Power Player: Anti-Hero Game (Power Chain Book 2)

by Ryan Michele

  “Awe. Don’t you worry, angel. All this,” he grabbed his junk, “Belongs only to you.”

  Right. I didn’t believe that for a second. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. And I was no fool, not anymore.

  “I’m hungry,” I clipped, hiding the raging feelings brewing. “Can you get me food?”

  His eyes drifted down to my chest, and my nipples instantly pebbled. I quickly covered myself, forgetting for a moment that I wasn’t wearing a shirt. Shit.

  “I’ll be back.”

  I watched carefully as he plugged in the numbers on the code box, but only got a couple of them down. He looked over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t bother. The numbers rotate every couple of hours. You’ll never figure it out.”

  “Doesn’t mean I won’t try,” I fired back at him.

  “And that’s why you’re here.” He left the room, and I tossed the pillow at the door when it locked.

  I found some clothes first, locked the bathroom door, and jumped in the shower. It had five different jets in it and heated up to perfection. I quickly cleaned and dressed wanting to be ready when he came back to the room.

  Pax always wanted the upper hand, and I needed to stay on my toes at all times. At any sign of escape, I was taking it. He was clever, and I’d need to be on my game.

  The view was remarkable. Seeing the tops of the trees and the way they blew with the breeze was breathtaking. Like a picture you thought was out of reach, but was before you in all its glory. One thing I could get used to would be looking at this every morning. Not that I would, but it made the situation not as bad at least for a moment.

  Rubbing my wrists, I was almost tempted to put more of the ointment on myself, but decided against it. I would push through the pain and irritation so that Pax wouldn’t have anything else to have over me.

  The door flung open, but Paxton was too quick and had it shut and locked by the time I got over to that side of the room. Not to self: always be close to the door for opportunities.

  He set the tray down on the bed and lifted the lid on the plates, the smell of French toast hitting me like a punch. Shock and surprise had me grabbing my chest. “You remembered.”

  “Told you, angel. I remember everything. I even have your favorite buttercream icing.”

  My stomach took that opportunity to grumble. I did need to keep my strength up after all. There was no acting like a lady while eating. No one had made this for me since I was a kid, and having it was a comfort I completely absorbed.

  We ate in silence. When the last bite entered my mouth, I sighed. It was delicious.

  “Thank you.” I could barely see him through my eyelashes, part of me embarrassed that he did something really nice for me, yet I hated his guts. Hate was a deep emotion and over the years I had felt both love and hate for Paxton Williams. His latest antics in my life, I loathed him. He took everything from me and left me in a place where I felt thankful for a damn meal. This wasn’t settling well. My emotions were spiraling out of control. And with Paxton Williams, I needed to be in control of myself.

  “Knew how much you loved it.”

  “Yeah.”

  This wasn’t going as I’d planned. I jumped off the bed and stared at the view. Warmth surrounded me as arms came around me. I didn’t even bother fighting it because it wouldn’t matter. He’d do whatever in the hell he wanted.

  He leaned down to my ear. “Stop fighting it.” His lips nibbled my lobe. “You know you want this just as much as I do.”

  My head fell to the side suddenly feeling like jelly as his lips touched me.

  That’s when it hit me. To get out of this, all I had to do was play along. Do what I needed to—get him to trust me, and then I could make a break for it. If that meant sex, so be it. My body was already there anyway.

  I could play house with him for a few days, gain his trust and get out of this room. Once I was out, I could get out of the house, in his SUV, and back to my home. This was possible. Might be a long shot, but grabbing on to the only hope I could come up with was gratifying. Even if I couldn’t get my money back, I could have my freedom and my life.

  Turning in his arms, I pulled his head down to mine and kissed him hard. His lips reacted instantly, and my back was pressed to the glass.

  I was all in on this plan. Whatever it took, I would get out.

  8

  Paxton

  She gave and I took. With each passing second, she softened under my touch. My hands roamed, taking in every sensuous curve. The back of her shirt was wet from her hair as it air dried from her shower. Easily, she allowed me to remove it. When my lips hit hers again, her tongue invaded my mouth. I pulled back. She moaned.

  I crashed my mouth to hers once again. Biting at her bottom lip, she whimpered. Again, she gave and I took.

  Lifting her leg, I wrapped it around my waist. Sliding my hand down the back of her pants and panties, I gripped her ass and rocked her core against my thick, hard cock. I wanted her to feel me, every fucking inch of me.

  “Paxton,” she panted, with her hands grabbing the back of my head to keep me to her. Dropping my head to her neck, I licked, sucked, and nipped at her sensitive flesh as my fingers found their way under the globes of her ass to the folds of her pussy.

  Stroking, I teased. Her body enticed me further as my digits became saturated in her juices. Sliding inside her heat, her walls clamped around my fingers as I worked her up.

  Her breaths came quicker and quicker. She was right there. I was ready to bust a nut in my pants. I could push us both over the edge… easily. It was there, seconds away.

  Harshly, I removed my fingers and backed away from her. Her face froze in shock with her cheeks rosy in desire, flushed from her body heating. It was sexy as fuck.

  I shook my head at her. “In this game, Laurel, you won’t be playing me. When you submit, it will be completely to me. Genuine. Real. Your submission will be freely obtained and earned by me. Until then, we’ll both remain on the edge.” Her eyes blazed with fury and lust at my torment.

  “Fuck you!” she spat out at me angrily.

  I loved the challenge. I wanted her to fight me, fight the pull, fight what was meant to be. Because when it finally happened I knew it would be for the long haul. There would be no turning back. She would come to me. But it wouldn’t be like this. It wouldn’t be as a power play. She didn’t seem to realize she was with me and against me at the same time. We were battling a war of the mind, body, and mostly the heart. I was a power player who would always come out the winner in every game I played including this one with her.

  “Give in to having it all with me, and I’ll gladly fuck you and give you more orgasms than your mind can comprehend,” I told her honestly.

  “Not happenin’. You took my life from me, my money, my world.”

  “No, Laurel. I took your money. You showed up with a gun. You’re still breathin’, so you’re alive,” I corrected. I raised my hands to show her. “You feel, you touch, you see, you know you’re alive. I took your money. As for your world, angel, your world is my world and it’s here for you to take. You reacted with heat, passion, fire with that gun, but you didn’t pull the trigger. Give in to us, and you can have it all.”

  “What the hell did you expect me to do?”

  I laughed, “Beg.”

  She gasped, “You’re out of your damn mind if you think I would ever beg you for my money back. It is mine. You never should have had access in the first place.”

  “If it’s yours, it’s mine because I told you—you’re mine.”

  “You infuriate me!”

  I laughed at her frustration, but didn’t reply.

  Walking away from her, I went to the bathroom to take an extremely cold shower. When I came out, I ignored her as I left the room needing to check in on a few things. She refused to look at me. It was only a matter of time until she gave in to what I knew.

  Garrett answered my call on the second ring. “You find Riley?”
r />   “Yeah, and, man, you should know he’s pissed Laurel can’t be found.”

  I laughed.

  “Not something I think he finds funny, Pax. You sure you know what you’re getting into?”

  I lit my cigarette and took a long drag. “I’m always two steps ahead.”

  “Every time Laurel has ever been involved you lose sight of the next play, Pax. So again, I’ll be the one to say it—you sure you know what the fuck you’re doing?” Garrett always had the balls to take me on and call it like he saw it. It was only because he actually gave a shit.

  “I’ve squared everything away. No one goes down but me. So stop being a mother hen, Garrett.”

  To this he laughed. “I’m far from a mother anything other than maybe a motherfucker. I don’t want anyone to go down in this, including you.”

  “Well, motherfucker, I got my shit handled,” I told him lightheartedly. I had everything under control. When it all was over, we could sit back, drink a beer, and call it another memory. Until then, I had to remain focused on the big picture. It wasn’t simply about Laurel. This was business too.

  We ended the call, and I took a long drag off my cigarette. For once, though, I had to get real. I wasn’t so sure I was truly two steps ahead of the game. When Laurel was involved my head got fuzzy. She was my greatest distraction from the beginning. Garrett was right about that.

  She moved to Lancaster our freshman year of high school. She walked in to first period lost. She was in the wrong class. I could see the tears building behind her eyes, but she pushed back the emotions. I offered to walk her to class.

  She declined.

  She always wanted to take care of herself and depend on no one.

  Laurel had always been a challenge. Everything she ever did was on her own. It turned me on. She always had my attention even when I knew I needed to let her go. That was then and this was now. I would do anything necessary to keep her with me. And yes, that included taking her money to force her to come to me.

  My phone rang. The caller ID showed Private number. I knew who was on the other end even without the number revealed.

  “Speak,” I barked into the phone, answering the call.

  “Where’s my sister?” Riley asked, not hiding his panicked state.

  I put the cigarette to my mouth. Pressing my lips around the filter, I sucked in. The smoke filled my lungs. I loved the feel of the deep inhale. On the exhale, I let myself absorb the burn.

  “Paxton, fuckin’ answer me.”

  “Don’t have shit to say to you, Riley. You know what you did and why she had to be removed. Callin’ me, well that doesn’t fix the problem does it?” I didn’t wait for him to reply as I continued, “You know what you need to do. You know who you need to be calling, and it ain’t fuckin’ me or your fairy godmother.” Without giving him more of my time, I clicked the phone off.

  Immediately, I dialed the person I knew could find what I needed to know now. If Riley found me, it meant the time had come to find him easily. This made my job go smoother.

  “Fuck, suck that cock,” Dane clipped out as he answered the call. “Hello.”

  “Is this a bad time?” I laughed, realizing I caught Dane in the midst of something he obviously didn’t want interrupted since he didn’t push whoever was with him off.

  “For you, never.” He muffled the phone but only slightly. “Keep goin’, I didn’t say stop. This is business. I can multitask.”

  “Riley Conrad just called me from a blocked number. How soon can you get me the number?”

  “If Macy would give a little teeth and a few deep throats, I could finish here and get it to ya within an hour. Right now, she’s still in her post-orgasm euphoria from ridin’ my face, so I’m gonna have to fuck her to find my release because her mouth ain’t doin’ it,” he said frankly.

  I gave a little chuckle knowing he was serious. “Get me everything you can on the number and address associated with the phone.” I tossed my cigarette butt to the ground.

  “If he’s smart, he’s usin’ a burner and we’ll have no address.”

  I thought for a moment. “Riley’s in too deep. He won’t think to use a burner. And he’s not the one who brought the attention to their family. He’s graspin’ at straws. No, I doubt seriously he snagged a burner.”

  At least that’s what I was banking on. Dane ended the call, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind I would have all the information he could gather within the hour. This was what he did, find people and handle whatever situation arose for us.

  Listening to Dane and this Macy woman through the phone had me imagining having Laurel’s mouth wrapped around my cock. I couldn’t wait to feel her choke down my rock hard dick.

  First, I had to sort out where her brother was and how deep things went. Laurel didn’t have a clue, and I planned to keep it that way. I wanted her mind on me, my body, and what we could have together.

  All in due time, I told myself. All in due fucking time.

  9

  Laurel

  Bored. That’s exactly what I was. Paxton didn’t come back after he left me standing there so turned on I could burst at any given moment. I’d tried the damn numbered key pad only to get that damn red light repeatedly. Every failed attempt only taunted me further. Freedom wasn’t coming soon it would seem.

  The view was beautiful and my only reprieve. The television in the room had no remotes and was inserted into the wall not allowing me to push any buttons on it. I’d love to have MacGyver show me how to break out of here.

  People at my job were probably asking for me when I didn’t show up to work this morning. Which was a point in my favor. Between them and Riley, someone had to come looking for me. At least I had hoped. It wasn’t like I was close with anyone at work, but they would notice I was gone. When that happened, hopefully they’d call the police.

  Knowing Paxton, he’d have no problem getting out of it. He was as smooth as butter in every sense. Unfortunately, I knew he had lots of connections too. The kind that would help him get out of whatever the law threw his way.

  This obsession with me wasn’t healthy.

  When we met in school, I stayed far away from him. Something in his bad boy image told me he would wreck me. Every girl in school wanted him. They drooled over him every chance they got. I’d heard so many stories about how great he was in bed—how great he was with his mouth. He must’ve been because these girls kept going back for more and more, even if that was all he gave them.

  Even my best friend, Tatum, gushed over him day in and day out. She’d said that Paxton had a rotation and only let certain girls in it. This was considered a prized spot, and the girls who got in always thought they’d be the one to tame the bad boy.

  They never did because after a while, one girl would go out and a new one would come in. He was a dawg… bigtime. He was also one of the most popular boys in the school along with his three buddies, Onyx, Garrett, and Dane.

  Every one of them walked around the school like they owned the place, and part of me thought they did with the way the teachers wouldn’t challenge them and let them get away with whatever they wanted. It was crazy, yet impressive at the same time. The Untouchables, some people called them.

  I’d must have caught Paxton’s eye, though, because he kept coming around, holding doors open for me or sitting next to me during lunch. It was innocent, yet strange. Considering I was the new kid, I didn’t have that many friends.

  During that time, I had so many conflicting emotions going on. My life at home was difficult with my mom working all the time to support us, Riley was acting out, and me, well, I was going through life changes. My hormones were out of control, and when Pax was around me it was worse.

  I kept pushing him away, though. His harem of girls didn’t impress me, and no way in hell would I be on that list. Ever. He could kiss my ass. I wasn’t about to be another notch on his bedpost, so to speak.

  It wasn’t until the rumors started flying around the school t
hat Paxton let all of his girls go and hadn’t been with anyone in weeks that I closely started paying attention. How the girls in the locker room knew this, I still haven’t figured out, but they did. It was all the talk. I also didn’t think it was completely true, but the more he kept at me, the more we talked.

  We got to know each other. And I fell. Hard. Something I told myself in the beginning I would never do with a guy like Paxton, but he had this way of weaving himself inside of you and wouldn’t let go.

  Too bad I didn’t listen to my first thought and just stayed as far away from him as I could, instead of giving into him.

  Paxton broke me in a way I didn’t know was possible. He cut a part of me away from my soul, then shredded it, leaving it on the ground to rot. Then he stood back and watched. It wasn’t like he walked away and never looked back; no, he followed me. For years he has popped up everywhere I go practically. He became a reminder of what I lost or never really had I guess.

  They said that past experiences determine your future choices. I completely agreed with that statement. After Paxton, my choices in men weren’t good, but Paxton still beat up every single one until guys stopped going out with me because they feared him.

  It was a tangled web we wove with so many different directions life could take us. Sometimes it was hard to figure out where you went wrong. Other times, you knew the exact moment when everything went to shit and there was no getting back what was once special.

  A click came from the door, but I didn’t turn around from the view. There was no point. Besides that, I was damn hungry being in here for hours with no food since breakfast when he said he’d be right back with it. I didn’t like feeling dependent on anyone, especially him.

  The clank of dishes sounded behind me, and the aroma of something wonderful filtered through the air. My stomach rumbled.