by A. Zavarelli
“It won’t happen again,” he says. “I thought I was doing something good for ye.”
Part of me feels guilty for the tension in his voice. It was a kind gesture, but he doesn’t understand what this necklace means to me. It’s like now there’s nothing left of Talia. All the old has been stripped away, and I didn’t want that. She wasn’t shiny and perfect. She was tarnished just like me. But I can’t blame Lachlan for not knowing that.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him.
Lach wipes my tears away and shakes his head. “Grab yourself a shower, sweetheart,” he says. “I’m taking ye out today.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mackenzie
Some men take their women to the movies, shopping, or out to dinner. Mine? He takes me to a boxing gym. And I grin like a lunatic when we step inside.
“You going to spar with me?” I ask.
He laughs. “If that’s what ye want, sweetheart.”
“What about your cuts?”
He gives me a look, and a couple of the guys around us chuckle too.
“Don’t insult me, Mack.”
I smile and shake my head. I know he’s taking time out of his schedule to do this. Time he probably doesn’t have, considering the Armenians are still breathing down his neck, and all the problems back at the club. So when I look up at him, I’m overcome by a wave of emotion. I reach up on my toes and plant a kiss right on his lips, in front of all the other guys. Lachlan likes this of course.
“Go and get changed.” He hands me the bag I packed and points to the back. With a slap on the ass I’m on my way.
When I come back out, dressed in my workout gear, Lachlan’s talking to another guy. I hardly notice who it is because Lach’s got his shirt off, and nothing but a pair of low hanging black track pants. I’m nearly salivating at the mouth just looking at him. I’m sure there are some good looking guys in this room. It’s chocka block with nothing but testosterone and sweat. But all I can see is Lachlan. I love how much bigger he is than me. How when he holds me at night, I feel small and safe in his arms. It’s crazy. But looking at him now, I can’t find a single flaw from his tattoos to the gold medal dangling from his chest. Everything about his body is addicting. Strong and lean with a flat stomach and hip bones that angle towards his glorious manhood. Some crazy part of my brain wants to demand that he walk around like this all the time.
“Mack, c’mere,” he says.
I walk towards him dutifully and he tugs me into his side with an expression of pride on his face as he introduces me.
“Jimmy, this is Mack.”
“Lovely to meet ye.” Jimmy nods. “I hear ye’re a boxer?”
I look up at Lachlan and grin. “Sometimes,” I say sweetly.
Lach’s laughing again. It sounds nice. It doesn’t happen often.
“Well youse two can have the ring for however long ye need it,” Jimmy says. “Or any other equipment ye want to use.”
Hmm another benefit of being with Lachlan. Not having to wait our turn at the gym. I doubt there’s a man in here who would dare to refuse him a request. But as I glance around at a few of the familiar faces from within the syndicate, I realize the gym is probably one of theirs.
Jimmy leaves us to it, and Lach helps me into some gloves. Over the next hour, we have at it, and I love that he doesn’t hold back with me. We draw an audience with our laughter and competitive insults after a while. He’s light on his feet and outmaneuvers me almost every time. I’m impressed with his strength and even more with his hot body, but I won’t tell him that.
By the time we finish, Lachlan and I are both covered in sweat, and I’m too proud to say he’s exhausted me. We share a bottle of water, and then he slaps me on the ass again.
“Let’s hit the showers, sweetheart.”
I glance around the room full of men, and he shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it, I got us covered.”
He grabs my hand and gives Jimmy a little nod as we head into the changing room. I’m assuming that’s some sort of signal to tell everyone else to fuck off, but I don’t get a chance to ask. The minute we’re inside, he’s got me pressed up against the wall, grinding his body on mine.
“Mack,” he groans as he kisses his way down my throat. “I’m so fecking hard for ye, sweetheart.”
To prove his point, he grabs my hand and presses it over the bulge in his pants. He isn’t lying, it’s like a frigging rock. I glance over at the open entryway into the change room and bite my lip.
“Someone could hear us,” I protest half-heartedly.
Lachlan’s eyes flash and he grins. “Oh I want them to hear us, butterfly. I want all the lads to know who’s inside of ye. The only man that’ll ever be inside of ye.”
“You don’t own me,” I laugh.
He captures my wrists and holds them above my head with one hand while the other pulls down my shorts. “Aye,” he grunts. “I fucking do.”
I smile back at his caveman bullshit in spite of myself. There’s no denying I like feeling a little bit helpless when he’s around.
It’s clear by the laser focus of his eyes and hands he’s done talking. Once my shorts are off, he yanks down his pants and wraps my legs around his waist. Then he grabs me by the hips and drops me onto his cock, using my back and the wall for leverage.
Before he moves, his eyes find mine and something in his expression changes.
“I know ye’ve had to be tough all your life, sweetheart,” he says. “But ye don’t have to do that with me. I’ll protect ye, and on occasion boast because ye’re mine. That’s just the way it goes.”
I bite back the wave of emotion his words bring on. It’s something I’ve always wanted, though I’m too proud to admit it. How long has it been since I had someone looking out for me too? Since I didn’t have to worry about the dangers lurking around every corner. That’s what Lachlan’s promising me. And right here and now, for a moment, I pretend that I can have it.
He fucks me hard. Harder than he’s ever fucked me. And just as I suspect he wants, I’m screaming when I come. The whole goddamn gym probably heard it. Lach’s still powering into me, and I can’t stop myself from stroking over his muscular chest and shoulders. He’s so incredibly hot. And he wants me. I reach forward and suck on his neck, tasting his salt and skin. He groans, and I suck harder.
He grips my ass and impales himself as deep as he can go before he jerks inside of me, swearing like a sailor. I pull away from his neck with a pop, smiling at the hickey I left for all the world to see.
“Oops.”
Lachlan grins and kisses me hard, holding me up with his arms. I don’t know where he’s finding the strength after everything we’ve done today. On top of that he’s still wounded, and it’s the last thing he should be doing. I slide down his body until my feet touch the floor
“Right.” He grabs my hand in his. “Now let’s hit the showers.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Mackenzie
Another week passes without a whole lot of leads. I’ve been bored out of my mind hanging around the club, and Lachlan’s had Ronan at my side the entire time which I can totally tell he just looooves. I did however manage to get Sasha onboard with my plan. She agreed to let me know if she sees the Russian that was hanging around Talia. The longer I spend here, the more I gain her trust. It can only help that I’m keeping Donovan away from her.
So far dickhead has been avoiding the place, but he’s here tonight. I’m sitting at the bar waiting for Lachlan to get back when I notice Donny slinking towards the dressing room. Since Sasha’s on first, he no doubt expects her to be back there getting ready. Too bad for him that I’ve put a little wrinkle in his plan. I’m ready for him, and honestly, I’ve been counting down the minutes for this.
Every day for the last week we’ve taken over one of the downstairs storage areas and turned it into a makeshift dressing room for Sasha only. I made up a whole story about the other gi
rls being bitchy as an excuse. Lach grumbled about it for all of two seconds before I used my lips to coerce him into it. Secretly, I don’t think he actually minds since he thinks Sasha and I are bonding. As it turns out, Lachlan is quite busy with his mobster activities, and me having a friend here gives him some peace of mind. Probably because he thinks it’ll keep me out of trouble. Hah.
While Ronan is engrossed in conversation with Conor, I slip off my bar stool and follow Donovan into the back. When he hears my footsteps behind him, he wheels around and glares at me.
“What the fuck you lookin’ at?”
Sheesh, someone’s touchy today. I can’t help but annoy him further with a smile.
“Looking for Sash?” I ask. “You won’t find her back here.”
He takes a step forward and flexes his arms, looking like a total cockhead. “What’s it to you what I’m doing, huh?”
I hold my ground and shrug. “Nothin’ to me. But you’re going to leave Sasha the hell alone from now on.”
His eyes flash with annoyance and he barks out a laugh. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talkin’ to?”
I reach forward and slam my hands against his chest, knocking him back in surprise.
“C’mon,” I goad him. “You like to smack girls around? Go on, give me your best shot. But unlike the ones you pick on, I promise I’ll fight back.”
Every muscle in his body is rippling with tension and his veins look like they’re about to explode. But he doesn’t move. “Big words coming from Crow’s little whore. You think he’s going to protect you forever, you got another thing coming.”
“I don’t see him here now.” I throw my arms out wide. “So, if you want to act like a big, tough man, then go right ahead.”
His eyes tell me he wants to. The fact that I’m under Lach’s protection pisses him off more than anything. He knows he can’t touch me and still live to tell about it, so he’s holding back. For now. But I don’t trust that it’s going to stay that way for long.
“You’re going to regret this,” he growls. “You dumb fucking broad.”
“Is there a problem here?”
I wheel around to find Lachlan, his focus narrowed dangerously on Donovan. I glance back at Donny and wink.
“I don’t know, Donny. Do we have a problem here?”
“No problem,” he barks out. “I was just telling Mack here how lucky she is to have you. That’s all.”
With a twisted sneer, he leaves the room, humming a little tune as he goes. Way too happily for my liking. I turn to find Lach still staring at the door Donny walked through, almost as if he’s debating going after him.
“You tell me if he gives ye any trouble, Mack,” he says.
“Aw.” I flutter my eyelashes at him. “Are you going to defend my honor?”
He walks up and pulls me into his arms, his expression dead serious. “Always, sweetheart.”
***
The incident with Donny has left me with my hackles up, but it’s only confirmed that Lachlan is serious. He’s not going to let me out of his sight, and he has every intention of protecting me. This is going to be a problem.
So I do the one thing that I swore I wouldn’t. It isn’t often I admit defeat, but in this situation, there’s no choice. I’ve tried to do things my way, mostly because I didn’t want to drag anyone else into it, and I’ve been saving all of my money until I could get the job here. But this is a case where I’d consider the expense a necessity. There’s an ex-cop turned PI who I think might be able to get me the information I’m looking for. The only problem is, I won’t be able to see him myself.
When I finally get a moment alone in Lach’s office, I pull out my cell phone and call Scarlett.
“Hey babe,” she answers. “It’s about damn time you called me.”
“Sorry,” I whisper. “But it’s been a little difficult.”
“Yeah, I figured,” she says. “So how’s it going?”
“Well, not great,” I answer honestly. “They’ve got eyes on me all the time, and… well, I’m going to need your help.”
“Thank God,” she sighs. “I’ve been bored out of my mind. Tell me what I can do for you.”
I glance at the door, knowing Lachlan will be back any second and spit it out. “I need you to go see my guy in the Dot. Tell him I need anything he can get me on Donovan O’Shea.”
Scarlett laughs, and I can hear her scrawling down a note, like she might somehow forget. I know she won’t, she’s sharper than I am. “Alright, babe.”
“Take whatever you need from my safe for payment,” I tell her. “And I will contact you, okay. Not the other way around.”
“Got it.”
The door swings open, and Lach gives me a curious look when he sees me on the phone. I flash him a smile and try not to draw suspicion.
“Okay, grandma,” I say. “I have to go now. You take care and give gramps a hug for me.”
Scarlett snorts on the other line. “Yeah, sure thing, babe. I’ll get right on that.”
A click of the line, and I shove my phone back in my purse and cross my legs as Lach stalks around his desk and sits down in his chair.
“I thought your grandparents were dead,” he says.
“They are. But those are just some foster parents I stayed with for a while. Closest thing to family I’ve got left.”
Lachlan accepts my explanation without any more suspicion, which makes me feel both relieved and guilty at the same time.
“Come up here.” He pats the surface of his desk.
I grin and stand up, walking towards him slowly. Since the first night he took me, I’ve learned a thing or two about Lachlan Crow. He loves morning sex. Then again, he loves it anytime, really. Night or day. And he’s already made good on a few of his promises about his office. We have yet to christen his car though.
Things between us are crazy hot. Whatever hope I held for getting it out of my system is long gone now. I still don’t know if he’s banging anybody behind my back. I’m too afraid to ask. Too afraid of all the different feelings I’ve got running rampant inside of me. There’s a reason I generally keep people at a distance, and this is it. But there is no shield for Lachlan. No armor strong enough to keep him out.
When he looks at me now, his eyes hungry and fierce as I sit down before him, I know more than ever that it’s true. I underestimated what it would feel like to have someone look at me that way. Not just someone but him. He’s waking something inside of me. He’s breathing life into me. And I don’t know how to stop it. I don’t think I want it to stop.
His palms glide up my thighs, pushing the material of my dress up as he goes. The gray of his irises expand and swell as he grabs my ass and brings me to the edge of the desk. He splays my legs open and then steps between them, closing the distance between us.
“I’m having a shite of a day, Mack.” He grips my hair in his fist. “And I want ye to make it better.”
“Anything for you,” I whisper.
He kisses me. And then he has my hand, dragging it over the bulge in his jeans. I grip his hot cock and rub, jacking him off through the material. Almost instantly, his eyes fall half shut, and he lets out an agonized sound.
He looks a little off balance today. More on edge than I’m used to seeing him. And I know things must be really bad. He needs this. He needs me to take his stress away. I want to.
I tug on his zipper and slip my hand inside of his briefs, stroking him hard and rough the way he likes. He isn’t moving. He’s hardly even breathing. His eyes are closed and he’s just enjoying the moment. I slip down on my knees before him and he smiles. I already know what he’s thinking.
“You’re the only man I’ll ever bow down to like this,” I tell him.
I didn’t think he could get any harder, but I was wrong. He grips my hair and pulls my mouth all the way down on his shaft until I’m flush with his pelvis.
“Ah, Christ sweetheart,” h
e sighs.
And then he’s face fucking me. Hard and fast and all I can do is hold onto his thigh and squeeze his ass with my other hand. He drags my mouth up and down his shaft, making those noises that I love. I’m obsessed with those sounds, knowing that I caused them. Lach’s never looked sexier than he does right now. He’s looking down at me like I’m his savior, and I can’t fucking handle it. I want to be his relief. I want to be so many things to him, but not his savior. Because I’m not.
A tear escapes my eye, and I tell myself that it’s just from him gagging me. He grabs my head and pushes me all the way down on his cock while he blows his load inside my mouth.
“Take it,” he grunts.
I slavishly do as he says. And even when his grip has relaxed, and he’s stroking my hair, I’m still sucking on him. Taking care of him. What the fuck is wrong with me?
He’s hardly softened at all. And somehow I know that isn’t going to be the last of it. Just as I suspect, he bends down and pulls me back up to the desk, resting my ass right on the edge. And then he kneels until his face is right between my legs. He gives me a little shove until I fall back on my elbows and I’m staring up at the ceiling.
And then his mouth is on me, sucking, licking, biting at me. I don’t want to enjoy it because a part of me feels like I don’t deserve this. But when he pushes his tongue inside of me, my brain shuts off completely.
My breath quickens. My pulse flutters. My back snaps backwards as he buries his face between my legs. I hate him. I hate him for making me feel this way. So confused. So off balance. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
I reach down and stroke his hair anyway. Fuck. I’ve never felt so conflicted. All of my frustrations, my confusion, my arousal… they combine to form an atomic bomb inside of me. And when it goes off, I scream out his name.
I collapse back onto the desk, and without any pause he’s pushing inside of me. Despite my exhaustion, my body sucks him in greedily. Lach groans and then pulls me backwards until we both collapse in the chair.
