by Maya Banks
She moaned at the fullness, the overbearing sensation of him filling her. He rocked his hard thighs against her, flexing, pushing deeper.
He pulled away and bent his head to her soft belly. His tongue swirled around her belly ring. She flinched as his teeth grazed the sensitive skin. Kisses whispered across her flesh. He sucked the diamond stud between his teeth.
“This is new,” he murmured against her navel.
“So is your tattoo,” she said dryly.
He looked up at her, darkness swirling like a black vortex in his eyes. They clouded and his expression grew hard.
“I did what I had to do.”
He moved up her body, sliding his cock back into her pussy. Again, she gasped as she stretched to accommodate him. Every nerve ending, every centimeter of the delicate tissue screamed for release. It had been so long. Too long without him.
“Why, Jack? Why did you leave?” she asked as the prick of tears stung her eyes again.
He ignored her as he sucked at her nipples. He acted like a starved man, like someone who had gone too long without the pleasures of a woman. He cupped one full breast in his hand, flicking at the nipple with his thumb. It tightened into a hard bud.
Then he bent his head and grazed his teeth over the tip. Once, twice, then he bit into the puckered flesh, and she gasped at the incredible streak of fire that blew through her body.
Her fingers dug into his hair, threading and tunneling through the strands. It was longer than it had been. He’d always worn it short, just a tad longer than military style. Now it looked wild and unkempt, like his eyes. What had unsettled him so much? What had happened to him in the last two years?
She wanted to know, but more than that she wanted the horrible ache in her body and heart to be assuaged. For tonight, she’d take what she could get. He’d used her, and she didn’t feel one iota of guilt for using him in return. She’d have plenty of time to hate him tomorrow.
“Look at me,” Jack demanded.
She blinked and focused her attention on him. He’d stilled within her, holding deep in her body. He held her nipple between two fingers, rolling the point back and forth.
He moved his body, stroking the clinging, wet walls of her pussy with his cock. In and out. “Who do you see? Who’s fucking you,” he asked, his eyes piercing hers.
“You,” she gasped out.
“Say my name, damn it.”
“Jack.”
Approval rumbled through his chest.
“Who do you belong to?”
She froze. How could he ask her who she belonged to? The question hurt and pissed her off all in the same breath. She shoved at him, trying not to let the horrible grief completely overtake her.
“I hate you,” she whispered as a tear trickled down her cheek.
He trailed a finger under her eye, catching the single tear and wiping it away. Then he lowered his lips, taking her mouth gently, unlike his forceful movements just seconds before.
He reached down with his hands and cupped her buttocks, pulling her tighter against him. He held her, cradled her as he sank into her. She shook her head. Not this way. She didn’t know how to handle this side of Jack. She needed him forceful, demanding, not this tender, loving man.
She linked her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her. Her lips slid from his shoulder up to his neck. She flicked her tongue out to his ear and smiled a secret smile as his big body shuddered.
Then she sank her teeth into the flesh just below his ear. His entire body jerked and he uttered an oath. His hands gripped her ass tighter, massaging and spreading the cheeks. He rammed forward, foregoing the leisurely pace he’d set moments ago.
“You make me crazy,” he muttered in her ear. “I’ve dreamed of this. Of taking you every way imaginable. Of putting my brand on you, so hard, so deep that there’s no doubt of who you belong to.”
“More,” she begged. She shifted restlessly beneath him, wildness building and spiraling out of control in her.
For the first time in two years, she felt free. Her problems faded away. Nothing else in the world mattered but the two of them, right here, right now.
“Come with me, sugar,” he gritted out. “Let it go. Trust me this one time.”
Trust him.
Again he must have sensed she was in danger of fading. He reached between them and stroked at her quivering flesh.
“Come for me, Mia.”
She arched her back, straining closer to him, trying to drive him deeper into her spasming pussy. Her stomach clenched and rolled. She closed her eyes and dug her fingers into his shoulders.
Then he withdrew, and her eyes flew open in protest. He wasted no time with explanations. He flipped her over on her stomach and spread her legs all in one motion. Then he was on her, driving into her from behind.
Her stomach pressed into the mattress. Her hands splayed out over the covers at her head, and she dug her fingers into the sheets, twisting the material as her need consumed her.
He rocked against her, driving her deeper into the bed. She twisted her face to the side, her mouth open in a silent scream. Her fingers curled into balls.
His hips slapped against her ass. Faster. Harder. He showed no mercy in his relentless assault on her senses. His hands gripped her ass, pushing upward so her pussy was more easily accessible.
“Jack, please! Please.” Her voice trailed off until only a small sob escaped her throat.
She needed him, needed his control over her. Craved it for two long years. Only he could make her feel this way. So protected and cherished. For a few moments she could forget his desertion. Forget everything but the fact he was here, giving her what she needed.
He slammed into her one last time, and she arched her ass into the air, desperation lashing at her. A cascade of intense pleasure tightened every muscle in her body as she strained, awaiting release from the sharp peak she’d been driven up.
And then she shattered into a million pieces. They floated above her, she could almost see what they looked like when she closed her eyes and buried her face in the bed.
Behind her, Jack jerked and pressed his body into her, swelling within her. Hot fluid shot forward, surging into her waiting body. His cock spasmed, out of control, scraping against the walls of her pussy.
Oh God, oh God, oh God. She swallowed and tried to breathe in, trying to catch up, but her lungs felt constricted, her chest so tight it was painful.
Jack slumped over her, his warm body covering her completely. He nuzzled his face into her hair as he panted in her ear.
She closed her eyes, not wanting reality to intrude. She just wanted to stay this way a little longer. In a world where she didn’t feel so much damn hurt.
Jack eased off her, sliding out of her pussy in a warm flood. He rolled to the side and pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist, closing her eyes as soon as her head met with his chest.
His hands stroked through her hair, and he murmured things in her ear she couldn’t hear. They didn’t matter. For one night, she was back where she belonged. It was a night she didn’t want to end.
CHAPTER 5
Mia eased from the bed, careful not to disturb Jack, who was sleeping soundly. Even at rest, his expression was not one of peace. His brow creased, and his lips were pressed tightly together.
She collected clothing from the small bureau next to the bed and padded into the kitchen to dress. A wide yawn stretched her jaw, and she flexed her aching body. Jack had commanded her body several times through the early morning hours. He’d possessed her over and over, as if he couldn’t get enough.
If she didn’t hurry, she was going to be late, not something Martin would appreciate. He’d expressed in very clear terms that she was to be at the club early to prepare for the evening’s events.
Mia sighed. She hated the private parties her boss hosted. She hated being on display, having to put up with groping and lewd invitations.
Boss. What a laugh. The word “boss” implied a
reciprocal agreement. A boss was someone you could cut ties with by quitting. Martin wasn’t her boss. She was his bloody slave.
She eyed the splintered remains of the door as she walked outside. Jack better damn well fix it because she couldn’t afford to buy another. No, it didn’t offer much in the way of protection, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to sleep with the door wide open in invitation to whoever happened by.
The heat invaded her body as soon as she descended the shaky stairs. It was hot and humid, and she’d be a sticky mess by the time she walked the five blocks to work. She’d have to shower before she reported for duty.
She plodded down the street, her worn flip-flops not doing much to shield her feet from the sweltering heat rising from the pavement.
What was Jack doing here? It didn’t make any sense. He showed up with an attitude, spouting off that she was his. Bullshit. She’d been his for the taking two years ago. That was a lifetime ago. So much had happened since then. It felt as though twenty years had passed instead of two.
She sighed, suddenly feeling so weary she could barely keep her head up. She’d gotten herself into such a mess. There were days when she wondered if she’d ever get out.
In her wildest fantasies, she’d imagined Jack storming in to her rescue, but now that he was here, she just wanted him gone. There was nothing he could do to help her, and she didn’t want him to know just how far she’d descended since he’d left.
He was two years too late.
Jack pried his eyes open and gazed at the spot beside him in the bed. Empty. He turned over, his head still fuzzy from the first full sleep he’d gotten in two years.
He sat upright swinging his legs over the side of the bed so his feet hit the floor with a thump.
“Mia?” he called.
He stood up and walked barefoot across the floor toward the tiny bathroom. Not finding her there, he stuck his head into the kitchen. God what a dump this was. He couldn’t imagine her living here. It was a wonder she hadn’t been murdered yet.
Rage billowed over him when he realized she had gone. He thumped the rickety wall with his fist then cursed a blue streak when he put a fair-sized hole in it. What a piece of shit. The entire apartment was one big rat hole.
He stomped back into the bedroom and yanked on his shirt and jeans. He had no idea where she’d gone, but he wasn’t going to sit here like a dumbass and wait for her to come back. How far could she have gone on foot anyway? He was laying odds she’d headed back to the club.
A few minutes later, he roared out of the parking lot of the apartment complex and drove toward the strip club. He came to a stop outside the front entrance and jammed the truck into park.
None of the neon signs were lit up, and a quick check of his watch told him the club wouldn’t open for several hours. So why the hell had she come in so early? If she was even here.
Jack strode up to the front door and jiggled the knob. It was an old wooden door, probably not any sturdier than Mia’s apartment door. It was open so he slipped inside.
The front room was empty. No one had cleaned up from the previous evening yet. Empty beer bottles, napkins and paper littered the floor and the table tops. Confetti was strewn about the stage and the area surrounding it.
A distant sound alerted Jack to the hallway and he took off in that direction. As he passed several doorways, one opened and Mia nearly ran headlong into him.
He caught her by her arm to steady her, and she made an exclamation of fright.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Mia?” he demanded.
She gazed up at him with wide eyes, but she didn’t speak.
He shook her to dispel her from her daze. “What’s with sneaking out of my bed and leaving without so much as a word?”
Her mouth gaped open. “You goddamn hypocrite! Fuck off. I used you, Jack. Just like you used me. I needed to get off and you happened to be the nearest cock. You were a good lay, but I have work to do. Get out.”
Jack gritted his teeth as anger surged like molten liquid through his veins. She was pissed, and she was baiting him. He tried like hell not to react to her flip statement, but it hacked him off, this change in Mia.
“You’re wrong. I was a great lay,” he corrected.
She flushed angrily and yanked her arm away from him.
“Hey, Mia, this guy buggin’ you?”
Jack jerked his head up to see a large man looming in the hallway. He curled his nose. The dude could use a bath. Greasy-haired fat slob. Jack didn’t like the way the man was leering at Mia.
Uneasiness flashed in Mia’s eyes.
“No, no, he was just going as a matter of fact,” Mia said tightly.
She looked up at Jack, directly into his eyes, and he could see the stark fear reflected in her stare.
“Don’t push this,” she whispered. “Please, Jack, just go.”
The pleading in her voice struck a nerve deep within Jack. She was scared of this bastard, and that made Jack want to take the motherfucker apart piece by piece.
He hesitated a split second as Fat Man ambled up beside them. Mia’s eyes skittered back to Jack one more time before she hurried down the hall and slipped into one of the rooms.
Fat Man turned his slobbering glance on Jack as Mia disappeared from view.
“Interested in my Mia, are you?”
My Mia, Jack wanted to growl.
Fat Man took out a cigarette and stuck it between his teeth. “She can be yours for the right price.”
“She wasn’t interested in my offer,” Jack drawled.
Fat Man laughed. “I own that piece of ass, and if you pay me enough, it can be yours. She doesn’t have a say in the matter.”
It took every ounce of Jack’s self-control not to deck the son of a bitch.
“I’ll think about it,” he said instead. “What time does the show start? Think maybe I’ll hang around until then.”
Fat Man smiled. “Starting early tonight. Have some important customers from out of town. Reckon the other girls will be showing up soon, and the dancing will start in two hours or so. Have a seat out front. My bartender will be in soon. First drink’s on me.”
Jack watched as the fuckwad ambled off down the hall. If Mia hadn’t practically begged him not to make a scene, he would have taken apart the bastard with his bare hands then hauled Mia out by her hair.
As it was, now he was stuck suffering through another night of Mia stripping for a horde of horny men. He didn’t know what the hell was going on around here, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to sit back like a moron. Mia had some serious explaining to do. She obviously still needed someone to take care of her, and he was going to haul her ass back to Dallas where he could do just that.
Mia stepped onto the stage, ignoring the whistles and catcalls. The music hadn’t even started yet and there were already demands for her to take it off.
Her eyes scanned the crowd, and her heart leapt when she saw Jack standing against the wall. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his gaze bore into her. Every facet of his body screamed possession. It rolled off him in waves. He looked poised to strike at any moment.
He caught her gaze, knew she was looking at him. He raked his eyes up and down her body. They glittered with desire, with barely suppressed passion. It sparked. Arced like a current of electricity between them.
Slowly, she tore her gaze from him and took her position against the pole in the center of the stage.
Her arrangement was different tonight. Usually she went for something slow and sexy. A few suggestive turns could make up for any nervousness or inhibition. Tonight, however, the music thumped. All drums, it sounded like a wild jungle beat.
She shook and shimmied, her breasts jiggling against the small scrap of material charged with covering her. Her hips rolled, wild with the rhythm. The music invaded her body. She closed her eyes and forgot all sense of time and place.
Tonight she wasn’t dancing for a crowd of strangers. Instead she imagined that it w
as only her and Jack. She wove a seductive spell, alluring, inviting.