Sinful Haven

by Brook Wilder

  They thought they had a lifetime of servitude in front of them, leaving everything they knew to become a slave of the cartel.

  Today was not that day. Today Hector was turning over a new leaf, the new side of the coin. He was flexing his hand, putting out a message that wouldn’t soon be forgotten by the other villages. If the Americans came in, they only meant death for the village.

  Death of people who weakly looked to others for a savior. Others who would lead them astray and promise things they couldn’t deliver. He imagined they were told the Americans would protect them, that they would have asylum in the country of new promise.

  That day would never come for these men or for anyone else who made such a deal with the devil.

  Nodding to one of his men at arms, Hector watched as they fired into the crowd, striking down each and every man and child until there were none left standing. The blood pooled together and ran in rivulets down the streets, like sunrise coating a new day.

  “What do you want us to do with the bodies?” another asked when the gunfire died down, silence falling on the small village.

  “Leave them,” Hector stated, climbing down from the truck. The vultures and wild animals would make quick work of the bodies in a span of a few days anyway. “Leave them for others to see what they have done. Come. We must leave. The Americans will be back.” He did not wish to face them today, not when he wasn’t prepared to carry out his plan.

  As the caravan pulled out, Hector looked back one more time, shaking his head. What a complete waste of good people.

  Not good in the sense of their duty to their country or to the cartel though. If they had been dutiful, he wouldn’t have been called in.

  As they passed by the restaurant, Hector halted the truck and climbed down, the village eerily silent as he entered the boarded up place. His cousin’s blood still covered the floor where he had fallen, the gun casing still laying on the bench. Hector picked it up and held it up to the light, the gold glinting and hurting his eyes. This was the final bullet that killed his cousin. This was what had started this, this massacre, and forced Hector’s hand. He hoped that this Machine Gun knew what he had been doing by ejecting this bullet and ending Raul’s life. Now he had Hector Villarreal coming after him to seek vengeance for Raul’s death.

  And eye for an eye, a body for a body. There would be blood spilled, much more than what he had witnessed today, and Hector had plans for how he was going to do it, how he was going to make the Rough Jesters pay for this, this abomination on his family.

  He just hoped they were ready for him.

  Chapter 12

  Elisa

  I woke up with a catlike smile on my face, my body deliciously sore in places I hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

  Oh my God, I’d slept with Damian. It was hard to believe what had happened between us over the last forty-eight hours. I felt euphoric; I’d avenged the nineteen-year-old kid once rejected, and everyone was happier for it.

  And Damian. I’d trailed my fingers over his scarred arms more than once yesterday. We’d probably spent longer than he wanted to in bed. It tore my heart knowing what he had gone through, how he had suffered after my brother died, stuck in his own version of hell. He’d blamed himself for Will’s death, all while also recovering from his wounds. As a nurse, I knew what the treatment for those types of burns entailed and it definitely wasn’t pleasant. I only hoped he hadn’t gone through it alone.

  Turning over in Damian’s bed, I breathed in his scent, feeling almost giddy. How long had I dreamed of something like this? How long had I loved the man who pushed me away? It sounded stupid for a woman nearing thirty to still be crushing on a guy for so long, but I couldn’t deny I’d longed for this moment.

  I was in love with Damian. Time hadn’t eased those feelings and I was even more renewed with the hope that we could be together. The club might be his home, but I knew the real Damian, the one who flushed when I had walked into this lovely home, embarrassed over his parent’s wealth. I knew the Damian who had purchased that ball cap on a whim, the one who had held his own feelings back because he didn’t want to ruin the friendship he had with my brother.

  I knew the real Damian who’d slid his hands over my body like he was worshipping it, memorizing every inch of my skin just as I had been doing to his.

  Damian might not think he needed a savior, but I wanted to be his. I wanted to banish his guilt over the loss of my brother and show him love.

  I loved him.

  I laughed aloud, my voice echoing throughout the empty house. This was crazy. The club, the deaths, me reuniting with Damian, it all was too crazy to even comprehend.

  Was it all fate? I wanted to say it was. I mean, it had been ten years since I laid eyes on Damian. Ten years!

  Now it was a waiting game to see when this would all come crumbling down around my ears.

  I climbed out the bed even though I really didn’t want to, and after a quick shower, slid on the clothes Damian had left for me. The sweats were too big, but the t-shirt smelled like him. One whiff immediately transported me to last night and the feel of his hands on my body.

  I was in so much trouble.

  Exiting the bedroom, I walked into the awesome kitchen, finding a bottle of water and a bowl of apples on the counter. This place definitely didn’t look like the Damian, with its gleaming granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances. It was hard to imagine him in this kitchen, wearing his leathers and fixing a meal.

  Or even anywhere in this whole house, really. I wondered what his parents thought about his chosen career path now.

  I still couldn’t believe it.

  “Hey.”

  I turned to see the man of my thoughts in the doorway, leaning against the opening with a grin on his face.

  “Hey yourself.”

  He pushed away from the doorframe, moving over to the coffee machine on the counter. “I see you finally rolled out of bed.”

  I looked at the clock on the microwave. “It’s only eight in the morning. Since when did you become an early bird?” I remembered him and my brother sleeping in until noon most of the time.

  He put a pod in the coffee machine and started it. “The military will do that to you. Now I struggle to sleep past sunrise.”

  I laughed. “Yeah well, it’s always a struggle for me to get out of bed. I’m still not a morning person.”

  Damian turned and my stomach did funny flips at just the sight of his handsome face. I was even used to the long-sleeved shirts he wore to cover up his burn scars now, like it was a part of him. “What?”

  “I just can’t believe you’re standing in my kitchen,” he said, crossing his legs at the ankle as he leaned against the counter.

  “Me neither,” I admitted, pushing my hair out of my face. “Any word on the village?”

  His grin faded and he looked troubled. “About that. We got word that there was retaliation.”

  Oh no. “How bad?” I asked softly, feeling sick to my stomach.

  Damian thrust a hand through his hair. “They took the women and kids. We got boots on the ground to see if we can track down the trucks before they distribute too many of them across Mexico. The men and boys, they killed them.”

  My knees buckled and I grabbed a hold of the granite island to keep from falling to the floor. Innocent people, people who were just trying to make a life for themselves, gone.

  And I had been privy to their danger. “We should have gotten them out sooner,” I said quickly, my eyes blurring with tears. “We should have stayed until they were all out.”

  “Elisa,” Damian said, pushing away from the counter. “Don’t blame yourself.”

  “No!” I shouted, flinging off his touch as he tried to pull me in. “This is my fault! This is our fault!”

  “You’re right,” he said harshly, gripping my arms with his hands. “You’re right. It’s the club’s fault for not ensuring they were safe, and we take full responsibility.”

  The fi
ght left me, and I crumpled against his chest, tears streaming down my face. Just the thought of those innocent people dying for something that wasn’t even a part of them broke my heart. What had gone through their minds in those last moments? It must have been torture watching their wives and daughters being taken, knowing their fate!

  I couldn’t even imagine their thoughts. Pulling back, I looked in Damian’s eyes. “We have to do something. I need to go back across the border to help.”

  “The village is gone,” Damian said firmly. “There’s nothing you can do, Elisa.”

  “I’m not talking about that one,” I argued. “The next one that might be targeted. Surely you or Voodoo have an idea of where they are headed. Let me go be there, stop more innocent people from being slaughtered. Please.” That was the whole reason I’d become a nurse to begin with. To help people.

  “No,” Damian growled, his hands tightening on my arms. “Absolutely not. You aren’t going back out there.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Since when do you tell me what to do?”

  “Since it could cost you your life, dammit,” he argued as I wrenched away from his grasp. “It’s too dangerous now.”

  I took a few steps backward to separate us, not believing he was attempting to tell me what to do with my life. I had been doing this work long before he came back into the picture and no amount of reunion between us was going to stop me from continuing my path “This is my job, Damian.”

  “I know,” he said tightly. “And I understand how you feel, but we have to figure out some other way. Let me talk to Chains and take the fight to the cartel instead of hiding behind the villagers. I should have never agreed to use them as cover.”

  The bleak look in his eyes made some of my anger dissipate. He really was attempting to shoulder the blame for this attack, when in reality, he had been just following orders.

  I hugged him. “I’m sorry,” I breathed. “We couldn’t have seen this coming, but we have to stop it before the next hit.”

  Damian let out a huge sigh as his arms went around me. “I know and we will. This will be the last village to suffer, I swear.”

  I melted into his warmth, glad for his solid presence. I believed him, knowing Damian wouldn’t have wanted those people hurt either. “This is such a mess,” I said softly.

  “I know,” he repeated. “I wish we could just stay in this house all day and forget about everything going on out there.”

  That sounded like a fabulous plan. “How long do you have?”

  “Two hours,” he grunted. “I’m posting guards out front today so don’t be alarmed if you see big, burly leathers in a little while.”

  I didn’t fight him on this. If it would give him peace of mind, then I would suffer through being locked in this cage for now.

  But not forever. Eventually I would have to go back to my job, go back to the organization I worked for and take on a new assignment. That was my life.

  Damian would just have to understand.

  Now, though, I wanted him to understand something else.

  How I felt.

  Leaning back, I pressed a kiss to the underside of his chin, nipping at the tender skin there.

  “Elisa,” he said roughly as I slid my hands up his shirt, feeling the contours of his body with my fingers. “What are you doing?”

  “You said you had two hours, right?” I whispered, exposing his abs so I could kneel to press a kiss there. “Let’s make the most of it.”

  His eyes darkened as he looked down at me, his mouth set in a firm line as he tried to get me off the floor. “No.”

  “Yes,” I challenged, already working on his belt buckle. I wanted him to feel what he had given me over and over again last night. I wanted to taste him.

  Damian made a sound but didn’t protest as I succeeded in getting his jeans undone and pushed down over his ass, his cock standing at full attention inches from my face. He was long and heavy, his bulging head making me wet with anticipation.

  Oh, this was going to be good.

  Gingerly, I took him in my hand and kissed his head, making him groan. I was going to bring him to his knees one way or another. His hand fisted in my hair and I lowered my mouth onto him, feasting with my lips, my tongue, while working with my hand. When I started sucking, he cursed and pulled back out of my grip, forcing me to stand. “Woman, you are going to embarrass me in my own kitchen.”

  I gave him a catlike smile. “What’s so wrong with that?”

  Damian advanced on me, already making quick work of his sweats. I wasn’t wearing any underwear. “I would rather cum inside you.”

  My knees turned to jelly when he grabbed me at the waist and hoisted me onto the island before sliding inside, burying himself to the hilt. I gasped as he loomed over me, the cold granite at my back.

  “Now this is a sight to see.”

  “Shut up and kiss me,” I said instead, reaching for him.

  Damian’s grin was quick before he lowered his mouth down on mine and did just that, his tongue lazily exploring my mouth.

  I moaned and slid my hand up his shirt, exploring the body I knew so well already as Damian started to move inside me slowly, torturing me inch by inch. His lips tore from mine and he groaned himself, his fingers gripping my hips. “God, you feel good.”

  “So do you,” I said, wrapping my legs around his waist. “But I’m going to need you to pick up the pace.”

  Damian looked down at me, surprise in his expression. “Demanding, aren’t you?”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” I grinned, gripping his biceps through his shirt. I wanted to take it off, to touch his arms skin to skin, but there wasn’t going to be enough time for that.

  He moved and I closed my eyes, tightening my grip as the pressure mounted. This was what I had been missing in my life, this connection with another person.

  Though this time, this person held my heart in his hands.

  Damian leaned down and pressed a kiss to my jaw, his lips nibbling all the way up to my ear as he pumped faster, taking me over the ledge until I was screaming his name.

  He didn’t stop for me to recover, his movements frenzied until he too was shouting my name, his body stiffening inside me. I clung to him, not caring that the granite was biting into my back or that my legs were going to sleep.

  This was all that mattered, this thing between Damian and I that had been building for years.

  Finally, Damian dropped his sweaty forehead on my shoulder. “Now I need a nap.”

  I smoothed my hand over his hair, feeling the tug of uncertainty and possession for him on my soul. “Well, you do have an hour and a half.”

  He chuckled. “I do, don’t I?”

  Pushing at his shoulder, I got him to back off me, sliding off the island onto shaky legs. “Come on,” I said, holding out my hand. “Pull your pants back up and let’s get some rest.”

  He eyed my state of undress, his shirt barely grazing the tops of my thighs. “What about you?”

  “I’m going to stay like this.”

  “Then there won’t be much sleeping going on.”

  I was counting on that.

  Chapter 13

  Damian

  I didn’t want to be here.

  I threw a punch at the bag, finding my workout not as exciting as it usually was. All I could think about was how Elisa had looked sprawled on my bed, the smell of sex heavy in the air when I had walked out and how much I wanted to be back in her arms.

  In her arms, we forgot everything. We forgot who we were, what we were doing, and the shit going on outside my door. Reality didn’t exist, if only for a little while.

  But now that I was back at the club, reality was crashing down on me hard, my mind already mulling over what the hell I was going to do with her. She wanted to go back to Mexico. I couldn’t allow that. It wasn’t safe for one, and two, hell, I was scared.

  For the first time in my life, I was fucking scared. It was laughable really to be scared over lett
ing Elisa go back to her life, to the one she had before I had laid eyes on her after ten years, but I couldn’t deal with it. Now that I had her back in my life, I didn’t want to let her go.

  Not even the fighting overseas, or losing Will, or my burns, had scared me like this did and I didn’t know how to deal with it.

  Or how to explain to her that I was feeling this way. This woman, the one person I shouldn’t be sullying with my blood hands, had taken my heart and stolen it.

  Hence another reason to be deathly afraid of what was to come.