Page 30 of Jezebel’s Liberation (Hellfire Hackers #1)

“ T hey’ve been down there for a long time.”

I continue to watch Jez pace the length of my room, the crease on her forehead telling me just how worried she is.

More than anything, I want to ease her concern, reassure her that Phantom will be okay, but I don’t.

I can’t. Because no matter how much a man tells himself he can do what it takes to keep the people he loves safe, killing for the first time is never easy.

And let’s face it… Phantom is absolutely getting his murder cherry popped if he’s in The Confessional.

“These things take time,” I tell her.

“Do you know who that guy was that they had with them?” she asks.

I shake my head. “No clue.”

“Do you think he’s conn?—”

The door to my room slides open, and Phantom stands in the entry with Soul and Malice flanking him.

“Jesus,” Jez whispers as she rushes to them. “What happened?” None of them answer her, and her shoulders stiffen. “Let me guess… club business.”

“You know the rules,” Soul says.

She snorts. “Yeah, I know the rules.”

Jez squares off with her brother, but my focus remains on Phantom. I can’t tell if his silence is an indicator that he’s in shock or if he’s just not sure what he can and can’t say. Either way, a sibling fight isn’t going to do him any good right now.

“Jez, why don’t you go see what the other old ladies are doin’?”

Her eyes widen at my grouping her in with the other women, but then she smiles. “Sure you can handle this?” she asks, forgetting about the argument with her twin entirely and nodding at Phantom.

“Yeah, I got him,” I assure her.

She nods before turning to him and kissing him on the lips, completely ignoring the blood. After wiping it off herself with the back of her hand, she storms out of the room.

“You’re okay with that?” Malice asks, but there’s no judgment in his question, only genuine curiosity. “Her kissing another man?”

“He’s okay with it,” Phantom says, which is the first time he’s spoken since entering the room. “Now, go.”

Soul and Malice exchange a look, and I fully expect Prez to put him in his place, so I’m shocked when they both shrug and leave us alone.

The instant the door slides closed, Phantom’s shoulders drop, and I have to rush forward to catch him when his knees give out, so he doesn’t hit the floor.

“Hey, hey,” I say, holding him up. “You’re gonna be okay.”

Phantom nods. “I, um… I need a shower.”

“Okay.”

I lead him into the en suite, and he strips out of his clothes while I turn the shower on. When I take off my shirt and shorts, Phantom arches a brow.

“What?” I ask, standing before him naked and trying like hell not to lower my gaze to his thickening cock.

He swallows, and I watch his Adam’s apple bob. “You’re getting in, too?”

“Shit,” I mutter, lowering my head to stare at the floor. “Uh, no. I just thought… Well, you’re… Fucking hell, I’m screwing this?—”

“You wanna take care of me,” he says simply.

My head snaps up, and I level my gaze on his. “Well… yeah.”

Phantom grins as he moves past me to step into the shower stall. “You comin’?”

I chuckle and join him under the spray. We’re quiet for several minutes as we both stand there. He watches the crimson liquid swirl down the drain, and I watch him. I don’t know what’s going on in his head, and it’s making me a little crazy, so I decide to bite the bullet.

“Are you okay?” I ask. He nods. “Wanna talk about it?”

Phantom reaches for the bar of soap, but I take it from him and begin to slowly wash his body without even thinking.

A moan escapes his lips when my soapy hands glide down his ribs. “I killed a man today,” he says.

“I figured.”

“He was linked to the ring we’re hunting.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to demand information, but this isn’t about me. Hell, it’s not even about the fucking pedophiles. It’s about him and what is going through his head.

“Then he deserved to die,” I finally say.

“He did,” he agrees. “I used an icepick. Lost count of the number of times I stabbed him. Cut off his dick, too.”

My cock twitches at the thought of him purging a sinner. Fuck, I bet it was impressive.

“Wish I coulda seen it.”

“Is it…”

“Is it what?” I ask when the silence stretches.

Phantom leans against the tiled wall and sighs before staring at me with an intensity that burns clear to my soul. “Is it bad that I liked it? Killing him, I mean?”

Ah, so this is what has him all tied up in knots.

“Fuck no,” I state.

Lifting his hands, he holds them in front of my face. “These hands have taken a man’s life. How can I let them touch Jez? How can I let them touch you? So much violence came from these hands today, and I don’t know what to?—”

Leaning forward, I capture his mouth with mine in a searing kiss. Phantom immediately drops his violent hands to my hips and pulls me flush against his body. When he parts his lips, I dart my tongue inside, desperate to taste him.

“I need…” he pants when I slide my lips to his neck.

“What?” I growl. “Tell me what you need.”

“You, Demon,” he snaps. “I need to fuck you, to make you feel good. I need to prove to myself that something good can still come from me.”

For the briefest of moments, I hesitate, but I quickly remind myself that this is not about me. And Phantom won’t hurt me, not like Stewart did, not like Ted. The action might be similar, but his intent is the polar opposite of theirs.

“Then fuck me,” I groan.

A second later, I’m shoved against the wall, face first. Phantom presses his front to my back, and his cock teases my ass cheeks.

“It might hurt at first,” he whispers in my ear right before biting down. Pain turns to pleasure as he sucks the lobe into his mouth. “But I promise it won’t last.”

“I can take it,” I moan, grinding my hips back.

Phantom grabs the bar of soap again and lathers his hands before spreading my cheeks and using it to half-ass lube my tight hole.

“Tell me if it gets to be too much,” he whispers just before he pushes his thumb inside.

I hiss at the sensation and reach between me and the wall to wrap my hand around my dick and stroke.

“That’s it,” he says, removing his thumb and replacing it with two fingers which he scissors to stretch me. “Tug that cock like your life depends on it.”

We stay like this for a few moments, and when my body shakes with an impending orgasm, Phantom reaches around me and yanks my hand off my dick.

“You don’t get to come yet,” he taunts as he spreads my cheeks and lines up his cock. “You ready for me?”

I have no fucking clue.

“Yes,” I manage to grit out, my body strung tighter than a nun’s cunt. “Fuck me.”

Without warning, he thrusts into my ass until he’s buried balls deep. I howl, pounding my fists against the wall.

“Too much?” he growls through gritted teeth.

“Not fucking enough,” I admit, despite the flashes of pain.

Phantom wraps his hands around my wrists and pins my arms above my head as he pounds into me. My body adjusts to his size, and the pain slowly morphs into the most intense pleasure. I grind my cock against the shower wall, chasing relief since I can’t stroke it.

“God damn , you feel good,” he hisses.

Maintaining his hold on my wrists with one hand, he lowers the other and fists my dick. He squeezes as I fuck his hand, but as soon as he senses I’m close, he stops and doubles his efforts to get himself off.

“I need to come,” I snarl.

“You will,” he promises, and the heat in his tone sends shivers down my spine. “But you’re gonna come the same way I do… buried balls deep.”

I yank one of my hands free and reach behind me to cup his balls on his next thrust, and he sucks in a breath.

“Then come for me,” I demand. “Now!”

Phantom’s cock pulses with his release, and hot cum fills me. I let him ride out the waves of pleasure, but when his body starts to slacken, I whirl around and wrap my hand around his throat.

“My turn,” I say, my tone low and possessive.

I ease him backward, out of the shower, and spin him around to face the bathroom counter.

I keep my hand around his throat as I reach into the drawer and grab the bottle of lube.

After flipping the cap open, I squirt the liquid over his ass crack and toss the bottle into the sink when I’m satisfied there’s enough.

“You don’t hav?—”

“My. Turn.” I place a hand at the center of his back and force him to lean forward so I can smear the lube over his hole before using it on my cock. “Better hold on.”

Phantom grabs the edge of the counter right as I slam into his tight heat. My eyes roll to the back of my head, and my vision blurs as pleasure like I’ve never felt threatens to send me flying.

“Sweet baby Jesus,” he mumbles. “You fill me so fucking full.”

“And you take me so fucking well.”

Having been on the brink of exploding since he was filling me, it doesn’t take long before my brutal thrusts become jerky. My muscles tighten, my spine tingles, and my balls draw up as I shoot ropes of cum into his ass.

I collapse on top of him, both of us struggling to catch our breath. I release his throat and trail my fingertips up his sides, and goosebumps break out across his flesh.

“I think we need to get back in the shower,” he says after a few calming moments.

I chuckle. “Yeah, probably.”

Straightening, he turns around to face me, leveling his gaze on mine. “You okay?” he asks.

I smile. “Yeah, I’m good. You?”

Phantom nods, but something flashes in his stare, something that looks an awful lot like… worry. I cup his cheeks and pull him toward me until his forehead rests on mine.

“I’m only going to say this once, so listen up,” I snap.

“What you did in The Confessional does not make you evil. It doesn’t lessen the other amazing things you do.

And it certainly isn’t going to send Jez or me running in the other direction.

We both want you… all of you. So, if you liked killing that sick fuck, own that shit.

Wear it like the badge of fucking honor it is because you did what you had to do to make this world a little bit better. ”

Phantom is quiet for a second, but the words that come out of his mouth when he speaks shove a broken piece of my soul back into place.

“I did it for you.”