I was about to ask, but then he noticed my neck. “What in the hell happened to you?”
I huffed. “As if you didn’t know, Brad. Come on. You sneak into my room, and…”
Brad shot up, waving his hands in front of him. “Hold on, Tyler. What are you talking about? I passed out on one of the sofas. I was there all night.”
Chapter 10
Dean
I was secretly watching this whole spectacle with a smile on my face. The look of shock on everyone’s faces was a picture. In fact, I should take a photo so I could look back at it and laugh.
Grabbing my phone from my pocket, that was exactly what I did. I could only imagine what must be going through her head. It would eat away at her all day, trying to figure it out.
Thinking about it had my cock springing to life. I knew that sinking my dick into her again would feel good, but I never thought it would feel that good. I was in control until she came, then I fucking lost it. I couldn’t let her do that to me again. I couldn’t let her gain control. I had to fight her fucking powers before she consumed me. I only had her once, but couldn’t wait to have her again. I’ll play with her for a while, then do something that will frighten and shock the life out of her.
Picturing her panicking made the laughter erupt inside of me. The first game was set. After last night, I knew she would be craving more. I would certainly give that to her. I would be as obliging a lover as I can be without giving her what she truly desired in the end.
She would want me to kiss her. She would want me to hold her all night so she felt a connection with me. I would make it so that she would seek me out in the dark. I would be the one that satisfies her ultimate fantasy. A stranger who sneaks into her room. Someone who gives her the ultimate pleasure, but also seeks to give her the ultimate pain. Pain she’s never had to endure. Pain that would eat away at her until there was nothing left.
She was my nemesis, I was her lotus. And payback was a bitch.
Chapter 11
Tyler
I wanted to think maybe Brad was either lying or couldn’t remember what he did last night, but seeing the way he looked told me otherwise. My first reaction was that I couldn’t move. My second reaction was to grab a coffee and think. Maybe once I had a drink, I would be able to think clearly and come up with a solution as to what in the hell happened to me last night.
I walked over to the coffee pot, a shocked Louisa and a stunned Brad following me.
Pulling on my arm, Louisa leaned in to whisper, “If Brad wasn’t the one to give you the best sex you ever had, who was?”
“What are you whispering about?” Brad asked. “Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?”
I looked at both of them and shook my head. “I honestly don’t know.” I was answering both their questions because I really didn’t have a clue.
“Well, tell me this,” Brad said. “Who did that to your neck?”
I looked timidly away and poured myself a coffee. “I thought it was you.”
Turning back around, I saw Brad’s eyes open wide. “I know I can’t remember anything about last night, but I certainly wouldn’t do that to you. I would never mark you like that.” Rubbing his head in confusion, Brad sat down on the nearest chair. “I swear I wouldn’t do that to you.”
I could see his confusion, and could tell he was starting to doubt himself. He was a little out of it last night.
Somehow, though, I knew it wasn’t him last night. I didn’t know Brad that well, but I could tell he would never hurt me like that. The way he kissed me that night after the bar told me that much.
In my haze, I suddenly found myself looking around the room to see if I could spot anything out of the ordinary. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but the paranoia was setting in big time.
With a snap of his head, Brad looked up at me with concern. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
Oh, shit. He thinks he did this to me.
Feeling I needed to diffuse this situation as quickly as possible, I walked over to him and rubbed his shoulder. “Brad, you were fine last night. Honestly. I had a brilliant time.”
I looked at Louisa and she smiled. “Brad, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I can tell you that Tyler is feeling rather good this morning.”
He looked up at me, hope in his eyes. “Really? I didn’t hurt you?”
I shook my head. “No, Brad. You never hurt me.”
Everyone seemed to calm a little…everyone but me. I knew for a fact I was going to stew about this all day. I was trying to figure out who could’ve gotten into my room. He knew my name, so it must have been someone I introduced myself to.
I thought about John and Jose, but I couldn’t picture their accents from last night. Jose had a slight Mexican or Spanish sound. John had a slight Scottish accent. The man from last night had a hint of London. He wasn’t cockney, but he wasn’t posh by any means, either. His voice was rough, commanding, territorial, and damn sexy. The thought of him both excited me and frightened me to death. I wanted him again, needed him again. I hoped he would come to me again. It sounded sick, but I couldn’t get him out of my mind. The way he touched me, the way he caressed me with enough edge that he wouldn’t hurt me. I know he marked me, but it felt erotic that he was staking his claim on me. It was almost as if he was telling the world I was his and, for some unfathomable reason, I wanted it to be true.
“Are you ready to do some snooping?”
Louisa’s voice stopped my daydreaming. “Sure, why not.” Placing my toast on the plate, I got out of my seat.
Brad still looked ill, and I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. “Are you okay, Brad? Can I get you anything?”
Brad laughed. “I did that to you, and you’re asking me if I’m okay? I’m supposed to be an officer of the law who catches bad people, not become one myself.”
I pulled Brad into my arms. He stiffened, then wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace.
“Brad, please don’t worry yourself over this. You did nothing wrong. What if I told you I asked you to do this to me?”
Abruptly, he pulled away. “Did you?”
I nodded, but felt the heat flush my cheeks. “I believe I did,” I lied. I couldn’t send Brad home feeling the way he did.
With his expression changing, I knew he was feeling better. “You know, you’re rather sexy when you blush.” He pushed his groin into me to make that point.
“Really?” I asked with a timid smile.
Brad nodded and came in for a kiss.
Chapter 12
Dean
I don’t know what came over me just then, but the sight of Brad wrapping his arms around her and kissing her had rage rushing through my veins. She wasn’t his to claim. She was mine. I owned her, and she should fucking realize that by now.
The thought had my fists clenching. I could feel my fingers digging into my skin. My heart was pumping, and my head was swimming with rapid visions of me sinking my cock and my teeth into her. I almost lost it. I almost ruined everything and ran out there to claim her as mine. It was a stupid, idiotic thought, and I knew that. But this woman brought out the worst in me every time. I wanted to take her, possess her, dominate her, ruin her. I wanted to ravish her, please her, consume her until I couldn’t take much more.
With the rage still pumping, I quickly noticed something…something I didn’t notice before because I was too busy filling myself with rage.
She didn’t want him. Her body language said it all. She even stiffened slightly when he leaned in to kiss her. It was unnoticeable to anyone else, but I distinctly saw it.
When he pulled away, she smiled awkwardly at him.
It was then that my rage calmed. It was then that my hands relaxed. It was then that my heart slowed and my jaw unclenched.
Then I realized something about her. I had been studying her far too long now not to know how she felt. I knew everything about her. From the shadows, I watched as she dressed, ate, brushed her te
eth, even played with herself. I knew what made her tick. I knew exactly how she wanted and needed pleasing. And I was going to make damn sure I gave that to her.
I definitely could tell what she was thinking about. To put it in one simple word: me. I would stake my wealth, my life, you name it on that fact. She had that same glint in her eye when she thought about me as she was writing notes down about what I had done that day. It was the same glint I always used to see when we were younger. My plan had worked and I knew she would never turn me away.
She wanted me and I would not disappoint her. I would come to her a lot sooner than she thought. I needed to feel her anyway. I needed to enforce my will, degrade her, and ravish her with everything I had.
Tyler O’Shea would not know what hit her.
Chapter 13
Tyler
It was so strange. I wanted Brad before, but after last night, I couldn’t get whomever visited me out of my head. It was almost as if he knew me from the inside out already. He was a master in anything erotic. The thought of it just had the burn rising through me again.
“I’m going to head home now. I still don’t feel well.”
I smiled and nodded. “That may be a good idea.”
“Listen, you have my card, right?”
I frowned, trying to remember what I did with it. “Hold on a sec. Let me go check.”
I rushed up the stairs before Brad could reply and went through all my things. I couldn’t find his card anywhere. Biting my lip, I tried to remember where it was. I thought I placed it on the bedside table. Whatever I’d done with it, it was gone. Maybe I dropped it on the way up.
With a shake of my head, I went downstairs where Brad is waiting. He looked so ill, he probably couldn’t wait to get home. “I can’t seem to find it anywhere,” I told him.
Brad frowned, but then reached into his pocket and pulled out his card. “Here’s another one. As I said, it’s got my number and email address on it. Next time you want to see me, just give me a call. It would be nice to take you on a proper date.”
I saw a hint of shyness in Brad, and it was then that I definitely knew he wasn’t the one who came to me last night.
Taking the card from his hand, I smiled. “That would be nice.” With a swift hug and a kiss on the cheek, we said our goodbyes.
“He doesn’t seem the type,” Louisa said, making me jump.
“Sorry?”
She shrugged. “He doesn’t seem the type to do all those things in the bedroom.” She paused a minute, then smiled. “Mind you, it’s always the quiet ones that you have to watch out for, though.”
Something caught Louisa’s eye as she turned toward the stairs. “Speaking of which…”
Looking over, I saw Pete rushing down. “I’ve been looking for you,” he said, rather breathlessly. “I wondered where you could have gone in such a hurry.”
“Tyler had an emergency that we needed to take care of.”
Pete looked me over, his eyes quickly landing on my neck. He winced. “Did a vampire visit you last night or something?”
I smiled cheekily. “With the evidence on my neck, I think you already know the answer to that question.”
Thank goodness it was the end of autumn because I knew I would have to wear some high-neck tops if I were to ever get away with concealing what he had done to me. I should have been scared and hopping mad but, for some reason, all I could think about were those two orgasms he gave me. All I could think about was how much I wanted him again—whoever he was.
Pete smiled at me, but wanted his attention on someone more important. His gaze very quickly drifted to Louisa, looking her up and down a heated glint in his eyes. “I was hoping we could have gotten even better acquainted this morning,” Pete purred as he grabbed hold of Louisa’s waist.
Timidly, Louisa looked over at me, but all I did was smile and roll my eyes. “Maybe I should take a walk around and leave you two lovebirds alone for a bit.”
I could see Louisa was about to protest, but Pete was faster. He had his lips locked on her so fast, she barely had time to breathe. With a shake of my head, I proceeded to look around the place. I didn’t know whether I would be able to get into any of the rooms, or even get past Mr. Butler if he showed up this morning. Whatever happened, I was determined to have a look around before we left. I needed to find out more about this mysterious Mr. Gatsby guy. I looked up the stairs and thought if there ever was a good way to start, it was from the top.
So I headed up the stairs.
Chapter 14
Dean
It was hard not to laugh at Tyler trying to sneak her way around my house. She was determined, I’ll give her that, but she was never going to find anything. This was my house, but I didn’t live here. I just used it on occasion to host parties and fuck girls I selected. I did my homework before I slept with someone. I couldn’t just fuck anybody. I had needs like any other man, but I would never sleep with just anybody. I had selective taste when it came to women. Strangely enough, if it wasn’t for what Tyler did, I would never have entertained the idea of sleeping with her. She wasn’t very elegant. She didn’t hold herself very well. She was extremely clumsy at times, and had a potty mouth that would make any man cringe. I don’t do potty mouths.
The other thing about Tyler was she’s smaller than what I normally went for. She was a blonde, I normally went for brunettes. She was curved, I normally went for athletic women. She was everything in a woman that I didn’t desire, but I can’t fucking get the woman out of my head now that I had a taste of her. She didn’t help her cause by fucking with my head all those years ago. I made a point of never going anywhere near anyone that remotely resembled her. She truly was a witch in sexy high heels. A devil-woman who had haunted me since I was a young, naïve, stupid lovesick kid.
Yet I sat there watching her, without her knowledge, and I couldn’t help the way my dick twitched at the sight of her rounded ass as she bent over to take a look in one of my drawers. It was just there, fucking teasing me with its big, juicy cheeks ready for me to fucking take a bite out of. What I wouldn’t give to push her head into the wall and fuck her senseless. And she would love every fucking minute of it. I bet she was even waiting for me now. I bet even now, as she looked around the room to see if anyone was watching her, she was wondering if I’d appear and give her the fucking she truly desired.
I wanted to push my limits with her. I wanted to feel her pleasure. I wanted to feel her fear and her pain. I wanted to take as much as I could from her before destroying everything she held dear. She was a selfish, manipulative person who didn’t deserve happiness. She didn’t deserve to feel joy. She didn’t deserve to feel me but, just for a little while, she had me. Once I’d used her up and spat her out, I would go back to my life, but Tyler O’Shea? I would ruin her. I would take her apart piece by piece so that she’d never be able to mend herself.
I couldn’t help the smile that crept up on my face as Tyler’s shoulders dropped in defeat. She jumped a bit when she heard a noise, and I could tell her heart was racing against that perky chest of hers. In a sense, she was a marvel to watch. She had these certain idiosyncrasies which both annoyed and fascinated the hell out of me. She bit her fingernails when she was nervous—filthy, disgusting habit. She picked at her food a little too delicately. I know it was because she didn’t like to get her fingers dirty, but it drove me nuts. And the fucking killer was I couldn’t seem to help myself. I just sat there, glued to her every fucking move, like it was some kind of compulsion.
I shook my head, trying hard not to watch her. I didn’t need to watch her because I knew she would never find anything. I worked hard to cover all my tracks. What Tyler didn’t know about my family was we were wealthy. When my parents had me, they wanted as normal a life as possible. We moved and settled into a quiet life so they could give me as normal an upbringing as they could. But things changed one day and we had to move. My father was never one to dabble in the ordinary. Let’s just say that most of h
is earnings were never very legal. I kind of had my hunches, but never really knew until that day we had to move suddenly. All I was told was my father had a job up in Scotland and we had to move as quickly as possible. At first, I didn’t want to leave Tyler. It absolutely fucking killed me. But I went, as the dutiful son should, with the promise to come back to her. But it was once we had settled in a couple of months later and I wanted to come back for her that my parents told me about the letter sent to their enemy. I didn’t think Tyler knew, let alone betrayed me in that way. I simply had to go, I had to see it for myself. What she didn’t realise was I actually did go back, and it was then that I saw it. She fucked with my head so badly, I wouldn’t have cared whether I saw her again or not. But then my stupid, pathetic self pined for her. I pined so much, it caused arguments with my mum and dad. One night, it got so bad, I ran away. Then it happened. That was the night my parents were killed. It was that night that changed everything for me.
Shuddering, I looked away from Tyler in disgust. Every time I thought about it, I felt the anger rise like an unseen force. It just gripped me and took me by surprise, and there was only one thing I could do when I felt this way. It was time to hit the gym. I had to be focused tonight. I had a plan of action, and I had to make sure it went according to plan.
Time for the games to begin.
Chapter 15
Tyler
I felt deflated. There was nothing here. I could feel myself pouting as I stepped to the door. I wasn’t sure what room I was in, but it looked like an office. Everything in this house screamed old-fashioned, especially with its mahogany walls and high, decorative ceilings. All you could see for miles were very old, very expensive furnishings. The desk alone looked like it cost as much as I made in a year, maybe two.