Damaged Locke (Locke Brothers,1)

by Victoria Ashley

  But only one guy gets out of the car—at first, anyway. The tinted windows make it hard to see if there’s more inside, but this fucker would have to have a death wish to come alone.

  It’s the same prick who’d been mean-mugging me the whole time I fucking watched his ass at Kadence’s house.

  It’s the same fucker who I beat the shit out of and smashed his face into the arm of the couch.

  I might need to call my brothers. I can handle this prick, even his asshole friends if one chooses to join him. But any more and there will be trouble, a lot of fucking trouble.

  That’s when I’ll need my sadistic brothers.

  “Hey, remember me, you fucking asshole?”

  “Go inside, Kadence.” I hope she actually fucking listens to me.

  I’m thankful as hell when I hear her close the door behind her.

  I stare at the asshole in front of me and notice the gun he’s got in his hand. It’s close to his body, and from the way he’s tense, his finger twitching on the side of the gun, I’m almost positive he’s never actually fired the thing in his life.

  That makes for a pretty dangerous situation. He’s working on emotion, and although that might make him sloppy, it might also make him unstable . . . even more so than he was.

  “You made a huge fucking mistake by coming here. You know that, right, motherfucker?”

  He grins, trying to keep his grip on the pistol firm, but I can see his hand shaking. This kid doesn’t want to use that thing.

  Hell, maybe he doesn’t have to.

  Reaching for my guitar, I grin and walk down the steps, keeping my eyes steady on his, knowing that I’m intimidating him.

  It’s then that I hear one of his asshole friends coming at me from the side. The prick tried to be slick by walking the property instead of arriving in the truck.

  Too bad for them King is out walking the property and will hunt them down real fucking soon. This one got lucky to get past him unnoticed.

  Knowing this could possibly be a huge fucking mistake, I take my eyes off the kid with the gun and slam my guitar into the other guy’s face, knocking him down into the dirt.

  I take my anger out on his face, slamming my broken guitar into him repeatedly until his face is covered in blood and the knife he was holding slips out of his hand, allowing me to kick it away.

  Turning back around, I toss the guitar down and come at pistol kid before he can get brave enough to use that thing.

  I hear the sound go off right before I feel the bullet slam into my shoulder, pain spreading throughout my arm, stunning me for a short moment.

  This has Kadence rushing out of the house to make sure I’m not dead. I immediately push her behind me to keep her out of his shooting range, but before I can react, she’s holding out the pistol I had sitting downstairs on my bed, and aiming it at the guy.

  I don’t know what in the fuck is going on, but my girl is fierce as fuck. Maybe a little too fierce.

  “Put the gun down, or I won’t hesitate to use this thing.” She takes a step closer to him, but I quickly throw my uninjured arm out, keeping her back. I can feel her body shaking, but I can tell by the tone of her voice that she means business. “I mean it. Do it! Don’t even think for one second that I would hesitate to put a bullet in your chest.”

  As much as I love the fact that she’s just as willing to protect me as I am her, I couldn’t let her pull that trigger even if she wanted to.

  This is my life. It’s the life me and my brothers chose. There’s no way in hell I’m letting her get her hands dirty to save my ass.

  Holding my shoulder, I keep my eye on the fucker, taking in every movement he makes, waiting for just the right time to make my move.

  “Nah-ah. Nope.” He waves the gun at us while talking. “This motherfucker and his brothers came into my house, roughed us up, took our money, and broke fucking bones. No one does that shit and gets away with it. Locke brothers or not. Well tell me, motherfucker . . .” He cocks back the hammer and begins walking toward us. “Where are your brothers to fight now?”

  The closer he gets, I can see the sweat trickling down his forehead, this asshole clearly not confident with that pistol he’s aiming at me. Maybe worried that even that won’t be enough to save him.

  And if his friends don’t come out to help him soon, worrying is what he should be doing.

  “Stop walking!” Kadence shouts. “Right now, damn it!”

  This has the asshole laughing, throwing him off his game. If you’re going to use a gun, you should know to never take your eye off the enemy, not even for a split fucking second.

  He made a mistake with that, giving me just the time I need to take charge of this situation before he can put another bullet in me or, hell, Kadence.

  Quickly, I snatch the pistol from Kadence’s hand and stalk toward him, pressing the barrel right between his eyes.

  I push past the pain, ignore it as I focus on this bastard.

  “Who said I need my brothers?”

  Truth is I wish I had my brothers here, but if this fucker thinks I can’t handle him on my own, I’m about to show him exactly how fucking crazy I am.

  “Kadence,” I growl. “Get back inside and lock the fucking doors. Now.”

  She says no at first, but finally takes a few steps back toward the house once she hears King’s bark coming from somewhere down by the river.

  Ace comes from out of nowhere, dragging another one of the assholes by his neck as if he’s a rag doll.

  Once she sees that one of my brothers have now joined me, she rushes into the house and locks the door as told.

  I warned this motherfucker that coming here was a huge mistake.

  He’s about to see just how fucking huge.

  Now it’s time to push that point home.

  KADENCE

  I don’t know what the hell came over me, but when I heard that gunshot, fear of losing Aston took over and before I knew it, I was rushing outside with Aston’s pistol in my hand.

  As soon as he sent me inside the first time, I ran down to his room, knowing there’d be a gun on his bed. I remembered seeing it before we got comfortable on the couch earlier.

  Melissa would kill me if she knew I’d risked my life for Aston tonight—risked my life in general—and that I’m hiding out in the Locke house while there’s a possible war breaking loose just outside.

  I’m not going to lie; I’m terrified. Terrified for Aston and his brothers, although I have a feeling I shouldn’t be.

  The whole town knows how dangerous the Locke brothers are. They can handle themselves, and I’m pretty sure this can’t be the worst situation they’ve been in.

  Still, I can’t stop my body from shaking as I think of the worst possible scenario. The thought of losing Aston has my stomach rolling, feeling as if I’m about to lose my dinner.

  It’s quiet outside. Too quiet, as if they’ve somehow managed to take this situation away from the house. Possibly into the woods, where I know their pit bull got ahold of one of those assholes attempting to sneak around the property.

  Who knows how many more are out there. They’re most likely outnumbered.

  Twenty minutes go by. Then forty, before I finally hear someone yanking on the door handle, trying to pry it open.

  My heart sinks, my stomach twisting into nervous knots until I hear Sterling’s voice, telling me to unlock the door.

  Before I know it, I’m standing in front of the door, pulling it open to see Sterling and Ace looking back at me, both of them splattered with blood and looking a bit roughed up.

  Panic immediately starts to kick in, my worry for Aston taking over until he rounds the corner, smiling up at me as if to tell me not to worry.

  On instinct I rush over to him and throw my arms around his neck, crushing my lips to his.

  He kisses me back hard, so fucking hard that I somehow end up biting my bottom lip.

  Once we pull away from the kiss, he cups my face, his gaze meeting mine. “Do
n’t ever risk your life for me again, Kadence. Yours is worth so much more than mine ever could be. Got it?”

  “You might have the whole world fooled,” I say while keeping my eyes locked with his beautiful blue ones, “but not me. I see the real you. I feel the real you, and it’s so much better than you think. Don’t ever tell me you’re not worth it.”

  “All right, time to break this mushy shit up and get this damn bullet out of your arm, little brother.” Sterling slaps him on the back and flashes me a smile. “You’re one badass chick. Looks like you’re more than capable of handling a Locke. Just do us all a favor and don’t get yourself killed.” He winks and calls for Ace to join him in a different room, where I’m guessing they plan to take care of Aston’s shoulder.

  What in the hell have I gotten myself into?

  But even thinking that, I can’t help but smile.

  ASTON

  I hear the sound of the bullet hitting the sink, smell the blood filling the air, and feel the tugging as Ace bandages the wound up.

  “All right, you’re good, little brother.” Ace secures the bandage and steps back with a smirk, proud of his handiwork.

  “You’re not going to the hospital?” Kadence says with shock in her voice, looking between the three of us.

  Sterling is the one to speak. “It’s a gunshot wound. That would draw too much attention. It went in clean, and we’ll watch it. He’ll be fine. You’re both lucky as fuck we pulled up when we did, but just remember our job is to protect you. You’re one of us now, Kadence, but that doesn’t mean you fight for us. When things get dirty, you run, got it? Plain and simple.”

  Kadence nods her head, offering a small smile, seeming pleased to be called one of us.

  “Good. We’ll leave you.”

  Ace and Sterling leave, and I stare at Kadence, taking in her expression.

  “I’m fine, baby.” I can see she’s worried, so I pull her in and hold her, wanting nothing more than to comfort her. This woman that was willing to risk her fucking life for me.

  “That was insane,” she whispers.

  “Yeah, it was. I wish you hadn’t been involved.” I pull her back and look into her eyes. “Sterling was right. You may be one of us, but I never want to see you out there on the battlefield again. Let us protect you and never the other way around. Promise me.” My voice is hard, wanting her to know how damn serious I am. “Fucking promise me now.”

  “I promise,” she says, a little breathless as her eyes search mine.

  I might be wounded, but I need her right now, need to touch her, hold her, feel her. I need to know this is real, that she’s not going anywhere.

  Maybe she needs this moment as much as I do. It sure as hell feels like it, and when it comes to Kadence, I haven’t been wrong yet.

  A second later we’re kissing, my tongue between her lips, my body pressed to hers.

  A small noise leaves her, this one of want, of need . . . of being here with me.

  Has me so fucking hard.

  I can’t help the small noise that leaves me. She just feels too fucking good.

  She breaks the kiss, panting.

  “No, you’re injured. Let’s just rest, talk.”

  But the way she looks at me after I grin tells me she knows I’m not about to let this end.

  KADENCE

  We need to stop this because Aston needs to rest. But he’s alive and I want him. I want to feel him, to know he’s here with me.

  He’s on me, pulling me closer, kissing me again until we’re somehow making our way downstairs, our mouths barely leaving each other’s.

  I’m lost in the sensations, making it impossible for me to resist him, wounded or not. Doesn’t matter; I will always want this man.

  We go to the bed, he lays me on it, his big body over mine, and I just absorb the feelings.

  He starts to kiss and suck the side of my neck, completely ignoring the pain in his shoulder as if I’m all he cares about. Aston is thorough with his tongue and lips, making me squirm beneath him, ready to beg for his cock in me.

  I try not to touch his shoulder, but I want to feel his heat, his strength. I want to know that this moment is happening.

  The hot, hard length of him is between my thighs. He starts moving his hips back and forth, rubbing himself against me.

  “I need you out of these fucking clothes,” he growls next to my ear. “Get them off.”

  I don’t wait for him to ask twice.

  Sitting up, I strip myself of my shirt and pants before reaching over and gently pulling Aston’s shirt up his body, until I’m tossing it on the floor next to mine.

  I reach for his pants, to undo them, but Aston makes it hard, his mouth capturing mine and biting as I struggle to undress us both, until we’re both finally free of our clothing and panting into each other’s mouths.

  I look down as much as I can, and with the way Aston hovers over me, I can see his cock sliding through my cleft. It’s so damn arousing, and I know I can get off from this alone.

  His cockhead moves against my clit every time he presses his dick upward. I groan at how good it feels, wanting and needing it inside of me before I go crazy with this need.

  “How much do you want me?” he whispers against my lips while wrapping his hand around my throat. He gives it a gentle squeeze and moves his cock against me again. “How fucking much?”

  I want to feel him stretching me, pushing into me hard. I want to feel like what happened, him getting hurt, nearly dying, was a dream.

  A nightmare.

  He starts to swirl his tongue around the shell of my ear, causing my lips to part and my eyes to close.

  “I need you in me, now.”

  Without breaking away, Aston releases my throat and reaches between our bodies, grabs his cock, and places the tip at the entrance of my pussy.

  Everything inside of me stills, my hands gripping his back, preparing for his intrusion. For his thickness to fill me, to consume me.

  “I can’t go slow. The thought of you getting hurt or killed because of me makes me fucking insane. I’m about to show you just how much I need you.”

  All I can do is nod and hold on tight, more than ready to take him, to feel him. Everything he has to give me.

  In one deep, hard thrust he shoves his thickness into me, causing me to scream and dig my nails into his muscular back. His balls are pressed right up against my body once he buries himself all the way inside me. I am stretched to the max, the pain mixing with the pleasure, making me hungry for more.

  “Fuck,” he says harshly. He pushes in and out, over and over, groaning with every thrust and retreat.

  I scream against his sweaty neck, holding on for dear life as he takes me hard. Fast and hard, as if he needs to be inside me to survive. As if we need each other to breathe. And in this moment, I do.

  I lift my gaze to his abdomen, seeing his six-pack clench and relax with every thrust. He slams his pelvis against mine, the sound of sloppy sex so arousing.

  With just a few more hard thrusts from Aston, I’m coming around his cock, scraping my nails down his back, most likely drawing blood.

  This has Aston growling into my neck, his hands gripping me anywhere he can as he continues to pound into me until I feel his cum filling me once again.

  “You’re so fucking perfect, Kadence.” He slams into me and stops. “And you’re mine.”

  KADENCE

  We spend the next couple of hours alternating between fucking and catching our breath, until we finally find ourselves lying in his bed, him holding me as he talks about his old life.

  The one he had before his parents got murdered.

  Hearing all the stories of how his parents hurt their children rips my heart out, only giving me more of an understanding of the lives of the Locke boys.

  I can’t even imagine going my whole childhood afraid of what my parents might do next. Afraid of what new way they might find to physically hurt or torture me.

  It wasn’t until thei
r uncle Killian, found out and stepped in that the boys moved into the safety of his home.

  The boys should’ve been safe then, but their parents always found some way to manipulate the boys out of their uncle’s house and back with them, until the process started all over again.

  Aston was just moving of his parents’ house for the fourth and final time when he stopped at home late at night to pack his belongings. He found his parents murdered and two dealers robbing them of anything of worth.

  The dealers assumed he was alone and stabbed him three times, leaving him for dead, but Sterling and Ace were just outside, smoking a joint and waiting for him.

  As soon as they saw the dealers running from the front door, they rushed into the house to find Aston on the floor, bleeding to death.

  Sterling took care of Aston until the ambulance arrived, while Ace tracked down the dealers and made them pay.

  He killed them both without question, and I have a feeling that when it comes to protecting each other, that they’d kill every single time.

  The Locke brothers have been hard and cold ever since, not letting fear cripple them anymore.

  “I don’t know what to say,” I whisper into Aston’s neck. “I hate that you almost died. That you could’ve died tonight too. The thought kills me, Aston. I can’t lose you. I won’t.”

  He pulls me onto his hard chest and kisses my forehead, giving me the reassurance I need right now. “That shit ain’t going to happen. Nothing is going to fucking keep me from you. Ever. Never forget that. I don’t give a shit what it takes. I’ll never stop fighting when it comes to being with you.”

  His words relax me, causing me to fall further into him, allowing his embrace to comfort me. “I hope so,” I say gently. “I’m in too deep with you now.”

  “Me too, baby. Me too.”

  I practically jump out of Aston’s arms when there’s a loud bang on his bedroom door.

  “Holy shit!” I grab my chest and bury myself under the sheet.

  I feel Aston laugh against my arm before he pulls me back to him and yells to whoever’s knocking on the door. “What do you want, asshole?”