by Marie James
“Seriously,” Samson snaps. “Quit staring at her. She’s not some giggling coed from the bar.”
Camryn chuckles, and it pulls a smile to my lips.
“I’m going to make her mine.” For tonight, at least.
“You don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell,” Samson says with a scoff.
I turn my gaze back to him, raising an eyebrow.
“Way to go,” Cam says as she slaps Samson’s chest with the back of her hand. “Now he feels challenged.”
“Seriously, man. Don’t shit where you eat.” I’m sure he can tell by the gleam in my eye that my mind is already made up. “Jesus, this is going to be bad.”
“So bad,” Cam agrees with a smile.
“You don’t think I can do it?”
“I think you’re used to simple girls, and that woman would never be interested in your goofy ass.”
And that right there is the crux of the situation.
Ever heard the saying I’m not such-and-such. I simply play one on TV?
That’s me—the class clown, the jester, the idiot always willing to make someone laugh.
But behind closed doors, the chicks I score aren’t laughing. Panting, moaning and begging for more maybe, but they’re certainly not giggling.
None of my friends know what I’m really like. I’m sure they presume I’m the slap an ass and make them giggle type of guy, but that’s so far from the truth a laugh nearly bubbles out of my own throat.
I’m… demanding to say the least, and the girls I hook up with understand that my proclivities aren’t to be shared around. I’m not ashamed of what gets me off, but I don’t want my business spread around either.
Those chicks get the light, fun Cannon in public, and then they meet my darker side once the bedroom door closes. I think the change brings a little extra thrill to the situation and heightens pleasure.
And that’s me inside the bedroom and out, a man always seeking a new kind of pleasure.
I imagine the newest Cerberus member would give me just that, and the prospect of feeling her leanly fit body against mine where I’m more used to soft, supple flesh will haunt me until I get her alone in the dark.
“I can be serious,” I argue.
Cam scoffs and Samson doesn’t appear to be convinced either.
“I always get the girls I go after.”
“No, you don’t,” Cam says as she leans in a little closer to me. “Did you forget about Charli? She wasn’t swayed by your stupid pickup lines.”
“My pickup lines are famous.”
“That may be true, but they didn’t work on her.”
“I didn’t try all that hard either.”
And that’s the truth. Charli, Camryn’s best friend, is also a doctor, and that chick was way too serious when I first met her. She didn’t seem like the type that would relinquish control in the bedroom. The woman across the room, talking to Grinch, doesn’t give off that vibe either, but for some reason I just can’t pull my focus off of her.
“It won’t work,” Samson says. “You’ll only be wasting your time, and your dad will kick your ass for even trying.”
My eyes cut to the corner where Mom and Kincaid are talking. Dad isn’t even in the room from what I can tell, so I bide my time, waiting until Mom calls it a night before I make a move. It doesn’t take long. They always turn in early. Not to sleep, though. I shudder at the memories of going home shortly after they said they were going to bed. I’ll never unhear those sounds as long as I live. So I always make a point to wait hours before following them to the house.
When I look up and notice Mom is gone, I know it’s time to make my move.
Just the memories remind me that I’m grateful to have spent the last three years mostly on campus at San Diego State University.
“Only one way to find out,” I tell them as Mom and Dad disappear.
I drain the last of my beer before standing to introduce myself.
“Rivet is going to hand you your ass,” Samson says with a smile, and it’s easy to tell that he’s waiting for me to fall, waiting for her to be the one to finally put me in my place.
Rivet… I wonder what that name is all about. Maybe it’ll come up in conversation after our hearts settle from the orgasms we’re going to share.
“Cannon,” Cam groans. “You’re just going to embarrass yourself.”
It’s not going to happen. The chick on my radar is going to fold like an umbrella in a thunderstorm. I smile at my friends before walking across the room. My custom grin is in place when I approach, walking past Jinx, Tug, and Mia, but Rivet doesn’t even bother to look my way. Her conversation with Grinch seems to be more important. It won’t be that way for long.
“Hey, baby,” I say, interrupting the conversation so she notices me.
Chapter 3
Rivet
“Hey, baby.” I turn my head, frowning at the guy that’s approached us.
He doesn’t look like Cerberus, and I don’t recognize him from the meeting earlier.
There’s nothing that screams Marine about this guy. Not his shaggy blond hair or the stupid shirt he’s wearing that reads SHOW ME YOUR KITTIES with a smiling cat wearing sunglasses.
I turn my body, trying to exclude this idiot.
“Yeah,” I continue, picking up the conversation right where I left off before being so rudely interrupted. “Four years was enough for me. The bureaucracy was just too much to re-up.”
“Oh,” the fool says, still not taking a hint. “You were in the military?”
Grinch, the guy I’m talking to, smiles like a fool, and it takes everything I have not to roll my eyes. Is this going to be some form of hazing, an initiation of sorts for joining their ranks?
The new guy comes in closer, inches from invading my personal space, and I clench my hands to stave off the urge to shove him back.
“Are you a general? Cause you just made my private stand at attention.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Is this guy for real?
Grinch coughs into his hand, much the same way Shadow did during the meeting earlier, but he doesn’t tell the guy to fuck off. I can’t help but think this is some sort of test. The thing about me is, I hate fucking tests.
“Wanna help me dishonorably discharge?” He waggles his eyebrows up and down.
Does this shit normally work for him?
I let my eyes assess him, but even with his tanned muscular arms and the thick thighs filling out his jeans, he doesn’t really pose a threat to me. I’ve seen bigger and badder and took them to their knees without blinking an eye.
“I can stand at attention for hours.” There’s no missing the innuendo in his words. “Wanna play formation?”
With that, my lip twitches. This entire situation is just ridiculous, and I’m waiting for the entire Cerberus team to start laughing at the prank. I don’t want to be the asshole who can’t take a joke, but then the fucker crosses a line, reaching up and trailing his fingers down my arm. There isn’t skin-on-skin contact because I’m in a long-sleeved Henley, but I can’t let the disrespect go any further.
“What do you say? Are you delta tango foxtrot?” He grins wide, his fingers still in contact with my arm.
DTF… down to fuck.
This little mother—
I wait until his hand is near my wrist before I act, and with a simple twist of my own hand and putting my weight exactly where it needs to be, I’m able to flip the fool on his back.
He squeals like a damn girl a second before his back hits the floor with a loud thump.
The entire room goes silent, and for a split second I wonder if I seriously fucked up, but then laughter rings out around us, and Grinch smiles like I responded the way I should’ve.
“So, yeah,” I tell Grinch as I take a few steps to the side to get away from the guy still lying on the floor, “four years was enough, but I think Cerberus is going to be a good fit.”
“You’re going to fit in here just fine,” Grinch s
ays as he grins down at the guy on the floor.
I give him a final cursory glance, finding him blinking up at me like he’s never seen a woman defend herself before in his life.
“So, I guess now isn’t the time to ask if I can put my oorah in your who-ha?”
I huff an incredulous laugh at the audacity. Maybe he’s too ignorant to learn a damn thing.
I’m still in conversation with Grinch when he finally climbs up off the floor. He’s still smiling, and I can tell from the wicked, teasing glint in his eyes that I haven’t heard the last of him.
“Who the fuck was that?” I ask Grinch when the guy is out of earshot.
“Cannon.” He lifts his beer to his mouth with a grin. “He’s Shadow’s youngest son.”
“Fuck,” I grumble, peering over my shoulder to watch the guy settle down on a couch near a sweet-looking couple.
They’re frowning at him, but he’s beaming like he just won the lottery, and I hate that he feels like he may have figured me out somehow.
“Don’t worry about it. His dad knows he’s an idiot.”
“They let their kids hang around the clubhouse?” I ask because I’m feeling out the entire situation. I want to know what I’m facing and knowing who has access to the building and when, is instrumental in being informed.
“I’d say they normally just chill and stay out of our way, but several of the guys have crossed that line.”
“Why do I get the feeling this is about to turn into a gossip session?”
He grins again and shrugs. “I figured you’d want to know the ins and outs. Who you can fuck that won’t get you kicked out of the organization.”
“I’m not fucking anyone in Cerberus.”
His eyes watch over my shoulder and I know he’s looking at Shadow’s son.
“I’m not fucking any of the Original’s kids either.”
“Okay.”
Silence fills the space between us, and as the seconds tick by, I grow more desperate to learn everything there is to know about the workings of this place.
“You ready to listen?” Grinch says as if he can read my mind, and suddenly he reminds me of Bishop. He hasn’t stopped chattering since he approached me earlier, and he seems comfortable talking about anything and everything around here. It’s like I’m already a full-fledged member of the group according to him, and that’s what I’m striving for with all of them.
“Yeah, I guess,” I tell him with a quick grin.
“I’m not going to point because these fuckers will notice, so listen to the info and then put two and two together when you start getting more familiar with those around the clubhouse.”
I nod, letting him know I’m ready for him to continue.
“Okay, let’s start with Cerberus. Hound is dating Gigi and they have a kid together. She’s Kincaid’s daughter. Her twin, Ivy, is dating Griffin, Shadow’s oldest son. Those two are in Rhode Island. You’ll meet them this summer if not sooner. Griffin’s a Marine. I think you’ll like him.”
“Okay, that’s one Cerberus member and both of Kincaid’s daughters. Who else?”
“Jasmine, Dominic’s adopted daughter, is dating Tug and Max. Max works with intel and all that computer shit.”
“Hold on.” I lift my hand to stop him in his tracks. “She’s dating both?”
“Yeah.” He grins again. “It was a whole big thing a couple of weeks ago, but things seem to have settled. Let’s see. Scooter is in a relationship with Max’s sister, Mia, and that was touch and go for a while since her abduction, but things seem to be looking better for them.”
“Abduction?”
“Long story for a different day.” He glances around like he’s trying to figure out who to talk about next. “Oh, they’re also in Rhode Island so you’ll meet them later, but Snatch and Itchy’s adopted daughter, Delilah, is married to Snatch’s biological son, Lawson. They got married here in the clubhouse a few weeks ago.”
“Wow.” I have no words.
“Do they ever leave the clubhouse? Like meet people who aren’t linked to the organization?”
Grinch chuckles, a silly sound coming from such a serious man.
“Samson, Itchy and Snatch’s adopted son and Delilah’s twin is engaged to Dr. Camryn Davison.”
“So they didn’t meet here?”
“Well…” His brows furrow. “I think she was his babysitter when he was young.”
My eyes widen.
“But they didn’t get together until this last year. It’s not like something inappropriate was going on.”
“Okayyy.”
He grins again.
“This is like an episode of Jerry Springer.”
“Not really. Hound met Gigi… oh wait, yeah, that doesn’t really count.”
“What?” I’m already invested in the damn gossip, too deep to stop now.
“Hound was tasked with bringing Gigi home, so technically it was Cerberus related. Griffin grew up with his girl, Ivy. Tug knew Max from when they were kids.” He leans in like he’s telling me a secret. “Rumor is those three met in a sex club in Denver, so that was really just a coincidence.”
“Sex club?”
“Which is run by Kincaid and Dominic’s cousin’s son.”
I shake my head.
“Wow. When I say it all out loud it makes everyone seem like complete freaks, but I promise we’re normal.”
“You think?”
“Regretting your decision to come here?”
“Tell me that idiot isn’t going to try to sneak in my room and fuck me.” I nod my head in Cannon’s direction.
“Nah. He may spend a few days licking his wounds before he approaches you again, but you don’t have anything to worry about with anyone here.” He takes another sip of beer. “Well, Jinx is probably undressing you constantly with his eyes, but you’re safe. Kincaid doesn’t put up with much bullshit around here.”
“Good to know.”
I lift my nearly empty beer back up to my mouth as I scan the room, processing what Grinch has just told me and trying to link the stories with faces.
It’s all a little too much to take in, but for some reason, with the new information, I feel like I fit in even more.
Chapter 4
Cannon
“Was that part of your plan?” Samson asks, barely holding in a laugh when I rejoin them.
“My dick is hard,” I mutter as I take a seat on the sofa across from them.
“Really?” Samson chides. “Knock that shit off.”
Camryn laughs, not fazed a bit with my news or the vulgarity, but Samson has a point. We weren’t raised to speak that way in front of women.
“Sorry,” I tell her.
She looks at me and shrugs.
“I think Landon has better game than you,” Samson interjects, still unwilling to let what just happened go.
Landon is Dustin and Khloe’s teenage son, and he’s recently discovered tits. To say he’s obsessed is an understatement.
“Leave him alone,” Cam says, smacking his chest the same way she did earlier. “Let the guy lick his wounds in peace.”
“Speaking of wounds. How’s your head? You hit hard enough to get a concussion.”
I ignore them both, frowning when I lift my deserted beer bottle from the table, only to remember I drank it all before I approached her.
“What do you think he’s telling her about me?”
They both turn their heads, looking at Grinch as he leans in close and speaks. I can tell from the way they’re both darting their eyes around the room that they’re gossiping. Grinch is known for being in the know, and he never has a problem sharing that information with others.
“Probably that you’re an idiot,” Samson teases.
“She already knows that,” Cam adds.
“Two against one?” I look back at my friends. “That’s jacked up.”
Cam smiles wide, showcasing perfect white teeth.
“You bring this mess on yourself,” Samso
n says. “I told you she wasn’t going to be interested in those cheesy-ass pickup lines.”
“So, a different approach?” I turn my gaze back to her.
“No approach,” Samson says with warning in his voice. “Leave that woman alone. Go to the bar if you want to score. Don’t bring that crap here. It makes things messy.”
“She only served fours year,” I say, ignoring his insistence. “I heard her tell Grinch that when I was walking up.”
“And?”
“That means she’s closer to my age than I initially thought.”
“Are you saying she’s old?” Cam snaps. Seems she still isn’t a hundred percent over the age difference between her and Samson.
“No,” I answer. “She just seems experienced, I guess.”
“She was in the Corps for four years, not away at summer camp. Of course she’s experienced. That woman has seen and done things you could only imagine. That’s why you need to leave her the hell alone. She doesn’t have time for college juniors with nothing but time on their hands. She’s here to do a job. Let her do it without being harassed by the likes of you.”
I turn my eyes back to Samson. “Are you done?”
He shrugs, leaning back against the couch and pulling Camryn closer.
“I think she’s too much work. It’s not like I wanted to get down on one knee and promise my life to the woman. I just wanted to get my d—”
“Don’t even finish that thought,” Samson warns.
Camryn gazes down at her own diamond ring, but the pink in her cheeks tells me she knew what I was going to say.
As the night wears on, I keep an eye on Rivet, but what I told them is true. I’m not looking for anything even semi-permanent. I don’t want to have to work that hard to get laid, and that’s all that it would’ve been. A night, maybe two, of unadulterated sin, but then it would be over.
My only regret right now is not going to the bar. It’s too late now, and I’ve been drinking, so it looks like my last night before returning to school is going to happen without another notch in my headboard.
