Cataclysm (37 page)

He pulled back, eyes aflame. “Are you sure it is he that is under your control? Or might it be the other way around?”

She did her best to look confused, which wasn’t entirely hard to do. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Hmm,” he said in thought.

He swept his bony hand over the curve of her hip and the flat plane of her stomach, and then he moved even farther south to touch her intimately. She couldn’t help the cry of pleasure his touch evoked. He had the ability to leave her writhing in a pool of orgasms by touch alone.

“You fucked him.” There was no malice in his tone. He dipped his fingers inside her, and she cried out again until his mouth covered hers to stifle her sound of pleasure. When he pulled back, he had a self-satisfied look on his face. “I can taste the evidence of his cock in your mouth as well. Oh, Sin... the lengths you will go to ensure I have what I want pleases me greatly. Did his touch please you, too?”

Still lost in the wave of orgasms, she answered without forethought. “Yes...”

The back of Drake’s hand landed hard across her cheek and she was snapped out of her daze. She instinctively covered the spot with her hand as she took a step back. He grabbed her by both arms and pulled her back to him.

“You fucking whore!” He turned them both around until her back was to the wall and his hand was around her throat. “You dare take pleasure from a man when you belong to me? I own you!”

Sinclair clawed at his hands while gasping for air, kicking and flailing when he lifted her up the wall. “Please... sorry...” Her words were strangled whispers as she begged him for mercy.

Without warning, but much to her relief, he dropped her to the floor. Scrambling to her hands and knees, she launched into a series of gasps and wheezing coughs as her lungs filled with the oxygen she had been denied.

“You wound me with your infidelity, Sin.” Drake’s voice was much calmer now. “I’ll remind you that since you vowed your soul to me, I can take it at any time I want. Get up. There’s something else of which you need to be reminded.”

Placing her hand on the wall for leverage, she forced herself to her feet. No sooner had she stood when Drake took her hand roughly and yanked her out of her bedroom. He dragged her along behind him down the hallway until they reached the sealed door. Then he pulled her to stand directly in front of him to face it. Unable to bear the sight, she turned her face into her shoulder.

Cold hands brushed her neck when he moved her long hair away from her face. “We are connected in a way that allows me to feel everything you feel, Sin. And what I feel from you now is an uncertainty about what it is that we’re attempting to do. You wanted retribution. Do you remember that?”

When she didn’t answer, he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at the door.

“Open it, Sinclair.”

She shook her head as much as she could in his viselike grip. She didn’t want to see what was on the other side. It hurt too much.

“I said, open it!” he shouted, causing her to flinch.

Her voice trembled. “It’s locked.”

He reached around her waist and, with a flick of his wrist, she heard the deadbolts click. “Not anymore,” he said with satisfaction.

A reluctant, shaky hand reached out and touched the doorknob. The steel was cold against her palm, and it sent a wave of grief straight through her heart. Knowing she had no other choice, she turned it, and the door swung open.

His chest to her back, Drake urged her forward and into the room. Her feet were weighted down with hesitance, but she managed to take the steps. It wasn’t until Drake flipped on the light that a deluge of memories slammed into her all at once.

Drake whispered into her ear. “See what they took from you? From us? They have to pay, Sin. They have to pay for what they stole. They had no right!”

The once-powerful aroma of the room had been diluted somewhat, but it was still there, as were all the trigger items that brought the memory she refused to relive fresh to her mind as if it were only yesterday. A renewed sense of anger and vengeance surged through her, overriding any doubts she may have had moments before.

Her fingernails dug into her palms, and angry tears clouded her vision. She ground her teeth and narrowed her eyes to slits. “Yes, they will pay for what they did.”

He wrapped his icy hands around her waist and pulled her against him. Nuzzling the crook of her neck, he kissed a trail up to her ear. “I’ll not make you wait any longer to have what I promised. Bring my youngest to me, Sin. It’s time to exact our revenge.”

Dominic had come home. Kerrigan knew because the sound of the Barracuda’s Hemi engine as it crept down the street was unmistakable. He just didn’t come to her.

Midnight came and went, and she had hoped that if he couldn’t stand to see her, maybe he would at least check in on her when she couldn’t see him. But he hadn’t. She had lain awake all night, listening for creaks in the floor, trying to distinguish temperature changes around her, paying attention to any pull, anything that might indicate his presence. There was nothing. She was alone with Millie curled up next to her on the bed, the pup’s light snores the only thing piercing the lonely silence that surrounded her.

Exhaustion from her efforts to develop and nurture the life in her womb, coupled with the work from restoring order to the bedroom and the stress of everything else in her life that seemed to be crashing down around her, had taken a toll on her. Not to mention the episode in the garden, the argument with Gabe over having not told him about her pregnancy, and the ever-present worry that she would lose Dominic—one way or another. Unable to process any of it anymore, her body shut down, and she drifted off to sleep.

By morning, there was still no Dominic, and no evidence he had ever come to bed. Millie was at the bottom of the stairs, scratching at the door and whining to be let out. Deciding she would have to make the first move, she got up, let Millie out, and went in search of Dominic.

She found him in the kitchen with Gabe and Colton, standing at the counter with a bowl of cereal.

“Oh, boo... you look like shit,” Gabe said in a pathetic voice.

Alerted to her presence, Dominic looked up but averted his eyes when he saw she was looking at him. He dropped the spoon into the full bowl and pushed it back, preparing to leave. He only paused when Gabe asked how she was feeling.

Kerrigan turned to look at her best friend. “Um... I feel fine. A little hungry, maybe.”

Gabe got up from the table. “Well, of course you’re hungry, sweetie. You’re eating for two. Now you have a reason to look like a cow. Come sit down and let Auntie Gabe whip up something for that baby.” He took her by the arm and ushered her toward a vacant chair.

He was never that attentive unless he wanted something, so either her pregnancy or the fact that he was finally getting some had softened his brashness. She wasn’t sure if she liked it or not, or even if it was some sort of trick—judging by how mad he had been with her the night before—but whatever the case, it was nice.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed Dominic was leaving, so she pulled away from Gabe to stop him. “Oh, hey, Dominic...” He didn’t even acknowledge her as he kept walking and disappeared out of sight.

“Just ignore him, Kerr Bear. He’s in one of his moods,” Gabe said when he saw the look of rejection on her face. He directed her back to the table and pushed her down into the seat. “Colt, would you be a dear and go shove a boot up his ass? I don’t care how pissy he is, it’s no reason to treat his baby momma like that.”

Colton gave her a reassuring smile before he got up and followed after his brother.

Gabe was already at the refrigerator pulling out a carton of eggs, but he had yet to stop talking. “I mean, she didn’t tell
me
... of all people... that she got knocked up, but you don’t see me acting all shitty.” He turned around, and when he saw that Colton had already left the room, he put his hand on his hip and smacked his lips. “Did he just for real walk out on me while I was talking?”

Kerrigan grinned and nodded.

Gabe waved his wrist into the air and exaggerated a disgruntled sigh. “Well I guess the honeymoon’s over.” He pulled the skillet out of the cabinet and went about his business. “Y’all are going to have to patch this shit up. Little Hyacinth ain’t gonna be a bastard child before she’s even born.”

Kerrigan furrowed her brow. “Hyacinth?”

He threw the broken eggshells in the trash and looked at her. “That’s what we’re naming our little girl,” he said as if the decision had already been made.

Kerrigan got out of her seat and went to pour herself a cup of coffee. “Why Hyacinth?”

“Because it’s my favorite flower.” He turned his head around and batted his lashes at her from over his shoulder. When he saw the coffee cup, he got a stern look on his face and took it from her. “Nope, you’re preggers. No more caffeine for you.”

She rolled her eyes and went to sit back down. “And what if
we
have a boy?”

Gabe waved the spatula in the air with the roll of his head. “First of all, if a little stinky-ass boy comes out of you, I’m shoving him back in. Secondly, if you do have a boy, it’s really rather simple... we’ll name him after my other favorite thing: Ralph.”

“Ralph?”

“It’s his pet name for my cock,” Colton said, coming back into the kitchen. He winked and then gave her a knowing smile.

Kerrigan rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

Gabe slid her eggs onto a plate before sitting it in front of her on the table. “People name their children after relatives all the time.”

“
Relatives
, not their relatives’ genitalia, Gabe. There’s a difference.” Kerrigan’s stomach churned over the smell of the eggs, so she started with the toast first. “So, um... how is he?” she asked Colton, trying to change the subject.

He sighed and sat back down in his seat. “He doesn’t want to be bothered, and he’s pulled the invisibility trick again.”

“Again? I’m really worried about him. He’s ghost more than he is solid nowadays.”

Colton yawned. “Yeah, I noticed.” His eyelids were heavy, and the dark bags that sat above his cheeks were a stark indicator of just how bad off he was as well.

“What about you? Are you getting any sleep at all?”

Gabe sat down with them. “Some, but not nearly enough.”

Colton shrugged. “I’ll be okay. I mean, this can’t go on forever, right?”

Kerrigan shook her head. “No, Sinclair’s going to make a move soon. I can feel it. And one thing we don’t need when we face off with her is a crack in our foundation. We have to be a strong, united front. I have a feeling she and Drake will be able to sniff out any weakness among us, and right now... that weakness is me and Dominic. I’m going to go talk to him.” She stood up, leaving her breakfast abandoned.

Colton stood and put his hand on her arm. “Look, Kerr. I know you love my brother, but not telling him that he’s going to be a father was a pretty fucked up thing for you to do.”

Gabe got to his feet, poised to defend his friend. “Hey! Don’t start in on her! I know my Kerr Bear. Whatever reason she had for keeping that from him... and you
will
tell me later,” he added as a side note while eyeballing Kerrigan, “it must have been a good one. That man needs to dry it up and stop acting like she, and this baby, aren’t the best things in the world that ever happened to him.”

Millie jumped up and down, barking at them.

“Gabe,” Kerrigan said, trying to get them to stop arguing.

Colton ignored her, and leaned over to face off with his boyfriend. “Newsflash,
hun
... there’s a war between good and evil going on all around us, and my brother just happens to be smack dab in the middle of it! How the hell is he supposed to be happy about something like this when he might not even be around to see his kid? Not to mention the fact that our sperm donor will now have a new target as well. How’s he supposed to live with himself knowing that it’s his fault the kid will always be haunted by some shit like that?”

Millie’s barks became more insistent. He obviously didn’t like the vibe in the room.

“Colton, it’s okay. Really, I—” Kerrigan tried but was cut off yet again.