Rough Edges (21 page)

The shimmering pleasure of it went on and on, but just as she was starting to come back down, Victor increased the pressure on her clit, holding her high for a while longer.

She went limp, smashing her face into her comforter. Her legs were shaking in an effort to keep her ass in the air. She wanted to collapse onto her side, but his fingers were still inside her, pinning her in place.

“I love hearing you scream like that,” he said.

Her words were muffled by the mattress. “I don't scream.”

“You do. Franklin probably heard it miles away.”

She reached back to swat him playfully, but her aim was off. He grabbed her wrist, and she could feel his fingers were hot and slick against her skin. He'd done that to her—made her melt.

His voice was pure sin. “I can hardly wait to hear you scream for me again, Bella.”

“No, thanks. I'm good. Just let me rest.”

“Not yet, baby. Not until you've given me what I want.”

Her brain was too starved for oxygen to figure out what he meant, right up to the point where she felt the head of his erection press against her opening.

Instantly, her body was no longer quite so sated. She needed him inside her again, just like she'd had him before.

She tried to roll onto her back, but he grabbed her hips and held them in place.

“I'm going to take you like this for a while. Keep that curvy ass in the air for me, sweetheart. I like you on your knees.”

That comment alone should have earned him castration, but she just couldn't bear the thought of hurting his manly parts when he was about to use them on her in such a delightful manner. “Don't get used to it.”

He surged forward, sliding all the way in. Instantly, Bella regretted every single one of her words. He could do this to her all he wanted, as often as he liked. The man was built to hit all the right spots when he took her like this.

His fingers gripped her tighter with every thrust. She could hear the deep ebb and flow of his breathing speed. Never before had she had a man inside her so deep, filling her so completely. Maybe it was the position, or maybe Victor was just born to please her. Whatever the case, she knew two things: First, when it was over, she was going to regret every second she spent on her knees. Second, there was no way in hell she could find it in her to care about the consequences of her actions right now. She was all his to do with as he pleased, and she both loved and hated it.

He leaned over her, covering her body with his bigger, hotter one. One hand stroked along her spine, soothing her, while the other grabbed a fistful of her hair and held on tight, inflaming her deeper.

Each move pushed her closer to another release. The man knew exactly what he was doing. Each swivel and grind of his hips was a carefully executed plot to destroy her resolve. The soft, sweet, naughty words he murmured in her ear made her flinch with acute arousal.

“I could fuck you like this for days, baby. Your pussy was made for me. Just me. No other woman will ever do to me what you do.”

She knew they were just words—words he'd probably said to a hundred women before her. But she found herself giving in to the picture he painted, letting it fill her with the pretty lights and colors of impossible dreams.

“You're so damn beautiful. I can't stop thinking about you. Can't stop wanting you.”

She had to touch him, so she leaned up and reached over her head to wrap her arms around his neck. Instantly, his hands covered her breasts, pinching and tugging at her nipples while he held her upright against him.

“I could take you every way known to man and still need more of you, Bella.”

His fingers trailed down over her stomach, sliding between her legs to find her clit. He'd somehow learned just how she liked to be touched and displayed his newfound skills with eager excitement.

She felt surrounded by him, filled with him. Every breath she drew was scented by his skin and the smell of sex growing between them. Every inch of her skin tingled and shimmered from his touch. Every move he made coiled her tighter.

Bella couldn't stand it. She couldn't last under his onslaught. And he knew it. She could hear the pleased smile in his voice.

“That's it, baby. Give me what I want. Come all over my cock.”

His words lit a spark in her mind, which set off the keg of gunpowder her body had become. She exploded in ecstasy so intense, every splinter of it seemed to slice her open.

This time she heard herself scream.

Victor rode her through it, but gave her no respite. He flipped her onto her back, pushed her ankles up over his shoulders and shoved his throbbing cock right back inside of her.

“I can't,” she panted. “Too much.”

“I'm not done with you yet, baby. You've got more to give me. I know you do.”

She didn't think it was possible, but the man knew what he was doing. Each stroke of his erection slid across a secret button that turned her blood to electricity. He drove deep, to places no other man had ever found in her before. Within minutes, she was drenched in sweat, shaking and struggling to breathe as yet another climax came for her.

The next two after that nearly killed her, but Victor refused to relent. He kept driving her to new heights, demanding she go where he led.

Finally, when there was no strength left in her to fight, she let go, surrendering to him completely.

His words were nearly a growl of sound. “That's what I was waiting for, Bella. That's what I needed. You're mine now.”

Words were beyond her now. All she knew was that her body was his, just as he'd said. He was going to make it do whatever he pleased, and all she could do was let him.

His body tightened, curling around her. “One more time, baby. Come for me one more time and I'll let you rest.”

He shifted slightly, hitting yet another spot created just for him. Her whole world burst into light and flame. It licked over her mind, surged across her skin, and filled her until she could hold no more. Pleasure became her existence, and surrender her only option.

Victor roared in triumph. His cock swelled and throbbed inside her as he came. Her pussy quivered around him, grasping tight to hold him in place.

The storm passed and everything went quiet. Calm. Dark. The only sound she heard was their heavy breathing and the pounding of her pulse in her ears. The air turned cold as her sweaty skin cooled. Every muscle in her body became a useless mass of flesh. Had Stynger herself walked into the room, there wouldn't have been a thing Bella could have done about it. She was drained. Spent. Weak.

That thought gave her pause, but then the sound of Victor's voice drowned it out. “Sleep now, Bella. I'll take care of everything else. Your only job right now is to rest. I'm not going anywhere.”

If anyone was tough enough and capable enough to keep track of things while she took a quick nap, it was Victor. The fact that he was on the job gave her that tiny push she needed to drift off. When she woke, she was going to have to beat his ass for taking liberties, but that could wait. He'd still be here. He'd promised.

*   *   *

Victor had fucked up. Not some little mistake, some tiny whoopsie he could use a do-over to correct. This one was big. Monumental.

He'd fallen for his boss. His dick had led the way, but his heart hadn't just been along for the ride. It had been right there, laying down cover fire and making sure nothing got in the way of their goal. They both wanted Bella to be theirs. In a forever kind of way.

Now what the hell was he going to do?

Denial wasn't going to work. He'd already admitted his feelings to himself, though how anyone could pretend not to feel what he did was a mystery. She consumed his every thought, both waking and asleep.

Not that he'd spent much time sleeping lately. Neither of them had.

He looked down at Bella. She was naked on top of the covers, still glowing with sweat. Every few seconds her body twitched, quivering the way it always did after she came. Her breathing had evened out, and the deep flush of lust had started fading from her face and chest. Her dark hair was a tangled, glossy mess across her pillows. The skin between her thighs was shiny and slick, her labia puffy and pink from his attention.

She was so fucking beautiful he wasn't sure how he would ever stop staring at her.

She was going to hate him when she woke up. There was no doubt in his mind about that. She was going to sit up, start lashing out at him for manhandling her the way he did, and probably never stop.

How in the world was he going to survive her anger? Not kissing her? Not touching her? Not feeling the slick clenching of her sweet pussy?

Victor had accomplished some nearly inhuman feats of strength and stamina over the years, but not even he was that strong of a man.

The only thing he could think of that might have even a slight chance of winning her over was if he found Gage. She loved that man—enough that it made Victor's throat tighten with jealousy just to think about it. If he could find her missing friend, maybe she'd speak to him again with something other than hate in her voice.

Big maybe.

Victor forced his legs to hold him up long enough to get rid of the condom. He briefly thought about crawling in bed with her, but knew he wouldn't last ten minutes before he fell asleep. That simply wasn't acceptable. He'd told her he'd watch over her, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

With a silent scolding for what he was about to do, he covered up her gorgeous, naked body and stalked out of the room. He had some calls to make to some very powerful people—favors to pull in. Every one of them was a long shot, or he'd have contacted them weeks ago, but they'd run out of all other options.

Victor loved Bella, and because of that, he was going to find some way to bring Gage home to her.

J
ordyn woke up inside a small, dark space. She was sitting on a cold floor. Something hard and hot was at her back, but the rest of her was chilled to the bone. Her head throbbed so bad she almost thought she was in the White Room again. If not for the soothing darkness of this place, she would have panicked.

She shifted to stand, but a pair of arms tightened around her.

“Easy,” said a low voice.

Gage. He was behind her, holding her.

Why?

She tried to recall the last thing she could remember. They'd tried to escape. Been caught. Ran. Gage was shot.

She gasped and lifted her weight from his body so she wouldn't hurt him. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Fine. How's your head?”

“I've had worse headaches.” But not many. As it was, she was fighting the urge to vomit all over the concrete floor.

She eased off of him, turning enough to see his face. Pain scrunched the skin around his eyes and bleached his lips. There was a dark stain of blood across his white lab coat.

“Tough girl,” he said. “Sexy.”

She scoffed at that while she opened up the lapels of his coat. More blood soaked the shirt beneath. Too much. “How's your breathing?”

“Trying not to.”

“Don't do that,” she advised. “Tell me what happened. How did we get here?” She picked up the flashlight and angled it to shine on his injury.

“Remember the crash?” he asked.

“Unfortunately. Was the person in the truck hurt?”

“Yes.” Something about the tone he used told her there was more to his answer than a simple word.

“Is he alive?”

“No.”

Again, there was more he wasn't saying. “Are my brains scrambled, or did he come at us with the intent to crash into us?”

“Your brains are fine.”

So it hadn't been an accident. The man in the truck must have been one of Mother's, ordered to stop them by any means necessary. Which raised one more question.

“Was he alive after the crash?”

“Briefly,” was all Gage said, leaving her to wonder if the man's death had been intentional or accidental.

Either way she mourned another life wasted, thanks to her mother.

Jordyn eased his bloody shirt up and eyed the wound. There was a single bullet hole drilled through his skin, right along his ribs. His flesh was red and hot. In fact his whole body felt overly warm. Fever? Infection? Probably, and there wasn't a single thing she could do about it out here, wherever they were.

“Where are we?”

“Storm cellar. Abandoned ranch house.”

She knew the place. It was only five or six miles from the labs. If they didn't get out of here soon, they were going to be found.

She reached around to feel for an exit wound, but the move put her face close to his, distracting her from what she was doing for a moment.

He was such an alluring man. Even injured, he still had a kind of power about him. She didn't understand what it was. The only power she'd ever experienced in her life was the overt kind Mother exerted on the people around her, controlling them through pain, fear, drugs and surgical implants.

Jordyn realized she'd been staring at Gage for too long—a socially awkward length of time. She hadn't been raised with other children, but knew from watching videos online that some of her habits weren't socially acceptable. Still, Gage didn't shy away from her or give her that look that told her she was doing something bizarre. Instead, he let her stare, leaning back, relaxed and calm.

Even though he had to be in a lot of pain, he wore a little half smile on his face, as if she amused him. As soon as she saw it, his mouth drew her in until she was studying the shape of his lips and the way there was less tension in them now than there'd been a minute ago.

Jordyn finally gathered her wits enough to lean back so that she wasn't thinking about kissing him. “No exit wound.”

“No? Maybe you should pet me more to be sure.”

Pet him?

Suddenly she realized that she was stroking his skin with her fingers, running them over the smooth, hard planes of his back. She'd touched every inch already, so there was no reason for her to caress him like this unless she simply enjoyed the feel of him.

A blush heated her cheeks. As pale as she was, there was no chance she could cover her embarrassment. “Sorry. I wasn't thinking.”

“Don't be. I liked it.”

Oh, my. A little thrill went singing through her at the thought, but as soon as she realized she had no right to touch him, that thrill died a sudden death.

She scooted away from his body enough that they were no longer touching. His long legs were splayed, making a space for her between them. His pants were wet from the knees down. There were small puddles under his shoes.

She'd been leaning against his chest while she slept, using a poor, injured man as a chair. “We need to get you medical attention.”

“Soon. I'm resting.”

“Resting? There's no time for that. Mother's men will be looking for us. And the longer that bullet is in you, the worse for you it will be.”

“We're hidden.”

“We were too close to the compound when we crashed. She has dogs. They'll find us. She'll put us in the White Room.” Panic started closing in around her, pitching her voice higher and higher with every word. “With your injuries, you'll never survive—”

He cradled her face in his hands and captured her full attention. “I was careful. Hid our tracks. We're safe.”

The meaning of his wet pants kicked in. He'd walked through water, masking his scent.

But her pants were dry. Which meant . . . “You carried me.”

He nodded once.

“With a bullet wound. After a crash.”

“Yes.”

“You could have made the bullet shift. You could have bled to death. You could have killed yourself.”

“I didn't.” He was so casual about it, as if he rescued people every day.

A man like him might do just that, for all she knew.

He was far too good a man to die here, inside some dingy concrete closet. “I'm going for help.”

She pushed herself up, but before she made it all the way to her feet, his hand closed around her arm. “No.”

“But you need medical attention.”

“So do you, concussion girl.”

“I'm fine now. I've felt much worse than this and still functioned. This little headache is nothing.”

His fingers trailed over her wrist. “We go together.”

As much as she liked that idea, she knew he needed help sooner rather than later. “I'll be fast, and I promise to come back for you. I'd never leave you.”

“Then don't. Stay.” His eyes were drooping, fatigue riding him hard. “Promise.”

How could she not? The man had helped free her. He'd taken a bullet getting her out of that place. He'd carried her for who knew how long to get her to safety. How could she not give him whatever he wanted?

“Okay,” she finally said. “We'll stay for a little while so you can rest. Then we go wherever we're going to go together.”

He closed his eyes and nodded. “I like that.”