His Big Mountain Axe

by Madison Faye

  Gray sighs. "Bringing you into this—"

  "Hey, I asked you to get me a job with these people," I mutter.

  "Well I should've told you to fuck off."

  "You were just trying to help, man. After we got back and I couldn't find anything."

  When Gray, Roman, and I got back from the Marines, we were all a little lost. Why Vegas? And why the fuck did all three of us end up working for the Moretti family? Well, it wasn’t hard, actually. Hell, the three of us grew up here and I'm actually the only one that didn't have direct connections to the family. Roman's cousin was an enforcer for the Moretti's, and that plus his size and his combat record got him a pretty lucrative job in Gino's personal security detail. Gray's father had also been a lawyer who found better pay working directly for the guys most of his colleagues were paid to try and prosecute. Gray himself had managed to finish up law school before the Marines, and when he got out, the family reached out to offer him the job his father had left with his death.

  But me? Well, I was just the fuck up, and when it was clear I had no real direction, I'd asked Gray to hook me up with the Moretti’s. To his credit, he had told me no — a few times actually. But what can I say, I'm a persistent guy, so here we all are. The three all-American marines, all working for the mob in Las-fucking-Vegas.

  Who'd have guessed?

  "Look, it's not the worst thing."

  Gray snorts. "It's porn, Dylan. And this isn't the seventies. That shit's going to be around forever."

  "Well I'll be sure to make sure they get my good side then."

  He chuckles darkly, when I suddenly hear something in the background.

  "I couldn't find a towel."

  The female voice is soft, and sultry, and I instantly grin.

  "Listen, dude, I can call back if you've got company."

  "Just the TV."

  Bullshit.

  For one, I know that Gray doesn't watch TV, and for two, for a lawyer, he's actually real shitty at lying. Of course, being the good friend I am, I know it's my job to needle him about this.

  "Just the TV, huh? Sounds like a fun channel."

  He clears his throat uncomfortably, and I laugh.

  "Shit, Gray, if you're watching porn, give me a week and I'll get you something real fun to watch with yours truly."

  "I'd rather stare at the sun through a magnifying glass, actually."

  I grin, and I strain my ears to hear anything else from his apparently secret mystery guest, but it's quiet.

  "Look, whatever they've got me doing, it could be worse, right? It could be my head on a pike in the desert, dude. It was a lot of fucking money."

  "Yeah and it wasn't you."

  "Tell that to Gino," I mutter.

  "I have, trust me." He sighs. "I'm trying man, but they're just stuck on the whole thing with Vinny."

  "Vinny who was about to shoot me? Vinny who was definitely in on that job?"

  Gray growls into the phone. "It's your word against the death of a made guy. Fuck, man. You know I believe you. Hell, a lot of people do actually. But Nico was close with Vin, and you know he's got Gino's ear."

  We go silent for a minute or two before he clears his throat. "So, who's the girl?"

  My jaw clenches.

  "Excuse me?"

  "The girl. Your co-star." He chuckles. "Anyone famous?"

  "No," I spit out curtly. Curt enough that he definitely hears the heat in my voice.

  "What's going on, Dylan?"

  I scowl out the window at the neon lights of the strip. "Nothing," I mutter.

  "Dude—"

  "She shouldn't be a part of this," I hiss, my anger flashing hotly to the surface. "She doesn't belong anywhere near this."

  "Not an actress?"

  "Fuck no," I spit, my teeth clenched tight. "She's just a girl, and they've got something on her. Fuck, man, they're forcing her to do this."

  "Fucking Nico," Gray growls lowly. "Is she…"

  He's quiet for second.

  "Gray—"

  "Tell me she's legal," he says quietly.

  I freeze, frowning. "I mean, fuck, I think so? She's young, but she's definitely…" I trail off, my stomach sinking. "Jesus, Gray—"

  "Look I'm just saying, Nico…" He growls lowly. "He's getting clients for this little porn studio of his that have certain underground tastes."

  I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling my blood boil.

  This isn't fair. It's not fair to me, I know that, but I'm not thinking about myself.

  I'm thinking of Rose. Me, I've been across the world, and done horrible shit for my country. I've made choices, and I've lived with the consequence. I mean hell, I work for a crime family. Honestly, what good did I think would ever come from that?

  But her? No. No fucking way. She's done nothing to deserve what's going to happen to her. Even if it's me who does it, and even if I know I'd never hurt her, the whole thing is fucked. Completely fucked. She's too amazing, and beautiful, and good for all of this. And I know it's wrong to even think it, but I also know it can't be helped: she's stirred something in me. She stirs something fierce in me, something that's had my mind lingering on her ever since they dragged me away from her earlier.

  And maybe it’s the savior complex that I've always had, but I know one thing for sure: I won’t let them do this to her. Selfishly, I want her for myself. Fuck it, I'll admit that. I want her all to myself — nothing for them, and nothing for the camera. But unselfishly, I want to help her. Hell, I need to help her, and I know without a doubt that there's no chance that I'll be able to sit by and let those monsters do this to her.

  Not a fucking chance.

  "I have to go, Dylan."

  "Yeah enjoy your show, liar."

  He sighs before hanging up.

  My head's spinning and my blood roars as I stand and stride out of my room. I prowl the hallways of the building. I head down to the entrance and get a warning glare from the guards before I head back up the upper floors.

  I'm looking for Rose.

  The thing is, I know I could probably get out of here. After all, they don't seem all that worried about me dipping out or going on the run. After all, the Moretti's and I both know that there are people they could hurt that would bring me back in a second — like Gray and Roman. And I'd never let that happen. Nico knows he's got me, and he knows that I know that running would be a lesson in futility.

  The place seems like it must've been an old hotel, before the Morettis starting using it for God knows whatever they use if for. There are a lot of rooms, and I've barged into ten empty ones before I stop cold at the bend in a hallway.

  There are two guards outside one of the room doors, and it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together and guess where they've got her. I'm not under guard, but it appears Nico's prized virgin actress is.

  …It's not going to stop me.

  I move back out of sight and duck into one of the empty rooms. It's an older hotel, with those weird doors that connect rooms from the inside, and as luck would have it, the one in here is unlocked. Perfect. I slip into the next room, and do the same there. The next room is the same, but from there, I' m at the corner of the building, and there's no more connecting doors.

  I grit my teeth before I glance at the window — more specifically, at the fire escape outside the window.

  Yeah, that'll work.

  The window opens seamlessly — again, it's not like it's a working hotel anymore. I climb out, and step along the wrought-iron fire escape around the corner of the building, until I see it.

  Rose's room.

  There's a dim light on inside, like maybe she's got just the bathroom light on with the door ajar. I creep to the window, ignoring all sorts of flashbacks from my time in the Marines as I press my palms to the glass of her window and push. It opens silently.

  My blood runs hot through my body as I pause just before stepping inside. This is a crossroads, and I know it. I could walk away right now, and forget I was here,
with whatever ideas I've got in my head right now. I could slip back through the empty hotel back to my room. And in a couple of days, when Nico wants to make a goddamn porn movie with the two of us, I could just do it. I could push aside the moral compass and the compassion, and the fact that just thinking of Rose makes me fucking crazy, and simply do what I'm supposed to do.

  Fuck her.

  And as wrong as it'd be to do that — to claim her virginity in front of a fucking porn director's camera — God help me, my cock throbs rock hard at the thought. The cum boils hot in my balls, and I groan, imagining it. I picture her naked and spread wide under me — maybe grabbing her ankles tightly as I run the head of my cock up and down her tight, pink, tempting little pussy. I imagine plunging inside, and tearing through that hymen, heedless of everything except my raw caveman need to fuck her, and pump my cum deep inside her fertile womb.

  The thought makes me lightheaded as the blood rushes to my cock, and my hand tightens dangerously on the windowsill.

  No.

  As hard as it gets me, I know that's not me. War might've fucked me up hard, but it didn't break that part of me. It didn't shatter me into the kind of man who'd do that to an innocent angel like her.

  And right then, I know I was wrong. This isn't a crossroads at all, because there's literally one option here: to go inside, get her the fuck out of this place, and save her from this hell — come what may, and consequences be damned. Like I said before, I've made plenty of bad decisions in my life, and I'm prepared to pay for at least one of them by way of Nico killing me if it means saving her.

  I push the window open, and slip inside.

  The room is dark, and I was right — she's got the bathroom light on, with the door three-quarters-closed. It sends a line of light across the floor and the bed, and across the girl who's burrowed right into my head and won't get out. She's breathing quietly, like she's sleeping, with just a sheet covering her.

  I move fast, closing the distance between us in a few steps and quickly putting a hand over her mouth. Rose bolts up, her eyes wide, but I quickly, hold her tight.

  "Don't scream, angel, it's me," I growl into her ear.

  She shivers, her eyes taking me in as she slowly nods. I drop my hand.

  "What are you—" She shakes her head. "How did you get in here?" Her eyes dart to the open window behind me, which seems to answer her own question.

  "You…you came to find me?"

  "Of course I did," I say quietly. My hand drops to hers, and when her small fingers curl with mine, I feel a spark of heat blaze through me.

  "I'm getting you out of here," I say tightly. "Now."

  I stand, and tug her arm, but when she tugs back, I frown.

  "Rose, the sooner we can hit the road, the better our chances of—"

  "I'm not leaving."

  I blink, staring at her.

  "Excuse me?"

  She swallows, her cheeks flushing as she takes her hand back and balls it with her other one in her lap. She stares at her twisting fingers, biting her lip before she looks back up at me.

  "I'm not going, Dylan. I can’t."

  "The hell you can't," I hiss. "Angel, if you stay, he's going to—"

  "I know."

  Her voice is small and fragile, and before I can stop myself, I'm moving into her and pulling her close. She melts against me, her body hitching like she's trying to stop herself from crying.

  "I can get you away from all this," I say, my voice heavy and edged. "I can get you far away from these assholes."

  "It's not…" She trails off, pulling away as her shoulders sag. "I really can't leave," she pleads quietly. "And I know what staying means. I know what's going to happen to me—" Her voice hitches as she blinks back tears, and something breaks inside of me.

  "I know what will happen to me if I stay, but I can't go." She looks up at me, her lip catching between her teeth. "I— I mean, if I have to do this, I'd rather it be with…" She blushes, looking away. "If you have to leave, I understand," she says quietly.

  "Rose, we are not doing this," I hiss. "You're not doing this."

  "Yes, I am."

  "The hell you are," I growl fiercely, my jaw clenching tight. "I'm not doing that to you on camera like that. I'm not going…" I squeeze my eyes shut. "I'm not going let them see you like that, and I'm not going to—"

  "I have to, Dylan," she says quietly.

  "Angel—"

  "They have my sister."

  The words hit me like a slap, and I blink in shock, pulling back to see the look of sadness on her face.

  "I have to do this, on camera, and it has to be good they said, or they'll— they'll hurt—"

  I catch her as her words break, pulling her into me and holding her tight.

  "That's not going to happen."

  "Yeah?" she chokes out bitterly, wiping the corners of her eyes before she looks up at me with those soft, innocent, pleading blue eyes. And she's got me. Whatever she's about to say, I know she's got me, because after that look, I'm hooked.

  "Well for them not to hurt Keeley, Dylan, then you have to help me. And if you really want to help me?" She blinks away the tears and her look hardens to something fierce and wild as she looks right into my eyes.

  "If you want to help me, you have to fuck me."

  Shit.

  6

  Rose

  Dylan looks away, and I can see the muscles of his jaw tensing in the low light from the bathroom.

  Is he mad? I can't tell. There's a part of me that wants to grin like a big idiot at the fact he's come in here with every intention of rescuing me and taking me away from all of this. I mean, your tattooed, gorgeous porn-movie co-star isn't exactly who you'd imagine being your knight in shining white armor. And yet, here he is.

  It kills me that I can't say yes. It breaks something inside of me knowing I can't run off with him and leave this whole nightmare behind. But I know if I leave, they'll go after Keeley, and I could never live with myself if that happened. And if I run and they get her, I know they'll make it hurt. I barely know him, but even still, I can see the cruelty in a man like Nico Moretti, and I know he'd punish her for me leaving.

  So I'll stay. I'll stay and I'll do this awful thing, because it'll save her. But it being him that'll be doing this with me gives me something to hold onto. If it was some random cruel mafia thug, or, God, Nico himself, I'm not sure I could bare it. But it's not. It's Dylan — a man I also barely know, but a man I can see the good inside of. Not to mention, the man that sets something on fire inside of me.

  …I mean, if I'm going to be having sex for the first time anyways, I suppose it might as well be with the insanely gorgeous, wickedly attractive man with the panty-melting grin and the eyes I just want to get lost in.

  Right?

  "Look, I've never…" I swallow, taking a breath and putting my hand on his. "I have no idea about any of this, okay? I'm not going to know what I'm doing, and—"

  "It's the oldest human instinct in the world," he growls lowly. "It'll come to you."

  He doesn't want to do this, which is why he's fighting me on this. But, the way the fierceness blazes up in his eyes, I feel like he doesn't want to do this more for me than for anything to do with himself.

  "Yeah, but I can't be bad at it."

  Dylan sighs heavily, and I can feel something sinking inside of me when his hand suddenly slips back to mine on the sheets, his fingers twisting with mine.

  "Angel—"

  "Will you show me?" I say quietly.

  His eyes snap to mine. God they’re gorgeous — something so good in a place and situation so bad.

  "What?" he hisses.

  "Show me," I whisper back, my cheeks flushed. I almost can't believe I'm saying it, but I know it's got to be him.

  "Look, it's not like every girl dreams of her first time being forced on camera, to be filmed and sold for porn, but—"

  "No, angel," he growls tightly. "I won't do it."

  "You said you'd help
me."

  His eyes pierce through the darkness into me, making me shiver at the intensity. I suddenly realize that this is another first — I mean, it's not like I've ever been alone with a guy in a hotel room before. The thought, as silly as it is, makes my cheeks blush.

  "Not like that I won't," Dylan hisses back, his eyes burning into me.

  "Yeah?" I spit back. "Then how?"

  He shakes his head, his hand tightening on mine in the darkness.

  "I can get you out of here."

  "And then what? Run while they hurt my sister? Dylan, they took me because…" I look away and bite my lip. "You know. And she might not be what they want in me, but they'll still use her if I run. Nico told me he would, and that it'd be her on camera."

  Dylan swears under his breath. "Fucking animals."

  "Help me," I whisper fiercely, gripping his big hand with both of mine pleadingly. "Please."

  The room goes quiet, and I'm not sure I'm ever going to get an answer when suddenly, he shifts his weight on the bed, like he's decided to stay.

  The grin that comes to my lips is a small comfort.

  "What parts are you…" He clears his throat. "What parts aren't you clear about, besides the main course I mean."

  I blush. "Uh, all of it?"

  "No, I mean, what have you done at least once before?"

  I swallow, looking down and making a face.

  "Um, nothing."

  "Nothing?" He sounds more surprised than angry. Actually, he doesn't sound angry at all, which makes me smile.

  "No, nothing."

  "At all?"

  I shake my head, and he whistles lowly.

  "Jesus, Angel, how—" He swallows hard, and I can feel his hand start to pull away from mine.

  "How old are you?"

  "Nineteen."

  I grin quietly as I feel his hand stay on mine.

  "And you've never done anything with a guy before?"

  "No, okay?" I mutter.

  He chuckles quietly. "Just seeing where we stand. How about kissing?"

  I shrug. "Kinda, I guess."

  "Then we'll start there."

  I grin in the darkness. "Is this you saying you'll help me?"

  "Let’s take it slow and see where we get."