by Naomi West
Cherri still looked unsure. Liv sneered at her this time. “Do you really not think that I could help you out?” she asked. “What you don't realize is that I've been cataloguing everything you've done for the whole time I've known you.” Her eyes narrowed further. “I could go to the authorities, and I could destroy you, Cherri Velasquez, if I really wanted to, that is. But I don't really want to.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“You're going to need to disguise me,” Liv said. “As someone that the Gemini Riders would talk to, if it weren't for...” She gestured between all of them. “I think the best way is going to be to find other Gemini Riders operatives. We know there have to be quite a few of them scattered around the city, right? They'd have information on where your sister is.”
“And what, you think they're just going to tell you all about it?” Cherri asked, rolling her eyes a little. “They're not stupid.”
“No, they're not,” Liv agreed. “But they probably don't realize that that's classified information. As long as I can convince them to talk to me...” She trailed off, frowning a little. “It would have to be someone who isn't very high up in Cat's organization.”
“A prostitute, maybe?” I suggested. “We know she has Gemini Riders recruited from all walks of the city. And whores can be chatty if they think they're amongst friends. And they see a lot of secrets...”
“Right,” Liv said, nodding her head. “So you'll have to dress me up as a prostitute. And then...” She snapped her fingers. “I'll pretend I'm one of the Gemini Riders and that Cat has sent me to...” She frowned. “Well, I'll figure it out as I go.”
“That'll never work,” Cherri said, shaking her head.
Liv shrugged. “If it doesn't work, what does it matter?” she asked. “We might as well try it.”
Cherri stared at Liv for a long moment, lips pursed. Finally, she shrugged as well. “It's your skin. But even though I know you're just a goody-goody, I know you wouldn't be agreeing to do this just for free. What are your terms?”
“In return...” Liv fixed Cherri with a look. “You're going to owe me one. You can't just kill me off when your sister is free, or when you're done with this whole thing. What's more, you're going to have to smuggle the packages into the prison yourself. Cat will be expecting this.” She fixed me with a look as well. “And you're going to owe me one as well, Rip. You're going to use everyone that you know. You're going to contact Damien and have him use everyone that he knows. And you're going to make sure that Barry doesn't get hurt in all of this.”
I stared at her, suddenly seeing her in a new light. She had seemed like a weak, female interloper for the whole time that I had known her, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that she had been calling the shots all along. I never should have kept her alive to start with, but from the time that we had helped her brother change his tire, I realized that she had been in charge of everything, for all that I had tried to deny it.
She would have made a great member of the Gemini Riders, if she had just been able to get over her personal qualms about the organization.
I grinned a little at her and was surprised to see that Cherri was grinning at her as well, albeit more dangerously. “All right,” Cherri agreed. “We'll dress you up in a disguise. But if your plan doesn't work...”
“It will,” Liv said confidently. She narrowed her eyes at Cherri and held out her hand for a handshake. “It's nice to have you one our team.”
Cherri was clearly surprised but reached out to shake Liv's hand without comment.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Liv
I stared down at the outfit Rip had handed me, blushing a little. “I don't think—”
“Just put it on,” Cherri interrupted, rolling her eyes. “If you want to pretend to be a prostitute, you're going to have to dress the part. And those jeans aren't going to cut it.”
“But this doesn't even qualify as a ... skirt,” I argued, holding up the skimpy bit of fabric. In fact, the only way I could tell it was a skirt was from inference, because the other piece, although also skimpy (and a bit see-through) had sleeves.
“Easy access,” Cherri said with a little shrug. “Come on, you've got a great body; it's not going to kill you to flaunt it a little for once in your life.”
I blushed a little and then retreated into the dressing room to get changed. I was glad there wasn't a mirror in the dressing room; I didn't want to see how ridiculous I looked in those clothes. It was bad enough to look down and see how much of my skin was still visible.
“Everything fit okay?” Rip called into the stall.
I sighed and reluctantly opened the door, taking a step out.
Rip gawked at me, his jaw dropping as his eyes skimmed my body. “Uh, wow,” he said, not seeming to know where to look. His eyes traced the skin of my stomach and then slid down the length of my legs. There was something hungry in the way that he was looking at me, and I wondered if he really thought I looked ... sexy.
The thought made me blush worse and instinctively tug at the hem of the crop top, trying to cover up a little more. “Is this…?” My eyes slid over to Cherri, wondering what her take on the outfit was.
“You don't look slutty enough,” she said frankly, putting her hands on her hips. “The skirt's fine, especially if we can get some nice boots on you. I have a pair that should do the trick. And then we'll have to do your hair and makeup...” She started walking around me, eyeing me. “I think it could work. We'll need a different shirt, though. And a different bra.”
“Or a shirt that doesn't show off my bra?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“No, I like that,” Cherri said. “No offense, but you're not very well-endowed in that area, so we need all the help we can get in making you look sexy.”
I could feel my cheeks burning and folded my arms over my chest. “Fine,” I said, though. “Go find me another shirt, then.”
As Cherri went off to find something else, I turned to Rip. “Well?” I asked, seeing that his eyes were still coasting across the clothes.
“I'd fuck you,” Rip said honestly, his voice sounding raw with desire.
I blinked at him. Even though we'd already slept together a couple times, even though I knew that I was attracted to him, I still was surprised to hear that from him.
He moved closer, crowding me back against the door of the dressing room. “I really want to fuck you right here,” he growled in an undertone. “Just push that skirt up and shove your panties to the side and—”
I couldn't help groaning, rocking my hips up against his. “I want that,” I told him truthfully, but I couldn't help the way my eyes darted around, expecting someone else from the shop to be watching us.
Rip pushed me back into the dressing room, coming in after me and locking the door behind him. I bit my lower lip, staring up at him through my eyelashes.
“You minx,” he said, sounding amused.
I shrugged a little. “Well, you guys told me to flaunt it.” I gasped a little, though, as he hemmed me in against the wall, putting an arm up over my head. His other hand came down between my legs, slipping past the flimsy fabric of my panties and pressing up into my core. He grinned down at me, crooking his fingers and dragging the pads of them slowly across my walls, creating the perfect feeling of friction.
“Already so wet,” he hummed, sounding pleased with me. He kissed the side of my neck and then pulled away. “Bend over.”
I did as he ordered, leaning over and putting my hands on the little stool that stood in the corner of the changing room. I couldn't deny that there was something unbelievably sexy about being taken in such a degrading sort of way — and in semi-public, no less. I tried to muffle my noises, knowing that Cherri was probably waiting right outside the door.
The thought made me groan, and I leaned down even further, my arms hardly able to support the weight of my upper body. I pushed back into his thrusts, feeling like I could come at any second. And sure eno
ugh, when he leaned down and grabbed my hair, pulling at it hard, I whimpered a little and climaxed harder than I had ever climaxed before.
Rip continued to pound into me, using my body in his efforts to find his own orgasm. It didn't take long before he was spilling deep inside of me, coming with a muffled groan of his own.
He pulled away, leaving me feeling shivery and achingly empty for a moment, but we were done just in time; two seconds later, Cherri was knocking on the door to the dressing room. “You guys, I don't have time for this,” she snapped. “Come try this shirt on, Liv.”
I straightened up and tugged my panties back into place, glancing over at Rip as I smoothed the skirt back into place. I wanted to say something to him, but I wasn't really sure what. Rip seemed to be feeling it, too, though, and he reached out to pull me gruffly into his arms for a quick hug before he opened the dressing room door, staring mildly at Cherri.
Cherri rolled her eyes at us and thrust the shirt towards me. “Go on,” she said.
I caught the shirt and retreated into the dressing room, glancing over at Rip as I did so.
Suddenly, I had the sinking feeling that I was in way over my head with him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rip
Liv glanced over at me and blushed a little. “Quit staring at me like that,” she said, but I could tell from the breathy note in her voice that she was secretly pleased to have my eyes on her.
And I couldn't help it. She was dressed up in those sexy clothes again, only this time it was for real. Cherri had put all the finishing touches on her, doing up her hair so that it fanned out all around her face and doing her makeup as well. I never could have guesses how intense Liv's eyes would look when they were smeared with eyeliner. And the bright red lipstick on her lips made her look utterly kissable.
I could only imagine how debauched she would look if I threw her down on the sheets now and fucked her within an inch of her life. But we didn't have time for that just now.
I was still half-hard in my jeans thinking about it, though.
I cleared my throat a little. “You did a really good job at disguising her,” I told Cherri. “I've got to hand it to you; I didn't think this was going to work.”
Cherri laughed a little. “I mean, this is a pretty easy transformation to make. But I was in the top of my class at the police academy when it came to getting people ready to go undercover.”
I raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't comment further on it. Instead, I turned to Liv. “I'm going to give you an hour,” I told her. “That should be plenty of time for you to get the information.”
“Give her forty-five minutes,” Cherri said, glancing over at me. “The cops in that area are pretty lazy, but they do make the rounds every hour or so. The pimps pay them off, but if they see someone new out there … well, you don't want her getting arrested for being a prostitute, do you?”
“I don't want that,” Liv said. She bit her lower lip, suddenly seeming to reconsider the plan. I was still surprised by her conviction to help out, but, of course, I had seen how she was with her brother, and I knew she'd do anything she could to ensure his safety. Sure enough, after just a moment's consideration, she squared her shoulders and tossed her hair a little. “Let's go.”
We didn't want Cherri to be implicated in any of this if anything went wrong, so we left her at the hotel. The most difficult part of the whole thing would be keeping anyone from getting too suspicious. I knew Cat had to have local Gemini Riders tracking my every move, and I didn't want them to get suspicious. Liv would need to be careful what sorts of questions she asked, and I would need to make this seem as routine as possible.
I dropped her off in the place that Cherri had suggested, and one glance around showed me that this was a pretty popular place. “Good luck,” I muttered under my breath, making a show of handing her some cash as though I had picked her up and utilized her services.
“Thanks, doll,” Liv said in a sugary-sweet voice. I looked at her in surprise, but she was already slipping out of the car and...slinking off to talk to one of he girls nearest to us.
I shut my gaping mouth and reminded myself that lingering here would make things seem suspicious. I put the car in drive and took off down the road, keeping my eyes peeled for a diner that Cherri had also suggested I wait at. The place was close enough that I could still keep an eye on Liv and make sure that she was okay, not that I thought anything was going to happen to her. I wouldn't have let her go through with this plan if I thought it was going to be dangerous for her.
I got a cup of coffee and found a seat near one of the windows, watching Liv.
She was sexy in those clothes. Of course, I had already kind of known that since I'd stripped her down to bare skin before. I knew what kinds of curves she had, and I had tasted every inch of that pale, gorgeous skin. But there was something entrancing, something utterly arresting, about the way her legs looked with a mini-skirt playing against the top of her thighs, about those shapely calves in those tall boots.
It didn't help that I had already had her like that, bent over in the dressing room. I couldn't stop thinking of the way she had tried to muffle her moans, about how she had pushed back into me, pushing at just the right angle so that every thrust dragged along the head of my dick.
I took a large sip of coffee and choked at how hot it was. That at least brought me back to earth a little.
I watched as Liv strolled up to one of the other girls out there. She chatted easily, laughing a little and tossing her hair back. I couldn't help but wonder who this woman was. Where was the shy, mousy girl that I'd been traveling with? Somehow, with Cherri's transformation of her physical appearance, Liv seemed to have totally changed.
I took another sip of my coffee, considering her.
When the forty-five minutes was up, I went back out to Cherri's car and slipped into the driver's seat, setting off down the street. I lingered on the street corner, waiting for Liv to come over to me. I rolled down the window so that she could continue to act the part, even though I wasn't sure why it mattered at that point since none of these whores were ever going to see Liv again if I could help it.
It was kind of sexy to watch Liv lean against the car, though, grinning at me through the passenger side window. “I don't come cheap,” she said, batting her lashes at me.
I snorted. “Get in. I want you to suck my dick.”
Her eyes darkened, and she traced her lower lip with the tip of her tongue, clearly interested in that idea. She opened the door and slipped into the car. “Thank you,” she said. “You literally came just in time. There was this other guy who was eyeing me up, and I was just waiting for him to come over and start getting handsy or something.”
I laughed a little. “Yeah, I saw him. Probably just hoping to pick you up as one of his girls, though.” I concentrated on driving for a moment. “Did you find out anything about Cherri's sister?”
“Yeah,” Liv said with a little sigh. “It was actually really productive; she'll be happy.” She was silent for a moment. “It was really easy. Almost too easy. I don't know, I just...”
“There's no way Cat could have guessed that we would try something like that,” I said, shaking my head.
“That's not what I mean,” Liv said, shaking her head as well. “I don't mean I think she was setting us up or anything like that. I just mean … I'm a good girl, Rip. I've never even gotten a ticket for driving, let alone … I don't know. Impersonated a prostitute. Got involved with someone in a gang. All of that. It's just strange to me that it would be this easy for me to have a totally different life. And I don't really like this feeling.”
I hummed a little. “I kind of understand that,” I said. I sighed. “The sort of things I do for Damien aren't like this. I've never really done something this dangerous, or something this stupid. Or illegal.”
We arrived back at the hotel and got out of the car. As we walked into the building, I slung an arm around Liv's shoulders. She looked up
at me, startled. “You know I'm looking out for you, though, right?”
She smiled a little, curling against my side a little bit even though that made it difficult to walk. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “I wouldn't have been able to do that without knowing that you were there watching out for me the whole time.”
We walked into the hotel room and found Cherri waiting expectantly on the couch in the living room area. There was some dumb drama on TV, but she turned it off as soon as we entered, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. “Well?” she asked.
Liv sighed and flopped down in one of the armchairs. “I found your sister,” she said. “Everyone seems to know what's happened to her. I think she's kind of the story of what none of the other prostitutes want to become.”
