Scarred Monster Page 5

  “She reminded me to stick with family, to be loyal to my family,” Liliana said with disgust.

  Caleb never liked that manipulative bitch, and he knew how even in the past, Liliana had been hungry to establish some kind of mother-daughter relationship with the woman who gave birth to her.

  Liliana continued, “There’s no excuse for why I agreed to be engaged to that prick, nothing to compare to what you’ve seen and been through. I’m so sorry.”

  He reached out, stroking her back, pressing his lips on the curve of her neck, right over one of his fading bite marks. God. Caleb hadn’t meant to wound her like this.

  “You don’t need to apologize to me,” he told her. He tried to place himself in her position, young and beautiful Liliana, waiting for one man who might never return, or if he ever did, it might be in a wooden box. And him? Caleb didn’t have any excuse for his actions.

  A silent question seemed to hover in the air between them. She had every right to know, too.

  “I’m sorry, too,” he told her. “When I left you, ten years ago, I knew I wasn’t good enough for you. I felt lost, too, unsure of my place in the world. I thought by joining the army, I’d find answers. I had this stupid-ass plan that if I rose through the ranks, I’d be worthy of you.”

  “Oh, Caleb,” she whispered, sliding a hand to his cheek, her touch soft against the stubble there. “You didn’t need to prove anything to me.”

  “It took me a long time to understand that,” he admitted. “I was young, stupid, reckless. I need to know one more thing, that you have no feelings towards that bastard.”

  She took his hand, guiding it to her left breast. “This always belonged to you. There’s nothing between Roger and me.”

  “I want you out of that asshole’s house, his life. You’re mine, baby. Always have been. I can’t stand the thought of you belonging to anyone else.” Caleb brushed his lips against her, slowly, tenderly, before continuing. “If he doesn’t do anything then I’m taking you for myself. You’ll be my wife, Liliana.”

  Chapter Seven

  Liliana closed the front door behind her, leaning against the wood, her mind still preoccupied by the deadly promise Caleb made earlier. She knew he’d make good with his threat. Heck, part of her wished she could just drop everything and leave.

  She’d fulfilled her role as good daughter, dutiful fake fiancée. Liliana had played by the rules her entire life. Now was the time to break them. Caleb was finally home. He might be returned in pieces, he’d acknowledged that much, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was being right beside him, when his inner demons began haunting him.

  Liliana frowned, looking around the foyer of the house. She’d never seen the monstrously huge house as hers. By now, one of the household staff would have noticed her, but the space looked empty, quiet. The light in the living room area told her someone was home.

  Roger? She left the picnic basket by the door and went to confront him, intending to end this now.

  “Liliana, good of you to finally join us,” came the familiar, frigid voice of her mother.

  Well, that explained why the house seemed empty. Her mother had probably dismissed the staff for the day.

  Liliana froze by the doorway. Like always, her mother looked flawless, dressed in a matching cream silk blouse and pantsuit, like she was about to go to some function. Even her father was there, in a sharp, gray suit. They always intimidated her growing up. When Liliana had been younger, she hoped they’d be home more often so they could be like one of the close families she read in her books or saw on TV.

  Liliana stopped all those foolish wishes when she realized that to them, she was just one more chess piece to maneuver.

  Eyeing the half-emptied coffee mugs on the table, she guessed they’d been here for a while. Not wanting to appear like a frightened girl still scared of her parents, she took a seat on the remaining armchair next to the couch.

  “You didn’t answer my messages, and Dad’s secretary kept putting me off,” she stated point blank.

  “Roger has been complaining that you’ve been acting erratically these past few days,” her mother said, eyeing her up and down. Unsurprisingly, a frown appeared on her painted lips. Her mother didn’t even address the fact she’d been frantically trying to contact them. “Did you go out dressed like that?”

  Ignoring that comment, Liliana crossed her arms. “Did he tell you he’s been careless about his ‘extracurricular activities’, too? He’s been bringing his hookers here, doesn’t give a rat’s ass who sees.”

  “Language, Liliana,” her mother snapped, looking appalled.

  “Enough, Roger has his share of indiscretions, but if you did your job right you two would be married, probably have kids—” her father began.

  “Taking care of a spoiled brat who throws tantrums whenever he wants isn’t what I want to do for the rest of my life,” she interrupted coolly, her voice razor-edged. When, she wondered, had she developed ice in her veins?

  “There’s no reason to break off your engagement to Roger,” her mother insisted.

  Not surprised her mother knew about that, she went on, “I’ve had enough of this charade. I tried to do the right thing, to give you guys and him notice. If nothing happens, then I’ll just pack up my bags and leave him. Start somewhere else where no one knows who I am.”

  “Do that and I’ll cut you from the family inheritance,” her father said.

  Liliana let out a laugh, unable to help herself. Did he seriously think that threat would work?

  “Go ahead. I’ve never given a damn about your money. I’ll pick up a job, any job and that works fine with me. As for Roger? He’s not a good investment, Father. He’ll get into trouble sooner or later, that even you or his father can’t pull out of.”

  “This is about some other man, isn’t it?” her mother demanded. “Is this why you’re acting like some crazy woman out of her mind?”

  Liliana’s face tightened. “What do you care? You’ve never given a damn about me your entire lives, until I was useful. I was a fool to allow you to help convince me to enter this arrangement. Young and stupid enough to actually believe my mother and father cared.”

  This would go nowhere. Her parents always tended to overreact to the little things, and it wasn't like Roger and she were married. Since she was a kid, they'd always tried to control her life, and they didn't like it when nothing when their way.

  She rose to her feet, deciding she wasted so much time explaining herself to her folks, who never truly learned how to listen. Liliana had said her piece. Her parents would never change. They’d always be predictable. They’d need time to cool off, but afterwards, they'd probably start to see her side of the story.

  “Now then, we have nothing further to discuss, and I have other matters to attend to,” she said. “You both can show yourselves out.”

  Liliana exited the living room without waiting for their reply. She climbed the stairs to her room and heard the slam of the front door. Inside her room, she looked out the window, seeing her parents shouting at each other while getting inside their car.

  Their engagement had been an arranged political match as well, she remembered. Liliana thought she’d never seen them happy. Real happiness, not the fake plastered smiles they wore on their wedding photos, or the shots they posed for the press. Liliana didn’t want to end up like them. She fell back on her bed and shut her eyes.

  Soon, she no longer needed to wake up to this room, this house that had never been hers, or pay special attention to appearances, or keep her guard up in social events. She’d be free to be who she wanted, with the man she loved more than life itself.

  Chapter Eight

  A curt knock on her bedroom door made Liliana say, “Come in.”

  Maria entered her room.

  “This was delivered just now,” Maria said, handing her a packaged envelope.

  “Thank you.” Once Maria shut the door behind her, Liliana turned the envelope over. Seeing it ca
me from the PR agency her parents used, her hands trembled as she took out the papers. It was the draft of a news article, simply stating Roger and she had ended their engagement. Written in her father’s handwriting at the bottom was a date, tomorrow. She guessed that was when the article would be published.

  Unexpected tears filled her eyes, which she hastily brushed away. The last person she’d expected to come through for her was her father. Maybe he felt guilty by their conversation or to him, he was simply cutting away necessary losses. Either way, she was grateful. She tucked the papers in her bag and glanced at her reflection in her vanity mirror. Some days, a stranger looked back at her but not anymore.

  Liliana remembered being seventeen, doing laundry to pass the time. She’d decided it was stupid, not saying goodbye to Caleb, so she’d run out of her parents’ house like her life depended on it. No one could change the past. At times, she wondered if she’d only said the right words, would that have persuaded Caleb to stay? But, Caleb wouldn’t be the man he was today.

  He only saw darkness in himself, but she saw the good parts of him, too. Caleb might look hard on the outside, but for her, he had a soft core underneath.

  Ten years later and she’d somehow found her way home, to Caleb.

  No, they did that together.

  She finished her make-up, wore her dress, her heels, grabbed her purse and couldn’t wait for the night to be finally over.

  ****

  “One last shot, that’s it, perfect,” said the photographer.

  Liliana smiled, trying her best not to look so smug that Roger seemed to do his best to not stand so close to her. The flash went off.

  “Well, I hope you're happy," Roger said in a quiet voice, tone dripping with sarcasm.

  "I am. I’m glad to be free of you."

  "Never needed you anyway. I could get someone else who wants to be the fiancée, and eventually the wife of a future senator.”

  “I hate to break it to you, Roger, but you’ll never get far with politics.”

  “You'll regret this," he said.

  “No,” she said with a laugh. "I won’t."

  Roger turned his back on her, speaking to someone else. Good. She’d expected a confrontation but cold anger? That was a lot better. Liliana made her final rounds around the room, before thanking the hosts.

  Her parents didn’t speak to her all night, either. It hurt a little, but her father had done her a great favor as well. Liliana was done being the naive little girl who wanted to win their approval. Back then she equated that with love, but not anymore. The only one who genuinely cared about her, waited for her outside.

  She left the party midway, deciding she wouldn’t be missed. Her heart beat erratically the entire time. Liliana felt like some modern version of a runaway Cinderella. Her shoulders tensed. She pried the painful heels off her feet. Her mother would be appalled if she saw Liliana running barefoot.

  Some part of her expected the spell to break any moment, but it didn’t.

  Liliana exited the doors of the Modern Art museum the event was held in. Cool night air blasted her face. Inside, it had been suffocating, hard to breathe, a familiar feeling in every event. Liliana always needed to watch what she said, who she associated with.

  A laugh escaped her, carefree and light. She paused and caught her reflection in the window of a parked car, not noticing the hard wall of muscle she bumped into. Caleb wrapped one massive arm around her bare shoulders, the other sliding down possessively over her waist. She breathed hard, looking up at him, and didn’t protest when he pried all the pins holding up her hair.

  They made a clinking sound as they hit the gravel.

  “Princess,” he said, baring his teeth into a feral smile that sent shivers down her spine.

  “Take me home,” she whispered.

  “My pleasure,” he said, squeezing the back of her neck and guiding her inside his truck.

  Once Liliana closed the truck door, he tipped her chin upwards and thumbed her lower lip. She licked at his finger, sucked at it, making him groan.

  “Fuck, but I missed you, baby,” he said, practically growling out the words as he extracted his finger.

  “Even though it had only been a few hours?” she asked.

  He took her mouth in answer, the kiss all heat and bite, leaving her panting afterwards when he released her. Caleb started the engine. They cruised past familiar city streets and landmarks, in the city that had never been home. After the news of their engagement, the press and paparazzi were relentless in their search to dig up dirt on them. Eventually, they moved on, but she’d never been comfortable heading out.

  “You okay?” Caleb asked.

  “Better than fine,” she said. “I want to change out of these clothes, though.”

  Liliana had already made prior arrangements earlier that day, so she wasn’t worried. She had moved all her belongings—the ones she wanted to keep, into a storage unit and bid goodbye to Maria. The loyal housekeeper had only wished her luck and told her she planned on handing in her resignation the next day.

  “Not yet, I want to rip that pretty dress off you.”

  She squirmed in her seat, the image already springing up in her mind. “Where are we going?”

  “Far away from here. After that, I don’t have a location in mind yet.”

  Most of her life, Liliana thought she needed a plan, that without one, she’d fall apart. In the end, she’d let other people make decisions for her. She supposed now was a good time as any to change.

  “That works for me,” she told him.

  ****

  Caleb’s dick stirred, pressing up painfully against the zipper of his jeans. He freed his dick, beginning to stroke it as Liliana crawled to the bed and lay on her back, her wild curls unbound, spread across the black silk sheets, her dress slightly rumpled from the drive.

  He knew she’d worn the sexy little red number for him, and fuck, the fabric wrapped around her curves like skin. When he’d spotted her running down those stairs, Caleb had the overwhelming urge to slip his hand on the fabric and rip it off her.

  She smiled up at him, trusting, a tempting goddess who knew what she wanted. Him.

  Caleb peeled off his shirt, liked how she wet her bottom lip in response. He rid himself off his jeans, crawled on top of her, and slid the fabric of her dress lower, pushing the cups of her bra away, baring her creamy generous breasts. With one hand, he pinned her wrists above her head and feasted.

  Caleb took her pliant little mouth and sucked on those impossibly soft lips. She tasted of submission, of trust, of his. He pushed his tongue down her throat, pressing his dick against her belly as she sucked down hard on. Caleb released her mouth, leaving kisses down her throat and on both her breasts. He took her left nipple into his mouth, sucking hard until she cried out, her body buckling underneath his. With Liliana helpless like this, he could do whatever he wanted. She could put a stop to this anytime with a single word, but he doubted that would happen.

  Caleb released her hands, annoyed with the piece of fabric that still got in the way of their bodies touching. He took the dress off her like an impatient savage, his thought similar. Caleb needed to be inside her soon. Tonight, was different than all the times they’d been together because it marked the first of many nights she was finally free to become his possession.

  “Caleb.” She moaned, spearing her fingers into his hair, but he didn’t mind.

  Caleb pried her thighs open, putting his mouth to work. He nipped, sucking on her pink folds, but he didn’t need to do much. Liliana was already so wet for him, just like he knew she would be. He pushed a finger inside her tight heat, then added in a second.

  Caleb pushed his digits in and out of her, until she widened her eyes and gasped. Liliana came, whimpering, slicking his hand with her pussy juices. He pressed them to her mouth, groaning when she obediently sucked on them.

  “Be ready, baby. I’m not just going to claim this sweet pussy of yours, but also your ass.”


  Her entire face flushed at his words, but still, she didn’t protest or tell him to stop. Good, because he had only one final destination in mind. Caleb would do what he should have done a long time ago. He’d remind her who she’d always belong to—and get her to say “yes” to being his wife.

  ****

  Liliana’s pulse raced at Caleb’s words. She blushed, but she couldn’t deny the fact she’d been thinking of Caleb claiming both her holes. After all, ever since she was a girl, she knew she wanted to surrender her all, her everything to this man.

  “I’m ready,” she murmured. He blanketed his body over hers, guiding his engorged cock near her entrance. Liliana sank her fingers into his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist, tugging him close. She gasped as he pushed his cock deep inside her in one sudden stroke.

  Pain flared, but only for a moment. Liliana relished the feel of him, so huge, stretching her pussy walls to its limits, owning her completely.

  “Mine.” The word spilled from his lips, the sound nearly an animalistic growl, and the knowledge he turned all feral and territorial around her made her heart pound. She left scratches on his back as he began to move. They groaned, panting. Each time their bodies collided she felt like her soul had left its shell and fused with his.

  Liliana ran her fingers through his sweat-soaked hair, gripping it as he took her, harder, rougher, but she craved that bite of pain, especially when he mixed it with ecstasy. Caleb found her clit and began to rub at the little bud until it turned swollen.

  The muscles of his upper body and abs contracted, and his breathing and hers grew ragged. She arched her back, a scream leaving her lips as he found her G-spot and kept going for it. He kissed her deep, and his last shove sent her over the edge of oblivion. Liliana’s mind floated in a sea of haze. She was aware of him pulling his prick out. He hadn’t come yet, she realized, and soon found out why.

  Caleb flipped her to her stomach. “I want to finish inside your ass,” he said.