SOULLESS (Black Thorns, #2) (5 page)

But that don’t seem to matter here. All I can see is red. All I can imagine is heading back to that damn party, finding that guy she’s fucked and ripping his damn head off.

She. Is. Mine.

Mine!

“Rox?” I press. “Asked you a question.”

She don’t answer.

And then I hear sniffling.

She’s crying.

I step back, shocked.

Crying? Rox is crying?

This ain’t her.

The girl I know woulda punched me out by now for mouthing off to her like this. But she ain’t. She’s just been…taking it. She ain’t fought back at all.

“I’m sorry,” she chokes through her tears.

What the fuck?

What’s happening here?

I step into her and cup her face in my hands, coaxing her to look at me.

Red eyes filled with tears meet the shock in mine.

“Babe, you crying cuz of what I said? I’m sorry. I lost my temper thinking ‘bout him touching you.”

She shakes her head.

“Then why?”

I wipe away her tears with the pads of my thumbs. “Rox. Talk to me. This ain’t you.”

That just causes her to cry harder. Shit. I ain’t good at this. Ain’t used to needing to be with her. Rox weren’t never sensitive like this. Hell, the woman could dish it out better than me. She had a vicious bite when someone pissed her off. The old Rox woulda knocked me on my ass by now.

I can’t stand her crying. It cuts into me. Her pain is like a physical assault on me.

“Babe, I’m sorry. Shouldn’t have lost my temper.” I blow out a breath and tell her, “This ain’t like you, Rox.”

“It’s who I am now.”

“Nah, babe.”

“It is.”

My eyes go to her tats. A simple black cross on her left forearm that’s a tribute to the kid we lost. And, on her right arm, there’s a sun surrounded by black thorns—her and me. I tell her, “Yeah? That right? I don’t believe it. For one, you still got your tats. They’re all ‘bout
us
. The old you. The real you.”

She shakes her head, biting her lip.

I drop to my knees and hold her waist. “Babe, I’m sorry. Didn’t come here to upset you.”

She wraps her arms ‘round my shoulders and leans her head against mine. My hands slide up and down her hips, rubbing gently to soothe her.

They slide lower to her thighs and she grunts in pain.

What the hell?

“Rox? You hurt?”

“A scratch,” she murmurs into my hair.

“That dickhead I put down?”

“Yeah.”

“Where? Show me.”

She grabs the hem of her silky dress and pushes it up her thighs. She presses two fingers to a spot on her right thigh. I see it. Her skin’s bruised and there’s a faint stain of blood. Fucker drew blood?

I growl in fury at seeing a mark on her soft, flawless skin.

Before I can stop myself, my mouth is on the mark and I’m kissing it better, tryin’ to soothe it. She wavers on her feet and I tighten my grip on her right hip to hold her steady.

I grin up at her. “Better?”

I’m relieved when I see a smile from her. “Much.”

I’m ‘bout to pull away and get to my feet now I somehow managed to stop her from crying and actually coaxed a smile outta her, when my eyes stray to her panties, just inches from me. Big mistake. Holy hell, they’re sexy. Dark red lacy things. Shit.

I can’t stop myself.

Next thing I know, I’m licking along the edge of ‘em.

“Oh God, Neil,” she whimpers.

I trail my tongue up the other side and she moans out, bucking her hips.

And that’s it.

I hook my fingers in the waistband of her panties and tug ‘em down her legs, past her knees. Prying her pussy lips apart with my fingers, I tell her, “Been too long, babe. Missed this sweet pussy.” I lick the length of her and she shrieks. “Kinda pussy that brings a man to his knees. You ain’t got no idea.” She’s already soaking wet for me, her pussy dripping for me, urging me to feast on it.

And that’s just what I do.

Grabbing her ass, I pull her against my mouth and lap at her with my tongue like a starved animal, savoring her sweet taste. She screams wildly and calls out my name as I tease her clit with rapid strokes, then nip at it. When I suck it into my mouth, I feel her tense in my hold. She’s right on the edge.

I pull back and get to my feet.

She cries out.

“Not yet, babe,” I tell her as I unbuckle my belt and pull my jeans and boxers down just enough to free my hard cock. Jesus, it’s like fucking steel right now.

“Want you to come on my cock.”

Her eyes widen and she moans out as I rub the head through her wet pussy.

“Hold your dress,” I tell her.

She nods frantically, clutching it tightly up to her waist.

“You ready for me, babe?”

“Yes!” she gasps out.

It’s all I need to hear. I’m way beyond the point of no return now. I grip her hips, hoist her up, slam her against the wall, and impale her on my cock, balls deep in one thrust.

Jesus Christ! I forgot how tight she is. “Fucking…
hell
,” I grunt. I brush her hair outta her face. “You okay, beautiful girl?”

She nods and whispers, “Yes.”

I pump in and outta her real slow, tryin’ to get a handle on my dick. The feel of her tight little pussy coating my shaft with her wet heat has me on the edge already.

“Ah, shit,” I grit out. “Fuck, you got no idea how much I’ve missed you, Rox,” I whisper in her ear, before claiming her mouth with mine.

She opens instantly, as desperate as me for a taste. She moans out and wraps her hands ‘round my neck, just as her thighs squeeze my waist.

“More,” she tells me. “Please. I need you, Neil.”

Her need skyrockets mine to a level I didn’t even know existed. It snaps the sliver of self-control I still had left and I lose control. There ain’t no more time for slow and steady. I pick up speed, pounding into her hard and fast, my hips moving like a fucking jackhammer. Outta control. Wild. Intense. Just like it always was with us.

I shift my weight and angle my dick. She screams my name as I hit that sweet spot deep inside her.

“Yeah, Rox. Love you screaming my fucking name.”

“Ah, Neil! Yes! I’m gonna come!”

I fist my free hand that ain’t holding her up against the wall in her hair and tug hard, forcing her to look at me. “Good girl. Come for me. I wanna hear my name as you drench my cock.”

I slow my pace and grind against her, hitting her clit over and over again ‘til she’s shuddering and coming hard ‘round me. All I’m aware of is her screaming out my name as I take her higher and higher ‘til she’s whimpering, cuz the intensity’s too much.

“Ah, shit, Rox. Can’t hold it, babe. Too fucking tight,” I grunt into her shoulder.

I move to pull out, but she tightens her legs ‘round me and tells me, “No.”

“No condom. Gotta.”

“I want to feel you.”

Indecision settles over me. I can’t think right now. What the hell’s she playing at? What’s she mean asking me not to pull out?

It’s too damn late then.

Shit.

She grinds down on me and clamps her pussy tightly ‘round my cock.

I can’t hold it.

I come inside her with pulse after violent pulse.

I groan into her shoulder and stay there, tryin’ to catch my breath and wrap my head ‘round what just happened here.

***

Neil rests his head on my shoulder for a long while as we just breathe one another in, before he finally pulls out and puts me down.

He cups my pussy that’s starting to leak with his cum. “You got something to clean this up with?” he asks, holding his hand there protectively.

I nod and pick up my purse that slipped from my shoulder at some point. I slide it back onto my shoulder and delve inside and pull out a pack of tissues.

It doesn’t take long for me to sort myself out and for both of us to fix our disheveled, just-fucked appearances.

“Why’d you mess with my head like that ‘bout pulling out, Rox?” he demands suddenly.

“What?”

“You know what I’m getting at. You want that then?”

“I—”

Heavy footsteps stop me. Neil and I both spin around to see my dad storming towards us. Oh my God. It hasn’t been two minutes since Neil and I fixed our appearances. Dad must have seen something then. Wow. This is awkward.

It gets more awkward as his fist suddenly comes at Neil, slamming into the side of his face and making him stumble back from the force of it.

“Dad!” I yell. “What—?”

“Fucked my daughter in a shitty alleyway?” he roars at Neil. “Told you before! She ain’t biker trash!”

“I know she ain’t.”

“Just treated her like she was, fucker!”

I roll my eyes. This is ridiculous. “Dad! Stop it!”

“Roxana—”

I reach out to Neil and trace my fingers over his now red raw cheek. “You okay?”

He ignores me and glowers at my dad. “Didn’t plan it, all right? I’m sorry.”

Sorry?
Neil is apologizing? Well, that’s new. And why is he being so respectful with my dad? The last I heard about their relationship, neither one of them would give any ground with the other. Both their egos were too big for that.

“What’s going on?” I ask, looking between the two of them.

My dad folds his arms across his chest and says, “What’s going on was you two fucking down this dirty alleyway.” His eyes narrow at Neil. “Bareback,” he snarls.

Oh my God. This is getting way too graphic. “Dad, stop. Just stop, please.”

Both of them eye me in surprise, probably confused by my soft tone. It’s not the way I used to be.

My dad blows out a breath, clearly trying to force himself to calm down in response to my obvious distress over this awkward conversation. He manages it and says, “Ax and me are here for a reason. Need to get you outta here for a bit, cuz you ain’t safe right now.”

“We’ll explain once we’re on the road,” Neil adds. “Gonna head back to your place so you can pack up some stuff and then we’ll get gone, yeah?” he says, rubbing my arm gently.

I nod.

They both eye one another, once again surprised. This time, I know it’s because I’m not arguing as I normally would.

“I gotta stop by the clubhouse to talk some shit over with Ax, princess. You okay to wait there for ‘bout an hour then you and me gonna take off to one of my safe houses?”

“Why can’t I stay at the clubhouse? Isn’t it as safe as one of your places?”

My dad’s brow furrows in confusion. He eyes Neil and Neil asks me, “You wanna stay at the clubhouse?”

“Unless you don’t want me to,” I respond, not sure what the big deal is here.

“You’d be under club protection, Roxana,” my dad cuts in. “Bound by club rules
and
on lockdown. You couldn’t come and go as you please.”

I look at Neil and he nods, confirming what my dad’s saying. He’s staring at me like he doesn’t know me or something, like he’s trying to figure me out. I just shrug and tell them both, “Sure. That’s fine.”

They both watch me for a few seconds, before my dad finally says, “Right, well, let’s get outta here and head back to your place.”

“Okay,” I say, reaching for Neil’s hand.

“Babe?” he asks, taking it and squeezing it gently.

“Yeah?”

“You…okay?”

“Fine. Why?”

It looks like he’s deciding on how to respond for a moment. But then he just says, “No reason,” and starts to lead the way out of the alley.

My dad follows behind. As the three of us make our way through the busy streets, my dad suddenly comes up on my other side and tells me, “You gonna pick up that pill, yeah?”

“Pill?” I ask, wondering what he’s getting at.

“Morning after pill,” he clarifies. “If not, I’ll go get it for you.”

Oh. Well, this is incredibly uncomfortable—my
dad
saying these words to me
and
in front of Neil, no less. I’m so caught off guard, all I can manage is a quiet, “Oh.”

That doesn’t seem to satisfy him, so he growls across me at Neil who’s on my other side, “You hear me, Ax?”

Neil nods. “Yeah, I hear you.”

“Fucking better. Don’t want a repeat of last time ‘round.”

His words rip right through me and I come to a sudden stop, inadvertently pulling on Neil’s hand and causing him to do the same.

“Dealer,” I hear Neil say harshly. “What the fuck?”

“Shit, princess. I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I just—”

“Leave it,” Neil orders him, saving me from having to respond.