by Raven Scott
“Why’d you let that happen, then?” Betrayal thickened my tone and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as Oran’s gaze flashed in alarm. “I’m not doing this. I have to eat and go back to work while I still can, okay. Bye, Oran.”
Crossing my arms over my purse, I turned on my heel and walked away, the huge manila folder in my bag like a concrete brick.
28
Oran
“Oran.” My lip curled into a nasty snarl and my knee bounced furiously as my blood boiled, gorging my muscles until they threatened to burst from my skin. Yanking off my jacket, I rolled up my sleeves roughly, and my brother’s eyes narrowed on me shrewdly. “Oran.”
“Shut the fuck up, Carlyle.” The vicious snap echoed off the car windows and I shot my brother the most disgusted glare possible. His face was stone, his lips thin, eyes sharp, but he didn’t have to deal with the backlash of his egotistical control. Scoffing roughly, venom coated my tongue, and I licked my teeth in agitation. “I told you that anything you tried to do was going to fail, that May doesn’t play ball when it’s made of green. And you fucking ignored me, as usual, but you’re not the fucking one who has to try to fix this. God damnit, I practically begged you not to.”
“I admit that I underestimated her.” Punching the seat with a growl, I breathed fire through flared nostrils as Carlyle just looked on, unphased. My mind whirred too fast to be effective and I closed my eyes to inhale deeply, but it only fueled the flames engulfing my lungs. “Oran, I honestly thought you were exaggerating. I apologize.”
“You’re an idiot, Carlyle, seriously.” Rubbing my hands down my face, my palms sweaty and my fingers stiff, I slumped a little in my seat as I struggled to get control of myself. “Fuck, I told you, said it specifically that now wasn’t a good time. I haven’t talked to her about the offer. I haven’t even hinted at it. I can’t believe you said that about her family.”
“I do my due diligence. Did she seriously not even have the slightest suspicion?” Shaking my head as the car came to a permanent stop, I cracked open my eyes to glare at my brother, and he rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter right now. Let’s talk about Candice’s discovery.”
He popped open the door and climbed out, and I took a few calming breaths before following. The weather was slowly but surely starting to turn and the wind was a little nippy against my bare skin. The hairs on my arms and hands bristled as I adjusted my shirt, but I left my jacket in the car. It was just too restraining.
I wanted to fucking blow up, and I hissed is agitation as I gazed at the very fancy restaurant Carlyle had brought us to. Rolling my shoulders, I popped my neck and patted my pants pockets for my wallet and phone, and the root of distraction started to take hold.
“So, Candice was right all along— they’re really just stupid.” They weren’t questions, but my brother nodded firmly as we walked into the high-end place. The hostess smiled politely and I rubbed the back of my neck absently as I shook my head. “I don’t know. It’s been going on for a while. Too long, if you ask me.”
Diamon. Diamon. Diamon was the true definition of a grease monkey. The guy was just an idiot, and I actually felt bad for him. Quietly, my brother and I were led to our table, and I let my mind roam on the subject. Even when I was working under my father, Diamon had been a thorn in our sides. He never actually did anything of substance, but his nuisance factor had been intensifying.
The Italians were dying. Hell, all those old mobsters were dying. In this day and age, violence couldn’t get the job done. The threat of it wasn’t enough. Everything was now a business transaction, and the only thing that mattered now was the dirt that could be dug up on the other side.
The more noticeable a person was, the easier they fell under Carlyle’s heel.
Pedro Gonzalez was a great example of that. The guy was an oldie gangbanger, using an old system that just barely worked anymore. He was on everyone’s watch list from Canada to Germany. He couldn’t go anywhere without fear of being pinned down by SAS or SF.
Why? Because Pedro’s dumb ass decided to set fire to a village and kill a whole ton of civilians. Out and out violence like that just put unnecessary spotlights on him, and he was trapped like a rat.
Which was how Carlyle was able to terrify him into submission and take everything he had. Pedro was dead, supposedly, but there wasn’t anyone willing to take his place because of my brother.
Mexico was a hotbed and my brother kept one heel on their jugular.
“Oran . . . ” Blinking as Carlyle snapped me from my daze, I sat down across from him and nodded curtly. His eyes narrowed on me, and he propped his elbows on the table to hold his chin on laced fingers. “Do you want out?”
Alarm rang shrilly against my skull, and my eyes widened as the air was knocked from my lungs. I immediately shook my head, and Carlyle frowned darkly as I pursed my lips and clenched my jaw.
“Why would I want to do that?” The low, gravelly quality of my voice scraped against my ear drums and I cleared my throat roughly to shake my head more firmly. “No. I don’t. I like where I am right now.”
“Good. Good. I ask because I would appreciate you doing something for me. A favor.” His express drew serious, and I frowned under tightly knit brows as curiosity speared my chest. Holding my breath in anticipation, I clenched my hands under the table, and he cocked his head like a snake ready to strike. “I’m not here because of Candice, specifically. I heard you had a girlfriend and I wanted to meet her.”
“What does that have to do with whatever favor you want?” The question rolled thickly off my tongue, and Carlyle’s gaze hardened as his jaw ticked absently. A cold sweat broke out on my back, and he let the silence stretch as he held my gaze, staring me down, sizing me up.
“I would like to bring you and her, and Natasha and Erik, out to dinner. Valerie didn’t come with me, so I thought it’d be a good time to get together. Do something I haven’t done yet.” My brows rose, a harsh bark of laughter tearing from my throat, and I shook my head before Carlyle even finished speaking.
“No, no, you fucked it all up, Carlyle. I’m going to be lucky if she lets me grovel for forgiveness, and it’ll take a miracle if she accepts it. You have a lot of nerve asking me a favor like that when you just pissed her off.” For the first time, maybe ever, I realized Carlyle was even worse than me. For all the ‘due diligence’ he performed, he didn’t realize May wasn’t like Kara in the least. He didn’t have the slightest inkling that she wasn’t going to be pushed around. He thought our relationship was advanced enough to get through his idiocy.
Which it wasn’t . . . and that was really, really sad.
“Carlyle, I don’t think you get it. If there was one person not to flex on, it was May. You really can’t come back from that. She’s never going to let that go. Hell, she might even break up with me over it. You realize that, right?” May’s teary, angry face and the thick note of betrayal in her voice rang in my skull, and I shook my head sharply. “No, I’m not going to do it. My relationship isn’t something you can just butt in on when you feel like stirring the pot, Carlyle.”
“I went about trying to get to know her the wrong way, Oran. I admit that. I sincerely thought she knew about her parents and why they kicked her sister out. I mean, how the hell did she think she got through college with her parents’ massive debts, anyway?” My brows rose high at that, and Carlyle scowled darkly in return. “She doesn’t know about that, either, does she?”
“Carlyle, lies don’t show up on a search. Maybe, next time, if there’s a next time, try feeling a person out before you just assume what you know is concrete and air-dried.” The waitress flounced over to our table as the conversation stalled, and I sat back to wonder how, in Carlyle’s mind, he equated what he did to ‘trying to get to know her’. May barely had contact with her parents, and it was only with her mother, from what I knew.
When did Carlyle suddenly become such an asshole? Was this really what I spent so
long trying to emulate?
29
May
Knocking gingerly on Oran’s front door, I inhaled a deep, stabilizing breath and rocked back on my heels. Apprehension flooded my veins when I heard his steps through the barrier and I exhaled slowly. The door swung open and Oran’s handsome features washed in surprise when he saw me. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his tattoos distracted me for a brief second before he shuffled quietly to the side to let me in.
“I thought you’d keep your distance after what Carlyle did, after what I let him do.” Licking my lips as the gravel in his voice dried my mouth and made my abdomen clench with foreboding, I simply shook my head. Slipping past him and into his apartment, I set my purse on the coffee table and turned to him as he took off his glasses to squint at me. “Why are you here, May?”
“For my apology.” He put his glasses back on and I crossed my arms over my chest as the stillness between us stretched. My heart started to beat harder, faster, in the silence, and I worried he would hear it, it was so loud in my ears. After the seconds ticked by far too slowly, he stepped chest to chest with me, and my breath hitched when he cupped the back of my head. Drawing me into an intimate hug, my cheek above his heart, his hand tangling in my hair, he pressed his nose to my crown.
“Words can’t portray how sorry I am, May. Anything I could say is an excuse, but there’s not a single one that’s good enough.” My eyes stung at the true, solemn regret in his tone, and Oran inhaled deeply to squish my face against his chest. Against my will, my hands crept up his bare sides, and the powerful muscles there quivered and rippled under my palms. He smelled so good, so heady and manly, and my eyelids fluttered closed as this beautiful moment blanketed us.
“I talked to Sarah and she confessed that she confronted my mom about the money after hearing them talk about it. They kicked her out, but she said she wasn’t going to blow the whistle.” My declaration didn’t provoke any response from Oran that I could feel, and I rubbed my cheek against the coarse, thin layer of hair on his chest. “You’re right, you know— words can’t portray how sorry you are, Oran.”
Pulling back, Oran’s eyes sparkled brilliantly behind his prescription lenses, and I reached to gently pluck them from the bridge of his nose. His whole expression tenderized, and my heart rampaged against my ribs as I took his hand and led him to the stairs. He could see enough to know where the steps were, but he let me do this as he tangled our fingers together. Folding his glasses with my free hand, I climbed to the loft to set them on the nightstand, and he pressed flush against my back.
Strong, stiff fingers gathered my hair, and I bit down on my bottom lip when Oran brushed his lips along my shoulder. Our clasped palms cradled against my abdomen, and he reached a long, sinewy arm to pull open the small, top drawer. Heat flooded my veins, replacing my blood as it suddenly went silent in my ears, and he held up a wrapped gift. The small box was too long to be a jewelry box, but the shimmering, cream-colored paper hid the contents well.
“Open it.” The whisper flowed down my neck and under my blouse, and I took the box and scrunched up my nose at how heavy it was. I didn’t take Oran for one to buy senseless gifts just to give me something, so I carefully popped open the sides of the paper.
Underneath the pretty wrapping was a wooden box, adorned with a few flowers around the edges that’d been burned in. Inhaling a sharp breath to hold as my lungs shrunk with expectation, I unhooked the small, delicate latch, and the hinges didn’t creak in the slightest.
I don’t know what I expected, but the wide, wooden clamps sitting in two perfect rows in the box wasn’t it. Suddenly, my senses fogged and I dragged my fingertips along the dozen on their velvet seat. They were clamps, wide, smooth. They looked like fat laundry pins, I thought, but I really didn’t know what they were called. I had never seen them before.
Each one was engraved with a delicate, monogram ‘M’ and a little flower— the same one on the top of the box. The amount of effort that must’ve gone into this stole my breath, and I exhaled a shuddering breath as emotion crumpled my lungs.
“They’re beautiful.” My voice cracked, and Oran wrapped his hands around mine on either side of the box. Gently lifting the box from my palms, he set it on the nightstand to turn me and sit me on his bed.
“You’re beautiful, May.” I was kinda glad I’d taken his glasses off so he couldn’t see me tear up, and he nudged me onto my back to hover over me on his hands and knees. His eyes searched my face, and I cupped his jaw to guide his lips to mine only for him to pause just a hair’s width from me. “Let me know if you need to stop.”
“No.” My croak earned me a small smile, and Oran shuffled down to take off my shoes with the utmost care and gentleness. Goosebumps swept up my legs, and I gasped breathlessly when he nibbled the inside of my knee. Unzipping my skirt, he tugged the fabric down, and I lifted my hips as he kissed hot, open-mouthed kisses up my inner thigh.
Popping the snaps of my shirt once my skirt was on the floor, Oran licked my abdomen sensually, and I grappled the blanket above my head with a moan. Arching into his mouth, I closed my eyes as he peeled the light fabric from my skin, and he skirted the cups of my bra with his nose. Straight teeth grazed the swell of my breast, and he unhooked the front clasp of my bra before kissing up my chest and neck.
“May . . . ” The searing kiss Oran planted on my lips sucked my soul right out of my body, and he bore down between my open legs with all the power he possessed. His tongue invaded my mouth, forcing its way between my teeth to wrap around mine, and my taste buds went wild with hunger. Trapping me under him, he dropped to his elbows on either side of my head, and I gasped into his mouth as he ravaged mine. Molten desire pooled in my abdomen, and he ground his bulge against my core to send shocks of pleasure up my torso.
Pulling back to pant harshly, Oran sat on his knees to nudge me deeper toward the center of his bed, and I scrambled to obey. He unfastened his pants to slide out of them, and he grabbed the box off the nightstand as dark desire twisted his sharp features. My heart thundered in my chest, and I sputtered when he grasped my breasts and squeezed them together, the box falling beside me to sit patiently. Hot pants stiffened my nipples and I moaned when he sucked a taut peak between his teeth.
A thin scrap of fabric was all that held my need at bay, and I reached between us only for Oran to grab my hands and fling them above my head. His growl reverberated off my sternum, and he bit down on the side of my breast hard. My cry tore from my dry throat, and he licked the spot to intensify the sting where he’d broken my skin. Pleasure rocketed through my chest, and I arched sharply as he dragged his palms down my sides.
Shivers lodged between my shoulder blades, and I reveled in Oran’s teeth and lips and the hardness of him between my legs. When he pulled back again, I dared crack my eyes open, and I panted furiously as he grabbed one of the clamps from the box. Caressing my neck with the closed end, he dragged the toy down to my chest, and I held my breath as anticipation rampaged through my veins.
Pain mingled with pleasure in my belly when Oran snapped the clamp on my nipple, and I gasped as my palms flew to grip his wrist. He just smacked me away, snatching a second clamp to assault my left nipple, and a moan bubbled up from deep inside me. He was merciless, a third clamp biting into the soft, sensitive skin on my abdomen, agitating the ugly, greenish-purple mark he’d so recently made.
“Get on your hands and knees.” The demand prickled my skin, and I rolled over to stick my ass up as Oran groaned in satisfaction. My juices leaked out of me when he peeled back my panties, and I buried my face in the comforter to stifle the guttural, needy moan that escaped me. His fingernails dug into my flesh as he spread my ass cheeks, and I clenched from the cool air flowing between my hot folds.
A fourth clamp clasped sharply around my clit, and my throat closed on the squeak that ripped through my chest. The intensity of it all sent an ache behind my eyes, and I clenched my jaw hard in an effort not to let go. Gripping the blan
ket with white-knuckle tightness, I shivered as pleasure and pain warred in my abdomen, and Oran slipped his fingers between my folds tantalizingly.
The bulbous head of his cock poised at my entrance, and he parted my folds with his thumbs as my heart stuttered. Oran’s hands shook . . . I shook . . . everything vibrated with the pent-up desire we hadn’t yet had a chance to unleash. Each spasm that strafed my muscles speared my abdomen with the sharp sting of the clamps, and he slowly sunk himself into my quivering channel. The clamp on my clit tightened as the bead gorged on desire, and I tensed when the pinch on my abdomen hurt when I clenched.
There were no words as Oran ground his hips against my ass before grabbing the globes as tightly as he could. His nails dug crescent shapes into my flesh, and he forced me back as he thrust forward. I choked on my tongue, the pleasure pricking my eyes and threatening to fall and stain his blanket. The coil in my abdomen tightened, and he scratched hard down my ass and up my thighs.
Nothing prepared me for the delicious sting when Oran smacked my ass cheek, the slap of skin on skin ringing in my ears. The shallow scores on my skin flared, and I cried out as wave after wave of pleasure rippled up my torso with icy prickles. My heart throbbed, my inner walls undulating around his hard, thick cock as he rode my orgasm. My ass cheeks flexed wildly, and I arched sharply as my cream dribbled down my thigh from the force of my release.
“I’m not done with you yet, May.” This time, the reverence in his tone was tainted by darkness, something deep and primal and all-consuming.
30
May
The world had been righted, at least for now, and I hissed when Oran snapped his hips at a slow, steady pace. He made sure I felt everything, and my eyes rolled back when his head bumped that spot inside me. Shivering wildly, I rocked back on my knees to grind against him, and his groan rolled up my back to raise the fine hairs on the back of my neck.