Bound by Rapture

by D. Martin, Megan

  His stance annoyed me. It was threatening, domineering. Here I was, just woken up from shock or something, and he didn’t even seem happy I was back to my normal self. He seemed angry.

  “I don’t trust them.”

  I rolled my eyes and sat up, stretching my arms. An over-sized my little pony t-shirt hung off my frame. “It’s not your call.”

  I glanced back at Vic. He was staring at Cole, his gaze full of irritation.

  “What the hell is going on with you two?” I rolled my eyes. Neither man said anything. “Fine. Don’t answer. But I want Vic and Chris here with me.” Just the thought of having them back in the room next to mine was more comforting than I could even explain.

  Cole was quiet, his gaze boring into Vic’s. After several moments he finally spoke. “Fine.” He glanced at me. “If that will make you happy.” His jaw was clenched angrily.

  Vic smiled at me. It was that wide, blindingly handsome smile I’d come to love and appreciate as his best friend. “Thanks, Jewel.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “It will be nice to be back home. I have to go meet up with Chris, but I’ll be back here tonight.”

  “Great.” I couldn’t keep the smile off my lips either. It was contagious.

  “And girl, you need to hop in the shower and get that hideous shirt off. I’m almost embarrassed to be in here with you.”

  I chuckled. “Working on it.”

  He didn’t say anything to Cole as he left the room. Once the door shut behind him I climbed out of bed, not making eye contact with Cole. He didn’t seem as worried as that psychologist made him sound, standing at the end of the bed like some damn crazy guard.

  I headed into the bathroom, but before I could shut the door, Cole followed me inside.

  “What?” I turned slowly to look at him.

  “That’s all you’re going to say? What?” He seemed perplexed, his gaze hard.

  “You’re the one who followed me in here.”

  He rubbed his chin with one hand. “I’ve been worried about you.”

  “Could have fooled me.” I turned away and jerked the shirt over my head.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means exactly what you think it means, Cole.”

  “Fuck, Julia. What do you expect? I’m fucking shocked you’re standing here right now giving me lip, when an hour ago you were a zombie.”

  “You don’t seem too excited about it.” I turned on the faucet, keeping my back to him.

  “So, you’re just okay now. Just like that. No more worries or trauma about the things that happened.” His voice was accusatory.

  I spun around. “What is that supposed to mean? You think I was faking it?” It was strange, I supposed. I didn’t feel off, or upset. I remembered the things that happened. Jay. Mandi. My own attack. The memories piled one on top of the other, but they weren’t in the forefront of my mind. Instead they were somewhere in the back, covered with a blanket, leaving me numb and separate from all of it.

  Cole’s dark blue gaze traveled up and down my body. All I wore now was a pair of green bikini underwear. “I don’t know, Julia. I’ve been busting my balls the last two days doing everything I could to bring you out of whatever the fuck you were in.” He took a step closer. “But then Victor Marlin shows up miraculously like some fucking show dog, and you wake up for him like he’s your knight in shining armor.”

  “You’re jealous.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.

  Something like a growl escaped from his lips. He fisted his hands at his sides. “You’ve fucked him. I’ve watched you fuck him. And you just want me to be okay with him staying here, feet away from you?”

  I narrowed my gaze and shifted closer to him, letting my breasts rub against his chest. Something wicked flared inside me. Something that wanted to snap at Cole like a cobra. “You chose to watch me fuck him.” I trailed my hand up his torso, feeling his skin jump under my touch. “And you liked it.”

  His reaction was instant. He slammed me back against the wall, his hands caging me on either side of my head. “You don’t want to push me right now, Julia.”

  “Or what, Cole? You’ll take me back into the basement and let someone else try to strangle me?” I hissed.

  Something hideous skittered across his face and it made my heart jump uncomfortably in my chest. For a moment it looked like he would try to explain himself, defend what he did, but he didn’t.

  “I don’t want him staying here.”

  “That’s not your call.” I looked him straight in the eye. The darkness behind his eyes called to me. It made my cunt so wet, the arousal dripped down onto my thighs. I wanted to rip his pants off.

  “It is my call, Julia. Someone is trying to fucking murder you. We can’t have a bunch of people in the—”

  “Oh, don’t try to make this about my safety. If it was about that you wouldn’t have taken me into that basement.” I don’t know why I kept bringing it up. Cole had saved me, I knew that, and it wasn’t his fault, but part of me wanted to hurt him. I wanted to wound him for standing at the end of my bed, looking at me like he didn’t give a fuck if I was okay or not.

  “I would never intentionally put you in danger.” His words came out thick and hard, as if they meant nothing to him. But I could read through them.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Vic and Chris are staying.”

  His gaze hardened and I felt his cock pulse through the jeans he wore.

  He likes this.

  “No.”

  I pushed at his chest. “You don’t get to make decisions like that just because you’re jealous.”

  He gripped my chin between two fingers. “Julia, have you forgotten? I get to do whatever the hell I want.” A cold smile spread across his lips.

  “Not anymore. Money can’t buy you everything. Remember?”

  “They’re not staying.”

  “Have you seen Elaine in the last two days?” The words made him stop short. His breathing halted. “Have you?” I demanded. Elaine in a tight black dress flashed through my mind. “How many times have you done this, Cole? How many times have I turned a blind eye to your women on the side?” The memory of her words made me flinch.

  I reached down and gripped his dick. A whoosh of air left his lips. “Did you see her, while I was laying in that bed counting the ceiling popcorn?”

  A chuckle left his lips. It was one of those sounds of utter confidence that made my pussy clench and heart speed up. “You were counting the ceiling popcorn?”

  “Did you see her?” I gripped harder.

  His gaze raked up and down my face like a caress. I was holding his dick, demanding answers, but we both knew who held the cards. We both knew he was letting me play this little game; he could have already had me bent over the sink screaming his name. Instead we were just staring into each other’s eyes in some sort of weird tango I couldn’t get enough of.

  “I didn’t see her, Julia. Elaine and I are done. Over.”

  And I believed him. I couldn’t say why, but I did. Maybe it was the way he said it, the way his words rumbled from his throat like rocks and gravel, crunching and grinding, burning into my eardrums. Maybe I was just a stupid, wishful woman who was hopelessly in love.

  “I want them to stay,” I said, my voice less forceful. He brushed the back of one hand against my cheek. The word love on his knuckles came into focus for a moment before his fingers slipped away and brushed against my collarbone.

  “And so they will.” He nibbled my jaw. “No matter how much I hate it. But please remember,” he leaned back, his eyes boring into mine with deadly certainty, “if he touches you, makes a pass at you, does any fucking thing I don’t like,” his hand trailed lower, tweaking my nipple, “he’s dead. And so is his little boyfriend.”

  FIVE

  Cole.

  I stared down at Julia, waiting with bated breath to see how she would respond to my threat against Victor and Chris. She would be smart to take it seriously.
Them staying here at all was enough to make me psychotic, yet here I was agreeing to it.

  I was a foolish, foolish man. I didn’t have to be told. I knew it. When it came to Julia I was nothing but a lost, lovesick puppy. I wanted her to be happy, to be well. Less than twenty minutes ago she had been laying in her bed staring up at the ceiling counting the popcorn, lost in her own world. I’d bent over backward trying to wake her out of it. I’d done everything. I’d told her stories about my childhood. Told her about the first time I saw her.

  I even sang to her. Out of tune and badly, I sang to her. But nothing worked. I’d finally reached the edge of my panic, about to dive in and completely lose my mind when I called the psychologist.

  It didn’t matter, though. Because he woke her up.

  I’d stood there watching it all take place. I was sure there was no way in a million years Victor’s presence would change anything, but then it did. One minute she was gone and the next she was smiling up at that asshole, holding his hand.

  I’d poured my heart out like a fucking little girl, and all he had to do was show his stupid face and she was all roses and dandelions, happy and normal. I should have been content she was okay, that was what I wanted, but I couldn’t stop the sting, the burn of anger and jealousy rushing through my veins.

  “Fine,” she said.

  I flicked my fingers against the pebbled peak of her nipple and she moaned. The sound made my cock kick into her palm.

  “Just fine?”

  “Yes,” she moaned, gripping my dick harder, letting her eyes flutter closed.

  “You don’t want to fuck him?”

  “No.”

  “Look at me,” I demanded.

  Her eyes popped open, the crystal blue so bright and clear. “Only you. No one else.”

  Her voice was breathless, sweet, like honey I wanted to coat myself in. I knew if I reached into her panties, her cunt would be wet, ready for me.

  “Do you remember all those times you fucked him?” The words were more bitter than I expected them to be. But I couldn’t help it. She woke up for him.

  “Why are you asking me this?”

  “I want to know.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Of course I remember.”

  “Did you like it?” I let my hand slide farther down over her stomach, teasing along her panty line.

  “These are stupid questions.” She let go of my dick.

  “No.” I thrust myself against her. “Keep touching me.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not going to touch you if that’s what you’re going to talk about.”

  I gripped her hand and forced it back to my dick. The fucker throbbed, ready to tear everything away and be buried inside her. “Do you think about it, about fucking him?”

  “Cole—”

  “Does it make you wet, Julia?” The memories of her fucking Vic were like old wounds ripped open. All the hate, the jealousy, the need to make her mine swam viciously in deep pools of anger.

  “I don’t know, Cole. Do you get hard when you think about fucking Elaine?”

  “No.” My answer was instantaneous.

  “You really didn’t fuck her?” she asked as if she was just now remembering the revelation that had us both distracted enough for Jay to get his handcuffs in front of him.

  I took a step back. “Nope.” The air between us seemed to crack and sizzle even though there was no longer contact.

  “What are you doing?” Her chest was heaving, her big breasts bouncing in a way that made me want to go to my knees and worship her like the goddess she was.

  “I’m leaving so you can take a shower.” The words emerged with difficulty.

  The normal part of me wanted to rip those tiny emerald panties off her body and fuck her so hard she wouldn’t be able to remember her own name. But the other part of me, a part I didn’t see very often, wanted to punish her. For fucking that bastard while I watched. For waking up for him, even though I had poured my heart out to her. Hours, days she would never remember.

  I almost wanted to laugh at myself. When had I become this guy? The guy controlled by a pussy, so much that I was singing love songs and promising her the world just so she would come back to me. I ran a hand through my hair and stared at her, at Julia. The most beautiful woman I’d ever met. She was strong, fucking amazing in every way. And she was wet for me. Her perfect body was ready, waiting for me to take it. But my stupid fucking pride was punctured, wounded, and I wanted her to feel that hurt.

  “Why?” She bit down on her lip, the movement nearly my undoing. “You could take one with me.”

  “I’ll pass.” And I walked out of the bathroom. Even though every part of my being wanted to be in there fucking her senseless. I wouldn’t do it.

  I shook my head. I’m out of my damn mind.

  “We can’t find Kevin Malone.”

  “What?” I pinched my forehead, standing in the hallway in front of Julia’s apartment with my cell phone pressed to my ear. It was morning, not even twenty-four hours since I’d left her in the bathroom wet and needy, my cock hard and ready.

  “I know. It doesn’t make sense, but he hasn’t been to work for four days. He was last seen on Monday—”

  “The day before Mandi was murdered,” I finished and squeezed my eyes shut. “Fuck. Jim, there has to be something.” Jim was one of my IT guys. He and his dad were the best when it came to technology. They could dig into everything about a person with a few clicks, and both had been working for me for years.

  “That’s the thing, Cole. There’s nothing.”

  “What do you mean? There has to be some sort of trail. Credit cards, gas station cameras, anything?”

  “No. Nothing. It’s like the guy disappeared off the planet.”

  “That doesn’t make any damn sense.” I yanked on my hair. “There has to be something.”

  “We’ll keep looking.”

  I nodded. “Send me the address to his job. I’ll send someone out there to ask questions.” I glanced over at Randy, Leon, and Jesse, another one of my guys. They stood by Julia’s apartment door, speaking quietly to one another. More of them waited downstairs along with a bulletproof limo that would be escorting Julia, myself, and unfortunately, Victor and Chris, to Mandi’s funeral.

  “All right. Sending it over now. Oh wait—”

  I had already pulled the phone away from my ear, ready to hang up. “What?” I couldn’t keep the agitation out of my voice. I was more than frustrated with the whole situation and beyond annoyed with Victor and his boyfriend’s presence in the apartment.

  Yesterday, after I’d left Julia in the bathroom, I went to Rapture to handle some business things for the club as well as for Obsidian Spirits and when I returned, all of my men looked uncomfortable, most not wanting to meet my gaze. I knew why when I entered the apartment.

  Julia was there with Victor and Chris. They’d sandwiched her on her flower-patterned couch. All of them were laughing at some show on TV. Julia was clearly not upset about our earlier altercation. She wasn’t burning was some fervent need to have me inside her. She wasn’t suffering the way I was.

  I’d sat at my office for hours letting the altercation between us roll over and over in my mind. I almost went back multiple times, getting up and rushing to my office door before changing my mind at the last second. My cock had been rock hard the entire time.

  It made me want to punch something, especially when she didn’t acknowledge me when I walked in. I’d gone into her room and was surprised when she followed me in a few minutes later. We slept in bed together. It was the first time we’d lain together and actually did nothing but sleep.

  “Cole?” Jim’s voice brought me back to the present.

  “Yeah?”

  “We were finally able to track down the name of the person who sent the message to Julia’s phone.”

  “What?”

  “When the two of you were in New Orleans.”

  “Really?” I’d all but forgotten abo
ut the threatening message. Since then, Mandi had been killed and so had Jay. A million things seemed to have happened.

  “Yes, but I’m not sure about this.” His voice wavered on the other end. Irritation cut at me.

  “Just spit it out.”

  “The unknown number was linked to an iTunes profile. You were right in thinking it was some sort of texting app. The person used a gift card to purchase the app, so there wasn’t an address or specific information connected to that so far.”

  “Okay? Get to the point.”

  “The person did voluntarily fill out their name and basic information.” He took a deep breath and I fought the urge to yell at him. “It’s registered to Garrett Lee Maddon.”

  My heart jumped into my throat, nearly choking me. “W-what?” I knew that name better than I knew my own. It was one of those names I pushed away in the darkness when I was all alone. If I thought about him, the man I used to call my brother, I would go insane. If I wasn’t already.

  “Yes, sir. That’s why I didn’t think it could be right. I double and triple checked, but it is. That’s the only name on the account.”

  Garrett’s face popped into my head. The last time I saw him was over ten years ago. One of his eyes was swollen shut and his nose was bleeding, dripping down his face onto his bare chest. “Don’t do this, Cole. I’m your brother. Your only brother.” But I’d done it anyway. He was dead and he wasn’t my brother. Blood didn’t mean anything to me. Not after what he did.

  “There is an address, though.”

  I coughed into my hand. “What is it?” Something dark and twisted roiled beneath my skin. My original assumptions about my mother having something to do with this whole thing resurfaced.

  “Nineteen Somner Way, New—”

  “Motherfucker!” I cut him off. The address was mine. Mine. The place where I’d grown up. The old dilapidated shack I’d called home for all of my childhood.

  I turned and slammed my fist against the wall. The rough plaster cutting into my skin was like a balm, a sweet release to all that anger and hate. It bubbled over and I slammed my fist into the wall again, relishing in the way my knuckles cracked desperately under the pressure.