by Lexi Blake
She didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to go there. She wanted him to spank her again. She could cry that way. She could let the pain float away.
God, she’d kept it in for so long. She’d blamed Alex, but she was at fault, too. “I didn’t. I was scared.”
“I know you were, angel.” His hands gentled, finding the nape of her neck and pulling her close.
She sighed and relaxed into his strength. His cock was still hard against her belly. He still wanted her. “I couldn’t believe it was happening, and I thought I shouldn’t fight because maybe he wouldn’t hurt me more. I was in shock from seeing them kill Tommy and Leon. I thought maybe he would be easy on me if I complied. I thought he was going to ransom me. I was so stupid. So stupid. I kept thinking he wasn’t going to hurt me. He didn’t need to hurt me. I was fooling myself but I just wanted to survive. I just wanted to go home.”
It was one of the things she regretted most. She’d been so docile, trying to logic her way out of an illogical situation.
He ran a hand across her wet hair, smoothing it out, his eyes so haunted. “I looked for you.”
Eve nodded. She was sure of that. “I know you did.”
“Ian looked for you. Ian used every influence he had and we couldn’t find you and it still didn’t work. God, angel, he could have killed you. I didn’t sleep for a week. I just focused on finding you. It was the only thing that kept me sane.”
And then he’d stayed sane by switching his focus to finding Evans, and she’d gone silent. She’d withheld herself from him because she’d been scared at first, and it had become a habit. “Alex, do you think my scars are ugly?”
She’d never just asked him, terrified that she would get a lukewarm, kind answer. There were so many questions she hadn’t asked because she’d been afraid. She knew he wouldn’t tell her yes, but how he said it would mean everything.
He tugged her hair, forcing her head back. All tenderness was gone. “What did you say?”
Tears filled her eyes. Relief was a wave that flashed through her system. This wasn’t going to be some attempt to placate her. He was pissed. “I was worried that you didn’t think I was pretty anymore.”
“There is nothing wrong with your body. You are the most gorgeous fucking thing I’ve ever seen, and I swear if you say one bad thing about the body I adore again, you’ll think a little edging is heaven compared to what I’ll do to you.” A sexy growl came out of his mouth and a fierce desire was on his face. He rubbed his cock against her belly. “Do I have to show you how much I love this body?”
“Please, Alex.” She wanted him so badly.
He put his forehead against hers. “No other women, Eve. Not for the rest of my life. If you walk away from me at the end of this, I won’t ever want another woman because it’s been you since the first time I laid eyes on you. Only you. Compared to my friends, I’ve practically been a monk. They’ve had so many women they can’t count them, but I was the lucky one because I only needed one. I only need one. I’ll show you. I’ll fucking show you how gorgeous you are.”
He picked her up, his lean muscles easily lifting her as though she didn’t weigh a thing. His mouth latched onto a nipple, biting and sucking. The water pounded down on her, but his mouth was hotter. He lashed her nipple with his tongue before giving her the edge of his teeth and making her squirm. He always knew just the right amount of pain to give her, just that little bite that threatened to send her over the edge.
He switched to the other breast, holding her high against the tile. She felt small and helpless, but with her Master that did something for her. She could be helpless against him because he wouldn’t hurt her. Not physically.
He played at her breasts, lavishing them with affection before he let her slide down the tile just a bit.
“God, I want you. I won’t ever stop wanting you.” He pressed his lips to hers, his tongue diving deep.
She had to wrap her legs around his waist and hold on for dear life because his cock knew right where it wanted to go. That big dick of Alex’s was already pushing inside, opening her up, showing her how much he wanted to get inside.
“Open up for me, angel. You take me. You take every inch I have. Your pussy is mine, and I fucking want in. You said all you wanted to do was go home. This is my home, Eve. This is my goddamn home, and no matter what happens, it always will be.” He shoved her back against the shower wall, his mouth coming down on hers.
His tongue plunged inside while he strained to fit his cock in. Eve softened, opening her mouth to him. Now that he’d kissed her again, she couldn’t seem to stop wanting his mouth on hers, their tongues playing, sliding alongside one another. She wrapped her arms around his neck, giving as good as she got.
She couldn’t be still now. Later, she would let him tie her up and down and play with her for hours, but this was something more. This was new. She kissed him back, unable to hold herself apart. The water streamed around them, but she didn’t notice it. All that mattered was winding her body around her husband’s, taking him deep inside. His cock was so big. No matter how many times she had him, it always took her breath away when he started to pierce her. She was deliciously pinned, forced to take more and more of him.
“You feel so good, angel. You get so hot for me.”
He’d given her the words she’d needed. She gave him her truth, too. “Only you, Alex. Only for you. I never felt this way for anyone else.”
And she never would.
He planted his chest against hers, trapping her between the shower wall and his hard body as he sank home.
So full. He filled her up. Always. He held himself against her, rubbing their chests together as he seated himself to the hilt. He kissed her again as though he couldn’t stop exploring her mouth. She ran her hands across his head. His hair was so short now, but it just made him all the more masculine. She held on because she didn’t want the moment to end.
There was so much he didn’t know. So much she still couldn’t tell him. Everything felt new again, but it was fragile, too. She couldn’t stand the thought of it dissolving. Not yet. It wouldn’t bear the weight of the real world, but she wanted these days with him. For however long they had, she wanted to be with him in every way.
“Please, Alex. I can’t stand it. Please.”
He nipped at her ear, a little shock through her system. “Please what, angel? Please wash me? Please stand here? You’re going to have to be more specific.”
He loved to hear her beg. “Please fuck me, Alex. Please fuck me so hard.”
“Oh, yeah, you know I want that.” He used the wall as a balance as he pulled out and thrust back in hard, making her whole body jump with the thrill of him filling her up again.
Over and over again he slammed inside, his cock rubbing all the right places. She was so primed, her every sense attuned to him. The orgasm built, a cannon threatening to go off. The whole time he pounded his cock inside, he kissed her. His tongue fucked into her mouth in synch with his cock as though he needed to be as intimate as he could. Their tongues slid together in a silky dance. She felt his hands on the globes of her ass, one of them seeking entry there, too. A finger pressed against her asshole, rimming her lightly and forcing the tip inside. She shivered at the dark sensation.
“I want everything, Eve,” he whispered against her mouth. “I won’t leave an inch of this gorgeous body untouched. I love this body. I loved it when you were heavier, and I still love it now. I love it scarred or perfect. I love it because this skin and bones houses your soul. There is nothing ugly about it. I don’t care what he did. This is mine. Mine.”
She let her nails sink into his shoulders as he hit the perfect place inside, and she went flying.
Alex fucked deep again, and he shuddered as he spilled his semen inside. His finger slipped back out of her ass, but she knew he wouldn’t wait long to take her there now that he’d been let off the leash. He would give her everything he’d promised, total possession. He pressed in
for what felt like a pleasant eternity before gently letting her down. He kissed her again, his hand reaching for the soap.
“I’m a pussy Dom. Don’t tell Ian. Tell him how rough I was on you, angel.” He cleaned off his hands before he started methodically washing her flesh, his hands stroking over her.
She felt weak, stretched and sore. He hadn’t exactly been tender, but it had been so good to be close to him, to feel his passion and not his guilt.
“I won’t tell.” She ran her hand across his scalp, her eyes closing as he got to his knees and started cleaning her pussy.
“That’s my sweet pet.”
She whispered his name as he dumped the soap and started cleaning her with his tongue.
Eve let everything slip away as she lost herself for the first time in years. She was with Alex, and that was all that mattered.
* * * *
Jesse slipped back out of the locker room, looking around to see if that busybody Kristen had followed him. She seemed to always be around these days. He couldn’t have her following him on this errand. He’d set two of the cocktail waitresses on her fifteen minutes before. Sometimes a little chaos was called for. It had been easy. He’d just made up a little rumor that one of the girls was keeping tips from the pool and the rest of them had been all over Kristen.
The cook dude had been yelling at some of the men in the kitchen about proper cooking techniques for lamb and Jesse had managed to slip into the hallway when he should have been enjoying the luncheon. Someone needed to talk to that big blond guy about the fact that the word “beets” and “enjoy” did not belong in the same sentence. He didn’t get why they had fired Big Mike. Sure his burgers were a little on the raw side, but at least he hadn’t served beets.
Master A had locked the door to the women’s locker room, but Jesse had learned long ago that a simple lock couldn’t keep him out. A couple of seconds with a pick and a torque wrench and he was in. He had his story all planned out if he got caught. Someone had come by and complained that the locker room was inaccessible. He was just helping out one of the girls.
He hadn’t needed a story. Those two weren’t about to notice him. He’d followed them hoping he could overhear something, anything that he could tell his boss. He’d gotten exactly what he wanted.
He clutched at his cell phone as he relocked the door and made his way down the hall.
Azure stopped him, her body barely contained in a tiny skirt and a too-tight T-shirt. “Hey, Jesse. Kris is looking for you. And what’s with all the VIPs? Chazz said I had to work after hours. What does that mean?”
It meant she would end up fucking one of those men who were here, no doubt. Chazz viewed all the women with the exception of Kristen as convenient whores. But all he could do was shrug. “No idea. Maybe you should tell him you’re sick.”
She frowned and looked far older than her twenty-two years. “Nah, they look like they have money.”
Most of the girls who worked here came from the streets. They saw money as a way out. They couldn’t imagine that the streets of Hell were definitely paved with gold. And it wasn’t his job to correct her. “I’m sure they do. I gotta run an errand. Tell Kris I’ll be back later.”
He had a call to make. And he wanted to put himself as far away from that couple in the shower as he could get.
He rushed out into the bright Florida sunshine. Everything was so fucking bright and shiny here. He’d gotten used to the dark.
He could still hear Master Asshole beating his woman. He could still hear the slap of his hand on her flesh and her breathy cries as she took his…discipline. God, what a word. It wasn’t discipline. It was fucking abuse, and he hated the fact that it had gotten his dick so hard he could pound nails. He’d just stood there listening to them. He’d seen himself there, smacking that beautiful ass.
He wasn’t a fucking pervert. He just wasn’t.
He’d heard the way the brutal fucker beat his woman, saw how he humiliated her in the meeting earlier in the day.
So why had it seemed so lovely to him? He hadn’t been able to stop watching, and it wasn’t just the smacks and how the Master tugged on her hair. He’d watched how she’d curled onto the Master’s lap, how she sank to her knees before him and her face had been serene. All the trust in the world had been on her lovely face.
Just for that moment, he’d wondered how it would feel to have a woman trust him like that.
He dragged humid air into his lungs as his cell started to ring. The boss man was right on time.
He answered the phone, looking behind him to make sure no one was following. He started walking down the cobblestoned streets that marked St. Augustine’s downtown. “I’m here.”
“You haven’t sent me the information I requested days ago. I would like an explanation.”
Jesse tried to hide his frustration. “There hasn’t been a good time to take pictures. I don’t want him to catch me. He’s gotten in good with Chazz. I think he could cause trouble if he decided to try to get rid of me. So I’ve been patient. He’s actually very observant.”
Master A was always watching, Jesse had noticed. The only time the man hadn’t been watching was when he was beating the holy shit out of the idiot Chazz had brought with him. Jesse had immediately dismissed the man as one of Chazz’s show-off friends and had gone back to concentrating on Anthony Priest.
Who wasn’t Anthony Priest. He’d heard the woman call him by another name. And damn if the man didn’t move really well. He was supposed to be some sort of professional pervert, but he walked like a cop. And his eyes. They were always moving, always hard. Until he looked at the woman.
Fuck. They were acting. Shitballs. He’d missed it. They were really total perverts, but the Master person wasn’t as hard as he pretended. It had been in the way he held her when the others weren’t watching. He might have had a negligent look on his face, but Master A’s arms had curled around her, making sure there was no way she would fall and he’d settled her in as though her comfort was deeply important to him.
A cop making an appearance could screw everything up.
“Is there any way the local cops are onto this operation?” Jesse asked.
A long pause came over the phone. “I would have heard something. I have contacts there. Why do you ask?”
“I think this Master person is some sort of law enforcement. I don’t know why. It’s something about the eyes. My instincts tell me he’s not what he says he is.”
“Your instincts have been off before.”
He didn’t need to be reminded. There was a reason he was in this position. “Yeah, well, at least I know Anthony isn’t his name.”
“And how did you figure that out? How did you run anything on him without facial recognition?” The boss relied heavily on high-tech equipment.
Jesse had found out that sometimes it was better to just rely on his eyes and ears.
“His woman called him by another name.” While he was spanking her ass. While he was making her groan. How long had it been since he’d had anything but a quickie meant to get both him and the lady off as fast as possible so they could go their separate ways? Half the time he didn’t even ask for a name.
“I need to know that name, Murdoch.” The boss’s voice had gone low, whispering across the line.
“Alex. I didn’t catch the last name, but she clearly called him Alex.”
Jesse held the phone to his ear as he walked down the crowded street. Tourists were milling around the narrow lanes that offered small restaurants and art galleries and more fudge shops than any town should be able to handle. They really liked their sweets here. Nothing. He heard nothing for thirty seconds. He stopped, worried the line had gone dead. “Boss?”
“His name is Alexander McKay, and he’s an enemy, Murdoch. He’s the worst possible person to have walked through that door. He’s going to ruin everything.”
A cold shiver went up his spine. He’d known there was something wrong with Master A, but he still had t
o ask the question. “How can you be sure? There are millions of dudes named Alex in the world.”
“There is only one who can really fuck everything up. Alexander McKay is going to wreck this operation. He’s a man who can hurt us all and he won’t hesitate to do it. He is very dangerous.”
“How is he involved?” He’d never heard the name Alex McKay before, but then he hadn’t exactly studied up. He was a soldier. He was a grunt.
“Do you need me to send you his dossier? Perhaps I should find a more amenable agent.”
He couldn’t lose this job. It was all he fucking had and besides, he wasn’t exactly intelligence here. He was just following orders. It was all he was really good at. “No, sir. Tell me what to do.”
“Kill him. Kill him and whoever came with him, but get rid of McKay first.”
His gut tightened at the thought of killing the woman. He’d killed men before. That didn’t bother him. If McKay was threatening his operation, he had to be eliminated, but the woman was different.
“That’s an order, Murdoch. Do you understand me?”
He forced himself to say the words he knew his boss wanted to hear. “Yes, sir. I’ll have it done as soon as possible.”
“You better because this meeting is going to take place in three day’s time. I can’t have McKay disrupting it. How much does he know?”
“I don’t think he knows about the meeting.” Jesse only knew because the boss had told him. At this point, he wasn’t even sure Chazz knew what was going to kick him squarely in the balls three days from now.
“Everything rides on this. Everything we’ve worked for.”
He knew what was riding on his shoulders. “I understand.”
A long sigh came over the line. “Good. You’re a good soldier, Murdoch. You’re a good man to have on the team.”
“I won’t let you down.” Jesse ended the call.
The world flowed around him, families with kids, couples holding hands, friends joking around, and Jesse realized just how alone he was. He shoved his cell in his pocket and began the walk back to the club parking lot. He needed to get his shit together because he wasn’t going to ever be a part of some happy fucking family.
