by C. J. Thomas
“Ricky Moran.” The corner of my mouth curled upward. I couldn’t care less about Ricky right now. “It’s your way of ensuring I’m not fucking up his career.”
Wes turned to look at Kami and her eyes sparkled, totally in love.
“Maybe you’re right,” Wes said. “Either way, I wouldn’t have put him in your movie if I didn’t think you couldn’t turn up the dial on his career just a little bit more.”
I laughed.
“What are you drinking?” Wes pointed at me. “How about you drink what I have?” He waved over at one of his young employees and put in an order. “So, if this isn’t about Moran, what is it about?”
I settled into my seat and watched as my drink was served—Bloody Mary. “I think it’s best if we speak alone.”
Wes held my gaze for a moment before pulling Kami’s head close to his mouth so he could whisper something in her ear. She nodded and they shared a very passionate, open-mouthed kiss right in front of me before she stood and left.
“She’s beautiful.” We both had our eyes fixed on her.
It was something I was still getting used to—seeing Wes tied down. Don’t get me wrong, Kami was gorgeous and they seemed like a good fit for each other, but Wes was once a man who could get any piece of tail in town. Now look at him, completely gaga for one woman. Incredible.
“Yes, she is.” He flashed me a toothy grin. “What about you, Nash?” He turned to face me. “Are you finding what you’re looking for at my club?”
Kami found company across the room. She was the definition of grace. The way she moved was casual, as if floating across the room without a care in the world.
“My needs are being met.” When I glanced at Wes he was intently focused on me.
It wasn’t worth going into details about my love life with him. That wasn’t why I’d come here tonight.
He gave me a knowing look and said, “You should settle down when the right one comes along.”
I circled my finger around the rim of my glass and pushed some of the sweat down to the table. The way he was talking was like he knew about Alex and how I was feeling. She was amazing and drop-dead gorgeous, but I wasn’t about to shout it out to the world.
He turned his head and let his gaze drift back to his woman. “God, I love her.”
Never in a million years would I have expected to hear someone like him give that kind of advice. Before Kami, monogamy wasn’t in his vocabulary. Neither was love. Men like us were too busy for that kind of shit.
I swirled my stalk of celery around in my drink, hesitant to take a sip. I was never too fond of these flavors, no matter what people said.
“What’s on your mind?” Wes let out a heavy sigh as if suddenly I was a burden to his morning.
I stared deep into my drink.
It might be the tomato juice that I didn’t like. Or maybe it was the irony of dowsing an otherwise nutritional drink with alcohol. Whatever it was, there were better options available. Especially this time of day.
“I know you knew about the money all along.” I glanced up at him from beneath my brow. “The quarter million dollars.”
Wes smoothed his tongue over his top teeth. “Of course I knew. I told you about it.”
I shook my head. “Even that night you asked me about it, here, downstairs.” I pointed down to the floor. “But it’s not that you knew about it. It’s that you knew where to find it.”
The crinkles around his eyes became more defined.
“That night, you knew it had already been found.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “And it was inside the studio, and on my set.”
Wes finished his drink. “Since when did big Hollywood director, Nash Brooks, turn detective?”
I shook my head once and laughed. “I want my cut of what you found.” I eyed him intently.
He didn’t flinch. His beady eyes bore into me, and without a doubt he knew I was right about what he had been trying to hide all along.
“Not a chance.” He leaned forward and straightened against my challenge. “Concentrate on what you’re good at and leave this to me.”
I hated to think that maybe he had something to do with Alex’s kidnapping. Wes was known to do anything it took to win. That thought had me reeling. “You don’t have it, do you?”
He gave me a somber look just before scooting himself out from behind the table. Wes tugged on his jacket and straightened it as he peered down and stared. “If you really want the money—”
“I do.”
“Then you’ll stop by Mint later.”
I gave him a questioning look.
“Trust me. You’ll want to hear what I have to say.” He patted my shoulder and walked away.
66
Alex
NASH’S private driver dropped me about a half block from the front doors of Mint. Nash wanted to see me, told me to meet him here, and that he’d have his driver pick me up. So that’s what I did.
He truly was my last hope to make this all go away. Because after what Kendra did—giving the money away without first asking me if that was what I wanted—I knew that getting it back would be nearly impossible without raising eyebrows.
My heels clicked on the cement as I made my way to the front entrance. Mint wasn’t like the other popular night clubs in town where long lines crowded the busy sidewalks. No, Mint didn’t have any lines outside at all—it was exclusive and by invite only.
As I approached the door, I opened my handbag one last time to make sure that I’d remembered to grab the mask on my way out. It was something Nash said I couldn’t forget, and lucky for me it was there, tucked safely inside, ready to be worn.
It was funny, too, because I’d almost forgotten it.
After everything with Kendra, my brain was a jumbled mess. What she did was unthinkable. Today should have gone so differently than it had. Instead of her having to figure out a way to get the money back, I should have been telling her about my experience at Mint and how Nash owned me. Because that was a story worth telling—how the donkey-slinging dick was all mine once I agreed to be his obedient submissive.
“Hi.” I approached the doorman. “My name should be on the list.”
“Name?”
“Alex Grace.” I rocked on my heels.
When I caught the bouncer standing behind him eyeing me, I smiled.
“Ah, there you are.” The doorman drew a line through my name. “Mr. Brooks is already inside expecting your arrival.” His gaze raked over me.
“Thank you,” I said, pulling my masquerade mask from my bag.
The bouncer opened the doors to the club and waved me inside.
I brushed past him, slipping my mask over my eyes and letting the hum of conversation and quiet piano fill my ears.
My senses were on overdrive. I was nervous to be here, starting the night alone. It was so much easier with Nash by my side, leading the way. I didn’t like the emptiness I felt with him not here. But with my life on the line, and with my emotions so jacked, it really was impossible to decipher the root cause of my floating head.
I hid behind my mask, gliding between tables and smiling at strangers whose eyes sparkled with the kind of desire and amusement one could only find at a place like Mint.
“Hey baby.” A man’s deep voice caught my ear. “Sub or Dom?”
I turned my head, licked my lips, and sized him up. “With you?”
He smiled and closed his fingers around my upper arm.
“Neither.” I peeled his fingers off me and kept walking.
I needed to find Nash before someone else thought that I wasn’t taken. Nash would have his possessive hands all over me, marking what was his, and telling these other men’s wandering eyes to search elsewhere.
I was his.
Strong hands clamped around my elbow and spun me around.
Reflex kicked in and I pulled away. My nerves were still frayed.
“Nash is waiting.”
I stared up at the tall, muscular man, no
t recognizing what little of his face wasn’t covered.
“Please, follow me.” He towed me behind him.
Together, we made our way up a private staircase and to a floor that overlooked everything. I caught sight of Nash immediately.
Something was off. Even from here, I could smell the stench.
Though I couldn’t see Nash’s face, conversation was heated. I recognized Wesley Reid’s voice and heard the emotion it carried. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was they were discussing.
Whatever it they were talking about was serious. “Maybe now is not the right time.” I tugged on my escort’s arm.
He gave me a hard glance and kept walking.
I had no choice but to follow. My man was over there, waiting, and he’d called.
Soon I was within earshot and heard them arguing.
Suddenly, the room had a cool draft that made me shiver.
My gait shortened and my steps slowed.
Just when I thought that maybe tonight could be the night to take me away from all the bullshit that seemed to be polluting the very air I breathed—even if only for an hour or two—I found myself on the edge of the boxers’ ring with the two men about to knock each other out.
Wes caught my eye and my throat closed up.
Nash turned to meet my gaze, and when I looked into his eyes, they were the darkest I’d ever seen them.
My heart pound so fiercely I thought my ribs would break.
Nash leaned forward and said something to Wes—which I didn’t hear—as he stood. Wes leaned back and watched as Nash curled his strong fingers around my arm and dug the tips of them into the soft flesh.
Without me ever saying anything to Wes, Nash marched me back down the stairs, through the club, and straight to an empty back room.
He slammed the door shut and threw me on the bed. “Take off that stupid mask.”
I propped myself up on my elbows. “Is everything all right?” I slid the mask over my head.
He opened his button-down, pulled his arms free, and tossed it onto a chair next to the wall.
“Well?” My breath hitched. He was agitated and I didn’t know why.
“Take off your dress.” He gave me a pinched expression, as if annoyed I couldn’t read his mind.
Slowly, I moved to the edge of the bed and planted my feet firmly to the floor, working to slide out of my dress. The next time I tipped my head back and looked in Nash’s direction, he was standing with his thick legs wide, like a Titan, his manhood steeled and standing tall, ready to take me.
My eyes hooded over and my breath labored as I peeled my panties off, watching him stroke himself while he stared at me, until I was completely naked.
I licked my lips and felt my nipples tighten under his heavy gaze.
He took one step before pulling me up and into his massively solid chest. Nash seemed larger, more imposing than before, as my short, wide frame seemed to sink and disappear into his embrace.
His rough hands smoothed down my back and up my arms, then back down my arms until his fingers closed around my wrists.
I winced.
He lifted my wrist for inspection. “I did this to you?”
His eyes rounded and drifted at the bruises he’d left from when he tied me to the kitchen table.
I wet my lips and nodded.
He pulled it closer to his face.
I could see the pain in his eyes. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”
His eyes watered.
“You did what I asked you to do.”
He pressed his full lips gently to the purple mark he’d left behind, and kissed it.
“And I’d ask you to do it again.”
He tilted his head back, and when his eyes locked with mine, his pupils dilated into tiny dots just before his lips came crashing over mine.
67
Nash
SHE WAS AMAZING.
Everything I’d ever wanted in a woman.
I pushed her back onto the bed and fell between her legs, positioning the head of my cock at her entrance, just before I plunged myself deep inside her in one powerful thrust.
“Oh!” Alex screamed, arching her back as her head tipped back.
I pulled out and slammed into her again.
“Fuck me,” she growled, wrapping her limbs around me.
Ask, and thou shall receive.
My hips rocked and rolled between my powerful bursts of heated passion.
She was so wet. Completely willing.
And submissive, ready to do what I said at a drop of the hat.
If I couldn’t kick the shit out of Wes, fucking Alex was second best.
My muscles flexed and I buried myself inside her again, letting my eyes fall over her tits, rolling through each one of my punishing blows.
I couldn’t believe what it was Wes was suggesting. Who did he think I was? And how could I have done it? That it was me who took the money? That fucking asshole. He spun what I was accusing him of doing himself back to me.
My jaw clenched and I gritted my teeth, pushing harder and deeper into the only relief I could find—Alex.
This beautiful, smoothed-skinned woman had to take me away. Her repeated Oh God, Oh God, Oh God while I desperately fought the agony playing out inside my head allowed me to refocus my attention.
Soon she would be faced with some tough questions I had for her.
My hips jackhammered against her soaked sex.
Wes fucking knew the money went missing, and that Alex had it. I didn’t like that he knew what I knew. He could use all of this against me down the road.
I grabbed Alex by both her wrists, lifted her hands above her head, and pinned her to the bed as I continued sliding in and out of her.
Her face twisted in immense pleasure.
It wasn’t a huge surprise. I knew Wes knew about all that, but for whatever reason he wouldn’t come clean, wouldn’t admit what I called him out on. And that was what really had my mind scrambling to understand, because why would he deny it?
There was something else he was hiding, and I needed to find out what.
Alex bucked her hips, matching my lunges thrust for thrust.
By the look on her face, I knew that she was close.
“Don’t you fucking come yet.” I pulled out of her and flipped her over on her stomach.
Spreading her ass cheeks apart, I gripped the root of my shaft and wet my tip with her juices before sliding back into her tightness.
I was just getting started.
She stretched and fanned her arms out above her head, fisting the sheets as she held on for dear life as I tightened my hold on her fleshy hips and continued my assault.
My dick was painfully hard, I was so bent out of shape. I had more angst than what I’d consider normal, and I needed to work it out before I could walk out of this room with a level head.
My back sweated and the heat at the base of my spine started to grow.
I loved the way her pussy wrapped around my cock so tight and soft, like being tucked into a cozy bed with a fluffy blanket to keep me warm at night.
Every time, Alex made me feel like I was home.
I adjusted my weight, keeping one hand on her hip and the other firmly rooted into the mattress. I locked my elbow and teased her with slow, shallow strokes.
“Mmm,” she moaned.
But there was no way I’d let her relax into something as delicate as love-making. Not with the way I felt. I quickened my pace, slapped her ass hard, and bucked my hips into her big fleshy ass.
Her mouth rounded and I watched her gasp for air as her body bounced beneath me.
“Squeeze your pussy around my cock.”
Her softness tightened around my shaft.
I shifted my weight and angled my shaft to hit a new spot.
Her breath hitched. “Oh, God, Nash. That’s it. Right there.”
“No.” I slapped her ass. “Try again. What’s my name?”
“Sorry, Master.” She
bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut as I pierced her soul with my cock.
“Alex, where’s the money?”
I pulled out my length, leaving only the tip buried in her entrance.
She twisted her head around and arched a brow. “Please. I’m so close.”
“Stop playing games.” I drove into her. Hard.
Her head lifted off the mattress and she arched her back.
I clamped her thighs tight together and continued fucking her hard.
No one was telling me a damn thing. This shit had to stop. I needed answers.
My cock was painfully hard and steeled, building strength the more I continued to punish her. “Wes said you still have it.” I slammed into her. “How would he know?”
“Nash, I don’t have it,” she cried.
I pulled out, took her by the wrist, and brought her to the other side of the room. One at a time, I tied both of her wrists, then her ankles, until she was spread and hung.
“Nash, what are you doing?”
“You’re going to tell me everything.” I opened her collar and closed it shut around her neck. “Including where you were this afternoon when I needed to speak with you.”
Her eyes hooded over. “I was so close. Please, Nash. I need you to finish me off.”
One corner of my mouth curled upward.
I stepped to the side and opened the toy chest. Digging around, I found the flogger that would push her over the edge of bliss.
“You remember our safe word?” I slapped the leather cattails into the palm of my hand.
Her eyes widened as she nodded.
“Good.” I reached between her legs and gently slapped her dripping wet pussy until she begged me to give her the relief her body desperately craved.
68
Alex
IT FELT SO FUCKING GOOD.
The way his fingers worked between my folds. How he seemed to always hit the right angle with his cock. Everything. He was a true master, and because of his exceptional abilities, I had no problem addressing him as Master.
He flicked the leather cattail against my heated mound.
With each slap against my throbbing clit, he cleansed me of all the shame I knew I should be feeling. But he was my drug. My high. My reason to keep going.
