Chapter Six

Spade

Nalini stood next to me in a pair of leggings. An oversized hoodie drowned her small frame, but it hid the cut and bruises on her body. I pulled off my gloves and stuffed them into my satchel.

“I brought you a shirt, too.” She handed me a gray T-shirt to replace the blood-smeared one I wore.

I quickly changed, balled my shirt, and crammed it into the satchel as well.

“Let’s go.” I held my hand out to her. Without hesitation, she slid her palm along mine and laced our fingers. I squeezed her hand as we stepped over the dead guard on the porch.

I could feel her gaze on me as we walked down the drive. Her fingers tightened on mine as we passed the open door. She stumbled. I wrapped my arm around her waist and hugged her close to my body.

Both guards were dead.

“Oh my god. Did I kill them, too?”

I continued walking with her tucked close to my side. “No. I did.”

“What happens now?” she asked as we approached the van. Worry clouded her eyes. Madden had put her through hell. But he hadn’t turned her into a killer. I’d done that.

I’d given her back her power only to be the next man to take it from her.

Lowering my head, I inhaled her breath and touched my lips to hers. She whimpered, and I deepened the kiss, splitting her lips and tasting her tongue. I wanted to take care of her, but fuck me, I wanted it to be her choice.

I tightened my hold on her, running my hand over the curve of her hips. Heat slipped along my spine, sizzled into my groin, and warmed my balls. The slow stretch of my cock kicked behind the fly of my jeans. I pulled her closer, grinding against her.

This was what she’d been doing to me since the first time I saw her with Kyng. Only then lust and jealousy had mixed into a volatile cocktail of rage. I hated that I wanted her. And I fucking hated that Madden had her.

Now that I knew the truth about her, I didn’t want to be another man who wanted between her thighs…who only wanted between her thighs. I gripped her skull, tangled my fingers in her hair, and forced her wild eyes, flashing with fear, to mine. “Fuck, I’m sorry for what I want to do to you.”

She quivered beneath my hands. “Are you going to kill me now?”

I stilled, the gravity of her softly spoken words slamming into me with the force of a nuclear explosion. There was no trust between us, but now we had a shared secret. I had control over her in much the same way Madden had.

“No, I don’t want to kill you.” I trailed my fingers along her neck. “You’re under my skin. I shouldn’t want you, not like this. I’m fucking high on power. I want to force you into the back of my van, strip you out of those leggings, fuck you hard, and fill you full of cum.”

She swallowed, slightly swaying on her feet.

“I made it clear. You don’t get the choice to walk away. His prison for mine.” Where my hands would be on her ass and my name would be on her lips, begging me to make her come. “Fuck, but I want you to choose to stay with me. And I want you to kill every one of those bastards that put their hands on you. I don’t want to be one of them, but I don’t know how I let you go.”

“Then don’t let me go.” She lifted onto her tiptoes and crashed her mouth into mine. Her kiss was fire, deliciously wet with soft lips and a touch of tongue. Lips meshed.

Like the strike of a match, heat flared between us. I yanked on her hair, holding her hostage as I ate her mouth, hard, aggressive, and consuming. I banded my arm around her and anchored her against me. She gripped my shoulders, and her hips rolled against my dick.

“Get in the van, or I’m going to fuck you in front of the neighbors.” I reached behind her, slid open the side door, and backed her into the cargo section.

Nalini scrambled inside, and I slammed the door closed. I threw off the satchel, and then I was on her, sliding under her shirt, and filling my hand with her tit. I claimed her mouth again, kissing her with tongue, teeth, and bad intentions.

“Stop thinking. You’re not like them.” Her fingers fumbled with the snap on my jeans. “I’m broken. But your pieces are just as fucked up and jagged. Don’t let me go,” she said as she curled her fingers around my neck and licked her way into my mouth, hot, wet, and obscene.

“Don’t try to leave.” I fucked her with my tongue, thrusting into her mouth, as I jerked on her leggings.

She whimpered, breaking the kiss, and pushing her leggings and panties over her hips. She toed off her sneakers and finished stripping off her leggings. “I have nowhere to go.”

The words should have cut deep. She was desperate, wrecked, and alone.

And mine.

I lifted my shirt over my head, pushed my jeans to my thighs, and sat on the single bench seat covering the wheel well in the cargo space of the van. Nalini straddled my lap, wrapped her fingers around the thick base of my dick, pointed the shaft upwards, and slowly sank onto my length. A contented sigh wisped past her slightly parted lips.

“Ah, fuck.” Wet heat surrounded my cock as her pussy stretched, squeezing me, melting against me as I continued to slide inside her.

“Feels so good.” Her forehead rested against mine as we both sat motionless. I inhaled her exhale. She held me inside her, breathing, waiting for her body to adjust to my size as I split her open.

“Fuck me, Nalini.” I wanted to be the only thought in her mind, wanted her to crave me the way she’d craved her next high.

She ripped her shirt over her head and dropped it to the ground. For a moment, I could only stare at her. Crusted blood covered her arm. Bruises turned her skin purple and red, yet she was beautiful. Pretty deadly.

All that long, dark hair fell around her shoulders as her back arched and she clung to my shoulders. I followed the soft curves of her neck, first with my eyes and then with my fingertips. She was lust and temptation from the swell of her breasts to the narrow taper of her ribs. My hands rode the flair of her hips as she rocked on my lap.

With a thrust of my hips, I forced my cock deep, so deep the head pressed to her cervix. She winced, but a lustful moan rolled from her chest.

I sat up straighter, flexed my buttocks, driving my cock deeper, and wrapped my arm around her ribcage, bracing my palm on her back. I reached between her legs and grazed a finger along her clit.

“Oh, god.” She bounced on my cock, her thighs trembling, rising and slamming down.

“That’s it, baby. Come all over my cock.”

Her nails cut half-moons into my flesh. Her bare pussy split open, creaming on every slide inside her.

“Eric.” She moaned my name as she fell, breaking apart in my arms. Her climax was a breathtaking display of tears, gasps, and soulful whimpers. I felt every fluttering pulse of her release.

A storm of filthy depravity. Juices eased my slide into her. Her tits bounced in front of me. With my hands at her back, she trusted me to hold onto her as she lost herself in the euphoria of coming on my cock.

I kissed her, ran my hands from her hips, into the dip of her small waist, and over the ridges of her ribs. I covered her tits with my palms and pinched her nipples into hard, perfect, little stones.

I ate her mouth as I drove deep inside her. Energy sizzled along my spine, my skin electrified, and pressure built in my balls. With her feet on the floor, she used her legs to lift and lower on my cock, riding me hard, and grinding her clit against my groin.

“First one was yours. This one is mine.” I pounded up inside her, forcing her hard onto my dick, sliding into her wet walls, feeling nothing but pleasure. Skin to skin.

“Don’t stop, Eric. Don’t let me go,” she whispered again. And then she kissed me, claiming me with her mouth and her hands. She came hard for the second time, her pussy gloving tight to my dick as I railed into her body, bucking her on my lap.

A flare of heat burned through every nerve. My mind numbed, and muscles strained as I erupted. I dug my fingers into her ass and anchored her against my groin.

I growled and sucked on her neck, tasting the salty sweetness of sweat and woman. My woman. Hot spurts of cum shot through my cock. She was wet before, but now there was no friction as I glided in and out of her. I fucked her through my orgasm. I fucked her through my guilt. I fucked her like she was mine.

I fucked her until there was nothing between where I ended and she began. Her breasts crushed against my chest. I held her tight and breathed deeply. I fucked her, showing her that she was safe with me.

She collapsed against my chest, her head rested on my shoulder, and her arms draped around my neck. The scent of sex surrounded me, and I held her, feeling her heartbeat pounding in tandem with mine.

I combed my fingers through her hair. She lifted her face. Tears stained her cheeks and lit her eyes like glass, mirroring everything raging deep in my core.

A slow smile tilted her lips. “Are you ready to take me home?”

* * *

The neighborhood was quiet as we drove away. Nalini stared out the window. “Are you worried?” she asked.

When I was quiet, she pivoted on the passenger seat, turning toward me.

“I mean, this didn’t go the way we hoped. The police will know everyone was murdered.” She fidgeted with her hands resting in her lap. “If they somehow know where I am, I’ll be arrested.” She sank her teeth into her bottom lip. “It’ll kill me if this comes back on you.”

“This is all on me. Not you. I did this.” I reached over and lifted her hand into mine. “No one will ever find Nalini. She’s gone.” I shifted my gaze to the road, then glanced at her again. “You need to change your name. You can’t spend your life never leaving the house. I want you with me.”

“It’s hard to think about the future when you’re an addict. I was always going to be owned by Madden Kyng.”

I laced our fingers. “I want to take care of you. I can protect you, give you the security of knowing nothing—and no one—can get to you, but we need to trust each other.” I took a left, then turned back to her. “Are we going to do this? You and me. We live together. I tell you my secrets.” She’d already shared hers. “I fuck you every night.”

Her lips twitched with a smile. “Or I fuck you.”

“I’m willing to negotiate the terms.” I caressed her knuckles with my thumb. “I promise, no one will ever suspect you of what happened today.” I stared hard into her eyes. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

She clasped my hand between both of hers. “I want you to choose a name for me.”

I’d taken a queen to destroy a king. I’d fallen to my knees for her. “Reine.” Queen . “Mrs. Reine Spade.”

Her brows furrowed. “Mrs.?”

“No one will ever question you as my wife. You’ll own me. But nothing will be on paper. No legal ties for you to get caught up in.”

“Dr. Eric Spade? Do you work at the hospital, or do you have a private practice?”

“Neither.” My phone rang from the cargo area of the van. My heart skipped a beat. No one ever called, except work. No friends or family. I preferred not to socialize. The phone continued to ring. A call I’d hoped would come in after I dropped her off at home.

Reine climbed out of the passenger seat, found the phone, and handed it to me.

I tapped on the green button. “Spade.”

Reine slid back into her seat and buckled her seatbelt.

“Sorry to wreck your day,” the voice on the other end stated. “You’re about to have a busy night.”

“Yeah, that was already my plan, but I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“Well, we need you.”

“Text me the address.” This part of my work was the most critical. And I was the best at what I did.

I disconnected the call, turned the van around, and headed in the opposite direction.

“Is everything okay?” Reine asked.

“I’d hoped I wouldn’t have to work today.” I’d hoped for a little more time.

“Is someone sick?”

“I’m not that kind of doctor.”

We drove for a few minutes. When I turned into a familiar neighborhood, Reine’s spine stiffened. Her wild gaze darted from the scene in front of us to me.

“What are we doing here?” She had one hand on the passenger window and one gripping the seat bottom.

Police cars blocked the road. The uniformed officer waved me through.

“Eric.” She could barely speak through her labored breaths. “Why are you bringing me here?”

“Reine, look at me.”

She snapped her head around. Her eyes widened, flooding with tears.

“I promised I could make this all go away, and I can. Trust me.” I pulled up to the gate at Madden’s fortress and rolled down my window to speak to the officer.

“Hey, Doc.” He gave Reine a half smile. “Sorry to ruin your night,” he said to both me and Reine.

“What do we have?” I asked.

He took off his cap and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s a mess. You’re going to be here for a while.”

I nodded, rolled up my window, and headed up the driveway.

“Eric, we can’t be here. I’m scared. What if someone recognizes me?”

“People see what they want to see.” Without makeup and with her hair natural and soft around her shoulders, she looked nothing like the woman from the club. “Don’t worry. No one is going to connect you to Madden Kyng.”

“How can you be sure?”

“There is a reason I’ll never be caught.” I pulled up to the house, parked, and turned to Reine. “There’s a reason I know I’ll always be able to keep you safe.” I leaned into her and ghosted a kiss against her lips. “And there’s a reason I kill with chemicals, and all the deaths are ruled accidental overdoses.” With our lips still touching, sharing breath, feeling her fear in the tremble of her mouth, hoping she could feel the certainty in mine, I whispered to her, “I’m the medical examiner.”

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