The Complete Tempest World Box Set

by Mankin, Michelle

  “Yeah.” I arched a brow in return. “Doesn’t feel all that great when you’re on the receiving end, does it?” I didn’t wait for an answer to my rhetorical question. “Why are you here, Juaquin? I have a life and I seem to remember that I kicked you out of it.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut in. I wasn’t nearly finished letting him have it. “Maybe the problem is that you don’t know yourself. I mean when I’m offering you a piece of me, you’re not interested. But when I say no you stalk and you pursue. Maybe I’m just a novelty to you. Something different than all those other women you pay.” I waved a hand to beckon him in while internally hissing at my heart to slow down its frantic beating. So he looked sexy as sin in a black Cannibal Corpse tee that clung to his muscular torso as if tattooed on. So his worn jeans called attention to his equally sculpted thighs and ass. So he rolled into the room with his arrogant-rock-star-I bought-out-the-club-and-I-own-you sway.

  Uh-uh, I told myself drawing myself up to my full height. No owning. Not tonight. Not anymore.

  “You look beautiful, Reina,” he said softly his gaze glittering like polished gold as it reflected the dressing mirror lights.

  “I know,” I acknowledged haughtily without smiling though it pleased me greatly to receive the compliment. “Is that the only reason you’re here?”

  “I wanted to talk to you.” Expression resolute, he crossed his arms over his chest and the sleeves of his t-shirt stretched to contain the bulge of his biceps.

  “Huh.” I lost my train of thought imagining those muscles flexing under much different circumstances, like maybe if I were lying on a bed underneath his hard body. I reined in that thought swallowing to moisten my dry throat. “About what?”

  “About last night. About that kiss.” His voice rumbled lower. His gaze dipped to my mouth, and when it lifted a moment later his eyes were much, much darker. I shivered and attempted to rub away the shimmery sensations that he invoked without even touching me. “And what happened after that.” He watched me carefully. “I realize that I came on too strong. What I said, what I meant to say was…” He trailed off looking at a loss as he raked his hand through black hair that reflected the lights as brilliantly as his gold eyes.

  “You wanted to kiss me.” There was enough of a question in my statement that he answered it.

  “Hell, yes, I did. What man wouldn’t?” He swept a heated glance over me. My body reacted as if he had plucked certain areas and teased others, but I ignored that…mostly.

  “Ok. Fine. I wanted to kiss you, too. So we both got what we wanted for a change.” I lifted my chin. “But why then and not the other times? Like in New Orleans, for instance.”

  “Ah, yes. You had me at the edge that night with the things you said, the way you looked.” He took a step closer, and I brought a hand to my throat to cover the way my pulse raced at his proximity to me.

  “But you said no.” I reminded him. No in a hurtful way. “You said it would be a mistake. That I’d had too much to drink.”

  “You had. You deserved better than a drunken backstage tryst.”

  “You gave me all those excuses, too. Like I only wanted you because of who you were and the way you look now.” I stared at him hard. “You should know those things don’t matter to me.” That he would think they did had hurt most of all.

  I saw the apology in his eyes, but if he had answers to my charges, he left them unspoken.

  “I know my own mind Juaquin. You don’t get to decide for me. No one does…” I trailed off. He had moved closer. He was touching me, his hand softly tracing a lock of my hair, his warm fingertips skimming the sensitive skin of my ear.

  “I know you do.” He lifted his gaze. “I want you to have everything you desire, Miriam.”

  Holy hotness. My heart raced from his caress, from the way he rumbled those words and from imagining what everything with him might involve.

  “Really?” I managed. “If that’s true why did you always push me away?”

  “I was trying to keep you safe.”

  “From what, Juaquin?” I expelled a frustrated breath. “Your temper? Your reputation? Some potentially really hot sex?”

  His eyes widened. But I kept on keeping it real. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a child anymore.” I narrowed my eyes. “So I’ll ask you again. Why were you at The Palms the other night? And why are you here at my club again now?”

  “I want to start over.” He stared into my eyes. A hidden promise lay within them that was as hypnotic as his words. “If you’ll allow it. If you’ll accept my apology for the way things went down with us in the past. If we can agree to be honest about what this is, and what it isn’t.”

  “My emotions are not a game.”

  “No they’re not. I’m sorry if I made you feel that they were.”

  “I’m not some sweet innocent whose feelings can be easily manipulated.” It scared me how much I wanted to accept his apology and fall right back to the previous patterns that had been so dysfunctional. “I’m tough, and I’m jaded. I’ve mostly learned life’s lessons the hard way, some of them served up by you. I made a decision tonight. I decided to dethrone you, King. As a boy you ruled my heart. As a woman, I’m taking it back.”

  “Miriam, you gotta know I had feelings for you, too.”

  “Had is the operative word. I know. I get it. The past is gone. We’re different people now. But I will admit to this lingering curiosity. And now you’re here pushing all my buttons again. So if you wanna push? Fine. Push hard. I’ll push back harder. You wanna play some? C’mon let’s play. Let’s get down and nasty. You wanna test me? You can try. But I’m not some star struck groupie. I think I could teach you a thing or two about being with a real woman who is your equal.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  King

  “Te crees muy muy.” You think you’re such a badass, Miriam. But you have no idea what you’re getting into offering to cross that line with me.” I would show her. I stomped to the door, slammed it closed with my foot and stalked toward her like I had done the other night at the Palms. Only this time she held her ground before I had her against the wall where she couldn’t retreat.

  “I am a badass,” she returned with her shoulders back and her chin high.

  “You’re sexy as hell with all that talk about pushing, playing and getting nasty.” I glared down at her. “But that’s all it is. A bunch of talk. Dangerous talk.”

  “And I think you’re deflecting because you’re afraid to put my words to the test with some action.” She was worked up, her hands on her hips and her chest rising and falling with each breath. “Maybe you’re not up for the challenge of someone like me. Maybe you’re afraid. Maybe you’ve been afraid all along.”

  Ok now she was pulling stuff out of her ass. “If that’s what you want to believe.” My temper flared. My desire for her flared even hotter. I didn’t want to consider that there might be a kernel of truth to what she said. I only knew that I wasn’t backing down. I returned fire even though I had come here looking to make amends, to be softer and gentler with her, to show her my good side as Sager had suggested. “If it’s a test you want, then that’s what you’ll get.” The word and what it implied irritated me. “But make no mistake who’ll be doing the teaching. Desnúdate. Get naked.”

  I wanted her so badly, to connect with the woman whose beauty and spirit had always called to me. And now for her to offer to give me access, well, my voice was definitely gruff.

  “You first.” She countered, and I grinned. Everything about her spicy brand of sass pleased me.

  “Your wish and my desire are the same, however…” I reached for her, stroking my fingers across her cheek. Her eyes locked with mine. The sparkle within the depths of hers became something less playful. Was it in response to the more serious emotions in my own? Respect? Desire? Raw need?

  “Latino men don’t take orders from their woman in the bedroom.” Gaze still on hers, I brought my hand lower, my fingers skimm
ing down the column of her slender neck, her skin softer than I had imagined. My throat already dry with desire became more parched when I heard her swift, sweet broken intake of breath. Grazing the valley between her breasts, I reached her waist and the sash that belted her robe.

  “So are you certain you want to play this game with me, mi reina?” With my eyes searching hers, I tugged on the belt with both hands, discovering that I was holding my breath as I waited for her answer.

  “Yes, King. I’m sure.” She covered my hands with her own sending a bolt of desire straight to my cock. “Let me help. I knotted it, and you’re going too slow.”

  “Alright, mamasota. Have at it.” She took over, her pretty head bowing, her dark hair veiling her face, her eager fingers focusing on the task. I coasted my hands upward while she worked, gliding them over her satiny skin. From the turn of her delicate wrists to the sharp angle of her slender elbows, I pulled back the sleeves of her robe as I went.

  “I can’t get it.” She shivered and cursed under her breath. “The knot’s too tight.” She lifted her head, glancing up at me through her lashes, her grey-green eyes smoky, her lips dewy and parted. Definitely turned on, and I had barely touched her.

  “Miriam.” I gripped her arms and yanked her closer. Trapped between our bodies, her hands encountered the fly of my jeans and the significant size of my cock.

  “King, oh my God.” My eyes practically rolled back in my skull at the pleasure of her touch. Shuddering, I nearly came in my jeans as she traced her fingers along my entire length.

  “You’re huge.” Her eyes widened.

  “Yes. There are many reasons the name you gave me all those years ago suits me.” The edges of my mouth curled in masculine satisfaction. “But if I have kingly proportions you’re every bit my match with your curves.” I captured her hands and removed them from me. I wouldn’t be able to hold out if she touched my cock again. I had plans. Lots of them. Tonight they all ended with me buried deep inside her. Adjusting my stance, rocking myself into her, I released her hands to slide my own beneath her satiny hair. Cradling the back of her skull, I glided the pads of my thumbs along her jawline. Her eyes remained glued to mine though her lids lowered. She practically purred as I caressed her.

  “Are you ready for me, Reina?”

  She nodded seeming a little dazed. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. I wanted to feel her wet mouth around my cock and that tongue of hers stroking it.

  “I’m going to take from you everything you’ve got to give me. ¿Comprende?”

  “Stop talking,” she quipped, her command almost making me smile. She sounded short of breath and swayed as if her legs threatened to give out. Reaching for me, her arms twisting together around my neck, she gave me an expectant look. I was more than happy to give her what she expected and then some. I tipped her head back and lowered my own, crushing my firm lips to her softer ones. Her warm breath puffed into my mouth. I gulped it down and thrust my tongue in deep. I felt her fingers flex, her hands grasping as she filled them with fistfuls of my hair. My hips surged forward seeking refuge for the need that raged inside of me. She did the same, her movements counterbalancing my own. I thrust my tongue inside her mouth again, pumping my hips harder and slowly grinding my cock to the center of her. She moaned, her tongue slippery along mine and her hips undulating.

  I tore my mouth from hers. “Miriam.” I grabbed both globes of her luscious ass in my hands and lifted. Seeming to sense my need and share it, she jumped into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. She twined her arms tighter around my neck. In this position, I could feel the wet heat at her center and knew she wasn’t wearing any panties under that robe. Wild for her, I glanced around looking for a place to take her. I needed to be inside her now. I spotted a dressing counter ledge as wide as a table. I threw her on it. The clutter on the counter crashed to the floor. The mirror above it rattled in its frame.

  Eyes that had been closed when I had kissed her blinked open and focused on me as if mesmerized, as I unbuckled my belt and ripped open the button fly of my jeans.

  “Hurry.” She found her voice. I lowered my red boxers and rolled on an extra-large condom. “Please.” Staring, her eyes on my sheathed cock, she licked her lips and put her hands on her knees and spread her legs wide letting me see everything. I growled like a beast and pounced. The sight of her like that, her folds pink and glistening, her ready for me filled my cock to overflowing. The counter was the perfect height for fucking. A random thought surfaced that given our location in a strip club it might have been designed that way on purpose. But then I forgot everything else when she let out a low keening sound. Nothing else but her and me. I dug my fingers under her ass. She lifted her hips. I aligned and surged forward sinking into her, inch by hot thick inch. She gasped as I stretched her cunt, then breathed my name in pleasure when I reached the end of her.

  “Juaquin.” She moaned. “Yes.” Arms braced on the counter to take what I gave her, her body arched and her robe gaped open, the top revealing her gorgeous rose tipped tits. Below the belt that somehow remained knotted our bodies joined. Finally, I was inside her like I had always dreamed. And it was better than any fantasy.

  “Baby, I have to move.” I drew back, then slammed back inside, feeling her cunt tighten around me. “Ah, mamasota you feel so fucking good. Keep doing that.” I withdrew then slid back in. Out then in, but slower the next time. She lifted her pelvis taking me deep. I groaned. I couldn’t take it slow. Instinct taking over, I pulled out. I thrust in. Again. Again. And again. Setting a brutal pace and finding a rhythm that had her panting, writhing and lifting her hips to meet me each and every time.

  “Juaquin. Juaquin. Yes. Yes. Yes.”

  I grunted. I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t think. I could only feel. I could only take. I slammed into her. Fucking her shallow. Fucking her deep. Taking her to the edge and throwing her over it without apology or mercy. And she loved it.

  “King. Oh, King. I…” Eyelids squeezing shut, her face a fantasy, her body an eroticism like none I had ever seen. Her tits bounced one final time. Her body arched. She screamed her release, and I erupted inside of her.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Miriam

  Heart still hammering inside my chest, I watched him dispose of the condom. My emotions were raw, as primal as he had just fucked me. I’d never experienced sex so intensely. But he had ducked his head and moved away so quickly afterward. Had it not shaken him the way it had me? Was this it? Had he satisfied his curiosity?

  He had come so violently. I could almost feel him, and mourned the loss of our connection. I didn’t think I would ever forget the way his tensed muscles felt beneath my fingers. His deep satisfied groan as he ejaculated. Our bodies no longer two but one. A moment that felt so significant it scared me.

  All my previous bravado rushed away, replaced by a rising unease. I had no idea how to play it from here. I only knew I couldn’t allow him to see the uncertainty in my eyes.

  I flipped my robe closed. Willing my trembling thighs to still, I scooted carefully to the edge of the counter. He turned around, his eyes shuttered. Aplomb was what I needed. We had fucked. That was all. No big deal. But pretending to feel that way was too much of a stretch. I couldn’t affect it.

  “Miriam,” Juaquin began, his eyes narrowing as he noted my hasty attempt at composure. I was an actress, but apparently not a very good one. A sharp knock interrupted whatever else he had intended to say. Mike barged inside. The door slammed closed on its abused hinges behind him. He and Juaquin exchanged a glance. My confidence wobbled. Relief flooded my heart at the reprieve.

  “Are you ok MJ?” Mike moved toward me. “I heard raised voices and a crash.” He shot King a longer suspicious look before he turned back to me. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing’s going on,” I replied quickly. Too quickly. Mike frowned, and King made a scoffing sound. I sucked at subterfuge. No wonder I hardly received any casting call backs. “I mean nothing that yo
u need to worry about.” Both men stood across from me, arms crossing over their chests, waiting for me to gather my scattered thoughts. “King and I…well…” I slipped off the counter, absently noting that it hung crookedly as my feet hit the cold tile floor.

  “Miriam.” Mike’s gaze swept over me. “This wasn’t the decision I expected you to make.” Disapproval darkened his features.

  “Vox, this doesn’t concern you.” Juaquin’s voice was a growl. His eyes blazed. “Get the fuck out.”

  “The hell it doesn’t.” Mike shifted to face the Tempest drummer who gave him an imperious look and spread his arms wide. To some it might have appeared that Juaquin yielded, but I knew it was a challenge.

  “Did I not make myself clear?” King took a confrontational step closer.

  “Crystal,” Mike replied. “But I don’t take orders from you. I’m Queen’s man.” He turned toward me. “Your call, MJ.”

  I knew both men pretty well. Well enough to know that neither would back down. But I also knew they weren’t evenly matched. Mike had garnered his fighting skills in the controlled setting of a Tae Kwon Do studio. Juaquin had honed his on the mean streets of Southside.

  I knew who would win.

  “I’m ok, Mike.” I touched his arm to reassure him. Juaquin growled, literally growled. I turned my head and frowned at him before refocusing on my best friend. “If you’ll give me a minute alone with the caveman, maybe he will find coherent words to articulate whatever it is that he wants to say. Then you and I can go home. Alright?” The words sounded more confident than I felt at the prospect of being alone with King again.

  “Sure, MJ. I’ll give you five minutes.” He curled each of his fingers one by one into his palm ending with his hand in a clenched fist which he smacked against his open palm. King rolled his eyes. I almost smiled. I had the best bestie in the world.