by Brill Harper
“I told you enough with the minors, man,” Patch Guy replies. “You’re going to get fired. You want a blow job, ask her out on a date someplace you don’t work. Now she’s bringing friends?” He stalks over to me and yanks my purse out of my hands, ignoring my indignant utterings. He pulls my wallet out, finds my I.D. and throws the rest onto the floor. He looks at it, looks at me, looks at it again. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
He spins back to Jim. “This is the last time I cover for you. Get back on the door and do your job.” To Christa, “I don’t see you here again until your birthday or I call the cops myself. We clear?”
She nods. She’s unusually pale, so her overdone eye makeup makes her eyes look like she’s some kind of blonde anime character.
“Go the fuck home,” he tells her.
Christa puts her head down and scurries with purpose to the door. Jim is already out of the room, presumably back to work. I need to go with Christa; she’s my ride. But my stuff is on the floor and if I go down there and get it, I’ll be…well, down there with the Patch Guy’s junk. He seems to figure out my hold-up and takes two steps back. I gather my wallet and stuff it back in my purse, then get up and hold out my hand for my license.
He shakes his head.
Really? He’s keeping it? Can he do that?
I swallow. “Please.” My eyes go to the door. Christa is in the hall waiting. Thank goodness. “I need to go with her. She’s my ride.”
He’s staring at me like we’re in some kind of interrogation battle that I would so lose. If I had secrets, I’d be spilling them right now. Luckily for me, I don’t ever do anything worth hiding. He can save that fierce glare for someone else.
Without looking over his shoulder at her, he says, “I said go the fuck home, Christa. Don’t make me say it again.”
I plead to her with my eyes not to leave me, but she looks real sorry before she shrugs and darts out of my line of sight.
Fine, he can keep my license. I’m so outta here. I take two steps, but he blocks my exit. “Don’t think so.”
“Look, I haven’t done anything wrong.” He snorts. “Yet,” I add. “The office is not off-limits to minors, and I haven’t set foot in the bar or had a drop of alcohol.”
“That’s some fine argument for the court. You going to law school?”
I shake my head. “I’m a finance major. But I know my rights. You can’t keep me here.”
“Not legally, no.”
I exhale deeply. Good. That’s settled. I try another step, but this time, instead of just blocking me, he steps into me and puts the distance between our bodies at zero inches. His hands rest heavily on my shoulders. I don’t think he’s pushing them down, they are just heavy because they are so big.
I tilt my head up. Way up. His expression hasn’t softened at all. He’s looking at me with some seriously fierce intensity. The scar, the tattoos, the eye patch, the strength all combine into this man who seems more primordial than not.
I concentrate on keeping my voice even. “I thought we just agreed you have no legal reason to keep me here.” Don’t panic.
“Yep.”
“Then please let me pass.”
“Baby, you’re not going anywhere.”
CHAPTER TWO
ANVIL
I AM NOT A GOOD man. But I am an excellent cooler—bar bouncer. A place like Billy’s needs strong leadership for its security staff.
We don’t have it.
So I do the best I can. The management might not be great, but it’s not the worst place I ever worked.
I try to keep the problems on ice, but Jim is crazy about that damn chick. He’s a good bouncer otherwise. He just can’t keep his dick in his pants when it comes to Christa. She could cause us all kinds of problems, but he has a real weakness for her mouth.
And because of that, now I have a new problem. One that is testing my stone-cold self.
“Baby, you’re not going anywhere,” I tell the sweet thing watching the exit.
She’s looking up at me with those eyes all wide and a little scared, and I am getting off on it. She is trembling, and she should be. She walked into the wrong bar tonight. I want to terrify her. I want her to be nervous and anxious and scared as fuck.
Because she has scared the fuck out of me.
“Explain this shit,” I say, finally handing her back her driver’s license.
She squirrels it into her purse like I might try to take it back. “I’m not sure what you’re asking, but I need to go. Really.”
I don’t think so.
“Why won’t you let me go?”
That’s a good question. But not the first one I want answered. “Why did you sneak into Billy’s tonight?”
“Why does anyone sneak into a bar?” She gives up watching the door, knowing Christa is long gone by now, and slumps against the desk. “Were you never underage? Was this not something your generation did, too?”
She startles a chuckle out of me, and I don’t startle or chuckle easily.
I’m only ten years older, but maybe I’ve packed a lot of hard living into those years.
She’s a cheeky little thing. Not sure when she decided she wasn’t afraid to be alone in the room with me, though. “Baby, you couldn’t wait for twenty-seven hours? Your birthday is the day after tomorrow.”
She shrugs.
Not good enough. “What kind of girl waits to sneak into a bar until she’s almost old enough? You could have come tomorrow at midnight.”
“What makes you think this is my first time?”
“You’ve got cherry written all over you.” When she blushes an angry shade of pink, I realize I hit my mark times two. A virgin. No fucking way.
Now I really am scared of her.
This girl is a baited trap.
I’m not a guy who believes in love, so I sure as hell don’t believe in love at first sight. But something happened. Something changed. I don’t know what to call it, how I feel. How I felt when I first laid eyes on her. It was primal. Like I zeroed in on her scent. I may not believe in love, but I do believe we are all just animals. And this beast just discovered his mate.
Knowing I’ll be first makes it all the better.
Fuck me, but I think I’m going to be her last, too.
“My name is Anvil,” I tell her.
She tilts her head at me. Narrows her eyes a bit. “No, it’s really not.”
My God, this little slip of a thing is going to be my downfall. “That’s what they call me.” I make a fist. “That’s what these feel like.”
She does this twisty thing with her lips. Like re-runs of The Church Lady on SNL. Only, damn if I don’t think it’s sexy, her little judgement of me. She likes clutching pearls so much, I’d be happy to give her a pearl necklace.
“What’s your real name, Anvil?”
The air gets thick between us. I’m feeling like we’re about to do a super slow motion fight scene from The Matrix. Only I don’t want to fight this girl. I think I want to marry her.
This is the most fucked up day.
“Nobody knows my real name,” I say, putting off the inevitable. I’m going to tell her my real name. I’m going to give her my last name. I’m going to give her babies and any damn thing she ever wanted. Who is this woman that could bring me down so hard and so fast?
“I want to know it,” she says simply.
“Melvin,” I reply.
She quirks those lips into another wry smile. “That’s…well this has been a really strange night, hasn’t it? I need to go now, Melvin.”
“I hope you’re still laughing when I make you Mrs. Melvin Cartwright.”
She inhales sharply, and I feel some relief at not being the only one tits up in this conversation again.
“I’m getting ahead of myself. I told you my first name, now you tell me the real reason you are out two days before you turn twenty-one sneaking into bars.”
“Well, Melvin…”
“Careful, baby gi
rl.” My voice sounds a little deeper, a little more gravel in it than usual. I think it grated across her little raw nerves a bit because she looks like she’s not sure if she’s afraid of me again or not.
She’s got me feeling so fucking high.
“I don’t…do you know what an actuary is?”
“Like for an insurance company?”
“That’s one path. I’m more interested in finance. But an actuary manages risk. That’s what I am going to school for. That’s what I do for internships. That’s how I manage my life. And I realized that I’m going to be twenty-one in two days and have never tried to get into a bar. I know it sounds stupid, but I started feeling like I was having a mid-life crisis at twenty and just wanted to try something crazy. But not too crazy. Just crazy enough. Christa does it enough that I assumed it wasn’t a big deal. That I could come in, look around, have a beer.” She rubs her temple like maybe being young and dumb is giving her a headache. “She didn’t tell me I might have to trade sexual favors.” She meets my eyes. Doesn’t look away. I know I’m big and scary to girls like her, but she doesn’t look away. “I’m not going to have to trade sexual favors, am I?”
I’ve never forced a woman to do anything. I’ve never had to. My job is to ice bad situations, and sometimes that means protecting women from guys who aren’t like me.
But who’s going to protect my little actuary from me?
“You’ll be begging me to fuck you before this night is over,” I tell her. She hasn’t responded to my crack about getting married yet. Maybe this will do it.
“You like to shock me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
A certainty moves through my chest. “Because you want to be shocked. That’s why you’re here tonight. You’re not having a mid-life crisis. You’re ready to grow up.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’ve been grown-up for a long time, Mr. Anvil.”
“You’ve been mature for a long time. I can see that. You don’t have that teenage girl vibe around you. But you’re aching to be treated like a real woman.”
“Right. I’m going to call an Uber and go home now.”
I step into her, blocking her against the desk, but I don’t touch her. “Nothing wrong with wanting to be a woman. You’re ready. I can feel it. Feel you in my blood.”
She swallows hard. “That’s not why I’m here. And you’re scaring me.”
“I’m not scaring you, angel. Your own desires are scaring you because they’re new. Once you give in to them, you’ll be changed. That scares the shit out of you.” I lean down and smell the skin of her throat. Mine. “But you’re not scared of me. We both know I’m not going to hurt you.”
“How could I know that? You’re like a wild animal compared to the boys I’m usually around.”
Her pulse is going crazy, and I want to lick it. I want to taste every part of her. “I am a wild animal. But you can tame me.”
“I doubt that very much.”
“I want you to try.”
“Is that why I’m still here? Why you didn’t let me go? You want me to try to tame you?”
“You’re here because you want to risk something tonight and still be safe. I’m the only man in this world who can make that happen for you. You can be as crazy as fuck. Do whatever you need to do, and I’ll make sure you’re safe. I’m the best risk averse choice you’ve ever made.”
She can’t read me yet. She doesn’t know she’s got all the control here. I’m already a fucking puppet for this woman. “So you want to be my bodyguard?”
“I won’t let you out of my sight.” I gently put my nose on that tender part under her ear but don’t kiss her. “I’ll be your actuary tonight, baby. I’ll manage your risk.”
She gives me a timid laugh. “This is crazy. I’m not having sex with you. If that’s what you’re after…”
“You saving it for marriage?” I ask
She tilts that proud little chin up and scoots away from me a bit. “Maybe I am.”
“Then you’ll be having sex with me before the night is through.”
CHAPTER THREE
SARAH
MY LIFE IS OFFICIALLY OUT of control. My bodyguard let me have exactly one beer. And not in a bar. I got to drink it in his truck under his watchful eye about two hours ago. So I’m not drunk. I can’t explain what is going on in my head, and I can’t blame booze.
I think I’m drunk on him.
But when the officiant asks him if he takes me for better or worse, we both pause and look at each other like we just woke up from the world’s strangest dream.
I guess a part of me thought I’d call his bluff at some point before now. He’s taken me to several casinos and bars. He fed me a huge meal. He hasn’t so much as kissed me. So when he suggested our next stop should be a 24-hour chapel, I laughed and said, “Sure. Why not?”
I’ve enjoyed living this one night free of worry. I can’t explain it. Anvil makes me feel safe and shook up at the same time. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can hurt me. People clear a path for him wherever we go. He looks like we just left Thunderdome. He’s a head taller than every other bouncer we’ve come across, and they haven’t even carded me.
I have zero clue why he wants to hang out with me, though. I’ve seen the way women prettier than me look at him. Yeah, the scar, patch, and tattoos are scary, but in that primal way that makes us want what we shouldn’t. He could have any of those women, probably at the same time. But he doesn’t look at them. He looks at me. When I’m talking to him, he looks at me like I’m the smartest, most interesting person in the world. I don’t get it.
While I am smart, I am not captivating. I understand that my chosen profession is not really exciting. But he kept asking me questions all night. But Anvil, he’s the one with the good stories and exciting life. He’s traveled so much. He was in the Army. He’s got tales of adventure and anecdotes about funny and frightening bar fights.
And now we’re in the chapel. The organist is smoking cigarettes. The officiant smells like wine coolers. Twelve hours ago, I ate a Hot Pocket while doing homework and now I’m getting married to a man I hardly know. But I said yes.
What kind of actuary am I going to be? This is more than risky.
“I do,” Anvil says, and I feel relieved and inexplicably angry that he didn’t cave in this game of chicken.
“You’re insane,” I whisper.
“You may kiss the bride,” says the officiant. The organist starts and my husband…oh my God…my husband…smiles at me with the most devilish grin.
This will be our first kiss.
“Well, Mrs. Melvin Cartwright, I guess it’s time to make this official.”
His gaze moves to my mouth, and my lips part automatically, like he’d just said, “Open Sesame.” His big callused hand cups the curve of my jaw. Gently, so gently. He leans down so he’s an inch from my other ear and smells my skin like he did back at Billy’s. I’m dying now. He’s drawing this out so much. I’m about to just yell for him to kiss me already.
Then he claims my mouth. Finally. He brings his other hand up to hold my face, and I grasp his strong wrists so I don’t fall over. His tongue sweeps into my mouth, and I moan. My skin tightens over my body, every nerve waiting for more touch, more sensation. But he doesn’t go deeper. I try to angle my head to get more of him into me, but he holds us there in this sweet, sweet moment.
Oh my God, I’m married.
He leans his forehead on mine and looks into my eyes. I think it just hit him too. We’re like two insane people inhabiting the bodies of normally rational people. Then he pulls me into his body, the shelter of his arms, and he holds me.
I didn’t know. I never thought I could feel this way. I know I shouldn’t fall for him. This isn’t real. It’s going to cost us an attorney fee tomorrow to figure out the best way to undo it. It’s just my night of being rash. Of throwing caution into the wind.
But it feels good. It feels like the most real thing I’ve ever fe
lt.
We’re alone in the chapel now. The employees have gone out to get ready for the next insane couple.
He pulls back a little to look at me like he’s looking through my skin and can see my darkest thoughts and my deepest longings. “I know, baby girl,” he says. “Me too.”
“Now what?” I ask, even though I know the answer. It’s all been leading up to what comes next. I see that now.
“First, we get pancakes. Because I always celebrate the best things that happen to me with pancakes.”
Okay, that wasn’t what I thought he was going to say.
“Then I’m taking you home, and I’m going to fuck you hard and long and deep.”
I inhale a shocked breath.
“I’m big everywhere, Mrs. Cartwright. We’re gonna have to work to make it all fit in your virgin pussy. But you’ll take all of me inside you, and you’ll be mine.”
I should be recoiling in horror. But I like what he’s saying. I like the way he’s saying it. The way he’s looking at me like he’s hungry for me.
For his wife.
“Are you wet? Are you thinking about my cock right now? Wondering how big it is? If I’m exaggerating?”
I nod. Well, I wanted to feel like I was alive and not just managing my life. Whatever happens tomorrow, I might as well give this night all the enthusiasm it’s due. “I’m wet. I want you. I want you so much…I didn’t know I could…” I drift off because I really don’t know.
He saves me, stepping in when I get lost in my own words. “Woman, you are making me so hard right now. I’m going to make this so good for you. You’ll be glad you waited for your wedding night, I promise.”
“But first, pancakes,” I say.
He smiles and I hear organ music that isn’t playing. See fireworks that aren’t exploding. I don’t think he smiles very often. I feel like I just got a new super power that I can make him smile like that.
“First pancakes. Then you come all over my cock.”
CHAPTER FOUR
ANVIL
I SWEEP MY BRIDE INTO my arms at the threshold of my apartment so I can carry her in. It’s cheesy as fuck, but this whole crazy night calls for it.