His expression darkens. “Bastards. I’m glad she got out. Is she okay?”

  “She is. She started a whole new life, worked at a diner, had a little garden–”

  “I know where that came from. Though I can guess you’ve been showing her more than just your green thumb?” He winks.

  “None of your business.”

  “Fair. Go on.”

  “Anyway, things were fine until her father and some douchebag who thought he could marry her showed up.”

  “I see. So you brought her to the safe house, got her nice and protected, then ate her pussy on the kitchen island?”

  “Reeve.” I’m on my feet, my hands balled into fists.

  “Whoa.” He holds his hands out, palms toward me. “I was only kidding. I mean–I was literally stating the facts–but I’m not … Look, I didn’t see anything. Just an educated guess.”

  He always does this to me. Knows exactly what buttons to press to get a reaction. He’s the only one who ever has–besides Orchid. They seem to know me better than I do.

  “So what’s your story? Why are you here?”

  “Like I said. I saw the bat signal and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  I sit back down. I’ve never hurt Reeve, never so much as raised my hand to him, but when it comes to Orchid, I’m like a damn beast. I want to pummel him for even thinking about her.

  “I’m fine. I wanted her to be safe until I can get a handle on her father and the guy with him.”

  “You think they know where she is?”

  “No.” I roll my shoulders. “But you know how places like that are. They have connections in all sorts of places.”

  He nods. “Places where we’re known. I guess we can’t escape our family name.”

  “No.” I sigh. “The poppy fields and the opium are long gone, but people remember what we did, what our family did. Our roots are still here out in the woods and the hollows. The land doesn’t forget, and neither do the people.”

  “They remember what we’ll still do if anyone thinks about betraying us.” He meets my gaze, his eyes sober. “They know who we are.”

  I can’t argue with that. When our parents were betrayed by their closest ally, they ended up killing our mother. Reeve and I exacted revenge for it, burning down two rival families in the process. After that, we decided to live clean. I’ve been off the grid ever since–until I realized maybe I could use a little civilization. Now I think maybe it was just destiny leading me to Orchid. It sounds sappy, but it’s the only way to explain our instant connection.

  The door to my bedroom opens, and Orchid steps out. She’s wearing clothes now–well, at least enough that I don’t slap my hand over Reeve’s eyes.

  “Hi.” She hurries to my side, and I pull her into my lap.

  “Orchid, this is Reeve. My little brother.”

  “Oh, a brother?” She smiles brightly. “So nice to meet you!”

  I feel her start to reach out her hand, but I keep my palm on her arm, holding her against me.

  Reeve seems to notice and stifles a laugh. “Wonderful to meet you, too. I was just dropping by to say hello to my long-lost brother. I should probably be going.”

  “What? No!” She wriggles in my lap, which pleases my erection to no end. “You should stay.”

  Reeve slides his gaze to me, then with a shit-eating grin that he’s always used to push my buttons, he says, “You’re right. I might as well hang around for at least a few days. Catch up, you know? Right, Sully?”

  I think about wringing his neck and wonder why I didn’t smack him on the back of the head earlier. That’s a regret I suppose I’ll have to live with, because Orchid is humming with warmth as she says, “Now you’ll have to tell me all Sully’s juicy secrets!”

  Reeve’s grin only intensifies. “My pleasure.”

  I stand and scoop Orchid into my arms, then carry her to my bedroom.

  “Sully!” she gasps.

  “No juicy secrets for you, Petal.” I nuzzle her ear with my lips. “But I want to taste your juicy secret again.”

  She squeals as I carry her through the doorway and slam it behind me, Reeve laughing in the living room as I lay her on the bed.

  18

  ORCHID

  “What are you doing?” I start to sit up on the bed, but Sully is all over me. In a matter of seconds, he has me naked. My clothes are torn to shreds and strewn across the floor. The material was no match for him. I forget all about the juicy secrets I was planning on pulling from his brother.

  “I think it’s really clear what I’m doing, Petal.” I watch as he pulls his shirt off over his head and tosses it away. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing him this way. All my focus is now on Sully’s giant cock. The man is really proportionate. I was never great at math, but I’m not sure how this is going to work.

  “I, ah—”

  “I’d never hurt you, Petal.” He places one knee on the bed. If anyone looks to be in pain at the moment, it’s his cock. The head is red with a drip of creamy liquid slipping out. The urge to know what it tastes like rises inside me.

  “I know that, but a girl's first time always hurts.” So I’ve been told. His giant hands fist the blankets as he takes long, deep breaths. He’s fighting his self-control. There is this almost wild look in his eyes. As though there is a dark need trying to rise up inside him. It only excites me more that he’s this way because of me.

  I scramble to my knees, knowing what I need to do. “Lie down,” I order him.

  His lips part, and I know I’ve taken him by surprise. “You heard me. Lie down,” I say more firmly this time, pointing to the center of the bed. My giant beast of a man drops onto the bed. The headboard slaps against the wall, the frame giving a small groan.

  “Come sit on my face, Petal.” He tries to boss me.

  “I’m the one in charge here,” I remind him. He smirks, making my heart flutter. It’s working. I’m calming him. We both know if Sully wanted to be in charge, he would be in a second. He’s letting me take the lead, and honestly, I love that about him. “And I think it’s time I got to have a taste for myself.”

  “Petal.” He growls when he realizes what I mean. He reaches up and grips the headboard.

  “Just a small one.” I lick my bottom lip. “Please?”

  “Thought you were the one in charge,” he reminds me through gritted teeth.

  I’m already running my fingers up his thick, powerful thighs. When I reach his cock, I wrap my hand around it. Sully’s hips jerk off the bed, but he pins them back down. His reaction only spurs me on. I want to give him the same pleasure he did me.

  “It’s hard and soft. Just like you.”

  “I’ve been called a dick a few times in my life.”

  A small laugh spills past my lips. Another thing I love about Sully. No matter what it is we’re doing, he can always get me to smile. It’s been that way since the first moment I met him.

  “Well, this dick”—I let the word roll off my tongue, never having spoken it before. I may have written it, but that’s totally different than saying it out loud—“is mine,” I declare.

  I’m pretty sure Sully agrees with me, but his words are mixed in with a groan as I take my first lick of him. His salty sweetness hits my tongue. I can’t help the moan that leaves me.

  My eagerness gets the best of me, and I take as much of him as I can into my mouth. His hips piston up again. The head of his cock hits the back of my throat. I almost gag but swallow the itch instead. Then I suck as hard as I can. I have no clue what I’m doing, having only read it in stories, but I must be doing something right because more of that saltiness fills my mouth. I suck it down too. Every last drop of it. The throb between my legs is growing by the second. The more pleasure I give him, the more turned on I get.

  “Petal!”

  I lift my head, and his cock slips free of my mouth, but I still have my hand around the base.

  “Isn’t it supposed to go down after you, you know?”

  “Come down your fucking throat?”

  “Sully,” I fake-scold him.

  “It’s not going down till it gets what it wants.”

  “Me.” I straddle him.

  “You’re not ready.” The head of his cock grazes between the lips of my sex, rubbing against my clit. “Fuck, you’re soaked from sucking my cock.” I am. I’ve been that way since earlier when I’d put pants on after he’d devoured me on the kitchen island. I hadn’t even bothered to clean it away. Why would I do something crazy like that?

  “I can’t help myself.” I guide the head of his cock to my entrance and press down just a little. “I have the most sinful thoughts when it comes to you, Sully. Things I want you to do to me.”

  “Tell me.” His words come out choked. The headboard groans against his hold.

  “It’s strange. I ran away because I hated the control that was held over me, but with you...” I let out a small moan thinking about the fantasies I have of my Sully. “I want you to own me. To tie me down and do whatever wicked things you want,” I admit as I do the one thing that is stopping all those fantasies from one day becoming a possibility. I know Sully doesn’t want to hurt me, so I take matters into my own hands.

  His cock pushes through the thin barrier. There is a small streak of pain, but there’s something else there too. Freedom. I choose this, and I feel that above everything else. This pain is nothing compared to others I’ve felt. This one isn’t going to leave a scar. In fact, it’s going to heal some of them.

  19

  SULLY

  She squeezes me so perfectly I worry I might come again before she even slides all the way down.

  “Fuck, Petal.” I grab her hips. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m good.” She gives me a sexy smile, her entire face lighting up with pleasure. “I’m great.” She puts her palms on my chest and slides the rest of the way down my cock.

  I groan and force myself to lie still when what I want to do is thrust up inside her again and again. She’s so beautiful, so goddamn perfect that it’s hard for me to breathe.

  “You okay?” She leans over and drops a kiss on my chest.

  She’s worried about me? I’ve known all along that I don’t deserve her, and she proves it to me every day. But that doesn’t matter anymore, because she’s mine. I’m keeping her forever, and I hope she understands what that means now that there’s absolutely zero chance of me letting her go.

  “Sully?” she whispers against my skin.

  “I’m great, too, Petal.”

  She sits up, her body shifting on mine in the most delicious way. I run my hands along her waist and up to her tits, cupping them and circling my thumbs over her hard nipples. When she lets out a sexy moan and moves her hips, I pinch her nipples between my thumbs and forefingers.

  “Sully,” she breathes, her hips moving more.

  I meet her rhythm, thrusting in time as she rolls against me. Each stroke is ecstasy, her wet cunt holding me tightly as she rocks.

  “Like this?” she asks.

  “Do what makes you feel good. I want to see you come.” I knead her breasts as she grips my wrists, her hips moving back and then sliding forward, riding my cock. “Take what you need, Orchid. It’s yours.”

  She lets her head fall back, her hands still on my wrists and using me to hold her on top of my cock. Each surge of her hips is torture, but I want it. I want her to keep riding me until we both fall apart.

  I slide one hand down, worshiping her soft skin all the way to her clit. When I swirl my thumb against it, she jolts, her pussy clamping down even harder on me.

  “Sully!” She meets me gaze, her eyes glassy as her thighs begin to shake.

  “Come for me, Petal. I need to hear it, to feel it, to see you–all of you.” I stroke her faster, matching the pace of her hips.

  She sucks in a breath and holds it, then lets out a cry, her body shuddering as she comes. I grit my teeth, refusing to spill inside her yet, but it’s so fucking hard when she’s looking like a sex goddess come to life.

  Her moans are erotic–everything about her is. I’ve never seen anything hotter in all my life. She makes small movements, her body wringing out the last of her orgasm before she finally gulps in a breath and falls forward.

  I catch her and lower her to my chest, then roll over, my cock still deep inside her. Claiming her mouth, I rub my tongue against hers, kissing her deeply as I pull back a little, then slide home.

  “Fuck.” I press my forehead to hers. “I won’t last. Not with you spread wide like this.”

  She winds her arms around my neck. “Then come, Sully. Fill me up. I want all of it.”

  I kiss her again, harder this time. Her words seem to have awoken a beast in me, one that wants to claim this woman in every way that counts. Fuck, I want my cum in her cunt, her ass, her mouth; I want to rub it into her skin. I’m sick, but I can’t deny that need. It’s primal, instinctual.

  “You’re mine.” I thrust harder.

  She arches, her body opening to me even more.

  “Mine, Petal. Say it.” I hit her deep, my hips pistoning into her.

  “I’m yours, Sully.”

  “All mine. No one will ever have this sweet cunt. Only me.”

  She moans, the sound filling my ears. “Only you.”

  “That’s right.” I kiss her throat, biting the skin at her neck and licking up to her ear. When I suck the spot right beneath it, she bucks, her hips working with me.

  When she starts to grind on me, I know she’s close.

  “Come for me, Petal. I need you to milk my cock. I’m going to feed your pussy every drop of my come.”

  “Yes!” She digs her nails into my shoulders, her body surging against mine.

  I’m wild now, my mind gone as I fuck my perfect Petal. Our bodies slap against each other, the sound echoing off the walls, and then I pin her deep and grind against her.

  That’s when she lets go, her breath catching as she shakes. I take her mouth, swallowing her cries as my cock kicks and spills inside her. Every pleasurable sensation in my life is nothing compared to this. I come so hard I see stars, my body pumping into hers until I’m spent, my heart racing and my mind spinning.

  She leans up and kisses my mouth softly. “That was amazing.”

  I roll over to her side and pull her to me. There are no words. I can’t even begin to tell her what this means to me, what she means to me.

  We lie there for a long time, just being with each other. We don’t have to speak. We said it all. I held nothing back. She’s it for me.

  A scratching noise comes from the bathroom.

  I turn toward it.

  “Oh!” She sits up. “I think Orion must have gotten stuck in there when I shut the door. Silly thing likes to hide in the tub.”

  “I’ll let him out.” I move to roll out of bed.

  “You’ll do no such thing.” She kisses me hard on the mouth, then nips my bottom lip. “I’m not done with you yet. I’m in charge, remember?”

  I smile up at her, my heart full. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She stands and walks toward the bathroom door.

  The rays of light from the high windows hit her back.

  Something in me grinds to a halt.

  “Petal.” I sit up and rub my fucking eyes.

  “What?” She opens the bathroom door, and Orion slinks out.

  I get out of bed and go to her, then put my hands on her shoulders so she can’t turn around.

  “Oh.” She hangs her head. “You saw.”

  My blood begins to heat, then boil, then turn into lava in my veins as I take in the scars that line her back in a criss-cross pattern. I only have one question, one fucking inquiry that will lead to someone’s death. “Who did this to you?”

  20

  ORCHID

  Sully’s rough fingers trail across my back, tracing the lines. Sometimes I forget about them altogether. My father made sure to put them somewhere that no one would see. No one besides whoever my husband would be, at least. He wouldn’t want damaged goods. My face and pretty hair were always the thing he went on and on about. So my father couldn’t go putting scars there. That would ruin the façade.

  He didn’t want others to know the real rage that simmered below the surface of who he really is. Everyone always thought my father was a prophet. A man that followed the law of God. I’d always wondered if he was actually the devil who fooled them all. Since I left the land, I have no doubt he is the latter.

  Slowly I turn to face Sully. His face is a mixture of anger and something else I can’t place, but if I had to guess, it would be helplessness. There is no going back in time. The scars will always be there, the same as his.

  “You’re asking me about mine, but you still haven’t told me about yours,” I point out. He opens his mouth to speak, but I lift my finger, pressing it to his lips to silence him. “I’ll tell you, Sully. I’d tell you anything you ask. I want you to know all of me. The good, the bad, every single thing.”

  Sully’s hand wraps around my wrist. He kisses the tip of my finger before he lowers it. “I think our scars are a lot different, Petal. I knew what I was getting into when I got mine.”

  “Did you?” If there’s one thing I’ve noticed about people, it’s that they seem to think whatever situation they’re in is normal, whether it is or not. It’s all they know, so they believe it to be true. Sully’s brows pull together, and I know he’s contemplating his answer.

  I go first. “It was my father. He gave them to me.”

  I see something flash in Sully’s eyes that looks like anger, but he takes a deep calming breath.

  I stand in front of him completely bare. All the skeletons I had in my closet are finally out. “Why?” The one word comes out of him sounding like it's been dragged against gravel.

  “The short answer. I questioned his teachings. I read the books they made us read, and while I might not agree with what was in them at times, I also didn’t interpret them the same way. If my father and his followers honestly believed what was written in them and that was the way we were supposed to live, they couldn’t be true. Because we were doing no such thing. They only made us follow the rules while they did whatever they pleased.”

 

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