by Parker, Ali
“Um, is this some kind of payback?” I asked. “Are you planning on ditching me?”
She smiled and shut off the car, indicating we were staying. “No, this is dinner. I’m not paying you back for anything, nor do I need to.”
I looked around the area once again. I looked at the building with the flat roof and rather unappealing appearance. The bars on the windows really gave it that ghetto-chic look. “Is it safe? I mean to get out?”
“If you mean, are we going to get shot or shanked, the chances are fifty-fifty. Just don’t glare at anyone and we should be okay.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I asked. “What the hell are you up to?”
She laughed and took off her seatbelt. “Relax. It only looks rough. It’s fine. I come here all the time. I have no bullet holes in me yet. This is the best place to get tacos. Real tacos with homemade everything. It only looks scary. That’s part of the charm. It keeps the riffraff away.”
I was going to have to trust her. Plus, what man could resist tacos? I was starving and some authentic Mexican food was too good to pass up. “The riffraff?” I looked at the men still eyeballing us.
“Yes, the tourists and those annoying little manbun men,” she said. “You are going to be just fine. No one is going to maul you.”
“Fine, but for the record, I like my body the way it is. I’m not interested in extra holes being added.”
“Me too,” she shot back before she realized she was flirting with me. “I like your body just as it is.” She looked at me, her eyes roaming over my body before reaching my heated gaze again. She was teasing me.
I was on the verge of pulling her into the backseat and showing her exactly how much I liked her body. There is hope.
I got out of the car, quickly pulled off my tie, and tossed it in the seat before closing the door. I felt really overdressed. Evie’s tight dress was attracting a lot of attention. The men were staring at her like she was on the menu. I wasn’t interested in getting into a brawl, but I shot the men a glare anyway. One of them smirked before turning back to his buddies.
“You have actually eaten here before?” I asked in a low voice.
“Plenty of times. I was brought here by a client a couple of years ago. I’ve been hooked ever since.”
The smell of spices, the kind that made my eyes water a little, was a little overwhelming as we stepped inside the small building. It was painted the ugliest color of green with orange trim. I found it to be hideous, but it gave the place a very authentic feel.
I stood back while Evie ordered our meals. She spoke Spanish apparently and had an entire conversation with an older man I suspected was the owner. That was new. It wasn’t long before she was carrying two sodas and moving to sit at a table inside. I was on high alert. I kept scanning the area, waiting to see a gun flash at me.
“This is different,” I murmured.
“You should feel privileged I brought you here,” she said with a grin. “I never bring anyone here. It’s my secret. I take tacos very seriously.”
It was a little nugget of information about her that I didn’t have before. “I guess you do if you are willing to come all the way over here. Do you come here by yourself?”
“All the time,” she said with a grin.
A few minutes later, the short round man she had been talking to at the register delivered a tray filled with foil-wrapped tacos.
“Gracias, amiga,” he said with a nod of his head. He gave me a look. It was the kind of look I would expect to get from a father, warning me to treat his daughter right or else. I offered a very small smile in return, hoping he didn’t decide to kill me.
“I promise you are going to love it,” she said when I looked at the assortment of food that was delivered to our table.
“I like tacos,” I said.
“These are not just tacos. These are so good, you will never want another taco from some other place again. Manny’s tacos are the bomb.”
I chuckled, taking my first tentative bite. The meat was moist and flavorful. There was a kick of heat but not to the point I needed to guzzle a gallon of milk. “Good,” I said with a full mouth. “Very good.”
“Told you,” she said with a grin. She wiped her mouth and took a drink before looking directly into my eyes. “Can you tell me what happened between you and my dad?”
I groaned. “He didn’t tell you?”
“No, not really.”
I had nothing to hide. I really didn’t feel like I’d done anything wrong. “As he said, I took his class. I was a senior and it was the last semester. I aced his class—well, up until the final paper. He had a reputation for being really smart and stuff but kind of a dick.”
She frowned. “Really?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to talk shit about your dad, but I think your dad at home is very different from your dad at school. Have you ever been in his class?”
“No. I went to a different school.”
“He’s smart, really smart, and he knows his shit, but he’s dated.”
She laughed. “Dated?”
“He can’t see the future. He doesn’t want to see the future. We clashed. I came up with the idea for the design for my ships while I was in school. He failed my paper because he didn’t like it. We got into a rather heated discussion that last day, with him saying some pretty fucked-up things. I was a student. I was a good student and he hated me.”
She was shaking her head. “It’s hard for me to think of him like that. I suppose it shouldn’t be that difficult. He can be kind of abrupt and abrasive.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, you think?”
“He is very smart and tends to kind of speak before he runs his thoughts through a filter.”
“Unlike you,” I commented. “You are always so kind when you speak. I think I’m still grappling with the idea you two are related.”
She grinned before taking another bite. “I get that a lot.”
“Your dad pretty much hated me from the moment I walked through the door of his class that first day. He took one look at me and sized me up.”
She wrinkled her nose as if she didn’t believe me. “Really? Did you flip him off or something?”
I smiled, shrugging a shoulder. “I am sure I was a little cocky back then. Guys like your dad don’t like guys like me. My hair’s too long. I dress sloppily, so I’ve been told. I’m tall and big and it apparently grates on their nerves.”
“I get that,” she said. “Women can be the same way when they see a beautiful woman. They make assumptions about her. My best friend Nelle is a total knockout. Even I assumed she would be a snob, but she is the coolest chick I know.”
I was surprised she didn’t relate to the feeling. She was fucking gorgeous. “Your dad, Marsh, as I called him on my good days, was convinced we were all cogs in a wheel. He was educating the future generation with the tools of the past. He wanted us to keep doing what has always been done. We were all just supposed to slide into the next spot when someone retired. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t fit the mold. I couldn’t conform to the status quo.”
“You rebel!” she teased.
“I suppose I am.”
She smiled, her blue eyes sparkling as she looked at me. “I guess every generation needs a few people like you or we would never move forward. I think it’s cool. I’m a conformer. I slid right into my designated spot in the system and I don’t mind a bit.”
“But you make your spot in the system awesome. You make people happy. You are changing lives and giving people memories they will never forget. I didn’t want to work day in and day out sitting behind some desk and doing the same thing that had been done a million times before. Just thinking about it makes me anxious.”
“Thank you.”
I finished off my second taco and reached for the third. “What did your dad say after I left?”
The look on her face told me it wasn’t good. “I think you figured out he doesn’t much care for you.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that from him.”
“He suggested—no, demanded—I not have anything to do with you.”
“I’m shocked,” I said with heavy sarcasm.
She finished her taco before taking a long drink. She was giving me that look. I knew that look. It was the look of desire. Part of me had to wonder if it was the rebellious side of her coming out to play. “He basically gave me an ultimatum. You or him.”
I felt like a gauntlet had been thrown down. What could a man do when he was challenged? He rose to the challenge. “I like that dress,” I replied.
She looked down at her chest and then back at me. “Thank you.”
“Got any plans?”
She slowly shook her head. “Nope.”
“Want to go back to my place?”
She held my gaze. “I do.”
I quickly dropped the remainder of my final taco on the foil wrapper. “Let’s go.”
She got up. I followed her out to her car. Neither of us spoke as she drove back to my place. The tension in the car was thick. I was halfway to being rock hard just thinking about stripping the dress off her. My ears were tuned to her breathing. Every breath she took reminded me of the soft gasps she had made when I was buried deep inside her wet heat the first time.
I wanted it again.
She parked her car. Both of us bailed out like we were in a race. Both of us were desperate for the other. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. I reached for her, grabbing her around the waist and yanking her body against mine so hard it knocked the breath from her.
Her mouth opened wide, her hands moving through my hair as she ravished me. I kept walking toward the front door with her body glued to mine. One arm acted as a band around her, holding her against me as I used my other hand to unlock the door.
I had barely pushed the heavy door open before she was attacking the button on my pants with a fierceness that belied everything I knew about the gentle woman. I felt the button pop open and had a feeling it was going to be a case of another missing button. The woman could be very impatient.
I managed to kick the door closed behind me at the same time she pushed my pants down. Clearly, we weren’t going to make it upstairs to my bedroom. Not for the first round anyway.
Chapter 26
Evie
I did not feel like myself. I felt crazed. Wild. Unhinged.
I needed him, and I had never needed anything so desperately in all my life. I couldn’t get him naked fast enough. My hands were furiously pushing down his pants, freeing his erection that was slightly hidden by his shirttails. His shoes were in the way, keeping me from getting the pants all the way off.
I dropped to my knees and helped him. While he kicked off the shoes, I yanked the pants off. When I looked up at him, there was a shift deep inside me. He was staring down at me with those golden eyes, his need matching my own. My eyes dropped and I found myself face to face with what I craved most. I immediately reached for his dick, engorged and straining under the shirt.
My hand wrapped around him, pulling a sharp inhale of breath from him. I looked up and saw the hunger in his eyes. His jaw was clenched, and his nostrils flared. He was just as desperate for me as I was for him. My tongue lashed out, lapping over the round, swollen head. He cursed under his breath, his fingers threading into my hair.
I leaned forward, swallowing his length until he was scraping over the back of my throat. I drank from him. I sucked on him, my cheeks indenting with the force of my suction. I couldn’t get enough of him. I pulled him deeper into my throat. His fingers massaged my scalp, pulling me against him.
“Fuck, I can’t,” he roared and fell to his knees, pulling himself from my mouth. A popping sound echoed around the expansive entryway.
I was shaking as he pulled me against him and kissed me. His tongue shoved into my mouth, replacing the dick I had just been enjoying.
His hands reached behind me and pulled the zipper down. He shoved the dress down my shoulders until my torso was exposed. I leaned forward, rubbing my breasts against his chest. The lace scratched over my hard nipples. I rubbed harder, needing more friction.
It wasn’t enough. I reached for his shirt and decided he could afford another. I yanked it open, sending buttons flying. I shoved it down his shoulders, pinning his arms at his sides. He growled low in his throat, struggling to get his arms free. I held them down while my mouth moved to his neck. I slid my tongue over his collarbone and bent lower to suck on his chest.
His strength was no match for mine. His arms were freed with one powerful jerk. In a flash, he had me flat on my back, the cool tile pressing against my back. He grabbed the dress and yanked it over my hips. My chest heaved up and down as he looked down at me. The matching lacy black panties and bra were new, a treat from one of the online lingerie stores.
The way he was looking at me told me they were worth every penny.
“How much do you like these panties?” he asked without looking at me. His gaze was locked on the thin black triangle of lace covering my heated core.
I looked down at my body. I wasn’t sure what he was asking.
I didn’t have to wonder for long. There was a tug, followed by another, and then they were torn from my body. I sucked in a breath, and the cool air from the AC vent washed over my bare flesh. It was a stark contradiction to the heat that was clinging to my skin.
With zero gentleness, he pushed one leg, opening me to his view. His hand stroked up my inner thigh, one finger parting my folds before pushing in. “I fucking knew it,” he hissed.
My back arched, pulling the finger in deeper. “Knew?” I managed to get out.
“You’re wet. You’re swollen. I bet you are on the edge.”
I moaned, closing my eyes to block some of the sensory overload I felt. I couldn’t look at him. Looking at him was too much. He was too hot. Watching him watch himself slide his finger in and out of me was beyond erotic. I felt a million pinpricks as my body wound tighter. “Oh god,” I cried out.
The orgasm broke free. My body arched as he pushed a second finger inside, stretching and filling me. “More,” he shouted at me.
My eyes popped open. He was intently staring at me, his fingers working in and out of my body, stroking over the sensitive nub and sending me higher and higher. My body clenched, clamping down on the fingers as sensual sounds of ecstasy escaped my lips.
“That’s it,” he coaxed. “God damn, I like to watch you come.”
I whimpered as the grip of the orgasm relaxed, allowing me to finally breathe again. It didn’t last long. He was sliding over my body and pushing the cock I had just had my mouth on inside me. Unlike the first time, my body was much more receptive to his invasion. He slid inside, pausing only briefly before he began to jackhammer inside me.
I slid across the smooth surface of the floor with every thrust of his hips. “Fuck,” he angrily growled before pulling out of me. He jerked me forward, manhandling me until I was on all fours in front of him.
My body ignored the sharp pain of the hard surface beneath my knees. I felt no pain as he once again slid his body inside mine. I felt my breasts fall forward. He had released my bra and was already reaching around to hold one in his hand as he began to pound inside me. He held my hip, keeping me steady as he continued to fuck me.
I didn’t feel like myself. It was like I was having an out-of-body experience. Me on all fours in the entryway of his house was not what I did—except with him. I pushed backward with my hands, ramming him deeper inside me.
“You little vixen,” he hissed.
I felt naughty, daring. I crawled away from him before turning to look at him over my shoulder. He was on his knees, a shocked yet slightly angry expression on his face. I got to my feet and waggled my finger at him.
He sprang to his feet, nearly knocking me on my ass with the force of him grabbing me.
“I’m so not done with you yet,” he whispered before lifting me and carrying me out of the entryway and t
o one of the couches that faced the massive bank of windows. He dropped me to my feet in front of him before turning me around once again. “Bend. Now.”
He was very bossy. I loved it.
“Like this?” I asked as I put my hands on the back of the couch and bent forward. I gave my ass a little shake for good measure.
He swatted my ass before soothing the spot with his fingertips. “Just like this,” he said in a husky voice.
One knee nudged my legs open. I felt the back of his knuckles scrape over my flesh as he guided himself inside me once again. I dropped my head forward, letting him have his way with my body. He was much slower and far more purposeful with his strokes.
I could feel the tension vibrating through his body directly into mine. I moaned, rolling my head back and forth between my shoulders. It was too good. I never wanted to stop. “More,” I heard the word cross my lips.
“Not yet,” he rasped on a strained breath.
“I need to,” I whimpered. I could feel the next orgasm building. I could feel the familiar coiling low in my belly.
“Not. Fucking. Yet.”
The more he ordered me not to, the more I wanted it. The more my body craved the orgasm. I couldn’t stop it. I could no more stop what was happening than I could stop a speeding bullet with my hand. He knew it. He was doing it on purpose.
“Xander,” I cried. I completely surrendered to him. I had never fully surrendered to any other man. He demanded it. I willingly gave it.
“Again!” he shouted. “Say my name!”
“Xander!” I cried as my world broke apart. It was a full-body meltdown. Every muscle, every nerve ending was on fire in the best way possible.
“God dammit,” he hissed. “Fuck me. You turn me inside out.”
I couldn’t reply with words. I could only answer with my body. I was caught up in a sea of ecstasy and I didn’t want to leave it. I felt him explode inside me. He shouted out with his release. His body rocked forward, pushing me against the couch. I slumped forward, my head resting against the soft couch with him still seated inside me.