Page 17

Chapter

Seventeen

MAXIM

H earing Luna tell me she chooses me makes me happier than I’ve ever been.

I’ve been through the loss of men I called brothers. Through losing a place I called home. Through assholes who thought they could ruin my life.

I’ve made it through it all so I could be here with Luna on my lap, looking at me with so much love in her eyes.

Fuck. I’m in love with her.

I gently grab the back of her head and pull her down for a kiss. Luna eagerly kisses me back. That’s the one beautiful thing about her—no shyness. She was never burdened with societal expectations. She’s just herself.

She tugs on my shirt until I pull back enough to let her take it off me. The confidence with which she touches me is astounding, and it makes me love her more.

I inhale sharply as her fingers run down my chest. Her touch is like lightening.

Then I grab the end of her dress and quickly get it off her. “I need to see you.”

She takes off her bra for me, and my cock grows harder at the sight of her breasts. I felt guilty at first for having feelings for Luna. She was just so innocent. And while she’s still innocent in so many ways, she’s grown into a woman with a mind of her own. My guilt is gone. I can just be with her.

I rip her panties down and cup her between her legs. The wetness coming out of her coats my hand. I rub my palm against her clit. She moans, rocking her hips back and forth. Seeing Luna lose herself in pleasure is a definite highlight of my day. Hell, my year.

Fuck it. My life.

She grips my hips as she pants and rolls her hips around.

“Does this feel good?” I say into her ear.

“Yes,” she gasps out, throwing her head back. My fucking god, she’s perfect.

As I rub her harder, Luna moves her hips around with wild abandon. My cock can barely take it. I need to be inside her.

But I need to see her come first.

My fingers circle her clit around and press down firmly. That does it.

She gasps right before her body trembles its release, and I hold her, kissing along her neck. I just need her. All of her will never be enough.

She must have the same idea because her hands go to my pants, and she tugs them down, freeing my cock. Without wasting any time, she plants her knees on either side of my legs, then lowers herself down.

We lock eyes as she takes me inside.

This time, she doesn’t hesitate. She sinks all the way down onto me. I can barely breath. Fuck, she’s perfect. Her inner walls clench down on my cock, making me almost lose my mind right here and now.

Our lips meet. I’m not sure who went for who first. We both want this.

Luna slowly rocks her hips back and forth, and the sensation of it makes my cock grow even harder. I’m barely hanging on, but for her, I will do it.

I run my hands up and down her back, feeling the ridges of her spine. She’s gained a little bit of weight since I saved her from the lighthouse. It’s only filled her out more, making her more beautiful. Ed must not have fed her all that well. The thought makes me angry, and I tighten my hands on her hips.

“Maxim?” she gasps, pausing.

“Sorry.” I loosen my grip. “You’re good, baby. Just move. I’m right here with you.”

The smile she gives me lights up my fucking life.

Luna wraps her arms around my shoulders, bringing us chest to chest. Our lips collide again into a passionate kiss. I’ve kissed my fair share of women, but none of them compare to Luna. With Luna, it’s like waking up for the very first time. I’m rediscovering sex with her while she discovers it for the first time.

She increases her pace. Her hips rock back and forth quickly. I shift my own hips up to meet hers. My leg still fucking hurts, but I push that aside to be with her. Pain doesn’t matter when I’m feeling pleasure with Luna.

She is all that matters.

Her breath comes out in small, cute pants; her face turning red. She’s so fucking cute and sexy at the same time.

I pull back from the kiss to look into her eyes, pressing our foreheads together. “You’re amazing.”

“So are you.” She’s just so honest about how she feels. It’s opened me up in ways I never thought possible.

The urge to tell her I love her almost spills out of me, but I hold it back. I don’t want her to think love only happens when you’re having sex. I’d love her regardless if we’re having sex or not.

“Are you close?” I grit out, trying to be patient for her. Every shift of her hips brings me closer to the edge.

“Yes,” she gasps. “I can feel it.”

“Good. That’s good, baby. Come for me. I need to see it.”

I thrust my hips upward, bringing my cock deeper within her. At the same time, I reach between our bodies and press down on her clit.

That does the trick.

She moans, dropping her head back right as she comes. The sight is something else. “Maxim.”

Hearing her moan my name makes me come right after. I groan against her neck, holding her close to me. She smells like spicy flowers, and I fucking love it. She doesn’t even own any perfume. I have no fucking clue how she does it.

I press kisses against her neck. “You’re perfect.”

“I thought no one was perfect.”

I chuckle, still kissing along her neck. “Well, right now, you are.”

“Thank you.” Easing off me, she snuggles into my side. I wrap the blanket from the couch around us. “Maxim, how do you know if you’re in love?”

The question catches me off guard. “Are you in love?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never been in love before. So, how do you know if you’re in love?”

I blow out a breath. “Man. Uh … I could tell you all the different ways someone knows. How long you’ve known a person. How well you know them. What you like about them. How they make you feel. But I think at the end of the day, it’s all about what you feel in your gut. You either know you love someone or not.”

“Oh. Ok.”

I gently poke her nose. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that I love you.”

My heart freezes for a second then resumes beating. “Oh?”

She looks up at me all cute-like, and it’s fucking distracting. “Yeah. I feel it in my gut. I’ve felt it in my gut ever since we first met. I still get butterflies when I’m around you.”

“Even now?”

“Even now. You’ve shown me there’s a whole world out there. You’ve woken me up. I’m so grateful.”

“You’re welcome. But I don’t think love is about gratitude. Love is selfless.”

“I don’t love you because you saved me. I love you because … I’m never happier than when I’m around you.”

Fuck, this girl. She’ll kill me. My heart can’t take this much emotion. I’m not used to it as a biker. In my world, you don’t show emotion, or you quickly shut it down when you do.

But Luna is so open with her feelings. It makes me want to be open with mine.

I’m going to tell her I love her.

I open my mouth to speak …

… when the front door bangs open.

Jasper runs into the room, breathing heavily, waving his gun around.

Instinctually, I grab Luna and roll us onto the floor. I cover her with my body as I grab my pants and find my gun there.

I manage to grab my gun and sit up, pointing it at Jasper. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Jack and I had a plan. It was a good plan. He would fuck Luna like he wanted, and I would get her afterward. You weren’t supposed to intervene.”

“It wasn’t my fault you left Ava alive, and she told her husband. You made it easy for me to find you.”

“I’m going to kill you, Maxim. You ruined my life. I have no place in this world anymore. I’m not a Knight. Half our friends are dead. I have no one anymore.”

“Don’t blame this on me,” I growl. I can feel Luna shaking behind me.

Jasper’s eyes flick to hers, and they darken when they take in her naked form.

“Don’t look at her,” I snap, drawing his attention back to me. “You don’t get to look at her. You were a good Knight. A good friend. Until you had to fuck it up by going after Luna.”

“Why did you choose her over me? Over the Knights?”

“I never chose Luna over the Knights. I chose to protect her by kicking you out, but I never abandoned our men. I never gave up on them. I’ve been trying to keep them safe. From Anton. From you.”

“Me? I was never a danger to them.”

“You were. When you started causing problems, you were. Need I remind you that you punched Colin? You hurt him.”

“I heard Colin’s dead now. So, it’s a moot point anyway.”

“What are you going to do?” I growl. “If you shoot me, I’ll just shoot you right back. Be smart about this.”

“I’m done with that. I have nothing else to lose, Maxim. That’s the thing. I’m not afraid to die anymore.”

I see his hand move a second too late.

The bullet hits me in the arm, making me drop my gun. Without wasting a minute, I jump up and charge at Jasper, knocking him to the ground. His gun falls to the floor.

I begin to punch him over and over and over again.

But what I’m not expecting is for him to have a knife.

He plunges it into my side.

“Fuck,” I hiss. He doesn’t pull the blade out.

“Give me Luna, and I won’t kill you. You know once I pull this knife out, you’re doomed. You might make it to a hospital in time. But you might not. So, just give me Luna, and I’ll let you live.”

“Never,” I snarl.

“He can have me,” Luna says. I glance over at her. The blanket is wrapped around her, and she looks so fragile and small.

“No. I’d rather die.”

“But I don’t want to lose you, Maxim. I can’t lose you.” She turns to Jasper. “I’ll go with you. But you have to stay true to your word. Maxim gets to live.”

“Of course. Unlike someone people”—he slits his eyes at me— “I know how to keep a promise.”

“The I’ll go.” She quickly slips her dress on and approaches us. “Stand up, Maxim. Back away.”

“No,” I growl.

She places her hand on my shoulder. “He will not stop, and right now, he has the advantage. If he pulls that knife out of you, you could die, and I can’t stand that, especially if there was something I could do about it. So, just stand up.”

I weigh my options. Luna’s right. If Jasper pulls this knife out, I’m fucking screwed, and Jasper will hurt Luna anyway, and I won’t be here to save her.

But if I live, I still have a chance to kill the bastard.

I grab Jasper’s hand and force him to loosen his grip on the knife. Then I stand.

Jasper jumps to his feet. “I stayed true to my word. You’re coming with me.”

Slowly, Luna walks to his side, and he grabs her around the waist.

“Oh, and Maxim?” Jasper surges forward and rips the knife from my side. Blood begins to pour out of me.

“No!” Luna screams.

I slump to the ground, my vision already blackening.

“You promised!” She hits on Jasper, but he grabs her wrists, making her flinch.

“As I said, I have nothing left to lose.” He grabs her around the waist and throws her over his shoulder. She fights like hell, pounding on his back, kicking his chest.

But he doesn’t let her go as he leaves my apartment.

I have to watch Luna get kidnapped once more, knowing I don’t have that much more time to save her.

With my last bit of strength, I grab my cell off the floor and dial Nikolai’s number.

“Maxim?”

His voice is a welcome sound.

“It’s Luna,” I gasp. “I’m hurt.”

“Maxim, where are you?”

“My apartment,” I manage to say right before I slump to the ground. All the fight has left me.

I have nothing left to give.

LUNA

Jasper drops me onto the backseat of his car and locks the door before I can escape.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask as he gets in and starts to drive away from Maxim’s apartment. Maxim is bleeding out at this very second, and there’s no one to help him. He’s going to die.

He might already be dead.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask again.

“Because I was denied you. I don’t like being denied things.”

“But I’m not a thing. I’m a human being.”

“To me, you’re just a girl I never got the chance to fuck. I’m going to rectify that.”

“But why is it so important to you that you have me? Weren’t you dating Tracy? What does she have to say about this?”

“Tracy and I are done. She dumped me when Maxim kicked me out of the Knights.”

“Ok,” I say slowly. “But you could have any woman you wanted. Why go after me? Why not just leave me alone? Why put yourself in danger over me?”

“Because I want you!” he shouts. “Maxim denied me the chance of having you, and it pissed me off. So, I’m going to take you and make him regret ever kicking me out of the Knights in the first place.”

“But you killed him!”

“Exactly.” He flashes me a dark grin in the rearview mirror. “I’m sure he’s already regretting kicking me out. Once I’m done with you, I’ll return to the Knights and take over as president. Lucas is dead. There’s no one in line for the position. It’s just waiting for me.”

“No one will want you as president.”

“Sal would. We were always friends. I’m going to take over Maxim’s legacy, and it’s going to be so sweet. Knowing that he lost his girl, the Knights, and his life is all just too good to be true.”

I slump back against the seat. There’s nothing I can do to get through to Jasper. He’s officially lost it.

And all I can think about is Maxim looking shocked as Jasper pulled the knife out of his body. How betrayed he looked. How hurt. How afraid.

I’m not there to comfort him.

But it’s not Maxim I should be thinking about right now. It’s me.

If Maxim is dead, there’s no one to protect me. No one will come to save me. I’m on my own again.

Despite growing up alone in the lighthouse, I was never independent. God made me need him. God made me think I couldn’t succeed on my own without him.

I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to survive on my own.

I feel like the small, pathetic girl God made me out to be.

Jasper leaves the city, which surprises me. I would’ve thought he’d take me to his apartment. But he keeps driving.

We’re in the car for an hour before I realize where he’s taking me. I recognize the scenery. The ocean in the distance. The cliffs.

And then I see it crest over the hill. The familiar tall structure. White with red trim.

The lighthouse.

“Why are you taking me here?” I whisper.

“Because it’s poetic. It should’ve been me you first saw. If it’d been me, you would never have looked at Maxim, and Maxim never would’ve kicked me out, and my life never would’ve been ruined.”

My throat clenches shut as he parks the car in front of the lighthouse. When Maxim killed Ed, I thought that was it—I was free of this place.

But it keeps drawing me right back into its orbit.

Jasper points his bloody knife at me. Maxim’s blood. “Get out.”

I do as he says.

Maybe I can find a way out of this. Maybe I can survive long enough for …

No. No one is coming, I remind myself.

I’m not sure I even want to live. Maxim is dead. Jasper is going to hurt me. What’s the point?

He grabs my arm, drawing me back to reality, and shoves me toward the lighthouse. The moment we step inside, I know it’s all over. My life is done for.

The familiar claustrophobic walls surround me. I can’t breathe. I can’t do this.

I bend forward, trying to suck in a breath, but I can’t.

“Come on,” Jasper growls, shoving me toward the stairs. “I want to fuck you on your bed. The one you grew up on.”

“You’re sick.”

“Baby, I’m just a man.”

Hearing him call me baby reminds me of Maxim, except Maxim said it so sweetly to me in times of pleasure. When Jasper says it, all I feel is revulsion.

The sight of my bed makes me shudder. It’s still unmade from when I was here last. When God brought me here again.

“Get on the bed,” Jasper orders.

This is it. I could lie down and let him have his way with me and then end my life.

Or I could fight.

Rose would want me to fight.

Maxim would want me to fight.

If I lie down, Jasper will have the advantage over me. He’s bigger and stronger. But if I’m still standing, I can use my legs. I can use my body against him.

“Get on the bed,” he growls.

“No,” I growl back and spin around, landing a kick straight to that sensitive spot between his legs. Jasper grunts and bends over, dropping his knife to the ground.

“Oh, you fucking bitch.”

I pick up the knife and point it at him.

He stands back up, his face red and his eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to hurt me with that. You can’t. You’re not brave enough.”

My hand is shaking. He’s right. I can't kill him with this. I don’t have the capacity for murder.

But I’ve grown smarter since Maxim freed me from this prison. I know how to use my brain now.

“Walk downstairs.”

“What? You don’t get to tell me what to do,” he says.

I slice the knife at him, and he jerks back. “Walk downstairs. Or I’m going to stab you with this.”

“You’re lying.”

“Do you want to test me?”

Jasper looks between me and the knife, and then he nods. “Fine. I’ll go downstairs.” Turning his back to me, he walks down the stairs, and I follow a few paces behind.

Once we’re on the bottom floor, Jasper spins around and grabs my arm, twisting it and making me drop the knife. “You thought you could get the better of me? Think again.” He grabs my waist and presses me against the table. “I wanted to do it in the bed, but here works fine, too.” His hands scramble at the bottom of my dress.

I scream and try to kick him again, but he holds me down. My entire back is pressed against the kitchen table. I drop my head back, all the fight leaving me.

I tried Maxim , I think to myself. I really did try.

Jasper’s hands are on my thighs. They’re cold and clammy. Nothing like Maxim’s warm ones.

That’s when my eyes spy the large water pitcher. It’s on the table with us.

I reach out for it and manage to grab it, and without hesitating, I slam it against Jasper’s head. He groans as he stumbles back, falling to the ground.

He doesn’t get back up.

I gasp and bend down to check his pulse. He’s still alive. I didn’t kill him.

But I fought back, and Maxim and Rose and my other friends would all be so proud of me.

I grab Jaspers car keys. Even though I have no idea how to drive, I’ll figure it out. If it means getting away, I’ll try anything.

I turn the doorknob.

The door doesn’t open.

My heart skips a beat. Why isn’t the door opening? I try it again and again before realizing that the door is locked. That’s right. Ed had the door on a timer to lock automatically.

I’m stuck in here.

With Jasper. Who isn’t dead.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.

I pace around the kitchen, keeping an eye on Jasper’s body. I can’t get out of here. No one is coming for me. I’m stuck here.

But maybe Jasper knows how to get out. Maybe he can do something.

But the moment he wakes back up, he’s going to rape me.

I get an idea.

Hurrying as fast as I can, I run upstairs and grab my bedsheets, run back downstairs, and then work on getting Jasper’s body onto the kitchen chair.

It’s not easy. He’s a lot bigger than I am.

But after hoisting his body onto the chair, I manage to place him upright and tie him to the chair with the bedsheets. How ironic. He made me tie Evie and Katya up when he kidnapped us the first time.

How poetic, as he would say.

Then I grab the knife, sit down across from him, and wait.

Jasper is unconscious for a half hour before he jerks awake. “What the hell?” he groans, looking down at himself. “What the fuck did you do?”

“I tied you up. Now, we need to get out of here.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“The door is locked.”

“No, it’s not. I left it unlocked.”

“When you close the door, it locks automatically. So, unless you have a key, we’re stuck in here.”

His eyes flick to the door and back to me. “You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie about that? I was ready to run when I knocked you out, but I can’t leave. I’m stuck here. We’re stuck here.”

“Shit,” he mutters. Then he begins to laugh. It starts slow, then leads into a full belly laugh and ends with him sounding like a madman.

“What’s so funny?”

“I guess I did it. You’re going to die here, Luna. I wanted to take you from Maxim, and I did that. Look on the bright side. At least you can join Maxim in the afterlife.”

I gasp and stand up from the table, knocking the chair back and dropping the knife to the floor. “I’m not going to die here. I refuse to die here.”

“Don’t know what to tell you. You’re out of luck. No more saves this time.”

I can’t stand the sight of him. If I’m going to die here, I don’t want it to be with Jasper.

I run up to the top of the lighthouse so I can get some air. The ocean is below me, overlooking ragged rocks. If I jumped from here, I would die on impact.

I considered killing myself a few times when I was younger. The boredom and monotony of the lighthouse was difficult.

But then God would remind me to keep on living. He’d promise me things. Give me a new book. A new toy. He manipulated me so I wouldn’t kill myself.

I have nothing to live for anymore. Maxim is dead. No one will find me here.

I’m trapped. The lighthouse won in the end.

I let myself lean over the edge and imagine it. Just letting go. Falling. The sweet release of death.

And that’s when I see him.

A man approaching the lighthouse.