Page 82 of Beneath the Burn

The scene that greeted Charlee locked her limbs and stole her breath.

Jay lay nude on his back, his erection glistening with the saliva stringing from Ella’s mouth. She glanced up, naked and straddling his legs, then leaned down, lips parted to resume her ministrations.

“Get off of him. Now.” Charlee’s calm tone was at odds with the turmoil shaking her body. Oh God, oh God. Keep it together. This was not happening. He was not allowing this.

Ella licked her lips. “Now darlin’, that’s up to him.” She gestured at the man between her legs.

He stared at the ceiling, moaning and bucking his hips.

The urge to run from the room and give into the tears burning the back of her eyes was overwhelming. She straightened her back and moved toward the bed. “Get the fuck off of him.”

The bitch dropped her head and wrapped her mouth around his dick.

Charlee swung, and the back of her hand crunched into the bridge of Ella’s nose.

Screaming, Ella fell off the bed, cupping her face. “He begged me to fuck him, you jealous cunt.”

Jay clutched the bed sheets, eyes closed, hips thrusting the air.

Her words hurt. Hurt so fucking much as they splintered inside her, shredding her to a million useless pieces. “Did he call you Charlee?” Her reedy voice echoed in her ears.

Ella dropped her hands and climbed to her feet. “Yes.” She smirked. “I hear he calls us all Charlee.”

It was a punch in the gut, one that stole the last of her composure. She unleashed her fist and caught Ella’s nose in the same place.

Blood spurted over her wailing mouth. She wiped at the mess uselessly, panic flaring her eyes.

Charlee stretched her fingers and curled them again at the sight of blood staining her knuckles. “Get out before I start punching on your underdeveloped tits.”

A sharp inhale interrupted the woman’s sobs. She gathered her clothes, tugging them on as she ran to the door.

She balled her fist and turned toward the bed.

Eyes squeezed shut, his hand wrapped around his erection, hips pumping manically. A groan rumbled low in his throat.

Her stomach turned and her feet carried lead weights as she trudged toward him, fighting back tears. “Jay.”

His eyes flashed open, roamed over the ceiling, and his hand fell to his side. “Charlee?”

She closed the final few feet and sat on the mattress beside his hip, placing his erection outside of her periphery. “What did you take?” She waded through what she’d read in the file he’d given her. What drugs increased libido? “Was it ecstasy? Meth?” Neither of those had been starred in his list.

Could Roy have orchestrated this? Drugged him somehow? Jay only drank bottled water during his shows. And Roy’s drugs would’ve knocked him unconscious, not sent him into mindless arousal. She knew the effects of Roy’s concoctions too well.

Besides, Jay had proven he could slip back into drug use under the right circumstances. She couldn’t trust him.

His eyebrows pulled together, and his gaze bobbed over her face, unfocused. “I didn’t take anything.”

Anger burned through her cheeks. “Okay, then you were sober while you fucked Ella’s mouth. That makes it all better.”

He curled to a sitting position, awkward and sluggish, and his eyes landed on his erection as if seeing it for the first time. He gripped it, stroked. “Ah, God, Charlee. I need…I need to fuck you. Come here, baby.” He reached for her.

Heart sprinting, she jumped from the bed and backed toward the door. His betrayal was unlike anything she’d ever felt. It was a riptide, slamming into her over and over, pulling her under. Her knees buckled and a sob crawled through her throat.

She gripped a cabinet and swallowed helplessly, unable to gather enough air. “I trusted you. I loved you so goddamned much. I…I—” She slapped a hand over her mouth, gulped harsh breaths, her voice reaching high-pitched hysterics.

He stared at her, but she was certain he wasn’t hearing, wasn’t seeing. He fell upon his back and resumed his self-pleasure.

“You broke my heart,” she whispered from the emptiness inside her. Opening the door with measured and determined movements, she stepped into the hall.