by C. M. Owens
She sighs as she reaches for the bottom hem of her shirt—well, my shirt—and pulls it over her head. No fucking underwear. Now I’m distracted as hell, and I slowly slide to the edge of the bed, moving to be just beside where she has laid out the selection of clothing.
“Stay naked while you speak,” I tell her, feeling like a bit of an ass with that command, but not giving a damn.
Her body tenses, but she doesn’t argue. At all.
“If you were to set me free this early, Benny would think I’d screwed up and pissed you off or begged to be set free. Possibly think I was inadequate. I honestly don’t know, but I know he wouldn’t just let me return home and pretend as though I don’t have a debt to pay.”
The fear is real. Or else she’s a hell of an actress. But she seems more afraid of Benny than she does me. Appearances can be deceiving. I make Benny look amateur. But maybe she’s afraid for another reason.
Benny might actually go and kill her family. Perhaps he’s already threatened to. He wants something, and she’s the center of it all. I just have to keep an eye on him and wait for him to make his move.
“How’d a girl like you run into a guy like Benny?” I ask, unable to keep my hands off her any longer.
Her soft skin has been on my mind all day. Softest damn thing I’ve ever felt. Her curves are placed in all the right places, and her beautiful tits will fuck with my head even after I’ve had my fill of her.
I tug her to me, pulling her down until she’s straddling my lap. Her pebbled nipples are the first clue that she’s not exactly immune to me—by any means. Even though she’s wary, she can’t seem to help herself.
My mouth moves over her nipple, and her breath leaves in a harsh rush as she grips onto my shoulders.
“I asked you a question,” I remind her softly, moving my attention to her other nipple as she tries to find the ability to form words.
“I know Ben. His son. We went to school together. He took me to his dad when I needed help. Benny gave me this one and only option.”
Her head falls back as her legs spread wider, and she allows herself to sink down on me fully.
So she’s friends with the boy that doesn’t have the stomach for our work. I can actually picture that.
Her dark hair falls forward when she leans into me, and I tilt my head, barely holding back a small laugh. She wants to kiss me. Interesting.
I smirk as I flip her to be on the bed, and her eyes widen in surprise.
“You should keep something in mind,” I say as I stand up, pulling my shirt over my head.
Her eyes go to my stomach, slowly sliding down to my waist where I’ve started undoing my jeans. Her chest rises and falls more rapidly as her breaths increase, and I take my time. Once I’ve shed my jeans, I walk back over to her, letting her soak in the sight of me as I crawl over her body.
I tilt her head up as I poise the tip of my cock at her soaking wet entrance. Her sharp intake of air is erotic as hell when I press just a little more inside her. Fuck, she’s so damn tight.
“You don’t want to cross me,” I say, teasing her lower lip with my thumb as I push my cock inside her just a little farther.
The fact she’s this turned on with very little effort is fucking killing me.
Biting back a groan, I try to keep my composure, waiting on her to respond.
“I’m not going to,” she whispers, arching her hips almost involuntarily as a war goes on behind her eyes.
I pull back and slam into her, forcing her back to bow off the bed, and a cry of pleasure to fall from her lips. She’s pretty fucking beautiful—especially right now.
“Good,” I growl, picking up a powerful rhythm that has her clamping her legs around my waist. “Because if you think Benny is scary, you’ll be fucking terrified of me.”
Fear flashes through her eyes, and for a brief second, I almost feel guilty. But when her walls clench and damn near strangle my cock, I see her struggling even more with the war within her. Lust, confusion, and fear all teem inside her fuck-me eyes.
Danger excites her.
I really like the fact I just threatened her and she’s turned on enough to cry out again. I drop my head to watch her, enjoying the way her eyes go lazy and her expression gets sexier, more relaxed as she just rides out the pleasure.
Each stroke gets tighter as her orgasm hits her, causing her muscles to contract. Her pussy squeezing my cock in another iron-grip as she comes hard and cries out is the last of my restraint.
Holy. Shit.
My balls tighten as a searing shot of pleasure burns through my toes and up through my spine. I’ve never gotten off so fucking hard.
Best gift ever.
Dropping to her, I let my lips just barely miss hers. I’ve never been so tempted to kiss a girl as I am right now. The fact she’s scared and turned on is really messing with my head and my cock.
I refrain from the temptation and turn my head to the side instead of acting like an idiot who’s caught up in the moment.
“Ben isn’t your friend any longer,” I say against the pillow, feeling her stiffen beneath me. “Death Dealers don’t play with Hell Breathers. Or any other clubs for that matter. You’ll learn the rules as you go, but that’s the number one rule.”
I lean up to see her lower lip trembling. She’d better not have feelings for him. That could put a bigger kink in this whole situation. But that’s something I need to explore. The more we know about her, the better.
She nods her agreement, and I pull out of her, watching as she winces from the loss of the connection and a breath of air hisses between her teeth. As I grab my pants, I toss her the clothes she just picked out. If she doesn’t put something on, I’m going to keep fucking her all day. And I’ve got a plan to put into action.
“Get dressed and meet me downstairs in twenty minutes,” I tell her, watching her green eyes go wide.
I chuckle lightly while pulling on my jeans, bypassing my boxers just to drive her a little crazier.
“You can’t stay up here all the time.”
She swallows hard but nods. She’s almost being too compliant. That only makes me more suspicious of her.
“Twenty minutes. Not a minute before or a minute after.”
That’s demanding enough for her to argue the complexity of such a request. But instead, she looks at the clock and nods again.
Biting back the questions I’d like to ask, I turn and head out the door. If I ask too much too soon, I won’t find out a damn thing. I wish Pop would just let me blow Benny and his club all to hell. Then I could save myself from this very elaborate game.
Chapter 11
DREX
“Financial shit checks out,” Axle says as he walks in.
I glance up to the top of the stairs. It won’t be long until she comes down. Right now it’s just me and the top five. The other girls will be back shortly, since I sent them to go grab food while we talked.
“So her family suddenly inherited a bit of cash from the Hell Breathers?”
“Half a million,” he answers, and Sledge whistles low and loud.
“Thought we were the only ones hauling in enough cash to drop that much on something as pointless as this,” Sledge says while shaking his head.
Benny is apparently making more money than we thought if he can spend half a mill on a gift for us.
“No way this girl doesn’t have strings. I say we cut her loose now and deal with Benny,” Dash says, running a hand over the spiky blue tips of his short fauxhawk.
“Not happening. Pop doesn’t want to start a war. We could lose some of our allies, and we might gain more enemies. He wants proof Benny is up to something, so that when we start a war, no one thinks it’s a power struggle. It has to look like vengeance to keep anyone from getting antsy.”
They all nod, agreeing. Too many clubs would likely come after us if they thought we targeted Benny’s club and then obligated his crew to fight back. They’d be worried they were next, so that would mean Benny would be rew
arded with more allies, and we’d gather more enemies.
Maybe that’s his game.
Not to mention all the damn street gangs that are in the outlying bigger cities who would get worried about us trying to take over and kill for power. The drug and gun trade is more lucrative than ever, but it’s also more dangerous than ever.
“So we keep the girl and find out what Benny is up to?” Mack asks, leaning forward.
I don’t like the look he’s giving the door to my room. He’s usually at Pop’s place, not here. He tends to forget to show me respect.
“We don’t keep the girl. I keep the girl. No one else is to touch her.”
He scowls as I check my watch. Just a few more minutes. We have to get this wrapped up before she comes down.
“Hurry up and run through the worry list. Just like with all the girls that come over or work for us, we only talk legit shit in front of her.”
They all nod in agreement, and Snake leans forward. “We got ten of the cars done today. Harrison is coming by to take a look tomorrow. He’ll bring the other half of the payment. Should we be worried about doing this with the Feds hanging around?”
I shake my head, propping my elbows up on my knees. “We’re only using a couple of kilos for the demonstration. We can flush that quickly with no problem. If the feds try coming in, they won’t find our basement garage. Besides, they don’t have shit for a warrant or they would have already come in.”
They nod, and I continue.
“We’ll use the new underground passage to get our clients through to the tip of the city. They’re driving in with blacked-out tint, so no one will know how many men came in. As for the nosy Feds, they’ll see the same number of cars leaving that came in.”
Sledge chuckles to himself while nodding. “Pretty fucking brilliant. Can’t help but love your mind. Herrin’s gonna be proud of that passage idea.”
I just smirk. Pop knows about the passage but he doesn’t know where it goes. This is my place and my business. He just reaps a chunk of the rewards. Axle speaks up, drawing me out of my thoughts.
“The strip club had Feds in it today. Liza watched them. One of them paid Jasmine over three-hundred dollars in lap dances to question her. She never gave them anything but the run-around. Finally, Liza told them they’d reached the limit, and the other guy sat down and started flaunting cash, saying he hadn’t gotten a dance yet. These guys are ballsy. I’ll give them that. Why didn’t your FBI informant warn you about them doing this shit?”
“A new set of guys were put on us and the Hell Breathers,” I grumble. “My informant is having to work twice as hard to catch tips now. It’ll take him a while to work his way in. I just found out this morning, since it’s a little hard for him to make regular calls to me.”
“Shit,” Sledge growls, running a hand over his bald head. “That puts a wrinkle in our comfort.”
“No shit,” Dash says through a sigh.
The front door opens, and Colleen and Sarah walk in with Liza right behind them. The guys all turn and whistle, pretending as though we’re not having a serious discussion. The girls never know. Can’t know. Only our immediate circle has the details.
Not that the girls are stupid and haven’t figured out some things. But they’ll never know the full extent of our operations.
“Two familiar suits are outside, sitting on top of their car and trying to intimidate us as we walk in or out,” Liza says, bringing in several pizza boxes.
Sledge tilts his head, and we share a grin.
“Should we invite in our company?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest as he reads my mind.
“Have you lost your minds?” Colleen asks, walking over to the table in front of us and spreading out plates.
“Axle, go make sure the basement is locked,” I say, my smirk matching Sledge’s. “Sarah, go invite in our new guests.”
She shakes her head while sighing, but goes to do as I’ve asked.
“Why?” Colleen asks.
“Because they need to know we’re not affected by them. Otherwise, they’re just going to keep getting bolder.”
She drops to a chair beside Axle, looking comfortable enough. She trusts us enough to know we know what we’re doing. Besides, they have no idea what’s going on outside of the legitimate businesses, even though they know we’re anything but legit.
“Fellas, we have company,” Sarah says in a singsong voice, teasing the two cocky sons of bitches following behind her as she sways her hips in her very short skirt.
I stay relaxed in my chair, watching as they join us in the massive room. There are four doors in here, all of them leading to various parts of the warehouse. Some hidden, some not. Their eyes immediately glance at the other three entry points, sizing up the room like good little cops.
“Gentlemen,” I say all too casually as Colleen puts a slice of pizza on my plate, “how the hell can we help you? You boys seem mighty interested in my businesses.”
As long as we all show them how relaxed we are in their presence, they’ll start sweating. It’ll put them on edge, and they’ll lose that smug sense of superiority they have right now.
“Drex Caine, I presume?” the douche on the right asks.
“Apparently you guys are a little more interested in me than I am you, considering I have no idea what your names are.”
They both shift uncomfortably as I slowly break through the wall of confidence they thought to be impenetrable. Then I feel someone behind me, and I tense. How the fuck did I forget?
“Well, hello,” Sarah says, grinning wickedly at the girl behind me, who came down at the exact time I told her. Only she won’t look as calm and collected as the rest of us. She’ll draw attention to herself and this situation we never should have agreed to.
“Hi,” Eve says uncomfortably, her voice almost too quiet to be a whisper.
Both feds look at her, and then they exchange a look of intrigue. Shit.
“Come here, baby,” I say smoothly, scooting my chair back for her to join me on my lap. It’ll go better if they think she’s my girl instead of my toy. The VP’s old lady has to be the most loyal to the club—or so they’ll think.
Chapter 12
EVE
I’m so damn nervous, and everyone in here is looking at me. The two men in suits are showing far too much interest in me. And Drex is talking a little too sweet.
I sit down on his lap when he motions for me to do so, but I feel too on display to get comfortable. Sledge eyes Drex, whose face I can’t see, and I feel like I’m stuck in the middle of a private conversation.
“I’m afraid I don’t know your name,” one of the guys in a suit says.
“Don’t make it too easy on them, baby,” Drex says while running a hand down my back, settling it on my hip as I shift in his lap.
His grip tightens, and he tugs me backward a little. To sit the way he wants me to, I’m forced to throw an arm around his shoulders and angle my body.
I don’t speak a word to the two men who don’t belong in here. They have to be cops. But why would Drex let them in?
“What’s the matter, boys?” Sledge drawls, looking at the men with a taunting gaze, even though his expression was drastically different when he exchanged a look with Drex. “Not used to seeing a pretty girl in someone’s lap? I heard you boys paid a lot of money for that. Jealous he’s getting it for free?”
I swallow hard when I start feeling like a science project everyone wants to study.
Drex’s lips on my neck startle me slightly, but I don’t react as though I’m surprised. A devil like him shouldn’t have lips so soft. It’s actually another reason for me to hate him.
When he nips at my ear, I almost moan, inwardly cursing myself for my body’s response to his touch. “You need to relax right now,” he whispers, making sure to escape the ears of the men on the far end of the table from us. “Pretend as though this is a common thing between you and me.”
I don’t answer, but I do—b
y some miracle—manage to relax. When I turn my head, our lips brush, and his breath catches in his throat. I hate myself for wanting to feel his lips, but he’s now screwed me twice and still hasn’t kissed me. In my mind, I might can find a way to embrace the madness if he gives me some semblance of normalcy. And I’ve got to find a way to cope if I’m going to last.
If we continue on this fast-paced wild ride, I’m going to be insane by the end of the week. It’ll all catch up to me at once, and I dread it.
Our eyes are locked, and everything gets intense. My skin tingles for all the wrong reasons, and the fear I need inside me is slowly fading and making way for other feelings I’m not prepared to face.
“You boys want to ask some questions, or were you just wanting to stand around and watch Drex and his old lady all night?” Sledge asks, and Drex smirks while redirecting his attention to the men in suits.
I keep my casual placement in his lap, but I manage to turn my eyes back to the men as well. Drex’s hand moves up my shirt, finding the skin of my stomach, as both of the men watch.
“No questions, gentlemen?” Drex drawls, taunting them.
The one on the right finally clears his throat while Drex’s hand goes higher, and my shirt creeps up just a little. When he brushes his hand on the underside of my bra, my hand on his shoulder grips tighter.
“The word around town is you’re buying up numerous businesses and properties,” the man says, his eyes drifting to where Drex’s hand keeps getting higher.
He dips a finger into my bra, teasing my nipple, and I feel the flush on my face. This is so humiliating, but I do my best to play my part. The last thing I need is for him to be pissed at me.
“And?” Drex prompts. “Since when do the FBI care about what businesses a person buys?”
His lips go to my neck while he plays the bored, careless man I know he’s not. He’s cold and calculated. Something tells me he’s also a killer, considering the warning he gave me earlier.
“It always raises suspicion when someone buys up as much property as you have. Care if we take a look around?”
