Come To Me (Owned Book 3) (26 page)

“When I was seventeen,” I started. “I left home and enlisted in the marines. A few years in I was plucked out of my unit and started training with a special team. At the time I thought it was government organized, like special forces. I was such a kid, I thought it was like in the movies. I would later discover it was a government funded private—”

Lenny put her hand up, still refusing to look at me. “Not that early, Vic.”

I shrugged, putting my own in my lap. “Well, what do you want to know?”

“Tell me the stuff that had you lying to me. Why you had to fake your death.” There was no annoyance in her voice. There wasn’t anything, none of that usual Lenny bite, but I knew better than to think it was gone. It was there, just beneath the surface, like piranhas trapped beneath a frozen lake.

“It’s all kind of tied in together.” She hadn’t moved since taking her spot in front of the window. I wondered what she was watching. It was a blue day, not a “blue” day, but a somber day. A gloomy day. The marine layer never dissipated and the world stayed gray.

Placing a hand on the glass, Lenny spoke. “I thought you were done with GEM, but then you said that stuff about your death toll. It made it pretty fucking obvious you were still working for them. I spent the weeks after your death trying to piece it together, I never got very far.”

“I wasn’t working for them Lenny. I did leave. I just…It got really fucking complicated…” I wasn’t about to beg Lenny for forgiveness based on the fact that
technically
I had left GEM. She had every right to be mad at me. I may have left GEM, but the minute I thought we’d ended, I called Dom and threw myself back in the fire. It was a fire made with different logs, but it burned the same. I had a feeling Lenny would see that.

Though the chances were, my phone call with Dom didn’t even matter. Alice would still have found a way to fuck me over, even if I hadn’t given her the ammo myself. When I think back on that call, those aren’t the what-ifs that come to mind. When I made that phone call, I betrayed something much more important than myself. “It’s all my fault, Lenny.”

“And dying was your solution?” Lenny broke through the ice and spun around, rage and betrayal wet on her face.

“It got so fucking complicated.” I ran a hand over my forehead, trying to smooth out the wrinkles, wishing I could smooth out the events that had put them there. I didn’t know how the fuck to explain to her what had happened, since I didn’t even know how to explain it to myself. “I never planned to fake my death. I planned to die. Then an…” How to explain Seven? He wasn’t a friend, that was fucking clear. “An acquaintance threw me a lifeline. I took it, because I was worried Alice wouldn’t leave you alone, even if I was dead. I tried to convince her I’d stopped caring about you, that you were only a payday to me—”

Lenny looked up, her blue gaze piercing. “That insurance policy…” I nodded just as she turned away from me again. “I never cashed yours in, you know.”

“Why the fuck not?” The anger that came out wasn’t meant to be directed at her, but it came out all the same. I was supposed to protect her and provide for her, and death made that a little bit harder. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t try, but Lenny and I didn’t exactly see eye to eye. Lenny fended for herself, even when I offered her millions of dollars on a fucking silver platter.

“Maybe because the irony was too thick. Maybe because it was too final. Maybe because it felt like some sick joke. I don’t know, pick a reason. I’ve got plenty.”

I felt an urge to run to her, to grab her, to kiss her, to love her and pull her away from that goddamn window. She clung to the glass like it was a life preserver; I’d been clinging to her visage in my mind the same way. Now she was there in the flesh, but it was like she was more ephemeral than when she’d only existed in my mind.

I’d recently healed a bullet wound, so what the fuck was the ache I was feeling?

“Is it over at least?” Lenny asked, fingering the drapes. “The death? The lying?”

“It’s over.”

Lenny visibly sagged, but just as quickly she tensed. “And you’ve been staying
here?”

I laughed at her insinuation. “It wasn’t a vacation.” Raising an eyebrow, Lenny pressed her forehead against the glass. Out the window was a balcony, and below that were large pools that opened out to the beach.

“Sure looks like it,” she muttered.

“I don’t know about you, but my vacations don’t include burning people in a store.” I regretted the words the minute they left my mouth, but I just hated the idea of Lenny thinking I left her to relax, of letting Lenny think I would leave her for any other reason than absolute, dire necessity.

“That was
you?
” She turned around. Gripping the drapes until her fingers turned white, she continued, “I don’t know why I’m shocked. I don’t know why anything you say shocks me at this point.”

Her words felt like a challenge. “I killed Alice and a few other GEM agents that day.”

Lenny’s eyes narrowed. “What was the point of faking your death, then?”

“They didn’t know I was alive until that day.”

“That doesn’t explain why.” Shaking her head, she dropped the drapes. I knew I only had seconds to get Lenny convinced I wasn’t a total, worthless liar. I could visibly see her distrust forming like a wall around her.

3…she pursed her lips.

How the fuck did I explain why? The why was Seven, but that wasn’t a simple answer.

2…she averted her gaze.

Seven had handed me the life rope and just as quickly tied it around my neck.

1…she folded her arms.

I let the question lie, refusing to answer it.

0…Lenny brushed past me, heading for the exit.

“Where are you going?” I asked, grabbing her arm.

“Back to Grace’s.” She tugged on the arm in my grip, but that only made me hold tighter. “I’m not sure why I thought it would be different. I asked you not to lie and you…well, you lied about that.”

“I didn’t lie.” I grasped the other arm, bringing her to my chest.

“You’re not telling the truth!” She didn’t look away; instead she jutted her chin out and demanded I look at her, demanded I meet her gaze. I stared into the searching, watery depths of her eyes, feeling all at once drowning and rescued. “How stupid must you think I am? You tell me it’s over and two minutes later lie again.”

“I can’t fucking unravel years of shit in ten minutes. Fuck! Do you have any idea how much I’ve thought about you, Lennox Moore?”
How much thinking about you has destroyed what I’ve built?
At my outburst Lenny tried to get free from my grasp again, but with both hands on her arms now, I walked with us together until we reached the bed.

Lenny glared at me, her gaze like a microscope burning an ant. “Not nearly as much as I’ve thought of you, Vic Wall.”

“Want to bet?” I pushed her against the bed until her calves met the cushion.

“What could I possibly have that you haven’t taken already?” she spat.

“If I win, you give yourself to me.” I dipped my head, making sure to capture her eyes. I wanted everything the blue depths had to offer. Like a sailor prepared to face a harsh, stormy sea to get closer to the horizon, I wanted the hate, because beyond that lay the love.

She laughed caustically. “I already have, you idiot.” Leaning over, I imposed myself until she fell on her back, the bed bracing her fall.

“No, you’ve closed yourself off.” Bending down, I bracketed myself on either side of her. “But I bet I can get you to open.”

L
enny writhed and wiggled beneath me, throwing perfectly placed elbows to my gut that would have thrown a less nuanced man off. Instead of angering me, instead of hurting me, it made me grin.

And yeah, I got pretty fucking hard.

“Are you forfeiting the bet?” I whispered against her ear.
Fuck.
It took every ounce of willpower I had not to take the ear between my teeth. I would eventually, but right then it was about getting her to surrender, and that took time. It took patience.

“No,” she spat. “But I didn’t agree to being smothered.”

I laughed. “I’m not smothering you. I just wanted to smell you.” I lowered myself more. “I’ve thought of your scent for months now, Lenny.” She writhed some more as I moved my nose up and down her neck, inhaling. “But if you keep moving like that, babe, I can’t promise what I’ll do.”

“Pig.”

“You smell just as good as I remember, maybe even better. Want to know what else I thought about?”

“Like I want a shotgun wound to my hip.”

Keeping myself propped with one hand, I lowered the other between her legs. I didn’t touch her, but I made sure to keep my fingers close. I wanted her to want my touch. I wanted her to crave me, like I did her. Once upon a time she had begged for me. I think that she still would, but I had hurt her so deeply the pain was like a wall around her body.

“I thought about your pussy,” I said, keeping my touch like a shadow above her. “If I remember correctly, you smell pretty damn good there too.” She didn’t say a word, but her breathing hitched and went staccato. I smiled against the skin on her collarbone and allowed myself a taste. My lips met the small spot between her neck and shoulder and…fucking amazing
.
I nearly groaned. She exhaled slightly and I knew I was starting to win.

“I thought about the way your skin would taste.” A small sound escaped her lips and it took all the willpower I had not to move my lips away from her skin to her mouth and capture it. Instead, I lightly lowered my hand to her cunt. Her body tightened for a moment before going completely slack.

“I thought about your lips on my cock.” As if she fucking knew what it would do to me, her lips parted at my words. She sighed, but only slightly, so the sound was nearly nonexistent. I’d be fucking lying if I said I didn’t imagine pulling at her teeth to get my cock in there.

Shaking my head, I went back to lavishing her skin. This was all about Lenny, getting her to open up and reawaken to me. My cock was rock hard and throbbing against my pants, and it was probably a good thing she wasn’t touching it. I didn’t want to come like a fucking boy.

Not yet at least.

“I thought about your pussy on my mouth.” Lenny twitched against me, trying to ride herself against my palm. Grinning, I held myself firm. Not yet; she wasn’t there yet. It wasn’t a secret I loved eating Lenny out. I’d do it for hours, and had. When it was clear I was coming back from the dead, so to speak, I had to get my mouth on her cunt, even if it was in a fucking alley.

Supposedly it’s about the chick when you eat them out.

Not for me. That one’s pretty selfish. I like to watch her unravel, fall into my mouth, and wrap her legs tight around my neck. It was fucking power.

“The memory of your cunt wrapping around my cock nearly distracted me to death.” Lenny writhed, her small pants turning into groans. Her flesh was hot against my tongue. She moved beneath me. I probably could have held her firm, but fuck it felt too damn good. She was like a dancer underneath me and it was right and whole to be dancing the dance with her.

Her tiny movements ricocheted inside me. She was starting to lose herself, and that was the best feeling, because when she lost herself, she found me. When she writhed beneath me, she had no clue where she was moving. Still, she always came to me, because she
needed
to touch me, just like I needed to touch her. We were coming together again.

“I wondered if you were taking care of yourself like I take care of you,” I mumbled, sucking her skin. She went rigid, like a flash of steel. It was so quick I almost didn’t notice.

“Did you take care of yourself, Lenny?” I asked, moving my lips lower until I was just above her tit. She’d been warming to me, getting hot again, and I didn’t want anything to disrupt that. Pushing her shirt aside until it hung off her shoulder, I asked again, my lips hovering above the nipple. “Did you?”

“No.” She breathed.

“Why not?” She didn’t respond. I pressed my palm into her cunt and she groaned. “Tell me Lenny, why didn’t you touch yourself?” She still didn’t respond so I took my touch away. She moaned and wrapped her arms around my shoulders, pulling me back down. I smiled to myself; I was winning.

“Tell me why, Lenny,” I pressed.

“Because…” She took her lip between her teeth. I took my hand and pulled the lip out, holding it between my own fingers. Pink, swollen, and wet; gorgeous, too, like another pink, swollen, and wet thing I loved.

Letting it go, I said, “Don’t do that unless you want me to take that for myself.”

“I couldn’t touch myself, okay?” Lenny said, looking away. “If I did, I thought of you, and it was too hard.” Her words were like a stone to my chest. I’d been playing a game, trying to have fun, but I’d forgotten the pain I’d caused Lenny was real—real, visceral, and traumatizing.

I captured Lenny’s lips in my own and put my fingers between her pants. Just as I expected, she was warm and wanting. This was no longer about me, though. It wasn’t about winning or proving anything; it was about Lenny. It was about trying to heal some of the damage I’d caused.