Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2)

by Caroline Peckham

  "This tears me open," he growled before moving his hand to The Damned Men tattoo on the back of my left leg. "But this bleeds me out. So tell me why? Tell me this pain serves some fucking purpose."

  I managed to shove his hands off of me and scrambled upright. But when I tried to climb out of his lap, he just snatched my hips in his grasp and forced me to straddle him again.

  "Tell me, Rogue," he demanded.

  I was breathing deeply. Too deeply to account for the little struggle we'd just had and the feeling of his powerful body controlling mine was making my thoughts scatter.

  "It's not the fucking Harlequins or The Damned Men," I snapped, shoving his chest because I needed some outlet for this heat in my veins. "I don't give a fuck about gangs or oaths or any of that shit. Do you seriously think I'd swear my life away into Luther's keeping? Or even Rick's? Fuck that. You know me better than that. I'm not theirs just like I'm not anybody’s. Did I have to promise your dad some bullshit to make him spare my life? Yeah. Do I plan on running the fuck away from here and never looking back when I'm done here despite those oaths? Yeah."

  "What does that even mean? Done here doing what?" Fox snapped. "What is it that you're so desperate to do before you run off?"

  My mouth opened and closed but I didn't have an answer. I'd been planning on revenge but there sat Fox's key and I was making no attempt to claim it. Chase had been run out of town and I fucking despised him, but I was gaining no joy from knowing he'd gotten what he deserved. I still hated him the same. Still hated all of them the same. None of it mattered. So what was I still doing here?

  "I don't know," I admitted and some of the tension ran out of Fox's body.

  "Yeah you do," he replied, his hands slipping around my back as he tugged me closer. "You're home, baby. That's why you're here. And you're not running off any time soon. If ever."

  I swallowed thickly, refusing to give that suggestion any thought because it wasn't true. It couldn't be. I couldn't allow it to be.

  "Fine. Don't answer that. But tell me what the tattoos mean then if it's not about the gangs,” Fox said.

  "It's you, asshole," I snapped at him, gripping his bicep where that fucking mark was branded on him too. "No matter how much I might not like it, or how we might have all wanted to escape it once, you are a Harlequin. It's in your blood, your nature, your soul. So that tattoo doesn't mean I'm in some fucking gang. It means I'm yours."

  The dark in Fox's eyes lightened at my words and he leaned forward suddenly, his mouth on a path straight for mine but I pressed a hand to his chest to stop him and he frowned in confusion before I went on.

  "And The Damned Men tattoo means I'm Maverick's too."

  Silence hung between us as he processed that, his eyes bouncing between mine as he drank it in and digested it and realised what I was saying.

  "We're not kids anymore, Rogue," he growled eventually. "You have to pick a fucking favourite now. You can't keep on playing us off against each other and claiming you love us all the same. It's bullshit. Fucking bullshit and you know it."

  "It's not," I snapped. "And don't be so fucking conceited, I never said I love you."

  Fox gaped at me then suddenly he was laughing and I was crying and he was tugging me closer and I didn't want to hold him back anymore.

  His hands pushed into my hair and I kissed him when his mouth found mine. It hurt so fucking good that I was almost certain my heart was breaking and re-forming all at once, but I couldn't get enough of it.

  He didn't try to push for more for once, instead just kissing me the way I used to wish he would when we were kids. The way I was too afraid to admit I wanted and the way I knew would break me in the end. But sometimes that was what I wanted. To be broken by him and all of my boys and to lay myself at their feet for that destruction. Because being a dead girl got old long before Shawn had tried to kill me. And at least when I was with them, I felt every moment I was in. The good, the bad, the ugly and the damn fucked up alike. And I wasn't ready to let that go yet. So maybe Fox was right, maybe I was full of shit and I wasn't ever going to run again. But I couldn't let myself think about that. I couldn't let hope try and slide its way into my heart. But I could steal a kiss from Fox Harlequin and maybe the two of us could steal a little happiness from each other too.

  Fox's cell phone started ringing and he groaned as I pulled back, then he reached for it with a frustrated sigh, answering just before it could cut out.

  I watched him as he barked at the person on the other end of the line, tracing the sharp angles of his cheekbones and the solid shape of his jaw. Fuck, this man was edible. I just wished I could take a bite of him without the strings attached.

  He cut the call and looked at me, his thumbs tracing over my hips and sending heat beneath my skin. "You wanna go to a party tonight?" he asked unenthusiastically. "Jolene needs me to stop by and she said there's some huge event on at the Dollhouse tonight anyway. I figure it might do us good to get a few drinks."

  "And go dancing?" I asked hopefully, making him snort.

  "You can dance. I'll watch."

  "JJ will dance with me," I assured him and his jaw ticked as he nodded.

  "Maybe I'll dance after all."

  I rolled my eyes at him and hopped out of his lap. "Well then, I'd better go and make sure I look shit hot. We can't have Fox Harlequin's girl looking like crap when he takes her out."

  "You mean that?" he asked me, pushing forward to lean his elbows on his knees. "You're my girl?"

  "No," I laughed as I skipped away from him. "Not even a little bit, Badger."

  He cursed me out as I headed inside and I grinned to myself as I went in search of something to wear. All that shit with Chase had been bringing us down for too long. We needed this. A night out to just relax and make some fun memories to focus on. Everything could be solved by a good night out.

  And I had the feeling this one would be a night to remember.

  “T hat’s it, boys!” I called. “Dig ‘em all up, let’s move this along.”

  I swung a metal detector across the ground, squinting at the dark ground to find my way forward. The detector bleeped and I grinned, directing one of my men over to the spot to start digging.

  “Nice and easy now, boy.” I placed my hand on his back. “Take her out like a new born babe and place her with the others.”

  I stepped past him, continuing along my path as I whistled, waving the detector back and forth across the ground. The lights of the Dollhouse shone in the distance and my skin tingled with excitement at all the festivities I’d be enjoying later tonight. The firework show was gonna be a real beaut.

  Rogue was on my mind. My dirty, bad girl Rogue. Rogue Oliver, or that was how I knew her. But I guessed Rogue Easton had a nice ring to it too. She was the best piece of ass I’d had in a long time, but I’d put that piece of ass in the ground and expected it to stay there. So colour me intrigued, because the bitch had risen from the dead like some sexy ass zombie. I’d dumped her body in Harlequin territory in case it was found and the cops wanted someone to blame, but how that had backfired.

  I didn’t get surprised all that often, but Rogue had done a number on me and now I knew that Fox Harlequin had claimed her, well, I was determined to get her back and punish her for fraternising with my enemies. Especially as those enemies had recently cost me everything when they’d stolen my shipment of cocaine and set the fucking cartel on me.

  Rainbow haired Rogue looked like she had a little more spunk in her than I remembered, though she’d always had a sharp mouth on her. It was one of the reasons I enjoyed plunging my cock into it so much. But women didn’t tend to get a grip on me like this. Revenge did though, and I guessed she was now a combination of a hot pussy and vengeance, so that meant I wanted her. And I wanted her bruised and bloody while she cried over her Harlequin boyfriend and I fucked her back into being a good girl.

  I’d get her on a tight leash this time, bring her to heel, because it looked like she’d always been har
bouring a wild streak in her that I’d missed. But I wouldn’t miss it this time. No, when she was back in my hands, I’d crush it out of her for good and watch as she broke like a thoroughbred filly for me. I hadn’t fantasised about something this exciting in a while, which was why I’d played the long game since I’d declared war on Luther and his cuddly little family.

  Jolene and Chester Granville had been feeding me info on the Harlequins for quite some time now, so imagine my shock when Jolene had told me about seeing my sugarpie right outside her office while she had a meeting with Fox Harlequin himself. Jolene had recognised her on account of Rogue witnessing my arrangement with her and her husband all those months ago. Which was the reason I’d put my steadiest piece of ass in the ground.

  Poor dumpling hadn’t even known why, but I couldn’t risk my little Harlequin spies being exposed before I’d even managed to wield them. No, Rogue had had to go. But maybe my fondness for her tight pussy had meant I hadn’t squeezed quite hard enough on her throat to finish her. A fact I was kind of thankful for now, because I sure did love a challenge. And getting her back really presented me with one. It looked like I’d gotten lucky too, because Jolene may have seen Rogue, but Rogue sure as shit hadn’t seen Jolene or she would have ratted her out to the Harlequins by now. So I was sitting pretty, and tonight was the night it all paid off. Come dawn and I’d be back inside Rogue’s pussy, licking her tears from her cheeks and laughing about the bloody mess I’d made of the Harlequin boys.

  Some people called me a monster, but I liked to think of myself as an opportunist. This life was full of juicy ripe fruits to be squeezed and devoured and I wasn’t afraid to pick the ones on the highest branch. I enjoyed the pleasures of the darkest sins because there was no god in the sky and no devil below. There was only me walking this earth with no shackles to tether me to good or evil. I was the in between, a deity of my own making, the freest man in America. No one was coming to smite me, and no punishment awaited me in death, so why not bleed the world dry while I was here and take what I could get?

  I gazed out at the Dollhouse with a smile curling up my lips, the metal detector finding another bomb in the earth. Chester had put them all out along the cliffside, surrounding the Dollhouse in some backwards ass idea of a defence against his enemies. The guy was a wannabe fat cat with no money, acting like his business was the monkey’s tits and yet he and Jolene always seemed to be strapped for cash. Hence why they took to me lining their pockets and greasing their palms so easily, I guessed. But I’d gotten hold of the blueprints to this here little empire of theirs and I knew exactly where the safe was where they kept every dollar I’d given them.

  Jolene’s pussy had been half decent admittedly, but not worth the thousands of dollars I’d coughed up for their assistance. No siree, I’d be taking that back pronto and the rest of their savings to boot.

  The funny thing about the people I always met was, they all assumed I was a man of my word, but I’d grown up in a place where loyalty was a burden and if you didn’t cut loose the dead weight around you quick, you’d end up in the gutter with the rest of the moral kids. So I held loyalty to one person and one person only. Me. And Jolene and Chester had run their course of usefulness. They’d had long enough to hand me Luther and his son, and I was tired of waiting. So tonight, I was a force of nature waiting in the dark, and time was ticking down to the final hour. Tick, tick, tick, boom.

  I crept through the trees with my gun raised, almost able to scent the blood I was about to spill. I couldn’t see the asshole any longer, but he’d definitely gone this way.

  I’d been tracking this Dead Dog around the edges of Harlequin territory for hours in the hopes that he’d lead me back to Shawn. But now it looked like he was about to slip off the grid and I got the feeling he knew someone was hunting him. So I had to get to him fast before he could make a break for it.

  He’d stolen a car from outside a diner and had abandoned it a mile or so back, walking off into these trees. That could only mean one thing; someone was coming to pick him up from the highway on the other side of them. So I needed to catch him before that happened.

  The canopy above only allowed a small amount of moonlight through to the woodland floor and I couldn’t see him anywhere close, so I upped my pace as I listened for his movements in the dark.

  Where are you, you little shitbag?

  I kept very still, a predator ready to pounce and as a twig cracked to my right, I lunged through the foliage, colliding with a hard body. But he was on the crest of a damn hill and we crashed to the ground, rolling down it at speed, my hand colliding with a tree and my gun going flying. As we hit the bottom of the steep bank, he landed on top of me and his fist crashed into my face just before I delivered a furious blow to his chest and sent him flying off of me.

  I lunged at him as he came back at me, the glint of a blade in his hand making my adrenaline surge.

  I caught his wrist to stop him driving it into my thigh, punching his jaw and vaguely wondering why he’d gone for a disabling blow instead of a kill shot.

  He lunged at me again, the rage in him seeming to match my own as his free fist collided with my jaw and my head hit the dirt. I rolled with a snarl before he could get on top of me again, shoving to my feet and booting him in the side. He swung his legs hard with the skill of someone trained and knocked my feet from under me once more.

  I didn’t stay down another second, leaping on top of him and grabbing hold of his throat with one hand while I tried to catch the blade he swung at me, but I missed. He held it to my jugular, one moment away from killing me when the clouds shifted above and a little more moonlight fell over us. He recognised me the same moment I recognised him and he eased the knife away from my flesh as a drop of blood ran down my throat.

  “Chase,” I hissed and I couldn’t ignore the rush of relief that took hold of me. So Foxy boy hadn’t killed his little traitor friend? Interesting. Not that interesting though.

  “Maverick?” he questioned in confusion. “What the fuck are you doing out here?”

  “I could ask you the same thing,” I growled, my fingers tightening on his throat, but his answer to that was pressing the blade against my own again. Stalemate.

  “I’m hunting some asshole Dead Dog,” he told me just like that and I frowned.

  “So am I,” I muttered. “Looks like I found myself a Harlequin to kill first though.”

  “I’m not a Harlequin anymore,” he said bitterly. “And one decent slash of this knife will slit your throat, but how long will it take you to choke me out?”

  I laughed darkly. “I don’t plan on choking you, Ace. I can snap a man’s neck easy enough these days.”

  “Well get on with it then and let’s see who comes out the victor.” He pressed the knife harder to my throat and I regarded him, finding a dead man gazing back from his eyes. He didn’t give a damn if I killed him or not and that rather made the murdering less appealing.

  “Nah, I wouldn’t wanna end your suffering that easily.” I took my hands from his neck, raising my palms in surrender and wondering if Chase was going to be my end as he didn’t immediately drop the blade.

  Slowly, he withdrew it and I ran my tongue over my teeth as I observed the hollowness in his expression.

  I shoved to my feet and offered him my hand which he regarded with disdain, pushing to his feet without my help.

  “So Foxy discarded you like yesterday’s trash, huh?” I mocked as Chase tucked his knife into his belt and started hunting the ground for something. He didn’t answer me, so I went on, enjoying this moment despite the fact that I really should have been going after the bastard I was hunting through the trees. “I suppose I should welcome you to the club - sorry I don’t have the t-shirts printed up yet, but I’ll be sure to get one with your name on it soon.” He continued to hunt the ground and I frowned, his lack of response irritating me. “Three out of five now, huh?”

  “Will you shut your mouth?” he snarled at me and I smiled
at finally riling him up.

  He started walking up the hill we’d fallen down and I followed him as he picked up his phone from the ground followed by his gun.

  I spotted mine at the same moment, lunging for it and raising it in the air just as he swung around and we pointed them at each other. I smirked, pressing my shoulders back.

  “I suppose JJ will be joining us soon too when Fox finds out he’s been taking a taste of the forbidden pussy,” I said, dropping that little bomb on him.

  “You know about them?” he gasped, his finger sliding onto the trigger of his gun.

  “I’m not gonna tell Foxy,” I said with a shrug.

  “Well maybe I’ll make sure of that,” he growled.

  “Don’t be dramatic.” I smirked. “If I was going to tell him, don’t you think I would have done it by now? Besides, I rather enjoyed being inside Rogue while she sucked JJ’s cock the other day, I might do it again before Foxy blows his brains out.”

  “What?” he gasped, his eyes wide and I released a dark laugh.

  “Oh your little bro didn’t tell you about that? Lots and lots of secrets in that tight little family of yours, isn’t there?”

  “JJ wouldn’t,” he said, but there was a hint of doubt in his voice.

  I took my phone from my pocket and showed him the filthy ass photo I had of JJ eating out Rogue, placing my thumb strategically over her tits so Chase didn’t get a freebie look at them.

  “What the fuck…” Chase breathed.

  “Like I was saying, I won’t tell Foxy boy about this because I’m enjoying the game too much. JJ will fuck up soon enough anyway and I’d much rather Foxy walked in on him railing our girl and found out that way rather than a boring ass phone call.”

  “You’re sick,” he spat.

  “Guilty. So how’s it feel being an outcast, Ace?” I asked, smoothing my hair back with my free hand.

  “Feels like I’ve got nothing to lose,” he said darkly and he raised his gun a little higher so it was levelled on my heart.