by Jenika Snow
“The club does have a house out past Steel Corner. We use the town as a transport line to get there so we stay off the highways.”
There was clearly this awkwardness coming from him, and it was a little strange seeing him uncomfortable. Since she had met him he had always seemed so in control of everything, including himself.
“The women that work for us are there because they want to be. We treat them well, they are paid and protected, and if at any time they ever want to leave they are free to go.”
Adrianna had every reason to believe him. He had done nothing but help her from the moment they met. Besides, the women that had been reading, laughing and talking, and cleaning certainly hadn’t looked like they were here held against their will. They also didn’t look beaten as Malice had said happened to them, but just because she couldn’t see any marks didn’t mean they hadn’t suffered. She knew that reality just as well as anyone. It didn’t take a genius to put two-and-two together. “Those women were beaten by their former pimps?”
Malice sighed, nodded, and moved to sit on the bed beside her. “Yeah, but they won’t ever be hurt again.” He looked over at her, and she felt how true his words were. She felt them as deeply as she had felt that truth when he had told her that about Phillip. “So, the club fixed this place up so they would have somewhere safe to stay.”
“What about when they want to go?”
“Then the door is always open. If they want to stay and work doing domestic things, we find them work. If they want to go back to what they were doing before—” He paused for a second before continuing. “Then we can help them out in that regards, too.”
She looked away from him for a second, processing his words. “I can’t imagine wanting to go back to prostituting myself after being beaten.” But as soon as the words left her she squeezed her eyes shut. She may not have sold her body, but she had stayed with Phillip far too long, even after he had hurt her the first time. Of course she knew why someone would want to go back to what they felt comfortable doing, and what had been their life for probably a long time. When she looked back at Malice she saw this worried expression on his face, and she smiled, letting him know without words that she wasn’t about to flip. “Does your club have a doctor that comes and checks on them?”
Malice shook his head, but looked away for her. “No, well, we have a doctor that works with the club on the down low, but Molly is a nurse and comes by every week to spend some time with them and see if they are okay.”
Adrianna wouldn’t have thought anything of a nurse coming here. It made sense even to have a medical professional on their payroll, but Malice acted strangely when he said her name, and Adrianna knew right away there was obviously some kind of history between them.
He turned his attention back to her. “My ex, Molly, she moved to Steel Corner with our three year old son after she became the old lady to a club The Brothers are associates with.”
Son and ex-old lady.
Not that she was surprised he had a child, or uncomfortable with that idea. The little conversation they had here and there, and even during the van ride from Fairview to River Run had consisted of them telling each other little facts about each other. But of course she had left out the less favorable things, and clearly he had left out the major stuff as well. He was older than she was by almost two decades, so of course he would have had a family. “Do you get to see your son often?” The way his expression eased and the worry lines around his eyes smoothed had his heart warming. He loved his son greatly, and that kind of love was strong enough that it reached out to whoever was close by and wrapped them in an embrace.
He smiled, and she couldn’t help but reciprocate the act. “When Molly lived in Brighton I only saw him every other weekend and occasionally on the weekdays. It was hard getting down there since it’s five hours away.” He shrugged. “But she’s just in Steel Corner now.”
“That’s pretty close?” Adrianna liked sitting here just talking with him. There was still that desire inside of her, but this comfortableness that surrounded them and the easygoing nature that came from Malice was nice.
“Just the next town over.”
“I bet he’s really excited that he gets to see his dad more now.”
Malice grinned even wider, and although she felt many emotions, happiness and relief, as well as arousal and content, she also felt a twinge of sadness.
“Hey.”
She hadn’t realized she had looked down until she felt Malice’s finger on her chin. He lifted her head and turned it so she was looking at him again.
“What’s the matter? Did I say something to make you upset?”
A humorless chuckle left her, and he knitted his brows in confusion. She shook her head and closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them. “I’m not laughing at you. It’s just if I would have seen you on the street I would have thought you were this rough and tough biker, and run the other way.” She smiled, but it was shaky as her emotion still ran high through her.
“I am a rough and tough biker.” He was looking at her mouth, but even though his words were low they held truth.
“Yes, I know, but you also have this other side.”
He slowly lifted his gaze back to her face.
“You’re very sweet and gentle, and that kind of goes against the leather wearing, tattoo covered skin thing going on.” When she chuckled this time it held more amusement. But he didn’t laugh or crack a smile, and just continued to stare at her. The need to be open with the man that had saved her life ran hard through her, and she actually found herself opening her mouth and speaking about her brother for the first time to anyone since he had passed away. “I don’t have any children, but I had a younger brother.” Malice didn’t say anything, but she was thankful for that because she might not have had the strength to continuing if he tried to delve into this himself. “Our life was what one could call trashy.” Shaking her head and smiling this very forced one, she continued. “Fairview is a nice town, but every place as its downfall, and where we lived was that place. Drugs, sex, violence, all of that and more were a daily occurrence.” His hand laced with hers, and Adrianna smiled at that feeling and sight. It felt nice and calming, and she was glad she was telling him this. Maybe it really didn’t matter if he knew this dark side of her life, but she felt better getting it out. “Long story short Miles got involved in drugs, and one night had too much.” The tears she had kept inside for years finally broke free, and she felt ridiculous.
“Hey. Shhh.” Malice had his arms around her and pulled her close so her body was pressed to his in a matter of seconds. Here he was being all sweet again despite the almost scary exterior he emitted. But that went to show that the outside appearance wasn’t what someone should focus on.
Everything rushed through her as her emotions were open and vulnerable.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
She should have been stunned at the endearment he had just called her, but she tightened her arms around him. He smelled good, like spicy, dark cologne, and something familiar that she couldn’t quite place.
“Everything will be okay now.” He rubbed her back in slow sweeps of his hand, and she forced herself to pull away and look into his face.
“I don’t have money, Malice, and I already feel so indebted to you.” The worry about paying him and his club back for everything they had and were doing for her was this heavy weight on her shoulders.
“That isn’t something to worry about right now, baby.” He brushed his thumb under her eye and collected her tear. “But when you feel like you’re ready, you have a job here.”
“Here?”
Cupping her face with each hand he stared into her eyes with his gray gaze. “The club already approves it, but if you want to work, since you’ve mentioned that already, you could work here, be employed by the club to help take care of the women and the house.”
“But what about when they are healed and ready to move on? What happens to the ca
bin then?”
He shook his head. “Then that is great when they are healed and gone, but this house is still going to be used as their home. The women that weren’t hurt—the ones that work for the club—still need a stable place to call home. This is that place. There are always Brothers making sure everyone is safe.” He stroked his thumbs across her cheeks. “And knowing you’re here, safe from all the fucking ugliness of the world, will help me sleep better at night.”
His dark hair was longer, and she moved her hands up and brushed the tips of the strands with her fingers. “I don’t even know what to say.” Honestly, she hadn’t thought anything like this would happen so easily for her. Up until this point she hadn’t had it easy, but ever since meeting Malice things had just kind of fallen into place.
“Money is not something you need to worry about right now, and paying me or the club back isn’t something you need to worry about ever. All I want you to focus on is getting better, but if you really want to press it, you can get a wage to help around here. I know it would help the girls that are a little more unstable than the rest. But I meant what I said that I want you to heal and not worry about anything.” He stared at her, and then gave her this crooked smile that made her heart race. “However long that takes is up to you, and no one will rush you on that. You’re strong, Adrianna, and the women here need that strength to help find their own.”
“I’m a far cry from being strong, Malice. In fact, I can’t count the number of times I’ve been called a doormat.” This very frightening and hard look crossed his face, and she swallowed.
“You don’t every think about yourself like that.” His voice was deep and angry. “If you were so weak you wouldn’t have left, and you wouldn’t have been strong enough to realize that you deserved so much more.”
Her heart felt like it was going to burst right through her chest. “You act like you care.” She didn’t mean it in a condescending or ungrateful way. She meant it in the context that she was surprised someone like him—a stranger that had opened up his heart to her—actually gave a shit what happened to her.
“I do care, Adrianna.” He lowered his gaze to her mouth again. “I care a fucking lot, in fact.” He leaned in an inch so there was hardly any space separating their mouths. “You deserve a hell of a lot better than the likes of me, but I’m a selfish bastard and I want you for my own.”
“Malice—”
“And I won’t let you go, Adrianna. I can’t.” He pressed his mouth to hers right after the last word left his lips.
Chapter Thirteen
The kiss was so very possessive, and it was like Malice was placing this brand of ownership on her. He swept his tongue along her upper lip. “I wanted to do that since the last time I had you in my arms.”
Adrianna couldn’t even control her breathing let alone tell him that she had been thinking about their kiss since it had happened, too. He moved his hand around her shoulder and pressed his open palm to the small of her back. Even through her clothing she could feel his body heat, sensed how big his hand really was, and got lost in the smooth and easy way he kissed her. Would he care that she wasn’t skinny like the women she saw working at the club? Adrianna always was on the thicker side, and Phillip had always made sure she knew how fat he thought she was. Would Malice be disgusted that she had curves she wasn’t always proud of, or that she was disgusted with her body sometimes? She could sense that he was keeping himself back in the way he kept clenching and unclenching his other hand on her shoulder, and by the pressure of his fingers that were at the base of her spine. She liked this soft side of him, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit that she liked when he had taken action and control in the van—like he was doing right now as he applied more pressure and growled low in his throat. Adrianna wanted to be kissed with abandon, like he would never be able to get enough of her, because she sure as hell wouldn’t be able to get enough of him.
“I want you so fucking badly, Adrianna.” He stood suddenly, pulled her so her chest was flush with his, and ground his erection into her belly. A small whimper let her at the feel of his shaft so hard because he wanted her that badly.
The words for him to take her right here and now were on the tip of her tongue, but before she could say anything he had his tongue deep inside of her mouth and swallowed them up. For several long, drugging seconds he kissed her thoroughly, and the stroking and thrusting he did with his tongue and hip were reminiscent of what she wanted him to do with another part of his body between her thighs. She had her hands on his biceps, loved that they were so strong, so rock hard with muscle that she couldn’t even hold onto a portion of them they were so big. He moved them so she was forced to walk backwards, and when she felt the wall greet her, a soft sound escaped her. Malice broke the kiss, trailed his mouth down her jaw and over her neck, and proceeded to suck and bite at her throat.
“Oh, God.” She gasped out as her pussy became soaked from her need to have him.
“I want to taste you.” He moved his hand over her breasts, curled his fingers around the mound until she groaned out, and then continued to trail it down her belly. He stopped when he was right above her pussy, and her inner muscles clenched at the knowledge he was so close to what she wanted him to touch the most.
“I want you to taste me, Malice.” She hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but as soon as the words left her he groaned and placed his open palm right between her legs. The pants she wore were nothing but thin, stretchy cotton, and she could feel the heat from his body sear right to the center of hers.
“Say it again.” He murmured against her neck, and went back to running his tongue up and down the length of her throat and nipping her flesh along the way. “Tell me you want my mouth on your pussy, how you want me pulling your lips apart and sucking your clit into my mouth.”
Adrianna couldn’t hold her head up any longer and let it fall back against the wall. Closing her eyes and not able to stop the moan that left her, she opened her mouth to obey him. God, she wanted to say just that, but her clit started throbbing from the increased blood flow, and her nipples ached painfully as they hardened even further. “I…” She swallowed when he applied even more pressure to her pussy and pressed the base of his palm right against her clit. “Oh.” The one word came from her on an exhale.
“That’s all right, baby.” He kissed his way down her throat, over her collarbone, and then dragged his tongue over the raised bone. “I know you want it, can feel how wet you are through your pants, and don’t blame you for not being able to speak.” His breath was hot, humid, and when he spoke it was more akin to panting. “I can barely speak myself.” He didn’t move for a moment and just breathed in and out. “I love your body, love your curves and that you’re built like a woman.” He groaned and squeezed his hands on her flesh. “I love that you are built to take me into your body and not break.”
God, he was saying all the right things to make her so very plaint to him. He took her hand that was on his bicep, and moved it between their bodies and right over his dick. She swore the damn thing jumped beneath her palm, and a fresh gush of moisture left her.
“You feel how hard you make me?” He emphasized his point by pressing himself more firmly against her hand. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this hard in my life.”
The way he spoke to her was so erotic that Adrianna actually found herself cupping him through his jeans and moaning at the large size she was greeted with. But to her disappointment he continued moving down her body, which had her hand falling back to her side, and stopped when he was on his haunches right in front of her
“Look at me, Adrianna.” He spoke with this harsh, guttural tone, and Adrianna couldn’t help but obey.
She opened her eyes and looked down, and when she watched him take the edge of her pants between his fingers and started to pull them down, the air got trapped in her lungs. “This is so fast.”
He stopped instantly, but still held her pants and held his gaze with his own.
“If you want me to stop I will, baby. You are controlling this situation, and you hold all the power.”
Hearing a man as strong as Malice say she was in control had a wave of strength moving through her. It was very empowering to know that she had this large and dangerous man in the palm of her hands. This was not like any situation she had ever experienced, and the things she felt were completely foreign to her. But what she knew without a doubt was that she wasn’t going to stop this. Placing both of her hands over his, she started to push her pants down. Malice flared his nostrils, and then looked down when the material fell past her knees and her panties were the only thing covering her from him. The only thing she could hear was their combined rapid breathing, and then Malice was pulling her panties down and the chilled air was touching her exposed flesh.
“Oh, Christ, baby.”
She looked down at him after he groaned out those three words. He stared at her pussy, and then slowly moved his hands toward her, kept one right by the junction of where her leg met her body, and then moved the other to the back of her thigh and down behind her knee. He lifted her leg, removed her foot from her pants and panties, and then placed her leg over his shoulder. He didn’t give her much time to contemplate what was happening, because in a matter of seconds he had a hold of her ass, and was dragging his tongue through her now parted folds. He breathed out on a growl that vibrated every part of her. To have him pay so much attention to pleasuring her had euphoria slamming into her with enough force that if he wasn’t holding on to her she would have fallen to the ground.
“Hold on to me, baby,” he said against the small, engorged nub. He licked her clit over and over again, sucked it into his mouth until she was about to come, and then backed off. Adrianna had her hands in his hair, tugged at the strands so they became tangled in her fingers, and gasped in pleasure. She had to be hurting him by the way she was forcefully pulling at his hair, and when she went to let go he made this almost angry noise in the back of his throat.
