Nemesis: Katie's story (Heart of Stone Book 15) Read online

  It did make sense. “But why me?”

  She shrugged. “Cos’ you’re an arsehole probably.”

  That also made sense.

  Fourteen

  Katie

  A long wisp of breath slowly poured from me as I hazily watched the narrow river of red snake its way down my belly and puddle at the junction of my legs.

  “Hey, baby,” Steed whispered from where he lay at the bottom of my bed. His sparkling eyes looked up at me with both love and amusement. “One day, Mrs Steed, you’re gonna allow me some rest.”

  I reached out to him, but knowing the rules, I let my hand drop to my side and curled my fingers into my palm to stop the hunger to feel him once again influencing me.

  “I’ll never let you go, Steed.”

  His eyes saddened and he sighed. Pushing himself upright, he crawled up the bed until he was caging me beneath him. His fingers lit a trail of fire over my skin when he stroked across my cheekbone, wiping away the tear that I had forbidden freedom.

  “One day soon, you will let me go.” I opened my mouth to argue but he scowled and pressed his finger to my lips. “And, what’s more,” he added quietly, “you’ll be ready to let go. I won’t ever leave you while you need me, Katie. Never. I swore an oath to you, and whether it be in life, or death, I will never break my promise to you.”

  I swallowed the pain that blistered my throat and nodded. “You promise?”

  “With all my heart, all the pain inside me, and every fibre of my soul, my love.”

  His kiss overwhelmed my senses and my head swam. His cool lips felt like nirvana on the heat of my wet ones, and his touch on my face nestled inside, cocooning my heart and ceasing the constant pain.

  Rearing back, he gave me a soft smile and then rested his head on my chest, swinging his arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him. “We need to talk.”

  I tensed, my heart beating a little quicker with his words. “About?”

  “The man currently sleeping in the spare room.”

  “Steed!” I panicked, bolting upright and shaking my head as more tears – tears of shame and guilt – flowed over. “I’m sorry! I…”

  He glowered at me, and took my hand in his, giving it a tight squeeze. “Baby, stop. I’m not here to haul you over the coals. I approve.”

  My alarm turned to surprise and I stilled. “What?”

  He nodded, my favourite smile of his beaming at me. “You need him for what’s coming. Believe it, or not, he’s a good guy. He was paid to do a job, Katie, much like we often were. It wasn’t personal, and he was specifically paid to do the job on our wedding day.”

  “But…”

  “No!” he interrupted sternly. “I want no vengeance. This is my choice, and my choice is to see you happy.”

  I stared at him, shock and disbelief muting me as he carried on.

  “Promise me, Katie. Promise me you will heed my wishes.”

  “I’m...” Stunned, I shook my head. “I’m not sure I can.”

  “You can.” He smiled again, stroking his finger over my bottom lip. “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever known. You can, and I know, for me, you will.”

  Slowly, I swallowed and closed my eyes, then gave him an honest nod. “Okay.”

  “Good girl,” he whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips. “There’s something else.”

  Opening my eyes, I looked at him and waited.

  “You can’t take out Stillman yet.”

  “Well it will either be him or me, Steed. He’s determined.”

  “Yes, he is. But, again, you’re strong enough, and skilled enough, to hold him off.”

  Sighing in frustration, I nodded again.

  Trailing a finger down between my breasts, his beautiful eyes lifted to mine. “You need to look into Sarah Hope’s disappearance.”

  Half expecting his advice, I nodded but still asked the question I’d been asking myself for a while. “Why?”

  He smirked, and shook his head. “Walls have ears, baby. But you know why.”

  “I do.” Confirming my agreement with a nod, I broke the rules and reached out to his face.

  Tears prickled my eyes and anger stabbed my heart when he vanished before my eyes. Picking up the blade, I drew another line across my chest, the release of blood summoning his ghost. However, he didn’t come back to me. Another line still refused to bring him back, and with a shaking hand and through the blur of tears, I scratched a further gouge deep into my skin, begging him to alleviate the grief tearing me apart.

  “Please,” I begged to the empty room, a cold shiver of loneliness rippling over me. “Baby, please.”

  After slipping on Steed’s old t-shirt, I turned over and curled into the cold, lonely bed, and I still pleaded with his ghost to come back to me.

  ***

  Stillman jeered at me, his head tipped to the side as his evil eyes studied my naked body hung from a chain in the centre of a room I recognised – would never forget. “Quite the pretty little thing aren’t you. No wonder Steed wanted to keep you for his own.”

  I shuddered and moved back when he ran the tip of his finger over my breast. “I’m going to kill you, Stillman. Slowly, and very, very painfully.”

  He laughed and nodded before he turned and picked something up from a trolley positioned beside him. Fear planted a weight of unease in my belly and I dug my fingernails into the palm of my hand to prepare myself.

  Stillman chuckled and ran his fingers carefully across the blade of the hacksaw. “Oh, don’t worry, pretty thing. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  I regarded him, not allowing him to witness the terror controlling every breath I laboured with.

  Stepping away from me, he held his arm out to the side, and grinned. “But he is.”

  I watched in horror when George beamed at me. “Hey, Sis. I’m back.”

  The hole in his head taunted me the closer he came, and I blew out a steadying breath. “Georgie.”

  Taking the saw from Stillman, George looked down at it as though it was the most precious thing in the world. “We always loved playing games when we were little, didn’t we, Katie?”

  “Are we playing a game?” I asked as I tugged at the chains holding me hostage. They held firm, imprisoning my body as much as the fear detained my mind.

  “It’s more fun if it’s a game. Don’t you think, Sis?”

  I cleared my throat of the fright making it difficult to breathe, and exhaled heavily. “Always, brother.”

  The scream that tore from me when he started to saw across my stomach brought a laugh from Stillman. “Fuck, Fox, you’re one hell of a cruel bastard.”

  George laughed, nodding in agreement as another scream ruptured the air around me.

  Blood gushed over my legs as my belly opened up to the men stood laughing hysterically.

  Agony, unlike anything I’d ever felt, splintered my mind when a small, but perfect, foetus dropped to my feet.

  “Katie!”

  “Oops,” George laughed as he bent down and picked up my baby. Holding it up to me, he smiled. “Meet your son.”

  I thrashed in the chains, screaming as my heart crumbled inside me.

  “Katie! God damn it! Wake the fuck up!”

  Hope’s anxious gaze met mine when I flung my eyes open and gasped for breath. Jolting upright and battling with him when he tried to hold me, I brought my hands to my belly, scrambling to lift Steed’s t-shirt so I could look at the split across my body.

  “It’s okay,” Hope urged as he tried to calm me. “It’s okay, just a dream, tiger. Just a dream.”

  “Oh god,” I whimpered as my body shook uncontrollably.

  “Shh,” he soothed as he wrapped his arms around me to stop the horrendous shakes. “Shh. Shh.”

  Allowing, and needing, the comfort, I huddled against him, the physicality of him bringing my mind gradually back to reality.

  Slowly, he moved us both until we were laid down on the bed, his arms wrapped firmly around
me.

  “It’s okay,” he echoed again. “I’m here.”

  I nodded wildly, pulling him closer to me. My body raged with a malevolent chill and I grasped at Hope’s warmth. My heart hated that I needed him so much, but my mind calmed at the affection, his care the only thing that soothed the terror choking me.

  “I won’t let you go,” he whispered as my eyes slid closed and a peaceful sleep took away the nightmares.

  Fifteen

  Tristan

  Biting my teeth together, I released a low groan when she nestled the crack of her ass against my rock-hard cock. I doubted she would remember why the hell I was in her bed. Her terror last night would have vetoed any lucidity, and, for some reason, that saddened me.

  However, when she arched her back slightly, pushing her backside against me and a soft moan breathed from her, my cock jolted with eagerness.

  “Morning, tiger.”

  She didn’t reciprocate my morning greeting. Instead, she rubbed harder and moaned louder.

  My heart beat faster and the blood in my veins rushed with excitement. My lungs struggled to cope with the influx, and unable to hold back any longer, feeling and detecting her need, I grabbed her arms and flipped her over.

  Her eyes were wide, but she didn’t hold back when I kissed her hard. Her arms wrapped around me, and she brought her legs up, embracing my waist. The soft way she twisted her tongue around mine and pressed her mouth firmer into my kiss as her fingers tugged at my shorts, disbanded the need for foreplay.

  My cock was deep inside her soft cunt within seconds. She groaned and arched her back when pleasure rolled over us both. My jaw trembled as I pulled back and then thrust hard, driving her a few inches up the bed.

  “Harder,” she growled, pressing her pelvis against me and begging for more.

  “I don’t do demands, sweetheart.”

  Her lip curled with anger but when I circled her throat with my fingers and forced her further into the bed, the excitement that blazed in her eyes eradicated any rage she fought me with.

  Yet, she still managed to flip us over so she was straddled over me.

  When she lifted her shirt over her head, my eyes feasted on her small, perky tits. A smattering of scars across her chest strangely made my cock even needier, so taking her slim hips in my hands, I forced her to fuck me harder.

  Resting her hands on my chest, she grinded hard on me, the ecstasy on her face compelling me to lift my hips high and drive deeper inside her.

  “Fuck me harder, tiger.”

  She grinned wickedly and grabbed my hands, stopping me from controlling her. “I don’t do demands, Hope.”

  Slowing down her movements, she rocked gently on my cock. Irritation and obsession drew a fierce growl from the pit of my belly and I jerked my hips sharply, tossing her onto her back.

  As she made to fight me, I thrust back inside her and broke the soft skin on her neck with my teeth. The sharp pain caused her to gasp in delight, and I bit harder, driving her wilder until she was bucking against me in pursuit for climax.

  I fucked her fast and deep, my eyes fixed to her face as I watched the pleasure wash over her. She clawed at me, snarled in need, and met each of my thrusts with a push of her cunt towards me.

  Her nails dug into my back, piercing my skin, when her spine arced and an orgasm tore through her.

  Rapture shot into every muscle in my body and my balls emptied in one powerful surge, flooding her exquisite hot pussy with so much cum I felt it dribble back out and over my balls.

  Her legs clung to me, holding me inside her until the swell of bliss dispersed, leaving her limp and sated.

  Our loud panting became united, the aftereffects of our fucking as turbulent as the way we had come together.

  Peering at Katie once she became silent, a hard throb pulsed in my chest when I spotted the look of remorse in her eyes. Expecting her to run, I was flummoxed when she didn’t.

  “You…” she stammered and wet her dry lips. “You’re the first man I’ve been with since my husband. Forgive me if I seem a little….”

  The way her tiny voice shook grasped at my gut and I bit into my tongue at her obvious distress. She was always so tough, her fight and mercilessness the only part of her that she allowed people to see. That she showed me the broken and scared girl behind her usual façade made my heart ache for her.

  “You feel guilty?”

  She nodded quickly, leaving her stare on the ceiling and refusing to look at me. “I… I miss him so much, Hope. You have no idea how…”

  She cleared her throat and swung her legs out of bed. I watched, sorrow filling the void in my chest, when she slowly walked away and closed the door behind her.

  “Fuck!” I sighed heavily and rubbed my face with my hands. “Such a fucking prick, Tristan.”

  But, even with her guilt, and my overwhelming regret at what I had done to her, I knew she’d felt exactly what I had felt.

  Not that I was willing to put a name on it either.

  Katie was stood at the kitchen sink, staring out of the window when I walked in a while later. She turned and planted a fake smile on her face. “I can cook if your life insurance is up-to-date.”

  I laughed, glad of her attempt to lighten the darkness that had descended since the morning. “I’m sure I can manage to rustle something up.”

  This time a genuine smile lit up her pretty face. “Great, I’m starving.”

  She made coffee as I knocked up some pancakes and settled at the table. “I have a contact to see later, but I’ll be back tonight.”

  Shaking my head, I glanced at her. “I’ll come with you.”

  “He’s a contact, Hope. My contact. He trusts only me.”

  “Then it’s about time he made some new friends.” I smirked, tossing a pancake on top of the pile already made, when I heard the low growl of frustration behind me, but she kept tight-lipped, understanding she wouldn’t win.

  Grabbing the syrup, I placed the plate of pancakes in the centre of the table and joined Katie. “So, what’s the deal?”

  She frowned, lacing her pancake with so much syrup I swore she’d die of sugar overload. “Deal?”

  “Why we’re seeing your man.”

  She twisted her lips and swiped at a dribble of syrup on her lip. Then placing her cutlery down, she stared at me. “John Wyman works for Stillman, out here in France.”

  That got my attention. “Oh?”

  “Listen, I really don’t think it’s a good idea that you come with…”

  I held a hand up, halting her. “I’m coming.”

  She clashed her teeth together and groaned. “Well then, umm, there’s something you need to be aware of.”

  I gave her my full attention and nodded. “Go on.”

  “Umm, well, Wyman isn’t exactly… uhh, a contact. More of a… well, a prick that works for Stillman.”

  Sigh.

  “Right, so what you’re saying is, instead of having a word with him, you’re gonna hack off his balls if he doesn’t tell you what you want to know.”

  She grinned and pointed her knife at me before diving back into her breakfast. “For an arsehole, you’re pretty intelligent, Hope.”

  Chuckling at her audacity, I nodded. “Yeah, clever as fuck, me.”

  Sixteen

  Katie

  Wyman sat staring with wide eyes as Hope twirled a small but insanely sharp blade between his fingers – I stood staring at how Hope had the same knife play skills as Steed had.

  The lump that had built in my chest since I’d fucked Hope that morning was growing bigger by the second. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to shrink it.

  “The little lady here needs a word.” Hope winked at Wyman and then settled his gaze on me.

  I couldn’t move. My eyes wouldn’t shift from Hope’s fingers as he repeated the same flicks and spins of the knife as Steed had always done.

  “Katie?”

  A high-pitched hum whistled in my ears and I shook my
head, wrestling with my memories to let me be free.

  “You okay?” Hope came to stand directly in front of me and, with a touch of his finger under my chin, guided my eyes up to his. “What’s wrong?”

  Forcing it all back, I gulped past the ache and smiled. “I’m fine. Sorry, just tired.”

  His frown said he knew I was lying to him, but he shrugged and stepped back.

  Wyman narrowed his eyes on me when I dropped to a crouch in front of him. Thick ropes secured his wrists to the arms of the chair he sat in, and every so often he flexed his fingers, the cut of the rope making his hands numb. His ankles were chained together and fastened to a large steel ring buried into the concrete. I had to admire my French friends, they knew how to fit out a torture chamber.

  “I just need to ask you one single question, Mr Wyman. Give me an answer and I give you my word that your death will be quick and clean.”

  He stared me out, regarding me, yet remained silent.

  “And, if I am satisfied with your answer,” I added, tapping his thigh as if we were the best of friends and I was soothing him. “I will make sure your family is taken care of after your ‘disappearance’.”

  His eyes widened in shock and I scowled at him. “I’m not completely heartless, much to what gossip says.”

  He shook his head with incredulity and scoffed. “Such a lady.”

  Clicking my tongue, I gave him a wink and patted his leg again. “Always. So, Mr Wyman, the million-dollar question.”

  “You’ll take care of Madeline and Henry?”

  I nodded firmly. “You have my word. I would love you to go home to your wife and child tonight, but, unfortunately, we both know it’s not going to happen. I just pray that you do the right thing by all of us.”

  His teeth sank into his lip, but he blew out a breath and nodded. Men were always so easy to fathom. I’d done my homework on Wyman. He had a young family, and I knew they meant everything to him. Offer a little bit of incentive, and you always got what you wanted.