Red (A Brett MacLean Duet)
“And I tell you the same fucking thing when it comes to Claire.”
“What the hell are we doing then?” Evvie blurted, pushing herself off the bed.
Scrubbing a hand down my face, I chuckled. “The first time I fall in love and it’s fucking toxic.” Just great. It was all I needed in this fucked up world I called life.
Evvie didn’t say anything. Instead, she stripped and crawled into bed.
I did the same but this time I didn’t touch her. I turned away, not sure how the hell we were going to get through this.
***
“Why the hell would you send my girlfriend that shit?” I asked Claire, pacing back and forth in my office.
She laughed from the other end of the phone. “I wanted to get to you. I guess it worked. I’m a little surprised she believed that you cheated on her. Looks like she doesn’t trust you after all, Brett.”
“You need to leave us alone.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to ward off the impending headache threatening to bring me to my knees.
After Evvie and I went to bed, I couldn’t sleep. So I ended up taking it upon myself to throw the pictures in the trash only to find out that they were incorrectly timestamped. Claire made it look like they were recent. No wonder Evvie lost her shit.
“But why? You know you loved me. Some part of you sure did,” the sexual innuendo slipping from Claire’s tongue.
“Claire, I’m done. I can’t do this anymore with you. If you don’t leave us alone, I’ll have to alert the authorities.” I slumped into the leather chair behind my desk, staring at the screensaver on my computer with a picture of Evvie and me.
“You wouldn’t.”
“I wouldn’t?” I sat forward. “The only reason you want me is because I’m with Evvie. I slept with other women. You didn’t do shit then. Now that she’s in my life, you’ve come crawling back. Why?”
“Because you’re mine, Brett. You can try and get your manager to come at me again but it won’t do shit. Whether you care to admit it or not, there’s a part of you that loves me. That will always love me. I gave you what you wanted. I pleased that sick twisted side of you because it’s what you want. What you crave.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I gritted out.
“No? Are you sure? Because I can send you the pictures I have of the bruises. The blood? Do you remember fucking me so hard that I bled, Brett? I sure do. It felt so damn good too.”
“You’re a sick bitch, you know that?”
She laughed again. “I would be careful if I were you. You don’t want to ruin that pretty little fantasy you have of actually having a perfect life. Well guess what, baby, people like you and I don’t get perfect lives.”
“People like you and me.” I scoffed. “You don’t know shit about me.” Only Evvie did.
“I may not know the details but I know enough. I could feel it.” She moaned. “Every time you were inside of me—”
“Stop,” I snapped. “I’m done. Forget my number.” I hung up, throwing my phone across the room, and watched it hit the wall. It shattered into pieces, much like my very relationship.
I called Ian from my desk phone.
“When I gave you Claire’s name, what did you do?” I asked him, instead of waiting for a greeting.
“I had my contact follow her since you mentioned her name to me. Nothing was out of the ordinary. She’s a damn good actress because she acted fucking normal.”
“She’s anything but.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Listen, if this shit with her doesn’t stop, I’m going to the cops. But I want Evvie out of this.” She hadn’t even met Ian and I wanted to keep it that way. At least until things with Claire were sorted.
“She’ll remain out of this for as long as you need,” Ian told me.
“Sir, your pet is getting a little antsy,” came a voice from the other end of the phone. “She’s been tied up for a while.”
“Shit.” Ian covered the mouthpiece, muttering something to whomever had interrupted our conversation. “Brett?” he said a moment later. “I have to go.”
“I guess I’m not the only one who doesn’t sleep at this hour,” I teased.
Ian chuckled. “Definitely not. My wife is going to kill me if I don’t untie her.”
“Untie her?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Not everything is always as it seems, Brett. Chat tomorrow.” And with that he hung up.
Interesting.
A door closing sounded from the hallway. I stood from the chair and headed to see what my beautiful girlfriend was doing. Just as I made my way to the end of the hallway, I found Evvie at the door. She was leaving.
“Where the hell are you going, Evvie?” I demanded, my voice coming out a little rougher than I would have liked.
Her back stiffened. She slowly turned to me and leaned against the door.
“Answer me.”
“I’m going home,” she mumbled.
“At three o’clock in the morning?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
She let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through her hair.
“What are you running from this time, lover?” I asked, taking a step toward her.
She frowned. “I’m not running.”
“Do not fucking lie to me,” I snapped. I wasn’t in the mood. “I know you well enough to know that whenever you get upset, you run. You always fucking run, Evvie.”
The air around us crackled, like a magnetic force was pulling us together. It was so damn strong, it took everything in me not to fall to her feet and beg her to have her way with me. I shook my head slightly, ridding myself of these thoughts.
“Talk to me,” I said gently.
Evvie dropped her bag on the ground and walked into the living room. She began to pace back and forth. “I feel like there’s something off between us,” she admitted without meeting my gaze.
“Go on.”
“After our fight last night, things felt different. It wasn’t…raw, passionate.” She stopped, looking at me that time. “Desperate,” she whispered.
After we fell asleep, we had woken up, took our anger out on each other and passed out soon after. But she was right.
“I could feel you slipping away from me.” I closed the distance between us and cupped her cheek. Running my thumb over her bottom lip, I tilted her head back. “I know a part of you doesn’t trust me.” I placed a soft kiss on her lips.
Her eyes brimmed over with unshed tears.
“I want to work through this but we can’t if you keep running.”
“I’m not—”
My hand wrapped around her throat, silencing her lie, and tilting her head back.
She gasped, her pupils dilating at the rough hold.
“I know we have our issues. I know we both have shit to work through when it comes to trust but I’m really fucking done with you lying to me,” I said, my voice firm. My jaw clenched as I forced her to take a step back. “Now, you want raw? Passion? You want me to show you how fucking desperate I am for you and only you?”
“Brett,” she said, grabbing hold of my hand that still had a firm grip on her throat.
“Tell me,” I growled, pushing her up against the patio door. I was sick of her doubting me. I didn’t want Claire. I didn’t want anyone but Evvie. Why the fuck couldn’t she see that? Brushing my nose up the side of her neck, I inhaled. “Tell. Me.”
“I need you.”
“Where?” I asked, nipping her earlobe.
“Inside me,” she croaked out.
“Why?” I ground my hips against hers, my cock growing and pushing against the fly of my pants.
“Because you make me feel good,” she breathed.
Damn right I did. “What do you want me to do, lover?” I asked, my voice coming out husky.
“I…”
“Tell me.”
“Fuck me,” she whimpered, her eyes fluttering closed.
“How?”
“I need you har
d,” she blurted, her cheeks reddening. “I need you to control me.”
“You like it when I control your body?” I purred, brushing my mouth along the soft spot just beneath her ear. I pressed her harder against the patio door. “You enjoy the way I control how your pussy drips, how it aches and throbs, begging for my cock.” I trailed my mouth along the length of her jaw, giving it a gentle nip.
Evvie arched against me, her mouth parting on a silent moan.
“Mmmm…I can still smell me on you,” I whispered against her neck, taking a deep inhale. “What else do you want from me?” My hands moved down the sides of her body before gripping her ass.
She grabbed on to the waistband of my pants, pulling me tighter against her. “I need the real you. The possessive lover that I had the first night.”
I bit back a chuckle. “Oh, Evvie.” A wicked grin spread on my face.
She licked her lips. “What?”
“I’m way more possessive now since falling in love with you.”
“Then show me. Give me you. The real you,” she demanded.
My brows furrowed. “I have been.”
She shook her head. “You didn’t last night.”
“Neither did you.”
“That’s because I thought you cheated on me,” she confessed.
Letting go of her, I took a step back, the rage boiling inside of me. “How many times do I have to say that the pictures were taken before you?”
“Brett, I’m sorry. I just—”
“No.” I spun on her. “You don’t fucking trust me. Just admit it, Evvie.”
“I-I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to. I can see it in your eyes.” I shook my head. “God, I’m such a fucking moron.” How I could ever think that I deserved someone like her, was beyond me. But I could see the doubt, the worry, and the lack of trust hidden in her eyes because of my damn reputation.
“You don’t trust me either,” she whispered.
My head whipped around. “I told you. I don’t trust other men. I know how they think. They don’t give a shit if the woman is single or not but you, you don’t trust me. Me, Evvie. Do you know how much that fucking kills me?”
“I don’t trust Claire.”
“Do not bring her into this,” I yelled.
“It’s true.” Evvie’s back stiffened. “I don’t trust her but I do trust you. I know you love me. I know you would never cheat on me. I don’t trust Claire.”
“Then I’m going to ask the same question you did last night. What the fuck are we doing then?” I snapped, my nostrils flaring.
We stood there, staring at each other. As time passed, the anger and tension surrounding us grew thick, strong as unsaid words of pleading flew around us.
Evvie looked away and walked by me when I grabbed her arm. Spinning her toward me, I crushed my mouth to hers in a hard, bruising kiss.
All too soon, I ended it and let her go.
“Lover?” I asked, my voice coming out deep. Leaning my head from side to side, I let the slice of pain from the crack of the tendons slide down my back.
“Yes?”
“If you’re going to leave, do it now.”
Evvie backed up until she hit the wall.
Unbuckling my belt, I pulled it out of the loops with a snap.
“Once I catch you, I’m going to split that pussy wide with my thick cock.” I took a step toward her. “I’m going to fuck you rough, giving you me, just like you asked. Evvie?”
She licked her lips. “Yeah?”
I smirked, unbuttoning my shirt. “Run. Now .”
She ran. She actually fucking ran. Like a good little girl, Evvie listened to me, and that made my dick as hard as a rock.
With no time wasted, I followed her and caught up to her in only a couple strides. Crashing into her, I pushed her up against the wall and tugged her head back.
She gasped, licking her pouty lips.
Wrapping my hand around her throat, I breathed hard against her neck and pressed my lower body into her.
Evvie reached behind, cupping me over my pants. She squeezed hard, sending a hot shiver racing down my back.
Running my hand up her hip, I ground my pelvis into her, forcing her head back even more.
She panted, taking everything I had to give her, and waited. A flush spread over her skin, diving deep into the vee of her shirt.
She wanted me. The real me. Everything that I had to give her. All of that darkness that I had bottled up inside of me, Evvie craved it. Begged for it.
Lowering my zipper, I pushed the crotch of her shorts to the side and thrust into her so hard, her body lifted into the air. I lifted her higher, pushing into her as deep as her body would allow me.
“You wanted raw. Real. Me ,” I growled, lowering her feet to the floor.
She nodded, slapping her hands against the wall. “Please.”
I slowly pulled out of her, gripped her hips and spread her wide at the same time as I thrust back into her tight body. “Do you feel me fucking your hot pussy?”
“I feel you everywhere.” She whimpered, her body shaking against me.
Releasing her, I took a step back. “Take off your shorts and bend over.
She glanced at me over her shoulder.
“I want to see how wet your cunt is.”
Evvie took a breath and did as she was told, tossing the shorts to the side.
Closing the distance between us, I ran a finger over her soaked pussy up to the tight little spot between the cheeks of her ass.
She moaned, arching into my touch.
Licking my thumb, I pushed it past the barrier at the same time as I slammed my cock back inside her.
Evvie cried out, slapping her hands against the wall and met me thrust for thrust.
“Come on my dick, lover,” I demanded. “Give me your orgasm.”
Her pussy clenched around me, sucking me hard until a scream fell from her lips.
“That’s it. Let me hear how good I make you feel.” I powered into her, the control slipping from my very fingertips. I didn’t want to hurt her but that dark sadistic part of me sure as hell wanted to leave my marks on her pale skin.
My fingers dug into the flesh of her ass. “Come again. I want you with me.”
“Faster.”
“Fuck. Me,” I growled, an explosion erupting through me.
Evvie gasped, collapsing against me.
Catching her, I lowered us to the floor, my release still pouring into her. I took a couple of deep breaths, easing the racing of my heart.
She sighed, folding into my touch.
I kissed her head and stood, pulling her with me. Hooking an arm around her middle, I threw her over my shoulder.
Evvie squealed.
My hand caressed her ass before giving it a hard swat.
She moaned at the touch.
Carrying her to my room, I threw her on the bed and pulled her under me. “I love you. I will fight for you. When I stop fighting, that’s when you should be worried, Evvie.”
She cupped my face, lifted her head, and placed a soft peck on my mouth. That was the only response I needed.
A COUPLE OF days later, I was sitting in my office when the hairs on the back of my neck tingled. The door closed softly. The scent of roses wafted into my nose. I knew who it was without having to look up.
“What do you want, Claire?” I demanded, not giving her any greeting or niceties.
“We need to talk.”
But I did look up at those words. “About what? I already told you that I was done with this shit.”
“Maybe you are.” She made her way to the couch and sat, patting the spot beside her. “But I’m not. There’s something important we need to discuss.”
“Nothing you can tell me will change my mind.” I sat back in the chair, tenting my fingers under my chin. “But I’ll listen just because I’m a nice guy and all.”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Right. And I bet you don’t have th
at bitch begging at your feet every chance you get.”
“Leave Evvie the fuck out of this,” I snapped, my voice raising faster than I would have liked it to.
Claire only grinned.
Fuck, I couldn’t let her get to me. “What do you want?”
“Come sit.” She patted the spot beside her again. “I promise to keep my hands to myself.”
Wanting to get this shit done and over with, I reluctantly complied and sat on the other couch across from her. It was all she was going to get from me.
She laughed, shaking her head.
“What the hell do you want?” I demanded, refusing to give her any more than what was necessary.
“Remember a couple of nights before you met that little whore, and we had the best night of our lives?”
“Call her a whore again and I’ll kick you out. I don’t give a shit if you’re a woman. I’ll throw you out on your ass.”
“Fine, fine.” She sat forward. “But you know it’s true.”
“Claire,” I bit out through clenched teeth.
“Alright.” She sat back. “Do you remember how we used protection even though I begged you not to?”
I did but it still didn’t help. Even though there was that barrier between us, it took days for me to wash the feel of her off my skin. “I do.”
“Well…” She licked her lips, glancing at my crotch before meeting my gaze. “It didn’t work.”
My heart jumped. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been praying for months that this would happen,” she said, ignoring my question. “God finally gave me everything I asked for. We’re going to be a family, Brett. You, me and the baby. I can’t wait. I’m so excited.”
My stomach fell to my feet at what I was hearing. Claire was acting like everything was normal. Like I didn’t just threaten her with a restraining order only a couple of days ago.
“Claire,” I said gently.
She moved to the spot beside me and grabbed my hands. “Aren’t you excited? Now you can come home with me.” Her eyes shone with hope.
My chest tightened. “Claire,” I repeated. “What are you talking about?”