by Roxie Rivera
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
QUID PRO QUO EXCERPT
ROXIE'S BACKLIST
ABOUT ROXIE
Seduced by the Loan Shark
Copyright © 2012 by Roxie Rivera
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
CHAPTER ONE
"Mr. Hagen will see you now."
My stomach churned as the words I'd been dreading were spoken by the hulking goon looming in the open doorway. I reluctantly slid off the leather stool and crossed the mostly empty bar. I didn't miss the curious looks from the handful of patrons bellied up to the bar this early in the afternoon.
I swallowed hard as I neared the goon. He glanced down at me and offered a pitying smile. I figured that didn't bode well for me. With a jerk of his head, he indicated that I should head through the door at the end of the long, narrow and dimly-lit hallway. I forced my feet to move, the thin soles of my red ballet flats silent on the tiled floor. In my head, a dreadful tune played. No doubt I would soon regret sticking my neck out for my loser brother.
But he was family and he hadn't always been this pathetic or irresponsible. He'd been a great brother to me once. I had to try to help him out of this jam.
I nervously smoothed the front of my skirt and stepped into the office. I shut the door behind me with shaking hands. My eyes adjusted to the soft, natural lighting streaming through a small, frosted window. Unlike the smoky bar, the office had a clean, fresh scent. It looked immaculately neat and tidy.
The man behind the desk was no different. He exuded control. Perfectly pressed charcoal grey suit, snappy white shirt, clean-shaven face—he looked more like a banker than the mobbed-up loan shark I knew him to be.
Hagen rose from his seat and shocked me with his height. I'd heard that he was a big guy but he made the super-sized goon out front look like a toddler. Hagen gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat."
His gentle voice caught me off-guard. Instead of falling under the spell of his gentlemanly display of manners, I recalled just how ruthless this man could be. I'd learned enough over the last week of helping my brother dodge the heat on his ass to know exactly what Hagen was capable of doing with those big hands.
I settled into the chair, my butt right on the edge of the hard seat and my back ramrod straight. Hagen sank into his and looked me over. "So you're Ronnie's sister?"
I didn't miss the disbelief in his voice. "Yes. I'm Cassie."
"Cassie." He repeated my name. "You're the little sister studying to be a rocket scientist, right?"
"Sort of," I replied while wondering how the hell he knew anything about me.
He frowned. "You're not in college? Or you're not a rocket scientist wannabe?"
"I'm studying astrophysics. It's not exactly the same thing as a rocket scientist. They're usually aerospace engineers."
Hagen's lips twitched with amusement. "I see."
"I doubt it."
The briefest flash of annoyance crossed his face at my sarcastic come-back. "Why are you here?"
"You know why."
"Because your weasely bastard of a brother owes me thirty large?"
I gasped. "Th-thirty? But I thought—"
He laughed, the sound harsh and cruel. "Let me guess. He lied about how much he owes, right?"
I reluctantly confirmed his guess. "He said five."
"That was the initial loan but then he rolled it into another one and another one. He's been light for the last six pick-ups in a row."
"Light?" I felt completely lost by the gambling and loan lingo he tossed around so easily.
"He was short thousands of dollars each time I sent my pick-up man around for the payments," Hagen explained. "Add in the interest and we're sitting at thirty thousand owed."
"Thirty thousand," I echoed softly. I couldn't even wrap my head around that number. I lived on less than half that in an entire year. How the hell had Ronnie managed to piss that huge amount away in just a few short weeks?
As if he could read my mind, Hagan said, "Poker. Your brother had a hot streak a few months back and then went cold. He just keeps digging that hole deeper and deeper. Frankly, you're lucky he hasn't had his fingers broken for those card counting tricks of his."
I sighed heavily. It wasn't the first time he'd tried his stupid card tricks. Like me, he had a mind for numbers. He simply didn't use his gift wisely. It was always about the next get-rich-quick scheme.
"So let me guess," Hagen said, a patronizing smile on his face. "Ronnie gave you some sad, weepy fucking story about being down a couple grand, right? You thought you'd come in here and shake that tight little ass of yours to get me to wipe the debt clean?"
"What? No!" I vehemently shook my head. Reaching into my purse, I withdrew the fat envelope of cash and placed it on his desk. "I brought this."
He eyed the envelope. "Four thousand?"
Surprise rippled through me. "You can tell just by looking at it?"
Hagen nodded. "When you've been in this business as long as I have, you pick up all sorts of useful tricks." He sat forward and snatched up the envelope. "That still leaves him twenty-six short."
I bit my lower lip. "I thought he owed five grand. I brought what I could scrape together and hoped you'd let me pay the balance of one thousand over the next month or two but twenty-six thousand? I—I just—I can't."
He tossed the envelope back at me. I barely caught it. "You shouldn't. He's a big boy. Let him dig himself out of this mess. Besides," he sat back in his chair and lifted his hands behind his head, "I don't do payment plans."
I shivered as his searing gaze roamed my body. When he spoke again, his tone had changed. "Although…I might be willing to make an exception—just this once. It's not every day a brilliant, beautiful college girl walks through my door."
I bristled with indignation and shot to my feet. "I'm not a whore."
"I didn't say you were," he replied calmly.
I dropped the envelope on his desk. "Here's the four grand. You can take it or leave it but that's all I've got."
Pivoting on my heel, I gripped the handle of my purse, strode to the door and jerked it open. Fuck you.
"Do you know if your brother has good health insurance?"
Hagen's warning remark froze me in place. My eyes closed and I tried to slow my racing heart. His threat hit home. I knew what happened to men who owed Hagen money. They ended up in the hospital with smashed faces and broken ribs. Sometimes even worse than that.
Sure, Ronnie had gotten himself into this mess but he'd never been the same since the car accident that took our parents. He'd been driving that night and so proud of his new car, a graduation present. Wet roads and a deer in the middle of the highway had taken away the two people we'd loved most. The guilt of the accident had changed him forever. Gambling seemed to be the escape from reality he'd chosen.
Gulping down the painful ball of nerves clogging my throat, I stepped back into the office and closed the door. On shaky limbs, I turned slowly and leaned back against the wooden surface. I met Hagen's triumphant gaze. Defeated, I asked, "What do you want from me?"
He eyed me caref
ully. "You love your brother this much?"
"He's all I have left."
Hagen studied me for a long moment. Finally, he held out his hand. "Come here."
I hesitated before complying with his request. I placed my purse in the chair in front of his desk and walked around the edge of it to stand next to him. He grasped my small hand in his huge paw and dragged me between his knees and the desk. The sturdy piece of furniture bit into my bottom.
Only an inch over five feet, I was so short we were practically eye to eye as he sat in his office chair. He dwarfed me like some kind of giant. At least he smelled nice. I picked up on the faint cedar note in his cologne. He had nice eyes, I grudgingly admitted to myself, the brown irises a rich coffee color. There was something handsome about him. Not in the classical way, of course, but in a rugged, tough guy sense.
"You're shaking," he commented gently.
"You scare me," I answered honestly.
"Don't be afraid of me, Cassie. I'd never hurt you."
"Your reputation tells me otherwise."
"Don't believe everything you hear." He grasped my waist and effortlessly lifted me up onto the desk. My eyes widened at how easily he manhandled me. "Lift up your skirt."
My fingers trembled as I pinched the hem of my dress and lifted the fabric up around my thighs. My stomach wobbled and dipped as panic took hold. I muscled down the fear creeping through me. You can do this.
"Higher."
My gaze jumped to his. He wore a no-nonsense expression and I didn't dare refuse him. I pulled my skirt up around my waist and revealed my pink cotton hipsters.
"Pink?" Hagen's gaze lingered on my panties. "They suit you."
Heat streaked up my neck and into my ears. I fought the urge to shove my skirt down, certain it would end whatever deal we were making. "How the hell would you know? You don't even know me."
Hagen's gaze moved to my face. He examined me carefully. "I know more than you think."
Somehow I didn't doubt that. A man in his line of business probably learned to read people extremely well. I'm sure I was no exception. His piercing gaze left me feeling vulnerable and exposed.
"Lift your bottom." He grasped the waistband of my panties and started to tug them down. I planted my palms on his desk and lifted my backside. He quickly removed my panties and knocked the ballet flats off my feet.
Bared from the waist down, I tried to squeeze my thighs together in a last-ditch attempt at modesty but he wouldn't have it. His big hand slid between my knees, forcing my thighs wide apart. "Don't."
His warning zinged me. He was going to take what he wanted. It was that simple.
"Don't look so sullen." He tipped my chin. "You're the one making this into something it isn't."
My mouth gaped in shock. "You're extorting me. How, exactly, am I making this into something it isn't?"
"You say extortion. I say seduction." He waved his hand. "Let's not put labels on it, Cassie. Let's just enjoy it."
"Enjoy it?" I laughed acidly. "You're out of your fucking mind."
He clicked his teeth. "Such a dirty mouth on such a pretty girl."
I glared at him. "Let's just get this over with, okay?"
"Fine. If that's the way you want it." He shoved my knees wide apart and grasped my ankles. He forced my feet up onto the desk, the movement so fast I fell back and barely managed to support my weight on my elbows.
"Oh!" I gasped when his hands moved to the very tops of my inner thighs. He brushed his thumbs up and down the seam of my sex. My chest constricted as he carefully parted the tender lips of my pussy, revealing all my secrets to him.
"My, my, my," he murmured approvingly. "Look at this sweet, pink cunt."
My face flamed. I'd never had anyone use that word around me. He didn't seem to be using it to demean me. It seemed to be just another word to him. I inhaled sharply when his thick finger breached me. I wasn't wet or excited so he didn't make it far, burying just the tip inside me.
"You're so fucking tight, Cassie." He sounded in awe. "How many cocks have you had in your pussy, sweetheart?"
I ignored the pet name but answered him. "One."
"One?" His finger retreated and circled my opening. It slid up between my folds to trace my clit. My body tensed as his skillful finger began to evoke unwanted sensations. "Who was the lucky man?"
My face was hot with embarrassment. I couldn't believe he was interrogating me about my sex life. "That's none of your business."
His fingertip moved side to side over my clit. His dark gaze pinned me in place. "Your brother owes me thirty grand. Everything about you is now my business."
Reminded of my position in this arrangement, I unhappily answered his question. "He was a friend. A good friend," I added softly. "He enlisted and was leaving for basic training a few days after graduation. I was on my way to college. It seemed like the right thing to do."
His cheek twitched. I could tell he was amused by my overly sentimental tale. "Where is he now?"
"California," I replied, a bit breathless. That finger circling my swelling clit was starting to feel really good. "With his fiancée."
Hagen grunted at that tidbit. "Did he make you come?"
The blunt question threw me off-kilter. "What?"
"Did he make you come?" He asked it as easily as if he were wondering what I'd eaten for lunch.
"No." I couldn't believe I'd said that. "I mean—"
He shook his head. "Don't be embarrassed. It happens." His lips curved in a sinfully sexy grin. "Well—to other men."
His arrogance should have annoyed me but I found it oddly enticing. Feeling a bit brave, I asked, "Are you going to make me come?"
"It's not a question of if, sweetheart. It's a question of how many times." He touched the front of my dress. "Unbutton this."
My shaking fingers flicked through the pearly buttons lining the center of my bodice. His huge hand shoved aside the fabric and covered my small breast. Unlike some of my friends, I hadn't been endowed with C or D cups. My little B's were well-suited to my petite body but not exactly impressive to most guys.
Hagen seemed to think otherwise. He tugged down the lacy cups of my bra and bared my nipples. His hands seemed so big against my chest. When he leaned forward and flicked his tongue against my nipple, I almost died. The wicked sensation made my toes curl.
"Relax," he urged. "I told you. I'm not going to hurt you."
I still wasn't so sure about that but I couldn't argue with what he'd shown me so far. He'd been gentle with me. I'd half-expected him to simply toss me face-down on his desk and jam his cock into me but he seemed to be trying to show me pleasure, too.
And it was working.
He lightly sucked my nipple. His hot, wet tongue laved the sensitive nub. Lightly, he grazed his teeth over my tender flesh. Unable to stop myself, I moaned. Every tug of his mouth on my nipple translated right down to my pulsing clit. The unruly pink pearl throbbed for attention.
My mind reeled. How was it possible that I felt more aroused and more excited with this burly stranger than the one time I'd made love to my best friend? It didn't seem right or even possible but it was happening. Hagen seemed to know my body even better than I did.
It was maddening. This man, this loan shark from the seedy underbelly of Houston, owned my brother. He could hurt Ronnie. And what was I doing? I was holding onto his shoulders as his mouth jumped between my breasts and tormented my nipples.
His lips were red when he abandoned my breasts. Nose to nose, we stared at one another. It was hands-down the most bizarre moment I'd ever experienced. I was half-naked on a stranger's desk and sharing what was arguably the most intimate gaze in my twenty-one years of life with the man who had coerced me into trading my body for my brother's safety.
I trailed my fingertips along his strong jaw, the stubble there rasping my skin, and dragged my thumb across his lower lip. For the briefest of moments, I spotted a flash of vulnerability in his eyes. It shocked me.
His
lips touched mine in the softest of kisses. My eyes closed as his chaste kiss grew more passionate. He plundered my mouth, his searching tongue stabbing between my lips. I sifted my fingers through his short, dark hair. The fabric of his shirt grazed my nipples, leaving them tingly and tender. With one wild kiss, Hagen owned me.
When he shoved me backwards, I dropped down to the desk's surface. He gripped my hips and dragged my ass to the very edge of the table. Hands on my inner thighs, he buried his face between my legs. I cried out at the first touch of his tongue to my clit. There was nothing uncertain about his sensual assault. He knew exactly what he was doing.
"Oh! Ah!" I clawed at his shoulders as he lapped at my pussy. His tongue fluttered around the swollen kernel hidden there. He suckled my clit and flicked his tongue around it. I'd never felt anything like this.
Pleasure built low and steady in my belly. Bright sparks of ecstasy arced through me. I couldn't believe how quickly he'd mastered my body. With a flutter of his tongue, I exploded in an orgasm that knocked the air right out of my lungs. I jolted atop the desk and scratched at his arms as his mouth tortured me.
Just when I thought I would pass out, he abandoned my pulsing clit for my dripping wet entrance. "Oh!"
His tongue entered me. It wiggled side to side and penetrated me like a small, pliable cock. The tip of his nose stimulated my clit. I clapped a hand over my mouth to muffle the shriek of pure delight that escaped my throat. The knowledge that the bar patrons and Hagen's goon would hear me kept me from losing it completely.
I shuddered as wave after wave of bliss engulfed me. I'd never imagined it could be like this. I'd certainly never considered it would be a loan shark in some back room who would show me just how amazing oral sex could be.
Hagen seemed to love eating my pussy. He lashed my clit with his tongue and slid a thick finger inside me. He thrust slowly in and out of my wet pussy and rubbed around the front wall of my passage. When he found my G-spot, I almost jumped off the desk. The sharp burst of pleasure rocked me. With his tongue lapping my clit and that damn finger of his stimulating my G-spot, I nearly died. I came with a muffled howl and prayed that the music in the bar would cover our sinful deeds.
