Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2)

by Caroline Peckham

  I released her hand and it slapped down against my chest. I would have checked her pulse if she hadn’t been so warm and her breath wasn’t fanning over my skin.

  I shut my eyes and just enjoyed the weight of her and the pure peace that surrounded me because of it. I was pretty sure I was still in disbelief that she was actually back. My brain couldn’t quite catch up with having her here, especially after we’d almost lost her again to Maverick.

  I tightened my hold on her, wishing I could keep her, but as much as I wanted to, I didn’t really think she’d ever be mine. Not truly. I mean, what the hell was I supposed to do about Fox? Would he ever accept us being together if Rogue even did want me? I couldn’t see it. My brother was so in love with her, it blinded him to all else. Did his infatuation with her outweigh his loyalty to me? Would this ruin us?

  She’s not gonna choose you anyway, idiot.

  I sighed, running my fingers through her hair. I was a good lay, and I knew I was relying on that to keep her coming back to me, but beyond that, what was I? The local stripper/escort whose cock had seen more action than a movie clapperboard.

  “Coffee,” she murmured as she woke, sniffing the air with her eyes still closed.

  I smirked at her, reaching out for her mug and placing it in her hand. She propped herself up on my chest as she guzzled it down like a thirsty bird, her eyes remaining closed the whole time. Then she vaguely reached for the nightstand, missed and the mug dropped onto the floor as she snuggled back down against my chest with a contented sigh.

  “Morning, pretty girl,” I murmured and her eyes fluttered open, my heart racing as those beautiful ocean blues fell on me.

  “Morning, Johnny James,” she said huskily and we just stared at each other for a few seconds before she smirked at me. She twisted the shark tooth on her bracelet between her fingers, slowly tasting her lips.

  “Can’t believe you kept it,” I said and her eyes flicked up to me again.

  “It’s special,” she said and my brows arched.

  “Is it?”

  “Yeah,” she said, smiling at it. “But…wait.” She leaned in, pressing her ear to the shark tooth. “Oh, it says you owe me a speech, JJ.”

  I snorted, tugging on a lock of her hair. “No chance.”

  “But I want it.” She pouted and fuck her for looking so cute and hot at the same time. “I’m owed it.” She grinned mischievously, tiptoeing her fingers up my chest, my neck then pausing on my lips and I nibbled the ends of them, making her laugh. “Come on, give it to me.”

  I gave her a dark smirk. “Oh you want it?”

  “Yes,” she groaned. “Give it to me, Johnny James.”

  I pulled her fully on top of me, grinding her down over my hard cock and her lips popped open. I reached for my discarded jeans on the floor, hunting for a condom and coming up short. Oh shit.

  Rogue checked her nightstand drawer but I specifically remembered raiding that too last night now I thought about it.

  “Did we go through all the condoms?” she asked in surprise and I gaped at her.

  “I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before. I always come overprepared,” I said in disbelief. Jesus, how many times did I fuck her?

  At least three times in the bed, then against that wall over there, and that wall over there…the kitchen stove, the little couch…that table…the shower, the bed again…wow, that’s gotta be some kind of a record.

  “I’ve got some in my car,” I said, moving to get up, but she pressed her hand down on my chest, shaking her head at me with a frown.

  “Don’t go.” She lay back down, cuddling me and it felt so good I didn’t even care about the sex. “I’ll just suck your cock once you give me that speech.”

  I laughed, skimming my fingers down her back toward her ass. Damn, that was good motivation. “Fine,” I gave in. “If you really want it that much.”

  “I do.” She looked down at me with a grin that was all Rogue, and I leaned in to taste it, cupping her face in my hands.

  When she broke away I grabbed a pillow from beside me and shoved it over my face.

  “What are you doing?” she laughed.

  “I’m not looking at you while I say it. It’s the words of a pathetic little kid, just remember that, okay?”

  “Sure, sure,” she said dismissively. “Go on then.”

  I huffed out a breath then thought back on the speech I’d gone over a thousand times in my head, the one I swore I’d say to her just the moment I found her again.

  Well this was going to be the cringe fest of the century. I was literally the most pathetic kid back then. And this was the kind of speech worthy of a low budget holiday romance movie.

  “Rogue, wonderful Rogue,” I said with a weary sigh at how terrible this was already and Rogue snorted. I pinched her thigh. “Quiet or you won’t get any more.”

  She stifled her giggles and I continued making a home in cringe city. “Your eyes are like the sea on a warm summer’s day, your hair as soft as the sand in the cool shade, your lips are two seashells balanced on your face and your skin as shiny as a freshly waxed surfboard.”

  She lost it again and I lifted the pillow, narrowing my eyes at her. “Silence pretty girl or you’re not getting the end.”

  She cupped her hand over her mouth, smothering her laugh and I dropped the pillow back over my face with a groan. I was the lamest kid. If I could get a do-over with the knowledge I had now, I could have been way cooler.

  “Rogue, I missed you like the shore misses the waves when the tide is out, my heart is a dry waterfall waiting for the rains to come and now I have you back, there’s a deluge.”

  “A deluge,” she echoed, laughing again and I shoved the pillow off my face and dove at her, pinning her beneath my weight.

  “That’s it,” I growled through a demonic smile. “You’ve asked for it.” I shoved up her top, leaned down and blew a furious raspberry on her flesh, making her laugh, wriggle and squeal. I planted another one on her and she tugged my hair, trying to make me stop, but she was out of luck.

  Mutt started barking beyond the trailer and the sound of Fox’s voice reached us, both of us falling statue still.

  “Ah you little asshole, don’t you bite me,” Fox growled. “Here, have a treat. Hey, not the whole packet - give that back!”

  I flew out of bed as Rogue stared at me in horror. “Pretend you’re asleep,” I hissed and she nodded, but reached for the trash can full of condoms first, tying a knot in the bag to hide them before throwing on an oversized shirt and diving back into bed.

  Meanwhile, I grabbed a bottle of water from her nightstand, undid the cap and poured it all over me, whipped a towel off of the hook on the back of the door along with all of my clothes from the floor then stepped out of her room, tying the towel around my waist and tugging the door shut behind me just before Fox let himself into the trailer with the key he’d gotten made.

  “Oh, hey bro,” I said casually and he nodded to me, striding up to the sink and washing blood off his hand from a little dog bite. I spotted Mutt beyond the trailer ripping into a bag of chicken treats and wagging his tail.

  Shit that was close.

  “Is Rogue up?” he asked.

  “Nah, she’s still sleeping,” I said. “I’ll just…get dressed.”

  I looked around for anywhere private I could go, but the bathroom was as tiny as a gnat’s asscrack so I figured fuck it and dropped my towel, pulling on my stuff while Fox poured himself a coffee. A couple of girls’ giggles carried from beyond the trailer and I realised I probably should have closed the door before I got butt naked.

  When I was fully clothed, Fox stepped past me and pushed Rogue’s door open to check on her. She was sprawled out in the bed, looking dead to the world and I wouldn’t have been entirely surprised if she really had fallen back asleep.

  Fox shut the door again, his gaze moving to a drawing of an angry badger on the wall. He lifted it up, finding a hole beneath it and I arched a brow as
he turned to me with a scowl and folded his arms.

  “How’s Chase?” I asked.

  “How would you be if you got shot in the ass?” he said with a smirk.

  “Fair point,” I laughed then his features darkened.

  “I can’t believe he threw himself on me, fucking protecting me,” he said angrily and my heart squeezed. Oh Chase, I fucking love you, but I hate how much you disregard yourself.

  I made myself another coffee and we moved to sit side by side on the steps that led into Rogue’s trailer, the morning sun painting everything gold and already starting to warm the day up.

  “I need to talk to him about what he did, but I dunno how to stop him from doing it again,” Fox said in concern then turned to me. “You guys know that me being your boss doesn’t mean I would ever want you to put yourselves in harm’s way for me, right?” His eyes burned into me with worry over that and I pressed a hand to his back.

  “I know, man, I just think Chase wants to prove he’s useful. He’s never really valued himself and I think he’d die happy if it was for one of us. I fucking hate that though. If it helps, I don’t think he did it because you’re his boss – he did it because you’re you.”

  He frowned as he considered that. “I don’t know how to fix the scars his dad left on him,” he said gravely. “How can we show him he’s important to us if on some underlying level he just thinks of himself as a piece of shit?”

  I thought on that for a moment, swigging my coffee. “Honestly? The only one of us who ever made a difference to him in that sense was Rogue.”

  “And now they despise each other,” Fox said with a sigh, pushing his fingers into his messy blonde hair.

  “Yeah,” I breathed. “They still care about each other though. Hate is just love that caught fire.”

  “Mmm,” Fox sounded his agreement. “Then how do we put out the flames?”

  I shook my head, having no idea about that. “Lock them in a room together and refuse Rogue food and Chase cigarettes until they make up?” I joked.

  “Don’t give me ideas,” Fox chuckled, a dark glint in his eyes saying he’d definitely do it if he thought it would work.

  “I think they’d tear each other to pieces if we did that,” I laughed.

  “Ain’t that the truth.”

  “My ears are burning. I think a Badger is talking about me,” Rogue said sharply, coming up behind us and squeezing herself between the two of us. The gap was so tight, she was basically on our laps and I didn’t really mind that at all, especially as she mostly just sat on me and ignored Fox. “Did Chase die of his ass wound?” she asked lightly like she didn’t care if he had, but I could see she genuinely wanted news on how he was under the facade.

  “Nah, he’s currently propped up on a doughnut cushion playing video games, hummingbird,” Fox said and he reached for her but she shifted away, still pissed with him from last night.

  I had to side with Fox on that though, we couldn’t risk Rogue getting anywhere near Shawn Mackenzie so he was going to keep eyes on her at all times. And I was more than happy to be those eyes. I didn’t think screaming at her and threatening her were the best ways to gain her cooperation though, but that was Fox.

  Mutt came running over, jumping onto Rogue’s lap and licking her cheek. She stroked his head and I reached out to tickle his chin. He shot a glare at Fox when he didn’t join in with the fuss and Fox rolled his eyes before scratching his back and Mutt wagged his tail like crazy as he became the centre of attention.

  “Get dressed.” Fox patted Rogue’s thigh and my hackles raised as I fought the urge to slap his hand off of her, but thankfully she did it herself.

  “How about no?” she tossed back.

  “I thought you wanted to be involved in hunting down Shawn?” Fox said, arching a brow and her eyes narrowed on him sharply.

  “You said I couldn’t be involved,” she accused.

  “Maybe I changed my mind.” He shrugged.

  “Seriously?” she asked, hope sparkling in her eyes and I tried to catch Fox’s gaze to ask what the fuck he was playing at.

  He nodded, avoiding my eye and she jumped up, placing Mutt in my lap before she ran back inside to get dressed with a squeal.

  “You’re not really gonna let her help go after Shawn, are you?” I asked in horror.

  “Nope,” he agreed. “But I’d rather I didn’t have to drag her kicking and screaming into my truck this morning.”

  “You’re an asshole,” I pointed out.

  “I never claimed to be a saint, J.” He smirked, standing up and I did too.

  Rogue soon reappeared in a little denim dungaree dress with a lacy white crop top underneath it that showed off a lot of side tit. She wore flip-flops and my pink sunglasses which she must have stolen from my car last night. Little sneak.

  I reached out to take her hand, then did a swerve in the air as I stopped myself and shut the door behind her instead. Thankfully Fox didn’t catch it and we followed him to his truck which he’d driven down to Rogue’s trailer even though he definitely wasn’t supposed to.

  We climbed in with Rogue in the middle and Mutt sat on her lap as she used Fox’s phone to put on People I Don’t Like by Upsahl as we sailed through town.

  Fox drove to the Dollhouse and parked up in the shade of a palm tree outside it just as an SUV full of Harlequins spilled out of their vehicle a few feet away.

  Fox directed them towards his truck as he stepped out, shutting the door behind him and as I got out too, he moved to shut my door and trap Rogue inside before locking it tight.

  “Hey!” she shouted at him, but he ignored her, directing the small army of Harlequins to surround the truck and tossing one of them the keys.

  “Crack a window for her, Pedro,” he commanded then jerked his head at me in an order to follow and led me toward the huge white building. I threw an apologetic look back at Rogue and she scowled furiously at us before turning the music up so loud that it made the truck vibrate, and would likely flatten Fox’s battery in no time too.

  “She’s gonna hate you for that,” I told Fox.

  “I don’t give a shit. She’s in trouble,” he growled. “She slipped away from my men last night and if it wasn’t for you finding her, who knows what could have happened? What if Shawn had found her wandering around town after the shoot out?” Worry lined his brow. “If she won’t stay under the protection of my people willingly, then this is what she gets. I can’t afford to be nice right now when Shawn and his men are out for blood. What if they took her JJ? I’d never forgive myself,” he bit out and my chest crushed at the thought, making me a whole lot less upset about her being forcibly protected. I knew what she was like; she would be furious about being watched twenty-four seven. But it would be worth it if it kept Shawn from finding her.

  In the stark light of day, the Dollhouse showed its signs of wear far more than when darkness cloaked its imperfections. Cracks ran up the walls and one side of the roof looked in desperate need of repair.

  Two men manned the doors, letting us inside as they recognised us and we found Jolene in the bar upstairs counting cash at a table.

  “Oh Fox,” she gasped, getting to her feet with wide eyes. “Are you alright? When I didn’t hear from my man again last night, I was so worried. And when I called Luther and he told me what had happened, it just didn’t make sense.”

  “Your man was paid off by Shawn to hand us to him,” Fox supplied, eyeing Jolene closely as she gaped at him.

  “Jesus, Fox, I’m so sorry,” she said, holding a hand against her heart. “Is he-”

  “Dead,” he said. “Shawn shot him.”

  She swallowed hard as she nodded satisfactorily. “Why would Shawn kill him if he was working for him?”

  “To save himself the money,” I guessed.

  “Yeah, that or he didn’t want any witnesses to all the murders he had planned last night,” Fox said, his gaze sharp on his aunt. “Or…he wanted to make sure Cyril’s secrets died with him
.”

  “Secrets?” Jolene frowned.

  “I wanna question your men,” Fox announced. “Anyone who had contact with Cyril, if there’s more rats among your people, Aunt, I am going to weed them out.”

  She nodded, her expression serious. “I’ll have them come here for questioning.”

  “Good.” Fox grabbed a chair, sitting down and Jolene’s eyebrows rose.

  “Oh you want to question them right now?” she asked.

  “Evidently,” he confirmed and she stood up.

  “Okay, I’ll make sure they’re here as soon as possible - Chester!” she bellowed and he came running into the room a moment later in a bright green shirt.

  “Yes, my sweet?” he asked.

  “Call all of our men in for a meeting with Fox Harlequin. And don’t keep him waiting,” Jolene commanded.

  Chester nodded to us then scampered away again. I dropped down into the seat beside Fox, stretching out my legs and cracking my knuckles. I had the feeling today was going to be a long ass day and my shirt wasn’t going to stay clean for long.

  ***

  Rogue didn’t talk to either of us when we finally returned to the truck later in the afternoon. Fox had ordered one of the Harlequins to fetch her any food and drink she wanted and the car was now littered with Subway wrappers and the steering wheel was smeared with mayonnaise.

  Both of our knuckles were bruised and flecked with blood, but we hadn’t exposed any more rats among Jolene’s people, so we had to hope Cyril had been the only one.

  Rogue eyed the blood on us as Fox drove back to town, but kept her lips sealed tight. Fox didn’t even make a comment on the mess she’d made of his truck, his gaze swirling with thoughts as he fell into a reverie, trying to think up a way to get to Shawn.