by Stasia Black
Mack reached a hand down toward his cock. And his hand landed on a head that wasn’t fucking Brianna’s.
As soon as he realized that, shit, he was awake, and double shit, Ben was giving him a blow job, he jerked his hips back. He had to grit his teeth against the pleasure firing down his spine when there was an audible pop as he came out of Ben’s mouth.
“Get the fuck off me,” Mack growled. He was about to reach down and shove him off when Ben said six words that had Mack freezing.
“You was Bone’s before I was.”
“Shut up,” Mack hissed. He grabbed Ben’s shoulders and took him to the floor in a headlock. “Don’t you ever fucking say that again.”
“It’s true though, ain’t it?” Ben gasped, hands going to Mack’s arm at his throat. “You was his for two years. I hear you shoutin’ in your sleep. You’re still there back in his cell. In your head. I know ‘cause I am too.” Ben’s voice got high and thin, like he was just holding back tears. “He tried to break ya but he can’t. You’re too strong to ever break.”
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Mack gripped Ben’s throat even tighter. Anything to shut the fucker up.
“I do,” Ben wheezed. “And more than anything I wanna help you.” Ben stopped struggling underneath him. “Help… us… both.”
Mack dropped him and moved away, backing into the wall.
Ben didn’t say anything else. The sound of him gasping, trying to get his air back, echoed around the cell.
“Fuck,” Mack whispered, kicking the wall. Which hurt like a bitch. Everything fucking hurt. All the fucking time.
Because goddammit, Ben was right. No matter how long he was free of Bone. Some part of him would always be locked in that cell with the sadistic motherfucker.
Two and a half years. Every night. No matter how big Mack got. No matter how hard he fought. Every night.
Till one day he stopped fighting. He’d barricade himself inside his head and let Bone do what he was going to do.
Two weeks after that, he was transferred to cell block D where the Pres and most of the Devil’s lived. At first he thought it was because he’d finally proved himself. Things had been heating up between the Devils and the Mexican Mafia. Mack took every opportunity to back the Devils, trying to show how useful he could be.
Then he saw the young guy shrinking and following at Bone’s heels. Ben. Poor bastard hadn’t even turned twenty yet. The large black eye and way he walked with a limp told Mack everything he needed to know.
Mack hadn’t gotten moved to D block because he’d proved he was worth something to the Devils. Bone had just gotten tired of him and replaced him.
Not two weeks after he’d stopped fighting back.
Mack had barely made it to the trashcan to puke up the entire contents of his stomach. He hadn’t known which was worse—knowing he could have gotten out from under Bone months, maybe even years earlier if only he hadn’t fought him every night. Or how fucking happy Mack was that it wasn’t him locked in a cell with the monster anymore. Even though the only reason Mack was free was because some other poor fuck had taken his place.
Every day he saw Ben for the next year and a half, the guilt ate at him. Till he finally made his play to get him free of Bone. Knowing even as he did it that Bone would just start up again with some other kid. Fresh meat arrived each week.
But it wouldn’t be him. And it wouldn’t be Ben anymore.
“Please,” Ben cried in the dark. “I need you. He made me— and I can’t—” Ben’s voice kept breaking off with sobs. “You saved me. You’re all I can think about. Just pretend I’m a girl. One hole’s as good as another. Please. I’ll make it good for you. I love—”
Before he could finish that fucking sentence, Mack went for him. He lifted him up off the floor and then shoved him face down into his bunk. “You want it?” he asked furiously.
“Yes,” Ben cried. “I need it. I need you.” Ben’s hand reached for him again but Mack knocked it out of the way.
Then he yanked Ben’s pants down, spit on his hand, rubbed it over his cock, and shoved home up Ben’s ass.
And just look how that had turned out. Just like all those years ago, Mack kicked the wall. And just like all those years ago, pain spiked through his foot. He didn’t fucking care. Mack kicked the wall again.
People walking by jumped back and scattered. The hotel wasn’t downtown, but there were still a few restaurants around.
“Fuck!” Mack shouted, kicking the wall one last time. That was when he saw a couple cell phones come out, their bright screens illuminated. Shit. Just his luck they were calling the cops. The last thing Mack needed was to get in trouble with the fucking law.
So he turned and limped as fast as he could down the sidewalk, hopefully in the direction of a fucking bar.
Chapter 14
LIAM
“He’s a total arse,” Liam said as he washed Calla’s chest with a warm washcloth. “Forget about him.”
Calla’s eyes moved from the door Mack had slammed out of and then back to Liam. They were wide with bewilderment. And hurt.
The next time Liam got his hands on Mack, he’d fucking kill him. It was Calla’s first time. And then for him to just fuck off like that— Liam gritted his teeth.
“Did I do something wr—?”
“Fuck no,” Liam said, throwing the washcloth to the floor and gathering her in his arms. She was shaking.
“Shh,” he said, holding her head against his chest and rocking back and forth. “Shh, it’s all right. Don’t cry, baby.”
“I’m sorry,” Calla said, swiping at her eyes and trying to pull away from him. “I’m being stupid.”
“No ya aren’t,” Liam said, running his hand through her hair. “Come on.” Liam moved to the edge of the bed and tugged Calla with him. “Up we go.” He stood and pulled Calla to her feet.
She clutched for the bedsheet but Liam gently pulled it away from her and tossed it back on the bed. “You’ve a beautiful body. Be a shame to hide it.”
Calla’s cheeks went pink as she held one arm over her breasts to cover them. Cute. Didn’t she remember how not very long ago he’d had the nipples she was covering in his mouth?
He just shook his head at her, then took her arm in his like they were entering a movie premiere and led her to the bathroom. He didn’t let her go even when he reached to turn on the shower.
He eased her into the shower and then stepped in behind her. She swung her head around and looked at him with wide eyes, water beading on her lashes. Damn she was a striking woman. He felt like even more of a gobshite for not seeing it sooner. Then again, he was usually just looking to dip his mickey in easy pussy. Calla was a lot of things, but easy pussy wasn’t one of them.
Which made Mackenzie even more of a bastard, to use her like that and then leave.
Liam laid his hands on Calla’s shoulders as she faced the shower spray and started massaging. She sank back against him and his chest tightened. She was so goddamned trusting. Didn’t she know she’d get flattened in this world if she kept that up?
Not if you protected her.
Liam blinked against the thought. He’d sure as fuck never been anyone’s protector. All his life he’d only taken care of number one—himself.
He frowned as he reached for the small bottle of hotel shampoo. “Close your eyes,” he said to Calla softly. He barely recognized his own voice. When he looked over Calla’s shoulders, he saw she’d listened and shut her eyes.
Liam angled her forward so the water soaked her hair. He turned her by her shoulders so that she was facing him. Her eyes were still shut. As water sluiced down her face, she looked like the most perfect, pure thing he’d ever seen. That clear, creamy skin. Her long neck and softly rounded shoulders.
When she reached out for Liam, he stepped into her. “I’m here.” There went his voice again, sounding all odd and strangled.
He turned to the side and squeezed shampoo into his ha
nds. Then he worked his fingers into Calla’s hair. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d done this for a woman. If ever. He’d had shower sex before, sure, but he didn’t think he’d ever washed a partner. The intimacy of it had his chest squeezing again. Especially when Calla dropped her face so that her forehead laid on Liam’s chest.
She let out a contented sigh as he continued working the shampoo through her hair. After he’d finished soaping up her hair, he ran his hands down her back. All the way to her buttocks, which he couldn’t help squeezing.
Calla giggled and turned her face up toward his, eyes still closed since her hair was foamy with shampoo and some of it had slid down onto her face.
“You ticklish, baby?” Liam grinned.
She shook her head.
Liam glided his hands back up to her waist. He pinched her and she let out a giggling little shriek, pulling back from him.
Liam wasn’t having that. He stepped with her, pulling her into his arms as the shower spray started rinsing the shampoo from her hair. She kept her eyes squeezed shut but she had the most gorgeous smile on her face.
Liam could only stare for a moment. He wanted that beauty. He wanted to taste it. To breathe it. To own it.
He leaned down and kissed her before all the suds had washed off. Her lips tasted like shampoo. He didn’t care.
Calla gasped in surprise when his lips made contact, but then she wound her hands up around his neck, fingers burying in his hair. With her leaning against him like that, her breasts thrust right up to his chest. Liam broke from her mouth only long enough to draw one of her nipples in his mouth. It was warm and wet and immediately went hard as his tongue flicked back and forth across it.
His cock went hard against her stomach. Calla gasped again, and Liam didn’t know if it was from pleasure or surprise because she’d just felt his cock too.
He kissed up her neck, drinking the water that dripped down her throat as he went. Most of the suds had washed from her hair and Liam wanted to drink her in, every single bit of her.
His arms around her crushed her closer. “I want you,” he growled against her lips, even knowing as he said it that he shouldn’t. She’d just lost her virginity for Christ’s sake.
But it hadn’t seemed to pain her much when Mack had taken her. And there wasn’t any blood. Liam had glanced down to see, wanting to know if Calla would be hurting or not. She rode horses—didn’t they say horse riding could break a woman’s hymen? Then she wouldn’t be that sore if he—
“Then take me,” Calla said, blinking her eyes open in spite of the shower spray.
Liam shook his head at the same time his cock jumped against her belly. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
She smiled like she was amused at him. “You won’t.” Then she bit her lips like she was embarrassed. Her eyes dropped as she murmured. “I’ve um, you know, used a…” She waved a hand in the small space between them. “I have a BOB.”
“A beeyobi? What’s that?” Liam asked. Was this some American term he didn’t know?
She laughed again before clapping a hand over her mouth.
“What?” Liam smiled but pulled back, searching her face. “What is it?”
“A B. O. B. Like the letters.” Her eyes dropped again before meeting his gaze. “It stands for battery operated boyfriend.”
Battery operated— Did she mean, like—
Liam arched an eyebrow. “You’ve got a vibrator.”
Her eyebrows scrunched like she was waiting for some sort of judgement.
“Baby, that’s sexy as hell.” And it meant he could have her without hurting her. As soon as he thought it, his legs flexed, his hips seeking her entrance.
“Shite, you’ve got me so hard.” He hissed through his teeth, pressing Calla against the back wall of the shower. He gripped the back of her head and dropped his forehead to hers, struggling for control.
“Are you… um. Clean?”
Liam pulled back, startled at Calla’s question. “Yes. I get tested twice a year. Just got the results and I’m clean as a whistle.”
“I’m clean,” she said. “Well, obviously. But you know—"
“You on birth control?” Fuck, he was getting harder and harder with every word that came out of her mouth.
“No,” she shook her head, “but I only get my period every few months and it just finished so—”
Liam’s hips dropped and he grabbed his cock, rubbing it through her folds. “Are you saying you want me to take ya bare?”
Her eyes shot to his and she nodded. “I want to know what it feels like.” Her eyes searched his. “I want to feel you.”
Well fuck Mackenzie fecking Knight. He might have gotten one first, but Liam was taking this. He’d never gone without a condom with any woman. Ever. It was crazy for him even to consider. Even when using condoms, he’d had that woman try to claim her baby was his.
But Calla wasn’t those women. She didn’t know how rich he was. She wasn’t wanting this for any other reason than she wanted him. Wanted him.
Liam didn’t shove in like Mack had. He went slow. She’d feel every inch of him. Since he had her against the far wall, the spray of the shower was hitting his back. And sinking into Calla while steam spun all around them, it was sexy to the point of fucking magical.
He lifted one of her legs for better access and then groaned as the head of his cock passed through her lips. Jaysus she was tight. She might have already been fucked that night, but she was still tight as a fecking drum.
And this wasn’t fucking. Liam had fucked a lot of women. He wasn’t a complete manwhore but he had a fair handful of partners each year.
None of them had felt like this. The only other woman he’d even considered going bare with was Brigid. He’d considered a lot of things with Brigid, until she’d turned out like all the rest.
Calla lifted a hand to his cheek. “Are you with me?” Her eyebrows were furrowed. Like she could see him dwelling on the past. Screw that. He wasn’t going to let his shite history fuck up this moment with Calla. He put his hand over hers, then flipped her palm to kiss it. His other hand dropped under her ass, clutching her as he slid in another inch. And then another.
Calla’s eyebrows went high and her mouth dropped open. She was the goddamned picture of ecstasy.
He’d take her there. Jaysus Christ but he’d take her there, and then follow her over. He pushed the last of the way inside her until their hips were flush together. He rocked his pelvis so his groin rubbed her clit. That might not be enough. It wasn’t with some women.
But before he could even think about dropping his hand between them to ensure, Calla’s own hips rolled into his, rubbing just the spot she needed. Liam could tell because her eyebrows arched further up each time she ground against him. They’d be at her hairline soon but fuck, he loved how expressive she was.
He dragged his cock out and then in again and she clenched around him. “Baby,” he hissed out.
“Is this real?” Calla whispered, dragging her cheek across his before kissing him again. “Is any of this real? Earlier, with… And you.” Her eyes were bright with wonder as she looked at Liam. “You’re you and I’m just the town tomboy.” She clenched on him and bit her lip.
But Liam’s stomach had soured. “What do you mean I’m me?” Did she know who he was? How much he was worth? Fuck. Was she playing him like everyone had his whole life?
If she was then she was one hell of an actress. But Jaysus, hadn’t he overheard Xavier talking to Mel about how Calla had just lost everything? She was totally broke and then here comes the rich billionaire—fucking Christ how was he stupid enough to be barebacking with—
“Liam?” Calla’s voice was colored with concern. “I lost you again. Where are you?” Her eyes searched his back and forth.
“What did you mean by sayin’ you’re you?”
She blinked like she was confused. “You’re Liam O’Neill. The whole town knows you.”
What? He knew that witchy li
ttle blonde had found him out, but—
“Everyone talks about you guys at the ranch. And you,” her shoulders lifted in a small shrug. “Well, you’re the fun, sexy one. You’re always making people laugh. I’d see you, at the bar sometimes. And whoever was with you was always laughing.” Her eyes scrunched and she tilted her head. “You’ve just got this shine about you.”
Shine. He had a shine about him? Him? Not his money or the gold and diamond jewelry she thought he’d shower her in?
But the more he looked at her, those eyes of hers so open, the more he believed her. She wanted him. Just him.
She thought he had shine.
He covered her mouth with his. Christ, she tasted sweet. The instant the tip of their tongues made contact, she started writhing against him crazily. Like she couldn’t get enough of him. Like she’d never felt anything so good in her life.
Liam pulled out and shoved back in, hiking her up by both her legs and pinning her against the wall.
Her features went soft with lust and he leaned in to nip her gorgeous throat with his teeth. She clutched his head and held him to her, all the while making little high-pitched gasps. The octave seemed to rev higher and higher the more he thrust.
And then she let out a keening wail as she shuddered around his cock. Liam leaned over and drowned the noise with his mouth on hers. His balls drew up—it was coming. Jaysus fuck it was coming. The tip of his cock— Fuck, it was so insane without a condom. He could feel everything. Fucking everything.
His cock bottomed out and he kissed her crazily as his cum spurted deep inside her. Holy fuck. Holy— He pulled out and thrust back again, spilling the last of his load. Still he kept moving. She felt so fucking amazing.
He dropped his head to her chest, breathing like he’d just run a marathon. He felt her lips on his temple and her arms and legs clenched around him tighter than ever. They stood there for one breath. Then another. Until finally his legs started shaking from holding her up.
