Filed to story: The LORDS Series Free PDF by Shantel Tessier
“Both.”
“Why?” I whisper, my eyes dropping to the water to see it’s dirty from the blood that’s washed off.
He sits on the side of the tub, letting out a sigh. “Because I love you.”
My chest squeezes at his answer, and my eyes snap to his. I always thought he had something to do with my lack of love life. But I thought it was because he just wanted to make my life miserable. I might have hated him as much as I thought he hated me, but I never ruined any of his relationships. But then again, he never had any. In the six years I’ve known Colton Knox, he’s never had a girlfriend. “Colt-“
“I always have,” he interrupts me. “Since the moment I saw you in my father’s kitchen.”
I’m not sure at what point I allowed myself to feel anything for him, but even when we were at each other’s throats, I could never see my life without him. I hate that we’ve come so far, only for Nate to ruin it. “And now?” Tears spring to my eyes, my pulse racing, knowing he’s going to reject me.
He frowns, tilting his head to the side.
“How do you feel about me now?” My throat closes up on me. “After Nate …” I can’t get the words out this time.
When he stands, my heart starts pounding in my chest that he’s going to walk away. But instead of leaving, he rips his shirt up and over his head and undoes his jeans. Toeing off his shoes and removing his socks, he shoves his jeans and black boxer briefs down his legs and kicks them away before stepping into the water. I lean up from the tub and he sits down behind me.
Wrapping his arms around my shaking shoulders, he pulls my back into his chest. “Nothing …” he whispers in my ear. “Nothing could ever make me not love you, princess.”
The first tear runs down my face and I nod, sniffling. I lean my head on his chest, taking in a shaky breath.
“Don’t think that what Nate did to you makes me see you any differently.” He pulls all of my hair off my chest and back, placing it over my left shoulder. “You were my princess then. And you’re my princess now.” Sighing, he adds, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m sorry that he came after you.”
I pull away from him and turn off the water before it gets too high. Turning in the tub, I look over at him. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was.” He sits up. “Me and the guys-“
“I let you do those things to me, Colt. I …” I drop my eyes to the dirty water. “I wanted it.” I may not remember everything that happened at Mike’s house. But I remember what he said to me in the bedroom and how turned on I got. I willingly followed him back into the party, knowing that he was going to do something to me, and I was going to beg for it. I’ve never told him no or to stop. I willingly let him have his way with me because I want him to. Nate saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. Of me. He used Colt and the guys as an excuse to be a raping murderer.
“Hey.” He cups my chin gently, forcing my eyes back up to his. “Don’t feel guilty.”
Biting my bottom lip, I look away from him and stare at the black tiled wall as if it holds all the answers to the questions that I want to ask.
He scoots closer to me, and I feel my throat close up on me. I hate feeling this way. I told myself that what Nate did wasn’t going to affect me. That I wouldn’t allow him to win. Colt just confessed he loves me and all I can do is think that I’ve ruined what we could have had.
“Look at me, princess.”
The sorrow in his voice pulls my eyes back to his. I blink, and fresh tears run down my face.
“We’ll take it one day at a time, okay?” he offers, and I nod slowly. “I’m going to be right here with you.” Lifting my hand, he kisses my busted knuckles that I got from the car wreck. “And I promise, no one will hurt you again.”
“Thank you,” I manage to whisper, and he sighs.
I believe him. That’s one thing about Colt, he keeps his promises. Over the past six years, if he said he was going to do something, then he did it. I want him to love me for me. The me before today. The one before Nate came along and tried to ruin me for anyone else. I refuse to let that sorry bastard win. I will have my happy ending with the man I love. No matter how far I have to push myself to get it.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
COLTON
I EXIT THE bathroom for her to finish up in the tub when I hear a knock on my bedroom door. I tighten the towel around my hips, tying it off, and open the door to see Finn standing there.
“I thought you might want this.” He offers me a cell phone.
“Why does this look familiar?” I wonder out loud. It’s in a simple black case. Alex already gave me the two he found in her car. We knew one was hers, and the other was Tatum’s. Why would I want this one too?
“Because it was Nate’s,” he answers.
Looking up at him, I frown. “How did you get it?”
“I found it at Mike’s. I didn’t want to give it to you in front of the guys. But I thought you’d want to see what’s on it.”
I fist it in my hands. “See what’s on it? What the fuck does he have? Is it naked pictures of her from when they were dating?” That’s the last thing I want to fucking look at.
He shakes his head. “He recorded it.”
My stomach sinks, the blood rushing from my face. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse. The motherfucking bastard recorded it.
“She hasn’t told you?” he questions, noticing my reaction.
“Why would she tell me that?” I growl.
He sighs heavily. “She was aware, Colt. It wasn’t like he had it hidden in the house.”
Nate is lucky that she killed him. I would have made it very slow and very painful.
He goes on at my silence, “I’m guessing he was going to send it to you. You know, since all of this started with your sex tape.”
My teeth grind at the fact I did this to her. Every little fucking thing I’ve done because I was a jealous little bitch led to this very second. I’d give my life if I could take it all away for her. If I had just chased her down after my call with Mitch. I could have prevented all of this. “Did you watch it?” I clear my throat.
He nods, and his eyes soften. “Yeah.” They look over to my closed bathroom door and then back to mine. “She put up one hell of a fight.” Running his hand through his hair awkwardly, he adds, “It’s fucked up, I know. But if it were me, I’d want to know.” Slapping the doorway, he takes a step back into the hall. “I broke into it and removed the code access needed.”
“We’ll go through it tomorrow. No telling what else is on here,” I grind out. We need to find out who that truck belongs to. They’re going to question where it went and why Nate hasn’t returned it.
“I didn’t go through it, but I did check his last incoming message. Mike had texted him.”
“And?”
“He was turning around and heading back. Told Nate that he was all in and they could take Raylee to his parents’ cabin. It’s like an hour away, and they could play with her as long as they wanted. No one would think twice to look for her there.”
He’s wrong. I would have found her. The question is how long would I have waited to look for her?
“I think him walking in on Nate dead scared him. He thought he could call you and get away with it. Especially after what he told us earlier. He thought she was unconscious, so he never expected her to tell us the truth.”
Over my dead body will he get away with this. “Thanks again.”
He nods and then walks away.
I hear the bathroom door open, and I quickly open the top drawer to my dresser and stick the phone under my boxers, so she won’t find it. I’ll watch it later after she’s asleep. Turning around, I see her standing in the doorway of the bathroom.
She’s got scratch marks up and down her calves and stitches in her face. A part of the bruise from the seat belt is noticeable, the rest of it is currently hidden by the towel that’s wrapped underneath her arms. Her neck shows he tried to choke her. I’ve always been rough with our sex, but I’ve never made her look like I physically abuse her.
Pushing off the doorway, she drops the towel. She’s testing me. To see what I’ll do. If I’ll treat her different. I wasn’t lying to her. My feelings about her haven’t changed, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to tie her to my bed and beat her ass with my belt while I fuck her mouth. Her body needs time to recover. And who knows how she’ll react if I were to actually put my hands on her. Will she see me as Nate? Will she freeze up? Try to kill me? Either one is very possible.
She walks over to where I stand, and I allow her to remove the towel from my hips. Her eyes drop to my hard dick, and my teeth clench. Of course, I’m hard. I’m in love with this woman, and she’s standing in front of me naked.
“Colt,” she whispers my name. “Please?”