The Perfect Stroke

by Jordan Marie

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Roman,” she starts, and my hand goes to the side of her neck and I pull her face into mine, my grip not hard enough to hurt her, but firm enough so that she is reminded who’s in charge.

  “My woman doesn’t strip for other men, Ana.”

  “Your woman? Listen Roman, we just started seeing each other and you knew I was a stripper before this started!”

  “We’re doing a hell of a lot more than just seeing each other. My cock was just in that throat of yours. My cum is in your stomach. If you think I’m going to let you dance for another man after the dance you gave me in that room, Ana, you’re fucking crazy.”

  Her head snaps back, but I just increase my hold on her, not letting her pull away.

  “That was different! I don’t dance for other men! I told you that! Of all the pigheaded, egotistical, juvenile—”

  “Ana, that’s enough. I didn’t mean that you would. I’m just telling you that I’ve claimed this body and there’s not another man out there who’s going to get a look at what is mine. And, pet, let us be clear: you are mine.”

  She goes still, but most of all she shuts up. “You don’t know me.”

  “I know all I need to know and I plan on learning much more.”

  “You might not like what you find.”

  “And I may like it even more,” I tell her.

  She’s cute. Is she worried that her past is something that will bother me? That I will hold it against her? It’s her that needs to learn who I am. I’ll teach her that, too. In time. It’s occurred to me that what I’m talking about is something more than just sex. I’m not going to spend time thinking about it. I want her and it’s not showing signs of lessening. Actually, something that has never happened to me in my lifetime is going on. The more I’m around Ana, the more I want her. I’m not growing bored. I’m showing no signs of boredom. Usually one time is enough to take off the new, wear the edge down. Maybe it’s because I haven’t actually been inside of her yet. Fuck if I know; I just know nothing is happening like I thought it would. I have a sneaking suspicion Ana is a game-changer.

  “What am I supposed to do if I don’t work? Jesus, Roman, I have to work. I have bills and I like having a roof over my head. Besides that, I’m not one to sit around and do nothing. I’ve worked since I was sixteen.”

  “You’ll live with me.”

  “I can’t—Wait a minute. What did you say?”

  “You don’t need to worry about a roof over your head. You’ll stay under my roof.”

  “I can’t move in with you! We just met.”

  “I’ve had my face buried between your legs and my dick in your mouth. I think that means more than how long we’ve actually known each other.”

  “That’s what you’re basing asking a woman to move in with you on? Because we got each other off? Jesus, your house must be crowded. Where do you keep all of the women?”

  “You’re entirely too mouthy for my peace of mind, pet. Believe it or not, there’s never been another woman in my house. For you, I’m making an exception. I have a feeling it won’t be the first.”

  “Mouthy? I’d take exception to that, but I think you just shocked me into silence.”

  “I’m not sure that’s possible.”

  Ana does something else that shocks me. She sticks her tongue out at me. For the first time that I can remember in what has to be years, I throw my head back and laugh.

  “You’re really beautiful when you laugh, Roman,” Ana whispers softly.

  I bring my eyes back to her face at her words and take in the sweet way she’s looking at me. Men would go off to war and die, all for the chance to protect that face. I pull her to me and take her mouth. Five minutes. Five minutes until we get to her apartment and then I’m fucking her brains out.

  My cell phone rings in my pocket and I pull away from Ana after dragging my tongue against hers one last time. I look at my phone. When I see Bruno’s number, I know I’m in trouble.

  “Yeah?” I grunt, answering it.

  “Boss, we got problems.”

  “I’m getting fucking tired of hearing that.”

  “The warehouse was just broken into.”

  “What happened to the guards?” I growl, anger rolling through me.

  “Two dead. Four unconscious.”

  My hand tightens up on the phone. I’d like to throw the damn thing. “Who are the two who died?”

  “Ivan and Reese.”

  “Fuck,” I groan, holding my head down. “Have you told their families?”

  “No, boss. I just called the rest of the cleanup crew out and called you.”

  “Any idea who did it?”

  “They were gone when we got here, but, boss…”

  “Spit it out, Bruno, what did the cameras show?”

  “One of the security cameras, the new one we put in across the street, showed Banks.”

  “I’ll be there in five. I want the cleaning crew called out and I’ll go talk to Ivan’s wife. Reese didn’t have anyone but his mother. She’s still in that nursing home. I’ll go there tomorrow. Keep a lock on this shit. The last thing these ladies need to hear is about their men before I can talk to them.”

  “You got it,” Bruno says and I hang up.

  I turn to look at Ana and worry is etched all over her face.

  “I take it our plans have changed,” she says as the car comes to a stop.

  “I’m sorry, Ana. I can’t.”

  “It’s okay, Roman. Go do what you have to do. I’ll be here when you get back,” she tells me as Robert opens the door.

  I cup her face in my hand. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Her hand moves over my wrist that is resting on her collarbone. She squeezes it, encouragingly. “Someone died?” she questions, and I fight against my need to reassure her. I can’t trust anyone—especially a woman—with my business, no matter how the look in her eyes makes me want to trust her.

  “Two of my men,” I answer, compromising. Even giving her that much makes me want to kick my ass.

  Ana doesn’t push me, however. She leans up and kisses me lightly on the cheek, and then stretches up to whisper in my ear. “Be safe, Daddy.”

  The whispered words make me want to smile. I would if I didn’t know what was waiting for me. I watch as she slides out of the car. It’s not until I’m ten minutes down the road that I realize I didn’t walk her to her door and make sure she was safe. I’ve never felt the urge to before, but I vow that will never happen again. Ana’s mine. I’m keeping her.

  I lean against the door when I make it inside. My emotions are all over the place. Being near Roman makes me forget what I’m really here for. That’s dangerous. It’s also extremely stupid. Roman’s a job. I’m here to find evidence on him and save my brother. It’s that simple. The rest is just static. I can’t allow it to get to me. I can’t allow Roman to get to me. After giving myself a pep talk, I start walking up the stairs to my apartment when a hand reaches out and grabs me from behind. I scream before I can stop myself and years of training takes over. I step into my attacker, deliver an elbow back into his solar plexus. I hear a male grunt and I reach behind my head and wrap my arms around my attacker’s neck, flipping him over my shoulder. He lands with a thud, groaning and still holding his stomach.

  “Told you not to sneak up on her, rookie,” I hear Paul say from my left.

  The adrenaline is still surging through me, but that’s when I can recognize the guy on the floor as one of the main officers who work underneath Paul.

  “What the hell are you two doing here? Are you trying to blow my cover?”

  “Gee, Ana, it’s not like we planned on you bringing that slime back home with you. I told you, kid, you’re skating on thin ice here.”

  “Back off, Paul. I’m doing what I have to do to make sure my brother survives this shit.”

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night,” the man on the floor wheezes as he gets up. I instantly want
to knock him back down.

  “What do you want? You do realize Roman could be having me watched?”

  “You’re safe. We’ve cleared all the security.”

  “Whatever. Tell me what you did. Before we got here, Roman got a call that something had happened. He mention deaths. Why did he mention deaths, Paul?”

  “We raided the warehouse. There were more guards there than we anticipated. They surprised a few of our men. It had to be done.”

  “No, it didn’t. Why are you doing that? I thought the reason I’m undercover is so we can know what property to check into and not do stupid shit and get people killed. People like my brother!”

  “I thought that was the reason you were here too, Ana. But it seems to me the reason is all about you fucking the enemy now.”

  “You need to step back, Paul. I’m doing what I have to do to take care of my brother and do my job. You may not like it, but you better damn well respect me and keep your judgments to yourself,” I growl, having enough of the shit he keeps dishing out. It may be frowned on, but if I was a male officer, it wouldn’t even be a question. He’d be patting me on the back. “I am doing my job, and if you would just let me work and give me time, then maybe we wouldn’t have to kill innocent people!”

  “They’re not innocent, Ana. They’re felons. Scum of the earth that are supplying drugs to—”

  “They are human beings and one of them had a wife and a mother. Last I checked, our job was to protect and serve, not kill and leave lying and shrug it off.”

  “If you’re done being on your high horse, I don’t have much time here.”

  My stomach churns with the look on Paul’s face. Why had I never noticed this side of him before? Something about his whole attitude makes me feel like my skin is crawling. Something is just… off.

  “Say it,” I tell him, just wanting him to leave. He hands me a small packet of white powder. I look at it like it’s a snake, one that’s about to bite me and pump my body full of poison. “What the fuck is this?”

  “Coke.”

  I blanch, physically jarred from his answer, even if I knew what it was. “Why are you giving this to me?” I whisper, that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach only getting worse.

  “You need to plant that on Anthes.”

  “Plant? What are you talking about?”

  “The fucking weasel keeps covering his tracks and he slips through every fucking trap we set. We get him on possession, he’ll get out, but it will give us all the ammo we need to get a judge to give the okay to take a fine-tooth comb to his businesses and anything else. It will give us time to sweep in and tear apart his business piece by piece.”

  “Paul, that’s … what you’re asking me to do …”

  “Before you go all moral, that’s just enough to cap him for possession. It’s enough to get our fucking foot in the door. It will save your brother. The quicker we get Anthes locked up, the quicker we can find your brother.”

  “But…” I try and argue, but my tongue feeling too heavy for my mouth and refuses to form words. My heart is beating erratically and I am about two steps away from a panic attack.

  “Your brother is running out of time, Ana. Do you really want to be the reason for his death?” he asks, then motions to the guy with him. They leave me standing there looking like I was just in a train wreck and holding an eight ball of coke and wondering how the fuck I got here.

  I jerk awake in bed and reaching for the pistol I keep under my pillow. I grab the butt of the grip, wrapping my fingers around it, when a large hand clamps down making it so I can’t move.

  “Jesus Christ, Ana. You keep a gun under your fucking pillow?”

  I go deathly still in the dark of my bedroom. “Roman?”

  “Who the fuck else would it be getting into your bed at three in the morning?” he asks, taking the gun away from me and placing it on my nightstand.

  That’s a good question. “Roman? How are you in my bed? You don’t have a key. You gave me a heart attack!”

  “I could tell by the way you were about to shoot me. Motherfucker, what the hell has happened to you in the past that you sleep with a gun under your pillow?”

  That’s a question I’m not about to answer. “Will you tell me how you got in?” I ask instead, my eyes following his body and enjoying the view. Roman is probably the sexiest man I’ve ever met in my life. Roman without a shirt is deadly. He might be covered up too, but shivers run through me when I realize he’s probably completely naked and in my bed.

  “Pet, you’ll find there’s not much I can’t do when I want it. And I think we’ve established that I want you. Now let’s get back to the question at hand. Why do you sleep with a gun under your pillow?” he asks, and I try to ignore the distraction of a naked Roman to concentrate on our conversation.

  “I’m a single woman alone in the city,” I compromise. It sounds plausible? Right?

  “If I get my hands on your brother, I may choke the life out of him for leaving you in the position where you think you need a gun to protect yourself.”

  I listen to him and there’s a lot to think about in that one sentence. Most of all, it sounds like he hasn’t killed my brother. Maybe it’s not him that has Allen at all. Could the informant have been wrong? On the heels of that thought is the warm feeling I get inside at the fact that Roman is concerned about me. No one ever has been, except Paul … and now I wonder if he ever really was. If we had the relationship I thought we had, would he have put me in the situation I am in right now? The Paul I had created in my mind would have never done anything underhanded.

  I push thoughts of Paul out of my head. I can’t deal with that right now. I have the coke locked in a firebox under my bed. Fuck if I know what I’m going to do. As I look at Roman now and see how tired and upset he looks, pain squeezes my heart.

  “You had a bad night,” I tell him. It’s not a question; the truth of it is written all over his face.

  “Yeah, pet. It was a bad night.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “There’s a reason I don’t do relationships, Ana. You get what I do, everything I am. It’s not a normal nine-to-five, nor is it what most people could accept. I have my own laws, my own code…”

  “Roman, everyone has the same laws.”

  “No, pet. They don’t. But it doesn’t concern you.”

  “If we’re dating…”

  “I told you, I don’t—”

  “Whatever we’re doing, we seem to be heading in a direction where—”

  “Where we’re going to fuck over and over?”

  I smile, despite the gravity of the situation facing me. I feel like a fraud, even as a larger part of me wants to believe that I’m having this conversation because somehow I’ll get to keep Roman. I think I really want to keep him.

  “Freak. I was going to say it looks like we may be spending more time together.”

  “Oh yeah, definitely spending more time together.”

  I shake my head at him. “Roman, I’m serious. If we keep seeing each other, your life and choices will affect me. Don’t you think I need to know more? To prepare myself, if nothing else?”

  “We’re definitely going to keep seeing each other, Ana,” he says, cupping the side of my face. He seems to do that a lot, and I’m not going to lie. Every time he does, a small piece of the distance I try to keep between us chips away. “And nothing I do will ever touch you, pet. I’m starting to realize you aren’t used to having a real man in your life, but you’re mine,” he says and the words vibrate through in a way that causes every single female part inside of me to clench in pleasure. Can you orgasm without any kind of sex? “I’ve claimed you and I will protect you from everything, including myself. Nothing will touch you.”

  Wow. If only he could, but he can’t. He has no idea who I am, and he thinks I don’t know anything about him. Our relationship, or whatever this is, has all been built on a house of cards and I’m the dealer. What will Roman do w
hen he finds out he’s being played?

  I bring my hand up to cover his and pull it to my lips to kiss his palm. “It’s too late to be having this type of conversation and you look worn out. Let’s get some rest and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow,” I urge him. I really can’t handle any more heart-to-heart tonight.

  “Ana, I’ve been wanting you under me all night. If you think I’m going to be satisfied with just sleep, you’re dreaming.”

  “Noted. But first, we need to make you less tense.”

  “Sex does that.”

  “So does a backrub.”

  “A backrub?”

  “You sound doubtful, but these hands,” I tell him, holding my hands up and cracking my knuckles. “These hands are miracle workers.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  “Completely. Now lay down on your stomach,” I order him, getting up from the bed to grab a bottle of lotion. I make note to go shopping tomorrow to get some massage oil, preferably heated. It wasn’t something I foresaw me needing before now. I go to the dresser, finding the lotion. I stop before I make it back to the bed. Roman is lying on his stomach, his head turned to watch me. He has the strangest look on his face. “What?” I ask, wondering if I’ve given myself away. Could I have pushed too much? Does he suspect something?

  “Pet, are those … unicorns with rainbows coming out of their ass … on your pajamas?”

  “Um … maybe?”

  He keeps staring at me, and I’m blushing like crazy. I don’t need to see my face to know I am.

  “Have I mentioned how you might be the first woman to surprise me? And you seem to do it constantly.” He means that as compliment, I know he does, but the guilt that swamps me makes it impossible to respond. Instead, I clear my throat and try to offer a weak smile. I place some lotion on my hands and rub them together to warm up the cold cream, then I start working it into his lower back. Carefully, I make my way up his back, applying pressure on the tense muscles beneath. “That feels so good, pet. You might be magic.”

  “Told you,” I whisper, my heart feeling heavy as I’m swamped with so many different emotions that I’m having trouble functioning. We continue like that for a few more minutes until I finally gather up the courage to ask Roman a question that I really need the answer to. “Roman? What happened to the men you were talking about earlier? How did they die?”