Chaos by Sarah Bailey

Twenty Three

Francis

The concentration on her face as I tied the knots around her wrists made me smile. Scarlett had a little furrow between her brows, her eyes intent on my fingers as I explained what I was doing. She was laid out on her stomach in her pyjamas on my bed, resting on her elbows so I could show her how to tie some very simple knots. My legs were on either side of her.

“Over like this,” I said, watching her face rather than what I was doing. “Then under here.”

I could probably do these in my sleep, but I had to start somewhere with her. She’d demanded I show her this evening after admitting she’d been punished by Drake earlier for pushing his buttons. I’d expected her to want to spend time with Prescott, but she’d sought me out.

“Can I ask you something?”

I undid the knots around her wrists to show her again.

“If you’d like.”

“It’s about Drake.”

The rope dropped on the bed. Scarlett looked up at me with a rather sheepish expression on her face.

“What about Drake?”

I couldn’t keep the suspicion out of my voice. Whilst she’d come in here to make me fulfil my promise to show her how to tie knots that would be hard to break out of, I didn’t like her using me as a source of information about the others. Especially not Drake. If she wanted to know things about him, she could ask the guy herself. Didn’t matter if he was a locked box. It was his choice what he told her and what he kept to himself.

“I’m not asking you to tell me his secrets.”

“Hmm.”

“Put your wrists out, I want to try.”

I did as she asked, watching her pick up the rope and wrap the length around one of my wrists.

“It’s just when West… threatened Tonya last week, he called her Drake’s step-cousin. And I was wondering about it.”

Drake’s family was a sore subject for him. His parents had been through a rather messy divorce when we’d been sixteen, around the time of Scarlett’s accident. His father had an affair with his now-stepmother. The only people he was in contact with now were his mother and his step-uncle, Fletcher Sinclair. He’d given us the original funds to start Fortuity. And the only reason he kept Tonya around was because of his uncle, even though we’d already paid him back every penny. I’d done that for us. Drake didn’t want it hanging over our heads or for his uncle to have any say in our company. He had no idea why we’d wanted to start it in the first place. Why the girl with me was the reason for everything we’d done in our lives.

“You should ask him about it.”

“Asking Drake anything is like pulling teeth.”

I snorted. He wasn’t the most forthcoming out of the four of us, but he had his reasons. Many of them had to do with the girl currently struggling to tie the knot I’d shown her.

“Not like that, remember, over then under.”

Scarlett readjusted the rope and did as I said.

“All I can tell you is Tonya is his step-cousin.”

“Do you like her?”

I frowned. After learning what she said to Scarlett, I wasn’t particularly impressed. Then again, Tonya had always been a problem. I’d met her long before Prescott and West. Couldn’t say I’d ever liked her, but I had nothing against the woman… until now.

“No. She shouldn’t have said that shit to you.”

Scarlett looked up at me having tied the knot I’d shown her. The knots around my wrists were loose, but they weren’t too bad overall. If she tightened them up, she might actually be able to trap Drake with them.

“She seems like a rather jealous and vindictive person.”

I wasn’t going to dispute it. And I knew from the moment she met Prescott, she’d wanted him. Given the state of Prescott and Scarlett’s relationship, I had a feeling our girl wasn’t too happy with Tonya’s crush on her man.

“She has a lot to be jealous of. You have us, of course she’s going to hate it.”

Scarlett gave me a look. Clearly, it had been the wrong thing to say. Tonya was likely jealous because Scarlett was beautiful, strong and had captured our attention. She had no idea of our previous relationship with the girl who’d been our everything back when we were kids.

“I have you, do I?”

I traced my finger along her jaw. There was no denying I felt something for Scarlett. She’d been my best friend. Someone I had always cared for. Just because she was trying to destroy us now, didn’t change those facts. She didn’t know any better. She didn’t remember. And unlike the others, I wasn’t going to hold it against her.

“Yeah, you do. That a problem?”

For a second, she didn’t react, but the wicked glint in her eyes had me narrowing mine. Scarlett shifted up onto her hands and knees, then she crawled under my bound arms, straddled my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck.

“No.”

Her mouth was on mine, kissing me as she pressed her body against me. The suddenness of it had me scrambling to stay upright with my hands bound. I landed flat on my back with Scarlett on top of me, still kissing me and rubbing her body on me. My bound hands rested on her back. I didn’t try to escape the loose knots she’d made, not when she was all over me like this.

Her hand slid down my body between us and wrapped around my rapidly hardening cock. I groaned in her mouth, unable to help myself. She kissed her way down my jaw, stroking me over my clothes. Fuck, I wanted her. I’d tried not to think about how much I needed this woman. How much I wanted her to remember me. How much I wanted to fuck her whilst she was chained up with metal wrapped around her body. The way it would leave indents all over her skin. How I’d make it so tight, it would put a strain on all of her muscles and joints.

No, you’re not going to do that. Don’t forget what you did to Chelsea.

Guilt flooded my senses, making me stiffen. She must have felt it as she raised her head and stared at me.

“What’s wrong?”

I shook my head and looked away.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t you want me?”

The rejection in her voice made my chest hurt. I looked at her again, wanting to reassure her I was in the moment with her.

“Hey, no, I want you, Scar. You have no idea how much. Just got shit on my mind is all… and no, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Her free hand slid across my jaw, her hazel-green eyes full of concern.

“Why are you and the others not bothered by being with the same woman? Not that we’re together or anything, but you know what I mean.”

“We’ve always shared.”

It wouldn’t make sense to anyone else, but the four of us had been through hell and back. We’d done everything together since we were kids. As we grew up and developed sexual desires most people would baulk at, sharing women who were into it didn’t feel like a big deal to us. Maybe we’d all become a little voyeuristic like Prescott. It was the way we were. And it hadn’t changed because we’d got Scarlett back. If anything, our need to be with her together was intensified by our connection to the girl from our past.

“So I’m just another notch on your bedposts?”

“That’s not what I said.”

Scarlett started to slide out from under my arms, but I tightened them around her.

“If I was only interested in fucking you, do you think I’d have taken care of you that night? Do you really think I would have got in the shower with you, held you whilst you cried and made sure you were okay?”

She froze, her eyes widening.

“I care about you, Scar. Don’t start trying to think otherwise.”

“Or what?” she whispered.

I wasn’t like Drake who wanted to punish her for every indiscretion, but her words made me pause. Did she want consequences for doubting me?

“Or… I’ll bind you to my bed.”

“And do what to me?”

The huskiness of her voice had me slipping my hands from the loose knots around my wrists, but I didn’t move them from her lower back just yet.

“Remind you why you’re my whore.”

She shivered, her pupils dilating as her fingers tightened around my cock. Clearly, she wanted me to do exactly that.

“Frankie,” she breathed before I captured her mouth with my own.

My hands ran up her back and tangled in her hair. Her hand resumed stroking my cock. I wanted her pussy wrapped around it. Her hot, wet little pussy. I wanted her to scream my name. Without warning, I flipped us over, pinning her down on the bed with my hands wrapped around her wrists above her head.

“You’re such a bad girl,” I murmured against her lips. “My little whore.”

“Tie me up.”

I let go of her wrists and grabbed hold of the discarded rope. Then I looped it around her wrists and tied them together. Standing up, I pulled her up onto her knees. I reached up and looped the rope over the bar bolted to my ceiling, suspending her wrists in the air as I tied it off too. She had to raise up on her knees a little, but she could still move her legs.

My hands shoved her t-shirt up, exposing her tits. I sucked one into my mouth and loved the way she gasped when I bit down. My other hand dug underneath her shorts, seeking her wet warmth. She moaned when I speared her with my fingers, shoving them deep and groaning at the way she clenched around them. I wasn’t gentle. I wanted her to fucking well feel it. Wanted to show her she was mine.

“Do you want my cock, whore?”

“Please.”

“Good, because I’m going to make you come all over it.”

I thrust my fingers inside her harder before biting down on her nipple again. She arched into me, crying out at the intensity I was playing her body with. She couldn’t do a damn thing about it other than take it.

“Frankie, please.”

Pulling my fingers from her, I shoved her shorts down her legs, tugging them off before freeing my cock from the confines of my clothes. I gripped both Scarlett’s hips, pulled her over me and impaled her on it in one brutal, unforgiving thrust. The way she panted as I drove into her again and again made my heart fucking pound. Pressing closer, I kissed her mouth, sucking her tongue and tasting her.

“Mine,” I grunted. “You’re mine, whore. You better not forget it again, you hear me?”

“Yours.”

I bit her lip, making her whine as I continued to drive into her little body. Making her take every inch. I was trying to avoid touching her behind because I knew she was sore from Drake’s punishment earlier. Her hips gave me enough leverage to give it to her the way she craved. Scarlett liked it rough and raw. She wanted passion and fire. I could tell from the way she writhed and squirmed with each of my thrusts.

“Frankie,” she panted, “don’t stop.”

I loved the way she said it so easily now. It wasn’t even a conscious decision on her part. Every time she called me, Frankie, my feelings for her got more and more tangled up in the web of lies we’d weaved. How would she react when she found out the truth? Who the fuck knew. It was a gamble we’d eventually have to take. And soon. No matter what Drake said, I was done with this farce. Done with the secrets. If Scarlett was ever going to come back to us as the girl she’d been, we needed her to remember the past. Needed her to know who we truly were to each other.

My hand shifted from her hip to her thigh so I could thumb her clit. I wanted Scarlett to come all over me. There was no better sight in the world.

“Come for me, whore. Show me who you belong to. Show me how much you love my cock.”

Her back arched and her mouth parted on a silent scream. I’d known she was close. I could feel it. The way she clenched around me was so damn sweet, her pussy milking my damn cock for all it was worth. I choked out a groan, unable to help myself as I emptied myself inside her tight heat.

Scarlett leant against me, panting and trying to regain her equilibrium. I held her close, still rocking my hips into hers with the last pulses of my own climax. She pressed her face into my neck, kissing my pulse point.

“When I first met you, I never imagined you’d be like this.”

I stroked my hands up her back.

“Like what?”

“Well, you were so friendly and… nice… but neither of those things are true, are they?”

Moving back, I looked at her. There was no judgement or reproach in her eyes, only understanding.

“No, I’m not… but I think you like that.”

I reached up and brushed my thumb along her bottom lip.

“The dark is alluring,” she whispered. “And the men who live in it even more so.”

I slid my thumb between her lips. Her tongue curled around it. Those eyes of hers burnt with a heady mix of desire and satisfaction.

“It’s what we do, Scar, lure you in until you’re so deeply involved, you can never escape.”

Perhaps I shouldn’t have said it, but I didn’t care. I wanted her in the darkness with us. I craved it. We all did.

She only sucked on my thumb harder, her tongue sliding over the pad. It sent a jolt right to my cock, which was still half-hard inside her. What the fuck was it about her? She was intoxicating. I wanted to kiss her until she couldn’t breathe. Fuck her until her pussy was raw. I wanted to dig myself inside her chest, smash through her walls and truly make her heart as much mine as it was Prescott’s. He may have told me she’d reciprocated his love but warned me not to mention it to West or Drake. Her relationship with those two was precarious enough as it was. I had no intention of intervening.

“Bad girl.”

She smiled around my thumb, her eyes twinkling. I brushed my nose against hers.

“Have you forgiven me for Friday?”

She nodded before my thumb popped from her mouth.

“You’re my safety, Frankie. Please don’t ruin that for me.”

Fuck.

I couldn’t promise her I wouldn’t. Not when she had no idea what we did. How the only reason she’d been left broken was because of us.

“I’ll try not to.”

Digging my hands in her hair, I kissed her. My dick grew hard, so I fucked her again until she was crying, panting and begging me not to stop. Until I made her come so hard, she screamed and thrashed in her bonds. Then I let her down, cleaned her up in the bathroom and tucked her up in bed with me.

She curled up against my side with her head resting on my shoulder, her hand placed directly on my racing heart.

“When’s your birthday?”

I almost stiffened but made a supreme effort to stay relaxed as I stroked her shoulder. One question I could not answer under any circumstances. Not my birthday nor the others. It was a sure-fire of opening up a can of worms I wouldn’t be able to shove back in.

“Why? You one of those astrology types who wants to check if we’re compatible or something?”

She shoved me.

“No… not that there’s anything wrong with it. I’m just trying to get to know you.”

“Well, all you need to know is I’m twenty-six and it’s not any time soon.”

To distract her, I grabbed hold of her chin and kissed her. She didn’t need to learn anything more about me this evening. Especially not about that. And if she tried to question me again, I would bury my face between her legs. Make her come enough times, she would be too exhausted to ask me shit.

There were some doors better left shut whilst she couldn’t remember the past. When she did, our woman might realise the significance of her question. And why I had to keep it a secret for all our sakes.