Delusive (33 page)

“We probably shouldn’t stay here for long.” She leaned back on one elbow and ran her fingertips through my hair, pushing it away from my face. “That was Milton my mother was sucking off. He’d do anything for a hit, including sell you out.”

“I can’t go home, either.” I closed my eyes as the pound inside my head began to worsen. “He will find me there, and besides that, I can’t deal with my father right now.”

“There are a lot of things you can’t deal with.” She giggled.

“You don’t understand, Sky.”

“I’m all ears.”

Opening my eyes, I stared at the unicorn lithograph on the far wall. “His father is responsible for what happened to my mother.”

“Hanley,” she gasped. “Do you think Natanael Cari killed your mother?”

“It’s not as simple as that. At first, I thought it was over my mother’s profession. She drag raced, illegally and sometimes legally. In the illegal races, sometimes pink slips are the currency, and in the small-time legal races, you earn a trophy and money. The thing about the legal races is that if the opposing driver believes you are cheating, you are forced to break down your motor, so they can find out if you are in fact cheating. If you are, you lose almost everything. My mother refused and lost the money, but earned the trophy.
 

“I don’t think that sat right with Natanael. I don’t know. I could be wrong about that. I’ve been churning through ideas since the day we lost her. Maybe she was supposed to throw the race. Maybe she hurt Natanael’s business by winning somehow. All I know is the next time my mother had a very important professional race, it was her last. The accident caused my mother to become stuck in a persistent vegetative state.”

“Oh my God, Hanley.” Skylar’s lip quivered as she squeezed my hand.

“That isn’t the end of it. My father told me Natanael protested to clear himself and his driver from taking the blame, and made sure my mother’s accident was declared negligent on my mother’s part. When that happened, we weren’t able to sue, and we weren’t able to get my mother’s benefit money. It left my father nearly penniless.”

Her eyes glazed over as she stared at me with her mouth agape.

“There has to be more to it. Natanael has more money than most, why would he care about something that would be a drop in the bucket to him? I can’t shake the feeling my father knows more than he’s told me.”

“So what’s your plan? Destroy his son?”

“It’s not that simple,” I dismissed her, ending the conversation and desiring to move on. “I feel like going out. I’ve never gone to a club. Is there one the Caris don’t seem to own?”

“I know of a place, but it’s out of town, and close to where I used to live.”

I ejected from her bed. “Where's your bathroom? I want to freshen up.”

"First door on your right," she answered reluctantly. “And don’t blame me if you find some sick shit in there.”

I navigated the narrow hall and found the bathroom next to the master bedroom. The handle of the bathroom door was in my hand when I saw movement in the bedroom. I released my grip on the door and took one small step inside the bedroom.

In the midst of scourging around the floor, in search of something unknown, I spied Milton. Entering the cluttered bedroom, I called his name. Upon hearing my voice, he jerked, bumping his head on the edge of the bed.
 

"Are you lost, little girl?" he asked with as scowl.
 

I looked down the hall behind me, listening to Skylar's mother as she snored on the couch. I couldn’t run from the reason I was there, I had to make a proactive move. I’d delayed long enough by succumbing to feelings that got me nowhere but deeper into the throes of Elias’s dark abyss. Now that he’d said—or his actions might’ve suggested he loved me—phase two needed to be enacted to push things forward.

Setting my eyes on Milton, I closed the door behind me. "How well does Elias treat you?”

His posture went rigid, his eyes questioned me with skepticism. “Why’d ya wanna know?”

“Because I want to help you.”

“What I gotta do for it?”

“You just have to help me when the time is right.”

He flopped on the bed, staring up at me in wonder. “What do I get?”

“A piece of the Caris’ fortune.”

A slow grin spread across his face, revealing his badly decayed teeth. “I’m all ears, little girl.”

TWENTY-TWO

THE CLUB WAS A sea of well-dressed people dancing, socializing, and drinking under blue and red strobe-lights. The music was a hodgepodge of popular songs and dance music classics set against dubstep beats. Skylar and I hung back by the far wall closest to the bar. She surveyed the crowd, looking for something or someone.

“Do you know how to dance?” she shouted over the din.

Giving her a smile, I took her hand out to the floor and let the movement of my body serve as her answer. We were in sync as we moved to the rhythm. The crowd became denser, forcing us to dance closer to each other. I placed my hands on her hips, swaying my body against hers. Something flashed in her eyes, and I couldn’t tell if it was desire or curiosity—it was gone too quickly.

She grabbed my hands and slipped them from her. “I have to use the potty,” she stage-whispered in my ear and left me alone on the floor.

I waded through the crowd and found my way to the bar. After waiting for five minutes, the bartender came around to me and looked at me expectantly, waiting for my drink order.

“A madras, please,” I requested. I turned my back on the bar, looking for Skylar to reappear so I could flag her over. A tap on my shoulder made me turn around. My drink was ready and the bartender expected his pay.

I gave him a twenty and told him to keep the change. As I moved to the music, I began to sip my drink.
 

Halfway done with my drink, I began to suspect something was wrong. The club’s crowd began to press on me, making it hard to move around. The closer I got to the bathroom, the farther away it seemed. White noise filled my ears and my balance faltered.

The breeze of the fresh outside air whirled around my face, but I could barely gather if I was outside. I must’ve taken a very wrong turn if I was. The sidewalk became my ceiling and the sky my floor when something constricting was wrapped around my waist. My eyelids became heavily weighted, making it difficult to keep them open.

I STARTLED, JOLTING off the couch in fear. My head pounded, the room swirled around, slowing in speed as I regained my focus. The black walls and the patterned marble floor indicated where I’d wound up. I held my head and exhaled sharply in frustration.
 

“Elias,” I called into the quiet living room. My taxed voice echoed throughout the room, returning to me without a response from the intended recipient.
 

The faint sound of the water rushing through the pipes in the ceiling told me I wasn’t alone.
 

I walked through the house and made my way up the wide staircase, following the sound of the water running in the shower.
 

With trepidation, I crossed the threshold and entered Elias’s bedroom. I searched around the dim space, able to smell his cologne, but was unable to see him. A slight movement out of the shadow of the corner of my eye drew my attention.
 

Elias leaned forward, revealing himself from his position on the love seat, opposite the bed. He looked relaxed and in too good of a mood to make me feel comfortable about the situation.

“Did you sleep well?” As he stood, the air in the room began to thin. The dim lighting bounced off his face, highlighting the more prominent areas: his emerald eyes, the high cheekbones, the prominent jawline, and the very visible Adam’s apple cradled between the high collar of his black button up. “Hanley?” He flashed me his signature smile. “Answer my question.” His voice deepened a tad. It was enough to indicate I shouldn’t trust the beguiling front he showcased.

“Yes, I did. But, I guess…” My voice trailed off when I realized Elias wasn’t running a shower for me, because the water abruptly shut off. The slam of the stall door made me tense up a little more. “What happened?”

He looked back at the cracked open bathroom door. “Would you mind coming out here?” he requested more than asked of the person in the bathroom.

The door creaked open and out stepped Skylar. Her skin was damp with moisture, and her hair was piled high on top of her head in a messy topknot.
 

I clutched my heart, certain it stopped beating.

“
Minha amada
,” Elias cooed, stepping forward again. “Why the long face?” He clucked his tongue and addressed Skylar while keeping his steely gaze on me, “Would you allay my girlfriend’s fears? She seems to think I’m into breaking promises and fucked you while she was sleeping.”

Skylar hesitated and wrung her hands. The nervous reactions shown through her fingers were severe enough to ensure she couldn't abate the movement.

“Skylar.” Elias snapped his fingers in her direction, his voice clipped and imperious.

“N-nothing happened,” she told me, her voice quiet. “He told me to take a shower and to wait for you to wake up.”

“There”—his grin broadened—“do you feel better about things now, Hanley?”

I clutched my aching stomach through the material of my corset. The burn of the unknown made me uncomfortable in my own skin. “Look, I understand you’re upset—”

I hadn’t realized my posture had slumped and my eyes were trained to the floor until he marched forward and jerked my chin up. “I’m not upset at all. I realized I’ve been a little too strict with you. I want you to have what you want. What you lied to me and told me you didn’t want.” He dropped his hands from my face and walked behind me, pressing his firm body against my back. His hands possessively gripped my hips and pulled me fully back against him. “Tonight, I want you to have Skylar.”

The bottom of the floor dropped out, leaving me feeling as though I was on a roller-coaster, descending a deep decline. “Elias—”

He put a hand over my mouth and shushed me. “Drop your towel, Sky.”

With trembling hands, she unfolded her towel and allowed it to fall to the floor. From the natural, perfect curve of her breasts, the inward curving waist and full hips, her body was my perfect ideal. Her beautiful, colorful tattoos were perfectly imprinted into her alabaster skin, adorning her arms, her décolletage, and the side of her torso. Her navel was pierced with a diamond belly ring, and a black barbell pierced her left rose-pink nipple.

“Do you think she’s beautiful, Hanley?” He slowly dropped his hand from my mouth, slipping it around my neck.

“Yes,” I croaked.

He flipped my hair to one shoulder. “Do you want her?”

“Yes.”

The sensation of his lips, brushing against my ear made my shudders turn from slight to violent. “Does she make you wet?”

Even if I had the ability to answer, it became unnecessary. He discovered the answer for himself when he yanked up my skirt and pulled the crotch portion of my panties to the side. The pads of his fingers grazed against my slit, rocking up and down. In response to what he found, he sucked his breath in a controlled manner. His hand firmed its hold on my neck as he teasingly manipulated my sex. Removing his hand, he held up his fingertips, glistening with my arousal. He gestured in the air, beckoning for Skylar.
 

Shyly, she walked forward, ensuring Elias could easily touch her.
 

He touched her lips, sinking his fingers inside her mouth. “How does she taste?”

Skylar nodded, looking torn between anxiety and desire.

“You’re going to eat her pussy, but you’re not allowed to make her come.” He tugged me with him, forcing me to walk backward. The whoosh of the cushions resounded as he sat down. He pulled me down, forcing me to sit between his gaped open legs. He spread my legs widely over the top of his lap and positioned a hand over my throat to keep me in place.

“On your knees, Skylar. I want you to make her sloppy wet for me.” His command was cold and calm, pulling her to fall on her knees directly in front of me.
 

Slowly, her face neared the area between my thighs. She shoved the crotch portion of my panties aside, pinning them to the crease of my thigh, exposing me. Her hot breath made me quiver. When I felt her gentle, warm tongue between the lips of my labia, I unsuccessfully tried to stifle a moan.

Elias’s hand clenched tightly around my throat, forcing my head to move to the right. His eyes burned into me as he kissed me harshly, punishing my mouth with his teeth and his tongue. Every time Skylar made me whimper, he held my throat a little tighter. Beneath me, I could feel him begin to harden.
 

Working his hands deftly between us, he unzipped and unfastened. “Take off her panties,” he said to Skylar, his mouth still at my lips.

Her delicate hands reached up the sides of my thighs and urged my panties down one leg at a time. He pushed my hips up, centering me over his pulsating cock. He slowly lowered me down until he completely filled me. Reaching forward, he grabbed the back of Skylar’s head and forced her to continue to taste me and held her there.