Page 30 of Upon Blooded Lips (Vengeance #1)
ERIC
I think most people would consider me the nice brother.
The easygoing brother. The fun brother. They wouldn’t recognize me now, covered in blood, my teeth bared in a menacing grin while slicing into the rapist in front of me.
His howls echo through our warehouse, and I throw my head back and join him, our combined voices raising the hairs on my arms as another cut appears on his chest.
This fucker has gotten away with at least thirty rapes.
He’s one of those frat boys who thinks his daddy’s money will save him.
And so far, it has. But there’s nothing more dangerous than a momma bear whose child has suffered at the hands of a monster.
A momma bear who heard whispers of us and came looking for vengeance.
Luca, despite being a college junior, likes high school kids.
He also likes GHB and luring na?ve little girls to college parties where he and his buddies ply them with alcohol and drugs until they’re too incapacitated to say no.
Not that they care if they do, since “no” isn’t in their vocabulary.
Too bad their fathers didn’t teach them better.
Now it falls on us to deliver the lesson.
But Mrs. Momma Bear doesn’t want Luca to die.
Oh, no. She wants him to suffer while sending a message to all his frat brothers at the same time.
For looking at things he shouldn’t, we scooped out his eyeballs with a sharpened spoon.
For touching things he shouldn’t, we removed his fingers.
For using his silver tongue to talk girls into attending the parties, we cut it out.
And for using his dick as a weapon, we’re ensuring he can never get an erection again.
If anyone should look past all that and still forget what he did, I take a page out of Tessa’s stalker’s playbook and carve “rapist” into his chest.
It’s hard work, but someone has to do it.
Bandaging the guy up and sedating him goes against my principles, but our client was clear; she doesn’t want his death on her conscience, just some form of justice.
I suppose I can understand that—death is easy, quick, and over far too soon.
There’s no reason Luca can’t live a long, healthy life.
And sixty-odd years of suffering is so much more delicious than a single day of torture.
After he’s unconscious, I go looking for my brother, bypassing the barred cell on the way to the apartment. The man inside peers back at me with an air of resignation, having had a front-row seat to my performance with Luca. I give him a wink when I pass. His time will come soon enough.
I find Nate in the shower. My cock’s already rock solid from the frat boy’s screams, and I need Nate to lessen the ache.
I divest myself of my clothes, tossing them into a black bag before stepping into the shower.
Nate turns, his gaze heating at the evidence of my depravity.
Blood always makes me all kinds of horny.
There’s something erotic about holding someone’s fate in your hands, of spilling their life force over your fingers, feeling the hot liquid pulse over your skin.
It makes me crazy, hungry, feral. It calls forth the darkness inside me, that burning mass of sulfur and shadows I work so hard to keep contained under a veneer of frivolity.
Being unable to watch the light leave Luca’s eyes has left me unfulfilled and wanting, and the only way to calm it is through fucking.
I can’t go home like this. If Tessa saw me in this state, she might run, and after I had my tongue deep inside that sweet pussy of hers, there’s no way I can allow her to do that.
She’s ours now, and I’ll do anything to keep her.
She needs my softer side to balance out Nate’s dominance, not this monster I turn into while killing.
Nate grabs my face with a force that sends me reeling, smashing his lips down on mine.
Our teeth clash together, our tongues fighting for dominance.
My fingers twine in his hair, yanking on the strands.
He tears his mouth from mine and searches my eyes.
I growl back at him, pushing him against the tiles.
“Turn around.” I won’t be the one submitting.
Not tonight. He shudders and turns, placing his hands on the tiled wall.
I grab a bottle of lube out of the shower niche and liberally coat myself in it.
“I need you,” I rasp, spreading some over his dark hole.
It clenches under my touch, and my mouth dries.
Fuck, it’s been too long since I was the one in charge, since I’ve fucked him raw and emptied myself inside him.
“Do it,” he replies, glancing over his shoulder at me.
“And make it fucking hurt.” I kick his legs apart, a dark laugh rumbling in my chest. I wrap my arms around his waist, pressing myself close, but it’s not enough.
Sometimes, I want to crawl inside him, to let him absorb me so I can be with him always.
He grunts when I pull his cheeks apart and drive into him, unleashing my darkness and letting him absorb it.
“So fucking tight,” I grit out before trailing my tongue over his back, tracing the lines of the giant skull tattoo etched across his taut skin.
His muscles ripple under my touch, and he curses when I pick up speed, slamming into him with abandon.
He feels so fucking good wrapped around my cock like a glove.
How did I get so lucky to have this god of a man love me? As I fuck into him, a swell of feelings slams into me. Getting to call him mine is everything. Fucking everything.
I reach around and grab his dick, sliding my hand up and down it.
“I need you to come with me,” I say in a broken voice, one edged with tears.
My throat tightens, the feelings too overwhelming.
He thickens and pulses in my hand, hot jets of cum painting the tiles.
“Fuck. Fuck, Nate.” My balls draw up tight, and I throw my head back, my eyes fluttering closed at the white-hot pleasure lighting up my nerves.
I empty myself deep inside him and collapse against his back, holding on to him like a lifeline.
We stand like that until our ragged breaths subside, the steam from the shower billowing around us like soft clouds. Nate spins around and draws me against him, tucking my head under his neck.
“I fucking love you,” he murmurs, and my heart leaps in my chest. He kisses the top of my head before gently setting me to the side.
He snatches a bottle of shampoo, squeezes some into his palm, and works it through my hair, his fingers scraping deliciously across my scalp.
I moan and tilt my head back, reveling in his touch.
I needed this, needed him. We’ve been too busy the past few weeks with Tessa’s training, setting plans in motion, and trying to clear our list of jobs so we have time to concentrate on her revenge to take a few moments for each other.
I can only imagine how Tessa feels. After our trip to Chicago, she must feel some kind of way over our lack of attention.
I’ll need to talk to Nate about taking a day off where we can shower her with affection and let her know we haven’t forgotten about her.
But right this moment, I’m going to enjoy the feel of my man’s hands on me as he washes every inch of my body, sending the darkness back into the black pit residing where my soul should be.
After dumping Luca in the thick scrub surrounding the frat house, we make our way home. When we enter Willowmen, Nate asks, “What’s our girl up to?”
“Probably sleeping,” I say. “One bonus of her training is that the exhaustion seems to keep her nightmares at bay.” He hums in reply, and I pull my tablet out of my bag and open the camera feeds. Ice spreads through my veins at the blank screens.
Nate glances over. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” I scroll back to this morning and give a sigh of relief.
They were working fine then, so what happened?
I fast forward to one of The Duke’s men bringing boxes to the front door, followed by all of them leaving in one of our cars.
I toggle through the screens, choosing the one at the entrance gates.
The car pauses, and The Duke’s window rolls down.
She waggles her eyebrows and mouths, Enjoy before giving a wave and driving off.
I open all the feeds at once, my head cocking to the side at the sight of Tessa dragging a chair out of her room. She climbs up on it, sticks her tongue out, and tapes a piece of paper over it. One by one, she blocks off the main cameras, blinding us.
What are you up to, angel?