Page 46 of Craving Consequences

VAN

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I’m not surprised when they return an hour later, rumbling up my drive. I don’t have to ask what they’d been doing; the scent of sex is heavy in the air. Thick in the silence.

On Everly.

It has me eyeing the naked flesh of her thighs where the cut-offs don’t reach and wonder if she’s wearing panties or if Lachlan kept them.

“Sorry,” she whispers when I settle into the seat next to her.

My response is to capture the back of her head, drag her in and kiss her. I dip my tongue between her lips like I’m dying to between her legs. My torment threads her fingers through my hair and holds me to her even when I stuff my hand under her top.

“People...” she breathes against my mouth.

I don’t fucking care.

Let them watch. Let them see how perfect she is as I bunch her top up over her breasts.

“Van! ”

Ignoring her tortured plea, I yank the lacy cups down, spilling her free to the chill in the cabin. My head drops to the closest nipple and I suck. I palm the other. Pinch the bud. Twist until her head falls back.

“I had a dream about you last night.” I release her nipple and let my hand drop to her shorts. I yank them open and wiggle my fingers inside the V. “Woke up so fucking hard I jerked off in the shower.”

No panties. She’s a dripping mess. My fingers hook inside her.

Her weak protest is cute when she’s pulling her knees wider to accommodate my invasion.

“Pull your shorts down.”

She does, wedging the fabric around her knees.

“All the way. Bare ass and open for business, Everly. We have three hours ahead and you need to pay us for helping you.”

Her jaw drops, but no argument is given as I finger her. As I force her down on my hand, impale her on my fingers.

I push in deeper, getting as far as I can in her used hole. Feeling her and Lachlan smear across my palm.

“That’s it,” I growl into her ear. “Show me if you deserve to cum again.”

She sucks on her bottom lip as she rolls down my hand in hesitant pumps. Her nails bite into my forearm, not pulling me away, but holding me steady as she uses my hand to get herself off.

Greedy little thing.

God, I love her.

Still, I stop. I keep my hand still buried in place and watch her face as she tries to fathom what I’m up to.

“Why?” she breathes.

“How many times did you cum on my best friend’s cock?” I murmur against her temple.

Her skin warms beneath my lips, and I nearly smile. “I don’t remember. A few.”

I drag my fingers out of her slowly. With intention as I use the soaked digits to part her lips and bare her clit.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

I do grin when she shakes her head almost immediately with the endearing defiance of a child being told she’s had too much ice cream. Over her shoulder, I catch Lachlan’s smirk as he turns to put the car into drive.

“How terribly unfortunate for you that you have no say in the matter.” I kiss the tip of her nose, ignore her pouty scowl and tug her top down into place. “Belt.”

I settle back and watch as she grudgingly drags the belt across her lap and sits glowering at the windshield.

“I need my pants,” she grumbles. “We have to make a stop at Holland’s before we head out to grab essentials. ”

I don’t stop her when she snatches her shorts off the truck floor and stomps into them. She has to undo her belt and wiggle into them, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep my amusement in check.

None of us speak as we amble up towards Church Ave. Jefferson is up and alive with the flow of small town life. Even with the hammer of rain and the pregnant overcast, umbrellas drift along the streets in an array of colors.

Holland’s Grocery sits brilliantly lit in the storm. Its wood siding is painted a cheerful green with trims of white. Already a flock of people dart through the sliding doors, heads ducked.

I shrug out of my jacket and drop it lightly over Everly’s head. Her big eyes blink up at me and I brush a quick kiss to the tip of her nose before shoving my door open and hopping down.

Together, we sprint to the door. We get Everly through first before following her into the uncomfortable chill inside.

It’s probably not cold, but the AC is definitely on and our damp skin doesn’t like it.

The fan swirls the hint of pine cleaner and produce.

The scent of oranges wafts from a crate by the front entrance, next to a slanted chalkboard sign welcoming spring and advertising a sale on trail mix and marshmallows.

It’s the kind of place that hasn’t changed in decades, not because it couldn’t, but because no one wants it to.

Lachlan grabs a cart and gives it a push.

The front wheel wobbles, squealing softly as we trail behind him through the first aisle.

Everly walks between us, silent but more grounded than she was earlier.

Her fingers trail along the shelves like she’s categorizing.

I watch her toss a few things into the cart — instant coffee, ramen packets, a box of cereal I know she eats straight from the box . .. dry.

“Are we not heading back tonight?” I hazard slowly as I watch her eyeball a row of toilet paper.

“There’s nothing at the cabin,” Everly explains, plucking up a four pack. “I mean, it’s fully furnished, but we’ve had a couple of break-ins over the years and Dad stripped the place to the very bare minimum. Whenever I visit, I bring my own stuff and take it with me when I leave.”

“How often do you go?” I demand, disliking the casual nature of her tone.

She gives a light bob of her shoulder while calmly examining a box of light bulbs. “Once a month? Maybe twice if it’s nice weather.”

“By yourself?” I grind through my teeth.

“With break-ins?” Lachlan adds, watching her with the same level of irritation I feel bubbling up my chest.

The reason I’ll go into an early grave tips her face back over her shoulder to blink at us with her innocent eyes like nothing she just said is concerning .

“I don’t think people will break in if someone’s there.” She turns back before she can see the looks of wide eyed horror Lachlan and I share. “No one’s broken in, in months.”

“Months?” We both snarl at the same time.

Everly stops and faces us with her head cocked to one side. “Yeah, I think it was October? But I think it was just kids messing around. It took me a week to clean up though.”

“You stayed there for a week ... by yourself, after a break-in?” Lachlan says in the calmest, deadliest tone I’ve ever heard the man use.

I think she’s beginning to sense our displeasure when she furrows her brows and folds her arms over her chest. “Someone had to clean it up.”

I’m not proud of my behavior when I close my fist into the front of my jacket and yank her into my chest. Her little cry of surprise is ignored as I regulate my thoughts. My voice. The level of my strength when I take her face between my hands. My fucking temper.

“You...” I bite out slowly. “If you ever do something so stupid...” my palm closes over her mouth when she opens her lips to protest. “So reckless again. It’s not a spanking you’ll have to worry about, Evie. I will tie you down and torture you until you’re begging me to stop.”

Her eyes are big and dark over my hand even with the defiant crease between them .

She grumbles something against my skin that I have to lift my hand to hear. “You’re both taking this way too seriously.”

“You’re not taking it seriously enough!” Lachlan hisses, barely controlling the level of his outrage.

Gingerly, she extracts herself from my hold and stands facing us with a hint of a grin hovering over her lips.

“I have been traveling that road and staying in that cabin since I was born. It’s my favorite place in the world.

My sanctuary. Is it annoying when people break in?

Yes. But it’s no different than when there’s a mudslide or—”

“Mudslide?” I interject.

She gestures to our cart. “That’s why I’m grabbing a bit extra. Just in case. It doesn’t happen all the time,” she rushes, possibly seeing both Lach and my chests expanding with renewed fury. “But sometimes, when it rains, the roads flood and mud comes down the mountain...”

“Oh my God,” Lachlan grumbles, scrubbing a palm so hard over his face, I wince.

“You’re telling me,” I start slowly, “that you’ve been skipping up to this ... murder cabin with no security—”

“It’s not a murder cabin!” she snaps, genuinely offended by the comparison.

I ignore her. “—with a history of repeated break ins, mudslides and flooding? ”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re taking it all horribly out of proportion. It’s really not that bad. The last flood only came up to the tires and lasted three days. It was honestly so cozy with the fire lit and—”

“When?” I explode. “When were you trapped in some godforsaken cabin for three days?”

Her lips curl inward between her teeth and she moves suspiciously several feet before mumbling, “Two months ago...?”

“I think I’m going to have a stroke,” Lachlan states, I think, to no one in particular. Certainly not me because I’m barely controlling myself from strangling her.

“Oh my goodness,” Everly throws her hands up, “you both are being so dramatic. It’s a cabin in the woods. What do you expect?”

“I swear to God, if you tell us there’s a serial killer loose in the area and your response is, “he only kills on Tuesdays and I go on weekends,” I may strangle you myself.”

I’m pretty sure I looked and sounded incredibly serious, but the little brat blinks at me twice before breaking into a fit of giggles that she tries and fails to smother behind her hand.

“I’m sorry,” she rushes quickly when my brows furrow. “I’m sorry. It’s just...”

“Oh my God...” Lachlan groans, hand going up to his eyes. “You’re not serious. ”