BAD INFLUENCE: A Dark Bad Boy Romance

by Callie Pierce

  Cobra pulled his cock away from her pussy and bent forward to bury himself between her breasts. He lapped lightly at the skin, tasting her and the hot water of the shower, running his tongue over the flawlessly soft flesh of her breasts. From his position he could feel the catch in her breath and the rapid beat of her heart. Her arousal was rising to a fever pitch, and it was music to his ears.

  He pulled back and flipped her over so her breasts and stomach were pressed against the wall. He captured her wrists and pulled them up again as he lined himself up with her entrance.

  His cock throbbed too badly, and he was too far gone in his own haze of primal need to even consider teasing her any longer. He impaled her in one long, powerful thrust, his cock pushing easily into her soaking wet pussy.

  “You’re going to feel this tomorrow, baby,” he growled into her ear.

  She cried out as he buried himself deep, all the way to his balls, before pulling back. He thrust in and out, slowly at first, trying to find the rhythm of her inner contractions. She was spasming around him, clenching and unclenching desperately as his cock withdrew.

  As he built up his tempo, he found himself aligning with the instinctive movements of her own body—the small thrusts of her hips back against him, the tightening and untightening of her channel. As he built to his climax, he could feel every part of her building toward hers.

  It felt as if their bodies were melding together as they drifted into a realm of rapture. Cobra pumped faster and harder, his body taking over beneath him until he was no longer aware of any conscious decisions—only the intense pleasure radiating from his cock and her glorious body.

  Ashleigh toppled over the edge first. She cried out as she came, pumping her hips furiously against his shaft as she tried to ride him through the waves of pleasure. The intensity of her body’s reaction was enough to send him over too. His world narrowed until it was nothing but the sensation of pleasure and relief. He pushed deep inside her one last time and came deep within her.

  They stayed like that for a few seconds after as they both came down from their highs. Ashleigh seemed to be leaning hard into the shower wall, bracing herself for support. Cobra was leaning against her, pressing into her back and letting part of the shower’s warm spray course over him as he shrank inside her.

  After a while, he pulled out and backed up enough that she could turn around.

  She did so slowly, her eyes still a little glazed from the experience.

  Cobra leaned down to kiss her again, then moved back to admire his handiwork. She half-smiled up at him, her body relaxed, her expression deeply satisfied. There were still dark circles starting to form beneath her eyes, but she was looking a hell of a lot more relaxed now than she had when he’d first come home.

  “Not bad, huh?” he murmured. He ran his hands lightly through her damp locks, smiling to himself when she relaxed into the gesture.

  “Not bad at all.”

  “Guess I’ll just have to keep you distracted for the next few days,” he teased her. “Since it seems to work so well.”

  Chapter 16

  Ashleigh

  Ashleigh paced back and forth anxiously in the backyard. Alex would be returning soon. He hadn’t called yet, which he’d promised to do as soon as they found anything. Which likely meant more bad news and another day of “lying low” at the house, watching inane shows and movies on television and generally trying to distract herself from the nerve-wracking reality she faced.

  It had already been three days since Alex and the guys had started tearing her basement apart in search of the elusive stash. It was hard for her to believe that there was even anything left for them to look through.

  They’d torn out everything, barely even leaving the walls intact—which she didn’t like in the least because she was sure that more than a few of them were load-bearing. They’d stripped the drywall apart, dug into some of the concrete filler that separated the buildings, and even started breaking apart the cement floor, as if something could have been hidden there. And all to no avail.

  The lack of success had made Alex nearly unbearable. The first day hadn’t been so bad. He’d been pissy and temperamental when he’d first gotten home, but that had melted away after their hot and heavy shower, and the rest of the evening had been relatively pleasant. But with every day that passed that they didn’t find the stash, Alex grew less measured until they couldn’t even exorcise their mutual aggravation through lovemaking.

  The day after that, after spending nearly ten hours with the guys in the bakery, he’d returned to the house seething. Every little thing seemed to set him off—even her asking about what they were doing for dinner. Things had come to a head in a protracted episode of bickering, but the passion of their argument transformed at some point to a heated tumble between the sheets.

  Lying in bed beside him afterward, Ashleigh had hoped that this “distraction,” as Alex had put it, could work two ways—that it could function as a much-needed release valve for all the stress both of them were under. She wanted to believe that he was still figuring out how to get a handle on things and that he would adjust soon so that she wasn’t taking on the brunt of his temper.

  But that didn’t seem to be the case. Ashleigh sensed that the air wasn’t fully cleared. The tension between them lingered—thick and uncomfortable. And the day after, it seemed that things had somehow grown ten times worse.

  She knew he was under a lot of pressure, and that the strain of everything was probably getting to him. But his moodiness coupled with the fact that she was also uneasy and on edge meant that prolonged conversations between them were bound to become testy, if not explosive. So she tried to occupy herself with bad television and romance novels that she downloaded to her phone, especially while he was still around in the morning.

  It felt like they were growing apart again. She knew that was ridiculous. She was in no position at the moment to be building a real relationship with him and knew that she was only sleeping with him because it felt good in the moment. But still, the distance after those first couple passionate, if combative, days was painful.

  It was just the current situation, she knew. But part of her wondered if, for all the feelings that she still had for him, they were incompatible on some deep level.

  She tried not to overthink it. She had enough on her mind already.

  Especially the situation with Penny. Nancy had been extremely gracious, she knew, but every day that she had to call back and ask if Penny could stay for yet another day, she heard that graciousness erode a little. Ashleigh knew she was imposing majorly on Nancy.

  It was the least of her worries at the moment, but she knew she was damaging a friendship. Not only that, but Nancy was the gossiping type, and that meant she was likely getting a reputation as that single mom who just couldn’t get her shit together. That was going to have an effect on her social life and her professional life. Reputation was everything in a small town, and if people talked too much, it might just be enough to sink her business. If it wasn’t already sunk, that was.

  As if that wasn’t enough, she knew she was doing irreparable damage to her relationship with her daughter. She was more tempted every day to just pop over and check on Penny, even if she couldn’t take her home. But she didn’t dare risk anything, though she was pretty sure that Alex was exaggerating the risk of her being seen with her daughter. She wasn’t about to take any chances with Penny, even if it meant that she had to make do with phone calls that grew more tepid with each passing day.

  Penny would be getting out of school soon. She’d told Nancy that she would probably be able to pick Penny up today. She’d naively banked on Alex finding the stash today.

  She reasoned that they had to—there was nowhere else they could look. They’d even gone through the upstairs and the kitchen just to be safe, even though the guy who’d attacked her had sworn up and down that it was stashed in the basement.

  But she had a sinking feeling that that wouldn’t be t
he case today. She stopped in front of the slider door that led to the backyard and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Shit, she hated this.

  She drew a deep breath, then called Nancy again. The phone rang twice before Nancy picked up.

  “Ashleigh? What is it?” Her voice was tired and a touch cold.

  Ashleigh’s throat had constricted. She cleared it before beginning hesitantly, “Nancy? How are you doing?”

  “Fine,” Nancy replied dryly. “What do you need?”

  Ashleigh started pacing again. She couldn’t do this. She hated how fucking needy she sounded right now. “Nancy, I hate to ask this again, but things have still been crazy over here, and I was wondering if you could possibly take Penny for just one more day. You’d be doing me a huge favor—“

  “Listen, hon, it’s been over five days now. I don’t know what’s going on in your life, but I know that police reports don’t take almost a week to file. We love having Penny over, but Ashleigh, this is getting ridiculous. She wants to go home. I know being a single mom must be tough, and I sympathize, I really do, but you have responsibilities. I know it’s hard, but you have to make it work, you know what I mean? Maybe Penny has to go into work with you. Maybe you have to pay for a babysitter.”

  Nancy’s admonishing words were like a dagger straight to her heart. Ashleigh couldn’t help but feel like she had failed as a mother, and Nancy was trying to find the nicest way possible to tell her that she was doing a really shitty job. She had to bite back the tears.

  “Of course. You’re right. I’ll figure something out. Thanks, Nancy.” Her voice quavered a little as she spoke. She hoped to God that Nancy didn’t notice.

  “I’m not trying to be mean,” Nancy said, adopting a placating tone. “I’m just trying to be straight with you. Penny needs her mom. She needs you in her life.”

  Ashleigh could barely swallow past the lump that had formed in her throat. “You’re right. Thanks again for everything, Nancy. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you watching Penny.” She couldn’t bear to listen to Nancy’s response, so she hung up before the woman could reply.

  Ashleigh wiped the tears from her eyes. There was no time for self-pity now, she told herself. She had to figure out what she was going to do with Penny.

  She’d have to go home. She could lay low there too. She’d just stock up on groceries and stay in the house with Penny while Alex figured his shit out with Jasper. It wasn’t like there were any guys showing up on Alex’s doorstep trying to break in and take her. She’d be safe at home too, and at least there she could be with her daughter.

  Alex wouldn’t like it. Not that she gave a flying fuck about what he thought. She wasn’t acting stupidly anymore. And he wasn’t the boss of her. She would do whatever she needed to do.

  She heard the roar of a bike down the road. It was growing closer and closer. She’d been able to hear his approach every day. The streets were quiet, and his ride made a lot of noise.

  Ashleigh took one final calming breath before heading back inside and toward the front door. She would need all the calm she could get if she was going to get through this discussion with him.

  Alex walked in the front door just as she entered into the hallway. Half of a glowing cigarette dangled from his mouth, and the movement of his body as he kicked his shoes off sent showers of ash and ember all over the carpet.

  “I thought you weren’t supposed to smoke in the house,” she greeted him.

  His hard, irritated eyes shifted up to her. “Fuck Bear and fuck his rules. Fucking pussy anyway.”

  She followed him into the kitchen. She thought he’d head for the fridge like he usually did, but instead he went for the cabinet. He pulled out a tumbler and a bottle of Jack Daniels and proceeded to pour himself a generous glass of liquor as he puffed away on his cigarette.

  She watched him for a while as he finished off his smoke, alternating between that and hearty sips of his drink. He’d nearly finished his first glass by the time he dropped his cigarette butt into the sink. He immediately refilled his glass from the open bottle before sticking it back in the cupboard.

  “No luck today, then,” she surmised at last.

  “You’re a regular fucking detective, aren’t you?”

  “Don’t pull that shit with me,” she warned him. “I’m not going to put up with it.”

  Alex smiled at her, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Of course you aren’t, baby. Sorry. I should have said no, we didn’t, since I didn’t call you and I didn’t say a damned word when I got home. But I know how much you love to state the obvious.”

  She was about to call him a jackass, but she stopped herself. She didn’t need to needle him any further, not when she was about to tell him that she was headed home. Though she guessed that, given his current state, he was going to be an absolute joy to deal with.

  “So,” she began, “I was just talking to the friend who’s been keeping an eye on my daughter…”

  “And?” Alex snapped.

  She lost her courage and shrugged weakly.

  Alex snorted derisively. He shouldered past her, drink in hand, and headed for the living room.

  She trailed behind him, keeping her distance.

  Alex collapsed onto the couch and flipped the television on. She watched as he took another deep draft of his drink.

  “She says my kid can’t stay with her anymore,” Ashleigh blurted out. “I have to pick her up from school today and take her home.”

  “Stupid bitch,” Alex muttered under his breath. “Shit, don’t you have other friends? Can’t you drop her off at daycare or something? What about your parents?”

  Ashleigh almost lost it at that. He knew that she didn’t get along with them. He knew that she couldn’t stand them, that she’d gotten the hell out of that house as soon as she could and never looked back. He knew better than to bring them up.

  “They moved to Florida. And you fucking know I would never bring my daughter anywhere near them.”

  “Right. Sorry.” He did sound a little abashed, she thought, but not nearly as apologetic as he should have been. “Fine. So just bring her over here.”

  “That had better be a joke,” Ashleigh hissed. “I told you that she’s not coming within a hundred feet of you. That hasn’t changed. Especially not now that you’re chugging hard liquor and stepping up your asshole game.”

  Alex turned back to face her, face twisted in a look of annoyance. “Shit, Ash, if you brought her over I’d be on my best behavior, pinky swear. Besides, what else are you going to do, huh? Unless there’s someone else who can take her—“

  “I’m picking her up from school and taking her back to the house, where I’ll stay with her. We’ll get our groceries and we’ll keep out of sight until you figure all this out, just like I’ve been doing here.”

  “Goddamn it, I told you how bad of an idea that is. Jasper’s got guys in town already. They’ll be watching you. They see you pick her up and it’s game over, Ash. They’ll get their hands on her and then you’ll be royally fucking screwed. Either you make other arrangements or you bring her over here. Those are your choices.”

  “I’m going home.” Ashleigh felt her hands ball into fists at her sides. “That is my call to make. You hear me? I’m going to go pick her up from school and then I’ll go home. And I’ll stay there until I get the all-clear from you. But you had better not follow me or stalk me or anything. You had better stay the hell away from me. Or I will call the cops.”

  Alex was up on his feet then. “What’s this really about?” he demanded, closing the distance between them.

  Ashleigh retreated into the bedroom and began throwing her things into her bag. She didn’t answer him. She couldn’t. There was no way for her to fully articulate everything she was feeling right then.

  “Look, I know I’ve been a little…well, I’ve been acting like a dick. But it’s just this shit with Jasper, I swear. You know how I am, Ash. I don’t give a fuck who gets in my way when I’m
blowing off steam.”

  “It’s not that,” she told him quietly, zipping her bag shut and throwing it over her shoulder. She grabbed her purse from the nightstand and began walking toward the front door.

  “What, then? Things have been fine until now. Your kid doesn’t need you that badly either. It hasn’t even been a week. That’s nothing. Kids go away to summer camp for longer. There’s no need to be stupid about this.”

  “I need to do what’s best for us, and staying here isn’t it.” Ashleigh reached her car. She was amazed that Alex hadn’t grabbed her yet or physically tried to stop her.

  “You’re risking her life,” Alex snarled. But he still kept his distance, his blue eyes bright and sharp on her. “You’re risking your life. You don’t even know what you’re doing. You want me to talk to your friend? You want me to explain why she needs to keep watching your kid?”