11

Rae

October 29th, 2019

I prayed I looked better than I felt walking down those stairs because I felt like a trembling, wet mess.

My thighs slid together with ease from the feeling of his hand ripping into my hair, my hands were shaking, but fuck, it was worth it. It was deeply worth it.

I had been so angry at the captain with his threat of putting me in cuffs and hauling me off to his car to ‘teach me a lesson’ that I lied to him. Told him I was recording him, that I’d show it to his wife.

He was too scared to realize there was nowhere for me to have a recording device. Some cop.

But fuck him. Fuck him. God, if I could, I’d fucking kill him. I would. He shouldn’t be allowed to do that. Use my mother’s death as an excuse to get into my pants, it was fucking bullshit.

So, yes, I jumped in where I shouldn’t have been, but fuck it. I was angry, and that little adrenaline high was worth it, but what in the fuck was the masked man doing with that guy? They were making drug deals? He was a drug dealer for what looked to be a big-time Drug Lord, I was assuming.

And I had managed to get their attention in my stupidity, so now what? I was free until they figured I was a liability?

When would that shift happen? Tonight? Tomorrow?

I had royally screwed up and I couldn’t fix it now. Unless I wanted to take my ass back to the captain and tell him ‘sorry for the threat but there are people here who kind of threatened to kill me, and by the way, the one guy fucked me last night’?

Oh my God, what have I done?

This time around my need for a thrill had gotten me on a list of the dead.

I walked up to the bartender and ordered a fourth drink, uncaring what it looked like to the others. If I was going to get a bullet to the skull, I might as well be drunk while doing it.

God, what have I done?

And why would I do it again?

The bartender slid the glass over, but before I could even reach for it, someone was clearing their throat beside me.

Perfect, this was exactly what I needed. A conversation.

With an eyeroll, I straightened and turned, finding the captain’s wife, near ex-wife, glaring at me with her beautiful light green eyes. She was gorgeous, and she had stood by her husband’s side far longer than she should have. I hated that he was ruining his marriage at a chance for a different pussy.

“You stay away from my husband,” she told me, pointing a finger at me. “Stay away from him or I swear to God, I’ll put you in prison.”

At least it would be an all-girls prison.

I couldn’t make their already rocky marriage worse, I felt bad for her, but I couldn’t lie to her either. She already wanted to leave, the world knew about that, telling her this might be the final nail in the coffin, but wasn’t it better that she knew? It was the first time I had met her, the first and only time, I was sure. I couldn’t let the opportunity go.

“He dropped my mother’s case,” I told her, softening my eyes, but not with pity. She didn’t want pity, she wanted the truth, that much I knew for sure. “When I confronted him about it, he told me there wasn’t enough evidence, and when I pushed, he told me that if I sucked his cock, he’d consider reopening the investigation.”

Rage flamed in her eyes.

“There’s a reason it’s still closed,” I told her carefully. “But he keeps push—”

The sting came before I saw her hand, the sound like a gunshot in the room.

I fought the urge to grab my cheek as I met her eyes evenly, my eyes burning, my cheek pulsing. I probably deserved that for all the shit I had done in the last hour.

“Don’t ever accuse my husband of doing something like that again. How dare you,” she hissed, looking me over with such disgust, it almost made me cower.

But I refused to shrink. I would not make myself smaller to make her feel better. I told her the truth, it was all I could do. It was up to her to believe it or not.

When I didn’t react, she huffed and turned on her heel, disappearing through the people who now all stared at me.

Great.

This was just perfect.

I turned back to my drink and reached for it again only for a hand to slide it out of reach.

I closed my eyes and worked my jaw. I didn’t need this tonight, I truly didn’t. Maybe it would be better if I just went home. Just turned around and left.

I didn’t have to face whoever it was, I could just leave.

But the entire room was staring at me now. Everyone was waiting to see what Marla Bennett’s daughter would do after that public show.

So, I straightened again and turned, ready to question whoever it was only to freeze when Max’s light brown eyes met mine.

Perfect!

He glared at me, rage in his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

I felt those tears burn hot, threatening to fall as my blood ran cold. I could feel the whole room focused on me, every conversation now shifting to why the captain’s wife had done that, why I was now being confronted by an unknown male.

And not that it truly mattered after only one night, but I could feel his eyes on me too, watching me, observing how utterly fucking pathetic the girl he fucked was.

Why should I care about that though? No normal person would like being stalked and fucked. It was a police matter, technically, I should be afraid for my life, yet here I was, worried about how he now saw me.

Whoever he was.

Maybe all of those horror movies truly had rotted my brain away just like Viv suggested.

“How did you know where I was?” I asked, my heart racing, my face burning. I just wanted to leave. I wanted to go home and curl into bed. It’s all I could think about now. How comfortable my bed was. How cool my pillows were. How quiet my suite was. Peaceful.

“I always know where you are, Rae. We need to go.”

I stepped back as he reached out for me, my back hitting the bar. “I’m not going anywhere with you. You need to go. You need to leave, Max, this isn’t for you.” Great, now I had to stay. Fuck him.

His eyes narrowed in chaotic rage. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“Me?” I breathed out, my eyes widened. “I don’t get to tell you what to do? I don’t even know you Max. All you do is try and control every second of my life.”

“For good reason too,” he stated, stepping up to me. “Look at you, getting slapped by the wife of the Police Captain. You’re a slut, Rae. I’m trying to protect what little image Mom has left. Now, let’s go,” he said, grabbing my arm again.

I jerked it out of his grip, slamming my elbow back against the bar, tears flooding to my eyes when the pain shot straight up my arm, but I didn’t reach for it, I held his eyes. “Leave me alone,” I told him. “Just go. I don’t want you here. I don’t want you anywhere,” I said evenly. “I don’t want you in my life at all. Just leave, Max. Go.”

There was such anger in his eyes, my body tensed, readying for whatever he was going to do to me. “You’ve tainted her name. You’ve humiliated her in front of all of her friends.”

“My friends too,” I replied. “I may have never gone with her to any of these events, but I am known among these people. They know who her daughter is, but they don’t know anything about her son.”

“Don’t mistake knowledge for power, Rae. You have no idea what power is. I’ve done things you couldn’t even fucking imagine, now get to the car or I swear to God, you’ll regret it.”

“Hello, Princess,” that cool voice suddenly spoke.

Max turned as my eyes lifted, my heart pounding. I hate to say it, but thank fucking God.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he smiled softly.

There was danger in that smile, a quiet threat, and fuck if I wasn’t as grateful as I was annoyed that he had followed me downstairs.

I straightened, finding confidence in his presence. “I wish you both would stop,” I chided, looking between the two. “It’s sad how desperate both of you are for my attention.”

Max, who looked so…scrawny compared to the masked man, glared at me. “Rae,” he warned.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I repeated, turning back to the bartender. “Another. Please. Strong.”

By the time the bartender had made me another drink, one untouched by Max’s putrid hands, my half-brother had left, leaving me to deal with the masked man on my own.

I took a sip and turned to him, eyeing him as he eyed me. I saw no judgment in his eyes, just cold annoyance. “Why did you follow me?” I asked dryly. I didn’t understand it myself. Why it was so easy to challenge him when I was so afraid of Max. The energy was different, I supposed. Max made me feel as if I needed to dip myself in acid to rid my skin of his presence, but this man? His energy screamed something completely different.

Or maybe it was just purely physical.

“We own you now,” he said, the thinly veiled threat skittering across my skin. “We get to do whatever we please to you.”

It took everything in me to hold onto the person I was when I had walked in here. Calm, collected, brilliant beyond belief. Clever.

Take the high from that rush, the shock from the slap, and the annoyance from Max and use it as a weapon.

“I don’t know who you think you are,” I said, letting my lip curl in disgust as I roved over his beautifully dressed body, “but nobody tells me what to do. Perhaps I should have let that conversation play out. I assume you’re the one who set it up? He’s older, you’re bigger. Bodyguard or…” I thought about it, finding those black eyes. “Grunt.”

His mouth tightened.

Finally, something he hated. “What would he have done to you had the cops shown up? Nothing pretty, I assume.”

He leaned in. “You assume a lot, don’t you?”

“Some games aren’t that hard to win,” I hummed.

He worked his jaw, clearly getting annoyed. “Just because you watch some show, read some book about crime, doesn’t mean you know the game.”

“Your boss seemed impressed,” I shrugged, taking a sip.

“My boss decided to spare you for the next week because he owed you a favor. Don’t think that guarantees your life.”

My chest hollowed out. “A week,” I said weakly.

He looked down at me in disgust, causing my skin to crawl. “You didn’t think your life was worth more than that, did you? You stepped into something you shouldn’t have. This isn’t a movie, Rae, nobody gets a happily ever after when this story is done.”

There it was again, my name. How did he know my name?

“I’m not going to speak a word,” I tried.

He grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the counter. “Don’t bargain for your life, Princess, it doesn’t suit you.”

In a daze, I let him pull me to the dance floor, and I half wondered how far I would have let him take me if he had started for the door.

He pulled me in, sliding one hand around my waist, his fingers skimming the top of that slit, while he held the other one to the side of our heads, gripped in his firmly.

“You’d dance with me after I just became the talk of the town?” I asked bitterly. “Bold.”

He smiled. “Don’t worry, that’s already been taken care of.”

We started to dance, my body settling into the rhythm Donna had beat into me when I had been just a girl. It was automatic, the motions, but my eyes were locked on his mask, my breathing weak.

Taken care of?

A week?

What had I gotten myself into? Should I keep trying to bargain or play his game until the last second? Was this what happened to my mom? Had she seen something, heard something that promised the end of her life within seconds?

Were she and I the same in our reckless endeavors?

“Stop thinking about it. It’s going to happen no matter how much thought you put into it.”

I released a breath. “I can’t consider my own death?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“It’s pointless.”

His words were so cold, so clipped, it made me angry. “You wouldn’t consider your death if you were given a sentence?”

“My fate has been sealed since I was 14,” he responded. “I don’t fear the other side, it fears me.”

I sneered. “What kind of alpha male bullshit is that?” I hissed. “You sound like the kind of man who tells everyone that you’re the alpha. You’re bullshit is what you are.”

He dipped me low, my knee sliding up his thigh and I fought the urge to push my hips forward. “You didn’t seem to think so last night,” he hummed, and pulled me back up.

“I was playing a part,” I rationalized. “You like wearing masks, so do I. Mine just aren’t as pathetic as yours.”

He smiled, drawing my eyes to his lips. “You get off on it, Princess. You love it.”

God, if his lips were sin, I wanted to swear my soul to the Devil.

I scoffed. “I don’t,” I lied.

He angled his chin. “How many languages do you speak?”

“Why?” I bit. “So you can threaten me in all of them?”

“Yes,” he answered without hesitation.

My heart was racing as I searched those black screens over his eyes. I hated that I couldn’t see them. “Three,” I answered, trying to calm myself. “Scandinavian, Swedish, and Russian.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s what my nanny decided to teach me.”

“She didn’t give you a reason? You didn’t question them?”

“I was a kid,” I snapped. “I did what I was told without question.”

“Precious little Princess—”

“Stop calling me that,” I ordered.

“—raised by a nanny, taught a world of information, went to private school, never wanted for anything except the love of a mother she barely knew.”

My breath caught, a stone forming in my chest. “How do you know that?”

“I know a lot of things,” he bragged. “Yet still not enough.” His chin dipped a little, telling me he was taking me in again. “What I don’t know is why the captain’s wife slapped you. Have you been fucking someone behind my back?”

“Behind your…” I released a breath. “We just met.”

“And yet it hurts no less. You barely leave the house, Rae, when do you have time to fuck a Police Captain?”

“I don’t fuck him,” I hissed, my heart slamming. “And I don’t owe you any explanation. You’ve been following me,” I said, shaking my head.

“Ding ding ding,” he hummed, pulling me close. “We have a winner.”

What the fuck.

He pushed me out, spun me around and pulled me against him, my back to his front, his breath disrupting my hair.

I swallowed, my heart racing. Why was he following me? My eyes widened. Was he truly the man who killed my mom? But why toy with me if that was the case? Why kill my mom? What was the game? And what about his boss? Did that man know who I was when he gave me another week of life? What now? What could I possibly do now?

“What’s your name?” I asked him, my voice a bare whisper as the fear trickled down my spine and pooled between my thighs.

“Why?” he asked, his voice a low growl. “So you can scream it in the depths of the night when you’re fucking yourself to the image of me?”

My mouth had gone dry, my mind blank. “Is that how you use my name?” I dared, remembering the way he had said it last night when he was fucking me in that tent.

He laughed, the sound falling through me, that slickness between my thighs only growing. He shoved me away, spun me around, and jerked me back towards him so fast, my head spun.

I only stopped when my body pressed into his, my chest heaving, the feeling of his hard cock evident against my hips, our lips so close, I could taste them.

“Yes,” he said.

My eyes fell shut, unable to remain open this close to him. I was clinging to him, my knees weak as I fought the urge to grind my hips into his. Shit. My thoughts were raging, and none of them were rational.

What was wrong with me?

What was wrong with him?

“Are you doing it?” he asked, his hot breath sliding through my parted lips. “Picturing me fucking you,” he went on. “Can you still feel how deep I was inside your pretty little cunt?”

And the way he said those nasty words against my lips had my eyes opening back up, finding his. “Yes,” I said, my body floating. I pressed my hips into his, unable to help myself. “Can you?”

He was very nearly panting, his hands digging into my hip, into my hand. “If you want me,” he began, his voice a cracked plea, “prove it.”

He stepped away from me, leaving me dizzy and stumbling.

I released a breath, trying to collect myself as I watched after him, wondering where he was heading. Prove it? Prove it how?

Follow him?

Find him like he had found me?

Was this his version of consent? If I went after him, I was asking for it. Proof that I wanted it. Wanted him.

I remained where I was, watching as he left the building completely. I really shouldn’t go after him.

No part of me thought this was a good idea.

But fuck, the way my thighs slid against each other now, the way my pussy throbbed. I needed something. I was aching for something.

I inhaled deeply and started for the door, my heart slamming painfully in my chest. I was breathless. Breathless in a way I shouldn’t have been.

All I could think about was feeling him inside of me again. Feeling those hands dig painfully into my skin, bruising me.

Part of me hated that I was hunting him because I wanted him to hunt me. Knowing that this stranger had been watching me long enough to figure that information out, it was thrilling in a horribly sick way.

I needed more.

I practically jogged out those doors, looking around the landing where a few people mingled, smoking.

The chill of the cool Fall breeze caused goosebumps to erupt across my skin, my nipples instantly hardening. That didn’t help my already feral arousal.

I glanced to the right where a path led to the fountain, and to the left, a path that led to a still blooming garden maze.

Probably the garden, I would assume.

“Rae!”

My head whipped around, finding Max jogging up the steps, cradling his left wrist against his chest. My eyes widened. Fuck, he was waiting for me.

Without waiting another second, I headed for the garden. Nottingham had a thing for intricate gardens. He liked building mazes, something about metaphors and life. It was perfect for the game the man wanted to play.

“Rae,” Max snarled.

I jogged into the entrance, taking an immediate left only to stop so I could take off my shoes.

My feet were killing me, but I couldn’t stop now.

With numb toes, I fisted one side of my dress and jogged through the maze, taking turn after turn until the music and voices disappeared, until I could hear nothing but my own panting breath and racing heart.

I slowed to a walk, holding my breath to listen, but there was nothing.

No people, no animals, no breeze. Just me.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm my breathing. This night was supposed to be calm. A good night to remind the world that just because my mother was dead, it didn’t mean I would disappear too. I wasn’t proficient in art, but I was born for this world just as she was.

I screwed it up by going up to the captain, by walking up those stairs and inserting myself into that conversation that I had no business being in. Max was my karma for those stupid decisions.

Now what was I? The slut who caused a scene with the Police Captain’s wife? Rumors would start spreading, I was sure of it. Rumors about me with him, about me and Max, about me and the masked man I willingly followed out the door like the thirsty slut I was.

God, what was I doing?

After a few minutes, I straightened, looking around at where I was. Walls of shrubs surrounded me, little white flowers dying all around me. How the fuck was I going to get out of here? I just ran. I didn’t catalog anything.

Great.

Now I was trapped in a maze with a stalker who claimed to be my half-brother, and a psychopath whom I willingly followed in here because I was horny.

I really needed to call a therapist.

With a breath, I started walking. I couldn’t feel my feet anymore, I couldn’t stop shivering. All I could think about was getting home and taking a nice, long, scalding hot bath in a tub filled with bubbles and scented salts. Hunting him wasn’t worth it, not tonight. Not after everything I had delt with up until this point.

I came up to a corner and peered around it tentatively. I wondered if he could see me. I wondered if he could hear me. I wondered if he had never come to this stupid maze and had watched me run into it thinking I was some sort of whorish lunatic.

At this point, I was wondering the same thing because what was I doing? Searching for a guy because he fucked me last night? I should just turn around. I was proving Max right by continuing on.

I walked around corner after corner. Taking rights, lefts, the music never drifting through the air, not a sound coming from anywhere.

I was thoroughly lost.

I was angry and freezing and completely lost.

Fuck you, Nottingham.

This had been a huge mistake. I didn’t even want to fuck him anymore, I just wanted to leave.

I turned around yet another corner and found a dead end.

I groaned, letting my hands fall with a slap to my thighs, my shoes hitting my leg, leaving a bruise, I was sure.

This is what I got for not letting my mother’s death go. For allowing captain Bard to treat me like he did, for all of it. I deserved this. I deserved the pain I would feel in the morning from being on my feet for so long and the shame that would come once I realized that this had all been a huge fucking joke.

What was the next best option? Scream? Would anyone even hear me? Would anyone care? They saw me run in here, they knew it was me. They would probably just roll their eyes and wait twenty minutes to ‘show me a lesson’. Fuck, I never should have come in the first place.

With a huff, I turned and immediately jumped. I gasped and stumbled back a step, the man standing ominously in the entryway of this little section of the maze.

My heart skipped a beat, eyes widening, lips parting. Shit, this was an absolute mistake. All of it. Accepting the invitation, walking up to the captain, walking up those stairs, talking to the captain’s wife, standing up to Max, walking willingly into this maze. If there was an award for making stupid decisions, I definitely won it three times over.

He tilted his head to one side, a slight smile touching one corner of his lips. “You came here searching for me and now you’re shocked that you found me?” He took a few steps forward. “Interesting.”

This was a bad idea. It was such an unbelievably stupid idea. “How long have you been following me?”

“Tonight, or in general?”

“In general,” I replied, taking another step back, my back hitting the wall of shrubs.

I hissed as the branches dug into the soft skin of my back. Shit. Not the best thing to wear when you’re trying to hide from someone.

But I had been looking for him, right? That was the game. I had come in here looking for him. What does a person wear when hunting someone in a maze at night? Definitely not expensive heels and an even more expensive dress, that’s for sure.

“25 days.”

My breath caught at his confession. “Why?” I breathed out.

He ignored me, stepping closer.

My grip tightened around my shoes, but he was already clicking his tongue. “We know how the bat ordeal ended, don’t we?”

I glared at him, dropping one shoe and lifting the other despite his threat. “Why are you following me?” I asked again, readying myself to gouge him.

He closed the distance, ripped my shoe out of my hand and grabbed both wrists, shoving me against the shrub.

I cried out, the sharp branches slicing into my skin.

“Quiet, Princess, I would hate to interrupt this just to kill someone for watching me fuck you.”

I glared at him angrily. “Won’t your boss be looking for you?”

He smiled, leaning in until his nose grazed the underside of my jaw, my body melting from the touch. “My father doesn’t care who I fuck.” He flattened his tongue at the base of my throat and dragged it up to my ear, a whimper escaping my lips. Fuck. “In fact,” he hummed, “after seeing you, I think he wants a turn.”

I shivered, lips parting at the thought. No, I didn’t find the older gentleman attractive, too old for my taste, but fuck. Thinking of taking two cocks like this? Two of this man?

“Oh, Princess,” he cooed, stepping into me, forcing me further back into the shrubs, “all you’ll ever need is me.” He released my wrists and reached for my straps, pushing them off my shoulders and forcing the top of my dress down to my waist.

Goosebumps erupted across my skin, my nipples so hard, even the light breeze whistling through the garden was enough to set my teeth on edge.

I struggled to slide my arms out of my sleeves as he slid one hand through the slit of my dress, over my thigh, while the other wrapped around my breast. He brought his mouth down over my nipple, my body arching against the sudden warmth.

“Fuck,” I moaned as his tongue flicked at it before his teeth clamped down.

My hands found his jacket, my nails digging into the fabric as his other hand shoved my thighs apart, causing me to stumble, the shrubs tearing into my skin, the pain making me sweat.

He sucked on my nipple, his teeth digging into it painfully as his hand slid between my thigh, running along my slit, humming in praise when he felt just how wet I was for him.

I gasped when he flicked my piercing, my pussy throbbing. He shoved two fingers in without warning and I cried out, rocking my hips against his hand. “Oh, fuck,” I whimpered.

He released my nipple with a pop and found my eyes. “Keep it down, Princess,” he mumbled, angling his fingers in a way that sent explosions of sparks across my skin. “My gun is loaded.”

I had no idea if that was an inuendo or not, but I didn’t care. I just needed more.

I rocked my hips towards him, my breathing picking up as his fingers hit my clit with every deep thrust.

I threw my head back, my breathing labored.

“Needy girl, hmm?”

I was more than that. I was ravenous. I needed this. I needed all of it.

He pressed his thumb against my clit, and I cried out, my hair getting caught in the brambles as he kept slamming his fingers into me, his thumb rubbing my clit, flicking that little piece of jewelry.

My entire body tensed, my pussy clenching around him just before I came all over his fingers.

He immediately pulled them out and unbuckled his pants, pulling his cock out.

My head fell towards him, my mind spinning.

The hand that stroked his cock was not kind. He pulled on it as if he craved the pain. As if he needed it, a silver ring on his right hand shimmering with each stroke. Was that what I had felt when he had his fingers inside of me? The cool metal of a big ring?

I only caught a glimpse of the raven carved into it before he slid his other hand under my knee and jerked it up, shoving me into the brambles once again, his cock teasing my entrance slowly.

I whimpered as he teased me, pushing in only to pull out and stroke himself against me.

“Fuck, please,” I begged, pushing my hips towards him, feeling him slide further into me.

He moaned and slammed his hips against mine, sinking straight into me.

I gasped, my body trembling at the sudden change, my cunt throbbing around his twitching cock.

He forced my leg up higher, forcing himself in deeper, tears filling my eyes as the warmth from whatever cuts the brambles were causing slowly dripped down my back.

“Rae!”

My tear-filled eyes widened as they found the masked man.

He didn’t hesitate as he pulled out and slowly pushed back in.

I sank my teeth into my bottom lip, arching against him.

“I know you’re in here!”

He did another long, slow, deep stroke, the feeling so unbelievably good, so agonizing, I couldn’t handle it. My entire body shook in need, covered in sweat, the tears sliding down my cheeks as my nails dug into his jacket, pulling at the buttons that kept his jacket closed.

I could feel another one coming, this one painful, slow.

He pulled out and slammed in again.

Over and over.

Slow and agonizing and so fucking good.

He did it until my entire body tightened again, another end shaking through me, a whimper escaping me as I shook violently around him.

He slid his hand back into my hair, the other still holding my knee up to my chest, and tightened his grip at the base of my skull. He brought my head forward until our masks hit, our lips inches apart. “That’s three, Rae,” he panted. “How many until you collapse?”

I was sure I was already on the verge with the way my other leg shook.

He picked up his pace then, holding our heads together as he slammed into me over and over again, his touch bruising as his grunts met my lips.

It was hot. Feeling his lips just a breath away as he buried his cock into me. My body vibrated with the intensity. The intimacy of it. “Fuck,” I whined, feeling my exhausted body start to tighten again.

“That’s it, Rae,” he moaned, his lips nearly touching mine now. “That’s it, baby, let it happen. It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

It wracked through me again and his followed close behind, his throbbing cock emptying inside of me, so deep, I swore I could taste it.

He slammed his lips against mine as we came together, his tongue sliding into my mouth as he continued to thrust.

I moaned, pulling myself against him, grinding my hips against his, our tongues dancing together in ecstasy. It wasn’t enough. I needed more. I wanted more.