by Franca Storm
It was one of my many safehouses.
I could never be too careful in my line of work. It was vital to spread the risk.
“Let it go, Slade,” I said, crossing to him.
“Like hell,” he muttered.
“You had your shot and you failed.”
“Failed?”
“You made it personal. It cost you time and good sense. The truth was, that you had two minutes max to make that kill and it went way beyond that. As soon as that happened, there was no way you were pulling it off.”
“It ain’t over yet.”
Was he serious? Did he really not know when to quit? I’d known he was a stubborn ass, but this was something else. He was incredibly tied to completing this hit. I knew first-hand, his history with Nolan, but Slade’s reaction here was overkill for the situation.
What was I missing then? Where was this hot rage really sourced?
Whatever the deal was, I needed to ram it home to him either way. “You’re still tied to Steel Titans at the moment. Why would you do this now?”
“The guy’s got a long list of enemies. It would’ve taken a while to point to me. I’d made damn sure there weren’t no surveillance footage on me the entire time I was inside that shithole nightclub of his. Don’t gotta worry about witnesses in that kind of place, because the patrons are all hopped up on something and fucked beyond belief. That’s his clientele through and through. And the staff? Nolan abuses them and treats them like shit. They wouldn’t stick their necks out to help track down his killer. Hell, they’d welcome his death. Plus, I had a cleanup crew on standby for when I ended him, a favor owed to me. Wouldn’t be no evidence there neither after they’d done with their job. I can’t be walking while he’s alive. He ain’t gonna let it be. So, it’s gotta be now.”
Well, that was all very… comprehensive.
My surprise must have shown on my face, because he smirked and said, “You really don’t think much of me, do you, darlin'?”
“I don’t like rogue elements.”
“Yeah, I got that loud and clear the first time we met.”
I grinned. “Well, you should also know that I never would’ve even taken another meeting with you, years after you screwed me over, if I didn’t think a lot of you.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “That right?”
“Yeah, it is,” I confirmed, as I strolled over to my bar in the corner and snatched up the bottle of scotch. I could feel his eyes on me the entire time.
I walked back to him and offered the bottle. “I respect you.”
He grasped the bottle, our fingers colliding during the handover.
Our gazes locked.
Heat flared in his eyes.
I knew he was seeing the same in mine.
The man had a hell of an allure about him.
A dark allure.
And I was most at home in the dark. It was where I lived, where I thrived.
Slade blinked hard and eased the bottle from my grip, breaking the charged moment between us. He took a couple of swigs, not even flinching as he gulped it down. “Why’d you help me out back there?”
“I told you during our meeting that we can’t both be acting at the same time. Not when it comes to dropping bodies.”
“So, you were saving your own ass?”
“I was saving both our asses.”
He shrugged. “Well, you still got it. I saw some major skilled combat from you tonight. And the Tranqs, jeez, I forgot how much you actually hate mess.”
“Unforeseen mess complicates things to an exponential degree.”
“The blade’s still there. Got my prints all over it. I gotta call my people in.”
“No need to waste favors. That’s already being taken care of. One of my ghosts is seeing to it.”
He whistled. “Damn.”
“I’m good at what I do.”
“Yeah, I remember,” he said, slumping down into one of my armchairs.
Good. He’d finally calmed down. Now it was time to get to the meat of the issue here.
I perched on the arm of the couch opposite him and said, “You need to lay low for a while.”
His hand holding the bottle of scotch froze, inches from his lips. “What?”
“My intel on Nolan has me confident that he won’t bring the law in on what happened back there. He’ll handle it how he handles most things. Illegally and brutally. He’ll come for you.”
“Ain’t got no problem with that, darlin'.”
“I do.”
He sighed heavily and put the bottle down on the coffee table between us. Sitting forward in his chair, he eyed me intensely, and said, “Is this where you issue a bunch of threats and try to force my hand with some leverage?”
“I’m not your enemy.”
Speaking in a low growl, he warned me, “You block my way to that asshole and we’re gonna be enemies.”
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. You’re letting your desperation cloud your judgment.”
“Desperation?”
“You want out so badly that you’re willing to cross any line.”
He reacted, unwittingly letting me know that there was weight to my accusation. “You got some nerve.”
“It’s called truth.”
“Nah, it’s called crossing a fucking line and you’d better watch yourself.”
I rose to my feet, looming over him. “Threaten me one more time and there’ll be consequences.”
Our fierce glares boring into one another’s, he pushed out of the chair, getting in my face. “Think you could put me down?”
“No question.”
“Have at it.”
“What?”
“Have at it,” he repeated, crooking his fingers at me in a bring it motion. “Kick my fucking ass.” His gaze roamed over my body. “Lay your hands on me.”
Heat blazed in his eyes. I couldn’t tell if it was hunger or aggression.
And as I fisted my hands in his leather jacket, I couldn’t tell on my end either.
Even when I slammed my lips to his and jerked him tighter against me, the need to feel his hard, muscular body against mine taking me over.
The moment he kissed me back, though, everything became clear.
There was no more room for denial.
I wanted him.
An explosion of passion detonated all over me as he fisted his hands in my hair and used it as leverage to hold me at his mercy, the way he wanted me, the way he needed me.
He was brash and rough as he escalated the kiss and plunged his tongue into my mouth, tasting me ravenously, desperately.
I could hardly breathe with it, let alone think.
There was just heat and need. So much overwhelming, unmistakable need.
I slid my hands down his leather jacket and rested them on his belt.
The second I made contact there, he pushed us backward, my back jarring against a bookcase behind me.
He tore his mouth from mine, looking me up and down like I was his prey ready to devour whole. “You sure you want this, darlin'? You know my rep, know the way this goes down with me.”
I sneered. “You’re seriously asking me if I can handle you?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”
“Slade—”
He lunged forward and wrapped his hand around my throat. Darkness clouded his features as he told me in a low, rumbling growl, “It ain’t all pleasure, Willa.”
I looked him right in the eye and assured him, “I’m well aware.” He’d warned me last time.
“You’re down for this?” he asked, tightening his grip around my throat a little.
It had me rasping in response, “I like a little darkness.”
That seemed to seal it for him, because he squeezed my throat even harder, hard enough to make me gag. He groaned, clearly getting off on it.
He wasn’t the only one.
I was getting wetter by the second, pushed up against the bookca
se, a formidable badass holding me at his mercy, a man who knew well how to deal out a fucking to remember.
As his eyes bored into mine and he remained still just watching me, taking in my reactions to him, the anticipation of what was to come heightened every moment. It was driving me crazier with every second that passed.
But that was clearly what he wanted.
To make me desperate.
To push me far enough so that I’d beg.
To rule the situation.
To conquer me.
After all this time, it was finally going to happen.
Or, so I thought.
Until it all shattered.
He abruptly released me and stepped back.
“You got somewhere I can clean up?” he asked, gesturing to his bloodied and dirty state.
What?
My mind was in a haze, still in fucking mode, the anticipation and need holding me in another headspace.
“Willa!”
“Right, yeah. The bathroom is just down the hall to the left.”
“All right.”
He stared at me intently for a couple of moments.
And then he turned and walked away.
Not again.
6
~Slade~
LONGEST SHOWER EVER.
And ice-fucking-cold, to boot.
To say I’d needed to calm the hell down was the definition of an understatement.
It had been a real long time since I’d gotten that riled up. Especially sexually. Jesus fucking Christ. That woman could get under my skin like nothing else.
It weren’t just the physical want. It was goddamn mental too.
My body and mind lost control with her.
I couldn’t fucking believe it. It shouldn’t be possible.
I was shut down. Had been for a long time.
It kept me level-headed, made it possible to react unemotionally, just with facts and reason. It’s kept me alive. And it also stopped shit like this from happening.
What the fuck was it about her?
Hell, I knew damn well what it was.
We were cut from the same cloth. She lived in the same world that I did. The darkness that had been fighting to eat me alive for decades had a hold of her too. I could see it in her. I could feel it all over her. Her and me were one in the same.
And there was nobody out there that’d ever come close to that, never come close to getting me in that way. All the way.
The things I’d done, even the worst kind, I’d had my reasons. I weren’t a psycho who did fucked-up shit on a whim, or for some sick thrill. I’d only ever done what I’d had to do. To survive. To protect. But even with that being the case, I’d still had to justify and defend myself all my life. With my wife. With former friends. Even with the club. It was all because it took an iron stomach and hardcore resolve and a certain detachment to be able to do what really needed doing. Most people couldn’t rise to that. That also meant that most people couldn’t understand it either. Understand me.
I’d gotten used to it. I’d even seen it as an advantage. If nobody really got you, they couldn’t manipulate you, couldn’t figure you out, or get one over on you.
I was on my way to leaving all of that behind, of needing to live that way in order to survive. But I still had some shit to get through first before I could taste that freedom. I couldn’t risk letting Willa, or anybody, in.
I snatched a towel off a hook on the back of the door and wrapped it around my waist. That was when I caught sight of my reflection in the oval-shaped bathroom mirror.
It had me stopping short and eyeing the sight staring back at me.
Cuts and bruises marred my skin. Wrinkles were etched into my face, dark circles under my eyes, the things bloodshot from drinking and going at things way too hard for way too long.
All signs of my youth were fading away with every passing day. With that was my tolerance for this kind of life too. Shit like what had gone down tonight should be a thing of the past. I’d tried hard to make it that way, steering the club legit. But life weren’t that cut and dry. It weren’t that easy to avoid the bad and the filth. It would keep coming back around every now and then, as long as a guy like me was top dog. My legacy wouldn’t let it be no other way.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered to myself, as I turned away and scrubbed my hand over my face.
What the shit had happened tonight?
Everything had gone to hell, not a single thing managing to go to plan. I’d let Nolan get to me. Willa had been right. The second I’d let it get personal, I’d lost my shot to end him. I was desperate to get it all over and done with. Not just Nolan either. The Strikers too.
I needed to dial it back.
Dammit. I knew what that entailed.
Keeping off Nolan’s radar for a while. Staying here. Benched. Stilled. Fucking well shackled.
Best smooth things over with Willa then. I hated bad blood lingering. I couldn’t breathe easy with it, so I couldn’t be staying here with her hating on me for what went down earlier. Or what hadn’t gone down. Again.
I’d been ready to give her the fucking of her life. And then I’d seen that look in her eyes, took in everything her body had been telling me. The same thing I’d noticed last time.
It weren’t gonna be simple.
She weren’t like the others, women wanting to slum it with a big, bad biker, wanting a brief taste of the dark and wild, just a one-shot experience.
Nah, Willa was the dark.
And I fucking loved that. It was a part of me. If I went there with somebody like her, like me, I wasn’t sure if I could stay closed the way I had been for so long now, the way I had to be.
I couldn’t risk that kind of connection. I couldn’t let that vulnerability in, that weakness.
“Jeez,” I groused, shaking my head to myself, as I snatched my dirtied and bloodied clothes off the floor and headed on out of the bathroom.
The second I stepped into the hallway just outside, there she was. It pulled me up short, as I took her in leaning against the opposite wall, her arms folded across her chest, a gym bag at her feet.
Before I could get a word out, she kicked the bag toward me. “The drop off I requested arrived ten minutes ago.”
“Drop off?”
“Clothing and essentials for your stay here.”
She was beyond prepared. She was a fucking goddess standing above all of us dumbass mortal men.
Her gaze dropped to my clothes clutched in my hand. “There’s a hamper in your room. Just toss them in there for now.”
My room? She’d already organized all of that? I’d been gone for thirty-minutes. Damn her, she must’ve engineered all of this even before she’d shown up at Indulge and saved my ass. She’d known she was gonna bring me here and make me stay here, the moment she’d discovered I was going after Nolan tonight.
She was too fucking good, and I couldn’t let her rule me.
She needed some unsettling.
I looked her up and down, making damn sure she knew I was eye-fucking her.
Sure enough, she blushed a little and shifted her weight uneasily. I was being a shit, using her desire for me against her. But I had to do whatever I could, use any means necessary, to even out the balance of power. She was dangerous, I couldn’t have her topping me in any way.
I pushed it further, stepping up closer and asking, “You been waiting on me all this time? Couldn’t pass up a chance to see me wet and naked, yeah?”
Her blush deepened.
As I watched her unease grow, some nasty-ass feeling crept over me, something I weren’t used to.
Guilt.
Sure, I’d felt it before, but I always dragged it down to the darkest depths of my mind and left it buried deep there. It never got enough time to breathe.
This time, though, I couldn’t seem to do it, to shake it off. It just wouldn’t work.
That look on her face, knowing I was causing her shame and some pain… it hurt me right b
ack.
Goddamn it.
I stepped up to her and reached out real gentle, gentler than I was used to being with anybody. I tipped her chin up with my index finger, drawing her eyes to mine. Those sexy blue orbs burned into mine and I swallowed hard as the intensity between us got to me. “Sorry, darlin'. I appreciate you doing this, all right?”
She cracked a smile. “Apology accepted.”
“Yeah? We good here then?”
“About this, yes. About the other thing… not so much.”
I shifted my weight. “Listen—”
She batted my hand away. “I’m nobody’s plaything. I don’t like being left high and dry.” A dirty smirk crept over her lips, as she added, “Especially not dry.”
I should’ve never backed down! Goddamn her! “Don’t gotta worry your pretty head about it, darlin', because it ain’t gonna happen again.”
I saw her flinch. Quickly, though, it turned into a sneer. “You’re afraid.”
“That right?” I asked, more amused than anything else. Nice fucking try, though, going for my ego and thinking it would get under my skin enough to rile me up and make me react in some intense way. I knew that was what she wanted from me. That intensity that I’d brought earlier, when we’d been on the verge of fucking.
Well, it weren’t gonna work.
“You’ve got barriers in place to prevent anybody from getting close to you. You won’t let yourself make a connection, nothing lasting and real, anyway. Not even to your own club brothers. You hold yourself at a distance. It’s a tried and true survival tactic. I know, because I employ it myself.”
“You get it and live it, then why are you coming at me?”
“Because, it’s incredibly arrogant of you to assume that I want that kind of connection with you.” She stepped up close. Her sweet vanilla scent filled the space between us. Damn, that was an alluring smell. I was breathing deeper, trying to savor it, before I could get a grip. I should’ve been pushing her away, putting some distance between us. But as she got right up in my space, I just let her. Her hot breath was at my ear in the next second. “Just like back then, Slade, I just wanted to scratch an itch and you were the tool to accomplish that.”
“Tool?” I snarled.
She pulled back to look me in the eye. “That’s right. Plain and simple. And, just so you know, it’s been a while for me, so it would’ve been absolutely explosive.”
