Inferno (A Hotter Than Hell Novel Book 7) Read online

  “Oh, my God, they’re killing people,” she screams and covers her face in hopelessness after the first police car slams on its brakes. “Help them, you need to help them.”

  Melina adds her rendition of a hysterical female and the cop’s attention turns away from us to notifying his buddies about what’s happening inside.

  “Three Hispanic males with automatic weapons. Multiple casualties,” I shout to the officer and point to the door we just exited. The cop jumps from his vehicle and pulls out an AR-style rifle. Another five squad cars pull up behind him with squealing tires.

  “Clear the area,” he shouts and that’s exactly what we do.

  The women run in the direction of the car, which isn’t far. We can’t pull our guns because we risk being shot by police. Too many people are running from the mall at this point and our fast jog won’t draw attention in the melee. I grab the key fob from my pocket and unlock the SUV’s door from twenty feet away.

  “We aren’t out of danger yet. Be prepared for anything and keep your guns low so they can’t be seen unless we need to use them.”

  The ladies do exactly as I say. Austin turns around in the seat after he’s inside and peers out the back window. “I’ll watch behind us, you take care of what’s in front of us.”

  The vehicle is bulletproof and will stand up against anything short of a rocket launcher. We just need to get clear without police intervention. “Celina, call the control room and give them an update. We’ll be coming in the house hot and they need to be ready.” She pulls out her phone and makes the call. I keep my eyes peeled for our men. I have tracking on the SUV so they’ll find us. I pull onto the freeway and pick up speed. Two exits later, two of our SUVs drive onto the on-ramp, spot us, and move closer until one is beside our vehicle and one is behind. Celina stays on the line with the control room. I don’t bother telling her my men are in touch with the control room too. This gives her something to do while Austin and I continue to scan the area.

  I glance into the rearview mirror and see that Melina has her gun in her lap. She’s ready for whatever happens next. “Is anyone injured?” The car is filled with our heavy breathing and I haven’t heard signs of pain but need to ask.

  “We’re good,” Austin replies. I have no doubt he’s checked Melina.

  Celina leans forward. “I’m fine but you aren’t. You’re bleeding everywhere. It’s more than a scratch.”

  “It’s a head wound and they bleed. I’m good.” Honestly the adrenaline keeps me from feeling anything. I’m not dizzy or in danger of losing consciousness. Celina lifts her hand from her position and I take it for a quick squeeze and then place mine back on the steering wheel. “Tell them ETA is ten minutes.”

  Celina relays the message.

  Nine minutes later, we turn the corner and I can see the front gate, which is open with armed men to either side. We roar in along with the other two SUVs.

  Home. We’re safe. For now.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Madison

  His hands, his voice, his smell, the slick sweat drenching him, and last… the violation of my body. The nightmares come each time I fall asleep. When I’m awake, a dark fog twists inside me, suffocating my thoughts. There’s no room for good memories and I can’t escape the bad.

  I lie in bed, eyes open so I don’t fall asleep, and try to find the courage to come out of this. I’m strong. I’m a fighter. I should be first in line to hunt down Fernandez. If I had enough energy to leave the bed, I would go back to the service and try to return to normalcy. Without me or Cori, I can’t imagine things are running smoothly. Our newest receptionist has been there since Melina went back to California, but she is in no way equipped to handle a full-on female tantrum, which tends to happen when I’m away. Just the thought of it makes me tired. It’s so much easier to stare at the ceiling and hope for a better tomorrow.

  Moon allowed Two Dogs into the room earlier. His soft fur and sloppy kisses helped for a short time. Then, I became too tired to even run my fingers through his hair. I have so many reasons to live and when I try to think of them, they slide through the tendrils of my mind. I need escape from this reality. A drug-induced coma for the next twenty years maybe. My thoughts come in short snapshots of reality verses nightmares. They’re such a jumble, it tires me to sort them. And the bigger question is, why should I bother?

  Brain-dead is good.

  The soft click of the bedroom door is not what I want to hear. I close my eyes and try to slow my breathing.

  “It doesn’t work, Mak, I know you’re awake.”

  My eyes snap open at the sound of Cori’s voice. I’ve thought about her and wanted to check on her but that would have required leaving the room and climbing the stairs to the third floor. It would also require me to think. I’m a terrible friend because she has a horrible injury, suffered so much worse, and here she is, coming to me.

  With a soft sigh, she sits on the side of the bed and looks at the opposite wall. She’s wearing a shirt and shorts, which was probably more work to put on than the nightshirt Moon put me in my first day back; I’ve refused to take it off.

  “What happened to us is fucked up,” she says in her no-nonsense way. It’s the quiet after the statement that shows how fucked up it actually is. If Cori can’t solve a problem, she bitches about it. If that doesn’t work, she has no trouble verbally knocking heads together with cutting remarks. She may act elegant and sophisticated when she’s in her element, but the girl from the hood shows herself when shit hits the fan. She never stays quiet for long, until now.

  I clear my throat because I’ve barely talked since coming back to the house. Even knowing what happened to me in no way compares to what they did to her, the words spill from my lips. “Fernandez sent a recording of him raping me to Moon.”

  “Oh, baby,” she whispers and places her hand on my shoulder.

  “I can’t cry,” I whisper back.

  Her fingers dig slightly into my skin. “Funny because I don’t usually cry and now I can’t seem to stop. I think we’re both feeling sorry for ourselves and somehow we need to get past it and go on with life.” Her words have no oomph. It’s like she’s saying them out loud to convince herself.

  “Your hand?” I question because she’s lost so much more than I have.

  I roll a little more in her direction when she lifts her bandaged hand. “Your husband tried to save my fingers.” Her tears start falling. “Isn’t it funny that my fingers are a shriveled-up mess and I still don’t want him to throw them away?” Her gaze goes to the ceiling that I’ve made such good friends with. “They are still downstairs in Gabriella’s refrigerator.”

  For the first time since coming home, humor sinks into my consciousness. Cori wipes her eyes and pinches her lips trying not to smile. I can’t help the laugh that breaks free and then she joins me. We laugh until we’re in each other’s arms and we’re crying. All the tears that wouldn’t fall these past two days flow into a river of anguish.

  It’s the release I’ve needed. As my gut-wrenching sobs continue, I don’t think they’ll ever stop. My arms are around Cori in a death grip. We survived the same maniac, though neither of us feel like survivors.

  “He can’t win, Madison,” she says between sniffles.

  “No, he can’t win,” I say on a hiccup and wipe my hand across my face to dry the tears. “So, what are we going to do about it?” The words have more conviction in them than I’ve felt in days.

  “We fight back. We kill the son of a bitch. And then we regroup and figure out how to deal with what happened.”

  Cori has never been blood-thirsty. She’s tall, elegant, and beautiful. She works out every day to keep her body in top form, and she’s the highest-paid escort we have. But again, she isn’t a physical fighter. I am, though, and right now I need to fight.

  We sit up on the bed and look at each other. “I’m pretty sure I stink,” I say after grabbing a tissue from the nightstand and blowing my nose in a very unladylike
fashion.

  “Your man mentioned how much you stink when he came to visit me.” Cori stares across the room, her expression giving nothing away.

  I do smell and this is horribly embarrassing. Cori’s lips twitch and she lightly punches my arm. She scrunches up her nose and then pinches the tip between her fingers and we’re back to laughing. It feels incredible and it’s so nice to have actual feelings again. There is an end to my nothingness, or at least a hole in the fog. Laughter has taken me to the first step to getting my life back.

  “Who’s in the house?” Seeing everyone has been low on my daily calendar; it’s marked right behind hide beneath the covers.

  “I have no idea. I haven’t left my room.”

  I should have gone to her. It shouldn’t be her lifting me up. “How about I tackle my odor problem and then we go downstairs together?”

  “I think I can handle that.”

  I crawl out of bed on unsteady legs. I’ve only gotten up to use the bathroom when it was absolutely necessary and I haven’t eaten solid food in days. That needs to change. I turn at the bathroom door and look at Cori. The bed is calling me back, the covers need me underneath them. Her expression, showing once more the horror of what we’ve been through, helps with the determination I need to be strong. I close the bathroom door behind me.

  The shower is redeeming. I scrub every inch of my body and walk out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around me. Cori is no longer in the room, but my husband is; he’s standing in front of the closed bedroom door.

  I walk straight into his arms. My wall. My heart. The air I breathe. My source of stability in this fucked up life. He’s all those things and his arms offer what they always do—unconditional love. The tears start up again and I allow them to fall onto his strong shoulders.

  “I love you,” he whispers into my wet hair.

  His love soothes me. I was stupid to shut him out. “I’m sorry I pushed you away.”

  He leans back and lifts my chin. “You did what you had to do to survive, and I would wait forever to hold you again.”

  Suddenly I know what I need. “Make love to me and take the bad memories away.”

  His eyes don’t spark the way they should. I instantly regret the request and look down at my feet, shame eating at my insides again. “No,” he says and tilts my chin back up. “I don’t want to rush you, but don’t mistake my hesitation for anything else. I want my wife in my bed, I want your body, and more than that, I want your soul. Nothing that ever happens to either of us will change that.”

  “I need to get it over with, Xavier.”

  His lips quirk and now I see the spark in his eyes. “Get it over with?” he questions.

  “Take my life back, use the bed for something more than hiding. Help you find that mad man and end his worthless life. Make love to my husband.”

  He releases me and steps back. “First, you eat.”

  It’s then that I notice the tray of chicken noodle soup with crackers and a huge glass of iced tea. When I smell the soup, I realize that I’m actually hungry. Cori’s visit flipped a switch inside me. No more sitting in a lonely room. I have a life to take back—people to kill and a business to run.

  Moon sits with me on the bed while I clear the tray of food. The headache caused by the concussion went away yesterday and the food warms my belly today. I’ll be okay. I survived and got us out of there. The haze that’s been surrounding me lifts a little more.

  With a last sip of soup, I finish what’s in the bowl and relish the feel of a full stomach. My husband, who is very stingy with smiles, offers me a weary one and moves the tray to the side table. In his shoes, I would be going crazy if he did this to me. The strain shows in his eyes and I want to take away all the pain and heartache he’s suffered.

  His strong arms reach out and he lifts me up from my sitting position so we’re standing. Very slowly, one hand moves around to my chest and he releases the towel. My heart clenches and I can’t look down at the bruises that are still covering me. Moon has seen me like this before, but what I have now doesn’t compare to the car accident I was in, when a cop I worked with tried to kill me. Moon only cared about me then. Now he loves me. We will get past this if I let him inside my thoughts and give him the honesty he deserves.

  I place a hand out and rest my palm against his dress shirt over his heart. I hate to think the words much less say them. “You need to use a condom. I’ll be re-tested in thirty days and then I’ll know if I’m safe.”

  Anger burns in his eyes before he can hide it. “Carlo said as much. It won’t work for us, though. You’re my wife,” he says and palms my cheek, his thumb rubbing beneath my jaw. “We’re in this together, Madison. You’re my soul and I’m no one without you.” He pulls me close, breathing into my hair, running his hands over my waist and hips. Relearning the contours, imprinting them to memory.

  I don’t need soft or slow right now. I need to feel alive. “Fuck me hard, Xavier. I want us both to forget about what he did to me and the only way that will happen is if you take me outside myself. Give me everything and take the same.” It’s most likely a fairy tale. I don’t see myself ever forgetting, but maybe for a few moments Moon can chase the demons away.

  Moon lifts me up in his arms, cradling me for a moment before he tosses me on the bed. A small scream escapes me and I laugh at the suddenness. The laughter dies when his fingers go to his tie and he slides it from his neck, dropping it on my chest.

  I lick my lips.

  His fingers move to the buttons on his shirt and he slips them through the holes one by one. His wedding ring flashes along with the simple gold ring he always wears on his thumb. His thick fingers make him even sexier. So much power in those hands. The sleeves of his shirt strain over his bulging muscles.

  He opens the shirt wide and I almost can’t breathe. Then it’s off and tossed to the floor in one move. Watching me the entire time, he sits on the bed and toes off his shoes and then strips off the socks beneath them. My hand reaches out and my fingers play over his abs until he stands again to shuck his pants.

  There is not a man on earth sexier than Catch Xavier Moon. From his shortly cropped hair, strong jaw with just a hint of stubble, to his hard chest. It’s the complete package when my eyes travel to the valleys and mountains of his abs. He’s over six feet of pure sexy man. My man. And I want him. I need to forget. And then I’ll plan my revenge against the man who tried to take this from me.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Moon

  My world aligns. We have a long road ahead and my wife will charge that road with her head held high. It’s only one of the reasons I love her so damn much. I’ve never known anyone with her strength of will.

  I was shocked when Cori entered my office a short time ago and told me to go to my wife. It stunned me when Madison walked out of the bathroom, a cloud of steam following her, and stepped into my arms.

  Now she’s on the bed naked and it’s almost like the first time we made love three years ago. I’m nervous. Hell, I’m terrified. I don’t want to hurt or scare her. The need in her dark brown eyes reassures me. She wants me to fuck her not make love, but no matter how we do it, the love is in every stroke of my body into hers.

  “Lift your arms and grip the headboard,” I tell her. The smile disappears from her face and a sensual, come hither expression takes over. “Open your legs,” I add while taking my hard cock in my hand. With the other hand, I slide a pillow over and tell her to lift her ass. I wedge the material under her hips before moving to the end of the bed.

  Carlo told me vaginal tears heal fast and I see no signs of remaining physical trauma. Her naked body is another matter. The bruises are a hodgepodge of color and I don’t want to hurt her. I also know she’ll tell me if that happens, so I concentrate on the beauty before me.

  I could live with this picture every day for the rest of my life: her thighs open; pink, wet lips spread wide; her long legs, rounded hips, and full breasts that fit my hands perf
ectly. Her pussy swells before my eyes, a physical need for my cock.

  She lowers one hand and trails it over her flesh until she reaches her clit. I allow her five seconds to play before shaking my head. My voice comes out gruff with need. “You don’t want to do that. Hands on the headboard.” She actually growls and I feel more secure in what’s about to happen. “Keep your legs open.”

  My tie is still resting across her stomach. I walk back around the bed and lift one end, trailing the other over her skin. “I don’t think you’ll be good,” I say. Slowly, I let her know my intent and then tie her hands when she doesn’t stop me. I place her hands back to the brass rails of the headboard. Her fingers curl around the metal and I take my place at the end of the bed again.

  Lifting my leg, I press a knee into the mattress and crawl toward the juncture of her thighs. I widen her legs farther and the shuddering sigh that escapes her gorgeous throat hardens my cock further. With her hips propped on the pillow, she’s adjusted perfectly for my needs. Hell, it’s more than a need. Just the thought of this makes my pulse race, proving I’m alive.

  She watches me, trusting me to love her without pain or shame. Her body is a gift. Her soul mine for the taking, but that’s not all I want. I want her last breath when we travel to our next existence at death. And each day before that, I want to be the man who fulfills every conceivable desire she could ever have. It’s what she does for me and I’m incredibly blessed to find her in this fucked up world.

  Using the fingers of my right hand, I separate her folds to see the swollen nub of her clit.

  “You’re killing me,” she huffs into the room.

  “That’s not what this is about. Driving you crazy, celebrating your will to survive, and,” I slide my finger up along her silky folds until she moans, “making you mine because Madison Abigail Moon you will always be mine.”

  I lower my head and take her clit between my lips, sucking her velvety flesh. Her ass comes off the pillow as she strains to grind every inch of her sweet pussy against my mouth. I take what she offers. When her eyes flicker and shut and her neck strains, I slide one finger deep inside her warmth. Her silky hot channel quivers around my finger. When she fidgets and moans, I add another finger and continue sucking her clit.