“He can’t,” Tuck frowned. “Are you telling me you haven’t been with him?”
“I haven’t,” she said. Squirming, she wasn’t sure if she should share the rumors or if they’d get her into more trouble. Over the last few weeks, she’d gotten close to some of the girls and they’d confided in her that there was more to Sikorski than met the eye. “Some of the girls, they say that he… that we’re sort of a prop.”
“A prop?” he asked, and his loose expression tightened then relaxed as he tried to figure out what she meant.
“He touches the girls and screws some of them, sometimes, but… the girls say there’s a couple of his men, young men, very young men who—”
“He’s gay?” Tuck asked and when the surprise cleared, his whole body seemed lighter.
That was what had been implied to her, though the girls who told her that were quick to make sure she knew not to share that piece of information with clients. The girls were here for entertainment and Sikorski did like to throw lavish parties where anything went and the girls were expected to do anything asked of them, anything at all.
Since she’d been here, there hadn’t been any large parties. The few gatherings that there had been were deemed too intimate and important for a novice like her to get involved and she’d been in no rush to put herself at the front of the queue. A couple of the new girls were eager because they thought they could win the interest of influential men who might bail them out of this terrible situation. Kadie knew better than to expect that.
There were girls who had been here for years. Girls who lasted a few weeks or months and were shipped off to various clubs and brothels around the country. The least fortunate ones were sent to auctions and once they left for those, they were never heard from again.
Talking was about the only thing they could do while they sat around waiting to be called upon. All of the women were expected to keep themselves in shape, so they worked out. They were expected to be groomed too and so they taught each other how to preen for maximum benefit to the customer Sikorski put in front of them.
“Bi maybe,” she said. “He has had sex with women, according to what I’ve heard. I just think maybe he… leans more toward the male persuasion.” Which was fine with her and she didn’t really understand why a guy who commanded so much power and respect couldn’t be honest about which gender he liked to stick his dick in. “I want you to understand, he’s had me in his bed and he’s touched me—”
“Stop,” Tuck said, closing his eyes. “Gay or not, I’m not capable of hearing it, Toots. I can’t think about—”
“The great and powerful Oz,” she murmured, touching her lips to his chest in an effort to soothe the tension building in his taut muscles.
“Don’t tease me,” he said. “The thought of you with anyone—”
“That’s what I’m saying, there hasn’t been anyone.”
Everything she’d said in the motel was meant to hurt him, well, most of it was. Being realistic about what might be expected of her here had forced her to contemplate giving up her body to a man she didn’t know or want to be intimate with. If Tuck hadn’t shown up when he had then there was a good chance that she would’ve whored herself. She’d struggled to care about what happened to her when she thought her love had given up on her.
Experiencing pain, punishing herself, was the best way to make herself feel something, anything. Now that she had him back, she wanted to take back the things she’d said and the fear she’d instilled in him.
“Anyone?” he asked, grabbing her arms and hauling her up to his eye level.
“No,” she said.
After Tuck she wasn’t interested in going to bars or dating, she left to track him down and that’s how she’d ended up here. What other man could gratify her body after it had been spoiled by Tuck’s love for so many years?
Finding herself here with Sikorski, on her own mission, she had to adjust her priorities and make decisions about how far she’d go. Risks were easier to take when she didn’t have to consider Tuck’s feelings and reactions, so she switched off the part of her heart dedicated to loving him.
Having him back in her life made her revert to an earlier state and it became important again to factor him into her decision-making. Honesty came first and he had to know what her mind-set had been.
Admitting her intentions wasn’t easy. “But I would’ve done it. I want you to know I haven’t been with him, but… if it had come to it I would’ve let him be with me. What I’m doing here is important enough for me to make that sacrifice.”
“You’ll tell me all about it,” he said. “Everything. Whatever you’re here to do we’re going to get it done, together. We have a lot of talking to do, but I have a claim to stake first.”
So maybe it wasn’t so easy for him to ignore his desire for her. Kadie could live with that and it would make talking easier if they didn’t have their hormones clouding them. “There are condoms in my bag,” she said.
Every girl in the mansion had a bag that was prepared by Madame before they were dispatched when it came to one-on-one encounters like this. They carried condoms, breath-mints, restraints. There was lubricant in there, body paint, and massage oils. A lot was crammed into one small pouch and extras were added as per the john’s request.
Sikorski wanted his women to provide every service. Toys could be provided, costumes, paddles, clamps, anything at all and no woman was allowed to say no.
Just because she hadn’t been with any other man didn’t mean that Tuck had been celibate and she was too afraid to ask about who he might have been with. Now she could understand why he’d silenced her so abruptly when she mentioned being in Sikorski’s bed. She didn’t want to remember the sickness that came with watching him kiss Star in the limo—act or not.
“You’re not on the pill?”
That’s what she’d said in the motel, but it was another untruth. “I am,” she said. “But I kept it hidden. I didn’t want him to have the excuse of not using protection.”
Keeping anything hidden in the close quarters they lived in below the kitchen was difficult. Some of the women made it a point of prying, and snitching too, if they thought it would earn them brownie points. But Kadie wasn’t the only woman who took birth control pills in secret. They were contraband, rather than sneaking in heroine or other illegal drugs, the women here coveted contraception.
“Since me,” he said. “Since that time in the office, how many?” She shook her head. “No other man has—”
“No,” she said. “No one.”
“I love you,” he said, his whole face relaxing into pleasure.
It made her feel good that he wanted her body to be his own again, but she had to prod at him a little for being so cocky. “Stop strutting, and get on with it,” she said, laughing at his swagger. He dropped onto his side against her, their legs twined together and his arm around her shoulders.
Yes, she was his, and there was no way to deny it. Allowing Sikorski to touch her, to get close enough to kiss her, it hadn’t been easy and she’d fought nausea throughout. Lying beside him, with his hands on her, she’d really thought that he might have sex with her. But his touch never got too amorous, she could close her eyes and separate herself from what was happening because it never got too intense. Sikorski’s hand had slid up her inner thigh and she’d thought that was it, the moment she’d be penetrated by someone other than Tuck. She’d almost screamed. Then he stopped, moved onto his back, and told her to leave. She’d never fled a scene so fast in her life.
Thinking about Sikorski while she was lying in bed with Tuck was like remembering a nightmare and one she hoped that she’d never have to live through again. Whatever Tuck had done with other women, he wouldn’t put her at risk. So in an inadvertent way, she could find out who he’d been with, without having to ask for details.
Before she even said the words, her lips began to dry. “You’re allowed to—you don’t need to use the condom, but I won’t be offen
ded if you do, if you don’t believe me.”
Her heart was beating at a thousand miles a minute. “Why wouldn’t I believe you?” he asked, wearing a scowl though he began to stroke her belly, up over her breast, down to the heat between her thighs. Cupping her sex, she held her breath in anticipation of his fingers, but they never ventured into her, he skimmed his hand up, slowly exploring all of her, her ribs, her abs, her chest “You didn’t even ask me if I could be putting you at risk—”
She recoiled as though someone had slapped her. “You wouldn’t endanger me,” she said, tracing her fingernail down his abdomen. “You didn’t perform for Star… not beyond that kiss.”
“My body responds to yours,” he said. “Only to yours.”
Good. That was just what she wanted. Loyalty was important to him, it was a part of who he was. While they hadn’t been together before, they were now and she’d make sure he knew that their exclusivity was back on the first chance she got. “It’s the way you programed yourself, and your programs always work.”
His ego was healthy enough, but it was enjoying this teasing. “Let’s get to work on programing yours.”
“It’s still under the influence of the last one you infected me with,” she said, because her body had never forgotten what it felt like to submit to him. Even under the influence of drugs in that motel room, her instinct had been to seduce and pleasure him.
Rolling onto his back, he shoved his jeans and underwear down his legs and kicked them off the bed, nothing was going to get in the way of them being joined again. Flipping over to settle unimpeded between her thighs, both of them relaxed. Draping her arms up around his neck, the bed dipped when his fists landed on either side of her to prop himself up.
“Damn glad to hear it, Toots,” he said. “But it’s time to install the upgrades.”
Tossing her head back, she arched closer to him, but her laughter echoed against the walls. Bringing her attention back to him, she linked her fingers behind his head. “Mm,” she teased. “Geek hot talk, somebody save me from the sizzle.”
Teasing felt good, being light in this place of darkness was refreshing, and it was what she needed. Tuck kissed her, soft at first, he let her want grow. When she started to move, to rub herself on him and strengthen her arms to bring him closer, his mouth slid away.
This man knew how to make love to her and despite her need to be joined with him, it was obvious he planned to take his time. Biting her nipple, he let the nub grow taut beneath his tongue. His attention on her breasts was something she’d taken for granted back in the day. During her daydreams after they had split, she struggled to remember how he tormented her body. Foreplay became a blur when her focus returned to his dick so frequently.
Tuck liked to take things slow. He pressed and squeezed and rubbed everywhere. His whole body could stimulate her in the way he moved up and down on top of her, kissing her mouth then her belly, her breast then her clit. Alternating routes and stopping at new sensitized spots along the way, no part of her body was neglected.
“Hotshot,” she whispered, stroking his thick shoulders and the length of his arms, right down to his deft fingers that were trailing over her hips now. “I don’t want to be pampered. I want to be fucked.”
Meeting her eye, he curved his arm to slip his fingertips to her moist opening. Without going inside her, he circled and massaged the O he’d be plundering in such a short while.
“Prepare yourself for the upload,” he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
Sometimes he could be a real geek, and he wasn’t often one to crack too many jokes. His ease betrayed how ready he was to forget the negative experiences they’d had since being apart. Getting this chance to be together again was a gift they might easily have missed out on.
“You’ll make me lose control before the action,” she taunted. “Less of the talking… your mouth is far better at other things.”
With that, she looped both arms around him and pulled his weight up, bringing his mouth down to hers, and with the docking almost complete she steeled herself for the transfer. It was long overdue. If she could kiss him just right and just long enough, he’d forget all about teasing her body or learning her shape again.
His dick knew its way home and she was right, it didn’t take long for the thick head to push against the circle he’d teased with his fingertips. Lifting her hips, she welcomed the sating pressure that made her tongue still in his mouth. After nine months of celibacy, she needed some time to adjust to the invader that was intent on reaching its destination.
Tuck surged forward and even when she gasped, he just pulled back and plunged in deeper. “Keep breathing, Toots,” he said, his lips curling away to show his gritted teeth.
Tuck could be gentle, until he lost his senses, and then he was a man who got what he wanted. Forgetting the burn that hampered her pleasure, it didn’t take long for the friction to become gratification. Kissing her while fucking her might be easy for him, but she struggled to maintain focus on what his mouth was doing with hers when the heavy weight of orgasm made her pelvis buck then sag.
She was spent, ready to cry and laugh, and sleep, but Tuck kept on going, and it felt so good to watch the determination grow in his gaze. She knew what he looked like when he came, knew what his body felt like when it exploded inside hers. But she wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming heat of relief that flooded her when he injected his seed into her again.
No condom. Just them. Their bodies merging and sharing fluids the other had thirsted for, for far too long. Tuck drove in to hold himself inside her and while still staring into her, he bowed to kiss her once, then again.
The world already felt like a better place and all they’d done was have sex. The next part of their bonding might not be so easy, but they were moving forward and the struggle would be worth it in the end.
SIXTEEN
“How did you do it?” she asked, drying her hands on the hand towel while loitering in the en-suite doorway. They’d made love again and she was sure that they weren’t done for the night. But this interlude gave them the chance to wash up and hopefully exchange some information.
“Well,” he said, linking his fingers behind his head, his gloriously naked form on full display for hers in the center of the bed. “It all starts with proximity to your delicious self…”
“Hilarious,” she said, tossing the towel over his face as she approached the bed. “I’m serious, tell me.”
“I can’t reveal trade secrets,” he said, throwing the towel aside and snatching her wrist with one precise maneuver that saw him lift, twist, and lunge for her, all at the same time.
Playing it innocent, she knew he’d see through her pout. “You can tell little me,” she said, stroking the hair on his chest.
Relaxing on his back, he tucked her head on his shoulder and kept an arm around her to hold her in place. “How did I do what?” he asked, kissing her hair.
“How did you convince him to let you have sex with your secret girlfriend?” she asked, imagining it took some serious skills to manipulate Sikorski into something like that in such a short meeting.
“You’re my girlfriend now?” he asked, she tipped her head back and scowled at his slick expression.
It didn’t take him long to get back to the teasing that had once defined their relationship. “Ex-girlfriend then,” Kadie said.
“Ex as from three minutes ago?”
Twisting the hair on his chest, she pinched his flesh causing him to whimper and wince. “Ex as in forever,” she said, “if you don’t stop changing the subject.”
“I’m notorious,” he said, covering a yawn while his body contracted in a stretch.
“What does that mean?” she asked, sitting up beside him to frown down.
Tuck didn’t want her going far. “I’m well-known,” he said, trying to urge her back down but she resisted. “I’ve done jobs that people have heard of.”
“You didn’t…” Tilting her head, she peered in
to him. He’d told her not to use his real name or even the aliases of his associates. It seemed counterproductive to put that command to her only to ignore it himself. “You weren’t insane enough to tell him who you are… were you?”
Whatever he and his friends did, they had to have pissed off some serious people in their time. It seemed impossible to work in their small band murdering people and hacking their whatever without gaining a few enemies.
“Got me some nookie, didn’t it?” he shrugged.
“Tuck,” she whispered, unable to believe that he was being so nonchalant about revealing himself to a man who could definitely not be trusted.
“There are a dozen versions of me,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t out the Kindred. I didn’t give up any Circle secrets.”
She didn’t know about the Kindred or about any Circle, but she knew what made Nykiel Sikorski tick and he wouldn’t let a man of Tuck’s skills just saunter out of here. Just like Howie. Sikorski would seduce him with wealth and trap him before he realized he’d been snared. Tuck spoke about taking her away from here, but somehow failed to see that by revealing his abilities to Sikorski, he guaranteed that he would be the one in need of saving.
“He’ll never let you go now,” she said, gripping the hair at her temples because the impulse of stress made her want to tear it out. “You have to go now, tonight, don’t wait—”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, sitting up and taking his turn to glower. “I know what I’m doing. I’ve done it before. This is what I do and I’m not afraid of Nykiel Sikorski. The guy is insane and unpredictable, but I wouldn’t be here if we weren’t sure I could take him on.”
This wasn’t about who had the bigger balls, this was about his life. Tuck was supposed to be smart and sensible, not ruled by dumb male testosterone. “You can’t take him on,” she said. “He’ll kill you if you piss him off. And he hates women. If you even hint that you might give a fuck about me… You can’t, ok? You cannot show him that you care about me. Do you hear me?”
Swift (Kindred Book 4) Page 18
