Worthy of You: Book One in The Haze Nightclub Series

by Kandee Reyna

  “I’m fine. Better than I deserve, I’m sorry about last night. That’s not usually how I end my nights. Thank you for texting my friends,” I finally manage but leave out the fact that he put his phone number in my phone for me. And that I changed his name. “Your house is beautiful…” Your house is beautiful!? Ha, Lord help me. There’s a pregnant pause, small talk seems stupid right now. I figure I may as well get to the point.

  “What’s my name?” What? Is this some cocky ‘call me daddy shit?’ “In your phone, Renee.” He smiles like he read my mind.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know.” I smile back playfully.

  “I would.” He says, taking a step closer, but my words stop him in his tracks.

  “Why am I here, Lo?” No sense in delaying the inevitable.

  He blinks a few times. I seem to have caught him off guard with my blatant question. He surprises me by pulling my body flush to his, and I hold my coffee at arms length, out to the side to prevent it from drenching both of us with the warm liquid that sloshes over the top. We’re pressed together, and he lowers his lips to my ear, grabbing my earlobe with his teeth, nipping it enough to sting and then soothing it with a swipe of his tongue. I gasp audibly at the sting and he whispers in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “Because you’re mine, and I want you here.”

  Chapter Fifteen: Lo

  She wants to talk. I know she does, and she caught me off guard by getting right to the point and asking why I brought her back to my place. It surprised the shit out of me that she was still here when I got back. I left around seven this morning and stopped at Target to pick up some clothes for her and some breakfast foods. She was still out cold when I came back so I left the stuff for her and texted that I’d be back after I dealt with this strip club ordeal. This new gang of Russian mobsters that has popped up in the last few years is turning out to be a bigger problem than I originally thought. I’ve met with their main man many times trying to smooth over potential problems. He wants to buy, or rent, my shit and I refuse. At first, he was cool with it, would laugh it off and tell me I’d change my mind when I saw he was “good people,” But the truth is the more I see of him, the more I’m glad I’ve stuck to my fucking guns. He’s a gangster, nothing more. He’s not good people, doesn’t hang with good people, and doesn’t give a fuck about good people. I want him and his crew as far away from me as possible, but every time I turn around they’re back. I can tell he’s getting antsy. He wants the strip clubs badly, and I’ve turned him down more times than his big head can handle, fucking prick. I guess he’s done trying to prove he’s “good people” and is moving on to not giving a fuck if he shows his true colors. I already knew anyway, so joke’s on him. My businesses are above the board, but that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to get my hands dirty to get rid of a threat.

  Right now, I just want to forget about all the bullshit and focus on Renee. Being close to her affects me more than any other woman ever has, and I know I affect her too. I pull back and look in her eyes, they’re dilated and her breath hitches in her chest when I tell her I want her here because she’s mine. I have no fucking idea what I’m doing claiming her. I don’t do relationships. The only thing I do know about them is that I don’t know how to be in one. However, for Renee, I’m willing to try. Right now, though, I need to be inside of her. My words have caught her off guard, so I take advantage of the moment and capture her open mouth with mine. I push my tongue past her lips, and explore her unique taste mingling with mint and coffee. She kisses me back, matching my pace, and soon I’m having trouble reigning in my hunger. I move one of my hands from her waist to her hair, pulling back and giving myself better access to her mouth. Opening her wider I kiss her deep, like I’m a dying man and she’s the antidote. A loud crash breaks the kiss and I immediately drop my hands, reach behind me, and draw my gun from my waistband, pointing it to the door.

  “Shit!” Her voice is rough and full of need. Max comes barreling down the stairs and I lower my gun, realizing no one is in the house. I turn to look at Renee and it registers that my shoes and pants are wet. She’s leaning against the counter with a look of shock on her face that quickly morphs to a smile. “Oops.” She shrugs her shoulders looking down at the floor. The white flooring is now painted with coffee and pieces of what was once a coffee mug. “I guess I got a little distracted.” Her eyes flick to my gun, “You can put your gun away, Gangster.” She smirks.

  I look at Max and wave him off. His body shakes with laughter, but he goes back up without a word. I train my eyes back on Renee. She’s biting her lip and studying me, waiting to see what my next move will be. “Oh, baby. That was nothing. We’ll clean this up later.” I push the gun back into my waistband and wrap my hands around her thighs, lifting her up. She wraps her legs around my back, threading her hands in my hair and dropping her mouth to mine again. Pulling my bottom lip into her mouth she suckles it lightly and then bites down hard, mimicking the bite I gave her ear just a few minutes ago. A low growl rumbles from my chest and I take long strides out of the kitchen and then down the hall, pushing open the door to my room, eating up the space between the door and the bed. I toss her roughly and she bounces high. She looks tiny on my bed, and the down comforter swallows her body as she sinks in. Her eyes are full of fire, and her breaths are coming in short spurts through her plump lips. I rip my shirt off and get out of my shoes and pants at record speed, setting my gun on the bedside table. Climbing on the bed, I cover my body with hers, slamming my mouth back on to hers, swallowing the moan that escapes her lips as she runs her hands up my sides and then around to my dick. Her dress is pooled at her hips, so I lift it up and over her head in one quick motion, and then she’s on her back underneath me again and fuck me if she doesn’t look sexy as sin in the new lingerie I bought her. I rake my eyes down her body and skim my hands across her exposed belly.

  “Lo, we’re supposed to be talking.” Her eyes are heavy and low, and her words are more of a whisper.

  “Later, I need you right now baby. Please.” I drop my lips back to hers.

  Chapter Sixteen: Renee

  He needs me!? He doesn’t play fair at all. My body is on fire as he places wet kisses in a line down my neck to my chest, swirling his tongue around one nipple, and then sucking it in his mouth. He bites down hard, and a whimper escapes my lips, my back bowing off the bed. He does the same to the other, eliciting the same response. I never knew pain went so well with pleasure. His kisses start to move down my stomach and he’s whispering against my skin between licks and sucks. “Fucking beautiful, baby. You’re so perfect. You’re mine, Angel. Mine.” His words alone are almost enough to make me come, and I feel my body racing to the edge of ecstasy. I’ll give him this, I’ll give him the chance to lose himself in me, because even if our talk has me walking out that door and never coming back, at least I’ll get one more chance to enjoy the best sex I’ve ever had. I ignore the pang that radiates through me as I think of never seeing Lo again and get lost in the way his tongue has made it to my slick folds.

  “Angel.” His voice calls me out of sleep. I’m lying naked wrapped in Lo’s arms. The light streaming in through the windows is harsher than morning light and I know that it’s at least mid-afternoon. We still haven’t talked. He fucked me until I came more times than I could count, and then we fell asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.

  His trail of light kisses continues down the side of my face and neck, and he presses a firmer kiss to my shoulder. The heat of his body leaves me, and the bed shifts with his weight as he gets off. I hear the click of the bathroom door, and I sit up, scanning my eyes across the room in search of my dress. His walls are a dark gray and all his furniture is the same matte black. It’s dark and a complete contrast to the rest of his light house, but very fitting for him. I roll to the edge and swing my legs over the side, blinking the sleep from my eyes. I need him to talk. The connection between us is too strong for me to even consider this as nothing. If that’s what he wants, ju
st quick fucks and done, I can’t do it. He said himself this is the first time he’s wanted to spend time with a woman outside of the club. Again I’m stuck between believing him, and assuming his words are just that— words to get me into bed. Not that he’d need them. Ugh. I drop down the side of the bed and slip on my dress and my shoes, flipping my head upside down and shaking out my curls. When I flip my head back up, Lo is back in the room watching me.

  “Hey.” I say quietly.

  A smirk pulls up one side of his cheek. “Hey, Angel.”

  “You ready to talk?” I cross my arms over my chest and his eyes go dark. Guess not. He closes the space between us, a predatorial look in his eyes, and I immediately put my hands up and take a step back. Anger replaces the playful smirk.

  “Don’t pull away from me, Renee. Not ever.” He’s serious, and his voice is stern, like he’s reprimanding me.

  “Lo, we need to talk. I can’t do this. Just… I don’t know. Whatever it is that we’re doing. I need boundaries, lines, orange cones, a flashing sign, something that points me in the direction of what we’re doing here.” He sighs loudly and runs his hands through his hair. “Look, I get it if a relationship isn’t what you want, but I just need to know. I need you to tell me what you want from me. Like, if all this is just a quick fuck when you need to get laid, or if you’re after something more. I don’t think I can handle being disposable.” The last part has me sounding defeated and needy. I don’t want to be that girl, the one who begs for his time and attention, but the way I feel and the words I say don’t seem to work together or make any sense. I feel one way and say the opposite. I should be telling him that I can see it in his eyes he doesn’t do relationships and that I’m not interested in being someone’s booty call, but my words reflect willingness to be anything he wants me to be.

  His words come out laced with anger, “You’re not a quick fuck, Renee. I’ve been trying to tell you that, to show you that.” His voice is now strained, “I don’t know what I’m doing Renee… Fuck… I don’t know if I can be what you need, but I’m willing to try. For you, I will try.”

  “Lo, I don’t even know what that means.” My face crumples in confusion and I shake my head.

  His voice raises, “I’m fucking trying Renee, okay? I’ve never done this before. Brought a woman to my house, slept with her multiple times in a week, chased her down, bought her gifts. This is all new territory for me, but I want that with you. I want dates, or whatever a… relationship… would entail.” The word relationship slips slowly from his mouth like a dirty word he accidentally dropped in front of a room of preschoolers. I can’t help but laugh at him, which seems to irritate him, and I snap my lips shut.

  “Sorry. I appreciate what you’re saying. I do, really. I was just laughing at your face when you said the word ‘relationship.’ It was like it burned your lips to say it.”

  A wry smile forms on his lips, “Renee…” He takes another step toward me, and this time I don’t back away. “It burned a lot less than I was expecting. I don’t know how to prove to you I want this, us, but I’m willing to do whatever I need. Last week was torture without you. Having you once, was enough to know I don’t ever want to be without you again.” He’s being sincere, and I couldn’t say no even if I wanted. I shrug my shoulders and nod my head.

  “Lo, you don’t have to do this… we can still see each other without trying to make it something more.” I’m not sure I could, but I want to make sure he knows I’m not holding on for dear life. I need him to know he has a way out. I’m also trying to give myself a way out, by letting him walk away, letting him continue to be the villain, because if I get closer, I will become attached, and that will break me, I can feel it. The pressure of what this could be is already bearing down on me, and what could happen if I lost my strength scares me.

  “Let me do this, Renee. Let us do this.”

  “Do whatever you need to do. Just know, I came out of a bad relationship not too long ago. You can’t expect a lot from me.” I state as though it’s a matter of fact.

  “Did you love him?”

  “What?” I ask, honestly caught off guard.

  “Did you love him? It’s simple, Angel.”

  “I…”

  Coercion at its finest. He tangles his fingers in my hair and pulls me to his lips, kissing me hard and then pulling away, leaving my mouth open and wanting more. “Did he make you feel like this? Did he know how to kiss you until you couldn’t breathe? Did. You. Love him?” He sounds like a man possessed with unadulterated jealousy.

  “No, he couldn’t.” I whisper against his lips. “No. I didn’t love him.” He kisses me again, pouring the sincerity of his words into each stroke of his tongue.

  “This will work.” He states, “Let’s get some lunch.” I open my eyes and the disappointment of the loss of his lips must be apparent. “There’ll be time for that later, baby. We’ve got all the time in the world. You’re mine now, remember?” His grip tightens in my hair, and he pulls my head back, forcing me to look in his eyes, and he brings one hand around my neck, gripping me firmly, only slightly painfully. Jolts of lust course through me. I lick my lips, my mouth suddenly becoming dry. “Say it, Renee."

  “I’m yours.” I rasp without hesitation.

  “Good girl. Need some more coffee, Angel?” His hands drop, and I’m stunned by his loss again.

  What? “Coffee, Angel.” He answers my silent question, “You didn’t get a chance to finish yours.” I forgot I dropped my coffee all over his floor.

  “Oh, right.” I shake the clouds of lust from my mind, “Yes, I’d love some more. I should probably get out there and clean up that mess.”

  A smile spreads across his face that screams he’s mocking me. It annoys me that he’s so damn beautiful and I turn on my heel, toward the door. I hear him chuckle behind me as he follows me down the hall and back to the kitchen, where an elderly woman is standing behind the island with a mop.

  “Oh, hello.” She smiles warmly with surprise in her eyes. Her hair is completely gray and pulled up into a tight bun. She’s short and stout, wearing a light pink calico dress with an apron tied around her waist.

  “Um, hi.” I return with a smile and a small wave. “I’m sorry about the mess, I was just coming to clean it up.”

  “Oh, no, sweet girl. That’s my job. Don’t you worry your pretty little mind over it.” She says winking one of her sparkling blue eyes at me. She has a thick southern accent and makes me miss home. “I’m Loretta, Milo and Max’s housekeeper.” Her eyes flick to Milo for a second, and then back to me.

  “I’m Renee. It’s nice to meet you.” My smile widens, “Are you from the south?”

  “Sure am. Texas, born and raised. I moved here with my late husband in the seventies. My poor family didn’t know what to make of their daughter marrying a Yankee.” She laughs, and I giggle along with her.

  “I’m from Austin. I moved here for school. It’s nice having seasons.”

  “You sure are right.” She chuckles. “That snow takes some getting used to though.”

  “Tell me about it.” Milo slides an arm around my middle and nuzzles my neck before addressing Loretta.

  “We’re off to lunch, Loretta.” She beams at him with the pride of a mother and he huffs to stifle a laugh. It’s okay, Ice Man, laughing is good for you. I internally roll my eyes at him.

  “It was nice meeting you, Loretta. I hope to see you again soon.”

  “Yes, dear, I hope I see you again soon, too.” She’s full of warmth and sincerity, and a blush covers my cheeks. She slaps the dish rag in her hand against the counter. “A woman in this house. Ain’t that something.” She muses to herself.

  I look up at Lo as we walk out the door and his features darken at Loretta’s admission, and he shakes his head.

  Chapter Seventeen: Lo

  I guess I need to have a talk with my staff about fucking boundaries. There was a spark in Renee’s eye when she heard Loretta mention it was odd for
me to have a woman here. My rules would require she not be at my house, but my rules also require she wouldn’t cross my mind unless I called her to memory to blow my load, but we see how that turned out. It also didn’t make me as angry as it should that Renee knew she was special. I was proud of the fact Loretta made her aware she really was the only woman I’d ever brought home.

  When we step out of the house Renee belts out a laugh. “You live in the suburbs?” I forgot she was out cold last night when I brought her here. I don’t answer her yet, but open the door to my matte black Tahoe and help her in.

  I settle in my seat, “Seatbelt, baby. Yes, I live in the suburbs. I own this gated community. Well, the houses that aren’t yet sold or built.”

  She sits back, crossing her arms over her chest, her head shaking slowly back and forth, “I pegged you for a mansion on a secluded island kind of guy, but I guess if you had to live in the suburbs, you’d own it. How much do these houses go for?”

  “Most of the houses in this community are worth roughly between one and two million dollars.”

  “Of course they are.” She smiles beautifully at me, “Are you friends with your neighbors?”

  “No.” I answer too quickly, couldn’t even tell her their fucking names. “Why?”

  Her smile is wide and taunting now, “I knew it!” She giggles, “I bet your neighbors are scared shitless of you.” She adopts a high-pitched voice, “‘Oh, look. There goes that angry man again. I wonder why he never smiles, Dear?’” She falls into a fit of laughter, brought on by her own script of what I assume is my neighbors. I try not to smile with her, but I can’t help it. Her laugh is like soft bells. I wait at the gate for it to slide open, and then turn onto the street that leads to the highway.

  “How does Mexican sound?”