“You ruthless asshole,” Shawn laughed at Fox. “You were really gonna let poor Ned die, weren’t you?”
Fox said nothing, his eyes going to that dark place as he glared at his enemy and promised him his end.
I walked out into the light before I was shoved to my knees at Fox’s side. Cyril tossed my phone at Shawn’s feet as one of the men who’d caught Fox threw his phone down alongside it.
Shawn grinned widely, looking between us. “Who’s your pretty boyfriend, Foxy?” he asked with a smirk.
“I’m Chase Cohen,” I spat. “The guy who’s going to slit your fucking throat.”
“Oh-ho, this one’s got balls, boys.” He strode towards me, gazing down his nose and inspecting me. “Look at those big blue eyes,” he purred. “They’d look mighty good on my mantlepiece, sunshine.” He gripped my chin, looking right at me like I was a sacrifice ready for slaughter. “Mmhm, very nice.” He stepped towards Fox and fisted a hand in his hair and my brother jerked against his hold, a snarl curling his upper lip. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, I’m not gonna shoot you yet. We’ve got miles more fun to have while we wait for Daddy Harlequin to arrive. Now lemme see… where was I? Oh yeah.”
He swung around sharply, whipping the shotgun off his shoulder and firing. The bang resounded in my skull as Hannah hit the ground, her chest cleaved wide open as she died in an instant. My head rang with terror, my heart thumping so fast I was sure it was going to detonate.
Ned’s screams tangled with the night air as Shawn pumped the shotgun and fired another round into his chest, silencing him for good as he was thrown back onto the ground in a bloody mess beside his girl.
Birds took off from the trees, roused from their sleep and terrified by the noise. My head kept repeating that noise over and over again as Shawn wheeled back towards us with blood speckling his chest and face, licking a line of it off his lips. His gaze flicked to Cyril behind me and his smile vanished like it had never existed.
“You did good, boy. But you look like one good arm twist could spill all your secrets. That’s okay though, because I have a solution.” He pumped the gun again and Cyril didn’t even have a chance to run as Shawn fired and hot wet blood spilled over my back as the shot hit its target. “Dead men tell no tales.”
I froze, turning my head as Cyril’s body hit the ground with a hard thump and a line of his blood trickled down my forehead into my eye. I wiped it away, dragging in a ragged breath as I stared at his headless body in shock.
Shawn whooped excitedly. “Did you see that, boys? His head exploded like a firework!” He mimed out what had happened to Cyril and his men all laughed loudly, sending a shiver of dread under my skin.
I looked to Fox and he met my gaze, panic twisting in my chest and though he showed no sign of being rattled, I knew my brother well enough to know he was. And that scared me more than the asshole in front of us, because if Fox Harlequin didn’t have an answer, there wasn’t one.
Shawn ordered his men to bring him a chair and he dropped into it, resting his ankle on his knee as a Dead Dog offered him a cigar and lit it for him. He puffed on the end, resting his shotgun across his lap and I mentally did a count of the men in the camp. Ten total, but who knew if there were more hiding in the woods? We’d been fucking stupid to come here before Luther had shown up. And even more stupid to trust that motherfucker Cyril. And I truly feared we were going to pay for that stupidity in blood.
J J grinned at me across the kitchen island as I gripped the end of it, waiting for him to make his move. He’d been chasing me all around the house and he finally had me cornered. There was something to that smile now. It was more than just the fun of the game we were playing. There was a hunger to it, a darkness and a whisper of the bad deeds he'd committed in the time we'd been apart. This wasn't a boy playing cat and mouse with me, it was a man used to winning when he embarked upon a hunt.
"You really shouldn't have taunted me, pretty girl," JJ purred, his gaze drinking me in as I blew a lock of lilac hair out of my eyes.
"I'm not afraid of you, Johnny James," I replied, my gaze flicking to the patio doors as I wondered if I could get to them and turn the key in the lock to open them before he caught me. "I still remember that time we saw a shark while we were out on Luther's boat and you damn near screamed like a little girl."
JJ barked a laugh but the second I tried to run for the patio doors, he was right on my heels like he'd already figured out my plan. I darted left instead, circling the table and racing back into the kitchen to put the island between us again. I tried to keep it that way, but JJ leapt up onto it like some kind of freaking monkey.
I gasped as his sneakers hit the counter and in the next breath, he was jumping down right in front of me.
His hand shot out and caught my wrist, yanking me towards him before shoving me back against the fridge and taking my mouth with his. His almond oil scent surrounded me and it was the most appetising thing in the world right then.
He kissed me hard and I moaned softly, my lips parting for his tongue as he teased it inside, his fingers maintaining their hold on my wrist so that I couldn't escape him again.
JJ's free hand found the hem of my pink sun dress and he drew it upwards, the material kissing my sensitised flesh as it skimmed over it and I arched my back, giving him the room to tug it off of me.
He instantly dropped his mouth to my tits, sucking and squeezing them through the thin material of my white bra while I moaned louder in the dim space.
I tipped my head back, my gaze falling on his cell phone which sat on the kitchen island as the screen illuminated and it buzzed with an incoming call.
But as my lips parted to ask JJ if he should answer that, he dropped to his knees and slung my left leg over his broad shoulders.
My fingers wound into his hair as a moan of anticipation escaped me and he tugged my panties aside so that his tongue could dip between my thighs.
JJ growled hungrily as he pressed forward, lapping at my clit and making me gasp and pant with need as his hands gripped my ass to hold me exactly where he wanted me. My hips flexed and I ground against his face, demanding more and more of the sweet torture he was inflicting upon my body until I was screaming his name and coming for him before I'd even realised what was happening.
He stood suddenly, his hand slapping down over my mouth and his eyes dark with a warning.
"If you keep being that loud, pretty girl, the men at the gates are gonna hear you. And I don't want Fox to cut my dick off for fucking his girl."
He met my gaze as I shot him a furious look and the corner of his lips pulled up in amusement as he took his hand from my mouth.
"Don't call me his, JJ," I warned him. "I don't belong to anyone."
"Hmm..." JJ stepped back slowly, taking his hands off of me and letting his eyes roam down my body. "Maybe you don't. But I get the feeling you enjoy it when men try to."
I pursed my lips at him then shrugged, tossing my hair over my shoulder and moving to pick up my dress which was still decorating the floor.
I bent down to grab it, but before I could stride away from him like a badass who'd gotten what she wanted and was done playing, JJ stepped up behind me and dragged my wrists back to the base of my spine, locking them there in his grasp and trapping me face down with my ass in the air.
"JJ," I growled, but as I tried to wriggle free, my ass ground against his hard cock through his sweatpants and a wanton moan escaped me.
"Yeah, sweetheart, I got you all figured out," he promised me in a low voice as he transferred both of my hands into one of his where he held them at the base of my spine.
His free hand caught the back of my panties and he shoved them down, leaving me bare and bent over before him as they fell to my ankles, resting against my sneakers.
"Johnny James, I swear to fuck if you don't get on with-" a moan cut my words short as the hot, silky flesh of his cock slid between my thighs and he groaned as he fisted it, using his hand to guide it past my open
ing until the head of it was riding over my clit.
"Fuck, your skin feels so good against mine," he groaned, rubbing his cock over my clit again as I looked back between my thighs and saw the precum beading the tip of it, making me lick my lips.
He rocked his hips back and forth, grinding his cock against my clit and though I tried to chase the movement with my own, the way he held me stopped me from doing much more than just taking it.
"I want you inside me," I begged as he kept riding his cock against my clit, back and forth almost lazily, but the heady groans that escaped him proved how much he was enjoying it.
"Tell me how much you need it, and you might convince me," he said, rubbing against my clit even harder and making me moan his name.
"I want your cock buried in me Johnny James," I groaned. "I want to feel every rock hard inch filling me up as you show me who's in charge here. I need you stretching me, filling me, pounding into me and making me come for you while I scream your name. Give it to me, JJ, I fucking need it. Please."
"Jesus," he cursed and I smiled to myself because yeah I could beg for cock like a good girl when I needed some, and right now I needed it more than I needed air to breathe.
JJ drew back and I whimpered at the loss of the feeling of his skin against my mine. I was burning for him and my pussy was practically dripping for him and he was starting to drag this out for way too long.
There was a ripping sound and half a second later, a condom wrapper fell to the floor by my feet before JJ impaled me with one hard thrust of his hips.
I cried out, my pussy clamping down around his length as he rearranged his grip on my wrists once more until he was holding one in each of his big hands, keeping me in position bent over in front of him with my hair spilling down all around me.
"Is that what you wanted?" he ground out and I nodded.
"Yes. Fuck me like you mean it, JJ, brand my body with the feeling of your dick destroying me," I panted and he growled hungrily.
"You're so fucking hot, dirty girl."
JJ drew his hips back and started doing exactly what I'd wanted, his cock driving in deep and hard, making me scream for him as the position he held me in gave me no control whatsoever. All I could do was take it and enjoy the fucking ride.
He hit me so fucking deep that I was reduced to nothing but screaming for him, wanting more and more of it as the moment swept me away into its embrace and made me feel alive again just for him.
Blood was rushing to my head and making my skull pound and as my needy pussy clamped tight around JJ's cock and I found my release, I swear my entire body exploded with pins and needles as pleasure crashed through me in a wave.
He only fucked me harder as I came for him, forcing every drop of pleasure from my body that he could find and claiming it all for his own.
Even though my body was shaking and spent, the cock buried deep inside me was still just as hard as ever. And as JJ tugged me upright and started kissing my neck while my spine pressed to his chest, I knew he wasn't even close to done with me. But I had no problems at all with being destroyed by him, because I was going to show him that I could destroy him too.
“- always wondered where it started. Because my mother almost died of a meth overdose or because my father beat me black and blue whenever he bothered to give me his attention? It’s fascinating how people are made, ain’t it? Put me in another life with a little more love and a little more money in my pocket and I coulda been a high flyer in downtown L.A. Or maybe a movie star, I do have a fondness for drama, don’t I boys? And I’ve got the looks for it, the talent’s natural. Yeah, that’s what I’d be, don’t you think? Shawn Mackenzie starring alongside…oh what’s that beautiful bitch called with the big tits and come-fuck-me-eyes?”
Shawn talked like the whole world was eager to listen and my teeth ground in my mouth as I tried to block him out and form a plan. They’d taken my phone, my weapons, I was a sitting duck and worse than that, so was my brother beside me.
Chase spat curses at Shawn who plainly ignored him, continuing on with his stories and casually reloading his shotgun.
“Natalie Portman?” one of Shawn’s men offered.
“No, that ain’t it. She was in those movies with the super powers, you know the one I mean. Big tits.” He feigned holding them against his own chest. “Real nice ass. Looks like she’d suck cock for days. Got some fancy ass European name.”
“Scarlett Johannsson?” another guy offered and Shawn snapped his fingers.
“That’s the one,” he said then his eyes fell on me and he leaned forward in his camp chair, resting his elbows on his knees. “What’s your type, sunshine? People around town talk about you and some rainbow haired chick.”
I bared my teeth, heat blazing along my spine at the mere mention of Rogue.
“Oh that made you angry,” he said with one of his twisted smiles. “Her pussy must be premium, huh? Are her pubes rainbow coloured too, or does she shave ‘em all off?”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I snarled and he boomed a laugh.
“Hey maybe I’ll go hunt her down later tonight and find out for myself,” he taunted and my heart beat fiercely, desperate for me to kill this man. I’d dive at him and risk wrestling that gun from his hands if I wasn’t afraid Chase would get shot because of it.
“You’re dead,” Chase gritted out and Shawn’s blue eyes swung onto him.
“What’s that, pretty boy?” He took the shotgun from his knees, casually aiming it at my brother and panic sliced through me as I tried to shift closer to him. Shawn watched me make that move and smiled cruelly. “Chase Cohen,” he rolled the name over his tongue. “That’ll look real nice on a headstone. Here lies Chase Cohen, and over there lies fifty pieces of his head.”
His men laughed and I gritted my jaw.
“I’m who you want,” I hissed, but Shawn didn’t take his gaze off of Chase.
“Oh those pretty blue eyes do captivate me something fierce, sunshine.” He looked closely at Chase who sneered at him. “It’d be a real pity to watch them blow up with your brain.”
My phone flashed where it had been left by Shawn’s feet and he hooked it up, leaning back in his seat and reading the message out loud.
“Hey son, we’re two minutes away.” Shawn grinned wickedly and jerked his chin at his men in an order and all but two of them moved into the trees, disappearing into the darkness.
My breaths came unevenly as Shawn stubbed out his cigar on the arm of the seat and stood up. “Let’s get this party started, eh boys?” he murmured to us, aiming the shotgun at me. “And don’t get any ideas about shouting out a warning to Daddy, because my finger might slip on the trigger and someone’s head might go bang.”
Silence prickled along my skin and I prayed Luther had brought enough men with him to take on Shawn’s people. Chase and I just needed a chance to run, give them the opening they required to rain down hell on this asshole and his piece of shit men.
“Drop your gun!” Luther’s voice rang through the clearing from somewhere behind me and my gut knotted.
Shawn’s gaze lifted to the trees and the two men left with us stepped closer to him.
I caught Chase’s eye while they weren’t looking, finding determination flaring there. He hadn’t given up, and neither had I. I just wasn’t sure how the fuck we were going to walk away from this alive.
“I’m not gonna do that, King Harlequin,” Shawn called to my dad. “You’re surrounded. And if you fire a single shot in my general direction, I’m gonna blast your son’s head off.”
“You motherfucker,” Luther snarled.
“You’re gonna walk down here and give yourself up nice and slow and easy,” Shawn commanded. “A life for a life, Luther. You die for him, and he can walk free.” He etched a cross over his heart. “I swear it on my sweet mommy’s grave.”
“Your word means shit and your mother’s not dead,” my father called to him. “Let Fox go and I’ll take his place.”
Shawn jerked his gun at me, beckoning me to stand up but I didn’t move. “I’m not going anywhere without Chase.”
“Don’t,” Chase hissed at me. “Just get out of here.”
But there was no way in hell I was leaving him here to die. “No.”
“No?” Shawn laughed. “He really is your boyfriend, ain’t he? How does that work with the little rainbow girl in the mix then I wonder? Or does she not know about your pretty boy escapades?” He jerked the gun in a command again. “Up, up, up, sunshine. I’m afraid your blue-eyed beau is staying right here.”
“No,” I snarled, but one of his men strode forward, gripping the back of my shirt to pull me up.
A shot went off and whistled past Shawn’s head, slamming into the trailer to my right.
“Hold fire!” Luther roared at the culprit.
“Who the fuck was that?” Shawn bellowed as answering gunfire rattled through the trees and his shotgun moved right back onto me again. “Back on his knees,” he growled and his lackie shoved me down beside Chase.
A hiss caught my ear and my gaze flicked to a log close beside me where a rattlesnake was coiled up in its shadow.
Two men appeared from the trees, dragging a bloody Harlequin along between them across the ground. His name was Gordon, he was one of the elders, his hair grey and his body covered in age old scars from countless fights. He spat at Shawn’s feet and the asshole booted him in the face.
“Did you shoot at me, sunshine?” he demanded. “And ignore your fine leader’s orders? Put his son at risk of having his head blown off by this very shotgun?” He held a hand to his heart like he was so shocked and Gordon spat curses at him in answer.
“Luther!” Shawn shouted. “Your man just betrayed you, are you comin’ down here to deal with him or am I doing it for you?”
“Let Fox go and I’ll come out there, motherfucker,” Luther barked.
Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2) Page 27