Wrecked: A Novel (Charming Knights Book 1)

by Shana Vanterpool

  I heard his heartbeat pick up in his chest. His breathing deepened. I could practically smell the fear in his sweat mixing with his cologne and what was left of our lust.

  My pulse sped in my veins. “All those years…?”

  His breathing became strangled. I rose to find his eyes closed and his breaths forced through gnashed teeth. His hands on my body were fists pushing and holding on to me.

  “It doesn’t make sense, Wreck.”

  The flush in his cheeks grew darker.

  “How much don’t I know?”

  “Everything,” he gasped, eyes opening. They were pools of dark secrets, teeming with heartache and pain. They reminded me of a black hole waiting to swallow my galaxy.

  To take my stars and snuff out their light. The gravitational pull was putting me right in his path, and I’d just found every reason not to fight it.

  His hands snaked around our bodies to grasp my face. “No more. Please,” he begged, desperateness shaking his plea.

  “No more.” I leaned within his grasp to kiss him softly, watching the relief blossom in his gaze. “Until our next orgasm.”

  He groaned and pushed up, taking me with him. He nudged me to my feet and swung his legs back over to sit straight, not mentioning the wet spot on his jeans or the discarded scrap of my panties in the grass. I bent down to pick them up, but he reached forward and snatched them from me, putting them in his back pocket with no explanation or expression.

  Fine.

  He wanted to be empty, put back his walls, I’d let him. I knew how to knock them down now, I just didn’t know why I held the key.

  “You scrapbooking now?” I teased. “Taking mementos.”

  “You should go home and get dressed. It gets cold on Sparrow Cliff. I’ll come pick you up at eight.”

  “It’s summer. Those rocks are baking.” I rolled my eyes and gathered my things, standing on wobbly legs. “I’m not changing. Nice try. In fact, I think I’ll invest in more skirts and throw all my panties away.” Before this afternoon, I’d never felt like my body was a weapon. But it felt that way now. A weapon designed specifically to wreck Cage. I stepped forward, putting myself in front of him, and touched his face, angling it up. I kissed him, holding onto his royal gaze. “Tell W, would you?”

  His lips twitched, but he kept his walls up. “Go home, Hallie.”

  “Just do me a favor?”

  “What?” he relented.

  “Please don’t start complaining about your ruined jeans. I’m not buying you a new pair like your Valentino friend.” I flicked my gaze to the wet spot, and then I stood, sauntering away with an intended satisfied sway in my hips across the football field.

  The moment I was free from him, my bravado faded, and my smile was both special and embarrassed. I felt exposed and powerful.

  The two opposing identities trapped inside of me were warring.

  I didn’t know which one would win this time.

  10. BEAUTIFUL TEMPTATION

  Wreck

  My walls weren’t for show.

  They weren’t Charmant. Without them, I’d never see my enemies coming. I’d never stand a chance against Hallie Goodford. I joined the team for the huddle, ignoring Storm’s disgusting smirk that told me he saw the side show. I couldn’t help it and flashed him one back. That was one hell of a show.

  “Text me when you pick her up and I’ll head over to her place,” he said as we broke apart.

  I needed eyes now more than ever. Two weren’t enough anymore. One on her at all times would be the only thing to calm the itching starving beast in me who wanted to pounce on his bait. Have his bait. Destroy his bait.

  Walls made it so one day, I might enjoy my bait.

  Just in time for my star to realize what she could get if she knocked them down.

  I’d give her every single lie I had if she got me beneath her again. For the first time in my life, I had to fend off sex. The poor thing didn’t know what she was asking for, giving me her body. I’d scar every inch of it with my claws, savor her to the point of addiction. I’d never let her out of my hold.

  I’d want her right where she was. Once she found out how tight her chains were, she’d hate me for every good thing I made her feel.

  I’d already begun, and I was just an initial to her near the end of the alphabet.

  I took her panties from my back pocket and brought the handful of yellow lace to my nose, inhaling the sweet honey of her defeat. She wanted me. But she didn’t love me.

  No.

  Not like W loved her.

  She was safe.

  Until she realized love was a lie and the truth was just around the corner.

  My Mercedes ate the canyon road, eating the turns effortlessly as I sped home. After a shower, I dressed, eyeing my flat screen mounted on the wall as I tied my boots, reading the message that wouldn’t exist after tonight. no signal. connect to host. We’d connect. I felt the lines of my intentions blurring, wrapping around what I wanted and what I knew had to happen. I stared myself down as I did my hair, hooded eyes empty when we were alone with each other.

  High Drive was just coming alive when I pulled in across from Neiman Marcus. The moment I stepped foot inside, I was accosted by a perky pink cheeked woman. I turned on the charm, giving her a wide smile.

  “Evening, Petal.” Honestly, what the fuck kind of name was Petal? She wasn’t Charmant royalty, just a transplant who worked retail at a store she couldn’t afford. “You look gorgeous. What’s the occasion?” I gave her my cheek, which she kissed eagerly, fingers wrapping around my biceps.

  “W-W-Wreck,” she stuttered, making me roll my eyes in her hair. One fucking night together in the back room two years ago, and she hadn’t regained her composure. I hadn’t planned on sleeping with her, but she’d been trying on prospective clothes for me—her body type was close to my little star’s—and she’d been more than willing to try the black fishnets and garter on. I’d been more than willing to play make-believe. Pushing her against the wall and fucking the shit out of her as I pretended it was Hallie’s thighs quivering around my waist. It wasn’t. It never fucking was. It was always some overly eager tart or someone my father would hate. I’d never cum out of lust unless Hallie was somewhere close.

  In my thoughts. In my sights. In my desires.

  The object of my deep dark obsession.

  “How are you?” I asked, kissing her cheek back.

  She shrugged, clasping her fingers in front of her so she wouldn’t keep touching me. “Much better. What about you? It’s been a while. I’ve got some pieces set aside for you actually. I thought they’d look good on you.”

  “I’m not here for me, but I’ll take a look when we’re done. Thanks.”

  “You should try them on.” She swallowed hard. “Just to make sure they fit.”

  “Sure, Petal. Wouldn’t want to go home with jeans that were too tight now, would we?”

  She giggled and grabbed my hand, pulling me over to the women’s section.

  ***

  Petal nearly came when I took my shirt off the first time. I gave her a show, stretching my arms over my head and leaving the buttons on the cream dress shirt she paired with tan jeans wide open as I buckled them.

  “What do you think?” I turned in a circle, catching sight of the amusement in my gaze in the mirror before I turned back to her. “Jeans too tight?”

  She sighed and shook her head. “They’re perfect on you. Your ass looks incredible. So hard and… firm.” She looked flustered, sweating even though the air in here was on the colder side. “Try the black pieces on. Those Balmain pullovers were hard to keep for you.”

  Petal even picked out shoes. I imagined her spending hours putting these looks together for me. Imagining what would look good on my body, the colors, the fit. I knew how much time that took, how stressful it was picking clothes for someone you just wanted to please. I bought every single item she picked.

  “Thank you,” I told her, slightly startl
ed by the fact that I might have meant it.

  She blushed, packaging my final purchase. “Of course, Wreck.” She waved a few workers over and gave them instructions to load up the matte gray G-Class out front. I gave them my keys, staring intently at Petal. I’d never touch her again. Hallie didn’t know we were trapped, she knew she was, but she didn’t know we were too; I’d never leave my cage for another bird again.

  “When will you be back?” she asked, disappointment in her eyes. “I’m getting a new shipment. Private. In two weeks. I’ll set some things aside for you.”

  I pressed a kiss to her cheek and slipped five one hundred-dollar bills in the back pocket of her gray tweed pants. “Set some aside for yourself as well. Send one of your men to unload for me?” I checked.

  She nodded, still blushing after I left.

  I kept one package in the front seat with me that night heading across the canyon. The rich summer sun setting behind the Goodford’s castle looked like the sky was a crown spreading out from all angles. I pulled out my phone as I drove past the front gates, the guard giving me a nod on my way in.

  Me: You ready?

  There still wasn’t an answer by the time I got to the main garage. Her Audi was parked beside her father’s Bugatti. My stomach turned at the sight of it. Shutting off my Mercedes, I jogged up the stairs to her front door and let myself in.

  Her old man wasn’t supposed to be here.

  Her foyer was pristine, simple, with a staircase on either side meeting in the middle. I knew her house the way I knew everything about Hallie. Perfectly. I ducked into the right hallway. It took me to the back of her mansion, at the far staircase her father used to get to his office when he came in the back.

  They were my favorite too. If I slipped to the left I could duck out the glass patio doors and use the stone backing on the side of the mansion to shield my entrance or exit. Their guard was on my payroll. Barely looked up when he saw me leaving their place at all hours of the night. I made a note to never hire him in the future.

  Me: Come down and let me in. The front door is locked.

  The Goodford’s never locked their front doors. No one would break in here. They’d never make it out of Charmant alive to spend their pillages. I waited five minutes from my alcove before I took the stairs. In the hall that housed Ben’s office, I waited, listening so intently my heart knew better than to beat. When my phone vibrated, I breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at her message. But it wasn’t from Hallie.

  Storm: The classic’s ready to be read. Everything all clear in the library?

  I gazed down the hall, and then I risked it, running across the hall for the door in front of me. This bathroom wasn’t for pissing. Three people lived here and there were bathrooms in any room of the house. This one was for Ben’s whores.

  I wondered if Hallie knew how many women were in and out of this back staircase. Her room was down this hall and to the left on the other side of the west staircase. She took the one by the kitchen because it made sense. It was closer to her room. Just like it made sense for Ben to use this one. It made sense, I guessed, for one of the largest banking moguls in the world to keep his side pieces in the side staircases too. Wouldn’t want his millions of clients to know he was a cheater. Or that my mother frequented this staircase when my old man was out of town.

  When there was no movement, I slinked down the hall and jumped over the carpet in front of Ben’s door. The floorboard creaked beneath the rug, so he could hear you coming. But I had my own traps. He wasn’t catching me.

  My pulse didn’t lessen its pounding, though.

  There were no voices coming from his office. No shadows beneath his door. I went to Hallie’s room and pushed her bedroom open to find it empty. I checked her closet and bathroom, empty. I was just coming out of her room when she came up the stairs. We collided, and she gasped, falling against the wall.

  “Wreck,” she groaned, grasping her chest. Her other hand gripped an iced coffee from Moore Beans and she had a bag of veggie chips crammed between it. “What are you doing?”

  She was wearing a robe. Her bronze hair was damp and pushed back from her face. Her pink cheeks and fresh face made her look sweet, soft. And she was all those things. But she was strong too. With just the touch of hardness to withstand her cage.

  “Why didn’t you text me back?”

  She moved past me with a glare and went into her room. “I was downstairs getting a snack.”

  “Where’s your father?”

  “I don’t know. What’s wrong? You look freaked out.” She set her coffee on her desk as I closed her door behind us.

  “You see him?”

  “No, Wreckmond. He’s probably in his office. Or with my mom. Why?”

  I took a small deep breath, letting it out carefully. “I saw his car in the driveway.”

  Sitting on the end of her bed, she crossed her legs, making her robe rise, teasing me with those long lightly tanned legs. “I got hungry waiting for you.” She ripped the chips open and plucked one out, glaring at the green leaf shaped chip before popping it into her mouth. “I’d kill for some freaking Hot Cheetos right now.”

  She didn’t look like her old man knew anything. I couldn’t remember being this paranoid before. I was most comfortable when I could get caught. Lately, I felt more exposed in this threat. My armor was too dented to protect me, but I wasn’t making a new suit. Not when Hallie was going without.

  “Why were you so freaked?”

  It had been years since I’d been in her room when she was awake. I glared at the open space that was no longer a chair by her bookshelf. Two steps into her room and I could sink down in the darkness, watching her from the shadows. It had been even longer since I’d been in her room and she wanted me there. As children, she was always kind of empty. Sad. Missing something the same as I was. The kids at her birthday parties came because their parents knew how dumb it would be to turn down an invitation. I came because I had no choice, but I stayed because I did.

  “You remember your tenth birthday party?”

  She sighed. “Are you ever going to answer me?”

  “You wore a bright yellow dress. I remember thinking it made you look like a Peep.” I chuckled at the memory of her walking through the party like a marshmallow-shaped pet. “A pretty Peep, but a Peep nonetheless. Your hair was in a braid and your mother wouldn’t let you have any cake in case you got your dress dirty.” I stopped at her bookshelf and studied the classics. “You ran away and came up here to hide in your closet—you had a hiding spot behind your shoe rack then.”

  Behind me, I heard her shift on her bed. “You brought me a piece of cake.” She sounded faraway, remembering something she obviously forgot.

  Asshole.

  “Your cake,” she continued, a smile in her voice. “You only let me have half, that’s it.”

  Even then I knew to keep my parts close. Soon, they’d all be hers, like they should have been, but until then, I’d keep them to myself. “Worse cake I ever had.”

  “Me too. It was avocado lime with organic ginger frosting. Of course, it sucked. There was a package of chocolate cupcakes in my room the next day when I got home from school from W. With chocolate ganache frosting and yellow sprinkles.” Her hard swallow made my lips tingle. “I loved those cupcakes, Wreck. I ate them all in one sitting and I remember thinking how they were better than all my other presents and all the money I got in birthday cards I didn’t read. I can’t believe I forgot about that.”

  My fists tightened. I reached over and pushed a hardcover copy of Wuthering Heights aside, measuring the width of the new space. “Sounds like you forgot about a lot of what he did for you.” Shit. My self-control was starting to sound like a joke.

  “If I forgot, then why have I never changed the locks on my door? Even though I should have. Why do I leave it the same, when all of the others in this house have been changed more times than I could count? Why did I keep every letter? Why did I keep every gift I could
? You tell W that he can be spoiled and rude all he wants. I don’t have to love anything he does. I chose to. That’s,” she said, right behind me now, “why he does it. For me. Because he knows I have very little to love.”

  My shoulders sagged. “You ever wonder who he was?”

  Her arms came around me from behind, wrapping around my torso and waist. She better fucking not be naked. “Not anymore.” Her hands kneaded my stomach through my shirt, slowly tracing the contours in my abs. “I’m pretty sure I know who he is now.”

  Storm was waiting. He’d want me gone by now. I wanted that book on that shelf so badly, I couldn’t think about anything other than watching her sleep again. Sneaking in and doing so was a risk I rarely took since she got rid of her laptop. I hadn’t done it for the past year. I was desperate to see my star at night. To watch her dreams.

  To be a part of them.

  “You think he’s loved me all these years?”

  I closed my eyes in misery. “Are you naked?”

  “Mhm.”

  Damn it. I tried to move out from her hold, but she held on, her hold surprisingly tight. “Do you think he has or not? Just answer me and I’ll put my robe back on. Otherwise, I’ll take you over to my bed and show you how much I appreciate all he’s done for me.”

  My cock was so hard it was going to explode. My heart was so sore it was close to breaking. My lungs were so empty they begged for breath. Sex right now would be the worst thing for us.

  Dangerous.

  Beautiful.

  My worst temptation.

  I had to give her this.

  “I think he’s loved only you since he could love.”

  She inhaled sharply behind me. She held me tighter for a second more before she let me go. Behind me, I heard her robe brush her soft skin, and only then did I turn around. Her eyes were gleaming with tears. She looked like she was seeing me for the first time and meeting W. Losing someone and gaining another. I let her have my eyes, let her see behind the wall.