She gripped on to my shirt as she climbed on behind me. I grabbed her arms and pulled them around my waist, her chest pushed against my back.
“You’re going to go slow, right?” She spoke into my ear as I started the bike.
“Not a chance in hell.”
“Then I’m getting off!” she yelled as she pulled back, but I grabbed her wrist and held it against my stomach.
“You want to get off, Ella, I can get you off.” I pulled out before she could respond, causing her to tighten her hold on me.
I couldn’t stop smiling, knowing that the rush of fear would turn her on and later we’d fight and fuck, and I would get to hold her and love her. Fucked-up people take pleasure in fucked-up things. Ella was used to being afraid. She was used to having to fight. She loved challenging my need to control, and she knew she no longer had anything to fear, because the meanest fucking monster was hers. She’d tamed the beast and given me a reason to live. We weren’t anywhere near perfect, but we fit perfectly together.
The End
Pretty Little Things
Teresa Mummert
Copyright © 2014 Teresa Mummert
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1491291419
ISBN 13: 978-1491291412
All things truly wicked start from innocence.
—Ernest Hemingway
Prologue
I was young enough not to understand that my life was different. Colin became the one person I could count on to protect me. He suffered for the both of us by carrying the burden of our secret.
We were the lucky few who got a chance to start over. A fake family, a new home, and a pretty little life built on lies. But while our lives continued to intertwine, we were put on very different paths. Now it was only a matter of time before they’d collide, and the beast behind the beauty would be exposed.
Chapter 1—Annie
I knocked on the office door that sat ajar. Colin sat at his desk, his suit jacket off and sleeves rolled up, exposing the large cross tattoo on his forearm. He stared at his laptop screen. His dark hair was disheveled, and a day’s worth of stubble shadowed his jawline. Beside his laptop was a black gun that was always within reach.
“Busy,” he snapped angrily, not bothering to glance in my direction as I glared at him.
“Good. I’ll stay out of your way. Don’t wait up.” I turned to hurry down the flight of stairs toward the second floor, but he called after me before I could make my getaway.
“Wait. Where the hell are you going?”
I rolled my eyes and groaned like a child as I slowly traipsed back to his office and pushed the door open. “Out with some friends.” His eyes ran up and down my body before he shook his head in disapproval, and his gaze dropped back to the computer screen.
“Not dressed like that. Go change.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to wear. I’m seventeen, and you’re not my father.” I folded my arms over my chest as my eyes narrowed, ready for a fight.
With a sigh he pushed back his chair and slowly stood to his full six feet in height, making me feel impossibly small. He rounded the desk as he pulled up his zipper. That’s when I noticed the mass of blond hair on the girl kneeling behind his desk. Gross. He came to a stop in front of me, forcing me to tilt my head back. It was challenging to glare at someone from this angle and still look menacing.
“Change your outfit, or you’re not leaving.”
“Watch me.” I pivoted on my toes, my long blond curls hitting him in the chest. Two muscular arms banded around my waist, pulling my feet from the ground as he held me against him from behind.
“Annie, I’m a very fucking busy man,” he growled next to my ear. “Do not pull this bullshit tonight. This is not a fucking game. Change your clothes, or I will lock you in your room. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal,” I bit out between clenched teeth as he lowered me to the ground. To say Colin was overprotective of me was an understatement, but he was equally annoyed by my presence, which made dealing with him a constant game of Russian roulette.
“Asshole. You messed up my hair,” I muttered as I made my way down to the second floor and into my bedroom. I slammed the door loud enough to rattle the walls, but I knew he probably didn’t even hear it upstairs. That was one of the perks of living in such a large house. I glanced at my reflection in the full-length antique mirror across the room, running my finger under my lower lip to fix my smudged gloss. My hair was pale blond and curled perfectly down my back. I wore a low-cut purple V-neck T-shirt that hugged my curves and made my green eyes pop, paired with cutoff jean shorts that probably cost more than the average person’s weeklong vacation. Well hidden and disguised was the credulous little girl that I used to be when we came to live in Connor’s house.