Exploited (The Dark Redemption Series) (15 page)

Brede

With a swift kick of my booted right foot, the blue plastic garbage can sitting on the curb for pickup goes flying into the perfectly manicured yard, littering it with trash.

The sight improves my mood by about a centimeter.

After I left Blair, I couldn’t take her car since I’m an idiot assassin who doesn’t know how to hotwire a fucking car. My bike is still back at Rog’s, so I started walking, too stubborn or angry to call a cab, I’m not sure which.

You’re an asshole, and he’s not.

Her goddamn voice won’t shut the fuck up, saying that shit over and over again in my head. The most words I ever heard her speak and it was to insult me. I deserve it, of course. Truer words have never been spoken. I am nothing less than a certified, grade-A asshole. But it’s the words
he’s not
that are my hang up. He’s. Fucking. Not. The biggest ball busting words anyone has ever said to me. I don’t know who he is, but I would really like to introduce my fist to his face or my bullet to his skull.

Actually, that’s not a bad idea.

No telling who this prick is and what he wants with Blair. Well, I’m pretty sure I know what he wants because it’s the same thing I want…But I also want more, to protect her and take care of her.

Taking the last drag on my cigarette, I toss it to the pavement and grind it out with my boot as I debate whether or not I should go back. You know, just to see who this dick is and make sure he knows I’ll put a bullet in his head if he screws her over. Yes, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.

Pivoting around, I start walking back toward her neighborhood. I don’t know how long I’ve been walking, but it’s definitely not been a short trek. It’s gonna take a while. Which is good. I need time to figure out what I’m gonna say to Blair. That I wanna meet her man? That I’m gonna threaten his life if he doesn’t treat her right and keep her safe? So what if she’s still pissed at me. It’s not like she can throw me out of the house.

Really, what I should do is throw
her
over my shoulder, find the goddamn keys to the stolen car and haul her ass out of town. Fuck the guy who she says isn’t an asshole. Blair’s probably wrong about him since she isn’t the best judge of character, obviously. All men are assholes. And if he’s not, then he’s probably a weak, limp-dicked bastard who can’t protect her. At least not against the men who her father will send after her once he realizes I haven’t done my job. He’s probably gonna come after me for the quarter million he wired me as an advance. Fuck him. They’ll just have to find me before I kill him first.

An hour or so later as I stroll through the last intersection before her father’s house, I feel even more certain about my decision. The girl doesn’t know what’s good for her, but I damn well do. So, it may take me owning up to the real reason about why I’m in town to convince her that we need to haul ass out of here sooner rather than later. If that’s what I have to do, then fuck it, I will. After that, I probably
will
have to haul her kicking and screaming over my shoulder since she’s gonna be pissed. More than pissed. She’s gonna be hurt and maybe hate me for being the type of guy who kills for money. But maybe I can get her to forgive me. If nothing else, I can at least keep her safe.

When I step into the yard, I hear it...Blair crying. The sound is familiar now, and just like before, it makes my insides ache, right over where my heart would be if I had one. It’s so clear that it sounds like she’s sitting in her backyard. What the fuck is wrong with her, putting herself on display like that?

I walk around the corner of the house, but in the darkness, I don’t see her. Her sobs are definitely louder out here. That’s when I notice a raised window. Figuring it’s hers, I walk over and peek inside.

No.

No fucking way.

I squint to try to see better in the dark, but I swear to fucking God it looks like she’s tied to her bed…completely naked.

Half a second later I’m vaulting over into the room.

“Blair, baby, are you okay?” I ask, stepping closer to the bed. My hand reaches out to wipe away her tears, but I pull back at the last second, scared it’ll make things worse since she hasn’t opened her eyes or responded to my words. I’m not sure if she even knows I’m here. She’s so…lost and broken. And sure as fuck, her arms are tied over her head.

Not knowing what else to do, and afraid to touch her, I start undoing the knots.

After a few frustrating seconds where her cries increase and my patience wears thin, I pull out my pocket knife and slit the material right down the middle so she can at least lower her arms. As soon as they’re free, she rolls to her side and curls up in the fetal position, her shoulders shaking with her breakdown. 

Jesus.

What the hell happened in here, and what the fuck am I supposed to do now?

Since I don’t wanna try to put her clothes on her until she calms down, I pull the sheet up over her nakedness. When she doesn’t protest, I cover her with the comforter too. And then I stand there, silently watching her have a breakdown and not doing a goddamn thing. I want to break something or hit someone, the fucker who left her this way.

Her sobs quiet down. And when there’s only the occasional sniffle, I sit down next to her and try to talk to her again. Not that she would talk to me before…

“Blair?” I ask. “Are you okay?” I watch her head to see if it moves in one direction or another. Nothing, no response, and it’s fucking killing me.

“Blair, baby, please say something, anything…”

Scooting closer to her, I lean over and gently brush the damp hair from her face, wet from her tears. “Shh,” I say when she starts sniffling again. “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.”

Suddenly rolling over, she throws herself into my arms, so I hold her tightly and try to calm her down with hushed words, soothing my palms up and down her back. Who knows if it helps, but at least she’s letting me touch her.

Eventually, her body relaxes, and her chest rises and falls deeply like she’s drifted off to sleep. Holding her against me, I scoot down lower into the bed to get more comfortable, but I know I won’t be able to sleep tonight.

…

Blair

I wake up with my head resting on a hard chest and strong arms banded around me. It takes me a minute to realize that this is Brede and not Aden tonight. No, Aden came and left right after he fucked me.

It wasn’t all bad, and I don’t necessarily think it’s his fault that I’m sore, isn’t that to be expected? But afterward, he just up and left when I needed him to hold and comfort me like I was more than just a careless fuck to him. Instead, he didn’t even untie me. If Brede hadn’t come back, then I don’t know how long I would’ve been stuck here, alone and…defiled. That’s definitely not exactly how I imagined my first time.

I push myself up because I want to go soak in a warm bath, not just to clean myself of him, but to soothe the ache between my legs.

“Hey,” Brede says when I sit up. “Are you okay? I’m worried about you.”

I nod and throw the covers off. But before I can climb off the bed, Brede gets out of bed and reaches over and turns on the bedside lamp. I know he’s just trying to help, and I’m glad he’s here, that he came back, but at the same time, I don’t want him to see me this way.

“Fuck, Blair,” Brede says when he turns away and swipes a palm down his face. He walks toward the window and then back to the bed. “Did you
let
some fucker do that to you?” he asks, waving a hand toward the pink staining my legs and the sheets. His gaze moves to my wrists that still have the scarf wrapped around them, shredded in the middle by Brede’s knife I’m assuming.

Hanging my head, I nod since I did let him. I knew what was gonna happen, I just didn’t know what to expect afterward. It certainly wasn’t him leaving me without a word.

When I try to ease off the bed, I can’t help but wince.

“Goddamn it,” Brede mutters before he lifts me in his arms. “I may have hurt you, but I wouldn’t have left you, not like this,” he says, making me feel even worse as I wind my arms around his neck, and he carries me to the bathroom, knowing without me telling him that it was my intended destination.

Of course, I thought about losing my virginity to Brede. Why I didn’t is probably because I was scared he would be callous about it while Aden wouldn’t. Look how well that turned out.

Sitting me down on the edge of the tub, Brede asks, “Bath?”

With my nod, he turns on the faucet and runs his hand underneath the water to check the temperature, before adjusting the two dials. Once it’s set to his liking, he pulls out a pocketknife from his jeans and starts cutting the material away from each of my wrists.

“What kind of sick fuck…” Brede mutters under his breath while he works, easily taking care of what’s left of the scarf. Finished, he throws away the shredded pieces, and then picks me up and sits me gently into the tub.

As the water rises, I reach for the body wash and pour it into the stream to make bubbles because I feel too exposed and want to cover myself with something. When the water is nearly to the top of the tub, I turn the faucet off and lean back against the wall. The warm water feels good between my thighs and relaxes the muscles in my sore arms.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Brede says from his seat on the closed toilet lid. Unable to look at him, I play with the bubbles to give him time to explain. “Bringing back your car was supposed to be an apology; but before I could explain that, you were pissed off at me again.”

That’s true. He’s good at pissing me off. But so far he’s doing pretty well with the making up. 

“Your dad really does want you dead and soon, which is why I wanted you to leave with me. You’re not safe here. Don’t you think this will be the first place anyone thinks to look for you?” he asks.

He’s right, of course, but it’s not like I can explain to him why I can’t just leave with him. Although, after earlier with Aden, I don’t know what to expect from him either. Will he still want to help me? Is he gonna come back for me?

“Will you just consider getting the fuck out of town?” Brede asks. Finally meeting his eyes, I nod because I assume that’s Aden’s plan too. If not, it’s my new one. I’ll wait, and if I don’t hear from Aden again by tomorrow afternoon, then I’ll go with Brede if he’s still here.

“I’m not leaving you until you make me,” he says, making me smile since he always does that, seeming to know exactly what I’m thinking. I nod my agreement again since I don’t want him to leave either. If Aden still wants my help, he’ll just have to deal with Brede, whether he wants to or not.

Actually, that seems like the best freaking idea ever.

“Why do you look so happy?” Brede asks. And this time, when I glance over at him, I recognize the hooded expression on his face right away. He wants me, he’s also still angry, but now his eyes are roaming over the parts of me exposed in the water and bubbles. And when he licks his bottom lip, that small flash of his tongue makes my nipples perk right up. The slight widening of his eyes and flaring of his nostrils tells me he definitely noticed their change.

“Maybe I should wait in your room,” he says when he stands up to leave. On his way past the tub, I reach out and grab his jean-covered thigh to stop him. When he pauses, I don’t waste any time sliding my wet hand higher until I’m grasping his bulge. His groan echoes around the room’s tiled walls.

I ease his zipper carefully over his erection and Brede takes care of the rest. After pulling his shirt over his head, he takes off his shoes and socks and shucks his pants while I sit up to drain some of the water from the tub, knowing he’ll slosh a lot of it out when he joins me. After it recedes, he climbs in and straddles my legs that are clenched together protectively, stretching out on top of me. His mouth crashes down on mine as he braces a hand on the back of the tub. I run my fingers through the sides of his hair, holding his lips to mine.  Brede’s so hard it feels like his erection is gonna penetrate me through my stomach. And if I weren't so sore, I would definitely let him inside me. With his tongue stroking mine and his hand on my breast, I want him so much. Since I know he needs to come, I want to make him feel good.

Reaching between our bodies, I fist his cock and start to stroke.

His lips release mine with a curse when his hips start to pump into my hand. “As soon as your pussy heals, I’m gonna take it,” he says against my ear. “Get ready, because I’m gonna fuck you every which way possible.”

“Yes,” I say in agreement. Despite the ache, the pulse of need is hammering between my legs, I let go of Brede’s cock and slip my hands down his back to push him a little lower until his cock presses against that perfect spot. “Oh God,” I moan, raising my own hips to seek more friction. I could come like this, without penetration, just from his hard length stroking my clit. I squeeze my thighs together a little tighter, and that’s all it takes for my orgasm to blast off. Brede’s cock jerks; and when his entire body shudders, I know he came as well.

After we catch our breath, his lips return to mine, brushing soft kisses over them until he asks, “Ready for bed?”

I respond with a nod, blinking my hazy, lust filled eyes up at him until he comes into focus.  Smiling, he pushes himself off of me and then grabs a towel from the hanger before helping me up. He wraps the cloth around my shoulders, drying me off before he steps out and finds his own towel.