Brightest As We Fall

by Cleo Peitsche

  “When you’re really scared, you hide it well. It’s the other times that you’re easy to read.” He pauses. “And do you feel sexy now?”

  “Dunno.”

  He leans forward, staring into my eyes. “You’re hot.” He drags a thumb across his lower lip. “You taste sexy. I want to try something.”

  Instead of asking what he has in mind, I nod.

  “If you need to get my attention, hit the bed three times. With your heel, with your hand or whatever.”

  “Why would I need to—”

  Jason bunches up the fabric that was previously covering my face, then yanks the top over my head.

  He looks menacing as he pulls his arms apart, the cloth stretching. He loops one end around my wrist, shoves the cloth under my head, then loops it around my other wrist. He pulls until my hands are squeezed against my face, and then he adjusts the fabric once more and forces it over my mouth, gagging me.

  I wish there were a mirror because I can’t figure out how he did this. All I know is that my hands are basically bound to my face.

  I. Feel. Ridiculous.

  Jason leaves the bed. He turns on more lights—who would have thought the room could even get this bright?

  “My captive.” His voice is hoarse, and the look in his eyes is unquestionably hunger.

  He rips into one of the condoms, rolls it over his stiff shaft with practiced ease. I’m relieved at first because I know what to do with penetration.

  But then he slides his hands under my ass and jerks my hips up. Most of my body is in the air, and I’m anchored by my shoulders and head. And I thought I was helpless before.

  Bending forward, Jason makes eye contact, then slowly and deliberately licks me, going right for my sensitive, throbbing clit.

  I scream into the cloth and jerk, but he’s got a firm grip and there’s nothing I can do while he feasts. He rips an orgasm from me. Coming when I can’t move freely is indescribable. The sensations are so much more intense because I have no outlet.

  Before I stop shuddering, he teases out a second orgasm. The moment the peak hits, he lets my hips fall, and in one smooth motion slams his cock deep inside me.

  I scream, arching on the bed. The gag keeps me muffled, but if there’s someone on the other side of the wall, they can hear.

  “This is what you needed.” Jason hikes my left leg up, brings my ankle to his shoulder and hunkers down like that, his hips swinging rhythmically against mine.

  Each thrust bangs the bed into the wall. Faster and faster. I’m beside myself with bliss, my entire body pulsing. It takes a single finger on my clit for Jason to send me soaring into the sky, and afterward, he doesn’t show pity. He continues fucking me, continues abusing my wet flesh.

  His pounding slows, speeds up again.

  Now he’s the one arching, thick muscles straining and tendons prominent as his grunts blend into a masculine roar. I want to keep my eyes open and watch him fall apart, but I’m peaking along with him, and I squeeze my eyes shut because I can’t take it anymore.

  When Jason collapses on top of me, I want to dig my fingers into his shoulders and keep him here. Forever.

  “How are your arms?” he asks.

  I exaggerate trying to say something, reminding him that I’m gagged. He laughs and pulls down the gag, which drags wetly across my chin, making me wince.

  “Are you all right?” His forehead creases in concern.

  “Yeah. It’s just… gross. And wet.”

  It takes him a moment to realize what I mean, and I see him filing the information away. God only knows what he could possibly do with it.

  He unbinds my hands. I flex and curl my fingers. My whole body is sore from the unfamiliar contortions, but I feel fantastic.

  Grinning, I say, “I feel great.”

  Jason nods.

  I watch him walk to the bathroom, and when he’s gone I flip onto my stomach and sigh, a huge smile spreading across my face. He’s pure muscle, a very bad boy, a criminal, a mother’s worst nightmare, and an unrepentant heartbreaker. But wow, is he a good man.

  The smile slides off my face, and now I’m the one creasing my forehead in concern. A good man? Surely I don’t believe that. After the things he’s admitted?

  But there is good in him. I see it, even if he doesn’t. Jason is an attentive lover. God knows he could get away with being selfish in bed. I’m not clueless. I know all about misunderstood bad boys, how they spin through your life like a cyclone, moving fast, erratically, leaving nothing but destruction and confusion.

  Jason and I will be parting ways long before that happens. No matter how confused I might be during and after sex, there’s a deadline on this.

  Something shifts inside me as my resolve hardens. I can’t let myself fall for him.

  Chapter 29

  Jason left the hotel on foot shortly after sunrise. The air was cool and fresh, with a persistent wind rattling through the brick buildings. He’d almost reached his destination, the coffee shop at the top of the street, when his old phone rang for the first time in over a day.

  His blood went cold, but he pulled the phone out. The screen showed a Porsche with a big-breasted, dark-skinned, red-haired woman in a bikini lounging on the hood.

  It was AJ’s photo.

  Jason was confused, but he didn’t know why. He stared at the screen. Cindy had dumped AJ almost two years ago, but AJ had never replaced the photo, keeping it as a reminder to never fall for a woman again. AJ had eventually gotten back the Porsche and some of the jewelry he’d given Cindy.

  Jason could have updated the photo in his own address book, but he liked the reminder that his boss could be vindictive and vengeful.

  You need to know what he knows, right? And find out why he betrayed you. No time like the present.

  Jason slid his thumb along the screen and raised the phone to his ear.

  “Hello,” a woman’s voice said.

  Jason lowered his hand and stared at the screen again, only now realizing that the number displayed wasn’t AJ’s. And the ringtone had been generic.

  This was his brain before coffee.

  “Cindy?” he asked.

  “Jason. Oh, thank heaven.” Cindy suddenly seemed on the verge of tears. “I thought you were dead.”

  Her demeanor shook Jason. Cindy was a trial attorney, junior partner at a huge Rhodell Heights firm. She was a sharp negotiator, cold as ice when irritated, but generally unflappable.

  “What’s going on?” He hadn’t talked to Cindy since her firm had handled a small civil matter for him, months ago.

  “They’re dead. All of them. Finn, Liam, Noah, Tony Smooth, AJ.”

  The words seemed to bounce inside of Jason’s head, slamming up against his skull and ricocheting off into new directions, never coming together to make sense. The street noise faded to a background roar, and he swayed on his feet, then sagged against a cool metal dumpster. He didn’t even remember entering the alleyway.

  “AJ is dead?” Jason whispered.

  “Yes. I thought you were, too. That they were covering it up.”

  Jason trusted Cindy, but he knew better than to say too much over the phone. “What happened?”

  “There was a shooting,” Cindy said circumspectly. “A gunfight involving the Jack Rebels.”

  Jason waited for her to say something more. Because he was damned sure that AJ hadn’t been at that shootout.

  “The Jack Rebels got into a shootout with AJ?” he finally asked.

  “Not exactly,” Cindy said, and exhaled. “I can only tell you what I’ve heard, but the Jack Rebels had hits out on everyone. Coordinated. All at once.”

  Jason thought about how his phone had kept chiming with messages hours after the shootout. He hadn’t responded, because he was busy trying to figure out how to get the money back, and because he thought AJ had tried to kill him. The messages from AJ and Finn and Liam…

  Liam, who hated technology.

  It wasn’t from them. AJ and his clo
sest crew had been dead several hours by then.

  If Jason had replied… If he’d said where he was, if he’d told AJ to send someone to help him crack DeeAnn…

  Then I would be dead, too.

  “Are you there?” Cindy asked.

  He wiped a shaking hand over his face. “Yeah.”

  “I saw them,” Cindy said. “The bodies. What was left of them, anyway.” This time, her voice didn’t break.

  Jason didn’t ask how she’d gotten her hands on the crime scene photos. Cindy was brilliant, and she knew how to work people. AJ, eternal bachelor, had begged her to marry him. That was the kind of power Cindy possessed.

  “Are you worried someone is coming after you?”

  She barked a bitter laugh. “What would be the point? I represented some of you, but AJ fired my firm after the breakup. I’m nothing to the Jack Rebels. What, they want to send a message? Who to? Everyone is dead.”

  “I’m not dead,” Jason corrected. Not yet. He thought about the hole big enough for him and Toby. “Are people saying I did it?”

  “Wherever you are, stay away,” Cindy said. “I always liked you. Always thought you were too good to be AJ’s henchman. He said he couldn’t run the business without you. He felt guilty about that, you know. He knew he was holding you back.” Her voice wavered again.

  Damn, Jason thought. She really loved that bastard.

  “Lose this phone,” Cindy said firmly. “They might be tracking you.”

  The world seemed to sway again. “The Jack Rebels don’t have that kind of—”

  “There’s no way they pulled this off on their own. Disappear, Jason. Make a new life somewhere. Disappear and stay gone.”

  Jason swallowed. There was so much that Cindy wasn’t telling him, but he appreciated her call.

  “Understood,” he said.

  “I’m glad you’re alive. It makes me feel a little better.” She hung up, leaving Jason alone to digest his shock and confusion.

  Over an hour later, Jason stepped into the hotel room and quietly closed the door behind him. DeeAnn was still a lump under the sheets, one of her feet hanging off the side of the bed.

  “Time to get up,” he said, trying to keep his voice light. He wondered how someone chose green for a nail polish color. He slid the morning’s haul onto the nightstand.

  DeeAnn groaned, then flipped over. She blinked, started to sit up, then clutched the sheets to her chest.

  “Don’t you think the time for modesty is past?” Jason jerked his chin at the paper bag and hot chocolate he’d bought. “Hope you like blueberry muffins.”

  “Wow. Thanks. I can smell it from here.” DeeAnn’s knuckles were white as she held the sheet up to her chin. “Only one coffee?”

  “Drank mine already.” He started for the bathroom, then turned back. He wanted to tell her about Cindy’s call. There was a lot to process. The acute shock had worn off half an hour ago, and Jason had shifted to problem-solving mode.

  He’d placed two calls to Shot, a former associate who’d left Rhodell Heights a few years ago, but Jason hadn’t made contact yet.

  Jason became aware that DeeAnn was still covering herself up. That was strange… Wasn’t it?

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re all right? We’re all right?”

  “Yeah.” Her smile was genuine. “I couldn’t be better.”

  Jason didn’t believe in dragging the truth out of people. It was an invasion of privacy and an insult, and he damned sure didn’t want it turned back around on him. In the bathroom, he stripped down, took a fast shower, and shaved.

  A beard would make him less recognizable, but it would also make him stand out more. It was the curse from his father’s side of the family: dark hair on the head, thick red beard. The effect was striking. So he shaved—better to be unremarkable to strangers than to worry about running into someone from Rhodell Heights during his road trip through the middle of nowhere.

  Jason rinsed the razor, knocked it against the sink, then leaned forward to stare into his bloodshot eyes.

  There’s no way they pulled this off on their own. Who had Cindy been referring to?

  Another motorcycle gang?

  Mafia from one of the bigger cities? Maybe Cindy didn’t know, but Jason was sure she had a theory. One she clearly preferred to keep to herself.

  When he emerged, DeeAnn was dressed and sitting on the bed, eating the muffin carefully over the open paper bag.

  He glanced around the room. “You made the bed?”

  “Oh, yeah.” DeeAnn’s cheeks turned pink. “It was something to do.”

  “Bullshit.” He turned his stare to her. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”

  The pink deepened to red. “Did you see me making the bed at the motel?”

  “The sheet I left on the floor magically floated up and fixed itself back on the mattress.”

  “That doesn’t count.” DeeAnn spoke quickly, flustered. “I was just…” With jerky movements, she brushed crumbs from her fingers into the bag. “You were taking a long time in the shower. Thanks for the hot chocolate. I can drink coffee, you know. There’s no need to—”

  “My shower took ten minutes. That’s hardly a long time.”

  DeeAnn shrugged. She seemed to have gotten control of herself. “I was bored. Next time I’ll refold your shirts.”

  “If you refold my clothes, I’ll have to start tying you to the bed.” Jason stuffed his dirty clothes into the top corner of his small suitcase without bothering to unzip it all the way. When he straightened, he noticed that DeeAnn was blushing again.

  “Kinky girl,” he said, shaking his head slowly, and watched her blush deepen. “Come here.”

  Her expression said she didn’t want to, and Jason was prepared to let it go. She was strange this morning, and he didn’t understand why.

  Maybe it was him. Because of that phone call. True, the world seemed weird, filtered through warped plastic, the sound distorted.

  DeeAnn approached with slow, hesitant steps.

  He opened his mouth to tell her they should get on the road. But then she glanced up at him, and he caught a glimpse of her vulnerability. If he turned her down, he would hurt her.

  Why do you care, man? You don’t need the drama. Tell her it’s time to go.

  Drama. No, he didn’t need that. But he didn’t want to destroy her.

  And… He needed a distraction. He needed to be reassured that he was alive, that he’d survived.

  Maybe a better man would have sat her on the bed and made her talk. But Jason didn’t believe in those games. DeeAnn was capable of saying what she wanted. Man, was she ever capable.

  Jason pulled down her pants and the lacy black thong and studied her naked pussy, memorizing every perfect contour while ignoring her self-conscious fidgeting.

  Then he watched her pretty face even more intently while he finger-banged her.

  Her throaty moans made him harder than steel, and yeah, it was weird that she wouldn’t look at him.

  “You good?” he asked, spinning her around and leaning over her. Her skin was unbelievably soft. He nipped at her ear.

  “Fuck me.” She turned her head slightly toward him. “Am I allowed to ask for that?”

  “What’s the magic word?” He was already ripping into the condom.

  She laughed and faced forward again. “Please fuck me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I love your cock.”

  Jason couldn’t argue with that. He tossed the empty foil aside and palmed her ass, loving the way his fingers sank into her flesh. DeeAnn’s ass was to die for. He squeezed harder and spread her cheeks, lifting them and forcing her to arch her back until he could see her dripping pussy from behind. He kept squeezing until she gasped and wriggled. He loved watching the light glistening on her slick skin.

  That was where he wanted to be.

  Jason jammed his leg between DeeAnn’s thighs. Her knees bu
ckled, but he caught her easily with an arm under her waist.

  Then he bent her over the remade bed and fucked her mercilessly until she came a couple of times and begged for him to take it easy.

  They didn’t leave the room for forty minutes after that.

  “I called someone,” Jason said after they’d been on the highway a couple of hours.

  DeeAnn had been messing with her phone, probably watching webcam footage of endangered species or studying bed-making tips, but she now dropped her hand into her lap. “Oh?”

  “Didn’t get an answer.”

  “Am I forgetting a conversation we had?”

  “No. I just thought you’d like to know.” He cleared his throat. He was ambivalent about reaching out to Shot, and he didn’t need a lecture about it. What he wanted was reassurance that he’d done the right thing. The odds of getting that from DeeAnn? Slim. She wouldn’t pretend.

  Jason admired that about her.

  “Do you mind starting from the beginning? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Right.” Jason changed lanes to pass a lumbering eighteen-wheeler. “A few years ago—”

  “You should use your turn signal.” DeeAnn twisted in her seat to scrutinize the mostly empty road behind them. “We don’t want to get pulled over.”

  “Who’s gonna pull me over? I’ve got a clear view of the road ahead and behind.”

  “I’m just nervous.”

  In that case, he could only guess what she was going to say when she found out about his plan. But he’d mulled over the options all night. After Cindy’s call this morning, the decision was clear. The solution he’d devised was the fastest, safest way to get them both set up with their new lives.

  “Being nervous is understandable,” Jason said. “You could complain less, though.”

  “Sorry.” Her voice was small, and he felt bad. He offered her a stick of gum. She accepted, and moments later the sharp smell of cinnamon filled the car.

  Jason knew she wasn’t trying to set a record for the world’s biggest pain in the ass. He wondered if she knew that when she wasn’t stressed out, she was actually a lot of fun.