An Assassin’s Oath by Shayla Hart
Damien
What is it about this girl? I can’t seem to leave her alone for the fucking life of me. The chemistry between us is intense, and I desperately crave to touch her like an addict wildly in need of a fix. I’m not too fond of this feeling—not one little bit, it's throwing me off course, and I can’t lose focus.
I must stay on track, but I feel my control waning every time I get close to her. If I let myself go there, just once, I know it won’t stop. I’m on the fucking edge; what I did to her two days ago took everything I had in me to walk away. Fingering her was one thing but having a taste of her and hearing her screaming and the way she milked my fingers when she climaxes. It’s enough to drive not just me but any fucking red-blooded man to lunacy.
And here she is yet again. I was still working off the frustration from two days ago, keeping my distance, throwing myself into the gym, distracting myself every chance I get to avoid her. When I saw her standing there, her eyes closed, lips parted, face glowing, I knew she was thinking about something sexual.
I should have left it— but no, I pressed until she told me she fantasized about watching me while I eat her out. Lord have fucking mercy. I wanted to drop to my knees there and make her fantasy a reality and then some. We’re stood staring heatedly at one another; the way she’s licking her lips is rousing the beast within me.
I don’t like to be touched. In fact—I can't stand it. I don’t kiss every woman I fuck either. Call me crazy, but I think it’s too personal. Unless there’s an irrefutable attraction—like with Ezra—I avoid kissing at all cost.
“You’re treading on dangerous waters, Ezra,” I warn her, and she gazes up at me, her bottom lip between her teeth, those deep blue eyes glittering with desire. Fuck. I press my forehead to hers. “I’m not the man you want to get tangled up with.”
Why wasn’t I pulling away? Why am I staring at her mouth as if those lips were my lifeline, my holy grail? My body goes against the battle in my mind. Instead of pulling away, I lift both her arms, pinning them above her head and holding them there with my left hand while the other grips her waist. Fuck it, one kiss, just one long, hard kiss to satisfy this longing inside of me.
Ezra presses her lips to mine in response to my warning, and I grunt. I use my body and press her against the wall covering her body with my own. Ezra moans throatily, and I lick her bottom lip as I did earlier, and she parts her lips for me granting me access. Her velvet tongue meets mine, and my mind goes hazy. I groan raucously and kiss her hard, nipping, biting her bottom lip, licking and sucking her tongue.
Our mouths still fused, kissing fiercely. I wrap my free arm under her ass and lift her easily into my arms. She reflexively wraps her legs around me, and I press her hard against the wall, and she responds by rocking her hips against the length of my throbbing erection. I bite her lip hard and tug until she gasps and whimpers.
I can feel my lungs burning, and I force myself to pull back. I press my forehead to hers, our breathing harsh. I pull my head back and look at her. Her lips swollen, parted as she took quick, shallow breaths.
Her eyes open, and she looks at me, confused. “What’s wrong?” She whispers.
“What’s wrong?” I intone and buck my hips grinding my erection against her core, and she moans, her head falls back against the wall. “Look what you’ve done. If we don’t stop right now, I’m going to end up fucking you through this wall.” I grit through clenched teeth, and her azure eyes go wide with interest. I let her go, and she frowns, looking at me perplexed. I jerk my head, dismissing her. “Go.”
“Damien, I—” I glare at her menacingly, and she stops talking, a look of hurt crosses her features, and she drops her gaze and walks out of the gym. I close my eyes and sigh. Get your shit together, Damien, for fuck sake. I need to stay the fuck away from her, any day now, she will be gone, and I can be done with all this bullshit. She can run off and marry that jerk off Calum and live happily ever after, and I can go back to my life. I shake my head, roll my shoulders, and go back to working out.
* * *
Another two days pass by,and I successfully manage to avoid Ezra. She’s been hauled up in the guest bedroom. I only see her when she comes down to eat. We don’t even speak anymore; she’s gone back to hating me again. She eats and goes back up to her room, or I catch glimpses of her while she’s sitting outside looking out at the lake. Much like she was right now, I lean against the wall and watch her as she throws rocks into the water.
I pull my phone out from my pocket when I feel it vibrate—a text message from James.
“Terminate contract,”
I frown and stare at the text. What the fuck? I look over at Ezra and back down at my phone again. I dial James and wait for him to answer. “Damien?”
“What the fuck, James? You said Hugo agreed to pay?” I spat, annoyed. “What the fuck is this termination about?”
“That’s right, he has paid, but the client has requested to terminate, so we terminate.”
“Based on what?” I bark.
“Based on principle, Damien.” James retorts, and I shake my head, pacing back and forth. “The client doesn’t want any loose ends, and she’s a loose end— especially now she knows about the agency—she’s a liability for you and us. She goes back home, spills about you to her father, and we’ll have a bigger problem than your goddamn morals. Terminate her, or I will send someone else to do it.” He hangs up, and I stare at my cell phone for a long moment.
Fuck.
I close my eyes and sigh. James did have a point. What’s stopping her from going back to her father and telling him everything. After all the grief I’ve put her through this past week, she doesn’t owe me a goddamn thing, and I’m sure Hugo will want the head of the man who kidnapped his only daughter. He’ll come at me from every angle with everything he’s got.
I reach behind me and pull out my gun from the hem of my jeans and walk toward Ezra, who was currently sitting watching the lake. As I reach her, she looks up at me and blinks. “What?” She asks, clearly sensing that something was up.
“Get up,” She frowns but complies and stands up. I grasp her upper arm and pull her along with me. I hear a sharp intake of breath when I squeeze her arm.
“Damien, what’s wrong. Where are we going?” She questions in a flurry as we walk away from the house.
“Shut up and walk,” I snap as I continue to pull her along with me toward the stables. Ezra looks around and back at me again and blanches when she notices the gun in my hand.
“Damien?” I slide the barrel back and point the gun at her. She gasps and takes a couple of steps back, her hands up, palms facing me. “No. Damien, don’t, please, please don’t do this.” Tears gather in her eyes, and she starts to sob while I stare at her, motionless, as she pleads with me not to kill her. “Please, I’m begging you. I don’t want to die. Please don’t kill me. I haven’t done anything wrong.” She gazes up at me, helpless, her blue eyes glimmering with tears, searching my eyes for an ounce of humanity. “I haven’t even lived my life yet. There’s so much I want to do still. Please, don’t do this. Please.” Ezra whimpers.
“Don’t waste your breath, Ezra,” I tell her frostily. “This was inevitable. You know too much, and you’re a liability. We don’t like to leave loose ends.”
“I won’t say anything to anyone. I swear, Damien. I won’t say a word about anything. Please, you don’t have to kill me.” She begs, crying. “You said you wouldn’t hurt me. You asked me to trust you, and I did!”
I shake my head, “If I don’t kill you, someone else will. They will send someone after you. You’re going to die; now or later, you will be killed, Ezra. It is what it is.” I tell her, and she whimpers, shaking her head.
“My father will find you. Eventually, he will find out it was you, and he will come after you. I know my father. He won’t let you live; he will not let you get away with this. He will even the score. I hope you know that.” I cock my head to the side, regard her closely, and take a couple of steps toward her. Killing bad people was easy— killing someone like Ezra— who was just a pawn in all of this, was never part of the deal, loose end or not.
“Oh, I’m counting on it.”
“Damien, please, I’m begging you don’t. You have some good in you… I know you do. You can’t be this heartless. You can’t be.” I lower my gun as I near her, and she closes her eyes and exhales. I grasp her jaw and lift her face to mine.
“Stop talking.” Ezra closes her mouth and looks up at me, her eyes swimming in tears. “I had the good in me stripped away from me at a very young age. However, I do have rules. One being never to hurt an innocent— which you are…for now.” I inform her, and she blinks up at me. “The second is never to leave an open contract…” I stare into her eyes. “I don’t break those rules for no one. So you see, I’ve hit a bit of a snag here.”
Ezra frowns.
“I’m going to have to break one of those rules today, Ezra.”
Ezra watches me warily while I stare down into her upturned face.
“You want to live?” I ask, and she nods slowly. “There is a way.” Her eyes search my face waiting for my next words. “You have to marry me.” She blinks, and her brows form a deep vee showing her confusion. I sigh and continue, “The only way I can protect you is if you’re my wife and if you take my last name. The agency can’t hurt one of their own. If you’re married to me, you’re taking an oath of loyalty, so you’ll be safe.” Ezra just stares at me; tears roll down her cheeks while she contemplates her fate. “The choice is yours. Your fate, whether you live, or die, is in your hands.”
“I don’t understand…”
“It’s your choice Ezra, you marry me, and you live. You don’t, and I kill you. Simple as that. What don’t you understand?” I tell her, and she just stares at me vacantly.
“That’s it? That’s the only solution?”
I nod curtly. “That’s my offer. Now decide, I don’t have all day.” I watch her closely and wait for an answer while she gapes at me skeptically. “Well?”
She nods and sighs, “Yes, okay, fine.”
“Good. Now listen to me carefully. I’m giving you a second chance at life and putting my ass on the line, do not mistake my kindness for weakness. As I said, you’ll need to take an oath. Loyalty is everything to me. If you betray me, I will not forgive, nor will I show you any mercy. I will kill you and everyone you love. Do you understand me?” Ezra blinks and stares and me for a long moment until I grab her upper arm and yank her close to me. “Do you understand me?” She cries out and nods.
“Yes,” She sobs, “Please, Damien, I’m begging you stop squeezing my arms. You’re hurting me, please.”
“Pain is good. It keeps you sharp. You’ll learn in time. Move.” I let go of her arm, turn, and walk off toward the house. James won’t like this, not one bit, but I couldn’t just kill an innocent. I can control Ezra, and if she betrays me—then I’ll kill her.
She can’t say I didn’t give her a fair shot. I’m not thrilled about being married either, but it is what it is. I look back and see her walking behind me at a slower pace. We’ll need to be married right away. Maybe a Vegas trip would be the best bet; city hall requires permits and can take weeks.
* * *
Once we got backto the house, I walk over to the bar and pour myself a drink. My head was thumping. I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. I see Ezra in the corner of my eye and look at her. She’s watching me; her eyes, once filled with desire, are now showing animosity.
We stare at each other for a long moment until she breaks eye contact, turns on her heel, and walks upstairs. “We get married in two days. Get your shit together; we leave for Vegas tomorrow morning.” I tell her; she stops halfway up the stairs and looks back at me. Even with the distance, I can see the tears gathering in her eyes. She nods wordlessly and continues walking upstairs.
I take out my cell phone and make a call. “Jasper, I need you to do something for me.”
“Sure thing, what’d ya need?”
“I need Ezra Quintero’s passport and birth certificate.” I hear Jasper typing away on the other end. Jasper is one of our technical engineers; the kid is a wiz with surveillance and can hack into any database. He used to work for MI5 in England before he fled and settled in New York, now he works for the agency.
“When do you need it by?” He asks swiftly.
“Tomorrow morning.”
“No problem. Leave it with me, bro.” I utter a thank you and hang up. I rub the back of my neck, suddenly feeling drained. I glance at the time on the watch on my wrist. It's only seven-thirty. I need a shower, maybe after I’ll sit and read a book for a while, enjoy some time alone as that’s soon to be extinct.
I skip up the steps and stop in front of the door to Ezra’s room. She’s left it ajar. I push the door open a little and notice the room is empty, but the light is on in her bathroom, and I can smell her shower gel. I shake off the sudden urge to sneak up on her. Our kiss from a few days ago rushes through my mind; the softness of her lips, the feeling of her silky tongue dueling with mine makes my cock grow hard instantly.
This was supposed to be over, but I’ve just dug myself into a deeper hole by suggesting she marries me in exchange for her life.
I curse inwardly as I walk to the bathroom. Tug my t-shirt off over my head and toss it in the laundry basket, followed by my jeans and boxer shorts. In a couple of days, I’ll be married.
That was never part of my plan. I enjoy being alone. I have never thought about falling in love with someone and getting married and having kids.
Being an Assassin, you’re required to be alone; a wife or girlfriend is out of the question because you just don’t know who will come after you, and the first person they often go after is someone you care about.
I step into the walk-in shower and close the door before I turn the water on. I place my hands on the wall and hang my head as the water falls over on me. I close my eyes, and all I see is Ezra. Those endless blue eyes, plump lips, her flawless body pressed up against mine.
Focus, Damien; you can’t let yourself get emotionally involved.
I sigh, fisting my hands, and clench my jaw so tight it begins to throb. “Damien, please…” Her voice echoes in my mind. I feel a fire ignite deep in my core. The hottest kind of fire I know would get me into more trouble than it's worth if I allow it to consume me. I need to shut these urges down and keep Ezra out at all costs.
Because If I don’t—we’ll both feel the burn.