Lust & Lies Box Set-Sexual Awakenings, Excess, Predator & Prey

Before I had a chance to start what was sure would be another argument between us, I saw sets of headlights flip on one by one. A row of trucks stood a quarter mile behind the Chevelle, lighting up the empty field.

“Fuck,” I whispered as Daniello turned to face the intrusion.

I heard the boom of Laz’s voice through a bullhorn on top of one of the trucks as he addressed Daniello.

“You must be lost, partner. Allow me to show you the door.”

Daniello pushed me out of the way as bullets meant to hit us flew by our heads. I made a beeline for the Chevelle, knowing that Laz was no longer playing games. Daniello had killed his men and worsened the situation. I looked behind me to see Daniello pull his Glock and take out several of the headlights on the truck that lit up the field. He dove into the Chevelle as I killed my lights and sped away from the trucks heading toward us.

Amber screamed as a bullet ripped through her passenger side mirror. I was confused by Laz’s attempt to take us out with Amber in the car. He’d apparently spent so many years caring for her, and I wondered if his hatred for me was enough to make him forget all about it. They gave chase as Daniello grabbed Leroy from my console and fired out of Amber’s side, the gun going off like the small cannon it was and ripping through the metal of the trucks behind us. With only three shots left, he took his time aiming carefully and taking out two of them. I yelled at Amber, who was still shrieking with each shot.

“Give him more bullets out of the glove box. Now, Amber, do it now!”

Just as the trucks closed in, I turned on my headlights and saw the SUV shoot past us, launching a small arsenal at the trucks. Two of them veered off the road, engines on fire as the others pressed on toward us. Daniello reloaded and managed to shoot out the tires of another truck so that we were only left with one, that I knew Laz occupied. The truck sped in front of us, and I slowed, following it until it came to a stop, knowing that I had to face him again. That if I didn’t end this now, it would never end. Our headlights beamed into the cab where Laz stared back at me through his rearview.

We all stayed still for mere seconds as we tried to contemplate the other’s next move. The silence was broken as the SUV skidded to a stop next to us and Rocco addressed Daniello, who was staring at me from the back seat.

“Wait,” he ordered Rocco, who was once again spraying angry Arabic at Daniello.

I met Laz’s eyes in the rearview, unsure if he saw me watching him. He tilted back in his seat and hung something on it.

“It’s your necklace,” Amber whispered.

“He never gave me a necklace.”

“It was for your eighteenth birthday. He keeps it on him all the time.”

A solid lump formed in my throat as I watched the back of his head. “Laz,” I whispered. It was then that I thought maybe he had loved me all those years ago. That he was just a fucked up kid, as I was, but that he’d wanted to keep his promises.

Just as I thought it Laz pulled away and Rocco waited next to us for the word. Daniello watched me carefully and ordered him to back down.

Confused by Laz’s attempt to keep us engaged, Daniello instructed me to follow Rocco, who seemed to know the way back to civilization. Half an hour later Rocco stopped a few towns away from Dyer, and we checked into a decent motel next to the interstate in amicable silence.

Exhausted and overwhelmed, I sank into the bedside chair as I watched my sister sleep. Was she in on this whole scheme with Laz? She’d told me she needed help, but if he were her protector, why would she ask for my help? I would get my answers as soon as she woke. Muscles aching from too many hours on the road, I opted for a shower as Daniello and Rocco argued in the room next to us.

I stripped to nothing and let the water wash away one of the most fucked up days of my life.

My mother was dead.

I allowed myself to think about her and couldn’t muster one single emotion from the news of her death. I slipped into a T-shirt and shorts and walked out of the room to knock on Daniello’s door. Rocco opened it and pushed past me with his shoulder, his eyes telling me what I already knew. The man despised me.

“Come in,” Daniello said as I watched Rocco get into the SUV and drive away.

“Where is he going?”

“Back to Charleston, and then home.” I shut the door behind me and watched as Daniello pulled an array of guns out of a long, sleek black bag.

“And where is home?” He didn’t answer me as I sat at the table opposite him. He remained evasive as he loaded each gun and placed it back into the bag. I watched him without a word as the lust grew inside me. He bit his full bottom lip as he concentrated, occasionally looking through the scope of a few guns and checking the chambers. He was all too alluring as I remembered our time together, and what his lips and hands could do to me in seconds.

Unable to resist, I lifted from my seat and walked over to his, straddling him and bracing my hands on the back of his chair. He ignored me, working around me, and kept at his task as I began to nip at his neck, breathing him in. He loaded another gun as I licked the divot in his throat, tasting the salty sweat that’d dried on him and went back for more. I began to grind my hips onto his hardening dick and pulled back after a few minutes of working myself up to see the fire in his eyes. Heat worked its way between my legs, and I leaned in to take his lips just as he moved his head to dodge my kiss. With a sigh, I began to pull away when he put the gun he was holding back on the table and grabbed my hips, bringing me back to his lap hard.

“Who is he?”

“Just a man I know who is holding a grudge against me.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to stay here. Because I left him here.” Admitting the truth was easy. It was the look that Daniello gave me that was hard to swallow. “You being involved in this is only going to make it worse. I can handle him. I can handle this on my own.”