Chapter Ten
It turned out that I agreed to see Mack as often as he initiated it. We didn’t call each other to say hello or exchange witty text messages the way some friends with benefits did. He would just show up every few days at my place, and I would let him in. We’d have hot sex all night, and then he would leave in the morning. We never talked about things of importance; it wasn’t what we did. So I honestly didn’t know a lot about him other than what I knew about him in racing, and that he could rock my world in bed.
It was beyond frustrating when he would step away to answer his phone, then return to bed irritated. I stopped asking what was bothering him because he refused to tell me. Instead he’d gotten very good at distracting me by placing his head between my legs or sliding his cock into me. I wanted to help him, but he didn’t seem to want or need anything from me but sex. As much as I wanted to fight against that, I couldn’t. While I knew I deserved to be treated better, I also knew deep down that I’d do anything he wanted if it meant spending time alone with him.
Drew did find out about Harley and me driving to Charleston, and he wasn’t happy about it.
“He knows,” Harley said as she came to a stop beside me while I counted my tips at the end of the night.
“Who knows what?” I turned to her in confusion.
“Drew knows that we drove to Charleston that time. He saw the box of stuff in my room and started asking questions. I didn’t want to lie so I told him, and he hit the roof. You know he doesn’t like Mack, and the fact that he’s my ex is still a sore spot for him. I think he gets why I didn’t tell him, but he’s still angry about it, and the fact that I’d gotten you involved.”
“I’m not worried. Drew has no control over what I do, but thanks for telling me.”
Harley nodded and started to turn before twisting back to add, “Oh and I didn’t mention that Brando pulled a gun on us, so try not to say anything about that either.”
“Wait, a gun?” Drew stepped forward with fury on his face. “Harley, you had a gun pulled on you, too?” He glared between the two of us. “Jonna? Is that true?”
I shrugged and looked away. “Look, it was fine, Drew. Maybe if you tried not to freak out all of the time over things, then your girlfriend would have asked you to take her instead of me. Did you ever think about that?” I poked a finger into his chest. I could see that he was considering my words before he grew angry.
“Oh, I’m sorry for being a little pissed off that my girl and my sister were held at gunpoint by her ex-boyfriend.”
“It wasn’t Mack, it was his brother. Trust me. Brando couldn’t hit the side of a barn with his .38 Special. I’m a much better shot than him.”
This did nothing to improve Harley’s position, because Drew continued to glare at her and she responded by putting on her most innocent smile, and shrugged. This seemed to put a crack in Drew’s defenses because his face softened.
“God, you are so lucky that I want to kiss you more than I want to strangle you right now.” He stepped forward and gathered Harley into his arms where she seemed to melt against him.
“Ugh. Gross. Get a room!” I pretended to gag as I gathered up my money and stuffed it into my apron.
Drew turned to me. “It’s just that I’ve heard a lot of things about Mack and his crew lately.”
“What kind of things?” I asked, trying to sound matter-of-fact, but fully aware of my voice coming out too high pitched. My stomach dropped at the idea of Mack being in some sort of trouble.
“Nothing I want you involved in. All you need to know is that Mack King is a criminal, and all of his shit will catch up to him sooner than later. That’s why I don’t like you hanging out at The Spot. His crew is all over that place, and they bring trouble where ever they go.”
While I wasn’t exactly shocked by what Drew said, it did hurt to hear the disdain in his voice when he spoke about Mack. I didn’t see this side of him when he was with me, even though I knew it was there. I looked over at Harley who was now staring at Drew with her eyes slightly widened. I didn’t think she agreed with what he was saying but was wisely keeping her mouth closed. I could only imagine what sort of reaction my brother would have if she tried to defend Mack in any way.
“Well, I can take care of myself so you don’t need to worry about it.” I didn’t wait for a reply as I spun away and headed up to my apartment. Once I was alone I processed the new information I just learned. Brando was Mack’s brother, and according to Drew, Mack could be headed for serious trouble.
****
I used my hands to shield my eyes from the glare of the lamppost lighting that lined the walkway of the ferry dock. Mack sent me a text this morning asking me to take the nine o’clock ferry to the mainland tonight, and he would meet me there. The only good thing about hiring Carina was that now I could have more days off from the restaurant. Having more freedom was worth enduring her annoying mouth, although I did my best not to work with her whenever the schedule would allow. But I had to hand it to her, she didn’t let anyone push her around. She always stood up to me, even at times when other girls would have thrown down their tray and gone running from the restaurant in tears—something that may have happened a time or two. As much as I hated to admit it, I respected Carina’s spirit. That didn’t mean that I had to like her.
I scanned the area, not sure where Mack would be waiting. I felt him before I saw him as he stepped under the glow of the lamp across the street. I tugged my overnight bag up higher onto my shoulder and walked straight to him.
“Hi,” I said when I was just a few feet away.
“Hi,” Mack replied and wrapped an arm around my waist to draw me close. After placing a kiss to the side of my neck, he guided me by the small of my back to his red Mustang. When we got to the car he went right to the driver’s side where he sat down, reached over and unlocked the passenger door, then cranked on the car. Most men would have opened the door for me, but clearly, a gentleman, Mack King was not. Oddly, it didn’t bother me. Travis was a courteous as they came, and look how that turned out. I buckled my seat belt just in time to clutch the door handle as he roared off into the night.
“Where are we headed?” I asked once he reached an even speed and my heart stopped racing.
“Got to take care of something real quick then we’ll go to my place.”
“Oh.” I nodded, not at all thrilled with the idea of driving to Charleston tonight, but I guess I didn’t think things all the way through when I hopped on the ferry.
“What do you have to take care of?” I chanced asking, hoping that he might tell me.
“There’s this car I’ve been hearing about, and I want to check it out.”
“Cool,” I said as I let my body relax into the seat, feeling relieved that it wasn’t something worse. While street racing was illegal and dangerous, checking out a car was low on the list of trouble we could get into.
The hand Mack used to move the shifter caught my attention. I noticed his knuckles were an angry-looking red and a little bruised.
“Mack? What happened to your hand?” I gasped and reached out to grab his wrist. When he quickly moved his hand away from view I shifted my gaze to his face.
“It’s nothing, Jonna.”
“But—” I started to reply.
“Nothing. Leave it,” he snapped.
I studied the way he kept his eyes straight ahead as his jaw ticked, and that’s when I realized that his injuries were probably the result of someone getting “handled” by him. I reluctantly swallowed down the lump of questions, while my mind raced over what could have happen to turn Mack King into this type of person, and I could tell just in the short time I’d been with him that it wasn’t the life he’d planned either.
We remained silent the rest of the way through the town of Key City. Mack seemed to know the area pretty well, even though he lived two hours away in Charleston. We turned down a dark street, and I caught the faint flash of a car’s front reflector hidden in the
trees just off the road. Mack slowed, nodded once to the car, and then continued on. We drove another quarter mile before two cars parked on the side of the empty road came into view. He stopped a few car lengths away and got out. He didn’t ask me to stay in the car, but the expectation was implied. So I waited while two guys talked to Mack as he circled a blue older model muscle car as if he were inspecting it. The men spent some time looking under the hood, Mack asking questions and nodding. It was dark out, and the area was only illuminated by the headlights of the blue car, so it was hard to tell if I’d seen those guys before at The Spot. However, it was obvious that this guy wanted to get on Mack’s list.
After about ten minutes of conversation, Mack came and told me that they were going to race, so he could see how the guy handled his car. Shortly after that I was standing in front of both cars holding up a flashlight. I was ready to burst out of my skin from the excitement of Mack racing on my command. There was an incredible sense of power at the moment. The way his dark and intense eyes were focused on me as if I was the only thing that existed for him. For a racer, waiting for that light was everything, starting too late or too soon led to defeat.
I licked my bottom lip, then turned, just as I’d seen Jungle Jim do a million times, took four steps, then spun around, and clicked on the light. Both cars took off so fast and loud that I put my hands to my ears to shield them from the noise. I turned to see the taillights of both cars in the distance. It was hard to tell from where I was standing who won, but I was pretty confident that Mack was the winner.
Both drivers made a U-turn and drove back. I’d gotten out of the way and went to stand by Mack’s car. All three men gathered together. Mack shook hands with the driver of the blue car and nodded his head before he went back to his own car. When we were both inside, he turned on the GT’s headlights and my heart stopped when I saw Blake’s face illuminated by the bright light as he stood next to Nitro. The glare he gave me was stern and disapproving, so I averted my eyes. Drew was going to find out for sure now.
Shit.
Chapter Eleven
Mack didn’t drive us to his house in Charleston. Instead, he drove to a house in Key City. He just didn’t seem like the kind of guy to have two houses, especially a two-story house with white siding and big windows. I could see the sparkling of water under the moonlight behind the house and a large detached garage off to the side.
“This is your house, Mack?” I asked in disbelief. He looked at me and then back at the house while nodding.
“Yeah, what’s so unbelievable about it?”
“It’s just, I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t expecting it is all.” It definitely didn’t look like the house of someone who was labeled a criminal. It looked like a home where you would have backyard barbecues and pumpkins on the front steps in the fall, a place for a family. “It’s beautiful. The only thing missing is a red door,” I said whimsically as my head filled with images of my own dream house and how it looked a lot like this place.
“You think it needs a red front door?” Mack asked and I nodded. He eyed me thoughtfully before getting out of the car, and I followed him along the path to the house. He unlocked the door and flicked on the light. I was just as impressed with the inside as I was with the outside. It was a far cry from the disgusting way his place was kept in Charleston.
My eyes scanned the open floor plan of the house. He didn’t have much furniture. Just a black leather recliner and a big-screen television mounted on the wall, but hardwood floors shined throughout the entire place. I walked around to the kitchen to see brand new stainless steel appliances. And by brand new I mean with the tag still hanging from the oven door.
“Yeah, I don’t cook.” Mack explained as he walked past me to the refrigerator. “Beer?” he asked and I shook my head, not really in the mood for drinking as I ran my fingers along the cool granite top of the counter.
He cracked open his beer and took a swig.
“How long have you lived here?” It couldn’t have been long. Mack stared down at my fingers as I traced the pattern in the counter absently. He seemed to be contemplating his answer.
“About a month.”
“So you live in both cities then?”
“Something like that.”
“Well either you do or don’t? I guess I didn’t realize that I’d asked a difficult question, Mack.”
“Why does it matter?”
His evasive answers made me angry. And not just regular angry but the hot-flames-of-fury kind of anger. So I pushed away from the counter quickly and glared at him.
“Right, it doesn’t matter. We’re just here to fuck. Got it. Where’s the bedroom so we can get started?” I pulled my shirt over my head and stormed off. My face felt as if it were on fire as rage consumed me.
Just shut up, Jonna.
This is what I signed up for. To be his fuck buddy. Fuck buddies didn’t get to ask personal questions.
“Jonna!” Mack called after me, but I was already running up the stairs two at a time in search of his bedroom. I ran past two empty rooms and a bathroom before I reached the end of the hall and found the master suite. There was a massive king-sized bed with a dark blue and black patterned comforter neatly covering it. I didn’t look at anything else as I stopped in front of the bed while unbuttoning my jeans. “Do you want to be on top or . . .?”
“Stop it,” Mack said as he grabbed my arms just as I was about to push my pants down.
“No, you stop it,” I hissed as I broke free of his hold, then grabbed his shirt and jerked it over his head. I think he was more stunned than anything, and didn’t know what to make of my actions. I crushed my mouth to his and he tried to push me away, so I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist causing him to stumble backward and fall on the bed.
“Jonna—” he started to say, but I kept plunging my tongue into his mouth, pouring all of my anger and hurt into the kiss. I grabbed his hair tightly in my fists and ground my hips into the front of his pants. He made another attempt to detach me from him by trying to roll me over, but I resisted by swinging my body the opposite way and biting down on his neck. That’s when he groaned. I knew that if he got me onto my back he would win, and I would be damned if I planned on giving in that easily.
I roughly kissed and sucked my way along his neck while I pushed his arms up so they were on either side of his head and kept them in place by pressing down on his biceps. He stopped struggling and I could feel the hard bulge in his jeans as I rubbed myself against it. I licked my way along his collarbone and down the hard muscles of his pecs where I trailed my tongue along the lines of his tattoo and paid special attention to the crown. He grabbed and pulled me back up so that our mouths could meet again, but I wouldn’t let him kiss me, instead I bit down on his bottom lip. Hard.
“Ow, what the . . . fuck!” Mack growled as his head snapped back sharply, then he pulled me back to him by cupping the back of my head to hold me still.
“Yes, let’s fuck,” I said, forcing myself to a sitting position. I immediately began unbuttoning his jeans while his hands went to my zipper. As soon as our lower halves were free I grabbed his stone-hard cock in my hand and sank down on to him. He threw his head back and groaned loudly.
“Ah, goddamn.” His chest was heaving, and I placed my hands on his shoulders for balance as I rode him hard and for all I was worth. My pace was brutal as I slammed down on him over and over. When his hand went to either side of my hips to control my movements, I smacked them away. He growled again and let his arms drop to his sides.
His eyes were shut tight as the veins in his neck became visible. I knew he was close, and I wanted to watch him explode, knowing that I done it to him, and that he was powerless to stop it. Suddenly his eyes shot open wide in surprise, and I knew it was the fastest I’d ever made him come.
“Oh. Oh fuck, Jonna. I’m gonna . . .” As soon as his dark depths found mine they glazed over with his release, and I could feel him pouring in
to me for what seemed like an eternity. That’s when I threw my head back in victory and let myself fall over the edge.
When I opened my eyes I was lying on Mack’s damp chest. I could hear his heart beating rapidly as he tried to slow his breathing. I sat up so that I could look at his face. His eyes were closed, his hands still rested at his sides, and his pants were around his ankles, trapped there by his shoes. Some of the anger from earlier had gone away, and now I was left feeling a little foolish. My feelings were hurt, my pride wounded, and my thigh muscles burned like a son of a bitch. When Mack finally opened his eyes, I expected for him to be angry, but I only saw confusion.
“Do you mind explaining to me what the fuck that was all about?”
I rolled off him and stared up at the ceiling. Then remained quiet for a long time as I tried to put into words what I was feeling.
“Mack, I don’t think I can be the girl you want. I can’t stand not knowing anything about you. What you do when you’re not with me.” I turned to him. “I know I’m not supposed to ask you these things, but I can’t help it.”
“Why aren’t you supposed to ask me these things? Jonna, you can ask me anything you want. There are just some things I can’t tell you. Not because I don’t want to. It’s just safer for you if I don’t.”
“That’s what I mean. I can’t be the girl who doesn’t know anything about the man she’s sleeping with, or at least not for as long as we’ve been seeing each other, Mack. I’m just not built that way.”
Mack exhaled a long, loud breath while pulling up his pants. I was about to sit up and ask him to take me to a hotel because I felt like I didn’t want to spend another moment with him, until he started speaking.
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