by Nina Levine
I sighed. I’d met my first asshole for the night.
Well, he could buy me a drink, but I would not be drinking it, and I sure as heck wouldn’t be sleeping with him tonight.
I went back to texting King.
* * *
Me: So I just met my first asshole. Ugh. Tell me how Skylar is and take my mind off the fact I may not be getting any sex tonight.
King: She’s having a rough night. Anxiety high today.
Me: You think I should call her? Would that help?
King: No. Go get drunk.
Me: OK, but let me know if you need me.
* * *
A few minutes later, the guy with the drinks came back to the table, smiling at me like I was a sure thing. Sliding my drink in front of me, he said, “So I didn’t catch your name before.”
“Dude, I saw you chatting with the blonde in line while you got the drinks. I’m thinking you should go back to her because I’m not interested anymore.”
He glanced back at the bar and then at me again. Plastering a confused expression on his face, he attempted to spin the truth. “Oh her, she was all over me. I couldn’t get rid of her.”
God, did men really think women were stupid?
“So grabbing a woman’s ass is how you try to get rid of them?”
He scowled. “Fuck, lady, are you always this bitchy?”
My phone rang, King’s name flashing across the screen.
I answered it as I said to the dude, “I’m only this bitchy when a man tries to fuck with me. So take the drink and do your best to find some other woman to fuck with.”
With one last scowl, he picked up the drink and left me.
King’s voice rumbled through the phone. “That the asshole?”
I sighed again. “Yes. You know, I’m not convinced I’m cut out for this finding-a-man bullshit. I don’t do well with getting all pretty and flirting in the hopes a guy will like me. I’d much rather rock up wearing my sweats and find someone who can appreciate my personality. That would be a whole lot freaking easier, and I wouldn’t have to wade through all the assholes who just like my tits.” I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol in me or the fact I liked talking to King that made me vomit all those words, but either way, I was helpless to stop them.
He was silent for a beat, and then surprised me when she said, “Not all men are assholes, Lily. Keep looking. They’d be fucking idiots to only want you for your tits.”
My tummy did somersaults. “You know, King, you can say some really nice shit sometimes.”
“Yeah, well maybe you could tell Skylar that.” Weariness crept into his tone when he mentioned Skylar’s name.
“What’s going on? I told you I’d come over if she needs me.”
Silence again. And then—“She needs you.”
He may have said that Skylar needed me, but by his tone, I had to wonder if he did, too. Or maybe that was just me being drunk.
I slid off my chair. “I’m on my way.”
“I’ll send someone to get you.”
“No, I’ll just catch an Uber.”
“Lily,” he started, but I cut him off.
“King, no. I’m getting an Uber. It’ll be faster than me waiting for your guy.”
“Be careful,” he muttered before hanging up.
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I didn’t waste time trying to figure it out. I went in search of my friends and let them know where I was going, and less than ten minutes later, I was on my way to see King. Actually, I was on my way to see Skylar. But the fact I’d also get to see King caused my core to clench. I’d had just enough drinks tonight that it was anyone’s guess what I might say to him. Or what I might beg of him.
Skylar was in bad shape when I arrived. Anxious, in pain, and in a foul mood with her brother, she had me a little concerned as to how I was going to calm her down. King stood in the doorway of her room watching us for a while, until Skylar told him to leave us alone. After that, it didn’t take me half as long as I thought it might to soothe her worries and lull her to sleep. She didn’t like taking drugs to help her anxiety, but tonight she agreed to a sleeping pill. I figured if she could just get some sleep, she may wake refreshed enough to deal with things better.
It was after midnight when I left Skylar’s room and went looking for King. I wasn’t quite as drunk as I had been when I arrived, but I was still relaxed and feeling quite floaty—the complete opposite of King’s tense state.
I found him sitting at the desk in his office. The room was dark except for the glow of light from the lamp in the corner of the room. King sat in the office chair, a half-empty glass of whisky in his hands, and all the troubles in the world on his shoulders.
Why did I always want to fix men? Well, not so much fix them, but help them when they were down. I’d had this nurturing streak for as long as I could remember. Even back in high school when I met Linc, I wanted to help him. My instinct to nurture was the reason why I still let him get away with a lot of stuff. He’d been struggling for the last year after losing his job and trying to find regular work, and on top of that, his father was really ill, so I cut him some slack. He may have cheated on me and hurt me, but I wasn’t the kind of person to play tit for tat.
Looking at King sitting in the dark, his body rigid and his expression grim, I felt that burning need to nurture. It made no sense to me since I hardly knew him. And while King didn’t strike me as the kind of man who people took care of—I imagined he was the one who always did the taking care of—I wanted to offer him something. Even just a conversation.
He met my gaze, his face not softening even a little. “What?” It was almost a bark. A demand. I wouldn’t have stood for it with many people, but I made allowances for King. He’d shown me enough good sides of himself that I’d tolerate his bark.
Entering his office, I walked to the desk and wiggled my ass onto it so I sat next to him. King didn’t argue; he sat quietly watching me. But he didn’t look happy.
“You should pour me a drink,” I said.
He slowly lifted his glass to his mouth and emptied it. “You don’t need another drink.”
I raised my brows. “How do you know what I need?”
He placed his glass on the desk. “I don’t, but I know it’s not that.”
I eyed the bottle of whisky sitting on the desk, on the other side of him. Deciding he wasn’t going to give me what I wanted, I leant across him to grab the bottle.
He hissed and muttered, “Fuck,” which I ignored as I unscrewed the lid and poured some whisky into his glass.
Focusing my gaze back on him, I drank some of the whisky before saying, “Skylar took a pill. She should sleep all night.”
“Good.”
I drank some more of my drink. “You’re a man of few words, King. Normally I like that about people, but I kinda wish you’d say more.”
His jaw clenched as he watched me intently. King had a way of making me feel like he was undressing me with his eyes, even when his gaze never left mine. Maybe it was my soul he was undressing, not my body. Whatever it was, it awakened a part of me that had been asleep for far too long.
I didn’t just want his eyes on me; I wanted his hands.
His mouth.
His tongue.
God, I wanted that body of his to take mine in ways it had never been taken.
Just for one night.
Tonight.
He picked up the bottle of whisky and took a swig. “I’ll get one of the boys to take you home.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t want to go home. I want to stay here with you.”
His body stiffened more than it already was. “No.” His denial was harsh. And final. But I’d had enough to drink to ignore it.
I placed the glass I was holding down and pressed both hands to the desk either side of me. Putting all my weight on my hands, I lifted my ass so I could slide across the desk, closer to him. The red dress that Adelaide had insisted I wear, barely covered my thi
ghs, and his gaze finally dropped to my legs.
“King,” I started, as I tried to swing my leg closest to him around to settle in between his legs.
He stopped me, though. Placing his hand on my thigh, he held my leg down. “I said no.” Forceful again. I couldn’t work out why he was so against this. What man said no to a woman who was practically throwing herself at him?
I narrowed my eyes at him. And then I asked him the strangest question that I knew the answer to even as it fell out of my mouth. But damn it, the alcohol loosened my tongue, so I had little control over what I said. “Are you gay? Or do I just not do anything for you?”
Before I knew what was happening, he moved to stand in between my legs, wrapped one hand around my throat, and growled, “You don’t wanna go there with me, Lily. I am not the kind of man a woman like you fucks.”
My heart and soul roared to life as my veins pulsed with desire.
Oh God.
He was exactly the kind of man I needed to fuck me.
I needed wild, uncaged and raw.
I’d had enough humdrum, monotonous sex to last me a lifetime.
I ached for the kind of encounters that left me breathless.
My heart racing.
Alive.
I didn’t want to know what was coming next.
I craved thrills and surprises.
To be jolted and rocked and pushed into tasting life like never before.
I wanted a man so hungry for me that he’d lose himself to his animal side.
This man would give me all that. I saw it in his eyes. Heard it in his voice. Recognised it in the way he held himself and moved.
“No, you’re not,” I agreed, because it was the truth, “But I can’t get you out of my mind. Just give me one night. I just need one night where I don’t think about all the shit I have to deal with in my life.” I curled my hand around his wrist. “And I think you do, too.”
He inhaled sharply before exhaling the breath and running his gaze over my body. All the while, he kept his hand around my neck. He didn’t speak, but everything about him told me what I needed to know.
King wanted to fuck me.
I’d never had to encourage a man to sleep with me, nor had I ever really been the one to initiate sex. I loved sex, but I wasn’t overly adventurous with it or confident when it came to asking for what I wanted. However, I really wanted it tonight, so I tried to force his hand.
I reached for his belt and undid it. I almost had his zip down when he let me go and stepped away from me.
Eyes flashing with fire, he growled, “This isn’t fucking happening, Lily. You need to get off that desk and go the fuck home.”
“Why?” I demanded as I slid off the desk so I could move close to him again. “I felt you, King. You want this as much as I do.”
His control finally snapped, and he backed me up against the desk. Taking hold of my throat again, he said, “You have no fucking idea what I want. If you did, you’d run and never come back.” He paused, lowering his gaze to my chest. His eyes lingered there for a long few moments, which only served to make me more needy. I didn’t care if he thought I should run from him. I wanted him to devour me. When he met my gaze again, he said, “You need to leave before it’s too fucking late for both of us.”
I gripped his biceps. “I don’t know what you mean, but I don’t care. I’m not leaving.”
He dropped his head and rasped, “Fuck.” It took him a few moments to lift it again, and when he did, I sucked in a breath at the change in his eyes.
I’d never had a man look at me the way King was.
It was indecent.
Dark desire blazed from his eyes.
I had no doubt he wanted to consume me in every way possible.
Spinning me around, he pressed me against the desk. One hand roughly grabbed my waist while the other slid around my neck again. Pulling my head to the side, he growled against my ear, “Do you know what I like to do to women, Lily?” My gasp encouraged him. “I’m rough in every way you can imagine. I’ll strip you and fuck you without a fucking care for your comfort. I’ll take what I need, over and fucking over, until you’re raw from my hands, my mouth, my dick.” His voice dropped lower, darker. “And when I’m finished, you won’t hurry back for more.”
My mind and body burst with anticipation. I wanted every single thing he’d just said to me. He’d already made my heart beat faster than it ever had. Now I wanted him to do filthy things to me.
When my only response was a moan, he reached for the bottom of my dress and roughly yanked it up. While my mind rushed to keep up with his actions, he had his hand in my panties and his fingers inside me.
“Oh God,” I whimpered, my legs struggling to hold me up while his fingers worked me towards an orgasm. I was so wet and ready for him that it wouldn’t take long.
His mouth remained against my ear. “Do you like pain, Lily?”
My legs swayed. “I don’t know.”
His thumb roughly circled my clit while he reached deep inside me, blowing my damn mind. “You’ve never had it while being fucked?”
“No.”
“Fuck.” That dark tone returned to his voice. It had a deliciously scary feel to it, and I wasn’t sure whether to actually be scared or not. He ground himself against me while pushing me harder against the desk. The bite of pain that caused heightened my pleasure, surprising me. “I will hurt you if I fuck you. Are you ready for that?”
I could hardly get a handle on my thoughts, let alone utter any words. When I didn’t respond to him, he turned me to face him and gripped my cheeks, his wild eyes demanding my attention. “Answer me. Are you ready for me to hurt you?”
Panting, I nodded. God, I was ready. “Yes.”
His eyes searched mine, looking for what, I wasn’t sure. He swore again, growing angry. “You have no fucking idea what you’re asking for.”
I opened my mouth to tell him he was wrong, but he dropped to his knees and grabbed hold of my legs as his tongue found my pussy. I almost died at that point. I was sure of it. King almost killed me with pleasure. He thought I wasn’t the kind of woman who fucked men like him. I’d argue with him over that until I was blue in the face. I was the kind of woman who had never fucked a man like him, but I’d never known what I was missing.
His fingers dug into me as he gripped me harder.
His lips, tongue, and teeth devoured me.
Thoroughly.
He ate me like I was his last meal.
His moves were savage and crude.
The sounds he made were carnal.
And when I came hard, my entire body shuddering with the kind of pleasure I’d only ever dreamt of, he stood and looked at me with ferocious energy. “You’ll never be ready for me.” Shoving my panties at me, he ordered, “Get dressed. I’ll take you home.”
With that, he stalked out of the office, leaving me staring after him in shock.
He was wrong. And if he thought his warnings would make me run a mile, he’d have to think again.
30
King
* * *
I sucked on my smoke, dragging the nicotine deep into my lungs. It hit the spot, but only for a brief moment. I’d hardly slept in the past two weeks, and instead, was fuelled by whisky, cigarettes and an unrelenting need for vengeance. But that shit was starting to take its toll. We needed an end to the madness we were stuck in. Kick and I were about to pay a visit to an old friend who we hoped would share some useful information that wouldn’t end in us hitting another fucking dead end.
“You want anyone with you and Kick?” Hyde asked, joining me outside the clubhouse.
Shaking my head, I dropped the cigarette and stubbed it out. “It’ll only take two of us. We’ll meet you and Cole at the drop-off point after. He organised for the rest to get there first?” We had a shipment coming in today, and we weren’t taking any chances with it. Romano had fucked with our business for long enough; he would not be fucking with it any longer.
I’d organised for some of my guys to get to the drop off early to ensure there were no surprises from Romano, and had asked Cole to send his men ahead too.
“Yeah, he’s taken care of that.”
Kick came our way. “We ready?”
I looked at Hyde. “Keep me updated with any news on Nitro.”
“Will do,” he said, turning at the sound of approaching footsteps.
I glanced around and met Axe’s gaze. “You good for today still?” I asked.
“You may change your plans after I tell you Romano has been arrested.”
I frowned. “Is this true or some bullshit story again?”
“True. I’ve just confirmed it. Not sure yet what they’ve picked him up for, but my guy’s looking into it.”
“Let me know when you hear back from him.” I looked at Hyde. “Check in with our men down in Melbourne. Find out what’s happening at Romano’s headquarters. Our plans for today don’t change, but we need to find out where they’re holding Romano and who we can use to get to him.”
Axe and Hyde left us, and Kick and I were almost to our bikes when a white Holden station wagon drove towards us. As it drew closer, I realised it was Lily. My gut tightened at the memory of Saturday night when she’d thrown herself at me. Fuck. I did not need that in my head when I was about to take care of club business. She was a fucking distraction I couldn’t afford. And yet, I’d struggled to remove her from my thoughts since I’d driven her home that night.
The feel of her cunt.
The taste of her.
The sounds she made when she came.
I’d wanted nothing more than to lay her out and fuck her raw.
She’d fought me, and almost fucking shattered my restraint, but I hadn’t given her what she’d wanted. Hell, she had no idea that what she thought she wanted wasn’t what she’d get from me. We hadn’t exchanged words on the drive to her place afterwards, and I hadn’t been sure she’d show up for Skylar’s session today, but thank fuck she had.
