Page 86 of Speak No Claim

The way he looked at me, the way he spoke to me, the way he listened, every smile, every laugh, every word that fell from his lips meant something to me. It didn’t matter how big or how small. It was there, etching its way into my heart where no one could ever come close to it.

I cleared my throat, trying to steady my voice. “I won’t kill you, but I can’t say the same for the Brotherhood.”

He softly gripped my throat, his thumb and index finger clutching my pulse that only heightened with his touch. My breathing elevated, showing him just how much he was getting to me.

He continued his gentle torture for a few seconds, enjoying the feel of my skin against his calloused fingers. I could see, feel his internal struggle. He was fighting something deeper than I could ever truly understand.

“I know where you want me to touch you,” he rasped against my lips. “But what I’m going to do and what I yearn to do are two very different things.”

He backed away and left me in there.

Once again, he was back to Jekyll and Hyde.

Onyx

You couldn’t fault me for who I was.

For who I am.

I wanted to touch her so fucking bad. It physically pained me to restrain myself. My cock throbbed, and my balls ached to sink into her sweet pussy. I wasn’t trying to play mind games or go from hot to cold, but goddamn, I couldn’t help myself.

Her sassy mouth had been my initial draw to her in the first place. I wanted her. I wanted her so damn bad I couldn’t see straight. It took everything inside me not to claim every inch of her. To get lost in her body for days.

Her inexperience drove me fucking mad. The mere thought of making her mine, being the first man to claim her, drove me insane.

The truth was, I respected her, and that shocked me to my core.

It wasn’t as hard as I imagined it would be to keep my dick in my pants, but when she talked back to me… Fuck, it did things to my cock that I couldn’t control.

I was a man who was used to getting what he wanted and never holding back.

The Brotherhood lashed me because I kissed her. I couldn’t imagine what they’d do if I fucked her. But that wasn’t my reason. She wasn’t ready for me. That much I did know.

Splashing cold water on my face from the cistern on the side of the greenhouse, I looked into the smaller mirror above it.

“For fuck’s sake, get your shit together.”

On the whole ride back to her gate, she didn’t say one word to me. She was out of the golf cart as soon as she parked, not bothering to wait one second for me.

I did the only thing I could before I flipped my shit. I inhaled another painkiller and passed the fuck out. I must’ve passed out for a while. It felt like days had gone by when I first opened my eyes.

I was still exhausted, unable to shake off the bullshit. I needed to wash off the blood and take a look at what they did to me. I tried to shower, needing to feel clean. Their handiwork on my back left at least ten distinct lashes. They weren’t careless, precise with each stroke that they evoked. It wasn’t one continuous wound. It’d scar like a work of art.

I didn’t bother to replace the bandages. Instead, I just threw on a pair of gym shorts to make my way into the kitchen. When I opened my bedroom door, there were a few things on the floor I hadn’t expected, with a note.

I grabbed the bag, walking back into my bedroom, and kicked the door shut behind me. I brought it over to my desk and took a seat. I tried not to lean my back against the leather chair.

My computer screen was on. The security cameras were active again. Hennessy was outside, feeding the crows. There were hundreds of them flying above her head as if she were Maleficent.

I chuckled, watching her smile and talk to them as she tossed food into the feeder. Their loud caws could be heard for miles, echoing through the woods.

Opening the bag, I grabbed a container of the soup she fed me, along with a meat dish with rice and french fries labeled “lomo.” Another food container was labeled “empanadas and tómales.”

“Jesus, I’m one person,” I muttered to myself.

She really did cook for an army. There was enough food in there for a few days. There were also a couple of Inca Kola that were still cold, making me think she recently dropped this off.

Grabbing my cell phone, I texted Deja to come eat some of this food with me before I grabbed the two bottles labeled “medicine,” each with instructions.