Smother (6 page)

“Boys,” the driver said with a snicker.

The blond offered an eclectic mixture of pills. “I’m Daniel.” He jerked his head toward the driver. “Ryan.”

Reese reached her hand out, palm up, and he tipped his and pressed it to hers, giving her the pills and a partial smile. He stared at her as she pulled her hand back, waiting to see what she’d do. She looked at the oblong and circular-shaped drugs, and a whisper of foreboding told her this was a bad idea. Because of that, she took them. Daniel’s smile widened before he faced forward.

“How did you get out of working?” Reese asked Amber.

Amber’s parents owned the only sporting goods store in Farrow’s Point and she was the designated manager when they were out of town and her sister couldn’t be reached.

She smiled. “I closed the shop. My parents are going to be so pissed when they find out.” Amber sounded gleeful at the possibility.

Reese looked out the window and noted they were almost out of town. When they hit countryside, her eyes were bombarded with frosted strands of grass, trees, and hills. The colors were vibrant, and everything passed by slowly, but at the same time, quickly. She smiled, lost in the disorienting world she so coveted.

Voices spoke, and she laughed, feeling the vibrations in her chest, her head light as air. Her worries were gone.
I want to live here. I could live here.
She accepted the bottle Amber offered and took a healthy swallow. Reese talked, words leaving her mouth too fast, her brain unable to process what she was saying because of the thick fog covering it. The feeling was good, and that was what she wanted.

Too soon the car stopped, and she stepped out, taking in the large house. It was three stories of dark brown with a deck on either side of it. Pine trees created an alcove around the house and driveway. Smoke slithered into the sky from a chimney, breaking up the brown of the trees with wispy clouds of heat. They were in a secluded forest of promises, maybe even threats. Two young women, alone with men they didn’t know. She wasn’t scared, but that was because she welcomed the bad.

It was what she knew.

“Whose house is this?” Reese asked and turned to look at her companions. Her eyes wouldn’t immediately focus, distorting their faces and turning them into blobs of color and shapes without distinction.

It appeared Daniel and Ryan had already picked who was whose—Ryan was helping Amber remain upright, but also had his hands all over her, and Daniel was watching her with a predatory gleam in his eyes. She recognized that look. She’d been the recipient and the wearer of it.

Daniel stepped closer, bringing the scent of cologne and peril with him—sweetness integrated with tartness. “It’s mine.”

He didn’t look much older than her, which didn’t mean he couldn’t have money. Reese noted the simple black shirt he wore that probably cost a small fortune, and the dark, fitted jeans. Out of the two, Ryan, not Daniel, seemed older, more confident, and the one who would be in charge.

“What about your buddy? Ryan. Does he live here too?”

“When he’s in town. This is like our retreat, away from business. Strictly used for pleasure and fun.” Daniel smiled and there was a secretive cast to it.

“It’s nice.”

“Wait till you see the inside.” He touched her elbow with cool, dry fingers, and inclined his head toward the house. “It’s much nicer.”

She let him lead her inside, Reese’s legs moving as though she waded through waves. Her breaths left her in visible puffs, making her think she should be colder than she was. She was floating, and the world and everything in it, was dream-like. Warm. Reese sluggishly looked over her shoulder at her friend. Amber swayed back and forth as she moved, stumbling until Ryan caught her. She heard her laughter inside her head until it echoed and hurt her eardrums. She turned away in slow motion.

“I don’t have a swimsuit,” Amber whispered loudly.

Ryan murmured something and she laughed again.

The layout of the inside of the house was spacious with beige walls and vaulted ceilings. Their footsteps echoed on the wood floor as they walked. A scent teased her nose, that of man and something else. She studied her surroundings for pieces of Daniel in the decorating of the interior and found nothing that made it his. No pictures of him to be found—no pictures of anyone.

Chocolate brown leather furniture was set up in an L in the living room and faced a flat screen television mounted on the wall with an electric fireplace below. Stairs ran along the far wall near a set of windows. The place was clean with quality furniture and expensive electronics, but it didn’t seem like a home. It was just a house that looked pretty. Anyone could live here.

“Approve?”

She looked up. Daniel watched her with interest in his brown eyes. “Sure.”

Half of his mouth quirked and she realized it was a full, sensual mouth. She wanted to kiss it. She moved for him and his eyes darkened. The kiss was bitter and tasted of wrongness and drugs. She kissed him harder, wanting his lips to be another’s. The name whispered through her brain, taunting her. Daniel’s hands grabbed her ass and slammed her front to his, fingers digging into her flesh as he deepened the kiss.

“Get a room,” Amber teased.

Reese drew away, breathing hard, heart racing. Repulsion and elation fought within her. She felt sick—she wanted to laugh. The air was hot, her thoughts muddled, and a voice screamed inside her head. She needed to shut it out. More drugs, more booze, more of everything. That’s what she needed.

Daniel smoothed his hair down and adjusted his shirt. “How’s a tour sound?”

Ryan laughed, slapping Amber hard on the ass. She squealed and hit his chest, but didn’t pull away. “Tour of the bedroom, you mean,” Ryan said with a wink at Reese. He held her gaze longer than he should, not releasing it until Amber said something to him.

“Maybe.” Eyes riveted to Reese, Daniel said, “I have a feeling this is going to be a long night. All of it fun.” He glanced at his friend. “We’ll meet up with you in the hot tub later?”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Daniel and then Reese. He removed her clothes and touched her in places she wasn’t sure she wanted him to, all with one look. He slowly nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll be waiting.”

I’ll be waiting?

Daniel motioned for her to follow him. He didn’t give her a tour of the place. Instead they went upstairs and into his bedroom, but she’d expected that. The room was bigger than her apartment, complete with a king-sized bed in the middle covered in silky black bedding. The theme was dark, sleek. Womanizing.

He tugged the two-piece from her slack hands and tossed it on the dresser. “Want a drink?” He moved to a mini-fridge across the room, slanting a look at her as he waited.

“Yes.”

He poured vodka into a plastic cup and handed it to her. She drank it in one, long gulp, not tasting it, but craving it.

Daniel laughed. “Easy. We want you conscious for this.” He reached for her, palming her waist and pressing against her. He was hard, ready.

He smelled faintly of perspiration and her mouth twisted with distaste, but she tugged at his shirt until he pulled it off. Her eyes took in his lean frame and she wished it was muscular. He unfastened his jeans and kicked them off, then stripped down to nothing. Everything about him was narrow. Not right. She swallowed and breathed around the clenching in her stomach.

“Now you.” He nodded at her shirt.

Reese stared into his eyes as she took her clothes off, watching him watch her. Pleasure widened his eyes, curved his mouth. It should be unsmiling, his eyes so blank they bled emotion. But he was nothing to her, and she liked that. Nothing was good. Nothing didn’t make her hurt, wonder, or hope for anything.

Daniel reached into the top drawer of the dresser and grabbed a condom, ripping the foil of the wrapper and putting it on.

He moved for her, his hands roving over her like she was his—and she was, for a little while. Reese told herself it was better to mean something to someone for an instant than never at all. He petted and squeezed, using her to make himself feel good. The foreplay didn’t last long, all of it to ready him, and not her. She was nothing in this act—just the tool he needed to get off. She pretended she was somewhere else, with someone else.

Reese let him use her. She always let them.

When it was over, she pulled on her swimsuit and poured herself another drink, lips numb and unfeeling. Reese acted like nothing had happened, because to her, it hadn’t. Just another normal day in her messed up existence. She tossed back the drink and poured another. The screams were still inside her, muted but growing in volume.

Daniel put on a pair of swimming trunks, his eyes following her. “Maybe you should watch the booze.”

“Maybe you should fuck off.”

He grabbed the glass from her hand, sloshing vodka on her and the floor, and he threw it. It hit the wall, the contents sliding down in a clear waterfall. Daniel grabbed the back of her neck and glared into her eyes. “Don’t . . . talk to me . . . like that.” He squeezed. “Got it?”

The screams became distinct, formed into voices. They shouted through her head. Fear tightened her throat, twisted her insides until all of her was spinning. She was in another room, another house. In another time.
“You’ll do what I tell you to do and you’ll like it. You’ll be my nice little girl. Got it? Or you’ll be replaced. And you won’t like who your replacement is.”

She held a hand out, fought her way back to now, but another scene hit her and created a tornado around her, with Reese lost in the middle of it. Pulled this way and that, pummeled, shredded. A hand held her neck, the fingers bruising. Eyes that should look at her with love looking at her with hate.
“You either fucking put out or you fucking get out. If you won’t give me what I want, I’ll find someone who will.”

Threats. So many threats. Told what to do, what to say, what to think. Told to take it, and take it, and take it. They all controlled her. She had no control because she’d given it all away.

Rage ripped through her, and she smacked his hand away, then shoved him back. Her head hurt. So many voices, so many screams. So much pain. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

Daniel staggered back, surprise flitting across his features before a smile took over. “You’re feisty.”

“And you’re not that good in bed.”

That wiped the smile from his face. Danger stepped toward her and she stiffened, awaiting what was to come. His eyes were dark, calculating. “Maybe I’m not man enough for you.”

Reese didn’t say anything.

“Maybe Ryan is.”

Unease quickened her breathing. “I doubt it.”

“Let’s find out.” He offered her his hand. His smile was soft and expectant, but lined with darkness. She could delude herself into thinking it was kind, if she wanted. She knew what he sought, knew what was about to happen. It had happened before. She’d let it.

Did she ever say no? No. Because the one time she had, it hadn’t changed anything.

Reese knew she should demand to go home, but it wouldn’t matter—they wouldn’t take no for an answer and they wouldn’t take her home, not until they were ready. She felt herself die a little more, resigned to the fate that was always to be hers. It was inescapable, the equivalent of trying to outrun herself. Impossible.

She was this. This was her. This was all she was.

Reese put her hand in his, and let him lead her to further destruction. It was just a body, right? Something to use, something to take from. It wasn’t hers anymore anyway. It was already gone, ravaged beyond repair. Nothing but bits and pieces of what once was, held together with masking tape.

They moved down the stairs, the walls closing in on her as she hurried her footsteps. Even now she was trying to run.
Just stop. Just stop trying.
Reese wanted to run to Leo, and that made her want to cry at the hopelessness of it.
Not yours, not yours, not yours.
The words beat through her in time with her heart.

She walked through a game room with Daniel ahead of her, all of her frozen on the inside, and not from drugs this time—and not in a good way. The walls were a mix of wood and framed glass. A dim lamp illuminated the area, creating a pool of light in an otherwise dark room. She shivered as the black of the unlit space sucked at her soul, trying to pull her away from the light and into its cold embrace.

Reese paused when she saw Amber’s form sprawled out on a couch, one arm covering her face with the other hanging over the edge of the couch. She was in her bra and underwear without even a blanket to cover her, but at least she was partially clothed. Her chest moved, showing she was passed out and nothing more, and Reese let Daniel urge her onward even as her eyes lingered on her friend.

Stepping outside into the frigid air was a shock to her senses, and it immediately stripped away any lingering shell of languidness she’d managed to cling to. The soles of her feet were so cold they were hot. Reese shivered in her two-piece and stared into a countryside she had no business being in. When she arrived, she’d seen beauty in the nature around her. Now it was unmasked to show its truth—it was all knives and teeth to gnash her to bits.

She’d wanted trouble and she’d found it.

Ryan sat in the hot tub, raising a beer bottle to his mouth as they approached. Steam rose from the heated water, the rumble of jets loud and powerful. The bottle paused by his lips as his gaze locked on hers and she was charred by their icy blue heat. “What have we here?” he murmured.

“She’s more than I can handle,” Daniel mocked.

Reese ignored that, eyes on Ryan. “What happened to Amber?” she asked slowly, her mouth thick. She wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm.

He lifted one tanned, broad shoulder. “She decided to take a nap.” He took a drink of his beer and set the bottle on the ledge of the tub. He nodded to the water. “Come in.”

It was a command more than an invitation. Reese stared at Ryan as details spun together in a chaotic mess she tried to put in order. She turned to Daniel. “This isn’t your house.”

“No?” One eyebrow lifted, the faint outline of a smile on his lips.