Page 20 of Free Fall

I scowled at him. He knew about me and his dad. He had done nothing to show he cared apart from some vague threats and knowing looks. He hadn’t asked anymore about the ring sitting in the bottom of my parents’ pool, nor tried to blackmail either of us like I’d expected him to. Cole was the type of person to use information for his own gain, but for some reason, he hadn’t used this. It unsettled me. Made me feel uneasy every time our gazes caught. A sense that he was building up to something bigger, something more. Luca wouldn’t talk about it, and Cole was too smarmy to give me a straight answer.

“Daddy dearest?” he pushed his point, dropping an arm around my shoulders and grazing my bicep with his nails. I shrugged him off and stood up, brushing my bare legs free of imaginary dust and taking a sip of water. The view really was soothing. Cole wasn’t bothering me half as much as he did the majority of the time. I imagined dropping him into the volcano and smiled.

“I think we should screw with him,” Cole murmured, standing up with me, not looking my way now. He was studying the view like he wasn’t sure of it, like he wasn’t sure if he enjoyed it or wanted it to burn to cinder. “Lets fuck, get caught, ruin his fucking day.”

“Cole, no,” I blurted, voice dipped low as I stared at him in complete shock. Our families were scattered over the viewpoint, but it wasn’t a very big space. The guide was nearby, chatting to Jesse and pointing things out. Jesse was nodding along out of politeness, but I could tell he’d rather not listen. He was more polite than his brother, who would have just scoffed and turned around.

“Think how fun it could be. He’s still fucking Mommy. Leaving you on the sidelines until he wants to use you. Doesn’t that piss you off? Doesn’t that make you want to hurt him?”

“Why do you want to hurt him?”

Cole shrugged. “None of your business.” I wanted it to be my business, it was such a strange dynamic. And I think it was Cole and Luca exclusive, Jesse didn’t seem to be involved at all. I was itching to know.

“How do you know all this, Cole? What’s your game here? Why should I believe you have good intentions for me?” My questions spilled from me in a rush, and I watched the minute expression changes on his face. A twitch of his jaw. A smirk. A raise of one brow.

I pursed my lips and turned away from him when he made no attempt to answer.

The view of the Hawaiian forest and beaches settled something inside me. No rage or jealousy beat at my doors while I contemplated Cole’s words. I was still pissed at Luca’s behavior with Alison, even though I had no right to be. But going for revenge, trying to fuck someone else, hadn’t worked. When he’d stroked my cheeks and checked I was okay with unusual tenderness, it didn’t seem like the same man who’d been happy to fist me without telling me our connection, not the same man who’d fucked my face until I was streaming with tears or who’d left me alone and broken on the floor of a sex club.

Really, messing with him, ruining whatever this was, making him hate me so he’d leave me in peace, was the best thing I could do. For both of us. Or just for me. It would hurt, I was under no illusions that he hadn’t shoveled his way under my skin, but the pain would lessen if I could get out now. Right?

I let the thought of messing him roll over me, of letting Cole use me to piss off his dad. He had an ulterior motive for sure, but did I care?

Which one was the real Luca? The man on the beach with the worry in his eye, or the sexual deviant who didn’t care to hear me say yes. Who I trying not to fall for? I looked at his son, at Cole, his jaw tensing and untensing, and I could figure it the hell out.

Revenge won out.

After the hike, I headed into the local town with Cole to visit their only sex shop. It was bizarre to be in such a place with him, but we kitted ourselves out with all manner of kinky shit. Cole bought himself a leather vest, a whip, and a leash he was planning to use on me. I’d laughed at him, but everyone in the shop scowled in my direction, so I kept my thoughts to myself from then. It was just so weird. It was Cole. And he wasnotwhipping me.

I bought the cheapest kitten ears they had, a little tail and a collar. I already had lingerie that would do the job — it wasn’t worth considering why I’d brought it from home in the first place.

Cole paid for his stuff while I waited outside, and when he came out of the shop, he handed me a zipped-up fabric bag, winking at me as he told me to look in it later. When things needed kicking up a notch. I rolled my eyes but took the bag, curiosity making me want to peek. He was as devilish as his dad, so the things in the bag had my intrigue.

We wandered the town until it was late enough to head to the club, dipping into touristy shops, sitting in a park with Poi Mochi and gossiping about our college. It was nice, it shocked me how nice it was to hang out with Cole with no pretense. He could be funny, sweet under his stony exterior. In another life, we might have made a good couple. Until we reached the club and his demeanor shifted to the devil I knew.

We weren’t going to have sex, but we were planning to push Luca’s limits. It was childish, made me look like an insecure brat and every other minute I second-guessed myself and turned to leave. But fuck him. He couldn’t have it both ways and stop me from living my life. I wouldn’t be his alone if he wasn’t mine. Cole and I may have been adults, but I was ready to use the fact that we were college students, that we were only two years out of our teens, as an excuse. Fuck it all.

In the changing room, I wrestled into my lingerie, slipping the cat ears and fluffy tail on. The lingerie was a black lace body suit with peekaboo cut outs and some see-through panels. I loved it. The collar was a little trickier to get on, but I buckled it around my throat after one too many cusses. Cole grinned when I met him in the hall, his fist clenching like he wanted to reach out.

“Can’t wait to get this off you,” he said, flexing his muscles in his new leather vest. His muscles bulged in all the right places, somehow more obscene than seeing him in just a pair of swimming trunks. Here, with the leather straining over his pecs and abs, it felt like I was seeing more of him.

Trepidation made me wobble as he turned to enter the main club, but I knew he came to these places already, so I trusted him to guide me through. “Come on.”

I wasn’t submissive by nature. Only Luca had ever brought that side out of me, so this would be interesting. Already I wanted to fight back at him.

“On your hands and knees then, kitten,” Cole said with a grin as he rested his palms on the door to enter, a low hum of music vibrating through. “Or I’ll whip ya.”

I threw him a glare but sank down. Luca and Dad weren’t supposed to be here until later, but may as well get into character. Couldn’t hurt any.

In the main club, which was smaller than I’d anticipated, boys and other girls were on their knees too. Some just had the animal’s ears, others were masked up with leather puppy faces and cuffs mimicking paws. It didn’t look as though they could speak or use their mouths at all. Seemed a waste in a place like this. One girl’s tail was clearly a butt plug, swaying out from between her cheeks. My curiosity piqued at the sight of it disappearing inside her.

It was fascinating. I didn’t mind Cole hooking the leash to my collar and forcing me through the crowd, because I got to see everything from this vantage point, and I didn’t have to pay attention to where we were going. Just had to follow.

The lights were low, the music gentle, and I noticed the bar had a no alcohol sign. They were serving bowls of water and kibble for the human-animals though — I hoped Cole didn’t go there with me. This wasn’t real. It was fun, but I knew I wasn’t into this with him. Even as the beat thrummed through me and my arms hurt from crawling, the sub space I went to with Luca was nowhere to be found. I was cognizant, wide awake.

Cole sauntered around, preening like a damn peacock, finding a spot right out in the open for us to settle. It was a good location, near the corner on a semi-raised platform with a view of the door. A small table would be easy for me to slip behind if I had anyone to hide from. Like my dad. Shit, was I really going to be in the same sex club as him? Gross.

“Sit by my legs, rest your head on my thigh. He’ll be here soon,” Cole muttered, running his hands through my hair. I didn’t pull away, but it didn’t feel good. Not like it could.

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