Steel

by Jeanne St. James

  “Steel,” she breathed.

  He dropped his mouth to her ear. “You’ve got a fire in you, Kat, and I want to feel that heat. I want it to scorch me.”

  She turned her head until her mouth was against his ear. “Then show me how to burn.”

  Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t beat back his grin.

  She wanted to burn.

  It was time to stoke that fire. Time to touch those flames.

  As he took her mouth, he worked one arm under her ass, tilting her hips. He brushed his thumb back and forth over the tight bead of her nipple.

  Being inside her was like a tight, wet fist which squeezed and rippled as he began to move in earnest, planting his knees into the mattress and rocking his hips. Keeping it gentle but driving deep.

  Tonight was to simply show her what two people could share.

  Next time they could experiment. Show her what he liked, figure out what she liked, too.

  But tonight was solely about her.

  When her thighs tightened against his hips, he made it a point to pay attention to each response. Just like she did when she gave him head last night. Being a fierce competitor, she knew how to read movements and reactions.

  So did he.

  As he drove deep into her wet heat, her hips moved with the same rhythm and she squeezed him tightly, making him work harder to keep from losing his shit.

  Her fingers dug into his back, and little whimpers escaped with each ragged breath.

  Fuck. That shit tightened his balls and made him more determined than ever to make this a night she’d never forget.

  And, admittedly, a night he might never forget, either.

  He’d never had a virgin and though, technically, while Kat wasn’t one, to him she was. Being her “first” was a huge responsibility. One that laid heavily on his conscience.

  Again, he didn’t know why. He didn’t know why doing this with Kat was different from what he’d done with numerous other women.

  Why Kat?

  “Steel,” she whimpered, her hips lifting to meet each thrust.

  Her eyes were closed, and he felt a pull to connect with her, more than just physically.

  That boy had fucked with her head, now Kat was fucking with his.

  “Kitty Kat, look at me.”

  She didn’t.

  “Kat,” he said more firmly. “Look at me.”

  Nothing. Her body was still moving with his, rocking smoothly like the push and pull of the ocean’s waves. So, he had that. But that was all.

  He drew his nose along hers again and whispered, “Kat.”

  Finally, her eyes opened and again there were tears gathered, but not yet spilled.

  His eyebrows pinned together and he slowed.

  Her hands slid down his back and gripped his ass. “Don’t stop.”

  “I’m not hurting you, right?” For fuck’s sake, not hurting her was why he was taking it slow and careful, why he was holding himself back, keeping himself from doing what he really wanted to do.

  “No...”

  Then, what the fuck? “You look like you’re about to cry.”

  “I’m... I... I’m upset I let one asshole cripple me like that. That I never had this.”

  “I’m not upset about that, Kitty Kat. You know why?”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “Because you’ve been having sex forever?”

  “No. Because of that asshole, I’m the one who gets to give you this.”

  She blinked, then he watched as her mind processed what he’d just said. “Well, keep giving it to me.”

  His rhythm stuttered when he laughed and she smiled while slapping him hard on the ass.

  That made him jerk and thrust deeper. Her eyelids became heavy and he was afraid she’d close them again.

  “Keep your eyes on me, Kat. Stick with me.”

  “I’m with you.”

  He brushed his lips lightly over hers, then said, “Hang on, baby. Time for me to give you a taste of what I really want to give you.”

  Her eyes locked with his and he swore she gave him a little nod as if letting him know she was ready.

  He pulled his arm from under her hips, released the nipple he’d been toying with and said, “Put your arms like a goalpost.”

  “Soccer or football?”

  “Kat,” he growled.

  Her lips twitched as she did as told, putting her hands on both sides of her head, her elbows bent.

  Instead of capturing her wrists and stretching her arms above her head, he interlaced his fingers with hers and pressed their interlocked hands into the mattress.

  He put his mouth to hers. “From the second I saw you, Kat, I wanted to take you like this. But this is only one of many ways.”

  Her warm breath merged with his as she asked, “Are you going to show me them all?”

  “I sure as fuck hope so.” He crushed his mouth to hers and no longer took her gently. He took her as if this was the one and only chance he’d have with her. As if it was all or nothing.

  With her hands pinned to the bed, her body bowed beneath him, she gasped into his mouth but didn’t pull away and her heels dug into the back of his thighs as she met him thrust for thrust.

  He fucked her hard and fast, capturing each one of her cries. Until finally, he ended the kiss and stared down at her.

  Those amber eyes remained open and on him, holding a little bit of surprise but what he saw also encouraged him.

  She was no delicate fucking flower. And he liked that.

  He powered as deep and hard as he could and she stayed with him, her fingers flexing and tightening around his with each pound.

  But she didn’t tell him to stop or slow down, she whispered, “Yessss. Oh fuck yes.”

  Oh fuck yes was right.

  He wanted her to come just as explosively as she did when his mouth was on her. This time he’d get to feel it. To experience it firsthand. Even though he knew it would be his downfall, he still wanted it. “Come for me, Kitty Kat.”

  “Make me.” Even though it was breathless, he couldn’t miss that stubbornness.

  He smothered another chuckle and worked on doing just that.

  When her back bowed off the bed, he drove deep one more time, staying there and grinding hard, feeling the waves of her orgasm ripple around him. Watching her face twist as she came hard. Her eyes finally left his as they rolled back, her fingers squeezing his so hard, he might have lost feeling in them.

  But he didn’t care.

  Watching her fall apart, knowing it was him that finally gave her that, it was worth it if she crippled him.

  And when he was done watching her, when her body melted back into the bed, when her fingers loosened just slightly...

  He began again. This time slow and steady until his balls drew tight. Until he felt the pressure. He wasn’t sure he could hold off until she came a second time, so he didn’t.

  He let himself chase after what she’d had, and with their damp cheeks plastered together, he came as hard as she did, unable to hold back his grunt.

  After the last throb of his cock, the very last twitch, he remained inside her until he was forced to move, to get rid of the condom.

  When he came back out of the bathroom, seeing her in the bed, her short hair a mess, her eyelids heavy but her eyes on him as he walked naked across the room, for a moment, just a moment, he hoped the cops never found that fucking stalker.

  Because when they did, this was over.

  And, fuck him, he was not ready for that.

  Not now and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be.

  Steel rolled out of bed and tugged on a pair of long shorts. His ass was dragging and he had struggled to wake up. They had gotten in around two-thirty in the morning and then had sex. He’d hoped to fuck Kat again before they had to leave for the gym. But he hadn’t checked the house last night like he normally did.

  He needed to do that before he got distracted with losing himself again in Kat’s amazing body.

 
; Plus, he wanted to set the timer on the coffeemaker. Because by the time he was done with her this morning, they might be running a bit behind. It was a given that they’d both need a dose of caffeine.

  He jogged barefooted down the stairs and headed toward the kitchen to do that first.

  Once there, he automatically went through the motions of getting the coffeemaker set up. But as he stood staring at it, all those thoughts he had when he was fucking Kat came back to him like a tsunami.

  He shook his head. Crazy.

  Maybe he hadn’t been thinking straight because he’d been exhausted. He never had thoughts like that before in his life. Not about a woman. Not about anyone.

  He had bought a cock cage as a joke for Ryder when he tied his ass to Kelsea. He certainly wasn’t going to buy one for himself. Fuck no. That was not on his wish list on Adam & Eve’s website.

  He was not getting caught. No fucking way.

  This was a good time to remind himself that Kat was a job. He was her bodyguard. If she wanted him to be a bodyguard with bennies, he was okay with that.

  But his other thoughts?

  No. Just fucking no. He was not going to be taken to his knees by pussy.

  He closed his eyes. Then why the fuck did he want to rush upstairs and climb back in bed with her?

  Damn it.

  He needed to get his rounds done before he could do just that.

  He spun on his heels and headed to check out back first. As he approached the long line of large windows that faced the pool, his heart seized, and his pace stuttered.

  His pulse began to pound at his temples as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

  He unlocked the French doors and rushed outside, spinning to look again at the windows. From the outside, he could clearly read what was written.

  In what seemed to be spray paint, bright red messages were written at angles across three windows.

  SLUT

  WHORE

  CHEATER

  Holy fuck.

  Fucking motherfucker.

  Kat’s stalker had found her.

  He fucking found her again.

  He looked around for any other evidence and his gaze landed on a pair of black panties tacked to one of the posts that supported the balconies above.

  And those panties, which he could only assume were Kat’s, had a thick, whitish substance crusted on the crotch area.

  Steel slowly blinked as he inhaled oxygen into his lungs, held it for a second, then released it just as slowly.

  The cum wasn’t fresh, so the message hadn’t been left recently. It could’ve been after they’d left for the fight yesterday or sometime last night.

  The fucker was good at finding Kat.

  And that bugged the hell out of Steel.

  A piece of white paper was sticking out from under the panties.

  He took two long strides over to the wood post, jerked out the nail that held both items and let his eyes scan the note. As he read, his jaw became so tight it began to seize.

  CHEATER! WHORE! BITCH! YOU’VE DONE NOTHING BUT LEAD ME ON!

  I HOPE YOU FALL THROUGH ONE OF THOSE WINDOWS AND THE BROKEN GLASS SLICES YOUR THROAT AND YOUR WRISTS.

  I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU AFTER SEEING WHAT YOU DID WITH HIM. I TOLD YOU I WAS THE MAN FOR YOU. I GAVE YOU ALL OF THOSE PRECIOUS GIFTS AND YOU DIDN’T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THEM. YOU JUST WANTED TO BE A FUCKING SLUT.

  WHO IS HE? I HATE THAT HE CALLS YOU KITTY KAT!

  YOU GAVE HIM WHAT WAS MINE, KATHERYN. YOU LET HIM LIE BETWEEN YOUR THIGHS. YOU LET HIM INSIDE OF YOU. HE GAVE YOU HIS SEED! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE MY CHILDREN, NOT HIS! NOW YOU ARE RUINED!

  YOU’VE BECOME SO UGLY AND DESERVE TO BE PUNISHED!

  Steel’s chest compressed. He not only found Kat, he saw them. He fucking saw them.

  He heard them.

  He knew Steel called her Kitty Kat.

  He had gotten that fucking close to them.

  And that meant Steel failed.

  He fucking failed to protect Kat.

  They were leaving. He was getting Kat the fuck out of there. But first, he needed to clear the property. Because if that fucker was still hiding somewhere, watching and waiting...

  If he was, his last breath was about to be taken.

  Steel found the back gate still locked, so he had to assume “H” scaled the six-foot privacy fence.

  After he cleared the pool house, the garage and the lower level of the house, he took the steps two at a time, calling for Kat. “Kat, get up and get dressed.”

  No response.

  His heart began to pound harder.

  “Kat!” he yelled as he hit the top of the stairs and rushed down the hallway to the master bedroom. The door was still open, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed Kat still in bed, her eyes turned toward him sleepily. “We need to go.”

  “We have time,” she answered, starting to roll over and burrow deeper under the covers.

  “Kat, get the fuck out of bed. Now. Pack your shit. We’re leaving.”

  She shot up in bed and the sheet fell away from her, annoying the fuck out of him. He wasn’t going to enjoy her naked body this morning like he’d planned because of that fucking motherfucker!

  He ground his teeth. “Get dressed. Get packed. Now. No shower. Nothing. We don’t have time to waste.”

  Her eyes went wide. “What’s wrong?”

  “We had a visitor. He knows where you are. So, we’re moving.”

  “Steel...”

  “Don’t give me lip right now, Kat, yeah? Do what I say. After you’re dressed, get Berger on the phone. We’re cancelling all of your upcoming fights.”

  That got her out of bed in a hurry. And it wasn’t because she was scared. Hell no. She was pissed. “Steel.”

  He lifted a palm to her and shook his head. He didn’t need an argument right now. “No, Kat.”

  “You can’t just cancel my fights. This is my fucking career!”

  “And it’s my job to do what’s necessary to protect you, Kat. Do it. If you don’t, I will. You know what? Fuck it. I’ll handle it.”

  “Steel!”

  “This is more than just about your career, Kat, it’s your life. You have no career if you’re dead.”

  “That’s what the hell I’m paying you for. To keep me from being dead! And he doesn’t want to kill me, anyway. He just wants to fuck me.”

  “No, woman, he doesn’t want to fuck you. He wants to crawl inside you and own your fucking soul. It has nothing to do with sex. It has to do with control. It’s a sick obsession.”

  She sucked in a sharp breath at his words, but she didn’t argue them, instead she said, “I’m not going to let him control my life.”

  “Too late. Pack up. I’m done talking about this.”

  He stalked out of the bedroom, not waiting to see if she would listen, and into the spare one where his duffel was. Digging through it he found what he needed, pulling on a pair of cargo pants, a tank top and socks. Yanking up the pant legs, he strapped a buck knife to one calf and his .38 to the other, then tugged on his boots.

  He pulled his leather holster from his bag and shrugged that on, too. After securing his Glock .45 at his side, he pulled out a plain black windbreaker which would fucking kill him in the heat of day. But wearing it would only be temporary, just until he got Kat somewhere more secure.

  He went to grab his cell phone to call Berger, but it lit up, beating him to it. He swiped the screen and put the man on speaker phone, throwing the it back on the bed, so he could finish packing while he gave Kat’s manager the run-down.

  But before he could catch Berger up to speed, the manager’s pissed-off voice filled the room. “The website got a really interesting email, Steel.”

  Steel closed his eyes. He could only imagine it said the same shit as the note outside. Someone was super torqued and wanted to make sure his message was received loud and clear.

  “What the fuck did you do? Certainly not your fucking job. Becau
se a professional wouldn’t get involved with the person he was hired to protect. That proves to me you’re not a professional but a fucking meathead without a lick of common sense.”

  Steel shoved a pile of dirty clothes into his bag and growled, “Back off, Berger.”

  But the man didn’t back off. Fuck no, he continued making Steel’s blood boil. “I hired you to protect her, to be her bodyguard. That’s it. Not her trainer, not her manager. Not her hired dick.”

  “By ‘hired dick’ you better fucking mean investigator.”

  “You know what I fucking mean.”

  A muscle popped in his jaw. “Who she fucks is none of your fucking business.”

  “The hell it isn’t. She needs to concentrate on her career while she’s in her prime, while she’s on top. Once it collapses and she’s washed up, then she can concentrate on the rest. Not before.”

  “You’re afraid you’re going to lose your meal ticket.”

  “She’s got skills, Steel. Don’t act like you don’t see them. I helped her develop them. Me. Not any of her former trainers or instructors. They gave her the basics, the foundation, but I took that to the next level. I took that chunk of coal and honed it to diamond. They didn’t do that. And you certainly didn’t, either.”

  This conversation was getting them nowhere.

  He didn’t have time to argue with the asshole on the other end of the phone. Instead he told Berger what he found outside, and before he let the man interrupt, he added, “Cancel all her fights. Public appearances. Hell, just cancel everything until this fucker is found.”

  “No!” Kat yelled.

  He glanced over his shoulder to see her standing in the doorway of the spare bedroom. How much she’d heard, he had no fucking clue.

  At least she was dressed, and he hoped to fuck she’d packed. If not, they were leaving her shit behind and she would just have to deal with it.

  He grabbed the phone off the bed and took it off speaker, turning his back and ignoring her. Two people pissed at him was nothing new.

  With one hand, he kept packing.

  “I can’t cancel the fight with Calamity Jayne. It’s only a week away.”

  “Do it.”

  “Steel!” she yelled from the doorway. He again ignored her and concentrated on the voice in his ear.