In His Sights

by Nikita Slater

  Lucy lifted her hand and snapped her fingers in front of her face then giggled. Amber, who had been dancing behind her, laughed and grabbed her hand. “What are you doing, weirdo?”

  “He can take my freedom, but he can’t take my life!” Lucy yelled and snapped her fingers again. “I watched Braveheart. Can we have another shot? They taste disgusting, but I like the way they feel!”

  Amber laughed hysterically. “The quote is, ‘they can take our lives, but they can’t take our freedom’.” She grabbed Lucy’s hand and dragged her toward the bar. “I think I’ve corrupted you baby girl!” she shouted above the music. “But why not, tomorrow’s already going to hurt like a bitch!”

  Amber flashed two fingers at the bartender and mouthed ‘tequila’. He nodded his head and made a show of spinning the bottle for their delight. She paid for the drinks and downed hers quickly after sucking the lime wedge and licking salt. Lucy was about to follow suit when her bodyguard intervened with a heavy hand on her shoulder and a shake of his head.

  Lucy looked crushed, like her new toy had been taken away. Amber sighed. “Don’t say I never did anything for you, sweetie.” She took the man’s face in her hands, slid her body seductively against his and smashed her lips against his mouth.

  Lucy watched in wide-eyed amazement for about three-seconds as Amber stuck her tongue down Alexandr’s throat before she remembered her drink and immediately set about downing it. Once the drink was in, she winked at the amused bartender and twirled back onto the dance floor while her bodyguard disengaged from Amber, a dazed expression on his usually unyielding face. Amber sauntered away from him as though she hadn’t just sucked the soul out of a Russian gangster.

  “That was seriously badass!” Lucy laughed as they danced together when Amber rejoined her.

  “Take notes, little girl. That’s how the big girls command a situation.” She nodded toward the big man now pacing the edge of the dance floor, his eyes hot on Amber with something between lust and vengeance in their depths. “Look at him! I think I just broke that bad boy!”

  Lucy laughed hysterically, taking Amber’s advice to heart and indeed making some serious mental notes. Amber was turning out to be a real heroine and role model all rolled into one. She knew how to single it up in the big city! She was sexy, fun and full of wicked, delicious ideas.

  “Uh, speaking of men…” Amber yelped. “What’s Bounty Hunter doing here?”

  Lucy whirled on her heels and stared frantically around the flashing lights of the club until she spotted Mack’s big, tall form cutting a path through the crowds straight toward her. She immediately stopped bouncing and contemplated whether she should turn and run or fling herself toward him. Her fuzzy mind was telling her it was the alcohol making her want to run toward him and she should definitely run away because the severely annoyed expression on his face didn’t bode well for her, but her stupid feet seemed to want to carry her toward him.

  Then, before she knew what was happening to her, she was in front of him, her head tilted back looking up into a face so handsome it should be outlawed for ruining women’s panties everywhere. She wasn’t as short as her sister, but she still had to crane her neck to look at him. He was way taller, like probably 6’4” and big all over. He was wearing that mouth-watering leather jacket over a pair of dark blue jeans and heavy combat boots. His spiky hair was wilder than usual, sort of all over the place.

  Her lips quirked happily. Even though she thought he was mad at her for some reason, she was just so giddy with excitement at seeing him. She leaned in close, so he could hear her, but also to get a sniff of his deliciously masculine scent. Leather combined with masculine soap and a hint of something else that always seemed to cling to him.

  “You mad at me, Mack?” she asked, staring intently up at him.

  He stared right back, his flinty eyes holding hers with a power that rooted her to the floor. She didn’t know what it was about this man, but each time she saw him, each tiny little interaction, he wove his spell tighter and tighter until she knew she would do just about anything he commanded. With or without reason. He was that damn sexy.

  Then his expression softened just the tiniest bit and she knew she had him. The tough bounty hunter had a soft spot for her. “I should be angry, Lucy,” he said in his impossibly deep voice.

  “But you’re not.” She grinned up at him, relief tinging her voice.

  He shook his head slightly. “You’re fucking cute when you’re drunk. How much have you had, baby?”

  Warmth flooded right through her body and especially to the part of her that seemed to want him most and loved the way he called her baby. Lucy lifted a hand and tried to think, ticking her fingers one at a time. “We had a margarita at the restaurant. Amber said we had to eat before we started in on the heavy stuff…”

  “She’s smarter than she looks,” he grunted casting a scathing look toward Lucy’s friend who was writhing on the dance floor, trying to catch the attention of Alexandr the Bodyguard. Alexandr the Bodyguard looked as though he both wanted to murder and kiss Amber.

  Lucy opened her mouth to defend the other woman when someone bumped into her, sending her careening into Mack’s chest. He caught her and held her against him, not loosening his arms. She could feel his fingers spreading slowly, soothingly across the bottom of her back. She tilted her head up, melted chocolate gaze memorizing his face as she swayed to the music in his arms. Though he didn’t move he seemed perfectly content to allow her to do whatever she wanted so long as she didn’t attempt to break free.

  For a timeless moment she got exactly what she wanted; she got to touch Mack Hudson to her heart’s content, free of all her usual inhibitions. The room around them, the press of bodies, the pounding music, all disappeared as she moved against him. She lifted her arms, pressed her palms flat against his shoulders and moved to the rhythm of the music, the beat of their hearts, the quickening of their breaths. She twisted her hips and bent her knees, dancing in his arms, sliding her hands down his chest, her eyes locked on his, watching the blue fever in his eyes as it erupted into flames.

  “How many drinks?” he demanded, his voice a husky growl.

  She shrugged, still dancing. “Maybe five or six?”

  He nodded, his face turning grim. “You had much to drink since coming to town or is this your first time?”

  Lucy clung to him, sliding her arms around his neck and pressing her breasts against his chest until she was flush against his body. He stiffened for just a second and then his arms tightened to steel bands around her back crushing her against him and holding her in place. He dropped his head, his lips caressing the tip of her ear. In spite of her alcohol fueled haze, she felt his every touch with a blazing clarity that set fire to the blood in her veins. She moaned and squirmed against him.

  “You need to answer the question, baby,” he groaned against her ear, his warm breath feathering down her neck.

  Lucy shivered in delight and turned her face to the side, tilting it up, her lips brushing against his. She hadn’t meant to kiss him, if the barest touch of their lips could actually be called a kiss. Especially after what he’d done to her five months earlier. But the instant rigidity of his body, the desperate longing on his face told her that, yes, he was considering that slight caress a kiss. A sense of power, along with an answering need pinged through Lucy, turning her legs to liquid. She was very glad he had such a tight hold on her.

  “I don’t remember the question, Mack,” she admitted.

  He chuckled, his body relaxing somewhat as she continued to sway in his arms. “I asked if you’d been drinking much since coming to town. I want to know how bad this hangover’s gonna be for you tomorrow. Trust me, darling, I have experience.”

  “Mmmm,” she moaned against his throat, snuggling closer. “I like when you call me names.”

  He laughed again. “Okay, baby, I think that about answers my question. Time to get you out of here.”

  She nodded and smiled into his d
eliciously warm throat. “Okay, Mack. Can you please take me home?”

  “That’s exactly where I’m taking you,” he said, an edge to his voice as he bent to swing her up into his arms.

  Chapter Five

  Where am I? Lucy wondered, a slight flare of panic beginning to rise as she struggled up in the unfamiliar bed.

  Then as the most vicious headache she’d ever experienced hit her, along with a healthy dose of nausea, she fell back on the mattress.

  “Oh, nee. Slecht!” she moaned, reverting back to the language of her birth. She brought her knees up underneath a heavy quilt that had been draped across her. She clutched her head in between shaking hands, closed her eyes and tried to make the room stop spinning. “Slecht! Wat heb ik gedaan…?”

  She frowned. Was she wearing…? One hand still on her throbbing head she snaked the other one to the edge of the blanket, lifted and squinted. Yes, she was wearing what looked like men’s sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt. Lifting the collar of the shirt, she peered down the front. Her eyes flared at the sight of her naked breasts. No bra! And she could already tell she wasn’t wearing any panties. She moaned and began muttering again.

  A deep, masculine chuckle drew her attention and she brought her head up in a sharp arc that nearly made her vomit. When the vicious pain behind her eyeballs subsided enough, she was able to make out Mack Hudson standing in the doorway of… where was she anyway? Lucy clutched the blanket against her chest and scooted up the bed until her back met a headboard.

  “Can’t even face the day in English?” he asked, amusement lacing his voice while his gaze crawled over her disheveled hair and face. She didn’t know how it was possible, given that she must have a decided green tint about her complexion and she was pretty sure her hair was plastered to one side of her head, but the gleam in his eye told her he was thinking decidedly sinful thoughts.

  “Uuuummm…” Lucy’s voice trailed off and she picked at the comforter for a moment while her pain-hazed brain tried to kick her butt into gear. “So, did I actually offer to, uh…”

  Mack shifted against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his biceps bulging in front of him. He lifted an eyebrow and just watched her, clearly not willing to help her out of a horrifically embarrassing situation. But she needed to know how bad it was. Like if she needed to get a new identity and move to a new continent immediately or if another state would do it.

  “Uh, offer to um, to…” she trailed off again.

  “Practice the art of blowjobs on me because you’d never given one before and wanted to try it out?” he supplied helpfully.

  So, she hadn’t imagined that conversation. She stared hard at the bed, bringing her knees closer to her chest. She licked her lips. “And did I… did I… try to…?”

  “Attack me while I was driving and nearly kill us both by causing me to swerve toward the ditch?” he asked, his voice casual, but with more of a steely quality to it now. “Yep, you did do that.”

  “Oh dear,” she whispered, her headache completely forgotten as she sunk into a pit of utter humiliation. “And did we… did I…?”

  “Nope,” he drawled the word, giving her a chance to sigh in relief, until he continued speaking. “Not for lack of trying on your part.”

  She moaned in despair and sank back into the pillows, covering her eyes with her hands. She wondered how hard it would be to move to Antarctica. Her lips trembled, and she actually had to make a conscious effort not to cry. She really thought maybe she could have had something with Mack if they could get past a few of their differences. Now… now, she was going to finish this godawful hangover and then go find a cliff to end her humiliation in the only way she could imagine in that moment. She was so caught up in her lack of dignity that she didn’t hear Mack approach the bed until he was tugging her wrists, pulling her hands away from her face.

  She peeked up at him, blinking a few times until his gorgeous face was back in focus. The intensity of his blue eyes was arresting in itself. Combine that with the look of concentrated lust on his face and Mack stole her breath and heart in one sweeping move. She was helpless in the face of such a man.

  “Baby, I said no last night because when you suck my dick I’m going to want the whole package right after. And when I finally fuck you, I want you to feel every part of me touching every part of you,” he told her, his voice even deeper than usual if that was possible. “I don’t want you to forget me in an alcohol-induced haze.”

  Holy. Cow.

  He dropped her wrists and turned to stride away from the bed. “I’ll be right back with something to take the edge off your hangover.”

  He gave her just enough time to dash into the washroom to relieve her screaming bladder and discover that yes, her hair was exactly as bad as she thought. She also used some of his mouth wash to rinse the dead farm animal taste out of her mouth and rolled a tiny amount of his deodorant under her armpits before rushing back to the bedroom and diving under the covers. Her smile came a little more natural when he returned to the bedroom with what looked like a water bottle in one hand and some Tylenol and a banana in the other.

  She watched, her eyebrows slowly rising in amusement as he handed her a big bottle of water and shook a few tablets into his palm. She took the bottle from him and took a healthy drink, wrinkling her nose before sticking her hand out for the pills. He dropped them into her palm and sat on the edge of the bed next to her. She braced herself against the dip in the mattress, when his big body forced her to fall against him.

  “I don’t think I can stomach the banana,” she protested when he held it out to her.

  “Trust me,” he said gruffly. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to cure a hangover in a hurry. Just have a few more sips. Give yourself a couple minutes, then try a few bites.”

  She nodded, baffled by how kind he was being. Mack Hudson had never struck her as even remotely gentle. And she knew he was at least mildly annoyed about her wild evening on the town. “Am I at your place?” she asked timidly, tucking a section of the hair that she had frantically finger-combed behind an ear.

  He nodded. “Didn’t think it would be a good idea leaving you alone since you’ve never been drunk in your life and I didn’t want to spend the night in that rat-infested dump you call an apartment. No choice but to bring you back here.”

  “Oh,” she said, frowning a little. So, his gallantry wasn’t entirely because he wanted her in his space, he just hadn’t known what else to do with her. “My apartment isn’t rat infested! I’ve only seen a few ants.” She defended her cute little place, taking a few more gulps of water. Maybe if she got better quickly he’d drive her home so she could sleep off the rest of this hideous hangover and then go find a cliff to jump off.

  “Cats’ll eat ants, farm girl,” he said, piercing her with his ice blue eyes.

  “Dogs’ll eat cats,” she countered. “I could cut out the middle-man and just get a puppy.”

  He flashed her a slow grin, reached over and tapped the bottle. “Drink more.”

  She obeyed his quietly spoken command. The liquid and pills did seem to be working together to make her feel miraculously better. She dropped the empty bottle into her lap and swept her eyelashes up, studying him intently. “How did you know where I was last night, Mack?”

  “Your bodyguard told your sister who called me. Apparently, everyone has a soft spot for the Amish princess; no one wanted to get you in trouble with the Boss, so they called me instead,” he grumbled. “Don’t know why they thought I’d go easy on your ass.”

  The breath caught in her throat as he lifted the water bottle from her lap and set it on the table next to his bed. He silently handed her the banana and she tried to take it from him. He held onto it for just a moment before letting go. The moment was filled with an intense awareness that neither could deny, yet it was also… somehow, very comfortable. Sitting on his bed, surrounded by his scent and his things, the light streaming through a window, it felt oddly perf
ect.

  “What are you going to do to my ass?” she whispered peeling the banana and bringing it to her lips. His eyes darkened and dropped to her mouth. Suddenly the air between them became charged to an almost unbearable degree. Lucy didn’t know what to do except wrap her lips around the tip of the banana and take a bite.

  He groaned and stiffened, leaned so close to her that if he tilted a few more inches he could have taken a bite too. She continued to eat the banana, watching him while he watched her, his arms braced on either side of her hips, his eyes hot on her mouth with every bite she took. He was right, the fruit did make her feel better. Though a little flushed.

  Finally, when she thought he had forgotten the question she asked him, he said, “There’s a lot I’d like to do with that ass of yours, starting with a spanking for flashing it around in that short skirt last night.”

  She froze mid-chew, her brown eyes widening.

  “But I’m not going to. You’re in the city to have some new experiences and partying at a club at the age of twenty-one is a pretty good one to have. Besides, with a bodyguard dogging your tail and a trigger-happy sister I’d say you’re pretty safe.”

  A soft smile curved her lips. Mack understood what she’d been up to. “Thanks,” she murmured.

  “Besides, if I put my hand on your ass I wouldn’t be able to stop there, and I don’t think you’re quite ready for the kind of loving I want from you.”