by Tate James
"Deal with it," I told him, my voice quiet but firm. "Our world doesn't just stop because we want to fuck."
His muscles bunched against my back, his frustration a palpable thing, but a second later he released me with a growl of anger. Shaking out my hair, I turned around and leaned my shoulders into the wall as I watched him.
With a deep scowl, he yanked his jeans up over his hard dick, then gave me a narrow-eyed glare. "Don't even fucking think about getting dressed, Red."
I didn't fight the smirk that crept across my lips. "We'll see."
More knocking. Cass gave a growl of fury and jerked the door open. He stepped out into the corridor and slammed the door shut behind him, ensuring there was no way Roach could have seen me.
As tempting as it was to follow directions and just sprawl naked across his bed, waiting for him to come and finish me off, my messed up brain wouldn’t let me make it so easy on him. I liked pushing him away, and making him pull me back in so fucking hard. I liked challenging his dominance. It turned me on. So I grabbed my jacket from where I'd dropped it earlier and went in search of the rest of my things. It took me all of two minutes to get dressed, all the while listening to the low rumble of voices outside the front door.
I was clipping my gun holster back on when Cass yanked the door back open and stormed inside like a thundercloud. When he saw me standing there, fully dressed, he froze.
"What the fuck are you doing?" he demanded.
"Leaving," I replied with an eyeroll, biting back my smile. "Hot as all that alpha-dom crap is, we both have empires to run and people to protect. Sounds like yours just came knocking, literally, and mine got bombed this morning."
Something shifted in his expression, and a delicious thread of anticipation rippled through me.
"You think I'm playing?" he asked in a dark voice, stalking closer to me. For some goddamn reason—call it a moment of temporary insanity—I backed up a couple of steps into the kitchen before I caught myself and stood firm with my chin up.
My expression hardened into Hades again, and I met his blazing stare with ice. "You think you're not?"
He huffed a laugh, and it struck me somewhere deep. God, that was a sexy sound, and the fact that he didn’t back down at that hardness spoke volumes. Instead of answering, he reached out and stroked the backs of his fingers over my exposed décolletage. I shivered and leaned into his touch, feeling the power behind such a gentle gesture.
In a flash his hand was around my throat.
A shock of excitement, of exhilaration, ran through me like a lightning strike, and my heart galloped against my ribs as his fingers tightened and his lips brushed over mine.
"I told you not to get dressed, angel," he murmured, his grip just a fraction away from cutting off my air, but loose enough that I could still reply.
"What are you gonna do about it, then?"
Silly question. Cass kept his grip on my throat but circled around behind me until my back was pressed to his chest once more. Slowly, letting me anticipate his actions, he reached out and plucked a fileting knife from the block on the counter. Then, in a series of quick, precise cuts, he shredded my bodysuit but left my gun holster intact.
"I swear," he murmured in my ear, "I've never seen a woman make weapons look so fucking hot." Satisfied with the way he'd destroyed my bodysuit, he stabbed his knife point first into the wooden cutting board in front of me.
Releasing my throat, he flicked the button of my jeans open, then gripped the sides of my open fly in each hand and ripped. The already distressed denim tore like wet paper down the entire length off my crotch, and Cass shoved them down my legs with rough movements before I could get anything more than a startled sound of protest out.
"Cass—" I started to say, somewhat irritated but still exceedingly turned on at how he'd just destroyed my clothes. But he cut me off with a hand over my mouth. With strong movements, he kicked my legs wider and bent me over the counter until my aching nipples touched the wooden cutting board right beside his knife.
One hand still over my mouth, his other grabbed my hip. He pulled me back against him as his cock found my cunt, shoving inside and making me scream against his palm.
For a moment, it felt like my brain had short-circuited. Stars exploded in my vision, and my whole body quaked, shaking with raw arousal and pent-up tension. Then I bit down on his fingers, and he grunted a curse.
"Bitch," he growled as he removed his hand from my mouth. Somehow, he made it sound like the highest compliment, though, and I bucked my hips. "Fuck, you feel incredible, Red."
My sassy retort dissolved on a wave of euphoria as he started fucking me properly. His fingers bit into the fading bruises on my hip as he nailed me against the counter, and I moaned under his touch.
"Holy shit," I groaned as he slammed into me, harder and harder. "Cass..."
"Roach will be back any minute," he grunted, wrapping his free hand back around my neck once more. I shuddered with waves of pleasure as the edge of the counter bit into my waist and Cass pumped faster. "So be fucking quiet when you come."
I snorted a laugh, then moaned when his grip tightened. He wasn't fucking around, and I was in freaking heaven. Planting my hands on the counter, I pushed back into him, frantically chasing the climax that was teasing me.
"Harder," I moaned, louder than I really needed to.
He cursed and gave me exactly what I wanted. He went harder on my cunt and on my throat, squeezing in just the right place to make my vision dance and my lungs scream as I came with soul-shattering convulsions.
He barely even waited for me to finish before jerking out of my pussy and shoving me to my knees. His fingers tangled in my hair, he shoved his cock so far down my throat that I couldn't breathe.
"I told you to be quiet," he grunted as he fucked my mouth.
If I'd been able to, I'd have smirked. As it was, I just grabbed onto his tattoo covered hips and sucked his dick like I was trying to win a prize. A few moments later, he jerked and used his grip on my hair to force himself deeper as he came.
When he released me, I sat back on my heels with my chest heaving and my lips throbbing.
Cass stared down at me a moment, his eyes slightly stunned, then that sly, sexy grin crossed his lips.
"Get up," he ordered. "Go to my bedroom while I get rid of Roach. I want to taste your sweet cunt and feel you come on my face before I let you leave."
My breathing hitched, and my pussy tightened with excitement.
Slowly, I climbed to my feet and kicked my shoes aside. Holding Cass's dark gaze steadily, I licked my lips, then uttered the words that irrevocably shifted our power dynamic.
"Yes, sir."
13
Striding back into Zed's house, I kept my head high and my spine strong despite the puffiness in my lips betraying exactly what I'd been doing. Not to mention the way my hair barely covered the marks on my neck.
"Nice outfit," Zed commented, spotting me before I could sneak upstairs to change.
My shoulders tightened, and I hardened myself against his teasing before changing direction. "Thanks," I snapped back. "Designed it myself."
My outfit, as my second so amusingly commented on, was one of Cass's black hoodies. That was it. Just a hoodie. But I was short enough compared to Cass's six-foot-five that it fit me like a dress. And really, I’d had no other options considering the shredded mess he'd left my clothes in.
"You smell like sex," Zed informed me as I brushed past him. There was no teasing in his tone, though. In fact, he sounded pissed off.
I stopped and shot him a scowl. "What's your problem, Zayden?"
His answering smile was pure sarcasm. "Nothing, boss. Just commenting on the fact that you've clearly been riding that Reaper's dick while I was out collecting your boy toy from the hospital. Oh yeah, and thirty-six people died in the collapse of your apartment building."
A wave of guilt ripped through me so hard I wobbled on my heels. "Zed—"
"Whoa, no!
" Lucas cut me off, pushing up from the couch with a grimace. I hadn't even seen him sitting there, but he’d clearly heard what Zed just said to me. "Not cool, Zed. Hayden didn't set that bomb off; don't go dumping those deaths on her shoulders."
Zed looked stricken, frowning between Lucas and me, then gave an angry shake of his head. "Fuck this," he muttered, then started to storm away.
"Excuse me?" I barked after him, the sharp edge in my voice making him freeze in his tracks. "You want to try that again?"
Ever so slowly, Zed rolled his shoulders, then turned back around to face me with a carefully shuttered expression. "My apologies, sir," he said, the words still underscored with anger. "I have some calls to make." He held my gaze steady, and I swallowed a frustrated sigh.
"That's better," I snapped, dismissing him.
Zed's answering glare was darker than I'd seen from him in a long time, but he said nothing else before leaving the room and heading upstairs.
As soon as he was gone, I let out a long sigh and let my shoulders sag. Something really strange was going on with Zed, and I needed to get to the bottom of it sooner rather than later.
"What was that about?" Lucas asked quietly, touching a gentle hand to the small of my back.
I shook my head, not even knowing where to start explaining the complicated relationship between Zed and me. "Doesn't matter," I lied. "How are you?"
Shoving Zed's temper tantrum into the back of my mind, I focused on Lucas and inspected the colorful bruises decorating his face.
"I'm fine," he told me with a smile. "Better now that you're here." He looped his arms around my waist and pulled me close in a hug. After a moment's hesitation, I reached my arms up around his neck and relaxed into his hold.
Lucas buried his face in my hair and tightened his arms around me, then gave a soft laugh. "You really do smell like sex." I tried to pull away, instantly worried that he was hurt or upset, but he didn't let me go. "I didn't say I hated it."
A fact he reinforced by nuzzling my hair out of the way and kissing my neck right over the teeth marks and light bruises Cass had left.
"Lucas," I groaned, sliding my hand around to cup his face. I pulled back far enough that I could meet his eyes and see the open honesty in his gaze. "You're unbelievable."
He grinned that cheeky, mischievous smile of his. "In a good way, right?"
I rolled my eyes but couldn't fight my answering smile. "For one thing, I'm almost positive you're not allowed to have sex so soon after surgery to reinflate your lung—"
"I don't remember the doctor saying that." He gave me a thoughtful frown, like he was searching his memory. "Hmm, nope, no recollection."
Still grinning and unable to wipe it off my face, I just gave him a headshake. "And for another, I smell like sex because I've been fucking someone else. That doesn't bother you? Because it should. You deserve better than me, Lucas. I'm only going to—"
"Break my heart?" He finished the sentence for me, and I gave a weak shrug. He drew a deep breath, then released it as his arms loosened around my waist. Instead of pushing me away, he took my hand and led me over to the couch to sit. "Yeah, you probably will."
My brows shot up, and my stomach knotted. "And you're okay with that?" I had a hard time believing him, and it showed in my voice.
Lucas just met my eyes with a calm that seemed far too mature for his years. "I'm okay with that. It doesn't bother me that you smell of sex with Cass because you smell like sex and that's just a straight up turn on."
All my skepticism must have shown on my face because he just laughed and grabbed my hand. With a quick movement, he shoved my hand inside his gray sweatpants and wrapped my fingers around his hot, hard length.
"Tell me I'm lying, Hayden," he challenged me in a husky voice. "Tell me I'm not thinking about how badly I want to fuck you right here on Zed's ugly-ass couch. I dare you."
I huffed a short laugh at his play on my name. "Cute."
"Not the vibe I was aiming for," he muttered, releasing my hand. I didn't immediately withdraw it, though, and his breathing spiked. "So no, it doesn't bother me. But if you want to know whether it makes me jealous?"
I tilted my head to the side, curious.
Lucas swiped his tongue over his lush lips, his cheeks flushed as he tried to continue his conversation while I stroked his dick. "Insanely jealous," he admitted in a hoarse whisper. "I want to know everything he did to you, then I want to do it all myself and make you scream harder. Louder. I want to make you forget his fucking name while my dick is inside you."
Somewhat shocked by his answer, I removed my hand from his sweatpants and searched for an appropriate response. No words came to mind, though, so when he leaned over and kissed me, I simply melted into his touch.
A crash of something breaking upstairs jolted me out of the fuzzy haze of Lucas that I'd just so comfortably slipped into, and I looked to the ceiling with a grimace.
"I need to go and deal with him," I said with a sigh. "I don't know what his fucking problem is, but I'm not putting up with it."
Lucas gave a soft laugh. "You really don't know what his problem is?"
I frowned at him in confusion as I peeled myself out of his warm embrace to stand up. "Uh, no. He's been acting strange for fucking weeks and keeps fobbing me off with stupid excuses whenever I push the issue."
Lucas sprawled out a bit on the sofa, cupping his dick to rearrange it. "Since when? The night you and I hooked up?"
I took a moment to consider his question, then shook my head. "No, his attitude has nothing to do with you. Him trying to sabotage our night wasn't some kind of misplaced jealousy. He's always meddled when he's seen me with guys, but I do it to him with chicks. It's just a thing we do." I grinned, remembering an incident a few months ago. I'd caught Zed fucking a girl against a wall at Club 22, so I'd convinced a waitress to "trip" and "spill" a whole pitcher of sangria all over his white shirt.
Zed had been livid but never even known it was me. By some stroke of luck, the waitress I'd picked was one of Zed's former conquests, and he’d assumed it was an act of jealousy. Hah.
Lucas was just watching me with a bemused smile as I took that quick trip down memory lane, then he gave an unconvinced shake of his head. "If you say so." Another crash of something breaking upstairs made us both look to the ceiling. "Maybe you should just let him work through it alone."
His concern made me grin, and I leaned back down to kiss his lips. "That's cute that you think Zed would ever hurt me. Don't worry, I'll be quick. He probably just found out he caught an STD from his latest bed buddy or something." I kissed him again, letting my lips linger as my pussy throbbed with need. "Just make yourself at home, okay? And ignore any gunshots from upstairs."
Lucas made a panicked sound of protest as I left the room, and I just laughed in response. I wasn't actually going to shoot Zed for throwing a temper tantrum, but I wasn't adverse to scaring him a bit.
It was pretty obvious all the crashing was coming from Zed's room, so I marched down the corridor and threw the door open without bothering to knock. Inside, I found Zed standing on the small balcony with his back to me and his shoulders heaving. I approached without any hesitation but took note of how white his knuckles were on the balcony railing and how the thick muscles in his forearms were flexed hard.
"You wanna tell me what the fuck is going on with you, Zayden?" I asked in a dry voice, propping my shoulder against the doorframe and folding my arms.
He spun around, his lips parted as though he had a million and one sharp retorts just waiting on the tip of his tongue. But then his blazing, furious glare met my calm gaze, and his mouth snapped shut.
"None of your business, Hades," he growled instead, his brows dipping in anger.
He was trying to push my buttons, but lucky for him I was still riding the euphoric wave of Cass's parting kiss so my usual quick temper had been cooled.
Spoiler alert, his kiss hadn't been on my mouth.
Instead of snapping back
and exerting my authority like Zed clearly expected me to do, I just raised my brows and tipped my head to the side. "Why don't you talk to me anymore, Zed? I thought we told each other everything."
His eye twitched with rage. "Like you're one to talk."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Okay, now he was starting to piss me off.
He advanced a couple of steps, getting all up in my personal space and forcing me to tip my head back so I could maintain eye contact. I despised when men did that to me. Usually. Somehow, I was okay with it when it came to... certain men. Zed was one of them.
"This shit with Cass and Lucas," he growled in a low voice, still underscored with raw emotion.
"What shit with Cass and Lucas?" I replied when he didn't elaborate. "I'm fucking both of them. So what?"
His eyes narrowed. "So what? Seriously? You've got genuine feelings for both of them? How do you not see how dangerous that’s becoming for you? For us?"
My jaw dropped slightly. "What? Zed, chill. It's just sex. Don't read so much into it, drama queen. Is that what all this is about? Fucking hell, I thought there was a real problem."
A little of Zed's anger seemed to slip, and he studied my face with an expression of disbelief. Then he barked a sharp laugh and shook his head. "Just sex, huh?" He continued searching my eyes for long enough that I shifted uncomfortably. "You're so full of shit, Hayden. I know what you look like when you've let someone into that glacial-cold heart of yours."
Fear spiked through me, and I lifted my chin in stubborn denial. "Oh yeah?" I scoffed a sharp laugh. "How?"
Zed's eyes flashed with pain, and his mocking smile faded completely. "Because you used to look at me like that." His voice was quiet and full of bitterness and regret. But regret about what?
As quick as his mood had shifted, he snapped his gaze away from mine and brushed past me. "I'm heading out," he announced, already grabbing a clean shirt from his closet and swapping it for the wrinkled one he'd been wearing.
"Zed, what the fuck? Don't you dare walk away from me; we're in the middle of a conversation." I started after him, reaching for his arm, but he shrugged out of my grip.
