by Jaci J
“Fuck you,” I grunt, reaching into my bag and pulling my phone out.
It’s a text. Just not a text from Shay.
Hey, Niko, I just got a call about that auction/dinner for tomorrow. They wanted to know if you’re coming.
The text is from Kendra, and I know goddamn well she won’t stop asking me until I answer.
I promised these people I’d be there, and as much as I don’t want to fucking do it, I tell her to let them know I’ll be there. I figure if anything, I get free drinks out of the shit.
A plus one? The question just pisses me off.
Shay, answer your goddamn phone. NOW. Of course she doesn’t, but that doesn’t mean I don’t shoot off a couple more texts, because apparently, I’ve lost my ever-fucking-loving-mind.
Niko? Kendra texts, waiting on my answer.
Yeah. A plus one. Because Shay’s going whether she likes it or not.
17
Shay
Walking through the bar door and into the back hallway, I look around for Niko. I don’t see him, thank God.
I’m avoiding him.
At the sink, getting some water, Alek comes into the hall, making me tense until I realize it’s him.
I don’t know how much longer I can avoid Niko.
Alek notices me and frowns. “Watch out,” he mutters, warning me as he walks by.
Turning and looking at him, I ask, “Watch out for what?” I’m confused, and maybe a little scared.
Alek sighs, stopping in front of the door. “Niko. He’s in a fucking mood.”
“A mood?”
Shit. Fuck. Shit.
It’s been three days since I left Niko’s. Three days of him showing up at my door, beating it down and me not answering. Three days of unanswered texts and phone calls.
Shrugging, Alek disappears through the door and heads back to his client, leaving me nervous and alone.
I debate on hiding, but know he’ll find me.
Waiting, I hold my breath, hearing Niko’s boots on the hardwoods not long after Alek closes the door. He sounds mad, stomping around loudly.
His footsteps grow closer until he’s walking through the back door, slamming it against the wall with a dull thud, making me jerk.
Niko’s frowning, running a tattooed hand through his hair and staring at the ground until he gets a few feet from me. His head comes up, and a million emotions pass over his disturbingly handsome face, and none of them are pleasant. “Shay,” he growls, eyes instantly on me, running up the length of my body and landing on my face.
He licks his lips and takes a step toward me.
I take a step back. “Hey.”
He takes another step and growls. Like, really growls. “Don’t pull that bullshit,” he grunts, advancing on me. “You avoidin’ me? I texted you a million fucking times.”
And I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him, scared I’d fall right back into bed with him and into old, bad habits.
“Niko,” I sigh, stepping back.
It doesn’t work.
He’s on me in a matter of seconds.
Getting his hands on me, Niko backs me into the wall, his mouth on mine, kissing me feverishly. He doesn’t ask, he just does. He wraps his hand around my jaw, catching and holding my face to his. “Jesus, Shay,” he groans into my mouth.
“What?” I pant, kissing him back. I know I shouldn’t, but I have no control.
“You know goddamn well what. I call, you answer. I text, you text back. And you don’t fucking walk out of my place like that.”
He nips at me, his kiss brutal and fierce.
“I was busy.” I’m lying. I was home, thinking about him, overanalyzing and overthinking.
“You’re playin’ hard to get, baby,” he tells me, tracing my lower lip with him tongue. “I don’t play that fucking game.”
“I wasn’t.” Wrapping my hands around his biceps, I hold onto him, trying to keep myself upright.
The man makes me melt.
Niko’s hands claw at my shirt and slide under the material, raking up my stomach toward my bra, making me shiver. “Don’t do that shit again.”
This wasn’t what I was expecting when I saw him again. “I didn’t think we were doin’ this more than once,” I admit, because even though I didn’t think we’d end up having sex again, I had kind of hoped we would, even though I knew it was, and is, a horrible idea.
“That pussy is too good for only one taste.”
Grabbing my hand, he begins dragging me down the hall after him. I follow, barely, falling all over my feet as I try to keep up. Damn near ripping the door off its hinges, Niko pulls me into his private tattoo room, slamming the door behind me and flicking the lock. “Get naked.”
“Get naked?” I repeat, my voice shaky.
Still frowning, Niko looks me in the eye, licking his lips. “If you like that top and those jeans, then you’ll get naked real goddamn fast.”
I’m high. Nervous. Excited. So turned on, it’s almost painful. But still... “Niko—”
“Don’t.” He shakes his head, grabbing the hem of my T-shirt and pulling it over my head, then tossing it to the floor. He doesn’t even take my bra off. He just jerks the cups down, smirking when my breasts pop free. “Your tits are perfect,” he tells me, sucking a nipple into his hot mouth while playing with the other.
I sag against the wall.
Jesus. I think my panties melt off from the way he rolls my nipple between his teeth, biting softly.
Niko’s free hand wanders along my body. Working his way down my stomach, he stops, his fingers brushing light circles on my skin, when someone knocks on the door. “Niko?” a female voice calls through the door.
Kendra. Jesus, I hope it’s Kendra.
“What?” he barks, his voice so loud, it makes me jerk in surprise.
“Uh...” Kendra’s voice waivers. “Your two o’clock is here.”
Pushed up against the wall, Niko’s body pressed against mine, he pulls the button free on my jeans, his hand disappearing below the hem. Rough and calloused, he rubs at my soft skin.
“Tell ’em I’m busy,” he says, looking at me, begging me to challenge him, to stop him. “I’ll be with them in thirty.”
“Thirty?” I mouth, eyes wide.
“Never mind,” he chuckles. “Reschedule it.” He continues to stare into my eyes, his fingers skimming my pussy. “I’m busy all fucking day.”
Another shiver travels up my spine, making me twitch.
“Reschedule?” she asks, almost sounding shocked.
I’m shocked when he sinks two fingers into me, all while watching my face. His eyes are low and narrowed, studying my reaction to his touch. “Yes,” he growls, the heel of his hand rubbing my clit while his fingers work in and out of me.
Slow and rough.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
My body sways, my head lulling forward, falling against his solid chest. “Niko,” I pant quietly, my legs going weak when he stills, his fingers deep.
“I can’t reschedule,” Kendra huffs, trying the knob. “He’s already been rescheduled once, and as your policy states, we only reschedule once. What the hell, Niko?”
I roll my head back, letting it hit the wall with a soft thud, savoring the way he works my body, owning it. Owning me.
Niko doesn’t ask permission. He doesn’t ask what I want or how I want it, he just knows. I don’t have to tell and I don’t have to instruct. I just get to enjoy.
Mouth wrapped around my nipple, he flicks his tongue in rhythm with his fingers, growling. “Fuck. Okay, give me a fucking minute,” he grunts against my skin, his frustration palpable.
I’m spiraling.
“Oh my God,” I moan softly, losing the battle. This feels too good. Too right. “Don’t stop.”
“Not gonna stop, baby,” he growls, grinding against me.
Nails digging into his shoulders, head thrown back, I come hard on his fingers, panting and shaking. I’
m a mess.
Niko is breathing hard too, his forehead on my shoulder. “Fuck, Shay,” he says quietly. “I wanna bend you over my table and fuck you so goddamn hard right now.”
Do it, sits on the tip of my tongue, but I know better. This is all I’m getting, and this is all I’m giving.
“Are you okay?”
He laughs humorlessly. “I’m fine.”
“Alek said you’re in a mood.”
Niko growls, again. “Do not say my brother’s name while I’ve still got my fingers in your pussy. In fact, don’t say any fucking name but mine while you’re around me.”
Duly noted. “You seem mad.”
“Frustrated.”
“Me too.”
Niko laughs, and it’s scary. “The fuck you unhappy about?”
“You,” I say bluntly, giving him a once-over.
“Me?”
“Yes. You fuck me, and then some woman shows up at your apartment.”
Niko exhales heavily, a hand in his hair. “Yeah, I fucking know, and you’d know more about it if you answered your goddamn phone.”
I don’t know what to say to that or to him.
“That’s what I thought,” he rasps, leaning down and capturing my lips in a heated kiss. “Next time I call you, you fucking answer.”
“Maybe I don’t want to.”
“Maybe you fucking do. And the next time I show up at your door, you answer it. Like tonight.”
My head is fuzzy and spinning, but I catch his words. “Tonight?”
“If you would’ve stayed instead of running off last week, I would’ve told you I have an auction dinner tonight you’re going to with me.”
“I am? I didn’t hear you ask.”
Niko smirks, and it’s devastating. I get a glimpse of that single dimple in his left cheek, and the wicked look in his dark, soulless eyes. “That’s because I fucking didn’t. Eight o’clock, baby,” he tells me.
Niko
MY MOOD IS ALL OVER the fucking place right now. Mad. Hard as fuck. Annoyed.
I have Shay pinned up against the wall, my hand in her panties, and all I want to do is cut the fuckers off her body and bury my face in her cunt. Instead, I had to argue with my goddamn receptionist through the door while finger fucking the hottest bitch I’ve ever had my hands on.
Shay is staring up at me, her brown eyes big and mesmerizing. Swear to Christ, I could get lost in them and the way she looks at me, like I’m something important. “Niko?” Shay questions, watching me with those sweet, honey-colored eyes.
I pull my hand out of her panties, as much as I don’t want to.
She looks embarrassed, chewing on her lip.
“Stop lookin’ at me like that.” The woman is gonna give me a big head or a heart attack. Either one would be better than dealing with this shit. “And stop gnawing on your lip like that,” I mutter, using the hand that was in her panties to pull her lip from between her teeth, making her cheeks turn red.
Jesus, she makes me so fucking hard.
Leaning down, I kiss her lips, needing a taste.
“You’re going with me tonight. Be ready,” I demand, not giving her much of a choice.
I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me when it comes to this girl. I do and say shit that’s not me.
She blinks slowly a few times, taking in my statement. “You really want me to go to this party...with you?”
That makes me chuckle. It’s just some black-tie bullshit. It isn’t me, isn’t my style, but I’m obligated, and if I’m obligated, then Shay is as well. “I don’t want to fucking go, but since I have to, you’re comin’ with me.”
“I’m not really the black-tie kind of girl.”
“And I’m not really the black-tie kind of guy,” I tell her, holding up my hands and showing her my knuckles, proving my point.
Brushing her thumb across the ink of my hands, she laughs. “Love and Hate, huh?”
“More hate than love.”
“That’s sad,” she informs me, frowning.
I kiss her one last time. “That’s reality.” I step away from her body and watch her straighten her top and button up her jeans.
“I don’t want to go to that boring shit alone.” And that’s the truth.
She nods like she gets it. “Okay. So, wear a nice dress?”
“You wear the dress, I’ll wear a tux.” Unlocking the door, I watch her walk through it, smiling at me. “I’ll be at your place at eight, yeah?”
“I’ll be there. Maybe.”
“You fucking better be.”
She laughs, giving me a sly smile. “We’ll see.”
“Yeah, you fucking will see. Be there, ready at eight, or I’m following through with those fucking texts. Catch my drift?”
Her eyes shine with trouble. “Later, big buy.”
I watch her walk down the hall, past my next appointment. All five-five of her making him stop and watch. Watch the way her body moves, the way she smiles at me from over her shoulder. The way she licks her lips.
I don’t like that shit, not one goddamn bit. Makes me feel violent.
“Hey, man,” he greets me, shaking my hand, the one that wasn’t in Shay’s panties just ten minutes ago. That shit is for me and me only. “Who was that?” he asks my back as I go to the sink to wash my hands.
I instantly go on the defensive. That shit is mine. “My girlfriend,” I reply, not putting any thought into the statement. It might be a bold-faced lie, but I couldn’t give a shit less. One less man in the world thinking Shay is free game is one less man I gotta think about killing.
He whistles, sitting down on the chair and putting his arm on the table. “You’re a lucky fucker, Niko.”
Pulling my glasses from a drawer and putting them on, I twist my hat around my head and out of my way before sitting down, ready to work.
“She’s beautiful, man.” He just keeps talking.
I nod, slipping on my gloves and grabbing my gun. “What area do you wanna start with?” I ask, choosing not to agree with him out loud.
Shay is more than beautiful. There’s more to her than her looks, but he’s right. She is fucking beautiful. Gorgeous. Sexy. Perfect.
“You been together long?” He winces when the needle hits his wrist as I shade the gray area around the helicopter I did last time. The dude was in the air force apparently. Flew a chopper in the war.
“Yeah. A long time,” I lie, because I don’t want any other dude sniffing around what’s mine.
“Good for you.”
Yeah, real fucking good for me.
18
Shay
“So, you’re going to some black-tie thing with Niko? As what?” Lucy asks, eyeing me over a rack of dresses “Because weren’t you just callin’ him a dud or something?”
“I’m an idiot. That’s the only explanation I can give you.” I must be, because there’s no other reason I’d be going to some fancy dinner with Niko when just a few days ago, I was done with him.
Lucy laughs. “Clearly, but what changed?”
His hands in my panties, his hot and cold attitude. I love it. “I don’t know.”
“You do know you’re into the guy, right? So what are you guys then?” Lucy’s got her dark shades on, but I can see her eyeballing me, judging me and my life choices.
Pulling a black dress off the rack, I look at it, and then at Lucy. “What do you mean, as what?”
“As in a date? Or just friends?” she smirks. “Friends that just fuck?”
Snorting, I shake my head. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? Bullshit.” She doesn’t believe me. That’s fine, because I don’t believe me either.
Shrugging, I put the dress back on the rack. I want something sexy, something fun. I’ve tried on long and formal dresses, but they’re not me.
“Friends?”
“A friend who finger fucks you at work.”
“Oh my God, Lucy.”
She smiles triumphantly.
Sighing, I run my hands through the dresses, not really finding anything, on top of not really being able to afford any of them.
“Let’s go back to my place, pick out a dress there.”
Lucy grumbles at me, tossing her purse over her shoulder. “Fiiine. But I want pizza and all the details about Niko’s cock and fingers, and how when you get around him you turn into a big ass idiot.”
“Sounds like fun,” I deadpan.
Lucy smiles. “Tons of fun.”
LUCY IS SITTING ON my toilet, the lid closed, thumbing through a magazine. “Love quiz time,” she announces, a wicked smile on her face when she looks up at me in the mirror.
Putting on my mascara, I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “Those things are fucking stupid.”
“But they’re important. We need to know who you’re going to marry based on your burger topping preferences.”
A burst of laughter escapes me. “What?”
“On your burger, your must-have condiment is: A, tomatoes; B, onions; C, pickles; D, none of these.”
Putting on a little red lipstick, I shake my head. “I’m not doin’ this.”
“You’re lame.” Her eyes widen when I do a little spin. “But damn, you look great, best friend. Less like a flower hippie girl and more like sexy bombshell.”
I feel great. “It’s not too short?” I ask, motioning to my dress. A nude lace bodice and a chiffon bottom with a slit up the thigh. It’s beautiful and elegant, and sexy.
I bought it for a wedding I never attended a few years ago.
“What about my heels? Too fuck me?” They’re strappy, high, and black.
“Never.”
My dress is sleeveless, no other skin showing between my neck and legs. But for some reason, the dress almost seems indecent, dirty even. I’ve styled my hair straight and long. My lashes are curled and my lips are ruby red. I feel better than great. I feel pretty. I feel like I might put Niko on his ass tonight.
“I’m kind of nervous,” I admit, stuffing my phone into my small purse.
