Filed to story: The Mindf*ck Series Read Online Free
“No,” I whisper hoarsely. “I won’t do whatever it takes, but I won’t be arrested either.”
His gaze lingers on my lips. “You could break away with ease right now, couldn’t you?”
His eyes pop back up, holding my stare.
I don’t speak. I don’t have to.
He doesn’t need to hear the words aloud, and I’m not quite prepared to admit all I’m capable of to him.
He doesn’t ease his hold, but his grip doesn’t tighten either. “Leonard is escorting Cheyenne and Alyssa out of town, but since you were hiding in the closet, I’m sure you heard all that.”
I suck in a breath, and his lips twitch.
“You’ve been the huntress for so long that I’m sure you’ve forgotten what it felt like to be the hunted. But I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Lana. And I’m a lot better than you give me credit for.”
I start to move, but instead of gripping me harder, he eases his hold and brings his hand up to my face, cupping it as he studies my eyes.
“I had no idea you were Victoria when I fucked up. I never would-“
“Does it really matter?” I ask bitterly, hoping those damn tears don’t start falling, even as they crowd my eyes and turn him blurry. “I’m still the twisted monster of the night, while you’re the honest hero in the light.”
Even through my blurred vision, I see his expression soften. “I wouldn’t have fucked you and left you naked on my bed if I’d have known. So yes, it makes a huge difference. I thought you were suffering an obsession disorder that had you killing as Victoria’s proxy. It’s a lot different than you being Victoria, because a proxy killer is most definitely suffering a psychotic break and is highly unstable. In my mind, you were being manipulated by Jacob Denver, and I was being played as a pawn.”
My heart is thumping painfully in my chest, and I almost wonder if he can feel it too.
“Jake can’t and wouldn’t ever try to manipulate me. And as far as you go, I never asked for any case information.
You came on to me. And-“
Usually, as everyone is aware, I hate surprises. But my heart ends up beating to a new rhythm when Logan surprises me by crushing his lips to mine.
At first I try to weakly push him away, but the tears start falling as he kisses me harder, his hands going from restraining to needy as he pulls me flush against his body. My arms go around his neck as I give in, kissing him back as the tears streak down my face.
He lifts me, his kiss almost consuming me, and every pent-up emotion flows into it, making it powerful and destructive at the same time.
My legs wrap around his waist, and he pushes me against the tree again as he devours me, taking in every taste and flick of my tongue as it battles his. I’m not sure if it’s angry or sensual, but I know I can’t just let go right now.
Even though I know I should.
Something cracks near us, and we both break the kiss, our eyes darting over to a fox as it runs by. My breath gets shaky as I turn to face Logan again, seeing the softness in his eyes that wasn’t there the last time we were this intimately placed.
“I never would have hurt you like that if I’d known,” he says softly.
I swallow hard. “You didn’t hurt me physically. And as far as the sex goes, I could have stopped it. I knew you knew. I knew what was happening. I just loved you enough to take your anger, knowing I deserved it.”
He groans, his forehead pressing against mine.
“You didn’t deserve it. For the first time in my life, I have no clue what to do, Lana,” he whispers with such tragic honesty that it slices through me.
Part of me wants to corrupt him, to make him see what I’m doing is a twisted version of the right thing, despite the torture and massacre I still have planned. But to do that would be stealing his soul and condemning it to join mine.
Just knowing he hasn’t told the others and he’s holding me to him right now is more than I ever realistically expected. But to go forward with me would be to irrevocably damn him to my same fate.
“I love you,” I say on a broken whisper, because I’m just too weak to turn him away so soon.
“I love you,” he says back, thawing my heart completely as the tears start leaking again. “Which is why I’m begging you to end this now and go away with me,” he adds, his voice cracking.
He has no idea what an offer like that does to someone like me. Leave? Stop now? Walk away with him as a prize?
It’s so tempting, and if not for the fact the sheriff and his deputies still live, still spread dark shadows over everyone’s halls…I’d do it. I’d walk away from the revenge. But I can’t walk away from all the innocent lives still being scarred.
People just like Cheyenne and her daughter who would have been killed by a man who is supposed to protect them, all to conceal his darkest secrets.
“We have enough evidence to put him away,” Logan says, as though he’s reading my mind.
But he believes in the justice system. He doesn’t understand a man like Cannon can only be killed after he’s buried. Only then will anyone care about evidence. He lines the pockets of too many important and powerful men.
Just like Director McEvoy.
Just like SSA Johnson.
Just like the fucking governor.
“Don’t decide right now. Right now, just be with me, and for tonight, we can simply forget the rest of the world exists,” he goes on, brushing his lips over mine again.
“What about the case?” I ask stupidly.
His case is solved. He has the murderer in his arms.
He grins like he’s thinking the very same thing. “They can do without me for tonight. Leonard will cover for me.”
I’ve already killed four people in twenty-four hours. I suppose I can pretend as though the world around us isn’t collapsing for just one night.
“This isn’t a ploy to find out where you’re staying. I could do that just by following Hadley,” he adds, kissing my lips again.
Pathetically, I never doubted his intentions.
“I know,” I say on a sigh. Because Logan Bennett makes me forget the fact I’m not untouchable.
It’s been a dangerous game since the beginning.
Now I have to stop myself from dragging him to the pits of hell with me.
Chapter 7
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.
-Confucius
LANA
Jake’s eyes almost bulge out of his head as I walk in with Logan. Logan slides his arm around my waist like he’s ready to protect me, as though Jake is about to do something stupid.
I lace my fingers together with Logan’s, as Jake continues to gawk at me.
“Are we under arrest?” Jake asks, so confused that it’s almost comical.
Logan grunts out a breath, and I lean against him. “This is neutral ground. No talk of killing people, and no talk of arresting,” Logan finally says. “As of right now, there is no talk of this town or what’s going on inside it.”
Jake looks between us, his eyebrows still raised as he keeps the laptop in his lap. The monitors all around have the town from various angles, and Logan glances at each one.
“That explains a lot,” he says on a long breath. “You really have the entire town under surveillance. But yet I haven’t spotted a single camera.”
“I thought we weren’t discussing the case,” Jake says warily.
Logan pinches the bridge of his nose, and I stifle a sad smile. He’s in love with his job and curious by nature. Right now he’s suffering the ultimate battle of right and wrong; a confliction I haven’t faced in a long time.
That struggle I see in his eyes is my fault.
“It’s NSA tech Jake swiped a few years ago, and he built his own versions,” I explain.
Jake looks like he’s about to fall off the couch, but I shrug like it’s no big deal. “The monitors cover all the most important parts of town, and we stay with the sheriff, watching his every move. We also keep a close eye on the deputies. It’s how I knew Hollis was coming after you.”
I don’t look at him as I say the words as emotionlessly as possible. But my voice unfortunately cracks and betrays me on that last sentence.
Logan’s hand tightens on my side, and he pulls me to him, hugging me against him. I take in his scent, closing my eyes, soaking it all in while I can.
He doesn’t know what’s to come, because he can’t see all the conversations the way we can.