Again, we don’t say anything. I place my hand on the side of my throat, my pulse beating from getting caught staring again. Asher’s blue eyes are intent on staying focused on me, and the more he looks at me, the more my body comes to life. It’s a different kind of foreplay, and it’s creating a throb in my clit. My panties are wet, and I rock against the chair, which only intensifies the friction I need. My nipples bead, poking through the shirt, and his eyes fall to my chest. He places the mug on the counter, gripping the handle so hard his knuckles turn white.
“Hello?” Sebastian waves his hand in front of us, but Asher doesn’t give him the time of day. He continues to stare at my breasts, then the spot on my neck that he left the other night before we left to come to Trinidad. “Damn, talking to myself. You know this house is full of rooms.”
Asher grabs a peach from the bowl and bites into it, never looking away from me. Juice trickle down his lips and chin, and the slurping sound his makes has me shivering because I know exactly what that feels like between my legs.
“I can tell I don’t exist here. I’m just going to go,” Sebastian says. “Good thing we aren’t in the middle of a crisis or anything,” he throws over his shoulder. “It isn’t like people’s lives are on the line or anything,” he adds.
Yes, but right now, there are no leads, so what else are we supposed to do?
“I want to lick your peach,” Asher says, biting into the fruit again. “I want to feel you drip down my chin.”
“Asher,” I whimper, closing my legs when the need becomes too much.
“Are you wet for me, baby? Do you need me?”
I nod.
“Good because I need you too.” He comes around the kitchen island, and I stare at the erection tenting his grey sweatpants.
I love sweatpants. I never want him to wear anything else ever again. I can see every ridge of his cock, the crown, the outline of the girth, even the faint impression of the vein that is on the side of his shaft. A wet spot forms, turning the light grey into dark grey. “You want to know what I’ve been thinking about?” He brings the half-eaten peach to my lips and rubs the juice along my mouth. I flick my tongue out and try to nibble on the sweet treat, but he teases me by yanking it away.
How is a fruit turning me on so much right now?
He leans in and licks the shell of my ear. “I’ve been thinking of that mouth wrapped around my cock, sucking me to the back of your throat and gagging on me.”
My lips part as I take a sharp breath, thinking about giving him a blowjob, another thing I’ve never done.
“I think you’d turn yourself on. Your hand would drop between your legs and rub that clit until you’re coming in your palm and swallowing me down.”
“Asher,” I whimper, tilting my head back when he grazes his lips down my throat. “Please.”
He reaches around and right as he is about to cup my breasts, a booming, authoritative voice enters the room, which has Asher dropping his hands. He lays his forehead against the ridge of my shoulder.
Oh my god, I’m going to be aching all damn day. I’m on the brink of an explosion, which isn’t the most important thing right now because of everything else going on. It doesn’t mean I can’t be bummed about missing a delicious orgasm.
“Oh good, you two are already here,” Jaxon says. “We are having a meeting.”
“Oh, you could stop them from launching at each other from across the table?” Owen asks, a waddling Jolie slowly coming from behind him.
“Hey, like you aren’t jumping my bones either. I didn’t magically get pregnant, you know,” Jolie nudges Owen’s ribcage.
Her pregnant belly reminds me that Asher and I didn’t use protection, but it’s hard to get pregnant, right? I mean, I was in the hands of that monster, and I still didn’t get pregnant for the month I was with him. Is that lucky? The thought of being pregnant by him scared me, but the thought of carrying Asher’s child?
That brings me so much happiness that I almost want us to try, which is insane because we really just started dating, but we have known each other since we were teenagers. History has to account for something, right?
I’m not going to worry about it right now. Jaxon has something he needs to say; after that, Asher and I can talk. If he doesn’t want kids, I know I have a small window to take a pill to help prevent a pregnancy.
Jaxon has one baby strapped to his chest and the other strapped to his back. “Quinn won’t be joining us. She’s resting after a long night of staying up with stubborn kids who wouldn’t eat but kept crying anyway even after they were changed, burped, rocked, sang to—”
“You sang? No wonder they cried,” Asher jokes, and Jaxon’s dark, trouble inducing eyes narrow at Asher, telling him to shut up. He zips his lips and buries his face in my neck. I can feel his smile against my throat, and I hide my own with my half-full glass of orange juice.
Sebastian chuckles as he opens the laptop. “He got you.”
“Can we get to the point? What have you found on Heaven’s dad?” Jaxon grumbles. “We need to hurry, especially if Heather is in his line of sights. We need to figure out why and we need to figure out where the fuck Zeke is. He is worrying me.”
“We need to find Richard too. I feel like he is the only one that knows the entire story,” Asher says, sliding his hands down my arms until he wraps his own securely around me. “I wish you guys saw what I saw that night at the party. My dad watched her like a hawk like she was his payment, and I didn’t like it.”
“What do you know about your dad? Anything that can help me while I’m going dark in the web?”
“No. He is a royal asshole, but he never let me close to his work. I don’t know anything about him, except that he never helped me out of prison. I shouldn’t have done six years since we came from money. Money pays for everything; everyone knows that, but it’s like he didn’t even try, which makes me wonder if he was okay with his son taking the fall for something he did.”
Another stab of guilt rides me because he wouldn’t have been in that position if it wasn’t for me either.
“It’s okay. Don’t think about it. I don’t blame you, baby,” he whispers into my ear and presses a kiss against my cheek.
“Let’s see what your dad was getting into the night of Grace’s death.” Sebastian types quickly, his fingers flying over the keys as he researches answers. “I’m bringing up phone records, bank records, everything, and anything.” A loud chime comes from his laptop, and the corners of his eyes crease while his mouth turns into a frown. “Richard’s body has just been found. He’s dead. Execution style.”
“What!” Asher yells and it causes a frenzy of different conversations. “That’s impossible.”
“What do we do? He was our only lead—” Owen starts to say when another bell sounds, this time, it’s louder. Owen strolls to the screen against the wall, and he doesn’t even ask who it is. He slams his fist against it, swings the door open, and runs outside. The metal of the garage door opens, and we hear, “Zeke!” being shouted.
All the guys bolt from the room and run toward the garage. Jolie, me, Finely, and Gabby are waiting in the kitchen, mirroring the same expressions. Worried, scared, and uncertain.
“Move. Open the door more, Asher. My god, what happened to him?” Owen says.
“Is he breathing?” Jaxon asks.
“Yes, he is.”
Owen’s confirmation has me letting out a breath, and that’s when they barge into the kitchen, and I hold my hand over my mouth when a man a little smaller than Asher is in Owen’s arms. His burgundy suit is torn, wet, and he has bruises all over his face, nearly making him unrecognizable. Owen lays him down on the couch, and a painful moan escapes the man’s lips as he starts to come to.
“Zeke? Zeke, can you hear me? If so, open your eyes,” Owen asks the nearly dead man on the couch. “Zeke, come on, buddy. Come on!” Owen gets impatient and starts yelling at him, but that isn’t going to do any good when he can’t hear us.
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“Richard,” Zeke gasps. “Dead. Innocent.” The man wheezes, and there is a crackling rattle in his chest that sounds painful. “Innocent,” he repeats. One eye opens and lands on Asher. “Your father did this,” he struggles to say, coughing.
“He…he…is in deep with…with…” Zeke coughs again and almost falls asleep. “Prostitution ring. He wanted the Thomas girls.”
“How do you know?”
“Richard,” Zeke says to Asher. “Told me everything just in case I lived. Richard wouldn’t sell Grace all those years ago, and your father got mad, killed her.”
“That’s why he has Heather’s father in the government. It would look really bad if the Governor was set up for this. Your dad wouldn’t see the light of day, and then my dad would hold power, getting away with whatever he wanted. You being in the same circle made you an easier target.” Asher clenches his hands when he starts putting the pieces together. Zeke doesn’t speak again, and Owen checks for a pulse, letting out a relieved breath when he feels one.
“This is over,” Asher says. “It started with me, and it’s going to end with me.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask him when I see the determination shining in his pupils.
“Hey, check this out,” Sebastian says, tapping a few more buttons on the screen. “Oh my god, Owen, your brother-in-law was in on it too. Asher, your dad paid him to stay in the woods. They are connected. How much do you want to bet that all those missing girls were sold to your brother-in-law? Your dad knew what your ex’s brother-in-law was interested in and hooked him up. It was how Heather ended up there. It all comes full circle.”
Asher is pale, guilt-stricken, and furious. “Why would he do that?”
“Bad people do bad things, Asher. Especially when money talks.”
“He was broke, according to Heather’s dad.”
“Nah, he wasn’t. Your dad still has millions. He was conning everyone, tucking every dollar away that he could, and if he has sights set on Heather, then no doubt she is a target.”
“Is he the leader?” Asher asks, Sebastian.
“Seems like it. All money goes to him and from him, and all payments are large sums. Seems like he found out how much Grace was getting from Richard, and he wanted in on it. And since he couldn’t get what he wanted…”
“He took it,” Asher collapses on the barstool, hands shaking as he runs them through his hair. “He took her life. How many other women did he do that too? Does my mom know? Is she a part of this? If so, how could another woman do this to another woman?” Asher holds a hand over his mouth, and I can tell he is feeling a massive amount of blame because his eyes are watering. He gags. “I’m going to be sick.” He launches off the seat and sticks his head in the sink but doesn’t throw up. Instead, he turns on the cold water and douses himself in it, trying to relax himself.
“Are you okay?” I rub a hand over his back, trying to make him feel better, but I know nothing can help this situation. He is going to blame himself forever.
“I don’t think she knows,” Sebastian says. “I don’t see her involved in anything financial.”
“You and I know that doesn’t mean shit,” Heaven says, drinking down a few swallows of whatever. “I bet she’s the crazy bitch holding the damn cuffs and slapping them on the wrists of all of them innocent girls. I come from bad blood,” he says. “I’m going to be just like them.”
“You are nothing like them, you hear me? You’d never do that to someone. The fact that you are so upset and trying to find a solution tells me everything I need to know about you.” I grab him by the collar of his shirt and make him look at me. “I couldn’t love a rotten soul like that, and you do not have anything rotten living inside you, Asher Haven. None of this is your fault. You can’t stop the actions of horrible people.”
He lifts his head up as an idea strikes him. “Yes, I can, but I have to cut off the source.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask, and I must be the only one who isn’t getting with the program because I do not understand what is happening. “What does that mean?”
“It means I’m going to kill my parents,” Asher says nonchalantly.
“You aren’t a killer, Heaven,” Jaxon reminds him. “One of us can do it. We’ve killed before.”
“No, this is my family, my problem, and I need to solve it. If my dad isn’t alive, then none of this can happen, can it?”
“That’s not true. There is always going to be bad in the world. Someone, somewhere is going to be doing this exact same thing,” I argue.
“But you won’t be threatened by them. We can figure out where those other people live and stop them, but right now, you’re in trouble, and so is your family because of me. I won’t allow you to get hurt again because of my father’s greed.”
“I don’t want you to have to live with the horror of you killing your father.”
“It isn’t a horror,” Heaven says. “Maybe if they were good people, maybe if I loved them, maybe if I hadn’t dreamed of this moment a hundred times before. This is a good thing, an action that will make the world a better place.”
“Asher! Why don’t you let my dad take care of it? Why not let the justice system handle it? Your parents would see the death penalty.”
“No, they wouldn’t. Rich people don’t get the death penalty,” Sebastian says. “They would sit cozy for a few months, and that’s it. Your life would still be in jeopardy.”
“The justice system is broken. It’s fractured. It doesn’t work. We are all living breathing proof of that.”
Tears gather in my eyes, and I try once more for Asher to reconsider. “You don’t have to do this.”
He turns around and cups my jaw with his hands and wipes away the salty liquid falling onto my cheek. “I do. It’s the only way this will bring peace. To end it all, and if there is someone else out there doing this, we will find them, and I’ll kill them too. I’ll be okay. I’m not as soft as you think,” he chuckles then reconsiders. “Okay, I am, but I have a spine of steel. I can pull the trigger. For you, for Grace, and what about your Uncle?”
“He wasn’t really my Uncle. He wasn’t a good man.”
“But he cared for Grace. He didn’t want harm to come to her.”
I lower my voice and stand on my tiptoes, darting my eyes back and forth between his as they leak sadness. “What if something happens to you? What if you don’t come home?”
“I’ll always come home to you,” he says, giving me a tilted smile. “I never had something to fight for before, and now I have you.”
“Sometimes fighting isn’t enough when it comes to death.”
“And even in my death, I’ll make sure you are taken care of. Sebastian has all the paperwork. Everything I own goes to you—”
“I don’t want things!” I scream, shoving his shoulders as a sob breaks loose. He teeters on the stool, but he doesn’t move. He takes the abusive. “ I don’t want money. I want you. I want a future with you. Can’t you see that? I want us. I want your children. I want you and your stupid damn muffins. Don’t do this. I can’t…I can’t live knowing you might not come back through these doors.”
“Nothing will stop me coming home to you,” he says against my ear. “And when I come home, the first thing I’m going to do is give you my child, my ring, and my last name. I’ve been captivated by you from the beginning, and I won’t let that come to an end.”
Then why does it feel like I’m about to lose everything?
Why does this feel like good-bye?
Eighteen
Heaven
I’ve done a lot of dumb things in my life, but leaving in the middle of the night after making love to Heather is one of the dumbest. I made sure she was asleep, and when I left, the guys were waiting for me in the living room.
They hand me a bag full of weapons, extra cash, and new identification if things don’t go my way, then I can haul ass to another country. What they don’t know is that I’ll never
do that, not with Heather here. I’d risk my freedom if it meant seeing her one more time.
“You sure you want to go alone? One of us can go with you,” Owen says. “I can go, and we will be back before you know it.”
I shake my head, then bring Owen in for a hug. “No way in hell am I going to let you leave your young, pregnant wife. You deserve happiness. You’ve done all this already, Owen, all of you have. You fought the battles needed to have this life, and it’s my turn. This is my darkest hour.”
“She won’t be okay if you die,” Jaxon tells me something I already know.
“I don’t plan on dying. You guys give me no credit. I don’t plan to waste time. I plan on knocking on my dad’s door, aiming the gun, and pulling the trigger. I’m not going to make it long and drawn out.”
“And your mom?”
I wait for some amount of remorse to slam against my chest, but I don’t feel a damn thing. “She can rot in hell next to him for all I care. She never liked me anyway.”
“There’s an earpiece in the bag—”
“—Guys, stop fussing like I’m the baby going out for the first time.” Every single one of them crosses their arms and stare at me with a lifted brow. Yeah, we have all been around each other for way too damn long. “Okay, so I’m the youngest, but I’m not stupid, guys. I’ve had all of you to learn from. I know what I’m doing.” I check the clock and see I have a few hours of darkness left, which I really need if I want to remain inconspicuous. “I need to go.”
“Keep us updated, okay?”
“Yeah, of course.” I give each of them an individual hug but linger with Owen a little longer.
“If something happens to me, take care of her,” I beg him, holding back fear. This is the one job I’m doing alone that I might not come back from. “Promise?”
“I swear, but when you come back, you’ll have all the muffins in the world.”
“Good deal. About time I get my muffins from you.” I swing the bag over my shoulder and take one last glance down the hall where my heart lies.
Cruel Captivation: A Dark Romance (Underground Kings Book 5) Page 16