Violet is Blue (Hothouse series) (10 page)

“He believes me though, right?”

She nodded. “Of course he does. I just think he’s trying to make sense of it all and he’s doing a poor job of it.”

“I’m sorry about the car. I can pay for it to be fixed.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “Fuck the car.  We’ll get you a new one.”

A laugh burst out of me. I couldn’t keep it in. My mom was not usually one for cursing, but she was doing one hell of a job dropping bombs right now.

“Mom!”

“What? If there was ever a time to use the f word, I think today is the day.”

“I love you.” I hugged her tight.

She stroked my head. “I love you too.” She pulled back and looked me in the eyes. “Are you okay, right now?”

I nodded.

She tucked a hair behind my ear, then stood. “I’ll check in on you later. I have a few things that need to get done.”

“Okay.”

When she was gone, I laid back on my bed and sighed. I felt better now that it was all out in the open, but I also knew it wasn’t over.  I didn’t think my stalker was going to stop. I just wish I knew what he wanted.  I wasn’t going to give it to him, obviously, but maybe I could reason with him. Get him to leave me alone.

My cell phone dinged alerting me to a new text message. I slid it from my pocket. It was from Dahlia. 
What did police say?

Me:
A whole bunch of nothing

Her:
Bag of dicks

Me:
Yup

Her:
How did parentals take it?

Me:
Mom is awesome. Mark not so much

Her:
Are you ok?

Me:
I will be

Her:
I have to tell u sumthing

Me:
What?

Her:
There’s a rumor going around that Devon fucked up your car

Me:
WTF? R U sure?

Her:
Yeah

Me:
Where did u hear?

Her:
From Isaac

I stared at the messages, a million thoughts going through my head. Could Devon actually be my stalker? Was he capable of this? I licked my lips nervously. I just didn’t see it. He was definitely intense and dark, but I didn’t think he was a sociopath. He wore his darkness on the outside; it wasn’t as if it was hidden.

But I had to make sure.

Her:
U still there?

Me:
Yeah. Sorry. Am in shock.

Her:
What R U going to do?

Me:
Am going to end this.

––––––––

I
waited until I was sure my mom and Mark went to bed before I snuck out my bedroom window.  Despite the scratches on my car, I drove it to the mall and parked in the near empty parking lot close to the back doors. I sat there and waited.

It was around ten thirty when a back door opened and Devon emerged. He shut the door and locked it up behind him. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do, or what I even wanted to do. Before I could even consider all my options, I was out of my car, with a baseball bat in my hands.

I moved toward him as he walked to his own vehicle.  Just as he neared the driver’s door, he looked up and spied me coming at him, the bat grasped in my right hand and dragging on the ground.

“Practicing your game?” he asked as if we were having a nice and normal casual chat.

“Did you do that to my car?”

“Do what?”

I banged the bat on the cement. “Answer the question!”

“No, Violet, I didn’t scratch lying bitch into your car.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because you know deep down I would never do that to you.”

I stared him in the eyes. His gaze never wavered. He was either the best liar in the entire world, or he was being honest with me.

“Have you been watching me?”

He didn’t answer right away, but after a few moments, he licked his lips, and said, “Yes.”

“Why?”

He took a step toward me. “Because I love you Violet. I’ve always loved you.”

“You love me? What the hell is that?”  The bat in my hand started to shake.

He took another step closer. Now he was barely an arm length away from me. “I’ve never forgotten that kiss.” He lifted his hand to his mouth and rubbed a thumb over his lips.

Saliva pooled in my mouth from looking at him. He was so dangerous and dark and mysterious. My belly clenched at the thought of kissing him again.  I knew if I did though, I’d never stop.

“I wonder if your lips would still have that effect on me.”

He grabbed the bat, and yanked it out of my hand. He tossed it aside, then he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him. Before I could protest, his mouth was on mine in a crushing kiss.

I couldn’t catch my breath as he kissed me, his tongue sweeping over mine. I could feel his tongue stud rubbing against me.  He tasted like mint and coffee and danger.  I knew I should pull away, that this was madness, but instead I fisted my hands in his shirt and kissed him back just as hard, just as fierce.

His hands moved down my back and cupped my ass. He then lifted me up, swung me around and set me down on top of the hood of his car. He settled in between my spread legs, my skirt hiked nearly up to my hips, while his lips never left mine.

“You make me hard,” he panted as he nibbled on my chin and made his way down my neck.

He didn’t need to tell me, as I could feel him pressed against the inside of my thigh.

His hands slid up my thighs to my waist, then up under my shirt. The palm of his right hand cupped my breast, and he pulled at the cup of my bra. His fingers soon found my rigid nipple and he pulled at it, tugging a moan from my throat.

While his hand was busy there, his other hand ventured lower to the juncture of my legs. I sucked in a shaky breath as his hand rubbed over the crotch of my panties. I blushed knowing I was already wet for him.

“I want to fuck you,” he whispered into my ear.

Pleasant shivers rushed down my body. My belly clenched. Normally I would’ve balked at the vulgarity, but his words ignited something deep and hot and hard inside of me.

He pulled back to look me in the eyes. He brought his hands up to my face and cupped my cheeks in them. “Do you want me to?”

“Yes,” I breathed shakily.

Without another word, he reached down under my skirt and yanked my panties down to my ankles. I kicked them off. He reached into his front jeans pocket and came away with a condom.  He fumbled with the zipper on his jeans, pulled it down, and his jeans dropped to his knees.

I watched as he sheathed his cock, and then gasped as he kneed my legs even further apart and nestled between them.  He buried his one hand into my hair and kissed me again.  I lost myself in him, as he ravaged my mouth, groaning with me as our tongues meshed and played.

I could feel the hard length of him nudging at my opening.  I leaned back a little to accommodate him and he guided himself into me. I tensed at first, afraid, excited, a mimosa of emotions swirling around me, then once he started to move I relaxed and let the moment envelope me.

I’d had sex before.  But not like this.

Jordan had been quick and eager and didn’t much care how I felt during it. It never lasted more than ten minutes from start to finish.  He never touched me. Like really touched me. He never kissed me tenderly, or caressed me lovingly. He never wanted more than he could take as fast as he could.

Devon guided me. He coaxed more sensation from me then I’d ever experienced. At first he moved slowly between my thighs. He wasn’t in a hurry. He kissed my mouth, and my chin, then my neck, licking his way over my collarbone.

Then when my moans and sounds became louder and I dug my fingernails into his back, he increased his rhythm, until he was grunting and groaning, and holding onto me as if he’d die if he didn’t.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, and held on as he rammed into me again and again. I could barely breathe. I could barely think. All I could do was feel every thrill surging through me like a hot ocean wave. It was intense and I wasn’t sure I could handle it crashing inside me over and over.

A relentless barrage of emotion and sensation overtook me. I squeezed my eyes shut and wrapped my arms around Devon and hugged him tight.  He buried a hand in my hair and his face into my neck, and with one final thrust and grunt, he came.

And so did I.

It was a bit awkward afterward as we both struggled to pull at our clothes and cover ourselves.  My panties were dirty from being on the ground, so instead of putting them back on, I shoved them into my purse.

I sat on the hood, my bare legs starting to chill, as Devon fumbled with his cigarette pack and took one out and lit it. He leaned against the car beside me and blew out the smoke.  He swiped at the hair in his face, then risked a glance at me.  I looked back at him.

“What happens now?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

He took one last drag of his smoke then flicked it away.

“I’m still not sure about you.”

“Still think I’m your stalker?”

I shook my head. “No. But I still need to find out who is. I don’t feel safe.” I shivered.

Devon put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him.  “I’ll keep you safe.”

I smiled.  He was surprisingly sweet.

“Maybe it’s that older guy.”

I frowned. “What older guy?”

“The one who works with your parents. The guy that you went to that club with.”

My stomach dropped.  “Why would you say that?”

“Because I’ve seen him following you on occasion.”

“What? When?”

“He’s been at the school a couple of times. One time when you were out with your dad at the mall, I saw him lurking about.”

I slid off the car and out of his embrace. “That son-of-a-bitch.” I started to walk toward my car. I reached down and picked up the bat from the ground.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to confront him. He’s a lying, manipulative asshole.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if he’s dangerous?”

I gave Devon my most conniving smile. “Then you won’t let me go alone, now will you?”

Forty-five minutes later, we were sitting in Devon’s car in front of Patrick’s house. There were no lights on, and no car in the driveway.

“What’s your plan?”

“I’m not sure.” Now that I was here, I wasn’t so confident about giving Patrick a piece of my mind. The guy was obviously unbalanced.

“Well, we’re here, so we should go knock.”  He opened his door and got out.

I had to scramble out of the car and run to catch him before he pounded on the front door.

“Wait.”

“Either he’s messing with you or he isn’t. You need to find out Violet.”

“I know, it’s just...”

Devon cupped my neck and looked me in the eyes. “I’m here. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“Promise?”

He nodded, then leaned down and captured my mouth with his.

Like before the kiss stole my breath.  I just wanted to wrap myself in him and let the whole world around me fade away. He made me feel safe. He made me feel wanted. He made me feel
everything
. It was a far cry from the numbness I’d felt with Jordan.

I rang the doorbell and waited. No lights came on. No sounds of footsteps came through the door.  Devon then knocked, hard.  But still nothing.

“He’s not home. Let’s go.”  I stepped off the front porch, but Devon grabbed my arm.

“This is the perfect time to find evidence against him.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“That we have a peek inside.”

“Devon, I’m not going to break into his house.”

He smiled. “You don’t have to. I’ll do it.” He started around back.

“Wait.”

“You want your stalker to pay, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Then let me help you do that.”

I thought about it. If Patrick was the stalker then it would be good to get some evidence I could provide to the police, but if he wasn’t, then hopefully he wouldn’t be too pissed that we broke into his house and that he would understand.  Both scenarios sucked. But at least both would give me some closure.

“Okay, but hurry.”

He went to the gate.

“Devon!” I whisper yelled.

He stopped and turned toward me.  “What?”

“He has a big dog.”

“Thanks.”  He pushed open the gate and disappeared into the back yard.

I stood on the stoop and waited, shuffling from one foot to the other. I peered around at the other houses. What if someone was watching and called the cops?  My parents would kill me if I ended up arrested for B&E. And my future would be ruined. There’d be no way NYU or any other good university would take me if I had an arrest record.

I was just about to go around back and tell Devon to forget about it, when the front door opened making me jump and he stuck his head out.

“Welcome, little girl,” he said in a creepy deep voice.

I smacked him in the arm and went into Patrick’s house. “Don’t do that.”

We walked through the living room to the kitchen.  I had no idea where to look or even what I was looking for.

“Where’s the dog?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I didn’t see a dog anywhere.”

“Weird.”

“We should check his bedroom,” Devon suggested.

“Okay.”

He led me down a hall toward three other rooms. One was a workout room, one a bathroom, and the last was a bedroom.  I felt like a creeper from rummaging around through Patrick’s stuff.  It felt not much different then what the stalker had done to me.

Devon riffled through the dresser drawers and the closet. I opened the drawer of the table next to the bed. I found a couple of paperback books, thrillers, a roll of antacids, Kleenex and a picture of a pretty woman with Patrick’s dog.

“Find anything?” Devon stepped up next to me.

“No. Nothing weird.”

“I saw him with a camera sometimes. There has to be pictures of you around here somewhere.”

We returned to the kitchen.

“This feels wrong. Let’s just go,” I said.

“Just one more minute.”  He looked at the closed door by the hallway.  He opened it, and it led to a set of steep stairs that went down.  “Jackpot.”