Chapter 17

Seventeen

MAXIMILLIAN

Pulling off the highway, I choose a small town, not a major city to hunker down in. We’re hours outside Lecherton, in case Sosa’s men find us. It’s the dead of night and we need to clean up and rest. Stealing a glance at my little fox, she doesn’t object when I pull into a piece of shit motel a few miles away from the exit.

“Do I look presentable?” I ask, waving my hands down the front of my stained suit.

“Just tell them you had a bad shaving accident.” One side of her deliciously plump lips curls up, and I want to suck them off her face. Thinking about the blood covering her body and my cum still inside her makes my dick twitch.

The car is still running when I get out in case foxy needs to split. A cloud of marijuana smoke billows out of the small motel office when I open the glass door, but looking around, I don’t see anyone attending the small counter. After ringing a bell, a lanky kid with bloodshot eyes comes out and barely even looks at me. “Yeah?”

“Just a king-sized room if you have one.” I pay for the room and grab the key without raising any suspicion. Once we park and I grab our bags, I shove Livia inside the door. My cock is requiring service again.

Snapping my fingers, I point to the bathroom door. “Shower. Now.”

“You’re so demanding.” She trails fingers up my chest as she smiles.

“Not yet, but I will be. Move your ass, little fox.” As she walks in front of me, I spank her firm cheeks while we both peel off our sticky clothes, dropping them on the crusty carpet.

As soon as we get inside the small tub, I pick up my fox by her thick bottom and shove her against the tiles. My teeth find the crook of her neck and sink in, sucking with my tongue as her cry of shocked pain deafens my ear. I wrap one hand around her tiny neck and hold it there. No pressure yet, just getting a feel for how easy it will be to crush it underneath my firm tendons and eager fingers.

Pink waves of blood sheets off under the pelts of hot water. With her legs spread wide for me, I don’t hesitate and shove myself fully inside her sheath with a low moan reverberating past my lips. “I loved fucking you in his blood. Cutting him wide open and letting him spray all over you.” My head relaxes back with a groan as I inject her with the first thrust of my hips. “Believe that I will kill any man who tries to touch what’s mine, little fox.” And I will. Anyone so much as looks at my girl from now on is getting his eyes removed. She needs to understand how serious I am. “Nod if you understand, foxy.”

Each finger tightens its grip around her windpipe as her golden eyes widen, but her pussy clenches. Pressing my chest more firmly into hers, the air is squeezed from her lungs with a raspy gasp, as the look on her face dazes when she begins to lose consciousness. Before she’s completely out, I demand, “Nod your head, foxy. Then come all over my cock.”

Each sparkling fleck of her hazel eyes fades to a muted olive, but it’s not time to let up. Her legs lock behind me as she rides my cock like a toy, using the wall as leverage. At the peak of her orgasm, a guttural sound tries to escape her open mouth, but I clamp down tighter until she croaks.

This is her punishment and my pleasure. I could kill her for allowing that dude inside her, but if I do, I’d be no better than Franklin Von Dovish, the boogeyman of her nightmares. Vile hatred gushes around in my gut thinking about that slimy fuck inside her tonight. It would be easy to just continue squeezing the life out of her like this.

Her entire body freezes against mine, clasping my cock in as tight of a grip as I have on her neck until I can barely move inside her. She’s almost gone now, almost out of air. The whites of her eyes have lost moisture, are focused on what’s she’s seeing in an afterlife. If she dies here under my grasp, our time together would be too short.

But I realize… I can’t live without her. And I don’t want to.

Easing the grip on her throat, I observe each color come back into her eyes like a movie fading into a bright autumn scene. Olive to brown to gold... Her scream echoes around the ceramic pink tiles as she climaxes until every tiny fasciculation in her muscles relaxes with elation. She’s given up any resistance to me. I don’t even need to ask her anymore; her body has told me she has accepted me as her truth.

Every cell of blood in my body works its way to my cock, and I want to inject it all inside her, so we are mixed in every way. If I don’t have her, I have nothing. She’s the reason for my existence now. As my cum shoots into her, I whisper the prayer of her name over her ear. “Livia.”

Gripping my wet hair, she claims me with her mouth. For several minutes, we stay like this, combined as one, while I continue pumping into her with a semi-hard dick. She washes each strand on my head with her fingers and bathes my lips with her tongue. Peeling back, I place my forehead to hers, the water dripping off our lashes onto each other’s cheeks. Heaving breaths flow between our mouths.

“Fuck. Your pussy is my heaven.” Letting her body slide down the wall, I kiss her temple. “Let me clean you up.” We take turns washing each other’s bodies with soap while our mouths find each other’s in between strokes of the rough cloth. Using my hands for comfort, I massage her arms, the back of her neck, her ass cheeks, and her legs.

Once we’re cleaned up and dried off, I pull her onto the hard mattress and throw the stiff white sheet over us. Tucking her into my arm, she lifts her face to mine for another deep kiss.

This. This right here is where I want to be. Despite the mildewy smell of the room and the loud hum of the old heating unit, I never want to leave. All the evils within Gnarled Pine evaporate with the heat of her curves spilling onto my hard chest. The steady thump of her heart beats through her bones that resonates into mine. It’s enough to send shock waves through my ancient pains, break them up, and destroy them into tiny pieces. I’ve never felt like this with anyone before.

Both of us need each other. I think we always have. And now that she’s here, now that she’s mine and hidden under my protection, some strange hope fills my soul. Eight long years have passed since I ever considered living for anything other than for revenge.

Now I have her.

Livia’s breathing evens out, and I touch the top of her head with my lips before I fall asleep.

Snapping awake, I check my phone on the nightstand. It’s mid-morning. We need to get moving, but every strand of DNA within me craves to stay in this position with her leg thrown over my stomach. I’m rock hard, too.

Briefly, I consider just sticking it inside her sleeping body, but we really should get to safety. Sosa’s associates could find us on the way to Gnarled Pine Hollow if they just stop along the highway. We could take our time getting back, though. Maybe stop off and fuck somewhere.

Cal needs to know about us once we get back. A small knot forms in my stomach, thinking about his reaction. Will Livia be upset? She better not be. It seems she understood what happened between us last night.

She stirs, lifting her head to look at me. Her heavy-lidded champagne eyes drink me in, a little smile forming on her bubbly lips.

“Morning, foxy. You ready to head out? I’m getting nervous not having my men near us.” Pressing my lips to her forehead, I taste her amber-scented skin. “Want to get back behind our walls. We should also talk with Calum about us.”

“Sounds like you’ve been thinking a lot this morning.” Her voice is husky and sultry. Hmm, I may not be able to wait until a rest area.

“I have.” Leaning over, I tap another kiss to her straight nose. I can’t stop touching her. It’s my new drug, and I get a little zing of a high every time I do it. “Come on. I have to keep you safe. It’s what us bears do.”

Once we freshen up, we jump in the car and head to a drive-through for coffees and breakfast. On the road, memories of being on vacation with my family come to my mind. Everything is as light on the inside of me as the sun shining outside. I’m as carefree as a kid playing tag with Ace and Cal. Pumping up the radio, I start belting out a song I recognize. Livia’s warm hand is on my lap and her fingers squeeze my thighs. She giggles at my off notes. Like a girl. I reach across the car and brush my thumb over her flushed cheek as her bright eyes follow me.

“I fucking love when you smile. And I love that you only smile for me,” I say.

Her lips spread wider, showing her white teeth. She’s even got a dimple on the left side I haven’t seen since we were little.

“How do you think Cal will respond when I tell him about us, foxy?”

She pauses for a moment, with her smile dropping slightly. “I think he’ll be fine with it.”

Just when I thought I couldn’t feel any happier, that shit just made me want to shout into the air outside. So, I do. Once I roll up the window and fix my wind-blown hair, I look at my woman. “Yeah? Well, good! I’d hate to have to kill your twin to keep you.”

She punches me in the arm, and I laugh. Grabbing her little fingers, I squeeze them in my palm, putting our hands together on my leg.

“Do you need to stop? Fuck in the rest area?” I bite my lip to keep from laughing harder at the look of irritation she sends my way. Especially when I take her hand from my leg and place it on my semi-hard cock. My hips jut up into her touch. “Or here, whichever.”

“Max!” Her eyes widen with shock as she tries to tug her hand back, but fails, then giggles madly.

“What?”

“Eyes on the road, lion. I don’t want to die in a car crash outside of… Where are we?” She gives up her fight and leaves her fingers dangling on my crotch.

“I don’t know. Some small town.” Checking the road signs, nothing has come up for a while, until I spot one that says there is food at the next exit. “Seriously, do you need to stop? Maybe we can grab some lunch. It’s been hours. I’m sure you need to pee.”

Her voice rings out in waves like a bell peeling with laughter. “Yeah. That’s fine.”

Once I pull into an old gas station and diner, I fill the Barracuda with premium and head inside where Livia has a booth seat ready for us. She sits with her eyes to the door like my clever little fox. Sliding in next to her, I toss my arm across the back, then tug on her hair on the opposite side of me.

“Ouch!” She smiles and slaps my thigh with the back of her hand.

“What do you want, little fox? Salad? Some lettuce? What do foxes eat?”

Rolling her eyes, she shakes her head, losing the grip my pinch had on her locks. “Pfft. You know I eat meat.”

“Yeah, and you do a damn fine job of it, too.” I lean over to kiss her, but she pulls back with a wide smile, her mouth open in fake shock.

“Max!”

The waitress comes over, and I order us two hamburgers and fries.

“We need to talk about the weapons. Sosa’s weapons,” she says, after taking a sip of her cola.

“I don’t want to talk about Sosa ever again. We’re good on weapons. I think we’re set. The trade is going well, so we should hunker down now.” I take a drink of my ice water. Rubbing the cold condensation from the plastic cup on my jeans, I clear my throat. “I do think we need to talk about moving forward. Uh…” Why am I so fucking nervous? My stomach feels twisted in on itself and one hand raises up to scratch the back of my head. I’ve only ever felt this way before a big match, but usually could deal with it. Now, my heart is racing, pounding out of my chest, and I don’t know how to form the words I need to, the ones I’m so desperate to.

“Moving forward with the guns?” Livia’s bright eyes are large as she investigates mine.

“Uh, with us. Moving forward.” I swallow deeply. “This isn’t a formal proposal, but we should make us official. For the legacy. Talk about heirs when the time is right. And, um, all that.”

Livia turns her head away from me, and now I know why my shoulders are tensed around my neck. She’s going to say no. The knots in my stomach and neck unravel as the bear comes out to play. My claws are itching to rip into her the moment she refuses.

“Here you go! Need anything else? Some ketchup?” Livia looks at me briefly, then shakes her head at the waitress. Neither of us move toward the food. After the waitress walks away, Livia leans forward to take a hearty bite of her burger. She chews slowly while I monitor every morsel roaming around in her mouth. Waiting.

“Livia,” I say quietly, letting it fall into the open air as she half pretends like she didn’t hear me.

“Hmm?”

“Livia, come on. What is it? I thought you understood last night. You—you’re fucking mine, foxy.” She takes another bite of her burger, then a long sip of her drink. Sitting forward, she stays still as can be, pulling away from my touch, not even looking at me. That’s the part that does me in. “Answer me. Goddamn it, Livia, answer me!” Pounding a fist on the table, the saltshaker spills on its side, emphasizing my point further.

With a swift inhale, tears spring to her eyes before flooding cheeks, droplets splashing onto her pile of fries. A silent desperation focuses on her face as her shoulders shake with silent sobs, the movement causing my heart to shatter with every rise and fall. She seems to be crying a lot around me. The first time we kissed, the first time I entered her...

Reaching across the orange Formica table, I snatch a handful of thin paper napkins from the stainless-steel dispenser. She takes them from me, and I wrap an arm around my woman, pulling her back into my side, where she belongs. I only feel an ounce of relief when her wet face buries into my neck as she weeps, her back heaving as she pants for breaths, knowing she isn’t totally closing me out. The sound of her whimpers drives me insane with agony. All the happiness I felt yelling out the car window now makes me ache with pain.

“Do we need to leave? What’s wrong, Livia? Please, talk to me.” My large fingers stroke through the back of her hair as I press my lips close to her ear and say in a low, calming voice, “Is it Franklin? He’s a dick. I’ll hunt him down and kill him myself if that will make you feel better. I won’t hurt you, foxy. Please, just talk to me.”

Her heaves settle, and her cries become sniffles against my shoulder. The moisture from her face has soaked into my shirt, but I don’t mind. I need her back together, or I’m going to fucking break. She’s my wild mustang, my badass bitch, and I’m not quite sure what to do with her like this.

“Max. I-I can’t have children. I’m so sorry. I’m broken. You should be with someone else. Be with someone else to have your legacy.”

Everything in me stills. My heart falters, its chambers closing. Lungs stop exchanging air. And for the first time since Markus found me to tell me about my parents dying, tears form in my eyes.

Is this what she has hidden from me? Why she’s avoided me this whole time…

I can barely hear my own voice as it comes out. “I’m so sorry, Livia.” My arm envelopes her body as I hold her closer, flush to me. “But if you even think for a moment that means I don’t want you, or that I should be with someone else, you banish that thought from your brain right the fuck now. You’re mine, foxy. Nothing changes that. Nothing.” Gripping the tail of her hair, I pull her back to look at me, tears streaming down her pinkened cheeks. “If you can or cannot have children, I don’t give a shit. If you want kids, we’ll have some kids. Whatever it takes, adopt, surrogacy, I don’t fucking care. I’ll be happy to die alone with you, if you don’t want any, but I will be with you. Fuck the legacy.”

She swallows roughly and takes a moment to stare at me before she says, “Okay.”

My lips find hers, wet and sloppy. I’m still surrounding her under the protection of my arms. When I pull back, I sit up and point to her dish. “Now, eat your meat. And let’s get hitched.”

Wiping her face, she remains quiet while I dig into my food and say with my mouth full, “I’m serious, foxy. No kids is fine. Eat up. We can get married whenever you want. But we’re getting married.”

She leans into my shoulder and picks up a fry. “Thank you, Max.”

Taking a bite of my burger, I kiss the top of her head. “No need to thank me. This is what I want. This is what’s happening now.”

Seeming to shake off the doldrums, she sits up and begins to eat again.

“So, wedding at the Crimson Angel, then?” I ask with a smirk. She shoves her shoulder into mine and snorts. “I mean, we did meet there after twenty years. It’s only fitting.”

A piece of her meal sticks out of her mouth as she says, “I am not getting married in Strauss’s corrupt cathedral.”

Nodding slowly, a small smile crosses my face. “But you’ll marry me.”

Taking another few bites, she nods. “Yes, Max. I suppose I’ll marry you.”

“Jesus. Don’t sound so excited, foxy.” Shaking my head, I let a heavy sigh ring out.

“It’s hard to break the conditioning that I was born to produce an heir for you. And I’m worried you’ll regret marrying me and kill me off.”

I knew Franklin had something to do with her cold nature. Maybe I could ask Cal his whereabouts… String him up to a tree and let loose some Yellowjackets after covering him with honey. Is that enough for the pain he’s caused my fox?

“Nah. You know me. Once I make up my mind… that’s it. We’re together. From now until forever.” Grasping her hand sitting on the table, I rub my thumb over her left ring finger, imagining it filled with my band, the external symbol of what’s mine. And what I feel inside for her.

She finishes her meal, but her lack of enthusiasm is killing mine. Once I finish up, I wipe my mouth and throw some cash on the table. We amble out to the car, but she sneaks in the passenger side before I can open her door. Pausing my steps at her slight, I continue to the driver’s side.

Tossing my hands on the wheel, I turn to look at her while she busies her eyes, pulling lint off her jeans. “Do you want kids, Livia?”

“It doesn’t matter.” It’s said almost as if she’s used to saying this repeatedly, maybe to herself.

“It does matter. If you want them, I’ll get kids for you.” I pause for a moment. “That sounded wrong. I mean, we can get kids another way, like adopt or something.”

Finally, she glances up at me. “I’m not sure, Max. I’m really not.”

“Okay. No worries. I’ll be happy with what you decide.”

She quickly grasps my hand before I put the car into gear. “Max, I-I never told anyone that I couldn’t have children.”

“Who told you?”

“A specialist I saw outside of Gnarled Pine Hollow. I mean, I never tested it with anyone, and I always used condoms. But I was having trouble, and the doctor ran some tests, and I can’t have children. That was that. So, I stopped wanting them, or never did, or… I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it right now.”

Running a finger over her warm cheekbone, I try to assure her. “Hey, foxy. We can talk about it or not. As I said, I’m with you. Whatever you want to do, I’m good with it, but that better not stop you from marrying me. I can’t be without you.” I lift our hands and kiss hers as we finish the last leg of the trip to Gnarled Pine Hollow.

Gripping her hand, I stroke the back with my thumb as I pull out of the parking lot and onto the main drag toward the interstate. Once on the highway, she continues to sit quietly like a vast hole pulling all my attention, and I have an overwhelming urge to take away her pain, but I don’t know how. “You said you were broken. You’re not, Livia. You’re my perfection.”

Her eyes meet mine, and she smiles sweetly. “I feel as if I’m keeping you from something you want by being with me. Like you have to give up your future in order to marry me.”

“You’re all I’ve ever wanted, foxy. Ever since we were kids. I’d give up everything to be married to you.”

She covers our clasped hands with her free one and squeezes. Livia dozes in the car for the rest of the trip while I focus on the road. Occasionally, she stirs and wraps her arms around her middle. Noticing, I shirk off my coat and toss it over her. Her eyes blink and find mine until she gives me my smile before wrapping up inside it while taking a whiff of the collar.

Pulling up to the Freidenberg manor in the late afternoon, my brow furrows. No one is monitoring the gate. Looking up through the windshield high above us, I notice there are no guards in the towers, either. As the car crawls to a halt, Livia wakes and sits up in her seat, stretching her back. A lazy grin greets me as she reaches over to grab one of my hands with her tiny ones.

“Where’s John?” she asks as she also notices things seem off, head scoping out the scene with me.

It’s not normal for him to be gone, unless he’s changing shifts or doing some rounds. Before we drive in, I pull out my cell phone, but there’re no messages or notifications.

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s on his rounds.”

Jumping out of the Barracuda, the gate easily swings open, the lock unlatched. That’s also unusual. John would never leave it like this. Sliding back in the car, I ease us down the lane, an unsettling feeling causing my belly to tighten with discomfort. Livia sits upright, scanning the grounds, the black tail of her mohawk twisting as her head turns back and forth from her window to mine.

Nearing the house, I lower my window as I spy several workers mulling about the front of the house, but instead of their usual business, all of them stare in the same direction, like ice sculptures. The wind gushes through the trees, picking up fallen leaves and swirling around the windows, some landing inside the car’s cabin. If there’s a temperature to it, I can’t tell what it is, because all my body feels heavy, laden with numbness. Blood rushes into my ears while my heart races, making it impossible to hear over its pounding.

This isn’t normal. Something’s wrong. Slicking my palms over my jeans one at a time, I attempt to dry them from their sweat.

Almost as if she’s in another room, Livia’s voice reaches me in an echo. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. You stay right here and don’t move.” Parking the car far from the manor, I urge my legs to help me stand as I get out. Livia doesn’t stay like I told her and follows me closely behind. My arm instinctively sticks out to the side like I’m stopping her forward momentum. The tightness in my chest makes me pull out my handgun and slide one into the chamber, though I keep the barrel pointed at the cobblestones. Swallowing, I fake bravado and yell into the crowd, “What happened?”

Craftsmen part like the Dead Sea, their heads bowed low as I pass. The only figure in front of me is the large collapsing body of Mrs. Kroft. Her wails ring out in an ocean of silence, a beacon of the horror that lay beyond. The thuds in my chest still until it feels as if my heart has stopped, and my mouth goes dry. As we approach the front of the manor, my eyes wander slowly across the threshold, but it’s as if I can’t comprehend the image before me. Almost like my brain protecting itself, confusion is the only thing I feel when I analyze the scene.

Black boots, sloppily tied with one lace broken. Dark jeans, ripped a little at the knees over firm legs. Taut and sculpted arms, hanging by the sides of a muscular torso. Hands, each holding a rusted, metallic spike through its center. Neck, crooked at an unnatural angle, with a rope tied three times around it, marking the skin blue and red underneath. Mouth, agog with a tongue lolling out of the side. Eyes, those serious brown eyes… popped from their sockets in their last search for any air.

Doom strikes my soul. The ground meets my knees when I crumple like the old cook, unable to hold myself upright any longer. Nothing could have prepared me for this.

Someone has nailed Adal Derichs to the front door of Freidenberg Manor.