11

Cozen

I watched Psalm through the window of the gym. She was there alone, fighting with both working hands. With the amount of money Kier paid me, I was able to give her something that I'd never made for anyone. Slowly, I pushed inside, seeing her body perk up. It was subtly to let me know she knew I was here.

"Want a partner, P?" I called out, my voice echoing in the room.

She looked over her shoulder at me, strands of hair falling in her face. Since we were kids, she has changed, and so have I. "Are you sure? I think your expertise is in metal work, not feet work."

I scoffed, reaching for the hem of my shirt. In one swift moment, it was off, thrown to the side, and left behind when I walked to her.

Her dark eyes faltered, running over my toned body before returning to my face. She didn't blush like she would have as a kid. She just met my eyes.

"I live with Viper, so we both know I'm more skilled than you now," I explained, and it was true. I trained every day, whether it was before or after work; Viper worked with me.

"I have been taking down vampires and—"

"I'm not a vampire, Sal," I said when I was in front of her.

She chuckled, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "I get that, but I'm skilled in a different way."

I shrugged. "We haven't spared since…"

Sal laughed. "It's been that long."

I met her eyes. "It has…" We stared at each other, and I took each golden speck of her dark eyes.

She punched out first, making me dodge it so easily. She was faster, I will give her that, but I was faster than that.

I dropped down, swung my leg, and knocked her off balance. Her butt hit the mat, making me look down at her with a smirk. Her face got serious as she stood.

Hit by hit, blow by blow, we sparred. I was calm and able to block her moves, though she did land some good ones, but nothing that knocked me off my feet.

I got too cocky, feeling my back hit the wall. She was backing me up this whole time.

She jumped up, kicking my face. I dodged it last second, stumbling to keep my balance. But she attacked, wrapping her arm around me and slamming me onto the mat.

Then she was on top of me, punching out.

I flinched, but the blow never came.

Psalm let out a giggle that had me looking up at her. She caught herself on her fist near my face as she laughed. That laugh had been my favorite, no one was ever going to replace that. It was higher pitched as a kid, but now it was perfect.

Her hips rubbed against mine, instantly making heat rushed to my hips. Instantly my cock grew, making me fist her hair and pull her to the side. In a flash, I was on top of her, making sure my dick wasn't on her.

Psalm smiled up at me. "Now, I know why you don't have a girlfriend."

I froze… Did she actually know why? Did I give myself away?

"You always have to be in control. Don't you, Cozie?"

Sighing, I stared at her. She knew nothing about how I felt about her. I thought I could keep these feelings down, hide them, especially since we hadn't seen each other in years.

My eyes flicked to her full pink lips. I shouldn't think about kissing her, especially when she was already taken. She belonged to those men, not me.

"Coz? What's wrong?" she asked, licking her lips.

My cock twitched. She had to know what she did to me.

I sat up, turning away from her. "Just… remembering a lot of the past around you."

"Are they bad?" she whispered.

"Which ones aren't? Our life was shit, P," I deadpanned.

"Not all of it," she muttered, running her fingers over the cattle like brand that was now on my back. Most of the scars on my body were from the time that I didn't like thinking about.

"Name one," I grumbled, finally getting my cock soft. The past wasn't something that I loved to think about.

"The nice bread Jade stole for us."

"And she got beat," I added.

"I don't remember that. I remember… the taste of the bread and the laughs we shared over it…"

I glanced at her over my shoulder. She was sitting close to me, eyes on my back, taking in the scars or tattoos or something. Her lips were parted like my body mesmerized her. "I remember it differently. I was older than you, and Jade—"

"Don't mention what she would have remembered," she snapped.

"She's not back, Psalm. She's dead."

"You don't know what you're talking about or what I saw."

I rolled my eyes. "The mind plays tricks on you. I used to see my parents in the crowd and thought they were back for me. That day was traumatic. You saw what you wanted to see."

"I wanted to see my dead sister and be reminded of the feelings I had?"

Sighing, I turned to her. My dick wasn't hard anymore, not after getting her pissed at me. "I'm not saying that."

"You are though. You think I'm insane or something?"

"Stop putting words in my mouth," I snapped.

Her parted lips closed as she glared at me. "You have changed."

"So have you."

"No, you are crueler. You don't believe me. What happened to the Cozen that I knew growing up, that took this for me?" Her fingers were back on the brand on my lower back. The smell of burning flesh filled my nose as I thought about the brand that the foster guy burned into me.

A growl rumbled in my throat as I gripped her wrist and pulled her to me. Her palm against my chest stopped her body from hitting it hard. "Stop touching me there."

She rolled her eyes.

I gripped her chin to draw her attention. "Are you listening to me, Psalm?" I had to treat her like a fucking child or else she would have ignored me.

Her eyes darkened with something as she looked down. I swallowed hard. "I'm listening. If you don't want to be touched by me, stop touching me."

I didn't listen. Impulse took over as I grabbed her waist and pulled her all the way into my chest, our faces close to each other. Her heavy breast brushed my fucking chest. I wanted to kiss her, take her right here, but the rage she made me feel was indescribable. "You bring back memories, Psalm."

She swallowed. "That's because you never knew how to get over things."

Get over things? Get over her? Get over what we had that she forgot about, all the stolen kisses and late-night cuddling.

"Why am I here?" I muttered, feeling hot all of a sudden.

"Because you'd do anything for me, right, Cozen?"

My cock stirred as my eyes dropped to her lips for a long time. Looking back into her eyes, I realized she saw that. "I leave tonight," I muttered, pulling back.

Her body sagged a bit. It was like she was waiting for me to do something. If I did, the person behind the cameras would ring my fucking neck. She was with two or three… or four other men. And she still wanted me to kiss her?

I wasn't going to take any more beating for her. That would make me fucking insane.

And I wasn't going to be someone's fifth choice, not hers. She moved on from me quickly, gathering more men that succumbed to her beauty.

Psalm looked down. "So, just like that. You're dead again?"

"Better than being alive," I muttered. "It's peaceful at home, no vampires, no fighting, no drugs, no—"

"Sounds like you're trying to get me to go with you…"

I paused. Would that be a bad thing? Her and I together again?

"I can't, Cozen."

"Yeah, whatever. You have a million boyfriends to tend to."

She rolled her eyes. "I am not done here. It's not the men who actually tend to me more than I do them."

I let a noise escape me. I didn't want to hear about anyone tending to anyone. After the way Briar—the one who claimed he didn't want her—gave in to her, I quickly realized they were all going to be sharing her.

Kier and his brother wanted her, which made me want to punch them. Kier saw me as a threat because I guess he noticed my feelings before Sal could.

"What is your problem? Your emotions are everywhere," Psalm told me.

I knew that. Don't you think I know this? I couldn't help it. I come back, seeing how she changed, and I see all three men taking her attention from me. I left. I decided I wanted to be dead. If I had stayed, my cock would have been buried in Psalm, not these men. "Just forget it, Psalm. I just can't wait to get out of here. To get away from you."

Psalm's mouth parted, and I wish I didn't say that, though I meant it. She drove me insane, her smell, her voice. Her.

I stood, moving from the gym and swiping up my shirt on the way out. Passing the kitchen, I saw Kier looking at his phone as he ate cereal. His dark eyes moved to me, and he smirked.

If only it was just me and him, I would beat his fucking ass.

Ignoring him, I moved up the stairs to my guest room. I wouldn't be surprised if they had been watching me in my room. Then they would know how many times I came thinking about Psalm.

I moved to the bathroom, feeling my erection painfully throb. Just the thought of her had my cock stirring. I had been with other people, and I imagined it was her every time.

My hand rubbed my dick through my shorts, feeling it throb. I needed a release.

I was pressed so close to her, smelling the sweat and soap she used. Her nipple bars could be seen through her shirt, and I wondered how many men had the privilege of seeing them.

Defiantly not Kier.

My finger wrapped around my dick, and I rubbed my palm against it. It didn't feel the greatest, not as good as I would feel inside of her. I swore the moment I was inside of her wet, tight pussy, I'd be coming. I would gladly be two pumps and done just to get a taste of her.

The way she was moaning for them would be how she would for me. The way her breast would bounce as I fucked her hard.

A moan escaped me as I grabbed the sink. My hips were thrusting, finding a rhythm that had my eyes blurring. "Fuck," I muttered, mouth hanging open.

God, I would kill to feel any inch of her.

Just to feel her mouth on me, to see her below me. Her eyes locked on mine as I thrust down her throat. She would gag; my cock was thick and long.

She would love that, I'd imagine. She was with multiple men; I doubted she was vanilla. I doubted she would stop me as I painted my cum all over her pretty little face, claiming her as my own.

My mouth opened as I groaned. My cock twitched as I thought about that. This was painful, thinking about her each time I came. Torture. Yet I couldn't stop myself.

My hips jerked as I finally hit my high. I held back my moans as I thrust and thrust. My cum shot all over the sink, making me hiss and moan. I drained myself, every last drop for her.

The moment I came down from my high, I growled at myself.

I was sick, forever hung up on my childhood best friend. I licked my lips before cleaning up the mess I made. I tried my best not to think about leaving her or even just her. I didn't need to get hard because the amount of time I came over her these last few days was insane.