Owned by a Sinner Read online

  I begged.

  I sobbed like a lost child, meeting every eye I could and silently begging them not to let this happen. Several of them turned away. Others closed their eyes. Bubba mouthed words I couldn’t see through my tears. But in the end, they all held on as Rebel produced a needle from somewhere and lowered it towards me.

  “I’ll n- never, forgive, you,” I managed, shaking with so much sorrow and grief that it threatened to consume me.

  Before it could, I felt a pinch on my neck and in what felt like seconds, lead settled into my limbs, making them too heavy to move. My eyelids fluttered as I struggled to stay conscious but it was a losing battle. Rebel swam in and out of my vision from where he hovered over me and then I lost the fight, darkness dragging me down into oblivion.

  As I lost my feeble hold on reality, I thought I heard someone whisper, “I know.” But then I was gone, devoured by nothingness.

  CHAPTER 2 - Caitlin

  Present

  I wanted to believe I was dreaming. I mean...I really wanted it. So much that I squeezed my eyes shut and summoned all the tricks I knew from hours upon hours of daydreaming spent crafting my fantasy family.

  Within moments, everything around me was gone. I was at the beach, walking towards a distant pier, wet sand squishing between my feet while the ocean gently lapped at the shore beside me. The sun was high in the sky, its rays warm but not burning my pale skin. Because duh, fantasy. Then a monstrous voice screamed from the sky and my peaceful, fake world shattered into glittering pieces.

  “All of you need to get. The fuck. OUT!”

  My eyes snapped open as silence descended. The last bit of hope I was clinging onto that this was all a dream died a swift, fiery death. Courtesy of the monstrous dragon hovering over me.

  This couldn't be a dream, because a man like Creed was beyond even my ability to create. No fantasy could contain him without breaking down around the edges. It would be like trying to hold a hurricane in the palm of your hands.

  Impossible.

  None of the tales I'd overheard or the bits and pieces I'd extracted from Sam - no - Rebel, did the man justice.

  He was easily above six feet tall and his presence, combined with the fact I was looking up at him from the ground, made him seem like a giant. There was nothing but black fitted across his muscular frame. Combat boots, jeans, t-shirt, all without any other color. Jet black hair short up top and buzzed on the sides. Even the tattoos that I could see, stretched over taut forearms and climbing his neck, were all black and gray, harsh strokes of ink that went well with the depictions of skulls, war and death before leading to a jaw and cheekbones cut from the finest marble.

  But it was his eyes that took my breath away.

  I was only able to meet them for a brief moment earlier, when he first snatched the hood from my head. They were a deep grey, like a stormcloud rolling in from the coast and with just as much electricity contained within them. In that instant of eye contact, the heat of his gaze had consumed me, pulling me in as fast as my body reacted. Except then I reached the center of the storm and I felt something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Safe.

  My overactive imagination was playing tricks on me. Had to be. I focused on the towering monster shooting nasty glares at all the people he was supposedly friends with. There was no way I could ever feel safe with him.

  Was there?

  “I will not repeat myself,” he growled, stomping in a circle around me.

  “My stuff…” someone started, their words quickly fading out and I could already picture the hateful look from Creed that must have stolen their voice the way it had mine.

  Soon enough, people started shuffling out and I watched them go, trying to commit their faces to memory. Why? I honestly wasn’t sure but it seemed like the thing to do in a hostage situation. It might not do me a lick of good but it also couldn’t hurt.

  A pair of Hispanic men that had to be twins made their exit first, pulling stunning women in behind them. A younger, friendlier looking version of Creed went by, holding hands with a well-dressed girl who had electric blue hair. A fairly tall, striking woman with piercings and a short, platinum blonde mohawk left next, followed by a tall, bookworm type who looked incredibly out of place considering the company. They all looked at me with suspicion and thinly veiled animosity. It made me realize that Rebel really had betrayed all these people.

  Guess I won’t be counting on a good Samaritan getting me out of this.

  “We can’t just leave her with him,” said the angelic looking blonde who had introduced herself and snapped at Creed. Lizzy, my mind supplied. And the girl obviously had balls of steel beneath that bright sundress. “What if he-”

  A huge palm closed over her mouth and her blue eyes sparked with fury. She turned to beat her frustration into the tall, mountain of muscle she’d identified as Texas and he only held her tight, dark eyes landing on me before moving onto Creed. They stayed like that for several moments and I belatedly realized they were probably talking about me.

  I wanted to care about what was being said in their private conversation. But not as much as I wanted to know what Lizzy was about to say. What if he...what? The years of dealing with my dysfunctional family had gotten me to a point where I could tolerate a lot. Still, a hint of what to expect would’ve been nice. Too bad it wasn’t meant to be. Their silent talk was over much too quickly and then the fearsome Texas was sweeping her up into his arms and walking away while she cursed up a storm.

  Leaving me alone with the monster.

  Time the door closed, he hunkered down much too close to me. Creed sucked up all the oxygen in the air, replacing it with his spicy scent, and that was before those grey eyes found my hair, swept over my face, caressed my lips and then hungrily devoured the rest of me. I was suddenly aware of the fact that I had spent an untold number of hours without a shower, or a mirror for that matter.

  Earth to Cait. You’re tied up in front of a man that even your brother fears.

  Ah, there was that.

  “Where is he?” Creed demanded in a voice that reminded me of who I was dealing with. Someone hard. Cruel. Unyielding. “I asked you a question, girl.”

  Lizzy must’ve rubbed off on me. That, or the stress of being betrayed and drugged by the only people in my life had done something to my brain. There was no other explanation for what came out of my mouth next.

  “I have a name.” My voice started soft but quickly got stronger. “And it damn sure isn’t ‘girl.’ I just told you what it was a few minutes ago.”

  Wrong thing to say? You bet.

  Creed’s body tensed and his eyes flashed as he closed the miniscule bit of distance between us. I barely had time to squeal before he gripped my arms and lifted me off the ground, walking me backwards, pinning me against the front door. One of his huge hands was enough to keep my bound ones trapped above my head and the other slammed into the wooden door beside my face with enough force to make me jump.

  “I don’t care about your name,” he growled in my face, nostrils flaring. “Where. Is. Rebel?”

  “What makes you think I know?”

  “Because you’re working with that fucking traitor.”

  An incredulous laugh escaped before I could stop it. Seriously, I might’ve been going crazy but it was funny. “Does this look like we’re working together?” I jerked my bound hands against his grip and he barely even budged. At least his focus did shift to the ties around my wrists.

  I knew what he was seeing. My bindings were far too tight to break out of and my skin was nearly raw from my own efforts to do so. His eyes narrowed, the fierceness to his entire stance softening as his thumb swept lightly along my wrist, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. I sucked in a sharp breath at the sensation and he pulled away as if I had burned him instead of the other way around, his grip returning to something slightly less than bruising.

  Good Lord, he was warm everywhere he pressed against me, and the softness of my body allowed all his har
d angles to fit perfectly. Heat stirred in my core and I clenched my thighs as if I could stop it from spreading. This was seriously not the time. But he was so in control that I felt that way by proximity alone. And for someone who had only ever managed an illusion of it, the reality was quickly becoming an absolute rush.

  I could crave this, I realized, and that was dangerous in its own way.

  Creed snarled, lips curling savagely back from his teeth. “I can’t believe a single fucking thing that leaves your mouth and it’s pissing me off.”

  “What do I have to lie about?” Was this guy for real? “You can’t seriously believe I have some master plan that involves being completely at your mercy.”

  He ripped away from me so fast that I nearly fell. As it was, I tottered precariously on my bound legs before letting my weight fall back against the door. Creed paced in short bursts, the tension in his body apparent from the stiff set to his huge shoulders. Soon enough, whatever he was ruminating on exploded out of him.

  “It doesn’t matter what your plan is,” he hissed, shooting me an angry look. “Or if you even have one. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re a huge fucking liability. Maybe you’re a distraction. A Trojan horse. An innocent that wound up in the wrong fucking place at the wrong fucking time. All possibilities. Except I only care about one thing. How do I know you aren’t here to do me and mine harm?”

  I blinked, because the idea that I could do anything to hurt some of the toughest outlaws in the state was pretty much the most ludicrous thing I’d heard all day. Hell, I was pretty sure Lizzy could take me by herself. “Because I’m not,” I told him, willing him to believe me. “I don’t even like hurting flies if I can help it.”

  Both his hands slammed onto the wood on either side of me and I jumped. “Aren’t you listening!?” He roared, eyes blazing. “It doesn’t matter! That I actually believe you’re Rebel’s blood only makes it worse. He fooled me for a decade and a half. If you’ve learned a fraction of his tricks, you could ruin me. Ruin us.” Creed leaned into me, his face inches away. “And I will never let that happen.”

  I shivered, goosebumps breaking out on my arms. Whatever my body’s reaction to this man, I needed to remember who he was. I needed to remember the things he had done to the people who had crossed him.

  “If you let me go,” I said slowly, hoping my forced calm would rub off. “You’ll never see me again. I’ll go back to my life and you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

  There wasn’t much of a life left to go back to but all of that seemed like a secondary concern.

  His breathing was heavy, huge chest rising and falling, brushing against my own with each inhale. Ignore the tingle, Cait. It’s not your friend.

  He was also thinking. I could see the wheels spinning in his mind and strangely enough, I got the feeling I might actually get out of this. Hope kindled to life deep in my chest, a tiny flame glowing increasingly brighter.

  Creed stepped away from me again, folding his arms behind his back. “Know that if you walk out this door, I’ll have a Sinner on your tail until I’ve decided you’re no longer a threat.”

  I could deal with that kind of freedom. That was basically my whole life already. I nodded.

  He worked his jaw like he was tasting something foul but he inclined his head, taking out his phone. “Fine. It’ll give me more time to hunt the son of a bitch anyway.”

  My heart squeezed painfully and I wanted to laugh. Cry. Scream. All my hope was instantly extinguished. A match snuffed out by an ocean of reality.

  All because of two words.

  Words that I wasn’t even sure that I’d heard properly. But there they were, floating through my mind on repeat. I told my brother I would never forgive him and before the darkness took me, a familiar voice had whispered, “I know.”

  Samuel wasn’t gone.

  Not completely.

  The devil hadn’t won.

  Somewhere deep inside the man who called himself Rebel, my brother was still holding on. Even if he never came back to me, I owed him my life. Maybe I couldn’t help him with whatever he was caught up in, but I could be a distraction.

  I would be a distraction.

  No matter what it cost me.

  “God, he told this would almost be too easy,” I said, barely recognizing my own voice.

  Creed’s fingers went from speed-tapping across the virtual keys to being frozen completely. That same stillness spread to the rest of his body and when his eyes landed on mine, the icy rage there shook me to my core.

  “What did you say?” he asked carefully.

  Now was the time to backtrack. Pretend that I hadn’t said anything. Keep my damn lips closed.

  I didn’t do any of those things.

  My grin was wide and bright and the best lie I had ever sold judging by the violent energy that singed me even from several feet away. “Rebel had you all figured out. You were going to let me go, just like that? You’re losing your edge, Credence.”

  The name thing was a gamble, but it paid off.

  Creed roared at the top of his lungs and tossed his phone into a wall where it shattered and fell to pieces. While I was watching the bits of it scatter, he rushed me, and he was done playing around. His body pinned mine completely, one hand going to my throat and squeezing. My eyes went wide and his other hand covered my mouth before I had so much as a chance to scream. I struggled against him, but it was like trying to shift a mountain so I stopped wasting my time and went along for the ride instead.

  For some part of me to be enjoying this proved I had lost my full and complete mind. So why not play out another fantasy and follow the yellow brick road wherever it would take me?

  “You’ve told me one thing that was true today,” he said, eyes scorching as they raked up and down my body and I wondered if he noticed how my back arched, chest pressing towards him. “You will pay his debts.”

  There was no threat there, only promise.

  “Now let me tell you a truth. As of right now, I own you. Rule you. This tight little body belongs to me and me alone. I’m going to enjoy collecting everything he owes.” His eyes glittered with menace and lust, the combination incredibly potent. “It’ll be the sweetest pound of flesh I’ve ever taken.”

  CHAPTER 3 - Creed

  I didn’t care what she’d heard. What she’d seen. What she’d been told.

  She had no idea who she was fucking with.

  Whatever game Caitlin was playing, she hadn't realized that the whole thing was rigged.

  Although I would give her points for her little performance. That actually surprised me for all of a second or two before I recovered. It cost me my phone to sell the act. But she was out of her depth and it showed.

  If she had any idea of what it took to build an empire among criminals and outlaws, much less run it, she would know that I’d run into my fair share of liars. Rebel managing to pull the wool over my eyes for so long was a dagger in the chest, but not wholly surprising. The three of us, Texas, Rebel and myself, were always something more. That’s what took us as far as it did. I was too violent. Tex too efficient. Rebel too smooth.

  After the last few months spent turning every conversation between Rebel and I over in my head, I was certain that he was possibly the greatest liar on this coast, maybe even this continent. Compared to that? Caitlin’s lies had all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop.

  The best falsehoods didn’t rely on the voice, or the swagger. They relied on the eyes, and hers shone with every emotion she was feeling like a lighthouse. All she managed to prove was that she was his sister, and that she wanted to protect him. A fool’s errand if there ever was one, but I wouldn’t be pointing it out.

  I was playing a different game. One where I owned all the pieces and the entire goddamn board.

  There was no throw of the dice that ended with me letting her go and it went beyond anything involving that scum sucker, Rebel. My decision was made before we even started our little farce.


  From the moment I pulled that hood from her face and sucked in a breath at the beauty beneath it, her fate was sealed.

  Caitlin was mine and mine alone.

  If anyone or anything tried to challenge that fact, I would burn their world down around them and toast fucking marshmallows to the screams.

  My hand flexed around her throat, loving the way I could feel the feather like flutter of her pulse as all that false bravado crumbled. I pressed myself closer to her until not even air could fit between our bodies. Then I let my eyes rake over my prize, smiling cruelly as her breathing hitched and stuttered. You feel that don’t you. I rolled my hips, making sure she was painfully aware of the solid, burning length of me.