Authors: Rachael Orman

Toxic (15 page)

BOOK: Toxic

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I pressed my lips together in order not to speak. Obviously, she wasn’t going to listen to anything I had to say about BDSM and it seemed to upset her. That was the last thing I wanted to do.

“That fool even let you become friends with his ex-girlfriend simply because it made you happy. I would never have allowed that to happen if…
when
he is mine.” She shook her head at her slip and swallowed more alcohol as if that was what she needed. The glass was already more than half empty, so I didn’t think it was going to help her, but she didn’t ask my opinion.

“I was trying to be the better person,” I admitted.

She had truly fooled me. This wasn’t the woman I’d hung out with, not at all.

“Becoming your friend allowed me to get close enough to get a copy of your house key without you even knowing. It was your stupidity that let me slip in every night and watch you as you slept,” she said with a sick smirk. “Do you know how many times I thought about slitting your throat while you were asleep?”

My eyes widened and I swallowed a lump in my throat. Before I could respond, she continued.

“But that would’ve been too easy, and really quite painful and messy for John to deal with. So I didn’t. Instead I planted some photos on his computer. That was when I realized the true depravity of John’s connection to you. The two of you are sick, but that’s okay. I can make John better. You, however, I can’t. After everything, you still hung on. Even thinking your boyfriend was stalking you and taking naked pictures of you for his own disgusting pleasure, you stayed around. I really thought that would be the end. What kind of woman wants to stay with a man like that?” She shook her head and grimaced. “You, apparently. Then somehow you manage to make the most perfect man in the world check himself into some dumb-fuck facility to get help he doesn’t need.”

She stood and started pacing as her agitation grew to new levels, scaring me even more.

“You! This meek disaster of a woman turned a strong, dominant man into nothing more than a rehab junkie. Do you have any idea how much that upset me? I couldn’t say anything, no. I had one last, lovely surprise for you.” She laughed menacingly. “It sort of happened by accident. All the time I spent watching you. The hours and hours I tracked you. And I found that I kept running into the same person over and over. We got to talking and it turned out we had some interesting things in common. Hatred for you. Unfulfilled love for someone.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked quietly, hesitantly.

“Bryce, you fool. Your own brother had this twisted desire to hurt you and love you at the same time. God, the things he’d do to me when we role-played. I’d play the sad little sister who liked to act like she didn’t want it and he’d play the protective brother who’d give her exactly what she wanted but wouldn’t admit to.”

My stomach flipped and turned and knotted at her words. I didn’t want to hear about Bryce and his disgusting wants or desires.

“Oh, you should have seen your face when he walked in the door of your own house. It was priceless. Too bad I didn’t have my camera out for that one. It’d be a photo worth hanging on the wall so I could see it every day.” She paused to run a hand through her hair and take another swig. “Anyway, he helped me with my little plan you see. He was the one who spread the rumors about you. It took much longer than we anticipated for the word to spread, but after six months it was finally working. More and more of your clients left you a weeping, pathetic mess. Do you have any idea how many clients
John
lost during that time? How much money he lost while he was making sure
you
were okay?”

“I... I didn’t know,” I admitted. I was so selfish, and it made me feel embarrassed all over again about the whole situation, but I refused to tell her any more.

“Of course you didn’t. You don’t really care about John. It’s all about you,” she said, sitting in front of me once more. “I about lost it when that ring showed up on your finger. If it wasn’t for Bryce I really would’ve ended this all much sooner, but he was right to wait and make you suffer.”

“What… what are you going to do?” I stuttered as I asked what I really wanted to know.

John was gone. Jennifer wouldn’t be coming by since we’d spent all day together. I was at her mercy with no help in sight.

“Why, kill you of course. I tried everything I could to get you to leave and that didn’t work. I tried everything I could to get John to see all the reasons why he should leave you — once again, that didn’t work. So now I’ll just take you out of the picture myself. By the time John gets back he won’t even remember who you are,” she said, leaning forward quickly enough to grab my shirt and pull my face to hers. Her knife was pressed against my neck. “He didn’t actually see Bryce, doesn’t know who he is. Just so happens that Bryce is spending some time checked into a wonderful little facility getting to know John and making sure he gets some new ideas about this woman he is supposed to be marrying. Oh, and John will be getting some letters from you saying that you simply can’t wait for him and need to move on with your life. Don’t worry, doll face, it’s all been planned out.”

“Mariah, you can’t do this,” I said shakily.

The glint in her eyes told me she had lost touch with reality. That scared me almost as much as her words.

“I can. I will. In fact…” Mariah was cut off by the front door slamming open.

I hadn’t locked it when I’d walked in so it could’ve been anyone, but I was still surprised to find John standing in the doorway. He looked as handsome as ever in the same clothes he’d left in just that morning. His face was hard and I got an idea of what he looked like in dom mode when I wasn’t distracted by what he was doing to me.

“Mariah,” John said, glaring at her.

“John? What are you doing here?” Mariah gasped as she yanked me off the couch and spun me around, using me as a shield between them.

“Let go of Alix,” he demanded stepping into the room and leaving the front door wide open.

“No. You’re angry and you won’t touch me with her between us.” Mariah yanked me against her chest and moved us a step away from him.

“I won’t hurt you. I just want to talk, and it’s hard to do that when you are walking away from me with a knife to Alix’s throat.” John stepped closer.

I gulped when the knife point dug into my neck enough to break the skin. I hadn’t even realized it was there until he’d pointed it out. Surprise at seeing him had distracted me.

“No!” Mariah yelled and forced me back farther away from John.

“Look, I’ll sit on the couch. I’m not a threat.” He moved to sit on the cushion closest to the door. He relaxed back, looking as if it were any other day and nothing unusual was going on. “No, let Alix go so you and I can talk. I can’t even see you with her in the way now.”

Mariah was breathing hard against me, but after a drawn-out moment, she shoved me to my knees.

“There, you can see me,” she said, still holding the knife against my throat.

I could feel a trickle of blood down my neck, but I didn’t move. Not wanting to distract John, I kept my eyes on the floor.

“Babe, come sit down. This is ridiculous,” John sighed. “Let me rub your shoulders and help you relax like I used to.”

I clenched my jaw at those words. He didn’t give
me
shoulder massages, but it didn’t matter what he said, as long as she moved the knife.

“That does sound good,” Mariah admitted with a wistful moan.

“Let Alix go and give me a chance to make you feel good. I’ve missed you. I know now I need you back in my life.” John held out his arms with a pleading look on his face.

“You’re not lying to me, are you?” Mariah’s voice was begging him to be telling him the truth. Her hand started to shake.

“No, babe, I need you,” John said.

Mariah let out a cry and shoved me onto my face as she ran to him. She jumped into his arms.

John sighed loudly as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. In a moment, he had her flipped onto the couch on her stomach. Out of nowhere he pulled a pair of handcuffs and snapped them on her wrists before she could even comprehend what he was doing.

“What the fuck?” Mariah asked, confused.

“Crazy bitch,” John muttered as sirens filled the air.

Soon cops were flooding into the room and Mariah had been taken away. Only then did John come to me.

He helped me to my feet, then crushed me to his heaving chest.

People were asking questions and talking loudly, but nothing mattered at all except that I was safely back in his arms.

“I was so scared,” he confessed.

“Me too,” I whispered back.

He hiked me up and I wrapped my legs around his hips and my arms around his neck.

I didn’t even realize I was weeping until he sat down on the couch and murmured soothing words into my hair.

When a cop demanded someone start talking, it was then I spotted Gabe. He shared our story with the officer.

It was strange, sitting and listening to someone recount all that had happened with Mariah. I was surprised to learn that it was Gabe who had found out that it was Mariah who had uploaded the images to John’s computer and somehow found a way to track her. They had left a cell phone on a ledge where it wouldn’t be noticed while I’d been out and before Mariah had arrived, so they’d heard everything she’d said and had it recorded too.

The policeman said we had plenty of grounds to file numerous charges against her as well as my brother to keep both of them locked up for a long time.

Finally, I could relax in John’s arms. Tension eased from him at the words.

It was over.

Epilogue

~John~

It was a beautiful day to get married. Bright and sunny, with the woman I loved by my side. We walked hand in hand into the courtroom with Gabe and Jennifer behind us. The procedure was quick and we were officially married. Didn’t even take twenty minutes to tie the woman I loved more than life itself to me.

Not even two weeks had passed since the Mariah incident. We had yet to deal with all the legal mess that was going to come with that, but it didn’t matter.

We were happy. We had each other and everything was the way it was meant to be.

I would still be going to treatment for my issues, Alix still was meeting with a therapist to help her with her past, but together we would persevere through it. We’d made it this far, we could make it through anything.

Gabe and Jennifer seemed to be getting along quite well, which was interesting. However, that wasn’t what I had on my mind when we left the courthouse. After a quick goodbye, I swept Alix into the car and sped home.

“Precious, welcome home,” I said, helping her out of the car.

“Glad to be home, Mr. O’Roarke.” She smiled brightly at me.

“Only place I want to be right now, Mrs. O’Roarke.”

I scooped her up when we got to the door and carried her over the threshold.

We’d completely redone the living room so it didn’t even resemble the room that Mariah had soiled with her presence, but I turned and headed to our bedroom.

Setting Alix on the edge of the mattress, I got down on my knees in front of her.

“I have a present for you,” I told her and dug in my pocket for it.

“John, I don’t want a present. I have everything I want already,” she said with a shake of her head, but grinned anyway.

I pulled out the stainless steel ring and held it up to her.

“Your wedding ring, Precious,” I said and watched as confusion ran over her features.

It wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the pearl ring paired with the band of diamonds she already had.

“I already have one.” She scrunched her cute little brows together.

“Ah, but this is a ring for the bedroom.” I flipped the ring open to reveal that it was actually two rings hinged together, then slid each ring over her middle fingers, effectively securing her hands together.

“Oh, I see,” she breathed, clearly pleased.

“Now stand up, my wife,” I demanded.

She got to her feet.

I slowly pulled down the zipper on the back of the floor-length cream-colored strapless dress she’d worn for the wedding. It fluttered to the floor to pool around her feet, revealing the white strapless bra, garter belt and panties underneath.

“Fucking sexy,” I rasped, letting a hand drift between her breasts, down her abdomen to slip between her thighs. Drenched. Just as I’d expected; even through the flimsy material I could tell. “Bend over the bed.”

She turned around and rested her forearms on the mattress.

“Hmm, beautiful,” I sighed, running a hand down her spine. Stepping back, I quickly removed all of my clothing. Quietly, I opened the bedside drawer and pulled out a condom and a container of lube. I put them on the bed, then hooked my fingers in the sides of her panties before yanking them down. “Lift your foot.”

She did, first one, then the other.

I tossed the material away. Rubbing my hands along her smooth, silky skin, I stood again and pressed my erection against her ass.

“You ready for this?” I asked, nudging her again.

“God, yes,” she whimpered.

The arousal in her voice made a bead of precome leak out of my cock. I rolled the condom on, then lubed it up liberally, along with two of my fingers.

My fingers traced up and down her crease.

A moan filled the room. It could’ve been either of us; it didn’t matter when my fingers found her tight rosebud and slowly pushed inside.

Alix stiffened for a moment, then pushed her hips back against me.

“More,” she gasped.

Resting a palm on her lower back, I thrust the fingers in and out of her, opening her up for me. With her clenching down on and around me, it drove me crazy.

While I filled her with my fingers, I stroked myself. My control was already gone. Something about saying vows and binding our lives together had turned me on like crazy.

My fingers slid out and I rubbed around her hole with the head of my cock before thrusting roughly in. I tried to be tender, but couldn’t. I needed her badly.

I grabbed hold of her shoulder and pulled her back into each thrust.

She moaned each time I filled her. Her ragged breathing and shaking body told me she was as close as I was. Her hands clawed at the bedding, trying to balance against the hard fuck she was getting even as she forced her body against mine.

“Come,” I barked. “Come. Come now!”

She shrieked out her pleasure and tightened even more around me.

I tumbled after her, melding our bodies together; come pulsed out of me and I roared in triumph at claiming my woman. My wife. My life.

~The End~

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