Explicit Memory

by Scarlett Finn

  On a nod, he about-faced and started out of the open plan recreational and residential area that took up the basement of Silver’s brothel.

  Flick hurried around the couch to catch up with him. She caught hold of his back pocket just as he went through the swing door to the stairs, which led up to the passage with the girls working rooms flanking it.

  They emerged in reception and bypassed Lilah, who sat behind the front desk filing her fingernails. Rushe didn’t stop, he went through the curtain and traversed into the watchman’s room, where they’d been living for the last three weeks.

  As soon as the door was closed he took hold of her waist, bumped her back against the wall, and brought his body to hers.

  ‘Lover,’ she grinned, as he scowled down at her. ‘Tawny and I were bonding, as I told you I wanted us to do. I thought this was important; I thought you wanted to talk to me or something.’

  ‘My dirty little kitten loves her words.’

  ‘She loves your words.’

  ‘You’re gonna take off your clothes and get onto our bed.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’ she asked, hooking her hands onto his buckle.

  ‘Watch. I’m gonna watch you, you’re gonna get on the bed and spread those hot legs, let me see that lush little spot that I love.’

  ‘Are you going to fuck me?’

  ‘I’m gonna eat you,’ he said. ‘Snack on that juicy cunt you’re gonna lube up for me, while I watch your sweet whimpers that make those tits shake.’

  ‘Rushe—‘

  Barely backing off, he spun her around and pressed her body to the wall with the weight of his. Easing his hips back slightly, he took hold of her ass and squeezed.

  ‘My woman, hot, sweet, sexy,’ Rushe grumbled the words. Clenching and stroking, he squatted his thighs on either side of hers. His erection dug into her butt as he took her skirt in his fists and pulled it up, all the while rubbing his face in her hair. ‘You’re gonna ride me tonight, you’ll keep going ‘til you can’t stand upright, you understand? Speak.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Yes, what?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  Whisking her around, Rushe began to urge her toward the bed. Flick stumbled as she was unable to keep up with his long strides, so he whipped her off her feet.

  ‘What is that?’ she asked, digging her nails into him when she caught sight of the top of their duffel poking over the back of the couch.

  ‘We’re heading out, you and me, tomorrow.’

  ‘Why?’

  He tossed her onto the bed. ‘Because we’re drifters, Kit. We’re too comfortable here. Now, strip.’

  ‘So we’re going to turn our backs on our friends?’

  ‘That’s exactly what we’re going to do.’

  ‘Rushe,’ she said, thrusting herself up to prop her weight on her palms. ‘We are loyal people, we are not going to… don’t you dare look at me like that.’

  The shutters of indifference were cast over his face, and he stood there at the foot of the bed, waiting. ‘Take off your clothes.’

  ‘I’m not going to have sex with you while you’re being a jerk.’ His head tilted as his eyes squinted a fraction. ‘Yes, ok, admittedly, you’re always a jerk, but usually it’s sexy. Running away isn’t sexy, Rushe.’ At the same time he drew breath through his nose he began to unbuckle his belt. ‘I thought I was supposed to get naked, what are you doing?’

  ‘Your mouth needs a distraction from giving me earache.’

  ‘I’m not going to suck you off,’ she said, crossing her legs and folding her arms. ‘Not while you’re being an arrogant bastard.’

  ‘I’m always an arrogant bastard. You fell in love with this arrogant bastard.’

  ‘Do you know Liam and Tawny are in a fight?’

  ‘What the hell has that got to—‘

  ‘He wants her to move away from here,’ Flick said. ‘But I don’t think she’s confident enough to do that, because she gets bored in a nine to five. If she ends up back on drugs she’ll lose him. But if she stays here, she’ll lose him too.’

  ‘So they’re breaking up, who gives a fuck?’ Rushe asked. ‘Either show me your tits, or get my dick in your mouth.’

  ‘Don’t you see that they need us,’ she said, propelling herself onto her knees to walk down the bed and tuck her hands into his pockets while leaning on him. ‘Serendipity and Jansen are going through a difficult time, and Eric’s really worried about Gracie. I still haven’t met her; I’d love to meet her.’

  ‘You care about these people,’ he scowled at her, and took his hand to her head.

  ‘Of course I care about them, Lover, they’re our friends.’

  ‘I don’t have friends.’

  Still, he hadn’t realised. ‘Don’t look now, but I think those people care about you too. We have a life here, Rushe.’

  ‘You want to live in a brothel? Permanently?’

  ‘Not permanently,’ she shrugged. ‘But there’s nothing wrong with it now, is there? You gave Silver the diamond that Antoine gave to me, so he’ll be sweet on us for a while.’

  ‘We’re here doing him a favour.’

  ‘Keeping an eye on Tawny still,’ Flick said. She knew Rushe was concerned about the people here, and the ones who had helped them through the case, even if he didn’t admit it. ‘We’ll move on when the time is right, but that time isn’t now.’

  ‘You want to stay.’

  ‘I go where you go,’ she said. ‘If you feel that strongly about it, if you need to move on—‘

  ‘I want you to be happy,’ he said. ‘If you get hurt by people I introduced into your life—‘

  ‘That’s what this is about? You didn’t introduce me to Liam, I found him on my own. Eric found me; you were nothing to do with our first conversation. And being here, Tawny, it all leads back to me walking into Dell’s. Have a little faith. We’re going to be ok.’

  For a long interval he just fixated on her eyes. ‘You’ve got to make it worth my while.’

  Flick’s lips curled, and she pushed in tight against him. ‘I think I can do that.’

  Extricating herself from him, she shuffled back a few inches on her knees. Then she pulled her top off over her head to reveal that she wasn’t wearing any underwear, and immediately his shutters vanished.

  ‘Now I’m tempted,’ he said, as she unfastened her skirt and got to her feet on the bed. ‘We need to get a new bed though, something I can tie you to.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ she said, walking to the edge of the bed to push down her skirt. When she could reach no further, Rushe took over and removed it from her, then took hold of her hips to keep her on her feet.

  ‘I’m taking no chances.’

  Skimming his hands across the front of her pelvis, he separated her folds enough to lean in and suck her clit into his mouth. Flick sighed out his name and let her hands fall into his hair, but he snatched her knees and yanked her legs, sending her to her back with a whoop.

  ‘I’m naked again,’ she laughed, recovering from his surprise manoeuvre.

  ‘And I’m not.’

  ‘Just the way you like it,’ she said, caressing her own body, because he remained standing at the end of the bed. ‘For the art?’

  ‘That’s right.’ After his gaze had consumed her it locked onto hers. ‘We can stay… for now.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Show me your pussy.’

  Pressing the soles of her feet together, she dragged them up and let her knees part so she could present for him. Once again he examined her. ‘Don’t you ever get tired of looking?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said, gathering his tee-shirt at the back of his neck to pull it off. After casting it aside, he dropped down onto the bed and brought his mouth to her centre to breathe hot, arousing breaths against her. ‘That’s when I do this.’

  Flicking his tongue on her clit caused Flick’s whole body to slacken. He tantalised every crevice, kissing and licking her until she couldn’t stop
saying his name. The time he took, the delectable care, over every millimetre of her flesh made her whimper in a torturous agony of ecstasy that unconsciously led her fingers to her clit, as he lapped her opening. When her digits grazed his forehead, he sat up.

  ‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’ he asked, swiping her hand away.

  Flick pushed up, trying to writhe closer. She was in such a fuddle of endorphins that she struggled to focus.

  ‘I want you,’ she exhaled. ‘I’m ready.’

  ‘I say when you’re ready.’

  ‘If you don’t get your dick inside me within the next thirty seconds, I’m going out there to pay the next john who walks in to come in here and finish me off.’

  Rushe growled and reared up over her, resting all of his body weight on her form, forcing her into the mattress. ‘My woman… you want to watch me gut him? Is that what you need to get you off?’

  ‘No, I’ll do it myself when he’s through,’ Flick said. ‘No one who touches your stuff will stay breathing for long.’

  ‘Damn right,’ he said, and relieved her of some of his weight. ‘Open.’

  Her thighs were already apart, but she elevated them from the bed to his hips, giving him complete access. ‘I love you,’ she said, stroking his shoulders.

  ‘I know.’ His smile distracted her so much that she didn’t register him lifting his own hips, and then in one slick move he plunged into her, drawing a satisfied sigh from each of them.

  Their unity made her smile join his, and as he began to move in and out of her, she matched his easy pace. It wasn’t long before the rapture built and she began to move faster, urging him to do the same as she whispered out his name. Clawing her hands down his back, she curled in and bucked out with the pulse of his name sounding from her chest.

  ‘Done yet?’ he asked, though his own speed actually increased.

  ‘More,’ she yelped, gripping his shoulders until her fingernails were ready to draw blood. ‘More, Rushe, I always want more!’

  He delivered, sending her into orgasm again, then once more, before he bent her legs, and pushed his weight to her shins as he drove into her and spurted his own climax.

  ‘Oh, you’re so good at that,’ she breathed, when his damp form collapsed beside hers and he pulled her against him.

  ‘We get in a lot of practise, Kitten.’

  ‘And long may that continue,’ she said, turning her face to kiss him.

  A knock made them both sit up, and as Rushe darted off the bed to pull on his jeans, Flick wondered if they’d ever be able to just enjoy each other without the constant threat of interruption. Her lover tossed her his tee-shirt, and she donned it as he stood at the door and waited for her to be decent. Then with a nod when she was, Rushe opened the door.

  Jansen stood there with a grin on his face, and it was clear that the ex-cop knew what they’d been up to.

  ‘Jansen,’ Flick said, and clambered off the bed to run toward him as he entered. But Jansen held up his hands to stall her.

  ‘No physical contact,’ Jansen said, looking Rushe up and down. ‘I know where you’ve just been.’

  Flick was amused by the joke, but Rushe wasn’t. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I came to check in on my favourite crime duo,’ Jansen said. ‘And to tell you that the feds have Jerome in custody, and Simone too. The DA is pushing ahead with the case. We’re really gonna win this one. Antoine’s still at large; no one’s found him.’ From the look that Jansen laid on Rushe, he knew as well as Flick did that Antoine would never be found.

  ‘Checking that we’re still here?’ Rushe said.

  ‘You guys could’ve split when you found out what happened to me and Serendipity, but you didn’t. You stuck around, and that probably saved her life. I’ll never forget that.’

  ‘Rushe isn’t one for emotional shows of gratitude, but you’re welcome,’ Flick said. ‘You were there for me when I needed it.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Serendipity, how is she?’ Flick asked.

  ‘She’s different now,’ he said. ‘She’s…’

  ‘What?’ Rushe asked.

  ‘Grateful?’ Flick suggested with a smile.

  ‘Yeah, how did you know that?’

  ‘Almost losing the man you love puts life into perspective,’ she said, sliding an arm around Rushe to hook his opposite pocket.

  ‘We’re working on it, but I feel good about it, better than I did before.’

  ‘That’s ‘cause you took care of business,’ Rushe said. ‘No more looking over your shoulder.’

  ‘What will you do now that you’ve left the force?’ Flick asked, and Jansen shrugged.

  ‘Private sector maybe, I hear it’s lucrative.’

  ‘Comes with its own set of problems,’ Rushe said, and his hand drifted down to squeeze her ass just as the red light above the door flashed and the alarm blasted. He kissed the top of her head, then strode out of the room.

  ‘There’s still time, you know,’ Jansen said.

  ‘Time for what?’

  ‘You can come with me, testify.’

  Her lips stretched wider, but she shook her head. ‘There are too many questions I can’t answer. Being Rushe’s woman makes things… complicated.’

  ‘We can work it out, bring these guys to justice together.’

  ‘Once a cop...? I trust you to ensure justice.’

  ‘I’ve got to ask,’ he said after a nod.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Would you do it again? Walk into Dell’s, knowing what you do now, after everything you’ve been through… Would you still walk into Dell’s, in spite of Rushe’s warning not to?’

  Taking her attention to the floor, Flick thought about her life from that day to this one, but she didn’t have to ponder her answer. ‘Yes.’

  ‘You’re sure? You have no doubts? He’s been worth it?’

  ‘Worth everything I’ve experienced in the past, and whatever awaits us in the future, yes.’

  ‘You’re really something, Felicity Hughes.’

  ‘It’s Felicity Jones now, and he’s the one that’s something,’ she said. ‘I can’t wait to see where my adventure with him leads us to next.’

  ‘You’re going to keep going? No settling down?’

  ‘Settling down?’ she grinned. ‘Where’s the adventure in that?’

  Thank you for sharing this adventure!

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  Excerpts from all of Scarlett Finn’s novels can be found on her website:

  www.scarlettfinn.com

  A woman walks into a bar...

  Explicit Instruction

  Stranded, Flick seeks salvation. Instead, she finds herself living in a nightmare, under threat of physical and sexual assault, but Flick can see no way out.

  Yet, an unexpected reprieve comes in the form of a stranger; a looming silhouette more terrifying than the evil that captured her. She learns that danger has an alias, Rushe. Abrupt, crude, and domineering he becomes her only hope for survival.

  Stolen away Flick has to rely on Rushe’s instincts to keep her alive. But rescuing her saviour from his own demise changes things... or does it?

  Flick entrusts her life to Rushe, but he still cannot bring himself to stand down from red-alert. There’s more going on than Flick understands and Rushe does not intend to give her any of the details.

  Freedom becomes a distant memory. The further into the criminal plot she is drawn, the deeper her entanglement with Rushe becomes. Without him, Flick won’t survive, but to him she is nothing more than a liability.

  The adventure she started by accident threatens her life and his; then Rushe does somet
hing unexpected and Flick knows it’s not only her life she is battling for, it’s her heart as well.

  Available now on Amazon

  While she’s playing the rush... he’s on tilt...

  Explicit Detail

  Integrating Flick into his life has given Rushe a new priority, to keep his woman where he wants her – safe and in his bed. But saving women who have no hope is a part of who he is, and it doesn’t take long for the next job to seek them out.

  Rushe knows the rules, but Flick has never played the game from this side of the table before. Working in parallel, our couple go undercover to expose the crucial details of an intrigue that sinks deeper than they could have predicted.

  Ready to get her hands dirty, Flick wades in, relishing the challenge. Except danger closes in on her from all sides, and Rushe has his own cards to play. They have to learn to work together before the job drives them apart.

  But if their union is revealed, it could cost them their lives.

  Available now on Amazon

  When friendship is a high stakes game...

  Mistake Me Not

  It might have been a simple mistake that threw Lacie and Ryder together; but another mistake nearly tears them apart.

  Lacie believes in loyalty above all else, so when her best friend Sorcha needs help Lacie doesn't think twice. But, following Sorcha’s instructions leads Lacie to inadvertently hire the wrong PI. Unaware of her error Lacie is horrified by her body’s overwhelming attraction to this man she has only just met. Especially since every other man leaves her less than lukewarm. Worse still, Lacie believes he is Sorcha's ex, and she would never consider betraying her friend.

  Ryder Stone wasn’t going to correct the little brunette who caught him in the middle of a little B and E; the case sounded easy enough and he wouldn’t want her to be taken advantage of – at least that was his excuse.

  Except neither comprehend the danger ahead. Oblivious to what they’re walking into Ryder finds himself unconscious with only Lacie’s screams and his own imagination to torment him. Unfortunately, it’s not over for them yet.