Playing Dirty

by C. L. Parker

  Shaw’s sigh was loaded with guilt and maybe even a little resentment. “It’s nice to see you, too, Ma.”

  Whoa! If this had been a soap opera, there would’ve been a dramatic dun-dun-duuun right before a loud gasp. Which I apparently made. Loudly. Not the dun-dun-duuun, but the gasp. And the gasp was loud enough to cause Shaw’s head to whip around with narrowed eyes. I was convinced he had superhuman powers that could penetrate the dark with that look, and I was right.

  The second he spotted me, his eyes went wide and his jaw started ticking. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Stepping forward, I started inspecting the walls and ceilings. “I was thinking about investing in some real estate. I heard that this building is for sale.”

  Shaw wasn’t buying it. He came at me, grabbing my elbow and pulled me close. “Do you have any idea how stupid it was for you to follow me? How dangerous this place is?”

  “I’m vaguely aware, yes.”

  He gave me an incredulous look. “You’re vaguely aware? That’s all you’re going to say?”

  “Well, no. You didn’t let me finish.” Letting my eyes travel anywhere other than to him, I continued: “What I was going to say was, I’m vaguely aware, yes … now.”

  For a long, uncomfortable moment, he just stared at me. Not knowing whether or not he expected something more, I added, “Can I meet your mom?”

  “No” was his quick response. “You’re going back to the hotel.”

  I pointed over my shoulder toward the door. “You want me to go out there? By myself? I mean, I survived the duck and tuck on the way here, but I don’t really think it’s wise to tempt fate.”

  “Are you coming in or not?” his mother asked from the relative safety of her apartment.

  It was a good question. “Yeah, why don’t we go inside?”

  Shaw kept his eyes on me when he answered. “I’m sorry, Ma, but I have to head back to the hotel.”

  Ma blew out a puff of smoke. “Whatever” was all she said before she stepped back inside and closed the door. Just like that. As if she’d been inconvenienced by the interruption. Which didn’t seem very motherly at all.

  I looked from the closed door to Shaw and back, confused and waiting for an explanation. None was forthcoming.

  “Not a word,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death … I wished I had a rod and a staff to comfort me. Or a Buffy the Gangsta Slayer. Yeah, that would’ve been cool.

  CHAPTER 15

  Shaw

  Apparently, my “Not a word” had been too vague. Cassidy hadn’t said a word; she’d uttered what seemed like a million. In fact, she nearly got us caught by a truckload of bangers on our way back to the hotel because she wouldn’t shut the hell up.

  I was aggravated and pissed off, but most of all, I was embarrassed. Not by the woman who both infuriated me and made my dick hard enough to shatter bulletproof glass. No, I was ashamed that the dark secret, which I’d thought I’d kept so carefully hidden, had been brought to light. Somewhat, at least.

  I hadn’t answered any of Cassidy’s questions. They’d started out nice enough, mostly about my mother and my childhood, but when I went mute on her, she started to sound more like the attorney she’d trained to be, and those questions amped up to accusations. A judge to intervene and call for order in the court while issuing warnings about badgering the witness would’ve been nice. The woman didn’t know when to leave well enough alone. And by the time we’d gotten to the hotel, and I’d only barely shoved her inside her room to keep from disturbing Denver, she’d crossed over into tearing me down on a very personal level.

  “You’re a real piece of work, Shaw Matthews! I knew you could be malicious when it came to business, but it’s an entirely different level of ruthlessness to have the sort of money you do and still allow your own mother, the woman who gave you life, to live in such deplorable conditions. You’re no superhero. You’re the villain.”

  Cassidy’s verbal assaults were like knives launched with wicked precision, and the last barb was a direct hit. She had no clue the hell I’d gone through and the guilt that still lurked underneath my skin. I might have done some shitty things to dig myself out of the gutter, but even I had a moral compass. “You don’t know the first thing about me, Whalen. You know what they say about assuming things, hmm?” I had made it a priority to hide my past for a reason, and Cassidy had the tenacity of a pit bull. She could easily peel back the layers and expose my dirty little secret with tonight’s Nancy Drew routine.

  “What do you expect, Matthews? If it walks like a duck …” She let the words trickle off, shrugging her shoulders. “You’re a selfish bastard and an egotistical prick who doesn’t give a damn about anyone but yourself.” Something akin to disappointment flashed in her kelly green eyes. Surely Cassidy wasn’t upset by her ruminations. There were no touchy-feely emotions involved in what we had. It was purely a physical release.

  “Oh, so all those orgasms I’ve been giving you lately were doing what for me?”

  “Quit trying to change the subject. This isn’t about sex, it’s about how you can allow your mother to live in squalor.”

  I needed to shut her up. She was poking at my sore spot, making me want to confess the truth. I had tried to get my mother out of the hellhole we called home sweet home. She refused to budge. Mostly, because she wouldn’t leave my lousy-ass father. There’s only so many times you can get kicked in the teeth before you walk away. And I had.

  “But isn’t that what we do, Cassidy? There’s nothing personal between us. We fight, we fuck. Why change things now when we’ve gotten so good at it?” I took a step closer, shrinking the distance between us. Caging her in. The pupils in her eyes dilated, and a beautiful flush bloomed across her cheeks. Then she lifted her chin and rolled her shoulders as she prepared to go toe-to-toe with me. And when she refused to back down, displaying that sexy as hell backbone I’d come to love, my dick grew impressively harder. “I’ll even let you throw a few things, if it’ll get you hot and bothered.”

  “You’re an asshole.” The whispered accusation had no bite. She was as turned on as I was and probably wet as hell. I wanted to dip my fingers inside her panties to test my speculation.

  “That’s what you like about me.” Finally. We were back on familiar ground. I took another step, until we were inches apart. So close I could see the thrumming of her pulse at the base of her neck. So close I felt the warm caress of her breath as it washed over my face. Her lips parted and I watched, mesmerized, when her pretty pink tongue came out to lick the plump mouth I envisioned wrapped around my cock.

  “My personal life is none of your business. So let’s just stick to what we do best.” I bent my head with every intention of kissing the sass right out of her. Of making her forget everything she’d witnessed tonight. Of keeping what was between us strictly sex. Nothing more.

  Cassidy closed her eyes, and her submissive posture had me doing a silent “Hell, yeah” and a fist pump. I had her right where I wanted.

  Then a slash of pain made me rear back; she’d bitten my lip.

  “Jesus Christ, woman!” I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth; I wanted to wipe the smug expression off her face. Despite the fact that I was harder than concrete and could drill a hole with the divining rod in my pants.

  “You’re not going to win this one, Matthews. I’m not one of your groupie whores who readily spreads her legs when you crook your little finger. You’re not that good. I have standards, and I refuse to sleep with a man who’d stoop so low as to leave his own mother in such deplorable conditions.”

  I saw red. My sore spot was throbbing like a bitch, and her constant pestering had breached my limits. “Standards? Hah—I beg to differ. Let’s discuss how cozy you and Denver have gotten over the last few days, shall we? Just how far have you fallen off your high horse to get the contract signed, sealed, and delivered? I may be an asshole, but at least I don’t
try to play myself off as something I’m not.”

  “I don’t like what you’re insinuating.”

  I shrugged, exhibiting a casualness that, surprisingly, I didn’t feel. But we had been playing the same cutthroat game, and it was difficult to switch things up in the last inning. “If it walks like a duck—isn’t that what you said?” Guilt caused an uneasy feeling to settle in my stomach. I might have taken a step too far in our sick little tête-à-tête, basically calling her a whore—condemning her actions by my own assumptions that she would use her body to get Denver to sign with her instead of me. Who’s the ass now, Matthews?

  And why the hell did the thought of Cassidy getting horizontal with someone else make me almost lose my shit?

  As I was lost in my inner ramblings, a blinding pain erupted from my right temple. Apparently, Whalen was trying to knock some sense into me, because she’d tossed the room service menu at my head. Judging by its thickness, I’d say they had quite an extensive selection.

  “Son of a bitch!” I yelled, rubbing my brow.

  “You are a complete jerk. How dare you stand there and call me a …”

  I glanced up; why couldn’t she finish her deserved rampage? That previous sick feeling in my gut congealed and sat like a two-ton weight at the sight of her unshed tears. I couldn’t tell if she was hurt or pissed. All I knew was that I didn’t like to be the one responsible for making her cry.

  Cassidy flew at me like a defensive tackle, hell-bent on taking me out at the knees.

  Guess we’re going with pissed.

  I let her expel her rage, her tiny fists hammering hard at my chest, until I realized that the woman packed a mean punch. Damn, but I would be sporting a few well-earned bruises tomorrow.

  I slipped one arm around her waist, pulling her in tighter, and used my other hand to cease her maddening blows. Her lithe frame wriggled against mine, causing my already aching cock to jerk with the need to be free. We had been in this position before—anger fueled with lust—but something seemed a little off. Different. Somehow we had crossed an invisible line. It was one thing to provoke Cassidy with empty taunts, but I had a problem with letting her believe I thought less of her. She was an admirable advisory. Hell, we were both guilty of playing dirty when it came to getting Denver to sign on the dotted line.

  “Let go of me,” she ordered, as she tried to break my hold. When I pressed harder and the outline of my erection pulsed between us, she stopped moving. But the small whimper that passed her lips was unmistakable.

  I decided it wasn’t time for voicing things better left unsaid. Whatever the fuck we had, whatever name you wanted to put on it, it was good—damn good. And it was mutual. “You want this just as much as I do, Whalen. Your body can’t lie. Right now, nothing outside this room exists.”

  “I hate you.” She spat the words like they were too vile to remain in her mouth.

  And, really, there was only one appropriate response to that. “Good,” I growled against her lips before I took possession of her mouth in a bruising kiss that left no room for further discussion. We were done talking.

  If she had given me any clue that she wasn’t on the same page, I would have stopped. A hesitant look, a backward step, anything. But she didn’t. She met me with just as much vehemence, just as much lust. The heat of her mouth, the way she sucked hard on my tongue, and the sting as she tugged at the ends of my hair were proof of how fine the line was between love and hate.

  We stumbled toward the bed, with Cassidy tumbling onto the mattress first, her hair spilling over the pillow. I wanted to bury my face in the silky strands as I made her mine. Standing above her, I unfastened my pants, letting my dick have a temporary reprieve as I enjoyed the view.

  “Get rid of the jeans,” I ordered, unbuttoning my shirt.

  Instead of complying, she tossed her head and gave me a scathing look. But I didn’t miss the way her knees parted slightly or how her fingers had a death-grip on the duvet. Her silent “Make me” was a challenge I couldn’t refuse, and I was struck with an inspiring vision. One that, once seen, could not be ignored. I flashed her my most confident smile, grabbed both her ankles, and pulled her to the edge of the bed. With a careful, yet skillful maneuver, I spun her around until she was bent over the bed and her butt was in the air. She had on a pair of skinny jeans that did amazing things to her ass. They could also make for pretty good constraints in a pinch. I wasted no time stripping her jeans down to her knees.

  Cassidy’s muffled moan was like gasoline to a flame. Dropping to my knees, I spread her cheeks wide and licked her from front to back with one long stoke of my tongue. She was wet, aroused, and her creamy goodness coated the insides of her thighs. She arched off the bed, granting me better access. I accepted the unspoken invitation and buried my face, delving as far as I could before coming back to the forbidden opening that was like a bull’s-eye for many of my very dirty, very carnal fantasies. It was taboo, the most intimate gift a woman could give a man. Eventually, it would be mine. But right now, I wanted inside her tight little cunt.

  The fact that Cassidy wasn’t protesting had my balls drawn tight and pre-come leaking from the head of my cock. She was completely still, only the quivering of her thighs giving her away. She wanted it, too.

  I bent to taste her again, already addicted to the sweet tang of her juices, needing more. I held her open with one hand while roughly removing my pants with the other. And it wasn’t lost on me how badly my hands shook. In an effort to pull myself together, I focused on a thousand different football stats as I tried not to blow my load before I entered the Holy Land.

  Keeping her legs pinned together, I slipped my cock between her thighs, loving the dual sensation of her hot juices and the confines of the snug space. Cassidy squirmed, moving against me like a cat in search of attention. Our little bout had turned her on, and though she’d never admit it, the proof was saturating my dick. Nice and lubed, I ignored her huff of protest when I pulled free and spread the cheeks of her ass to fit my cock to the cleft. My shirt was in the way, and I couldn’t have that, so I got rid of it real quick, never missing a stroke. Back and forth I moved, and every time the head passed over her rear entrance, she moaned.

  I did it again, applying more pressure. On cue, a sound that went straight to my dick accompanied the lift of her hips. Fuck me … if I didn’t get inside her soon, I was going to come all over her ass like a pubescent boy.

  Because of my girth, I wouldn’t attempt to breach her ass tonight. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t give her a hint of what to expect in the future. A little finger play at the back door went a long way toward making a woman lose her damn mind, if done properly. And I was all about fucking Cassidy Whalen all sorts of proper. With a quick thrust, I pushed inside her, using short, quick bursts until I was sheathed. “Goddamn!” The curse burst from my lips without warning.

  Cassidy rose up on one arm in an attempt to take more of me, but I needed to regain some sense of control. With a firm but gentle grip, I lowered her back down until she was almost flush with the mattress. My hand remained cupped around her neck, a dominant hold meant to convey power. As the walls of her pussy clamped tight around me, I almost snorted at the thought. With every pulse of her pussy, I felt my influence slip further away.

  Grabbing her hips, I dipped low at the knees and braced for the fucking I was about to bestow. One hard, deep thrust was followed by another and another, sending her body rocking forward on the bed. The rhythmic sound of skin slapping skin was amplified in the room, and the smell of sex permeated the air. My gaze stayed riveted to where my cock jutted in and out of her body. With each frantic thrust, her shirt rode up, exposing more of her skin, and that fucking tattoo stared at me with a silent taunt. Sweat dripped in my eyes and off my nose, but I refused to blink. It was like I had to fuck the ink right off her delectable backside.

  “Who the fuck is Casey?” Even I could hear the grunting strain of my voice. I hadn’t meant to ask, but my ire would not be de
nied, and she was going to answer my goddamn question.

  When she tried to look over her shoulder at me, my hand to her head kept her in place, refusing to let her see how the sight of that tattoo affected me.

  “My personal life is none of your business. We fight, we fuck—isn’t that what you said?”

  I should’ve known she’d throw my own words back at me. I just didn’t get why they were so damn difficult to accept.

  I pounded into her pussy quick, hard, and deep. Cassidy mewled and stretched across the bed, gripping the sheets as if her life depended on it. “Did he ever fuck you like this?” I growled, increasing the pace until my eyes nearly rolled back inside my head. She might have Casey’s mark on her body, but I was determined to make sure she’d never forget what it was like to be fucked by me.

  Spreading the cheeks of her ass, I swept my thumb over the puckered skin there. Cassidy moaned, and I nearly lost my load. “Oh, yeah. You’d love having your ass fucked,” I told her.

  And then I eased my thumb inside, giving her a small taste of what she could experience if I took her ass like I wanted to. But I wasn’t the selfish bastard she’d called me out to be, and I was hell-bent on proving it.

  Cassidy’s body arched off the bed, and she cried out with an orgasm I hadn’t even seen coming. The walls of her pussy constricted so tight around my cock, I thought it might actually do some real damage. But I didn’t stop. Nor did I remove my thumb. Grinding into her sweet pussy, I closed my eyes and let the pulsing constriction pull at my cock. Damn, I wanted her to taste herself on me.

  I grabbed Cassidy and flipped her over while spinning her around on the bed. Clearly, she was shocked by the sudden movement, but when I pulled her forward so that her head was hanging off the side and pushed my cock down and into her mouth, she got with the program. With no hesitation, she hooked her arms around my thighs and greedily licked at my cock, taking me deep.

  “Good girl,” I groaned, clenching my ass cheeks.