The Vigilantes Collection

by Lake, Keri

  As he pulled back the ski mask, those sickeningly kissable lips stretched to a grin. “Didn’t your parents teach you to lock the doors?”

  Magnificent blue eyes that I never thought I’d see again forced the angry tirade burning inside of me to die on my lips. Nick. Achilleus. Alec Vaughn. The same man rolled up into one exquisite package, gazing back at me with the kind of expression that had wetness pooling in my panties and my ass arching against his cock. The kind of thrill that only came with dreams, because what else could explain why I hadn’t fallen into a pile of desolation and tears at the sight of him?

  “What … what are you?” Words tumbled out of my mouth as I mentally searched for some coherence. “I get it. I’ve lost my mind.” I rubbed a hand through my hair, a twinge of panic crawling up my spine. “Oh, shit, I’ve lost my mind. I’m seeing ghosts.”

  Ignoring the gun, and my distress, he reached out, fingertips dancing along ridge of my dress. “Fuck … I’ve never seen you in red, but I can’t imagine you wearing anything else from now on. Do you always sleep in a dress, or did you know I’d come for you tonight?”

  That voice. His voice. Like a trained dog, my thighs clenched at the rush of excitement that hit my core. My stomach knotted, as a chill climbed my spine, begging an encore to what he’d accomplished only moments ago.

  Surely, I had to be dreaming. I’d dreamt that very scenario at least a dozen times, both during the day and at night, where he came to me, holding me prisoner and molesting my body for hours. I’d become the weird chick with the twisted kidnapping fetish, who fell asleep to erotic stories of being swept away, imprisoned by dark fantasies I’d never given thought to before Nick.

  His touch lingered on my cheek, and if not for his stare, I’d have covered it with my hand to preserve the sensation. If he was there, really there, then, “Why didn’t Achilleus bark?”

  His brow kicked up. “You named your dog after me, I’m flattered. Apparently, he’s not trained to kill intruders, particularly those armed with treats.”

  “That was quite an exit you made.” A new burst of anger ran through my body, battled by the excitement of having him there in my bedroom, where I’d planned to hold him prisoner, if I didn’t happen to kill him first. I hated him for making me feel the way I’d felt for so many months, but hell if my body could stay mad at him. A part of me wanted to leap into his arms. “I thought you were dead.”

  His gaze fixed on my lips as his jaw shifted. “I escaped. A door in the sub-basement led me to a tunnel that let out through an abandoned building two blocks down.” He glanced down at the gun I kept locked on him in my refusal to believe he was alive. “Still want to shoot me?”

  He’d survived. Alive that whole time?

  The confusion inside my body spun like a tornado, casting out random emotions that didn’t make sense. So out of place, affecting my words and my reactions. Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Disbelief. Absolute chaos twisting beneath my skin.

  I wanted to scream at him, yet could only muster a smile. I wanted to kiss him, but my finger twitched at the trigger. My heart felt cold, crystalizing inside my chest with the sting of mistrust—that I’d wake to disappointment. My hands heated with the burn of a slap waiting to crack against his cheek.

  I lowered the gun. The pain of so many nights, thinking I’d lost him. Nearly losing myself.

  “Your body is happy to see me.” He shoved the two fingers into his mouth and licked them, admittedly casting a spine-to-pussy shudder. He had the audacity to smile again. “Still sweet as ever.”

  Rage and excitement burned in my blood.

  The urge to smack him and kiss him was too much! A sharp sting hit my skull as I ground my teeth. The hours of pain, tears, disbelief, grief, anger, acceptance. For nothing. Nothing. “All that time you were … and you didn’t …”

  Numbness webbed from my heart to my limbs, tingling in my fingertips, and I felt light—the way one does in dreams. Was I dreaming? I still didn’t know for sure. Tears threatened, the rims of my eyes itching to unleash the dam of anguish I’d held back for so long. The times I cried after the explosion, I’d had to pretend they were tears for my bastard husband.

  “Asshole! Do you know what this has done to me?” I thumped my fist against his chest and leaned to push off from him.

  He shot upright, to a sitting position, and captured both my arms.

  “Let me go!” I twisted my wrists to get loose, frustrated when his grip tightened.

  “I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to steal you away with me.”

  Breaths heavy, I stilled, silently staring at him

  He released my arms, the playful glint in his eye turned to a sobering stare. “I had to keep my distance. I wanted to keep you safe. But, more importantly, I had to know that … what you felt for me in those weeks wasn’t some fucked up Stockholm bullshit. Every day, I came up with new excuses why I should stay away.” His gaze swept across the room down my body while his palm slid up and down my thigh. “I ran out of excuses.” At my silence, the corner of his lip kicked up. “I told you that you’d destroy me, Aubree. You’re my pain and pleasure. Both the prick of a needle and the buzz that dulls the ache. My addiction. I can’t stay away from what I need.” He squeezed my thigh, gaze locked on mine. “I can’t stay away from you anymore.”

  The angry storm calmed inside of me. “I read the medical record. So, you … you’re—”

  “Yes.” His warm palms continued to massage my thighs. “Of two minds, you could say.”

  “Are you a danger to me?”

  His mouth slid into a grin, his gaze dipping downward. “Only when you’re dressed like this.”

  I ignored the telling goosebumps popping up on my skin and lowered my eyes from his toward my stomach, where only a small bump passed beneath my fingertips. Tears filled my eyes when his hand covered mine, and I lifted my gaze back to his.

  His brows pinched together. A deafening silence lingered for what seemed like an eternity, before his jaw twitched to a smile and his eyes carried a shine. “Ah, fuck, Aubree.” He pulled me into his body, clutching me against him so tight I could hardly breathe in his embrace. His lips crushed mine in a kiss so sweet, so passionate, it stole my breath. “A baby. My baby.” The wonderment in his voice eased the tension in my stomach.

  Through a smile and tears, I nodded. “There’s no one else but you, Nick.”

  “It’s only you for me, Pistol Lips.” Rubbing the back of my nape, he smiled. “I don’t know how the fuck I survived so long without you. I was losing my mind, trying to stay away.”

  Pressing against his chest, I sat up from him, staring down at the lines in his face, the dark circles under his eyes that spoke of sleepless nights. I stroked my thumb over his lips, and he kissed it. “I told them everything you asked. About Achilleus.”

  “And Alec?”

  “They don’t know anything about any Alec. It never once came up. In neither the investigation nor the trials.”

  “Good. DeMarcus must’ve kept that information to himself.” His gaze fell to my thighs as he stroked them, distracting my thoughts. “And as far as they know, I perished in that fire.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Alec?”

  “Because you’d already shown me that you were willing to love the dark side of me. All of me.” His jaw tightened, and he shook his head. “Telling you everything would’ve kept me from going through with it in the end.”

  “That’s why you wouldn’t tell me why you’d kidnapped me. Why you kept me?”

  “I was afraid of you, Aubree. You’re evidence of my pain. Pain I needed to purge from myself. Alec wanted to save you. I wanted to destroy you. We saw you in two different lights. He saw the truth, while I was too blinded by my pain to see anything more than the lies.”

  “But … you’re the same person. How is it possible to feel two different emotions?”

  “That was the insanity I lived with night after night, while my bed remained empty, without yo
u beside me. How could I hate you and love you at the same time? It was a duality that drove me crazy.” The softening of his eyes spoke of some inner torment. “I chose to remain in denial, even as I had you right there, knowing there was something deeper than my hate for you. It was madness.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry if I hurt you, Aubree. I can’t change what I am, what I’ve had to do to cope with this pain. I couldn’t imagine a life beyond Lena and Jay. I didn’t want to. You forced me to see a future beyond my vengeance. And I fought it every damn day that I watched you with Culling, made up reasons to hate you, until I couldn’t deny it anymore. I had to save you.” His fingers curled around my hips. “Falling in love with you wasn’t part of the plan, though.”

  “I have to show you something.”

  His grip fell away from my thighs, and I slid off the bed, giving a quick wave to follow me into the next room.

  Once inside the hallway, I halted my steps and turned to face him. Staring into his eyes, I lifted a hand to his cheek, tracing my fingertips over the stubble there, and kissed him. “I want to help heal your past, Nick.”

  55

  Nick

  With a hell of a lot of patience, I followed behind Aubree, as she led me to the door of the adjacent room.

  Standing there in that red dress, she taunted every fiber of restraint I had inside of me. I knew I’d have to take things slow at first, that she’d likely hate me, thinking I was dead.

  Seeing her had brought forth a dark craving from deep within me—one that would never be sated by another woman as long as I lived. I’d been blessed with two once-in-a-lifetime loves, and no way in hell the Big Man would give me another chance if I happened to fuck things up.

  As she stood staring up at me, the slight curve of her lips had my nerves on edge. With a click, she pushed the door open and stepped aside, allowing me passage. “This is the first step to healing your heart, Nick.”

  My breath choked up in my throat.

  The walls were glass, like the rest of the house, but unlike the bamboo that covered the ceilings throughout, black billowy fabric hung from above, with tiny bulbs of light that appeared to be sewn into it like bright stars shining down from the night sky. On the glass across the room, words had been painted in black:

  The stars in the sky

  Unhidden by night

  Souls of our loved ones

  Guide us by sight

  But when dawn breaks

  Bringing day’s light

  Remain in our hearts

  And all wrongs become right.

  Below it, written in silver cursive against a black splotch, it read: I’ll see you in the night …

  “I’m not a poet … I just … took thoughts from what you told me, and—” Her gaze fell away from mine.

  “You did this? For …” My throat clamped shut and I pushed past the lump to swallow. Fuck, I could barely contain the tears.

  “I guess a part of me hoped you’d come back. I prayed for a miracle that you’d still be alive. Even if you didn’t, I thought it was a good way to honor them. To always welcome their memory in this home.” Cupping my face, she stole my attention with her smile. “I’m not afraid to share your heart, Nick. If it means I get to share your life, I’ll take all of it. All the parts of you. Even your pain. You healed mine by killing Michael.”

  “You’ve ignited a flame inside of me, Pistol Lips.”

  “Flame? What does that mean?”

  “You’ve restored my soul. Brought me back from death and filled me with life again. Made me give a shit about more than myself. It means you’ll never know that kind of pain again. You’ll never know fear. And if anything so much as attempts to pull you into darkness, I’ll be right here. You’ll never be alone.” I brushed my thumb across her cheek and kissed her with everything inside of me. Gripping her nape, I pressed our foreheads together. “I’d walk through the flames of hell for you, Aubree. Burn for you.” Lowering my hand to her stomach, I skimmed my fingertips across her tiny bump, where my future bloomed inside of her. “Both of you.”

  She’d punched through the steel that caged my heart, sealed the gaping wound and claimed what belonged to her. I’d protect her. Kill for her. And in return, never live without her.

  So long I sought retribution, and in Aubree, I found redemption.

  I lifted her up into my arms, wrapping her legs around me, and pressed my lips to hers in a kiss as I blindly carried her back into the master bedroom. Setting her on the edge of the bed, I kept our mouths locked while my hands worked the knot of her dress.

  Her fingers fumbled against the button of my jeans, until they popped loose, and she broke the kiss to push them off my hips, down to my knees, where I stepped out of them. Gripping the hem of my T-shirt, she yanked the garment over my head and sucked her lip between her teeth as her hands roamed my chest down to my abs.

  “I can’t tell you how much I missed your body,” she whispered. “I just want to touch every part of you, so I know you’re really here.”

  With my fists planted at either side of her, I caged her beneath me, ravenous and ready to devour her. Like a starving animal, I feasted on her lips, and within seconds, the kiss turned violent, greedy. Couldn’t get enough of her. More, more, a voice chanted inside of my head. Heat shot through my muscles, as I gripped her crown, holding her still while I tasted her, the mint of her breath and the sweet sugar of her lips.

  Her palms hit my chest, and I swiped her hand away. I needed her. Had craved her too fucking long to stop. More.

  A moan vibrated against my mouth. Yes. A hand thumped against my chest.

  I severed the kiss, broke away, and a coldness filled the space between us.

  She sucked in a sharp inhale. “Can’t breathe.”

  “I’m sorry, I wanted this to be gentle, but after the harrowing task of bringing your lifeless body back from death that night … my head’s been in a bad place these last few months.”

  “The feeling’s mutual. When you left me that note … you weren’t planning to come back. You planned to die that night. I hate you for what you put me through.”

  “Hate’s a strong word.” Lifting her arms above her head, I pinned her to the bed and traced my lips at the base of her neck, inhaling her sweet scent—the only one that could bring me to my knees. “Are you sure you hate me?”

  “Yes.” The hoarseness in her voice brought a smile to my face.

  Pressing into her arms, I slid my shaft against her slit, teasing her, but goddamn it, I was a thread away from losing my mind.

  I’d itched for the woman’s touch for months, especially on those cold, sleepless nights when I’d cut the shit out of myself, trying to push the memory of her away, until realizing in the end that I couldn’t. Couldn’t let her go. Like a selfish bastard, I’d gone after her instead, even knowing I’d be putting her at risk. I didn’t give a shit, though, just like a junkie didn’t give a shit that the next hit could be his own destruction. I needed her. Every fiber of me ached for one more hit, one more high that would settle my mind, keep the darkness from consuming me.

  Kissing along her jaw coaxed a quiet moan from her lips. “How much do you hate me?” Shifting my groin, I positioned the head of my cock at her entrance, so goddamn wet, I shivered. “Tell me,” I demanded, squeezing her small wrists.

  Her breath shuddered in my ear. “So much.”

  With maddening, tiny movements, I pressed into her, but didn’t breach her pussy. “Maybe I should stop.”

  “No!” Her breasts surged into my chest with her protest. “Please.”

  “Please, what?”

  Her eyes flipped open, but remained hooded with lust. “Fuck me.”

  “Say it again,” I demanded.

  “Fuck me, Nick.”

  56

  Aubree

  My body came alive again, like air being forced into a corpse that suddenly blossomed with life. I not only wanted him, I needed him.

  Food, water, air and him.

&nb
sp; My everything.

  He pushed inside of me, all the way to the hilt, while I let out a pleasured cry.

  “I’m the one who brought you back, Aubree. I jumped into that water and pulled your dead fucking body out of that vault. Not Alec. Me.”

  The sobering thought twisted my stomach in knots of sadness, recalling the utterly shaken state I’d awakened to, with him hovering over me like some kind of dark angel, the first time I’d seen fear on his face.

  “The sight of you messed with my head. I need to fuck you. In fact, it might take a few days of fucking you to get it out of my system, but right now, I need you to give me everything you’ve got.”

  The soft feathering of his lips across my throat clenched my thighs, and a whimper escaped me when he slid his tongue up my neck. Teeth grazing my jawline, he curled his fingers around my nape, gripping me, as if I had any desire to get away from him.

  “Aubree, I’ve been so strung out, thinking about you every night, for months,” he rasped. “Your taste. Your smell. Driving me insane. I want that little pistol inside of you, and as much as I fuck you, I want you to fuck me back, because you’ve fucked my mind.”

  My head slammed back into the pillow, as he short stroked me, the sensation driving me mad with lust. “Please!” Tongue sweeping my lips, I slid my hand between my thighs, shamelessly massaging my clit.

  Nabbing my wrist, he trapped my arm beneath his. “Tell me what you want.”

  “I want you to fucking make love to me, Nick.” Lifting my head off the bed, I crushed my lips to his.

  “No going back after this, Aubree. You belong to me. My head might be a jacked-up mess, but my body and heart know what they want.” He squeezed my wrist. “I want to strip you down, take you every night, and wake up to your beautiful face every morning, knowing you’re mine forever.”

  “I want you, too. Both of you. All of you. As much as I’m yours, you’re mine, too, Alec, Nick, whoever you are, I don’t care.”