Marked. Part II: Becoming Noah Baxter (15 page)

“
He wouldn't have come after us like that if there was. Besides, the impact would have set it off.”

Okay, good. It still makes me anxious watching him.

I aim my gun up the road.

“
What are you doing?” Jay yells over to me, feet away from the driver's side door. 

“
There's going to be another car.” There's always another car.

Jay chuckles, “It's not going to be exactly like last time, Lily.”

I don't care. I'm not taking any chances.

“
Baby,” Jay's voice is calm, as though he's trying to talk someone down from the ledge, “The guy's bleeding out, he's in a lot of pain. Are you going to be okay if I...you know...”

I glance over to an apprehensive Jay.

“Is there any way he can make it?”

He scratches his scruff before hollering back, “
I really don't think so.”

“
Really? Or are you also worried he knows of my existence?”

“
Both,” he confesses, unashamed.

I groan, “Why do you have to make this my decision?”

“I'm not going to kill someone in front of you.”

“
I can't make that kind of decision, Jay. Do what you think is best.”

A shot fires instantly, making me flinch.

Jay's busy inspecting something when I notice another car barreling down the road at an incredible speed.

Without thinking I hop out of the car and move around to the front, readying my gun to take it out. I hesitate as it gets closer, knowing it could just be a fast driver.

“Do it, Lily,” Jay commands. “Take the chance.”

My finger pulls the trigger the very moment he finishes the last word.

This driver appears to have better control of his car, not letting it spin out of control as it fishtails. The driver seems to purposely turn it so he's heading straight for me.

Before I have the chance to react, Jay plows into my side and we're airborne, crashing back down as we narrowly miss being hit by the car. It smashes into the metal guard rail, crumpling it's front end.

Jay lifts up, staying on all fours above me, “Shit, baby. Did I hurt you?”

I can tell I might have some bruises and scratches, but nothing serious, “No, I'm fine.”

“I almost had a heart attack,” he kisses my head and stands, helping me to do the same, “I'm checking on our new arrival.”

The driver's door opens as Jay gets closer.

“The little shit,” Jay fumes, pulling whoever it is out by the shirt and throwing the body to the ground, kicking it in the ribs, “Were you trying to get us killed, motherfucker?!”

Jay bends over the body and removes their gun. When he takes a step back I can finally see the man's face.

Asswipe.

He obviously doesn't have a desire to live.

Jay pulls a cell phone out of his pocket and explains what just happened to someone on the other end, ensuring that they are close by to help clean this up before we get noticed. 

Asswipe takes the opportunity to reach down his leg, revealing a holster and gun. He pulls it out slowly to not bring attention to himself.

I automatically fire, shooting a bullet through his hand, effectively sending his gun flying over the edge.

Jay looks over at me, eyebrows raised in surprise, “Thanks, babe.”

I shrug, like I do it all the time. With a shaky hand I wipe away the hair strands that have blown in my face from the wind. My dress also whips around me and I like seeing the way Jay seems momentarily paralyzed, eyes glued to the way it's clinging to my body.

“
You're so fucking hot looking with that gun in your hands.”

Asswipe is moaning in pain, spewing a slew of curse words directed at me and how badly he's going to make me pay, sadly distracting Jay from telling me how perfect I am.

Jay takes him by the throat, “Who else knows about her?”

Asswipe doesn't respond,

“I'll only help you if you answer.”

“
Just the guy I hired,” he can barely get the words out from Jay's tight grip.

“
You know what will happen to you if you're lying, right?”

“
You'll kill me?” Asswipe stupidly mocks.

Jay gets right up in his face, “Worse.
I will cut you limb from limb with a dull saw, taking my time cutting through the bone.”

I scrunch up my face in disgust, “God, Jay, way to sound like a psychopath.”

Jay glares at me for interfering. I curl my lips in, realizing he's just saying that shit to scare the hell out of him. Oops. That would be why he wants me keeping my mouth shut.

Asswipe goes to speak but Jay tells him to shut it.

“It's about time,” Jay mumbles in response to the black Escalade that arrives.

Charlie is the first to get out. I wouldn't be surprised if Asswipe's next few breaths are his last. Charlie yanks a pained Asswipe, who's hand is bleeding all over him.

Charlie informs Jay to get me out of here, they'll have this mess dealt with.

“
You tell Vault that he better not be an issue anymore, and Lily's safety better be guaranteed,” Jay mandates.

“
He won't be a problem, trust me,” Charlie reassures.

That seems good enough for Jay and he leads us back to the car.

As we take off, Jay is tapping the steering wheel with his fingers and his legs are bouncing, “I can't believe he tried doing that!”

I still have a shit-ton of adrenaline flowing through me and can hardly sit still, “You're going to be pissed at me for saying this, but that was fun!” If I ignore the dead guy. I just have to remind myself he was hired to kill me, right? I can't even tell if that's right or wrong anymore.

“Jesus, Lily. You were so fucking hot back there. Especially when you were leaning out the window, damn..” Jay grabs my hand and places it between his legs so I can feel how hard the length of him is, “I've been this way since then. Someone's trying to kill us and I fucking want you.”

“
I can't believe you were watching me and not the road!” I secretly love it.

“
I couldn't help it, the dress came right up over your ass. And the look on your face when you concentrate? Fuck me, it was sexy as hell.”

My hand cups him more and he groans, tightening his hold on me, putting more pressure over my hand, assisting me in my strokes.

I'm hit with a sudden urge for sex so strong I might go insane. “Is this the adrenaline making me feel this way?” I ask, unzipping his pants to get a better hold.

Jay's eyes roll back as he nods, his voice hoarse, “Yes.”

I stroke him harder while my other hand cups my breast, tweaking a nipple.

The car speeds up. Both our windows are down, the sea air whipping my hair around. I close my eyes and let the high I'm feeling overtake my body. Jay places a hand between my legs and I roll my hips into it, needing more friction. I feel everything to the extreme, like I'm on a drug that has awakened my senses to the max.

Jay growls, “Jesus, you're so wet your panties are damp.”

A finger slides under, running between my folds. He brings it out and slowly licks it off his finger. I watch, my arousal taking possession of my body.

I slide my hand down, wetting my fingers, Jay having a hard time concentrating on the road, wanting to watch me. When I feel they are lubricated enough I reach over and stroke his cock. His head falls back for a fraction of a second, his cock twitching in my hand.

“
Lily, baby,” he pants, “I'm going to fuck you so hard you'll see stars.”

By the time we reach the garage and Jay has parked in the far back, we are both flushed, greedy to rip the other's clothes off.

I slide out, ready to run to his place if I have to, never needing release so badly in my life.

Jay has other plans as he comes around to my side, slamming the door shut and hooking an arm around my waist. His other hand wraps around my neck, backing me right up against his hard chest. His teeth bite down on the sensitive spot below my ear, sucking in with his tongue.

“Jay,” I moan, grinding back into him. If there's ever a moment in my life I need to be fucked, it's now. I want it hard, I want it rough. I want to lose myself in it, not once considering we are in a parking garage for anyone to see.

The arm around my waist lifts me, bringing us over to the hood of the car before setting me down, his mouth not once leaving my skin, taunting it with what's to come.

I flip the back of my dress over my ass, sticking it out and placing both hands on the hood of the car.

A hiss gets sucked between Jay's teeth. He backs up enough that a cold chill passes over my flesh. Material rips between my legs, Jay throwing my undies behind him. His warm hands roam over each cheek, massaging them in circles, giving each a hard slap.

Jay's zipper comes down and material is moved. The flesh of his head rests between my cheeks, daring to enter the back, “There's not a part of you I don't plan on claiming one day, making sure your body never forgets who it belongs to.”

A ripple of pure, overwhelming desire passes through me, anticipating the day he completely owns the very last of me.

I open my mouth to respond but lose air when he pulls my hips back and slams right into me. At this moment he can't drive inside me hard or fast enough. I sense he feels the same way because he starts pounding me without giving us a chance to catch our breath, adjusting my legs so I can take it deeper than I ever have.

His lips are lightly touching the top of my spine, each puff of air he lets out adding to the thrill and heat of the moment. His hands dig further into my hips, forcefully bringing them back into him.

Every nerve in my body comes alive, all ready to explode, my release shuddering my entire body.

“
Oh, fuck. Lily,
yes
,” he bites into my shoulder, holding in his urge to loudly vocalize what I'm doing to him as I come, clenching tightly around him as I do. “Keep coming, baby. That feels so fucking good.” One hand moves between my legs, coercing it into another one, “Milk my cock, let him know who owns it.”

Those few simple words are all I need, sending me spiraling into another orgasm that rips through my body. When Jay places a hand over my mouth to silence the scream I come harder, not understanding how such a simple act could be so thrilling.

Jay erupts from my submission, giving me one last hard plunge that smacks us against the car, assuring that every drop he has is buried deep, unable to escape.

“
I love you,” he softly confides, falling over me, trying to dig himself further in, lost in the moment where we have escaped into our own secluded bubble. “I love you so fucking much.”

Tears well at my eyes but Jay doesn't allow me time to succumb to them. He flips me around, forcing my bottom to lay on the hood. He squats down, his massive hands overtaking the insides of my thighs, massaging their way up, his mouth and tongue devouring me, eagerly catching any drop that escapes.

Jay growls, his front teeth nipping, making me buck against his mouth, pushing his head in more with my hands. He has me relinquishing one more time, vowing my love for him through it all.

When he's satisfied not a drop is left, he closes my legs and pulls me up by the bend of my back with his forearms.

Instead of wrapping my arms around his neck like he's anticipating, I slide down to his still opened pants and take him into my mouth, wanting to taste us together and clean him as he did me.

Jay lets out a whimper, knotting his fingers with my hair, trying not to force my face into him, not realizing that I never want him to hold back on me. I crave the moment he unleashes himself and lets himself feel, no matter what the emotion or desire is.

I pull him in deeper to find out what kind of reaction I can get out of him, hoping to unlock what ever he keeps trying to hold back from me.

The more he grows in my mouth the firmer he takes hold of my hair, resisting the urge to force himself further back.

I vibrate my throat, encouraging him. He loses control, pushing my face to meet his flesh, taking himself to the back of my throat, thrusting in and out with his hips, head thrown back in ecstasy. The cry he tries to stifle as he spurts into my mouth is the most erotic, sensuous noise I've ever heard.

He pulls me up, trying to wrap himself around me, pushing back my matted hair to bury his face in my neck, “Please tell me you believe that I'll never give up on us. I swear it. I'm forever yours, Lily.”

“I believe you, Jay.” And I do, more than I've ever believed in anything.

Chapter 22

3:33pm

Jay gives me a swift kiss before the elevator door starts to close to take him to Vault's level. He wants to make sure everything has been taken care of, insuring my safety.

I slap my hand over the door to prevent it from sliding closed, “Hey now, I want a real kiss.”

Jay shakes his head, “Can't Lily, 'cause then I'm going to want to do other stuff.”

I pout, “But I like the other stuff.”

He gives me a wink while removing my hand, “Me too, and there lies the problem.”

The door slides shut and I walk back to his place in a dreamlike daze. There is not a part of me that is not insanely in love with that man. 

I scan myself in and continue my happy walk to my pillow to pull out my nightshirt.

Asswipe actually did me a favor. Jay won't be sending me home until tomorrow, needing to confirm that nobody will follow me or know that I exist.

As I'm about to lift up my dress a cold chill creeps down my spine and along my skin. I have this strange overpowering sense that I'm not alone, that there is someone else in the apartment.

I clutch Jay's shirt tighter to my chest as my body stiffens with every passing microsecond, afraid to turn around. The evil that seems to be lurking all around me is getting closer, my nerves tingling in a way that tells me I have become prey and my hunter is circling in on me.

I squeeze my lids shut and try to listen for other sounds: a footstep, breathing, but I don't hear anything. Goosebumps are covering my exposed skin. I'm frozen in my spot, afraid to move in case I'm right.

I can do this. I just have to turn around. I'll find the place empty and feel silly for acting so ridiculous. A black form catches my peripheral mid-turn.

Oh shit.

I'm terrified right now, I mean
really
terrified. I've somehow become that girl in horror movies that you are yelling at to turn around, the killer's right behind her while she's naked in her room getting in her hot nightie.

That's me right now.

Except for the naked and hot nightie parts.

I force myself to turn the rest of the way around at the same time a figure takes a step forward. A scream catches in my throat, my fear turning to horror at the cherry red lips that catch my sight first. I swallow another blood curdling scream that is clawing and digging it's way up, hanging on to my uvula like it's a tire swing.

My eyes travel up the pale skin, past a crooked nose that appears to have been broken once or twice, and meet black spectacles embedded into two eye sockets.

My body has the good sense to stumble back and scramble over the bed, but now I'm flat against the wall with nowhere to go.

“Hello, Miss Evans.” His voice is deeper than I expected on his long, thin, lanky body. It even has somewhat of a rasp to it, like someone punched his windpipes one too many times. “I've been watching you,” his voice doesn't quite have his sister's drawl. It's there, but faint.

Why am I focusing on all this?

I think it's because I'm trying not to freak out. I'm trying to distract myself from the fact that The Marker himself is standing only feet away from me.

He steps closer, his legs knocking into the bed.

I press further against the wall, not having a clue where to go or what to do.

I'm still clutching the shirt, wanting to put it on for comfort but unable to do so.

His head tilts slightly to the side, a villainous curve appearing on his lips. He knows he's in complete control over me and this situation; he's feeding off of it. 

Jay is now the center of my thoughts. He doesn't even know he's here; that Kolme Dragoni is here, and he's here with me.

Is this it? Was that tiny peck we shared our last kiss? The last time we would see each other?

No. It can't be. This can't be how it ends.

I try and remember where a gun is as I distractedly watch The Marker wandering around the bed, inspecting the long dresser, running his index finger along the edges, pausing to touch different objects.

A gun is on my nightstand, only a few feet away. It's just sitting there, antagonizing me, daring me.

Am I fast enough to grab it and shoot? Do I really have a choice?

No, unfortunately I don't.

I leap for it at the same time The Marker flies towards me. His bony fingers latch around my ankles, bringing me down, but not before I successfully seize the gun. I twist my body enough to aim it right between his brows and pull the trigger.

It only clicks. I try again, a whimper scraping my throat when it fails.

“Did you really think I hadn't inspected this place while you were gone?” I'm on my back, legs bent, his bony, disfigured fingers firmly wrapped around my calves. It's enough contact to make me feel like I'm being buried alive, that insects, spiders, and other creepy crawlers are welcoming me into the dirt. “Did you think I wouldn't be watching...learning...waiting?”

“
How long have you been here?” The words are barely forming out of my mouth.

His mischievous expression lets me know he'll never tell. This gives me an all new set of creeps scurrying all over my skin at the idea of him watching us this whole time, fluttering around the building.

He raises his left hand, the one with three gold claws at the end, and places it around my neck, taking away air but allowing me enough to still breathe, “Let's go find Mister Lincoln. I want him to see my first kill.”

This really can't be it; this can't be how it ends.

“He won't care,” I try, knowing it won't work but desperate to try something. “I'm another Arianna to him, it's just fucking and good times.” I'm not sure if he even knows who Arianna is, but I figure he probably knows everything about Jay.

He gives me another all-knowing smile that calls bullshit on my failed attempt to be let go. Something tells me he knows exactly what I mean to Jay.

“Please don't do this,” I desperately plea. “Please just let us be. Let Jay live. Why can't you just let him have a chance at a life?” Tears have now formed, but I don't allow them to take over.

“
I can't do that, Miss Evans. I like the game too much,” his hand tightens around my neck.

I drop the gun to try and pry his fingers away, needing more oxygen. He pulls me up by the neck while I get red-faced and am hysterically kicking, trying to remove his hold. Once I'm at a standing position, he loosens his hold and I cough in the air my lungs are begging me for.

He whips his body around me so my back's against his front, his clawed hand still wrapped around my throat, “Let's go.”

I plant my feet to the floor, trying to prolong the inevitable for as long as I can. The Marker tips the ends of the claws, pricking my skin, his lips resting on my ear,
“Play along, Miss Evans.”

Play along to the arrival of my death and the man that I love?

I don't think so
.

“
I'm not really giving you much of a choice,” his accent thicker than before as he responds to words I meant to keep to myself.

I continue trying to prolong the inevitable, still hoping the most brilliant idea ever will pop into my head.

“I was planning on making this as painless as possible for you, but don't tempt me to draw it out and make you beg for death.”

Well okay. I quickly follow in step.

I let my legs move along with his while my brain searches far and wide for an idea, any idea at all, even a crappy one. Anything is better than being led to my death and Jay's.

We're halfway to the door when it flings open and Jay carelessly strides in, unaware.

“Changed my mind!” He declares with a big, happy smirk on his face. He freezes, along with his smile, horror evident in his eyes as they take us in. It distorts his mouth into a misshapen grimace.

A “no
” expels from his lips as a puff of air that disappears as soon as it's made.

His eyes travel to the three gold claws that are slightly indented into my throat, causing blood to pool to the surface.

His eyes lock on mine and his pain becomes palpable as it permeates the air, changing the atmosphere so that there's not a sense left that does not feel his agony, his pain, his undeniable suffering.

“
So sweet, like a lily,” the mad man who has me drawls out, his lips brushing my hair while his noses pushes into the strands, deeply inhaling through them. “Did I ever tell you how that's my favorite flower?”

I try holding back a shudder, but his hot breaths are pouring down me like tar, it's blackness suffocating my pores, filling them with fear.

I pray my face doesn't resemble how I'm feeling; it would only destroy Jay more. What makes it worse is this evil man's purposely toying with him, provoking his anger and hatred knowing he can't make a move or my life will be over.

The Marker's head dips down to lick a fresh drop of blood. His claws start to dig deeper as he hums his satisfaction from the taste of my blood. Or maybe it's from causing more to pour out, I'm not really sure which. It's most likely both.

“Mm,” he has the nerve to moan out loud, lifting his head, my blood coated on his lips. He licks them slowly and hums some more. “Beautiful. I see why you have such a fondness for her.”

Nothing these gold claws could do to me would ever compare to how I feel watching Jay dying inside, helpless with what to do.

“You're next,” the mad man's excited voice breathes out in pure satisfaction as his claws begin dragging deeper and further across my flesh.

I mouth to the man across the room that I love him before squeezing my eyes shut from the pain and wanting to remember Jay happy and not the look on his present face right before I cease to exist.