Dalton
Layla’s covered head to toe in mud. She looks absolutely feral, and the fear and confusion in her eyes is notable as she loses her footing and falls right into my arms.
Arm, actually. I keep my sketchbook raised above my head to prevent the mud and grime she’s plastered in from spilling onto the pages of fresh sketches I’ve been working on all morning.
My other arm is roped around her waist as I haul her to her feet. She staggers backward, her mud laden sandals sliding off her feet. “D-Dalton!”
“Layla?” I laugh, unable to help it. “What are you doing out here?”
She screws her face into a scowl, her cheeks the color of ripe tomatoes, before she explodes, “I followed you, you fucking dickhead!”
“Me? Why?”
She looks me up and down, her expression shifting from outright fury to something I can only describe as utter bewilderment.
LaylaI watch Dalton disappear around the side of the house. My heart is still pounding in my chest as I rinse off my legs with the hose and stand in the sun to dry off for a moment. My wrist throbs where I sliced it open on the rose bush. That, or from the feeling of Dalton’s tongue gliding over my skin, which had felt… electrifying.I blush, then blow out my breath, wiping my wet, bare feet on the grass. I pick up my sandals and the mug I’d tossed in the yard before my ill-fated journey through the marsh and walk into the quiet house. I’m not sure where Dalton went, but after dumping my muddy sandals in the utility sink in the laundry room and walking up to my room, I gather he’s not in the house.I take a cold shower, scrubbing what feels like years’ worth of grime from my skin. I scrub and scrub until my skin is raw and aching and then wrap myself in a towel and sit on the edge of my bed in the h
LaylaI wrap my hand around the back of Dalton’s neck, my nails raking over his skin. His hair is like silk–soft and thick–and his skin is warm against my touch.He’s here; he’s real, and I’m safe.His lips brush against mine again in a silent invitation. My heart is still hammering in my chest as I close my eyes and part my lips, letting go of the crushing weight of the fear I’d just experienced and everything I thought I’d seen while running for my life through the house.His tongue slides over my lower lip–tasting me. I inhale a desperate breath before his tongue slides into my mouth, over my teeth, my tongue.He makes a low, throaty sound of pure male satisfaction before pressing his hand against my throat and deepening the kiss until I’m gasping for air.He tastes like salt and scotch. His leather and spice scent coils around me as he
DaltonThe power is still out an hour later. I lean my weight against the window sill, rain seeping through the screen as I take a drag from my cigarette and look at the wind-beaten marsh beyond the boundary of the backyard. The storm is finally moving away, the dark clouds funneling in the distance as the storm nears the Gulf. What little moonlight there is to be had illuminates the room in pale silver.Dressed in only my sweatpants, the cool, stormy air brushes over my naked chest as I keep my eyes on the cemetery in the distance.Hearing Layla’s anguished screams for help earlier tonight rocked me to my core, and there’s nothing I can do to ease her fear now. No, this has gone too far. This place has already sunk its teeth into her flesh, and there’s no escape now--for either of us.Another drag of my cigarette clears my head enough to break out of the sex-fueled haze I’ve been languishing in for
LaylaMonday morning hits me like a ton of bricks. The sun is shining hot and heavy when I roll out of bed at nearly 10:00, blinking rapidly to adjust to the startling glare. I slept like the dead. No dreams fractured my mind last night but…I sit on the edge of the bed, dressed in a men’s shirt that smells like Dalton.My throat bobs as I swallow against the sudden tightening there. A dull ache spreads up my inner thighs, and a bite mark I know is on my left breast sings with awakening pain.Memories of last night crawl back to the forefront of my mind while I sit in the hot sun. Last night, a storm of epic proportions rolled over the property, leaving destruction in its wake. I rise from bed and walk to the window, seeing Curtis on the back lawn cleaning up branches and debris.Deep puddles glisten in the sunlight–and beyond the yard?The marsh is lost beneath a thick layer of fog, l
LaylaBailey pulls me upright. My legs shake as she guides me to a dusty couch and sits me down, her hands on either side of my face. “God, you’re covered in glass–”“I’m fine,” I choke out, but tears sting my eyes as she lovingly reaches up to pick shards of glass from my hair, collecting them in her open palm.“What happened?”“A–a bird–” I swallow the words, my throat burning over each syllable. My throat aches and my skin burns where the doctor licked my neck.Bile rises in my throat at the memory, heightened by the taste of his blood lingering in my mouth. I press my hands to my lips, gagging. Bailey starts, looking wildly around for something for me to throw up in before gripping me hard and dragging me to the small half-bathroom just off the foyer where I throw up in the toilet.A few minutes later, I’m sitting at the ki
DaltonCold water cascades from my hands. The water flows down the sink in crimson ribbons.Out the kitchen window, night has fallen. Lightning flashes in the distance, but tonight’s storm passes the house without much drama. Rain showers over the landscaped backyard in gentle sheets of silver illuminated by the porch light.I shake my wet hands in the sink, reaching for a towel. My brushes are laid out on the counter, all of them clean and glistening in the light coming from a lamp near the kitchen table.I gather my brushes and turn, the glint of metal catching my eye.A butcher knife rests in the dish rack, freshly sharpened.It’s the only thing in the dish rack. Both Bailey and Layla keep the kitchen spotless and would have noticed a knife being left out. I reach for it and pull it off the rack just as Layla walks into the kitchen.Dressed in pale blue scrubs with her hair pu
LaylaI shouldn’t love Dalton’s dominance and force as much as I do. My ears are still ringing with his praise as I spend the next several hours tending to my aunt. She’s sleeping soundly, peacefully. All of her stats are still in the green. I read over Bailey’s notes, which she’d written on a notepad instead of typing them into the tablet. When we decided to take her off the two suspicious medications, we’d hatched a plan. We’re going to take notes on paper, something we can hide or destroy so it doesn’t fall into Vera’s hands.I don’t know Vera well enough to say she has a good handle on her pharmaceutical knowledge, but she’s been a nurse for decades according to Bailey. I’m under the impression she’ll notice we switched out the IV medication for saline and the pills Aunt Penny already struggles to swallow for sugary placebos.But we have to try. Something
DaltonI coat my brush in paint and dab it gently against the wall in the cigar room. With each stroke, the wallpaper is coming back to life. Sunlight drifts through the windows, highlighting the dust my movements disturb with each flick of my wrist.It’s nearly 2:00 in the afternoon. I’ve been fighting the urge to storm into Layla’s room and wake her up, demanding answers.Something happened to her last night. The look on her face and hurt behind her eyes sets my soul on fire every time I think about our encounter in the hallway early this morning.Something happened, and whoever did it… they made her think it was me.I clutch the brush so tightly it snaps.“Fuck.” I growl, tossing the pieces onto the plastic at my feet. I rest my hand against the wall, then press my forehead to it, closing my eyes for a moment. “You fucking bastard,” I whisper to t
Zeke“I’m a terrible person.”I’m back on the porch with Miss Penny, who’s regarding me with an unreadable expression. I have no doubt that she knows what happened this morning, the same way she’s aware of everything that goes on in this house.I don’t need her to tell me that I fucked up. I was supposed to warn Julia about the threat Amos poses, not claim her. Even though she’d thought it was a dream, I still had no right to trick her like that. I feel so guilty that I can hardly think about anything else.“Do you regret it?” Miss Penny asks suddenly, breaking me from my cocoon of self pity.I shake my head. “It was amazing,” I admit abashedly. “But I feel like I took advantage of her. How can I ever fix this?”“You start by doing right by her,” she replies sternly. “You need to come clean.”I hate that she’s right. It would be far easier to just pretend it never happened, but I owe Julia so much more than that. She deserves to be treated with honesty and respect.She deserves the tr
JuliaTo say I’m royally confused when I wake up is an understatement.I sit up groggily, blinking back sleep. My thoughts are a jumbled mess, and my body still rings from the ghost of this morning’s encounter. Logically, I know it was a dream. So why did it feel so real?An image of Zeke kneeling beside the bed flashes through my mind, and I can’t help but blush at the intensity that flared in his honeyed eyes. But he couldn’t have been here. That’s just silly.“It was just a dream,” I murmur into the empty bedroom, as if the words could convince my harried thoughts.“What was that?” Jake’s voice calls from the en suite bathroom. It takes me a moment to register the sound of the shower, and then realization hits me like a brick.Jake and I fucked last night.And we’d made love this morning, hadn’t we?It still seemed so hazy. I could have sworn it had been Zeke’s face hovering over me as he moved so reverently inside of me. Things with Jake had never been like that. They were either
JuliaAs a great woman once said, diamonds are a girl’s best friend.I stand in front of the mirror in the trendy boutique in New Orleans, examining the new strand of precious stones adorning my throat. I’d paid for the mind-blowingly expensive necklace using Jake’s platinum card, which had given me a small sliver of satisfaction.He’d called in the early hours of the morning, begging for me to forgive him. At first, I’d told him that there was no way in hell I’d let him come crawling back to me, but all the while, my heart ached until the burn was almost unbearable.One chance. That’s all I’ll give him.In the meantime, I’ll shamelessly spend down his accounts in preparation for the worst.Because it would be terrible if we divorced, wouldn’t it? I think wistfully of the lifestyle I’ve enjoyed over the last several years, excluding the months spent in solitude on the edge of a fetid swamp. I’d be losing much more than him if I left.Doubt continues to gnaw at me as I gather my bags a
JuliaI can’t stay here.Jake’s been gone all day. In fact, I hadn’t even heard him leave in the first place, and God only knows where he went. But I’m absolutely sure that I don’t want to be here when he gets back.If he comes back.Would that really be so bad, I wonder? It’s true that I hate it out here at the edge of the festering swamp, locked away in this big empty house with only ghosts for company. But without Jake tying me down, I could go anywhere, do anything.I could even find another man, one who would treat me better than the bastard I’d married.A fine blush rises in my cheeks as the memory of Zeke’s passion whispers across my lips. Guilt trickles through me in its wake. I can’t believe we’d kissed. As terrible as Jake’s actions have been, I’ve never once felt the need to seek out another man.But there is something about Zeke that beckons me, drawing me closer like a lighthouse in the dark. It isn’t just that he’shandsome, or even that he’snice to me. I have the uncanny
ZekeSomething dreadful happened last night.I’d been out in the swamp, enjoying the sound of the rain pattering off the soft fronds of the ferns in the underbrush when I’d noticed Jake stumbling drunkenly to the garage.Even worse, I watched from the shadows as he spoke to that thing as though he was just making another shady business deal. Though I wasn’t able to hear what Amos demanded, I think I have a pretty good idea what it is.Who it is.I watched Jake stagger around the property for a while before he got into his car and drove off. Good riddance, in my opinion.But I’m concerned for Julia. I don’t trust Jake for a second, and she doesn’t deserve to be used as a pawn in this sick game.And now I’m lingering at her front door, my hand raised and poised to press the doorbell. For a moment, I don’t think I can go through with it, but then the memory of Jake speaking with Amos flashes through my mind, and I know I have no other option. I have to make sure she’s all right.Thinking
JakeOh God, what have I done?Panic and desperation crash over me in unrelenting tidal waves, dragging me under until I’m drowning in them. I’m sitting on the bed in the guest room, holding my head in my hands and rocking back and forth.I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Hours, probably. At some point, I’d stumbled down to the kitchen to grab a bottle of whiskey. It sits on the floor by my feet, the amber liquid significantly drained.The alcohol hadn’t helped. I’m unable to numb the tumult that roils inside of me.I hit my wife.She deserved it.The cold, foreign voice slithers through my mind, and I groan, trying to drown it out.I’ve done a lot of questionable things over the years, some more legal than others. And maybe, just maybe, I’d said things to intentionally hurt Julia in the past, but I’d never physically harmed her.Until tonight.She was asking for it.“Shut up!” I whimper, clawing at my temples. “Shut up!”I stand and start pacing in the small space between the bed
JuliaTears well in my eyes, threatening to spill over. But I know that if I start crying, I won’t be able to stop.“Get a fucking grip,” I mutter to myself.I’m lying on the couch in the living room, attempting to watch my favorite reality TV show. After I confronted Jake earlier, I haven’t been able to focus. Racing thoughts flutter through my brain like paper in the wind. I’d optimistically heated up a frozen dinner, but I’d only been able to pick at it before my nausea had overpowered my desire to eat. Now the meal sits, cold and congealed, on the coffee table, all but forgotten.I know I could call Nina for support, but I don’t want to go there until I have all of the facts. And the truth is, I don’t really have many of those at all right now.Yes, Jake’s reaction to my questions all but confirmed my suspicions that he’s nothing more than a cheating bastard. I have no doubt that he’s up to his old tricks, but this time, I’m not going to let him off so easily. I need cold, hard pr
JakeI’m not a coward.It’s not like I was scared and ran away because a fucking light bulb broke, or because the ensuing darkness seemed bigger somehow, alive. No, it was because I simply had business to attend to. At least, that’s what I tell myself as I pull up in front of the house at the edge of the swamp.Julia probably hadn’t even cared that I’d gone. After all, I’d texted her that I had to go out, and she hadn’t ever responded. Did she even notice I left? God, she sure knows how to make a guy feel wanted in his marriage.A streak of lightning skitters across the leaden sky, followed quickly by a peal of thunder so loud that the car practically rattles around me. It’s not raining yet, though the clouds that loom overhead are the color of a fresh bruise and promise an imminent downpour. Not wanting to ruin my vehicle, I decide to park in the garage instead of the driveway.The rain starts just as I pull inside. Water roars against the roof, and once closed, the automatic door do
ZekeGod, I feel so alive.I close my eyes and let the relentless eye of the sun beat down on me. What does it see when it looks at me? A man? Something more? Something less?And what does Julia see, I wonder?I know it’s dangerous to let my thoughts wander down this path, but it’s as though my mind has become untethered with possibilities. My hand curls around a phantom mug, remembering the feeling of the smooth porcelain against my palm and the heat radiating through my hand as Julia had questioned me with increasing interest.I’d just had coffee with Julia Carter.She wore no makeup, and her hair was mussed from sleep, but that had somehow only made her more beautiful. Her eyes, as green as moss, shone in the fresh morning light. I had the overwhelming urge to reach out and touch her, to brush my fingertips over the soft curve of her lips, but propriety stopped me in my tracks.I wouldn’t disrespect Julia like that. She is too good for me to be thinking about her in such a way.To