raising my eyes to hers as she gasps at the first touch of my fingers to her core through her silk panties. I watch her eyes flare as the sensations take hold of her and I move her panties to the side.
I smile against her neck as I start licking and nipping her skin, unable to get enough of this gorgeous girl of mine. The vibrations of the train carriage match my fingers as they flick across her sensitive center. My fingers become slick as I move them. Elle moves her hand underneath the coat, searching for my hard length that she knows is waiting for her. She moulds the shape of it through my jeans, her simple touch enough to make me shudder. Not wasting any more time, she unclasps the top button and unzips me, pushing her hand inside my boxers and wrapping her fingers firmly around my shaft. Just feeling her grip on me is almost enough.
I feel like a god damn teenager.
Slipping one finger inside of her, I feel her grip me from inside. Her warm heat smothers my hand as my palm rubs up against her with every thrust. She speeds up her strokes on me, flicking the pad of her thumb against my tip, and sending a ripple through my whole body. Adding another finger, I feel her clench around me, and know she’s getting close. Her free hand grabs my head, pulling it towards her as our mouths clash and our tongues stroke against each other with unbridled hunger as we both soar towards the edge. I hear a man cough from the front of the train. I look over at Elle, and her eyes are full of amusement right up until I stroke her inner wall. Her eyes suddenly close, and her face is a picture of pleasure.
We’re in our own little world now, not caring that we’re in public, in a train car, with other passengers nearby. It’s just us, giving each other the release we’ve been craving all day long. I pull my mouth away slightly, murmuring against her lips, “You feel so good, baby. God, I wish I could be inside you right now.”
“Soon….baby….. ahh,” she spits out before attacking my mouth, stifling her cries as she climaxes under my touch. It gets too much for me, and I’m soon following her over, falling apart as she strokes me.
“Damn,” I say, resting my head back against the seat after attempting to tidy ourselves up, something I definitely won’t be able to do until I’m back at home and showered. Elle leans over, resting her head on my shoulder as I wrap my arm around her.
“I can’t believe we did that,” she says quietly.
“I can. Sweetheart, you astound me, every time. It just keeps getting better.”
“You’ve got the rest of your life to get used to it, Brax.”
“Damn right I do,” I growl.
Elle has agreed to be my wife, and I can’t wait to start our new life together.
With Shay and Devon working with me, nothing could be better.
I saw Elise and that boyfriend of hers leave their apartment just after nine this morning. They looked like they didn’t have a care in the world. I haven’t seen Elise that happy before; she had the biggest smile on her face. I want to make her that happy, but know that it’s impossible.
What I have to do to her will not make her happy. It will destroy her, then destroy me in the process, but it’s my life’s mission. I’ve never not finished a job. I was promised a lot of money to kill Elle’s father, but I wanted to kill the whole damn lot of them. I got trigger happy, what can I say?
The man who ordered the hit insisted that I only kill Benjamin. He said that it would be enough to drive the company’s value up. He never contacted me after the murders, not once. In fact, all he told me was that his name was Vic. He was owed a ton of money, and there was no way it was going to get repaid without the father being killed, so I took it upon myself to kill the whole damn family.
Call it killing for sport.
The next day, it was all over the papers that Elise had survived, and I knew I had to finish the job somehow. It has haunted me ever since. My head has been filled with Elise, and how I can claim her; end her life, and fulfill my mission.
How I can finally get some peace.
I grab my gun from the car’s center console, stroking the cold hard steel as I grip it tightly, my nails biting into my flesh, and my knuckles turning white. I remember what it felt like to hold the barrel against her father’s head, watching the bullet fire straight into him. The exhilaration I felt, the rush I got from ending someone’s life consuming me.
Our time has come. I’ve watched and waited for too long. It’s now or never. The next chance I get, I’m going to take it. I fucked up my last chance. If that friend of hers hadn’t tackled
me into the wall, I would have been able to take the final shot.
But I know the end is near. Elle’s time has finally come, and that boyfriend of hers can go down with her. Whatever the fucking cost, they’re going to take their last breath because of me.
And I can’t fucking wait.
We got home around 8.30 p.m. last night and immediately jumped in the shower. Brax was apparently a bit messy after our train ride. I honestly couldn’t stop giggling at him as he winced and grumbled about feeling like a ‘bloody teenager’.
I can’t stop looking at the sparking ring on my left hand. It’s gorgeous, not totally over the top, but beautiful, elegant, and totally something I would choose. I can’t believe that, at twenty years of age, I’m engaged, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The only thing I miss is having the opportunity for my father to walk me down the aisle, and my mother and sister there with me.
Picking up the phone, I dial Aunt Sylvia’s number, having asked Brax earlier if he minded me ringing her and telling her our engagement news.
“Hello?” she answers.
“Aunt Sylvie, its Elle. How are you?” I ask happily.
“I’m good. How are you, dear?”
I’m bursting with excitement, and I know she can tell from the tone of my voice. “I’m very happy! Both of us are, and I wanted to ring and tell you why.”
“Elle, what happened?”
“Brax asked me to marry him, twice!” I exclaim with a huge smile on my face. Brax walks into the kitchen wearing nothing but a towel, and my mouth salivates at the droplets of water that are still clinging to his taut chest.
He looks at me ogling him, and smirks as he walks over to the refrigerator and pours himself a glass of water. I’m totally distracted by him when I hear Sylvia say my name in my ear.
I shake my head, trying to rid my mind of the perverted thoughts filling my head. “Sorry, Aunt Sylvie. What was that?”
“I said that I’d like to give you guys a nice romantic weekend away together at my house in the Hamptons. Because it was given to me in the divorce, it hasn’t been frozen like the rest of Harry’s assets. So if you’d like it, it is free this weekend for you” she explains.
“Oh, that would be fantastic, Brax, Aunt Sylvie wants to give us her Hampton’s house for the weekend as an engagement gift.”
“Wow, um okay. Yeah, that would be awesome” he stutters, his eyes wide with shock. I can tell that he’s still unsure how to deal with Sylvia.
“We’d love that Aunt Sylvie, thank you so much” I gush down the phone to her. After a few more general pleasantries, we end the call. I turn around and look at Brax who is still wearing just a towel and leaning against the kitchen counter, looking at me.
“That is an awesome gift, hon. I am really grateful. It’s just I’m not sure how it’s going to be with Sylvia yet.”
I melt inside. This man of mine is finally showing a chink in his good looking armor. I walk over to him and lean into his chest, melting my body into his. “I know, Brax, and I love you for that. It shows me that you’re human.” My eyes soften when I look up at him. “Thank you for accepting her gift. I can’t wait to spend a whole weekend alone with you. I love Devon and Shay to bits, but two days of just you and me in the Hamptons sounds like paradise.”
“I’d do anything for you, Elle, just to see that sparkle in your eye and that gorgeous smile on her face. Anything and everything, every single moment for the rest of your life,” he adds, bending down and kissing me, thrusting his tongue into my mouth, and putting his words into action. I melt into his arms, my knees buckling as he plunders my mouth. He pulls back ever so slightly, touching his forehead against mine.
“It’s you and me, darlin’. Forever.”
After telling Shay and Devon of our plans, and giving them the task of looking for office space for the new company to work out of, we pack the car and leave for Sylvia Brimstone’s Hampton’s house just after lunch.
Of course, the boys come to see us off. They were ribbing Brax for finally becoming an honest man and being off the market. I love seeing them all acting up, teasing each other like three brothers who have spent a lifetime together. Of course, this has not been the case, but seeing them now you would never know that. After giving the boys a good bye hug, and making sure they know where we’re going and how to reach us if they need to, we set off for our romantic engagement weekend away.
On our way down, I couldn’t help but check the rear view mirror regularly, looking for a tail. I know we don’t have any threats against Elle anymore, but it is habit. I’ve been watching Elle’s back for so long, it has become second nature to always be on alert. I didn’t see anything or anyone suspicious, so I was a lot more relaxed by the time we reached the house.
I’ve always had a bad feeling about the guy in the black Honda. He gave us so much grief a few months ago, then disappeared after the shooting. Given that we still don’t know anything about him, especially who he is and what he wanted with Elle, or with me for that matter. It seems weird that we haven’t seen him again. I doubt that he would give up so easily after spending so long stalking us, even following us out of town when we were heading to Atlanta at New Years. All the evidence points to him giving up, though, so I hope for his sake, and Elle’s, that he has.
We unpack our bags and go for a walk along the beach. We decide to go into town, and end up having dinner at a small Ma & Pa seafood restaurant.
After dinner, we get back to the car, and I see that both rear tires are flat. Knowing that it is not possible for both perfect condition tires to go flat at the same time, in the space of an hour while we were having dinner, I’m immediately on alert.
“Sweetheart, I need you to get into the car for a minute. I’m going to ring Triple-A and get a tow to the house and call Shay to come help us out in the morning.” I say, unlocking the car and ushering her inside. Once the car door is shut behind I her, I pull out my phone, dialing Shay and scanning the street around us for anything out of the ordinary.
“Brax, what the fuck are you doing calling me? You’re supposed to be knee deep in your girl” he says as he answers my call.
“Hi to you too. We’ve just got back from dinner to find two slashed rear tires on the Mustang. I have a bad fucking feeling about this. I need you to come down here ASAP because I’d like to have some backup.”
“Dude, you sure? Because Elle will be pissed if D and I come crashing your romantic weekend.” Fucking hell, he actually sounds scared of Elle.
“She’ll be fine. We can have another romantic weekend, but I can’t do that if she’s not fucking breathing. Please, man. I’d feel better having you close by.” I scan the road around us again, but apart from a few cars driving past, there is nothing suspicious.
“Okay, B, we’ll get sorted and leave in about half an hour. Should get there a little after one. All good?”
“Thanks, man. I’ll owe you one,” I say, ending the call.
I dial Triple-A, and after giving our details and location, I’m told that a tow truck is on its way and should be there within the hour. Now we just have to sit tight and wait.
Half an hour later, Elle and I are sitting in the cab of a tow truck, my car being pulled behind us, and the driver drops us off at Sylvia’s house.
“Wait here. I just want to check the house out first, just to be on the safe side,” I tell Elle.
“Please be careful, babe.”
“I will. You just lock yourself in the car and wait until I come back to get you, okay?” I say, hoping that I’m being overly cautious over nothing.
After she’s safely locked in my car, I move to the front door and unlock it. Pulling my gun out from my hip, I turn the lights on in the foyer, scanning the entrance for anything suspicious. I check the kitchen, the formal dining, the living room, and the rest of the downstairs area before heading up the stairs, making sure I turn lights on wherever I go.
When I’m happy that the rooms are all clear, and can breathe a
sigh of relief, I head back down the stairs and out to my car where I see Elle staring out the window at me, a smile growing on her face.
She opens the door and hops out. “All okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry about that, but I just wanted to be careful. I don’t like that both tires went flat at the same time. Seems too coincidental, but it might just be a case of bad luck. Let’s get you inside.”
I lock the car and hold onto Elle’s hand, leading her back inside the house. I walk around the house, turning all the lights off again before turning towards our bedroom. Elle stops in front of the master bedroom door, putting her back against the door. I move in towards her, wedging my thigh between her legs as I twist my fingers in her hair and pull her head towards me, kissing her slowly, taking my time to nibble her bottom lip and trace her mouth with my tongue.
“I think I need to take you to bed, Mr. James,” she says, her voice low and full of seductive promise.
“I’m a foregone conclusion, darlin’. You can take me anywhere you please,” I say as I pull her aside and reach down, twisting the door handle and pushing the door open.
The last thing I remember before falling down to the ground is hearing Elle’s scream echo through the night as my vision goes dark and I’m knocked unconscious.
They say life can change in the blink of an eye.
Or, in this case, the push of a trigger.
One moment I’m huddling over Elle, preparing to take a bullet and die to protect her. The next I see my best friend bursting into the room and tackling the man we now know to be Silas. The man who has held us hostage for the past two hours, torturing us with his words, his memories, his intentions.
I came to about ten minutes after the fucker knocks me out cold. My first thought as my head cleared was whether Elle was okay. I try to sit up, but can’t due to the rope tightly bound around my wrists connected to the headboard of the bed. Turning my head to my right, I come face to face with Elle’s wide, fear filled eyes, her cheeks wet from tears. She is also tied up.