Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Benny

Her father’s words echo loudly in my head.

She hasn’t even lain with a man yet and she’s already buck wild.

I don’t want to believe what that disgusting piece of shit said about my angel, but hell, it’s hard to discount the evidence. She’d rubbing on my cock like she’s dying without it inside of her, those sexy thighs flexing restlessly around my hips. Her tits are spilling out of her dress, those hard nipples just about to pop free of the neckline. I’ve given up on trying to control my erratic breathing. Or the sweat pouring down the sides of my face. I’ve got the sexiest young thing in human existence slowly grinding her cunt down on my erection, her fingernails buried in my shoulders like she’s enjoying herself a lot, and I’m about two seconds from drilling her in the bottom of this boat. If the thought of Grim seeing her naked didn’t make me want to commit a homicide, I’d be balls deep right now.

But this moment to think is good. Necessary.

I need time to come to my fucking senses.

She doesn’t want me. She couldn’t possibly. She’s just…

For some reason, this girl is horny beyond measure.

If her eyes weren’t so clear and alert, I would assume she’d been drugged.

More of her father’s parting words come back to haunt me.

She’s exactly like her mother.

Offering herself up to the first man who pays her a little attention.

Let’s be honest—that’s exactly what is happening here. This poor girl has been abused and locked up and now I’ve ridden in like the cavalry to save her. Of course she’s grateful. Of course she is willing to overlook the fact that I’m a monster.

Well I can’t let her tempt me into taking something she’ll regret giving away. As soon as we’re in the real world, as soon as she has options, I’m going to be the ogre she made the mistake of sleeping with. I’ll die if that happens. I won’t be another man in her life who does her dirty. No. Not happening. I’ve sinned a lot in my thirty-three years, but I draw the line at taking advantage of sweet angels down on their luck.

“Please, girl,” I grunt, my hand shaking on the small of her back, dying to get a grip on that tight ass. “Please. You have to stop riding me like that. I’ll embarrass myself.”

She blinks up at me innocently. “You don’t like it?” Her hips start working quicker, her brow puckered in concentration. “Is this better?” My head falls back on a curse. I’m about to tell her I love it. Of course I do. What red-blooded man wouldn’t like this gorgeous girl with the beautiful spirit giving him a lap dance designed to make his balls explode? I’ve never been so hard. So heavy and achy. And that’s before she drags her tongue straight up the center of my jugular, purring like a kitten who has just been given a bowl of cream. “I just want to make my Daddy happy,” she whispers in my ear.

“For the love of God, if you won’t give her what she needs, I will,” Grim calls from the front of the boat. As soon as his words penetrate, rage begins to filter into my brain, my blood, my bones. Then I notice he has an erection he’s trying to hide by facing the water, looking back over his shoulder. In the blink of an eye, the situation has changed. Now there is another male in the vicinity who wants to take the angel away from me?

“If you come a single inch closer than you are right now, motherfucker, I’ll rip the head clean off your shoulders,” I roar, holding Fawn more securely to my chest. Words aren’t enough, though, so I draw the gun at the small of my back and point it at Grim. “Drive the boat and keep your mouth shut.”

Oh, I’ve scared him. The back of his neck is white as a ghost, his shoulders tense. But Grim has never known when to shut the hell up. “Message received, Beat Down.” He pauses. “But how are you going to explain your precious cargo to Frank? We don’t take collateral. It’s full payment or nothing. That’s the policy.”

“I know the policy,” I respond tightly.

They think I’ve taken her as collateral, but the idea of giving her back sets my teeth on edge. Good thing her father will never come up with the money. There isn’t a chance in hell I’d let her go back to that hovel.

I’m on the verge of telling Grim to stay out of my business. But then, Fawn leans back and slays me with wide, disillusioned eyes. “You have a gun,” she whispers, her gaze trailing down my arm, her bottom lip starting to tremble. “Are you a bad man, Benny?”

Swear to God, I almost toss the gun into the swamp.

This girl believes something bad about me and I’ve never experienced such self-loathing in my life. Worse, the answer to her question is yes. I am a bad man. It’s true.

Maybe this is good, though—her realizing I’m a criminal in addition to being huge and unpleasant to look at. I’ll wither and die inside when she climbs off my lap and no longer wants anything to do with me, but it’ll be the best thing for her. What is the alternative? She stays with me forever? I do everything in my power to make her happy? Nothing—nothing I do could change the fact that she’s out of my league by a million miles. More.

She’d realize it eventually. Better to have her shy away from me now, afraid of my violent profession. Afraid of me.

“Yes, Fawn,” I push through stiff lips. “I’m a bad man.”

Her eyes well with tears. “No.”

“No?”

“You don’t want to be bad,” she whispers, laying a hand on my arm, which is still pointing the gun at Grim. She lowers it. And Jesus, I let her. Can’t do anything but stare into her beautiful golden eyes and let her disarm me, figuratively and literally. “You’re good. You’re a good man like the heroes in my stories.”

Not for the first time, she is bringing up these stories and my curiosity is more than piqued. “What stories are you talking about, baby?”

“The ones I found in the wall of the basement. About four years ago.” She wets her lips, growing visibly excited by the topic. “Notebooks and notebooks. Dozens of them. Filled with romantic tales. Although, the actual romance parts are pretty short.” Pink spots appear on her cheeks. “It’s mostly the characters spending time in bed together. Or, um…other places. Showers and tables and alleyways…”

“They have…”

“Sex,” she whispers, as if reciting a sacred prayer. “It’s time for me to try it myself now. For the first time. With you. It was always supposed to be you.”

Virgin. Of course she is.

Goddamn.

The urge to claim was already at a fever pitch, now it expands, rippling my muscles.

She’s back to grinding on my cock. Vision blurring from the immense pleasure, I can’t help opening my thighs slightly wider and tilting my lower body up at an angle for her. And she moans, bucking her hips eagerly. Fuck. Fuck, I’m going to come. Her pussy is so pliant through her threadbare panties. She’s a taut furnace—and those hips. The way they snap and drag. She’s such a flexible little thing. Driving me out of my fucking mind.

I wish like hell my conscience would shut up, but her statement won’t leave me alone. The longer I let her worship me like this, the guiltier I’ll be when it’s over.

It’s time for me to try it myself now. For the first time. With you.

It was always supposed to be you.

“I’d burn cities to the ground to have you, Fawn. If I thought you could be happy with me.” My hands are too filthy to touch her perfect skin, but I cup her face anyway, needing to impress upon her what I’m saying. Needing to have more contact with her. Before I never have the chance again. “You’ve been locked up, kept away from people. You don’t realize you’ve picked the ugliest son of a bitch out there to cozy up with. But you’ll realize it soon.” I can’t swallow past the fist-sized lump in my throat. “You’ve spent too long chained up. That’s exactly what I’d have to do to keep you with me. Once you see how much better you can do. I’d have to lock you in my basement. I can’t…I won’t do that.”

Fawn searches my eyes for long moments, then smiles softly. “See? I told you. A good man.” She leans in closer, her pupils dilating, tits flattening to my chest. And then, Jesus Christ, she kisses me. Her full lips settle over mine, suctioning gently, then she offers her smooth, wet tongue into my mouth, shooting my cock to stiffer attention. I can’t even function as she explores me with little licks that turn longer, longer, more eager. How is this happening? How is this girl whimpering, her legs restless, trying to climb higher on my body, clawing at my shoulders. Wanting it. Begging to be fucked.

I want it, too. I need it. Need to ruck up her dirty skirt, rip off her panties and bang this horny little angel until she’s satisfied. God, that would make me such a bastard. She’s under the false impression that I’m a good man. Doesn’t she realize why I was in her home in the first place?

As if overcome from the act of kissing, she collapses into me, breathing hard into the side of my neck. “Fawn…”

“Where are you taking me?” Her head lifts, hopeful eyes searching mine. “Your home?”

“My home,” I repeat dazedly. “No. I’m…”

“We’re taking you to the boss,” Grim says without turning to face us. “You’re collateral, honey. Ain’t you listening?”

“Shut your mouth,” I bellow, snapping my arm straight and leveling the gun at him once again. “I’m taking her to my place.”

Grim snorts. “You think we can return empty-handed? Frank might spare you. You’re too valuable. But me? He’ll put a bullet in my head before I walk through the front door.”

Fawn tugs on the collar of my shirt. “Why does he keep saying I’m collateral?”

Despite the situation, I love her ignoring Grim and asking me for the explanation. I love the total trust in her eyes, the loyalty. The way she regards me like…like I’m her Daddy and I have all the answers. Oh Jesus, am I already fucked? Am I really going to ruin this girl’s life to keep her in mine?

No. No, I can’t.

Steeling myself as much as possible against the need to soothe her, I deliver the harsh truth. She needs to hear it. She needs to know the truth about me. “Your father owed a debt to my boss and he couldn’t pay it. I was there, in your home, to end his miserable life.” Acid boils in my stomach. “You’re a placeholder for the money. Until he can come up with it.”

Which he never will. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But I can’t imagine she won’t be long gone by then.

Fawn rears back slightly, as if she’s been slapped. “I thought…I just thought you were there to rescue me.”

“I’m not a hero from your stories, all right?” I rasp, wanting to die.

Wanting to be her hero so badly, my heart is beating in my mouth.

For long moments, she can only study me, as if trying to read my mind. Can she? I swear, she’s looking right into my soul. Can she see it’s too black for someone so pure? “Well,” she murmurs unsteadily. “Joke is on you. My father doesn’t care enough about me to try and get me back. He’s probably grateful I’ve been taken off his hands.”

“That’s because he’s a goddamn fool,” I half shout.

“What does that make you? You don’t want me, either.”

I press our foreheads together, growling. “That’s bullshit and you know it.”

Her body begins to tremble. But not in fear. With desire. Keeping eye contact with me, she tugs down the bodice of her dress, exposing her tits to me and the bayou. “Prove it.”