Rome
“Let me go. Take me home,” she demands, fear making her voice shake.
I hate her. Fuck, how I do. So why the hell am I staring at her stupid lips again?
“You don’t deserve to know her,” I hiss, my own words trembling. Not from fear but with emotion. It’s not fucking fair how Raven let in this stranger—a fucking façade of a person—and she never let me in.
“I loved her.” Her nose turns pink again as more tears stream out.
“Fuck you,” I bellow as I release her.
Before I can turn away, she reaches forward and fists my shirt. “Rome…” Her panicked eyes seem to plead with mine to understand.
But I don’t fucking understand.
“She loved me too,” she whimpers.
I fist my hands at my sides. I’d never hit a woman—I’m not my fucking dad—but the wall beside her is looking like a worthy target right now. “Let go of me.” My voice is low and deadly. “Now.”
I want to punish her. So fucking bad.
Her blue eyes flare with defiance despite her fear and her tears. There you are, wolf. She licks her bottom lip. I decide right then that she owes it to me. A motherfucking taste. It’s the least she can do.
I back her against the wall and press my hips against her. She lets out a mewling sound that goes straight to my cock, waking it up. I clutch her throat once more and crash my lips to hers. It’s a brutal kiss. Savage and hateful.
And she fucking accepts it.
Parts her soft fat lips and offers me her tongue.
So I take that too.
She tastes like tequila and betrayal. Her palms work their way up my chest to my shoulders while I own her mouth with mine. I can’t help but grind my hard cock against her soft body as I try to steal her soul with a simple kiss.
I want it.
I want to fucking devour it.
Her. All of her.
A moan escapes her and my mind starts replaying fantasies I had from high school—fantasies where I licked her sweet cunt and fucked her until she screamed. I’m so dizzied by the fantasy that bleeds into my reality that I barely notice my palm is working its way up her stomach below her shirt. When she pushes my hand away, I snap back to the present.
Jerking away from her, I swipe the back of my hand across my lips and pin her with a glare. “You fucking disgust me.”
Her lips, swollen from our hard kiss, part open in shock at my words. Fuck if I don’t want to suck on them all night. I turn and storm from the room before I do something stupid like fuck her on my sister’s bed.
For three days, she’s been avoiding me. Hell, I’d avoid me too. I’m vicious as fuck but then kissed her like some kind of pussy. But what has me confused is why she hasn’t called to inquire about her car or shown up to the diner. Where the fuck is she?
Her mom is at work, that much I know, which is why I’m parked a few houses down and headed to her house. She doesn’t know that I know where she lives. She doesn’t know a lot of things I know about her. But I do know them. I know them very well.
I slip into the backyard and quietly make my way up the back porch to the door. The door is one that’s easily broken into. I slip my knife blade between the frame and the door, popping the lock with zero effort. Once inside, I close the door behind me and creep through the quiet house.
No sounds.
No anything.
But she has to be here. Where else would she be?
I make my way up the stairs quietly and after a quick search, I find the room that belongs to her. The first thing I notice is despite it being three in the afternoon, her room is dark. Sure, she’s got girly walls and décor, but the curtains are drawn. No lights are on. But she’s here. I can hear her breathing.
Actually, she’s crying.
Soft, sad whimpers.
It irritates me.
What the fuck does she have to be sad about?
Stalking over to her bed, I grab her poufy comforter and yank it from her body. She doesn’t flinch or cry out in surprise. Nothing.
What the hell?
The T-shirt she wears barely covers her ass and she clutches a picture in her fingers.
“Is that my sister?” I roar, unable to contain my sudden fury.
She turns her head, barely, and glances at me. Her cheeks are puffy and red. And that goddamned bottom lip is swollen and quivering.
“Go away,” she chokes out.
“No,” I snarl. “Give me that picture. It doesn’t belong to you.”
Her features morph from sad to angry. “It’s mine. She gave it to me.”
“Give. It. To. Me.” I am not playing these bullshit games with her.
“It’s mine,” she hisses.
“So help me. Give it to me before I make you give it to me,” I warn, my voice quaking with rage.
“No!”
Overwhelmed by fury, I pounce on her. The feisty little shit manages to claw my neck as she attempts to squirm away from me. I pin her slight body with my much heavier one and snag both her wrists with my hands. She writhes and screams, tears steadily rolling down her cheeks.
“Fucking stop!” I yell inches from her face.
But she doesn’t.
She keeps fighting me.
At this point, I just want to look at the picture. I relax on her and rest my cheek on her tits. She’s strong but not enough to keep me from bringing the picture closer so I can inspect it. I wish I’d turned on a light so I could see better. Even in the darkness, I can make out my sister’s features. What has my heart speeding up is the look on Raven’s face. I’ve never seen it before.
“She’s smiling,” I mutter.
Raven always smiled but never like this. Never with warmth and joy and happiness. My chest seems to squeeze to the point of pain.
“She was so beautiful.” Her voice is soft and full of longing. I almost feel fucking sorry for her.
“Until you took her from me.”
Her body quivers as she cries. All fight has left her. I release her hands but don’t move. My eyes are fixated on my sister. Courtney doesn’t move the photo away, but she also doesn’t remove her death grip.
“Why haven’t you come to the shop? Why haven’t you been going to the diner?” I demand, my voice hoarse.
“I’m having some bad days,” she breathes.
I close my eyes for a moment and inhale her scent. She smells like fucking flowers or some shit. And I hate that I like it.
“Why?”
“You know why,” she clips out.
“Because I gave you some shit the other day at my house?”
She exhales loudly and it tickles my hair. “Because I saw her room. I was reminded of her. It was too much.”
“Boo fucking hoo,” I grumble, but the normal venom isn’t there.
When her fingers touch my hair, I tense. I want to yell at her and tell her to leave me the fuck alone. But instead, I keep staring at Raven’s happy smile. It fucks with my head. And with Courtney stroking my hair, I feel oddly calm.
“I hate you for what you did to her,” I murmur. I run my thumb along the picture. “But this I could never hate you for.” Somehow, Courtney Moss, dumbass cheerleader, made my sister smile like she’s never smiled before.
Her fingers rest on the back of my neck and instead of wanting to brush her away, I want to ask her to not stop. I’ve felt so disconnected from life. Everyone I’m connected to dies anyway. First Mom. Then Raven. Most recently, Dad. Although I’m not as torn up as I should be. His liver failure brought a little peace into my world because he died. The fucker was no longer making my life a living hell.
“I’m taking the picture, though,” I mutter. I lift up and we lock eyes.
She shakes her head.
“Courtney, I’m taking it.”
She starts struggling again. Her legs kick out and I find my body wedged between them. I manage to pin her wrists once more.
“Please don’t take it,” she whispers. Her blue eyes flicker with emotion and she bites on her bottom lip. Fuck. That lip makes my cock hard as fuck every time. She widens her eyes the moment she realizes my dick is stone between us.
I lean forward and rest my forehead to hers. My hips slightly buck against my will. Her soft body feels too perfect pressed against my hard one.
“I hate you,” I mutter even as my lips seek hers.
She lets out a soft gasp the moment my mouth covers hers. I greedily kiss her supple lips and then search her tongue out. A whimper escapes her and then she’s kissing me back. Unsure but eager at times. When I grind against her again, she lets out a moan so desperate I think I’ll nut in my jeans.
I close my eyes and tear my mouth from hers. This feels like the worst goddamned betrayal to Raven. Literally in bed with the enemy. So fucked up.
“I’m taking the picture,” I say with a groan, my hips still rocking against her.
“No.”
“I’m going to take everything from you.”
“You can have everything. Just not that.”
I grit my teeth and rub against her, seeking relief that only this monster can give. I’m too fucking weak around her because I’m once again kissing her. She’s like a damn drug. I know she’s bad for me, but I’m quickly growing a need for it.
She’ll fucking destroy me like she destroyed my sister.
That thought is enough to have me pulling away again.
“I’m taking it,” I inform her, finally finding my resolve.
She begins screaming obscenities at me while she struggles. I nearly have her fingers pried apart when the light bursts on.
“WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING? GET OFF MY DAUGHTER!”
I jerk away from Courtney in time to see her mother charging for me. She shoves me away from her daughter and I scramble out of her reach on the other side of the bed. My dick is still hard as a rock and Courtney lies there with a look of shock on her face. Her legs are spread apart and I don’t miss the wet spot on her pink panties.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
“You!” her mom screams. “You!”
Shit, she definitely recognizes me.
I take the moment where Courtney is distracted and snag the picture from her grip. I charge past her mom and stomp down the stairs. Her mom is still flipping the fuck out upstairs. Courtney is saying things, but I can’t hear what they are.
“I’m calling the cops!” her mom screams.
That, I do hear.
Motherfucker.
The cops never came.
I waited for two whole days, but nobody ever showed up at the shop. Including Courtney. But then, today, she waltzed in wearing her tight little black tank top and cutoff shorts. That shit is not work appropriate when we have a shop full of horny men. I don’t like the way they all look at her like they might get some.
She’s mine.
All of her.
They won’t get one damn piece.
What I plan on doing with her is another story. I want to make her suffer and remember my sister—to remember what she did to her.
She walks past me and doesn’t even look my way. Instead, she heads straight for the supply room. Her round ass jiggles as she moves. Yep, she needs to cover that shit up.
“Do your jobs,” I bellow to a few guys checking her out as she walks off.
I stalk after her as I unbutton my uniform shirt. I’ve just peeled it off by the time I reach the supply room. She’s already bending over to retrieve a bucket of parts, giving me a prime view of her ass.
“Wear this. Every time. No more of…” I wave at her. “That.”
She turns my way and frowns. “Of what?”
“Looking like a hooker. It’s distracting my guys.”
Her brows crash together and she huffs. Hello, wolf. “I am not a hooker.”
I toss her the shirt. “Whatever. Wear this shit every time. Got it?”
She purses her lips together and nods as she slips my shirt on over her tank. I’ll be damned if it doesn’t make her look hotter than before. My shirt hits her thighs just below her shorts so that it looks like she’s wearing nothing underneath.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Her fingers effortlessly fly through the buttons. She places her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes at me. “Better?”
“Good enough,” I grit out.
I turn and stalk away, but before I exit, she stops me.
“Rome…”
God, I hate how she fucking says my name. It’s like some mental mind trick shit that goes straight to my cock.
“What?”
“I told my mom what we were doing was consensual. She thought it was much worse.”
I look over my shoulder. Big fucking mistake. Her blue eyes are wide and innocent. Sparkling with a need I’ve never seen from her.
“I was taking what belonged to me,” I snap. “We weren’t doing anything.”
Her cheeks flash bright pink and she gives me a sweet smile that I can’t help but be affected by. It makes my heart hammer in my chest.
“I wanted to,” she breathes, her eyes darting down to the floor and then back to mine. Shy and unsure.
I clench my jaw and shake my head. “Well, I sure as hell didn’t.”
Her face crumples and I like that look a whole lot better. It’s one I understand and can control.
“Liar,” she accuses under her breath.
I don’t stick around long enough to tell her she’s right.