In Death I Live by Lindsay Becs
ZORA
The next fewdays were pretty uneventful. I thought they’d grill me for more information, but they didn’t. Each of them “worked” at different times or would leave the house but none of them all at once.
I didn’t ask any questions either. I didn’t think I had that right.
At least not yet. Not after everything they’ve done for me. After they found out that I wasn’t here by chance, but rather to find out information to give to someone else, and they still didn’t kick me out on my ass. Or kill me.
And I’m very aware of the fact that they could.
“What are you thinking about so hard over there?” River asks with a chuckle from behind his desk.
I feel my face heat from being caught thinking a little too hard about these boys. I never could hide what I was thinking from showing on my face.
“I don’t know much about you,” I tell him, looking up through my lashes at him.
Sitting back in his chair, he crosses his arms over his chest. His head tilts to the side as he looks at me with an amused grin. “What do you want to know?”
Wincing, I say, “Everything?”
“Kind of broad, don’t you think?” he asks through a chuckle.
Pressing the heels of my palms to my eyes, I tip my head back. “I don’t know. I guess.” Dropping my hands to my lap, I look at him again. “What do you do?”
Staring at me, I wait for him to tell me it’s none of my business. Instead, he answers me. “I’m the banker and bookkeeper. I track the money.”
“What about the others?” I ask, pressing more.
“We each have a different part to play in the game, angel.”
“What game? I don’t understand.”
He takes in a deep inhale, and his face turns more serious for a second, making me feel a little uneasy. “There’s a much bigger game being played than you realize, Zora. Even before you came here. You don’t need to understand or know more than you do right now.”
“But—” I start, only for him to cut me off.
“Enough,” he says harshly, making me jump. Seeing my reaction, he quickly softens and apologizes. “I’m sorry, angel. I didn’t mean to scare you.” I’ve never seen or heard River this way, and I am definitely not a fan. “It’s all to protect you. Can you understand that?”
I nod to appease him, but really, I can’t. Because none of it makes sense. It’s all one secret after another. A game. A game they won’t let me play. I’m just an unknowing pawn they all seem to want to use. I just need to decide how much I’m going to let them use me.
Placing the book I was reading next to me on the couch, I stand. “Where you going?” River asks when he notices me moving to leave his office.
Lifting a shoulder, I answer, “Change of scenery.”
I don’t wait for him to say anything else. I leave him to himself and his secret banking. Walking downstairs, I start to picture River as the little Monopoly guy banker. The image conjured up in my mind makes me laugh to myself as I walk into the kitchen.
“What are you laughing about?” Cruz asks, making me jump a mile.
“You scared me!” I yell at him. “I didn’t see you. I was thinking about River as the banker in Monopoly,” I say through a grin.
“The little bald guy with the mustache?” he asks with an amused smile tugging on his lips.
I nod. “Funny, right?” Reaching into the fridge, I pull out a bottle of water.
He stares at me for a beat before he bursts out in a loud laugh. Walking to me, he pulls me in for a hug. “I fucking love having you around,” he tells me through a snicker.
“Thanks,” I mumble into his chest. Then looking up, I ask, “What’s your job?”
Stepping back, he takes my hand in his. “Come on,” he tugs me behind him, and I blindly follow.
We walk back the way I came, toward River’s wing, except we go in the opposite direction where I haven’t been yet. Pulling a key from his pocket, Cruz unlocks and opens a door, and when I step through, I can tell this is his wing.
My eyes scan the atrium filled with natural light coming down from the ceiling of glass. Plants and flowers surround a grand piano that sits in the middle of the circular room with pillars that separate entrances to other rooms. It feels like a fairytale garden straight out of a book.
“This is incredible,” I say quietly.
“Let me show you around.” He takes me on a tour of his space that is so unlike the other two I’ve already seen. He has just as many rooms as River and Domonic, but where theirs are typical rooms with normal decorations, Cruz’s is filled with art and color and life. Each room is painted a different vibrant color with black and white photos and paintings hung on the walls. His furniture, although all black or white, looks soft and homey. “What do you think?” He smirks at me.
“I’m kind of in shock,” I chortle. “It’s so different. But so beautiful.” Looking back at him, I add, “And so are you.” His head dips with a shy grin that makes him look adorably boyish.
“I’m surveillance and security.”
My head turns to look at one of the photographs on the wall. “These are yours, aren’t they?” Biting his lips nervously, he nods. “They’re… beautiful.”
Stepping closer to me, his hand slides up the side of my face, his fingers in my hair as he stares down at me. “You’re beautiful,” he counters. It’s my turn to feel shy, dropping my eyes from his. “Can I play for you?” My eyes go back to his, sparking in excitement.
We walk back into the atrium, where his piano is. He lowers the top to make it flat and motions for me. When I’m standing next to the shiny black instrument, he lifts me to sit on top. I start to protest, but he tells me he wants me to feel his music as much as hear it.
He sits down on the bench, lifting the lid to expose the keys. His fingers quickly skate up and down each one, making me giggle. Looking up at me, he smiles as he begins to play. I’m shocked at first at how amazing he is. We’re talking concert-worthy-with-roses-being-thrown-at-him-as-he-wears-a-tux kind of good.” kind of good.
When he switches to a slower song, I lie back and close my eyes. My arms out at my sides, I feel the music pour out from not only the piano but from Cruz himself. Feeling his gaze on me, I open my eyes, locking onto him as he keeps playing, hypnotized and pulled toward him.
He stands to lean over and kiss me. Never stopping the entrancing music he’s playing, his lips kiss mine in tandem with the beat of the song.
Abruptly, he stops playing and my eyes open to meet his, a look of lust and hunger staring down at me. With a hand on my thigh, he pulls to spin me to face him. My legs fall down over the side and my feet land on the keys, making sounds that are the opposite of the beauty he was just playing.
He kisses me again, this time more demanding as he pulls me closer to him. My ass sits perched on the edge with my legs spread wide, him standing between them.
My greedy hands slide under his shirt, needing to feel his skin as our tongues caress and lips devour one another. Pulling his shirt off, I toss it somewhere behind him, and then my hands are back on his heated skin.
He pulls back, breaking our kiss, and I mourn the loss of his lips on me. He must know because he smirks at me as his hands run down over my arms. His fingers find the edge of my own shirt, and he removes it quickly. Leaning forward, he kisses my hardened nipple through my lace bra, pulling a moan from me.
Hands glide up my thighs until they slide into my shorts. I gasp when I feel his finger push aside my panties before running through my throbbing, wet center.
“You’re so fucking wet, baby girl,” he practically growls against my breast. Then, he pulls back. I whimper at the loss of having him touch me. A grin pulls on his perfect lips from my reaction. Kissing me softly, his hands go to my waist and tug down my shorts and underwear. “Up,” he whispers against my lips. I obey, lifting my butt as he pulls them down my legs until I kick them off.
Uninhibited, I grind my exposed pussy against his jean-clad hard cock, making him groan. Reaching for his belt, I undo the buckle, pop the button and unzip the cage holding him back. My hand can’t touch him fast enough. And, oh fuck, is he big and hard. I moan from just the feel of him in my hand. With another groan, he smacks my hands away and then sits back down on the bench.
His eyes look up at me before they trail down my body to my pussy, open and right in his face. His lids flutter closed as he takes in a deep inhale. Being this exposed to him and having him smell my need should embarrass me, but instead, it turns me on even more.
Then, locking his green eyes on my blues, he leans forward and kisses right where I want him most. This time my eyes flutter as he peppers my swollen lips and aching clit with kisses. Then, he flattens his tongue and licks me from back to front, making me cry out. His tongue circles and swirls, driving me insane. My hands sink into his dark curls, keeping him there as I rut against his mouth and face, chasing my impending orgasm.
A scream erupts from me, echoing around us, when he pushes two fingers inside me and sucks on my bundle of nerves. His fingers pump in and out as his mouth keeps sucking and licking. Pulling his fingers out, he licks them while pushing his tongue inside of me. His groan vibrates into my core as he tastes me, and my orgasm slams through me. He doesn’t let up until he licks every last drop of pleasure he’s pulled from me.
I’m panting, my hands still tangled in his hair when he kisses the inside of my thigh and then looks up at me with a sleepy grin. His head lays on my leg, and he stares up at me in contentment. I run my fingers through his soft hair, and after a few seconds, his eyes close as my breathing and pounding heart settle.
“Cruz?”
“Hmm?”
“Take me to bed.”
Picking his head up, he looks at me in a way that makes me think he sees into my soul. He stands and then lifts me off the top of the piano, carrying me to his bedroom, my head lying on his shoulder.
He sits on his bed, me straddling his lap. Picking my head up, I look at him—really look at him—and see so much vulnerability there. Running my hands through his hair again, I lean forward to kiss him again.
It doesn’t take long for me to feel his hard cock under me. Leaning back on his hands, he lifts his hips so I can push his pants down. Lifting up, I line him up with my entrance and sink down on him. Once he’s filled me, we both moan and stall our movements.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” he groans. “You are so fucking good.” Lifting up a little only to fall back down, he groans again. “I understand why River didn’t want to share you now,” he says, making me chuckle.
I ride his dick good and hard, working myself up again as I do. He picks me up, flipping me onto my stomach, pulling my ass in the air. “I want to call River,” he says from behind me when I feel him slide back inside me.
“W-what?” I’m so lost in lust I don’t understand what he’s asking for.
“You okay if I call River in to join us, baby girl? I want to see you fucking him, and I want to see what you look like full with both of us.” My pussy clenches from the thought of having both of them inside me. He slaps my ass. “Is that a yes?” I nod my head. “I need a verbal answer, Zora,” he says, slapping my other cheek.
“Yes,” I pant. “Yes, I want both of you.”
“Good, baby girl. Hang on a minute and then we’ll both make you feel really fucking good, okay?”
I nod, feeling my eyes roll back as another orgasm threatens to surface as he keeps slowly fucking me from behind.
“Riv, I’ve got Zora. Come play with us,” he says into his phone as he slams into me harder than before, making me cry out again. “You hear that? She’s calling for you,” he chuckles before pulling out and tossing his phone somewhere on the floor.
He unsnaps my bra, and it’s then I realize I was still wearing it. “On your back. I want to see these tits everyone else has seen.”
Flipping to my back, I grin up at him with my arms above my head, looking at him coyly. He drops to take one in his mouth. “Is there any part of you that isn’t perfect, baby girl?”
“You’ll have to tell me,” I flirt.
There’s a knock on the door before it opens and I see River standing there in only a pair of shorts. “Hey, angel.” He smiles down at me as Cruz keeps sucking on my nipple, making me moan through a “hey” of my own.