And why did she enjoy it?
Why did that arrogant expression make her want to drop down to her knees and please him however he saw fit?
And as if he had had the same thought, he gestured with his eyes for her to kneel.
She couldn’t say no—she didn’t want to say no. She merely did what she was told.
It was impossible not to feel the harshness of the hardwood floor beneath her, but her gaze was focused solely on Uilleam as he reached down to unbutton his trousers.
She all too eagerly moved forward and tugged his zipper down, already feeling how hard he was even before she freed him completely.
He didn’t have to tell her to suck him, she put his cock in her mouth because she wanted to because the sounds he made when she took him deep curled her toes.
He held her hair in his fist, guiding her head up and down as his other skimmed down her spine. It would only take a few inches for him to slide his hand beneath her panties and find her wet and eager.
And just the thought of his fingers slipping through her folds and slowly curling up inside her had her arching into his fingers, trying to force him to give her what she wanted.
There was no shame as she pulled him out to replace her mouth with her hand.
Not even when he called her filthy names as he shoved her panties aside to bare her sex.
“You asked me what I wanted,” he said in a voice that made her clench before his hand came down on her ass, the spank bringing a sharp bite of pain behind it.
“Yes,” she said now. “Tell me.”
He thrust two fingers deep inside her, holding them there, keeping her full of him even as he dipped his head down so his lips were near her ear. “Ride me.”
Something shifted in the air.
She wasn’t sure if she moved toward him first or he guided her up, but the next thing she knew, she was straddling his lap.
Her thighs quivered as his palm landed on the curve of her hip, his grip tightening to the point of pain as his gaze dropped to where he held his cock. Briefly rubbing the head over her clit, he stoked the fire as only he could do.
It was madness.
It was everything she never knew she needed from him.
“Give me your words, poppet. Tell me what you want.”
He was suddenly there, the blunt head of his cock notched right at her opening. Shameless, she didn’t care how she must have looked as she attempted to take him deeper. To feel him stretch her and make her ache until his name was the only thing she could say.
And wasn’t this the way he liked her?
Desperate and needy.
Willing to do anything he asked if he would just fuck her already. To make her cry out and beg and lose herself in how good he could make her feel.
It was her turn to kiss him. to trail down his hard jaw. To bite at the strong cord in his throat. And it took her no time at all to give in to what he wanted.
“Take me,” she whispered, a broken plea she felt down to her bones. “Please, I—”
Need you, she never got to finish.
Because he only needed to hear take me before he was lifting his hips and thrusting in as deep as he could. And as wet as she was, her body hardly resisted at all.
Another night maybe, she’d take her time and tease him as much as he had her, but that throb he’d inspired in her was only getting more intense.
She ground herself against him, holding his shoulders, her hair still clenched in his fist. He leaned forward even as he tugged her head back, baring her throat to his bite.
And fuck did he mark her in the best way possible.
She knew without question there would be a mountain of dark bruises all over her, but she also knew she was very much looking forward to them
His grip on her hips was almost punishing, but it didn’t compare to the way he felt buried deep inside her. The way his lips were right there against her ear, whispering dirty things that had her clenching hard around him.
How good she felt as she rode him.
How he needed her to fucking come so he could follow her.
It was exactly what she needed.
The orgasm snuck up on her and broke before she even realized it was cresting. Her thoughts went blissfully blank and her nails dug into his shoulders as she spasmed around him, but that didn’t stop him from fucking her harder.
Giving himself over to that primal desire he kept tucked away behind expensive suits and mocking smiles.
And at those moments, when his grip on her brought as much pain as it did pleasure, right before his eyes slid closed and he growled out his release …
Uilleam owned her.
12
Old Friends
Sitting in the small corner booth with its ripped vinyl covering and the long scratch across the top of the table, Karina turned the salt shaker around in her hand, watching as the granules shifted back and forth.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been waiting, only that the waitress had passed twice to ask if she wanted a fresh coffee before disappearing to serve her other tables.
Usually, she wouldn’t have thought twice about how long she had been sitting alone, or that her phone had yet to ring with a call or a text or any sign that the man she was supposed to be meeting with was on his way. The only thing that truly kept her waiting there was the history they shared, and the fact that whenever she had needed him, he was always there.
But … she would also be the first to admit that the last time they’d seen each other hadn’t gone particularly well, especially when he had been arrested on charges that, while they’d been dropped as far as she knew, still should never have happened.
Uilleam was to thank for that.
It was also because of him that Orion had been a bit distant the last time they were together in the bar. But what could she really do? She could apologize, sure, which she had done more than once—and had even confronted Uilleam about it—but apologies didn’t always change what was already done.
The bell above the front door chimed as it opened.
Karina glanced back over her shoulder, expecting to find a stranger, but instead, Orion was there, brushing snowflakes off his leather jacket before briskly rubbing his hands together.
His eyes trailed over the bar, lingering on the display of pie slices, before he finally found her across the room. His face didn’t split into a grin for once, though some semblance of a smile tugged at a corner of his mouth.
Not terribly unhappy to see her, she thought.
“I’m glad you came,” she said once he got close, wrapping him in a hug and blowing out a breath when he returned her embrace.
“Yeah?” He slid into the booth opposite her, his gaze shifting in the direction of the waitress currently moving in their direction. “When have I ever been able to say no to you?”
More often than not, Orion could be rather blunt with what he was feeling, spilling it all in no uncertain terms. But other times, like now, his feelings were more subtle.
Understated.
But it was still very clear that he wasn’t particularly happy.
“Are you still angry with me?”
“It was never about you,” he said, picking up the menu, though they both knew what he would order. Whenever they came here, he always requested the same thing. “At least not like it was for him. I was just trying to protect you.”
And Uilleam had acted out of jealousy. Possessiveness. His motives could never be considered selfless by any means.
“I tell you all the time—”
“You can take care of yourself,” he finished with a roll of his eyes as he shed his jacket and tossed it aside. “Fucking stubborn is what you are.”
A startled laugh escaped her, not only because she knew he wasn’t wrong, but because it reminded her of all the other times they had been sitting here just like this and he’d repeated those exact words.
“I wouldn’t have made it this far if I wasn’t.”
�
�Long night?” he asked, and even if she hadn’t seen the smirk on his face, she would have known why he was asking.
It was impossible for anyone to ignore the dark splotch on her neck, and she’d known it would be even more impossible to attempt cover it even with the best of concealer.
“Still with him then?”
Considering the hickey gave that away—and because she knew her verbal answer wouldn’t be what he wanted to hear anyway—she figured it was better to err on the side of caution if she actually wanted this conversation to be productive.
“Maybe it would be better if I didn’t mention Uilleam, considering all the bad blood.”
He grumbled something beneath his breath but didn’t argue that point. “Why don’t you tell me why you called?”
“You’ve heard of Hugh McDonall. He’s the hotelier—”
“And has the other dealings on the side,” Orion continued before she could finish. “Yeah, I’ve heard some things.”
Unlike anyone else she knew, he also had a tendency of knowing things others didn’t—his business depended on it.
But what she hadn’t expected were these so-called dealings. As far as she could tell—and find—he hadn’t seemed to be involved in anything other than legitimate affairs.
“Tell me everything you can.”
“Didn’t think there was much to be known about him really,” he answered with a shrug, helping himself to her coffee. “Seems pretty legit far as I can tell. His wife’s a bit of a nut case, though. Wants to play a man’s game.”
Though she wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that, she had a good idea. The only question now was how it connected back to what Claire was trying to achieve by forcing Hugh to sign over the hotels to her.
As he finished off her coffee, she told him what she knew and what little there was. She was happy to be discussing it with someone because even though she didn’t necessarily have everything she needed just yet, it always helped her gather her thoughts when she was able to speak them out loud.
And with Orion’s input, she now had another theory to work on.
They were very different, he and Uilleam. Not just in their demeanor, but in their temperament as well. It made talking to him far too easy.
“Thank you,” she said as she finished, “for meeting with me. I know you’re busy at the moment.”
He shrugged again. “You don’t even have to thank me for that, but I have to tell you, I’ll be taking off for a while.”
Karina did her best not to show her disappointment, though even she knew that would do very little to change his mind. Besides, even she was willing to admit how selfish the action would be on her part.
She would be a fool not to think her relationship with Uilleam didn’t bother him, and after what Uilleam had done, she was a little amazed that he’d given her this much.
But that didn’t mean her disappointment was any less great.
It didn’t mean that she didn’t wish things could be different. That the two of them could get along, but even as she was hopelessly optimistic most days, she knew well enough that that would never happen.
“When will you be back?” she asked, thinking it was better to have an answer to that question rather than asking him how long he’d be gone.
Orion offered her that charming little half-grin, the one that never failed to make her smile in return. “Before you even get a chance to miss me.”
She doubted that very much.
Even as she sat across from him, watching as he shrugged on his leather jacket, she missed him already. She would certainly miss the many days they had spent like this, eating and laughing. Plotting and discussing everything under the sun.
In their world where true friends were so seldom, she would greatly miss the one who had meant the most to her.
And more, she would regret that he was leaving without ever knowing the truth about her. At some point, she had always reasoned, she would tell him who she was and the family she belonged to. The real reason she had left home and ventured out on her own.
But time had never been on her side.
“I have something to tell you when you get back,” she said before he could slide out of the booth, feeling the weight of his gaze as he turned to look back at her with a curious expression.
“Tell me now.”
“Oh no,” she said with a shake of her head. “Only when you get back from wherever you’re going.”
He made a low, frustrated sound in the back of his throat. “Now, you know this shit is gonna eat at me the entire time.”
“Then hurry up,” she told him pointedly. “The sooner you’re back, the sooner you’ll hear what I have to say.”
Orion drained the last of his coffee before standing. “You drive a hard bargain, babe.”
She stood too and stepped into his embrace, wondering, even now, how they had grown so close in such a short period of time. There were people she saw every day at work who had desks mere feet from her own that she never gave a second thought to when she saw them. Yet her heart ached at the thought of him leaving.
“When I call,” he said after kissing the top of her head, pulling back a little to meet her gaze, “you show up here, yeah? That fucker Uilleam or not.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll be here.”
“Take care of yourself, Karina.”
He looked like he wanted to say more with the way he hesitated, his gaze uncertain. But just as she was about to ask what it was—or at least give him the opportunity to say whatever was on his mind—he offered her one last little smile before he dropped his arm and headed for the door.
Karina watched him from the moment he reached the door and pushed through it, to the second he walked out onto the street and turned his collar up against the cold, and down the street until he disappeared from view.
She couldn’t say why she felt the way she did—as if she had just lost a best friend—but that heavy feeling lingered for a long while, even after she sat back down just to give herself a moment.
Even when she noticed the green bills slightly tucked beneath his plate.
Despite her protests, and despite the fact she was sure she had seen him tuck that money away in his wallet when she’d told him she would pay, he had still left the payment—plus a generous tip, as was his way—resting there on the table.
Uilleam wasn’t like many other men, and she would freely admit that.
But Orion wasn’t either.
Karina had only just stepped outside the dinner, rooting around in her bag for her phone when she came up short at the sight of the rather large, prominent figure to her right.
Considering the sheer size of him—though she should have been used to that by now—she very well should have seen him before she ever stepped foot outside. But while he might have been six and a half feet of Samoan mercenary, Skorpion had a way of not drawing attention to himself.
She startled a bit, resting her hand over her now rapidly racing heart, but that didn’t stop her smile from forming. “It’s good to see you even if I have no idea why you’re here.”
He shrugged, every bit as good-natured as he always was. “He thought you might need a ride.”
Of course he did, but Karina wasn’t a fool by any means. She knew the other reason he had sent his own personal mercenary to escort her wherever she wanted to go. It went beyond traveling in this weather and had entirely to do with the fact that she had been meeting with Orion, who he didn’t like, and also because she hadn’t told him.
This was his way of letting her know he knew—that he could find out things even if she didn’t willingly share details with him.
That thought annoyed her more than it should have.
Before, she might have just rolled her eyes at the thought of Uilleam’s possessiveness—she would be lying if she said it wasn’t something she actually liked about him—but knowing that her mother was in town and that there were still very many secrets she would like to keep t
ucked away, the very idea of him learning about them sent her guard up.
It would just be easier to tell him the truth, a little voice in the back of her mind whispered. He surely wouldn’t think too badly of her if he knew. It wasn’t as if she had sought out to trick him from the very beginning, and she had never outright lied when he asked her a question.
Merely evaded the truth as much as possible …
But she also knew that to a man like Uilleam, that was as good as lying, and she was afraid of what his reaction might be to that.
“Has he stalked all his lovers?” she asked, forcing herself not to give that too much thought as she headed for the truck, seeing no reason she couldn’t take him up on the ride, considering the now gently falling snow.
Even as Skorpion popped open the back door and offered his hand to help her inside, he laughed lightly. “Only you. It’s only ever been you.”
That certainly shouldn’t have made her feel special, but even as her mind knew that, the rest of her didn’t. It made her feel special, though the thought was ludicrous.
“Where is he, anyway?” she asked, finally plucking her phone out of her bag to shoot him a text with exactly how she felt about him having her followed.
“Don’t know.”
She glanced up at him through the rearview mirror. “You don’t know, or you’re not allowed to tell me?”
“Both. He didn’t want me to lie to you, so he didn’t bother to tell me where he was going.”
Frowning, she shook her head. “That doesn’t sound terribly safe. Aren’t you supposed to be keeping him safe?”
His laugh was a little drier this time. “Oh, you won’t need to worry about that. Uilleam’s plenty protected at the moment.”
While she suspected there was more to that remark than he was letting on, she didn’t know the first place to begin to question it.
As they rode out of Hell’s Kitchen, ten minutes couldn’t have passed before her phone was ringing.
“You’re being outlandish,” she wasted no time in saying, not caring at all that Skorpion could hear her.
White Rabbit Page 15
