by Alexa Riley
“Boy,” she mouths to me, and winks.
“Same,” I mumble, and her eyes go wide then stare down at my stomach. “No, not that. I mean men. This guy’s... Grrr. Never mind. This weekend we’ll talk,” I tell her.
“Promise?” She studies me.
“Of course.” I lean in, giving her a kiss on her cheek. Penelope can get everyone to do anything she wants. We always say she’s our family’s heart. Love just pours from her. She and her husband seem like opposites, but it works for them. He’s a giant Russian who doesn’t talk much and grunts when Penelope gets too far from him. Pretty sure he even has a tracker on her, and not some low-key cell phone one.
“Ivan.” I nod toward him. He walks over and hands me the bag.
“Your mission over, krasota?” Ivan asks her. She gives him a nod and a wink. “Good. I wish to take you home.”
“You always want to take me home,” she laughs.
“Da,” he agrees, like he doesn’t know why she’s giving that a voice. Everyone knows this. But truth is, Penelope is a homebody.
“Love you guys. Kiss my nieces,” I tell them before bending down and kissing her belly “Love you, too, little man.”
I give my sister one more hug before they head off. I smile as I watch them go. I should have known she was going to pop up on me today after she randomly sent me the devil face emoji three times. I finish running a few errands before heading back to my office for a little while. I have a few hours to kill before I meet up with Delilah for some much-needed beers at Lincoln’s.
I throw myself into work, trying to stay focused. But like it’s been doing for the past few annoying days, my mind bounces back to Royce. I click my emails to see if he sent me anything in the last few hours but don’t see anything. Annoyance once again creeps up my spine. And now I’m pissed at myself.
“What is wrong with me?” I mumble. I think that’s the problem. I don’t even know the answer to that question. For some reason, I’m annoyed that Royce didn’t chase me the other day after I’d walked away from him. I wanted to be as far away from him as possible, yet I was disappointed when he wasn’t there.
Then when he sends me emails, which I’m always checking, I get this stupid weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. It’s frustrating not being able to control my reaction to him. To top it off, I know I’m being childish by avoiding him. I should be trying to work with him more. Help ease how busy I am at work, but here I am, being immature, which is something I’ve never done in my life when it comes to work. Though he seems to be solving a lot of my problems here at work without a lot of my help. Which only makes me think about him even more and all he’s doing for me. He’s going above and beyond and I’m acting like a brat.
Something about Royce isn’t sitting right with me. It’s like I’m missing something about him. I thought a few times about digging into him but changed my mind. I knew I wanted it for personal reasons, and I was not turning into some stalker like so many of my family members.
Dropping my head in my hands, I groan. I release a deep breath and look up at my computer to see that it’s time for me to meet up with Delilah. I pick up my phone from my desk and slip it into the back pocket of my slacks.
Reaching into the top drawer of my desk, I pull out some lipstick and put it on before heading out toward Lincoln’s. When I get there, I’m once again surprised to see it’s so busy.
I see Delilah sitting at a table in the back, two beers in front of her and a couple plates of food. I walk over, take my blazer off, and sit on the chair.
“Hey,” I say. She barely notices me as she looks around the bar.
“Hey,” she replies with a small nod.
I reach down and pick up my beer, taking a few big pulls from it and enjoying the cold burn.
“Something’s going on downstairs,” she finally says, looking over at me.
“Really?” I glance to the back door and watch as people file in and out. In fact, the crowd has slowly gotten smaller as more people slip down there.
“Yeah, but no one is talking about what it is. I’ve had my ears open, but nothing.” She looks over at me, pulling her eyes from the door. One eyebrow rises, and I know what she wants to do.
“Can I at least finish my beer and shove a few nachos in my mouth?” I ask her.
“That will take you two seconds,” she laughs. I shrug and shove some nachos in my mouth before polishing off my beer. I stand with her and throw a few twenties on the table.
We make our way toward the door, and I wonder if anyone is going to stop us, but they don’t. I walk down the stairs first. They lead down to a dark, narrow hallway, but I can hear noise coming from somewhere below. That’s when light floods the space at the back of the room. The noise gets louder, and people are chanting. The place is dirty and smells like sweat.
“What the fuck?” Delilah mumbles behind me. When we get to the bottom, I realize what they are chanting.
“Rol-ly!”
“Rol-ly!”
“Rol-ly!”
“Holy shit, it’s fight club,” Delilah whispers excitedly. “It’s underground shit.”
A makeshift ring sits in the middle of the concrete room, with people standing all around it.
“Yeah,” I agree as I look past the crowd, trying to see.
My eyes go the ring where two men are already going at it. The once facing me looks like he’s taken a few punches as blood runs down his nose. He isn’t going to last another hit. He wobbles on his feet with his arms still up. His barrel chest rises and falls as he breathes hard, in and out. The crowd in front of me is making it hard to see, but Delilah and I push forward, both of us captivated by what’s happening.
The one with his back to us makes me pause my forward progress. Tattoos run along his muscled back and down both his giant arms. He’s freaking ripped. The dark lines that look like dragon scales make their way below the waist of his shorts, and for half a second I wonder just how low the tattoo goes. A light sheen of sweat covers his whole body, and I can’t pull my eyes away from him. He’s still bouncing on his feet, as if he could go for hours. He looks like a machine, and I feel a pulse between my legs as I watch him move. He’s a beast from behind, and I can almost feel the power rolling off him.
The crowd keep chanting. He does a little hop before he lands a left hook and takes the man down to the ground. The bleeding guy falls hard, and the crowd erupts around the two men.
“That was hot,” Delilah exclaims from behind me.
I nod in agreement, and just as I’m about to open my mouth, the fighter turns around.
My stomach drops as my gaze locks with Royce’s. His eyes widen for a fraction of a second, just before a cocky smile pulls at his lips. The ref, or whoever is calling the fight, comes over and raises one of his big meaty arms in the air. The crowd chants even louder, and I swear to God, Royce looks at me like he just won more than that fight. Like he just won the right to fuck me.
His eyes stay locked on mine, and I feel as if I’m frozen in place. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, because right now I’m more turned on than I have ever been in my entire life.
“God, he’s so hot. Think he’ll be in the bar upstairs when the fight’s over?” I hear a woman next to me say.
Then a very foreign feeling hits me. I drop my eyes from Royce, turning to look at Delilah.
“Crap. I forgot I have something to take care of,” I tell her. It’s the only thing I can come up with off the top of my head.
“That’s cool. I’m going to hang out down here and see if there are any more fights. This is kinda badass.”
I nod and say bye over my shoulder as I duck through the crowd. I take off, trying to get away from Royce once again. Why is it every time I’m near him, I feel like running away?
I almost make it to the stair
s when a hand grabs my arm, turning me around. I close my eyes and curse myself. I know exactly who I’m going to find when he turns me around, and my eyes open to once again meet his.
Chapter 6
Royce
“What’s the rush, baby?” I say, and see the fire in her eyes.
“Don’t you dare call me that,” she hisses, and jerks her arm out of my hold.
She may be pissed I caught her, but I know she likes what she sees. I’ve only got on a pair of loose shorts that hang low on my hips, and right now she’s eye-fucking my happy trail.
“You like what you see?” She snaps her eyes back up to mine, and I see her blush. Fuck, what I wouldn’t give to see if she blushes all the way down to her tits.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you afraid someone is going to smack that smile off your face?”
I smile even bigger, feeling my dimples crease. “No way, baby. I don’t ever let them touch me.”
“Must be a new experience then. Seems you’ve got people ready to climb all over you,” she says, crossing her arms and looking around at the women watching us.
Goddamn, I love when she sasses me. “The only one I want on my jungle gym keeps avoiding me.”
She lets out a huff and shakes her head. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You know damn well what I mean,” I say, taking a step forward. She takes a step back, trying to keep her distance. “But we’re not in the office right now, baby. This is open territory. In fact,” I say, taking another step toward her as she takes another one back, “I’d say it’s pretty damn clear you’re in my world now.”
Her back hits the wall, and I move in front of her, putting my arms on either side of her shoulders. I lean down a little so we’re eye to eye. I can see the pulse beating in her neck, and I want to lean forward and lick her there.
“This is my bar. Not my fault you were down in the basement. I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”
“And?” I say, giving up the fight and leaning into her. I put my lips next to her ear and whisper, “Did you like what you saw?” I run my tongue along the edge of her ear and feel her shiver. “Because I damn well liked having your eyes on me.”
“Royce,” she says, and there’s a catch in her voice.
“Fuck. Keep saying my name like that and it will get you fucked in the middle of that ring.” I move my lips down her neck and feel her hands go to my chest. “Or is that what you want?”
Her fingers trail down my hard abs and to the edge of my shorts.
“I’ve gotta say I don’t really like the thought of everyone in here seeing you take my cock, but it makes me hard as a rock picturing you under me and getting off.”
“Oh God.”
I move my mouth up to her lips and look her in the eyes. “I know you want to be in charge, but trust me, baby, it’s better when you let me.”
With that, I press my lips to hers, and it’s like gasoline on a match. Whatever it is we’ve been dancing around finally comes to a stop, and we attack each other.
Her tongue pushes into my mouth, and I moan at the taste of her. In the next second I’ve got her picked up and pinned against the wall as I grind my cock against her.
“Put those fucking legs around me,” I growl, and she does as I command.
Her thighs tighten as my hand goes to her shirt and slides underneath. I’ve got one hand gripping her ass as the other finds the cup of her bra and yanks it down. Her hard nipple is between my fingers, and I pinch the little bud as she moans. Her lower half rocks against me, and I’ve never felt anything like her. She’s petite in my arms, but God, is she fierce. She’s giving it back just as good as I’m giving it to her, and I feel the need roll off of her.
“I wonder if I can get a turn when she’s done with him,” I hear someone say from behind us.
Pandora breaks the kiss and glares over my shoulder. “Move along. Sloppy seconds aren’t on the menu tonight.”
I smile at her, and as if she’s realized she just made a claim to me, a wall falls down in front of her and lands right between us. The woman behind me must leave, but I don’t turn around to check. The only woman I’m interested in is in my arms, but even now I can see her pulling away.
“I need to go,” she says, and drops her legs from around me, pushing my hand out from under her shirt. She takes a step away from me, but it might as well be a mile.
“Hey,” I say, and she snaps her eyes back up to mine. I take her chin in my hand and lean down again so we are eye level. “Don’t do that. Don’t you push me away when you feel this, too.”
“The only thing I feel is stupid for letting you embarrass me like this.” She jerks her chin out of my hold and looks around the room.
“I’ve had enough of your bullshit, Pandora. Stop lying to me, and stop lying to yourself. You don’t give a shit about anyone in here, so don’t tell me I embarrassed you.” I pull her into my arms, and she gasps. “You liked it, and I fucking loved it. You were meant to be in my arms. And the sooner you let yourself be okay with that, the better.”
I kiss her hard, and she bites my lip. For half a second I think she’s going to fight me, but instead she melts just like she did before. I could let this keep going, and we could end up just how we were a moment ago. But she needs to get her head together first.
I break our kiss and let her go, taking a step back from her. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but I can’t stand her pushing me away again.
“I want you, plain and simple. And not just for a fast fuck in the ring. You feel this.” I point between the two of us. “When you finally decide to take a chance, I’ll be waiting.”
Turning, I spot Donovan nearby, and he tosses me my shirt. I pull it on and give Pandora one last glance before I grab my bag from Ezra and make my way up the stairs.
I’m pissed off and could use another fight to take the edge off. I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to walk away from her. But chasing her isn’t the way to win her heart. She’s hardheaded, and if that’s the way it has to be, that’s fine, I’ll wait. She’s worth anything I’d have to do to get her.
I can only hope that she picks up the gauntlet I just laid down.
Chapter 7
Pandora
I lie with Penelope in our childhood bed at our parents’ house. Well, in Penny’s childhood bed. It might as well have been mine, too. We shared rooms when we were little, but when we hit our teens, Mom and Dad gave us each our own room. But every night I would still find myself slipping into her room and into her bed.
I rest my hand on her belly. She was up here taking a nap with Ivan, but when I slipped in he smiled at me and left us alone. It was like any other Sunday with the family. Lots of laughter, lying by the pool, and more food than anyone could eat. But I didn’t even feel like I was here for most of it. My head was far from here. I’ve been in another place, and it’s filled with Royce.
“Hey,” Penny says, her eyes fluttering open.
“Hey.” Her hand comes to rest over mine on her belly, our fingers locking.
“You ready to talk about it?” she asks.
“There’s this guy.” That’s all I get out before she has a giant smile on her face. “He’s driving me crazy.” She raises her eyebrows at me, and I let out a sigh. “Okay, maybe I’m driving him crazy, too.”
“He must be something if he’s got you all twisted. I’ve never seen you worked up over a man.” She smiles. “Unless he was hitting on me.”
I can’t help but laugh. Penny and I used to give the boys hell in high school. They all followed her around like lost puppies.
“He bugged me when I first met him. Or I guess my attraction to him bugged me.” I hated how much I liked the way he smelled. I hated how it made me feel when he got in my p
ersonal space. The way he kept asking questions about me.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess because I thought he was just another rich guy in a suit—someone Henry hired. I was taken aback by the attraction. He just went for it, but not in a way I was used to.” I’ve never felt this way about someone, and I don’t know if this is what I want.
“How so?” She studies me.
“He was aggressive, but not. Well, not at first. I knew he wanted me, but he didn’t ask me out or anything. I kept trying to give him the cold shoulder, but he would still try to talk to me.”
Penelope is full-on smiling now.
“What?”
She gives a little shrug.
“What? Tell me.”
“He can tell you’re like a skittish cat. You’ve got claws like Mom does, and he’s slowly trying to move close to you. He’s trying not to spook you too much, but he keeps coming.”
I shake my head while a lump forms in my throat. “He stopped coming,” I admit, and watch her eyes go soft. Then they harden and narrow. “What’s his name?”
I can’t help but laugh at the sound she makes. “You really should have your husband teach you how to growl better.”
“Hey, I can still kick some ass. Don’t let the belly fool you.”
“There’s more,” I confess, and then proceed to tell her everything about the night at the bar.
“That doesn’t mean he’s done chasing.” Penny glares at me. “He wants you.”
“I guess, but still, it’s been days, and the only time he talks to me is when he has to. I mean, I’ve run into him, like, five times a day, and nothing. He stares at me with those eyes I can’t get out of my head.”
“Does he work on your freaking floor or something?”
“No. Why?”
“Because that building is so big that no one is running into each other five times a day. Not unless they work in the lobby or on the same floor.”
I think about what she’s saying, and I suspect she might be right. “He’s running into me on purpose,” I say, and the realization makes me smile.
