Almost Easy (Sinister Ascent Book 1)

by Brittany Clark

“What do you mean? What you just said sounded like she was happy,”

  “She is with her work, but that’s about it. She doesn’t trust people easily, and although she likes to see you win awards, she says something about knowing she would see your name in lights,” When I said that his eyes lit up before they flashed with pain, “Anytime your name is brought up she looks away, because it hurts her so damn bad,”

  “God damnit. I know I hurt her, I’m fucking sure that she won’t ever forgive me. But I can’t stay away from her any longer. I need to see her, and soon,”

  “And I want to help,”

  “Let’s get this shit with you and Zane figured out, then we can fix my mistakes,”

  “Deal,” I replied holding out my hand for him to shake. I would help him, after all it was the least I could do for him.

  12

  CHLOE

  There is a moment in life that everyone will experience once. It is that moment where you feel as if you can’t breathe because you are terrified. It can happen when you know that you are going to get in serious trouble from your parent’s, or when the cops pull you over, even when you know that you did nothing wrong. Where your heart pounds fast in your chest, and there are a million birds flying around in your stomach.

  As I sat in Cage’s house waiting for all the others to arrive, I was experiencing this moment. Cage was throwing a small party with all the guys and me so that we could all watch the baseball game. Since everyone was going to be here, this was the day that Blaze and I were going to let it be known that we were sleeping together. Needless to say, I was filled with doubt and nerves. Once again I fidgeted in my seat, this time catching Blaze’s attention.

  I felt him scoot closer to me on the couch so that he could wrap his arms around my waist and tug me closer to him. I rested comfortably into his side in an attempt to relax. As soon as we heard the door open, Blaze nuzzled into my neck causing me to shiver, which was visible to everyone in the room.

  “Don’t be worried Chloe. It won’t be as bad as you think,” He whispered to me,

  “I can’t help it. This is freaking me out,”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t want Zane to hate either of us,”

  “He won’t. If anything the only person he will hate at the end of the day is himself,”

  “You seem awfully sure of all of this,”

  “I am. This is going to work,”

  “The two of you seem awfully close together,” Axel commented pulling us out of our private conversation. I blushed instantly, not because I was embarrassed, but because Blaze chuckled in my ear. I turned my head to look at Cage so that I could answer him. However turning my head to the side exposed the fresh hicky that was on my neck. It happened when things got a little heated between the two of us. I heard Zane growl from the doorway. My eyes widened as I turned to look at him. I met his deep chocolate brown eyes and saw nothing but anger.

  “The two of you slept together?” Zane hissed as his eyes ran over my neck. This time his eyes flashed with pain. Not because I was branded by another man, but because in that moment he realized he had never branded me.

  “This isn’t something that we’re going to advertise. Or talk about. Just know that the two of us are closer together,” Blaze responded, making no move to elaborate.

  Zane grunted then stalked off towards the kitchen. I watched him go with a new pain in my heart. It wasn’t a pain for myself, but a pain that told me I had hurt the man that I loved. I never wanted to hurt him. No matter how much he had hurt me over the years, I had no desire to get even with him. But what’s done is done. There was no going back from this, and now I had to wait and see what would happen. In the end I would know once and for all, if this was all just jealousy on Zane’s part. If he had been trying to get me back because he didn’t want me to sleep with another man, then that would be over now. I just hoped I would be able to live with the consequences of what I had just done.

  ZANE

  Pain, anger, sadness, these three emotions where competing inside of me at the moment, and I was afraid to know which once would be the winner. My girl had slept with someone else. After years of being with no one but me, she had now been with someone else. God damnit! Yeah, I’ve fucked hundreds of women while I was with her. But she should not have slept with someone else! Fuck! I was a selfish asshole. So I was allowed to fuck anyone I damn well wanted to, but the second she sleeps with one man that wasn’t me, I act like a damn asshole.

  I unclenched my fists long enough to open the fridge door and grab a beer. I had just put the bottle to my lips and was taking a long pull from it when Blaze walked into the kitchen with a huge smile on his face. I waited for him to say something to me, but he stayed silent. He seemed to know that I wanted to talk, but he wasn’t going to make it easy on me. When he pushed past me to grab himself a beer, and a soft drink for Chloe, I lost it. There was no way that I could stay silent. So I broke the silence.

  “Why are you with her Blaze?” I whispered

  “Because I have always liked her, but I didn’t stand a chance when you had her on the back burner. I kept waiting for you to stop being blind. I always felt that if I took a chance with her, then you would open your eyes and I would lose her. When you said your wedding vows I knew that you destroyed what the two of you had. That meant I finally got a chance, so I took it,”

  “You didn’t even ask me if I was okay with it. Hell you stole my girl, marked her neck, and slept with her, without asking me for permission,”

  “Why would I have needed to? She was never your girlfriend, and you made it clear to everyone that you had no damn feelings for her. The only reason I would have had to ask you for permission to date her, was if you had feelings for her, or dated her,”

  “But I did have feelings for her, I still do,”

  “How the hell would I have known that? Was I supposed to be a mind reader?”

  “I want her back. I need her, just fuck,” I put my beer down and scrubbed my hands down my face hard, “I don’t know how to say this shit! Just, oh fuck it. I love her,”

  “I wish I would have known that, or hell I wished you would have realized that sooner. But it’s too late to tell me that now Zane. We’ve been together for a while now, and feelings are developing on both of our sides. I can’t end things with her now,”

  I closed my eyes effectively shutting out our conversation. Blaze took the hint by walking away. It was stupid but I felt so fucking betrayed right now. Chloe did not betray me, in the long run I was the one that had betrayed her, and I broke her fucking heart. Also as much as I hated to admit it, Blaze was right, I had kept my feelings for her so locked down that even I hadn’t been aware of the way I felt for her. So why the hell would Blaze think that it would have been a betrayal for him to date her.

  As for Chloe, she was under the impression that the only thing I wanted, and still want from her, is her body. Don’t get me wrong, I would give anything to bury myself between her thighs right now, but that wasn’t the only thing I wanted. Her thinking that was all my fucking fault. I had made her believe that every damn time I fucked her and then instantly walked away. Now she had slept with someone else. That damn sharp pain came back to my chest.

  The only touch she had ever known was mine. Now that was gone. Images were flashing through my mind, images of from the first time we had sex until the last. I cursed and punched the wall, yelping in pain slightly. I couldn’t be around the others right now. I needed to be alone. I snuck out the sliding glass door that led to the back. Once I was alone with my thoughts I couldn’t take it. My body sagged against the side of the house as I buried my face into my hands.

  It was getting hard to breathe. I wanted nothing more than to grab Chloe and bury her into my arms where she belonged. I didn’t even care that she had been with another man. As long as the last one she was with was me. I reached for a cigarette and took a long hit off of it as soon as it was lit. Then the images were back. Flashing through my mind
like a video. The first time we had ever had sex was the best night of my life. Chloe was so nervous, and so was I. I was far from a virgin, but I was terrified that I was going to hurt her, but my sweet, perfect Chloe had taken me like a champ. I was amazed as I watched every single inch of me slip inside of her. From that moment on I couldn’t get enough. I should have realized it then. I never felt so addicted to someone before.

  I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard a small sound coming from around the in-law-house in the back. Since I had nothing better to do, I walked that way to investigate it. Then stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Chloe sitting at the edge of the pool with her feet dangling in the deep end. Her hair was flowing around her shoulders and she had this serene look on her face. At that moment I felt like I was in a fairy tale and that I had just found my mermaid. As if I was in a trance I began to walk over to where she was and took a seat beside her. Chloe lifted her troubled eyes to my face, causing me to frown.

  “What’s wrong Chloe? You look so damn sad,” I said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “I don’t want you to hate me,” She whispered holding back her tears.

  I closed my eyes once again. God what had I done to her? How could I have hurt her for so long? Now she thought that I was going to hate her for fucking another man. Okay, I admit that I don’t like the idea, but hating her never entered my mind. The fact that she would think that showed exactly what she thought that I felt of her.

  “Chloe, I could never hate you. I’m not thrilled that I’m not the only guy you have ever been with now. But I can’t be mad at you. What alternative did I give you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You gave me the chance to be your one and only for years. I kept tossing other girls in your face. I’m married now, and I can’t expect you to keep waiting for me. So you’re moving on. I’m not thrilled about it, and when I fix all of my problems, I’m coming after you. Blaze better watch his back. But I can’t sit here and be fucking other women, and not expect you to have sex as well,”

  “But for twelve years that’s what I did. It was only ever you, I waited that entire time hoping that you would open your eyes and want me as something more. Now I opened my eyes finally, and I know that is never going to happen. I’m finally giving up,” The last sentence was a whispered one that had fear creeping into my chest.

  “Don’t give up on your love for me Chloe, another man might have touched your body but I will be the only one to touch your heart,”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,”

  “Chloe, I owned the shit out of your body the second you let me touch you. I claimed you in more ways than anyone else ever could. I made that sweet pussy between your legs beg for me and only me. Blaze can touch you for now, but the second I have you once again under me, shaking with pleasure as you take me inside you once again, you won’t even remember his name,”

  “What the hell do you mean you owned my body?” I leaned into her body pressing my lips against her ear.

  “The second I pushed past that barrier inside of you, your body molded to my dick. For twelve years I fucked you deep and hard, making you fit me like a form fitting glove. Not to mention I came inside of you every damn time. Blaze might have left a mark on you for everyone to see, but I marked you on the inside. That makes you mine. I owned the shit out of you, Chloe. Do you get it now?”

  “But I never got to mark you,”

  With that she stood up and walked away leaving me to ponder her last statement. I didn’t have to think about it too hard, it wasn’t like it was some huge riddle. She could never mark me. If she would have left a mark on me, then whoever I was seeing at the time would have seen it and flipped out. Due to that I always took extra precautions to make sure that there were no marks left behind. Now I would love to have her scratch marks down my back, or my chest, as she bit my neck hard and marked me. To let the world know that I was fucking taken by her. The only girl I ever truly fucking wanted.

  What she didn’t know, what even I had been unaware of until recently, was that she had marked me. She had marked my heart, and my fucking soul. I was hers, probably even more than she was mine. Words, however were useless. I needed to show her. I was going to do that by not giving up. She would get so used to seeing me that it would be weird when I wasn’t around.

  Slowly I stood up and walked back into the house. I grabbed a beer then headed to the living room and took my seat. The baseball game that was playing however could not keep my attention. Not when Blaze had Chloe snuggled into his side. She didn’t belong there at his side. She belonged next to me. With that erotic smell surrounding me. The smell that reminded me of home. The smell that reminded me of everything that I loved and that I lost.

  “Hey Zane, where’s the wife?” Axel asked me smirking.

  “Shopping, I think,”

  “Why didn’t she come here?”

  “She doesn’t like sports,”

  “It’s a good thing she isn’t here, if you were eye fucking another woman with her here, things were bound to get interesting,” The room went dead silent as all eyes snapped to me. Fuck, had I been that obvious?

  “Axel, leave him alone,” Chloe murmured.

  “I’m just saying,”

  “Too much. You’re saying too much,” Blaze chimed in.

  “Whatever. I’m heading to the bar, Cage want to come? I need to get some tonight, and I doubt that anyone else here wants to score tonight,”

  “Sure, it’s been a few days since I’ve gotten laid,” Cage answered getting up out of his seat.

  I saw Chloe roll her eyes at the two of them, and for once I wanted to do it as well. I had been just like them, going out night after night to do nothing else then to find someone to get my dick wet. I didn’t want that life anymore. There was only one woman that I wanted. And apparently I was eye fucking her in front of everyone. However that didn’t bother me. I didn’t care if everyone saw that I wanted her. They had to get used to it, because soon she would be sitting against my side instead of Blaze’s.

  I heard Blaze let out a huge laugh before he pressed his lips to Chloe’s forehead, then he stood up and walked away. Now I was alone with Chloe. I wanted to get up and go sit next to her. But I didn’t have that right anymore. Which was made obvious by that damn mark on her neck that announced she was with someone else at the moment.

  “Would you have marked me?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

  “Fuck yeah I would have. I would have left nail marks down your chest all the damn time, not because I needed to claim you, but because whenever I was underneath you I always wanted to grab on in order to keep myself from falling off the edge of the earth,” Just with that my dick was as hard as a rock.

  “That was mean Chloe,” I groaned as I adjusted myself in my jeans. I saw her eyes flare. Damn my girl liked sex as much as I did.

  “I’m sorry,” She said as she blushed, “I don’t know why I said that,”

  “Because you were thinking it, you always used to tell me whatever you were thinking,”

  “But I can’t do that now,”

  “The fuck you can’t. Say whatever you want to say to me. I want to hear it all,”

  “Why? What’s the point?”

  “Because I want to know what it is you want. That way when I have you under me again, I will crave the feel of you digging your nails down my chest,”

  “You said you would never let a woman leave a mark on you. I believe your words were that if a woman was going to mark you in bed, then you might as well get her name tattooed on you, because it was a clear signal that you were taken by one woman and one woman alone,”

  “I did say that. But I would let you mark me. You could mark me anyway you want to,”

  “Not anymore I can’t,”

  “Why the hell not?

  “We’ve been over this Zane. Hell I slept with Blaze, you aren’t the only man I’ve slept with anymore,”

  “I don’t give
a shit about that. I’ve said this before, and I understand why you don’t trust me. I will say it as many times as I have to. I want you, not your body, not your pity, and I don’t want you on the back burner. I want you, all of you, and I want you to have all of me,”

  “Babe, do you need another soda?” Blaze shouted from the kitchen

  “Yeah, thanks baby,” That cut through me like a knife.

  “Don’t call him that Chloe, please. I am handling everything else that I’ve been seeing and hearing. But I can’t hear you call him that,”

  “Zane, I don’t want to hurt you. I’m not trying to hurt you. Why can’t you let me move on? I let you move on, it killed me, but I did it, because I wanted you to be happy. Why can’t you do the same for me?”

  “I can’t. I want to tell you everything, but I can’t right now. When I can, I’m coming straight to you and I will explain it all,”

  Chloe went to answer but Blaze walked into the room and she stopped herself. At that moment I was thankful for that. Everything I wanted to say couldn’t be said right now. But soon I would tell her everything, and I would get her back.

  13

  CHLOE

  “I’m serious Chloe,” Blaze said laughing along with me.

  Another week had passed with us pretending to date each other, and during that time we had gotten even closer. It wasn’t something that we were talking about, we were just letting everything coast along normally. We were both aware that if our circumstances were different, we would be trying to see if there was anything real between us.

  “I know you’re serious. That’s why I’m laughing,”

  “It wasn’t my fault,”

  “Everything is your fault. You and Axel are the kings of practical jokes,”

  “Look, I hired the transvestite hooker, but I didn’t think that Cage would fall for it,”

  “Did he sleep with her?” I asked nearly choking on my laughter.

  “No, they went to the bunks together, but about twenty minutes later he came running out screaming that she had popped a bigger boner than he had,”