Destroying the Soul (Destroyed Book 2) Read online

  I hold her to my chest and flop back down on the bed. Her head rests over my heart, the beat thrumming through to her and our legs tangle together as we both catch our breaths.

  “Wow,” she says on a rush of breath. “I never thought…”

  I trail my hand up the side of her body, watching as goosebumps erupt and cup the side of her face, lifting my head and kissing her softly. “Yeah.” I smirk. “Feels amazing, doesn’t it.”

  “Can we do it again?” she asks.

  I throw my head back and laugh, I laugh so hard that I have tears streaming down my face. “Baby, we can do it as much as you want to.”

  “Right now?”

  My brows raise high on my head as my lips lift up into the biggest grin I’ve ever had. Her answering expression tells me that she’s being deadly serious so I sit up and shuffle to the edge of the bed. Standing up, she wraps her legs around me and raises her brows in a silent question.

  “Let’s take a shower.”

  “Huh? Why would we-” She moans as I move my hips, showing her that I’m hard for her again.

  I walk us into the adjoining bathroom and switch the shower on, not letting her go as it warms up and steam fills the bathroom, fogging up the mirror and the shower doors.

  Stepping inside the shower, I push her against the tiled wall. “I hope you’re ready for this,” I say, holding onto her thighs and pushing in and out once.

  “Ahhhh,” she moans. “I’m ready.”

  “Hold tight.” I grip her legs tighter and watch her face as I piston my hips in and out. “This won’t take long.”

  “Faster,” she gasps.

  I do as the lady asks and fuck her faster, harder, slamming into her and hitting her g-spot each and every time. This time it doesn’t take long for our moaning to fill the room as we both reach our orgasms. I almost feel bad for not lasting longer but she does something to me that makes me feel out of control.

  Next time, I’ll take my time. I’ll worship her body the way it deserves to be worshiped.

  I let her legs down slowly, holding on tight to her waist as she stumbles a little. “I could sleep for a week.” She chuckles, stepping forward under the spray of water and tilting her head back.

  Fuck me, even taking a shower she’s sexy as fuck. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of her, and as I step forward, my dick agrees with me too because it’s pointing straight at her, wanting round three.

  “Already?” She gasps.

  “Yeah, baby, already.” I smirk, reaching around her and grabbing my body wash, squirting some into my hand and spreading it over her skin.

  She smiles up at me, a twinkle in her eyes that’s never been there before and I know, I know without a doubt in my mind that she’s it for me.

  We didn’t leave his bed for the rest of the day, or night for that matter. I can’t even describe how sore I feel between my legs and the aching of every muscle in my body, but I can’t say I regret it at all. Inside, I’m chastising myself for not thinking about doing this sooner. The pleasure that overruled my body still lingers just under the surface. I can’t deny that I have a massive smile spread across my face right now. I also can’t describe how free I felt with my whole body exposed to the one man that’s always been there for me. Yes, there is still a ton of stuff to talk about, like why he went to prison. I want the full, truthful, story this time, not a part of it that will leave me wondering. I’m glad I didn’t have classes today because I don’t think I could have even pulled myself away from Jay even if I wanted to. Strange coming from a little geek like me, right? I love my classes, I love the work, but Jay just showed me something that I love just as much.

  “Jas?” Jay’s gravelly, sleepy voice says from above me, his chest rumbling just under my right cheek. A smile flits across my face and my eyes flutter shut.

  “Yeah?” My voice is small in my reply, but I’m basking being in the moment and with Jay underneath my head. Life feels pretty perfect right now, but we haven’t talked yet and I don’t plan to do that while we’re both still naked. Heat flushes to my cheeks now I remember that I still have no clothes on. My bruises are still covering me and I can imagine they’re not pretty to look at. Jay didn’t batter an eyelid though, that’s something, right?

  “We should talk and get that out of the way.” He coughs lightly, bouncing me on his chest.

  “Can we not talk about this while we’re still naked?” I giggle like a teenage girl and burrow into him to hide my red cheeks and embarrassment.

  “Sure.” He moves me before swinging his legs over the bed and taking his glorious butt to the bathroom. Great view but it disappears all too soon.

  Sighing, I heave myself from the bed and scramble around the room, collecting my clothes. I shove it all on in a hurry because it’s one thing for Jay to see me naked when in a cloud of lust but when that’s died down… I don’t feel comfortable with him enough yet to be walking around his apartment with nothing on.

  When he’s finally emerged from the bathroom, he has his jeans on with the top button undone and a t-shirt thrown on. His hair is standing in all directions and I have to suppress a laugh.

  “If you’re laughing at my hair, then I have to say yours doesn’t look any better.” A devilish smirk crosses his face as his eyes stay fixed on my hair.

  “Damn it,” I mumble under my breath, running my fingers through the tangles of knots that’s amassed on top of my head. “There’s no use. It’s like a darn rat’s nest.”

  “Just throw it up in a messy bun or whatever shit you girls do when you have a bad hair day.” His laugh echoes around the room as he leaves with me glaring at his back.

  He has a point though. I grab a hair tie from my bag that’s on the dresser and throw my hair up in a messy bun and follow him out. Time for some answers and I’m not leaving here until I’ve got them.

  I head into the kitchen, pulling out two bottles of water and then walk back into the living room. Jas sits on the sofa, her shoulders slumped as she looks down at her feet, ready for some answers. I know that we need to talk about it, that I need to tell her everything in a calm way and not in the way that I did at her dorm. Getting it out of the way now is the best thing to do because then she can decide if she wants to be with me once she knows everything.

  I hand her the bottle silently, sitting opposite her on the armchair. “So…” I mumble, looking up at her. “Ask away.”

  Her eyes flit around the room as she grips her hands tightly, her brows drawn down into a frown. “I think we should start from the beginning.”

  “Okay…”

  “What did Louis do to set you up?”

  Looks like we’re getting right into it. I let out a slow breath, going back to that day. “That day, the one where I took you home to tell your parents?” She nods in acknowledgement and I continue, “I went back to my apartment and the place was swarming with cop cars. At first I thought it was someone else in trouble, Dante even, but when the Detective spotted me, he marched straight over and cuffed me, shoving me in the back of a car before I even had the chance to say a word to him.” I rest my arms on my thighs, looking down at the rug on the floor. “They found a bag of cocaine, enough to be charged with intent to supply.”

  “But… how did you know it was Louis?”

  I look back up at Jas, my eyes capturing hers and my jaw clenching. “He was in prison with me, Jas, and he took great fucking pleasure in telling me that he set me up, that he needed me out of the way. He also told me a lot of other things. Things that he did to you, Jas.”

  She gasps, her eyes shining with unshed tears and all I want is to go over to her and hold her tight, to tell her that everything will be alright now because he’s gone, but I know that if I don’t get this all out now, I never will.

  “I would have killed him in there, Jas. The only things that stopped me were knowing that I’d never get out of there and that I’d never see you again. That’s all I had to look forward to while I was in there.”
/>   Her sniffling has my attention and I watch as tears track down her face. I go to stand up, done with being this far away from her. I need to comfort her, my hands itch to touch her, but she halts me with her hand in the air. “Don’t, please… Just... continue.”

  I rub my hands down my face, collecting myself. I knew this would be hard but I had no idea how hard it is looking her in the eyes while I tell her everything.

  “When I finished my sentence and got out, I had Ryan look for you. He said that you moved and I had no idea where you went.” I shrug. “So, I came here to visit Dante and try to find you myself. I didn’t know you were here, not until I saw you coming down those stairs on campus.” I look back up to her, clenching my hands into fists and pushing my feet into the floor. “I never expected you to be here.”

  “I gathered that.” She snorts, wiping the tears off her face with the sleeve of her shirt.

  She worries her lip and I can’t keep away from her any longer, I lift up off the chair and walk over to where she’s sat, sitting on the table in front of her and taking her hands in mine. I rub my thumb over her palm and bring it to my lips, placing a gentle kiss there.

  “How did you find me when Louis kidnapped me?”

  “I took one of Louis’ ‘men’,” I say, using air quotes. “He told me about Marco and I knew where you’d be.”

  “He just told you?” she asks, raising her brows in disbelief.

  “Well.” I chuckle. “Not outright, but I got it out of him eventually.”

  She purses her lips and narrows her eyes at me. “Do I even want to know?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “You really don’t.”

  We both sit in silence for a few minutes, each of us caught up in our own thoughts. I know that she’s going to ask about Louis and I’m going to have to tell her what I did to him. I can feel the lump building in my throat at the thought of her leaving me when she finds out what I’m really like.

  I can feel her hand go limp in mine and I squeeze it, trying to get her attention. “Babe?”

  “Huh?”

  I lift my hand, cupping the side of her face and shuffling forward. “Is there anything else?”

  “Louis,” she whispers. “What did you do to Louis?”

  “I don’t think-”

  “I do,” she interrupts. “I need to know what you did to him, I need to know that he’s not going to get to me anymore.”

  I pull back from her, my mouth forming a grim line at the thought of telling her what I did. She’ll find out who I really am and then she won’t look at me the same anymore.

  “I won’t look at you any differently,” she reassures.

  “Did I say that out loud?”

  “Yep.”

  I tilt my head back, looking up at the ceiling and closing my eyes as I start to tell her what I did to him. “I beat him,” I tell her, not willing to look at her or see the horror in her eyes. “Then he said your name so I made sure he couldn’t anymore… I cut his tongue out.” I ignore the gasp that comes from her mouth and continue. “I beat him some more, I beat him to within an inch of his life and each and every time I’d bring him back from the brink, just to do it all over again.”

  I bring my head back down, expecting to see disgust in her eyes, but when I don’t, I’m equal parts relieved and shocked.

  “Did you kill him?” she whispers, her voice hoarse.

  “No.” I shake my head. “He was dead when I went to, but I would have, Jas. Not just for you but for what he did to me too. He took years away from me, years that I won’t ever get back and not only that, he tried to tear us apart.”

  “I know,” she says softly.

  She moves forward and brings her hands to my face, holding tight and bringing her lips to mine.

  “Thank you.” She presses her lips against mine in a soft and gentle kiss then pulls back, resting her forehead to mine. “Thank you for slaying my monster.”

  I snort, laughter taking over my whole body as she does the same. “Slaying your monster,” I repeat, not able to get the laughter under control.

  “I thought it sounded romantic.” She gasps between laughs, wiping the tears that are falling from her eyes and streaming down her face. “Like those fairy tales.”

  “Babe, I’m far from a fairytale but I’ll be your Prince in shining armor anytime you want.”

  I wink and she snorts, starting the laughter all over again.

  The answers I seeked weren’t as bad as I thought they were going to be. I’m a little disturbed at what he did to Louis, cutting his tongue out and all, but he did it for me. To me, that’s romantic, not that many people would think that, but to someone who’s been to hell and back, it is. My heart soars for this man, everything he’s done since back then has been for me. When I thought he stopped looking for me, he didn’t, he never stopped. Except for the prison thing that is but that was hardly his fault, was it?

  Regardless of what’s happened over the years, I love this man and the fluttering in my chest proves that too. Now I have Jay back, I never want to let go.

  “Jay?” I mumble as I stare at my feet. We still haven’t moved from the living room and are still in the same positions from when we were talking about twenty minutes ago. “I love you.”

  A smirk lifts the corners of his mouth and his eyes sparkle with mirth. “And I love you too, Jas. I always have done.” He leans forward and presses his lips to mine. My toes curl and my body quivers with need for him.

  Deepening the kiss, he runs his hands over my face and around to my neck, playing with a bit of loose hair that has escaped my hair tie. A moan slips past my lips and into his mouth and his hands tighten at the nape of my neck, not painfully but in a way that has my body shaking with need. I never knew love could be like this, I never knew it was like fire swarming through one’s body, the flames rising with each and every thing he does to me. I thought my heart was shrouded in ice after the ordeal Louis had put me through, but Jay has shown me the light and from this day forward, it’s about the future. A future with a man I have loved my entire life and my neurotic best friend. I’ll finish my degree, I’ll move forward in life but only with Jay by my side.

  Can life get any more perfect?

  A few months later

  I move along with the crowd of people, making my way to my designated seat in the middle of the row and halfway up the block of seats. I look down at the other rows, seeing Dante, Callie and Jas all sat next to each other toward the bottom.

  She turns in her seat, her eyes searching for something and when they connect with mine, her face breaks out into the biggest grin and she lifts her hand, waving at me. I wave back, feeling awkward but doing it anyway because I’ll do anything for her.

  I take my seat, watching the back of her head and thinking about how far we’ve come.

  That day that I told her everything, I was sure she’d walk out of my apartment and never come back, not for one second did I think she would stay. But she did.

  I wanted to do things right so for a full two months all we did was date. I took her to fancy restaurants, on picnics and to the movies. I was trying to be romantic and a gentleman. Which is what I thought she wanted, until she jumped at me after one of our dates.

  That’s when I realized that she was sexually frustrated. I couldn’t help but laugh because she literally jumped on me and headbutted me, nearly knocking herself out in the process.

  Since then, she hasn’t left my apartment and she’s been slowly moving things from her dorm to my place. We decided to take the next step and I couldn’t be happier.

  If it was up to me she wouldn’t have gone back to the dorms after the day that I told her everything, but I knew that we needed to take our time and get to know each other again; to get to know who we are now and not who we used to be.

  Looking back down at her as a man dressed in a tweed suit and a bright red tie walks onto the stage, I can see the tenseness of her shoulders. She’s nervous.

  She looks
back at me, her eyes capturing mine and I smile, winking at her and mouthing ‘I love you’. She makes a heart with her hands, bringing it to her chest and mouths the same words back.

  When she turns back around, I lean back in my seat and swallow the lump that’s forming in my throat. There was a time when I never thought I’d see outside those concrete walls again, never mind finding Jas and having what we have.

  We’ve both been through so much already in our short lives, but one thing is for sure, whatever comes next, we’ll tackle it together.

  Sitting in my seat and waiting for the ceremony to begin is one of the most nerve wracking experiences of my life. But knowing Jay is right behind me has me calming a fraction. I can do this, I’ve worked hard for this. With a 4.0 GPA, I’ve graduated as one of the top students in the year as well as making the Dean’s List.

  I think about everything that I’ve had to battle through, all the rough stuff that’s happened. I think about Callie and Dante and what they’ve been through and then I think of Jay’s return. My heart misses a beat when I think of his name. I never thought I’d love a guy, I actually never thought I was capable.

  A smile creeps up my face as memories of the past few months assault me. He tried courting me, but that just made me frustrated, though I did enjoy each date, but it just made my need for him all the more stronger. The night I jumped him after a romantic dinner date was the day I first got to see a surprised, and startled, look on his face and I loved it.

  Before I know it, our row is up and we’re heading to the stage. I’m looking at the back of Callie’s head and I have to say that I’m surprised at seeing her graduate with quite a high GPA herself. I knew she had it in her but she decided to screw around with Dante for the majority of the year before she realized she better settle the hell down and get into her studies, with help from a rather nasty argument between us both that we had before the accident. The memories of that accident still has me shivering in fear, knowing what we know about the accident not being just a freak accident. I lost my memory about the whole car wreck after I woke up in the clutches of my brother.