Denying The Bad Boy (Tattooed and Pierced #2)

by Jenika Snow

  She lifted her hips, causing the head of his dick to slide inside of her. “Christ.” He closed his eyes and continued to push into her. Her breath was hard and fast, and when he was fully inside of her he felt her inner muscles clench around him like a vise. “Fucking hell, Mary.” Every muscle in his body was taut, and all he wanted to do was fuck her until she knew that she was his.

  “Take me, Alex, completely.”

  That was all he needed to hear her say. Pushing up so his arms were straight right above her head, Alex fucked her like he loved her, and fucking hell he did. Mary was hot and wet, and so fucking tight that sweat immediately popped out along his body.

  “God, Mary.” He continued moving in and out of her, and before he could tell her how good she felt surrounding him she was the one speaking.

  “I love you. I love you so much.” They stared at each other, and the emotions that swelled inside of him made him feel high.

  “Baby…” His voice cracked, but he never broke eye contact. “I love you, too.” God it was fast, so fucking fast, but never had anything felt as good as hearing her say she loved him, or telling her those three words in return. They crashed together, chest to chest, mouth to mouth, and he let everything he felt for her be displayed physically. There was nothing better in the world than being with her, having her scent fill his lungs, and hearing her moan out his name over and over again. He came fast and hard inside of her, following right on the heels of Mary’s orgasm. It was the most intense feeling in the world, and he never wanted a barrier between them again. When they were both sated he collapsed on top of her and tried to catch his breath.

  “Alex?” Her voice was soft.

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “I can’t breathe.” He chuckled and rolled off of her.

  “Sorry.” Alex pushed a strand of stray hair away from her damp forehead and leaned in to kiss her. “That was…” Shit, he couldn’t even describe it.

  “Yeah, I know.” She smiled up at him, and for the longest time all they did was stare at each other.

  “I love you, Mary. And to be honest, it scares me a little bit at how much I do.” Yeah, he just said that, and it was one of the most honest things he had ever told another person.

  She smiled and lifted her hand to cup his cheek. “I feel the same way, Alex.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and brought her close.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” She had never told him if there was actually something wrong, but he had known in his gut that something had to have happened at dinner tonight.

  A pregnant pause filled the air. “There really isn’t much to say. I stood up to them. I told Margo what a selfish bitch she was, told my mom I’m not her doll, and told them about Lance and how I will never be with him again.” That last part had him stilling.

  “Lance, your ex?” Every part of him was tense once again at hearing her say her ex-boyfriend’s name. “He was at the dinner?” He leaned away from her so he could look into her face. She looked uncomfortable and nodded.

  “Yeah, apparently my mom coincidentally ran into him at the club, but I know Lance planned it, because he called me out of the blue back at campus a few weeks back saying he wanted to see me.” That information had his blood rising.

  “Wait, he called you?”

  “Yeah, before you and I started doing anything.” She emphasized the last word, and he knew he needed to calm the fuck down. “My mom had this fantasy in her mind that we would get back together, but I cleared that up at dinner. I told them that he was verbally abusive when he drank, that he cheated on me with my friend, all of it.”

  Well, shit. “What did they say?”

  “Nothing, except my normally bland father was pretty pissed at Lance, even told him he was never welcome around them again.” Good. “But Lance caught up with me in the driveway, and looked ready to kill me.”

  “He touched you?” Alex didn’t hold back the anger in his voice.

  She pushed herself up and shook her head. Dammit, all it had taken was the image of that faceless asshole coming near his Mary and he was about to fucking lose it. His blood pressure rose, his muscles contracted, and he forced himself to calm the hell down because he was scaring the woman he loved.

  Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he said, “I’m sorry, baby, but just knowing that prick was close to you, threatening you, makes me insane.” She smiled and snuggled back against his chest, and fuck did it feel good. He didn’t even know this guy, but he knew how he had made her feel all those years ago, and that was enough for him to beat the fucker’s ass if he ever crossed his path.

  “It’s okay. Everything is okay now. I’ll go to the wedding, but I’m going as myself. I’m going to have you beside me, and I don’t care what anyone thinks or says.” She tilted her head back and smiled up at him. “If I had known how exhilarating it was to tell them exactly how I felt, and not be bound by my own fear, I would have done it a long time ago.”

  Alex cupped her cheek. His hand took up one entire side of her face. She was just so small compared to him, but all woman still, and that, coupled with so many other things, made him want to wrap her in his arms and never let her go. But he couldn’t smother her, couldn’t let his own need to be her protector have her running in the other direction.

  “And I’ll be right there beside you, letting you lead the way … sometimes.” He winked, and when she laughed it filled the whole room and went straight to his heart.

  They took a shower together, one that led to him taking her slowly against the tiles. And then they were back in bed, naked with nothing between them, and the sound of her deep, even breathing lulling him to sleep.

  ****

  The wedding had been beautiful, but then again there was no doubt that it would be. Now here Mary was, standing on the stone veranda at the country club where the reception was going on in full swing, thinking. “Stay” by Rihanna played behind her, in an almost haunting tone. She turned and watched as Alex got them drinks from the bar. For some strange and inexplicable reason, her father and Alex had gotten along instantly.

  But then again something changed in her father since yesterday. He was still hard and stoic, but there was this softness in his eyes when he looked at her. Had that one incident really broken a part of his tough exterior? She had seen him at the church, and for the first time in longer than she cared to remember, he had embraced her and told her he was proud of her, that he did love her, and that he was sorry for how he made her feel all these years. That had her crying, because it wasn’t until that moment that she realized she’d missed hearing him say it. Stephen Trellis was a man of few words and even fewer emotions, and that was how she saw him when she grew up, but when he looked down at her, all she had seen was a father who loved his daughter.

  She turned back around and stared at the perfectly manicured grounds with the small intimate lights dotting the trails within the woods surrounding the property. The night was clear, and the glow of the moon washed everything in a silvery hue. Mary let her thoughts drift to her mom and Margo. When she had met them at the salon this morning, she had been surprised to see them standing outside the door, waiting for her. Apprehension had slammed into her, and she knew that whatever was about to be said couldn’t be good, not when she hadn’t held anything back last night.

  But it hadn’t been the confrontation she had been expecting. Instead her mother had apologized, and Margo, well Margo had apologized in a way that wouldn’t have seemed sincere to anyone that didn’t know her. They both told her they hadn’t meant to ever make her feel like she didn’t belong in the family. It hadn’t been this big heartfelt production, but it had been enough for Mary to realize her words last night had gotten through to them. There weren’t enough words in the world that would have Mary forget everything that had happened and how everyone had made her feel, but she did want to move forward, and that meant taking the first step.

  Now the wedding was over. Margo was now a Barton, and ev
eryone seemed to be on the road to a new start. Mary pushed away from the stone banister and smoothed her hands down the lilac chiffon dress. The bridesmaid gown was elegant and sophisticated, with delicate lace around the bust, and the length falling to her toes. She smiled and made her way back inside, but a deep voice coming from the shadows stopped her.

  “Didn’t think it would be this easy.” The clearly slurred words came from the corner, where the stone outcropping made the shadows thick and visibility nil. Mary tried to see, but it was impossible. Still, she knew that voice and the clearly drunken tone. A second later Lance stepped into the light, the muted glow from the ballroom washing across his disheveled appearance. He was drunk, that much was clear. The scent of a brewery coming from him was enough to have bile rising in her throat.

  “You have a lot of balls coming here after I said I wanted nothing to do with you, and my dad said you were no longer welcome.”

  He smiled, but it was sloppy, just like his appearance. His slacks were wrinkled, and his oxford hung halfway out of his slacks. He looked like shit. His position kept him away from the view of everyone inside, and she would have to get pretty damn close to pass him.

  “Just go home and sleep it off, Lance.” She didn’t even ask how he got in, despite this being a private party. She remembered too many times when he tried to talk her into sneaking in the country club at night to go skinny dipping with his friends. He had been smart enough not to come to Margo’s wedding, but certainly had spent that time getting sloshed.

  “You know, I thought I’d have to get into some kind of back alley fight with your bodyguard before I could get close to you.” He didn’t move, and was smart enough to stay away from everyone else’s visibility. “I did a lot of thinking today. You owe me a lot, Mary.” Yeah. Clearly he had done that thinking with a bottle of liquor.

  Incredulity washed through her. “Excuse me?” He chuckled, but it was distorted and humorless.

  “Yeah, I brought you into my circle, made everyone realize you were even alive. If not for me you’d still be the fucking little Trellis charity case.”

  “I can’t believe I ever found anything appealing about you. You’re an asshole, and immature. Go home and sleep it off before you make an even bigger fool of yourself.”

  She made her way toward the balcony doors, her back straight and her head held high, but before she could enter he had a hold of her hand and roughly pulled her into the shadows. His grip was bruising, and pain lanced up her arm. He spun her around and pressed her against the wall, in the shadowed corner where no light penetrated. Before she could yell for help he slapped his free hand over her mouth. His hot, liquor laced breath wafted across her cheek, and she gagged.

  “You made me look like a fucking fool in front of everyone.” His forearm was pressed to her throat, cutting off her air and keeping her pressed to the wall. He reached between them and started fumbling with his belt. Oh, hell no. She struggled, but in a quick move he had his hand wrapped around her throat. “I think I’ll take my anger out on your fucking body.” He tightened his hand on her throat, and she clawed at his hold.

  He was vile and disgusting, and if she didn’t fight harder things would get far worse. The sound of his zipper sliding down seemed loud against the sudden silence that surrounded her. He grunted when she tried to shift out of his hold, but she had to continually lift her hands to her throat, trying to alleviate the suffocating tightness he was delivering.

  “I kind of like it when you struggle, Mary.” He leaned forward and ran his tongue up her cheek. “Makes me really want to work for it. I should have done this to you when we were dating. It would have made things a lot of a lot better.” He grabbed at the bottom of her dress, lifting it up so it pooled around her waist, and then fumbled between them. She tried to twist out of his grasp, kept her legs closed as much as possible, but even drunk he was stronger than she was. His breathing was labored, but she knew it was because this excited him. His erection pressing against her was evidence of that. Mary tried to scream, but the noise came out gurgled. Stars danced in front of her vision from the lack of oxygen, and a moment of fear that he would kill her passed through her mind. Not knowing what else to do she relaxed, hoping to throw him off a bit enough that she could get out of his hold.

  “Oh, you want to be a good girl now, Mary?” He loosened his hold slightly, and she breathed in deep, the burning pain enough to have more tears spilling down her cheeks. When he touched her between the legs, it was the vilest sensation. His gaze was glazed over, his mouth parted, and he stared down at what he was doing to her. This was it, her chance to defend herself while he was distracted. Bringing her knee up she slammed it into his crotch, and loved it when he howled in pain. He let go of her throat so he could cup himself, and she didn’t waste a minute to run, but he reached out, grabbed her ankle, and pulled her back.

  Mary fell forward and braced her hands on the ground as she went down hard. Pain slammed into her as she landed on her wrist awkwardly, but she couldn’t let the agony take her under. The sound of cheering came from inside, and she tried to reach out and catch someone’s attention. Lance wouldn’t let his guard down again. He pulled her back again, mumbling incoherent words through his teeth and in between grunts of pain. Just when he would have pulled her back into the shadowed corner the balcony doors were opened, and Alex stepped outside.

  “Mary? They’re getting ready to cut the cake.” He held two glasses and looked around for her. Right when Mary opened her mouth to scream for help Alex’s gaze landed on hers, and that was when the shit hit the fan. The glasses fell from his grasp and shattered in a million pieces at his feet. The darkness that moved across his face was like nothing she had ever seen, and by the way Lance stopped tugging at her she assumed he saw it as well. Alex charged forward so quickly the next thing she knew was being lifted off the ground and set on one of the chairs off to the side. Her head was fuzzy, her wrist screaming in pain, and her vision cloudy from her tears, but she could still see what was happening right in front of her. Alex had Lance by the throat and dangling in the air. Oh God. He looked so powerful and fierce, like some kind of warrior, or dare she say, mythical god.

  “You fucked with the wrong girl, asshole.” He slammed Lance against the wall and started hitting him in the face over and over again. The sound of bones crunching, of Lance grunting in pain and Alex breathing out in anger, filled her ears. “You’re fucking dead.” Alex sounded fucking enraged, even possessed.

  “Alex.” Her throat was raw and felt like she had swallowed fire. “Please, stop.”

  Alex stopped mid-swing and tightened his hold on Lance’s throat. He looked over at her, and the rage in his face intensified. “You want me to stop after what this fucker did to you, Mary?”

  Did she? Lance deserved everything he got, but she didn’t want to be the cause of it, and she certainly didn’t want Alex to be in the thick of it. He held her gaze for a moment, and then let Lance drop unceremoniously to the ground. Lance gasped and sucked in air, but Alex wasn’t done. He slammed his fist into his face once more, which caused Lance’s head to cock back, blood to pour from his nose, and him to pass out. “You’re lucky my girl wanted me to stop.”

  Everything had seemed to happen at a snail’s pace, but Mary knew it had only been a matter of minutes. The commotion drew people out of the ballroom, and they halted when they saw the carnage before them. The light washed over Alex, and when he turned to stare at her she could see blood splattered across his white suit shirt, and that his knuckles were split open. A few men rushed to Lance’s side, someone yelled out to call an ambulance, and Mary was only focused on Alex. He was in front of her moments later, taking her face in his hands, and asking her something. She couldn’t hear him, just saw his lips moving. The flurry of movement around them couldn’t even snap her out of whatever trance she was in.

  “Mary.” His voice sounded distant, like she was in a tunnel. He called her name again, and the worry on his face had her blink
ing away the fog that had claimed her. “Mary, baby, please answer me.” She looked at his lips, saw a smattering of blood, but didn’t feel anything but relief that Alex was there. She burst into tears, unable to control the torrent of emotion that suddenly took over her. “He didn’t…” Alex didn’t finish that sentence, but then again he didn’t have to, because she knew what he was trying to say. Shaking her head because she didn’t trust her voice, she fell into his arms and let him comfort her.

  “Oh my God.” First it was her mother’s voice, then Margo’s, and then her father was right in front of her, asking her the same question Alex had. Everything seemed to pass in a blur of sounds and movement. Her mother, father, and Margo came up to make sure she was okay, and after she was able to convince them that she was, they gave her enough room to breathe. Once the ambulance took Lance, and the police questioned them, she stared at the perfectly manicured lawn again. She hadn’t moved from her spot, but Alex had placed a blanket over her shoulders. The shock had since worn off, and all she felt now was exhaustion and was so very cold. Crawling into bed under a mountain of blankets, locking the world away until she had slept so long and hard all of this vanished, sounded heavenly.

  “Baby, are you okay?” Alex sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, bringing her close to him. She nodded. She would be. “I am so sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”

  She pushed the blanket off her shoulders and turned so she could look right in his eyes.

  “This isn’t anyone’s fault but Lance’s.” She heard the police saying something about a broken jaw and nose, but after that she had tuned everything else out. Alex nodded once and helped her stand. He immediately embraced her.

  “God, Mary, I love you so much.” She gripped his shirt in her hands and rested her head on his chest. Closing her eyes and inhaling his scent deep within her lungs, she felt everything else fade away.

  “I love you, too.”

  They had cleared everyone out while the police and ambulance had shown up, but then Margo had surprised the shit out of her by telling everyone that the reception was over. Now, here she was, with Alex’s big arms wrapped around her, his soft, gruff words of affection whispering in her ear, and her family watching the whole thing. She turned slightly in his arms, and couldn’t help but smile when he refused to let her go. Her parents, Margo, and Joe stood right inside the ballroom. Her mother was still crying; her father looked as crazy mad as Alex did, and Joe was comforting his frantic wife.