Beautiful Disaster (The Bet) (5 page)

She loved how muscles formed and cut creases down his groin. She loved the treasure of peach fuzz dark hair trailing a path down his jeans. She remembered kissing her way down that chest. She remembered how it felt to be on her knees in front of him. She remembered how his shuttered eyes had looked at her, how his strong fingers had twisted in her hair, tenderly caressing her face as he deflowered first her mouth and then---

"Wh---what are you doing here?" she came away from the door, entering her bedroom. She wisely kept the door ajar. She dropped her book bag on her desk, her back to him. She prayed for immunity from him, prayed for strength, but found her prayers unanswered, when Nicholas approached her and her insides boiled. His warmth and his scent, smacked her into paralysis. She couldn't move. She didn't want to move. She could feel him, flush against her backside. "Nicky." She whispered. Breathy. Wanting.

"I missed you." He sounded so genuine that Maddie wanted to weep. Instead, she leaned back against him, allowed him his ministrations. Deft hands pushed her mass of cinnamon tresses aside and whispered a kiss along the side of her neck. His fingers caressed her fevered skin, the gentle pads trailing down her arms.

"I miss kissing you here," warm lips whispered a kiss behind her ear. "And here." On her cheek now. Caught in his haze, she didn't realize his other hand had unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, until she felt him outside of her panties. "Most definitely here."

"Nicky," she shuddered, the delicious shivers dappling the canvas of her skin.

"Did you miss me kissing you here, Maddie?" His voice seduced her even as his fingers did unspeakable things to her.

"Nicky."

"Say it; tell me how much you’ve missed my kisses.”

"I--" She was melting. "P-please."

"I will, baby, but I want to play a game first. Will you play with me?" She'd jump off a bridge for him at this point. Maddie allowed him to lead her to her bed. He gently pushed her down and pulled away from her. He closed and locked the door, returning to her side before she could blink.

He was on her in seconds, his body straddling her hips. She went down willingly. "I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to answer for me, OK?" She could only nod. He brushed a kiss at the corner of her mouth and grinned. "Good girl." He caressed her skin almost lovingly and stared down at her, his mercurial gaze revealing nothing. "You've become quite close to the new girl," he began, absentmindedly toying with straps of her bra. "Almost like best friends." his lips raised in semblance of a smile, only it lacked humor. "Tell me what you know about her."

"I don’t ---"

He stooped down, his lips inches away from her parted ones, anticipation making her ache as he hovered. "Work with me, baby." he whispered, breath tantalizingly sweet. "What's her favorite color?"

"Nicky..." she panted, whined almost.  "Nicky...please..."

"Green...Blue...Red...Pink..."

"Silver." One fine dark brow shot up, but otherwise his face remained infuriatingly blank.

"Favorite flower?"

Maddie craved his mouth, wanted the kiss he so easily denied her. "Christ, Nicholas, I don't know!" Diamond gray eyes pinioned her further to the mattress.

"Fine." he said casually and swiftly removed himself from her bed. He turned to leave, but the sudden cry of "No!" stopped him mid stride. Nicholas took a moment to bask in his victory before he turned back and curiously peered at her.

"Yes?"

"D-don't...D-don't leave me..." her fingers flexed, reaching for him.

"Tell me what you know and I'll make it better...I promise." He was by her side, caressing her flushed cheeks in mock tenderness. He delivered the kiss with such deftness that Maddie slowly burned when he finally pulled away. "Tell me what I want to know." He asked softly, his warm breath tickling her ear.

Desperately searching her memory for something Ellie might’ve told her, Maddie’s eyes lit up as she thought of something. "She told me she keeps an online journal. Its private, but I have the password."

She did not notice the triumphant gleam in Nicholas’s eyes and as he ravaged her mouth once more. She forgot all else, but the sensations he made her feel.

Chapter T
hree

Ellie said goodbye to the last customers of the night and began to clear their table. She grabbed the twenty dollar tip they'd left behind and smiles as carted the plates to the kitchen. Tonight had been a good night, filled with generous tippers, fast service from the kitchen and service staff and relatively happy customers. On her knees inside the booth she wiped down the table and neatly arranged the condiments against the wall. She was fastidious in her cleaning efforts. Satisfied with her results, she headed to the kitchen, where Kelly and Nina were fast at work on the dishes. While they took care of that, Ellie finished any last minute clean up and counted their tips, making sure everyone clocked out on time.

It took them all, including Peter, Jason and Holly fifteen minutes to vacate the premises and another five for Ellie to lock everything down and enter the security code. As they'd done countless nights before, Peter and Jason made sure all the girls were safely inside their cars before they took their leave. Ellie was the last to be escorted. She thanked them and waved goodbye from the safety and warmth of the Ridgeline.

It was past midnight by the time she pulled out of the parking lot. She was bone-weary, the fatigue branching out through every inch of her. Her feet ached, throbbed even and she realized she was developing painful knots across her shoulders. At the red light she rolled her shoulders in the attempt to sooth the aches away, but only ended up making it worse. Maybe a hot shower and a good night's sleep would do her some good. Oh, and maybe sneak in a little kiss and hug from Sophie before she hit the sack. Now
that
would be heaven.

Merging onto the highway, she smiled at the thought of her daughter. She'd been unsuccessful in persuading Ellie to stay home this time around with her crocodile tears, but Ellie had promised her a full day of fun on Sunday.

Ellie hated how she had little time for her and it killed her every time she left Sophie, but such was the life of an adult. She had her responsibilities. Like it or not, they both had to sacrifice sometimes. With a weary sigh, Ellie silently took comfort in the fact that she could at least spend the weekends with Sophie. She lived for those weekends.

She yawned and reached a hand out to the radio. She needed music to keep her awake, otherwise she'd end up in a ditch somewhere. She was switching radio stations when her cell rang. She grabbed it from the cup holder, where she'd left it to charge and put it to her ear, figuring it was Gabe calling to check in on her.

"I'm almost home---"

"Hey, Ells." Ellie almost dropped the phone.

"How did you get my number?"

There was a chuckle, soft, sexy. "I have my ways." She knew all too well that he did. Tony Carlyle was anything, if not resourceful.

"Lose my number." She wanted to hang up, but his next words quickly put a halt to her actions.

"I missed you. I miss, Sophie." Those damn words and the sincerity behind them stopped her. "I want to see my two favorite girls."

"Don't play games with me, Tone."

"I'm not playing, Ells. I missed you both so much."

"Fine, you miss your daughter, get in touch with my lawyer and talk about visitation rights, you and I have nothing…"

"I've been clean for a year, Ells. My parents sent me to some high priced rehab center after you left, and it's been a fucked up road, but I'm clean."

Ellie had to pull over, or she would've gotten herself killed. "So what? You want a goddamn trophy from me?"

"Nah, just hearing your voice is enough of a reward for me."
Damn him!
She merged into the breakdown lane and cut the engine.

"I'm not the stupid naïve girl you knocked up three years ago, Tone. You must be out of your mind if you think I'm going to let you back in my life. Like I said, you want to see Sophie, get in touch with my lawyer and talk it over with him. Don't call me again." She flipped the phone shut, her anger allowing her to do so without an ounce of remorse. She dropped her head to the steering wheel and let out a strangled scream.

Damn him!
Her hands shook and she had to bite down on her lip to stop it from trembling. She wasn't going to cry! He wasn't worth her tears. But even as she told herself those exact words, the tears came.

It was just like Tony. Selfish, heroin addict, smooth talking, Tony.

Anthony "Tone" Carlyle had been Ellie's first everything. Her first lover. Her first dealer. Her first rapist. Her first abuser. She and her child had almost died by his hands. She'd been pregnant and he'd been ruthless. She'd been so young. So naïve. So
in love
. She had never refused him anything, but that night she could take no more. She'd been beaten black and blue for it.

Tony, who had plied her with so much drugs and alcohol that she couldn't remember a time when she'd ever been lucid around him, wanted back in her life. The same Tony who had sold her for a few pieces of rock and watched in a drugged stupor as his dealers had their way with her, wanted back in her life.

Ellie struggled with the door, threw it open and retched. Her late afternoon lunch splattered on the gray asphalt. It burned her throat and coated her mouth in bitterness. The memories of her past, vivid, harsh and sordid danced a fluid ballet through her mind, reminding her again that she wasn't as clean as she wanted to believe. Tony's call only fit to remind her of what she so easily forgot. She was damaged goods. Soiled. He'd done a number on her and was back to finish the job.

Like hell.
Her mind protested, fortifying her with strength. She'd worked hard to get this far. She had bled sweat and tears to become who she was. There was no way in hell she was going to let Tony take that away from her. No way in hell.

She was feeling remotely better so she closed her door and started the engine. She needed to go home. She could talk to Gabe and they would figure this out together.

Three years ago

The night she met the enigmatic Tony Carlyle was the night the attention starved Ellie believed she’d finally found love. She'd been a virgin raver. A school friend, Frankie, had convinced her to go. Anxious to escape the tight reins of her morally righteous parents, Ellie had sneaked out. Under the guise of night, she'd
run
down the silent suburban streets ten minutes past midnight and readily jumped into the black Hummer awaiting her a block away from her house.

It had been psychedelic lights, sexually charged music and a mass of prurient teenagers mating to the driving beats. She remembered how liberated she'd felt. Beneath the scope of laser lights and thick smoky air, she'd been anything but Bishop Holbrook's staid and 'perfect' daughter.

She'd ac
ted like the whore of Babylon. She d
anced like one of Dionysus nymphs. She gave herself to the music and took pleasure in the way it made her feel. Sexy. Desirable. And when Tone had approached her, led her to his car and
took
her to his loft, she been all too willing. He'd been so gentle. Tender. Holding her, kissing her, loving her as he made her feels things no one else ever had.

Tone had been so intense. So mature. So perfect. He’d had all the qualities of a perfect boyfriend and Ellie had believed she'd hit the jackpot. She began to live for him. Live for those drawn out moments of ecstasy induced sex, heroin dreams of forever and Tone's wheedling voice promising her the world. She even ran away from home and took permanent lodgings in his spacious loft.

Poisonous ambrosial cocktails became the thing.
She became lost in his world. She l
ived off his words. Tone's every wish was Ellie's command. She would've le
apt a field if he'd asked her to do so
. When Tone grew lonesome and told her to skip school and stay with him, Ellie enthusiastically skipped days to be by his side. When Tone had parties and he had them almost every night, she played the drugged out hostess for him and his friends.

Everything became routine. Get high. Get fucked by Tone. Go clubbing. Get fucked by Johns. They provided the loot and Tone provided the ass. When it became too much and sanity returned for a brief moment, Ellie had wanted no more of it. Tone, however
,
always managed to coax her back.

He lied so beautifully. When she'd found out she was pregnant, Ellie had wanted to stop, truly she had, the dangers of what the drugs posed to her child had been a real fear for her. A constant fear. But how could she stop when temptation was all around her? Temptation she'd almost died for, when weeks later Tone had discovered that she'd taken his last stash.

"I---I onl
y wanted a little pick me up." This h
ad been her pitiful excuse. Tone however hadn't wanted any excuses and his fist and feet had spoken loud
ly
enough in admonishing her for her stupidity.