by C. M. Owens
Drex is staring at me, and I remember I’m supposed to be explaining yet another hidden family member he was unaware of.
“My uncle is my dad’s brother, and they’ve hated each other for years. He went to law school, and my dad was constantly bailing him out of financial jams, thanks to all those student loans he was struggling to pay back. Then, when my uncle’s law degree finally started paying off, he refused to pay my father back the money he owed. Dad was working a lot and so was Mom. They had four kids and it wasn’t easy as an accountant—not a major one either—and a waitress to make ends meet. I was too young to work at the time. Dad and Uncle Marshall had a major falling out about the money he owed Dad. After that, Dad said he was done with him.”
He slides his hand up my leg then back down, as though he’s trying to keep me relaxed.
“After Dad died, Mom asked Uncle Marshall for help. He told her to put me to work—I was already working. He didn’t even come to my sister’s funeral back when she died. Her death was when finances really got tight at home because of all the medical bills and funeral costs. Uncle Marshall came to Dad’s funeral, but he didn’t stick around. I’m not even sure why he showed up.”
“His loss,” Drex says softly. “I’m glad he didn’t bail you out. This way, I got to have you.”
That might as well be Shakespearian poetry coming from Drex Caine.
He kisses me again, and I smile, making it harder for him to keep kissing me.
“I think I promised to kiss every inch of you,” he murmurs against my lips. “How about we skip to that part?”
He runs his finger up from my hip, over my stomach, between my breasts, and then toys with my neck. His lips move down, and he follows the path of his finger in reverse, starting with my neck, and working his way down to my right hip, flicking his tongue, kissing a path, and nibbling lightly.
“I like that idea,” I moan—yes, it’s spoken through a moan. My body seems to be so attuned to him that it becomes pliant in his hands under the simplest of touches.
He reverently kisses his way back up, dragging his lips across my flesh in slow, unhurried motions. It almost feels wrong to enjoy something so much from someone I should fear.
But there’s not a trace of rational thinking when it comes to him. It’s freeing and seductive in its own right.
His lips trail over one nipple before his tongue flicks across the pebbled surface, stealing all my thoughts. He abandons it before I’m even truly teased and moves to the other one, showing it more attention when he sucks it into his mouth.
I shiver against him, and a growl emanates from his chest in response. When my hands go to his hair, his motions get a little rougher, losing the sweetness he had seconds ago.
And I love it.
He bites down just hard enough, sending a shot of painful pleasure that I can feel all the way down to my toes. When I whimper, he returns to the other side, showing it the same rough affection.
I’m in sensation overload by the time he starts moving back down my body. Just the heat of his breath licking across my skin is enough to have me aching, needing him closer.
He spreads my thighs wider before propping my legs over his shoulders, and I barely manage to lift my head enough to watch. It’s so damn erotic to see him catch my eyes before his lips fasten around my clit, sucking hard while flicking his tongue across it at the same time.
He doesn’t tease; he goes for the kill. I try to move, squirming reflexively, but he pins me down with very little effort, keeping my hips from moving.
Whimpers, cries, moans… all of it combines, creating unintelligible sounds that flow from my mouth in an endless stream. It only fuels him, and he aggressively devours me, owning me like only he can.
Pleasure that almost hurts starts to unfurl in the pit of my stomach. My toes literally curl, digging into the flesh on his back. My body jerks as wave after wave of euphoria crashes over me, hitting me so hard that I can’t stop the scream that bubbles out.
In one swift move, his mouth is on mine, and he’s surging inside me, driving into me hard enough to force me up higher on the bed. His lips seal against mine, swallowing the sounds escaping, and his hips continue their hard, but slow thrusts.
It’s so different than it has been. I love kissing him, feeling that connection. It feels good; it feels right. His thrusts turn into a rocking motion, gentling as he sucks my bottom lip into his mouth and tugs it with his teeth.
Then our eyes meet as he releases my lip, and the intensity of his gaze sears deep inside me. It only seems to make each touch better, stronger… as though it means so much more than it has.
My hands go to his hair as a sheen of sweat gathers over our bodies, but he continues the slow, tormenting pace. His lips come down on mine, and he kisses me almost lazily.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was Drex Caine’s version of making love to me.
His fingers entwine with mine, and he lifts my hands above my head until they’re flat against the pillow. His body moves against mine, skin against skin, and his slow thrusts continue hitting deeply inside me.
Time gets lost to sensation, and I struggle to get my hands free, wanting to hold him to me. He finally releases them, and my arms go around his neck as he grips my hips, using the leverage he finds to drive in even deeper.
“You’re mine,” he whispers across my lips. “Remember that.”
It almost sounds like a plea, but I’m not sure why. His thrusts start to get a little more aggressive, and my body arches into his, as that same, incredible, intense feeling begins to form again.
My back stiffens, and my legs clamp down harder as euphoria explodes through my body, almost shattering every ounce of strength I have. Drex groans into my mouth, still kissing me, still holding me, and still making me feel like I’m all that matters in this moment.
That sexy growl sound he makes sends shivers all down me as he thrusts in really hard one last time, and collapses to my body, almost crushing me.
He curses before flipping to his side, dragging me with him, and staying inside me. I just relax on top of him, unable to move.
“That was intense,” he says, breathing hard.
A smile spreads across my lips, but I nod instead of attempting to form words.
He runs his fingers through my hair until I almost fall asleep, but I wake up when he slides out of me and remember that I have to clean up.
“We should probably make you a doctor’s appointment,” he says as I stand and sway toward the bathroom.
That makes me tense.
“Why?”
“Because I haven’t seen you pop a pill since you got here, and I haven’t worn a condom.”
I relax a little.
“I’m on the shot. I have a standing appointment. Which is… soon-ish.”
He lets his eyes rake over my body in a way that tells me we’re not finished for the day. Which is fine by me.
“Then hurry up and get back so I can take full advantage,” he says with a sexy gravel sound to his voice.
As I slip into the bathroom, a leery feeling sinks in.
“What if those FBI guys follow me and try to question me without anyone around?” I call out from the bathroom while cleaning myself up.
After finishing, I look in the mirror at the girl staring back at me and half wonder what I’ll find if I look close enough. It’s a little worrisome that the girl staring back at me looks torn between happy and afraid.
Not afraid of Drex though. I’m still trying to figure out if that’s stupid or good.
“If they approach you, call one of the guys immediately and don’t say anything until someone gets there. But it seems like they’ve moved their full concentration to Pop.”
That isn’t giving me the peace it should.
“What if your guys don’t believe I’ve kept my mouth shut when they get there?”
Silence answers me, and dread starts to creep in until suddenly a pair of blue eyes meet mine in the
mirror and two arms come around my waist.
Drex stands behind me, holding me to him, and keeping his eyes locked on mine through the reflection.
“No one knows that you know anything besides me. I’d never let anyone touch you.”
I want to point out that he didn’t have a say the two times someone has touched me. First the muscled-up baboon, which is a memory I don’t want to deal with. Then Dash was ready to carve me up and feed me to the fishes.
Wait… That’s the mob’s thing. Not a motorcycle club.
Shaking my head from my thoughts, I slide my hands over his, leaning back against him.
“And to think I was going to teach Math.”
His eyebrows go up at my random shift in conversation.
“What?”
“I was going to college to get my teaching degree just last year. Now I’m standing naked in your bathroom and calmly discussing how to deal with not getting myself killed over a misunderstanding or lack of trust.”
He grimaces, and I turn in his arms. One of his hands comes up and cups my cheek, and I stare into his eyes.
“Where do you want to be?” he asks me, even though I can see the hesitance in his eyes to receive the answer.
I’d never have thought I’d want to be here. But after running away from all this… I didn’t feel anything but lost. Maybe because it was so short-lived, but I wanted to be back with Drex. Which sounds insane even in my head.
This… This is all crazy and dangerous and possibly even suicidal. But the edge of fear is also exciting and intense. I feel something every day instead of going through the motions. Each moment seems important. Each second ticks by slower. I’m no longer rushing through the day to get to the next day so I can start living my life.
Right now, I’m just living. It’s better than just surviving.
I wasn’t happy in my life, but I was doing what I thought I was supposed to. I was following the path laid out for me by my father. I was trying to make everyone happy by being the perfect daughter. The perfect sister. The perfect girl.
“I want to be here,” I whisper. “With you.”
His sexy smile slowly curves up, and he tugs me to him.
“Good. Because I don’t want to let you go.”
The way he words it makes me feel as though he would have let me go if I had just asked him to. It means something when he kisses me this time, as though he’s speaking without words, showing me appreciation and gratitude.
My fingers thread through his hair, pulling him closer, and I don’t protest when he lifts me onto the sink’s ledge.
My legs wrap around his waist, and he continues kissing me for so long that I lose track of time. I could get used to this life as long as I can detach myself from his reality.
I think.
Hopefully.
Because I don’t want to let him go.
Chapter 6
DREX
Following her feels wrong. Not telling her what I’m doing feels shitty. Lying to her is the fucking worst.
But Eve sucks ass at acting, and Pop has some of his guys who will be watching her, even though he said he trusted me to have my guys do it. I now know Pop doesn’t care to lie to me.
And here I am fucking doing the same thing to her.
Fuck my fucking life right now.
Eve is driving a BMW toward town, and I’m riding toward the end of the long row of Harleys behind her. I kissed her goodbye this morning, watched as she smiled, excited about going shopping just because she was getting out of the damn warehouse.
My life involves a lot of security measures. My life involves a lot of sacrifices to the normal person. Sacrifices I never realized I was having to make. Sacrifices I still don’t care to make.
But Eve having to make those same sacrifices…
Axle and I waited until she and the others had a head start, then we loaded up and drove like hell to catch up… So I could spy on my fucking girl who trusts me.
As we enter town, people turn their heads, watching us with just enough fear. Axle and I are in street clothes to attempt to blend in while we follow my girl from a safe distance. The others are in their cuts though, and everyone knows who they are.
Eve pulls over to a curb, and like the good girl she is, she immediately feeds money into the meter. Axle pulls off to the side, and I follow suit. I keep my helmet on until Eve disappears into a store, then I turn my back on the store and tug my helmet off.
Two of our guys lounge on their bikes, ready to watch all the rides to ensure no one tampers with them, while the rest of us walk off to do our own thing.
Axle doesn’t say much, and we silently watch Eve through the glass while she grabs a few things from the weird store full of bad girl clothing. She was wearing prissy sweaters and elegant camisoles when she came to me. Her bag was full of that shit.
It’s one more thing I’ve stolen from her.
“Why do you look so guilty right now?” Axle asks as Eve walks out, not even looking around to see me stalking her.
I don’t answer. Instead, I motion with my head for him to start walking as we stay across the street and follow her. There’s enough traffic on the sidewalks to keep us from standing out too noticeably, but she’d sure as hell notice me if she looked back.
She’s not like me though. She’s not looking around for someone to be following her or checking over her shoulder for threats. She’s innocent. Naïve. Blissfully unaware of all the shit that comes with being a criminal.
She’s a good girl. And I’m the devil who stole her from grace.
After walking in silence for so long, Axle blows out a breath.
“Are you going to tell me why it looks like you’ve had the hell beat out of you?” he asks me.
Eve is laughing with the woman behind the sales counter as she hands her cash. She was worried no one would take my card since it didn’t have her name on it, and she only took the money because I told her she had to. It’s not like I’ve given her a chance to make her own money.
She looks carefree and all smiles. My eyes move around at all the other people living their lives without looking over their shoulders. I don’t fit in with those people. I don’t even want to fit in with them. But Eve looks at ease amongst them as she walks out, loaded down now with four bags.
“Damn it, Drex,” Axle growls.
“She wanted to be a school teacher,” I tell him quietly, watching as she eyes a diner, licks her lips, and heads in.
Axle and I sit down on a bench, staying across the street and adjacent to the diner she just went in. He blows out a breath while taking in what I just said.
“And she can’t be a school teacher and be with you. Your position is too dangerous for her to be so exposed.”
I nod slowly, watching her as she sits down and pushes her bags in on the other side of the booth. She beams up at the waitress who comes to take her order, and something squeezes inside my gut.
“She can’t be anything outside the club if she’s with me. She’d have to give up her entire life and dreams. If I was just a low-level nobody within the outfit, she could be any-fucking-thing she wanted.”
“She set fire to her dreams and future when she signed herself over,” he points out.
“She did that for her family. Not because she wanted to.”
I heave out a heavy breath and run my hand through my hair. Eve looks out the window, but she can’t see me from this angle well enough to know it’s me without actually knowing it’s me.
She just seems to be taking in all the sights around her, not studying them for potential threats. My life is bars, strip clubs, and lots of business with shady fuckers from all over. Her life is camisoles and daisy picking.
It’s easy to forget all that when she’s submerged in my world with nothing else around. It’s hard to ignore it when I get to watch her from afar in her own element with all the other innocent people.
Dash appears in front of us, wearing his own set of street clothes, and he
leans against a pole while pocketing his hands.
“What’re you doing here?” Axle asks him.
“Figured I’d lend a hand in case Benny tries something.”
I don’t speak to him. It’s not hard to figure out that I’m still royally pissed. He finally addresses it.
“I’m sorry, D. How many times are you going to make me say it?”
My eyes tear away from my girl to narrow on him. “You shouldn’t have to be apologizing. You’re supposed to have my back. Not Pop’s. If I’m unconscious, you don’t fucking threaten my girl; you take care of her. That’s how it’s supposed to work. She was fucking scared enough; she had miraculously survived my house getting sprung full of fucking bullet holes; and she risked her life to try and keep me safe. Then you threaten her?”
My jaw grinds and my fists start to ache from their tight squeeze. He looks away, moving his eyes toward the window.
“I do have your back, brother. That’s what I thought I was doing. I didn’t know I was getting played.”
I open my mouth to retort to that, but a breath hisses out of Axle’s lips before he mutters a curse. My eyes dart back to the window just in time to see a familiar face hugging my girl.
“Whatever you do, don’t shoot him in public,” Dash says, grimacing when Ben Highland—Benny’s bastard son—kisses my girl’s forehead.
Axle is jerking me back down to the bench before I even realize I’ve stood up.
“Let’s watch how this plays out,” he says quietly, almost regretfully.
My stomach is in knots, but I do sit down. They’re just friends.
It doesn’t stop me from remembering Ben was her first and only before me. It also doesn’t make me feel less murderous when he sits down beside her in the booth and tosses his arm around her shoulders.
“I hope there’s a damn good reason for this coincidence,” Dash says tightly. “Herrin isn’t going to like this one bit.”
“Take my gun,” I tell Axle, ignoring Dash’s comment as my focus zeroes in on how close Ben is to my girl, “before I do something stupid.”
