CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

AVERY

I NEVER MAKE PROMISES. Not since I thought she left me.

They’re too easily broken. And I’ve always prided myself on my word, but this is something I know I can keep. This woman has been through hell because of me, and I plan on returning the favor to any man who did or plans to do her wrong.

I haven’t slept in two days. Last night, I sat in my bed flooded with memories of our past and thought of what our future could have been if not for what my father did to her.

I fucking hated myself. For what he did to her. For what I did to her. I don’t deserve her, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want her. “I love you, Bunny,” I say softly.

She places her hands on my chest and whispers, “I love you too, Avery.”

I wrap my free arm around her back and pull her to me. Her breath hitches, and I know what she is thinking. She wants me. I want her too. I never not wanted her. Not even after what I saw. I wanna show this woman I can be what she needs. Deserves.

She looks up at me and licks her lips nervously while we stand in silence. I lean my head down and run the tip of my nose along her jawline. Her arms wrap around my back, sucking me into her.

I pause, my lips hovering over hers. I haven’t allowed myself to kiss her on the lips, not even once, because I knew I’d be done for if I did. I was trying to treat her like a slave. How fucking stupid of me. She has always been more than that for me.

She’s been my anger.

She’s been my love.

She had been my happiness.

And now she is gonna be my damnation. Because I am going to burn this world down for her. She deserves that much. And more. This woman has been through hell, and she’s gonna stand by my side as I bring hell to all of them. The devil will bow at the way I make them pay.

“Avery.” She whispers my name, bringing me back to her.

“Yes, baby?” I ask, rubbing my nose against hers. Our lips so close …

Her body trembles against mine. “I want you,” she admits, and I hate the way her soft voice makes me hard. I shouldn’t think about fucking her. But I do.

I still feel him on top of me. I still feel his breath on me.

I want to erase any memory of my father from her soul. I want her to know I still want her. That whatever he was trying to do didn’t work. She’s always been mine and still is. I own her!

“I want you too, Bunny,” I say and then press my lips to hers.

She moans, parting her soft lips for me, and just like that, I’m lost.

My hands slide into her hair, and I tilt her head back, deepening the kiss. Her tongue meets mine, and I growl deep within my chest.

I tilt her head to the side, and our kiss grows frantic. Her nails dig into my back, and my hands tighten in her hair. I need her. I want to feel her. I want to take her.

I release her hair and grip her ass. My hands slide into her underwear and lift her off her feet. She wraps her legs around my waist, and I walk us toward my study. I don’t want to take her on my couch in case someone walks into the living room, but I don’t have the patience to make it to my bedroom.

We crash into the room, and I shut the door with my foot. I lay her on the couch and pull my lips away from hers just long enough to yank my shirt over her head.

She’s undoing my pants and shoving them down my legs while I remove my shirt. “Lie down,” I order roughly, and she does as I say on the couch. I grab the black lace material and yank them down her legs. Then I’m on top of her. My lips back on hers desperately. Her hands in my hair and pulling. I moan into her mouth. She whimpers into mine.

I reach between our bodies and run a finger over her pussy. She’s soaked.

She pulls away and sucks in a ragged breath. “Please,” she begs.

“I wanna taste you,” I say, my mouth watering just thinking about my head between her legs.

She shakes her head. “Please. Just fuck me.”

I can’t deny this woman anything. And I know I have the rest of our lives to spend between her legs, so I take my hard cock in my hand and push into her. She arches her back; her lips part, and she gasps as I stretch her.

She’s so fucking tight. I drop my face to the crook of her neck, and she runs her fingers down my back. The feel of them burning my skin makes me shiver. Then she’s digging them into my ass, her silent plea for me to move.

I pull my hips back and then thrust forward. “Avery,” she pants.

I reach back and grab her hands and pin them down to the couch above her head. She whimpers. “Is this what you want, Bunny?” I ask, roughly pulling out and then shoving my hips forward.

“Yes,” she cries out, arching her back. “God, yes.”

I release her hands and grab her breasts. I lean down and suck her hard nipple into my mouth, and she tangles her hands into my hair while she bucks her hips, meeting mine with each thrust. I lightly nibble on it, and she shudders underneath me.

I pull away and trail kisses across her chest to the other one and give it the same attention. Her back arches, her mouth open as she gasps, and her pussy is soaking wet. “Fuck, I’ve missed you so much,” I say, panting. A thin layer of sweat has formed on my head and chest.

She opens her heavy eyes and looks up at me. Her hands cup my face, and my hips slow at the look in her eyes. They’re so soft. They make her look so young. It’s as if we’ve gone back in time to eleven years ago.

“I’ve missed you, Avery,” she whispers softly, and I see tears start to glisten in her eyes.

And I fucking hate myself all over again for what I put her through. If I had just called her …

“Don’t ever leave me,” she says.

My chest tightens, but I force a smile. “Never, Bunny.” Then I lean down and capture her lips with mine while my hips go back to moving.

_______________

We lie on the couch in my study. I’m on my side with my back pressed into the cushion and she’s lying on her back in front of me. Our breathing finally evened out, and her body quit shaking from the two orgasms I gave her. Her hair is wet from sweat, and we’re both still naked.

She sits up. “Where are you going?” I ask even though I love the view of her ass—it no longer has marks from when I whipped her. And that thought makes me flinch. Just another thing I did to her that should have never happened.

She doesn’t answer as she walks over to my minibar and grabs the bottle of scotch. I arch a brow. “Isn’t it a little early to drink?”

“Since when does it have to be late for you to have some scotch?”

I laugh and sit up when she comes back over to me. She sits down beside me and hands me the bottle. “Trying to get me drunk?”

“Yes.”

“Why is that?”

She looks down at her hands in her lap. “I need answers, Avery. And I know you don’t want to give them.” Her eyes meet mine. “But I need to know.”

I understand her need to know. It was like when I told her that I needed to know what happened to her. I lean over, placing the scotch on the floor. “What do you want to know?”

The fact I’m willing to tell her anything doesn’t seem to relax her. She seems tenser than before. “What did my brother do?”

“He killed a man.” Her eyes widen. “The guy who is after you, Damon, he wants you for revenge.”

She swallows nervously as her big eyes search mine. “Does he own slaves?”

I nod. “And it doesn’t help that he and your father were enemies.”

She looks at the floor. “Why?”

I shrug, not really knowing that history. “Who knows? It could have been over anything.”

Her eyes meet mine again. “Why did you save me?” she asks, and I flinch at her choice of words. I didn’t save her. I put her in harm’s way. “Why not just let him take me? You didn’t owe me anything. I saw the look in your eyes in the bathroom at the club. You hated me.”

I run a hand through my hair. When I decided to get her, I never thought we’d be at this point where I had to confess why. “I never stopped thinking about you,” I admit roughly. “And then when I got the phone call that you were in danger, it wasn’t even a question of what I had to do. But don’t think I did it with good intentions.” My eyes meet hers. “’Cause I didn’t.”

She nods as if that’s enough. “Why did you bring me back here? When I found you in the bathroom, you asked about Preston. If you planned on taking me, why didn’t you do it then?”

“At first, I just wanted to see you. I followed you five days before I cornered you in the bathroom, and I was so mad at you. Damon had men on you who had been watching you for months. And that night, I watched him take a picture of you with his phone. Then you went into the bathroom, and I couldn’t help myself. I needed to see you. I needed to feel you. Smell you. And I stood there shaking, waiting for you to exit the stall and then there you were.” I cup her face. “I loved that look of fear in your eyes. I loved that I still had some effect on you. I thought when you left me, you never looked back. Then the other night, when I took that guy from your house? He was Damon’s guy. He was there to take you.” Her eyes widen. “I wasn’t gonna allow that to happen.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” she asks softly.

“Would you have come with me? Willingly?”

She shakes her head. “You know I wouldn’t have been able to do that. That’s why your dad took me in the first place. Because I’m here with you.”

I run a hand down my face. “You should have told me. I could have protected you.” She shakes her head. “You have that little faith in me?”

“What would it have changed?” she asks.

“Everything!”

She fists her hands, and her eyes narrow on mine. “Yes, it would have been so easy for me to just come out and tell you that your father raped me and killed our baby eleven years ago.” I open my mouth, but she continues. “You wouldn’t give me any information as to why I was here. Why would I have been forthcoming with something that happened to me?”

“Us.” I growl. “That was our child.” She looks away from me and picks up the bottle of scotch from the floor. I stand from the couch and grab her free hand. She looks up at me with a go to hell look. “You went through hell. But I lost someone too. Not only our child, but my best friend. The love of my life.”

“Yes, it must have been so hard for you.” She yanks her hand free of my hold. “Getting over me by fucking as many women as possible.”

“Bunny …” I growl.

“After what your dad did, I woke up in the hospital, and Lance told me I had been in a car accident. He told me that I had been in a coma for two weeks. I was going to survive, but I lost my baby.”

The car wreck? That had been in the report Kayn gathered. They lied to cover up what my father did to her.

“Your father was there. The moment I saw him, it all came crashing back to me, and he told me to never contact you again or he would kill me. His men took me to a hotel and dropped me off. It was under a fake name, and they had identification for me. They made sure I was in my room and left. I picked up my phone to call you, but I listened to my voicemail first.” She shakes her head. “I was going to call you and tell you what happened, but after the voicemail, I knew it would be pointless. But I tried anyway.” She jabs her finger into my chest. “I at least tried. All you did was change your number.” I wouldn’t have answered my old one. That’s the pathetic part. I was that fucked up over her leaving me. “I knew it was over, and I had to move on.”

She spins around, and I grab her arm, yanking her back to face me. Lifting my hand, I cup her face. “I never moved on.”

She lets out a long breath. “I never did either. When I saw you in that bathroom, everything came back, and then when you came to my house. And we …” She swallows. “Even when you brought me here, I wanted to run. I tried.” She chuckles at her failed attempts. “But like I told you, you made me feel alive. Even though I knew my time was limited.”

I cup her face with both of my hands. “Bunny, no one is gonna touch you. Do you understand?”

“You can’t stop him …”

“I can.”

She shakes her head softly. “He let me go, Avery.” I frown, not knowing what she means. “He told me that he knew you were coming for me with guns raised and an army.” She looks down to the bandage around her upper thigh. “I was a message.”

My body tenses at those words. “That’s what he said?” I clarify.

She nods. “A message that you can fuck me all you want, but you’ll never own me.”

I begin to pace my study.

“I can’t live my life in fear, Avery,” she says, sitting back down on the couch.

I stop and crouch in front of her. “You’re not going to,” I assure her.

“Let me help you catch him.” I tilt my head to the side. “Set him up. Let him take me again.” Fuck, she sounds like Tristan when he wanted to use her as bait to catch Damon.

“Absolutely not!” I snap, jumping to my feet. She just keeps coming up with crazy ideas.

“I’m not afraid of him, Avery,” she says, standing and squaring her shoulders. “He can’t do to anything to me that he hasn’t already.”

“Don’t say that,” I growl. I know the man. There are plenty of other things he could do to her. All involve screaming and blood.

“I don’t want to be afraid. I don’t want to always be looking over my shoulder waiting for him to show up.”

“You’re safe here.”

“You may no longer see me as your slave, but I’m still a prisoner here.” She raises her hands out to her side.

“No, you’re not.”

She crosses them over her bare chest. “Can I go home this weekend? To New York?”

“Absolutely not!”

“See.” She sighs. “You say I’m not a prisoner, but I can’t leave the house. How fair is that?”

“Bunny—”

“Avery,” she growls, interrupting me.

We stand, staring at one another. Neither one of us backing down. Her eyes dare me to argue, and her body tells me to deny her. My eyes trail down her perfect round tits, and my cock starts to harden as I imagine fucking them. My eyes lower to her smooth pussy, and her inner thighs are still wet with our cum from earlier. Then I see the bandage around her thigh, and it reminds me of just how strong she is.

She steps to me, dropping her hands to her side. “How long will you keep me locked up here?” she asks softly.

I reach up and run my hand through her brown hair. “Forever, if I need to.”

She sighs heavily. “That is no way to live.”

“At least you would be alive.” I’d die if anything happened to her. I would take my own gun and end my life if I lost her again.

She pulls away from me, and my hands drop to my side. “I need more.” She fists her hands.

“I can give you anything you want.”

Her eyes narrow on me. “I want to leave.”

“Anything but that,” I say, shaking my head.

“I want to show him that I’m not afraid. I want to show him that no matter what he did to me, you still want me.”

“He knows that nothing he could do would keep me away from you.”

“Really? Because he told you I had an abortion and left with another man, and you believed him,” she snaps, getting angry. “And that lasted eleven years.”

“Stop.” I growl. “Things have changed.”

PRESLEIGH

He doesn’t get it!

He doesn’t understand what I want. All these years, I’ve been helpless, and now I know I need to stand up for myself.

I reach down and grab his shirt that I was wearing and put it on over my head.

“What are you doing?” he asks with a sigh.

I’m not sure if it’s lack of patience or annoyance. And I don’t care either way. Ignoring him, I grab my underwear and pull them up my legs. Then I make my way to the door. As I pull it open, his hand slaps it, slamming it shut, and he pins me against it.

“I asked you a question,” he growls, looking down at me with narrowed eyes.

“I’m leaving,” I snap. He starts shaking his head, and I arch a brow. “What are you gonna do? Tie me to my bed?” I ask, shoving my hand into his hard, bare chest. He doesn’t budge. “Whip me?”

“Bunny,” he growls. “Don’t fucking test me!”

“Maybe you’re testing me,” I counter.

He leans into me, pressing my back into the door. I hitch in a breath when I feel his now hard cock against my lower belly.

He lowers his face down to mine, his nose tracing my jaw before dipping into the crook of my neck. His hands still flat against the door above me, caging me in.

I reach out and wrap my hand around the base of his dick. He jumps but doesn’t pull away from me.

He lets out a moan as if he’s pained. Then he speaks roughly into my ear. “I can’t get the image of you tied to my bed out of my mind now.”

Wetness pools between my legs as my breathing picks up. “Avery,” I pant and begin to stroke his hardness. He just fucked me, and already I need more. I’ve always been so dependent on this man. I’m not sure how I survived eleven years without him.

He removes his right hand from the door, and it slides down my ribs to my hip. His fingers are gentle but setting me on fire at the same time. He gives my hip a little squeeze before he reaches between my legs.

My head falls back to the door, and I pant when he slides a finger into me. “I think you have that image in your head as well,” he says, and I can feel the smirk against my neck.

“I do,” I admit shamelessly.

“And?” He slides another finger into me, his knees spread mine wide.

“And …”

A knock on the other side of the door makes me jump, but Avery stays put, pinning me against it. “What?” he snaps.

“I need to talk to you.” Tristan announces.

“Can’t it wait?” he demands.

“No.” There’s a long pause. “It’s about Vaughn.”

Avery pulls away from me and slides on his pants. “Put that blanket around you.” He gestures to the one over by the fireplace. I sit down on the couch and drape it over my legs since I’m not wearing any pants but have his shirt on.

Once Avery has his pants buttoned, he looks at me to make sure I’m presentable and then opens the door, sans shirt. “What is it?”

Tristan comes walking in, and I bite my lower lip nervously. It smells like sex in here. Not like he didn’t already know what we were doing, but still. “We found him.”

“Where?” Avery demands.

Tristan looks over at me and then back at Avery. “Manhattan.”

Avery runs a hand through his hair, letting out a long breath. His shoulders are now tense. The gorgeous features on his face hardening. He turns to face me, and I push myself back into the couch at the look in his eyes. “Well, Bunny, looks like you get your wish after all.”

“What wish?” Tristan asks, and I frown.

Yeah, what wish?

“We’re going to New York.”

“What?” I ask, sitting up straighter. “All of us?”

“Yes,” Avery answers.

“No.” Tristan shakes his head. “She can stay here with Chloe.”

“No. She won’t,” Avery snaps.

“Yes,” he argues. “I will leave some men here—”

“Absolutely not!” Avery interrupts him. “I’m not letting her out of my sight again. Bring the men with us. We’ll need them.” Then he looks at me. “Go upstairs and pack a bag.”

_______________

Less than an hour later, we are in an Escalade SUV on the way to the airport. I bounce my right knee and bite my bottom lip nervously. I keep waiting for Avery to pull out the syringe to drug me. I can’t get on his plane without it.

I’ll freak.

The car comes to a stop, and he opens the door. “Wait,” I say in a high-pitch tone. Four sets of eyes turn to face me. Avery, Tristan, Kayn, and Chloe. I lock on Avery’s. “Aren’t you going to drug me first?”

He opens his mouth, but Chloe beats him to it. “Drug you?” she snaps and looks at him. “You drug her?”

Avery ignores her. “Not this time, Bunny.”

“But …”

“Come on.” He reaches out and takes my hand, pulling me out of the SUV. And then we are walking toward his private jet.

“He fucking drugs her?” I hear Chloe shout from behind us while she talks to Tristan, but I tune them out.

I’m shaking. My legs feel heavy, and my throat tightens.

Avery slows his steps and presses his hand on my back, pushing me forward up the stairs to board the plane. With each step, I feel my heart pound harder. My breath comes quicker. I try to slow my steps, but his hand on my back pushes me as he forces me up the stairs.

I step into the plane and spin around to run off but slam right into him. He stands before me, blocking the only exit. “Avery … please.” I squeeze my eyes shut.

“Look at me,” he orders, placing his hands on both sides of my face.

I slowly do and silently beg him to do it. He knows I hate to fly. “Are you punishing me?” I whisper and feel my eyes start to sting. For standing up to him in his office.

He frowns. “No.”

“Then why won’t you just give me …?”

“No.” He growls the word this time, interrupting me.

“Avery …” His lips crash to mine, silencing me. His hands leave my face, both sliding into my hair. They tighten, and goose bumps spread across my skin, causing me to gasp into his mouth. He tilts my head to the side and deepens the kiss. His tongue meeting mine with passion. My pussy tightens, and I moan as he pushes his hips into mine. He’s hard.

He pulls away, and I gasp for a breath. Placing his forehead on mine, he takes a deep breath. “Fuck, Bunny. I could kiss you for hours.”

“Don’t stop.” I rasp.

“Sir?”

He pulls away to turn around. Kayn had walked halfway up the stairs and is holding a black backpack. “The bag you requested.”

“Thank you,” he says and then turns back to face me. “Let’s go, Bunny.”

I choose a seat, and Avery promises to get me a drink. Maybe he’ll put something in it if I’m lucky. Chloe sits down across from me and looks around before leaning forward and whispering. “You want him to drug you?”

“I’m afraid of flying,” I admit.

She frowns. “It’s the safest way to travel.”

“Tell that to my parents.” She tilts her head to the side in confusion. “They died in a plane crash.”

Her green eyes soften with sadness. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

I look away from her ’cause I never gave my father’s death a second thought. The world got rid of an ugly man. He had once sold his soul to the devil, and he came for payment. My mother, however, did I miss her? Yes. But I think she too had done some unforgivable things. Avery used to tell me he was playing his part. I’m not sure if that’s what my mother was doing or not.

“Here.” She reaches out and grabs my hands as the engines roar to life.

I close my eyes and start to count to ten. When I get to five, I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I jump, my eyes springing open. I look up to see Avery standing next to me with a glass in his hand containing dark liquid. I take it and throw it back all at once. It makes me cough, but I hand it to him and order, “Another one.”

I don’t miss the fuck you look that Chloe gives him when he turns and walks away. “Are you excited to be going home?” she asks.

I look down at my hands knotted in my lap, my knees bouncing. “Yes. I haven’t spoken to my best friend in over three weeks.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not allowed to use the phone,” I tell her.

She exhales, showing her annoyance, and then pulls her cell out of her purse and hands it to me. I just stare down at it. “Go ahead. Call your friend.”

I dial her number, and it rings once, then twice. I have no clue what time it is here, so I can’t even decipher what time it is in New York. She answers on the fourth ring. “Hello?” she answers sleepily. I woke her up. Not surprised. She’s like a freaking vampire. Sleeps all day, runs all night.

“Alex.”

“Who is this?” She yawns.

“It’s me. Presl—”

“Presleigh!” she interrupts me. “What the fuck, bitch? Where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking for you.”

“I’m in Vancouver.” I finally found this out last night when I spoke to Chloe. She seems to be the only person willing to tell me anything.

“What? No way.” She pauses. “You don’t even have a passport.”

If only that is all it would have taken to keep me out of Canada. “Long story.”

“When are you coming home?” she asks, and I feel my chest tighten. Home? I’m not sure I can consider that place I hid a home anymore.

“We’re about to takeoff.”

“Takeoff?” she asks confused. “As in take off in a plane?”

“Yeah.” I begin to chew on the end of my nails.

“Presleigh, are you high?”

“No.”

“Did you smoke some PCP again?” she asks concerned. “You know that shit is bad for you.”

“I’m sober.” Then I think of the drink Avery just gave me and the next three I’m about to have. “For now, anyway.”

She sighs heavily. “Where are you flying into? I’ll meet you there.”

I look around the spacious and expensive air craft. “I’m not sure. I’m on a private jet … I don’t think it’s going to land at JFK …”

“Frankford,” Chloe says.

“What?” I ask, looking at her.

“I overheard Tristan telling one of his men we are flying into Frankford. It’s a private airfield.”

I nod and mouth a thank you. “Frankford.”

“Where the hell is that?” Alex asks.

“I don’t know. You’ll have to Google it.” I smile even though I feel the plane start to taxi, and my heart race. “Don’t tell anyone I’m in town. Okay?”

“Presleigh. Everyone has been worried sick about you.”

“Please, Alex?” I beg. “Just keep it a secret. I’ll …” I take a deep breath when the plane picks up speed. “I’ll explain everything when I get there. Just come alone and don’t tell anyone.”

She sighs but finally agrees. “Fine.”

I smile. “I’ll see you soon …”

The phone is ripped out of my hand, and my head snaps up to see Avery standing beside us. Chloe’s phone is now in his hand, and he terminates my call. “Hey!”

“Who the hell were you speaking to?” he demands.

“Alex …”

“Where the hell did you get this?” He holds up the phone gripped in his hand.

“It’s mine,” Chloe answers, snapping at him.

Tristan plops down beside her. “Why the hell would you give her a phone? She’s not allowed to talk to anyone.”

Before she can answer him, Avery yanks me up by my arm and shoves me down the small aisle, and then we’re entering another room. It’s the same tiny bedroom Darrell shoved me into when he drugged me. He spins me around, and his eyes glare down at me like he wants to murder me. “You should have never called him.”

“Is that what this is? You’re jealous?” His jaw sharpens. “For your information, he is a she. And she is my best friend.”

“I don’t want anyone knowing you’re back in New York.”

“Then you should leave me in Vancouver,” I snap.

He steps into me. “Are you gonna make this difficult, Bunny?”

“Goddamn right, I am,” I growl back.

He glares down at me, and I can feel my feet vibrate from the plane’s engines. I want to reach out and grab him for stability but refrain. I refuse to show weakness anymore.

The corner of his lips lifts, and a cruel smile spreads across his face. It makes my stomach do flips. Or that could be the fact I’m on a plane about to take off.

“Okay, then. If that’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll do.”

His hands grip my hips, and he pulls me to him. He’s still hard. I bite my bottom lip to keep from whimpering out loud.

“Are you gonna throw me on this bed and handcuff me to it?” My mind is going through every scenario where he keeps me in one place. Where no one can get to me and I can’t get away.

He lowers his head and runs his lips along my jaw. And I break out in goose bumps. “Is that what you want?” His voice has dropped to a rough growl, and my legs tighten.

“No.” My voice is barely a whisper.

“Liar.” His hand comes up and grips a handful of my hair and yanks my head back. I moan.

I feel my body sway, and then I’m falling backward. My lips part, and I let out a squeal in surprise. He grabs me and spins us around, slamming my back into the wall. His body presses into mine. “Oh, God.” I gasp.

“You’re okay,” he assures, pinning me to the wall.

I close my eyes when I feel the plane leave the ground, climbing high into the sky. “I need a drink.” My voice shakes with nervousness.

“As soon as we level out, I’ll get you one.”

I nod quickly, and my hands fist his button-down.

“Bunny, I …” he pauses.

“What?” I ask, looking up at him, trying to ignore my racing heart.

“Nothing.”