Witness Protection

by Stacey Espino

  Sophia was off before he could close the door, dashing in this direction and that. The wall facing the ocean was mostly windows, and an easel had been set up with a stool at the perfect vantagepoint.

  She ran her fingers over the blank paper, then over the new brushes, one by one. When she turned her head, her eyes were filled with unshed tears. “You thought of everything, didn’t you?”

  “We both want you to paint again,” said Hawk. “It’s time to live our lives.”

  Sophia spun in a slow circle, her arms at her sides. He wasn’t sure if she was losing her mind again. She was always an enigma.

  “You okay?” asked Cayden, sitting on the arm of the sofa.

  When she stopped spinning, he couldn’t find the joy he expected. Only sadness.

  “This is too perfect. It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “It’s what I want,” she said. “I can’t imagine either of you living here. You’re like oil and water.”

  “You’re wrong,” said Hawk. “We both want this, or we wouldn’t be here.”

  “Is that true, Cayden?”

  “I’ve been at the bottom, princess. I’ve lived my nightmares. One thing I’ve never experienced is real life. Life how it should be. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but I want the same thing you do.”

  She smiled, a barely-there smile, and it lit up the room.

  “You won’t miss the chaos, Hawk? The contracts?”

  He shook his head so he didn’t have to lie. Cayden was right. It wouldn’t be an easy adjustment, but it was his dream, too.

  “Then shouldn’t we christen our new house?” she asked.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  At least it wasn’t a monstrosity like the Morenov mansion. It was small, simple, and relatively private. Cayden could deal with it.

  When he saw the happiness in Sophia’s eyes, every sacrifice he’d make in the future was already paid in full.

  Cayden and Hawk were going to have to put their pasts behind them and become the typical men next door. Normal. Do domestic shit around the house. Maybe they’d build a fucking shed.

  He was feeling slightly overwhelmed by everything until Sophia suggested they christen the house. She was exactly what he needed to clear his head and make everything better.

  “Truth or dare, Sophia,” Cayden said.

  She tried to hide her smirk. “Dare.”

  “Show me your tits.”

  This time she pulled her shirt right off and unfastened her bra, letting it fall to the tiled floor. She ran her hands over her breasts, teasing and taunting.

  “Stunning,” said Hawk. “Turn around. Let me see you.”

  She spread her arms to the side and spun around slowly. When she faced them again, she slapped her hands over her breasts and gasped.

  “What is it?” asked Hawk.

  Cayden turned to the door.

  His old friend, Randy, was standing in the foyer.

  He got to his feet and pointed to Sophia. “Hawk, get her covered.” Then he turned to Randy. “What the fuck are you doing here? How the hell did you find me?”

  “Your keys.”

  Randy had brought him his Harley, clothes, and keys when they were staying at the hotel. Why would he try to trace him? Cayden tried to think of all the best intentions. Randy was his childhood friend, after all. But his instincts screamed at him that this was too fucked up.

  They’d been clashing ever since he took Sophia.

  “We’re not around the corner. We’ve been driving for almost twenty-fours straight.”

  “No shit,” said Randy.

  His expression said it all. This wasn’t a housewarming visit.

  “Stop playing games. What do you want?”

  “You were the best, Cayden. You were going places. I swear you could have owned the city, if you wanted it, but ever since she showed up in your life, you turned soft.”

  “Doing the right thing is soft?”

  “I don’t even recognize you. You gave up three million. Three million! At least I can probably get something if I return her to Antonio Jr. It’s better than nothing.”

  “Did he send you?” asked Cayden.

  “No, this is all me. I know what I’m doing.”

  “Antonio’s father already nixed the wedding plans, buddy. There’s no bounty to collect. It’s over.” Cayden felt the betrayal all the way to his bones. He tasted the bitterness on his tongue. “I love her, and you’d try to sell her to my enemy?”

  “You’re brainwashed, and apparently jumped ship without a word to me. I’ve been your errand boy for over a decade, and not even a good-bye.”

  “It doesn’t have to be like this, Randy. We’ve been friends since—”

  “I don’t want to hear it! I’ve made up my mind. Unlike you, some of us have to earn their living.”

  “For your habit.”

  “Whatever. Just stay back because I’d rather not kill you when I take her … but I will.”

  Someone knocked on the door behind him making him jumpy.

  “Who is it?” Randy asked Cayden.

  He shrugged. “Probably the agent. Obviously, he’s not a threat to you.”

  “A Morenov real estate agent? He’s a threat.”

  Hawk had Sophia, so Cayden could breathe. He’d have to kill the closest thing he had to a best friend. It wasn’t fair, but when had life been fair? All he needed was Sophia and Hawk now. Anyone else who wanted to fuck with his happiness had to be eliminated.

  “Not in the house, Cayden,” said Hawk as if reading his mind.

  Right. They didn’t want their new home tainted with blood and bad karma. He’d take this party outside and finish it. Once this lone wolf was out of the picture, they’d be free to live their lives in peace.

  “Let’s talk outside,” said Cayden. “Like men.”

  “I know you better than that. Give me the girl or I’ll shoot her in the leg. You can both watch her bleed out. Or are you willing to test my shooting ability?” Randy aimed at Sophia, but Hawk shoved her body behind him.

  “How about I shoot you in the leg, asshole.” Hawk fired, bringing Randy to his knees.

  “Shit, Hawk. I thought we weren’t going to shoot in the house,” said Cayden.

  “Right. Sorry.”

  Cayden pulled Randy up by the collar, making him groan when he was forced to his feet. He opened the door. “Get inside,” he said to the agent.

  The agent kept his arms up as he shuffled inside.

  “Don, call cleanup. I want them here within the hour for the body. Leave the papers on the table and you can pick them up in the morning,” said Hawk.

  The man nodded and rushed out of the house.

  Cayden dragged Randy from the foyer to the back garage of the house as he half limped his way along.

  So he had to handle it.

  Randy was right about Cayden, though. He wasn’t the man he used to be.

  ****

  “In the bedroom,” Hawk said.

  She did as told. Sophia knew he was trying to keep her from seeing the blood, but she wasn’t as weak as she used to be. Her father was dead. The life she once knew was a thing of the past.

  But she was okay with that now. She accepted their reality, anyway.

  He closed the door behind him. “I’m sorry about that, baby.” Hawk cupped her face and kissed her. She closed her eyes and melted against him, getting lost in his kiss.

  Cayden burst in moments later. “Everything good here?” he asked.

  She stepped back, resting both her hands on the dresser behind her. “I thought you both said you could live a regular life, no killing, no craziness?”

  “We can,” said Hawk.

  “That was a brief hiccup,” said Cayden. “Straight sailing from here on.”

  Maybe she didn’t want them to change at all. Their dangerous sides turned her on because she knew they’d never hurt her. They had good hearts, but there was nothin
g normal about any of them.

  She started undressing again, removing her shirt and tossing it on the corner of the bed. That’s when she noticed how huge the bed was. It was built for three.

  They watched as she shimmied out of her pants, leaving her in just her panties. “What happens if one of our neighbors plays the music too loud when we’re trying to sleep?”

  Hawk scratched his head and turned to Cayden. They both kept quiet.

  She couldn’t help but giggle. Sophia knew they’d want to smash the stereo and threaten the neighbors at gunpoint, but they were struggling to come up with a politically correct answer and failing.

  “Just don’t kill anyone, okay?”

  Cayden tugged off his shirt, and she couldn’t help but stare. “No promises,” he said.

  The men kept undressing and moving in on her. Tanned skin, ink, scars, and raw male need. She felt completely enveloped as they surrounded her.

  The heat from their skin scorched her bare breasts. Their hands were on her, everywhere, removing her panties, smoothing over her curves. She didn’t know who was touching or where, but it didn’t matter. She loved them equally, and they both knew exactly how to pleasure her.

  Cayden sucked the pulse at her neck, then whispered in her ear. “I like your little house, Sophia. But it’s about to lose its innocence.” He slowly moved down to his knees, kissing and tasting her as he descended.

  Hawk cupped her breasts from behind, her nipples hard and aching. She dropped her head back onto his chest. “That feels so good,” she said.

  He rolled her nipples between his fingers. She felt his erection tapping her back, reminding her she was about to get double-fucked again.

  Two men.

  Two cocks.

  Cayden got up and ran an arm across the low dresser top, all the decorations falling to the carpet in one swoop. He hopped up and sat on the wooden surface, his cock bobbing, hard and virile between his legs. Her mouth salivated looking at him, so needy and fierce all at once.

  “Give her to me,” said Cayden.

  Hawk cupped his hands under her shoulders from behind and lifted her up into Cayden’s arms. She straddled Cayden’s waist, her knees on the dresser top.

  She had a view of the ocean from the large bay windows in the bedroom. If anyone walked by on the beach, they’d get a clear view of them fucking on her dresser.

  “Put it in,” said Cayden.

  “I’m not fucking touching you,” said Hawk.

  “Not you. Her.”

  Sophia pushed up on her knees, reaching between their bodies to grab hold of Cayden’s big dick. It was hard as steel, and her fingers could barely reach around his girth. She positioned him at her entrance and lowered her weight down on him. Her pussy was slick from arousal, easily taking him inside her, inch by thick inch.

  “Oh yeah, just like that, sweetheart.” Cayden squeezed her hips with both hands, motioning her to fuck him. She rose and fell over his cock, her arms loosely draped over his shoulders so she could look at him. Stare into those hard, blue eyes. “Tonight, I want to watch you swim naked. I’ll lick all the water off your body.”

  She moaned, driving down harder over his cock, savoring the explosion of sensation cascading through her. Then Hawk’s rough hands ran down her bare back all the way down to her ass. She never stopped riding Cayden, even when Hawk pressed two lubed fingers into her asshole. Sophia began to fracture from the dual stimulation, so much delicious pleasure to the point of overload.

  Building.

  Spreading.

  Growing hotter.

  She impaled herself up and down over Cayden’s erection with Hawk’s fingers buried in her rear, stretching her, fucking her.

  “Hawk, I need you,” she said. Her orgasm was already blossoming. She wanted him buried to the hilt with his cock. It felt immeasurable better to come when she was stuffed full.

  Sophia heard the spurt of lube before the wide tip of Hawk’s cock speared her tight hole. She groaned from the pressure, leaning into Cayden.

  “Her ass is fucking tight,” said Hawk.

  “I told you,” said Cayden. “You won’t last long.”

  She braced herself as both cocks slid home, pistoning in a filthy rhythm, the sounds of wet sex filling the room. She felt so full, so completely owned by these two hitmen. They’d do anything for her, and she was nothing without them.

  “More,” she chanted.

  They fucked her harder. Squeezing, suckling, dominating. She screamed their names, begging for release. Hawk pounded into her ass, coming inside her seconds later. She felt the moment he swelled and released, finally slipping from her body.

  Cayden slid off the dresser, his cock still deep in her cunt. She kept her legs wrapped around his waist as he carried her out of the bedroom into the kitchen.

  “Time to christen the next room,” he said, lowering her back onto the wooden slab kitchen table. She jolted from the coldness, but soon his body was close, his arms tucked under her shoulders as he began to pump his hips.

  He rocked the table, the legs scraping the tiles as he ravaged her body. She kissed his rough jaw, combing her fingers into his hair as he fucked her. She loved him, and he was hers. Finally, she didn’t have to beg.

  “I love fucking you,” he said.

  Hawk was back, he pushed Cayden out of the way so he could suck on her tits. The double-teaming was too much when she was already hanging by a thread. The two hulking men crowding her, devouring her, brought her orgasm racing to the surface. She blossomed, a perfect rush of heat and energy washing over her as she detonated. Sophia milked Cayden’s cock, on and on, forcing him to come along with her. She arched and screamed as they doted on her until every ounce of her energy was spent.

  “Look how her cheeks flush,” said Cayden.

  “Our little Russian princess.”

  One of them carried her to the big bed in the next room. Her eyes were closed, her body limp and beautifully sated.

  Someone slid open the window, the sound of the waves filling the bedroom with the calming song of the ocean. She sighed contentedly as the men settled in on either side of her.

  The odd seagull cawed, and she remembered the desperate feeling of being trapped when she lived with her father. No love. No future.

  How things had changed.

  Now she knew what it felt like to fly.

  Hawk and Cayden had given her a family, a future, hope. They’d given her wings.

  The End

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  The Initiation by Sam Crescent

  Monster’s Claim by Winter Sloane

  Jonny by Lynn Burke

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  BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER

  BROKEN BASTARD

  Killer of Kings, 2

  Sam Crescent & Stacey Espino

  Copyright © 2017

  Chapter One

  “Scarlett, are you being serious? No, I know you’re not being serious, because if you were, you’d be insane,” said Lisa.

  “I have no choice. You heard Carter. He’s going to cut twenty freelancers this year alone.” Scarlett hooked her oversized purse over her shoulder, and then reached for the stack of colored file folders. “I can’t lose this job.”

  “Fine, I get it, but this is suicide.”

  Scarlett rolled her eyes. “You’re being dramatic.”

  She made her way to the office elevator, her friend tailing behind her. Her next interview might be unorthodox, and theoretically a bit dangerous, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She’d only been at this company for eight months, officially still on probation, so she’d be one of the first her boss would cut. Scarlett was damn good at
what she did. One day she hoped to reach reporter level, but right now she had to give the stories she always found to someone else. The truth was, her boss took the stories she’d researched and gave them to other girls. Still, she was determined to show her worth, and how valuable she could be as a reporter.

  It wasn’t easy getting a personal meeting with Alexei Semenov. He was a big-time crime ringleader, not the biggest, but it would still be headline news. Her boss, Wilson Carter, had to see her value after closing an interview with a name like Semenov. Scarlett was sick and tired of pinching pennies and fighting just to maintain the status quo. She wanted to make something of her career, not to mention she didn’t have enough money for next month’s rent.

  “Are you taking a camera crew?” asked Lisa, holding the elevator door open with her hip.

  “Yeah, like that’s going to happen. Look, I’ll be fine. Promise. Semenov wants to portray a favorable image to the media, so he’s going to be on his best behavior.”

  Lisa sighed. “You’re impossible. See you tomorrow then? I’ll bring the coffee.”

  “Thanks.”

  The doors began to close, and Scarlett watched her friend disappear from view. She wouldn’t admit that her heart raced like a freight train, and her hands felt clammy. If she wasn’t in such a dire predicament, there was no way she’d be heading out to meet one of the most hated men in the city. The man was a Russian mobster, and she had no wingman, camera crew … nothing.

  Forty minutes later, she stopped her Kia Rio in front of a set of massive iron gates. She double checked the address she’d scribbled on a piece of paper, but this was definitely the place. The gates began to open, swinging inwards, so she continued to drive along the long path. She admired the manicured grounds, water fountains, and old-world architecture of the mansion coming into view.

  She took a deep breath as she parked the car. You can do this, Scarlett.