Perfect Enemy: Book 2: Beckham Dynasty, page 11
It didn’t matter how much I wanted him to open up to me, I knew he wouldn’t. He refused to let me in, and I began to wonder if he ever would or if this was forever our dynamic.
What would happen after we went back home? Were we just supposed to pretend this never happened? Had my parents noticed I was gone? Were they searching for me? Was anyone?
Haven was still overseas with her boyfriend, and we weren’t talking much before this happened. She was enjoying her time with him, and I didn’t want to interrupt them. I understood they needed this time to reconnect with each other, and I was happy they had that opportunity.
I didn’t have my cell phone, so I didn’t know if my parents were trying to reach me. Although, that was pretty far-fetched. They had always lived their own life. I wouldn’t be surprised if they even noticed I was gone, which made me sad.
I truly didn’t have anyone who loved or cared about me other than my best friend. If she knew I’d technically been kidnapped, she’d be searching hell and high water for me. That much I was sure of.
Jace’s family certainly didn’t know about his double life. I figured no one knew the man behind the uniform, and that made me so unbelievably sad for him. I knew what it felt like to be alone. If I didn’t have Haven or his family, I’d be very lonely on the daily, but it didn’t matter how much I had Haven’s friendship, I longed for my parents.
Jace came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Have I told you how beautiful you look in that dress?”
I smiled, leaning against the railing at the Coco Beach Club.
“You haven’t, but I’m sure you could make it up to me somehow.”
Everywhere we went, it felt as if all eyes were on us. I couldn’t tell if it was his enemies, or we just looked good together and brought attention to ourselves. It was difficult to tell the difference.
Jace played his part of the loving, affectionate husband like he was born for the role. He was attentive, doting, and always had his hands on me in one way or another. Even when we were eating, his hand would be on my lap or his arm around my chair.
This French island had thirty-seven beaches, and we’d probably visited half of them, playing the part of being madly in love the entire time. We’d gone everywhere—the casino where he won a couple of thousand dollars playing poker, the day pool parties where Jace really wouldn’t keep his hands off me since I was wearing a bikini, the nightclubs, and eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the most breathtaking restaurants.
There wasn’t anything that Jace Beckham wasn’t good at. The man was as gifted as he was charming. The way women stumbled over their words when they were talking to him or how they couldn’t take their eyes off him when he walked into any room.
Again, it was beyond fucking annoying.
Jace turned me in his arms, and under the full moon and stars, he expressed, “I can’t take my eyes off you,” before he kissed me.
The good and the bad.
His heaven and hell.
Pleasure and pain.
It all blended together now.
The villain was no longer present, he’d been replaced by my hero, simply adding to all my conflicting emotions wreaking havoc all around me. I’d awakened the sleeping beast, and he’d finally come out to play.
In a sick and twisted way, I wanted this.
His control.
His hands.
His body.
I craved every last part of him.
Jace kissed my lips with so much urgency that I could have come from that alone. When his tongue touched mine, I inadvertently moaned.
This was happening.
Jace had become my make-believe happily ever after, and I was helpless not to fall for his deviousness.
By the time we left the restaurant that turned into a nightclub after ten, it was almost midnight. Jace parked the Audi sports car he rented for the day in the lot farther away from the establishment because we couldn’t find parking. The lot where he did find a spot was also packed, but now it was completely empty.
Leading me to the car, Jace opened the passenger door, and I stepped inside. Once he was in the driver’s seat, it all happened in a flash. Although it still felt like it played out in slow motion for what felt like the hundredth time in just a couple of days.
Jace revved the engine hard and fast as bullets started lacing the back of our car, shattering the rear windshield. In seconds, my adrenaline pumped wildly through my veins as it purred to life. I felt every fight-or-flight response known to man in a short amount of time.
“Oh my God!” I screamed.
Jace roared, “Put your head down and hang on!”
Quickly shifting the gear into second, he tore through the streets before shifting into third as bullets continued to ring out behind us.
Fifty miles per hour.
Sixty.
Seventy-five.
He gunned it down the road, kicking up dirt in our wake. I watched in astonishment as he downshifted to first, fishtailing out onto another open road where he nearly caused a collision with a dumpster truck. The only sounds that could be heard were the squealing tires of everyone’s vehicles and shots being fired, shattering more windows and metal on our car.
Jace returned fire, blowing out the tires of one of the cars chasing us.
“Fuck, Cove! I’m out of ammo! There’s more under the seat! I need you to get it for me!”
More bullets bounced off our sportscar while I reached for the bag in the back seat, pulling out two guns. The rush surging through my veins controlled my actions as my hands shook uncontrollably, but I acted on pure impulse and quickly grabbed the wheel.
“Cove, what are you—”
“You need to focus! I can do this!”
He reluctantly nodded before several shots were fired through the air.
More bullets pinged off the metal.
More glass shattered all around us.
More.
More.
More.
Driving as best as I could, I moved on pure fear. Staying low, Jace shot out the window while ducking from the breaking glass.
“How many cars?” I shouted through the chaos, hearing one of the cars spinning out of control.
“Three!”
“Are we going to—”
“Fuck this shit!”
I watched in horror as Jace leaned out the window, shooting in all directions to take out their windshields.
“Now we’re down to two,” he announced, sitting back in the driver’s seat.
While Jace reloaded, I weaved in and out of the streets. Thank God there weren’t any cars out other than us. I would have felt horrible if someone else was hurt.
How did Jace do this? Is this why he was so unbelievably broken?
My gaze zeroed in when I saw the scene unfolding in front of us. All the air in my lungs halted as my intense glare focused on the road signs indicating it was closed.
“Jace…”
Before I could finish my warning, he downshifted at the last second, jerking the wheel out of my hands to make a sharp right turn. Our car slid, missing the road signs, but the car behind us wasn’t so lucky and crashed into it.
The next string of bullets rang out, missing my head by mere inches. However, Jace’s shoulder was hit. He didn’t even blink; he was unfazed by the bullet that grazed his skin.
He over-revved the engine, shifting into fourth gear. Our endorphins skyrocketed, bringing me to my fucking breaking point. It took over every inch of my body.
“Jace, you’ve been hit!” I exclaimed, thinking he didn’t feel it.
It wasn’t until he yanked up the emergency brake and slammed his foot on the brake that I understood where his mind was at. He simultaneously jerked the wheel to the left, causing my petite frame to be tossed toward the passenger side door as our car spun out in a one-eighty.
This was beyond surreal. It was like a high-speed chase you’d see in a special ops movie where the car parallels perfectly to the enemy’s window, exactly how he knew it would. The enemy’s eyes widened when he realized Jace had his gun pointed at the center of his face. Directly between his eyes.
In less than a second, Jace released his fury in a way I’d never seen before in real life. Shot after shot erupted from his gun, sending the enemy into convulsive shaking from the bullets lacing his entire body.
“Jace! He’s dead! Stop!”
He shot him a few more times, being ruthless and unforgiving.
“He almost killed you, Cove! Fuck him!”
He wouldn’t stop.
It was like he went into complete soldier mode. Again, I’d never seen anything like it before in reality. This wasn’t a movie, and Jace wasn’t an actor. He was the man I had a crush on since I was eight years old.
I knew he wouldn’t stop—he was too far gone. Reaching over, I acted on instinct, placing my hand on his forearm to bring him back to me.
Only then did his gaze shift to my hold before he locked eyes with me. However, it wasn’t Jace’s stare I was looking at. It was someone else’s entirely.
I didn’t know this man.
He wasn’t familiar.
I didn’t even recognize him.
At that moment, he was a complete and utter stranger.
So much passed through his tormented expression, and he didn’t try to hide it from me like he usually did. In a matter of seconds, Jace showed me how truly broken he was. Jace may have been sitting there with me, but his mind was elsewhere.
“Hey…” I coaxed, caressing the side of his face. “I’m okay, Jace… I’m okay.”
The second I touched his skin, he shook away the turmoil.
Backing away from my touch, he threw the shifter into first and drove us the hell out of there.
My chest heaved, trying to catch my breath as I pointed out the obvious. “You’ve been hit.”
“The bullet just grazed me. I’m fine.”
Once again annoyed, I stated, “You can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep pushing me away. I may be young, but I’m not that naive. I see the shadows you’re desperately trying to hide from me, but I still don’t understand why. You can trust me. I don’t know how I can prove that any more than I already have.”
He didn’t say a word, and the ride back to the safe house was quiet, but the silence did very little for my pissed-off state of mind.
Maybe it was the near-death experience.
Or the fear.
The hopelessness.
Or maybe it was my endless thought process of what was yet to come.
I had no control, no say, nothing. As soon as we walked through the front door into the dining room, my patience desperately snapped.
Unable to hold back, I laid into him, “How much longer do you expect to do this to me?”
I was fully aware this wouldn’t end well, and for the first time…
I didn’t give a flying fuck if it did.
Nineteen
Cove
“Bunny…”
“Don’t bunny me, G.I. Joe! I’m sick and tired of your mind games! You’re hot, you’re cold, and all your multiple personalities are giving me whiplash!”
“Not. Right. Now.”
He abruptly turned, and I didn’t waver. Grabbing the glass vase off the table, I chucked it at his head. Being the soldier he was, he ducked, and it crashed into the wall behind him.
He snapped around, growling, “You want to throw things at me like a fucking child?! You need to learn how to control your tantrums, bunny! I’m sick and tired of your constant stream of nothing but bullshit!”
My eyes widened, cocking my head to the side. “Oh, asshole! I’ll show you a tantrum!” I reached for whatever was in sight, hurling it in his direction with all my strength. “You selfish son of a bitch!”
His hands fisted at his sides.
“Enough!” he ordered from deep within his chest.
Our chests heaved in sync with one another. Both of our heated emotions were running wild.
I could feel his hate.
But I could also feel his protection and concern over me. The barricade surrounding his heart was a ticking time bomb, counting down the minutes until it exploded.
It was loud.
Disastrous.
Chaotic.
It would take down everything around him with it, like a tornado spinning around in circles. It elicited feelings from within me that I never thought were possible, emotions no one should ever have to experience.
I felt every loss of breath.
All his hurt.
His distress.
His anguish for me.
Which was why he was pissed off to begin with. I was almost hurt on his watch. If the bullets had been a couple of inches to the left, I would have died instantly from them shooting me in the head.
Nothing of that sort happened, yet he couldn’t forgive himself for it. I tried to keep my feelings in check, but they cluttered my mind, willing me to keep going, to push through.
I couldn’t give up on him.
I refused.
His mom wouldn’t want me to.
I needed a reaction out of him, so I said the only thing that came to mind, shouting, “I hate you!”
He was over to me before I even saw it coming as I repeated, “I hate y—”
With one hand over my throat, he slammed my back against the wall behind me, growling against my lips, “You wish you fucking hated me.”
Then he crashed his mouth onto mine.
Jace
My hands dug into her hair, and hers clawed at my chest.
It was powerful.
It was deprived.
It was everything.
She met each push and pull I delivered, gripping the sides of my face as my tongue devoured her perfect pouty lips.
Her soft tongue.
Her scent.
With her fucking body pressed up against mine, I groaned, getting lost in the feel of her. Nothing compared to this.
To her.
Cove Noel was my kryptonite, and I knew that more than anything.
She forcefully gripped the front of my shirt, yanking me closer like we weren’t already close enough. Trying to mold us into one person, she kissed me as if her life depended on it. Moaning into my mouth, she stirred my cock to twitch in my slacks.
“Fuck… Cove…” I grabbed her hair by the nape of her neck, yanking it back. Putting some much-needed distance between us, I rasped, “What are you doing to me, bunny?”
She panted, frantically trying to gather her bearings from my tight hold. Both our bodies shook with undeniable desire. Every part of my resolve hammered all around us.
I could hear it in my ears.
I could feel it deep in my bones.
Breaching the walls I securely had in place when it came to her. Every part of my nervous system was breaking, shutting down, making it hard to see, let alone stand.
I didn’t know if it was the car chase.
The arguing between us.
Or the fact she almost died that had me feeling fucking alive for the first time in what felt like decades.
It was thrilling.
It was captivating.
I knew it was from her.
It had everything to do with her.
She weakly thrashed around some more, ignoring the pain in her head and the ache in her heart I was inflicting. I held her tighter against my chest, both of us gasping for air.
She infuriatingly screamed, and I was unaware if it was from what I said or from knowing it was the truth. Or possibly from knowing she wasn’t going anywhere unless I allowed her to. Closing her eyes, she tried to govern her breathing and her thoughts.
I loosened my grip, slowly brushing my lips against hers. I saw memories passing through her eyes, attacking her mind rapidly.
“Tell me…”
“No.”
“Bunny…”
“No.”
She turned her face away from mine, but I gripped her chin, forcing her to peer back up at me. I wanted a moment to caress her.
To gaze at her.
To embrace her.
To fucking feel her.
We stared at each other for what felt like hours, both of us lost in our own thoughts.
In our own demons.
I rubbed her bottom lip with my thumb, reveling in the feel of her velvety skin.
“I fucking hate you,” she panted before crashing her mouth onto mine.
I snarled, parting her lips with my tongue as my hands slid to the seam of her tight dress, hiking it up to her hips as I lifted her to straddle my waist. She winced from the loss of my touch when I set her on the edge of the table, but it wasn’t missing for very long.
Unable to fight it any longer, I gave in to the temptation that was this woman without even trying.
Without thinking twice about it, I dropped to my knees between her legs, needing to taste her.
Wanting to eat her.
Craving to fuck her pussy with my tongue.
There was no way in hell I wasn’t going to devour her with my mouth. I was a greedy bastard. I inhaled her intoxicating scent, softly kissing around her folds. She gasped when she felt my tongue on her heat as I slid it into the opening of her sweet, salty cunt.
She was pink.
She was wet.
She was fucking perfect.
And tasted like everything I ever wanted.
“Oh God,” she moaned as I placed her thighs onto my shoulders. Her hands instantly fisted in my hair, tugging it to the point of pain.
I knew her body better than she did. These past few days, I couldn’t keep my hands off her. Like a man on a mission, I took what I hunted.
Looking up at her, I kneaded her tits. Sucking her clit into my mouth, I moved my head in a side-to-side and back-and-forth motion.
“Ah!” she yelled out, trying to catch her bearings.
Her chest heaved with every precise manipulation of my lips and tongue. My mouth literally ate her alive. Watching as I gave her what she really wanted since the moment she woke up in this safe house.
