Page 20 of Endurance

He worked at cutting the rest of Alex’s bindings. I hovered close just in case Alex tried anything. Once Louie was done, he handed me the knife. I kicked Alex out of the chair. He rolled on the ground with zero resistance.

Louie lifted him by his underarms to his feet. Then Louie hooked his arms around Alex’s and locked his fingers together behind Alex’s head—putting him in a full nelson hold. Louie gave me a nod that he was ready, and I cut the front of Alex’s shirt open with the knife, revealing his lower stomach. “You cut her stomach,” I said as I put the blade to his skin, right over where Maura had stabbed him. My eyes moved up to his. I hoped he felt what she had felt in this moment. I watched him intently as I sank the blade deep.

The only sound Alex made was a loud intake of breath. He fought a little when I cut all the way to his hip, then twisted the knife and sliced my way to his other. Blood flooded the carpet at my feet. Without removing it, I moved the blade back to the middle of his lower belly. I twisted it again and ripped it out at an angle, pulling out his intestines in the process. I flicked the knife free and took a few steps back to take in the view.

He was dead. I could tell by his unblinking eyes. I nodded at Louie, who was now fully supporting Alex’s weight. He dropped him and shook out his arms. “We should clean up a little before we go out there,” he said, gesturing to my hands. My hand that was holding the knife was completely covered in blood. My other hand wasn’t as bad but still bloody.

We both took turns washing our hands at the kitchen sink before we went out on the porch where Maura was waiting. She was sitting on the top step with that vacant look. We took a seat on either side of her and we sat there for a while, absorbing everything that had happened.

Finn had left behind some small bombs that had been intended to draw Alex out. We used those to cover up what we had done. After we watched the house blow up, we climbed into Asher’s truck and I drove us back to the cabin. Maura didn’t utter a single word the entire drive or when we returned. She walked inside the cabin in a drone like state. Her security and Brenna were in the living room as we came inside. They just watched Maura in stunned silence as she walked by, stripping off her weapons as she made her way to her room.

No one asked us what had happened or if Maura was okay. It was as if they all understood and they returned to what they'd been doing before we'd showed up.

Jameson disappeared into our room whereas I stood outside Maura’s. Her door was open, and I could hear the shower running. I wanted to go to her. I needed to know that she was going to be okay.

My feet moved without much thought and before I knew it, I was standing in her bathroom. She didn’t even have the curtain pulled closed as she stood under the water in her underwear. By the amount of steam coming off the water I could tell it was scalding.

I walked over to her. “Maura.” She didn’t seem to hear me. She was just staring at the tile wall looking vacant again. I touched her shoulder. It startled her, but it seemed to bring her back from wherever her mind had taken her. I reached to turn down the temperature of the water next. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice cracking. So much emptiness spilled from the cracks in her voice.

I didn’t want her to see my worry, but I wasn’t as good at hiding how I felt as her and Jameson. “I wanted to check on you.” Red splotches on her skin caught my attention and my gaze moved down her practically naked body. I saw her scar just below her belly button and it took everything not to react to it.

She grabbed the bottom of my shirt and tugged. I met her eyes. There was need in them. She probably thought I was staring at her body for other reasons.

“I just want to feel,” she whispered and pulled on my shirt again. In the back of my mind, I knew it was a bad idea. I just didn’t have it in me to deny her.

I stepped into the shower fully clothed. She pressed her body against mine as I leaned down to kiss her. It had been too long being without her—not having her this close. These past three months had been hell.

That first kiss seemed to set ablaze inside us. We became frantic and rushed. She unfastened my pants while I unclasped her bra. Her tits sprung free and I tossed the bra away. Her fingers wrapping around my already hard dick as she freed me from my briefs made me feel a little delirious. She quickly shoved her underwear down her thighs. As soon as she stepped out of them, I pushed her up against the wall. She hooked her leg around my hip. I aligned myself with her entrance and slammed home. We both groaned. She was perfectly tight and wet. Her pussy squeezed around my dick as if she didn’t want to let me go. I pumped inside her at a languid pace, wanting to savor our time together.

She slid her fingers into my hair and tugged. The slight sting made me thrust into her.

“Harder,” she panted.

I increased my speed. The sound of me slamming into her and her moaning was hot as fuck. I was scared I wouldn’t fucking last.

“Harder,” she moaned. I hiked her leg higher and pounded into her. She leaned close and rested her head on my chest. Other than a little panting, she was quiet. In my gut, something didn’t feel right.

“She wants you to hurt her,” a pissed off voice said.

I froze as I looked out of the shower. Jameson was leaning against the bathroom door, looking mad as hell. Not at me, though. He was glaring at Maura.

Confused, I peered down at her and reeled back when I saw that she was crying. Not understanding, I cupped her face. “Why would you want me to hurt you?”

She didn’t answer.

“She wants you to punish her,” Jameson answered. “Because she feels like she deserves it.”

“Maura, no,” I groaned as guilt washed over me. “I’m sorry for everything that I did.” I held her eyes, hoping she would see that I meant it. “I let my fear get the best of me. If I have to grovel and beg to get you to forgive me, I will. I love you so fucking much.” I stepped back, pulling out of her as I did. “But I can’t and won’t ever intentionally hurt you.”

I tucked myself back into my pants and climbed out of the shower. I ripped a towel off the rack before leaving the bathroom. My shoes squished with each step I took.

As I entered the hall I ran into Brenna. She eyed me up and down, then saw what room I'd come out of. She shook her head before walking around me. “I hope you didn’t just fuck up because I’m the only one who bet in your favor.” She paused just before entering her room. “And I have a lot of money riding on you two.” She shook her head at me again and went into her room.

Days passed by as we waited to come across any clue that would lead us to Buck and the remaining Aryans. That seemed to really piss off Vincent, who had been searching for them nonstop. Maura and Brenna had to forcefully drag the poor kid away from his computers to eat.

Maura’s security occupied a lot of their time training Brenna with different weapons and self-defense. Louie and I even tried to help. Brenna was open to learning from us. The others frowned as they watched us like hawks. For some reason they still thought we’d snag Maura and Brenna when they weren’t looking.