Reckless.
Lack of restraint.
It’s an assertive kiss from both of us, but Logan, he snatches all the control without being domineering.
When he scrapes his tongue across my teeth and grinds his dick into me. My hands go straight to his ass and grip.
God, this is thoughtless. I can’t help myself. I kiss him like it’s the last kiss I will ever have, and he does the same. His tongue explores my mouth in an angry twist with mine. Delves in every corner and crevice, biting and nipping and God, I don’t want him to stop.
There’s a burning fever that hits me between my legs and kicks the fear right out of me.
It’s wet; it’s earth-shattering.
It’s wrong.
Questions and answers.
They knock sense back into me.
I can’t do this.
“No.” My hands press against his chest. I shove him away, and before I know what I’m doing, I slap him so hard it stings my palm. I beat on his chest so many times I lose count. Punching until my muscles hurt and my arms feel like wet, limp noodles.
Logan does nothing but stands there and looks at me as if he knows he deserves this plus so much more.
“You have no right to touch me when you have a wife. No right to show up here and think I’m ready to talk to you, Logan. Shadow is coming. He’ll get me. He will. He’ll hurt everyone I care about. I don’t know what’s going on or how you managed to convince Renita you are trustworthy, but you did. You used me. You hurt me. Did you fuck her? You have me so messed up I don’t know anything anymore.”
Eyes watery, I swipe at them, my levelheadedness rising to my throat and dropping to my stomach, heart pounding so hard it pulses in my ears.
My head is rolling around like a tumbleweed. I am dried up and distorted. Every emotion is jingling loud in my ears: hurt, anger, sadness, pain.
I want it to stop. This heart war that is bleeding me dry.
“No, goddamnit. I did not. Please, listen to me, Ellie. I need you to hear this, really hear it. I’m not giving you up. You are mine, and I am yours. My marriage is on paper only. It’s always been. There’s so much you need to know. Not a damn thing makes what I did to you right. Telling you I’m sorry seems meager after what I’ve done. I promised you safety, and I meant it. You are safe. If you run, if you try pulling away from what we are building, I will chase you, I will tug you back to me, and I will kidnap you if that’s what it takes for you to hear me out.”
Ruthlessness bleeds from him.
Absolute power.
I believe the man would steal me away if that’s what it takes.
He makes me feel weak, and I hate him for it.
“I hate you.” The harsh words leave my tongue, unwelcome. The fact that they only make Logan tense as he moves into me and places his hands on either side of my head and breathes me in before exhaling his warm breath at the base of my ear pisses me off that much more.
I am so confused, so out of my mind, I can’t think past the tips of my toes.
“We both know that’s a lie. I’m falling in love with you, Ellie. It’s that deep down kind of love, think I’ve always known, ever since I saw this brave girl standing in a window. I feel you in my bones. I don’t deserve you, but I’m keeping you.”
A sob rattles out of my mouth as his words hit me like a tidal wave.
Drowning.
I struggle to stay calm, to absorb what he said. The sorrow that he would say he loves me amid this nightmare is a tough pill to swallow. It only makes my head and heart war with one another all the more.
“You need me as badly as I do you. You’re afraid to hear the truth because the truth is going to hurt, and I get it. I’ve been struggling with a way to tell you while trying to come up with a way to keep you since I saw you at the bar. It wouldn’t have mattered if I told you then or now, it would still hurt. You and I are happening, and it is fucking real. You mean everything to me, Ellie. Every fucking thing. I have something in a cage. I think you’ll want to take a look at it before I slaughter it.”
My entire body trembles. “What? Are you talking about Whitney? Why on earth would you have her in a cage?”
The thought almost shifts the gears on my lips to a full-throttle smile.
I stare, baffled at the man I’ve fallen for. Nothing about Whitney and Logan make sense to me any more than him and I do.
“That’s where she belongs. Whitney is an unwanted liar, a thief. Jail isn’t good enough for her. Gabe called me a bit ago. He asked a doctor friend of his to draw Whitney’s blood and run a pregnancy test. She isn’t pregnant, Ellie. I’m killing her, if you want to know why come over tomorrow after you close the store. Revenge is yours, Ellie.”
My heart dances as thoughts of her rotting leap into my throat. The idea runs through my mind that Logan could be lying, that this could be a trap to lure me to Shadow. That I’m out of my element and it could be me dying instead of her.
I watch him, and he watches me. Both are testing the other — me for the truth. Logan to see if I believe him, if I can handle coming face to face with Whitney once again.
“The choice to believe me is up to you. One more thing, why would I ever be unfaithful to you when you are enough for me? You are all I want and need. I lied to you about a lot of things. The way I feel about you wasn’t one of them.”
Chapter Six
Logan
“I hate you.”
Those words Ellie spoke out of the pain I caused stung worse than the punches and the slap to my face. They moved back and forth with the magnitude of the cuts I’d inflicted. Puncturing so damn deep it momentarily stunned my heart, my body, and my mind. Like she’d taken a taser gun and zapped the ever-loving fuck out of me, but like the asshole I am, instead of walking away and letting her be, I tell Ellie I love her.
The thing is, I do. That doesn’t mean I should have told her in the middle of her chaos.
Wrong place, wrong damn time.
I’ll never fucking learn. Never know how to do that woman right if I don’t pull my head out of my ass.
The way she looked at me, her blue eyes swirling with so many emotions as she laid into me with her tiny fists — confusion, distrust, shock, fear, anger. The one I saw aiming at me above the rest made my chest ache.
Ellie is scared out of her mind. She has a right to be and thinking that she might be afraid of me along with the fear that’s lived inside her for too damn long has the pain inside of my chest piercing and twisting like a dull knife.
Fuck, I need to find out what the hell Shadow is up too, so I can get one step ahead and kill him. That’s the only way Ellie is going to feel safe. The only way she’ll get back to herself.
I deserve this. The annihilation that’s ripping apart my insides every second she’s away from me.
Fucking hell.
My chest rises and falls; my body temperature heats with the adrenaline racing through me.
Eyes wide open, heart bleeding from the pain I caused Ellie thundering in my chest, I exhale my remorse and glare at the smelly woman at my feet.
Eyes wide, she stares at my chest, moving over my nipples and down my stomach, resting momentarily on my crotch before she licks her lips and slides her repulsive eyes to mine.
I can’t let Whitney see the regret, the guilt, the shame chewing away at what’s left of my black soul. She catches the weakness I have for Ellie’s safety, and I’ll end up killing her before Ellie shows.
I’ve no doubt Ellie won’t come here. Almost makes me laugh thinking about my little spitfire finding her strength and taking some of it out on this despicable woman.
That’s the only good thing about this screwed up mess. Ellie will know this stray of a woman will be dead soon.
When Gabe called to tell me the doctor who works for his Italian crime family was on his way to draw blood from Whitney, she went off on me. Her mouth running about how she’d make sure I paid for getting involved with Ellie. I kicked her in the mouth
and watched as the blood dripped. I wanted someone doing the test I could trust. I might not be mafia, but Gabe’s family will do anything for me and right now with Rocco not being able to get word to his contact, I need his family more than ever. Need them to get inside that prison somehow and find out what the hell is going on.
Corruption. I can smell it over the stench of Whitney.
“Got the test results back. There’s no need in telling you what it is, you already know.”
Eyes filling with tears, she breathes heavy, as though trying to make me feel sorry for her.
Makes me want to laugh.
“I got to thinking about something; you wouldn’t have come back here if you didn’t believe you could convince me to keep my promise to protect you. It’s hilarious you waited nearly a year. Convenient how you show up when I start seeing Ellie. I might spare your life if you’d tell me what your brother has planned.”
Whitney looks up at me with optimism flaring through those fake as hell tears. It fades when she reads the lie written all over my face.
“I told you, I don’t know. Come on, Logan, I’ve been punished enough. I’ll forgive you for Ellie, for chaining me up and leaving me no choice but to pee all over myself if you forgive me for making up the story about the baby. I need a shower. I’m starving, thirsty. My hair is a mess; my teeth need to be brushed. I’ll help you kill Shadow; I promise I will. Stop this madness, please.”
I’ve been around this woman enough to know when she lies. She’s lying through her busted lip badly right now.
I smirk. Whitney’s plea ricochets a bolt of disgust down my spine. It only lasts a second because the minute her gaze travels down my naked chest, I let out a laugh that causes her to shriek.
“You honestly think you can play the forgiveness card with me? You get nothing from me, Whitney. No mercy. Nothing but what you deserve. I will give you credit, though; you are a much better liar than me. You know what he has planned, and still, you won’t tell me. You must hate Ellie more than death. You must think I have an ounce of care for you. Wonder what would happen if I flew to New York right now and showed Shadow your signature on your testimony? Think he’d spare your life?” I practically snarl the words, not letting anything show except the absolute control I have over her fate.
“I’m not giving in, Whitney, not telling him you turned him in; this is a punishment I’ve been waiting a long time to dish out. One that you earned. One I’m going to take care of myself. You got away with the worst crime; you tried messing with Ellie’s head when she showed up here; now it’s time for me to fuck with yours. Only I’ll succeed.”
What I’m about to do is nothing short of cruel and unusual punishment to both her and me.
“Yes, I am playing that card. Married people forgive one another. They learn and grow. Logan, please. We can forgive each other and move past this. You loved me once, remember?” Her breathing turns erratic as she stares at my mouth. It only flares my temper more.
Her lips begin to tremble as I glare for the longest time without saying a word. I hope she’s taking in what I said because hell on earth is about to get worse for her in the last few hours she has to live.
Darkness. It brings out the monster in me.
My voice drops low, sharp as the knife stabbing me in my chest. “Marriage and forgiveness? Love? I never loved you. I want you to die, to rot in Hell with your mother. Far as marriage goes, we never really were. I want you to regret the things you’ve done while you wait to die. I want you to think about what you lost, the pain you caused, and I want more than anything right now to watch you lay here and not be able to relieve the ache between your reeking legs because you can’t have the one thing you want.”
She blinks, the innocent look across her features a pathetic attempt to hide what we both know she wants from me.
My dick.
“Don’t do this. Let me be what you need, Logan. I love you.”
The pain in my chest from hearing those three words has me gripping her by the throat.
“How many times during our marriage did we bring up love? Love means keeping someone safe. Love means dying for them, and it means murder if someone fucks with them. It means sacrificing everything that once meant something. Love is selfless; it’s devotion. I would rather die than let the woman I love spread her legs for anyone but me. Love is what I feel for Ellie; it was never you.”
“So that’s it? You’ve what, had a taste and now you no longer want me or anyone else? It won’t last, Logan. You want things Ellie can’t give. You will never give up fucking other women. Did you fuck her the same way you’ve done me? Did she do the things we’ve done?”
Disbelieving, I grip her throat tighter and slam the back of her head into the tiled floor. Then I press my fingers, feeling the pulse at the side pick up like the goddamn wind outside. Fast and uncontrollable. I leave my finger there for a moment, feeling the air grow thick between us as her eyes grow wild with fear, waiting for what I’m going to do.
The bitch is petrified. Good. She knows damn well I’ll follow through with every word I say.
“You’re going to regret complicating things, Logan. Shadow will get her no matter if she’s with you or not. Fear him because he’s going to make you pay.”
I already am regretting and fear, yeah, I feel that too, but I’m not about to tell her that.
“Only thing I regret is you.” My eyes narrow to hostile slits while she unsuccessfully tries wiggling out of the ropes.
“Untie me, damn it. If you do and give me the money, I’ll convince Shadow to disappear.”
I ignore Whitney’s plea again and yank the rope tied around her legs until they force her to bend at the knee. I connect it with a double knot to the one around her wrists and step over her hog-tied body as she lays on her side on the bathroom floor.
“You can go to hell you bastard.”
“Been living there the entire time I had to live with you.”
I’ve been told to go to hell more times than I can count, and I’ve no doubt that’s where I’ll end up.
Bending down, I grip her chin hard. “I enjoy hurting you, punishing you in a way that doesn’t please you. You want my cock, don’t you? You’ll never have it again, but you’ll watch me through the glass as I get off to thoughts of Ellie. If you turn away, I’ll nail your tongue to the roof of your mouth, tape it shut, and you’ll choke to death on your saliva. You will suffer until death does part us, Whitney.”
She opens her mouth, intending to argue, but claps it shut, thinking better of it at the last minute.
“You’ve got to be kidding me? I wish I would have killed her instead of coming here. Do you hear me? That bitch deserves to die.”
My hand instinctively falls back, and I backhand her in the mouth — blood pools out of the corner. Her eyes widen, chin trembling. I say nothing, but the longer I stare, the more and more uncomfortable she becomes.
There’s already rope burn around her wrists and ankles, along with a trail of dried blood from her attempt to escape. May as well add more.
“Next thing you say about Ellie gets you a knife through your skull. Not sure what part of what I said you didn’t understand. I wasn’t kidding about any of it. You speak Ellie’s name again, and I’ll show no mercy in the way I kill you, Whitney. Do you get me? Every second that ticks off with you not telling me what your brother is up to is another second I add on your torture when I end your life. Might want to tell me who you got working with you on the outside. Think about that while I’m jacking off to thoughts of Ellie.” I shrug, push to stand, and bark out an evil laugh as I tug off my jeans and let them drop to the floor by her head. I turn on the shower, give her a side view of my dick in my hand as I stroke.
Whitney and Shadow have found someone to work with them. I know goddamn good and well they have. Can’t figure out who it is to save my life.
“No, I wasn’t the one who raped her!” she screams.
“Think I give a fuck? You knew Shado
w was planning it. Wouldn’t surprise me if you convinced him. After all, you are a master manipulator. I read the police report, Whitney. There’s even a video of her statement. I know everything that was done to Ellie. Every bit of pain you had a part in inflicting. It’s time to pay your debt. I’ve wasted enough time on you. The next conversation we have will be you begging for me not to kill you. It won’t do you any good the same as you trying to escape me. The same as you trying to convince me Ellie isn’t enough. She could lay there and do nothing, and my dick would still unload into the sweetest pussy I’ve ever had.” My tone is confident as I stare into her teary eyes; this is killing her to hear. Desperation is flowing from her every pore.
I fucking love it.
Game. Set and nearly a match. Knew I would get her to crack. She’ll be wallowing in her fight and flight all night.
Stepping under the hot spray, I roll my shoulders in hopes to unravel my irritated nerves. It’s not going to do me any good if I let my mind wander to that video. I looked at it once. Eyes glued to Ellie’s nearly swollen shut ones when her face came into view. At first, I didn’t recognize the woman staring into the camera. She was that mangled up. Ellie could hardly speak through her swollen and dried lips. I lost my stomach when she got up to leave and fell to the floor and started crying. Words coming out of her mouth that nearly choked me to death, I punched my fist into the wall.
“Please don’t let them get away with this. They might find another woman and hurt them. I don’t want another woman to go through this.”
Christ almighty. I shake Ellie’s trembling words and the way she looked utterly defeated out of my mind.
Pressing my forehead to the dark, cold gray tiles, I screw my eyes shut, and grip hold of the woman Ellie is today. Her inner beauty, her strength, her devotion to those she loves and that curvaceous body, lush mouth, and wicked little tongue.
All fucking woman.
The first time I slid my finger inside Ellie, I about came right there. Every slide of my finger brought Ellie’s pussy pleasure. My tongue-tied up by tasting the sweetest flavor to hit my buds. And, those noises. Christ, they alone egged me on. Wanting to give that woman everything I could give, and bring out that woman in her.
Unbound Trilogy Boxset Page 26