I watch her as she floats around her cabin finding all the chemicals and liquor she can. She has questions and reservations that she’s pushing to the back of her mind. Either because she’s scared of what’s happening or she doesn’t actually want to know the answers.
“Catalina,” I call to her after she stops and stares out the front window. She turns to look at me, and in her sweet face, I see her fear displayed like a photo in a gallery. Stark, magnetic, enthralling. “Come here.” Holding an arm out, I put the bottle I’m holding down as she crosses the room to me.
“I don’t understand anything.” Her entire world has been dumped upside down more than once in the last few days as I’ve told her about her lineage.
“And you shouldn’t have to. You’re too sweet a soul to have been brought into this life.” It terrifies me to think of what could have happened to her if I hadn’t shown up and for that, I’ll never be sorry. “You need to grow used to it though, lamb. This is my life, the violence, the risk. This is what we live for. What I’ll die for.”
“I want you, Atticus.” I sense a “but” coming. “I just don’t know if I’m cut out for the rest.”
Wrapping one hand in her dark tresses, I grab a fistful as the other pulls her into my body. “I know you, Cat. I know your desires, your fears. Your hopes and dreams.” Her pupils follow the movement of my lips. “You know what else I know?”
“What?” she asks breathlessly, pushing her body further into mine. Rubbing her hips into my bulging cock.
“I know you’ll learn to accept everything that comes with a life with me because you know no one else can love you as deeply as I will. No one else can make you feel the way I do. No one else can lay claim to your heart the way I know I already have.” Trailing my lips across her jaw, I whisper in her ear. “You love me, Catalina, and the desires I bring out in you scare you far more than the life we’ll live. The danger we’ll be in.” Her sharp inhale tells me I’m on the right track. “You know what else I know?” Her head shakes, the soft locks brushing the stitches on my cheek and the bandages on my neck, giving the slightest pull. The pain travels to my dick, and I feel the need to pound inside her sweet pussy. “I know that as soon as I plant a baby inside your willing body, you’ll calm right down and claim your place by my side where you fucking belong.”
Tugging her hair back, I take her lips in a sharp kiss, not giving her time to react before I force my tongue past her lips and search the deep crevices of her mouth. Sucking her moans as my own.
Cat’s hands climb my chest to tug roughly on my hair as she rubs one leg up mine looking for the deeper connection we both seem to crave. “You need something, little lamb?”
Reaching one hand behind her back, she grips my wrist. Bringing it up her chest then her neck, her eyes plead with me to give her what she’s afraid to ask for.
“Strip for me, sweetheart.” I pull away to watch her expose every inch of flesh. Little scars dot her leg where she mentioned her brief encounter with an ax. Freckles dot her thighs like a trail to her sweet spot. A small mole I hadn’t noticed before lays on the ball of her hip bone begging for a nip from my teeth.
“Atticus?” Her soft voice draws me out of my admiration of her little imperfections. The marks that remind that even though she hasn’t lived in my world, she’s more than capable of handling herself in it.
“Men will fear you,” I mutter walking to her. “Women will envy you.” She watches with anticipation alighting her dilated pupils. “Everyone will know you’re mine.”
“Always yours.” She smiles lightly as I reach for her throat with one hand. Unbuckling my jeans with the other, I guide her into her room, slamming the door shut behind us.
West is out front guarding the door while East wanders the clearing, keeping predators at bay.
For now, we’re alone. I can have her all to myself. Guide her into accepting her new life with me.
Catalina
The power in his hold, the strength in his words, the conviction in his tone…they all leave me breathless for more than what he’s asking of me.
I want Atticus more than anything. Being with him means letting go of my inhibitions, becoming the woman I’ve often dreamed about but have been too afraid to embrace.
Everything he spoke of calls to my soul in a way that should terrify me, but oddly, draws me closer to his possession. I’ve been the sweet girl next door my whole life, but I’ve always felt like something was missing. With Atticus, I think I know what that’s been.
A firm hand.
An unshakable, immediate bond.
Atticus.
He’s everything I’ve never understood that I wanted, yet exactly what my soul has been waiting for. What I’ve craved for most of my life.
Rubbing my hands up his chest, I look into his mesmerizing stare, full of dark desires and unknown promises. “I don’t know how this has happened—my trust in you, my desire to have so much more with you—but I know I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to see you walk away from me, Atticus.”
His strong grip pulls my shoulders closer to his tall frame as he leans down. Without speaking a word, he promises to protect me from everything. He’ll watch over me, and I, him.
As if through magic, his clothes disappear, and he’s kneeling between my legs, the bed dipping beneath his giant body. My fascination is so focused, I can only watch as his swollen cock pulses with craving for me and the gratification we can achieve together.
My eyes drift closed as he moves ever nearer, achingly, slowly, teasing me with his torturous touches. Feeling his cock pushing into my throbbing center, I cry out at the intensity felt when our sensitive flesh meets. He likes to start out slow before slamming inside, and I can feel the tense way he holds himself still, so I can adjust to his size. “Atticus,” I moan as he twists his hips.
“Catalina.” His groan matches my passion. “This is going to be a quick, hard fuck. You hold on, little lamb.”
The slow withdrawal followed by the sharp agony that flows through me when he slams back in is more than pleasure. It’s more than love. It’s us. Him and I.
Atticus and Catalina.
Light and dark.
Heaven and hell.
Every move is strategic to bring me optimal bliss. He’s giving me everything before taking even a taste. Hooking my legs around his hips, I dig my heels into his ass, dragging him closer, deeper into my depths.
“Oh god,” I hiss when he drops down on top of me, driving his cock harder, deeper.
“Not God, lamb, just your motherfucking man.” He chuckles as I claw my nails into his back, ripping flesh from form. “That’s a sweet girl; do it again.” He groans in my ear as one hand glides up my body, twisting a nipple as he goes, causing me to cry out again.
I can feel his fingertips tickle at the base of my throat, and my core pulses with the hedonistic pleasure I know is waiting for me. “Please, please, please, Atticus.” I’m not above begging for what I know only he can ever give me.
“What do you want, Catalina?” He bites my ear hard.
“Please.” I don’t know if I can say the words aloud.
“You have to say it, Cat.” He groans as I tighten my pussy around his cock. He stops moving. “You trying to pull my dick off?” His breathing has picked up pace, coming out harsher.
“Move,” I demand.
“Say the fucking words, Catalina!”
“Choke me!” I scream back.
He doesn’t hesitate. His long, thick fingers cut off my airway, and immediately, satisfaction rolls through every muscle in my body. I tense, and I relax. I throb, and I release. I crave, and I cry.
“Atticus.” I sigh as a painful orgasm rolls through my body, taking me to heights greater than I’ve been before. I’m floating above us.
I see the worship he has for me even as he uses my body to gain his own pleasure. I see the exact moment his own release railroad’s him into a roar worthy of any wild beast as we lay satiated in a mess of harsh breathing, sweating, and complete decadence.
Atticus
I left Catalina sleeping after our quick round of fucking. Two days without being inside her warmth, and I felt like an animal. Her complete trust in me isn’t something I’ve experienced before.
Growing up, I watched my dad and uncle treat my mother like a whore. Passing her around back and forth, never giving her a choice until she was ultimately so used up they gave her away to some pimp with a bad rep and a whorehouse in his pocket.
I was thirteen the last time I saw her.
Fifteen when I grew tired of their games and threats, and I shot my uncle before running away. Indirectly, I had framed my father for the murder. I couldn’t call it anything else.
Neither would the authorities.
They had both been sleeping. My uncle had just beaten the shit out of some teenage girl because she wouldn’t go down on him. After he passed out—my father was already out cold from his liquor binge—I grabbed dear old dad’s revolver, stuck it in a pop bottle and pulled the trigger. After tossing the gun on my dad’s bed, I left.
While it might have been the first life I’d taken, it was also the easiest. Both men were a waste of air that didn’t deserve the life they were given. Dad’s still in prison rotting away because he’s a bigmouth that doesn’t know when to take orders, and because I’ve got friends in high places. He’ll never see the light of day again.
As a result of watching how they were with my mother, other women, I’ve been hesitant to include a woman in my life. In fact, if it weren’t for this deep-seated, instantaneous connection me and Cat seem to have, I don’t think I’d even be considering it.
After witnessing first King and then Luther fall for their obviously broken but extraordinarily motivated and dedicated women, I admit the idea isn’t so bad. Now that I know Catalina, have felt her when she comes apart for me, I can’t imagine a life with her not in it.
I won’t tread the rest of this path without her by my side.
I know I have a long way to go where her acceptance of my lifestyle is concerned, but I don’t need her to be part of that depravity to worship her. I only need to know that she belongs to me. Won’t ever take another man to her bed, and that one day—sooner rather than later—she’ll have my babies.
The Empire is changing, and it’s because of these women. I think that once Cat meets Lil and Ariel, she’ll feel more comfortable in her surroundings. And from all I’ve learned about Talia, I’m sure she’ll embrace Cat into her life as well. Cas and I have been friends longer than either of us have been in this life, so having our women connect will be a welcome relief.
The sound of scratching at the door pulls me from my thoughts, and I grab the shotgun before standing off to the side as it slowly opens.
“Christ, man, calm down.” Recognizing Dimitri, I lower the weapon.
“Why the fuck are you scratching at the door?” I snap, going back to the small kitchen to tape up the cocktails I’ve got ready to go.
“Wasn’t me, the damn dog wanted in,” he growls as East darts for Cat’s bedroom door, the kittens hot on his tail.
“What’d you find?” I nail Dimitri with a hard look as Daniel enters the house, a fresh bruise on his cheek. “What happened to you?”
He scowls while answering. “You didn’t hear that explosion?”
“Nope.” I was balls deep in the sweetest pussy I’ve ever fucked. I’m sure they can tell from the look on my face.
“Motherfucker had a wire at the entrance to the shack. East knocked me on my ass just before it would have blown me to kingdom come.”
Dismissing the both of them, I turn around to focus on what I was doing so they don’t see how rattled I am that Thomas is ready with explosives. “Where’s Manning?” That fucker is still going to get his comeuppance.
“That bitch ran before Danny-boy was on his feet again.” A touch of anger colors Dimitri’s words.
“You see him again, kill him.” I don’t much care whose hand he dies by so long as he’s dead.
“What’d he do to piss you off so bad?” Daniel asks as he sits on the stool beside me.
Thinking about it makes me all kinds of pissed off. “The day the storm hit, he came by thinking Catalina was alone. He attempted a stealthy entry and got me instead. Kept insisting he was here to check on her, that they’d been seeing each other.” Dimitri’s whistle is as sarcastic as it sounds. “Yeah, that’s what I said, too. Son of a bitch was here to hurt her.”
“What are we doing about Thomas?” I glare back at Dimitri when he asks this. We’ve been over this. “Look, I know you guys want him dead. Hell, for all that I witnessed him and Timothy do, I want him dead, too. But what the fuck is the plan? Are we going to grill him for more information on their operation? Find out where some of these kids are?” That’s the fed in him talking. Even as dirty as he grew over the years being undercover, Dimitri has been a fed for a hell of a long time.
He makes a good point, though. “Did you ask King this before you came up?” I ask.
“Yeah. He said it was your call.” With no service unless we go to town, and even then, it’s spotty, I can’t get a read on what King wants.
“You think we’ll ever be able to bring a single one of those kids home?” I ask. Dimitri worked far too long in the McCray association to ever believe we can recover a decent amount of them. Most will likely be lost causes, as much as any of us would hate to admit it.
“I think with Ariel’s knowledge, we’ll be able to nail down a large number of buyers. Whether the kids are salvageable or not is another story.”
“Fuck. Listen to you two. Talking about these kids like they’re property or some shit.” Daniel shakes his head as he listens to us, and I can’t blame him.
“You think of them as anything more, and it’ll eat you alive.” Dimitri barks at the younger man.
“Why do you think Ariel was ready for death?” I don’t mean to be an ass, but he needs to harden up. Of all of us, he should know how low Ariel had fallen.
“I know that, Atticus, but Christ, shouldn’t we at least try to give them something to come back to, even if they aren’t really living?”
Dimitri walks over to Daniel, puts a hand on the back of his neck and squeezes in support. Their body language shows an intimacy I hadn’t noticed before. Daniel bows to the superiority of Dimitri while he exhibits a softness with the younger man that I don’t think anyone else has realized he’s capable of.
“Atticus?” Catalina comes out of the bedroom in a sweater, shorts, and thick socks, deterring any comments I would have made about the pair.
Her hair is a mess in such a way that you’d be an idiot not to recognize that my hands were knotted in it an hour ago.
She walks right into my arms as the men in front of me express looks of appreciation. “Feeling better?” I know it doesn’t take much to throw her into a panic when she feels overwhelmed. Lucky for me, easing her out of it reaps maximum benefits for us both.
“Better,” she confirms with a shy smile as she ducks her head into my chest. Having Cat’s body pressed firmly against my own gives me a sense of pride, knowing only I can provide her with what she needs. “What’s the plan to catch him?” Her gaze zeroes in on Daniel’s bruised face as she asks and frowns. He waves her concern away with a hand.
“We can’t use her as bait,” Dimitri points out, and I have to stifle the urge to throttle him for even thinking of it. “He knows we’re here, and she’s protected. He’ll likely expect that for a trap.”
“But you have an idea?” Catalina asks him.
“Sort of.” He smirks, and I already don’t like where this is going. “He likely suspects you two have a thing going on. Danny-boy and I will leave out the main road and go into town. We’ll make sure we’re seen then we’ll double back here through a back way and set up a post out in the woods where he already laid bait.”
“If he thinks we’re gone, you two can play house and let him think your guard is down. Go search around the property a couple times, but in even increments each time—say every two hours. He’ll pick up your routine.” Daniel catches onto his idea quickly.
“There’s an old hunting stand about two miles up the mountain; it’s in a tree,” Catalina supplies.
As much as I hate it, this might be our only option. “Fuck.” Running a hand down my face, I reluctantly agree. “You think he’ll buy it after the explosion today?” I wouldn’t.
“Think about it, Atticus. He’s likely pissed as fuck right now that one or both of us aren’t dead from that. He’s acting on irrational instinct by now.”
I fucking hope Dimitri is right.