by Eve R. Hart
I cringed internally.
My feelings for Bridget had me a little mixed up.
I was starting to see that now.
But I couldn’t really figure out what those feelings were and maybe it wasn’t the time to sort through all that shit when there was… whatever the hell was going on here.
“So what’s your name and where the fuck am I?” Iron asked the rigid woman behind the desk.
That was when my eyes shifted to the monitors behind her.
Oh.
Um.
That was not what I expected.
And I got it then, why this place had looked so discrete.
“Petra Novak. And welcome to the Gilded Rose. I’d offer you a tour, but I’m sure you don’t have nearly enough funds to pay the dues for a membership.” Her eyes looked at us cuttingly. “Besides, I don’t doubt that you get all the free pussy you would need.” There was a hint of disgust or something in her tone.
“You’re right,” Iron said pinning her with his eyes. “I have no need to pay for sex. And I have no need to hide the things I like to do to a woman.”
That was when the perfectly put together woman shivered. It was slight, but I caught it. And I had no doubt that Iron had as well.
“So are we free to go, Petra?” The way Iron said her name made my cheeks heat. Damn. He was smooth. I wondered where the hell the wink was.
It was a little strange seeing him like this. He didn’t pull that side of him out all that often. And usually, it was when he either needed to get somewhere or get something. Or in this case, maybe get out of something.
Instead of answering, Petra gave him a dismissive wave of her fingers.
Iron slowly rose to his feet, his large frame standing tall and towering over the still seated woman.
“Pleasure meeting you,” he said, his body leaning over the desk towards her a fraction of an inch.
Her eyes followed him but her body remained stiff.
Then a slow smirk spread across his face and— oh, yep, there it was— he winked at her.
Smooth fucker.
He turned and with a nod, I knew it was time to get the hell out of here.
“You good?” Iron asked Bridget once we hit the street and the door slammed behind us.
“Yeah,” she said with a shake of her head. Now that it was over, I could tell that she felt a little silly for calling me. But I was glad that she did and it was a good thing that I had picked up the phone. “Sorry I had to drag you guys out here. I had no idea…”
“Nothin’ to worry with.”
His hand fell on her shoulder and he gave it a quick squeeze. Then he sent a chin jerk in my direction and the rest of them scattered, climbing on their bikes and riding away like the world was on fire.
I turned to Bridget once we were completely alone.
My head shook back and forth as I blew out a harsh breath. I couldn’t tell what I was feeling right now.
Mad.
Irritated.
A little scared.
And sure as hell, freaked out.
“Scared the shit out of me, Bridge,” I finally said, my eyes snapping to meet hers. “No more stakeouts without someone riding along. Got me?” It wasn’t really a question.
She nodded and I was a little surprised that she didn’t have some kind of woman-power I got this kind of comeback.
“I’m normally not this much trouble,” she said, her back stretching tall and her hands landing on her hips.
“Yeah,” I said with a chuckle. “I bet you’re not. Come on, let’s go get something to eat.” I flung my arm around her shoulders and walked her to the SUV.
Once she was seated and buckled in, I stood there for a long time studying her. I couldn’t tell what was going through my mind, but all the thoughts seemed to be trying to point me in the direction that maybe I wasn’t ready to let her go.
I shook myself out of the wave of feelings that hit me right then.
“Feel like anything?” I asked.
“No,” she replied with a shrug. “Well, actually. Can we just raid the kitchen and go watch a movie in your room?”
I could definitely be down with that.
“Hell yeah.” I smiled at her, my feet seemed to be glued to the ground.
That call scared the shit out of me. I think I was still on some kind of rush and my mind was still overloaded with panic.
“See you back at the compound.” I finally managed to get my body to move.
The kitchen was surprisingly empty when we got back. We decided to make some boxed macaroni and cheese. Bridge dug around and found enough things to make a salad stating that we needed to put something green in our systems. She didn’t seem all that thrilled about it but it made me smile.
“I feel like my dad is always there in the back of my head.” She got a faraway stare in her eyes for a second then shook her head and looked at me. “Telling me I need to eat my veggies and brush my teeth before I go to bed and all that shit.” She laughed, though it had a tinge of sadness behind it.
“It sounds like he did you right,” I said moving over to her and pulling her into my arms.
“I’m fine,” she said, her words muffled against my neck.
“I know you are,” I replied. “I just wanted to feel your boobs pressed against me.”
“Oh, my, God.” She barked out a laugh. “You are horrible.” She tore away from me and playfully swatted my chest.
“Too much?”
I didn’t really know her all that well, but for some strange reason, I kind of felt like it did. I didn’t want to come across as crude but I got the feeling she needed something to take her mind off of her dad. To be honest, I was a little shocked those words came out of my mouth. I always had some level of respect for women, even if they were just around for the night.
“No,” she said with a smile and a small shake of her head. “I already figured out how much you like my tits.”
My mouth fell open and I gaped at her.
She winked and turned back to the pile of veggies on the counter.
And my dick became painfully trapped behind my zipper.
It was true. I couldn’t even try to deny it. I liked tits in general, but hers were… something else. Perfect, that was for sure.
I had to stop thinking about them. How soft and full they felt in my hands. How rosy pink her nipples were. How responsive she was when I played with them. Oh, and how they looked all slick and plump after I had my mouth on them.
“Ready to eat?”
“Huh?” I said blinking myself out of my daze only to see her standing there with two plates full of food. “Yeah.”
We decided to eat in the dining area because we didn’t want to leave a mess. I had a feeling that once we were settled in my room and watching a movie, we wouldn’t be leaving.
Which was exactly what happened.
Sometime about halfway through the movie that I was having trouble paying attention to from the get-go, our clothes just disappeared. There was only so much sexual tension I could take. And it seemed she felt the same way.
I had an hour until I had to be on patrol at the shipping container yard. I was going to make it the best fucking hour ever.
“Lake,” she said like a plea.
My fingers were sliding in and out of her wetness while my face was buried in her neck.
“Lake,” she said again, this time there was an edge of warning in her tone.
I rolled onto my back, snatched up a condom and had it on in lighting speed. I took a second to take her in. Her hair wild over the pillows. Her face flush and her lids hooded with desire. A tiny smile twitched at the corner of her swollen lips.
There was something poking at my brain again.
But I couldn’t try to figure it out right now.
No, I needed to be balls deep inside of her. Yeah, that was what I had to focus on.
“Shit,” I bit out as I slowly pushed inside of her tight, hot core. “Bridge.”
“Go, Lake!” she said as her nails raked down my back.
The air hissed out of my mouth as my back bowed and I slammed into her until I bottomed out.
“Don’t have time to take it slow. Make me come, Lake.”
Her hips jerked up and I realized that I had been frozen stiff. I couldn’t deny that she felt so good that I was about to blow my load right now. But she clearly wasn’t going to give me the moment I needed.
“Hold on,” I grit out then pulled back until I nearly slipped free from her.
My hips crashed into hers. Over and over again. Her pussy tightened around me every time I tried to pull away.
“Bridge,” I grunted out, feeling that all too familiar tingle start to work its way up my spine as my balls drew up.
“So close,” she panted out.
My mouth latched onto her nipple and I didn’t hesitate to pull it between my teeth and bite down.
“Yes. Yes.” Her chant rang out around us letting me know that she was close. Music to my fucking ears.
Her nipple slipped from my mouth with a wet pop. My hands ran down her smooth legs until I felt the bend of her knees. Spreading my fingers wide, I pushed her legs up, nearly folding her in half.
“Oh fuck, Lake!”
“Like that, Bridge?”
“Oh, shit. Yes. You’re so deep. Right there. Right fucking there!”
I plowed into her harder and harder, my hips rolling with every retreat.
Her eyes went wide as they locked onto mine and I knew I was hitting the right spot.
It was hard not to beat my chest at that one. Especially with that look of shock, surprise, and awe on her face.
“Bridge,” I gritted out in a hard tone.
“Shit. Now, Lake!” she screamed as I felt her quake and squeeze the life out of my cock.
My whole body began to shake and tremble as the sweat started to dot my skin.
With one last hard thrust, I planted myself deep inside her. My hips continued to gently rock as I came so hard I was seeing stars.
I could no longer hold myself up. She had milked everything from me, including my energy.
“Damn,” I said as I flopped onto the bed beside her.
My arm snaked under her neck and I rolled her into my side. A smile tipped up the corners of my lips as she didn’t hesitate to lay her head on my chest.
Our bodies heaved with every breath. I held her close as we both came back down.
A shiver ran down my spine as her fingers lightly traced around my nipple then down my chest and stomach. A tiny giggle escaped her causing my smile to grow wider.
“What’s this for?” she asked, her fingers now tracing the lines on the inside of my bicep.
I tried my best not to stiffen but I couldn’t help it. And I could tell she noticed because suddenly her hand pulled away like she’d touched fire.
My arm fell away and even though I knew every little detail of the tattoo that was there, I couldn’t help but look at it right now.
“My mom’s name was Autumn. And Sandy, that was my sister.”
I felt her eyes on me but I couldn’t bring myself to meet them. Instead, I stared a hole through my arm as I began to talk about the one thing I really hated to.
“My mom was great,” I said and though I was blindly talking, I could feel the slight smile flicker on my lips. “She was sweet and caring. The type of person that would give you the clothes off of her back. Beautiful, too, all the way through. Her smile… it was the thing I will always carry with me.”
There was a lingering pause as I tried hard to remember the good things. That was what I always did even if that night clung to me like a wet blanket. A wet, cold blanket of darkness.
“Sandy was five years younger than me. And the sweetest kid most of the time. She was just happy, even when things didn’t go her way. Even though we had a shit dad.”
I hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud. But it was true, nonetheless.
Bridget’s hand calmly moved over my chest until it was resting over my heart. For some reason, the simple gesture brought tears to my eyes.
“She liked to call me Pond just to mess with me. She wasn’t really mean about it. And she would throw her head back and laugh every single time like it was the most amusing thing in the world.”
So naturally, I couldn’t even hate it. There wasn’t a thing about my sister that I could hate, no matter how old I was and how cool I tried to be. I didn’t care when she wanted to tag along with me. Some of my friends acted like they hated it because they had to watch what they did and said around her, but I didn’t care. I think they secretly didn’t really mind.
“She was funny. Always cracking stupid, corny jokes and going on like she didn’t care what people thought about her.”
Bridget’s lips were there, warm and soft, placing a lingering kiss on the side of my neck. It gave me the strength to go on when all I wanted to do was shut the world out and close my eyes.
“We weren’t rich, by any kind of stretch. But we got by on what my parents brought home.” I swallowed down the golf ball that was lodged in my throat. “My dad was a functioning alcoholic. He would come home, drink himself until he passed out and still be able to get up and go to work in the morning. It was usually his fourth beer in when he would start to rant and rave. But he was harmless.”
Until he wasn’t.
Until he changed.
“But when I turned sixteen, he decided that I was big enough to take the brunt of his anger. Which I did, because it kept the focus off of my mom and sister.”
“Lake,” Bridget whispered. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Only I did. I wanted her to know more about me, even the ugly parts of my past. Maybe deep down, I wanted to send her running and screaming. At least that way I wouldn’t have to sort through the things that were trying to push their way into my head. Or confront the feelings that had gotten under my skin for the naked woman tucked into my side.
“I was seventeen. Stupid kid. Snuck out just to party and… well, you know.”
“Have sex? You can say it, Lake. I do realize that I’m not your first.”
I huffed out a laugh.
“I’m your first though, right?” I said jokingly and that was when my eyes shifted to look into hers for the first time since I’d started my story.
There were so many emotions swirling in those hazel orbs. But none that I had expected, at least, not yet. I was sure by the end of this tale she would have hatred there. If not, then at least pity.
“Right,” she said giving me a sexy smile. “First dick in my coochie. Totally.”
My body shook as laughter bubbled out of my mouth.
Then her body was shifting, her leg swinging over my body and her butt settling on my lower stomach. I looked up into her eyes.
“What happened, Lake? What is it that you punish yourself for?”
How did she know?
Damn.
I was choked up and wondered how the hell I was going to finish.
“My dad got drunk that night, of course. He passed out only this time, he had lit a cigarette right before he did. The house caught fire. I came home and the house was still smoldering. No one made it out. I wasn’t there to save them. To get my sister and my mom out. They…”
“You could have died too,” she said.
My head shook because that wasn’t the thing I wanted to see. It was always that I couldn’t save them. That if I had been there, I could have done something. It didn’t matter how many people said it or times I’d heard the same thing, I never wanted to see that if I had been there, I might have lost my life, too.
“Lake,” she barked at me and my gaze snapped to hers. “You. Could. Have. Died. Too.”
Her words were stern and her gaze penetrating like she was trying to speak directly to my soul.
Her eyes held so many emotions. But there wasn’t disgust or hatred. There wasn’t pity. There wasn’t anything
that I’d been waiting to see.
Before I could say anything else, her lips were on mine, kissing me softly and tentatively. Filling me with a kind of warmth that I hadn’t realized I craved until this moment.
“Thank you for sharing that with me.”
I had nothing to say because I didn’t know what the fuck to say to that.
“Now, up. Shower. You have shit to do,” she said as she rolled off of me.
Shit!
She was right. I had forgotten about my night patrol for a moment there.
“You smell like sex, need to wash that off.” Her tone wasn’t one of someone that had just had some heavy shit thrown their way.
I laughed and jumped out of the bed. My body jerked when she slapped my ass and I shot her a look over my shoulder.
I did as she said, a little disappointed that she didn’t join me. But then again, I didn’t have much time left, so it was probably a good thing.
I walked out in a towel and found her relaxed on the bed flipping through the channels still in her naked glory. I groaned at the sight of her in my bed sitting there without a single ounce of shyness.
That was something I wouldn’t mind seeing every day.
Oh, crap!
And not the good kind of crap.
Like the completely fucked kind.
Because I realized that it wasn’t something I’d get to see every day.
She wasn’t staying here. And I knew our time was ticking down at a rapid rate.
“You alright?” she asked with a look of concern on her face.
“Yeah, sorry,” I said shaking my head and moving to my dresser to grab some clean clothes.
I got dressed and frantically dug through the pockets of my crumpled jeans on the floor. Once I had my wallet, keys, and phone all put away, I tossed my dirty clothes in the hamper.
