Locke Brothers Series

by Ashley, Victoria

Especially Ace.

  He’s vicious and mysterious in ways that his brothers aren’t, yet when I look at him I feel as if I’ll melt into a puddle at his feet.

  Ace has this power to make me want to fall at my knees with just one glance into his amber eyes.

  I’ve never met a man so dangerously sexy in my entire life and a part of me is unsure if I can stop myself from falling for him if I keep getting sucked into being around him.

  Releasing a deep breath, I lean over to clean off a table, but freeze when I glance out the window to see Ace standing across the street, leaning against his truck.

  He’s got a cigarette between his lips and I can’t help but stare at his mouth as he takes a drag from it.

  His gaze is trained on the building but I can’t tell whether or not he can see me watching him. It has my heart beating at an alarming rate, but I can’t seem to pull my gaze from him.

  He’s dressed in a snug white T-shirt and a pair of black jeans that fit his body to perfection. I hate that he’s impossible to turn away from and I hate that he’s so physically flawless.

  “Too bad a man so incredibly sexy has to have such a bad reputation.”

  I pull out of my haze at the sound of Gia’s voice. I hadn’t even noticed she was standing beside me until now.

  “It’s weird that he’s just standing there, staring at the building, right?” I glance beside me to see her staring out the window as she speaks. “He’s the oldest one? What’s his name…”

  “Ace,” I say on a whisper before she’s able to finish thinking. “And yes; he’s the oldest one.”

  A small smile tugs at the edges of Ace’s lips before he flicks his cigarette across the street and jumps into his truck.

  “I heard that he once cut a guy’s finger off and force fed it to him,” Gia says, watching as he drives away. “That’s some crazy stuff. I can’t believe that Kadence dates one of those guys. I’d be terrified.”

  “They’re not that bad,” I say on a swallow. “It’s not like they go out and just hurt random innocents. They have reasoning behind everything they do.”

  I’m not sure who I’m trying to convince that the Lockes aren’t what they seem, Gia or myself.

  The only reason I choose to still be cautious is because I know I have to in order to keep Ace at a safe distance.

  “Then maybe it’s not so bad that the oldest one is hanging around.” She smiles and turns away from the window. “Maybe he’ll come in next time. I’d love to see that one up close. He’s absolutely gorgeous and terrifying at the same time.”

  The idea that Gia is attracted to Ace for some reason bothers me. It’s stupid for me to feel this way.

  “Maybe,” I say, wiping off the table. “I have a few things to take care of in the back and then I’m going to take off. Do you need help with anything first?”

  Gia is the owners’ daughter and she’s been coming in almost daily for the last few months. I have a feeling it’s because she’ll be taking over the coffee shop soon so that Cheryl and Bryon can retire.

  “No, I don’t think so. We’ll be lucky to get one, maybe two more customers stopping by so I should be good to handle things.”

  “Sounds good.”

  After cleaning up in the back and organizing things for tomorrow, I pack up some leftover pastries and jump into my car, hoping that maybe Ace won’t be around when I drop these off to Kadence.

  After seeing him already once today, I’m not sure I can handle seeing him for a second time and not end up spending the rest of the night thinking about him.

  It’s something I’ve been doing a lot lately and the last thing I need is to keep the habit going.

  I need to be strong when it comes to the oldest Locke.

  I’m just not sure for how much longer I can manage that.

  3

  Ace

  I place a joint between my lips and watch as the asshole before me struggles to get out of the ropes.

  His attempts are only making the rope tighter, digging into his already bloodied wrists even more. I know how to tie a fucking knot, and his struggles only have me grinning. He won’t be able to get out of it unless I fucking want him to.

  “Take it easy,” I finally say and glance down at his wallet, “Troy Foster. You keep pulling at those ropes and you’re going to lose your hands.”

  Hell, keep pulling at those ropes. Give me more entertainment tonight.

  He struggles to scream at me, but with the tape wrapped around his mouth, nothing but muffled sounds come out. Tears are coming out of the corner of his eyes, his face is red as a fucking beet, and I can see snot starting to slip out of his nose. The fucker isn’t used to this. He wants out, no doubt. He probably wants at me with all that rage. I should just let him go, should just let him get a punch or two in so that I can feel that pain then really go fucking psycho on his ass.

  He mumbles something again, his eyes narrowed, the anger coming from him clear.

  “What was that?” I kick away from the garage door and walk over to yank his head back. “I couldn’t understand you.” I push his head down and take a long hit off the joint before yanking his head back again and blowing the smoke in his eyes.

  He squints and struggles harder.

  “You know…” I pull the knife from my boot and run it along his skin as I walk around him. “I’m not sure what to do with you yet. You see… I don’t like the idea of some stranger coming to my motherfucking house in the middle of the night with a gun.”

  I stop in front of him and tug on his wrists, which are tied above him. His scream is muffled behind the tape as the ropes dig further into his skin, causing blood to drip down his arms.

  “I could kill you to make sure that you’re never a threat to my family again.”

  My threat has him struggling against the ropes again, clearly desperate to get away—or maybe to get to me—no matter how much pain he’s currently in.

  I tilt my head and watch as he shakes his head and attempts to scream.

  “Or… or I could just chop both your hands off so you can never hold a gun again, never pick a lock, hell,” I chuckle, “open a fucking door handle again.” I stare at him in the eyes. “I haven’t quite decided yet which route I should go, though.”

  I scowl deeper, letting him know how serious I am. This asshole really has no clue who he’s fucked with.

  King caught him on the side of the house last night and dragged him down by his foot from the window he was attempting to climb into.

  He tore into his leg pretty good before I was able to run outside and see what was going on.

  The piece of shit pulled a pistol on me. Aimed that shit right at my head, but King attacked his arm before he could manage to get a shot off.

  This asshole fucking almost shot at me. Could’ve shot at my family and now he’s going to pay the price.

  Just thinking about it has me wanting to rip his throat out with my bare hands.

  With an angry growl, I take my blade and run it down his cheek, watching as the blood drips from the wound.

  I’m already covered in his blood as it is, due to the beating I gave him thirty minutes ago after returning from the coffee shop.

  I needed something to hold me back from killing this motherfucker tonight, and seeing Melissa always seems to calm the demons inside my head just long enough to get me thinking clearly.

  If it weren’t for her, he’d already be dead.

  Something in me snaps and I find myself taking the blade and running it down his chest, watching as the knife moves easily through his skin, opening up the flesh just superficially, blood welling up immediately.

  I’m a sadistic fucker so I make a few more cuts on his chest, the asshole struggling, mumbling behind the tape. His eyes are wild, and sweat is dotting his forehead, mixing with the blood as it runs down his cheek and cut. No doubt that shit stings.

  I laugh at that.

  I take a step back and stare at my handiwork. He has his fingers clenched t
ightly, and I see blood on his palms. He relaxes his hands and sags against the bonds, crescent shaped cuts from his nails littering the insides of his hands.

  But I’m pissed about him breaking in, about thinking he could threaten me. I’m seeing red, picturing if I’d had Melissa here, how she’d be scared, in danger. I grab one of his hands and start breaking his fingers, snapping the digits back until I hear him screaming, hear the bone splintering in two. Only then do I exhale roughly and move away.

  “We’re done for tonight, Troy.” I take one last hit from the joint and toss it at his face, embers bouncing against his skin. “Expect me when the sun rises. I have a few games I want to play with you tomorrow.”

  Tears run down his face and I grin, but other than the pleasure I feel at exacting pain in him, I don’t feel shit for this sorry fucker. He didn’t give a fuck when we came here with the intent to hurt whoever was inside, to take what wasn’t his.

  He wasn’t sorry when he aimed that pistol at my head and tried to take my God damn life.

  But he sure as hell is sorry now.

  Rolling my head around on my neck, I hear it crack. I step out of the garage and grab a cigarette from my pocket, closing my eyes for a second and just inhaling and exhaling. I open my eyes again and place the cigarette between my lips and look up as headlights come from the driveway.

  I stand here and take a drag, needing some kind of release before I lose it on whoever has decided to show up invited.

  It’s not until the vehicle gets closer that I realize that it’s Melissa’s car.

  Fuck.

  This isn’t how I wanted her to find me.

  She steps out of the vehicle, her gaze immediately landing on me.

  From the way her eyes grow wide as she checks out my bare chest, I know without a doubt that she notices the splatters of blood across my skin.

  She’s heard of the things we do, no doubt. Hell, I know Kadence had probably told her shit that Aston has done with us all in the name of fucking over a Locke. She’s even been around after a few jobs, but she’s never actually seen me covered in another man’s blood before.

  I keep my gaze on her, watching intently as she swallows and fights to pull her gaze off me.

  I can see the struggle on her face, until she finally manages to turn away and walk to the front door.

  Fuck me, she’s so damn beautiful that all I want to do is slam her against the side of the house and fuck her right here and now.

  I don’t even care that I’m covered in another man’s blood.

  I want to be buried inside her pussy, making her scream for me.

  The problem with that… Melissa hasn’t quite come around to our lifestyle yet.

  That’s something I plan to change real soon. I’ve already given her enough time and I’m tired of waiting.

  I want her as mine and when I get to her, she’s going to want to belong to me just as much as I want her to.

  4

  Melissa

  I don’t know what to think right now. All I can picture is Ace, the blood covering him, his expression feral, his body tense. I picture his cut muscles just under his skin as he stood there, staring at me, maybe wondering what I would do, if I’d run. The light from the garage had silhouetted him, making him seem even more dangerous than he already was.

  I haven’t been able to get the picture of him covered in blood out of my head. He was standing there looking lethal, as if he could rip a man’s heart out with his bare hands and there I was, unable to turn away from him.

  What the hell is wrong with me?

  I’m so confused with the fact that even knowing he was just hurting someone, I still found him to be sexy as he stood there staring at me.

  I almost hate myself for how aroused I was, how much I wanted him in that moment, even covered by the gore and violence of what he’d just done.

  I knew I needed to get away from the Locke house as quickly as possible, before he was able to walk through that door and catch me staring for a third time in one damn day.

  After I’d left, Kadence had explained to me what happened with someone trying to break into the house the night before.

  It is all so crazy. It seems like an eternity ago that I first met the Locke brothers. I can still remember rooming with Kadence, knowing about them and what they did to anyone who crossed them. They are bad news but I saw the curiosity on Kadence's face and I hated it.

  And now here I am just as curious about one of them.

  The most lethal and twisted one of them all.

  Ace.

  Anyone who doesn’t know him, anyone who doesn’t know of his reputation, his clean-cut appearance would make him seem like the boy next door. But he’s far from that. His skin might not be inked like his brothers, but he’s even more dangerous than they are.

  His hammer is his weapon of choice, and he has no empathy for people who cross him or people who hurt others who are weaker than them. Maybe that's why I’m captivated by him even though I try my hardest not to be.

  Maybe that’s why I want him so much.

  Yes, I’m drawn to a Locke, but I will never admit that to anyone, least of all him. Hell, I try to not even admit it to myself.

  But then I see the way he looks at me, the way he touches me, even around his family. He makes me feel owned already and I haven't even done anything sexual with him. But God, I want to. I want his hands on my body, rough, demanding. I want him to hold me down and take me the way I know he can, with a savage brutality that will make me know there is no one else for me.

  I’ve been feeling this way more and more with each day that passes and I don’t know what to do with that. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.

  “Miss?” I snap out of my haze and look at the customer in front of me. She lifts an arched eyebrow and gives me this stiff glare. “I ordered a latte. But you're just standing there.”

  “Sorry,” I mumble and turn away to make her drink. I need to get Ace out of my head, need to worry about working and myself. He might've told me in more ways than one that I was his but a part of me wants to not get involved with a Locke because I know he can be dangerous.

  But he's like a drug to me, my addiction that I can't walk away from, can't ignore. I felt that again last night stronger than before and it’s been eating at me.

  The rest of the day flies by as I try and focus on work. Once I clock out and grab my purse and car keys, my intention is just to go straight home. But as soon as I step out the back door and head to my car, I feel someone watching me. I stop and lift my head to see Ace standing there leaning against his truck, which is parked right beside my car.

  The sight of him causes my heart to about leap from my chest. This is the last place I expected to see Ace.

  He's got a baseball cap on, a white T-shirt stretched across his muscular chest and arms, and a pair of faded jeans that fit his long, lean body to perfection. His boots are black, slightly scuffed, his legs crossed at the ankles. Shit kickers are what I aptly call them.

  He pushes away from his truck and walks over to me. The grin on his face can't be called anything but shit eating. I don't know what to say, or how to act. This is the first time he's ever shown up at my work other than when he was parked out front yesterday.

  “Hey,” I say and look up at him. He might be lean and muscular like a swimmer, but he's tall and I have to crane my head back just to look at his face. “What are you doing here?” He takes my bag from me and we walk over to my car together. He hasn't said anything yet, but he doesn't have to for me to feel like I'm walking on a tight rope.

  “I haven't seen you in a few days and you took off so quickly last night…” He looks me right in the eyes and I take my bag from him and toss it in the back of my car.

  “I've just been busy with work.” I lie easily, my voice tense, stiff. I am trying to not let him see how much he affects me, but I feel I’m failing miserably. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, see his brows lowered, this look
of confusion on his face, or maybe he’s pissed. I can’t tell half the time with him. He’s so hard to read.

  The truth is I've been avoiding him. It's not that I don't want to see him, because that's actually the opposite. I want to see him all the time, and that scares me.

  What scares me even more is the fact that I still feel this way even after what I witnessed last night.

  “You've been busy at work?” He leans against his truck again and crosses his arms. It's obvious that he knows I'm lying.

  “I have been.” I clear my throat and look away for a second before staring at his face again.

  “Let me take you somewhere. Just you and me, a place where we can talk.”

  I look at his hands, his knuckles, which are scabbed over, and it makes me wonder just what he did to that guy last night. But I know better than to ask what happened. Because the truth is I don't want to know the answer.

  The violent side of Ace, the dangerous part, scares me, even though I know he will never hurt me.

  “You want to take me somewhere?”

  He nods. “Just you and me.”

  The thought of being alone with him has my nerves kicking in.

  I don’t want to fall for him. I can’t fall for him.

  When I don’t give him an answer, he backs me against my car and closes in on me. His toned arms surround me, and his scent, which I can only describe as intoxicating, fills my head and makes me drunk.

  I find myself breathing hard and fast as he presses his body against mine and leans down so that his face is in my hair. I may even be trembling a bit, both out of fear and desire for Ace. “I’m not leaving until you say yes.” I feel his lips move against the strands before he lowers his mouth to my ear and lets out something between a growl and a moan. “Fuck, Melissa. You have no idea how hard your scent gets me. But I’m not here to push myself on you and make you realize how much you truly want me inside of you. No… I’m here to take you somewhere alone so we can think in some peace and quiet. Now say yes.”