Reign: A Romance Anthology

by Nina Levine

  “Come one last time for me, baby,” he grunted. “Come with me.”

  His words were the trigger. My body did not feel like my own, and I screamed his name as I came for the final time. Bane’s body went rigid as he chased me over the edge. His roar echoed around the room, his orgasm pouring on and on. When he finally stopped thrusting into me, he rolled over onto his back and took me with him. Sprawled across his chest, I lay there, panting, sweating, unable to move.

  “Holy fuck,” I whispered against his chest.

  He chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Pushing my ponytail out of his face, he forced me to look at him. “I want every man to know how I fucked you raw.”

  His dirty words sent a thrill through me, and although my mind was willing, perhaps my body wasn’t. I shut my eyes as sleep tried to claim me. Bane shuffled me off to the side, where I curled up on the rug, content to just stay there.

  “Shower first,” he said, scooping me up easily. “Then bed.”

  “To sleep?” I asked, peering at him, at the strong line of his jaw and the beard that was just the other side of a five o’clock shadow. He eyed me with a smirk.

  “I thought I could get another taste of your cunt first.” I squeezed my legs shut involuntarily, and he chuckled. “Maybe not. I’ve worn you out.”

  “Are you always so… thorough?”

  He paused, his eyes growing dark for a moment before setting me down on the bathroom counter and turning on the shower. When it was clear he wasn’t going to answer that question, I let him wash us both before sliding into bed.

  Rolling over onto my side, I shoved the sheet back off me, but Bane had other ideas. He wrapped himself around me, his leg over mine, his arm over my chest to cup one of my breasts. Just as I drifted off, I got the distinct impression Bane Rivera wouldn’t make it easy for me to leave, either now or in the future.

  13

  Bane

  It had been thirty hours since Wren finally gave me what I wanted. Thirty hours of me getting fucking hard at work just thinking about her. I was ready to have her again, but the deal we had was one night only, and I had to make her see I was her only choice.

  I picked up my phone and dialed Bianca.

  “Don’t tell me you’re canceling,” she said by way of greeting.

  “Fuck, no, I’m still coming, Bianca.”

  “Oh,” she replied, stunned. “What’s the reason for the call, then?”

  “Can’t a brother call his sister more than once a week?”

  In the background, Valentine started to fuss. I glanced at the clock. It was just after eleven, so she must be getting ready to nap. “You can,” she replied, shushing Valentine softly. “But I guess you caught me by surprise. So, we’re still on?”

  “Yeah, but I wanted to see if I could bring someone.”

  There was a long pause before my sister demanded, “Are you seeing someone? You’ve never seen someone. Who is she? What’s her name?”

  “Pump the breaks, Bianca. Fuck.”

  “Sorry, but it’s true. You haven’t dated… like ever.”

  Propping my feet up on the desk, I thought about that statement. It was true, I’d never had a proper relationship. I fucked around when I was at school and all through college, but I could never bring myself to settling down with just one woman. “I’m aware of my track record with women.”

  “So, who’s the lucky lady?”

  I reached for my whisky and swallowed what was left in the glass. “Her name’s Wren.”

  “Wren,” she cooed. “Tell me more.”

  “What more is there to tell?”

  “Loads, Bane. Seriously. You’ll bring her, then?”

  “Yeah.” The thought of Wren meeting Bianca actually made me smile a little. They were similar in many ways, and in others, completely different, so we were either going to have fucking fireworks or a fucking campfire where we all sang Kumbaya together. “We’ll see you at seven.”

  I hung up the phone then drained my drink. The Dollhouse was closed due to it being a Monday, but I always seemed to come in anyway. Call it habit or call it fucking pathetic, but I lived and breathed this club. Grabbing the bottle of whisky, I poured myself another and sat back in my office chair. I hadn’t told Wren about dinner tonight. But she would come, I knew she would.

  “Fuck.” I stood, rearranging my erection that was insistently pressing against my zipper. I had to do something with this energy battering my body. Otherwise, I was liable to skip dinner and just take Wren back to my apartment to fuck. Pocketing my phone, I stalked from my office to downstairs, where the cleaning crew was working hard. A couple of them nodded to me as I passed, then I was stepping outside.

  My car was by the curb, and I got in.

  “Where to, boss?” Andy asked.

  “Take me to the gym. I need to beat the shit out of something.”

  We drove in silence, and by the time we pulled up at the boxing gym, I was ready to knock someone the fuck out. So much energy was under my skin, making me fucking jumpy.

  “I’ll be about an hour. Come back then,” I told Andy, then walked into the grimy gym. After getting changed, I shut my locker, wrapped my hands, and pulled on my gloves. I went to one of the bags first, hitting it with a combination of jabs, hooks, and uppercuts until my upper body was screaming.

  There were other patrons in there, but none of them paid me any attention. At the back of the room, two men circled each other in the ring. I let myself go on the bag, letting out all my frustrations in the hope that when I finally saw Wren again, I wouldn’t unleash my dark side on her too strongly. There was no way I could avoid showing it to her, but I had to do it slowly.

  With each combination I worked through, I thought about my little problem with my dealers, wondering what I could do to find out more. Dagger had exhausted his contacts, but I still had one more ace up my sleeve. Bianca’s husband was a cop in LA. Surely, he’d know something about dealers being shot at. I made a point to ask him tonight.

  By the time I was done, sweat had poured off me. Outside, it was in the nineties, but in here, it was nudging one hundred. Pulling off my gloves and the wraps, I drank an entire bottle of water, then threw it into the trash. Back at my locker, I grabbed what I needed for a shower, then moved to change rooms taking a peek at my phone while I was at it. It was only a little after twelve.

  After showering quickly, I then went back outside. Andy drove me back to my apartment, where I would stay for the rest of the day.

  Just as I opened my apartment door, my phone rang.

  “Boss?” Dagger said when I answered.

  “What is it?”

  “Another one of our guys has been taken out.”

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a deep breath. “When? Who?”

  “That kid, Santiago. In his apartment. Cops are crawling over the area right now, but I managed to get the drugs out before they got there.”

  “Fuck!”

  “What do you want to do?”

  I ran a hand through my hair, thinking about my options. We still didn’t know who it was, and going around killing either Manzetti’s or Sanderson’s men was a bad fucking idea. We needed concrete proof of this.

  “I’m going to get in contact with a potential source and find out what the fuck is going on.” I hung up the phone, then stalked to the wet bar. After pouring myself a drink, I drained the amber liquid. What the fuck was happening? One of those fuckers was fucking with my business, and I couldn’t not retaliate. Weakness was a disease I had no intention of catching. “Fuck!” I threw the crystal tumbler at the wall, where it smashed. My breath was barreling out of me as I stared at all those shards of glass. I didn’t like not being in control. I didn’t like the feeling of hopelessness that engulfed me when it happened, so I made sure it didn’t happen in every facet of my life.

  Wren had been pushing my goddamn buttons with her reluctance to toe the line. My breathing eased as I thought about her, her blonde hair, and
those eyes that seemed to miss nothing.

  Fuck, I had to see her. I had to touch her. I needed her to ground me.

  On the ride down in the elevator, I texted Andy that I needed him. He was waiting for me when I stepped from the foyer of the building. I slid inside the cool interior of the back seat and sat back, waiting for Andy to get this fucking show on the road. Drumming my fingers on the top of my thigh, I tapped my other foot, desperate to get to my Little Bird.

  14

  Wren

  “Thank you, Mr. Beatty. I’ll see you and Cyril next week.” I waved the older gentleman off, his twelve-year-old beagle hustling beside him. I turned about to go back into the shop when I noticed the town car parked at the curb out in front of my shop. Adrenaline coursed through my veins.

  I shouldn’t be excited about seeing Bane again. I’d planned on turning his offer down, even though Saturday night had been the most mind-blowing sexual experience of my life. I was going to talk to the bank this afternoon about that loan, to get Hawk the money he needed, then concentrate on working my ass off to pay it all back.

  Bane’s way would be the easy way out, but I didn’t trust myself to walk away from him after two weeks. The longer I gave myself over to him, the more difficult it would become to break the obsession. I didn’t know if the obsession was wholly mine or his as well—I simply knew there was this undercurrent that connected us.

  But after this was done, Hawk would be on his own.

  I refused to bail him out again.

  Against my will, a small smile broke out on my face when the rear door of the town car opened and Bane stepped out, looking amazing in a pair of dark jeans and a black T-shirt that sat snuggly against his broad shoulders, the pads of his pecs, and large biceps. The tattoos on his neck were revealed, giving me a tantalizing slice of tanned skin and intricate ink. He walked toward me, his gaze running down my body like he hadn’t seen me in years.

  “Hi,” I said, the butterflies in my stomach feeling like they were the size of a jet. “What are you doing here?”

  He wrapped one arm around my waist, the other cradling the base of my skull. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he murmured, dropping a kiss to my lips. I placed my hands on his chest, fisting his shirt in my hands like I was afraid he’d simply evaporate if I weren’t holding on. It was only supposed to be one night, but I was already addicted to his touch. What had Bane Rivera done to me?

  “I missed you, too,” I replied. Immediately, I regretted the words. That was too needy, too fucking personal. I shouldn’t have missed him. All he’d given me was an amazing night of sex. We weren’t in a relationship. We didn’t even have a business arrangement.

  He stroked my cheek, then directed us inside the salon. “How many more clients do you have?” he asked, turning around to face me as I shut the door behind us.

  “None. That was my last one, but I sometimes get drop-ins.”

  Heat flared in Bane’s eyes. He marched to the door and locked it, flipping the plastic sign over before he stalked back to me.

  “Bane, what—”

  My words were stolen from me when he picked me up, and I immediately wrapped my legs around his waist. For a moment, I let his mouth devour mine before wriggling free of his grip.

  “What are you doing?” My words came out as a tortured moan.

  He quirked one dark brow at me. “I was going to fuck you until you screamed my name,” he replied, coming at me again.

  I threw my hands up to stop him where he was. Swallowing hard, I said, “It was only supposed to be one night.” Jesus, what was I saying here? Was I turning down the best sex of my life all because of some fucking moral code?

  He frowned, the expression only lasting a moment before melting away. He stalked toward me, crowding me against the wall. With his hands on either side of my head, I got a flashback to the private bathroom at Temptation. I was caged there, staring into his dark eyes, wondering what he would do next. Now I knew exactly what he could do, making the urge to resist him even harder.

  “I did say it was just one night, didn’t I?”

  I nodded my head because I was sure my words would come out garbled if I opened my mouth. I was also terrified that if I opened my mouth, I would simply just say, “Fuck it” and let him have his way with me.

  With a groan, he stepped away from me, retreating a few steps and perching his ass on the edge of the front counter behind him. I drew deep breaths into my lungs, blinking at him. An erection was straining against his jeans, and my knees went weak with the desire to relieve him.

  I watched as he scrubbed a hand over his face, his expression pained. “I’m a fucking idiot,” he announced on a harsh bark. His dark eyes were still on my face. “I apologize.”

  What in the actual fuck? “Accepted,” I replied, gripping the wall. We stared at each other, the few feet separating us feeling like a form of torture. I wanted him to fuck me again, but if I let him, he would just keep taking and taking and taking. I didn’t agree to the original deal, but it seemed he had enough integrity to stand by that too.

  Pushing off the wall, I straightened my fur-covered shirt and walked toward the counter. “Did you just come in here to fuck me?”

  He nodded. “It feels like you’re in my veins, Little Bird.” His admission made my pulse pound in my ear. “I don’t know how to get you out of there.”

  Against my better judgment, I reached for him, running my fingertips along his stubbled jaw. “I feel it, too, Bane. But Jesus, I need to find another way.”

  “Why?”

  “Because giving myself to you for two weeks to pay off my brother’s debt is messed up.”

  Bane looked away at something over my head. My words had affected him.

  “I don’t know of any other way to do this,” he replied roughly. When his eyes returned to my face, there was such anguish in them. “I don’t know if I could do it any other way.”

  I frowned at that statement. “Relationships aren’t a transaction. Would you rather I come to you because I want to instead of being forced into it.”

  He shook his head and pushed off the counter. Putting more distance between us, he started to pace. “I’d rather you do as I want. Most women would jump at the chance to have access to me for two weeks.”

  I folded my arms under my breasts, watching him stalk around like a caged tiger. “I’m not most women,” I reminded him.

  That statement gave him pause. “I know you aren’t, Wren. You’re something else. I knew it the moment you walked into my club and demanded mercy for your brother.”

  Slowly, so I didn’t frighten him off, I walked toward him. I had a feeling this was a side of Bane Rivera very few people got to see. His vulnerability was bared to me in this moment, a bubble of weakness that wouldn’t last beyond the walls of my shop. I opened my mouth, but he stopped me with a finger against my lips.

  “Come to dinner with me tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I fucking want you to,” he growled. “Jesus, why can’t you do as I say?”

  I smirked, and it looked like he wanted to bend me over his knee again. “Is this like a date?”

  He shook his head. “No. I want to show you something. I need you to see that I’m not some sex-crazed drug dealer without a heart.”

  “I already know you’re not those things.”

  “Then you need to learn that my word is my bond. Come to dinner at my sister’s house tonight, and you’ll learn all you need to know. Maybe then, you’ll give me two weeks of your life in order to save your brother’s.”

  15

  Bane

  What in the actual fuck was I saying? I wanted her to come to dinner with me, but that I had to go and fuck it up by bringing business into it? I hadn’t lied when I said I didn’t know how else to do this. I fucking wanted her like I needed the air in my lungs, but ever since I was a kid, my idea of relationships had been fucked up. Somehow Bianca had survived what very little of our
father’s lessons in love and devotion showed us, but I had borne the brunt of his lessons.

  Along with patricidal modeling, Wren was in my head too, scrambling my thoughts and making shit fucked up.

  Looking at her now, covered in dog fur, I shouldn’t be attracted to her. I should head back to the club, call some of my Dolls, and have a fucking orgy off the clock. Screw the no-fucking rule. I needed some pussy, and I needed it now. Since Wren couldn’t—or wouldn’t—give it to me, I’d have to go elsewhere.

  But that thought was like a fucking bullet to the chest.

  I wanted her and only her.

  When the fuck did I become such a pussy?

  “Will you come?” I asked harshly.

  She nodded, clasping her hands in front of her. “I will.”

  Relief flooded me. “Good. I’ll pick you up at six.”

  With that, I unlocked the door and strode from her shop. Andy was waiting at the open rear door. I slid inside the car and let out a breath once the door was shut. I turned to find Wren standing just outside her shop, her brows drawn down like she was trying to figure out a problem. Well, good luck to her because even I didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with me.

  Shit. I have to get my head on straight. I was Bane-fucking-Rivera. I never let pussy dictate to me. I never let pussy interfere with my business. What I needed to do was remember who the fuck I was and how I’d gotten here. Mooning over Wren had made me soft.

  “Back to the club, sir?” Andy asked.

  “Yeah,” I snarled, shifting my raging erection in my pants. I needed a fucking release. Otherwise, I would lose it the next time I laid eyes on Wren. I wouldn’t stop myself, I wouldn’t give a fuck about our stupid one-night-only agreement. I would simply take what I wanted and force her to see things my way. Once I was in her blood, she wouldn’t walk away so easily.