by Ace Gray
He shoved his key into the lock and opened the passenger door before shoving me in. The second the door slammed in my face, he bolted behind the car and I watched his body coil and flex in the rearview mirror. The sculpture was almost enough to make me forget the whirlwind of rejection he was putting me through.
Cole slid into the car next to me and I noticed he was gasping for air. “You can’t be here. You just can’t.” His voice broke.
“I can’t be there either,” I whispered before capturing my bottom lip, refusing to let go.
“Hey,” he said softly as he turned and grabbed my face between his rough hands. The eyes of a crazed man studied my face. “I have to keep you safe.” His thumbs traced along my cheekbones, his other fingers tangled in my hair.
He pulled away from me and jammed the key into the ignition. The Charger roared to life with its snarly, panty dropping rumble and I couldn’t help but purr. Cole looked over and a hint of a smile pulled on his lip.
“I never thought I’d see you again, Ladyface. I can’t decide if it’s a good or a bad thing that I’m wrong.”
“What does that—”
A massive thump on the hood cut my sentence short. I was sure we’d hit someone despite never pulling away from the curb. My head snapped toward the hood to find a giant man leaning over the hood of the car, glowering at Cole.
After a minute, I remembered where I’d seen him before. My mom’s funeral. He’d been with Mr. Maloney. He’d stopped Cole from taking a swing at the pig.
“Fuck,” I murmured and Cole nodded slowly in agreement but otherwise no one moved.
The man’s shoulders rose and fell a little too quickly and the dips and grooves of arms flexed in time with his haggard breathing where they peeked out of his gym tank. His deep chocolate eyes were every bit as intense as Cole’s but they appeared to be equal parts warm and furious. His jaw tensed, forcing his big pouty lips to thin to a frown as his fingers tried to dig into the metal of the machine.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the man roared over the engine.
“You know as well as I do,” Cole yelled back.
“Signing your death warrant?” When the man crooked his eyebrow underneath his baseball hat, his features lightened and he became truly handsome. His words had me balling my fists into the seat all the same. Cole and death didn’t belong in the same sentence, of that much my very soul was sure of.
“Don’t you dare get yourself hurt,” I said as sternly as I could manage under the circumstances.
Both men looked at me, Cole from beside me and the brute from the hood, they both smiled. Big, charming and oddly matching smiles.
“Cole, whatever’s going on, please, please, please promise me you won’t put yourself in danger,” I begged as we stayed locked in the stand off.
He turned the key and the engine fell silent.
“Good choice, Cupcake.”
The man left the hood and came to my window. He knocked and smiled the widest, most charming smile I’d ever seen. The kind that would send Conrad into full-blown hysterics. He gestured for me to roll down my window and with his goofy face egging me on, I did just that.
“Hi, Elle.” He reached into the car to shake my hand. When I threaded mine into his, he didn’t shake it, instead he turned it with a crushing grip then kissed the back of my hand. “I’m Horse. It’s good to meet you.” His chocolate eyes danced where my knuckles and his hat brim framed them.
“Hi, Horse. Mind telling me how you know who I am?” I cocked my head to the side when I asked.
“You’re a popular lady around these parts,” he started.
“Horse, don’t,” Cole warned from over my shoulder.
“Cole can’t talk about anything but you, either. Made for boring conversation until I saw you just now.” Horse bit his lip in a way that made something flutter inside me.
“Knock it off, Horse…” Cole was forceful beside me. “And let us leave.”
He let my hand go so he could fold his forearms along the window ledge as he crouched down to level with us. Horse was a perfectly apt nickname because even balling in on himself he filled the open window.
“I can’t Cole, and you know it. You can’t, and you know it. Letting you guys go is a surefire way for all three of us to end up dead.” He wasn’t threatening Cole this time, it was more like he was simply stating facts.
“Making her stay is a surefire way she ends up worse than dead.”
My mouth dropped. I didn’t quite understand what was happening but it was bad. Bad and serious. They kept up their conversation as if the world wasn’t falling out from underneath me.
“There’s nothing worse than dead, Cupcake.”
“You haven’t tasted heaven,” Cole answered quickly and his hand came to the back of my neck, squeezing in a way that was possessive and dug into the side of my neck the slightest bit.
“But I’ve lived in hell,” he said with a sharp edge. “Perhaps you should share?” Horse’s voice turned up at the end obviously asking a question.
“Horse…” Cole wavered for the first time, tensing against my flesh again.
“You said you fantasized about it.” His voice was still softly questioning rather than challenging Cole. “Give me a reason to put my life on the line. Let me taste heaven.”
“You know I like it, you know I wanna share, but Elle is her own woman. Hell, she’s her own universe. It’s not my call.”
I looked over at him when he called me a universe and for the first time since I’d shown up on his doorstep, his face was lit up as he let his eyes rove down my body.
“You’re right, technically it’s Mick’s,” Horse’s voice went low and severe again.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Cole roared and slammed his palm into the steering wheel.
“Give me a reason not to,” he challenged unaffected by Cole’s outburst. “Give her a reason to give me a reason not to.”
Cole’s heavy breathing and anxiety filled the car. His fingers were digging into me but I wouldn’t break his hold. Instead, I turned and cuddled into his hard chest. His grip responded, holding me tight to the crook of his shoulder. He twisted, bringing his lips to my forehead and he breathed in deeply.
We sat like that for a few minutes before the softest whisper of a touch skated down the back of my arm. I jumped away from Cole and toward the hand that had taken the liberty of touching me.
“What are you doing?” I asked Horse sharply.
He made a face at Cole that I couldn’t possibly decipher. It was almost expectant, like he wanted Cole to answer the question I’d asked. Cole blew out a deep breath, forceful enough to rustle the wavy strands of hair hanging in my face. He pulled me back into the crook of his shoulder.
“Ladyface?” he questioned with his mouth right against my ear.
“Yeah?” I nuzzled against his warm skin and breathed in deep, relishing the scent that hung on his skin.
“You got a half hour to spare?” His lips brushed against my skin.
“Of course. Why?”
“I need to tell you a story.” His grip got uncomfortably tight.
“What about?” I asked, almost breathless.
He blew out another one of those world-weary breaths and curled around me the way he had that morning not too long ago in the shower. Cole cleared his throat but his voice wavered all the same as he answered, “The murderer you’re about to have a threesome with.”
14.
Cole
Elle lurched away from me, shoving at my chest then at the handle. Horse stood and stepped back, letting her storm out of the car with the door left bouncing on the hinges. I shot out of the car and rounded the hood after her. She made it two steps before Horse’s Hulk hands found their way back to her arm. This time he gripped rather than stroked her bare skin.
“Get your hands off me,” she squeaked and my heart thumped.
I wanted to slug Horse hard enough that he’d let her go. I wanted to hear her scream
profanities at me as she walked, no ran, away. I wanted her free. But none of those things were going to happen now, except maybe the screaming. Horse materializing from nowhere had left me with almost no options. Almost.
“Cole!” she screamed and it tightened everything inside me. I thought I might liquefy when she added, “Never mind you monster.”
“Oh my little Fucktart, he’s the farthest thing from a monster. You of all people should know that.” Horse’s hands were moving a little too low and her body responded to their movements whether she, or I, wanted to acknowledge it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She bucked against his grip and my dick twitched as she struggled.
“Can we just talk, Ladyface? You and I?” I eyed Horse when I asked, wordlessly telling him to stand down and give me a minute.
“You’ll tell me what he’s talking about?” She stilled slightly in his arms.
“I’ll tell you absolutely anything.” I held my hands out wide to her. “First things first, how about I start with telling you it was real. Every single second of it. I was on my way home from a tattoo expo in Seattle when I crashed head first into you.” It was the answer to the text messages she’d sent that I tried to ignore.
“Let go of me.” Her voice was smaller now and far less furious.
I nodded at Horse and he studied me for a split second before dropping his hold. Elle collided into me. I gladly caught her and wrapped my arms around her, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time.
“Tell me. Tell me everything,” Elle’s voice was muffled by my skin and I liked the way it vibrated my skin.
“I think it’s best we get out of the street,” Horse interrupted and I automatically looked up to scan the area. He did the same. “And her phone. I mean…it’s Siobhan.”
“Shit,” I swore under my breath. “Ladyface, give me your phone.”
She didn’t question me this time, quickly digging into her bag and pulling it out. After she glanced at it, I snatched it and threw it to Horse.
“You’ll do the honors?” I showed him my bare feet to explain why I wasn’t.
He nodded and dropped it, only for it to crunch under the heel of his boot a second later. Glass and plastic confetti littered the street.
“Hey!” Elle shoved out of my arms again and pride flashed in my chest as she wheeled on Horse.
I wrangled her and her back landed against my front, even furious, I liked the way she fit against me. She fought my hold half-heartedly, so I squeezed a bit.
“Second,” I murmured into her ear, “everything I’ve done since I met you has been for you. Including smashing your phone, as delusional as that sounds.”
Her body melted into mine.
“Guys, you’re real lucky Mick trusted me enough to watch Cole. It could have been anyone across the street. There still could be anyone across the street. Let’s not push it.” Horse jerked his head toward Cole’s stairs.
Elle didn’t say a word but she didn’t fight either. I let go and reached down for her hand. My fingers wove as naturally into hers as my body did around her. Hers wrapped back. It made me shiver for all the right reasons as I started stroking her thumb with mine. Horse followed behind us as I gently pulled her back to my apartment.
As soon as we were inside, I sat her down on the corner of my bed and Horse made himself scarce. I pulled on her knees to twist her completely away from any view of him. I needed her focus solely on me.
“Where do you want me to start?” I asked as I crouched in front of her and found a spot to trace on her knee.
“The murderer part is probably a good place.” She swallowed the word murder, her body rejecting the dark.
“Yeah, I should have softened that,” I rubbed the back of my neck in time with the spot of skin she kept letting me touch. She didn’t answer, she just waited. Her silence was more nerve-wracking than her angry spew. I sighed loudly.
“You remember I said I grew up rough? Well it was with the Maloney family. Horse and I got into some trouble when we were younger, running around like we owned this city. We stole the wrong car…” My voice faded out. “Turns out, one mistake and Mickey Maloney owns you.” I looked up into her eyes but I didn’t recognize the emotion, just that the blue was a calming sea for me. “He told us we had a debt to pay, then had me do a lot of things I’m not proud of as payment. Things that keep me up at night even now.”
She sat perfectly still above me.
“Things got really bad during a turf war that started about five years ago. The blood rained down in droplets. A lot of my friends died in those days. I put a lot of men in their graves too.” I shivered and flinched, looking away, not wanting to see what she was reflecting back at me. “I lived in that world of death for two years before it became too much. I had a card I could play that would get me out, and I threw it on the table. When I was free, I didn’t look back.” I focused on the spot of skin I was still touching on her knee. “Until you.”
“Me?” Elle’s voice was warm but I still couldn’t meet her gaze.
I was lost in the story anyway. That card I’d played still swallowed me whole some days. I didn’t talk about it—I wouldn’t. And even touching on it made my insides swim. Hell, it had a hold on me and just the mention of it had the flames of Hades lapping at my ankles.
“Cole what do you mean ‘until me?’” Her delicate fingertips came to my chin and lifted, forcing me to meet her gaze. It was the tranquil sea that kept me afloat and I couldn’t help but smile.
“He was going to take you too if Jimmy couldn’t deliver. I couldn’t let him.” I whispered. “I have to live with the horrible things I’ve done every day. That I can handle. But the idea of you getting sucked into that…” I was still unsure how exactly to phrase it. “Well, let’s just say I just couldn’t live with that. I traded places with you.”
She lunged at me and the sheer momentum of it toppled me back to the floor. Her lips found mine and kissed me hard. Her breath was hot against my lips as our tongues tangled and it was like she was breathing light and life back into me. Her knee hitched up against my hip and her hand moved down to stroke my dick.
My whole body responded to her movements. I groaned and shoved my hips up into her hand. She rubbed up and down on my erection working with friction to drive me fucking insane. The taste of cherry milkshake dancing on my lips didn’t hurt either.
I shoved my hand up her skirt and grabbed her ass. I used my grip to start a gentle rock of her hips against mine. She dragged her baby blue nails down my chest and I moaned, her open mouth somehow both amplifying and muffling my sounds of pleasure.
Horse clearing his throat stopped me short. My eyes shot open and my free arm went protectively around her shoulders, pinning her to me. I stared up into Horse’s eyes for a minute willing him to stay silent if not disappear completely.
Elle adjusted her body against mine and her soft lips brushed against my earlobe.
“What’s the story with the linebacker?”
“Horse is my best friend. I lost him when I walked away but some things never change.” I smiled weakly up at him where he stood over us.
“Have you shared women before?” Her voice trembled a little but I got the sense it wasn’t with fear.
“We’ve been together with women before,” I corrected.
“What?” She tried to sit up and as much as I wanted to keep her pinned, I let her go. “Like guy on guy?” Her head whipped from one of us to the other. “Are you gay?”
“You can ask me that with a straight face?” I smiled at her and reached up to grab her breast. She gasped when I squeezed.
“Well, I don’t know. I mean you don’t hear about that kind of threesome often.” Her voice faded off and I could tell she was deep in thought. “Could I watch the two of you together?” Something danced behind my little bird’s eyes.
“I wouldn’t mind,” Horse piped up.
“I’m sure you wouldn’t.” I rolled my eyes. “Horse is bi. He’s just
as happy with good pussy as he is with good dick.”
“And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you Cole has a really good dick.” He winked at Elle with his biggest smile in place. She couldn’t hold her answering one in check. “Secret is he’s got an even bigger heart. When I kissed him the very first time, when Mickey had us fuck a girl together, he only punched me once.” He laughed shyly and a lot of the emotion he held for me leaked out.
“It became natural after that. It’s not that I like guys or that I like dick, it’s that I like Horse. And him on one end, me on the other never felt quite right.” I reached up to push some of her beautiful blonde locks behind her ear.
“And now you guys want me in on it too?” she asked quietly.
“I want you any way you’ll let me have you, Elle. You’re fucking heroin to me, alive and addictive in my veins,” I matched her timid tone.
“Not gonna lie, I kinda want to know what all the fuss is about.” Horse stepped closer to us, and bent down, pressing his thigh up against hers where it straddled mine. He blew out a deep breath before speaking. “And if I’m going to lay my life on the line for you, for both of you, I guess I want some sort moment to hold on to. Some sort of bond we can all share.”
“You’re going to help me hide her?” A giant weight lifted from my chest and for a moment I thought about blowing Horse like he’d always wanted.
“Yeah. Turns out I’m a big ole softy and I can’t let anything you look at like that get shredded by Mick.”
I smiled the biggest smile I could at Horse as I coaxed Elle’s hips to pick back up their slow rock.
“Mickey Maloney wants me still? Even after you…” Her eyes went wide as saucers as she looked down at me.
“Shhhhhh.” I swiftly twisted so that Elle was on her back between Horse and I. “I won’t let him get to you. With or without Horse.” I grabbed his thigh and squeezed hoping he wouldn’t go ape shit at the admission. “Though it’s a lot easier with Horse.” I smiled up at him now almost nose to nose.
“Kiss him, Cole,” Elle purred from beneath us. “Kiss him then kiss me.”
