Chapter 19

NINETEEN

brAXTON

S he's a puddle on my bench. Although he hadn't strapped her back down, her body was still restrained by how close it was to ruination. He'd brought her up many times, only to watch her fall when he dropped her.

Fuck, if it hadn't been beautiful to watch. "Bambi," I say, approaching where her legs dangle over the side of the bench. She's covered in sweat, her body glistening under the red lights of my room.

"Please," she begs but doesn't finish. Her hands white-knuckle on the side of the bench, head lolling around in euphoria.

I can't help nor hide the smirk tugging my lips up. "What is it you're begging for, Bambi? Reprieve or mercy?"

She finally steadies her head, focusing her heady eyes on me. "Both?"

I approach, looming over her as she cranes back to look at me. She licks the sweat off her lips and then parts them, letting the slightest breath expel.

"What am I going to do with you?" I ask, gripping the back of her hair and tugging her body backward.

She squeaks as her hold on the bench snatches away from her. She's rocking backward, my hold keeping her from falling.

I run my eyes over Blaze's work. It's the best one he's done yet. He knew it was necessary, getting each signet line correct on her flesh.

"You're ours now, Bambi," I tell her, lifting her but keeping my lips close to hers. "How does that make you feel?"

"So much. Too much," she admits.

"Explain. I think I can keep up."

"Well, I can't explain it," she says, looking around at nothing as if she's diving deep into herself to figure out how she feels. "I should be afraid. Scary men just tattooed me and used orgasm control against me, and I'm certain you have more you're going to do to me, as well. But I'm not afraid. I'm oddly satisfied by having this mark, by knowing I'm someone's."

"Knowing that someone wants you. That you belong to them," I finish for her, and she nods.

Blaze had wrapped her tattoo and sealed its edges off. That was a good thing, too. Otherwise, the sweat moving across her skin would cause a sting on her flesh as we speak.

"Bambi, you betrayed me…"

She whimpers. "I never thought you'd call me that again. It made me so sad." A sob chokes out. "How fucked up am I?"

I chuckle softly, tipping her head back to look down at her as I straighten. "Only as fucked up as the rest of us, I guess. But you betrayed me, and I don't know if I'll be able to trust you again."

"That's the worst punishment of all."

I smile menacingly. "Oh, you'll get your punishment. That's not it."

Fear licks across her features, and I revel in it momentarily.

"You want to do this for us?" I ask. I need to know. I must look at her as she answers, even if she has already talked to Miles.

She nods, unwavering in her stare. "I need it as much as you two do. I need to know my legacy. Know him."

Her father. We always assumed she was close to him and that she was the one who stood to inherit it all and become the next issue.

"It'll be grueling. You'll need to be careful. If you're caught, there's no telling what he'll do."

She swallows. "You think your mom found something out about him? Some dirt?"

I nod. "I do."

"You think my dad…" she trails off.

"Killed her. Yes, we do."

Her body language shifts as she sits a little straighter.

"You don't think he has it in him?" I have to ask. I have to know what she thinks. If there's any portion of her that's too biased to carry out being back in her world.

She shakes her head absently. "I don't know the man, Braxton. I truly don't. I wasn't the son he wanted, and that's all I know. I was a pawn in his game."

Nothing about her vibe feels off. I don't feel she's lying, and it has my body settling some.

But there's still a thrum inside me I can't ignore. One that needs to see her pay for what she did, even if she gets a slight thrill from the payment owed.

"Bend over," I tell her, completely done with the conversation between us for now. I take a while to process things, and I can't do it when my veins have frantic adrenaline in them.

Her eyes have questions falling through them like rain, but she listens and does what she's told. Something in me purrs at her obedience.

She's fully nude, and her pussy is swollen and glistening with not only arousal but with Miles's saliva.

I tsk as I run my fingers through the evidence of how high he'd taken her. "Damn, Bambi, this pussy is so fucking primed. Shame to let it go to waste."

"So don't," she whispers.

My hand cups her from behind, making her gasp.

"You're in enough trouble. I'd be silent if I were you," I tell her curtly as my eyes roam over all the floggers and whips on the wall.

I move to the wall, and she groans at the loss of my hand and its friction.

I grab for a silicone-tailed flogger, something soft enough to do no damage but hard enough to get my point across. I also snag a butt plug from the drawer.

Seeing her asshole glittering for me with a diamond sticking out of it is just the cherry on top.

"Now I'll need you to hold real still, Bambi. This is going to feel strange. It might even sting a little."

She squirms, trying to look back at me. I am doing the exact opposite as I've instructed. I glare at her, and she faces the front and nods her head in submission.

I pop the cap on some lube, dripping it straight from the bottle onto her tight asshole. She wiggles at the feel of it dripping over her slit. When most of it nears that little puckered hole, I swipe the butt plug into it, teasing her hole with the tip of it a few times.

She hisses and wiggles. "Brax!"

My name from her lips only spurs me on. In one quick pop, I shove it in. It nestles into place, and I stand back and look at her as her moaning decorates the space.

"What did you just put into my ass?" she breathes out, finally over the shock.

I smile. "A jewel befitting a queen," I reply.

She turns and throws a rueful glare over her shoulder.

"Now, I think that for your slight against me, you'll get five strikes," I say, swinging the flogger's tails through the air.

She bites her bottom lip, which she does when she's intrigued. I've noticed. I see her. Most likely don't.

But she can't hide from me. I see it all. Each fucking intricacy of hers is mine to study. It's how I'll learn how to read her on a deeper level than she even reads herself.

"Answer me!"

"Yes, five! Whatever you want!"

I bite my lip to keep from laughing. Miles took her a little too high. There's no fear lacing her tone, and I love it when they cry.

I give her a test slap, keeping the flogger in a straight line from my body, the tails curling around her exposed and swollen pussy.

She cries out in pleasure, surprising herself but not surprising me.

I knew my Bambi wouldn't disappoint. She never does.

"One," I say ruggedly.

She moans louder when the second strike curves around her cunt. "Fuck! I need more!"

That she's begging for her punishment doesn't deter me. It doesn't defeat the purpose, either. I need to release this energy skittering through me, and what better way is there?

By the fifth and final strike, she's dripping for me, asshole flexing around the butt plug as her pussy begs to come.

"Please, fuck me! Please," she begs breathlessly.

For a split second, I consider freeing my aching dick into my hand and shoving inside her. Breaking that fucking hymen to shattered bits is all I've thought about since she told me it was there. Molding her to my cock is all I want.

But logic always drives me, saying I'm too keyed up to touch her. She needs tenderness and love for her first time. Not me barreling through her pussy like a man too fucked up to think straight. Which I currently am.

I help her flip on the bench, her feet resting on the leg rests. The leather seat beneath her now traps in the butt plug, and I come between her thighs and find her clit with my thumb.

"I can't do that for you right now, Bambi. As much as I want to, it would be too rough. It wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be what you need."

She gasps as I swirl my thumb over her. "I need you. However, you'll give it to me, Brax. I need you." Her begging nearly snaps my resolve.

But I just can't. I'd process it later, but it would break me. I know it would.

Removing my thumb, I pull her to the edge of the bench as I kneel on the pads, lifting her legs around my hips. Leaning down, I rest my arms on the armrests as I grind my jean-clad dick over where she aches.

"Fuck!" she sputters, arms coming around my neck.

I kiss her, and I'm sure her lips will be purple tomorrow. But I'm gone, too gone.

My kiss opens her to me, and I taste her. Savor her. As I grind over her, she moves with me.

Quickly, our pace gets out of hand. Just as I knew it would. We're breathing into one another's mouths, moving toward our ends.

"You going to come for me, Bambi?" I taunt, knowing I'm going to be right behind her. I'll soak through my jeans like a schoolboy when she breaks .

"Yes! Don't stop," she says, her eyes finding mine in panic.

She knows how ruined orgasms feel now, and she's nervous. Good, let her know that each one we give her is only because she's behaved.

It's the fucking point.

"Never," I grit out.

When she screams my name, I shudder as my dick erupts behind my jeans for her.

"Brax! Ahh!" Her eyes are closed, her mouth open in shock, and I want nothing more than to feel her walls closing in as her body finally reaches climax.

But now isn't the time.

"Fuck, Bambi." Even though my warm cum is staining my pants, I don't stop. I grind it across her pussy, and she watches me and growls deep in her throat.

"Fuck, why is that so hot?"

I smirk. "Because you're as fucked up as we are, Bambi. Welcome to the club."

Back at the bartender's house, I finally get the chance I've been waiting for. She's leaving for work, and I have the opportunity that hadn't presented itself last night. I wait thirty minutes after she leaves, knowing I want her clocked in before I get inside.

When I'm in, I make quick work of her home, not being careful to put things back. Let her know someone's onto her. Let her warn them.

What I need isn't in any of the drawers I toss, nor in the filing cabinets I shot to shit to get open. Nope, it's on the fridge, held there by a magnet.

A photo of her and Jackal's leader, Vito Murphy. I snatch it off the fridge. Looking at the back, I don't find any caption hidden there. I pocket the photo inside my leather jacket and make my way back outside.

When I'm back on my bike and cruising through the chilled night air is when I decide with everything going on lately, I need a fucking moment to myself. So, I head for Zeke's Place at full speed.

When I get there and sit down, Zeke eyes me warily. He hardly ever sees me in here, even when the club comes up for a rowdy night off the compound.

"Everything alright?" he asks.

I shake my head, downing my beer in a few gulps.

"You know the rules. If you drink over three…"

"My keys are yours," I finish for him, rolling my eyes.

He nods satisfactorily and moves off, and I'm thankful he doesn't linger. Looking around, I find no Cobras present. I'd have thought at least one of them would be out drinking. But I guessed wrong. Though I'm getting looks left and right because of who I am.

The Ghost never shows his face in town.

Someone here likely thinks I'm here for them.

Right on cue, two men grab up their girls and exit stage left, bikes roaring to life as they escape my presence. Likely, they've done nothing to warrant the way they're acting. If they had, they'd already be six feet under.

Once I down my second beer, I pay Zeke and leave the bar. I swear, the moment I step boots outside, the place gets livelier. Like they'd all been holding their collective breath for me to leave.

When I get to my bike, my world spins upside down because it's fucking trashed. It's beaten into a pile of parts, almost. The mirrors twist off in either direction. One tire is slashed. The body has taken on significant damage.

The internal war that's building in my chest is something I know is going to be bad. It'll cause me to become someone I don't like to. The bike was freedom to me. The bike meant I'd never be left anywhere helpless again. It was control. Now it's gone. I know I'll lose it as I clench and unclench my fists. I have to keep it together long enough to deal with this first.

"What the fuck?" I shout, looking around through the quiet night surrounding the bar.

I'd only been inside for twenty minutes. Someone had followed me here.

Someone didn't like what I was up to and made a statement.

I pull my phone from my jeans and dial Kylo. He usually has the keys to the tow truck we keep on the property, so he'll need to give me a lift.

"Yeah," he answers.

"I need the truck. Someone bashed my bike to fucking bits up at Zeke's."

Kylo whistles. "Got too close to something, hm? I'll be right there. Have Zeke roll the security cameras back while I'm up there. See if you get an I.D. on them."

"Alright, just hurry. I'm too fucking mad to be around drunk people much longer."

Just as I get it out of my mouth, a girl tumbles to her truck, finding it locked because Zeke likely has her keys. She climbs into the truck bed and giggles before she hiccups.

I roll my eyes.

Kylo chuckles. "On my way, man."

There's nothing on the security footage other than when the man turns and flashes his Jackal signet on the back of his leather jacket.

"Why the fuck are they up in our territory?" Zeke grinds out.

I pulled the photo from inside my jacket and flicked it to him. "Because we were in theirs. That's a girl Miles fucked a while back," I tell him.

He whistles, giving it back to me. "That's Vito's sister. Man, all of you just started a fucking war."

I shove the photo inside my jacket, letting the gravity of the situation sink in before I step outside again.

Kylo's already got my bike loaded and everything tied down.

"Ready?" he asks.

I nod. "Yeah."

The drive back has my mind turning in circles. Not only do we have this shit that we're about to dive headfirst into with Aella, but now the Jackals have declared war on us. We might've been the ones to declare it on them because of what Miles did to Vito's sister, though. Family members are off-limits. Miles knows that, so I don't think he'd done it intentionally, but he might have.

He's done stupider shit than this before.

When we get to the clubhouse, Kylo pulls into the last bay where we keep the truck, and I hop out and head toward the noise of loud men hitting pool balls and people talking over one another.

It's too much for my frayed nerves, and I roll my neck.

I won't be able to stay long, but I need to confront him.

Miles is laughing at something Sully is signing, but my brain is too busy to focus on what it is. Miles eyes me and smirks. "Bro, what happened to you? You look like hell."

Aella is on his lap, and I notice her last. Anger washes through me, and she registers it first, standing between Miles and me.

"What the fuck? What's going on?" Miles asks as other Cobras gather around. If he and I go at it, especially when I'm this angry, it'll take them all to get us apart. They know it.

"Whatever it is, I think you should cool off first," Aella says, and my eyes somehow meet hers through the noise in my mind.

She nods.

There's too much fury, and the lights are too bright. It has to be now. It simply fucking has to be. The feel of my leather jacket becomes too slick on my skin, adding to the overwhelming moment, and I rip it off and throw it to the ground. The photo skims across the floor, nearly going under the couch. Miles pushes Aella a few steps forward so he can bend and retrieve it.

"What's this? Where did you get this?"

"From your little girlfriend's house," I spew, knowing it's too far and not fair. Also, knowing it'll get Aella on my side, a little selfish part of me loves how sharp my tongue can be when I'm angry.

Even though I know I'll regret it later.

Miles stands, looking it over. The color drains from his face before he meets my eyes again. Even though to me it's a sign he didn't know who she was, I'm still pissed off.

Aella turns toward Miles as she makes it to my right side.

He looks at her, pleading with his eyes. "It's not what you think."

She nods but doesn't say a word.

"She's Vito's sister, Bro ," I sneer, and he doesn't miss it.

Panic comes over him. "I didn't know. I swear… Fuck! I didn't fucking know." He throws the photo and shoves his hands into his hair as he paces.

"They watch her house. Someone saw me break in. They followed me to Zeke's and trashed my fucking bike."

He stops pacing. "What?!"

I pick up my jacket. Now that I've given him the necessary information, I must go to the basement. I need to come down. I turn to Aella, and she stops me, hands on my face. Her lips crash to mine, giving me a slight outlet .

Usually, this would send me over the edge—I don't like to be touched—but it's as if she's the one whose touch does the opposite. I feel the frenzy leaving me in her kiss as if it transferred from me to her. As if she took on the burden.

Her tongue lashes at mine, and I groan, tugging her hair in one hand. I break the kiss, resting my forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry, I just thought maybe it would help," she whispers.

"It did, Bambi. It did."

I kiss her forehead tenderly before storming out of the clubhouse and back towards the house. I stayed up long past Aella, who had fallen asleep last night, thinking about what would come. About how she's going to be back home soon. Back in her world.

I thought I'd be fine without her. After all, my nature is to be completely fine on my own. Now, I don't know if I'll be.

It was that one kiss that just turned the tide.