by Maia Dylan
Violet relaxed a little between them. “Thanks for saying that, and you’re right. I couldn’t do it. And to punish me for my disobedience, Santiago had me beaten and—” Violet swallowed audibly, and a tendril of dread uncurled within him. “He had me raped in front of my Poppa.” Twin growls filled the room, and Mason had to fight to keep his leopard from bursting free in need of vengeance. From the way Jacob’s eyes were completely amber, Mason knew he, too, was fighting his animal for control.
“My Poppa fought hard to get to me, begging my father to stop it, and promising him anything and everything, but Santiago didn’t care. Not about me, or my Poppa,” Violet’s voice shook, and Mason pressed harder against her. “While I lay there, trying desperately to distance myself from what was happening to me, I watched my Poppa. I kept my eyes on him. Even after Santiago put a bullet in his head, I never took my eyes from him.”
Mason pressed soft kisses to her temple, moving gently to her cheek, gently sipping the tears that fell from her face. Jacob leaned down and placed gentle kisses on her bare shoulder. Mason’s leopard pushed itself against him, trying to comfort their mate with touch.
“How did you get away?” Jacob asked quietly.
Violet took another shuddering breath and exhaled sharply. “When I was finally allowed to get up from the floor, the man who had raped me, my father, and the two guards who had stood by and let it happen, all stood around laughing at me. I was shaking, and as I struggled to pull the ripped shreds of my nightgown back together, my mind suddenly cleared. Their laughter flipped a switch within me, and I went from being a traumatized little girl, to a pissed off one in seconds. I dropped the nightgown, and grabbed the gun I had been given. I had a split second to choose who to shoot first, and what had just happened to me took precedence. Rather than put a bullet in Santiago, I shot the prick who had raped me. Then I turned, aimed, and fired at Santiago next, but there were no more bullets in the gun. Vincenzo’s was fully loaded.” Violet pressed her hand to her chest, right over the vicious scar they had discovered earlier. “They lit the house and left me in it to die, but I managed to get into the alley.”
Mason’s rage was a living, breathing thing within him. His leopard was roaring its rage, and he wanted to go out into the night and hunt every single one of those fuckers down. He would rip their hearts from their bodies, and his leopard would dine on them at the feet of their mate. Violet must have sensed his rage, one he knew that Jacob shared because she began to pet both of them, calming them with her touch as no other could.
“Violet.” His voice trembled on her name.
“Shhh, I know,” she whispered before leaning up and pressing a kiss to his lips, then turning to lie flat and press a kiss to Jacob’s. Mason saw the tears on his brother’s face, and in that moment became aware that he, too, was crying silently. “I survived, spent two years as a ward of the state while I siphoned cash from Santiago, using a few back doors in the systems I built for him, and I covered my tracks. Eventually I think he caught on that someone was doing it though, because he changed his entire financial system. I had enough to start though, and I used that and worked to get into a position where I could finally do what I couldn’t do twelve years ago. I have the resources and I have the skill to take him down, and that is exactly what I am going to do.”
“And you won’t be doing it alone,” Mason promised.
Violet looked up at him, and her gaze locked to his in the early morning light. “I’m not sure I know how to work as a team.”
“Learn,” Jacob said from behind her. “Santiago is already dead. He just hasn’t stopped breathing yet. When he does, we will be standing right beside you.”
Violet’s expression turned slightly wicked. “You know, he has a fear of shifters. Something happened when he was younger and he believes them to be possessed by demons.”
Mason grinned. “Good to know! So we will be standing beside you in leopard form, with lions and tigers all positioned behind you. Fucker might think we are possessed by demons now, but by the time he takes his last breath, he’ll think he’s faced the devil himself.”
Violet grinned obviously liking the sound of that. “Alpha kitty will love that, for sure. Now, enough of all this. I do not want my final memory of the first night we are together to be about my fucked up father.” Violet launched herself up and over him, and Mason grinned as he gripped her hips and helped position her over his suddenly thick erection.
“What did you have in mind, little one?” Mason reached up and ran his hands over her breasts, squeezing and pulling her nipples, reveling in her mewl of pleasure and the way she wriggled her hips against him.
Violet’s eyes darkened. “I want to fuck you.” Mason was all aboard with that plan. “And I want to do that while I have Jacob in my mouth.” From the way Jacob practically flew into a kneeling position beside them, Mason knew he was just as eager to put her plan into action as he was.
Mason lay back and let his mate have her way with him. There would be plenty of time to think about Santiago and make plans for his downfall later. Right now it was all about their mate, and giving her what she needed. His last thought before she took him into her body and he lost the ability to form coherent sentences, was that he hoped that he and Jacob could be what she needed for the rest of her life. Because she most definitely was for him.
Chapter Ten
“Umph! Fuck!”
Violet huffed a laugh as she wiped away the sweat from her forehead. “Awww, sorry, kitty cat, did that hurt? You are sounding a little frustrated.”
Jacob flipped back up onto his feet. “Not at all, baby, just wanting to make sure you feel like you have a chance.” He turned toward her and started side stepping, advancing and retreating in the methodical way a trained martial artist did.
Violet laughed out loud as she began matched every step with her own, the two of them circling each other around the padded gym mats in her dojo. “I do thank you for your consideration, and it might be more believable if I weren’t beating your ass four falls to two. One more and you have to wash my back in the shower.”
Jacob’s grin was wicked. “You say that like it is a punishment. If anything it’s an incentive just to throw the damn bout.”
Violet grinned back, her eyes narrowing slyly. “True, but I reckon your competitive streak is too wide to simply roll over and play dead now, isn’t it, kitty?”
Jacob winked at her, and then lunged forward so quickly it was instinct more than anything else that saved her, and had her leaping out of range in time. Violet couldn’t remember having more fun working out. Mason and Jacob had both been keen to spend some time in her gym and dojo, and she had welcomed the opportunity to spar when Jacob offered.
Mason was out with Kieran, and the two of them would be back in a few hours. It was nice having one on one time with Jacob though. Her mind filled with some ideas of what they could be doing one on one and she decided it was time to end this and move on to more enjoyable endeavors.
She reached over her shoulder and grabbed a handful of the large t-shirt she wore, and tugged it over her head. “I’m getting a little warm.”
Jacob’s eyes dropped to her bra-clad breasts. “By all means, be comfortable.”
With effort, Jacob lifted his gaze to meet hers, and she stepped forward, making sure to put a little more bounce in her step, and sure enough, Jacob’s gaze dropped a second time. She stepped again, and Jacob’s gaze stayed on her chest and she knew she had him.
Pushing up from the ground with both feet, she leaped at him, her right leg tucking into his stomach, her left into his back. With little more than a twist of her hips, and her momentum and she had him on the ground.
“Hi-yah!” She yelled her kiai as she lifted her right leg up and pretended to drop it on his sternum. She sat up, grinning at Jacob, who was looking up at her with a mock glare.
“I should call foul on that one, you know,” Jacob complained as he rolled to the side and held out a hand to pull h
er to her feet.
“Any advantage necessary,” Violet said with a grin, stepping into him and wrapping her arms around his waist. “I have a competitive streak a mile long as well, and I am not above using what the good Lord gave me in order to win.”
Jacob smiled gently as he reached out and swept her hair from her face. “And I have to say he did a fan-fucking-tastic job in creating you, too, woman.” His expression turned serious, and Violet had the very real feeling of drowning in his beautiful grey eyes. “Thank you for trusting us last night. Not just by giving yourself to us, but for telling us about your past. I know that wasn’t easy for you, hell, it wasn’t easy hearing it and not running out to cut the fucker then and there, fortified compound or not. But knowing that you have that much trust in us is humbling.”
Violet felt herself blushed so pressed her face into his muscled chest. “As strange as it sounds, I do. Please don’t hurt me.” Those last four words were whispered, and she hadn’t even realized she was going to say them, and she desperately wished she could take them back when she felt Jacob tense.
He gently gripped her shoulders and tugged her from his chest so he could look into her eyes. “Violet, there is no way Mason or I would or could ever hurt you. You are our mate. Ours to love, ours to cherish, and ours to protect from now until forever. I know you don’t see that yet, but you will. Someday.”
Violet didn’t know what to say. She’d never had anyone tell her they would love, cherish, and protect her. Not even her Poppa. She had no words to tell him what he and Mason meant to her, so she pushed up onto her tiptoes reached up to wrap a hand around his neck, and tugged him down to meet her kiss.
She poured everything she could into that kiss. Her heart, her soul, every emotion she was feeling, she tried to convey through the passion she had for him. Jacob groaned into her mouth, wrapping his arms around her waist, and lifting her off the ground. Violet lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist as he walked over to the door that led down to the apartment, never breaking the kiss.
When her need for air had her pulling back she was surprised to see that they were walking into her master bathroom. “I believe,” Jacob’s voice was deeper than usual, and she shivered at the timbre of his tone, “that I lost our little bet, and it’s time I paid up.”
Jacob walked to the shower, and turned it on before setting her on her feet, and claiming her mouth with his own. He started out slow, taking his time until she felt completely taken over. Then as soon as she was completely compliant and under his spell, he changed the angle of the kiss and possessed her. All she could do was lean into him, hold on tight to his waist, and let him take her over. When Jacob pulled back she whimpered at the loss.
“Hop in, baby,” Jacob said against her neck before he turned her to the shower and helped her in. She was shocked to discover that somehow he had managed to strip her bra, panties, and her yoga pants from her without her being aware.
She stepped under the stream of hot water and moaned at the spread of heat through her shoulders and back. When she turned, the sight of Jacob pulling off his shorts and walking toward her naked, erect, and the picture of hotness, heat spread through her entire body, pooling low in her abdomen.
When he stepped into the shower with her, she ran her hands down over his chest and abs, reveling in how the muscles beneath the skin jumped under her fingers. “I love how strong you and Mason are. You are both exquisite works of art, simply beautiful. If I could paint, I would want to paint the two of you, naked.” She lifted her gaze from his chest to his face and saw a wash of color across his cheeks. “Are you blushing?”
“No,” he was quick to deny, but his gaze flicked away and she grinned.
“You are. Is it because I find you beautiful?”
Jacob groaned at her teasing and leaned in to nip at her bottom lip, making her laugh.
“Would it make it better if I changed that to wanting to paint you both in chocolate body paint and lick it off?”
From the way amber filtered into Jacob’s eyes and his erection bobbed between them, she knew he preferred that. Hell, she was pretty taken with that thought, too. She dropped to her knees before him. “But then again, who needs chocolate?”
She reached out and gripped his cock, loving the feel of the hard strength of it beneath the satin softness of his skin. She slid her hand up and down his shaft with the firm grip she knew her men preferred. With his body protecting her from the spray of the shower, she looked up to stare into his eyes. She leaned in, flicking her tongue over the slit at the head of his cock, delighting in his shiver and the way he bit his bottom lip.
Unable to hold back any longer, she leaned in and pulled him deep into her mouth, sucking hard and sliding the flat of her tongue along the sensitive underside.
“Goddamn it, Violet,” Jacob groaned. “Fuck, that feels good.”
She maintained a steady rhythm, using her mouth, her tongue and a decent amount of suction to drive him crazy. She wasn’t able to take all of him into her mouth, so used her left hand on his shaft and her right hand cupped his balls and rolled them in her palm. Within minutes Jacob was growling constantly, a few colorful curses echoing around the shower walls, and she felt his hips starting to jerk forward as if unconsciously seeking the release she knew was building within him.
“Fuck, Violet,” Jacob rasped reaching down to pull her up. “As amazing as it would be to come like that, I need to be inside you.”
Violet was in complete agreement, and when Jacob lifted her, and pressed her back against the tiled wall of the shower, she wrapped her legs around his waist, reached down to align his cock with her pussy, and pulled him close. He slid to the hilt in one swift thrust, and both of them moaned at the feeling.
“So hot, so wet,” Jacob murmured as he ran his hands down her arms to her hands, and lifted them above her head. “Hold on, baby, this is gonna go hard and fast.” Then true to his word, Jacob started to move, pounding into her.
Pinned as she was to the wall, she was completely at his mercy. It was one of the hottest experiences of her life. To be fucked against the wall, staring into the eyes of the man pounding into your body, and knowing you could do nothing to prevent the orgasm racing toward you like a tsunami was heady stuff.
Violet inhaled sharply when her release suddenly slammed into her, and she screamed Jacob’s name as her body shook and shuddered with pleasure. She managed to keep her eyes open, and witnessed the moment Jacob surrendered to his own release. His roar rang with hers filling the bathroom with the sounds of their joint passion. She flexed her hands in his, and as soon as he released her wrists, she reached her arms around him and gripped him tightly to her. The past forty-eight hours had been an emotional roller coaster, with her ripping her past open to Jacob and Mason, and for the first time in her life, she felt hopeful about her future.
Oh, she was still hell bent on the vengeance owed to her, but she was hopeful nonetheless.
Chapter Eleven
The scene unfolding on the screen before him was jumpy, but the quality was high and the image was clear. It showed two people standing in a darkened hallway talking quietly together. Although the video footage was high quality, the sound was poor. They couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but their faces were clear despite the poor lighting.
And it was one face in particular that had Santiago’s blood running cold, then burning hot with rage. “Figlio di troia!”
“Well, lookie who it is,” Vincenzo said. “It appears the prodigal daughter didn’t die in that damn fire like we thought, huh?”
Santiago roared, tempted to throw the tablet against the wall. “That fucking bitch is alive! Her hair is different, but no one could hide those eyes. It all makes fucking sense now. Who else has the skills to take every fucking software contract right out from under me? That fucking bitch owes me millions!”
Vincenzo nodded. “Yep, it would appear my shot wasn’t as deadly as we thought. Surprising really. But you gotta
admire her strength. You always thought that the person behind IEH and their single-minded focus to fuck you over had to be someone from your past, and someone who hated you. Well, you were right on both counts. There is no one in the world that has more right to hate you than that little girl, and I can’t blame her.”
Roberto spun on Vincenzo with a snarl. “I did nothing but teach that bitch that life was hard and she needed to fight. And how did she thank me? She has stolen from me. She fucking shot at me. At me! Her father!”
Vincenzo raised a brow at him. “There was no bullet in the gun, to be fair. And you tried to get her to shoot her own grandfather. You had her beaten and raped in front of him, and then you shot him in the head while she watched. I really think—”
Boom!
Roberto waited for the rapport of the weapon he’d just fired to dissipate. Two more of his guards ran into the room, guns drawn, eyes casting about the room looking for the threat.
“Boss, you okay?”
Roberto nodded at the guard who asked the question and laid his gun back on the table. “I’m not sure if anyone else was getting sick of that bastard and his chatter, but I’d had enough of hearing what that fucker thought.” He moved around Vincenzo, who had crumpled to the floor, blood oozing onto the concrete floor from the whole where his face used to be. “Take care of that mess and then head out into the city. I need you to pick something up for me.”
The older of the guards looked up, his face unchanged by the gore and horror that lay at his feet. “What might that be, boss?”
Roberto handed him the tablet and pointed to the screen. “Her.”
****
“How’s the miracle cure working out for Alpha Kitty?” Violet said into the phone, grinning when Mason chuckled.
“Why do you assume it was Kieran that tried it out and not one of us?” Mason asked, humor clear in his tone.