by Cole, Jagger
What the fuck?
She smiles thinly. “You wouldn’t think a contract killer would want to get mixed up with an FBI informant, but what do I know, I’m single.”
“Shocking,” I growl lowly.
She shrugs. “This game is over, Leah. Here.” She hands her a card with her name and number on it. “You have a day to get me something concrete linking Terry and Laura to the operations, or you’re going away, for a long, long time.” She smiles thinly. “Enjoy your date night, kids. And Rourke?” Her dark eyes narrow on me. “Try not to set off anymore ‘firecrackers’. Next time, I’ll call in the cavalry.”
7
Leah
The car hums through the city. But we’re utterly silent. I swallow, trembling as the light from the streetlights glide over us. I turn, eyeing him nervously. He looks pissed. Like, really, really pissed.
“So you’re a fucking FBI informant?!” He finally snaps, aggressively enough that I jump in my seat.
I swallow, looking down. “It’s not what it—”
“Then explain it to me, Leah!” he roars. “Make me see how that’s not exactly what it fucking looks like!”
“I’m not involved, okay!?” I yell back, surprising myself and I think him, too. “I was going over some of Terry’s files on his cloud drive and accidentally found this folder full of stuff about this trafficking thing he and Laura are up to. The FBI must have had a flag on it, because they were at my door almost instantly.”
I suck in a breath.
“Rourke, they strong-armed me. They threatened to throw me under the bus unless I turned spy for them.”
His jaw grinds.
“I am not involved!”
“No shit!” He barks back, shaking his head. “But you should have said something! Like when we were going to meet Laura? I mean for fucks sake, Leah…”
“I’m sorry, okay?!” I blurt. “I was fucking terrified!”
His jaw grinds as he grips the wheel tightly. “I’m a fucking contract killer, Leah! I’m a professional hitman, for fucks sake! It’s not exactly on the list of FBI approved careers!”
“Look, I said I was sorry! Here!” I yank Agent Morales’s card out, rip it in two, and toss it to the floor. “Are you happy?!”
“Let’s just get this shit done with,” he grunts.
My lips curl into a sneer. “You know, I didn’t ask you to fucking kidnap me.”
Rourke bristles, turning to look at me. “That what this was?”
“Me over your fucking shoulder against my will? To your fucking hideout? What the hell would you call that?” I snap.
He glares at me, eyes blazing. And I tremble. We both feel the heat of the memory of what happened in that hideout. I’m still trembling from his mouth on me—touching me like no one else ever has.
The car grows quiet.
“Where are we going?” I finally say quietly, breaking that silence.
“To Laura, to end this.”
“How do you know where—”
“Because I do my homework.” He looks away. “Like I should have done with you.”
The car grows quiet again as we drive through the city.
We park in an alley behind a big building in the downtown financial area. There’s still a bristling tension between us, and it makes my heart wrench. I know I should have been more forthcoming about me being tangled up in all of this. But also, cut me some fucking slack?
Yeah, Rourke is a professional hitman. He’s a hired killer. And in a small way, I’ve started to make peace with that. I’m not letting it cloud the way he makes me feel when he looks at me, or groans into my ear. Or touches me.
But part of me wants to scream at him to try and do the same for me. I’ve never been kidnapped. I’ve never been in a fucking shootout before. I’ve never had to escape down hidden staircases after a hit squad tries to murder me.
I look up at the towering glass and steel building looming above us. “What is this place?”
“This is where we find Laura and end this shit,” Rourke growls.
I want to ask him if he means “this shit with the necklace locked around my neck,” or if he means all of “this shit” including whatever is happening between us. My heart sinks bitterly at the thought.
I know we barely know each other. I know we just met, and by him literally kidnapping me over his shoulder. But I know what I feel around him, and I know it’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.
I know the idea of not having him near me burns.
But I’m silent as Rourke pulls out a keycard with some wires running out of it, connected to a keypad looking thing. He frowns and pushes it into a security card-reader next to a maintenance door in the alley. The keypad in his hand lights up and flickers, and he taps some buttons on it. It beeps, flashes again, and then suddenly the door unlocks with a metallic click.
He pulls it open. But I stop and turn to him. “Rourke…”
“I shouldn’t have said that, before,” he growls. “About doing my homework with you.”
I swallow.
“I know you’re not a part of any of this willingly—not the shit with Laura and her father, and not this current situation. But you are part of it, like it or not.”
“I know,” I whisper. “Rourke—”
“You like the idea of me, Leah,” he growls quietly. He looks away. “You’re caught up in a version of me that I don’t think actually exists—this hero type that you think saved you from Terry back at his office.”
“You did save me—”
“I had a job to do, and a payment that was owed to me. That’s all.”
I hear his words, and they burn. But I also see the way he won’t look at me. I might be young, and inexperienced with any of this. But I know what he’s doing.
“Why are you pushing me away?”
“Because I have to,” he snarls, whirling on me. He groans, his hands gripping my arms as he shoves me back into the wall. And before I know it, he’s slamming his mouth to mine.
I moan, my hands sliding up his forearms as I kiss him back. I whimper into his lips, my body arching from the wall to press eagerly to him. Rourke groans, claiming my mouth with his as a hand threads into the back of my hair.
But then suddenly, he’s pulling away. His eyes blaze as he shakes his head.
“No,” he hisses through clenched teeth.
“Rourke…”
“You have no idea how broken I am, darlin’,” he drawls deeply. “How damaged and how poisonous I am.”
I shake my head, clinging to him. “Rourke, you’re not—”
“Except I am,” he snarls. “You have no idea the death I’ve seen and caused, Leah. The darkness that surges in my fucking veins. I’m a fucking hitman, angel,” he snaps viciously. “I’m a goddamn contract killer. I murder people, Leah. For fucking money! That the hero you think you’re falling for?!”
The tears start to brim in my eyes. “Why are you doing this?” I croak.
“Because I can’t let you near me,” he hisses. His eyes close. His head shakes. “Because you’re so fucking good, and sweet, and innocent.” His eyes open and they level at me. “I’ve done so much fucked up shit in this world. I’m doing this, Leah,” he grunts. “Because I’ve destroyed so much good in this world. And I won’t add you to that list.”
“Rourke!”
“Let’s go.”
He turns and pounds the button for a maintenance elevator. The door slides open, and he storms in. I hesitate, but then I slowly follow him inside. He pushes the button for the penthouse and then pounds in a code. The doors close, and we start to rise.
“Rourke…”
“Leah, please,” he groans tightly.
“I just—”
“Please don’t,” he whispers.
Tears brim my eyes. “Why not?”
“Because if you say another word, I’ll never be able to do what I have to do.”
The tears start to fall as I turn to him. I grab his shi
rt and yank him towards me. His haunting dark eyes fall to mine as my heart crawls into my throat.
“If that’s supposed to be an effective threat, you’re a fucking idiot.”
His jaw ticks. His eyes burn into mine. “Leah—”
“I love you, Rourke,” I manage to whisper right before he yanks me into his arms and slams his mouth to mine.
I moan as he pushes us back until my back hits the wall of the elevator. His hand fumbles behind us, and I feel the elevator stop.
My pulse throbs as he keeps kissing me, his hard body pinning me to the wall. His hands slide to my waist, and my arms go around his neck. I moan when I feel the thick, throbbing bulge between his legs press against me. My skin tingles with need and desire.
I want him, and I want him to have all of me: right here, right now.
“Leah,” he groans.
“Have me,” I gasp as he yanks my skirt up. “Rourke, I want you to—”
“Nothing in this fucking world could pull me away from you right now, darlin,” he groans.
He yanks his shirt off, and then mine. I whimper as my tits press to his rock-hard chest, my aching nipples dragging over his hot skin. He tugs the skirt to my waist, and a hand slips between us.
I’m still not wearing any panties from before.
His fingers stroke my bare, wet slit. I hum I pleasure, my hips pushing into him. He tugs at his belt and then his zipper. His jeans drop, and he shoves his boxers down. I gasp sharply as I feel the huge, thick, pulsing hot heat of his cock spring between my thighs. I look down, and my jaw falls open.
“Oh my God…” I whimper.
Rourke is fucking big. Like the definition of the crude term “hung.” His fat, pulsing cock twitches between my legs, thrumming with a needy energy right against my slit. And I only get wetter when I look at him.
I reach down and curl my fingers around him. I’m not sure what I’m doing, but I start to run my fist back and forth on it. He groans, kissing me deeply.
“I’ve never—”
“You’re mine, darlin,” he hisses. I moan because I know it’s true, and I know I want him more than anything I’ve ever wanted before.
His knee pushes my legs apart. My pulse thuds as he reaches down to take his cock from my small hand into his fist. He runs the swollen head back and forth over my clit, and I whimper. I crush my lips to his eagerly.
“Take me,” I gasp.
“With pleasure, love,” he growls as he pushes the head between my lips.
I cry out as he sinks into me. I’m wetter than I’ve ever been, but he’s so big. I feel him stretch me so deliciously as he fills me like nothing I’ve ever dreamed of. His hands grip me tight as his hips push. Then they move to my ass.
I gasp when he lifts me into him, and my legs curl around his muscled hips. His tongue dances with mine, and he groans into my mouth as he sinks deep. I cry out, clinging to him as pleasure I’ve never imagined hums through my core.
Rourke grunts and rocks his hips. And suddenly, he’s pushing through and sinking his huge dick into my little pussy for the very first time.
“Oh fuck, Rourke!!” I cry out. I kiss him desperately as he drives so deep, I’m sure I can feel him in my stomach. My eyes roll back in pleasure as I feel his pubic bone grind into my clit.
“Yessss…” I moan as he saws out and then drives back in. He groans, sucking on my neck as he starts to slide in and out, fucking me against the elevator wall. His thick cock plunges into me, and I’m so wet that I can feel it running down my thighs and his.
He snarls and starts to pound into me. I cling to him, moaning in desperate pleasure before suddenly, I feel myself start to come. I moan and press my lips to his as the orgasm explodes deep in my core.
He growls, kissing me as he keeps thrusting. One climax trips into another. My nails dig into his shoulders. My thighs quiver and clench around him. I come again, and this time, he groans as he buries every inch deep inside. His big cock throbs, and suddenly I can feel something hot and sticky spilling into me.
“Leah,” he groans, kissing me as I cling to him.
We slow until we’re panting into each other’s mouths. I’m still pinned to the wall by him, but I don’t ever want to be anywhere else.
Slowly, he grins as he gently slides out. He sets me down on the ground and kisses me deeply. I moan into his lips, my whole body tingling with desire.
I’m his. But honestly, I was his the moment he laid eyes on me.
His brow crumples. “Fuck, baby… I was too rough.”
“You weren’t,” I whisper, kissing him gently.
“I… that should have been in a bed. I mean, for your first—”
“It was with you,” I murmur. “That’s all that matters.”
“Fuck, Leah,” he groans. His mouth finds mine again, and he kisses me deeply. I don’t even know how long we stay like that, but slowly, I giggle as I pull away.
“Should we get dressed?”
He chuckles. “Might throw off her negotiations if I roll in there naked.”
I grin and glance down at his very large, still hard cock. “Um, yeah, maybe a bit.”
Rourke laughs, and I realize this is the first time I’ve seen him really smile. I like his smile. He kisses me deeply, and then we both start tugging clothes on as we laugh. He pulls me into his arms and pushes the button for the elevator. Then he turns to kiss me.
He’s still kissing me as the doors open. But when we hear the click of about a dozen guns, suddenly, we’re not kissing anymore.
I gasp as he snarls and yanks me behind him. We turn, and my heart sinks. Standing right outside the elevator doors is Laura Bowman, Terry’s daughter. And she’s with about two dozen guys with guns pointed right at us.
She smiles thinly as Rourke tenses his muscles.
“Take her.”
Rourke roars as ten of the men suddenly rush us. He tries to bring his gun up, but the other ten guys suddenly yank him away from me. He bellows like a wild animal as they pin him to the wall and disarm him.
The other ten men grab me, ignoring the snarling roars from Rourke. Three of them hold me fast, and a fourth suddenly storms over with a silver key in his hands. Another man grabs my head and keeps me steady as the man with the key suddenly unlocks the Heiress.
It’s like they’ve rehearsed this. Instantly, they throw Rourke into the elevator and yanks me behind them. He hisses and goes to charge. They bring guns up, but he keeps storming towards us.
“That’s enough, Mr. Jenner!” Laura snaps. She suddenly pulls a pistol out and points it right at my head. “One more step, and I shoot her.”
He stops instantly. His jaw tightens and his eyes look possessed with fury.
“You fucking bitch!” he snaps. “We had a—”
“A deal, yes, I know, Mr. Jenner. To that end…”
She suddenly tosses him the necklace, followed by the key. He seems to catch both out of instinct. But his eyes are locked on me.
“What the fuck is this, Laura?!” he snaps.
“Your payment,” she sneers back. “Even if you didn’t finish the job.”
“Let her the fuck go,” he growls. “Or I—”
“Here’s how this is going to happen, Mr. Jenner,” Laura says thinly. “The jewels are yours. Keep them. I don’t want them, and you can think of it as me buying your silence about all of this. But, you are going to finish the job I hired you for, and kill my father.”
“The fuck I—”
“Because if you don’t, Rourke,” she snaps. “I’ll kill her.”
She turns to smile at me. My blood runs cold, and I see the color drain from Rourke’s face before he snarls in anger.
“Keep the fucking jewels. Our deal is cancelled—”
“Yeah, no, that won’t work for me.” She smiles thinly. “And does it look like I need two million dollars, Mr. Jenner?” She glares at him. “I don’t want a stupid necklace, Rourke. I want my father dead.”
His eyes land on
mine, looking wild. Then they turn back to her and surge with fury. “I’m not getting in the middle of your corporate takeover of his sexual trafficking ring.”
Laura smirk. “Then don’t, and your little girlfriend here dies. Or maybe…” she smiles cruelly. “Maybe she joins my family business?”
Rourke explodes in anger. He lunges forward. All twenty other guns in the room level at him. But it’s when Laura presses her gun into my temple that he actually stops. His eyes surge with anger.
“Kill my father, Rourke. Kill him, and she’s yours. Don’t, and she’ll wish she was dead.”
Two men suddenly rush him and shove him back into the elevator. They push a button, and the doors slide shut on the man who stole me, and my heart.
8
Rourke
“Drink this.”
I can’t see straight. I can’t even really hear what Mags is saying as I storm back and forth across the floor.
“Rourke!” she finally yells. I startle, turning to her. She shoves a glass in my face. “I said drink this!”
I glower. “I don’t need any fucking medicine—”
“It ain’t medicine, it’s moonshine. And you do need it.”
My shoulders are heaving. My jaw grinds so tightly that I feel like my teeth my snap.
“This ain’t your fault, Rourke,” she says gently. She nods at the glass. “Drink.”
I grab it and slam the glass back. It tastes like pure fire, vaguely apple-flavored. But damn if it doesn’t clear my head.
My heart, however, is another story. That part of me aches like it’s just been torn out. Like it’s just been shot through.
I close my eyes and suck in air.
Maybe my heart has been torn out. Because I’m pretty damn sure it’s still back there at that skyrise.
They have her. They have Leah, my heart. And I might as well be dead without her.
“Rourke.”
I slowly turn to Mags. Her face is lined and hard. But I can see the sympathy in her eyes.