by Sophia Gray
“Jeremy Sanders?” The sound of my voice alone stops everyone in their tracks. They all look at me, but a young, scruffy looking man in his early 20s steps toward me.
“Yes, sir?” he says.
“You’re going to come with me.” Without another word, I turn on my heel and walk out of the sorting room. As I stride down the hallway, I can hear Jeremy’s hurried footsteps behind me. I don’t look back, and when I reach a door that’s across from my office, I step inside. When Jeremy follows me in, I close the door behind us.
“I’m sorry! Shit, I’m sorry, Mr. Zelnick, please don’t kill me!” His face is twisted in terror as I turn to look at him.
“Give me one reason why I would kill you? It’s messy and would make me and the rest of the club vulnerable. What I will do, however, is ruin your life. Because your loyalty obvious lies elsewhere, and I can’t afford to have that kind of risk in the family.”
“No! No, it’s not like that!”
“Then tell me what itis like.”
When the young man says nothing, I frown in disappointment. “You make the bed; you have to sleep in it every night. So,here’s what’s going to happen: I’m going to have the gift shop in question transferred over to your name. And when it goes down… you’ll fall with it.” I take a small step closer to him. “By the way, if you choose not to sign for ownership or if you expose me in any way…then I will kill you. Now get the fuck out of my sight.”
His face pales, and he nods so fast I’m almost afraid his head will fall off. He shakes visibly as he backs over to the door, opens it, and skitters out.
Chapter Eighteen
Kristel
Two Days Later
My father is at work, and my mother is home. I can hear her downstairs in the kitchen, and I can smell chicken and potatoes. She has some kind of jazz music on, which only tells me that there isn’t any sound proofing at all in this house. I can hear practically everything that she does, and I’m sure she can hear me, too. The stealthy approach might not work, as much as I want it to. I’m going to have to find other ways to get to Andre at night.
“Kristel, dinner’s ready!”
“Okay, mom, thanks. I’ll be down soon.” I grimace as I call back to her. As hungry as I am, I’m eager to see Andre again. We’ve been in contact through my secret phone and have agreed to meet tonight at 10 p.m. It’s 7 now, which means I have three hours to eat dinner, help clean up, and get to his house. At the rate my mother talks, I don’t like those odds.
My hands slide through my hair, and I glance toward the ceiling. With a sigh, I turn in a slow circle and look around. All of my essentials are here in one room. The only thing I didn’t bring are the bed, the dresser, and the book shelves. Those are courtesy of my parents. The walls are an awful shade of lavender, and I’m pretty sure the ceiling light is going to die at any moment. It’s a large space, though, with plenty of room for a crib and other baby essentials. For the umpteenth time, I ask myself what the hell I’m doing. The lie I told my parents about the one-night stand with a stranger is holding up, but I won’t know for sure if the plan will work until I go see Andre.
“With my luck, dad will give me some damn bodyguards,” I mumble.
“Kristel! It’s getting cold!”
My mother’s voice grates on my nerves, but I roll my shoulders back and focus on remaining calm. I plant a smile on my face and double check to make sure my secret phone is hidden under my pillow. Once that’s confirmed, I head down the stairs and into the kitchen. The house is very open and spacious with large windows that allow a lot of light in during the day. There are moving boxes along the walls everywhere, but already I see some pictures, birds, and pigs set up throughout the living room and kitchen. Floors are linoleum made to look like wood, and the walls are all either pale tan or the same strange lavender as my room.
“Dad’s not here for dinner tonight?” I ask as I pick up a plate.
“No, sweetie. He’s working late so it will just be us.” She gives me a bright smile. “I thought we could play a game after dinner. You can pick.”
My heart drops for a moment, and I give her an even larger smile. I hope it doesn’t look as fake as it really is. “Um… I have a lot of studying to do, mom. Midterms will be here before I know it, and you know how much I hate tests. I want to be as prepared as possible.”
“Oh, come on. You just got here.” She laughs and serves me fried chicken, potatoes, carrots, and peas.
“I know, but –”
“But, shmut! Come on, it’ll be fun. And how long has it been since we played a game anyway?”
I feel trapped as I take a seat at the table and start to eat. As always, my mother’s cooking is absolutely horrific, but I don’t say anything. The carrots and peas are overdone, so they’re mushy and the potatoes are under done. They’re almost crunchy and there is way too much butter. The chicken has been fried for too long and has a strange, rubbery texture. I eat slowly, long since used to not making faces. I hate to admit it, but I’m used to this kind of cooking.
“Kristel?” My mother sits down across from me with her own plate. The look she gives me is hopeful, and it makes my stomach churn.
“I know” I finally say. “But I just can’t tonight. Besides, look at all the things you and dad need to unpack. Don’t you think it would be fun for you two to unpack together when he gets home? You can fight over where the pigs and the birds go, like always.”
She frowns and looks at me. “It’s one game. It’ll take less than an hour.” She reaches over and takes one of my hands. “I miss you, Kristel. And it’s all been so chaotic and confusing. Just… one game. Okay? Then you can go do your studying or whatever it is you need to do. But I’m asking you as your mother for just one hour of your time. Is that too much to ask?”
On the inside I groan, but on the outside, I sigh and nod. “Okay, fine. One game. But just one.”
Her eyes light up, and she all but beams at me. “Excellent! And you get to pick, how’s that?”
I take in a deep breath and tell myself that I’ll be in Andre’s arms soon. All I have to do is get through dinner, clean up, and one game I don’t want to play with my mother. Knowing her, it will take all night.
It’s almost midnight when I knock on Andre’s door. As soon as I knock, I fold my arms across my chest and glare at it. It’s cold and dark, and I’m almost afraid my gorgeous biker has gone to sleep for the night. Either that or he’s not here.
I breathe out an exhale of relief when I hear heavy footfalls, and when the door opens he’s standing there in his boxers. My eyes fall to the lines of his tattoos and the hard edges of arm and abdominal muscles. All I want to do is bite into them, but I have to figure out a way to placate the angry scowl on his face first.
“You said 10 p.m. You’re almost two hours late, Kristel. What the hell?”
“Hey, relax.” I step toward the door, but he doesn’t budge. With a sharp sigh, I look up at him. “After dinner, my mother insisted we play a game. It turned into best two out of three, and when she lost it almost turned into best out of five. I barely got out of there, and I didn’t have the time to go up to my room to get the phone so that I could tell you I’d be late.” I take in a deep breath after that giant sentence. “And like I’ve told you in the past… my parents are very overbearing. So, are you going to let me in or just stand there and glare at me?”
He doesn’t move for a long time. I feel like he’s staring into me instead of at me. With a low snort, he finally steps aside. I give him a thankful smile and step into the warm cabin. The sound of fire crackles and pops from the living room.
“Hey…” I trace a finger over one of the snake tattoos that winds around his right bicep. “I’m sorry. But until you’ve met my parents, you can’t judge me. But I bet you can punish me…”
He eyes me sideways and reaches toward me. Instead of touching me, he grabs the door handle and closes it. I don’t know what it is, but he seems more agitated than I think he
should be because I was a little late. He doesn’t even respond to my subtle attempt at seduction, which I’m admittedly not great at to begin with. Still, he’d normally be all over me by now.
“Andre, what’s wrong?”
His nostrils flare and his arms fold across his bare chest. “Let’s talk about that after.”
I don’t have time to ask him what he means by ‘after’ as he grabs me around the hips and kisses me roughly. With a moan, I return the kiss, and my tongue slides against his. As always, he has a way of taking my breath away so that I can’t think about anything or anyone else except for him. He drags me into a world I never want to leave.
His hands are all over me, and within a moment my clothes are gone. I kick my shoes off and push down his pants. He’s almost frantic in the way that he lifts me and puts me down on the kitchen table. I don’t try to stop him, my fingers tight in his hair. His mouth rubs down my neck to my sternum, and his lips taste each nipple. I draw in a gasp as they tighten and ache, and I press them toward his face. He rumbles and drops down to his knees in front of me. His hands push open my thighs. His teeth bite my inner thigh hard enough to sting, but it feels so good I don’t tell him to stop. His tongue drags across the bite marks and laps against my womanhood. With a moan, I pull his head tighter between my legs. They close around his shoulders, which only makes me more accessible to him.
That incredible tongue of his dips into my sex before it slides against my clit. A zing of hot pleasure rushes through me, and the bundle of nerves he’s playing with throbs. My hips rock in response to his mouth. I never want him to stop.
“Andre… ooh, that’s good…”
One of his fingers pushes into my womanhood, and I draw in a sharp breath. A second one follows, both pumping in and out of me. I can hear the sound of suction and it only makes me hotter. His mouth sucks my feminine folds while his tongue continues to dance over and around my clitoris. I fall back onto the table and lift my hips with a gasp. My fingers hold his short black hair tight enough that I’m sure some strands get ripped out. Another moan rolls from my throat, and my thighs quiver and shake with the incoming orgasm. When it hits me, I cry out. Breathless, my muscles tighten with the explosion of ecstasy, stars flashing before my eyes. I can’t even remember an orgasm as intense as this one.
“My God, how do you do that?” The words barely make it past my mouth before he starts to suck on my clit again. I feel like I’m ready to die.
Chapter Nineteen
Andre
The feel of Kristel on my tongue eases the anger and soothes me in ways I desperately need. She tastes sweet and feminine, and I just want to devour every inch of her until there’s nothing left. Her thighs squeeze both sides of my head, and all I can smell is her. She writhes and calls out my name, helpless on the table while I rub myself through my boxers. I’m hard and ready to go, and the fabric against the tip of my member drives me crazy. Even though I know it’s just my hand, I thrust anyway, and pant against her sex.
“Andre… please…”
Her voice makes me growl with lust. My hands reach to massage and rub over her breasts before they slide down her belly. Her muscles are taut and twitching; she needs this as much as I do. With a low grunt, I get to my feet, but keep her legs over my shoulders. It’s time to see how flexible Kristel can be. She gasps and lifts her head to look at me. From her angle, I’m sure she can see me push down my boxers. I kick them away and eagerly guide my member into her slick, hot womanhood.
“Kristel…” I breathe her name and close my eyes. The feel of her as she closes around me leaves me breathless. My hips rock hard as I grope her breasts. My thumbs tease both of her nipples at the same time, and because of our position I have easy access to them. My balls soon slap against her rear with each drive of my hips. Pleasure rockets through me, hot and addictive. Kristel is, by far, the best woman I have ever fucked.
The table she’s on starts to slide across the floor, and I am forced to follow it. I deliberately slam into her with more force just to send the table across the room faster. It hits the wall separating the foyer from the kitchen, and soon the wall itself starts to shake. Flashes of Jeremy and what I did to him in that room make me grip her hips hard. Another growl rises from my throat, and I shift my shoulders down so that her legs fall from them. They wrap around my waist instead, and she pulls her tighter to her with deceptively powerful legs. I lean over her, her breasts tight against my chest, and hungrily devour her mouth. Our tongues are caught in a lustful dance, and the room is filled with the sounds of our lewd love making. Her hands splay across my back while her arms close tight around my sides. A shudder runs through me. My balls grow ever tighter, and my core feels like it’s on fire.
The rhythm of my hips as they pound her into the table increases. My jaw goes slack and all thought rushes from my mind. There is only Kristel and I and this table. Nothing and no one else matters in this moment.
I draw in a gasp as she wraps her fingers around my balls and squeezes. With a grunt, I wrap my arms around her back and shoulders and lift her off the table. It’s my intent to get into the living room, but I manage as far as the wall next to the table. I shove her into it and bite down on the slender length of her neck. My teeth leaves marks, and I slowly run my tongue along them before I bite her again. She grips my balls harder and rolls them between her fingers. My knees just about buckle.
“Fuck…” I close my teeth around the top of her shoulder. “Fuck, that feels good.”
Her hands grip my jaw and one side of my face, and she pulls my head up. Our mouths meet and our tongues challenge each other. I have no intentions of letting her win, but the way my body is so wrapped up in satisfaction, it’s a wonder I know how to use my mouth at all. Her breasts jiggle and shake against my chest until I squeeze her tight and push my body hard into hers. She has nowhere to go and she can’t even move her hips. I hear her scream into my mouth, and her sex clenches around me with her second climax of the night. It’s enough to send me over the edge, too, and within four thrusts I shoot a series of creamy jets deep into her core. I call out her name, but my voice is lost in the tangle of our lips and tongues. Breathless, I pound her body into the wall for a few more seconds before I stop.
“That was…” She pants hard against my mouth. “I need to get you riled up more often, big boy.”
I can’t help but chuckle as I step away from the wall and let her stand. My knees feel weak, but by the way she clutches my shoulders, hers are likely just as wobbly. “There’s no need for that. I’m always angry anyway.”
As her hands massage my shoulders, she presses close to me. “I noticed. Especially tonight.” One of her hands takes my own, and she leads me away from the wall and into the living room. As she sits down, she pulls a velvety blanket from the back of the couch and wraps it around herself before sitting down. She tugs at me to come with her, and I do.
“What do you mean, ‘especially tonight’?” I know that she knows something isn’t right; I just don’t want to get into it right now.
“Well… I get that you were a little pissed when I showed up late, but you seemed more than just pissed. I’m still getting to know you, Andre, but I think I understand you well enough now to know that there’s something else going on.”
With a low sigh, I arch an eyebrow and lean forward so that my elbows rest on my knees. Flashbacks of Jeremy force my eyes close. I have never talked about any kind of business with Kristel before, but now that she’s asked, I almost feel obligated to tell her. We are, in more ways than one, in this together. She’s still part of the family even if, right now, she’s away from it.
“I was at one of the safe houses two days ago. Some of the crew and I were looking over our assets, and I asked Jeremy to cut one of them from the list because it was starting to look shady. It’s summertime, so the cops are keeping a close eye on new and local businesses because people posing as tourists like to try and set businesses up around this time. Well, he didn’t cut
it. I dealt with the issue, but I’m afraid I did it too late. Just this morning I gave Will the go ahead to clear the safe house out. Just in case, but I’m still pissed. I thought I could trust my crew.”
Because Kristel’s father is a police officer, and I know there’s a huge risk in telling her about these things, but there’s even more risk in keeping them from her. If I don’t have her absolute trust, she might lean further toward her parents; that would not be good for me, personally or for business.
Her brow furrows in what I can only determine as surprise. She placed her arms around me and snuggles against my side, under my shoulder. “You do realize my dad’s a cop, right?” The smile she gives me as it devious as it is stunning. “But thank you for trusting me. That means a lot.” Her lips brush across my cheek. “And I’m sorry you’re having some trouble with your crew. Hopefully it works out well in the end.”
I smile slowly and dip my chin in a nod. “I realize that… but I also realize how important your trust is. Not only are you breathtakingly beautiful, you’re also carrying our child. And that’s not nothing.” I know I was right moments earlier, but Kristel confirms it for me. She trusts me, which means, in theory, I can trust her. One of my hands squeezes her, and I get up. “Do you want to come with me on a walk? I can take you to see the mysterious cattle of mine.”
