Sinners' Playground (The Harlequin Crew, #1)

by Caroline Peckham

“I want what Fox wants,” he said, moving close so that he could run his knuckles down the side of my face, the ink there seeming to stain my skin with heat I had no intention of feeling. “But don’t go thinking I’m sweet on you, beautiful. I want you sweating and panting beneath me. I want you broken and begging and crying because you want it so much that you hate yourself for it. I want to take you and use you and ruin you and then lay you back at his feet and laugh in his face when I do it.”

“You seem to be under the impression that I’m waiting for permission,” he growled, his lips brushing mine as I stared up at him with wide eyes. He wasn’t the boy I used to know. This was a monster in the flesh of a man. The kind who took pleasure in the pain of others. The kind I’d sworn to stay well away from after waking up in that fucking grave.

Maverick didn't say a word, but the corner of his mouth lifted into a dangerous smirk as his dark eyes lit with some decision that made my already pounding heart race. He lifted a gun of his own and my heart stilled as for some unknown reason I failed to raise mine. Maybe it was because I knew in my heart that killing him would destroy any lingering fragments of the girl I'd once been. Or maybe it was because death at his hands sounded like the sweetest offer of oblivion I'd ever been given. Two shots rang out, the sound of them echoing right through my body as my eyes closed automatically and I waited to feel the pain of those bullets ripping through me. But instead, silence fell heavily, followed by the roar of a motorcycle. And by the time I peeled my lids open again, I found myself standing alone in an alley with two corpses and the scent of Maverick's exhaust fumes tainting the air.

I’d learned a long time ago to expect the unexpected. And when life gave you lemons, you’d better not bust your ass making lemonade. You needed to squeeze the acid out into your enemies’ eyes and gut them while they were blinded.

She was Fox’s girl. Of course he’d claimed her the second she’d drifted back into town like a seed looking to plant itself in the dirt of our lives. She’d gotten under his skin just like before and now he owned her. But not for long. The girl was ripe for the picking. And if she didn’t come knocking at my door for a taste of my cock soon enough, then I’d take her myself. It was tit for tat after all. You fuck my life, I’ll fuck your girl, brother.

And I hoped Luther was there when the light went out of his precious boy’s eyes. Just before I finished daddy dearest himself.

Lmao how does he not know Luther is dead? Unless he knows something we don’t

Juvie had been bearable, but prison had been insufferable. At least until I’d learned to detach and feel nothing but the hollow space in my chest. But it didn’t come without sacrifice. That void in me had deepened, devouring all the good until there was nothing left but darkness and rot. My morals had always been thin, but now they were non-existent. It was funny how quickly love turned to hate. My adopted brother had disposed of me like decaying fruit, but instead of disappearing like he’d hoped, I’d festered and festered in the dark.

I pulled the trigger with a blind confidence and the click confirmed everything I already knew. Like it did every night. The odds were always the same. Six cylinders, one bullet. I’d done this every night since I’d left prison. And death hadn’t taken me yet. So I knew with an unfaltering certainty that life would reside in my veins until I’d ripped every Harlequin from this world. Death was my only friend. And he’d given me another day. Another chance to make them bleed. And bleed they would.

Telling Rogue that Luther Harlequin was dead hadn’t exactly been the smartest move, considering she was gonna find out we’d lied one way or another. But I couldn’t have her running off again because of him. I could handle my dad. I just needed to figure out how to unfuck the situation first. Because by Harlequin law, he was bound to kill Rogue if she ever came back to town. But I wasn’t some kid anymore. He’d left me in charge of Sunset Cove. It was mine to rule. So my word meant something to him now. But that didn’t mean he was going to forget about the code either.

Those fuckers lied. Woooooow.

We’d brokered peace with them several years back, but since some asshole Shawn Mackenzie had taken over, he’d started fighting to claim territory from us again. I’d thought he was just some redneck nobody up until the day he and his gang had killed eleven of our men, ripped out their goddamn insides and written his gang name in their blood right on the fucking street.

“He’s a dead man,” I snarled. “He’s your brother,” Dad pushed. “We’re fucking family. Harlequins don’t kill Harlequins.” “He’s a Damned Man,” I snapped, my blood heating. “He started this war, but I’ll put an end to it with a bullet in his skull.” “Watch your mouth, son,” Dad warned. “You kill him and there’ll be consequences.”

Damn okay so daddy Luther actually want Maverick around?

I remembered the day Rick had been taken away as vividly as if it was etched behind my eyes. I’d thought losing Rogue had broken my heart as deeply as possible, but it turned out there had been more pieces waiting to shatter. My adopted brother had been sent down for killing Axel and I’d had to tell him I couldn’t help. Look him in the eye and let the cops drag him away. I’d been angry at him for risking Rogue’s life by searching for her even after Dad had threatened to kill her if we dared try. But that anger would have passed. He had still been my brother back then. And I knew I’d let him down, but fuck, there hadn’t been another option. Even if I’d given him an alibi for Axel’s murder or offered to take the fucking prison sentence myself, my dad already had every cop in town in his pocket. The deal was done. I couldn’t have changed it any easier than I could have torn down the sky that day. I knew he’d be angry when he got out of prison, but I’d never expected…

She couldn’t seriously want to live here over living in my fucking house.

I can see why she doesn’t tbh foxy boyyyyy lol

If the machines rose up and took over the world, I’d officially be naming myself the Vibratornator.

“I’d ruin you, baby. I’d prove there’s no other man on earth who can make you feel the way I do. You deserve to be fucking worshipped. I’d show up at your church every day and get down on my knees for you. Every. Fucking. Day.”

“It gets harder to believe every time you say it, baby.” I smirked against her mouth and her fingernails dragged down my back, my muscles flexing under her vicious touch. “I want anything you have to give me, hummingbird. Fight me, cut me, leave your mark on me. Whatever makes you feel better, but I’m not going anywhere. I’ve laid my claim and you’ll have to summon an army of demons from hell if you want any chance of keeping me away from you.”

“Yeah, I am actually. Because if you don’t leave right this second, you’re never gonna see me again, Fox.” A painful lump rose in my throat and I shook my head, refusing to accept that she was playing that card. “Don’t do that.”

“I’m not dating you, asshole. I have a perfectly stable, no-drama relationship going with my vibrator!” “Not anymore you don’t,” I snapped then her footsteps pounded through the trailer. “Argh!” she roared. “You monster. Why would you do this to Vlad?!” RIP Vlad.

"Is that why you fuck girls without a condom?" I sneered, pushing off of his chest to climb back out of his lap, but he dug his fingers into my thighs to stop me. "Not girls. Just you. When we come together, I want to feel every single piece of it. I want your hot pussy tight around my aching cock and for there to be nothing in this world left to divide us," he said roughly, making my thighs squeeze together in an attempt to block out that visual.

"I trust you brought your credit card? Because I'm seeking reparations for Vlad the Impaler,"

"Well, if you don't then the next time you let me out of your sight, I'm gonna go and find a bar and I'll pick out a big blonde, tattooed asshole and let him go to town on me without a condom while I call him Badger and let him plunder my fox hole."

"Nah. Fox here just can't get me off, so we had to call for reinforcements," I replied with a shrug. “Meet Vlad the Impaler the second, Jack the Licker – you know, like Jack the Ripper but with more tongue and Alexander the Great…big dildo.”

"Don't be shy sweetheart," he said. "There’s nothing wrong with wanting me to have something to fuck your ass with while you're riding my cock."

"But just remember when your body is trembling and you're aching and panting with one of those things deep inside you, that I'm the one who bought them. Which means I own them, and every time one of them makes you come, I own that too. So whether you're using one of them or finally ready to give in to what the two of us have coming, it doesn't matter, because your body is mine already. And it's only a matter of time before you come begging for the real deal."

The moment Fox's head ducked beneath the water, JJ leaned over me, gripping the back of my neck and pulling me up to meet his lips. My lips parted for him as his tongue sank into my mouth and my heart raced with the thrill of this game. It was fucking crazy. And it shouldn't have even mattered - if I wanted to kiss him then why should I hide it? But there was something insanely hot about doing so.

JJ leaned over me once more, his hand moving between my thighs as he kissed my neck, his fingers toying with the edge of my bikini bottoms before tugging them aside so that his fingers could slick through the wetness at my entrance and I had to choke back a moan.

"I feel like going for a ride, sorry Badger. Can I come, Johnny James?" I bit my lip as I looked around at JJ and the grin he gave me in return should have been freaking illegal. “Yeah you can come,” he said, the double meaning so clear in his voice that I was surprised the others didn’t catch on instantly.

"I love Fox like a brother. But I have an issue with him laying down a claim on you like me and Chase have no right to try and win you for ourselves. You were our girl ten years ago, we all wanted you just the same. I'm not gonna roll over like a little bitch and let him play the boss card when it comes to you. So if I get to be the one you've picked then I'm not gonna back off."

JJ laughed darkly, hooking my thigh over his broad shoulder and dropping his mouth onto my clit without any need for directions. A throaty moan escaped me as he dragged his tongue over my aching core, licking me slowly as his grip shifted to my hips and he pinned me in place while I tried to writhe beneath him.

kept bucking my hips against his hold and he gave up on trying to force me to stay still, moving one palm to press down hard on my lower stomach before bringing the other around so that he could push two fingers straight inside me. A cry of pleasure escaped me and he pushed a third finger in on the next thrust, driving them in deep and hard while sucking on my clit like he was as hungry for this orgasm as I was.

JJ moved over me where I lay on the hood, gripping my hips while he remained standing upright and pressing the head of his cock to my entrance. His gaze met mine and the smirk he gave me was fucking sinful. "I'm gonna make you scream for me, pretty girl," he promised before driving into me with a savage thrust that gave him his wish instantly.

"You're gonna get me killed for this," he teased, looking seriously okay with that being the way he died and drawing back slowly, gripping my hips so tight I was certain he was going to bruise me and I really hoped he would. The next thrust was impossibly harder, deeper, my cry of pleasure followed by another as he began to drive himself into me faster and faster, making it hard for me to even catch my breath as I moved my hips up to meet his. The angle he held me at drove his cock into the deepest parts of me and I curled my hands into my hair as he watched me, pawing at my aching nipples and running my fingers everywhere.

I couldn't take much more of it, my pussy tightening around him already as he watched me with a feral hunger that made me feel like the most desirable woman in the entire fucking world. He thrust in again and I swear I saw stars as I came for him, his cock filling me perfectly, deeply and his mouth coming down over mine to devour the sound of my screams as I fell apart for him.

"Don't look at me like that," JJ growled. "Like what?" I asked. "Like I'm some bad decision or mistake you made." "I never said-" "I get paid for sex, sweetheart. Do you think I don't know regret when I see it in a woman's eyes? I just thought I might have meant something more to you than that."

"I just should know better than to screw a guy who broke my heart before," I admitted, forcing myself to hold his gaze and hating the way those words struck him. But at the same time, I was glad he felt a taste of my pain. I really was a fucked up kind of creature these days. JJ sighed and leaned in to kiss my lips softly and I let him because apparently I was a glutton for punishment. "It's just a bit of fun, pretty girl. That's all I'm good for anyway. So don't beat yourself up about it. Okay?" He turned and walked away before I could reply and I got the feeling something I'd said had upset him or pissed him off, but it was clear he had no intention of telling me what.

😭😭😭😭😭

My dick was still buzzing from being inside her, but instead of riding the high of fucking the girl I’d fantasised about since the moment my balls had dropped, I was feeling like a prime asshole. I couldn’t get the way she’d looked at me out of my head. Like I was just one shitty mistake in a string of shitty mistakes. And I despised that. I didn’t want to be a regret to Rogue. I just didn’t know how to make it right.

Douchebag. What the fuck was that? I have all the game in the world and yet I just choked like a hooker with an asphyxiation fetish.

“I’m kinda with Chase on the ungodly hours. Who wants to function before ten am anyways? Fuck em’, Ace. We can have brunch together,” Rogue said in a way I wasn’t sure was entirely a joke. Why would she want to have brunch with Chase? He’d been nothing but a dick to her since she’d gotten back. “You wanna do brunch?” Chase questioned, though there was a flicker of hope in his eyes that got my back up.

Great, now I’m a possessive asshole just like Fox. Chase had a right to fight for her too, not that he’d win, but I still wouldn’t block him when he was ready to shoot his shot because all of us deserved that much after the hell we’d been through over her.

“Whatever you do, don’t ever call one of my girls a dumb slut again or you’ll be out on your ass. I don’t need the drama and I certainly don’t appreciate the fucking double standards. You work in a strip club with escorts. You wanna date a fine, upstanding girl who worships your cock on a monogamous basis, then find one outside of Afterlife. If not then go make that girl smile, asshole.”

I’ve. Got. The. Clap. That was what I went with apparently. Lilith gasped, lurching away from me like I was contagious and I gave her an apologetic smile.

“I’m not your whore, JJ,” she snarled and I paused in the doorway as she scowled at me. “I know, sweetheart. There’s no price on earth that would ever be enough to pay for a girl like you.”

Maverick dropped from the pull up bar and turned to face me as he caught on to what was going on, his cold mask of indifference flickering for the briefest of moments as he took everything in and I was pleased to see that I'd managed to surprise him. "Hey, Rick," I said sweetly, purring like a cat for him while secretly sharpening my claws.

"Well give us a few minutes and she'll be done," he taunted. "If you come that quickly then it's no wonder she's using her hands. No point getting her pussy wet for thirty seconds of disappointment," I shot back before turning and walking away again.

I reached out and caught the key in my fist, tugging him even closer to show him I wasn't afraid and tilting my chin up towards his so that our lips were almost touching as I shared this secret with him. "I know where the Harlequins are going to strike tonight. Do you think that's something that might interest you, Rick?" I asked seductively, knowing this would tempt him far better than any half naked girl. His eyes lit at my words and they roamed over my face as if he were hunting for a lie. "Tell me," he demanded and a smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I tugged on the key with a sharp jerk, breaking the knot securing the leather necklace and returning it to my possession. "I will," I promised. "Just as soon as you give me your key."

And as it happened, I found myself wishing I’d had another last indulgence before we’d headed off on this mission too. I should have looked at Rogue harder, studied every inch of her, brushed my fingers over her heated skin and remembered what it was like to love the girl instead of hate her. The two emotions were so sickeningly similar sometimes I didn’t know which I was feeling at any given moment. But if I ended up dead tonight with nothing but blood and metal pouring out of me, I kinda wished I’d stolen a kiss from her. Just once in my life. And if I was lucky enough to stand in front of her again after this, I’d steal the dirtiest, filthiest kiss I could and make sure she never forgot the name Chase Cohen. Dead or alive.

“You obviously thought it was worth the effort to cut off Rodriguez and Piston’s heads though,” she said darkly and I frowned over my shoulder at her. “Who?” I muttered, not really giving a shit. “The guys whose heads you chopped off tonight outside Harlequin House before writing ‘war’ on the gate,” she said with a tut. “I didn’t do jack shit, I’ve been here all night. Is that why you showed up here, beautiful, to tell me off? Because it sounds like a wasted journey.”

“You don’t know what an unfair fight looks like, beautiful,” I growled and her throat bobbed. “Wanna bet?” she snarled and I cocked my head, my curiosity piqued. “Who hurt you?” I demanded, darkness seeping into my blood and settling there. “It would be quicker to list who didn’t,” she bit at me and the devil in me leaned closer. I got nose to nose with her, breathing in her coconut scent and the desire pouring from her eyes as keenly as her pain. “Well do me a favour, lost girl. Remind me to fuck you before you take a razor blade to your wrists. It would be a damn shame for that body to go to waste before I could get my fill of it.”

“Wow, savage, Mr Stone. You should really consider a career in kids tv.” I turned my head to hide a smile. Damn beautiful bitch. “Why’d you choose Stone anyways? You sound like some sort of British detective. Maverick Stone, fights crime by day, giggles over corpses by night.”

Fuck it, I could dangle my key over her head all night. And I’d get her to jump through as many hoops as I could before she realised I was never going to give it to her. By the time I’d fucked her and left her spent with a permanent ache between her thighs, I’d take her key for myself. And it wouldn’t be long before I squeezed the location of the others from one of her boyfriends’ lips while they watched their brothers bleed out around them. Because the contents of that crypt was mine. And no long lost girl was going to take it from me.