Merciless King (Lawless Kings, #5)

by Sherilee Gray

  It was dark before I decided it was time to take her to her bed. I stood as carefully as I could and was halfway down the hall with her when she blinked up at me. “You’re carrying me?” she said sleepily.

  “Yeah, babe.”

  “Why?” she said, voice husky and sexy as fuck and too sleepy to remember to freak out at my nearness.

  “Taking you to your bed.”

  She froze then, becoming more alert.

  “Easy,” I said. “I’m just taking you to your room then I’m going to mine.”

  Her eyes locked onto mine for the second time that day, and I felt her start to tremble. “I don’t…I don’t want to be alone, Van. Will you stay with me?”

  She’d had another shock today, another blow. Her request was innocent. The woman wanted company, nothing more, but if she was sleeping with me, it was in my bed. So I carried her to my room and lowered her onto my bed. Her head twisted this way and that, taking in my room, looking kinda confused.

  Even though her stuff was in the next room, I grabbed one of my shirts from a drawer and tossed it to her. “You can wear that. Bathroom’s through there if you need it. I’m gonna make sure everything’s locked up.”

  I made sure the alarm was set and switched off the lights, and fucked around a little while out in the living room to give her time to change. And to get my shit together. Knowing that London was sliding between my sheets had my neurons firing to life, putting two and two together and coming up with fucking twelve.

  How many times had I thought about this woman in my bed? Too many.

  But London was there for comfort, for protection. I knew it. My dick, on the other hand, was having a hard time understanding the concept.

  When I walked back into the bedroom, London was under the covers. Yeah, fuck, I liked that. I liked seeing her in my bed a whole fucking lot. She didn’t look up as I walked in, had her eyes shut. She wasn’t asleep, though. I could tell by the way she was breathing.

  I hit the bathroom and had a quick shower, somehow ignoring my iron-hard cock. Jerking it with her in the next room would not be a good move on my part, I knew that much. I usually slept naked, but I tugged on the boxer briefs I’d taken in with me and hoped she didn’t decide to open her eyes when I walked back in. The woman had enough to deal with. Having me walk toward her with the mother of all hard-ons would not help anyone.

  I made it to the bed without her copping an eyeful and slid between the sheets, keeping some space between us. Sleep wasn’t what I wanted right then. I was in pain I was so hard and hungry for the female beside me. I’d never slept with a woman, not like this—just slept. I’d never had a woman in my bed before, either. When I wanted a woman, I made sure all parties knew the score, that we wanted the same thing. We fucked, we both got off, and I left. This was all new to me.

  She wasn’t touching me, but I was sure I could feel heat radiating from her body. The gnawing grip of hunger grew stronger, the feeling of rightness having her there in my place, in my bed, was more than I knew what to do with. This was dangerous, having her with me like this, because my obsession with her had not dimmed or waned over the last two years.

  I wanted her still, in every way.

  I wanted to possess her.

  Make her mine.

  Never let her go.

  What was it about this woman? How was it that every part of her called to every part of me? Because that’s how it felt.

  And just when I thought I couldn’t take another moment, she moved. Without a word, she rolled toward me and closed the space between us, curling into my side. She didn’t put her hands on me, just pressed her body against me like she was desperate for human contact. My own needs dissolved, flew out the window.

  “Come here,” I said and pulled her closer.

  She made a soft sound. A sob.

  I thought I’d had a problem five fucking minutes ago. That sound, yeah, something shifted inside me and whatever I thought I felt for her before looked like a speck in the distance compared to the vast expanse of what I had going on inside me now.

  She had her hands tucked into herself and I reached down, took one, and draped her arm over my stomach, enfolding her in my arms. She lay with me, body shaking as she cried silently.

  I woke two hours later to London clawing at me, screaming. Christ, the terror in her voice shredded me. I wrapped her in my arms, holding her, talking to her the whole time. Letting her know again that she was safe. That she wasn’t alone. That I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. And I’d keep saying it until it sunk in.

  Eventually, she stopped shaking and crying.

  I kept my arms around her, holding on tight for the rest of the night.

  No fucking way was I letting her go.

  I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall in Neco’s office. The guy was our resident tech expert. He knew his shit. And he’d easily gained access to CCTV footage outside London’s apartment and her store. Which meant we now knew he guy who delivered the pizza to her was the same guy who terrorized her in her store.

  And we’d managed to ID the fucker.

  I wanted to be the one to bring him in for several reasons, so I’d called in favors, put out some feelers of my own. It paid off. I didn’t know if the cops had gotten this far—Connor wasn’t in the sharing mood—but I was sure they had their hands full with a bunch of other cases. They always had their hands full.

  My one and only priority was London.

  I hated leaving her, even for a little while. She’d told me she wasn’t overly comfortable around men, and I sure as hell hadn’t forgotten, which was why I’d assigned Ruby to her during the day. Ruby was observant, skilled, and lethal as hell. London was in excellent hands.

  Still, I worried.

  That was all I’d been doing the last few days—and nights. She’d slept in my bed with me the last three, and fuck knew how it’d happened.

  Bullshit. You know exactly how it happened.

  Yeah, I wanted her there, wanted to be there for her, so I made damn sure that’s where she ended up each night. She hadn’t argued when I’d taken her hand and directed her to my room when she was on the way to hers the second night, or the one after when I’d stood at my open door, blocking the hall, and motioned her in.

  She hadn’t mentioned her nightmares, but the second night had been the same as the first. And I’d held her through it again. Last night she’d managed a full night without waking. She’d probably exhausted herself.

  I was an asshole for liking her there with me. But having her in my bed, curled against me, was addictive. Her soft, full curves, the heat of her body, the full length of her pressed against me. God, her smooth legs, those lush thighs. I inwardly groaned. Last night, my shirt that she was still wearing to sleep in—another thing I’d made sure of—had ridden up and she’d ended up half on top of me, knee bent, pussy hot and only covered by thin cotton, flush against my stomach.

  I’d woken like that. Shit, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. My hand had been on her round ass, fingers curled in, holding her there, possessive as hell.

  Hungry.

  No, fucking ravenous for her.

  I’d reluctantly let her go and got the fuck away before she woke as well, before I did something I shouldn’t. Before I slid my hand down the back of her underwear, spread her thighs wider, and played with her hot pussy until she begged me to fuck her. I’d wanted that so bad I ached.

  Which was why I got the hell out. Shit, my cock had been so heavy and hard that shoving on my jeans and doing the fuckers up had been damn near agony.

  And the longer this guy was on the loose, the harder it was going to be to find him. And the harder it was going to be for me to resist making a move and taking things where I’d wanted to take them with London a long time ago.

  You’ll only hurt her.

  London deserved someone who could love her, hell, who believed in that kind of love. That man wasn’t me.

  Which was why I planned on keeping m
y hands to my damn self no matter how much I wanted different.

  Jesus. This wasn’t the time or place. I needed my head in the game.

  “Ready?” Zeke said beside me.

  I dipped my chin. Zeke and I had known each other since we were punk teenagers. We’d enlisted together, fought alongside one another, and now he worked at the agency.

  “Still don’t think you coming in is a good idea,” Jude said, frowning.

  I’d known Jude almost my whole life, which was exactly why he was worried about me coming along. He knew just what I was capable of. But no way was I sitting this out.

  I ignored him and we headed out in two cars, and I worked at keeping my shit tight as we headed across the city. Zeke wasn’t much of a talker, which was why I made sure I rode with him. I knew what I wanted to do when I caught this guy. But putting a bullet in his head wasn’t an option. So right then, getting a handle on the rage riding me was the priority.

  I had it somewhat under control when we entered the apartment building.

  The place was pretty nice. No rat-infested hideout. No squatting in a run-down dump. He wasn’t trying to hide at all by the looks. Terrence Ferida was a loans officer at LP Finance Corp, a video game enthusiast, and a violinist with a local orchestra. He enjoyed running and Italian food, and his Facebook relationship status was listed as “complicated.”

  That’s what happened when you were a psychotic freak.

  We moved in, Zeke taking the elevator while Jude and I took the stairs. Zeke was waiting by Ferida’s door when we hit the guy’s floor. I didn’t miss the way Jude strode ahead of me, trying to run interference—like anyone would stop me from beating the piece of shit who hurt and threatened London until he pissed his pants.

  I was about to give the signal to move in when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. I cursed when Daniels stepped out, two uniformed officers hot on his heels.

  “Away from the door, now,” Connor called, looking nearly as angry as I was.

  I stood my ground.

  Jude tried to intervene. “We were bringing him in.”

  Connor shook his head, eyes hard, still on me. “Yeah, well, I need the guy in one piece, or at least conscious for questioning.”

  My fingers curled and uncurled at my sides. I wanted the fucker behind this door in a bad way, and I sure as hell wanted to be the one to question him. I wanted my pound of flesh.

  “I think you’ve got a personal stake in this, Van,” Connor said. “Nothing good can come from you going in there. Not one damn thing.”

  I held his hard stare. “You telling me you don’t?”

  Connor’s lips curled up on one side, and he didn’t even bother to deny it.

  The guy wanted London. I’d picked up on it two years ago, and honestly, I thought he’d make his move after she recovered.

  Connor waved the uniformed officers forward, then his stare came back to me. “Stand back.”

  I did, reluctantly, still not one hundred percent sure I wouldn’t beat the asshole in the apartment in front of us anyway when he was dragged out.

  The boys in blue knocked then Connor all but took down the door.

  Ferida was in the bedroom, and they cuffed him and led him out of the apartment. I watched him move toward me, looking outraged.

  “What the hell is this all about?” Ferida said, red-faced and struggling against his cuffs.

  I wanted to tear his head from his shoulders.

  Zeke’s hand locked on my shoulder. I’d stepped toward the sick fucker and hadn’t even noticed. It would be so easy to pull my gun and blow the motherfucker’s head off. So damn easy.

  We followed them down and watched as they loaded Ferida into a car and took him away.

  With nothing left for us to do, Zeke and Jude went home to their women and kids a short time later, and I headed for my place, where London would be waiting since Ruby had given her a ride after work.

  I should stay the hell away.

  That thought was still bouncing around my skull as I parked my car in the underground parking garage and strode to the elevator. The bad guy was behind bars. London was safe. Which meant I had her in my place, in my bed, for one last night. No, nothing could or would happen, but I wanted to be near her for the time we had left.

  London

  Ruby—who I’d learned was engaged to a guy named Neco, a PI and a friend of Van’s who also worked at the King Agency—sat on the couch beside me. She was laughing at something Lulu had said. Lulu manned the reception desk at the agency and was married to Hunter, Van’s brother, and I’d briefly met her already. Sunny was Zeke’s wife, and she was bouncing their baby, Hope, on her knee while Josh, Lulu and Hunter’s son, lay on the floor, coloring. Opposite me sat Willa, Jude’s fiancée, and her niece, Tilly, who she was raising, sat beside her, sharing a bowl of chips with a heavily pregnant Steph. Steph was a friend of them all, but her husband Tomas didn’t work at the agency and I hadn’t quite worked out where he fitted in.

  These women were Ruby’s friends—wives, girlfriends, fiancées of the men at King Agency. I’d felt so out of my depth when they first arrived I wasn’t sure I’d said more than two words for the first hour. My anxiety had been intense, and I felt flustered, flushed, and awkward.

  I was sure they were judging me, sizing me up, that they’d find me wanting.

  But I was wrong.

  When Ruby drove me home, I’d assumed she’d leave. Instead, she’d organized an impromptu girls’ night. I’d never been to a girls’ night. I’d avoided anything that resembled a girls’ night. Not that I’d had much opportunity to take part in one before now.

  But they’d been so nice. They hadn’t overly focused on me, like they knew this wasn’t something I was used to. They asked questions, but nothing intrusive. They’d kept it light and easy, and before I knew what I was doing I was enjoying myself.

  How was that possible with everything going on in my life?

  I didn’t know, but I was happy for the break from all the fear and the unknown.

  “So, London,” Ruby said over the chatter. “What’s the deal with you and Van?”

  My hands went clammy immediately and I felt my face heat. I knew I had to be tomato red. “T-there’s nothing…I mean, I slept in his bed a few times because I was freaking out, but we’re not, we haven’t…”

  Ruby quickly reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. “I’m so sorry, London, I was just teasing, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

  “Ignore Ruby,” Lulu said. “The woman has her foot permanently lodged in her mouth. What you and Van get up to is your business.”

  I blushed harder. “We just slept…he’s a…a really good cuddler,” I added for some crazy, insane, unknown reason.

  Lulu’s grin turned wicked. “I say enjoy it. Van’s a hottie.”

  “Ew!” Ruby squawked. “That’s your brother-in-law you’re talking about.”

  “Lulu didn’t say she wanted to bone him,” Willa added. “Just because we have hotties of our own doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate others.”

  Sunny nodded and Steph high-fived her.

  “Um…” I said, because I was at a loss for words.

  Lulu started giggling and Willa, Sunny, and Steph joined in.

  Then I was giggling as well until we were all laughing our asses off.

  The door opened and Van strode in at that moment, pulling up short. He stood frozen for several moments, and the startled expression on his face was kind of comical.

  “Uh-oh,” Ruby said, still chuckling. “I think this is more estrogen than Van knows what to do with.”

  Van’s gaze slid to Ruby, and he smirked.

  It was sexy. So sexy I squirmed in my seat.

  “Dude, you look like you just came face-to-face with your own personal hell, and I have to tell you I’m kind of offended,” Willa said, and she did not look offended at all. The opposite in fact.

  Josh jumped to his feet and ran to him. “Uncle Van!”


  Van scooped him up without missing a beat. “Hey, buddy.”

  Josh asked for more juice, and Van carried him from the room. Lulu gave me a playful slap, and we all started giggling again until Van walked back in, Josh with his juice cup topped-up and him with a beer.

  His eyes slid to me and he came straight for me.

  My heart did a thumpy, fluttery thing as he got closer. Josh started squirming so he put him down. Then he was right in front of me. The others in the room had gone suspiciously quiet.

  He leaned in, hand going to the side of my neck, mouth going to my ear. “Okay?” he asked low, I guessed so only I’d hear him, but right then you could have heard a pin drop.

  I nodded and Van straightened, fingers trailing over my skin, catching my hair and running it through his fingers before he released me and carried on down the hall to his room. He shut the door after him, leaving us to it.

  The girls thankfully did not comment on this, but there were a lot of knowing looks. I wished so badly that those looks were right.

  They stayed for another hour, talking and laughing. We all exchanged numbers, and Lulu said she’d text later in the week. Then they cleared everything away, Sunny, Willa, and Lulu bundled up their kids, and they all left.

  I sat there for several moments, not sure what to do. The last few nights I’d slept in Van’s bed, but he hadn’t already been in it. He’d assumed that’s where I’d sleep, and I’d been more than happy to go with that assumption.

  Now he was in his room with his door shut. Maybe he didn’t want me in there tonight? I wasn’t sure I could just go on in there like that was where I belonged. I mean, I didn’t need to be in there. I was okay…well, I wasn’t okay, but I wasn’t on the verge of a breakdown like I had been the first night I slept in his bed.

  No, this was a good thing.

  I shouldn’t have been sleeping with him anyway.