Chapter 13

Audrey

I find him sitting at the small table, drinking a glass of whiskey, freshly showered and eyes still carrying a little red.

He raises his hands and pulls a face as I enter. “I’m unarmed.”

I pull the wig off my head, run my fingers through my hair and take a seat opposite him. “Why are you here?”

He takes a large gulp of whiskey, pours another glass, and slides it toward me. “Because I couldn’t leave without trying to make things right.”

I accept the drink and stare at him. “And how can you do that?”

He pours himself another measure before he pushes a file towards me. “By finding out what really happened the night your mother died.”

My eyes slide to the official-looking folder marked classified. “Where did you get that?”

He grins. “Better if you don’t know that.”

I swallow hard and take another gulp of my drink as I open the file and read what has been until now a confidential exchange of information between departments.

I get halfway through the first email before I have my answer.

I close the file and release a shaky breath. “The DNA evidence left at the crime scene was inconsistent,” I say.

Spencer nods. “The cop filed a report but it never saw the light of day until now.”

At the tenderness on his face, and the lengths he’s gone to, I have to fight to stay angry. “Where will you go now?”

He wraps his hands around the glass and gives me a loaded look. “The Bahamas. I was hoping you’d come with me.”

The Bahamas? The place my mother always wanted to take me to for a vacation, but dad always refused.

I snort a laugh. “Why would I do that?”

His lip curls and a guttural rumble comes from his throat. “Because if you don’t come, you may as well shoot me.”

I roll my eyes in an attempt to hide my smile. “Cut the bullshit. And tell me the truth. Why the Bahamas?”

His smile slides from his face. “Your mom had millions of dollars your father didn’t know about stashed in a couple accounts. She was planning on leaving your father and moving to the Bahamas. She even had new ID’s for you both.”

My mouth slackens as I try to process all that. I shake my head as all the pieces fall neatly into place. “She wanted to talk to me, but I was too busy with school,” I choke out.

Tears sting at my eyes as I swallow past the lump in my throat. I can’t even answer him I’m so overwhelmed. “This is surreal,” I hear myself say.

He doesn’t say anything else, just sits patiently until I’m no longer sure of which way is up and which way is down.

In the space of five hours I’ve gone from being homeless, unsure of my father’s guilt to being told my mother was not only the victim I thought she was, but she’s been secretly planning for a life she never got to live.

I stare at the amber liquid in the glass as I recall the times my father dismissed her, belittled her, or reminded her she was always on show.

He demanded perfection from everyone around him.

Yet, he was the most corrupt person I’ve ever met.

I look at Spencer through my eyelashes and wonder how my father would have reacted if I’d sprayed him with mace.

At the warmth spreading through me that has little to do with the alcohol burning through my veins, I wonder what my mother would want if she were here.

Spencer is everything my father conditioned me to hate.

But I don’t hate him. Far from it.

“You hurt me,” I say.

He leans forward and reaches for my hand. “I was a prick and I’m sorry.”

My fingers curl into his and my body seems to ignite at his touch. “There’s something else you should know,” he says.

I wince, not sure I can take any more surprises. “What now?”

His thumb rubs over my knuckle sending shivers down my spine. His eyes lock on to mine, and my breathing starts to increase as his gaze drifts to my lips. “I have enough money to support us for a long time. I want to start my life over, with you,” he says.

My heart now thudding against my ribs, my brain is slowly turning to mush as lust crushes out all logical thought. “Money you got from blackmailing people?”

He shrugs. “Bad people. Really, really, bad people. And soon as Kurt is out of the US, we’ll be releasing all the records to the Feebs so they’ll be punished.”

Heat rushes around my body as his fingers gently caress my skin. “You did that for me?”

He nods. “Just say the word and you’ll never see me again,” he says.

The very idea of him leaving is enough to send my thoughts into a tailspin.

I’m also highly aware the last time I felt this conflicted about someone was when my father asked me to lie for him.

But Spencer is nothing like my father. He may be a liar and a thief, and God knows what else, but he’s also gone to great lengths to prove he’s capable of change.

And no matter how I look at it, what he did and how he did it, doesn’t seem to match how hard he’s trying to undo the damage.

I have never seen my father look contrite unless it was of benefit to him, or unless there were cameras around.

And Spencer looks more than contrite. The way his shoulders are hunched over and he’s watching me close, is most definitely not the signs of a man who isn’t asking for forgiveness.

My thoughts are tangling into incoherence until I’m struggling to sit still. My pulse is speeding, my skin is heating, and I feel like I’m about to burst into flames.

I can’t see anything but him. Feel his hands on me, his mouth, his tongue.

A low moan slips past my lips and my eyes lock on to his. Tension fills the space between us, growing to unbearable levels as neither of us speaks.

The seconds stretch on as my lust starts to spread through me until I no longer care about what he did, or where we are.

Breathing now so rapid, I’m in danger of hyperventilating, but he’s waiting for an answer, so I know he’ll never move until I do.

With the memory of his tongue on me, I launch to my feet, and round the table as desperation overrides any sense.

He gets to his feet, eyes heavy with desire as I pull him against me and kiss him far too roughly.

He grunts as our mouths smash together, but I don’t care. I don’t care about anything right now other than satiating the need burning in me.

No longer caring about what he’s done, or how much seeing him hurts, I pour all my anger, all my pain and aggression towards him.

I bite his bottom lip and tear at his shirt, ripping his flesh as I claw at his clothes.

We crash into the wall, my mouth sucking in his like I’m drowning and he’s the only thing keeping me afloat.

My hands are all over his body, in his hair, tugging at his jeans as desperation for release crowds out my fury.

He grips the back of my head and twists his fingers into my scalp. “Audrey,” he pants.

I shake my head and growl at him. “Don’t start being the good guy now, fuck me, fuck me, hard.”

He doesn’t even give me the chance to goad him again, he just lifts me up and slams me against the wall and jams his tongue into my mouth again.

Somewhere between me biting his neck, and dragging my nails down his back, we make it to the bed, breathless and a tangled pile of limbs.

I wrench his shirt over his head and pull him onto the bed with me.

I straddle him and lean over so I can lick and suck every inch of his torso in a blind rage of anger and lust.

Barely aware it’s me making the animalistic sounds, I manage to remove all obstacles between us and what I need.

When I’m naked and panting for him, he throws me on my back, and starts to kiss every inch of my body.

By the time he reaches my core, I’m trembling with need and whimpering in anticipation.

He spreads my legs and uses his tongue to lick me until I’m arching my back and issuing curses at how good it feels.

Any denial I had at how much I want him, disappears as he sends ripples of pleasure resounding around my body.

I grip his head, tugging at his hair as an orgasm explodes through me. I’ve not caught my breath when he grabs me roughly and yanks me to my feet.

I scramble to stand, but he just picks me up and throws me against the wall, so savagely my spine crashes into the hardwood.

Tongues twisting together, bodies pressed against each other, he slides his cock in me with a grunt.

He pounds me harder and harder, kissing me so intensely I can’t breathe, let alone think.

Like animals in the wild, we devour each other, mouths, tongues, teeth until I’m covered in love bites and his neck is bleeding.

He walks me back to the bed and flips me over so I have to scramble to my knees.

Without waiting for permission, he grabs my hips and slides his cock inside me again, slamming his pelvis against my ass.

His moans of pleasure echoing mine, he keeps ramming me, harder, and harder until I’m gripping the sheets and screaming his name.

My climax shudders violently through me taking over my entire body, making my knees give out, and releasing all the pent-up aggression I had in my body.

When I’m a quivering mess, gasping for breath, he pulls out and shoves me on my back.

He smothers my body in kisses, sucking and licking my skin until his mouth is on mine again and I’m eagerly spreading my legs for him.

His tongue still connected with mine; he slips inside again. Pleasure consumes me as I grab his ass cheeks and feel the muscle working as he thrusts.

I scratch my nails down his back, screaming as he fucks me even harder and with more desperation than he did on the table in the shack.

He draws back, face twisted in pleasure as his orgasm starts to overtake his body.

I twist the sheets in my hands and arch my back as another climax overtakes my body to compete with his.

I scream so loud and come so hard black starts to close in and my ears start to ring.

I’m still recovering when he collapses beside me, breathing hard as I run my hand over my face as I try to compose myself.

My entire body feels battered, and as I look at Spencer, I can see evidence of just how aggressive I was.

I’ve drawn blood and he’s covered in scratches. In my anger not only did I mace him, but I also found a way to punish him during sex.

He seems to be aware I’m appraising the damage I’ve done to his body when he looks at me.

Still tangled in the sheets, his eyebrow lifts. “Wouldn’t have picked you for the hate fuck type.”

I choke on a laugh and roll over so I’m lying on his chest. “I have never hate fucked anyone and I’m not about to start with you.”

He runs a finger down my spine. “Does that mean you don’t hate me?”

I try to sound calmer than I feel. “It means I’m not as angry at you now. I got a lot out of my system.”

His eyes narrow, and before I can blink, he’s flipping me on my back and pinning my arms down.

I struggle, but he kisses me so thoroughly I momentarily forget I am still a little bit angry at him.

He pulls back, a wry smile on his face. “If you need to blow off some more steam, I’m happy to oblige you, even if you did nearly kill me.”

I smother a laugh and try to wriggle out of his grasp. “Whatever I did, you deserved worse.”

His fingers wrap tighter around my wrists making it impossible to get out from under him. “Let me go,” I say.

“I did that once, I’m not doing it again,” he growls.

He presses his mouth to mine again, and I let his tongue tease me into submission.

When he finally releases me, I’m not sure I want him to, I grab his ass and hold him in place. “Promise me,” I say.

His eyebrow lifts. “Promise you what?”

The words escape in a rush. “Promise me you won’t leave me again.”

A smile curls his lip. “I don’t need to promise you. I’ll prove it. Every day if I have to.”

I try for a lazily shrug, but my voice comes out wobbly. “If you hurt me again, I will do more than mace you.”

He looks me dead in the eye and his words piece into the ache in my chest. “This is a second chance for me and I’m not going to mess this up.”

He pushes a strand of hair back from my forehead. “Think you could love a fuck up like me?”

A smile creases my lips and I don’t bother trying to play it cool. He’s laid all his cards on the table, not once, but twice now.

I’m still not entirely ready to forgive him, but I also know he didn’t have to find the truth out about my mother.

And he didn’t have to come here or try to make amends.

Rather than dismiss him, or tell him he barely knows me, I just accept that maybe, just maybe we met for a reason.

“I think I already do,” I say.

His lips curl into a smile, and when he presses his lips to mine, and kisses me softly, I know I’d go anywhere in the world with him.

“We can’t really just sail away, can we? This can’t be permanent.”

He props himself up on his elbow and stares at me so intensely a shiver of worry ripples through me. “Kurt and I came up with the fail-safe in case we got caught. The plan is why Gary agreed to let me borrow his parent’s boat. It lends credibility for the accident and the insurance will cover any losses.”

My eyes pop. “Accident?”

A lazy grin appears as if he’s just suggesting we’re making dinner plans. “Gary just needs to call and say despite his best efforts, you’ve gone missing. Only this time, you don’t surface because the boat you were on capsizes somewhere between here and the Bahamas.”

I gulp. “This is insane. You want me to fake my own death?”

He shrugs. “You’ll be free. Your father will go to jail, and Beth and Gary can visit when things have calmed down.”

I snort a laugh. “I can’t believe you’ve all been conspiring against me like this.”

He shakes his head, and frowns. “Not conspiring against. Conspiring for. Your mother laid the groundwork a decade ago. We’re just giving you an opportunity to leave and live the life she wanted you to.”

I stare into his eyes, trying to find something to convince me this is madness.

But all I can see is the truth swimming in the brown hues of his eyes.

This is the only way I can ever be free of my father’s guilt, and of mine.

And I can’t think of a better way to honor my mother’s memory than disappearing with the man who helped destroy her murderer.

For all his faults, agreeing to spend the weekend on the island with Spencer was the best mistake I ever made.

And I have my flirty cousin to thank for it all.

“After all the trouble I went to, she’s back with Gary now, isn’t she?” I ask.

A wry smile appears, and I know he’s not just talking about Gary. “He made a mistake letting her go and he’s doing everything he can to show her he loves her.”

Despite my now thundering heartrate, I smile back at him.

And with thoughts about the best weekend of my life firmly in my mind, I wrinkle run a finger down the slope of his chest.

“Hypothetically, if I were to disappear with you with a new identity, do we have enough money to buy our own island?” I ask.

He chuckles. “Way ahead of you, honey, way ahead of you.”

Snippet from One Wild Weekend With Ryder

#13 One Wild Weekend with Series

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Lexi Hart is the pen name of a crazy Kiwi romance junkie who prefers to live in the heads of her characters than her own.

If you want to escape reality with me and love fast burn romances with a splattering of suspense, The One Wild Weekend Series is sure to satisfy.

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