by Melony Ann
“She said no. Did you not hear her?” I growl as I force him to his knees.
“I thought she was playing hard to get! Let go, man! Please!”
I look back at Kelly. “Want me to call the police or let him go?”
She shivers and bites her lip. “I…”
I nod and twist his wrist. I feel it snap, and he howls in pain. “If you touch her or another woman without their consent again, I will come after you. Understand me?”
“Yes! Yes! Oh, God. Let me go!”
I let go of his wrist and stand, noticing the crowd of people we’ve managed to attract. I shoot everyone a dangerous look. They all go back to doing whatever it was they were doing as the drunk asshole scurries away. I kneel next to Kelly, still curled in a ball on the floor with her knees to her chest.
“You okay?”
Her eyes are filled with unshed tears, but she nods anyway. “Thank you. For helping me.”
“You’re welcome. What do you say we get you out of here? I can take you home or call you an Uber.”
Fear crosses her face. She vigorously shakes her head. “Please don’t do that. I…,” she trails off and looks at her hands.
I push a strand of hair behind her ear leaving my hand lingering on her cheek. “Hey. Kel, if you feel safer with me, I’ll take you home myself.”
She nods and swallows. “Please…” Her voice is barely audible and she doesn’t look back up at me.
“Mr. Crane, the bouncer has taken care of the guy. We’ve banned him. He won’t be back,” the bartender says to me.
“Thanks. Get me a water for her.”
“Yes, sir.”
I help her to her feet. She clings to me. The bartender hands me the water, and I lead her out to my car. I help her inside. She sips on her water and keeps her eyes straight ahead. I close her door and get into the driver’s side.
“Where to?”
She glances at me. “Did you know that wasn’t the first time that’s happened? Guys are so disgusting when they’re drunk. It’s so weird. It’s shocking at first, but I’m totally desensitized to it. I’ve had my ass, and my tits grabbed so many times.
I shake my head. “He didn’t grab your ass or your tits. He grabbed your pussy. No guy should ever think it’s okay to grab a woman’s ass or tits. Certainly not her pussy. He assaulted you, Kel.”
She nods and goes back to sipping her water. I pull out of the parking lot. “I don’t want to go home, Jason. No one’s there. I don’t want to be alone tonight. I was feeling a little down. It’s why I came out in the first place”
“Okay. Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere. Nowhere.”
I glance at her and decide to drive. No destination in mind. Over the past couple of years, Kelly and I have become really good friends. I don’t have many of those. I don’t let myself get close to anyone but family. It’s one of the things I have in common with Ryan. We don’t trust anyone easily. Kelly has always been different. Ever since I first confided in her, she’s become one of the few people I know I can always count on.
After a long silent drive, I pull off on a lookout point where the entire city lays at our feet. No one ever comes here except me and Ryan. It’s part of a piece of property my family owns. About a mile from here is a safehouse deeply hidden in the woods.
We both get out of the car and lean against the hood quietly watching the twinkling city lights. She leans her head on my shoulder. After a few minutes, she lets out a long breath as she crosses her arms over her chest and rubs her arms. I put an arm around her and pull her close to my side.
“Cold?”
She shrugs. “A little.”
I move her in front of me so her back is to me and wrap my arms around her. I rest my chin on the top of her head. “I should’ve stepped in sooner.”
“I had him handled.”
“He grabbed you, Kelly. He wouldn’t have if I’d stepped in sooner.”
She turns in my arms and encircles her arms around my shoulders, pressing herself against me. With no warning, she stands on her tiptoes, pulls me down to her, and kisses me long and hard. Keeping my arms tightly around her waist, I pull her a little closer and kiss her just as long and hard back.
Out of breath after the deep kiss, we pull away and stare at each other. I’ve never been shy around women, but I don’t know what to say. I sense she needs this, whatever this is, and I don’t have the heart to stop her.
Unfortunately, morals get in the way. “Kel, you don’t want this. Not with me. You know I won’t commit to you. You deserve better than me. We’re far better friends.”
She smiles sadly and pulls away. She leans against the hood of my black Corvette and bites her lip. “You’re probably right.” She crosses her arms over her chest again and rubs her arms. She crosses her legs and sighs heavily.
“Fuck it.” I turn and lean her back against the hood of my car, surprising her. She gasps when my lips crash to hers, but she eagerly returns it. Her nails dig into my arms when I crawl on top of her, tugging her further up the hood of the car so she’s more against the windshield and her legs aren’t dangling off the bumper.
“Mmm…,” she moans.
I kiss down her jaw to her neck. “Are you sure this is what you want? I don’t want to ruin what we have.”
“Why can’t it be a friends with benefits thing? It’s not like you’ve never touched me before.”
I smile as I reach between her legs. She’s not wrong. We major in the same thing. We have a lot of the same classes. There have been several days where we’ve both been incredibly frustrated over one thing or another. In the back of the sometimes dark and sometimes not dark classroom, we’ve both gotten each other off. If we weren’t watching a movie or a PowerPoint or something and the lights were on, we’d hide ourselves from other people’s view with jackets or sweaters. Lucky for us, no one sat near us. The entire back row was free of others in several of our classes. A perk to being a business major is large classrooms and less students.
I kiss across her neck and throat to her shoulder and collarbone kissing to her chest as I slide her panties aside and thrust two fingers into her already wet and wanting center. Her nails dig into my shoulders. She throws her head back and arches into my hand. I’ve learned she loves hard and deep thrusts. If I do it fast while running my thumb over her clit, she comes almost immediately.
I do just that. She thrusts her hips against my hand in time with my pace and latches onto my cock with her hand. She squeezes and rubs. My eyes nearly roll back into my head as I nip at her nipple.
I moan and flick her clit. “Oh, fuck…”
She unbuttons my button and unzips my zipper with one hand and pulls my cock out of my pants. She starts stroking fast as she twists her wrist. She starts quivering and her thighs tremble. Her pussy tightens around my fingers, and she comes with a scream.
“Jason! Oh!” She shakes and pulses around my fingers while she strokes me.
“Jesus, Kel.” I slowly pull my fingers out of her and reach into my pocket to pull out my wallet. I pull out a condom and tear it open with my teeth. She watches in complete fascination while I roll it with one hand over my length. I position myself at her entrance, pushing her panties aside again. “Is this what you want?” My tip is just against her, but I don’t enter her. After what she’s been through, I want to be sure this is really what she wants from me. What she needs right now.
“Yes. Please.” She puts both hands on my face and pulls me down to kiss her. I slowly slide inside her inch by inch.
“Oh, God…,” I whisper into her mouth. She’s tight as hell, and I’m a little afraid I’m going to tear her pussy apart given how big I am compared to her.
She grips my shoulders and squeezes her eyes shut as she relaxes into me. “I’ve never… had… someone so big,” she gasps.
I give her time to adjust to me as I watch her. After a few moments she slowly opens her eyes and looks up at me. I push her hair out of her f
ace. “You ready?”
She nods. I start slowly thrusting, pulling all the way out and all the way back in, letting her get used to me. She arches into me, tugging at my hair and moaning as she starts thrusting a little faster. She wraps her legs around me. I slide in deeper.
“Ah… God.” I tangle her hair around my fist as she meets every one of my thrusts. Before long, we’re battling for control. Her nails dig into my back while mine squeeze her tits. We slide against each other faster and faster until I’m slamming into her with all I’m worth. The car underneath us rocks back and forth. We’re tugging at each other’s clothes and hair.
“Jason! Yes! Yes… Yes!”
“Fuck, Kel!”
Our bodies slam together against the hood of the car with the city lights below us, and dark as midnight sky above us. Her thighs quake as my stomach tightens. She tightens and starts pulsing hard around me as I thrust deep and hard inside her.
“Ah! Jason!” She pulls my hair as she comes.
“Kelly!” Our voices reverberate through the quiet air. She rips my orgasm from me as I slam into her one last time and come deep within her warm, wet walls. We both collapse against the hood of the car breathing hard and trying to catch our breath.
“Oh, God, Jason.”
I smile into her hair and slowly pull out of her after a few moments. I stand and pull the condom off while she sits on the hood of my car straightening her panties and clothing. I open the driver’s side door and reach in for a tissue. I wrap the condom up and clean myself off as I hand her a couple to do the same. She takes them gratefully and wipes her thighs.
“You know this was a onetime thing.”
“I know, Jason.”
“We can’t do this again.”
“You don’t do relationships. I understand. I knew what I was getting into. I’m a big girl. I needed that, and judging from what just happened, I think you needed it just as badly. What’s wrong?”
I pack myself away as I sigh. She stays on the hood of my car and looks up at me. “I have a lot on my mind.”
“Your business you want to start and starting it with money that isn’t clean?”
“That, but I think what’s bothering me the most is Nick. I’m worried about him. He broke up with fucking Penelope today.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It’s a great thing. The problem is he seemed pretty upset about it. He discovered her true intentions.”
She jumps off the car and hugs me. For some reason, the comfort makes me feel better. I breathe a sigh of relief and feel her smile against my chest. “With you, Ryan, and your family by his side, Nick is going to be just fine. I promise.”
I squeeze her a little tighter, but I know she’s right. Our family bond is strong, but the bond between the three of us brothers is impenetrable.
Chapter Nine - Nick
I groan at the shrill sound of my alarm clock going off. If I didn’t need to get up, I’d probably throw the damn thing out the window. But I can’t. I need to call the bank and get that fucking gold-digging bitch off my accounts before she screws me over. I can’t believe I let it go on this far.
I push myself up as someone knocks on my door. I rub my eyes and walk to it, opening it slowly. “What?” I ask as my eyes focus on my brothers.
Ryan pushes by me, and Jason follows giving me an apologetic look. “Sorry. Ryan said you needed moral support.”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever,” I grumble. We all sit on my bed, and I have to laugh. None of us have bothered to get dressed. We’re all sitting here in boxers and nothing else.
“What the fuck are you laughing at?” Ryan growls.
“Look at us.” I gesture between the three of us. Before long we’re all laughing.
“I guess some things are more important than clothes,” Jason says as I start dialing the bank’s number. We all quiet down as I put it on speaker, and it starts ringing.
“Bank of New York Mellon. How may I help you?”
“Hey, my name is Nickolas West. Can I speak with my private banker, please? Mr. Mort.”
“Sure thing, Mr. West. Let me place you on a brief hold and transfer you right away.”
“Thank you.”
“Hopefully Penelo-slut wasn’t standing outside the damn bank door this morning to clean you out after you cancelled her cards,” Ryan mumbles.
“I still don’t know if she’s capable of that,” I say shaking my head. “But after last night, I don’t know what she’s capable of anymore.”
Jason raises an eyebrow. “You mean before she left, or did something else happen?”
“Give me your phone,” I say holding out my hand. Ryan hands over his phone, and I quickly pull up Blaze Edge Magazine. I hand it back to him and Jason leans over and looks at the headline.
“Holy shit,” Ryan whispers. The headline and story are all about how I beat her up and left her for dead. The images are of her bruised and battered, but anyone looking closely can see it’s all makeup.
“Mr. West. How may I assist you today?”
“Mr. Mort, I need to get my ex off my accounts immediately.”
“Sure. I’ll just need you to come in and take care of some paperwork for me. I’ll need your signature -”
“Mr. Mort, it’s Ryan Crane. This is time-sensitive. Can you fax the paperwork? He’ll sign it right away and fax it back.”
Mr. Mort, clears his throat. “Mr. Crane, I understand, but federal regulations and bank policy require a signature. It can’t be a photocopy.”
“It’s not a photocopy. It’s a fax,” I say incredulously.
“Unfortunately, for us, it wouldn’t be. We need the original. I can have all of the paperwork ready for you, but you’ll have to come in and sign in person.”
I look at Ryan and swallow hard. I can feel myself starting to panic. He grabs my phone, eyes flashing fury. “Mr. Mort, I understand, but this is an emergency. There must be something you can do. Can you suspend all of his accounts?”
“Not unless there’s fraudulent activity. Otherwise, I still need a signature from Mr. West saying he wants his accounts suspended for a particular period of time.”
Ryan shakes his head. “So what you’re telling me is if Nick were out of the country and found out his fiancé were going to clean out his accounts in retaliation for breaking up with her, you couldn’t do anything for him.”
“Mr. Crane, my hands are tied. She has access to his accounts. They both signed paperwork, and I need signed paperwork by him. We’ll have to close his accounts and open new ones because without her signature we can't remove her from the joint accounts.”
Ryan grits his teeth as hard as he grips my phone. “Mr. Mort, you better pray nothing happens to any of his accounts before we get there.” Ryan hangs up. “Get dressed. Quickly.”
It takes minutes before we’re all downstairs and getting ready to fly out the door. I find my heart is racing, and I’m starting to get a headache. Worst headache I’ve ever had.
“Where are you three off to so early? Neither of you have class until this afternoon,” mom says from the hallway.
“We’re closing out Nick’s accounts before Penelo-slut can fuck them up,” Ryan says as he leads us out the door. She stares after us slightly confused.
“I’ll explain later.” I smile softly at her as I close the door behind us. We all jump in one of the guard’s SUV’s. It’s the only vehicle big enough to fit three people. The three of us drive sports cars that don’t have backseats.
Ryan speeds through the streets, getting to the bank in record time. He parks in a VIP space I’m sure he shouldn’t be in, but Ryan believes the world revolves around him. Parking VIP is nothing new.
“If you get another vehicle towed, dad’s head may actually explode,” Jason chuckles.
“He needs some excitement in his life,” Ryan laughs as we walk into the bank. Ryan leads us up to a teller and moves aside for me.
“Good morning,” the friendly young teller sa
ys. I give her my sexiest smile. “I need to speak with Mr. Mort right away.”
“Sure,” she smiles back. “Let me see if he’s available.” She taps a few keys. I get a stabbing pain in my head, but fight it off, continuing to watch her. “It looks like he’s in a meeting, but if you sit down right over there, I’ll tell him you’re here.” She smiles up at points to an area with a few chairs and a coffee pot.
I look back at her. “Can you send him a message now, please? It’s important.”
She bites her lip, and I can see the moment she melts under my intense gaze. “I’m really not supposed to interrupt,” she says quietly.
I smile a little cockily. I’m fully aware I’m attractive. I don’t use that to my advantage as often as Jason and Ryan, but I do it when I need to. “It would mean a lot to me…” I look at her name tag and let my eyes linger on her cleavage a moment longer than necessary. I look back up at her, and she visibly shivers. “Chelsea.”
She smiles and taps a few keys. She waits a moment and looks back up at me. “He said he’ll be down in a moment.”
“Thank you, honey,” I say as I wink. The three of us walk over to the waiting area and sit.
Jason looks at his watch. “I really don’t like this.”
“Me either, Jas,” Ryan says as he leans back. We’re all tense. I rub my temple as we wait.
“Mr. West,” Mr. Mort says quietly. I look up at him. He’s sweating and loosening his tie. He motions for us all to follow him. I exchange a nervous look with Jason and Ryan as we follow. He closes us into an office and turns to us. “I was just on the phone with the bank president discussing your situation. I got an okay to put a hold on your accounts, but when I pulled them up, they were all empty.”
“What?” I slump against the wall and sink to the floor.
“There was a large cash withdrawal and a transfer this morning just as we opened. I was not notified. The teller who made the transaction has been fired because that type of withdrawal needs to be okayed. It wasn’t.”
Ryan glances down at me as Jason kneels at my side. “What was the teller’s name?”
