Fighting for Alexa

by Jennifer Ann

  12

  Michael

  When I first discovered Alexa taking drink orders from a group of men who were ogling her in a way that made me want to crack their skulls, I was hit with a rush of intense feelings that I can’t quite put into words. It was like my heart had grown two sizes and twisted inside out before being cut from my fucking chest. As badly as I needed to see her again, another part of me wished I hadn’t set foot inside Spinner’s so I wouldn’t have seen her like this. This is not the reunion I envisioned once I was released.

  Though I’ve never been abusive with a woman, and I sure as hell don’t plan to start in this lifetime, the sight of my girl transformed into a smoking hot blonde, wearing little more than nothing in this shitty club—Dryden’s club—has my insides vibrating with rage. I want to shake some sense into her pretty little head just as badly as I want to shove her up against the wall and fuck her senseless. She’s mind-blowingly sexy. Worst yet, it almost feels wrong that my dick is hard because she’s transformed into a completely different woman.

  “How did you know where to find me?” she whispers.

  “I told you not to get involved in this,” I grumble, running my thumb across her jaw. We’re short on time, and she’s smart enough to figure out on her own that I made Jack confess to their asinine plan. “Do you have a death wish?”

  “Do you? You’re supposed to be underground with the government’s protection. If Dryden discovers you’re out, and you're here—”

  “I’ve been following him all night,” I say, shaking my head. “He left a good twenty minutes ago.”

  Twisting my shirt in her fist, she bounces on her toes, grinning. “I found a way in, Michael. They’re having a big party in the warehouse tomorrow night with some important guests, and Dryden asked me to be part of the entertainment.”

  A twitchy sensation rips through me, and her face becomes hazy before my eyes. Dropping my hands from her jaw, I lace my fingers behind my head and step away before I completely lose all control. No way in hell I’m letting my girl shake her naked ass in a building filled with Dryden and his men, especially when I’ve never even seen her completely naked. And I know damn well how those kind of parties end.

  “It’s okay,” she insists in a gentle voice, moving in closer and running her hands along my rib cage. “I’ve planned for this kind of scenario with Tatum and Jack. If I find tangible evidence of what they’re doing, Tatum will have her team there to bust the Brothers’ asses on the spot.” Then she reaches for one of my hands and wraps our fingers together. A wave of tension leaves my shoulders with her warm touch. “I promise I’ll be careful.”

  “I don’t like this one fucking bit. Jack told me you were going to waitress for these scumbags.”

  “That was the plan.” Her free hand twists around a section of her bleached locks before her eyes flitter around. “But now is probably as good of a time as any to tell you that I’ve been through some…shit. This isn’t my first gig in a strip club.”

  The fuck? My pulse pounds inside my ears. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

  “It’s not something I’m proud of.” Her teeth scrape over her bottom lip when she looks down. “Michael, there are…other…things you should know. Stuff I should’ve told you—”

  I pull my hand from hers to hold it up between us. “I don’t want to hear any more. You did whatever you thought you had to at the time…I get it. But I don’t want the fucking details.”

  With a sigh, she leans into me, snaking her small hands underneath my shirt to stroke my chest. “Please don’t be mad at me, babe. Seeing you just now, knowing you’re out of that prison…it’s the happiest I’ve ever been. I don’t think I could survive if you left me.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, baby girl,” I promise, pulling her closer. She cuddles against my chest, her soft curves molding to mine in a way that would make it seem we were made to fit together. I drop a kiss in her hair and release a deep breath. “I love you too fucking much to walk away.”

  Just as she draws back, her beautiful blue eyes wide and glowing from my confession, there’s a loud commotion around the corner.

  “Shit, I better get back to work before someone finds us back here,” she whispers. Her fingernails dig into my waist beneath my shirt as she pins me down with a heated look. “I get off at one. I swear, Michael John Harrison, your ass better be at my place, naked and waiting for me, or—”

  “I’ll be there,” I promise, massaging the back of her head. “Jack gave me the address. Sounds like Tatum has done a good job of keeping an eye on you from a distance.”

  “You know as well as I do that Jack wouldn’t let anything happen to me,” she says, narrowing her eyes. “There’s a key under the blue rock by the backdoor. I don’t think Dryden’s men are watching me as closely as they were at first, but it still doesn’t hurt to watch your back. Promise you’ll be careful.”

  I growl, feeling ready to crawl out of my skin. “I should be the one telling you that.”

  She drags me close for a long, lingering kiss. Then she’s walking away, her perky little ass cheeks shifting back and forth beside the tiny strip of material separating them. I don’t have any fucking clue how I just stand there and let her walk away without throwing her over my shoulder and hauling her away from this hell. I’ve never felt so helpless. But knowing we’ll be alone in a few hours, free to touch each other without having to worry about guards walking in, I’m able to leave the club with a slow smile.

  Exhausted from the bullshit I’ve been through in the past twenty-four hours, I fight sleep on the hard couch, my eyes fix on the little clock barely visible on top of the TV in the dim light. When 1:30 comes and goes, I’m ready to storm Spinner’s. Though I didn’t come directly to the safe house from the club just in case someone saw us together and I was being tailed, it’s no more than a ten minute walk. Fuck. Where is she?

  After being released the day before, I went straight to Jack’s house against the hipster attorney’s warning. There were federal agents waiting downtown to take me into hiding, but I wasn’t going to take the coward’s way out without my girl when she could be in danger.

  Jack broke down pretty easily, worried that I’d lose my temper and end up back behind bars if he didn’t tell me the truth about Alexa’s disappearance. At first I wasn’t sure which of them I was more angry with—him for convincing Alexa to let him in on all the details, or Alexa for putting herself in danger while doing everything to protect me. I almost destroyed his house in trying to keep my rage in check.

  Then Alexa’s friend Tatum showed up, I guess because Jack messaged her. After chewing my ass for avoiding the federal officers that were assigned to take me into custody from the prison, she somehow managed to make me see the bigger picture. Getting angry about the situation wasn’t going to help Alexa. Neither was storming into Spinner’s and demanding that she leave. Tatum pointed out that I had to weigh the consequences of everything I did carefully, or I could be putting my life in danger as well as Alexa’s.

  It was immediately clear to me why Alexa and Tatum were close. Not only is Tatum a total knockout like her best friend, but she’s confident and bold, unwilling to take my shit. Plus I could’ve kissed her when she brought burgers and a 12-pack of beer—two of the things I missed most while locked up.

  “First off, you should know ‘Lex has always been the type to do what’s right, no matter the consequences,” she told me in an authoritarian way that reminded me of how Alexa spoke to Smith. “And as much as she wants to help save those girls for her own reasons, she’s also doing it as a way to find proof of your innocence. She’s never fallen this hard for a guy before you, so I suggest you watch yourself, buddy. I’m the only one she’s ever let into her life, and I don’t take that privilege lightly.”

  I took an instant liking to Tatum. She’s easy enough to talk to, and made it clear she’s pulling for me and Alexa to be happy together. I decided that I was fortunate my woman’s best friend w
as going to be painless to have around, so long as she doesn’t find out I went against her strong warning not to reach out to Alexa while she was undercover.

  Another ten minutes have passed by the time I glance back at the clock. Maybe I should’ve gone back to follow her here. The neighborhood feels ten times more dangerous than Jack initially let on. Almost every house has an angry dog that snarled when I passed, and the alley is completely unlit. Half the houses look like they should be condemned, and junk fills most of the fenced-in yards. It’s a total shit-hole—not somewhere I want my girl staying alone.

  I’m on my feet, ready to head back to Spinner’s when the back door creaks on its hinges. I press my back up against the partial wall separating the living room from the kitchen, waiting to make sure it’s Alexa. Though I wanted to carry a gun after discovering what she was up to, Jack reminded me that it would take awhile before my record was cleared, and carrying a loaded weapon would only get me in deeper shit. But I’ve worked out enough in the past few months to effectively fight my way through almost anything.

  “Babe?” Alexa calls out in a quiet voice. “Are you here?”

  I rush around the corner and gather her in my arms, all at once feeling whole and safe when our lips connect. I kiss her hot mouth hard enough to bruise. It’s raw and needy, driven by days on end of yearning for this moment. It’s the single best kiss of my existence, but it’s still not enough. I need all of her.

  Her purse thuds on the floor next to our feet and her arms twist around my neck. She hops into my hold, wrapping her legs around my waist. Gripping her little body, I fall back against a wall, savoring the way she dominates over me, thrusting her tongue into my mouth, grinding into me like we’re already fucking. Like always, she’s hot and eager for my touch. It’s one of many reasons why I could never let her go.

  I yank up on her little t-shirt until she stops to wrangle it over her hair, tangling it in her blonde curls. Laughing, she pushes the stray strands from her face with one hand before staring down at me with her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

  I study the delicate features of her face as if committing them to memory. The gentle curve of her button nose. The flush of color running along her defined cheekbones. The way her graceful lips are dark and puffy from our kisses. Unable to draw in a breath, I’m dumbstruck by her beauty every bit as much as I was the first time I laid eyes on her. As much as I know I should’ve left her alone instead of dragging her into my fucked-up mess, the overwhelming need to make her mine clawed at my insides, leaving me with no other options.

  “Fuckin’ A, I missed you, baby girl,” I blurt.

  Her eyes shine bright in the soft light from the other room as she releases her lip and smiles. “I fucking missed you.” One of her hands gently rests on the side of my face and she frowns. “What happened?”

  “Smith and another guard gave me a going-away present.”

  Her tulip-shaped lips pop into a circle. “That son of a bitch!”

  “I think he had a feeling something was going on between you and me, and he couldn’t handle it. It’s also likely Dryden paid him to mess me up. But it doesn’t matter…Smith can’t hurt me anymore.” Taking a strand of her bleached hair between my fingers, I growl quietly. “This is hot as hell, but I like it better dark.”

  “I promise I’ll fix it when this is over.” Her eyebrows wiggle as she tugs on my jacket. “Until then, maybe we can experiment with a little role play.”

  With a heaviness in my limbs, I carefully set her feet down on the floor. “No fucking way I’m pretending I’m with someone else.” I pull my jacket off my arms and let it fall to the floor with a thud before grabbing the back of my shirt with one hand and yanking it over my head. “I want an uninterrupted night alone with my girl.”

  Her breaths come out hard and fast as she holds my stare while reaching for my zipper. I help her push my newly purchased jeans down my thighs before kicking them off my feet. Her eyes drag down to my chest. I watch her fingertips as they gently trace the jagged flames of my tattoo, sending a shiver bolting down my spine. Eyes closed, I let my chin drop, ready to come in my boxers from her touch. It seems like forever ago that my dick was this hard because I was with her.

  “Your body is unreal,” she whispers, her voice thick. “I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to look this perfect without being digitally edited.”

  A chuckle sticks in my throat when her fingertips run along the elastic on my boxers. Within seconds, cool air whooshes against my ass as she drags the cotton down to my ankles. I groan when she takes my swollen cock in her hand, giving it a firm tug. “And this…holy hell, Michael. You make my favorite dildo look ridiculously small.” When I open my eyes, she’s staring down at her moving hand and licking her lips.

  “Keep doing that and your hand is going to be covered in cum, baby girl.”

  Her gaze draws up to meet mine and she laughs. “I sure hope you’ve been building up your stamina, big guy, because I have serious plans for you tonight.”

  “Those plans better start with you completely naked, because it’s my turn to get a good look at what I’ve been missing out on all this time.”

  Yanking her back to me, I toss her over my shoulder. She squeals before breaking out in a high-pitched giggle. It’s a light, girly sound—something I hadn’t heard her make before. Nothing I would expect from Alexa. My heart thumps joyously, pleased I’ve made her ridiculously happy.

  Having already scoped the place out, I easily find my way back to the bedroom. It’s barely large enough to fit a double bed, and vaguely stinks like stale cigarettes. With a pang of sadness, I can’t imagine it’s anything like she’s used to. She shouldn’t be here. It’s all my fault she isn’t safe and sound in her own place.

  Carefully setting her down on her back, I go right for her yoga pants. At the same time I hook my fingers in her panties and tug forcefully, rendering her naked except for her lacy bra. I lean back, both thrilled and shocked with my discovery. My mouth goes completely dry. Fuck me, she’s completely waxed.

  I press the pad of my thumb to her smooth lips, pleased when her arousal soaks my skin. “That’s my girl…so fucking wet for me.”

  She sucks in a sharp breath, pulling her bottom lip back in-between her teeth and watching me with the kind of look that could destroy a man.

  Ready to devour every inch of her tight little body, I climb over her and bend to lick her bellybutton. I reach up to unhook her bra before trailing my tongue upward, landing between her freed breasts. Seeing the soft, full swells with rosy nubs hard like a pencil eraser, completely exposed for my pleasure, has my balls aching.

  “My gorgeous girl,” I mutter, running my fingertips underneath her generous curves. I look into her beautiful eyes, captivated by their unusual shade of blue. “I can’t tell you how many nights I laid in my cot, dreaming about the day when I would finally get to have you all to myself, naked like this, without any interruptions. When I saw some fucker touch your ass earlier tonight, I wanted to gut him. It’d be well worth another life sentence to punish him for touching what’s mine.”

  Her hands grip onto my face. “This will all be over soon,” she says softly. “I promise once I’ve taken care of those girls, I’ll never let another man touch me like that again. But you should know that when I’m up on the stage, you’re the one I’m dancing for. I imagine your hands are all over me, and make myself sopping wet for you. I can’t go that long again without seeing you, Michael. You have to promise me that you won’t do anything to put your freedom at stake. I mean it. Don’t you dare leave me again.”

  “I can’t promise I won’t do anything if you get hurt.”

  With a sullen expression, she leans in to kiss me. It’s sweet and gentle, yet there’s a silent plea of desperation behind the movement of her lips. Then her hands wrap around me and she forces me down on my back so she’s the one on top. As she continues to kiss me, her tight little body moves against mine, teasing my rock-hard cock. />
  I slip one hand between her legs, finding her wet and ready, and reach out to tweet a hard nipple with my other hand. When I begin to move my fingers against her clit in light, taunting circles without providing her with the pressure I know she wants, she whimpers helplessly inside my mouth. Two can play at this game.

  “I need you,” she gasps, fisting my cock.

  Tilting her hips, she slides her pussy down around me, hissing when I’ve filled her to the hilt. Before Alexa, I’d always worn a condom, and I still can’t get over the sensation of her bare walls clenching my cock. The skin-on-skin contact is almost too much, making it hard not to cum the second I’m inside.

  “Damn, baby girl,” I wheeze, grabbing onto her hips. “Nothing has ever felt this good.”

  She sits tall above me, gathering her bleached hair in one hand and arching backward as she rides me hard, tapping every last one of my neglected never-endings. Her sweet, puckered tits bounce with each thrust, begging to be sucked. She’s as beautiful as an angel, but as dangerous as they come. This amazing creature is going to be the cause of my mental undoing. I’ve never wanted to consume a woman in this way, somehow leave my mark on her for the whole world to see.

  It slays me knowing she’ll do whatever the hell she wants, whether I’m on board or not. How far is she willing to let Dryden push her? How the hell can I protect her when she’s reckless and unafraid of anything that doesn’t concern me?

  Letting Alexa into my life is like hitching a ride on a runaway train. I don’t know where we’re headed or what kind of shit we’ll encounter on the way, but it’s clear we’re getting there one way or another, together. I just hope like hell there aren’t too many obstacles that try to separate us.

  13

  Alexa

  Waking in Michael’s arms to the bright light of day, the smell of sweat and sex heavy in the air, is every bit as phenomenal as the mind blowing sex-a-thon that continued until the break of dawn. Even though his body is as warm as a furnace against my back, his muscles are coiled so tightly that any attempt to escape would be futile. His steady breaths fall over my ear in a sound barely above a whisper, almost lulling me back to sleep. If this is a glimpse into our future together, color me thoroughly satisfied.