Mutt seemed pissed at us too, his eyes shut as he slept in Rogue’s lap, but I could tell he was awake from the way his ears kept twitching.
We arrived back at Harlequin House and I noted the extra security on the gates as we drove inside then parked up in the garage.
I got out of the truck, holding the door open for Rogue as I tried to catch her eye, but she just swept past me, not sparing me a glance as Fox led the way up into the house.
“Hello?” Chase called, his voice sounding muffled. “That you Fox? I need help.”
Fox broke into a run and I did too, even fucking Rogue did before we burst into the lounge together and found Chase had fallen off the couch and was wedged between it and the coffee table, his doughnut cushion stuffed tightly in behind him.
“Oh great,” he growled as he saw us all there. “I’m so glad you’re all here for the show.”
“What happened?” I asked through a laugh.
“Fell, didn’t I?” he huffed. “And every time I try to move, a shooting pain goes through me like that bullet wound opened up a gateway to hell in my ass.”
I hurried forward with Fox to lift him back onto the couch and rearrange the butt cushion beneath him. His neck reddened and he wouldn’t look anywhere in the direction of Rogue as he gritted his teeth against the pain.
“Why haven’t you taken your painkillers?” Fox demanded and Chase shrugged.
“He hates taking anything strong since that time I got him some codeine from Jim Peeves for his broken fingers,” Rogue supplied. “It made his head so fuzzy that he couldn’t do anything to fight back against his dad when he was in a drunken rage that night,” she added and I glanced back at her in surprise.
She shrugged like the knowledge was common, but I didn’t remember that. I guessed Chase had decided not to mention it to me or Fox.
I knew Chase hated painkillers, but I’d never known why. He’d suffered through gunshot wounds before, and I always thought he was just trying to prove he was a big man. Now I felt like a dickwad for not knowing better.
“Take something lighter then,” I urged. “There’s some over the counter stuff in the cupboard.”
Chase shook his head, his aversion to all painkillers clear. For someone who was used to regularly drinking himself into a coma, it was kinda stupid. But I guessed he had a shitty association with the stuff. I was pretty sure he’d drank his way through his last gunshot wounds come to think of it, but Fox had banned him from alcohol so now he was just stuck here suffering. How long had he been on the floor for? We’d been gone all fucking day.
“I need a piss,” Chase said gruffly and I helped him up immediately.
He moved stiffly along, limping on his bad side while refusing to look at Rogue again, his jaw ticking furiously.
I helped him upstairs to the bathroom and he refused to let me help him any further as he shut the door in my face, but I leaned against the wall in case he got into any trouble. He cursed a lot, but soon emerged from the room victorious, propping himself against the wall beside me.
“I had an interesting call this morning, brother,” he said mysteriously.
“Oh yeah?” I questioned.
“Texas was looking for you, said you weren’t answering your phone,” he explained and I frowned. Shit.
“What did he want?” I asked, sensing this wasn’t going to be good.
“He said your client was looking for you. She was waiting at the club this morning, all dressed up for your breakfast date. Mrs Coolings.”
Fuuuuck. I’d totally forgotten about Mrs Coolings. She booked in with me once a month for a morning of pastries in the upper quarter followed by fucking in her glitzy apartment.
“Oh woops,” I said, trying to play it off, but Chase narrowed his gaze, seeing right through me.
“You don’t ever let clients down,” he said in a low voice which wouldn’t carry back to the others. “And I’m guessing you missed this one because you were deep inside Rogue this morning when he called.” Bitterness laced his tone. “How are you going to make up your cut to Luther if you skip jobs like that?”
I cursed, grabbing his arm and helping him down the hall into my room where we could have this conversation in private. My heart pounded harder as he looked at me with a frown and I sighed, pacing in front of him and scraping a hand through my hair.
“I can’t do it, dude,” I admitted heavily. Chase knew about me and Rogue anyway so what was the point in lying to him? “I haven’t fucked a single client since I first got with Rogue. My dick’s gone monogamous and I can’t change its mind. I don’t want to either. I want her, Chase. Only her.” I looked to him and his brow furrowed as I bared my truth to him. “I want her so fucking much and if I dip my dick in some paying pussy again, it’s gonna break the only pieces of me that are even remotely good enough for her.”
Chase’s jaw went slack. “Do you love her?” he demanded, his eyes dark and empty and so fucking hollow that it made me hurt for how damaged my best friend was inside. I could see it so plainly in him, how much these past ten years had shattered him. I could never say it though, he’d just deny it, tell me I was losing my mind. But I knew my brothers and he was as lost as I was. Only now…now, I had this glimmer of sunlight in my life and I wanted to cage it, keep it, refuse to ever let it go again.
“Yes,” I rasped. “I don’t think I ever stopped loving her, Ace. And actually, I don’t even remember a time I didn’t love her. I think I was born with a heart that already belonged to her and there’s no changing it, it beats for that girl and I’m its slave.”
His throat bobbed as he nodded, his face twisting with concern. “What about Fox?” he asked, his eyes flickering with pain, and I was sure he also wanted to ask what about me? Only he’d never thought himself worthy of Rogue, even now, he wouldn’t expect himself to ever be in the running. But he had no fucking idea how much he meant to her.
“I don’t know,” I said tightly. “I don’t wanna hurt him, I don’t want this to break us. But I can’t let go of her. Once she said she wanted me, there was nothing I could do. I’ve loved her my whole life, how was I supposed to refuse her?”
“She’ll break us, J,” Chase growled, his eyes flaring. “I knew it the second she returned. This was exactly what I was terrified of. What’s going to happen to us if Fox finds out?”
“I don’t know,” I said again, hating this, but what could I do now? I was already in too deep, swimming miles under the ocean with her. “Maybe I can talk to him, maybe he’ll understand.” But those words sounded flat and useless. Of course he wouldn’t. We both knew Fox. He would lose his mind if he found out, he could turn on me, kill me for all I knew.
Chase released a heavy breath. “Just be careful, don’t take stupid risks. I’ll cover for you when I can, but J…” He shook his head. “I hate lying to him. Don’t you see what she’s done to us already? There’s cracks appearing in our family, and I don’t know who’s going to survive when the roof comes crashing down.”
“I’ll figure it out,” I swore, though it was clear neither of us believed I could. But we were on this path now and I couldn’t let Rogue go, it wasn’t possible. “And look, while we’re on the subject of Rogue, could you ever stop giving her such a hard time?”
Chase’s lips pressed hard together for a moment. “No.”
“That’s it? No?” I growled at him and he shrugged. “She deserves better, Ace. I know you’re angry, but I don’t think you’re really angry at her. I think you’re angry at yourself.”
“For what?” he scoffed.
“You’re angry you let her get away the first time, you’re angry you fucked up, angry you let her down, and you can’t forgive yourself for it, so you just take it out on her and blame all of your problems on her too. And you know what that makes you, Ace?”
“What?” he grunted.
“Your father,” I said, not wanting to hurt him, but it had to be said. I was sick of him snapping at Rogue and treating her like shi
t. She’d been through hell, and yeah so had we, but wasn’t that more reason to show her some goddamn compassion?
Chase’s face paled and I regretted the way I’d delivered those words. I just wanted him to see the truth. I knew he didn’t wanna be like his dad, but this destructive path he was on with her was only going to end with one or both of them hurt badly. And I couldn’t bear to see either of them broken by the other.
Silence settled between us and Chase shifted his weight, wincing in pain before schooling his features. He’d been dealt far too much pain in his life already and I hated how natural it was to him to just get on and face it.
“I didn’t mean…” I sighed, dropping my gaze. “I just think she deserves to be cut a little slack by you, brother.”
His jaw worked for a moment then he nodded stiffly, though I didn’t know if he was really going to be any nicer to her because of it.
“How are you making up Luther’s cut without the escort jobs?” he changed the subject.
I hung my head. “I’m taking fetish jobs at the Dollhouse, strictly no sexual contact but dude…dude, it’s so messed up what some people like. I mean, I thought I was kinky, but now I’m thinking I was vanilla all along.”
“You’re working for Jolene?” he hissed and I nodded, ashamed.
“No, fuck that. Quit today. I’ll help make up your cut until we can figure this out, I have some savings from the Maserati I stole and sold on last month.”
“You don’t have to-” I started but he cut over me.
“I do,” he said fiercely. “You’ve always said to me you’ll sell your body for so long as it never leaves a permanent mark on your soul. But I can see it leaving its mark now, J, and I’m not letting you do something you can’t recover from.”
My chest swelled and I strode forward, hugging my brother tight. “Thank you,” I said heavily. “I just can’t tickle another man’s balls with an alien tentacle again. Not again.”
Chase gripped me with his good arm. “Hang up your space hat, bro. Your ball tickling days are over.”
I laughed in relief, stepping back from him as he smirked at me. “Well I dunno about that. If you ever need a ball or two tickling, I’ll be there, Ace. You just say the word.”
He snorted, swinging a punch at me, but I danced away with a chuckle.
“Fuck you, asshat!” Rogue shouted from downstairs and I sighed as a loud smash sounded.
“Hey, that was my favourite mug,” Fox barked.
“Good,” she snapped and another smash sounded.
“Oh no,” I gasped, yanking the door open. She’d better not be going on a mug massacre. My collection of Pokémon mugs were down there.
Another smash sounded and I upped my pace. I’m coming, Pikachu!
T hree weeks. Three long fucking weeks shut up in this goddamn house with nobody for company aside from the three amigos and their bullshit.
I was even getting bored of Alexander the Great Big Dildo. Though as I leaned back and ran my thumb over the button which would switch it on, I had to admit a little surge of adrenaline ran through me. This was going to be good. So. Fucking. Good. My breaths were coming heavier already in anticipation, and I just had to hope I could get enough time to do this without Fox creeping up on me like a stalker and ruining my fun like last time. Because I needed this, the rush and the release. It was one of the few things I could truly enjoy in this fucking house and as there didn't seem to be much chance of me getting out of here any time soon, I needed to claim every bit of pleasure that I could as often as I could.
I bit my lip as I prepared to switch the huge vibrator on, knowing how fucking good this was going to feel already.
I tipped my head to the side, biting back a noise of excitement as I spotted Chase there, sitting on one of the sun loungers, his doughnut cushion finally gone. Though the way he leaned to his right suggesting his ass was still a little tender. Come to momma.
He had music playing out there, Cradles by Sub Urban colouring the air and giving me the perfect cover to use the vibrator without him even knowing I was right here, my eyes on him and my heart thrashing with excitement.
A cool breeze swept in from outside, making my nipples pebble inside my tie dye dress and I knew I couldn't wait a second longer. I needed this. I'd been holding back for too fucking long and if I didn't get this release, I was going to lose my goddamn mind.
I slipped out of my hiding place and began creeping across the main living area of the house, skirting the stools at the breakfast bar before circling the couch. He thought he was so shit hot that no one could ever get close to him, but here I was, proving myself yet again. I may not have been a big, tough Harlequin gangster, but I was a badass bitch with a weapon of mass destruction in my fist.
My bare foot made it out onto the tiles and I was as silent as the fucking wind - on a not too windy day obvs. I was basically one of those sexy assassin types like Black Widow or the chick from Naruto with the pink hair or maybe even a Green Power Ranger with tits. Maybe Chase was my arch nemesis and we were about to embark upon an illicit affair where he buried his rod of evil inside my… shield of justice. Damn. Why was I so bad at these recently? I used to think up sexy porn scenarios for myself all the damn time and yet these days I was getting stuck wondering how long it would take to get out of a catsuit for a romp with a villain. Seemed like hard work though, so I was pretty sure I had a point.
But right now, none of that mattered because I was only a few feet away from my prey and he hadn't even fucking noticed.
With a battle cry, I flicked Alexander the Great Big Dildo onto its highest setting and leapt at Chase from behind, ramming the plastic cock into his ear and making him cry out in alarm.
A hand came over the back of my head and he wrenched me off of my feet, flipping me right over his head so that the two of us went crashing to the ground and the sun lounger fell over.
My ass impacted with the tiles and his stupid muscular body crushed me as I lost my grip on Alexander and he vibrated away from me loudly. The icy kiss of a blade pressed to my throat and I blinked up at Chase in surprise as he ground me down into the tiles with his weight settled between my thighs.
"Gah! What the fuck are you doing?" he snarled, his eyes a mixture of confusion, relief and fury.
"Vanquishing you, duh. And if you didn't get the memo, you just got dicked to death. Pretty sure that makes it five times now."
Chase's frown deepened and he looked to his right where the incessant vibrations of my mighty hero still rang out. I followed his gaze just in time to see my beloved rattle its way right over the edge of the pool and I gasped at the splash which followed.
"I don't think that was a waterproof model," I cried, wriggling beneath my captor to try and escape him.
Chase grunted uncomfortably as I ground against his crotch, but he didn’t let me up.
"Why the fuck do you keep attacking me with that thing, ghost?" he demanded, pressing his weight down on me harder and refusing to remove that blade from my throat. "I could have fucking killed you. We're all on high alert with Shawn still lurking in the shadows and apparently you have nothing better to do than to play childish fucking pranks."
"So do it then, Ace," I dared, tipping my chin back and pressing my neck to the blade even more firmly. "Call it an accident and blame it on me for jabbing you in the ear with a vibrator. I'm sure Fox would understand."
"Don't say shit like that," Chase muttered, tugging the knife away from me and pocketing it.
"What the fuck is going on out here?" Fox asked loudly as he yanked the sun lounger back upright and slammed it down on its feet to reveal us.
"Whoops, you caught us," I gasped. "I love getting Chase to pin me to the ground and dry hump me. If I line my cooch up with his hip bone I can even pretend his dick might be big enough to satisfy me. But obviously I had to insist he keeps his clothes on so as not to ruin my fantasies with the reality of his midget peen. And of course I have to keep my eyes shut so that I can pic
ture him being absolutely anybody else in the world, otherwise my pussy can't get wet - it's a lot of work but I'm locked up here with you assholes twenty-four seven and a girl has needs."
"Fuck you," Chase grunted, moving to climb off of me but flexing his hips as he did so that his not-so-midget-not-so-flaccid cock ground down against my not-so-dry pussy, making sure I knew I was full of shit.
Whatever. So maybe I'd considered hate fucking him from time to time but only in an imagine-the-worst-most-unappealing-and-yet-filthily-hot-thing-I-could-get-up-to-in-this-fucking-house kind of way. Not seriously.
Besides, JJ and me had a pretty damn flawless secret fuck sessions thing of our own going on, so I had no need of Chase's douchebag dick. Of course, I was still pissed at Johnny James for going along with the prisoner bullshit that I was being subjected to in this house, so I'd only let him fuck me like eighteen or so times during my incarceration and I'd taken to slapping him when we were done to remind him that I was still mad.
The moment Chase was upright, Fox manhandled me back to my feet, his hands all lingery and making my skin tingle as I smacked them away. Officially I wasn't talking to him. But I also wasn't very good at that, so mostly I was being a snarky bitch and he was playing the grumpy badger role to perfection. It was kinda like being an old married couple who had been stuck in a fight for so long that they couldn't quite remember what had started it anymore.
"Explain," Fox growled, his gaze on Chase while I eyed the privacy screen I'd forced them to buy me so that I could sunbathe naked without any of them looking at me. I was pretty sure Fox had only gone along with it to stop the others from looking, which had almost tempted me into just going commando around the pool at all times just to piss him off. But not quite.
"She's a fucking psycho. She crept up on me and stabbed me in the ear with a dildo. Again. So obviously I reacted like I was under attack and tossed her over my shoulder - she's fucking lucky I didn't stab her."
Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2) Page 31