Benny
TANNER ENTERS THE OFFICE HE lets me use, steam almost pouring from his ears. It’s so rare to see him lose his usual cool demeanor.
“I’m waiting for a call back, then I will have a job for you tonight,” he barks.
My thoughts go to Dillon and seeing him on the video monitor in the lobby. When I first saw him, my heart rate picked up pace, almost beating from my chest. My hand went straight for my faithful knife, and I had to will my erratic thoughts to calm so I didn’t march out there and turn Tanner’s lobby into a blood bath.
Seeing Dillon brought the reality home that, as of late, my thoughts haven’t strayed to my dirty doll. Not once has she crept into my mind. Instead, Bethany has taken up all the room. She’s burrowed herself under my skin and cleansed me—washed away the urge to take back my dirty little doll. She will always belong to me. I still love her and would take her, but she’s not where my every waking thought lies anymore. My heart feels free from the grip she once had over me. She was so special and perfect, but she hurt me by running and forced my hand too many times. I don’t think I will ever leave the debt she owes me behind. Her betrayal comes with a price, and she will have to pay it. But for now…for now, I won’t take her life. I’ll leave her until the time is right. I will take my sweet Bethany and lock the world out, shutting us away—together.
“Benjamin? Did you hear a word I said?”
No.
“Yes. You have a job for me.”
“Your father was always great to have as an ally, but he’s not my only inside man. My informant warned me someone saw me at Rebel’s Reds and spilled their guts to the detectives on the case. He’s getting me the name and address of the loose-lipped fucker who brought the detectives to my. Fucking. Safe. Haven.” His jaw clenches and nostrils flare. “And, Benjamin?” I give him my attention, enjoying the rage rising off him and blanketing me. “I want her tongue. Make it hurt. This isn’t for pleasure.”
“Noted.”
I wait for the flurry of excitement at seeing my dirty doll.
Rage.
Thrill.
Overwhelming need and desire.
Instead, my heart is corroded with the acid of what she once was and what she did to me. My focus easily leaves her and fixates on my breathtaking Bethany. She is waving goodbye to Dirty Doll and pauses, looking around at her surroundings. She wraps her arms around her waist, and instead of going inside, she begins walking down the path to the street.
I start the engine and slowly follow her. The material of the flowing purple dress she wears caresses her body with each stride while the wind picks up the soft strands of her dark hair, blowing them around her shoulders and across her face.
She walks for a good twenty minutes before entering the small town and coming to a stop in front of a movie theater. A crowd has gathered outside, and I recognize the wrong Bethany amongst the herd. A lanky boy with a leering grin steps forward to greet my perfect new doll and her body retracts. She steps out of his reach, her brows furrowing. His gaze darts to her sister, who just shrugs, and mouths, “Come on, Beth.”
Bethany is visibly shaken at seeing the ugly boy. Her entire demeanor changes with a quick flip of a switch.
“Screw you, Elise!” Bethany shouts, turning on her heel and abandoning her plans.
Stepping from the car, I walk along the opposite path just as she crosses the road and heads straight for me. Her head is down staring at her feet. I know she hasn’t seen me when she almost knocks into me, sidestepping around me at the last minute without lifting her gaze. My breath stills as I debate reaching out for her, but, as if sensing me, she stops moving and looks back over her shoulder. Her hazel eyes bore straight into mine. It’s as if the entire world halts and the moment is suspended in time, two souls searching, surging, connecting.
“Bookshop stalker?” she questions in astonishment, a wide smile—just for me—playing at her lips. The world rights itself and my inner boy mirrors her smile.
“Beautiful bleeder,” I respond, then cringe when her face blanches. A moment later, she bursts into musical filled laughter, and it’s stunning.
“That’s a new one.”
She looks back to the crowd across the street, then to me again. The sun is beginning to set, and the woman I’m supposed to kill comes to mind, along with her address and work schedule. The order from Tanner was to take care of it now, but for now, it can wait. I have something more important to tend to.
“Where are you heading?” I ask.
Biting her bottom lip, she clasps her hands together. “Home.” Her shoulders lift in a shrug as she peers up at me through her thick lashes. “I guess.”
I stare at her lips for a long moment. “Can I walk you?”
“Um…sure,” she breathes, blushing a perfect red that spans over her porcelain pale skin and down her neck.
I offer my hand out to her, and when her small, supple hand slips into mine, my chest expands with a contentment I haven’t felt in what feels like forever. Her scent wafts over me with every movement we take, and I can almost taste it.
Sweet and ripe.
“I love the color of your skin,” I tell her, holding up our joined hands and bringing hers to my lips. Her eyes widen as she looks up at me.
“My sister says I should tan.” She half smiles.
“No. Don’t ever do that.” My tone is harsher than intended, and I worry about frightening her off, but instead, find her studying me with fondness.
“I won’t. I promise,” she assures me, her tone soft and breathless.
I squeeze her hand tighter. “Your sister tries too hard to be like them.”
“Like who?” Her brows crinkle together in confusion.
“Everyone else. She could get lost in a sea of people and no one would be able to pick her out, but you…” I study Bethany intently, “you…your beauty is a stark contrast. Perfect in every way. You’re like a brand-new porcelain doll, never been taken from her packaging.”
Her gasp brings my feet to a stop, and she tugs her hand from mine, then folds her arms over her chest, offering me a guarded smile. Questions sit on the tip of her tongue, but she refrains from asking. Her eyes are narrowed as she studies me, and I wonder if she’s figured out I’m the one who gifted her the doll.
“Did I say something wrong?”
Shaking her head, she tells me, “No, it’s just…this is my house.” She nods her head, gesturing to the house behind her. I was so lost in her, I hadn’t realized how fast or long we had been walking.
“Oh,” I say, offering a tight smile. I don’t want her to go inside. I want to stay in her presence forever.
She will be mine.
Mine.
Mine.
“I’d ask you inside for coffee, but my mother is home.”
I look up at the dark house knowing full well no one is within its confines right now. She doesn’t want me to come inside. Have I scared her? The porcelain doll comment most certainly clued her in, and now, I’ve frightened her. Disappointment floods through me.
“Maybe another time?” I state.
There will definitely be a next time, Pretty New Doll.
“Do you have a phone?” she blurts as I’m turning to leave.
My heart dances in my chest. “Yes.” Pulling it from my pocket, I hand it to her, hoping she doesn’t snoop through it and just adds her number. She flits her thumbs over the screen and hands it back to me. Looking down at the contact, my insides combust. On one hand, I want to stand here with her forever. But on the other, I want to take her and keep her from everyone.
Doll
1-555-433-5212
She knows. Bethany has to know I gave her the doll. Pushing the cell into my pocket, my elation is bustling through my veins and has my hands reaching out to cup her cheeks. Her breath hitches when I lower my head to meet her plump, fat lips. Her hands latch on to my wrists, and her lips part, filling my mouth with her fruity breath. A sigh escapes her as she closes her eyes. I taste her, flicking my tongue into her waiting, needy mouth, devouring and exploring every inch. She’s warm and inviting, and my cock strains knowing her pussy will feel just as wet, just as hot—just as fucking perfect.
Her small tits push against my forearms making me want to tear the dress from her and claim her right there on the fucking lawn. My father’s lawn. I plan to write him a letter when I return home tonight. Time for an update, Daddy Dearest.
A car door slamming pulls Bethany from my grip. Looking past me, she stiffens. “Oh, hey, Dillon,” she squeaks.
Every muscle in my body recoils.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Knowing it will leave me with no choice but having to kill him and take Bethany now, with no plan fully in place for her yet, I don’t turn around. “I’ll call you,” I whisper against her ear before taking off, back toward where I left my car.
“You’re not going to introduce yourself?” he bellows to the back of my head, but I just keep walking, hoping he doesn’t follow. “Hey!” he shouts to my retreating form. “What’s with that?” I hear him say, but it’s muted in the distance. He isn’t following, and I didn’t fuck everything up by changing the plan. The rules. Tanner’s rules.
I stake out Rebel’s Reds. Tonight is the reopening after being shut down by the cops. Something about an investigation into the owner over sex trafficking. I’m not sure. Don’t know and don’t care. I never ask Tanner for details on the people he needs me to take care of. And same with the manager of this place. Tanner told me to kill Law, so I did.
I check for cameras, or more importantly, lack thereof. Tanner wanted me to make it as painful for this woman as possible. He claims she’s the one who ratted us out to the cops, but my high from tasting my new doll has me wanting to get this over and done with so I can go home and see to the raging hard-on that hasn’t gone down since leaving her.
What Tanner doesn’t know can’t hurt him. I’ll tell him I choked her on my cock before cutting her lying tongue from her head and making her drown on her own blood.
Creeping across the lot, I pin my body against the building and slip behind an open door to the back of the club. Checking my watch, I wait for her to finish. A man comes out talking on his phone about the new guy who has taken over things being a dick. He smokes two cigarettes while he whines and bitches, and I think about killing him just to keep myself from having to inhale the disgusting smoke. Just as I’m about to alert him to my presence, he goes back inside.
“Bye, Jack,” a woman’s voice says as she steps into the night.
It’s her—the woman from the photograph Tanner gave me.
I sneak up behind her, grasping each side of her head and snapping her neck before she can finish her startled screech. Pulling my knife from my pocket, I bend over her fallen body and pull her tongue from her open mouth, slicing it from her and dropping it into a small plastic bag. Opening one of the trashcans, I toss her inside. The lid refuses to close the first time, so I have to wrestle the thing, wedging her farther down inside. Just as I’m about to make my getaway, Jack returns. He eyes me, his features crashing in confusion before his gaze drops to the blood on my shirt, then the bag in my hand.
Fuck.
The cigarette falls from his lips as I move fast, swiping the blade from my pocket and jabbing him in the neck with it. His eyes widen and his hands go to the spurting wound. Bringing his hands away, he looks at the blood with disbelief before dropping like a concrete block to the floor. Tossing him in the dumpster is going to be a harder task—one I’m not entertaining. He can stay there.
I make it back to my car and hit the gas.
“Lucy,” I bark into the monitor, entering The Vault through the back and stripping out of my clothes in the small, tiled, wall-to-wall room. The light bleeps above the door, and a cleaner comes inside, bagging up my shit. I push through the door and move down the corridor to the back office I only learned existed when Tanner took me there to meet his Kami. Even thinking her name leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
“Benjamin, you shouldn’t go in there,” Lucy screeches, chasing after me. I halt, and her footfalls cease behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I give her a warning stare. Her bright blue eyes flicker with the urge to stop me—as if she ever could—but something in my glare has her taking pause. Holding her hands up in defeat, she murmurs, “I did warn you.”
I burst through the door, and drop the bag that holds the dead girl’s tongue.
Inside the weird glass box is Kami, her body bare of all clothing. She’s covered in bruises and cuts, her flesh a canvas of blood and pain. Her tits strain against the glass as Tanner pounds into her pussy, and…he’s naked. I’ve never seen him out of all his clothes before. His body ripples and strains with raw power. Natural tanned skin stretches over hard muscle, his forearms wrapped around her neck, holding her in a sort of headlock. And despite her many injuries, she screams in pleasure.
Her eyes land on me through the glass, and a devilish grin lifts her swollen lips.
“You’re a vile, cunt. I fucking hate fucking you. You disgust me, you dirty whore!” he shouts as he powers into her, almost lifting her from the floor. He’s so devoted to his lust, he doesn’t even notice me in the room. My heart shrivels inside its habitat, all the power I once thought I held fleeing me, laughing in mockery. I don’t own him. She does.
Pulling from her, he spins her body to face him and backhands her across the face. She spits blood as her head twists to the side. Her hand comes up in retaliation, but it’s lacking momentum. She’s tired and weaker than him. His eyes flare as he regards her. Wrapping his hand around her small neck, he lifts her clear from the floor and pins her against the glass, her head reaching a height well above his. I notice marks over his body—cuts, bruises, claw marks. The floor of their fuck cell is littered with weapons—knives, batons, and sex toys.
“I win,” he tells her as her body stops fighting his hold and begins to go limp. “Don’t tire out on me yet, my precious pain-whore.” He releases her body, and she drops to the floor with a thwack. Her body jerks as she coughs and spits out more blood.
“You broke a tooth,” she chokes out.
He grins down at her. “I’ll make you an appointment at the dentist. Now, stop your fucking yapping and open that dirty mouth up.” Her lips part, and he fists his thick, hard cock. I’ve never seen it this hard before, straining, veins bulging. His eyelids lower as he regards her and strokes over himself. “Fuck your whore hole for me, Kami. I won this time.”
Her hand splays over the floor, pulling a purple fake cock toward her. She spits blood onto the tip, then lowers the device between her legs. She bristles at first, then her heavy pants match his. The sound of skin slipping over skin and her rotten wet cunt slurping with each thrust travels through the room, bouncing off the walls.
Fuck, I hate her.
They’ve ruined everything.
I was on such a high.
Cum pulses from Tanner straight into her waiting mouth. He wrings his cock dry, then holds his hand over her mouth. “Swallow like a good girl. Let me own you inside and out.”
Fuck her.
Fuck him.
I leave the room.
Leave them.
Leave him.