When she saw me, she broke out into a smile. I swore her smiles could stop the world from rotating. She could stop any person right in their tracks, with a twerk of her lips and a batting of her eyelashes. And her eyes—they looked remarkably different today. Or maybe it was just the light. The blue seemed livelier, the brown warmer and kinder.
God, I really hated Lincoln for making us cancel our night, but I knew things had gotten serious. And they were already pretty fucking serious before.
“I’m almost ready,” Stella said, moving to my side. With her short frame, she had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss me.
I would’ve lost myself in the kiss if I didn’t have bad news to tell her. I left the kiss at just a chaste peck, watching as she smiled up at me. She seemed to be in a cheery mood, which only made me feel worse. I hated being the bearer of bad news; I wanted to be the one to lift Stella up, not drag her down.
“Stella, we have to cancel tonight,” I said, speaking slowly, as if dragging it out would help us. It wouldn’t. Dragging things out usually made things worse.
“What? Why?” The alarm was evident in her voice, and it broke my heart, what little heart I had. I hated the crestfallen expression on her face, hated that I was the one who made her feel like this.
I stepped away, rubbing the back of my neck. “Something came up with Lincoln. He’s not feeling up to it. I’m sorry, Stella, it’s nothing against you, I swear.”
“What’s going on?”
“It has something to do with his family. He’ll tell you, but he needs time to figure it out first.” I reached for her, touching her cheek, wanting to tell her the truth—all of this was for her. Odds were, if I’d never made Lincoln call his family’s doctor and gotten her more pills, we wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.
But Stella needed to be back on her meds. She needed to know the truth. It couldn’t be avoided.
I spotted her phone on her dresser, and I went for it, handing it to her. I breathed in, about to suggest something that I never would’ve normally suggested. Something I never wanted to think about, but it was the only thing that would make this night passable for her. “Why don’t you call Killian and see if he can come over? I can wait with you until he gets here, but I can’t stay the night.”
Was it odd that I basically told her to call her other boyfriend, whom I disliked strongly, and told her I’d wait here until he got here? This night was not going how I thought it would at all. I’d like to blame Lincoln for it, but I was responsible. My need to help Stella, to have her in our lives, was responsible.
Stella was sluggish in taking the phone from me, her finger scrolling until she found Killian’s name. She glanced up at me, frowning just a bit, as if she wasn’t sure this was real. I gave her a gentle smile of my own as I made my way to her bed, my hands on my lap.
I did my best not to listen to her call. I didn’t want to hear how she spoke to him, didn’t want to hear his muffled voice on the other line. When she was done, she moved beside me, her thin shoulders slumping. I took her hand in mine, tugging her up.
“Come on, I made you something.” I took her into the kitchen and showed her the cake. After making her sit on the couch, I cut her a piece and watched as she slowly ate it, bite by bite. “Where’s Callie?” I asked, though I knew I shouldn’t. Callie was not a subject I touched lightly on, mostly because I wasn’t sure what would set Stella off. She still seemed rooted firmly in her delusion.
Stella shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her, and she’s not answering my texts.”
“You said she was dating someone.”
Nodding once, she said, “John…” Stella trailed off. “I don’t know why she’d date anyone with the same name as her brother.”
I was fairly certain both Johns were one and the same, but Stella’s mind hadn’t put two and two together yet, and despite how closely I led her to the truth, she still didn’t see it. And she wouldn’t, not until our dinner.
“Did you mention the dinner to Killian?” I asked.
“Yes, and he said he’s fine with it.”
“Great.” I waited a moment, watching her eat. “Let’s have it tomorrow. Here.”
“Here?” she echoed, sounding suddenly tired, almost as if she wasn’t in her own mind. A blank look caught on her face, and it was a while before she said, “Sorry. I’m still caught on the John thing. I don’t understand Callie.”
“I will bring everything we need, and I’ll make everyone a dinner they’ll never forget,” I said, giving her a supportive smile.
I could not wait any longer; this needed to be dealt with now. I would not let this go on for all eternity. Sometime this would break, Stella would break, and the sooner it happened, the faster we could all help her get over it and plan for what came next.
How to get rid of Callie’s body, for example.
Callie’s body, which Killian still had, last I knew. Just like John’s.
Chapter Nine - Killian
My phone rang while I was otherwise preoccupied. This wasn’t my best plan, but it was all I could think of to do. I couldn’t keep John in my basement forever. And Callie—I had to be really careful of how I disposed of her body, not to mention when, because regardless of how I did it, attention was going to turn on Stella even more so than it already had.
At first I’d wanted John to be just another victim of the Angel Maker, but again, doing so would only draw more attention to Stella. No, this had to be far from home and it had to look different. I might’ve had a thing about tying people’s hands up and making them get on their knees after I’d killed them, but I was a versatile killer. They didn’t all have to be the same. Variety was the spice of life, and all that jazz.
I was in a field, some farm field that looked like it hadn’t seen use in years. Completely overgrown, far off from the road, in the middle of a Podunk town. No one had seen me pull off the road. No one had driven by as I lugged John’s body out of my trunk and into the field.
Poor John. All he’d wanted to do was find his sister. Little did he realize Stella had killed her a while ago and hidden her body. His minutes had been numbered the moment he stepped foot in her house calling for Callie.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew Stella’s days, where she was, in her house with her fake roommate, were numbered. It was only a matter of time before someone else came sniffing around for Callie, only a matter of time before someone found John. I was far off the road, and miles from any houses, so I doubted it would be soon.
Still, I didn’t like taking chances, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do.
But all of that didn’t matter. What did matter was my phone and its noisy ringing in my pocket. Since I couldn’t do shit on my phone in my leather gloves, I had to slide one off before answering.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Killian,” Stella spoke, sounding sad. I immediately stopped what I was doing, wondering who I had to kill to make her happy. If it took the whole world, if I had to put each and every person Stella had ever met on the edge of my knife to make her happy, I would. I wouldn’t even hesitate.
My back straightened. “What’s wrong?” This was her night with those other two. Shouldn’t she be with them and not calling me? It’s why I chose this night to dispose of John’s body.
“Edward and Lincoln can’t see me tonight. If…if you’re not busy, do you want to come over? If not, that’s okay. I can be by myself—” Stella spoke the words in such a rush; it was a good thing she wasn’t near me, otherwise I would’ve shaken her.
Why the hell would I not want to come over? I might’ve held back last night, but I could not let her be alone, not after all I knew. If those assholes couldn’t be with her tonight, I sure as hell would be.
“I’ll be right there,” I said quickly, pausing only when I glanced to the field of overgrown grass around me, not to mention the corpse. “It might be a little while, though.” Because I was at least two hours away, with speeding. “I’m kind of in t
he middle of something.” As in, hiding a body.
Well, ditching a body, more or less.
“But I’ll be there soon,” I said, telling her goodbye before hanging up.
Shit.
I did what I had to do, which wasn’t nearly what I wanted to do, because dumping a body in the middle of a field wasn’t my style, but I needed to go to Stella. After it was done, I hopped into my car, drove back to the road, and pulled away, leaving John’s body to the birds and the insects. Nature was a beast when it came to getting rid of bodies and taking away evidence.
I drove like a demon to her house. I had to GPS it since I wasn’t familiar with the fields and the meadows of this town, but I made it in record time. I pulled beside Edward’s car and got out. Night had fallen above me, the world dark and the moon hanging low in the sky. I went to her front door and knocked once before heading in.
Edward and Stella were on the couch. I didn’t like seeing them sitting so close together, nor did I like how they stared at each other. Did she gaze at me like that with those beautiful eyes? Did she smile at me like that? I wondered.
The second Edward saw me, he hopped up and moved around the couch, bending his head just a bit to tell me he wanted me outside. To Stella, he said, “Give me a minute with Killian, would you?”
Stella nodded, though I could tell she was curious. After all, what could he have to talk to me about? We weren’t besties, we weren’t buddies. We were basically enemies on common ground, with a common interest. Stella herself.
I followed Edward outside. He closed the door behind him, and for a moment we stood on the concrete steps in silence. The air was warm still; it wouldn’t start to get cool at night for another few months. The look on Edward’s face was not one I could place. Mostly because I didn’t know the man well enough. I didn’t want to, but for Stella’s sake, I supposed I could try.
“Something’s happened with Lincoln’s family,” Edward spoke quietly, his blue eyes locking with mine. “We need a night to figure things out, but…you can expect things to get more complicated.” He ran a hand through his blonde hair, sticking some parts of it straight up. “Nothing’s ever simple with them.”
I wasn’t sure I liked the way he talked about Lincoln’s family. Were they killers as well? Did this put Stella at risk?
“Does it affect Stella?” I asked.
“It might. Or it might mean Lincoln has to go away for a while. We don’t know yet.”
Lincoln gone, even temporarily, was something of a dream come true for me, but I knew Stella would hate it, more so since she couldn’t do anything about it.
“And I know tomorrow night was your night, but we’re having dinner here, all four of us. I’ll call you with the plan tomorrow morning.” Edward said nothing else as he turned and stuck his head back in the house, calling out for Stella. “I have to go, but Killian will take good care of you tonight.” At that, he straightened his back and shot me a glare.
I gave him my own glare in return.
Stepping closer to me, Edward muttered, “Be gentle with her, Angel Maker.” Without another word, he headed to his car and drove off.
I wanted to say something back, but I wasn’t sure what I’d say. Tonight, that bastard could have the last word. I’d give it to him. Tomorrow was another story, although tomorrow all focus would be on Stella and helping her dip her toes into reality. It would not be an easy thing to force her to see the truth of what she did.
Entering the house, I pulled the door closed behind me and locked it. A lock wouldn’t keep everyone out, but then again, with me here, she didn’t have to worry about anyone else. Not strangers, not thieves, and most certainly not Edward and Lincoln and the latter’s messed up family.
A partially-eaten cake rested on the kitchen counter, and even though I knew what was inside of it, it still looked delicious. That Edward could cook, I’d give him that.
Stella moved beside me. “Do you want a piece?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m okay, thank you.”
We meandered to the couch, and I made it a point to sit where she’d been sitting with Edward, taking the spot she had. I would not feel that asshole’s warmth under my ass; I’d much rather feel hers. She sat near me, her leg touching mine.
“What were you doing?” she asked. “It took you a while to get here.” Ever the curious kitten, she was, and I loved her for it.
Love.
I loved her. I honestly, truly did. This woman had me wrapped around her pinky finger, and I was completely enamored like I’d never been. I might’ve known bodily pleasure before, but love? I didn’t even love my parents. Until Stella, I thought I was incapable of such a feat, but she proved me wrong, didn’t she?
I gave her a grin. “Was a little caught up in work. I wasn’t expecting a call from you. I thought I’d have the afternoon—” I paused, tossing a look out of the nearest window, at the dark sky. “—or night to myself.”
She didn’t linger on whatever it was I’d been doing, which was good, because the last thing I wanted to do was tell her what I just did to John. Instead, she said, “I was worried you wouldn’t want to come, since you didn’t come in last night.” She bit her bottom lip, and damn it, I wanted to be the one biting that lip.
It was insanely difficult to think straight while in her vicinity.
I set a hand on her leg, closer to her knee than to another part of her, a part of her I was dying to get to know. It took willpower I didn’t even know I had to keep myself from her, but I would hold back for as long as I had to. I would never force her to do anything. I wasn’t like that. I might’ve been a killer, but I wasn’t a rapist. There was a special place in hell for those people.
“Stella,” I spoke, “of course I wanted to come in last night, but I knew…”
“You knew what?”
“I knew that if I did, things might go too far,” I said, being as cryptic as humanly possible.
She wasn’t backing down. “Because I make you want to lose control.”
“Yes, and because once I get started, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop. We would’ve had to call off work, and we both know how bad that would’ve looked to the others,” I said with a grin, watching as the corners of her lips curled upwards.
“So bad,” she said, slowly bringing her hand to rest above mine. Such tiny, small hands. Hands that were capable of so much destruction, if what she did to Callie was any indication. You could not judge Stella by her looks; I knew that much by now. I’d known it for forever, it felt like.
Stella was just like me, though her animal was more erratic than mine. Less stable. I agreed with Edward; we had to get her stable, had to see how she was when she knew the truth.
She leaned towards me, her mouth parting. “What if I said I wanted you to stay last night? That I don’t want you to stop?” Stella blinked, those brilliant eyes boring holes through me, pinning me in place. “That I want you, every part of you, to know me?” The hand touching my hand on her leg moved, and she started caressing my face.
Damn it, this woman knew how to work me.
“Stella,” I warned, closing my eyes as I tried to hold myself back. She was tempting me. Me, Killian Blaire, the man who was only tempted by blood. God, I fucking loved this woman, and I had to show it. I had to have her tonight.
“Killian,” she purred out my name, sounding like she was already worked up. Maybe she was. Maybe all of this was only happening because her other two lovers had deserted her. Fine. I’d be more than happy to pick up the pieces and glue her back together.
And then she’d be mine.
Mine forever.
I moved until I had her pinned down on the couch, breathing in her scent. She smelled like life. Like Stella. Everything I’d ever wanted, all rolled up into one. The perfect Yang to my Yin. She completed me in a way I never expected anyone to complete me, and after tonight, there would be no more questions about it. Stella would be mine.
Edward’s and Lincoln’s to
o, but mostly mine.
I swiped her hair away from her neck, kissing her gently, pressing my legs down on hers, grinding my hips down on her. I could feel myself growing hard already—it took surprisingly little, where Stella was concerned. One look from her and my dick ached. No other woman had ever held such power over me. I would’ve hated it, had it been anyone else besides Stella.
But with Stella…I could relinquish the power. She deserved to hold the power in her tiny hands every once in a while. She deserved to know just how tough her grip was on my heart and my mind. Whatever Edward and Lincoln did to her, I didn’t care. Tonight I would worship her like a goddess.
Tonight she was my queen. All mine.
Chapter Ten - Stella
Was it a bad idea to let Killian do whatever he wanted with me and my body? Perhaps. Did I care? Not in the slightest. I currently didn’t give a single shit if it was a bad idea, if this would unleash his beast or some other nonsense. He was my Angel Maker; I knew his darkness already. Nothing he could ever do would shock me.
I expected him to be dominant like Edward or hard and rough like Lincoln. I expected to see Killian’s darkness as we got to know each other’s bodies in the most intimate way possible. What I did not expect, however, was for him to be gentle.
Yes. Gentle.
As in soft and tender, almost like he was afraid I’d break if he held onto me any harder. As if I was precious to him, something to be loved and admired, not used and discarded. It was such a different approach to sex that I was momentarily frozen as he peeled off my clothes, layer by layer.
Was this…was this how normal people did it? All loving and shit? It was…a part of me thought it was nice, but the other part of me wanted him to show the wildness I knew dwelled within him. I, Stella Wilson, was torn.
Crazy, huh?
When I laid beneath him utterly bare and nude, free of all clothing, Killian’s green eyes sparkled in the dark living room. The only light was from the kitchen. He ate up my naked body, lingering between my legs and on my breasts, my nipples already hardened into points. I should probably worry about Callie coming home and seeing this, but I didn’t care. I was too in the moment, as was he.
Sick Twisted Minds (Cruel Black Hearts Book 3) Page 7