by Levine, Nina
He nodded, but didn’t reply to that, just continued watching me.
Becoming flustered under his intense gaze, I smoothed my skirt when it didn’t need smoothing. And blurted out, “How much do I owe you for the locks? I’ll bring the money by tomorrow or if you need it sooner, I can drop back later with it. Or put it in your bank if you give me your details. However you want—”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“No, I do, King.”
“You don’t.” His tone turned hard, his statement absolute. I didn’t care for that tone.
I stopped smoothing my skirt and straightened my shoulders. He would not be getting the last word on this. And he sure as heck wouldn’t be refusing my money. “You took time out of your day and brought one of your men with you to do the job. You paid for the locks. You also checked my mother’s oil and water. I appreciate all of that. What I don’t appreciate is the way you bulldoze me when I approach you about some things. I always pay my own way in life, and I would like to pay for my locks. I’d also like to pay for your time, but I’m guessing that would be pushing for too much where you’re concerned.”
He stood, his jaw tight, his shoulders tighter. Walking around the desk, he went to the door and closed it. He then moved behind me, his body to mine. He caged me in so my legs were pressed hard against the desk, my hands flat to it, my ass tilted back as I bent forward.
With one hand around my waist and the other inching up my leg to reach under my skirt, he growled against my ear, “I appreciate the fuck out of many things in life, Lily, one of them being when a woman doesn’t argue with me. You won’t be paying me a cent and you won’t mention those locks again.” He slipped his hand into my panties as he nudged my feet apart. When he pushed his fingers inside my pussy, he added, “Do you understand?”
I didn’t want to understand, but his ways were persuasive to say the least. I still had some fight in me, though. “No, I don’t. We hardly know each other, so I’m not sure why you want to pay for my stuff.” It really made no sense to me. I’d never met a man who randomly paid for my shit. Hell, I’d never even had a date pay for my meal. And I’d paid Linc’s way for many things for a long time.
His fingers stroked me expertly, and I squeezed my eyes shut as the pleasure engulfed me. “This doesn’t feel like not knowing you,” he rasped, grinding his dick against my ass.
Oh God. It really didn’t. And that was the source of my confusion. Gripping the desk, I said, “I don’t know what we’re doing, King. We said one night.”
His mouth pressed harder against my ear, his teeth grazing my skin. “You fucking came undone last night. You want more than one night.”
I couldn’t argue with either of those statements. I wanted so much more sex with him. But where would that lead? King had made it clear he didn’t want anything more than to fuck me, and I thought I could get on board with that, but now I wasn’t so sure. Not after the amount of time I’d dedicated to thinking about him today. Not to mention that every time I closed my eyes or had a moment to myself, images of him fucking me filled my mind.
“Lily, stop thinking,” he ordered as he lifted my skirt. “Tell me you want this.”
My body fought my mind, and in the end, won the war. “I want this.” The words fell from my lips before I could stop them, but I wouldn’t take them back. When his hands were on me like this, and his mouth was promising me dirty things I never knew I wanted, King owned me. All I could do was go along for the ride and pray I came out unscathed when he was done with me.
He didn’t waste a second once I’d given him what he wanted. He grabbed hold of my neck and forced me down over the desk. My skirt was pushed up over my ass, my panties ripped from me. The sound of a condom wrapper filled the air as he slid his zip down. One hand came back to hold my neck. I couldn’t see him, but every noise he made, and the speed with which he worked told me he was as desperate for this as I was.
He slammed into me.
There was no gentle from King today. He took what he wanted with a savage energy that pushed me over the edge from wanting this to needing it like I needed air.
I didn’t want gentle.
I wanted what he offered, any way it came.
And I knew that would be my downfall in the end because I’d never wanted sex this much.
Every part of my body ached from what he’d done to it last night, and his rough treatment now only added to that pain. But God if I didn’t love every second of it.
It didn’t take either of us long to come. When he was finished, he moved away from me, disposed of the condom and zipped himself back up all while I tried to get my bearings. My panties lay torn on the carpet, so I pushed my skirt down and straightened my top. As I ran my fingers through my hair, fixing it, my hand brushed across my neck and I grimaced at the pain I felt there. King had left bruises both times he’d had me.
His eyes met mine before dropping to my neck. He didn’t comment, just clenched his jaw as he stared at me. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed to anger him, but then, he was always in some kind of mood, so who knew what stirred his disapproval.
A knock on the door cut through our silence. “King, are you in there?” It was a female voice I didn’t recognise, and my tummy knotted as I thought about him with other women. The thoughts came from nowhere, slamming into me and causing my head to spin.
I took a deep breath and picked up my bag, determined to clear my mind of whatever was going on in there.
You have no claim on King.
You need to remember that.
Oh God.
Why did I think this was a good idea?
Jesus, get your shit together, Lily.
“Fuck,” King muttered, raking his fingers through his hair. He stalked to the door and yanked it open. “I’m busy. Can you give me a moment?”
“I’m leaving,” I said, walking to the door.
King stepped to the side and glanced at me. My eyes, though, were on the dark-haired woman standing in the hallway watching me with great interest.
“Hi,” she said, “I’m Ivy. I’m sorry to barge in when you two were in the middle of—”
“No, it’s good.” I turned my gaze to King. “We were finished.”
Ivy looked between King and me, her expression changing into something that seemed a little dark. Jealous maybe. I wondered who she was to him for her to have that reaction. She covered it quickly, though, and smiled at me. “Great, because I need some time with him.”
Oh.
Okay, so they were close.
With one last glance at King, I exited the office and hurried to my car. My cheeks heated with the foolishness I felt over my reaction to Ivy. I was like a damn teenager jealous over her crush. It was crazy behaviour, and it surprised the heck out of me. I didn’t do crazy. I did calm, rational and sensible. I was the woman who spent her life looking after her family, being the responsible one, and not getting sidetracked by men who drove her to act in ways she never had before.
I would go home and I would get my shit together.
And I would put King out of my mind completely.
Chapter Thirty-Five
King
I watched as Lily rushed out of my office. Fucking hell. After having her last night, I’d intended to move the fuck on and never go back for seconds. Not because I didn’t want her again, but because I did want her again. Lily stirred a hunger in me I hadn’t known for almost a decade. Not only did I want to fuck her, I wanted time with her. I liked talking to her. Hell, I liked fucking arguing with her. But I’d sworn years ago never to go down that path with a woman again, so I needed to keep my hands off her. That was turning into something I didn’t seem able to do.
“Who’s that?” Ivy asked, drawing my attention back to her.
“Skylar’s physiotherapist.”
She brushed past me into the office. “Yes, it looks like it,” she said as she looked down at Lily’s panties on the floor.
I ignored the chill in h
er tone. After our conversation the other day, I’d thought we were good, but I should have known Ivy and I would never be good. “You ready to go?” I was honouring my promise to let her leave, and had agreed to take her to the train station.
“Yes, but I can catch a cab if you’re busy.”
“I’m not busy.”
We watched each other in silence for a few moments. I was filled with misgivings about allowing her to leave, but I wouldn’t go back on the agreement. Romano was behind bars, and she’d assured me she had someone who would help her disappear. She was the happiest I’d seen her since she’d turned up over two weeks ago, and I wanted that happiness to continue. Being here with me only made her sad and angry. It was time to let her walk out of my life again.
My phone rang, breaking our silence.
Axe.
I put the phone to my ear. “What’s up, brother?”
“Ryland has been replaced as head of the case against you and the club. I’m still waiting on further info, but it looks like he’s been suspended.”
“Why?”
“It seems he’s on someone’s payroll. Not sure on that yet either, but I’m working on it.”
“Fuck,” I muttered.
“Yeah. My thoughts exactly. I’ll let you know as soon as I know something,” he said, ending the call.
“Is everything okay?” Ivy asked.
I shook my head. “No. I’m going to get one of the boys to run you to the train station. I have something I need to take care of.”
Her smile faded, but she said, “Okay, thanks.” She walked to the door, glancing back at me briefly to say, “Thank you for taking care of Tony for me.”
After I’d organised Kick to take Ivy where she needed to go, I rested my ass against the desk and took a moment to get my thoughts under control. Shit was changing and not in good ways. Ryland being replaced wasn’t great. It was better the devil we knew with him. Fuck knew who would take over. Also, we were still in the dark as to Romano’s location. The feds had him tucked away somewhere safe. And while I’d agreed for Ivy to leave, I would worry about her until we had her husband sorted. On top of all that, the club was struggling with everything going on. We were stretched thin trying to keep business running as usual while also working like fuck to fix the shit we were in. Add to that the fact I’d sent all family members away, and my men were starting to grow restless. I needed to pull us all back into line and get us ready for the next part of this battle.
I headed out to the clubhouse bar in search of Hyde. Finding him drinking with Nitro, I sat with them and detailed where we were at with Ryland as well as my thoughts on the unrest in the club. I then said, “We need a club get together tomorrow night. Something to bring us all back together and on the same page.”
Hyde nodded his agreement. “I’ll organise it.”
“We also need a new plan to allow for everyone to have a couple of days off to visit their families. We’ve got Cole and the Brisbane boys here. They’ll boost our numbers to make that possible.” I looked at Nitro. “Can you get a roster sorted for that?”
“Will do.”
I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but something had my gut churning. Something didn’t fucking feel right, and I needed to figure that shit out fast.
* * *
I surveyed the clubhouse bar late the next afternoon, taking in my men. They’d started drinking just after three, and I’d let them all know our plan going forward. It was exactly what they needed to hear, and I watched as the tension eased with the knowledge they’d have time with their families soon.
“Everyone seems much happier,” Annika said, joining me at the table where I sat in the corner. “It’s amazing what some alcohol will do.”
I drank some of my beer. It wasn’t the alcohol that had caused this turn in mood. It was the brotherhood. It was always that. But I’d found unless someone was part of it, they struggled to wrap their head around just what the club meant. Every one of us would lay down our life for our brothers. Sometimes, though, the battles we waged took their toll. It was at those times we had to draw close and trust in our brothers to get us through. That was what today was about.
“How are the kids?”
“They’ve had enough, King. How much longer do you think this is going to go on?”
“They were okay at dinner last night.”
“That’s because you were there. They love you being around.”
“I don’t plan for this to take much longer, Nik.” Axe had a lead on Romano’s whereabouts, and we were following up on that. I was hopeful to have him dealt with in the next day, but I didn’t tell her that in case shit went south.
“Good.” She stood to leave. “One other thing—I really like Lily. She’s such a great influence on Skylar. You did good there, big brother.”
I finished my beer before heading out, too. I wasn’t hanging around tonight. My head was all fucked up, so I needed some space to figure some of that out. I grabbed my shit from the office and dropped in on Skylar to check on her.
She glanced up at me from the bed where she was doing some study. “Ooh King, I’m glad you came by. Lily left her phone here.” She held it out to me. “Can you please take it to her. She’s probably stressing, wondering where it is.”
I took the phone, but I wouldn’t take it to Lily. I’d get Kick to run it over to her. “I’ll get it to her,” I promised.
Skye smiled, and I admitted to myself how right Nik had been about Lily’s influence on our sister. Her anxiety had levelled out and she hadn’t argued with me in days. “Thankyou,” she said.
I pulled up a chair and spent some time chatting with her. Half an hour passed as she told me about her progress with Lily and the study she had to catch up on. We laughed and joked around with each other, and it felt like the easiest half hour I’d had in too fucking long.
“Something’s going on with you,” she said as we laughed over something silly she’d done that morning.
“What?”
“I don’t know, but last night you wanted dinner with us all and now you’re just sitting with me cracking jokes like I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you crack them.” Her face softened. “It’s nice, King. I like seeing you smile.”
I stretched my neck. “I’d say it’s because I haven’t had a headache for a couple of days.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Maybe. Whatever it is, I hope it continues. You need some happiness in your life.”
“Okay,” I said, standing, “I’ve got stuff to do, so I’m gonna head out. You need anything?”
“No, I’m good. Just please don’t forget to get Lily’s phone to her.”
As I walked out to the bar to find Kick, Lily’s phone rang. Her sister’s face popped up on the screen.
I answered the call. “Yeah.”
“King?” My gut tightened at Lily’s voice. Jesus, she had this fucking effect every time I spoke with her.
“You left your phone with Skylar.”
“Oh thank God. I thought I’d lost it. I’ll come back and get it. Thank you.”
“I’m on my way there with it now.” Fuck.
Silence.
And then, softly and so fucking sweet it hit my gut again—“I really appreciate that.”
Christ, I’d never done sweet. But hell if it didn’t get me hard.
“I’ll see you soon.” I stabbed at the phone to end the call and shoved it in my pocket.
Fuck, I got myself into some shit sometimes.
* * *
Lily’s sister answered the door when I arrived. “King,” she greeted, a huge smile on her face, “Come in.” She practically pulled me into the house and to the kitchen where their mother was pulling a roast out of the oven.
“You’re just in time for dinner,” Hannah said. I knew her name was Hannah because she’d spent a good twenty minutes telling me about her family the day I’d changed Lily’s locks. In that time, I’d learnt everything from what an asshole Lily’s father wa
s to how they’d decided on Lily’s name to their favourite holiday spot to the fact Hannah was desperate to marry her two daughters off because she didn’t want them to end up alone like she was. Where Lily was straight to the point, her mother was wordy, and where Lily was practical, her mother seemed frivolous.
I placed Lily’s phone on the kitchen counter. “I’m just dropping this off.”
Hannah pulled a face and waved me off with one hand. “Don’t be silly. We have plenty of food. And besides, you will kick yourself if you don’t try Lily’s famous roast beef.” Her face pulled into a smile as she lowered her voice and shared what seemed to be a secret, “She’s also made a caramel slice that the kids love. And I have to say it really is her best dessert. My girl is an excellent cook, but sometimes her desserts are kinda so-so. Not this one, though. This one you will want to stay for.”
“You mean you don’t love my baked cheesecake, Mum?”
I turned to find Lily standing behind me, a playful smile on her face.
“Oh Lily, I was just trying to let King know that tonight he really should stay for dinner.”
Lily’s gaze met mine, her smile still in place. As her eyes dipped down to take in my body, she said, “Stay.” And fuck if that didn’t make me wanna stay.
Ten minutes later, we were seated around her dining table. It was a rowdy dining table and it threw me back years to when I sat around Margreet’s dining table with our large family. Lily’s kids were hesitant with me at first, but when her middle daughter asked me what it was like to ride a bike, they warmed to me fast. By the time we’d finished dessert, they’d asked if I would stay and watch Thor with them after dinner.
“Kids, King probably has to get back to the club. He doesn’t have time to watch a movie,” Lily said, looking at me with an expression I couldn’t quite read. She seemed a little unsure of shit, and I didn’t blame her. I had no fucking clue what we were doing here either.
“I’m good,” I said as I jerked my chin at Robbie. “Go get the movie set up. I’ll be there in a minute.”
