Hate Me Like You Do, page 22
Eventually, his gaze drops after he gives us each a hard stare. His hands rotate in front of him until he gingerly tucks them behind his back. Regret is a hard feeling.
“So what the fuck are we supposed to do?” Reed crosses his arms over his chest and leans into the wall.
Dee hovers near me. I let her sweet scent distract me.
“Clearly, we should do something.”
Clearly.
My fingers reach up tracing the skin just where her shirt sleeve ends. Dee says nothing but leans closer. So I don’t stop.
Reed meets my eyes his own attention falling from me to my hand. His shoulders slump a little making me feel as though I should drop my hand. I draw a new line down the length of her arm. Over and over and over again.
“He’s using her.” Knox presses his fingers into his temples. “We are so stupid.”
“Okay, yes. But for what?” My question earns me a subdued but disheartened look from my tattooed friend.
“She’s just leverage with all this shit with her mom. I don’t know what her mom did but it’s enough for him to drop all his other work just to follow through with this one thing.”
We all nod along. Anticipation growing between us.
“Think. It’s something that’s enough for him to spend his valuable time tracking down his daughter,” he gestures toward Dee who leans even closer to me, “who he hasn’t contacted in eighteen years.”
We wait hoping Knox’s train of thought gets us exactly where we need to be. I just wish I could think about something other than how soft Dee’s skin feels under my touch. It so easily occupies me.
“I just don’t know what it is,” he finally mutters.
Well, shit. Guess we are back to square one. Or two?
Dee tenses walking back to the dresser and pulling herself back on top of it to sit. This time her legs don’t swing at all.
“He killed my stepdad,” she says from out of nowhere, the strain of her voice cutting through the high-strung atmosphere.
Woah. Didn’t see that one coming. I mean it isn’t out of character but still. Surprise, surprise another man dead at the hands of a Reyes. I frown. Knox catches my scowl and I try to wipe the emotion of my face, try to play passive like he does. Though likely I’m not doing it well.
“Fuck.” Reed runs his hands through his hair sending it sprouting in different directions.
“When I was nine years old, my mom took a trip to Vegas. While she was there she had her very own dream fairytale wedding. With a judge.” She closes her eyes. Some scene, likely a horrifying one judging by how taunt every muscle in her body is, playing out behind her closed lids.
“They tried to make it work but she is a junkie and he was a man with an image to be upheld. And an abuse problem. It started with her. Let me tell you something, you can’t beat the addiction out of someone. Addiction is the escape.”
Knox turns to face her, resting his hand on the dresser his pinky touching her leg. The steady sound of our breathing is all you can hear between her sentences.
“Eventually it all lead to me.” Her chin drops.
A riot burns inside me at the thought of someone laying their hands on her. The healing scratch along her cheek a reminder that someone already had.
“And that’s when she called someone in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve. I never knew who she called or why. But the very next day my dear old stepdad was shot leaving his office.”
Dee lifts her face, her eyes empty of emotion. For the tiniest moment she is the girl that appeared in the dining room. A hollow shell of a human being.
There it is.
Shit.
Her mom knows too much.
And that is a problem.
Thirty-Three
Dee
I can’t stand the silence anymore. Their pathetic looks of pity. Pity for poor Violet Demure. She’s had a rough life. Let’s all join together and feel sorry for her. Oh, boo-hoo.
Ugh, it makes me sick. I don’t need their pity.
Heavy steps follow behind me. I glance over my shoulder with a sigh. “Landon, I don’t need a babysitter.”
He pauses but not for long before he power walks behind me. Reed and Knox stare out of Landon’s bedroom door down the hall at us but eventually they head off in the opposite direction, whispering under their breath.
“I don’t want to babysit you.”
Reaching my doorway, I stop underneath it to watch him as he nears. “Then why are you following me?”
He blinks hard as if he is thinking up some brilliant excuse. “Have you gotten your homework done for first period?”
“At this point, I think that’s a lost cause.”
I know it’s a lost cause.
“Is that all?” My fingers grab a hold of the brass doorknob, pulling it closer to me.
“No.” He pushes his glasses closer to his face. “Yes.”
“Which is it?”
“That’s all.
“You’re lying.”
“You wouldn’t be able to tell if I’m lying.” He takes a step away.
“No,” I step closer to him. “Whatever it is you have to say, say it now.”
“Eh, it doesn’t seem like you really want to hear it.”
“I didn’t, but you’ve piqued my interest.” I lift my chin defiantly.
He pivots on his toes walking at a brisk pace back to his room. In those jeans his ass is the perfect shape. Ugh, I want to follow him. So I do. Apparently, I’ve lost all self control.
Leaving the door to my room ajar, I trot after him. “Come on, you clearly want to tell me.”
“The problem,” he wags his finger over his shoulder at me, “is that you don’t want to listen. So I’ll try again another day.”
“What better day than today?” I dart between him and the door frame standing directly in his path. I flash him a toothy grin.
His face turns red, his hands rolling into fists.
“How can you be so easy going about all of this, Dee?”
“Don’t sound so desperate.”
Landon brings his face so close to mine his hair tickles at my forehead. “Don’t sound so impassive. Don’t go back to that nothing of a girl that showed up after three whole days of being only god knows where.”
“I was in the basement,” I whisper.
“Oh god. You were so close.” His fingers drift up to his cheek. A low growl vibrates from his chest. Roughly he shoulders passed me. “You were so fucking close. And I… I was so fucking clueless.”
The tips of his ears are bright red now. He rips his glasses off his face setting them against his desk. I can feel the heat radiating off of him even from this distance.
Glass shatters. My brain not keeping up with the ferocious movement of his arm tossing his bedside lamp across the room.
“Fuck,” he yells again.
He is always the logical one, why is he being like this?
“Why are you raging out over this?” The words escape me sounding bitter and cold.
“I’m raging because I’m mad, Dee. I’m pissed off.” His dark green eyes looking down at the mess he made. “I’m pissed off and I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” I sputter.
With a large step he stands inches away from me. “I’m sorry for all the shit happening right now. I’m sorry for all the shit we did to you. I’m sorry I didn’t look for you. Oh, Jesus. I miss us.”
I try to process his words. But he keeps speaking, keeps hitting me with confession after confession. Fuck, it’s like we are in a Catholic church or something and suddenly I’m the priest.
“I miss studying with you. I miss breaking the rules with you, for you. I miss those lazy days in the summer where the four of us goofed off. Now, everything is a mess.”
My lips finally form words though they still sound weak and brittle. “I’ll be fine. Stop pressing into my business. I don’t even know why you care.”
“I care because I fucking love you. And I just know, you’re going to die.” Landon’s breathing trembles like he’s been holding those words in, replaying them in his mind this entire time.
I turn away. I don’t mean to feel so terrified by the statement but the crazy way he said I love you with the utter realization that I could easily die in the midst of this situation hits me like an oversized truckload.
“I’m sorry. Fuck, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Well, which part?” I face him but close my eyes. What if he takes the words back? “The I love you part or the other one?”
I imagine shades of embarrassment and concentration shift over his features when he remains silent. I crack an eye open.
Landon rolls his eyes, gripping my shoulders, and looking me square in the face. My heart gallops in my chest. A nervous giddy feeling.
“I love you so much it fucking hurts, Dee. It hurts to see you like this. It hurts knowing there is nothing I can do.” He rests his forehead against mine, closing his eyes. “Everything just fucking hurts.”
Well, shit. Call me a doctor because I’m going to prescribe him something for that pain.
My vagina.
The creases around his eyes deepen as he closes them tighter like he could push out the pain if only he tried really, really hard. I wish this situation wasn’t as fucked up as it is. I wish I could say I love him back. I mean, I do love him. But after everything, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say it to him.
But I can show him.
My stomach does flips, dropping in the most exhilarating way. It makes me wet almost instantly. His lips are just begging to be kissed. It would be a crime, quite honestly, if I didn’t oblige. My body may revolt if I don’t, seeing as every fiber of my being is just as desirous for his touch.
Before I can talk myself into running away I press my lips to his. Answering his I love you with this feeling all my own. One kiss turns into another, then another, each one more passionate than the last.
Both of his arms wrap around my body and he tugs me up to him, holding me tightly. The world quickly feels right again. Like being here in his arms, in this very moment, is exactly the path I am supposed to be on right now. Landon is meant to be mine and I’m meant to be his.
Stumbling together we fall back into his room. I kick the door closed behind us and let him lead me in a shuffling dance to the bed. In a tangle of limbs and voracious kisses we fall down upon the soft blankets.
Eagerly, I run my hand over his jeans. Landon pulls away at the touch, looking me over. His eyes drift from my face down to my breasts spilling out of my low cut top. The heavy gaze continues down the curve of my hips till he finally brings it back up to my face.
“Do you really want to do this?” Velvet soft fingertips trace my cheekbone before he brushes stray strands from my face and whispers, “God, you’re so beautiful.”
Untangling my arm from him, I pull at the buttons on my shirt, undoing them slowly. His eyes waver, torn between keeping his eyes on my face and wanting to catch a glimpse of the milky white skin under my shirt.
“Landon Scott. You’re an asshole.” I grin.
“Excuse me?” He laughs. “Not the way I saw this going.”
“Let me finish.” I stop unbuttoning my shirt.
His green eyes look fiery as he looks at my unmoving hands. “By all means, continue.”
“You’re an asshole. You’re rich as fuck and you’re too smart for your own good. But you’re also so good underneath all of that. So yeah, I want to do this with you.”
The last button of my shirt comes open and I pull the material back. His chest rises and falls faster, his fingers twitching at his side.
“Violet Demure, you’re the good one,” Landon practically pants.
Then as though he can not stand the distance between us any longer he launches himself toward me, planting a heavy kiss on me. Everything inside me ignites.
The bare skin of my chest presses against him but it isn’t enough. I grab a hold of his shirt pulling it up and over his head, only breaking our kisses for the material to pass over his face before we collide back together.
His skin is hot against me. But it’s still not enough.
Landon rolls over me, hovering without putting all his weight on me. Every touch is light, cautious, his fingers fluttering over my skin, skimming over my chest, along my stomach, then back up to my face. He’s letting me lead.
So I do.
My fingers fumble with the button on his jeans, yanking down his zipper, and then I slide my hand inside his pants. Greedily, I bring my hands up over his ass and squeeze. Images made solely of my imagination of him thrusting and the perfect contraction of his glutes comes to mind. God I don’t want that to be my imagination any longer.
All hesitance within him goes out the window.
He kicks his pants off to the floor, quickly making work of the button on my jeans, pulling them down away from my body along with my panties. Landon stares down at my nakedness. I haven't the decency to blush. Not with this need and want pulsing through me so strongly.
“You’re fucking gorgeous.” He brushes his full lips over one of my hips, one confident hand slides up my bare thigh until he is dipping his fingers into me. Groaning against me with another kiss he speaks into my skin. “And so fucking wet.”
I run my slender fingers through his already messy black hair. A small gasp escapes me when his face drops lower and his tongue flicks out in expert movements over my clit. His fingers, still damp from his first touch, dig into my leg as he hoists my hips up so he can bury himself further into me.
Each picture he draws with his tongue sends me closer and closer to the edge. My back arches as he slips his fingers back inside of me without missing a beat with his tongue.
This. This is what he must have been doing to the girls that came and went with satisfied smirks plastered on their faces. This is what had to have made them scream with delight. Because he is so fucking good.
I want to scream as my body writhes with the undeniable waves of pleasure. But the thought of someone walking in on us leaves me moaning loudly instead. Gasping for air, Landon drifts over me, his lips damp with my want, kissing up my stomach.
He takes his time, stopping to admire my breasts with a similar attention. One of his hands fondles one breast, the other side fully occupied by the sweet suction of his mouth. His tongue laps over my skin.
Everything about this is heaven. Some dazzling realm only the perfect sexual high can take me to.
Our lips meet again and I can feel his erection pressing into me. The tip so close he could plunge inside of me at any moment. My heart pounds so hard I’m convinced he must be able to feel it against his chest.
His hands lingers back down dipping his middle finger into my wetness. Slick from the touch he draws circles up to my clit again making me squirm in excitement. He goes back and forth between the two, dipping two fingers in and pulling them out to draw more amazing circles.
“Please,” I whisper hoarsely, loud longing breaths.
Landon groans before giving me a slow sweet kiss. His hips roll into mine, and he finds my entrance, his cock sliding in fast and deep.
All my senses focus on him. The taste of his kiss on my lips. The pine scent of his soap that lingers on his skin mixing with the salty scent of sweat.
The sound, oh the sound. Each momentum driven movement as its own needy moan or breathless gasp. The volume of each growing as he continues. It turns me on more.
I can’t quit watching him. His muscles are tense, holding him above me, yet he remains relaxed. An oxymoron. Small beads of sweat cling to the hair on his forehead.
I choke on a moan as he slides into me at just the right angle. The feeling welling inside me grows with each thrust of his sharp hips. My hands cupping his ass to feel the movement as he dwells deeper inside of me.
Landon tilts his head down, his teeth raking over my earlobe and my body shivers with a thrilling orgasm. It’s too much to handle. Too perfect and raw and oh my god does it feel so good.
I can’t contain myself. Don’t care to any longer. When the pure emotion of the orgasm tries to rip out of me Landon catches it with a fierce kiss. He pulls away only when he finds his own release, fisting the sheets around my head in his hands.
My lips search for his. He kisses me softly, contentedly.
“I could do this all day.”
“Sex?” I ask.
“No, I mean yes. But no.” Laugher vibrates through him and I can feel it in my chest. “I mean hold you. Kiss you. It’s a shame that I have to get up and get you a towel.”
I try to be coy and hide my obnoxious smile but it works its way over my lips anyway. Sighing happily, I let him slide off of me. My eyes never leaving his ass as he walks toward the door and slips on pants before he opens it.
“I’ll be right back.” He winks then disappears.
I slip under the blanket warm from the press of our bodies. Closing my eyes, I replay every moment trying my best not to let reality come crashing back down so fast.
The door opens and closes quietly. When I don’t hear any footsteps approaching I open my eyes curious as to what he is doing standing so still.
Two intrigued brown eyes stare down at me. A dirty smirk tilts his lips.
“That’s funny,” Knox says. “You’re not Landon.”
Thirty-Four
Dee
“Knox, wait.” Gripping Landon’s blanket around my nearly naked body I stumble after Knox. With every step the blanket threatens to drag me down but I push forward still.
A new light shines over me once I’m in the hallway careening toward Knox as he practically runs to his bedroom. Landon pauses in the doorway of the bathroom watching the scene playing out in front of him with a new found horror. His chest is still bare as more evidence of the act we just committed. Knox huffs loudly when he passes him.
“Dee?” Landon asks.
“Later.” I toss the frantic word at him in passing.
Inside the bedroom, I jerk the blanket inside the door and quickly close it behind me. Knox paces on the other side of the room. Keeping a safe distance, he is unable to make eye contact with me.
