Beneath His Darkness (Healing Hearts #3) Read online

  She doesn’t stop, but her steps slow. “We’re supposed to go to some fancy dinner thing tonight, some promotional event. I forgot and now he’ll know I’ve been crying. He’ll want to know why and I’ll need to make something up.”

  Her words are rapidly passing through her lips and I wonder if she is hearing them. Why is she really afraid he’ll know she was crying? Everybody cries at one point or another.

  “Okay,” I say slowly, “if he asks why you’ve been crying then—”

  “Then I’ll tell him whatever I think up on the cab ride back to our place. Don’t worry, I won’t tell him about us,” she snaps at me.

  “I wasn’t asking you what you planned to tell him,” I continue, speaking as soothingly as I can. My kid gloves are firmly in place. She should have come with a “handle with care” sticker. “You just seem really upset that he’ll know you were crying. I’m not sure why that’s such a big deal. People cry, Vic. Will he be upset with you? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

  “What? No!” She stops now and stares at me. “Tucker is a good guy. A great guy, actually. He’s just not a great boyfriend. He’ll want to talk about why I was crying and try to comfort me, which will make me feel even more like shit because I’m crying over the fact that I want to be with another man. Don’t you get it?”

  Oh, I get it, alright. You’re still only thinking of Tucker. How do I make you start thinking about yourself?

  “I understand,” I sigh, unable to hide my irritation. Let her think what she wants about my attitude. At this point, I don’t give a shit.

  “Don’t be mad at me.”

  And the crying starts all over again.

  Damn it, I’ll never get rid of her.

  “I’m not mad at you, Vic,” I soothe, pulling her back into my arms. “I just want this to be over so you and I can be together. I’m sorry if I got upset with you.”

  Could I sound like more of a pussy right now? Strap your fucking balls back on and get her the fuck outta here before Melanie gets here.

  “Let’s get you cleaned up, okay? Maybe a warm cloth?”

  That’s what you call getting your manhood back? Tell her to go back to Tucker where she wants to be and stop her Goddamn whining. Instead, you hand her a warm washcloth to clean up her messed up mascara. Fucking pussy.

  My mood went south fast when she stuck up for Tucker and I’m barely restraining my inner demons. I need to get her out of here before I fuck up years of planning. Placing my hand to her lower back, I escort her to the bathroom and help her focus on getting herself put back together.

  Fifteen long minutes later, I give her a kiss before she walks out my door. She promises she’ll text me later to let me know she’s alright. I smile, even though the last thing I want is a text from her while I’m working on a different part of my plan with a different woman.

  As soon as the door is closed, I silence my cell and run for the shower. I need to make sure eu de Victoria is washed off me before my next guest arrives.

  Hair wet and towel around my waist, I answer the call from the concierge. Oh, hell yes, I want him to send Ms. Kingston up. I’m not even bothering to get dressed. Fuck, I’m not bothering to finish drying off. She can take me as I am.

  I open the door and wait for her to come off the elevator.

  Her blue eyes light up like the sun coming out from behind the clouds when she sees me and licks her lips. “I could do with a greeting like that every time,” she says, trying to make her voice sound sexy.

  Too bad her voice is naturally nasally and she can’t quite pull it off. Plus, she’s a fucking blonde. The shit I have to put up with to get what I want.

  Her eyes are glued to my cock. A million blonde jokes come to mind. How many cocks does it take to distract a blonde? I drop my towel, not caring that my door is wide open and any of my neighbors could walk into the hall. Guess, it only takes one.

  “Grant,” her voice comes out in a hoarse whisper.

  “How do you want it tonight, Mel?”

  Her eyes finally find mine and I can see the effort it takes for her to tear herself away from the view. I don’t know whether I want to laugh or tell her she’s pathetic. It’s just a dick. Jump on or fucking leave.

  “Your choice.”

  Wrong thing to say. I have a lot of tension to work out and it looks like she’s going to be my punching bag.

  “Hard and fast it is.”

  “Oh.”

  “O, indeed. I’m going to make you orgasm so hard, your teeth will rattle.”

  Her hand flies to her chest and I grab the other one roughly, pulling her behind me. With a shove from my foot, the door slams behind us with a thud.

  I march us into the living room and stop in front of the couch. Looking down at her, I see hunger burning in her eyes. If only I wanted her that much. I wonder whether she’d still sleep with me if she knew I wasn’t that into her. Someday, I’ll have to test that theory.

  Pushing thoughts of another test aside, I slam my lips down hard onto hers. Hearing her whimper, I smile from the pain I’ve caused. Instantly, I regret the kiss. Why on earth she always chews that fruity ass bubblegum is beyond me. It’s not flattering to the person who has their tongue in your mouth. Still, I devour her, own her, show her no mercy. My tongue delves in as deep as it can until I’m practically stealing her breath. I want to punish her for disappointing me.

  I rip her away from me and quickly scan her outfit. For the first time during our arrangement, I’m extremely grateful for her choice in clothing. Her dress is perfect for what I have in mind. I’m the big, bad wolf and tonight, I’m going to mount little Red.

  Twirling her so her back is to me, I bend her over the edge of my couch. A quick succession of smacking sounds reverberate through the air as I bring my hand down several times quickly over the fabric of her ass.

  Yes, that’s right. Scream for me.

  Forcefully, I yank her dress up around her hips, exposing red, lace panties. I shred them without a thought and stare down at the light marks left on her skin from the smacks I gave. I’m finally starting to feel aroused.

  “God, yes! Take me, Grant!”

  I kick her legs wider apart, not caring whether I hurt her. She’s so turned on, her sex weeps for me. I stare at it, watch how the juices flow in anticipation, and wait for her to beg me to take her before I ram my cock into her.

  Her body jolts forward and her head bounces off the couch cushions, but I don’t let up. I continue to smash into her. Our bodies are like debris in a storm on a collision course with one another. There’s a push and pull that becomes central to my entire mind set. Pull out to leave her wanting. Push in to cause explosions.

  Sweat slicks my body and her cries for release reach my ears. My hands join the party, reaching around her body, zoning in on the sweet spot and pinching down hard. When her body flies back into mine, I use my other hand to push her back down. I don’t want our bodies connected other than at the waist.

  Her moans intensify and I squeeze her clit harder, push into her deeper. A few more thrusts and her nasally screams echo off the walls. I have to shut them out and work myself extra hard to get off. I picture a raspy voice, dark hair and eyes… fucking someone completely different than who I’m with now. My mind takes me away from the woman whose nails are digging into my legs, to a woman who knows how to truly pleasure a man, with her mouth, her hands, her pussy, her voice… everything.

  A couple of pumps later, and I’m there. I pull out and let loose all over her ass. I wouldn’t waste my load inside of her. It would be an insult to myself on someone like her.

  “Let me go get a warm cloth to get you cleaned up,” I say with false niceties.

  “Thanks, Grant. Wow! That was…just wow.”

  I walk away, needing the minute from her. I can’t wait for this to fucking agreement be over.

  After cleaning Melanie up, I give her the new scripts. We talk about what her writer thought of the old scripts and if he’s goin
g to use them. I make sure he doesn’t know they’re from me. I’ll keep fucking her and putting up with her annoying ass as long as she can keep my name out of this. Little does Davyd know, I’ve set him up to take the fall if the writer Melanie is working with goes to anyone from Facing Extinction.

  That is, if Melanie can keep her trap shut.

  Relief floods my system when she says she has an early morning taping session so she can’t stay. I act like I’ll miss her, but on the inside, I’m doing a damn happy dance. It’s becoming harder and harder to spend time with her. I’m not sure how I’m going to get through months of this.

  Our kiss at the door is brief and I hope she doesn’t pick up on my disinterest.

  I collapse on my couch, needing a minute to breathe. Between her and Victoria, I’ve been acting all day. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be me. Speaking of Victoria, maybe I should check my cell. Running my hand down my tired face, I grab for the phone. There’s no text from Vic, but the text I do have has me breaking out in a cold sweat.

  Davyd: 1st Victoria. Then Melanie. You get around. I’ve been watching. It’s my turn now.

  He’s been watching? When? How did I not see him? I watch people and they don’t see me. I know how to do this so I should know whether someone is watching me. He knows about Victoria. Fuck! No one is supposed to know about her. She’s my secret.

  Has he been watching my building today or over many days? How often is he monitoring me? How far has he gone? My body starts to shake. I’ve kept things from advancing beyond the kiss that first night, but now…now he has information to use against me. I’m not going to be able to hold him off anymore.

  What is he going to want from me?

  Chapter Eight

  Grant—Twenty Two Years Old

  I tap off a text to Vic, telling her I’ll meet her at Tucker’s trailer in twenty minutes. I know she doesn’t want to meet me there, but because she wants to make me happy, she gives in to my request. It wasn’t that hard to convince her. I just told her I wanted to make love to her in the fanciest trailer on the set. If she took the time to think about it, she would have realized Eddie has the fanciest one.

  I’ve been talking to her about this for weeks, letting her know I’d figure out the day. Today is the last day of taping and I know she and Tucker have a special dinner celebrate tradition. I plan to fuck that up.

  This morning, I looked over the taping schedule, memorized where everyone would be and when. Last day of taping on our set is extremely scheduled, but we all want to get out of here to start enjoying our summer break so we work our asses off.

  Vic has no scenes today, which works perfectly into my plan. She won’t see the schedule.

  Everything would fall into place and that’s just what I need after Davyd’s invasion and kidnapping this morning. I don’t know what else to call it.

  I came into work early to check the schedule. I never planned to be locked in the bathroom with my worst nightmare, but I turned around to him clicking the lock in place, a smile on his face, and me staring into two eyes as dark as oil. Being around him has taught me what true evil is. I thought I had been heading there, but I’ve learned I haven’t even scratched the surface.

  I tried to reason with him, telling him anyone could show up to use the bathroom, but it didn’t dissuade him. When he told me he was going to make me his toy, that was exactly what he meant.

  Over the last two months, he has used me and my body in any way he’s seen fit. He has dressed me up, chained me, and dominated me. He knows I can’t reciprocate for him, but that doesn’t seem to affect him. He gets off on having power over me.

  Still able to feel what he did to my body, I need to inflict pain on someone else and I can’t think of anyone I want to hurt more than Tucker. It’s about time that smug son of a bitch learns what it’s like when something is taken from him.

  The sooner I get done destroying Tucker, the sooner I can be done with Davyd’s torment.

  Vic is on her way now, thinking Tucker has to tape an extra scene. I’m surprised she fell for that. Things must be worse with them than I thought. I was banking on that, but I was a bit nervous she wouldn’t buy it and I would have to find a different way for Tucker to catch us. They really are more like roommates than a couple. She believed me without calling him to see whether he had to stay late.

  Walking out of the set doors, I start to whistle. This is the happiest I’ve been in years.

  Tucker’s scene was almost done when I left so I know there isn’t much time for chitchat when I meet up with Vic. Instead, I mold my lips to hers, grip my fingers into her hair, and grind my pelvis against her. I want her to know what we’re here for. She responds by bringing her fingers to the button on my jeans.

  Oh, yes. My plan will come to fruition.

  “Grant, are you sure about doing this here?”

  “Definitely…here…”I say in between kisses and nips to her neck. “It’s so hot.”

  She grabs for me and I take her arm and spin her. I’ve found my new position when I’m angry is from behind. I don’t want anyone looking me in the eyes. They may see the marks that Davyd has left behind and I can’t let that happen. That is my dirty secret and it shall remain hidden.

  In rapid movements, I free myself from my clothing, push her dress around her hips and drop her panties to her ankles. Her ass is perfectly round and her caramel skin calls out to me. I quickly bend her over and sink myself into her until I’m balls deep. I’m going to miss being inside her, the way she pushes back on me, her warmth, how she screams out my name when she climaxes…she’s glorious.

  Of all my manipulations to take down Tucker, she has been my favorite. It’s a shame she has to be a part of this and I’ll lose her. I’ve thought through every scenario that would allow her to stay in my life, but there are none. She’s a casualty.

  A great fuck. That’s how I have to keep seeing her.

  Back and forth, she pushes on my cock, trying to milk my juices from me. Her moans and cries intensify as I hit her spot with each inward thrust. She’s so close. I can feel her body tensing and muscles contracting around me. A few more pumps and she’ll fall over the edge into sexual nirvana.

  “Are you enjoying yourself?”

  Finally, the prodigal son returns.

  I don’t bother to see what Vic’s reaction to Tucker being here is. I simply stand up with a smirk on my face, stare him in the eye, knowing he can finally see how I despise him, and zip my pants. I walk by him, slightly bumping him as I go, enjoying the crowd of crew members who have gathered to watch the fall of the once proud king of the castle. The whispering as I walk by only makes me smile bigger. Let them talk. They all know the truth.

  I took what was Tucker’s.

  I hear Tucker screaming at Vic. I start to go back and stick up for her, but then I hear her begging him to let her stay. Stupid girl. You just sealed your fate. If ever I would have thought to change my mind and find a spot for you in my life, you just squashed that chance.

  Tucker’s rant makes my heart swell with joy. I can hear the pain in his words and I feel a sense of redemption. He has owed me for so very long.

  This is just the beginning.

  Chapter Nine

  Grant—Twenty Two Years Old

  Tucker disappeared the day of the “altercation”. That’s what the crew has been calling it. I’ve gone out for drinks with a few of them and no one wants to ask me how long I’ve been fucking Tucker’s woman. When they bring up his name, they just say no one has heard from him.

  I stay quiet and listen, trying to act like I feel bad for running everyone’s favorite out of town, but seriously, I’m fucking thrilled. Knowing he’s miserable makes me want to get up and dance the Irish Jig on the damn bar and buy a round of drinks for everybody. It’s ironic that they think I’m a cool guy and Vic is a cheating whore. Everyone is ready to crucify the “no talent bitch” that used Tucker to get her foot in the door and then betrayed him the first chance
she got. Little do they know, I worked every weakness and vulnerability I could and Tucker is no fucking saint.

  I’ve been avoiding Victoria’s phone calls and texts. I figure, after a few more days, she’ll get the message that she’s been used and find someone new to latch onto. Tucker will never be what she needs. I don’t say that because I hate him. I say it because they aren’t compatible. They don’t talk to each other…about anything. They share an apartment, but live separate lives. Their break up was inevitable. I guess, in a way, I helped them.

  Someday, Tucker may even thank me.

  So lost in my thoughts of Tucker’s spiral, I’m not sure I hear things correctly, but the knock comes again. I know I didn’t get a call from the concierge that someone was coming up. I throw on a pair of boxer briefs and head for the door. Through the peephole, I see Vic.

  What was I just thinking about her realizing she’d been used?

  I open the door a sliver and confused brown eyes stare at me. They open even more round at the site of my present state of dress and as much as she wants me to explain things to her, that isn’t going to happen. She needs to go away. I need to effectively end this now.

  I can tell she wants to come in, but I don’t budge from my spot or offer her entrance. Hurt creeps into her eyes.

  “Had a really bad morning, Grant. I needed to see you.”

  I’m sure she had a bad morning. Davyd told me they’re killing her off the show. Right after he brutalized my body. I thought I was done dealing with him, but he let me know there is more information to come and it involves me, so I better keep playing nice.

  “Now isn’t a good time, Vic. How did you get up here?” If I sound pissed, it’s because I am. I goddamn told Benny not to let anyone up. That’s what fucking Do Not Disturb means. Wait until I get my hands on that little bastard. “Didn’t Benny tell you I wasn’t to be disturbed?”

  She falters. Her breath visibly hitches and I see her confidence waver. Maybe she’s finally getting it. I start to slide my hand across the door, thinking this is over.