Incoming: Kill her. Inform me when it's done.
Outgoing: Done.
I shivered when I read it that last one, an answer from Luke to whoever he was texting. I had a sinking suspicion it was Eric Randolph. It was so cold and final like they weren’t even talking about a human being, but some animal that proved to be a nuisance.
He took the phone, fiddled with it some more, and showed me the call log. The timer set it somewhere between the third and fourth message. The call had lasted maybe a minute. I didn’t want to believe it, not a man that I had trusted more than my own parents, but the proof was undeniable. If the last two messages hadn't existed, I could have ignored it as something less than substantial evidence.
"How do you even know this is Eric?"
"I recognize the number. I work for him, too, Lara. I've used this number to contact him before. I can't provide you the proof right now, but unless you have someone else looking to have you dead—and your guy had another target that called him around when you did, which is unlikely—that is definitely Eric he's talking to."
Doing It On The Hood
Clay
As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew they were a mistake. I wasn’t used to cushioning my words, but then Lara probably wasn’t used to people she cared about trying to kill her. I could see my words taking a toll on her, and I wanted to call them back too late.
Do something before she breaks down.
I was panicking internally, just a little, but I hid it. Because Lara looked like she was going to cry, distraught. I didn’t know what to do with distraught women.
At first, she swayed, and I thought she was going to fall. I was prepared to lunge forward and grab her, but she got a hold of herself with a slight shake of her head. She paced in front of me, her movements jerky, and her breathing was speeding up. If she didn’t get control of herself, she would begin to hyperventilate. Even worse; she might start crying.
"Lara?" I called her name, but she didn't seem to hear me.
She made a distressed sound in her throat, face twisting as her hands came up to grab her hair. I realized I hadn't seen it down before, dark and thick, with a slight wave in it, reaching past her shoulders and crawling towards mid back. She took two handfuls of it, and tugged, hard.
I winced for her, stepping forward to take her hands and pull them from her hair. There was no need for her to keep hurting herself. I held her by the arms and shook her a little, trying to get her to look at me.
"Don’t do that, the last thing you need is to rip out your hair. Try to think rationally."
She gave a broken laugh, and it made me feel… terrible, like it hurt as if from a physical blow. She didn’t deserve this. Not that life was ever fair, but still. Punches kept getting thrown at her without any break in between. She was strong, I didn’t doubt it, but if it went on for long enough, she would certainly break, just like any other human would.
"I don’t know what to do anymore, Clay." She shook her head, but she kept her eyes on my chest. Did she even see me in front of her, or was her mind picturing other terrible things? "My partner is dead, and that is on me." She grimaced, hunched her shoulders. "My mentor is also dead, and that is also on me. Only if he hadn't died first, he would have killed me." Her eyes closed, and she swallowed audibly.
A tremble had started in her body. She made a sound that was almost like a sob, and dropped her head, her hair flowing with the movement to hide her face. I released her arms, took her face in my hands and brought her head up.
"I know this isn’t the best kind of situation, but you can't let it get to you, not yet. Lara, we still have people after us, and now we even have dirty cops joining the list. You can't break down just yet, okay? Let's just go back to the motel, and get some sleep."
I didn’t think she even heard me, though. Her eyes looked somewhat glazed as they gazed into mine, and I was certain that her mind wasn’t all there in the present. Her mouth was trembling, and when she parted her lips to take a breath, it was shaky.
"I don’t know who I'm supposed to trust," she moaned.
Dammit! She was breaking down. It was silent, and again I was impressed by the will of this woman, but now was not the time. I didn’t know when she would snap out of it, or whether I should help her if I even could. Her body was shaking a little, and I wondered if she'd just noticed the cold or if it was the shock getting the better of her.
Shit. I wrapped my arms around her, hoping to give her some warmth. I squeezed tight to get her attention, and I felt her head drop on my shoulder.
"Listen, Lara, I care. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t still be here." I grimaced, I wasn’t good at the comfort thing. I sighed, holding her tighter. "If you're looking for someone to trust… we haven't known each other long, and I'm probably not the most trustworthy guy on the planet, but I promise you can trust me. I want to help you—I'm going to help you, so let me."
She made another sound, and her head shook against my shoulder. I didn’t know what that head shake meant. But then her body was trembling, harsher, and I pulled back, feeling worried.
Her eyes were squeezed closed, and I wanted them open. But she was shaking so hard I could feel my body want to shake along with her. I brought one hand to her face, held her by the chin. She didn’t react. I shook her by the arms, just a little, then a bit harder, and still nothing.
I cursed a blue streak—internally, so I wouldn’t spook her. It would be the opposite of helpful just then. Again, I contemplated knocking her out. But it was an extreme action, I wasn’t sure it would help so much as make everything worse.
Instead, I grabbed her by the arm, dragged her around the hood of the car so we stood on the other side, keeping her back to the car so she wouldn’t be tempted to look at the body. It wouldn’t help her at all right now. Frankly, I had no idea what would.
"Lara," I made my voice a harsh bark, a command that demanded to be obeyed.
I felt relieved when her eyes opened, but I didn't let her see it.
"You need to get a hold of yourself. We need to go back to the motel."
Again, I didn’t think she heard me. I growled a little, pushing her onto the hood of the car. She cried out as she fell back onto it, and I felt a little guilty for hurting her, but if pain was what was going to bring her back, just a little should be okay. I took both her wrists in my hands, held tightly, and held her against the hood, my body pressing her down.
I watched her, my eyes intent, as she blinked a couple of times, then her eyes leveled on me, looking confused. I held her eyes, waited until they became alert. I held her wrists a little tighter, noticing when she frowned, however slightly, and tugged at my hold on her.
"Have you calmed down?" I asked clearly.
Her eyes met mine, cautious. She licked her lips, and she nodded.
I breathed in relief and was going to stand when sharp pain suddenly went through my thigh. I moved the weight from that leg, bracing my elbows on the hood of the car beside Lara's arms.
"What is it?" her voice sounded husky.
I shook my head, dropping my head on her shoulder for a moment, breathing through the pain. I must have moved wrong, or something. The pain died down, not all the way, but it hurt less.
"It's nothing," I told her. Pulling my head back so I could meet her eyes.
I wanted to try moving again, but when I met her eyes, I got distracted. Her eyes were very pretty, and I realized this was probably the closest I'd even been to a human being, that I could remember. Usually, my sexual partners were facing away from me, and I didn’t get so up close and personal with my kills, the better not to see their eyes go all flat. But Lara's face was close, enough that I could feel her breath wash over my skin.
Then something strange happened.
Whatever had been between us in the car was suddenly back, full force but even stronger with the limited proximity, and I wanted to curse. Our bodies were too close, there was no way she couldn’t feel my reaction to her.
I growled when she got her feet up and braced against the car, making a cradle for me between her thighs. I gasped, my hips rocking forward slightly, without my permission. She echoed my gasp, and I swore under my breath, gritting my teeth and trying to get a hold of myself. I should have moved, but I didn’t want to anymore. Our clothes hadn't even come off, and I was this excited.
"Fuck, Lara. Just calm down and stay still, okay? I'll pull back."
I had to. This wasn’t the time to try something like this. It was a good distraction, but this was Lara. I couldn’t just sleep with her and remain detached, I didn’t think. Which was strange, because usually, I had no problem doing just that, then thinking about things after the fact.
Not to mention where we were.
But then her legs wrapped around my hips, and I moaned in surprise as her body pressed firmly against mine. I frowned down at her, opening my mouth to ask what she thought she was doing when she suddenly blindsided me with a kiss.
My lips were frozen by the surprise, but it didn’t last long. Her mouth was parted, tongue sliding along the seam of my mouth, and I gave in with a guttural growl, parting her teeth with my tongue, chasing hers back into her mouth. The kiss was hard, wet, and it left me harder than granite.
We were both panting as I pulled away, and I rested my forehead against hers. I was surprised, I'd assumed whatever I'd felt in the car was only on my side. I pulled back, just enough to meet her eyes. It was dark, but there was enough moonlight that I could see them. They were light to begin with, so it was easy to notice the pupils had expanded until only a sliver of blue was visible in her eyes. The look only made me burn hotter.
I couldn’t help myself, I took her mouth in another kiss, this one lasting longer, more desperate. Her legs convulsed around my hips, the resulting pressure against my erection making my hips jerk into hers. When she moaned, I repeated the action again… and again.
I was trying to get my head screwed on straight, remind myself all the reasons why this was a bad idea because it seemed I had forgotten.
"Clay," she murmured, voice breathy, needy. "Please. Take me."
I felt a moment of surprise, but it was lost as she bit down on my neck.
"Here?" Was she thinking clearly? 'Here' was outside, on someone's car with his cold body not that far away. I didn't bother to remind her of that fact, though.
She just moaned, bucking her body into mine, rocking her hips into mine. I grit my teeth, squeezing my eyes closed at how good it felt, so good I could have come from just that. But I hadn't come in my jeans prematurely since I was a teenager.
Lara whimpered, rubbing her body against me.
"Shh," I murmured quietly, soothing her.
This was a terrible idea.
I didn't care, groaning into her mouth as her body writhed against me. I shifted her hands into one of mine, held them above her head as I reached for the fly of her pants. It had been way too long since I was last with someone, and I had never been this close to a body. When was the last time I kissed anyone? I didn’t remember that, either.
I pushed the leather down over her hips, so I could push my hand inside the gaping fly and cup her between her legs. She'd gone commando, and I groaned. She felt warm against my palm, wet. I slid my fingers in the wetness, coated them in it, and I explored her sex with my fingers.
Lara moaned, her back arching slightly, her hips bucking into my hand. I growled, realized I needed my other hand, but didn’t want to release her. Instead, I leaned down to nuzzle at her breasts. Even under layers of clothes, she felt it, giving a moan as she arched her back, offering her breasts to me. I found a nipple with my lips and took it into my mouth, grazing my teeth over it, sucking, hard.
I slid a single finger inside her body, moaning against her chest as she easily took it in, followed quickly by another. She was breathing in gasps, her body twisting and writhing in my grip, but I had her trapped.
Fuck! I throbbed in my jeans, with her rubbing against me, I might come just like that. I released her hands so I could scramble to get my pants off. Her hands, freed, tried to help. I let her as I pulled her jeans down, managed to get one leg out, decided that was good enough and spread her legs wider. I groaned when her hand reached inside my pants and grabbed my cock, gave a couple of strokes, but I caught her hand and made her let go before I released.
Her hands gripped onto my shoulders as I grabbed her under her thighs, positioning her just right. And then it occurred to me.
We didn’t have a condom.
I cursed a blue streak, and Lara dug her nails into my shoulders.
"What's wrong?"
"Condoms," I growled the word.
Her hands convulsed on my shoulders, and her legs wrapped around my hips.
"I'm on a contraceptive plan," she spoke quickly, sounding as frustrated as I felt. "I was seeing a guy recently, and I thought I might as well finish the prescription. I'm a cop, I get screened regularly; I know I'm clean. If you tell me you are too, I will believe you. Because I trust you."
Still, I couldn’t move. Her blind trust was a little unnerving, even though I'd asked for it just moments before. She really ought not just take my word for it. But I didn't think I could stop anymore. I didn’t want to.
"I… I'm clean. Eric liked to be careful about the people he employed. I don’t fuck around, the few times I do I always use protection. I'm clean, but… I've never taken someone without protection."
She moaned, wrapping her legs around me tighter, and I bit out a curse as the move slid the head of my cock inside her.
"I don’t care. Just… please, Clay. I need this." Her voice sounded desperate.
I cursed again, released her thighs so she could fully wrap her legs around my hips, sliding my arms beneath her waist, lifting her into my thrust as I slid all the way inside. We both groaned as I bottomed out. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, nails digging into my back.
I started a slow rhythm, tucking my head in her shoulder. But that put her lips right at my ear. As I slid inside her, her breath would hitch in her throat; and as I pulled out, she'd whimper, her hips trying to buck into mine, take me in deeper. It wasn’t long before I quickened my thrusts, panting into her shoulder. I freed one arm, slid it under her shirt to cup one breast, teasing her nipple with my thumb. As her moans grew louder, the hand moved, lower, between our bodies to where we were joined, and I rubbed at her clit with my fingers. She keened, then she was convulsing on my cock.
I grunted, and I could feel myself coming. I bit down on her clothed shoulder, letting the shudders work their way through me. We were both left spent and panting.
Fuck. I released her shoulder from my mouth as she gasped for breath. When did you turn into such an idiot? And over a cop!
The voice was in my head and rhetorical. I couldn't have answered it, anyway.
At least Lara had calmed down. Now, we just had to go back to the motel, get our shit, and leave before more people showed up trying to kill us.
Then, we'd have to try and stay alive and hidden from the police.
Damn.
Hostage
Lara
We walked back to the no-tell motel, Clay sticking close to my side. I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling the chill, but he didn’t seem bothered and all he had on was a T-shirt. After the warmth of his body, though, I was certainly feeling the temperature, even through my jacket.
I shivered as the image popped into my mind, Clay's head between my legs, his hands under my thighs holding me open for his mouth. He'd done it to clean me up since we didn’t have anything with us, and it had gotten me hot, the thought
of him sucking his essence out of me. He ended up making me cum again. Then we'd gotten dressed.
The thought wouldn’t leave my mind. I'd never done something like that before, and I could feel my face warm with a blush even in the cold.
I pushed the thoughts forcibly out of my mind, thinking of something to distract myself.
"So what are we going to do next?" It occurred to me I was leaning on him to make decisions again, but clearly, I wasn’t in the right kind of position to be making them on my own. Every decision I'd made up to that point only resulted in disaster. If it wasn’t for Clay, I would have died. Even before Luke came to find me. "I don’t know if I should believe him, but he did say the police were looking for me. I don’t know if they know about you, though."
"They'll know you left with someone. They'll have several witnesses to prove this, even if Eric must pay for a few. What we need, is proof that we are innocent of killing anyone that wasn’t self-defense. All we have right now is decent evidence that your mentor was dirty, but that kind of makes you look even worse, don’t you think?"
It pissed me off that he was right. It would damage my reputation if I still had any left. "Someone needs to know what he's been doing, though. He can't just get away with it, even if he is—" but I cut myself off, unable to say the word without choking.
Clay didn’t comment.
"I don’t doubt someone already does and looked the other way with a little grease to smooth things over. Think about it, Lara. Even before this."
"Look, Clay, I can't even think for myself right now. I sure as hell can't decipher your riddles. If there's something you want to tell me, go ahead."
"Lara, think about it. I mean think about it. Why were you at the club to begin with?"
I frowned, curling my fingers into fists, digging my nails into my palms.
"Someone reported a disturbance. Someone at the precinct told us—me and my partner—the message, said it was from the boss." When I saw his confused look, I shrugged. "The captain. We were supposed to go check out the disturbance, and we were to change into club appropriate clothes first. So, I went home and changed then Gabe and I headed there."
His Betrayal: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Omerta Series Book 5) Page 7
