by C. M. Owens
Without thinking, I run my fingers through her hair, and she snuggles in even closer. After moving the laptop to the table, I lie down, and pull her into my arms for reasons unbeknownst to me. Maybe I feel sorry for her.
It’s like I almost feel compelled to comfort her in her sleep. Fucking with my head. That’s what this is doing.
Chapter 14
EVE
Waking up in Drex’s arms is surprising, considering I thought I was supposed to sleep on the couch. What’s more surprising is the way he’s holding me to him, and the way I’m spiraled around him.
Ah hell. I tried kissing him last night, and I’m fairly sure I begged him to kiss me. I just keep thinking I can somehow work this out in my mind if I can convince myself that it’s sort of like a relationship. Albeit an unhealthy, psychotic, somewhat morbid relationship, but a relationship nonetheless.
His eyes open sleepily, and he blinks several times as he takes in our intimate embrace. Kissing isn’t his thing—his words from last night. I don’t get it.
“Hi,” I say with my just-awake rasp, not bothering to attempt to let him go.
“You’re still in my bed,” he mumbles, rubbing his face with one hand while keeping the other very firmly attached to me, holding me to him.
“Sorry. I… got… drunk?” I say, but for some reason it sounds like a question.
“And passed out after you got naked,” he says with an amused grin now forming.
All he has on are his thin boxers that he must have put on after I passed out. He takes my hand to slide it over the material, letting me feel his morning arousal.
“Some things were left unfinished,” he says suggestively. I bite down on my lip while sliding my hand down the front of his boxers. His eyes close as he groans, and I run my hand down the hard length of his cock.
Through the numerous tattoos, I see several scars that I didn’t notice yesterday.
“What’s this?” I ask, leaning down as my hand comes out of his boxers to point at a scar on his side.
When his eyes pop open, he grabs my hand and puts it back where it was, and I resume my forgotten task. He feels good in my hand—hot, silky, yet so firm.
“Knives, guns, and broken bottles. All of them. Don’t stop until I say so,” he says in a quick breath, his eyes closing again as his head drops back down to the pillow.
Apparently he doesn’t feel like discussing his numerous hidden scars right now.
All of the sudden, I’m on my back, and he’s on top of me, nudging my legs apart with his knee.
“Please be wet,” he murmurs against my neck, sliding his lips lower as his finger moves between my legs.
A breath hisses between his teeth when I whimper as he pushes a finger inside me. There’s no doubt I woke up ready. It’s like my body is staying prepared at all times around him.
His lips latch onto a nipple, and he spreads the wetness around, as though he’s making sure I’m fully prepared for him. His breath is hot, but when he pulls back to blow on my nipple, the chill of it has my back arching.
I really love his mouth.
But that’s all the foreplay I get, because Drex isn’t a patient guy.
In less than a few seconds, he’s managed to jerk his boxers down and he’s inside me, stretching me and filling me to a depth only he has explored. My moan almost embarrasses me, and his smug grin forms in response.
He pushes harder and faster, pinning my hands against the mattress as he watches himself enter and exit my body. His jaw goes slack, and my core tightens just from watching him get so turned on.
However, the loud pounding on the door makes it feel as though a bucket of ice water is thrown on us.
Drex stills inside, muttering curses, but he doesn’t pull out.
“What?” he barks, glaring at the door.
“Sorry, man, but Mark Harrison is here.”
Drex tilts his head, and then he glances at the clock. His eyes widen as though he’s shocked, and then he scowls down at me like I’ve done something wrong.
“Shit. I’ll be down in just a minute,” he says, pushing into me again.
His thrusts pick up a punishing rhythm, but he stops abruptly, and curses while pulling out, looking painfully erect.
“I fucking overslept. I never oversleep,” he grumbles, sounding accusatory in tone.
I’m not sure if I’m supposed to apologize or not, and I’m almost embarrassed by the fact that I want to ask him to continue before he leaves, because now there’s an ache between my thighs that is hurting too much to ignore.
“You’d better be ready for me when I get back. And I’m not kidding. Don’t finish that without me.”
A twinge of excitement fills me, and he bends and kisses my stomach, running his tongue down to my clit before licking me. My breath leaves when he does it again, teasing me with pleasure I wasn’t expecting, and like the traitors they are, my hands go to his hair and pull him closer while my legs spread wider in invitation.
He tugs my clit into his mouth, growling as he sucks it harder. But he pulls back just as suddenly, muttering a few more curses, and he lets his eyes rake over me several times. “It’s after seven. I never sleep past four unless we’ve had a rough night. I’ve got to get down there, but this will be continued.”
I’m so screwed up in the head. I really don’t want him to leave right now without finishing what we started.
Then his words register.
After seven? It’s after seven in the evening? I know we stayed up well past dawn… but still.
“Sorry,” I say, feeling completely teased.
He smirks while grabbing a shirt and pulling it over his head, and then he rolls his eyes.
“You slept in my bed, and now I have to go into a very important deal with a fucking hard-on; a meeting that I’m already running late for. Your ass is on the couch from now on.”
When I smile, he rolls his eyes again. “You’re not supposed to be enjoying this quite so much,” he scolds, but his amusement is there.
That’s sobering, because it’s very true. I’m sick for enjoying this. But the alternative is being miserable and then being sent back to Benny where I’ll never survive.
He’s gone in the next second, still buttoning and cursing his jeans on the way out. Why did he keep me in the bed with him?
Chapter 15
DREX
“Last test,” Harrison says while walking around. We’ve already been down here since a little bit after seven. And now it’s closing in on ten. Longest fucking deal ever, but he always did love chatting and drinking before getting down to business.
“Did you bring a dog?” Sledge asks. “We have some if not.”
“I brought one. This one is from Customs—the best of the best. He’s on loan from a friend. If the drugs can be sniffed, this one will find them.”
It won’t find them. I know, because there are a series of things going on. We’re the only ones with the scent cover that masks the smell dogs are trained to find. And there is a constant buzzing registering on a frequency humans can’t hear. The flip of one switch turns the frequency on, and the dogs grow annoyed by it. They eventually walk away because it’s so distracting, but it’s not so jarring that it startles them. It’s perfect.
The German Shepard is turned loose and it growls as it passes all of us. One of Harrison’s men holds it on a leash, and it sniffs the car. It snarls when it hears the annoying sound we can’t detect, but it keeps sniffing.
Sure enough, between the sound and scent of dead air, it walks away, feeling satisfied that it has done its job. Harrison claps as Fido runs back to the van it came out of. Once again, I’ve proven to him that we’re the ones for the job. For some reason, he always wants to test us.
“Impressive. What’s the secret?”
My guys start laughing, but I merely smirk. “If I gave you the secret, then I’d be out of business. You know where to find me when you need me. You have twelve days before the cars are pointless. I�
��ve shown you all your new storage. Dogs won’t detect shit, and you can smuggle all you want for those twelve days.”
He nods, smiling happily. “Then we should get going. Time is wasting. Good doing business with you, Drex. As always.”
They start loading up, and we point them down the tunnels to escape the eyes of the feds. Snake climbs into the lead car, preparing to seal the tunnel’s exit doors after they’re gone, and the men who drove the original vehicles prepare to resurface and go out the way they came to keep from rousing suspicion.
“Feds have come and knocked twice,” Sledge whispers as the cars start driving off. “I think they’re very curious about the convoy that drove in.”
“As soon as they’re gone, I’ll go outside and deal with them. I’ll get Eve down and tell her to look pretty. I don’t want them thinking they can use her against me. She was nervous last night. She won’t be so nervous today.”
Sledge frowns as Mack goes to lead the second convoy—the distraction convoy—through the garage doors. The feds hop down from the top of their car hood, and one car starts tailing the convoy leaving. They can follow them, but they’ll find nothing. All the good stuff is disappearing down a hidden tunnel. We only watch them from the monitors, even though they have no clue we’re watching them.
“I’m not sure it’s wise to involve her in any way.”
“She’s a part of us until we find out what’s going on with Benny. Would you want to send her back to Benny?” I ask, looking to see if Sledge has suddenly gone darker.
He’s the biggest softie in the place.
“You think he’d do something to her?” He looks at me expectantly, and I see the worry in his eyes. Anyone else here wouldn’t give a damn what happened to her. I wouldn’t have yesterday morning, but after seeing the fear in her eyes… She’s scared of something, and I never even took the chance to question her while she was drunk.
“I think he’s already told her he would do something, but I don’t know what.”
“So you really think she’s here for the reasons she said—money stuff. Because Snake said when that dick traitor she called a father killed himself a year ago, it put them in a really tight mess. Her sister died about a year before that, but it racked up some hospital bills, along with some sort of complication her mother had with her leg.”
Sister? She had a sister?
“These are questions I should have already asked,” I say to myself while pinching the bridge of my nose.
These are things we need to know. What motivates a person to get desperate enough to sell herself to Benny’s club without having ulterior motives like her father had? Now things make a little more sense.
“It’s only been a day, Drex. People always play with a new toy the first day they have it. But I’m with you on not giving her back to Benny if he’s going to keep her for himself. The girl seems comfortable with you, and Benny would break her.”
The thought of Benny touching her actually makes me sick. He’s a disgusting thing to smell or look at. He’s also a sick creep. I refuse to think I’m a creep. Eve sure as hell doesn’t mind me touching her, and she shudders in disgust at the thought of Benny.
“So you’re definitely keeping her?” Sledge asks after a moment of silence, both of us staring at the large, solid door where the feds are knocking. Our monitors show us their faces since both men staring up at the camera now. Yesterday we had two feds. Today there are three—one followed the convoy.
“Yeah. I’m keeping her. If she grows to trust me, we may be able to use her against Benny. She’s friends with Ben—the son. She might could get us an ass-load of information if we need it. And she’ll do anything to stay far away from Benny. If I’m right. That’s a big if.”
Sledge’s lazy grin draws up. “Girl is friends with the sissy Benny has for a son? Things make a lot more sense now. And yeah, she’d prove to be very useful. In fact, maybe in a couple of weeks she could invite the kid over. Incognito, of course. We could chat, he could see she’s doing well, and he might just tell us some stuff. Boy’s got to be pissed at his old man for sending a pretty thing like that your way. Think about it.”
I actually hadn’t thought about it. His son turned to him for help for a girl he obviously cares about. And Benny sent her off with a rival club. She was meant for Pop, but now she’s in my bed. That probably pisses the pussy off twice as much.
“Axle,” I yell, watching him as he walks by my room on his way to the roof. He turns and looks expectantly. “Send my girl down. Tell her to look pretty.”
Axle smirks and nods before disappearing into the door, and I turn back toward Sledge. “Showtime. Verse her on what to say.”
A squeal forces Sledge and me to look up simultaneously, and Axle walks out of my room while laughing. I tilt my head when he grins like a fool.
“Girl was naked and waiting,” he says while heading back toward the roof again.
Sledge bursts out laughing, but I get a little pissed about the fact Axle just saw her bare body. In my bed. Shit. That’s my fault because I told her to be waiting.
“Lucky son of a bitch,” Sledge says through a touch of laughter. “Has the girl even eaten today?”
That’s a good question. I know I’m fucking starving. It was after eight this morning before we went to sleep, and it was fucking seven before I woke up. Seven!! Now that dick has stayed until ten, and all I’ve had is a slice of reheated pizza.
“Verse her on what to say,” I repeat to Sledge while glaring at Axle’s back on his way topside.
I walk over and open the door to the two very impatient FBI agents, and smirk while I block their way and their view. “You lost, boys?” I ask, lacing each word with complete disinterest.
They both look early thirties, possibly late twenties. Just what I need—two hotshots who are trying to make a name for themselves. I should have delved deeper into their identities last night before accidentally falling asleep with Eve.
“Care to explain why a known drug dealer just spent half the night here?” the cockiest one asks.
Apparently these guys think they’re intimidating. But I’m curious as to how they knew who my company was.
“Care to answer why you’re harassing my warehouse like two stalker bitches?”
They both snicker quietly, acting as though this is their turf. They don’t have the home advantage, and they’d be wise to remember that. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve made feds disappear from Halo.
“I’m fairly sure this is just a friendly chat. It’s convenient that you didn’t answer until after Mark Harrison left.”
So they really did know who was here. Someone’s leaking information. But not from my crew. So who?
I glance at my watch, feigning boredom.
“I had company, and you weren’t invited. If Harrison is a known drug dealer, then why are you harassing me instead of him? Oh, that’s right. In order to actually do something to either of us, you’d need a warrant.”
Their laughter fades, but they keep their smirks in place.
“We don’t need a warrant to knock or to sit out on the street. And that’s where we’ll be, Caine. All day, all night—every time you look outside, we’ll be here. At your clubs, salons, spas… all of it. You’ll give us a reason for a warrant soon enough.”
Small arms slide around my waist, and I open my arm for Eve to step in and play the part Sledge just told her to.
“Hey, Drex. You ready?” she asks, sounding a little too sexy.
Both of the men stare at her, and I almost punch the one who bites down on his bottom lip.
“Sorry, boys,” I say insincerely. “I suppose you’ll have to harass me later. My girl and I have plans for the night.”
Eve leans into me, kissing my chest through my shirt, and I glance down to see her wearing a short pair of shorts and a shirt that hangs just off her shoulder again. Her hair is still slightly damp, and I’m pretty sure I’d love nothing more than to push her against the wall and f
uck her until she screams right now.
I shut the door, and Eve takes a deep breath while moving back just barely. You’d think she just went on a stage in front of thousands of people with the way her hands are shaking.
“I think I was supposed to say more, but I froze,” she says so fucking honestly, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Yeah. Little bit. But it was good enough.”
She relaxes a little just as Sledge walks up, covering his smile with his hand. But then his seriousness sets in. “I think it’s time we deal with this. I’ll call Herrin and we’ll discuss getting our lawyers out here. We pay them good money for a reason. Shit’s getting real,” he says, and I curse silently.
“Go eat something,” I tell Eve, pulling her a little closer. “I’m apparently going to be a while.”
“I’m starving,” she says in a quick breath, and she almost races toward the kitchen. Damn girl is so eager to please that she didn’t even bother eating.
I laugh with Sledge, and can’t help but feel oddly at ease with her here. I’ve known the girl for two days, and yet she fits pretty damn well. But then I remind myself her father fit in well, too. He fit in quickly. He was so damn nervous that we felt sorry for the bastard and assumed he was a genuine guy.
The sobering reality has me putting my guard back up.
“Let’s get to work,” Sledge sighs.
“Hey,” I say, suddenly thinking of something. “What about that appointment with Cecil?”
I can’t believe no one woke me up for that.
“He’s out of town through the end of the month or possibly longer. Left this morning. Family stuff. You want me to set her up with someone else?”
Shit. “Nah. It’s not a pressing matter. I don’t want anyone else inking her.”
Maybe the feds will quit checking her out the second she’s marked by the Dealers.
Chapter 16