My eyes left Ava’s and when I looked back at Deke, his head was still tilted back and I could see the muscle and veins corded in his neck, and I swear to God, I wanted to latch onto him like a vampire. The realization made me tremble.
I was scared.
I’d never felt this way before, and I didn’t need to feel this way about Deke Marlow. My arranged future husband, Winston Reynolds, was the only boy who should evoke these feelings in me.
NOT Deke Marlow.
“Leave me alone, Deke,” I whispered, terrified of these new urges. So terrified, his head came down and his green eyes snapped to mine, because he could hear the fright in my voice.
And if I thought I was terrified before, that was nothing compared to the cold feeling in my bones when Deke leaned so close, his breath tickled my lips. “Not on your fucking life am I going to leave you alone now,” he growled so low that only I could hear him.
I don’t know how I did it, but I could see through his green gaze that I had awoken something in him that should never be awake.
I think I just became Deke Marlow’s newest prey.
“Deke, leave her alone,” Ava called out, and I had to give her credit. I didn’t doubt her friendship, but no one-and I mean no one-went up against Deke, Liam, or Ramsey.
“Ava, this isn’t your business, so just turn right back around and go on about whatever you were doing,” Liam’s voice snapped through the night.
I already had Deke’s spotlight on me, I didn’t need anyone going after Ava. Without taking my eyes off Deke, I called out to her. “It’s okay, Ava. Everything’s fine. You can, uhm, go back to Marcos.”
“But-”
“Ramsey…” Emerson’s voice carried loud and clear.
I couldn’t see it because Deke’s large frame was blocking everything out, but I could hear Ramsey just as clearly as everyone else could. “Back off, Ava. Now.”
You could feel the shift in the air; the panic in the winds, the danger from the crackling bonfire. Emerson Andrews had just invoked her power over Ramsey Reed, and that was all she wrote, folks.
Ramsey had just handed me over to Deke Marlow without even knowing what he wanted me for. Actually, I suppose it was Emerson who handed me over to Deke. She’s the one who called on Ramsey, after all.
I searched Deke’s eyes looking for any signs of compassion, but there was nothing. “Don’t do this, Deke,” I begged. “Just…let me be. I’m sorry I watched yo-” His hand shot out, wrapping around my neck, and I did the worst thing I could have possibly done.
I moaned.
Darkness surfaced in his eyes, and that pulsing between my legs throbbed painfully. Deke squeezed his fingers around my neck, and it was everything I could do not to close my eyes and just bask in the force of his touch and the heat radiating off his body.
But I didn’t.
“I’m going to let you go this time, Lamb,” he whispered. “But I will be coming for you.”
Chapter 3
Deke~
“So, you going to finally tell us what’s going on between you and Delaney Martin?” Liam asked as he and Ramsey walked into my game room. I didn’t bother looking away from the 98” plasma screen television where I was currently battling the forces of darkness for all of mankind.
Last night after I let Delaney escape, Liam and Ramsey had kept mum because, while they loved the shit out of Emerson and Roselyn, they still respected my privacy. That’s why they had formed a shield behind me when they saw something was up. It was that same sense of loyalty that had the girls standing next to them. They were loyal to Liam and Ramsey, hence, making them loyal to me.
Ramsey sat in his game chair positioned near the center table, while Liam dropped his body next to me on the black leather couch. I elbowed him because I knew it was a dick move to try to jam my game up. He scooted over as he laughed.
I shook my head, but grinned. Liam, Ramsey, and I have been friends all our lives, and I knew these two twisted fuck like I knew the back of my hand. And, while they might be twisted, they were loyal as fuck and, except for the girls, neither had a weak bone in their bodies.
Ramsey’s father was a financier with Mob ties, so Ramsey’s family was super wealthy, and that was saying something considering. His father was also shady as fuck and expected Ramsey to follow in his footsteps. Little did he know Ramsey already became his own man at the tender age of 15-years-old. Ramsey’s life plans did not include his father or being anyone’s little bitch; and that included the Mafia. And where Ramsey’s father was a dick, his mother was just absent. She ran around doing who knows what, and no one ever asked.
Liam’s parents were no better. His father managed a hedge fun for legitimate purposes but was just as shady with side-dealings as Ramsey’s father. He was also an absolute asshole. Whereas Ramsey’s father knew Ramsey was psychotic, and my father was nonexistent, Liam’s father contacted him often just to be a dick to him. And Liam’s mother did what most the wives of Sands Cove did-nothing. She was a vapid, self-absorbed idiot with too much money at her disposal.
I supposed that’s why Ramsey was so fascinated with Emerson, and Liam was so wrapped up in Roselyn. These girls were the complete opposite of the kind of women they grew up despising.
As for me, my father worked in oil and energy solutions, but he was as crooked as a boxer’s nose. There wasn’t a bribe he ever refused and there wasn’t a tramp he hadn’t bedded. Sampson Marlow was a jackass of a peacock, always on stage and performing to impress. He was arrogant, vain, and just plain ridiculous. But he had the sleazy charm of a used car salesman and people ate it up.
My mother was another despicable human who paired with my father beautifully. She played the ignorant wife role to perfection, but she was anything but. The woman was worthless and would sell someone’s baby if it meant another diamond on her finger.
Fucking people were horrible.
Too bad for us, their neglect and lack of basic human decency affected us growing up.
We were fucking horrible people too.
At least, we had been until Ramsey fell in love with Emerson, and Liam finally claimed Roselyn for himself. They were still heartless, fearless assholes, but softer, and I couldn’t be happier for them. They found the Holy Grail. They were horrible and ruthless, but they managed to find the two females on the planet that could rein all that in. They were more human now that they had the girls.
Me?
I had the ability to care, as evident by my relationships with Ramsey, Liam, Roselyn, and Emerson, but the rest of the world? The rest of the world could suck my dick.
Well…the rest of the world except Delaney Martin, apparently.
Ramsey and Liam had picked up their remote controls and joined in on the game as I answered Liam. “She caught me getting my dick sucked by Melissa Randall behind the trees last night.”
“Caught?” Ramsey said, asking for clarification.
“Well, not caught,” I corrected. “I’m not sure what she was doing because I hadn’t asked, but all I know is that in the middle of Melissa blowing me, I had heard a noise, and when I looked over, Delaney was standing behind a tree watching.”
“What was she even doing at the party?” Liam asked, not really expecting an answer. “That girl never parties. Fuck, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her outside of school or a goddamn library. Even as fucked up as Ava is, she’s never dragged Delaney’s along with her to a party.”
“Speaking of Ava…what was all that about with Emerson, Ram?” I asked.
Ramsey laughed. “Emerson said she’s never seen you react to a girl that way before, and she wanted to see how things were going to play out. She hadn’t wanted Ava ending the show before it got started. She’s rooting for Delaney.”
Liam laughed, and I joined in. Most people would believe that Emerson might have been being a jealous girl because Ramsey’s fucked Ava before, but there was one thing Emerson Andrews was not, and that was jealous over other girls. Not only did Emerson have
no reservations about kicking someone’s ass, she didn’t have an ounce of insecurity regarding Ramsey intentions towards her.
“So, what’s the plan?” Liam asked, as Ramsey added, “Yeah, what do you need from us?”
And that said it all.
They had no idea what I wanted with Delaney Martin, but that didn’t matter. They were on my side no matter what I wanted with the girl. “I’m…intrigued,” I answered truthfully.
“I bet,” Ramsey laughed.
“Just like Liam pointed out,” I went on, “the girl has never been to a party. Even as wild as her best friend is, Delaney’s never been to a party or run amok. The first time she attends one of Sands Cove’s teenage parties, she wanders off and has no qualms about watching me get my dick sucked? She’s quiet, demure, and timid, but she was comfortable enough to leave Ava and wander off at her first party, and brave enough to watch me get head?” I shook my head. “There’s more to that girl than I ever thought, and now, I’m curious.”
Liam chuckled. “Good luck, man. I think you’re going to need it.”
His words resonated in my head, but I knew I wasn’t going to need it. I wanted Delaney, and I’d have her; simple as that. “I don’t need luck,” I countered. “Who at Windsor is going to stop me?”
“So, it’s like that?” Ramsey asked.
Fuck it.
We weren’t big on secrets, and they deserved the truth if they were going to back me-which I knew they would. “When I had her up against the car, I wrapped my hand around her neck, and when I squeeze, she moaned,” I divulged.
Liam let out a whoop. “Oh, man,” he said gleefully, “that girl is so fucked.”
Now, while I’ve wrapped my hand around a girl’s throat before during sex, they expected it. They were those types of girls. They wanted dirty, rough sex. As much as sex was just a physical release for me, I wasn’t a complete asshole. I paid attention to the girl and made sure she got off and enjoyed herself. If I ever got the vibe that a girl wasn’t into choking, biting, or bruises…well, then I just fucked her easy-peasy style and sent her on her way.
Delaney wasn’t supposed to have liked that squeeze around her neck. Everything I’ve ever known about her suggested she’d get scared. That threat to her safety should have brought on pleas, tears, and apologies.
But it hadn’t.
The girl had moaned, and I had been ready to mount her right there against the car in front of every-goddamn-body.
While Liam was laughing at my predicament, Ramsey was more thoughtful; more insightful. “So, she’s the one, huh?”
Was she?
I wasn’t sure. But what I did know was that I’ve never had an emotional reaction to a girl like that before. Sure, I got turned on, and I hated tears, but the anxiousness Delaney made me feel was new.
I had to tug my dick to the memory of her body pressed up against mine last night, and again, this morning. “I’m not sure, Ram,” I admitted. “But nothing’s going to stop me from finding out if she is or isn’t.”
“Do we tell the girls?” Liam asked. “I mean…they need to know, right?”
I thought about that, and he was right. Emerson and Roselyn were my family now, and they deserved the same respect as Ramsey and Liam. “Yeah, but make sure they know not to interfere,” I answered. Nothing and no one would stop me from going after Delaney to see if this was real or not.
Ramsey snorted. “I’m pretty sure them girls will be setting up a betting pool by the end of the week. No way they’ll interfere.”
I laughed because, knowing Roselyn and Emerson, he was probably right. “Tell them to bet wisely, because I will win,” I joked.
“Never doubted it, Deke,” Ramsey said.
Chapter 4
Delaney~
I was a coward.
Okay, maybe not a coward, so much as a wimp.
Okay, okay, okay…I was a coward; proven by the fact that I’ve barricaded myself in my room and have turned off all notification on my phone because all everyone’s been talking about on social media is Deke’s…uh, interest in me last night.
And why wouldn’t it be news? Deke effin’ Marlow chased me down and held me hostage in front of everyone. And I knew it was the chasing that had garnered all the attention.
Deke Marlow never chased anyone.
Even if I have never been a part of the royal hierarchy, Deke’s, Ramsey’s, and Liam’s reputations preceded them. They had never been short of female companionship, and if the rumors were to be believed, before Emerson and Roselyn came into the picture, all three guys were hit-it-and-quit-it kind of guys. They could have any girl they wanted, so it made no sense that Deke would single me out. By all accounts, I was the very definition of a nerd.
I never went to parties. I never drank. I’ve never touched a drug in my life. I didn’t go on shopping sprees or live lavishly, even though I had the money to do it. I think being raised by the cook, butler, gardener, etc. gave me a grounded upbringing. I saw how hard they worked for their paychecks, and that always stuck with me. As for boys…well, I always knew I was going to marry Winston Reynolds. Our parents had broken the news to us when we were like 10-years-old, or something like that.
My father, Jonah Martin, worked in pharmaceuticals and Winston’s father, Gary Reynolds, worked with insurance of some sort. Together they made a lot of money off sick people, and their greed never ran out of thirst. My mother, Shirley, was the perfect charitable socialite, whereas Winston’s mother had run off with the pool boy or something years ago. As far as I knew, she took off and never looked back.
I didn’t mind not having my parents around, though. They were horrible human beings, and the less time I spent with them, the less likely they’d rub off on me. I learned early on they weren’t nice people, especially when they had scarred my face using the excuse as medical research as the reason.
It was before we had moved to Sands Cove and my father was still trying to make a name for himself. He had helped develop a scar erasing serum that had made it possible for us to go from Upper-Class America to the One-Percent.
I could remember it like it was yesterday. I had been 6-years-old and I remember how my father and mother had held me down and ran a barbed wire across my face, slicing it open. I remembered all the blood. I remembered the pain-God, did I remember the pain. I remembered feeling the jagged edges of my skin hanging on my face. I remembered my parents discussing my injury with such detachment. My mother promised that they’d get the best plastic surgeon in the world to help me, but for now, I had to help the family.
The joke had been on them, though.
My father’s plan had been to use my face and the hook of me being his daughter to promote his serum. However, I had had such a horrible allergic reaction to some of the properties in the serum, it actually burned my flesh. While the serum has works for million others, I had been part of the small percent that suffered the rare side effects of the potion.
I remember being six and feeling ecstatic at how it hadn’t worked for me. My parents hadn’t deserved for it to work on me after what they did to me. As the years went by, and I realized how truly horrible my parents were, I declined plastic surgery options because I wanted them to have to look at me and see the evidence of what horrible people they were.
Not that they cared, but still.
Shortly after moving here, my parents had met the Reynolds, and a love affair was born out of my father’s need for accolades, and Mr. Reynolds greed for money. It wasn’t long before they concocted the match between their children to help further their agendas. Winston’s stepmother pushed for it-hard.
At the time, I hadn’t known what all of that had meant, but as I got older and knew what they were about, I hadn’t been too interested in alternatives to fight them on it. Besides, the marriage was to take place after Winston and I graduated from college. A lot could happen in four years when we’re both away from each other and we’re thrust into the arms of real life. Winston might find another
match better suited for his family’s needs.
He could also get hit by a bus.
Or I could.
But, being betrothed hadn’t stopped him from losing his virginity to Clair McDaniels. It also hasn’t stopped him from sleeping with any willing girl at Windsor. I suppose it should bother me, but I couldn’t garner enough energy or emotions to care what Winston Reynolds did. He was that inconsequential.
The door to my bedroom flew open, and I didn’t even need to look up from my tablet to know who it was. Because I was a dork, I didn’t have many friends. And the friends I did have wouldn’t just barge into my house.
I felt Ava’s weight drop on my bed as she said, “Okay, I let you flee from the party last night like a bat out of hell because I knew you were trippin’ out, and truth be told, so was I. But you gotta come clean now, chic. I let you sleep in and everything, but no more.”
I sighed and put down my tablet, knowing she wasn’t going to go anywhere until she got the goods. “There’s nothing to come clean about, Ava,” I denied.
She rolled over onto her side and propped her head up over her hand. “You randomly take off from the party, and not twenty minutes later, you come rushing back with Deke Marlow hot on your tail as you grab me and beg for us to leave,” she recited. “That’s not nothing, Delaney.”
It didn’t feel right telling her what I saw, but if she was going to stick by me like she did last night, she should know the facts. “I was just…wandering around, and I got kind of lost. When I found a tiny clearing, I saw Deke getting a blowjob from Melissa Randall.”
Ava’s brows rose up casually. “So? Melissa Randall’s blown a lot of people,” she pointed out, making me feel like an even bigger nerd. Ava’s never teased me or made me feel stupid for being a virginal nerd, but sometimes I felt ridiculous discussing sex with someone so experienced. I felt inferior.
The Enemy Series Page 40