The Hacker and his Heart's Desire

by James, Rebecca;

  I relaxed a little. “What about Royce? How is he?”

  Nick stilled, eyes roaming, and panic seized me.

  “Nick, is Royce okay?” I must have sounded or looked weird because Nick rushed to reassure me.

  “He’s okay. I promise. But they roughed him up pretty badly. He’s one floor up; I just came down from there. Really. It was scary, but he’s okay.”

  “I’m so sorry.” I covered my face with my hands, wincing when the move tugged on my IV. “What a shit show.” I sighed and looked Nick over, belatedly asking, “What about you? Did Bruder hurt you?”

  “No, he just scared me to death. One minute he was talking to me, and the next, he’d shoved me into an empty room and was cursing at me, saying we were fools if we thought we could pull one over on him. I was terrified for you. I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “We’re all really lucky,” I said. “It could have gone so fucking wrong.” I stared ahead of me. “I still can’t believe Shika’s FBI. She posed topless for me and slept with Bruder. Those feds must be made of steel.’

  The doctor entered, and Nick excused himself. I wanted to see Cane more than anything and swore if they didn’t release me, I’d force Hung to sneak me out.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Cane

  Tony had been released from the hospital before the feds finally let me go. I’d been questioned to within an inch of my life and then questioned several more times. I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to be able to convince the fuckers I didn’t have anything to do with Karl’s plan, but evidently Shika was with the FBI and when she finally showed up, along with Morgan and his expensive team of lawyers, things finally started going my way.

  I strode into the clubhouse, exhausted and with nerves frayed. But as soon as I saw Tony on the couch, as gorgeous as ever and so happy to see me, I relaxed for the first time since the whole thing began.

  In two strides, I was beside him, scooting Pepper off the couch and taking her place there. I barely stopped myself from pulling Tony into my arms, gently cupping his face instead.

  “Are you all right?” I asked softly, eyes running over him. He was a little pale under his olive skin, but other than that, he looked good. Much better than I’d expected.

  “I’m fine. Kiss me.”

  He didn’t have to ask twice. My mouth devoured his.

  Tugging Tony between my legs, I murmured into his hair, “I was so worried about you. You must’ve been terrified.”

  “Oh, no. We’re talking about you first,” Tony protested. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Karl deserved what he got.”

  “He was going to shoot you,” Tony said. “That’s what Blaze told me.”

  I nodded, the gleeful look on Karl’s face when he’d told me he should have done it long ago had stamped itself into my mind, along with the surprised expression when I’d fired my gun.

  “He didn’t think I had it in me to shoot him,” I said. “He wasn’t even afraid.”

  Tony stroked my cheek. “I’m sorry. But I’m so relieved you’re okay. If that bastard had killed you, I would have ended him.”

  I hugged my fierce man close. “Please tell me how you are now,” I said into his ear.

  “Well, I certainly never want to see another snake in my life. I heard they raided Bruder’s ‘nursery’ and took them all, including the big python.”

  “Good,” I said. “When Blaze told me what was going on with you in Karl’s car, I had to force it out of my mind, or I wouldn’t have been able to do what I had to do.”

  Tony took my hand. “You were so brave. All of you were, but you especially. The whole thing could have turned into a circus. It almost did. Who knew Greer could be such a good actor? God, I should never have trusted someone who’d fuck Bruder. Well, except for Shika. I mean Sheila.” Tony explained to me how he’d run into Greer outside the convention center and tried to help him, and then how Greer had turned on him with Bruno.

  I shook my head. “A bite from that snake would’ve killed you within a half hour. We are so lucky it only grazed your hand.”

  Tony shuddered. “So I’ve heard. Over and over again.”

  I kissed him. “Sorry. Man, I owe Morgan for sending his lawyers to help me. Even with several witnesses from the Rogues saying they saw I killed Karl in self-defense, the cops seemed determined to put me away for something if the feds wouldn’t.”

  “They were probably afraid you’d say something about their suspicious dealings with Bruder.” Tony gently ran his hand over my arm, and I stopped him, examining it.

  The top was bruised and a little swollen compared to the other one but otherwise not as bad as I’d feared. I gently kissed it.

  “I wouldn’t have been able to go on if you’d died,” I said softly.

  “I didn’t though. The snake didn’t completely envenomate me, Bruder’s doctor had antivenin, and everything worked out.” He touched my cheek. “And now you’re free of your family, just like I promised you would be.”

  I leaned my head back against the couch. “I can’t believe it. I don’t even know what to do with myself.”

  “What’s going to happen to Bruder’s legitimate businesses?” Tony asked.

  “I don’t know, and I don’t care.” I pulled him closer to me, thrilled just to have him in my arms again.

  “Still. You need to look into it and see what you have the right to. You’re Bruder’s closest relative, right?”

  I nodded. I’d wanted to set myself apart from my family for so long, it was difficult to logically think about what Tony was saying.

  “Let’s talk about it later,” I said, kissing his temple. “Your hair smells good.” I took another sniff. “Apples?”

  Tony rolled his eyes. “Hung washed it for me. He’s been doting on me like you wouldn’t believe. I finally got him to leave.”

  “Where’s everyone else?”

  “Blaze is at the warehouse. Trace expressed an interest in working in front of the cameras, so they’re trying him out with Tatiana.”

  “Oh. That’s cool,” I said. “I’m sure Blaze is happy to have someone else.”

  “Yeah, and Trace isn’t the only one. One of the Rogues is going to audition. He’s pretty hot.” Tony wiggled his eyebrows.

  “Oh, he’s hot, is he?” I tickled him under his ribs, making him squirm and laugh.

  “Not as hot as you! Not as hot as you!” Tony cried, and I stopped tickling him.

  He panted for a few minutes before kissing my bicep and leaning his head against my chest again.

  “And the others?” I said after a moment. “Where’s Matteo? Adam? Tease?”

  “Matteo went with Adam to his doctor’s appointment. They won’t be home for a couple of hours. Lake’s at work. Tease and Axel out to Dante’s to fish.” Tony smiled up at me. “Do you have something in mind?”

  I ran my hands over his chest and down his thighs, then back up again. “Oh, I most definitely have something in mind if you think you’re up to it.”

  Tony turned in my arms and kissed me, tongue sliding against my lips before dipping inside my mouth. “We can get naked in Hung’s bed,” he said. “He changed the sheets this morning.”

  “That sounds perfect.” I kissed him deeply before nudging him up and off the couch. Once in his bedroom, I closed the door, making sure it was locked before reaching behind my head and pulling off my shirt by the neck. When I’d gotten my shoes and socks off and turned around to unzip my jeans, Tony was already naked in bed.

  “You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen,” I said, arrested by the sight.

  He gazed at me tenderly. “I feel the same way when I look at you.”

  We knelt in front of each other on the bed, kissing and running our hands all over the other’s body for a long time before Tony groaned and went for one of my nipples, taking it between his front teeth and biting down on it. I gasped and threaded my fingers through his hair, holding his head there, encouraging him
to suck and bite all he wanted. He rolled my other nipple between his fingers, and I moaned.

  “Lie down,” I said, pushing him backward onto the bed and spreading myself over him. Beginning with his mouth, I kissed every inch of him until he was begging for me to fuck him.

  “Cane, I can’t wait anymore. Please.”

  I kissed his mouth, then rolled him onto his stomach. Taking my place between his legs, I feasted on his pretty hole, getting it nice and wet for me with gentle laps of my tongue.

  “Ca-ane,” Tony whined, clutching at the sheets. “God, please fuck me now!”

  “Bossy,” I said. Stretching his hole with my thumbs, I spit into it. Tony shuddered.

  I sat up and reached into the drawer.

  “No condom,” Tony said, meeting my eyes over his shoulder. I paused. We’d both been tested regularly for Hard Time. We were clean. I nodded, body aflame just thinking about taking him bare. I took the lube out of the drawer, and pumped it directly into his hole before tossing it onto the bed.

  Tapping my cock on his ass, I said, “You ready?”

  Tony wiggled and shoved a pillow beneath himself to raise his ass higher. “Let me have it,” he said.

  I groaned and rubbed the head of my cock over his perineum, teasing the both of us, before easing inside of him, watching him stretch around me, taking all of me. He was so hot and tight and deliciously slick with lube. Such a beautiful man. His face was turned to the side, cheeks high in color and eyes bright, lips bruised by my kisses. My fingerprints were on his ass and my love bites on his neck and back. He was mine.

  I shoved into him hard, and Tony shouted, “Fuck!” I pulled out all the way and shoved back in. “Harder,” Tony groaned. “Don’t hold back.”

  I got a good momentum going, slamming into Tony while he flattened his hands against the headboard to keep from bumping his head against it. He raised his ass and pushed back, and my mind went fuzzy with pleasure.

  “Oh, God, yes, yes,” he babbled, making me crazy.

  I fucked him even harder, the sound of our skin slapping together joining the creaks of the bed, his shouts, and my moans.

  “I want to own you,” I growled out.

  “You do, you do.” Tony’s fingers curled in the sheets.

  I fucked him so hard and fast I was sweating like a horse. My fingers dug into his hips, leaving red marks when I moved them to his shoulders, pulling him back into me with as much force as I could with every thrust of my cock into his ass.

  “Ohhh…oh, Godohgodohgod…” Tony reached beneath himself and started jerking his cock.

  Shaking with lust, I rose onto my feet and drilled downward into him.

  “Holy shit,” Tony sobbed into the pillow as I nailed his prostate over and over again. “I’m coming.” He jerked, ass clenching around my cock, and I thrust hard and twisted my hips, my orgasm barreling through me like a freight train. I fell on top of him, my dick still shooting inside him.

  I pressed my lips to his head. “I love you,” I said before rolling off him.

  Panting and dripping sweat, Tony raised up and looked at me with glazed eyes. “What did you say?”

  “I love you, Tony Sarto. I love you I love you I love you I love you I love—” Tony’s finger fell against my lips.

  “I love you too.” He grinned and kissed me sweetly. The moment was more than I’d ever dreamed of. I was free of my cousin, free to be myself. And Tony was mine.

  Tony turned onto his side and tucked himself beneath my arm. “We are getting bodily fluids all over Jeo’s bed.”

  “This bed’s seen more cum than a whore’s panties,” I said, running my fingers along his shoulder and back. His warm breath fell on my chest where the sweat cooled.

  “God, I’m gonna be sore,” Tony said drowsily. My chest swelled—I couldn’t help it; I suddenly felt as though I could slay dragons. Moving my hand down the curve of Tony’s back, I trailed my fingers between the cheeks of his ass and dipped into his wet hole, swirling my cum around the rim.

  Tony snorted and bit my chest. “You’re a dirty boy, Cane Winters.”

  “And you’re filthy with my cum, Tony Sarto,” I said hoarsely, continuing to rub at the rim of his hole.

  He gasped and looked up at me. “That feels…” he closed his eyes and moaned. “After you’ve rested a minute, I want you to shoot your cum all over me—in my hair, in my mouth, all over.”

  I took a deep breath, the intoxicating image forming in my mind.

  “What else?” I asked breathlessly.

  “I want to suck your gorgeous cock, eat your hole, cum on you, fuck you.” He raised his eyes to mine. “Would you let me do all that?”

  I’d never been fucked by a man, but I’d let Tony do it. I’d let him do anything. Nodding solemnly, I kissed Tony with all the love overflowing my heart.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Epilogue Tony

  Three months later

  The building seemed different now that Cane had taken it over. He had completely cleaned house, getting rid of everyone who hadn’t been arrested, claiming he didn’t trust anyone who’d worked for his cousin. The penthouse had been remodeled into executive offices. I had one next to Cane’s, which I’d objected to, saying I didn’t have a right, but Cane had quickly squashed that. I took care of the technical side of his business—which was B-Natural and its chain of stores, After Hours having been completely dismantled. I continued freelancing on the side and painting in my spare time.

  I was so proud of Cane. He’d taken to the business like a duck to water, probably having absorbed a lot of it while he’d been there. He’d been floored that, in the event of Karl’s death, his uncle had left it all to him, and even more shocked when he’d read the letter telling Cane that if he were to take control, his uncle knew he’d make the business legit and that that might be for the best.

  “You ready for lunch?” Nick asked me. He’d recently taken the job as Cane’s assistant slash secretary and did it very well. Julianne had been sorry to see Nick go, but I got the feeling Nick had been glad to get away from Hung.

  “Yep.” I closed my laptop. “Where do you want to eat?”

  “There’s a new Japanese place uptown.”

  “Japanese sounds good,” I said.

  We took the private elevator downstairs and walked across the lobby. Jay, the receptionist in the front, waved to us on our way out. A member of the Rogues, Jay had interviewed for the job, and Cane had hired him immediately. We owed so much to that club for helping us out that night. Jay was good at his job, but I think Cane would have hired him even if he fucking sucked at it.

  “We’re going for Japanese. Want us to bring you back something?” I asked him.

  “Naw, my girl’s coming by and we’re going to eat together. Thanks anyway.” Jay waved them off.

  “He is so cute,” Nick said when we got outside. “Figures he’s straight.”

  I laughed, and Nick gave me a sour look. “Yeah, you don’t care. Why should you when you have Cane Winters in your bed?”

  Cane and I still lived at the clubhouse. We’d bought a big bed for Cane’s room, and Adam had moved in with Hung. Not yet ready to get our own place, we endured the paper thin walls. Most of us had invested in earplugs.

  Nick and I walked in companionable silence, enjoying the balmy May afternoon. Nick’s phone rang and when he checked it, I saw the initials JM flash on the screen. He didn’t answer it.

  “JM?” I asked. “New guy?”

  When Nick didn’t answer right away, my brain suddenly made the connection.

  “Jeovanni Mendoza? What the fuck, Nick? Spill. Now!”

  Nick glanced at me. “There’s nothing to spill. He’s been calling me, that’s all. I never answer.”

  “Why not?”

  Nick looked at me like I’d grown horns. “What do you mean, why not? We’re like ice and fire, for one. For another, he’s been to bed with half of New York City, and he thinks he’s God’s gift to men, women, and
everyone in between. I don’t need that in my life.”

  “He’s not that bad,” I said. “Jeo’s my friend, and I love him.”

  Nick glanced at me. “I know, and I’m sure he’s a great friend. I just don’t think he’d make a good boyfriend.”

  I nudged him with my elbow. “You’ll never know until you try.”

  “I need a Daddy,” Nick said stubbornly. He and Royce had parted ways. I still didn’t know why, and Nick seemed not to want to talk about it. “A good one. I’ve already decided to go to one of those events upstairs at Lux. It’s like a Daddy/boy thing. I might meet someone there.”

  “Sounds…interesting? Okay, who am I kidding, it sounds fucking kinky. You’re not going alone, are you?”

  Nick glanced at me. “Why, you wanna come with?”

  I made a choking noise. “Uh, you know I don’t.”

  Nick laughed. “Don’t worry about me.”

  We reached the restaurant. After being out in the bright sunlight, walking into its dim interior was like walking into a cave. The hostess seated us, and when we’d looked over the menu and ordered, I said to Nick, “I wonder why Jeo’s calling you though.”

  “He feels guilty about suggesting Royce pretend to be a client to Bruder because Royce wound up getting hurt.”

  “And so did you,” I reminded him.

  Nick had later told me how Bruder had locked him in a closet to keep him out of the way at the convention center, and Nick had pounded on the door and shouted until he was hoarse, but it had taken a long time for a janitor to hear him and let him out. He’d confided the experience had left him with claustrophobia, something he’d never had before the incident.

  “It all turned out well in the end,” he said blithely, looking over the menu. He wore a blue silk suit buttoned without a shirt underneath. I swore he could pull off any look.

  “How’s your new place?” I asked.

  After his lease had expired at his old apartment, Nick had rented a suite on the eighth floor of Winter Corporation, which is what Cane had renamed the building, getting rid of the name Bruder.