Stripped Bounty

by Dorothy F. Shaw

  Badger was a walking anomaly. And pretty much everything she’d avoided her entire life. Besides, she’d had enough issues with her husband getting into trouble; she sure as hell hadn’t needed a biker in the mix. Trading a wannabe bad-boy for a real deal bad one wasn’t on her to do list.

  Finally free, Rosie managed to find his wallet in his jeans. She swiped a couple of twenties, and then tiptoed out of his dark bedroom. She’d pay him back, somehow. Her clothes, which consisted of a Deuce’s Cabaret T-shirt, a pair of Badger’s boxer briefs, and her stripper platforms were in the entryway hall where she’d left them. The sun wasn’t up yet, and amazingly enough, she managed to get dressed without any lights on.

  In the dimly lit formal living room, Rosie’s gaze lingered on the couch before she turned away and headed to the front door. Hot lust pooled in her tummy at the memory of being bent over the back of it, hands bound behind her back as Badger fucked her harder than she’d even been in her life.

  With a hard swallow to stifle a moan, she opened the door just enough to sneak past it and then closed it quietly behind her. So far she’d managed to get away. But she knew, until she was far enough away, she wasn’t out of the woods yet. It wasn’t until she cleared his driveway and made her way down the sidewalk that she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Rosie took a guess and made a left onto the next street, hoping like hell she’d soon find the main road. Her next goal was to hopefully find a gas station and beg to use the phone to call a cab.

  Talk about doing the walk of shame—or in this case, if she was lucky, the cab ride of shame.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It’d taken longer than she’d hoped, and by the time Rosie had gotten a cab to pick her up, the sun was high in the sky and blaring down on her, highlighting the fact that she’d definitely spent the night somewhere other than her own bed.

  Using the money she’d taken from Badger, she paid the driver and headed for her apartment. As she walked past the kids playing in front of her building—in her clear with glitter, platform stripper heels—the mothers all stopped what they were doing to stare. Rosie avoided their eyes, feeling for the first time in a long time, an ice-cold blanket of shame wrap around her. Frazzled, instead of heading to the office to ask for an extra key, she hurried around the corner to her apartment door—and came to a dead stop.

  A shiver bolted down Rosie’s spine. The door was closed, but it had definitely been kicked in at some point. Fuck! The lock was bent and below it, a dent in the metal door, clearly the size of a foot, and the wood around the frame was damaged. With a shaking hand, Rosie pushed the door open wide. It didn’t appear anyone was still in there, but she waited a moment, listening for any sounds. When nothing moved she took a deep breath and stepped inside.

  Rosie covered her mouth with her hand, as a whimper escaped. Her small one-room apartment had been trashed. Completely and totally fucking trashed.

  The bed was flipped on its side, the sheets and blankets hanging off it. Dresser drawers had been pulled out and lay dumped on the ground, a few of them broken. Her clothes scattered about. She looked into the small kitchenette as the tears filling her eyes breached the edges and dripped down her cheeks. Christ, the silverware and utensil drawers had been pulled out, the contents strewn across the tile floor. Dishes and glassware broken. Even the cabinets, holding the few pots and pans she owned, as well as food stock had been dumped.

  “What the fuck!”

  A scream erupted out of Rosie and she spun around so fast, she lost her balance. Badger rushed forward and caught her before she fell on her ass. She flung her arms around his neck, a complete blubbering mess of tears. “Badger…I… Oh God!”

  He stroked the back of her hair and held her tighter. “Baby, shh. It’s okay now, I got you.”

  She sniffled and pressed her face against his neck. He’d scared the shit out of her, but she’d never been happier to see a man in her life as she was right then. “What’m I gonna do?” Her breath hitched on a sob. “I don’t know what to do.”

  Badger smoothed his hand down her back before he pulled away and cupped her chin in his hand. “First thing you’re going to do is find a bag and grab some clothes. The second thing you’re going to do is walk your ass out to my truck and get in it. We’ll figure out the third move once we’re back at my place. We clear?” Still crying, she tried to focus on his eyes as he swiped a tear off her cheek with his thumb. “We clear, Rosie?”

  The tenderness of his tone and his actions sent her already dramatic state into a maelstrom of emotional overload. First the crazy wild sex, then the all night cuddling? And now tenderness? For fuck’s sake, the dude had layers! “Yes,” she whispered, working to get her teary display under control.

  And then he went and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

  “Jesus, Badger!” Rosie burst into another round of tears.

  “Shit.” He cupped the back of her head and pulled her to his chest. “Go easy, woman. Deep breaths.”

  “Okay—” She sniffled and wiped her face. “Okay, I got it. I’m good.”

  He gripped her shoulders and his gaze traveled over her face. “Good. Now do as I instructed.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Badger’s eyes flared and so did hers. The words had come out before she’d even thought about it. Jesus Christ, she was in trouble. And not just because her apartment had been trashed—most likely by Alvaro and she was obviously no longer safe. But because at some point between when she’d run off the stage and hid behind the Dumpster, to this very moment, she’d given Badger a whole lot of power over her.

  A power she wasn’t necessarily comfortable with him having.

  After loading three duffel bags full of Rosie’s clothes in the back of his pickup, Badger stopped by Deuce’s and also grabbed the things she’d left behind the night before, as well as her money. He’d threatened to handcuff her to the steering wheel to ensure she didn’t try and skip out on him again. She hadn’t, thank fuck. But he was pretty sure it was only because she was still too shaken up at the condition of her apartment.

  Now back at his place, he stood at his kitchen counter, loaded the coffee pot up, and started on some scrambled eggs. Rosie was in the shower, and any minute now she’d be out. He planned to feed her, then find out what the fuck was going on.

  As he finished placing her plate on the table and set to filling each of them a mug of coffee, Rosie appeared in the den. He straightened from his task and took her in, grinding his molars the whole time.

  She’d applied only a little makeup. Her hair was pulled up in a tie, piled atop her head. Covering her body was a basic but fitted mint-green T-shirt—Christ almighty, from the looks of it, she wasn’t wearing a bra, either—faded jeans which hugged her hips and long legs, and a pair of white Chucks on her feet.

  Different.

  Perfect.

  Fucking gorgeous.

  “Badger?” She cocked a hip to the side, raised her fingers to her mouth and nibbled her thumbnail.

  He cleared his throat. “Hungry?”

  “Mmhmm.” She furrowed her brow.

  “Then get in here and sit.” He set the coffee pot back on the machine. “Hope you like eggs.”

  “Eggs are great. Thanks.”

  When he turned, she was seated at the kitchen table and was folding her napkin on her lap. He grabbed the half-and-half from the fridge and set it on the table along with her coffee. “Sugar?”

  She glanced up. “No, cream is enough.” She smiled.

  Badger blew out a breath as he stroked his hand over his short beard and then smoothed his palms down his thighs. Nervous tension bounded through him like a pack of wild horses. The last thing he needed was caffeine in the mix, but he grabbed his cup anyway and took a seat at the table.

  “Aren’t you eating?” She stirred the cream in her coffee.

  “I had some already,” he lied. He was too amped up for food at that moment. Again, her brow furrowed and he wanted to reach out and smooth the lin
es away. Instead, he let out a grunt and glanced away. “Eat, Rosie. It’ll help.”

  “Help? How does that work exactly? Are these magical eggs or something?” She scooped up a pile of eggs and put them in her mouth.

  “Are you always this mouthy?”

  “Yes.” She sipped her coffee. “Are you always so cryptic?”

  “Stop.” He let out a sigh. “I’m not being cryptic.”

  “Mmhmm.” She took another bite of her eggs. “Badger can’t be your real name.”

  “You assume a lot.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Badger’s my name.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other, propping his ankle on his knee. “Got uses for that mouth.” Her eyes went wide as she chewed. Raising his arms over his head, he stretched and let out a groan. “When you finish eating, you’ll be using it to tell me what the fuck is going on.”

  Rosie broke their eye contact, licked her lips, before wiping them with her napkin. Then took a swig of her coffee. Badger did everything he could not to watch her, but no matter how hard he tried, his eyes always gravitated back to her. He was a fool for even trying, but he’d be a bigger fool to let himself stare at that pretty face and brown eyes of hers for too long. For real, the feeling that if he looked too deep, he’d be lost forever was like a stone in the pit of his gut that he couldn’t cast off.

  “Badger?”

  He snapped his gaze to hers. “What?”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to get you involved. So I don’t want to tell you what’s going on.”

  He took a swig of coffee. Jesus, he needed a cigarette. “Too late. I’m already involved.”

  “You’re not. Not yet anyway. And you don’t have to be. And I don’t want you to be. I can take care of myself.”

  Badger dropped his foot to the floor and leaned forward. “I’m well aware you can take care of yourself. But that line just ain’t gonna work for me, baby. So, eat your eggs. When you’re done, you’ll tell me and I’ll decide from there what’s gonna go down next. We clear?”

  The expression on her face went stone hard. She dropped her fork and it clattered on the plate. “No. And no offense, but fuck you. We’re not clear.” She stood, the chair screeching on the tile. “I don’t know what makes you think you can order me around like I’m some sort of slave or something. Yeah, you helped me out. Twice. And, yeah, you fucked me. More than twice. But what the fuck ever. I’m not your whore, or your woman for that matter. And FYI, buddy, even if I was yours, I don’t care for being told what to do. That shit ain’t ever gonna work for me. Bayyby.”

  At her tantrum, Badger’s dick went steel-hard. Fucking hell, she was hotter than molten lava and feisty as hell. Rosie tossed her napkin down on her plate and stormed past him. Doing his best to stifle the grin that’d formed on his lips, Badger snagged her by the wrist and yanked her down onto his lap. Her tight little ass landed right on his dick, luckily not hard enough to hurt. But he knew she could for sure feel it.

  “Goddammit! Let me go!” She struggled to get herself up.

  Badger let out a chuckle and locked her tighter against him. “Take it easy, Rosie.”

  “Fuck you. No.” She pushed against his chest.

  Badger cupped her chin in his grip and forced her to look at him. “You keep wiggling and that’s just what you’ll be doing. My cock is hard enough to pound nails right now.”

  Rosie’s eyes went wide as saucers before she closed them and pressed her lips together.

  “That got your attention, didn’t it?” He shifted his hips, pressing into her to emphasize just how serious he was, and she opened her eyes and glared at him. “I know you liked my dick in you last night. I liked it, too. I know you’d like it again, just like I would. But there’s shit to handle and as much as I want to bend you over the table and fuck you hard, while I spank your ass red, we need to handle that shit first.” With her jaw still locked in his hand, Rosie groaned but kept quiet, so he continued. “No, you may not be my ‘woman,’ but the way this goes is: I’m the only one fucking you right now, and believe me, I intend to keep fucking you because that pussy of yours? Yeah, damn sweet, baby. Fucking perfection. But because of who I am, I’m also gonna get you out of whatever shit you got yourself into. Now… Are we clear, Rosie?”

  She stayed silent, her gaze boring into his and, fucking hell, his dick throbbed, aching to be wrapped inside her heat again. After a moment, she shifted against him and made an exaggerated show of rolling her eyes.

  Badger chuckled once more. “You want it, don’t you?”

  “Fine. We’re clear, but for the record, I think I hate you.”

  “Yeah, but you still want it.” With a smile he couldn’t help, he kissed her.

  Badger could deal with her hate, he could deal with her tantrums, he just hoped like hell he could deal with whatever mess she was in because he’d meant what he said to her.

  He was nowhere near done fucking her yet.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rosie licked her lips, savoring the flavor that was all Badger. This time, instead of tasting of whiskey, he tasted of coffee and just a hint of cigarette mixed in. She didn’t mind it; her husband had smoked. Once upon a time she’d smoked, too. But for her it’d always been more of a recreational sort of thing. Drugs. Booze. Nicotine. They all fell into the same category with her: take it or leave it.

  Except for Badger…with that yummy cock of his pressed against her ass, she feared he could be a habit she might not be able to kick. Maybe because he’d just told her he wasn’t done with her. Damn. She sighed and smoothed her hand down the side of his beard. “You don’t play fair.”

  “Never.” His lips tipped into another grin.

  Jesus, talk about potent. A smoking-hot badass, with a smile sexy enough to drop panties. Lord knew she’d dropped hers. Though, technically, she hadn’t been wearing any when he took over and dominated every square inch of her body. Rosie blew out a breath and put a lid on her libido. “Fine. You want the story, you got it. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  She went to slide off his lap, but he pulled her back to his lips. Moaning into his mouth, she wrapped her arms around his neck and took what he gave her…which was pretty much a kiss that rocked her from head to toe, not missing anything in between.

  After a moment, he broke from her lips and then patted her ass. “Now you can get down. Take your seat and tell me. I’m all ears.”

  “And apparently all cock, too.” Feeling a tad dazed, she grinned as she slid off his lap and resumed her seat across from him.

  He snorted but said nothing. Just picked up his coffee mug and took a sip.

  “My husband was murdered.”

  Badger jerked his head back and wiped his mouth. “Fucking hell, woman. When?”

  “Almost seven months ago.”

  “What happened?” He leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table.

  Rosie drew in a deep breath and stared across the table at him, having no idea what Badger would think of her after she got done laying this out. She didn’t want to tell him the story. She didn’t want to tell anyone the story. It was gross, and as far as she was concerned, although she’d suffered a loss, Joey’s actions were a complete and total reflection of her. Her husband, who she’d stayed with for far too long, and for reasons she could no longer remember, was dead. And he was dead because he was stupid.

  “Rosie?”

  “Jesus, Badger. Give me a minute. This isn’t easy for me to share.” She took a sip of her coffee, set it down, and stared into the creamy liquid before willing herself to continue. “The club the other night…I saw someone. Someone I didn’t ever expect to see again.”

  Badger grunted. “I gathered. Who?”

  “My husband, Joey, he was…well he was an idiot. He was a runner. And I don’t mean the kind that wear Nikes and nylon shorts.”

  “Got it. Since your husband’s dead, it wasn’t him you saw. Who was it?”

&nb
sp; “Badger, please…just let me get this out.”

  “Fine. Apologies. Continue.”

  “Thank you. As I said, he was an idiot. He had a bright idea one night.” She shook her head, breathing out a cynical sounding laugh. “So typical for him, always looking for the quick ride.” Unable to look at Badger, she glanced away. “Except this brilliant idea of his was far more dangerous than any of the ones before it and ended up getting him killed. He rolled the dealer.”

  “He take the product?”

  “No. He took the money and ran. Or tried to anyway. He hid it, but didn’t get very far. The dealer found him before he got wherever he was planning on going.” Rosie shook her head, again, this time recalling the last time she’d spoken to Joey. “Are you coming home?” she’d asked him. “I hope so,” had been his reply. She focused on Badger again. “His body was found a few days later. They’d dumped him in the Pequonnock River.”

  “The Pequo-what? Where the fuck is that?”

  That’s what he wanted to know? Rosie was so caught off guard by his question, she didn’t know if she should laugh or scream. “Wow. So not the response I thought I’d get from you.” She shook her head and took a sip from her mug. “It’s in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It runs into the Long Island Sound.”

  “Yeah. Okay sorry. Anyway.” He blew out a growly sigh. “Where’s the money?”

  “Joey hid it.” Rosie chewed her thumbnail.

  “Any idea where?”

  She shifted in her seat. “He called me that night. Told me where to find it in case he didn’t come home.”

  “And did you go get it?”

  “No.”

  “Rosie, come on.”

  “What? I didn’t.” She crossed her arms. Fuck. Fuck!