Page 29

Alora

“See ya,” Lennox waved as he walked toward the exit. I waved, but I was still too much in my head to form words. Tonight was a slap in the face that at any time I could end up slipping and it not even be my fault. My hand was moving in circles as I polished the wood on the bar, but all I could picture was that alcohol coming for my face. What would’ve happened if I hadn’t gotten my mouth closed in time?

Warm arms wrapped around my body, and I sighed as Greyson dropped his head to my shoulder. “You sure you’re good?”

Turning in his hold, I masked the fear and smiled. “I am. Still a little shaken, but I’ll be fine.” He raised one cocky eyebrow in a perfect elegant arch, and I poked him in the chest. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m allowed to think about what happened. It’s how I process.”

He licked his bottom lip as he fixed me with a stare that had me wiggling. I’d never met anyone who could affect me like he did. Just a look seeped deep into my soul and touched parts of me that no other human should be able to reach.

“Want to know what I’m going to do to you when we get home,” he asked, his voice deep with the tell-tale signs of his darker urges. What exactly that meant…could be anything, but it was like he pushed a button, and my body lit up. It felt like I was glowing as brightly as the neon signs on Bourbon Street. I shook my head no. He smirked, and I gasped as he grabbed my ponytail and pulled back, exposing my neck. “Fuck, I might not make it back to the farm.”

“I’m game for whatever you want to do, but I’d prefer to get back to the farm.” His hand loosened on my hair, and I could almost feel him sucking back in the part of him that would strip me naked and fuck me on the bar for anyone passing by to see. Reaching up, I touched his cheek. “Please?”

Greyson kissed my palm and took a step back. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Why don’t you take the cash to the bank drop box, and we can sleep in tomorrow,” I said teasingly and gave him what I hoped was a sexy smirk.

“Fuck, don’t look at me like that.” He took a step back, and my stomach fluttered. I was quickly becoming addicted to affecting him like this. “You sure you don’t mind finishing the last bit of cleaning alone?”

“Go for it. I’ll be done by the time you get back.” He looked at the front door, and I pointed to the back. “Get going. I can lock the door.”

“Alright. Do you want a coffee or anything?”

“Sure.”

He stared at me, and I knew he wouldn’t go until I kissed him. Walking over, I rose up on my toes and brushed our mouths together. Cupping my face, he kissed my lips and then my forehead.

“I’ll be right back, Doll,” he said and headed to the back exit. As soon as he was gone, the place felt quiet and empty. I looked at the old-fashioned clock on the wall. It had been two hours since I took Yara out, and she should really have another break before we loaded her up to leave.

I set the cloth down on the bar and walked toward the back, cringing as the front door chimed. Shit.

“I’m sorry we’re closed.” I turned around and froze in my tracks. Mr. Landry stood inside the door, and I recognized the insane look in his eyes all too well. The difference was that I enjoyed it when Greyson looked at me like that. “Mr. Landry, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come back another night,” I said calmly.

“Why you? Why do you get to live, and my sweet Tammy had to die?”

“I have asked myself that same question every night since the accident,” I said with a calmness that was only surface-deep. The fear that was bubbling under my skin had my muscles trembling.

“Stop saying that,” he yelled and gripped his head. The fear turned into white-hot terror as he suddenly whipped a gun out. His hand shook. I swallowed hard, unable to tear my eyes away from the piece. “It wasn’t an accident. You killed her! You murdered my baby.” He turned to lock the door and I didn’t waste a second before bolting down the hallway for the office.

I screamed and ducked as the gun went off, but I kept moving. Two more shots rang out as I reached for the office door, and one bullet hit the wall beside me. With a yelp, I tripped and hit the ground hard. Mr Landry loomed in the hallway, and I swallowed down bile as I stared at him. He raised the gun so it was level with me, and I knew this was it. I’d prayed for death. No, I begged for it, and the devil had finally sent his henchmen to collect. I’d thought it was Greyson, but I was wrong. Some would say my mistake was not locking the door, but that wasn’t the truth. My mistake was dreaming. Evil was always destined to catch up with me, and my final bell was here. The judgment for all my sins came down to this moment.

“I’ve lost everything,” he growled as he walked toward me, the gun shaking in his hand. “You killed my daughter, and my entire world crumbled around me. My wife left, and I lost my job and my home…one night, that was all it took. You did that.”

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. “I didn’t mean to, we were run off the road….”

“Shut up!” He stomped down the hallway until he was towering right over top of me. The roar of his voice made me shake. Yara whined as her shadow moved around on the other side of the door. “Liar.”

“I’m telling the truth. I swear.” Every bad decision that was made that night swirled around in my mind.

“This is what you deserve. It should’ve been you. You should’ve died.”

In a blink, the last few weeks with Greyson flashed in my mind. Every challenge and obstacle that I’d managed to conquer as they pushed me to be stronger and find myself. No. This was not how my story ended, at least not without a fight.

With a yell, I kicked up as hard as I could, hitting him in the hands. A bullet nicked the floor behind me. My next kick nailed him right in the crotch. He doubled over, and I scrambled to my feet. Using the only fighting move I knew, I cracked my elbow across his cheek, snapping his head to the side and forcing him to stumble back.

“Bitch,” he snarled.

Taking a step back, I bent down and pictured I was on racing blocks. With every ounce of strength and speed that could be mustered in such a short run, I lunged at Mr. Landry and rammed into him like a bull, my shoulder connecting painfully with his jaw. He rolled over backward, and the gun skidded down the hallway. Leaping over him to get away, I screamed when he grabbed my ankle, and I crashed to the floor.

“Ah!”

Yara began to bark in the office. The sound of her nails scratching on the door was somehow louder than my thundering heart. She was too small to help, and it would crush me if he hurt her. My legs had always been strong, so I kicked out like I was punching at him. Each one landed a solid blow. Blood smattered his face when I connected with his nose, and he swore.

Pushing to my feet, I ran for the gun, but Mr. Landry was right behind me. I kicked it, and it flew under a table and out of sight. I was fast, but he was determined, and he wrapped an arm around my waist before I could reach the front door and hauled me back against his body. He was so much larger, but fear and anger were fueling me, and I stomped on his foot as I slammed my head back.

“Fuck! You fucking cunt,” he growled, picking me up. I screamed as he threw me over the edge of the bar, and I hit the ground. I’d caught some bottles with my flailing legs, and I looked up as they started to fall. Pushing as hard as I could, I leaped away from them as they crashed to the floor and shattered. The alcohol was determined to try and drag me down tonight as it flowed along the floor like fingers reaching for me.

I tried to get up, but I hissed as my feet slipped out from under me, and I landed on my ass, my head smacking back against the bar before I took a single step. Reaching back, I checked for blood. Oh my god, oh my god. Of all the ways I’d pictured myself dying, this was not it. Mr. Landry glared at me from over the polished wood as he stormed around to get to me.

I reached back, my hands frantically searching the shelves for a weapon as he marched through the low, swinging bar door. His face was red, and his eyes were wild. His hands were curled so tight they looked like meaty sledgehammers, and my heart raced in my chest. Giving up the search, I slid backward on the floor to put as much space as I could between us.

“You little bitch. I tried so hard to put you and what you did out of my mind. I finally had my life back on track. I was seeing a therapist and had a steady job, but then you showed up at my daughter’s favorite bakery. The one place I could still go and have a pleasant memory, shed a tear, and silently grieve.” His boots crunched on the glass as he walked, while my sneakers squeaked as I pushed against the damp floor. Once more, alcohol of all kinds filled my nose and called to me, but I could only focus on one enemy at a time.

Greyson, please hurry.

“You took that from me too. The last fucking thing I had of Tammy, and you destroyed it,” he yelled. I bumped up against the bar as I turned to get away, screaming when he jumped for me.

Everything seemed to happen at once, and just like the night of the accident, my mind struggled to understand how I’d ended up in this position. Mr. Landry landed on me with all of his weight, knocking the air from my lungs while tears stung my eyes as he punched me in the face. I clawed at him with my nails like a feral cat as I screamed bloody murder.

“I was run off the road,” I yelled at him as he tried to get ahold of my wrist, but that would be the end of me. Bucking up, I wiggled partially out from under his hulking frame, but I didn’t get far enough.

“Bitch! Liar! You killed my baby,” he roared like a wild animal, and my eyes went wide as he pounced on me again, sliding us further across the floor. I smacked at his arms as he wrapped his hands around my throat, and this time, I fought to stay alive to breathe past my constricted windpipe.

I flailed as I punched and smacked at him, but it was useless. Mr. Landry was an unmovable statue. A glimmer to my right caught my attention, and I reached for it as little dots began to form behind my eyes. My fingers brushed against the large shard of glass, willing it to move closer. With a last-ditch effort, I placed my hands in the alcohol that had felt like my mortal enemy for so long and flicked it into his eyes.

“Ah, fuck,” he growled, letting go of my throat. Gasping in a deep breath, I reached for the chunk of broken bottle. “Why won’t you just fucking die?” My hand wrapped around the glass just as he fisted the front of my T-shirt.

“I’m sorry. It was an accident,” I yelled, but there was nothing left of a logical man in his eyes. He’d lost himself to the pain years ago, and seeing me had ripped the wounds that he managed to heal wide open again. Even in understanding him, I wouldn’t lay here and accept death. I’d made a mistake, and I owned that, but I wouldn’t be the punching bag for everyone to abuse anymore.

“Just fucking die,” he snarled, lifting his fist. Tears poured from my eyes as I took my first real fighting swing since before the accident. The part of me that had been so quick to fight—I thought it died in that car with my sister—rose inside of me now. I was fighting for more than my next breath. I was fighting for the girl I’d been who only wanted to defend her sister. For the teen I’d been, when I was locked away and beaten down by life and left in the rearview mirror by those who were supposed to love me. I was fighting for the woman I’d become and the future I wanted with Greyson. I was fighting for the new me.

“I’m sorry,” I screamed as the glass plunged into the side of his neck. Blood flew and splattered my face when I pulled it free. Shock registered in Mr. Landry’s eyes, but he didn’t let go. I struck again and again and again, hot blood coating me. Even when his hands let go, and he fell forward, his weight blanketing me, I screamed and stabbed at his body, wiggling out from under him. I kept stabbing him, lost in the moment, caught between the past and my future, both playing a deadly game of tug-o-war.

“Hey.”

Screaming, I spun around. I couldn’t stop my arm in time as my brain registered that it was Greyson. Luckily, he deflected the blow that would’ve stabbed him in the chest, but the sharp glass cut open his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, this time to Greyson, as he grabbed my arms and pulled me into a hug. He pushed me back to hold me at arm’s length as his eyes skimmed over me. Lifting my wrist, he pried the glass shard from my hand. I stared at the bloody gash across it. I hadn’t even felt it cutting me. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled again.

Greyson grabbed the front of my T-shirt, and I sucked in a sharp breath as he sliced it open before doing the same to his own and then tossing the glass away.

“What are you doing?” He placed a finger over my lips as he lifted my bleeding hand and brought it to his mouth. With a flick of his tongue, he licked at the blood running down my palm and then groaned as he placed my hand against his cheek. The dark desire in his eyes was as much of a turn-on as it was terrifying.

“Taste me,” he ordered and looked at his bleeding shoulder. A surge of need took a stranglehold as I focused on him and ignored the dead man behind me. “Do it, Doll. Taste me and join with me in mind, body, soul, and blood.” He dabbed his thumb in the cut on his shoulder and placed it on my bottom lip. “Part of you will forever run through my veins, and I will be inside you in all ways.” Staring into his eyes, I sucked it into my mouth, and my stomach tightened into a knot as his lip pulled up in a feral snarl.

As soon as he slipped his thumb free, I rose up on my toes and leaned in close to his shoulder. The flat of my tongue licked along the long gash. The warm, metallic taste of him filled my mouth, making me moan. His eyes darkened further, sucking me into the hypnotic mirrors that showed me my soul.

I gasped as his hand wrapped around my throat and his lips crushed down on mine. The flavor of our mingling blood tingled my tastebuds. His tongue pushed past mine, invading and taking control like he was going to eat me for real, as he hauled me up against his body.

Everything was happening so fast, and the already free-flowing adrenaline mixed with the wild passion that Greyson stirred made me lightheaded. The earlier fear fed into the building desire. Greyson broke the kiss with a dangerous growl that had my legs shaking.

He pulled on his belt, and I looked down in shock, considering the chaos all around us. Greyson grabbed my jaw and forced me to look him in the eyes. “It’s time for you to be reborn, Doll. Don’t look away.” I swallowed hard. I wasn’t sure what he meant, and even though I was terrified to find out, I also knew I would welcome whatever it was.

The clink of his belt was loud in the heavy silence. The world around us dissipated like nothing else existed other than him. Letting my jaw go, I made sure not to look away as he unfastened my jeans. I held still, the animal caught in his trap, and I didn’t want to break free. He never looked away from my face as my sneakers were pulled off, and then my jeans and underwear were tossed aside.

The air that was already struggling to be expelled froze in my chest as he rose to his feet, his lips a breath away from mine. Without saying a word, he walked away and came back with something in his hand. I wanted to know what it was so badly, but I never looked away from his eyes.

One finger at a time, he wrapped his hand around my throat once more. This time, he squeezed enough that it cut off most of my air supply. Using his arm, he guided me down to my knees in front of him, and I shivered when they touched the puddle of alcohol that had plagued me.

“Are you my good girl or bad girl, Doll?”

“I’m neither. I’m your doll forever,” I said, past my constricted airway.

His lip curved up. “Then you’re going to prove it,” he said, and I nodded as a shiver slithered down my spine.

“Lay down and spread your legs. I want to look at you.” Legs shaking, I laid down among the alcohol, broken glass, and blood that decorated the floor like a morbid masterpiece. It was as if the bar had become what was in the aching depths of my soul.

Greyson openly stared as I ran my hands over my chest, leaving streaks of red in their wake. I watched his hand like a cat would with a mouse as he pulled his knife out.

“What did I say?”

My eyes snapped up to his, my heart fluttering as his eyes roamed over my body, but I sucked in a sharp breath when he placed the knife over his heart and dug the tip of the blade in. He never wavered as he slowly carved into his chest. Red lines ran down and coated his abs, and I licked my lips. He finished the last line, and the pounding of my heart became a steady drum in my ears as my body filled with emotions that there were no words for, but love was too mild. My eyes traced the word DOLL as he knelt between my legs.

Unable to resist any longer, I sat up and licked at the blood running from the cuts. “Fuck, yes,” he growled.

I panted, wanting more, even as he grabbed my hair and yanked my head back from his chest. My tongue hung out, showing off his blood that tainted my mouth. Greyson kissed me like he had earlier, greedily taking over every inch with his possessiveness.

Lost…I was lost in a sea of lust and desires that were consuming as they filled every cracked and damaged piece of my soul. A frantic need had me raking my nails across his shoulders and ignoring the cold of the wet floor as he pushed me down onto my back.

A shuddering moan escaped past my lips as he rubbed the tip of his cock along my soaking wet pussy. There was nothing I wanted more than for him to fill me up, complete me, and make me whole. I had finally found the piece of me that had been missing. We didn’t just fit. We were two people with one beating heart. He was the other half of my torn soul, and when we were together, we were whole.

Greyson groaned, the vibration flowing all through my body as he slowly pushed into me. This tender side of him ramped up the desire in me to all new heights. If he demanded my soul, I would hand it over. But he wasn’t demanding he was asking. His body practically begged without words, and yet there was no denying the deep connection and the wordless question.

My hips cradled his as he came to a stop. I broke the kiss and panted as I held him, not wanting to let go.

“I’d die for you,” I said against his lips.

“Would you die right now,” he asked, pulling out and thrusting back into my body at a teasingly slow pace.

“Yes,” I said without hesitation, welcoming him and everything that he was. Sucking my lower lip into his mouth, he bit down. There was a sharp sting, but I moaned and pushed my hips up to meet him.

Our bodies joined again and again, and I didn’t care about anything else. The sky could be falling, a demon apocalypse could be ravaging the city, and even an audience of thousands wouldn’t stop us. The orgasm was steadily rising, and my body arched up against his as I clung to him.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Do you trust me to end your life?”

Blinking, I locked eyes with him. “You want to kill me?”

“I want you to shed the last layer of who you are. It’s time, and you’re ready to rise from the carnage of your past like a phoenix rises from the ashes. I want to end your old life and then breathe our new life back into you. Do you trust me to do that?”

“I do,” I said, meaning it even though it was crazy and terrifying. Any sane person would say no and run away as fast as they could. I realized that it didn’t matter what happened. All that mattered to me was that it was Greyson’s face I’d see until there was nothing. “I do,” I said again and kissed him hard.

He wrapped his hand around my throat, his thrusts harder as his eyes bore into my soul. It felt as if he was reaching into the very depths of my consciousness like he had supernatural powers. As each breath became increasingly more difficult, memories of my past and the pain that always followed stormed to the surface. Each one was met with a carnal need to live them over and destroy them at the same time.

His hand tightened until no more air could pass through to my lungs, but I let him have me. My body bucked against his, the climax so close even as darkness began to dance behind my eyes.

“That’s it, Doll. Let it all go. The past holds no power over you, and I am your reward on the other side. I am your future. Come to me, be mine, and I will love you until my lungs give out.”

My mouth opened, and the orgasm was right at the final peak. Each thrust of his hips pushed me higher. Black fogged the edges of my eyes, my lungs burned, and my survival instincts—without the alcohol to make me brave and stupid—were screaming for me to fight. Begging me to take a breath, but I refused.

Greyson fucked me harder, the slapping of skin loud and joining the pounding of my panicked heart. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Doll. You have no idea what you do to me.”

I gulped at nothing, my fingers tightening on his arms as the darkness began to take over. The erotic sensation of our fucking and the ultimate freedom of giving myself wholly to another had my orgasm just starting to crest when I blinked, and all became dark.

The last thing I heard as his cock filled me and I felt him come was, “Fuck…yes, Doll. Fuck, you’re perfect.”

Greyson

The euphoria and excitement that blanketed me was only accentuated by the complete compliance and trust that Alora had in me. This was my dream, my deepest desire, to share this moment of suspended life and death with another who understood and accepted it as freely as I did. The thought of finding someone as a true partner never crossed my mind until I saw Alora for the first time. Her body and scent called to me as her damaged soul whispered in my ear that it had been waiting.

We were always meant to be. I stared down into Alora’s fluttering eyes, and my cock hardened more, my balls pulling tight as I waited for the perfect moment. There was a very small window to do this properly or lose her to the other side. My body pumped into her, moving her across the floor with each thrust until I had to brace one hand on the bar. Alora’s pussy walls tightened around my aching shaft, each stroke making my cock twitch and beg for release.

Just as she was about to climax, she passed out, and I felt her heartbeat slow. Her hands fell away from my arms, her legs became slack, and there, in those final seconds, I could feel my spirit dancing alongside hers in a balance of life and death. Her body shuddered as she gave her life over to me.

“Fuck…yes, Doll. Fuck, you’re perfect,” I growled, my body tensing as I came harder than ever in my life. This beautiful joining of our souls couldn’t be explained, but as her body pulled the release from mine, her heart begged me to join her in death or bring her back. With the last twitch of my cock I felt her heart stop, and she went completely lax.

I began counting in my head as I grabbed the shot of adrenaline that was prepped and ready. Finding the spot between her fourth and fifth rib, I stabbed her hard, driving the sharp tip directly into her heart.

At first, there was nothing, and a thread of panic raced through my body. Even though I knew what I was doing, there was always the chance it wouldn’t work.

“Come on, Doll. Come back to me. I know that I’m undeserving and that I’ve coated your hands with blood even as you have provided me with solace,” I said, kissing her lips. “Come back to me. Although I will always bask in the darkest parts of this world, I promise to love you until the universe decides there are no more tomorrows. You are my forever.”

Alora gasped, and her eyes snapped open. It felt like her spirit rushed back into her body, and I shuddered with the sensation that was more than surface-deep. Alora screamed as she wrapped her arms around my neck, and her hips pushed up as she came. I hadn’t been expecting it, and the wild bucking and nails, digging hard enough to draw blood, had me ready to go all over again.

“Fuck me,” Alora screamed, her back arching off the floor. My pulse raced as I stared into her blue eyes, which had always been strong but now were so much more. “Sit up,” she ordered.

Rolling us over, I pushed myself up and leaned against the bar as Alora repositioned herself over my cock. I’d never seen a sexier sight. Placing my blood-soaked hand over her heart, I smeared it down her body.

“Yes, oh Greyson, I’m going to come again,” Alora cried out as she bounced on my cock. My fingers dug into her soft hips as I stared at my handprint on her neck. The bruise would fade, but the memory of this would last an eternity. I held my tongue out and let it flick over the tip of her nipple as she bounced. Alora leaned closer, and I sucked the hard peak into my mouth, biting down hard enough that she jerked on my cock and sucked in a deep breath. I gave the other one the same treatment and savored her taking control and claiming me.

“Oh, fuck yes.” She bounced faster, her movements erratic just before her pussy squeezed me again.

“Fuck,” I growled and hammered up into her, unable to hold back even after the massive release I just had.

“Greyson,” Alora screamed as she came all over my cock.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I said as I let go and came again. The second round was intense, bordering on exquisite pain. I ate it all up and would do it again.

Alora slumped against me, and I wrapped her up in my arms, our hearts pounding together.

“I am you,” she said, kissing over where I’d carved DOLL into my chest. I smiled.

“You are me,” I said, laying my lips on her forehead and closing my eyes as I soaked up her essence.

“We are one,” we said at the same time, completing the joining and rebirth of our lives together.

We sat there long enough that the sweat on our bodies had cooled when Alora lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. Her face, like the rest of her body, was coated in red, and I knew mine was the same. “It wasn’t all my fault,” she said matter-of-factly. There was no longer any pain straining her voice, but I knew she was referring to the accident.

“I know.”

Her eyes darkened, and my cock stirred. “Will you find Keith for me,” she asked as she kissed my bottom lip like a naughty kitten begging for milk. I licked at her and growled, pulling her body tight to mine when she opened for me. Kissing her hard, I ran my tongue over the little cut my teeth had caused.

There was a wild abandon in her eyes when Alora pulled away. She pushed herself up, standing as comfortably as I among the blood and death that surrounded us. She smirked and cheekily held out her hand, and I slid mine into hers.

“I need to go take Yara out. She’s probably worried. She was trying to help me,” she said, looking at the man who attacked her. I didn’t know who he was, but if she hadn’t killed him, I would’ve.

“Who was he?”

“The father of the other girl who died in the car. He blamed me for her death.” Alora sighed, and even though there was no longer the lingering blame in her eyes, she held a sadness that I would never understand. She pointed to the tables. “He had a gun and tried to shoot me first,” she said, like that wasn’t fucking important information as she strutted toward the office naked as the day she was born.

“Doll?” She looked over her shoulder at me. “You may want to wash up and put some clothes on.”

I shivered as she gave me a deliciously wicked smile. “I was tied up wearing nothing but body paint.” She looked down at her blood-coated body. “I don’t think this is much different. Besides, it’s far more fun.”

“Are you really testing me already?”

“Maybe I just want you to follow me. I know you can’t resist this,” she teased, and fuck me, I wanted her again already.

“True, but it also means I’ll end up killing anyone who sees you,” I countered. “Only I get to see you like this from now on. All new rules for a whole new us.”

“Fine,” she said with a dramatic sigh of compliance. She had me shaking my head as I chuckled under my breath. I’d created a monster, but she was my monster, my Frankenstein doll molded in my image. We were made for one another, and I would go to my grave protecting what we had.

Turning around, I stared at the man on the floor. His face was a tattered mess of blood, flesh, and bone from the glass Alora had used. Walking over, I squatted down and gripped his chin, forcing his head up off the floor.

Even though he was no longer in this shell of a body, I wanted to memorize the face of the man who had tried to take what was mine.

“I want you to know that you got off easy. What Alora did was self-defense. My actions would’ve been for pleasure.”

“You coming?” I looked up at Alora, who had managed to wash the majority of the blood off her hands and face. Her hair was tied up in a neat ponytail once more, and she was wearing one of my hoodies. Yara was cuddled in her arms, and fuck me, she was hot. I dropped his head and stood.

I’d thought of this moment so many times. How it would happen, and now that it was here, an understanding washed over me. Alora might have been reborn into her new life with me like I’d planned. But, she’d also reached into my chest with the last beat of her heart and entwined our souls together so tightly that my heart no longer beat for me. It danced for her.