by Nicola Jane
I slam into her and she pulls my face to look at hers. “Gentle,” she whispers. “Look into my eyes and fuck me gentle.” I keep my eyes burning into hers. I want her to see all of my feelings for her. I want her to know exactly how much I like her.
Eva cries out against my shoulder, stiffening and then flopping back into the mattress. I hold her against me and roll onto my back so that she’s on top again. She smiles down at me and begins to take control again, Fucking me with slow, careful strokes. When I come for a second time, it’s just as powerful as the first. I thrust up into her, and when the final shudder leaves my body, she lays against my chest. I let her. I draw small circles across her back and enjoy the way her naked body feels against me.
“At the risk of sounding like a pussy,” I murmur into her hair. “That was fuckin’ amazing.”
“I won’t ever judge you, Cree. You can talk how you want in front of me and I won’t laugh or judge you. I’m glad we shared that. I’m glad you let me be the first to share that with you.”
“The first and the last,” I say, wrapping my arms around her. “I can’t let you go. We’ve wasted too much time.”
“One day at a time, biker boy,” she says, laughing. “A lot went on right there and your head might not be clear.”
I spin her so she’s lying under me and she lets out a squeal. “My head is the clearest it’s been in a long time. You’re mine, Eva. I’m not sitting back with life passing me by anymore. I let you touch me. That’s huge.”
She smiles warmly and places her hands on my shoulders. “And I feel so privileged that you trusted me to do that, but you’re not cured. One night with me hasn’t cured you. A week ago, I thought you hated me, and now you’re telling me that I’m yours,” she smiles and places her hand over my cheek. “Let’s take it slow and see how it goes. Once this has worn off, you might remember that I irritate you.”
I kiss her. She doesn’t understand the feelings I have for her. These aren’t new—they were there when I first saw her. It just took me this long to accept it and do something about it. “You’re wrong. I don’t need time to think it over. I might fuck it up. I’m not good at talking or explaining shit, but I’m gonna try. I want to try.”
Eva’s cell rings out and I grab it for her, noting Michelle’s name on the screen. I climb off her so she can sit up and she answers. Michelle’s voice is shrill on the other end. I can hear every word as she berates Eva about something she forgot to do. Eva tries several times to explain. I nuzzle her neck, nipping at the soft flesh there. “Michelle, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t remember that conversation,” she says.
“I told you. If you weren’t so busy hitting on other people’s husbands, then you might actually remember the things I tell you to do,” Michelle spits out.
Eva’s mouth falls open and I roll my eyes. “Michelle, I would never—”
“Bullshit. I know about you and Callum. I know you tried it on with him.”
“I did not!” screeches Eva. “He tried it with me.”
“I suggest you get into the office and rectify this. I don’t care that it’s Saturday.” Michelle disconnects the call and Eva stares at her cell.
“Do you want me to have a word?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “God, no. If she finds out about us and she thinks I hit on her husband, she’ll definitely have it in for me.”
“Riggs heard some shit about him actually. Thinks he might be into the sex business.”
“What does that mean?” she asks.
I shrug. “Not sure exactly. We’ve been following him, but nothing major came up from my end. He goes to a house every night, but I checked the place out and it’s some kind of kink club.”
“Is that where he wanted me to go?”
“I think so. It’s members-only or invite-only.” I check my watch. “Which reminds me, I have church soon to update Riggs. Let me feed you and then I’ll take you home.”
Eva keeps my shirt on and takes a pair of leggings from Anna’s room. I grab her hand as we enter the kitchen. Riggs and Anna are already at the table with their kids. Frankie places a plate of bacon on the table and glances down at our joined hands. She smiles. “About fuckin’ time,” she mutters.
“You have that freshly beep look about you,” smirks Anna, and Eva blushes.
“I don’t know why you bother to beep your words when the kids are around the brothers all the damn time,” I say, taking a seat and pulling Eva down into my lap.
Chapter Nine
Eva
I’ve spent the last three hours at the office. I know Michelle didn’t ask me to sort out the end of the month invoices last week. I’ve checked every email and every text message and there’s nothing about this. The bitch seriously has it in for me thanks to her jerk-off husband.
I collect the final printout from Michelle’s office when I hear the entrance door. “I’ll be right out,” I yell. Why didn’t I lock the damn thing?
“No need.” I freeze at the sound of Callum’s voice. He fills the doorway to the office and I’m suddenly aware that he’s blocking my exit. “Michelle mentioned you’d messed up again.”
“I didn’t mess up.” I hate that my voice sounds weak.
He smirks. His eyes wander around the office and then land back on me. “She needs staff she can rely on, Eva.”
“She can rely on me. You told her I hit on you,” I say accusingly.
“Maybe I got confused,” he mutters. He steps into the office and closes the door. I take a step back to put some distance between us. I try to stay calm. He wants to intimidate me and I refuse to let him see that he’s getting to me. “You overreacted to my proposition.”
“I don’t think I did.” I move to the door and Callum blocks my path. “I’d like to leave.”
“I’m just here to give you another chance, Eva. I know my proposition was a little out of the blue,” he says. He runs a finger down my arm. “It really would be in your best interest to accept my very generous offer. People beg to get an invite to this place.”
“I’m not interested. Now, let me leave.”
He steps closer and I back up to the desk. I turn my face away and I feel his mouth near my ear. “You’ll regret it, Eva. I can make your wildest fantasies a reality.”
“My fantasy, Callum,” I hiss, “is for you to leave me the fuck alone.”
He laughs and steps back. I rush to the door and yank it open, then grab my bag and leave, not bothering to look back. I call Anna. My hands are shaking so bad that I get her number wrong a few times before I finally hear her voice. It’s such a relief that I burst into tears.
“I’m so sorry,” I sniffle. “I don’t know why I’m upset. I’m heading to Mum’s. Meet me there?”
“I’m on my way,” she says, and I smile because she doesn’t even know the reason I need her, but without questions, she’ll be there.
“Anna,” I add. “Please don’t tell Cree.”
“Okay, I won’t.”
Mum hands me a coffee just as Anna bursts in. She wraps me in a hug. “Oh god, I was so worried. Are you okay?”
“My boss’s husband is an ass. He keeps hitting on me,” I mutter. Mum places Anna’s coffee down and then joins us at the table. “Today, he closed me in the office with him and hit on me again. He didn’t touch me or anything, but he was just . . . ” I shrug my shoulders and let out a shaky breath. “Intimidating, I guess.”
“Shit, Eva. Let me call Cree. He’ll kick his ass.”
“Exactly. I don’t want that. We’re not even officially dating and I’m not gonna bring drama to his door.” I shake my head. “I don’t wanna be the damsel in distress that he comes to rescue. I can handle Callum. I just needed to offload to you guys.”
Mum rubs my hand gently. “You can call the cops. It’s harassment.”
“I think I’m gonna look for another job. I hate leaving Kyle, but I can’t stay there. Michelle is being a total bitch to me.”
> “But you love that job,” my mum says and sighs.
“There’s other jobs out there. I never really liked Michelle anyway.”
“I still think you should tell the club. Cree would rip that guy’s balls off,” says Anna, and I laugh.
“And lose the club some of the security business they’re building?”
“Cree’s working for them this evening,” says Anna. “Maybe Cree will tell her about you and him?”
I stare in horror. “I hope not. I just need to lie low for her to get off my back until I find another job.”
“Anyway, fill me in on you and Cree. He looked very smug and happy this morning at breakfast,” grins Anna.
Mum covers her ears. “If you’re talking about that stuff, I’ll go and clean upstairs. You girls catch up.”
I wait until she’s left the room and then smile wide. “I like him, Anna. I didn’t think I did, but oh my god. He opened up to me and I melted. It was like everything made sense once he explained his past. My heart literally cracked wide open, and I can’t stop thinking about him.”
Anna smiles too. “I’m so happy for you. I told you all along that he liked you and you wouldn’t believe me.”
“We never really said we were exclusive though,” I say, letting my fears show. “Do you think he and Michelle might—”
“No, I don’t,” Anna cuts in. “He’s liked you for a long time. He won’t risk blowing it.”
It’s sometime in the middle of the night when the bed dips at my side and thick arms encircle my waist. I know by the woody scent that it’s Cree. I didn’t give him a key, but I’ll question that another time because right now, I’m pleased he’s here. I tortured myself all evening with images of him and Michelle fucking.
I’m lying on my stomach, so he throws his leg over my own and then buries his face into the crook of my neck and inhales. He does that a lot. “You awake?” he whispers. I remain still and quiet, smiling to myself. His hands run under the sheets and across my back. He stops and then feels the lace beneath his fingers some more before ripping the sheet back to see what I’m wearing. I knew the black lace bodice would be a hit.
He growls from the back of his throat and lets his hand run over my ass. “You’d better get that light on,” he mutters.
I reach over to the bedside lamp and flick it on. “Should I even ask how you got in here without a key?” I ask.
“You can ask, but I won’t tell you. Turn over, I need to see the front,” he says, his eyes fixed to my body.
“How was tonight? I ask.
“Don’t make me ask again, Eva,” he growls, and I disguise my giggle with a cough as I roll onto my back. “Jesus, are you tryna’ kill me? Who you wearing this for? How did you know I was coming over?”
“I didn’t.” I smile. “I was hoping some tall, dark, and handsome man would sneak on in here and ravish me,” I say innocently.
Cree scowls. “Nobody but me better be sneaking in here, and you don’t show no man this,” he says, pointing up and down my lace-clad body. “With or without lace, it belongs to me.” I smirk and he brings his mouth to mine.
Cree takes his time devouring my body. There’s no rush and it’s bliss. I lose count of the orgasms he pulls from my exhausted body, and I begin to think Cree was created by some kind of sex god because his stamina is unlike any human I’ve ever heard of.
It’s almost eleven the next morning when I wake and I’m surprised to find Cree sleeping soundly next to me. I prop myself up on my elbow and take in the gorgeous man beside me. Everything about him is hot, even the length of his damn eyelashes.
“Stop watching me. It’s weird,” he mutters and I laugh, blushing because he caught me. “Go shower. We’re hitting the gym in half an hour,” he adds and my smile fades.
“I don’t work out,” I say. “The gym isn’t for me.”
“Today it is. Go shower.”
The gym Cree brings me to is just around the corner from the clubhouse, and I spot Riggs and Chains at the weight bench. “See, your guys are here. I’ll just watch,” I say, but Cree shakes his head and shoves me towards them.
“You look thrilled to be here.” Riggs laughs and I groan loudly.
“He made me come. Who knew the gym was even open on a Sunday?” I say dramatically and they all smirk.
I unfasten my hoodie and slip it off. All three men stare at me and Cree growls. “Put it back on,” he hisses.
I look down at my cropped top. It covers my breasts and looking around at the rest of the women here, I’m dressed the same. “Why?”
“Because you’re practically naked,” he growls.
“I’m wearing the same as everyone else here, Cree. You’re being ridiculous. Now, if you want me to stay, then let’s get on with the work-out.”
Cree huffs and marches towards a weight machine that works the ass and legs. I pretend I have no clue how it works just so he touches me to position me correctly. I do that on most of the other machines too. I can’t get enough of him touching me.
By the time we’ve finished, we’ve worked up enough sexual tension to have us falling straight back into bed the second we get back to my house. And that’s pretty much where we spend the rest of the day.
I’m drifting off to sleep when I hear Cree’s cell ring. He answers it and lowers his voice, trying not to wake me as he sneaks from the room. “I’ll be there,” he mutters. That’s all I hear before he comes back into the room and begins to dress. I open one eye. The clock reads eight p.m.
“You running out on me?” I say it as a joke, but deep down I’m upset. We were supposed to order takeout and watch a movie tonight.
“A job came up,” he says as he stuffs his feet into his boots.
“Security?” I ask and he nods. His whole demeanour has changed and it unsettles me. “A new job or old?” I push and he sighs.
“Why does it matter? I have to go.” He leans over the bed and presses a quick kiss to my head. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I repeat. “You’re not coming back here later?”
He shakes his head. “It might not finish until late so . . . ”
“Like an all-nighter?” I ask. I’m trying desperately not to let my insecurities show. We’ve literally been seeing each other a few days, but something about his behaviour screams guilt.
“Maybe.” He shrugs. “Sorry.”
I pull myself together and smile. “It’s fine. I’ll find something to keep me busy.” He eyes me for a few seconds and I know he’s warring with himself whether he should ask me what I mean, but he doesn’t. Instead, he heads for the door.
“It’s not Michelle, is it?” I blurt out and immediately yell at myself, in my head of course.
“Stop with the questions, Eva,” he snaps and then stomps out, leaving me confused by his sharp answer. I feel like he’s lying to me.
I know exactly who to call to keep me entertained this evening so that I don’t end up sending desperate texts to Cree and scaring him away.
Cree
I put the call into Riggs. During church yesterday, we decided to step up the attention to Callum and Michelle. The other men we were following gave us barely anything. The only thing that came to light was that they all visited the same townhouse in central London. They go at various times in the week and there’s no set time, day or night, and there’s no set length of time they spend there. We also discovered that Callum’s name is on the deed to the house. Riggs is convinced he’s running whatever goes on in that house, so now we need a way in to see what happens there. To get that, I’ve been tasked with getting them to trust me. That means being at their beck and call for the foreseeable.
“Pres, Michelle just called and asked me to be her security this evening at a club. I’ll be in London until the early hours. She likes to party.”
“Okay. Check in every hour or so. Watch your back, brother.”
Michelle’s driver opens the door and she gets in one side while I get in on the
other. “Callum is so busy at his private club, I thought I may as well meet the girls and have a few drinks,” she says to me. I stare out at the passing London streets, pretending his club doesn’t interest me. “The girls booked the VIP area as soon as I suggested drinks.” She laughs. By girls, she means the three witches—that’s what I nicknamed them because they cackle like witches and bitch just as bad. Two of them are footballers’ wives, all fake hair and tits. The other isn’t so bad, and I feel like she doesn’t fit in the friendship group but they keep her around to make fun of.
We step to the club and the bouncers greet us. We skip the line and head straight to the VIP section, where the witches await their fourth member. I position myself by the roped space. It’s only a small VIP area, big enough for about ten people.
Michelle’s at least three cocktails in when she presses herself against me. “It’s been ages since you came by,” she slurs.
“I didn’t know you were so bothered,” I mutter. She goes to run her hand over my chest, but I snatch her wrist and hold it. She smirks at me. This is normally where I’d drag her somewhere quiet and fuck her, but tonight is different. Tonight, I’m the happiest I’ve been in a very long time and Michelle isn’t going to ruin that for me.
“Come on,” she smiles. “Let’s find somewhere risky,” she adds, her eyes lighting up.
“I can’t,” I say firmly.
“You can’t?” she snaps, pulling her hand from my grip. “Or won’t?”
“Maybe later,” I add to pacify her. I can’t blow the trust I’m building, but I have no intention of having sex with her ever again. “Enjoy the night with your friends and we can catch up after.” I know she’ll be too drunk later. She smiles and throws herself towards me, planting a kiss on my lips.
Like a bad fuckin’ movie, she moves away and my eyes fall on the blue-grey ones that stare up at me full of hurt. Eva. I don’t move towards her. If Michelle sees me talking to her, it will completely fuck up everything. She spins on her heel and stomps away, followed closely by Kyle.