Tough as Steele

by Elizabeth Knox

  Mason refilled my drink, yet again. “You’re trying to get me drunk tonight Mase!”

  “Oh, no, Ashley would tear me a new one for that. She may be my granddaughter, but I’m terrified of that lass.” Ashley would, especially if she knew her Pop had been the one refilling my drinks all night long.

  I laughed at his response. “You’re terrified, and yet she doesn’t even phase me, and which one of us is the strong Irish man again?”

  “You don’t know her like I do, lassie. She once, in broad daylight, broke a Barbie doll in half, and then lit it on fire.” I laughed hysterically at that one.

  “You can’t be serious; I’m sure Ashley has done much worse than that.”

  Mason laughed on, telling me story after story about Ashley. If she was as temper filled and feisty as she was now, I knew she must've been that way since birth. She must’ve come out of the womb kicking and screaming. By the time he was finished, I knew exactly why he was terrified of her.

  It was a little past three in the morning, Logan still sitting next to me, and he’d been listening intently to the stories as well. We were two of the only people left in the bar. It didn’t close until four, and I had a feeling we’d both be here until then. “I have to admit, I’m surprised you’re still here. Thought you’d be gone by now,” I cocked an eyebrow, speaking to Logan. His gaze met with mine, his hazel eyes staring back at me.

  “Funny, I thought the same of you.” Hmm. I’m intrigued.

  “Why do you stay so late?” I asked, and he took a sip of his whiskey, turning towards me.

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “Wrong; I’m the one asking the questions right now.”

  “A woman interrogating me, and I don’t even know her name.” He cracked a smile, waiting for my response, running his hand along his stubble surrounding his jaw. I really couldn’t keep my eyes off him.

  “I would hardly call this interrogating, but I’m Brooklyn.” I extended a hand. He met his with mine and shook, firmly.

  “Why are you still here, Brooklyn?” His eyebrow raised as he turned back, taking another sip of whiskey.

  “Because.” I didn’t really have an answer prepared.

  “Because you want to fuck me?” He glanced over to me, and I could feel the heat rising in my face, almost choking on my drink. Dammit, now all I could think about was being under him as he rammed into me. I wouldn’t mind it, he looked delicious.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.” He chuckled. I didn’t realize I didn’t respond to him.

  “I didn’t say yes.” I rolled my eyes, and he took another sip of whiskey.

  “You didn’t deny it either.”

  Fuck.

  He was right, wasn't he?

  He probably thought I was a little slut. Did I really mind, though?

  A few moments passed by, just complete silence as the sexual tension between us began to build, our breathing the only sounds besides the clacking of dishes we could hear in the kitchen.

  “B, is that you?” I knew the voice before I turned, horror shuddering through my body. It couldn’t get any worse. It couldn’t.

  “Well shit, it is!” I reached over the bar, grabbing a bottle of vodka, pouring it in my martini glass and took a giant gulp. I was gonna need it, Logan staring at me questionably from the corner of his eye. I turned, facing the devil.

  “Bryce.” I clenched my teeth together as I said his name, fearing I’d bite my tongue off if I didn’t keep my mouth shut. He walked up to me, his eyes glossed over. He was high. “B, when you’d get back in town?”

  “A while back, not that I’d share that with you though.” I rolled my eyes at him. He disgusted me, terrified me, made me feel weak, little. I felt little.

  “Want to get out of here, have some fun? I’ve got something with your name on it.” I didn’t smile at him, and I didn’t respond. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction; he stole four years of my life, and I almost died because of him. I could’ve died. I would’ve died if it wasn’t for Alfred. That’s why I agreed to the dinners, to the events, because without him, I’d be six feet under, right next to Mom.

  “Come on Suga’, I’ve got a bag for you, the coke just came in. Tried some last night, it’s amazing.”

  I turned around, not being able to hold it in. He’s threatening my sobriety, my addiction. “Why don’t you fucking get it? I don’t want anything, anything that you have to offer. Do yourself a favor and leave. Mason is gonna shoot you when he sees you anyway.” His hand reached out, grabbing my forearm, tightly squeezing.

  “Let go of me,” I hissed, angrily trying to rip my arm out of his strong grip.

  “C’mon baby, let’s have some fun.” He tugged at me.

  Logan calmly stood. “Let go of the lady.”

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  “The man you don’t want to fuck with.” Before I could even react, Logan’s arm reared up, and he clocked him right in the nose, blood spurting. He flew back, putting his hands to his face.

  “Daddy hire you a body guard, B?” He smiled, some of the blood starting to drip into his mouth, staining his already grotesque smile, knowing that bringing up my father would irritate me. “Fuck off, Bryce.”

  “He did, good old Hamilton, protecting his prized possession.” He chuckled, laughing at me. Being a Hamilton, ugh. I’m not a Hamilton; I’m Brooklyn Harper.

  Mason came from the back, his shotgun in tow.

  “Get outta here lad, before your face is splashed all over my fuckin’ bar.” Bryce didn’t take Mase’s threat lightly and slowly walked out of the bar, his hands up in surrender. I sighed. That was the last thing I needed tonight.

  “Thanks, Mase.”

  “No problem, lassie. Better get home.” I should, I needed to get home. I turned to thank Logan, who was nowhere to be seen.

  “Thanks, for the….” I trailed off, scooting off the stool, walking towards the door, spotting Logan out of the corner of my eye. I picked up my pace, trying to catch up with his long strides. He was taller than I thought. He stopped in front of an elevator, his back turned to me. I caught up with him, and I yanked on his suit jacket.

  “Logan, I wanted to-” Instead of being able to finish what I was saying I was met with his lips, on mine, grazing over me. His tongue entered my mouth, and I did the same. His hand was on the small of my back, his other lifting me up. I wrapped legs around him, my arms holding onto his shoulders.

  He pulled away, his eyes staring into mine. “If you don’t want this, you need to tell me now.”

  I didn’t say a thing, instead, I brought his lips down to mine. He kissed back fiercely. The elevator door opened, he moved us inside, clicking a button, pressing my back against the glass. His hands ventured further down my body, caressing my torso, stopping over my breasts, squeezing my hardened nipples.

  “Oh,” I moaned into his mouth, he squeezed harder, making me want to scream out in pleasure. His mouth pulled away from my mine, going to my neck, biting and pulling on my skin. I was going to have some nasty hickeys tomorrow. Thank God for my makeup line.

  He stuck a key into a slot on the wall, and the elevator beeped. The doors opened, and he pulled the key back out, shoving it in his pocket and pulling me back into his arms. The door closed behind us as we entered an apartment, which must have been his. He let me down, walking around me, pulling his suit jacket off, placing it on his kitchen island. Damn, he looked hot. I could lick every inch of him.

  Maybe I would, if this encounter went the way I wanted it to.

  He came to me, pushing my body against the wall, devouring my mouth with his own. He slowly slid my dress off, leaving me in just a black thong and heels.

  “Your turn,” I breathed against his mouth. I pulled on his tie, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, yanking it off him, pulling at his pants until they hit the floor. It left him in a tie, boxers, and shoes. Logan lifted me up, putting his mouth over my breast, carrying me into a room and throwing me down on a bed. I co
uld feel another mark being sucked into the skin of my breast.

  He smirked at me, pulling the tie over his head and removing his shoes so that he was left with just boxers. He towered over me, his lips grazing down from my neck to my pussy with such light touches they made me shiver every few seconds. He yanked at the thong with his teeth, pulling it past my knees until it was through my ankles, and I was bare to him. I spread my legs eagerly, giving him space to slide between as his mouth kissed up my legs, until he was at my thighs, moving to my pussy and sucking my clit into his mouth “Oh, God! Keep doing that!” I pleaded with him, my chest heaving.

  I felt him chuckle and mumble something before I heard it. I didn’t know what it was. His mouth came over mine, pulling me back to him. He nipped at my bottom lip, and I whined, wishing his lips were back on my pussy. I pulled away, it shocked me, and turned me on even more. He yanked something out of his nightstand, a condom, ripping the package, sliding it down on his cock as I watched with lust filled eyes.

  Logan’s arms went around me, turning me to where I was on my knees, my ass facing him. I shook my hips to entice him. His fingers slid into my entrance, my pussy clenching around him.

  “Logan,” I whimpered, and he chuckled at my response.

  “Been a while?”

  “You have no idea,” I breathed, exasperated. His fingers retreated. His cock nudged at my entrance, and before I could even beg, he was inside me, pounding in and out of me. Every time he slammed home he was hitting my G-spot, making me clench and shudder around him.

  “Oh fuck,” I moaned. His hand slid up my back, gripping my hair, pulling, sending even more shockwaves down my spine.

  “It’s like your pussy was made for me,” he groaned, and I didn’t disagree. He was hitting all the right places inside of me. His right hand went around my torso, pulling me back to him as he slammed into me.

  “Jesus Christ!” I moaned, my body starting to shake from the pleasure. He pinched my nipples, biting on my shoulder, pressing soft kisses against my skin. His left hand left my breast, sliding down until it was circling my clit, sending me over the edge, into what I believed was the best orgasm of my entire life.

  ***

  I woke up, the sun shining in from the open window, burning into my eyes. My phone was ringing, so loud, why is it so loud? I rolled over, falling right off the bed.

  “Shit,” I muttered, getting up. The bed next to me was empty, but from how messy it was, I knew another person had been in there.

  So that wasn’t an amazing sex dream…damn.

  I walked around naked, trying to find my phone. It was on the floor at the end of the bed, Ashley’s name plastered at the top. The timestamp reading 8:35.

  Fuck.

  “Hey,” I whispered, trying to act as nonchalantly as possible.

  “Hey, where the fuck are you?” Ashley cut right to the chase, as always.

  “Um, I’m at the Presidential’s. Right above Mason’s.”

  “Why are you there?” She wasn’t pissed yet, but I could feel it coming.

  “I had a nightcap, where are you?” She was cursing in the background as I finally was able to get my dress, shoes and clutch. I couldn’t find my thong, but fuck it. I slid my dress and shoes on, darting out the door.

  “I’m at your fucking house, go down to level 5, I’m 54 B. The code is 303696, get in there, get showered and I’ll see you in 30. Be ready Brook. This is serious.”

  I ran down the elevator, rushing to Ashley’s apartment, stripping everything, showering, blow dried my hair and did my makeup all before she got there. That had to be a record, especially for me. The scowl she gave me as she walked into her apartment was enough to make me as scared as she makes everyone else feel.

  “Here.” She tossed me a bag with a look of disgust on her face, I opened it, finding a dark purple bandage dress that went down to the ankles with a pair of black heels. “Is this appropriate for a business meeting?”

  “As appropriate as I could find in 3 minutes in your closet. Get changed.”

  I was going to be dressed very sexy for this meeting, but maybe I could use it to my advantage. I slid it on, changing quickly and we were out the door, on our way to Steele Enterprises.

  Chapter 4

  Logan

  That little minx snuck out of my apartment this morning. I was pissed when I found that she wasn’t there, in my bed where she should’ve been. I’d only left the bed about half an hour before I found that she was missing. I was going to make us a nice breakfast to share, so we could talk now that she was sober, and maybe even go for round two after. I’d been pretty damn pissed when I found her side of the bed empty, but I noticed her black thong on the floor. I guess she decided to leave a little souvenir for me? I hadn’t thought I’d ever see her again, that I must’ve been just another one night stand, even though we’d gotten along so well, and my cock fit so well inside of her. Funny how things work out, though, as I’ve got that meeting with her later today. If I hadn’t set up that meeting today at the office, I would’ve gone to Mason’s until I saw her again. I couldn't just leave knowing that I missed out on such a beautiful girl and having her all to myself.

  I’d stoop to that level and have absolutely no shame.

  I’d never been a man to find what I wanted very often, but I’d be damned if I didn’t get it. I was a Steele, and we always got what we wanted. There was never any fighting with that. Even as a child, if there was a toy that I wanted, I never had to beg for long before it was in my grasps.

  The thing was that I wasn't quite done with her yet, and she left in such a damn hurry. I didn’t even get to leave her with something else to remember me by; a little tease she could carry with her for the rest of the day. The good news was that I knew exactly where she was going so fast. She would be meeting me very shortly, only, she had no idea about that.

  I was a sick fucker for the way I was handling this whole thing with Brooklyn. She had no idea I knew anything about her at all, but I knew a lot more than she would like. When I saw her in the bar, I knew who she was, not just because I had seen her at Christian’s club before, but for other reasons as well. Reggie had done his job to get me in touch with her. I knew he would.

  It was so morally wrong, or at least in that gray area of things, but I wanted the girl. I wanted her from the moment I saw her, and I got her by playing a little dirty; by using my connections to my advantage. Now that I knew what it was like to be with her, though, I wanted more, so much more.

  Christian walked into the office. I didn’t even know he was there, and he didn’t look like he had good news for me. And here I was, coming off of a high with a girl I had wanted so badly. What a way to ruin a day.

  "Lo, one of our shipments was raided, the one that was headed up to The Reapers in Montana." That got my fucking attention. That wasn’t good at all.

  "Should I be worried about this?" I asked.

  "Since we use a private shipping company under a false LLC, there’s no way that the feds can trace it back to us, but that doesn’t mean we are outta the woods."

  I nodded, knowing what Christian meant. It eased my mind that we weren’t going to be caught up in some scandal, or worse, but the problem was, it meant we had a leak that needed to be taken care of somewhere. I wasn’t thrilled about that. We’d find this fucking leak, and I’d be the one who took care of it.

  A knock came at the door, and my secretary, Esme, came in. She was allowed to do that, unlike my other employees because she practically raised my brothers and me. I trusted her with absolutely everything. "They're here to see you, Mr. Steele."

  ***

  Brooklyn

  Steele Enterprises was definitely not what I expected when I’d read about it in the papers, the building would put Trump Tower to shame. Huge, Massive, I couldn’t think of the exact words to describe it. Ashley led us past security, into the elevator and pressed level 65; the top floor.

  “Who exactly are we meeting with today?” I asked he
r; she was fiddling with her phone, probably responding to emails.

  “Mr. Steele.” Her voice was stony. I knew she was probably still pissed at me for earlier, but c’mon, get over it.

  “Like Steele Enterprises, Mr. Steele?” I whisper-yelled. She stopped what she was doing. If looks could kill, I would be dead and already six feet under by now.

  “Yes, is that a problem?” She raised her eyebrows, putting her phone in her pocket, ready to fight me.

  “Nope, just a little nervous,” I spluttered, backing away from her slightly. A little nervous didn’t even begin to describe it; I was fucking terrified. This day could change my life forever, in the best way possible, and I prayed to God that it happened.

  The elevator doors opened, and we were exposed to a large floor of white, white everything. White marble, if I had to guess, and it looked like the stuff in Alfred’s bathroom, the black veining lining up with the next slab. It was very beautiful, and did even more to prove how expensive and high end this place must be.

  Ashley walked with me up to the receptionist. “We’re here for Mr. Steele. We have a 10 o’clock appointment.” Ashley tapped away on her phone as she spoke. I found it quite rude not to direct attention to the woman in front of us, but Ashley didn’t really give a shit.

  “Ah, Miss Mason & Miss Harper?” Ashley didn’t respond, so I did.

  “Yes.” The receptionist nodded, smiling back at us.

  “He’s in another meeting, but I’ll take you back to his office, and you both can wait there.”

  “Sounds great,” Ashley said, clearly disinterested, typing away on her phone still. The receptionist took us back along a long corridor, into a corner office which had views of downtown Atlanta, breath-taking views. “He’ll be in soon, make yourselves comfortable.”

  “Oh shit,” I muttered, the fear rising up within me.

  “What?!” Ashley hissed, in a soft whisper.

  “I’m just getting extremely nervous.”

  “Put your big girl knickers on, and deal with it!” she snapped, still attentively staring at her phone. She had never really been good with emotions, or sympathy. I turned around, staring outside the window, at Atlanta. I wondered if he had this office just for the view, you could see everything, or almost everything. I could even see my apartment building from here, Alfred’s office, and his home. I could see everything.