The Rebirth of Sin (Wicked Trinity Book 2) (31 page)

IN FIFTEEN MINUTES I received a check in text from Nathan, and Braedan was at the front door. My mother was swift with her announcement, stating that he was waiting in my father’s study. I pulled myself out of bed to meet him downstairs. 

Morning was many hours from dawning and the normally dark study was even more so. 

Braedan was facing the window. “The surgery made my eyes light-sensitive. Would you mind turning off the lights?”

I swiveled around, closed the door, and quickly hit the dimmer switch, leaving the room in darkness. 

He was with me, directing my body to turn around. He held me, bringing about the sensations I longed to feel. “It seems unnecessary to ask if you’re all right. Your sadness is palpable, Keaton. I wish I could do something for you to remove you from it.”

“I’m far from movable.” I reached up, fingering the defined characteristics of his face. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I noticed his eyes were closed. He touched his forehead to mine and brushed his thumb back and forth across my lips.

“Is it still too bright? I can—”

“After what you’ve gone through, you’re concerned about me? Don’t be. Ask anything of me, Keaton.”

“Can you…take the pain away?”

He opened his eyes a little but his thick lashes shielded the view of his steely gaze. “You have no idea how much I wish I could.”

“You can…” My hands slipped down his body, running against the bumps and ridges of his fit form underneath his sweater. “Fuck the pain away,” I said, using words as foreign to my tongue as they sounded. The scene, who could hear us, and manners never entered my thoughts. I needed him, badly.

I wrapped my arms around him, kissing him fervently. He pushed forward. My back hit the shelves and one toppled on my head. He reached up and touched the back of my head, soothing the ache. 

After roughly removing my bottoms, I quickly hopped up, wrapping myself back around him.

His face was at my neck kissing it gently as he quickly reached in his back pocket and pulled out a condom. With his eyes cast down, he unzipped and pulled out his erection, sheathing it quickly in latex. He pressed me back against my father’s bookshelves and gave me exactly what I asked for.

CURLED UP IN BRAEDAN’S lap, I closed my eyes and clung to the comfort he provided. His constant touch, whether he ran his fingers through my hair or grazed his fingers against my bare arm kept me sane.

“I never would’ve done something like that. My parents’ home. My father’s study…here with you.”

“I kept you as quiet as I could,” he said, recalling the times he had to cover my mouth. “They won’t know what we did in here unless you tell them.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” Guiding myself against the floor, I sat upright. 

The moment I did, he slipped from beside me and walked over to the desk in the corner of the study. He picked up his sunglasses and put them on. 

Standing, I pulled on my bottoms. The sun had begun to pour through the dark wood shutters and likely had begun to irritate his eyes. “I’ve done so many things I never thought I’d do.”

“With me?” He turned around, his eyes concealed by the pitch-black shades.

I nodded. “The difference between the things I did with you and the things I’ve done before you is that I don’t regret anything I’ve done
with
you.” Hating the distance between us, I stepped forward and enveloped him in my arms. “What were you going to tell me last night?”

“Keaton?” my mother called from the other side of the door. “Is everything all right? You two have been in there for hours. Did I hear something fall? Are you two okay? It’s nearly time for breakfast. I’m sure you’re both hungry.”

“We’re fine, Mom,” I called out. “We’ll be out in second.”

Braedan ran his fingers through my hair, making me look, I assumed, more presentable. “I have business to attend to, but…”

“But what?”

“Nothing,” he said and kissed me briefly. “When you need me, or feel too down on yourself…call me.”

And when he left, nothing was there to greet me but a stark reality. 

The pain he once soothed away made a return.

“Hate me, Keaton… I’m just like him; the monster who killed your fiancé and his sister. I’ve killed before—all in the name of making the world a better place.”

-THE SECT

The mourners and supporters dressed in black were nothing short of shadows to me. Standing at the doorway of what used to be Sonja’s home, I looked longingly up the stairs, remembering better times. 

Glancing over the crowd, I spotted Craig surrounded by supporters but appearing completely alone.

Wanting to console him, I set my glass of water down, and approached him. The people around him scattered and cast looks of disgust my way.

“I’m so sorry for all this, Craig. If there is anything I can do—”

“You’ve become poison,” he spat at me, the longing and sullenness in his face was swept away for anger and hatred. “What you put Sonja through when you ran away? What you put her through when you returned? And now because of who you keep company with, she’s dead.” He stood abruptly, knocking into me. “I’d like you to leave our—
my
—home.”

With my head bowed, I clutched my hands to my swirling stomach and apologized. “I’ll go. But my offer still stands. I want to help.” 

Nathan caught me at the door, grabbing both of our coats. “He didn’t mean it, Keaton. None of this was your fault.” 

He descended the front steps of the house and paused on the sidewalk.

Taking both his hands, I shook my head. “He meant it, and he was right. My awful decisions caused the death of someone I cared about. Someone I loved, and an innocent—” My breath eluded me, preventing me from continuing.

“Where can I take you?” Nathan asked.

“One of my new security guards doubles as my chauffeur. I’m just going to have him take me home. Is one of Braedan’s security personal watching over you? Because if not…”

“I have my own private team thanks to Braedan. Don’t worry about me.” He shoved his hands in the pockets of his coat and gazed from me to the street. “Want to grab a drink and reminisce?”

“Rain check. I think it would be better if I was alone for a little while.”

“You really think that’s a good idea?”

“I won’t be alone. Not really.” After giving him a hug, I walked with my guard escort to the black car, parked a few car links away from Sonja’s brownstone on the street. The moment I slid into the seat, I asked the driver to take me home.

THE HOUSE ON CHURCH Street was nearly bare. The furniture left behind was covered in white sheets. It had been so long since anyone went into the home. Spiders had made food traps in the corners of the rooms. While once a graduation gift to me from my parents, I couldn’t stand to look at it much less sell it to someone else. The energy was tainted. In the very place I stood, my fiancé, Reese, was gunned down by my then ex-boyfriend. 

Wandering over to the fireplace, I touched the covered mirror—the one gift Reese and I had purchased together—and sobbed. The sheets fluttered, responding to the sudden burst of wind from the opening of the front door. 

“Mom, I’m sorry, but I just want to be alone.”

“It’s Braedan, Keaton.”

I froze, staring steadily at the sheet covering the mirror as it ruffled in the breeze. “You shouldn’t be here. You put your identity on the line for me and I know Nadine is going to tell Noah who you really are. I can’t risk it. Go before he takes you away from me, too.”

He surrounded me, holding me in his arms. “I was at the funeral, but it was nearly impossible to get to you. You…shouldn’t be alone. Noah could bring Hell to Earth and it wouldn’t keep me from you.”

As I stared at his muscular arms, peeking out from the pushed up sleeves of his sweater and his beautiful hands, I began to feel again. I fell apart in his arms, clinging to his hold as it tightened around me. “I didn’t—don’t want you to see me this way.”

“Never feel embarrassed for being human.” His hold loosened. “Turn around and look at me, Keaton.”

“I can’t. I have a feeling your eyes will be a mirror for all the things I don’t want to see. I’d rather go my life being sight blind and never have to see the ugly things I’ve seen again.”

He released me, moving methodically behind me. The soft silk came over my eyes and was snuggly tied in the back. “I believe you misunderstood what I said about being in the dark. But for you, tonight, it’s done.”

Securely blinded, I turned around and reached out for him. He guided my hand to his soft lips. 

“Be with me,” I pleaded.

The tickle of his fingers running through my hair made my scalp prickle. “I can’t continue to be your escape from your grief. You need to face it. I know the loss. I’ve felt it many times and pretended it didn’t exist by seeking solace in unhealthy things. It’s not a future I want for you.”

“Nothing feels unhealthy about the way you feel inside me.”

He gasped my name. The warmth of some part of his face teased my forehead. 

“I…can’t remember the good in my life anymore. Hurt me until there is nothing left and I’m so riddled with pain I feel numb, and I’m forced to remember.”

His exhale skirted down around my face. He held me firmly, verging on hurting me like I requested, but for some reason or another, he held back and slackened his grip. “Listen to me very carefully, because I will not repeat myself. Don’t ever ask me to hurt you. The strength of your orgasms will be the only violence that I inflict on your body. Understood?”

“Yes.” 

The touch of his hands sliding up my dress immediately made my body react. I helped him by holding my arms over my head and allowing him to slip it off my body. It fell to the ground with a soft ruffle. Hands glided up my hips and to my breasts slowly swaying against the lacy material of my bra. Soft silk tickled my skin. The prickle of his stubble brushed against my sternum. 

Hovering his mouth over the nipple, he exhaled with a heat that increased the sensitivity. I immediately responded with a groan and guided myself with whatever I could find. Clutching my wrists, he placed them behind my back. 

My breasts were caressed firmly, equal attention was spent on the right and the left. The touch of his hands barely registered down my waist and stopped at the waistband of my underwear. Taking his time, he slid them down my thighs. It slipped down, butterfly-light as it tickled my skin, pooling around my ankles. Grasping the back of my legs, he lifted one leg and then the other to step out of them. The humid breath from his exhale danced across my inner thigh, smoldering me with an inescapable impulse. 

Sopping wet…his tongue traced a line up the opening of my sex. 

A stream of the moisture trickled down my slit. Guiding it down with his fingers, he rocked up and down. Smooth and damp, his tongue traveled up my slit and stopped at my clit. He flicked the nub repeatedly with his tongue, increasing the pressure slightly with every lick.

Unsure if I could stand any longer, I staggered. Pressing my lips together, I attempted to suppress a moan.

“Did you tell security that everything is fine if you scream?”