Fraud (Antihero Inferno Book 2) Page 19

  “Better get going, beautiful. I’d hate for the other guys to see you this way.”

  “You wouldn’t,” she snaps.

  “I am,” I lie.

  There is no way in hell that anybody will see her like this but me. She doesn’t need to know that, though. It’s more fun letting her think we have an audience.

  “Asshole,” she yells as she takes off down the path again.

  Chuckling at that, I give her a short head start before starting my pursuit. It doesn’t take long for me to cut through the denser part of the woods to sneak up beside her, our bodies coming together again when I grab her from the other side.

  “Damn it, Gabriel.”

  We drop to the ground, my arm wrapped around her back to keep her from getting hurt.

  My knee shoves between her legs to push them open, my mouth claiming her lips before she has a chance to catch her breath. I’m hard immediately, my cock a long line against her stomach as I slide my hand down her naked stomach, to rip at the button of her pants.

  When our lips pull apart, she breathes heavily, my mouth dropping to bite the tip of her breast from over her bra.

  “You can’t seriously be getting me naked for everybody to see.”

  Interestingly, she isn’t stopping me. Either Ivy knows I’m the only man running her down, or she’s into the idea of other people watching us fuck.

  I kneel and rip her pants down her legs, my eyes meeting hers when I tug them off her ankles.

  “Do you surrender already? I didn’t think you’d be that quick to give up.”

  My fingers run down her stomach, and she shivers, those rebellious eyes narrowing on mine.

  “I’ll never give up,” she promises, my lips curling at the sound of it.

  And neither will I...

  Pushing to my feet, I grab her hand and pull her up.

  “Then you better get going. Next time I catch you, we might have an audience for what I plan to do.”

  Laughing to watch her run off in only a bra, underwear and her shoes, I catch my breath and try to will my cock to soften so running won’t be a pain in the ass.

  It’s not easy, especially knowing what I’ll do to her when I get her to the place I’ve been leading her this entire time.

  For the next ten minutes, I toy with Ivy, scaring her one direction, then another. Every so often, I let her stop and catch her breath because I don’t want her too tired when she reaches the end of this.

  I’m not sure she realizes I have her in my sights the entire time, but I love watching what she does when she thinks I’m not looking.

  Making a noise that sets her off again, I run behind her from left to right, my hand smacking her shoulder as I pass. She squeaks but then laughs, her fear gone because she’s figured out I’m the only one out here playing with her.

  When she bursts out into a clearing, she heads to the center of it, her body slowly rotating as she scans the tree line in search of me.

  “I know you’re out there, Gabe.” Her lips tug into a grin. “You fucking bastard. I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.”

  I smile in response. For as much as we’ve screwed with each other through the years, we’ve developed a healthy respect for the challenge of this game.

  “You can come out now.”

  Her gaze darts to a noise that I didn’t make, her shoulders heaving with heavy breath.

  “There’s no way in hell you stripped me down in the middle of the fucking woods just to leave me like this.”

  Second guessing herself, she looks around again. “Or maybe you did. It would be just like you. I swear to God if video of this shows up in the news, I’ll get even.”

  Laughing at that, I step out of the woods behind her, my gaze running a slow line down her body while I wait for her to turn and see me.

  Her tan, toned legs look beautiful beneath the moonlight, her heart shaped ass on display beneath a pair of silk panties that are cut for the purpose of making men drool.

  When she spins and finds me, her body freezes in place, that mouth of hers that can say the most aggravating things falling open just a touch.

  I circle her slowly, and she spins to keep me in sight.

  “Is this it then? Now that you’ve run me through the woods, I’m done with the bullshit I owe Tanner?”

  “Not quite.”

  Her brows tug together. “Then what the hell are we doing?”

  “Preparing our taxes. What did you think? Would you like to take the standard deduction this year, or do you have enough to itemize?”

  Ivy scowls. “I’m serious, Gabe. What are we doing out here?”

  I march toward her, slightly surprised she doesn’t try to move away. Stopping within a foot of her, I lock my eyes to hers.

  “We don’t take sexual favors as payment, love.”

  “Okay,” she says, confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  Stepping closer, I run a fingertip over the curve of her hip, my gaze dipping down to watch goose bumps break out over her skin.

  “You asked what we’re doing.”

  “And that is?”

  Sliding my hand around her waist, I pull her to me.

  “We’re fucking. Or have you not figured that out yet?”

  Before she can answer, I trip her to knock her off her feet and brace my body right so she doesn’t hit the ground hard or get crushed beneath my weight.

  Our mouths crash together as my hand clamps down on her hip, my knee shoving her legs apart.

  Ivy buries her hands in my hair, neither of us giving a fuck that we’re laying on dirt in the middle of a forest where the animals and God knows what else can watch what we’re doing.

  It’s just us, two people who can’t stand each other but still need the challenge only we can give.

  Her hips attempt to buck up to rub her pussy on my thigh, but I stop her as I bite her bottom lip, my head dropping to run my mouth down her neck.

  “I’m going to get dirt in my ass,” she complains, soft laughter on her voice before a gasp bursts over her lips.

  Mouth locked on the tip of her breast, I don’t give a damn how dirty we get, there’s nothing clean about what I want to do to her.

  Releasing her nipple, I reach behind her to unclasp her bra, pulling the straps from her shoulders as my gaze falls on her tits.

  “You have the most beautiful body I’ve ever seen,” I admit before my mouth tastes her skin, the salt of her sweat from running a burst of flavor against my tongue.

  Ivy’s fingers fist my hair, her back arching as she begs for more, her hips bucking when I release my grip to let her rub her pussy against my leg.

  Sliding my hand down, I circle my thumb against her swollen clit, my fingers pulling aside the wet silk of her panties to thrust inside her.

  “Ah...” Her head falls back, her hips rolling more as I fuck her with three fingers, curling them just right so that the tips tease her inner muscles and drive her insane.

  “One of these days, we should try fucking in a bed,” she breathes out.

  Smiling at that, I lift my head.

  “That would be boring as hell.”

  Our mouths collide again, the ability to speak lost as I explore her with my fingers. Her body shakes with the need to come, but my hand slows down every time she reaches that edge, a sound of complaint crawling up her throat.

  “Gabriel, damn it. You’re doing this on purpose.”

  My mouth drags to her ear.

  “I live to torture you. Maybe if you ask nicely, I’ll let you get off.”

  I move my head to stare down at her.

  She grins in challenge.

  “Or maybe I’ll just take what I want.”

  Confusion crinkles the skin between my eyes, laughter bursting from my throat when she quickly moves out from under me and shoves me down on my back.

  Straddling my lap, Ivy pulls my shorts down until my cock is free, her sneaky hand gripping the shaft as her thumb circles the tip
.

  “Fuuuuuck...”

  My head falls back as she pushes up on her knees and sinks down on top of me, the motion slow until she’s fully seated over my cock.

  Opening my eyes, I watch as she braces her palms on my chest and grins.

  “Haven’t you learned by now, you’re not the only one playing this game?”

  The corners of my lips tug up, but the expression is lost as she begins to move over me, and my hands take possession of her full hips.

  It’s just like this woman to keep fighting for dominance even when she has no chance of winning. I’d die from disappointment if she ever gave up.

  Her hips begin to move, her tits bouncing to tease my mouth. Pushing my upper body up, I bend my knees to trap her in place, my hands locking down on her hips to shove her down farther as my mouth closes over a nipple.

  Our bodies move together, my hands driving her up and down my cock, her head falling back as I suck hard on one tit before moving to the next.

  Ivy’s arms fall over my shoulders, her fingers playing with the back of my hair as her pussy tightens over my dick, the first tremors of an orgasm tearing through her.

  Watching the sweet expression of her face, I wait for the aftershocks to subside and for her eyes to flutter open.

  “Are you done being stubborn?” I ask, my voice a rough growl.

  She nods, her mouth parting as our bodies keep moving. “Why?”

  Ivy should know the answer to that already. “Because when I fuck your body, I like it rough.”

  Her eyes round as I quickly flip her onto her hands and knees, my knee knocking her legs apart just before I sink inside her.

  “Touch your clit, beautiful. I want you to scream the next time you come.”

  She does what I say, and the slap of our skin echoes over the clearing, my fingers running the line of her spine to grip the back of her neck and tug her back to my chest. When my teeth sink into her shoulder, she cries out, her body falling apart again as my name bursts from her lips.

  I can’t hold myself back after hearing it.

  “Fuck.”

  Pulling out, I come on the back of her leg, my body jerking as the climax rolls through me. It takes both of us a minute to catch our breath and calm down.

  Ivy is the first to speak.

  “We’re a mess, Gabe. Please tell me you stashed towels out here or something to clean up.”

  Now that she mentions it, that wouldn’t have been a bad idea.

  “I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”

  Soft laughter shakes her body. “Liar.”

  Turning her to face me, I kiss her slow and soft, my hand cupping her cheek before I pull away.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I have dirt in my ass, too.”

  The beauty of her smile is intoxicating. “It does actually. But how the hell are we getting back? Where are my clothes?”

  Along the trail. It’s something else I hadn’t considered.

  “I’ll let you wear my shirt until we find them.”

  She smiles again and shakes her head.

  “Such a fucking gentleman,” she mumbles.

  “Only for you,” I whisper.

  Ivy

  I’m not going to lie, the walk back to the cabin with Gabriel is actually fun.

  Sure, when I first saw him on the trail, I was terrified about what he might do. We don’t have the best history, and we haven’t technically ever been friends. Gabe had no reason to be nice when I ran straight to him in the woods.

  I’d taken off with the very real belief that I had eight men chasing after me, ones who might tie me up like a human sacrifice and carry me out of the woods.

  But the first time Gabe caught me and kissed me, I knew it was only him. Don’t ask me how. I just did.

  We speak our own language sometimes, one that doesn’t need words and isn’t something that can be learned or taught.

  You have to know a person to have the ability to read them. It’s an inflection in their voice, a look in their eyes, the feeling when their hand touches your skin.

  It’s all words that aren’t spoken, sentences that don’t require structure, a knowing that develops between certain people that can never be explained.

  I know Gabriel. Even if we’ve always been at each other’s throats. Even if we’ve been cruel more than we’ve been kind. I know him because I’ve watched him more closely than I’ve watched any other person.

  We watched each other grow up. Even when our circumstances were so insanely different.

  So that’s how I knew we were the only two people there, my fear quickly becoming laughter, the terror turning to fun. Running around practically naked in the forest may seem stupid to some people, but how many of them can say they’re really alive?

  That’s what Gabriel meant when he asked me whether I would have felt alive without him before he abducted me at Emily’s house.

  Sure, we were enemies more often than not, but we never let each other drown.

  He could escape the crap his father was doing, and I could escape the pedestal where my father insisted I stay perched because we had something else to focus on.

  We kept each other breathing.

  We gave each other a reason for our hearts to pound and our spirits to shine through.

  Even if it was only cruel pranks and this bullshit war, we kept going because we refused to buckle beneath the challenge.

  I think the truth is that for as much as the spoiled princess and the broken prince hated each other, it’s a simple fact that we wouldn’t let go because we were the only people who could distract the other from the heavy weight of our lives.

  Like now, for instance.

  I’m currently disowned by my father, and Gabriel’s house is a wreck. And while we’re to blame for that situation, we’re still walking through the woods practically naked, laughing at the sad fact that, to us, it doesn’t matter.

  This is us.

  It’s what we do.

  Despite nobody understanding it.

  “This isn’t funny, Gabe. Where the hell are my clothes?”

  Tears leak from his eyes as he doubles over, my laughter matching his because we’ve walked the same damn path a hundred times and have yet to find my shirt or pants. It’s like something out of the Blair Witch Project, only without clothes or creepy little effigies hanging from tree branches.

  “I swear I left them right here.”

  “Uh huh,” I answer. “So what you’re saying right now is that some animal came along and took off with my clothes to build a designer nest or something? It’s obvious they’re not right here.”

  His green eyes tip down to meet mine, that damn smile blinding me.

  Not the charming smile that is a lie.

  And not the evil one that means he’s done something fucked up.

  The real one I rarely see.

  This isn’t Fraud.

  And it’s not the monster.

  It’s just Gabe.

  The person he would be if life didn’t make it necessary for him to hide.

  “I dropped them where I took them off.”

  His gaze runs down my body. “You don’t look horrible in my shirt. We should just go back the way we are.”

  Smiling in return, I toss up my arms.

  “I can’t go back like this. We need to find my clothes.”

  Actually, I could. I really don’t care what everybody thinks. I’m just making excuses to stay out here longer because I don’t want to give him up.

  As soon as we return, I know the rest of the guys will be waiting. It will ruin this.

  Gabe will go back to being who he is in the group, and I’ll be cornered to pay the price being demanded of me. I have no delusions that his first loyalty lies with the Inferno.

  Which is why I’m making a bigger deal of this than it really is. I’m stalling.

  It’s like when the alarm goes off in the morning and you keep hitting snooze.

  Just five more minutes of
the dream...

  Just a little more time to be who we are without the pressures of the outside world.

  When Gabe reaches out to grab the front of his shirt to tug me to him, I don’t fight it. With his fingertip, he tips my face up to his, his truth so open that my breath catches to see it.

  This is all I ever wanted.

  This is why I refused to let go.

  “I don’t think you have much of a choice. We’ve looked for over an hour. They’re going to come looking for us eventually.”

  A stupid thought whispers in my head as we stare at each other, one I shouldn’t say because it will only send him running. But it’s there. On the tip of my tongue, begging to be released.

  “I don’t hate you when you’re like this.”

  He shutters the instant I say it, that wall slamming down in defense against anything real.

  “You will again,” is all he says with that damn smirk on his face before spinning me to walk up the trail.

  His hand smacks my ass to march me in the direction of the house, and I know the moment is over.

  Just like that.

  Gabriel is there and then gone.

  I shouldn’t have said anything. But I couldn’t help it. I’m done lying. Pretending. Spinning in ridiculous circles because no matter where we end up, we always race back to the beginning.

  It only takes a few minutes to reach the head of the trail, Emily’s cabin lit up on the inside and several cars parked in front.

  Gabriel’s Jaguar is among them, and I realize this run through the forest had been his plan all along.

  “How did you do it?”

  “Do what?” he asks. He’s playing innocent but I can hear the hint of laughter in his voice.

  “How did you make it sound like you were at the office? How did you steal your car out of the driveway without me noticing?”

  I spin to face him.

  “How long have you known we were here?”

  The corners of his mouth curl, his smile as conniving as him. “Since you got here.”

  Okay. That’s surprising.

  “It took you three days to do anything about it? And how did you know?”

  “I have a tracking system in my car.”

  Damn it. I laugh at myself because I should have guessed that.

  “Are you done stalling? We should get inside.”