by Jani Kay
“That’s more fucking like it.” The best gourmet burger I’d ever seen sat on my plate, accompanied by dollops of ketchup swirled around it and a stack of hand-cut fries. I grabbed the burger with my hands and dug in, wiping the juice that ran down my chin with the back of my hand.
Real food. Yeah.
Chapter Eighteen — Jade
“So honey, tell me what’s going on with you and Maxwell?” Rebecca and I stood in front of the huge gilded mirror that covered the wall above the hand basins, applying fresh lipstick. After the starter, we’d excused ourselves and gone to ‘powder our noses’. It was the first chance we had to be alone since I’d met Max and I was more curious now than ever.
If she tells me ‘nothing’, she’s a liar.
Taking her time, Rebecca blotted her lips on a folded tissue, then opened it and stared at the red shape stained on the white paper. “I wish I could say there’s nothing going on, because there shouldn’t be . . . the truth is—we’re attracted to one another. I pretend I’m not; he on the other hand, makes no secret about it. It's fucked up, I know.” She applied lip gloss over the color on her lips.
I swallowed hard as I stared at her reflection in the mirror. I didn’t really know what to say to that, so I just nodded my head.
“The weird thing is that Maxwell doesn’t act as if he’s married and his wife never seems to be around.” She smacked her lips together before continuing. “If I hadn’t met Natasha at his office once, I would’ve thought he made her up. But the skinny bitch is very real.” The scornful frown between her brows deepened as she mentioned the mysterious wife.
“I've seen pictures of Natasha. She’s freaking gorgeous,” I said as I watched my cousin’s reaction to my words in the mirror.
“Yep, more in real life than in pictures. Bitch has a body to die for, and long blonde hair down to her ass that’s sexy even if it’s fake. . . and her complexion is fucking flawless. Nobody can compete with someone like her.” She smirked as she turned her head and looked at her rear in the mirror. “My ass is too big, I've got red hair, for fuck sake, and under this layer of foundation, I have freckles.”
I narrowed my eyes and let my gaze wonder over her body. “Babe, you’re perfect. You have curves in all the right places like a real woman should. Besides, Photoshop fixes every problem imaginable in pictures, so don’t be so hard on yourself.” I paused, holding the mascara wand in my hand as I appraised her.
“Jade, you know that’s not the easiest thing to do,” she said, checking her teeth in the mirror.
“Becca?”
“Hmmm?” she hummed as she pulled her bra straps tighter so that her cleavage was even more impressive.
“How come you’re preening so hard if you’re really not interested in Maxwell . . . You’re not telling me everything. Spit it out.” I demanded.
She stopped what she was doing as if my words shocked her. She looked at herself in the mirror for a beat, then her eyes slid to mine. A long sigh left her body, as if she’d been holding back.
Turning to face me so that our eyes met for real, a blush crept over her neck and up her cheeks. “I know I'm not supposed to feel like this. But he . . . he turns me on something terrible. I find myself wanting his attention . . . and his touch. I dream about him every night. It's driving me fucking crazy. And I don’t know what to do about it—” She averted her gaze and looked down at her hands.
I sucked in a breath. I knew the symptoms when I saw them. I'd denied my attraction to Ryder for all I was worth, but it didn’t help me one bit. The difference was that Ryder wasn’t committed to anyone.
“Oh, honey! It doesn’t help that he’s devastatingly handsome. But he’s your boss. And there’s his wife—”
“God, I know, right? And after what happened with Julian and Alain, I swore I'd never be attracted to a married man again.” Her breath hitched. “What the fuck is wrong with me? I'm trying so hard to be professional around Maxwell.” Her voice trembled. “But when he gives me that sexy smile, oh god, my panties practically melt and I want him. It's so wrong on every level, but I can’t seem to help myself.”
She rubbed over her heart with the heel of her palm. The pinkness on her cheeks had deepened to a bright flush.
“There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re attracted to a sexy man. It happens. The problem is . . . that it can go nowhere while he’s married. You’re setting yourself up for heartbreak. I don’t want to see that happen to you again.”
“So tell me . . . what do I do then, Jade? Quit the job I love? I took the damn job to get away from Julian . . . now I’m back to square one. How the hell do I manage to keep doing this?”
“Fuck me, Becca. You jump from one hotter than hell fire to another. You’re going to get burned, babe.”
She shrugged. “I try to resist.” The sadness in her eyes made my heart squeeze. “I really do. I didn’t realize I was preening specially for him. But you’re right. It can’t go anywhere, so I need to guard my heart.”
“You deserve to be happy. To have a man that’s only yours.”
She nodded. “I want to be as happy as what you and Ryder are. I want my own man—hundred percent mine.” She looked at me, a wry smile on her beautiful face, “Like you have Ryder. You’re a lucky woman, Jade.”
“I know, honey. It was my lucky day when Ryder walked into my life with his big biker boots.” I grinned, but quickly wiped it off my face, feeling bad because I was so lucky and because Rebecca had such rotten luck with men.
I gave her a hug. “Just give it time. Your man will reveal himself when you least expect it. Then all of this will be behind you.”
The funny thing was, I could see how crazy Maxwell was about Rebecca. The way he acted around her was a dead giveaway and impossible to hide.
If anyone knew how futile it was to resist love, it was me. I understood better than most that the heart wants what it wants. It won’t be told who to love.
Was Maxwell in love with my cousin? He sure acted like he was, his awareness focused on her as if she was the only person in the room. And the way she glowed around him—that was a dead giveaway too.
Chapter Nineteen — Eva
I'd never met a man like Harrison Summers before. He was a contradiction in so many ways, it made my head hurt. He was sexy as sin, his brute strength apparent in every flex of his toned muscles. He moved like a cat, sensually and with stealth, stalking his unsuspecting prey. God, I was sure women threw themselves at him. He had a raw magnetism that was impossible to ignore.
Yet his eyes were hard and his heart was cold. The only time I ever saw any semblance of emotion from him was when he talked about his sister. Other than that, his handsome face was like granite, his chiseled features and square jaw set in stone—unforgiving and unyielding.
Harrison was the kind of man I knew to avoid at all costs. He was the type who would get a woman to fall hard for him, but to him she would mean nothing at all. Because Harrison was on a path of self-destruction, waiting and praying for someone to put him out of his misery. He most definitely had a death wish.
His type didn’t want help, and they certainly would never admit to needing it. His rage fueled him and drove his ambition. Anything or anyone in his path would become a casualty.
Harrison was lethal on every imaginable level. Yet I couldn’t help being intrigued. What had made him so bitter and angry that he was prepared to sacrifice his own life in order to correct what he considered the wrongs of the world?
The psychologist in me had to know. After graduating, I’d never had the opportunity to practice in my field, because I spent a good portion of my life looking after my mother when she became ill with cancer. Yet I kept reading about cases and stayed up to date on the latest research.
After many years of her suffering, my mother’s death shook me hard. But what really drove me to want to learn more about human behavior was learning of my father’s infidelity. I needed to understand why people acted the way they did, what made
them tick. And although I tried to never categorize a person, there were certain traits that were undeniable. Endlessly fascinated by human behavior, I studied humans the same way other people studied rocks and rainforests and extinct species. With fascination.
The ringing of my phone jerked me out of my thoughts. I checked the name on the screen. Ryder? But he’s in New York? “Hello.”
“Hey, Eva. Just wanted to find out if you were okay after what happened the other night. And to thank you for stepping in and handling the situation. It means a lot to Jade. And to me.” His voice was sincere and heartfelt.
“Somebody had to cool you guys off. It looked like you were about to kill one another with your stares alone.”
“Yeah. Not that I’m surprised by Summers’ reaction to me. But fuck him if he thinks he’s going to win. Has he called you to apologize? ”
“Nope.”
Disappointment washed over me. Every day that had passed, I'd hoped Harrison would ring me again. But after I’d walked away from the coffee meeting, he hadn’t called. I couldn’t understand why I was so damn let down. Maybe he didn’t find me attractive after all.
“Eva, I know you’re a smart woman, and I’d never try to tell you what to do . . . but,” Ryder hesitated for a few beats, “that man is trouble. Dangerous. Deadly. Stay away from him. I'm serious. I saw the way he was looking at you with lust in his eyes—”
“Really? You saw lust?” I said. So I hadn’t imagined it, if Ryder saw it too. At least I wasn’t crazy.
Ryder chuckled. “You’re a very desirable woman, Eva. You deserve a good man. And Summers . . . well . . . besides his intense hatred of bikers, I think he got dropped on the head as a baby, because he’s the craziest motherfucker I’ve ever met. And I know crazy.”
Laughing out loud, I had to agree with Ryder. “That dude is beyond intense. Poor Jade; I actually feel sorry for her. He’s trying to run her life.”
“Yeah. He is. All in the name of brotherly love. But I think it's because the fucker doesn’t understand what the hell love is. I must admit, I was fucking clueless until I met Jade. The love of a good woman can change a man. Maybe Summers needs to get lucky.”
I sucked in a breath. “Harrison isn’t attached to anyone, is he?”
The bit of digging I’d done about Harrison on Google had come to nothing. The only information I could find was when I searched Jade’s name. I found an article about the brother and sister witnessing a shootout between cops and a gang, but since that happened a decade ago, I doubted it was relevant. Other than that, I couldn’t find any skeletons. The only other news was about Jade joining her father’s firm and her recent broken engagement to an up-and-coming lawyer. That did shock me—she must have known Ryder at the time. Was my brother responsible for the breakup? Was that why Harrison hated him so much? There was so much I still wanted to know about these people that had just recently entered my life.
“No. I don’t think there’s a woman on earth who could unchain that motherfucker’s heart. He’s so screwed, tied to his fucked up past, that he’s never going to find someone to mend him.”
“What? Why do you say that?”
“Let’s just say the man has one goal in life only: to get revenge using whatever means he can. That’s it.” He paused, then as if he could read my thoughts, he warned me, with a stern tone to his voice. “Stay away, Eva. If you know what’s good for you. I mean it.”
I let out a long, slow breath. “Yes, of course. I was just curious, that’s all. I don’t want to be in his path. It sounds like one of self-destruction. I know better than that.”
“Yes, you do.”
I was burning to ask more questions, to find out more about Harrison. Ryder seemed to know a lot about the man. But if I kept asking he would be suspicious, so I decided to bide my time. Every time I met with Jade or Ryder, I’d fish a little more.
I wasn’t the most patient person, but when something—or rather, someone—intrigued me like Harrison did, I made a point of finding out as much as I could.
A female voice in the background called Ryder’s name. “Jade’s calling me. We’re just on our way out with Max and Rebecca. I’ll call you in a few days to make arrangements to catch up soon, okay?”
“Sure. I’d love that.” I wish I’d gone to New York too. It would have distracted my thoughts from the broody cop who was filling my mind lately. And I was eager to meet Maxwell.
“Eva? If Summers tries to contact with you . . . just don’t do anything stupid, yeah?”
What I found most amusing was how Ryder didn’t want me to get mixed up with Harrison. He thought Summers was as bad for me as what Ryder was supposed to be for Jade.
Interesting. Very interesting.
But Ryder had nothing to worry about. Harrison was staying away.
Chapter Twenty — Harrison
After all this time, ten years later, I still woke in the middle of the night screaming, with cold sweats and a thundering heart.
It was always the same nightmare: me shouting to Amy to watch out, her eyes wide as she placed her hands protectively over her stomach before her knees folded under her and she sank to the ground. Then the dream morphed and I was holding a crying baby, but before I could do anything, an eerie silence fell and the baby went quiet. It was that silence, so thick it could be cut with a knife, that would haunt me for the rest of my life.
I'd get no sleep once woken by the nightmare, so when it happened I'd have a shower to clear my mind and then head down to the closest bar where it didn’t matter what time it was, they’d be open for pathetic fuckers like me who couldn’t stand to be alone. I was never disappointed. There were always women hanging around, too disillusioned with life to go home to an empty bed.
Sometimes I’d just fuck them in the unisex bathroom. I'd want to get it over quickly and head back home for another shower. Other times I’d need a body to stick around for a few hours, so we’d get a room at the closest motel and fuck like rabbits until the sun came up and I passed out from sheer exhaustion.
For the first few years, I'd hold her tightly afterwards, trying to find comfort in the warmth of her body. But I never did, shivering as my cock lay limp between us.
I needed a double—to drink and to screw. One chick wasn’t going to take my mind off everything that was rattling through my brain. I threw back the scotch I’d ordered and surveyed the room.
Two women sitting across from me on low sofas smiled knowingly as their greedy gazes scanned my body. I was in shape, because I worked out like a fucking demon every day, burning off the stress and anger and every emotion in between. It didn’t matter how busy my schedule was, I always found time to do some form of exercise. Sometimes it was the only thing that kept me sane.
I smiled lazily at them, checking out their assets. Blondie had big tits—I could bury my face in there and forget the world for a while.
The brunette glanced at me from under her lashes as she shifted in her seat, spreading her legs so that I could see she wasn’t wearing any underwear. Lust spread through my veins like wildfire. Yes, tonight I’d found my happiness—even if only for a few hours while I pounded into their willing flesh. I already knew they were a package deal, and I couldn’t wait to have my cock sucked while I ate some pussy.
“Ladies,” I drawled as I sauntered over to their table, “what a lovely surprise.” I plunked my ass down next to the pantiless brunette.
“I'm guessing it's our lucky night, big boy. See, I told you, Trisha; the best ones crawl out after midnight.” She winked at her friend as she leaned over and placed her hand on my cock. “You have something in mind?” she asked, licking her lips.
“Sure do,” I said, letting her stroke over the tight fabric of my jeans as I leaned back, my hands behind my head. These chicks were good. Tonight was going to be fun.
“Go get us a bottle of champagne to go. No, make it two,” I said to Blondie. She grinned as she took the cash from me and made her way to the bar counter.
“My name . . . is Kate,” she hissed, pushing her hips up to meet my hand.
Trisha had returned with the bottles. She placed them on the low table and came over to me, straddling my lap. “What about me?” She pouted, pushing her tits into my face. I chuckled, leaning forward to taste her creamy skin.
“Looking forward to burying my cock between those, babe. Haven’t had a good titty fuck in a while.” My cock was so hard I doubted I’d be able to walk out of here.
“Is that right?” she drawled, smiling. Her hard nipples pushed against her bra, clearly visible through the lace and thin white T-shirt she wore.
“Let’s go.” I winked, extracting my fingers from Kate’s pussy. Trisha took my hand in hers and sucked my fingers into her mouth, moaning softly as she licked them clean. Sweet Jesus, these chicks were going to rock my cock and I couldn’t wait to get the full treatment.
Trisha wriggled her ass till she was off my lap, then she leaned forward and pulled me up. Kate grabbed a bottle off the table and hooked in to one of my arms before Trisha did the same with the other.
“Take us to the land of fun,” Trisha cooed, smiling as if I were the catch of the day.
Kate flagged down a taxi by lifting her skirt so high, I was sure the driver could see everything. We crawled in, with me sandwiched between the girls.
The driver could barely keep his eyes on the fucking road. Squinting, I read his name on the dashboard. “Kumar, keep your eyes on the road, my friend.” He muttered something and adjusted the rearview mirror so that I couldn’t see his face any longer.