by Debra Kayn
His mouth softened. "That I can do, but I'm a selfish asshole and want you walking in front of me so I can watch your sweet ass the whole way."
She shivered, liking that he still wanted to be with her even though he wasn't touching her that second. Men filled her life, and they only saw her as a sex object. She wasn't naive. Kurt was no different from the men she dealt with every day, but she had to give him credit. He worked to show her he was willing to pay attention.
She stepped around him, looking over her shoulder to make sure he held up his end of the deal. Each step more precious, because he wasn't looking at her ass, but her eyes.
In the bedroom, she turned toward him. "I don't sleep with any of the men who come to Silver Girls."
"I'm not one of the men who come here looking for sex. I own the place," he replied, shrugging out of his vest.
She nodded, gazing at his hands that'd lowered to his buckle. "Despite what's happening here, and what you must think of me after seeing...well, your first impression of me, I've only slept with a few men and it was always—she paused—always for different reasons. There were several dates and a mutual friendship before we had sex. What I'm telling you is nobody ever bought me for sex. My relationships were with men who didn't come to Silver Girls."
He stilled. "That's good to know, angel, but I'm not asking for a play by play of your sex life. Think carefully about what you want to say, because the way I feel right now, I'd probably kill a man if I knew he had his hands on you."
She raked her teeth over her bottom lip. Obviously, he didn't understand what she was saying. In his world, he probably made it a habit to sleep with every woman he looked twice at. She couldn't blame him, because she'd seen the power of his gaze. Hell, she was standing here prepared to strip down and fling herself on the bed because he was beautiful. Any woman would want to have sex with him.
If he had any idea who she was or the circumstances of how she came into this life, he'd have a different opinion. Oh, he'd still want her, but he'd no longer see past the part of her being a prostitute's daughter. He wouldn't see the true her.
He pulled his T-shirt off. Her nipples peaked, and she tried to remember what she was thinking. It wasn't the first time she'd seen his body, but this time she knew there was nothing stopping her from touching him.
His muscles rippled across his shoulders. Solid, thick arms flung his shirt to the side of the room. She moistened her lips. There was not an ounce of fat on his body. She sucked in her stomach. Until now, the only other time she ever doubted her appeal to men was the first time she bravely stripped for the miners.
Her hips were a little too wide. Her legs too soft, not like Shari's strong, lean thighs. But then again, Shari jogged every single day. Running was impossible when Risa's breasts were too big for her body and made her clumsy. In today's standard of the perfect woman, she could afford to lose some weight. She often thought she would've been pretty if she lived in the 1950's when society allowed women to have a little extra cushion.
The miners never seemed to notice that she wasn't model perfect, but stripping under the streetlights, outdoors, hid many of her imperfections. She wasn't putting on a show tonight, and Kurt paid attention to her every move. Her heart raced, and she felt awkward and slow.
She wanted to be perfect, and she was so far past being acceptable to a man like Kurt, both inside and out, it wasn't even funny.
"You're not undressed." Kurt stood butt naked in front of her, having removed his clothes while she contemplated running for the door or staying.
She swept her hair over her shoulder. "I'll be right back. I just need a few minutes in the bathroom."
Kurt shook his head and stepped toward her. His hands went to her waist, and while he slowly pulled her Tee over her breasts, he said, "All you need is to stay here, let me take your clothes off, and then get in bed with me."
Her heart raced. "But—"
"You're not going to escape me again. Earlier, I told you to stay put when I left to go outside." He dropped her Tee and gazed down at her breasts covered in a lacy bra. "I come back, and you're gone."
"I was here," she said, her voice breaking when his fingers found the front clasp.
"You were gone." He undid her bra, not taking his eyes off her chest.
Her breasts fell free. She trembled, raising her arms to cover herself, but he caught her wrists. "Not letting you have the chance to hide from me, angel. When I tell you to stay, you stay."
"I wasn't—"
"You stay," he repeated, not wasting time and undoing the button on her shorts. "A man views his woman as property, tells her to stay because he knows she'll be safe, and in return will do anything to make sure nothing and nobody touches his property. It's who I am, angel."
Oh. My. God.
He leaned down and wiggled the material off her hips, hooking his thumbs in the strap of her panties and taking them off too. She braced herself on his shoulders, lifting one foot and then the other, until she was naked.
He stepped back and his chest puffed up, his lips softened, and his gaze did funny things to her insides, because he wasn't only looking. He was looking like a man who enjoyed what he was seeing. She shifted her leg, until her knee was in front of her other knee. The desire to cover her body overrode everything. She'd never felt so vulnerable and open with another person.
Afraid he'd see through her, find desires and a wildness that she inherited from her mother, she couldn't move, couldn't talk, couldn't separate desire from common sense. The times she had sex with other men came without much thought, or maybe it had to do with knowing it was the next step in their relationship and it was normal.
Kurt came out of nowhere and upset her life. She knew nothing about him. This was not normal.
"You're beautiful." He scooped up her hand and brought her closer. "Relax."
"I am," she said, too quickly. "I want us to have sex."
His mouth softened even more and he smiled down on her. The beauty he gave her warmed her soul. She walked with him to the bed and pulled back the covers. He tucked her in and covered her to the waist.
"Be back," he said, turning and walking out of the room.
She propped herself up on her elbow and watched the door. When the click of the deadbolt latched in the other room, she laid her head down and pulled the covers up under her armpits. There was no turning back.
She no longer had to pretend she wasn't attracted to him.
No more attitude, no more distance, no more being afraid he'd take advantage of her.
He'd given her a business deal. She knew when renting the building that there would be a risk that she'd have to move someday. Instead, he'd given her a proposition that was too good to be true. He'd given her fewer hours for the same kind of money, since he wasn't charging her rent. The only thing that worried her was she had to continue putting on the monthly show for her own benefit. The other girls could stay or leave, which was good because most of the girls loved working for her.
Her goals were different from her employees who only wanted to earn money. She had to continue to earn her reputation. To put her past behind her.
Once back inside the bedroom, Kurt flipped the light off and walked across the room. The mattress dipped on the other side of the bed, and she rolled to her side to face him.
He shifted closer, tucking his arm underneath her head and pressing her cheek against his chest. His free hand lifted her thigh and situated it on his hip. In the dark, he molded her against him. She squirmed as close as she could to his heat. His arousal pressed against the moistness of her sex.
Then he made no other move. Several awkward seconds later, she wondered if she was the one who should start. She had no idea what he liked or where he wanted touched. She wasn't fussy, because she wanted to do everything and explore everywhere.
She lifted her head to give him permission in case he was waiting for her to say something and his hand clamped down on her hair, holding her in place. "Close your ey
es," he whispered.
Her pulse throbbed and she was sure he could feel it. They were close enough to have sex. All he had to do was thrust his hips an inch and he'd slip into her opening. She undulated her hips. His cock throbbed, moving against her without any help from him.
"Angel, stop moving." He kissed the top of her head. "You're killing me."
Terrified that she hurt him in some way, she froze. "I'm sorry."
"Not your fault. Now go to sleep." His voice hoarse and clipped shocked her.
Afraid to breathe and do something else wrong, she lay perfectly still. Several seconds passed with neither of them moving. His hand remained curved against her head. She ran through every touch and sentence she'd spoken since he came into her room, trying to figure out why he'd gone from hot to cold.
Yet, he wasn't cold, he was still hot. His hard cock belied his actions.
He wanted her.
His chest rumbled underneath her cheek. "Jesus, inhale. I don't want you passing out on me."
She gasped for air and the bed seemed to spin. She squeezed her eyes closed. Embarrassment hit her. She couldn't do anything right without him bossing her around.
"Maybe you should go," she said, pushing against him.
His arms tightened. "Ain't going anywhere."
She pushed him harder, groaning under the effort. He chuckled and this time, he pissed her off. "Let go of me."
"Not doing that either." He laughed into her hair. "You'll learn that I like a pissed off woman, angel, so keep fighting me and see what that gets you."
"Asshole," she said, through her teeth.
"You got that right." He inhaled deeply and continued holding her. "I'm not fucking you tonight. Help me out and stop moving, so my cock goes to sleep and I can rest."
What?
He's not...
They weren't...
All of this and he didn't want to have sex with her?
"Why?" she said, the question barely getting past her lips.
"I'm tired." He yawned, and in her opinion, he over exaggerated the action to put truth to his confession.
She wasn't buying it. "You're full of shit. Why aren't we going to have sex?"
He moved her leg back to his hip, cupping her ass when he was done and holding her in position. "Because, every fucking man in this town has seen you naked. They've imagined you blowing them off, bent over backward, and probably straddling them on a chair. In return, you've experienced them gawking at you, their dicks hard, and only seeing your skin. And for how much I like your skin, your tits, your ass, I want something they can't have. I want what's inside of you, and to do that, I'm going to show you that I'm not like the other men out there. I'm better."
For a man who hadn't explained where their attraction for each other was going when he barged into her apartment, he seemed to have no problem telling her how he was feeling. Warmth filled her chest. She'd had men confess their love, ask her to marry them, and promise to devote their life to making her happy before, but she'd never had a man attempt to win her over.
And because he was trying hard not to have sex with her in an effort to make her feel special, she'd take his explanation and accept it for the truth.
"Good night, Kurt," she whispered.
He kissed the top of her head again. "Night, angel."
His cock still lay between her legs, hard and warm. She closed her eyes and snuggled down against his chest, wrapping her arms around him. It took what seemed like forever for her body to relax, but she enjoyed every second.
Chapter Nine
Risa woke up the next morning to an empty bed. She sat up and threw off the comforter. Kurt had stayed with her through the night, because she'd rolled over sometime in the early hours of the morning, and he'd pulled her back against his body, spooning her backside and rubbing her hip until she went back to sleep.
She left the bed, grabbed her clothes, and hurried over to the bedroom door, peeking down the hallway. The silence in the apartment told her she was alone. He must've left with his men.
Unwilling to let herself be disappointed, she walked into the bathroom and showered. She'd promised Kurt they'd discuss how to move forward with business and Bantorus MC taking over the building this morning, and she was determined to get business out of the way. Then she had a little over three weeks to figure out how to continue her show, without Kurt stopping her. Whatever happened, she couldn't lose focus of her goals.
She stepped out of the shower, toweled off her hair to stop the water from soaking her shirt when she dressed, and stood in front of the mirror to put her makeup on. She was applying her mascara when the front door banged opened. She shoved the wand back in the case and tossed the container in the drawer.
Hurrying out into the bedroom, she quickly put on panties and bra. She hopped in front of her closet, heart racing at the thought of Kurt walking into the room at any second, and couldn't make up her mind whether to wear shorts or one of her summer dresses. The business meeting with Kurt meant everything.
She reached for the soft blue dress when a knock on the open bedroom door started her. She muffled her scream and half turned. "I'm getting dressed. Just give me a couple seconds—"
"I brought breakfast up." He held up a white sack, but his gaze was on her body.
More confident than last night when she was on a verge of a meltdown, she blindly grabbed the dress and held it in front of her.
Kurt raised his gaze and tilted his head. That softening of his mouth happened again, and a heat flash detonated inside of her. She realized that was as close to a smile Kurt ever gave her.
"How short is that dress?" he asked.
The low timber of his voice rolled over her. She shrugged. "A little below my knees. Why?"
"Wear shorts, angel," he said, backing out of the doorway.
She moved forward, wanting to stop him from leaving. "Why?"
His gaze lowered and he rubbed his lips together before continuing. "Cause you've got the best damn legs I've ever seen and I want to enjoy looking at them."
"My thighs are too big," she blurted, cringing when she heard herself speak.
Kurt's brows lowered. "Who told you that?"
"Nobody had to tell me, I know." She inched over to the armoire, still holding the dress in front of her.
"Bull shit," he said. "Put on a pair of shorts and then come in the other room and eat. We need to talk this morning, because I have things I need to do."
She stared at the empty doorway. Did he call her a liar?
Sure that he had, she tossed the dress toward the closet and opened her armoire. She pulled out a worn pair of cutoffs with a hole on the left back pocket and tiptoed in place while wiggling in joy. He liked her legs.
In fact, he seemed to like everything about her.
She shimmed into the shorts, half turned toward the mirror, and caught a glimpse of white lace from her panties covering her ass through the hole. If he wanted to see more of her, she'd show him. She picked out a tight white tank that showed the imprint of her matching lace bra and pulled it over her head. The hem left an inch of her stomach bare when she moved her arms.
After taking a deep breath cleansing breath and fanning her face to cool the smile permanently etched on her face, she left the room and found Kurt sitting at her table. "I have orange juice in the fridge—she walked into the open kitchen and filled the coffee maker, turning it on—or if you can wait, you can have coffee in a few minutes."
"Coffee's good." He pushed the sack away from him. "Eat, and while you're doing that, I'll talk."
On the outside, she tried to appear calm. Inside, her stomach rumbled, and it wasn't from hunger. He always left her with a case of nerves and excitement. A vulnerable combination for any woman, but especially her.
She removed a donut from the sack and laid it on the napkin in front of her. Pinching off a piece of soft dough, she raised her gaze. "Go ahead."
He leaned his elbows on the table. "I don't know the history with how
a town supports their major money maker...the miners, but I hear what you're saying about providing a service to them to keep them in Federal. One of the ways Bantorus MC will change how the town views us is by making sure we have the support of the people. We're not here to threaten and change the way things are handled around here, but to make Federal a safe place for everyone. Silver Girls doesn't threaten anyone, but it comes down to the fact that I own the building, and Bantorus MC needs to be inside the city limits. I need to make the operations one hundred percent legal, because the Feds seem to enjoy profiling motorcycle clubs. They can look, but I want them out of our day to day operations."
"I'm glad you see that it's better to play nice with everyone." She chewed the piece of donut, not tasting it. "Although, you're not making a good impression on the town folks. I can't remember the last time I heard gunfire within city limits. Out of town, yes, the miners enjoy hunting in their free time, but no one is afraid of walking down the street and getting hit by a stray bullet."
"Yesterday, it was your precious miners that were behind the shooting. A shooting that could've caused a bullet to come through the windows and hurt one of your employees...or you. Bantorus will take care of that so it doesn't happen again." He leaned back in the chair. "Right now, the miners feel threatened because we've taken over their source of pus—entertainment."
Ignoring his assumptions, he had a point. She brushed her hands together, getting rid of the sticky left behind from the donut. "About that. I'm going to talk with the girls today and find out their thoughts on opening Silver Girls on the weekends only, just like you proposed. I imagine if you're guaranteeing them a place to live—rent free, we can work something out, and maybe the miners are willing to spend more money if there are only select days they can come here."
"Good," he said.
"But, I will draw the line when it comes to me. I'm going to continue the once a month show for the miners," she said, not letting him talk. "That's a no bargain point. What the girls do pays their rent and gives them money to spend. You've taken the responsibility of having to pay rent away from them, and so they can work less days. My show has always been separate from what the others do. It's my only source of income, since I don't entertain the men."
