Page 15 of Rattlin' Bones

“Stay still. Enjoy the pounding I’m about to give you. Take every fucking hard inch, and don’t say a word until you scream with your orgasm. You hear me, Baby?”

I did.

He gave my ass one last slap and drove so deep I rose on my tiptoes to accommodate his entire length. He took me hard and fast, thrusting so wildly that the wooden barrel rocked underneath my hands, and it had to weigh a ton with all the liquid inside.

It was impossible to remain completely silent. The way he owned my body and used me, giving and taking as he brought the both of us to the edge of delirium, nearly broke me. My head wanted to forget he hurt me. My heart couldn’t seem to stop thumping with the brutality of our past.

It was a stalemate. I’d loved Skel for three long years and didn’t think I’d ever stop. But he didn’t love me back. That was so painful that tears rushed to my eyes. A few slipped free, slinking over my cheeks as I got lost in my head, enjoying and hating this moment with Skel.

He must have sensed the change. Pulling out, he tugged me against his chest, his cock slipping between my thighs to tease my aching pussy from behind. “You left me.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I whispered, unable to hide the sob that followed.

“Fuck.” He turned me around as his eyes found mine through the holes in the mask. “I would never hurt you.”

“Physically? No.” I sniffled. “But you’re breaking my heart every time you walk away.”

The mask hid his expression. I didn’t know what he thought or if I just pushed him away for good.

“I want to finish this and not leave you aching, Baby. This conversation isn’t over. Will you trust me?”

I blinked as two more tears tracked down my cheeks. Skel wiped them away. “Yes.”

“Wrap your legs around my waist,” he softly ordered as he lifted me. “You feel so fucking good, Lacey. Focus on how we fit together because we’re fucking perfect.”

Did he know what he said? What he admitted?

I love you, Skel.

My skeleton man. My dark knight on his iron horse. Skel was everything I ever wanted, every wicked fantasy and every schoolgirl dream. Without him, I was incomplete.

He entered me on an upward thrust, snatching my thoughts away as my body responded to his. It didn’t take much for me to forget where we were or what was happening around us. When Skel was near, I only wanted him.

He yanked the mask upward and lowered his head, capturing my lips in a kiss that stole my heart all over again. His dark hazel eyes filled with lust, but that wasn’t the only thing I saw. Need and possessiveness warred for equal dominance.

“Come with me,” he demanded, softening his tone. “Squeeze my cock and flood me, Baby. I want to see you fall apart.”

It only took three more thrusts before I cried out his name, digging my nails into his shoulders as my core clenched, and I came so hard that I almost pushed him out.

Skel shuddered, slamming into me before he groaned. I felt his cock jerk inside me, and I held him close, not wanting the moment to end. We didn’t move for a full minute, both of us panting as our breathing slowed.

He kissed me, brushing the hair out of my eyes. “Come on. We need to talk.”

“Okay,” I swallowed, brushing my fingertips over his jaw.

He helped me into my shorts, and I didn’t miss the feral look in his eyes when he noticed the slick skin of my thighs smeared with our combined fluids.

Chapter 5 Skel

Three years earlier—

It had been four days since I brought Lacey home and left her at the penthouse with her father. I spent that time digging deep into the web, searching for information on Juan and Luis Diego. The brothers shared a rap sheet a mile long. They’d been in trouble since their teen years, and both had seen the inside of a jail cell numerous times.

That concerned me. Judge Maxwell had been targeted because of his reputation for being tough on crime. He was a notorious judge known for giving the maximum sentences to criminals. He already sent two of Luis Diego’s associates to prison in the last year, including a cousin. That made Judge Maxwell an enemy of Luis and Juan Diego. By association, that also made Lacey a target.

Luis took her to prove a point. He could get to her whenever he wanted, and if the judge sent his brother away, he would go after Lacey—an eye for an eye.

Men like Luis only knew violence. It was their way of life, the currency they used to evoke fear, and how they remained in control. Power was everything to Luis.

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