Fractured Breaths

by Zoey Derrick

  Bryan cocks his head at me, as if he’s analyzing my mood and it sends a chill up my spine. I hate it when people try to read me.

  I break eye contact. I need a drink.

  I turn around and head toward the bar. There are no bartenders tonight, it’s open and Mouse and Peacock are standing there talking, drinking beers.

  “Becca, did you meet Eric?” Calvin asks me.

  I shake my head and extend my hand to him. “Pleasure to meet you, Peacock.”

  He smiles sweetly at me. “Likewise. I hear you’re a fan?”

  I snort, “Is it that obvious?”

  His sweet smile turns into a full-on grin. “Not really. Are you having fun tonight?”

  I nod, unsure how to answer that question.

  “It’s a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?” Calvin asks.

  “What is?” I counter.

  “Having all these people here so casually.”

  I look around the patio, taking in the amount of celebrity and money standing on the concrete slab and my nerves kick back into overdrive. “Yeah, it is.” I finally concede. “You know celebrities are human too, but when you see them, they have a super human vibe regardless,” I add.

  Both guys laugh. “You can say that again,” Calvin chuckles. “When I first met Tristan, I stuttered like an idiot.”

  “Yes, he did,” Eric adds with a loving smile to his partner. I remember feeling devastated when I’d heard the news that Eric was taken. He’s gorgeous, but the two of them are obviously right for each other.

  I laugh, “Good to know I’m not the only one. Though I’ve only casually known Tristan and Cami since they opened the bar. My nights spent here are as far as that relationship extends.” I fill a glass with ice and pour some amaretto over it before grabbing the soda nozzle for a little splash of Sprite to add to the glass.

  “It’s a great place. We love coming here when we’re in town,” Dex adds as he joins our small group.

  “You guys should play here sometime.”

  Dex smiles at me. “We do, just not publicly.”

  “That’s what I mean. You guys would fill this place up to bursting,” I say before taking a sip of my drink. “But I wouldn’t plan it. I would just show up and start jamming.”

  “Not a bad idea, darlin’,” Eric says to me.

  “You’ll still fill the joint.” I laugh, “It takes all of thirty minutes to get here from the majority of the Valley.”

  Music starts playing again. Bryan sits on a bar stool with an acoustic guitar in his lap. His fingers strum gently against the strings and I quickly recognize the song. It’s my song, the one I was dancing to at the club, but a stripped down version of it.

  I war with myself. The part of me that gets irritated easily wants to run screaming from the patio. How dare he? But the longer I watch him, the more entranced I become. His soulful voice fills the patio, the guitar a gentle strum in the background and the deeper into the song he gets, the more I realize this man will always be a part of me.

  In just a short amount of time he’s managed to sear his way into my brain and brand himself on my heart.

  Chapter Six

  Running? Not yet.

  BECCA

  “What do you say we get out of here?” Bryan drawls in my ear as I’m back standing between his legs. His impromptu, acoustic set was something I will never forget for as long as I live.

  I turn in his arms and wrap my own around his neck. “And just where do you suppose we go?”

  “How about your place?”

  I shake my head. “Yours.”

  He laughs, “Mine is a hotel room.”

  “Even better.”

  He shakes his head slightly, but the smile on his face contradicts the disapproval at my request. Regardless, if this is going to happen, his hotel room is the best place.

  We decide to leave separately after I get caught up talking to Eric and Calvin for a few minutes. I tell Ireland and Dyson good-bye before I leave. The promise of a conversation lingers between us. It’s not going to be pretty, but it needs to be done. The result will mean one of two things. First, I move. Leave Arizona for good or second, we go about life as if nothing has changed. Though I am hoping for the latter option, I doubt that will be the case. My secrets are impossible for me to share. I can’t imagine her wanting to hold on to them too.

  When I leave the bar, Bryan and Liam are in a heated discussion near a black Escalade. The look on Liam’s face isn’t a pretty one and I get the impression their conversation isn’t going well, but they both catch sight of me and stop.

  “Whatever you two are discussing, continue. I’m leaving.”

  “Becca, don’t,” Bryan pleads with me. His eyes begging me in a way that makes me weak in the knees.

  “Good night,” I tell both of them and side step them toward my car.

  Bryan grabs my arm as I pass. “Take me with you.”

  I snort, “Why, so your bodyguard over there can have a conniption fit? No thanks.” I pull my arm free. “Maybe one day he’ll get his head out of his ass when it comes to me, but I highly doubt that day is today. In the meantime, maybe he’ll explain to you why he doesn’t want me to go with you. I’m sure he’s only out to protect your reputation.” I glare at Liam. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want his detail to fuck a whore,” I snap and turn toward my car again.

  “You’re not a whore,” Liam says.

  I laugh a humorless laugh, “Funny, you thought I was a few hours ago.”

  “What the fuck, Liam?” Bryan snaps.

  “Oh, so you haven’t explained to him how you know me?” I turn toward the two of them and Liam’s face is filled with panic. Bryan’s is full of confusion as he turns from Liam to me and back again. “Let me enlighten you, Bryan. I met Liam as Leo when he was working undercover inside the Ricci crime family in New York.” My heart freezes in my chest. “In a whore house,” I add. Bryan’s eyes go wide, confusion and disbelief color his features. “Your friend over there was supposed to protect me, but instead he disappeared on me. Only to show back up years later with nothing but contempt for my chosen lifestyle. Which is why he doesn’t want his prized client around me. So, I’ll make it easier for both of you.”

  Anger races through my veins as I unlock my car door and pull it open. Neither one of them has said a word. I risk a glance at Bryan and there’s nothing but pity in his eyes. I growl in frustration as I climb into my car and turn over the engine.

  “Livia, wait,” Liam calls and I pull the car forward, rolling down my window.

  “Don’t call me that,” I snap at him before rolling up my window again.

  “You’re not a whore,” he yells as I step on the gas, only to slam on the breaks and throw the car into park before climbing out and getting in Liam’s face.

  “Why don’t you say that a little louder? I’m pretty sure the entire bar didn’t just hear you. You’re right, Liam, I am not a whore. I am a woman who, no thanks to you, was forced into something no girl should ever be forced to do, and rather than respect me for surviving then and for surviving now, you choose to remind me of something I had absolutely no control over. When you get your head out of your ass and open your fucking eyes, maybe you’ll see that.”

  “I’m trying,” Liam breathes softly.

  “Try. Harder,” I growl.

  I turn toward my car to find Bryan standing in my way. “Move,” I demand.

  He shakes his head. “Not unless you’ll take me with you.”

  I look at him. His eyes are full of emotion unlike anything I’ve seen before and I can’t tell if he truly wants to come with me or if he is doing his best to piss Liam off. I don’t care.

  “You’re friend’s right.” My voice softens. “Go home, Bryan. Your secret is safe with me.” I side step him again, but he steps in front of me and before I know it, his hands are cupping my cheeks and his lips are pressed against mine. The zing I felt before fires off again, this time straight to my clit. Sending my pussy pulsi
ng, desperate for something to grab on to. I melt into him as he lowers his hands from my cheeks to my neck and to my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. I wrap my arms around him. No matter how hard I squeeze, I can’t get him close enough to me.

  His tongue slides along my bottom lip, asking for permission. I grant him the access he wants and his tongue slides along mine and I moan into his mouth. My breathing hitches in my throat and my head starts to spin. Realizing what’s happening, he reluctantly pulls back and begs, “Take me with you.”

  The space gives me a moment of clarity, but his warm body is pressed against mine and I can’t stop what comes out of my mouth next. “Yes.”

  BRYAN

  I realized the moment she walked away from me and got into her car that I couldn’t let her go, not like this.

  The moment my lips touched hers, I understood in that instant I can never let her go.

  Liam seems intent on letting her past color whatever future she may have or whatever the woman is she’s become and I won’t have that.

  “Get in,” she tells me and I walk around her car quickly, afraid she’s going to take off on me again. When I reach the passenger door, I look at Liam who appears to feel betrayed by my choice to leave. I don’t know as if I’ve ever seen him in so much pain before, but he finds it in himself to nod slightly, telling me it’s alright. Though I don’t need his permission to do anything, seeing that nod tells me he understands and in his own Scottish way that he’s sorry. I nod back and climb in.

  “Where you staying?” she asks.

  “The Biltmore,” I tell her and she puts the car in drive. She doesn’t look at me as she pulls out of the parking lot. “Tell me about it?”

  Her eyes meet mine briefly before returning to the road. “About what?”

  “How you met Liam?”

  “Just like I said earlier,” she states firmly but doesn’t offer anything further.

  “How’d you end up there? In the house.”

  Again, she looks at me, but this time her eyes, while brief, are pleading with me. “That’s not a conversation for a car ride. And probably more information than you want to know right now,” she says before returning her eyes to the road.

  “Will you tell me someday?”

  She shrugs. “Perhaps.”

  I should argue with her a little more, but I’m not going to push her for more information when she clearly doesn’t want to talk about it. “Okay, will you answer something else?”

  “Sure,” she says nonchalantly.

  “What would you prefer I call you?”

  Her eyes meet mine briefly before she looks back to the road. “What do you want to call me?”

  “By your name.”

  “Well, then my name is Becca.”

  “Alright, Becca, tell me something else. Do you actually like that name?” I ask.

  “No,” she says, deadpan.

  “Then why use it?”

  She shrugs. “Because that’s…you know, you really are nosy,” she snaps and my cock stirs a little more in my jeans at her sassiness.

  “I love your sassy mouth,” I smirk at her. I lean in close and whisper in her ear, “I prefer Livia.”

  She sighs, but doesn’t say anything as she drives down the streets of Phoenix toward my hotel.

  After another ten minutes in the car, we pull up in front of the Biltmore Hotel and the valet is there before she even manages to turn off the car. Within a few short minutes, we’re inside the hotel headed toward the elevator and my room. She’s obviously been here before as she leads me in the right direction and I slide my fingers between hers as we walk. That electric charge that was there the moment I touched her and more so the minute I kissed her zings between us.

  I notice her jaw goes slack as the sensation hits her too and my mind races with what this could mean for the two of us. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before and there is a part of me that starts feeling guilty for inviting her back to my hotel. This is only going to lead in one direction and one direction only.

  My rock hard cock begs to say otherwise.

  She presses the up arrow on the elevator panel. I chuckle, “How do you know I’m not staying in the basement?”

  She smiles and looks at me. “Because there is no basement.” She winks at me as the elevator signals its arrival and we step inside. “You got your key out?”

  I laugh again, “And what makes you assume I need a key?”

  For a brief moment, she looks offended by my question, but then her lips twitch in a playful smile. “Because Bryan Hayes doesn’t stay below the penthouse.”

  “Well played, sweetheart, well played.” She freezes on me. “What did I say?”

  She turns and presses our bodies together. “If you want to keep your dick, I suggest you lose that word from your vocabulary.”

  I cock my head at her, noting how tense she is. “My apologies, Livi.”

  “I’m sorry,” she says sheepishly as she looks away and backs away from me. I take the chance to insert my key into the reader and press the button for the top floor.

  “You’re forgiven, and you are correct. Nothing but the best.” I wink at her and she softens. “I will do my best to forget the word, but please know I’m only human.”

  She pushes a stray strand of hair behind her ear, making her look impossibly younger than she is. “I know, I shouldn’t have…”

  “Shh,” I silence her with my finger and bring her chin up so her eyes are looking into mine. “It’s alright.”

  Looking into her eyes sends a thrill through me and the air between us becomes charged with sexual, pent up, tension and I know the moment she feels it too. Her mouth falls slack and her body leans into mine. My cock, already straining past the point of comfortably hard, hardens further. Sending a shot of pain and desire racing through my body and I slam my lips into hers as I turn her back toward the wall of the elevator. Holding her still, I let my tongue do all the walking.

  She opens for me easily and her breathing changes immediately. Her body writhes beneath mine. My free hand roams her body from her hip, along her side until I’m cupping her breast in my hand. I find her already hard nipple and roll it between my fingers. She moans into my mouth and I press my rock hard cock against her pelvic bone.

  I feel her hips flick and grind, looking for some relief and I smile against her lips as I roll her nipple between my fingers again. My smile breaks our kiss and the ding of the elevator pulls my hand from her breast. I lace with my fingers with hers as I pull her from the elevator.

  There are only two doors on this floor and I slide my keycard into the one that’s mine and the beep signals the door is unlocked.

  It feels like slow motion as I turn the handle and push the door open, but we are inside quickly and this time, she pins me up against the wall.

  Her lips claim mine and her hands begin to roam up my body. Her fingers tracing my stomach muscles as she brings her hands lower, searching for access. She pulls my shirt from my jeans and slides her hands around my back, pulling my shirt up as she goes.

  She pulls her lips from mine but she kisses her way down my jaw to my neck until she reaches the collar of my shirt and pulls back. Her hands return to the front of my shirt and the buttons that stand in her way of skin on skin contact.

  Her hands are quick, unbuttoning my shirt as quickly as she can before pushing it off my shoulders. She returns to my t-shirt, sliding her hands underneath it and tracing my abs as she slides my shirt up and over my head.

  “My turn,” I growl as I push her toward the other wall and she doesn’t resist. I press myself into her, trapping her there while I reciprocate the process of lifting her shirt over her head.

  I am greeted with a sheer black bra and the sight of her dark brown nipples peeping through. They’re as hard as pebbles and the size of erasers perched atop her gorgeous tits and my mouth waters.

  I lean down and blow hot air across one of her nipples before sliding my tongue up the shear fabric
and catching a nipple between my teeth. She moans and slides her hand into my hair, holding me to her. I pull her bra down and tuck it under her breast, giving me full access to the tasty treat. I wrap my mouth around her nipple and suck it into my mouth hard. She groans and tightens her grip on my hair.

  I moan, sending a vibrating hum around her nipple and her eyes roll up.

  I let my hands roam around to her back to find the clasp of her bra. I undo the clasp and release her nipple. She slides the flimsy fabric off her shoulders to the floor. I lead her backwards to the bedroom. I can’t take my eyes off her.

  Chapter Seven

  Falling hard.

  BECCA

  With my hand in his, we head toward the bedroom. I’ve never in my life wanted someone more than I want him. It’s the way he kisses me, worships me, and watches me as we walk toward his bed. Desire runs through my veins and judging by the heat in his eyes, he feels it in kind.

  I’ve only felt true desire once before in my life, but even that pales in comparison to what I’m feeling for this man right now. That electric spark is ever present between us. It gets harder to ignore with each passing step.

  For the first time in my life, I have absolutely no hesitation about what I’m about to do. His eyes never leave my body as I seductively remove my jeans with deliberate movements and a few well-timed shimmies.

  I ignore the nagging thoughts in the back of my mind reminding me that he’s seen all this before. If I let that thought consume me, the call girl in me will come out and she needs to stay far away from this.

  My panties match my bra and leave little to the imagination. He licks his lips.

  I saunter over to him and grab the waistband of his pants. I unbutton them and reach inside to wrap my hand around his shaft.