Trust An Even Hand

by Chloe Cox

  “What are you telling people?”

  “Nothing but the truth,” Jimmy said, smiling. “Or, at least, close enough.”

  “What have you done, Jimmy?”

  “I didn’t do anything,” he spat, and pushed off the side of his truck, his eyes locked on Charlene. He was walking toward her, closing the distance. Striding. With purpose.

  “I wasn’t the one who drove Simone Delavigne to try to kill herself, was I?” he said. “I didn’t send that poor girl to rehab. That’s all on your boy Gavin and his little club.”

  Charlene tried to focus, because the white-hot anger she felt was making it difficult. And Jimmy was still coming toward her.

  “That is not what happened,” she said. “The club saved her.”

  Jimmy just laughed. And kept coming.

  “Why are you here?” Charlene demanded, backing up towards her own house. “What do you fucking want, Jimmy?”

  “Ain’t that obvious?” he said. “I want what’s mine.”

  A chill originated somewhere around her heart, and spread throughout her body.

  “I want my sub,” he went on. “I want you. I want our home.”

  For a moment, Charlene was so relieved she wanted to laugh. He didn’t really want her. He wasn’t back to save their marriage. He didn’t give a shit about her at all. He wanted her house.

  Jimmy had come back to town, seen that Charlene had something of value, and he wanted to take it just to prove he could. He wanted to make her give it to him, just to prove he could.

  Hell no.

  He’d already taken too much. Her self-respect, her ability to trust. Her ability to submit. And all of it was starting to hurt not just her, but the people she cared about. It stopped here.

  “It’s not your home, Jimmy,” she growled. “And it never was. Believe me when I tell you that you will never, ever step foot inside it, and you will never, ever touch me, ever again.”

  “Yeah,” Jimmy said, and took another step toward her. “We’ll see about that.”

  She should have been terrified. She was already backed up against the steps of her porch, and he was still coming. Everything slowed down as her ex moved, everything stretched out, or maybe her thoughts sped up. She had enough time to think about the app that Luke had made for her and silently curse herself for forgetting to turn the system on. And for ditching her bodyguard.

  And she had time to realize she wasn’t scared—she was furious. She had at least five years of pent-up sexual energy and anger and hurt, and she was prepared to unleash it all right here, right now. She would rather die than…

  Another truck barreled into her drive, threading the distance between her car and Jimmy’s red truck, peeling to a stop in between her and Jimmy. She stood still in the dust cloud it kicked up, her body thrumming with energy, ready to fight, ready to flee, ready to…

  Luke.

  It was him.

  Chapter Eighteen

  She watched Luke kick the door of his truck open wide, and everything changed.

  Charlene went from furious and frightened, adrenaline racing through her in a blinding panic, to…not calm, necessarily. But confident.

  Because she watched him burst out of the truck he’d driven right between her and danger, his eyes on her, evaluating, seeing, caring, and she knew he was already in control of the situation. Knew that Jimmy was already her past, and nothing to do with her present. Knew that Jimmy was about to be literally of the past if he didn’t back down.

  But she couldn’t look anywhere but Luke’s eyes. It was like hope had just crashed into her life. And he looked at her like she was the only thing that existed. That ever had existed.

  “Are you hurt?” he said. His words were short, gruff.

  “No.”

  “Do you want him here?”

  Luke’s face remained unchanged, but there was a little growl at the end of that. A little possessive growl.

  Charlene tried not to smile.

  “No,” she said.

  Luke exhaled slowly, his massive shoulders rolling. He half turned towards Jimmy, then stopped.

  “Did he threaten you?” he asked, his deep voice rolling over her in a wave.

  She found she couldn’t lie.

  “Sort of?” she said.

  Luke’s eyes seemed to glow, the blue and gold flashing black, and he slammed the door of his truck so hard Charlene thought the window might shatter.

  “Don’t kill him,” she said. “Nothing illegal. No jail. None of that.”

  Luke grunted, which Charlene interpreted as a reluctant, “Fine, I won’t kill your ex.” She followed him as he strode around the front of his truck to confront Jimmy, and realized it wasn’t just because she wanted the satisfaction of watching Luke kick Jimmy’s ass. It was because she wanted Jimmy to know, really know, that he was in the past. Not part of her life. That this was it.

  It was a weird feeling.

  And then they rounded the truck, and Charlene got a look at Jimmy and Luke, side by side again. Or almost side by side. Enough to make the comparison obvious.

  And there was no comparison. Luke didn’t talk much, and definitely didn’t share anything about himself, but when he spoke, he meant every word. Jimmy would say anything, to anyone, and could believe a lie as soon as he’d said it out loud.

  Luke was honorable. Strong. Jimmy was small of heart, and a liar.

  Luke was pure Dom. Jimmy played at it. Jimmy needed to control people out of his deep insecurity. Luke simply was dominant, because it was his nature to command and to care.

  And in that split second, she really saw everything that Jimmy had cost her.

  “What did I tell you?” Luke growled. He was striding toward Jimmy, his hands balled into fists, his shoulders set.

  Charlene looked down and saw that her fingers were shaking.

  “This isn’t any of your business,” Jimmy snarled.

  But his voice faltered. He’d stopped in his tracks when Luke showed up. Now he was walking backwards.

  Jimmy Walters was afraid. But not even of what Luke would do to him. Charlene was almost positive that Jimmy must have heard what she said to Luke. He wouldn’t do anything she didn’t ask him to do. So Jimmy was safe—but only because Charlene said so. And that freaked Jimmy the hell out.

  If Charlene were in a petty kind of mood, that would make her smile. But at that moment she was focused on one thing and one thing only: Luke. And, as he approached Jimmy, intimidating her ex into cowering rather than laying hands on him, all she could think about was trust. How Luke’s word was his bond. How she could trust him, above all else.

  And about how Luke’s Dom nature put every other Dom she’d ever met to shame. Including her ex-husband.

  Jimmy was practically scrabbling on the ground, backing up as fast as he could. Shouting things, but not at her. He tried. He looked at her like he was going to say something, and Luke growled.

  The sound…did something to her. Woke something, deep inside her. She felt it move, twist, tighten, and she realized she could feel her pulse in every inch of her body.

  Some places more than others.

  “What did I tell you?” Luke repeated.

  Jimmy was getting smaller, retreating faster. He was almost at his own truck, his feet off-balance, his eyes casting around, his expression angry and afraid. Luke had managed to show Jimmy as he really was for the first time.

  “Are you crazy?” he threw out at Luke.

  “Want to find out?” Luke said.

  Charlene tried not to laugh.

  It was a totally inappropriate reaction, and it was because she felt straight up…drunk? Sort of? The feeling that had been gathering in her core since Luke showed up—hell, since she’d thought about him, since she’d seen him in the club—pulsed and grew, overtaking her from the inside out. It felt light and hot at the same time, like it could just carry her away.

  You are losing your mind.

  Or maybe she’d already lost it. She’d be
en working so hard for so long to balance on the edge of something, trying to be happy even if she couldn’t be all of herself. Trying to convince herself she could be happy without being a sub. Now she felt like she was ready to explode. Like if she didn’t get some relief from this pressure, she might just burst into flames.

  She’d been trying so hard not to fall into that. But here was this man, this Dom. Luke. Ready to catch her. And if she couldn’t trust him, she was never going to trust anyone ever again.

  “Luke…” she said softly.

  He didn’t hear her. Jimmy was at his truck and Luke was still advancing, still itching to put some real fear into the tiny coward of a man who Charlene had allowed to rob her of so goddamn much.

  Jimmy scratched at the door of his truck, his eyes still on Luke. He wrenched the door open, his eyes locked on the mortal threat bearing down on him with such excruciating slowness, like Luke was a slow-moving but inevitable force of freaking nature. And then, without another word, and without so much looking at Charlene, Jimmy climbed up into his truck, started the engine, and backed up out of there so fast he sent gravel flying.

  It was over.

  Or it should have been.

  Charlene dragged a shaky breath into her lungs, felt it flow through her chest, her belly, her fingertips. Her pulse throbbed a heavy rhythm between her legs, her clit aching, her nipples hardening. She felt so painfully full and achingly empty at the same time.

  “Luke…” she said again.

  Luke turned around in a hurry, his eyes on her immediately, searching. He went from towering fury to towering…what was it? Concern. Protectiveness.

  Possessiveness.

  He was all roaring alpha Dom, and it shocked her silent. He was looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the world, his eyes still glowing and his body still hulked out as he stalked toward her.

  “Are you harmed?” he demanded.

  She shook her head. “No,” she managed.

  “What happened to the security system?”

  “I forgot to turn it on.”

  He growled, his brows furrowing together. He didn’t like that.

  “Let me see you,” he grunted, as though he hadn’t just asked her if she was harmed. For the first time she saw he was breathing hard, too.

  Carefully, like the touch might shock her, she reached out and put her hand on his chest.

  His heart thundered. His eyes softened.

  “Are you ok?” he said.

  Once again, she found she couldn’t lie to him. Not now. Probably not ever.

  “No,” she said. “I’m not.”

  Luke hissed a breath in, his skin burning where Charlene touched him through his shirt. He shouldn’t have left her, even if he didn’t have a choice. He damn well wouldn’t leave her now.

  He gathered every last strand of Dom strength and experience he had and took hold of them, like a rein on the rest of him. On the animal inside him that had wanted to pummel Jimmy Walters into the ground. On the animal that now wanted her.

  Luke exhaled slowly, and let his gaze travel over Charlene’s face. She was overheated, her pupils dilated, sweat beading on her collarbone, her chest. Dripping down, past the low scoop neck of her summer dress, right between the swells of her breasts.

  He was instantly hard. His cock ached, his balls tight and his muscles tense. No. The safety of his sub—of his woman—would always, always come first.

  She’d said she wasn’t ok.

  “What do you need?” he rasped.

  Charlene’s big brown eyes widened, and her hand pressed into him, her fingers digging into his chest. Luke knew what she needed. He’d known what she needed all along. But she had to be ready.

  “Say it,” he said.

  “I need you,” she whispered. “I need you to be my Dom.”

  Luke stood motionless for a second, watching her. Owning her. Letting her know what was coming. He looked down and saw that her other hand was shaking. He wanted to savor this, but there was no time. Not for either of them.

  With a low growl, he reached out and slid his hand over her hip, around to her back, drawing her to him. He saw her breath hitch, her lips part. His lips now.

  He bent down to taste them, grazing them with his own before parting them, licking them with his tongue. She was sweet, and a little salty, and goddamn perfect.

  He couldn’t fucking wait any longer.

  He crushed her body to his and claimed her mouth with his own, their tongues meeting as he tasted her more deeply. Fuck. He couldn’t get enough of her. Couldn’t get enough of the feel of her plump lip between his, of the taste of her in his mouth, of the way her body melted into his with each kiss.

  He loosened the reins just a little and let his hand grip her by the back of the neck, tilting her up so he could deepen the kiss, and was rewarded with a low moan. It nearly undid all his self-control.

  Then he looked down, at her beautiful, liquid eyes, at the throbbing pulse point in her neck, at her breasts straining against the fabric of her dress as he pressed her to him.

  With another low growl he slid his hand from her back over to her side and up her ribcage to her breast, his eyes transfixed on the way the supple flesh moved underneath him, the way her nipple hardened under his thumb, the way she groaned as he touched her.

  “Please,” she whispered. And that was it. He couldn’t take it anymore.

  Luke bent down, threw Charlene over his shoulder, and walked toward the house.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Charlene yelped as Luke threw her over his shoulder, and then it turned into a breathless giggle as the reality sank in. This was happening. This was finally happening.

  And it was just perfect. The growly Dom stuff, the way he made her feel invulnerable and vulnerable at the same time, the way he made her past seem like a distant memory.

  He was carrying her into the house, slung over his shoulder like he was a damn caveman.

  And Charlene had literally never been this turned on in her life. Her whole body pulsed with it, with that glowing, yearning, aching to be full feeling, with the delicious powerlessness of being over his shoulder, with the feel of his iron arm over her waist, locking her to his shoulder. With every step Luke took she bounced and jostled in his arms, her breasts crushed against his back, her thighs squeezed against her mons. That rhythm alone was enough to drive her crazy, but she had a perfect view of Luke’s perfect ass as he carried her, too, and, well, she was human.

  She reached down to squeeze it.

  Luke stopped. Noooo. They were on the porch, just ahead of the door. So close.

  Slowly, so achingly slowly, Luke slid Charlene down the front of his body, her dress catching on his shirt and riding all the way up until he caught her nearly bare ass in his hands and hefted her legs around his waist all in one smooth, controlled movement and looked at her.

  Just so she would know who was in charge.

  Charlene giggled again, this time from pure joy and excitement, until she felt the huge, heated hardness in his jeans pressed against her thigh. Then her breath hitched, and for a second she forgot to breathe.

  “Please,” she finally said, looking right into those gold-flecked blue eyes. “Please don’t make me wait anymore.”

  Luke’s eyes flashed, and she could see the raw, animal need behind them. Could see the self-control he held tightly, as tightly as he was holding her.

  Could see when he let go.

  Luke crashed through the front door with Charlene still in his arms, his expression one of pure lust. Charlene held on for dear life, her heart thudding in her chest, her pulse pounding between her legs, as he kicked the door closed behind them and slammed her up against the wall in the hallway.

  They weren’t making it any further.

  Her dress was still up around her waist, his hands still under her thighs. He lifted her up just an inch or two, effortlessly, and settled her around his legs as he bent at the knee, balancing her weight on his legs and le
aving his hands free to do whatever else he wanted.

  “Naked,” he growled. “Now.”

  He didn’t wait, but pulled her dress down over her breasts, pausing only to take his fill in each hand, growling as he provoked her into a low moan. She dug her fingernails into his shoulders while he unzipped, and that sound alone got her attention. She looked down as he freed his cock, his big hand wrapped around an equally big, pulsing erection, and she couldn’t resist. She reached down to slide her fingers along the silken shaft and followed the mesmerizing muscular contractions of his body all the way back up to his abs, his chest, his shoulders and neck. She was in awe of the power there, power that she could feel in the palm of her hand, and she made a little sound, her core aching to feel him inside her.

  Luke’s eyes fluttered closed for a second and then flew open, his jaw clenched with determination.

  Then his hands were back on her thighs, sliding upwards, his fingers grasping at the elastic of her panties as if they offended him. The muscles in his arms undulated as he jerked them apart, splitting her panties and ripping them clean off of her body in one rough motion.

  Charlene groaned again, already past the point of words. She craved him so badly she was almost delirious with it, her eyes floating open and closed while every beat of her heart made her feel the aching emptiness where she wanted him inside her. She felt his fingers dig into the backs of her thighs once more and her eyes flew open to find Luke looking right at her, his eyes burning. He pinned her with that gaze.

  He slowly lifted her up off her balance point on his leg, the muscles in his arms and chest flickering beneath the skin as he positioned her with seemingly no effort at all. And then gently, slowly, relentlessly, he impaled her on his full length.

  Charlene gasped at the slight pinch, that moment of brimming over fullness as she felt him pulse inside her. Her breathing shallow, fast. Her eyes still locked on his.

  Finally. Finally.

  Her body was completely supported by the strength of his arms, by the force of the wall against her back. She was totally at his mercy, and he wanted her to know it.