by Hart, Eve R.
A brief flicker of uncertainty flashed in her eyes. But she quickly chased it away and sat up straight. She didn’t have to answer with words and I knew she wouldn’t.
“Come on,” I said as I helped her down and held her steady then I pulled her dress back into place.
I led the way out of my apartment and back outside.
After finding her girls at one of the picnic tables, I left her to go fix us some food. I was fucking famished after all of that and I knew she would be too, even if she wouldn’t admit it.
“Get me a shot of vodka,” I told one of the prospects. “The bottle under the bar behind the napkins.”
He gave me a nod before quickly turning to do so.
I set the plates down and took a seat next to Petra. The prospect dropped off the shot and a fresh beer that I hadn’t even asked for. I looked up and sent him an appreciative chin jerk.
I handed her the shot and her eyes stayed locked onto mine as she downed it. A slight smile twitched on her lips as she set the glass down.
I didn’t need to tell her that I’d taken notice of her favorite vodka. Nor did I need to tell her that I special ordered that shit so she’d have some here. Just like she didn’t need to tell me that she noticed and it meant a lot to her.
I didn’t expect Petra to change. Truth was, I didn’t want her to. There were parts of her that I had a feeling I’d never get to see but I understood that was her.
But she was here and that was what counted to me.
“Am I free tonight, Petra?” Royse asked. This was the first time I’d met her and she seemed like a ball of fire. Not like Rowan, more like a kid that had too much candy.
Petra followed Royse’s gaze before flicking her eyes over to me.
With a shrug, I told her that it was up to her. My men would respect her people, I had no doubt of that. And I didn’t care what they did as long as it didn’t cause drama, which I didn’t suspect it would. I could tell Royse had the same mindset as most of my brothers.
“Yes, but you know the rules,” Petra told Royse, her eyes still on Sketch, who was doing nothing to hide his want for Royse.
“No finishing in the mouth and wrap it before you ride it. I got it,” Royse said as she got to her feet.
“That’s not how it’s stated in the contract, but go,” Petra said with a flick of her fingers.
Royse needed no other instruction as she happily bounced her way over to Sketch.
“Yes, but ‘any and all sex and sexual acts must maintain the highest level of protection’ blah blah blah, doesn’t sound as sexy,” Rowan joked.
I snorted a laugh and Petra cut her eyes over to me, but I saw the slight twitch of her lips.
“She does know that it’s safer to use a condom for a blowjob, right?” Varda chimed in with a giggle.
Petra didn’t seem concerned so I figured Royse knew what she was doing.
I glanced across the lot to see Sketch staring at me. With a small nod of my head, I let him know it was all good. I suspected that he didn’t want to do anything to piss Petra off, especially after she nearly broke his nose.
The conversations floated around us but Petra remained silent, unsurprisingly. But at least she seemed a little more relaxed and less overwhelmed.
“How is she doing?” Petra asked, her eyes across the lot on Abigail who was sitting by herself on the outskirts of the crowd.
I turned to straddle the bench and gently pulled her into my body. She didn’t lean into me but she didn’t stiffen either as I put my arms around her waist.
“It’s been hard on her,” I said low so only Petra could hear, my eyes still watching Abigail. “I offered her a place of her own but she doesn’t want to leave. I think she needs to be here. Feels connected to Dade bein’ around all of us.”
“She’s not attached to any of the others?”
“No,” I answered knowing what she meant.
“Are you sure about that?” Petra asked and I followed the direction of her gaze.
“He won’t go there,” I told her because I knew exactly what she was seeing. “None of them will.”
Her head turned, her lips brushing against mine as those glacier blue eyes looked into mine like she was searching for the reason why I’d said that. I knew she didn’t understand but she would. She just needed to spend more time around us.
“Okay,” Rowan said catching our attention. “Royse is done and I’ve seen enough weirdness from Mom and Dad.” She shot a wink in our direction. “Plus all the sex in the air has me horny. I need to go home and get some.”
Royse giggled as she walked up, hearing what Rowan had said.
“Yeah,” Varda said with a nod. “Maybe I can get a late night client if I get back now.”
Petra moved like she was going to get up but my arms stayed locked around her.
“I’ll get a prospect to drive them back,” I said then gave a nod to Blade who was within earshot. I knew he was listening in but not because he was being nosy.
“You can take my car,” Petra said and Blade halted his steps knowing he didn’t need to go find a prospect for me. “Iron can give me a ride back in the morning.”
I smiled and gave Rowan a nod. She hadn’t had anything to drink so I knew she’d be fine to drive and that she wouldn’t dare let anything happen to Petra’s car.
“Great,” Rowan said pulling Petra’s keys out of her little bag. “Let’s go girls. It was nice to meet you, Blade.” She smiled at him and he let out an unhappy and disappointed breath as he shook his head.
“Fuck it,” Blade said under his breath after all three of them had walked off. With a shake of his head, he walked away. My guess, to find someone to satisfy him for the night.
“Ready for bed?” I asked Petra once we were alone. The day had been long and I could have done with a few hours of sleep about now.
“Yes.” Her eyes looked into mine sparkling with desire and need. I could tell she didn’t mean she was ready to go to sleep.
Suddenly, I felt wide the fuck awake.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Iron
We were tangled up in each other, panting heavily and slick with sweat. Three orgasms and she had practically begged me to stop, telling me that she couldn’t give me another one.
I think this was the most I’d ever seen Petra at one time and I wasn’t about to complain.
I was still in shock that she’d come tonight. To the cookout, that was. No surprise she came the other way, I made sure I never let her down there.
Things went a lot more smoothly after I got her to relax. I was starting to realize that sex was the way to get through to Petra. Maybe that should have been something I saw before because it wasn’t like they made any kind of attempt to hide it. And I knew that.
Because I knew her.
Like when she called me to come, there was always a reason beyond wanting to climax.
I quickly learned to read her moods.
I think it helped that we weren’t so different, really.
We both carried heavy burdens and had many people dependent on us to watch over them.
I also think the night I refused her, I gave her the final piece to what she’d been missing. I gave her the freedom to unburden that load and let someone else take it for a while.
The toys, the submission, it wasn’t always about her need to be dominant. Sometimes it was about needing a place where she could let everything out. Or a person that she could let them out on. It wasn’t about having to fight for control, it was about holding on to it and dealing with all the strength that it took to have it.
I understood it, I did. Even if it wasn’t like that for me.
Sure, sometimes the load got heavy, but I didn’t ever feel like I couldn’t hold it up. I handled things pretty well, I thought. But then again, I didn’t have the kind of climb she had.
So with that, I saw that sometimes I had to show her it was okay to let it all go. To strip down naked and let someone take over.
“So tell me about Rowan,” I said after we’d caught our breath. I still didn’t know that much about her people. I wanted to, but I knew it was going to be a slow process. Tonight she’d shown me that she’s ready for that next step. “Pretty much all I know is that she’s married.”
I watched as her lips curled up at the edges slightly.
“I bet there’s a story there,” I said, my fingers lightly tracing the lines of her almost smiling lips.
“Yes,” she said and that smile grew a hair. “But I wouldn’t do it justice. You should have her tell it to you some time.”
“Yeah?” I asked. Oh, damn. She was letting me in and acknowledging that our lives were gonna merge now.
I was in this one hundred percent.
I think she finally got that.
And she was giving me the same thing back.
“Yes.” Her eyes looked into mine and there was a twinkle there that told me that not only was it a good story, but that she might have had a hand in it as well. “Believe it or not, it all starts with a wedding dress.”
The look of shock on my face was real. Her chest moved as if she silently laughed.
Her fingers were in my beard, playing with the soft hairs while she kept her eyes on mine.
“Do you think her sticking around is a permanent thing?” I asked.
“I do. She doesn’t have to work, I’m sure you realize that.”
I did. I’d been there at the wedding, after all, and I recognized who she married and her new extended family. Though, I could also see how Rowan craved excitement in her life. The kind that you had to keep a lid on. So taking over for Petra a few days a week gave her that without causing too many waves in her relationship.
Or so I imagined.
I didn’t know her all that well and I knew nothing about her husband other than the face he showed the public. And we all knew that was rarely the true face of the person.
“But I think she would go crazy if she didn’t do something,” Petra went on.
“I think she would miss you, too.”
She looked at me, her eyes narrowing as if she was searching for a look that told her I was making a joke. She wouldn’t find it, though.
“I suppose she’s become used to me over the years,” she said with a shrug.
“Or, ya know, she cares about you.” When she didn’t seem to understand, I went on. “You take care of those girls in more ways than one. You not only provide them a safe place to work, but you also treat them well. And in that line of work, that’s hard to find. Not sayin’ everyone is cut out for that job but I do get that there are people out there that enjoy it. You give them that outlet and pay them well for their services. You’re not only a good boss, but a good friend as well.”
“I think you see me differently than I see myself,” she said softly, her gaze sliding away from mine.
“Maybe,” I said then placed a kiss along her hairline. “Or maybe I see the real you, the one that you don’t even realize is there.”
She rolled over on her back. Her head rested on my shoulder and I ran my fingers through her tangled hair until it wasn’t tickling my nose.
“I have a hard time remembering before that night,” she said and I remained silent. I knew what she was talking about and I wasn’t about to stop her from getting out what she needed to. “I can remember bits and pieces. Like even now, I know what my mom smelled like. And my dad would sing this old Slovenian lullaby to me when I was younger. But I can’t remember the tune or the words.
“We were poor. Both my mom and dad worked. Some nights all we would have for dinner was stock soup and bread. But I don’t think I was ever aware of how bad it was. I don’t remember my childhood as unhappy.”
Her fingers moved to trace over one of the scars on her stomach. Lastly, she traced the largest one just under her left breast.
“Then they came that night,” she said in an even flatter tone than before. She was reliving it, but almost like she was distancing herself from the memories. “After that, I just remember feeling empty. I wasn’t mad, or angry, or sad. I was nothing.”
My hand covered hers and her movements stopped. My fingers forced their way through the spaces between hers. Her lids blinked a few times but there were no tears there, and I knew there wouldn’t be. Then her fingers curled, holding on tightly to mine.
“My dad was dead. Cut open right in front of me for trying to stop them. My mom was hysterical, crying every day for months. She fell apart and I knew that I couldn’t. So I didn’t. I didn’t try to get back the girl I was. I let her die that night along with my dad.”
I knew the barest details of what had happened. Cable was able to dig that much up. I also knew what came later, and there had even been pictures to go along with a very detailed report.
Even though I knew, hearing it from her lips crushed me.
“I agreed to testify because I knew they’d come after me,” she said and I swallowed hard. “I was young, but I knew. Men like that didn’t let things go. They thought they had enough power that they could get away with anything. And when someone tried to prove them wrong, they then covered their tracks.”
She went quiet for a few beats and I patiently waited for her to go on.
“My dad used to shave with a straight razor every day. He told me that my mom liked a smooth face and he wanted to make it as smooth as possible. I could have taken anything to remind me of him, but that was what I chose after we packed up the house.”
I wasn’t sure I could stomach much more even though I knew the outcome. But I stayed silent because she was giving me parts of herself that she didn’t give anyone.
“It didn’t matter where we went to hide, I knew they’d find us.” Her fingers tightened even more. If she kept it up, I wasn’t going to have fingers left by the time she was done. “They were going to gut me like they did my father. I know because they told me. They hung my mother from the balcony on the second floor and made me watch. When they took me back to my room, all I saw was that razor sitting right next to the bed. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I don’t even remember what I did. I woke up surrounded by three bodies and covered in blood.”
Her head tilted until she looked me in the eyes.
“You knew all of this, didn’t you?” she asked but there was no anger in her tone.
I cleared my throat before I attempted to speak.
“Most of it, yeah,” I answered truthfully.
“Your man is good, I take it. Those files were supposed to be erased when I came here.”
“He’s good,” I confirmed with a nod of my head. “Only he and I looked at those files.” I tried my hardest to assure her that not everyone knew about it and they wouldn’t unless she told them.
“I was fourteen when it happened, the first part. My birthday was weeks away and there was no celebration because there was nothing to celebrate.”
“What happened after you came here?” I asked trying to find some bright light in all her darkness.
“I was sent to live with a distant family member. I didn’t know who they were and she wasn’t prepared to deal with someone like me. I basically had a roof and food until I turned eighteen. She wasn’t unkind, she was simply distant. I couldn’t blame her and I don’t think I really even cared. I didn’t want anyone to try to love me because I couldn’t love them back.”
“But you can. You have love in you, Pet. It’s not buried deep, it’s right there on the surface.” I slid our interlocked hands up her chest until she could feel her heart beating against her palm. “It’s just that most people don’t know what to look for. They don’t take the time to learn your language.”
Her eyes cut up to look at mine. Slowly her brow raised and I saw something dancing in her eyes.
“That’s rather poetic for a deadly biker,” she said with a tw
itch of her lips.
“Alright, I get it, babe,” I said with a small chuckle. “Get some sleep.”
She rolled over, her arms and legs all moving until she was wrapped around me. I reached down and pulled the covers over us as best as I could.
“I never knew I wanted you,” she whispered against my chest.
My arms tightened around her but I said nothing. She didn’t want me to.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Petra
Garen walked into my office after I answered his knock.
“There’s a car parked down the street. It’s been there for two hours,” he told me the moment he closed the door behind him.
Since the mishap with Midori, I’d upped the security, adding extra cameras all up and down the street. All the other buildings were empty except for this one so there wasn’t a lot to watch. No one should have been parked on the street like that. The Gilded Rose had a parking lot out back. And most of our clients had drivers, so it was rarely used.
I tapped the keys on my keyboard, bringing up the live feed.
I didn’t watch the outside cameras all that often, letting Garen and the rest of my security team handle the lookout.
“Are we sure it’s not Bridget?” I asked and almost laughed in my head.
Garen froze, his expression horrified.
“What?” I asked, my head tilting slightly to the side as I looked him dead in the eyes.
“Did you just try to be funny?” he asked me, his tone strange.
My eyes blinked and my gaze fell to the top of my desk.
“I suppose that’s what it was.” I shrugged. My expression turned serious as I looked back up at him. “Do we know who it is?”
“No. I can’t see into the car, but by the smaller figure, I’d say female.”
“Bring her to me,” I told him before looking back to the screen.
Garen did as I expected him to do, going out the back and sneaking around until he could come up on the car without being noticed until it was too late.
The girl stepped out, her body shaking so hard that it was visible on the screen. I watched as he gently escorted her out of sight.