AllsFair

by AlexandraOHurley

  “I will learn from your ample example.” Pulling back, she smiled and knew it did not go to her eyes. “Well, like I said, congratulations. I will be sending over the auction photos as soon as the last of the bachelors are completed.” And those will be the last fucking pictures your magazine gets from me, you venomous little troll.

  “I look forward to seeing them.” Tipping her champagne glass in Kat’s direction, Amanda gave her a feral smile.

  Kat walked away from the group, stalking to the door. She was in no mood to socialize this evening after that little exchange. Grabbing her coat from the closet before the butler could attend her, she whisked out the door without saying a word of good-bye to anyone. Knowing her exit would be the fodder for even more gossip, she didn’t care.

  Hitting the hall, she slammed her fist on the down button once she reached the elevator.

  “Kat! Wait!”

  Looking down the hall, Kaden was running toward her. Turning back to the closed doors in front of her, she begged for them to open so she could escape the drama.

  * * * *

  Apollo materialized on the terrace in a darkened corner away from the window. Dressed in a fine tux, he used his mind to open the latch on the glass door, grabbing a flute of bubbly on his way to Amanda Gray. Or rather, Nemesis.

  Grasping the woman by her arm, he smiled to the group. “I am ever so sorry, but I need to borrow Amanda for a few moments.”

  Pulling her back outside with him, he guzzled the alcohol, throwing the glass onto the terrace floor with a crash. Twisting her to face him, he dropped his arms as Eros materialized at his side.

  “I should have known you would be in on this, Nemesis.” Eros looked at her with disdain.

  “I haven’t a clue what you are talking about. And I really do need to get back to the party.”

  “Not your party, and you aren’t going back in there. Not until I get some answers.”

  “Eros, darling brother, you haven’t seen me in forever, and all you can do is let this buffoon manhandle me and demand I give you answers I do not have. I don’t even know the questions. So why don’t you leave me be and let me enjoy the festivities inside.”

  “Do you really think I am that stupid, Nemesis? So which one drew you in? Hades? Or our dear father?” Eros sensed there was more to the conspiracy.

  “I am simply avenging the woman I inhabit. Kat stole an ad campaign from this woman many years ago when they were in models because she was sleeping with the photographer. It was Amanda’s turn for some revenge.”

  “You just happen to show up now to avenge a twenty-five-year old transgression? Not hardly. This is beneath you, sister.”

  “It is never too long to avenge a wrongdoing, Eros.”

  Her wide-eyed mock indignation was enough push Eros over the edge of reason. “Do you think he cares about you? When all this is over, the world is dead as well as the Underworld and Mt. Olympus along with it. Do you think he will raise one finger to help you as you fade unto the blackness, Nemesis?”

  “We are eternal. We will never die.” Her haughty response belied the nerve he had struck.

  “If there is no longer a plane for our existence, then what will we become?”

  * * * *

  “Kat! Wait!” Kaden ran down the hall, needing to get to the elevator before Kat disappeared. He heard the bell ring as the car made it to the floor and watched as she stepped inside, ignoring his plea. Digging in deep, he reached just as the doors were closing, slipping a hand between them.

  She stood alone in the car, the fluorescent lights casting a light on the perfection of her skin. There was no way she was nearly fifty, and even if she was, it wouldn’t stop him. She was gorgeous, and every time he was anywhere near her, his cock stood at attention. It wasn’t just about the sex. Hell, he could have had just about any of the women in the penthouse he just left. He wanted Kat in a way he had never felt before. There was something about the woman he had to get closer to.

  Stepping inside, he faced her, loving the courageous tilt to her chin, knowing that the humiliation of this evening would have had other women crying and curling up into little balls in the corner. He liked his women strong. Strong enough to deal with his dark needs.

  He and Rock had been partners for years, had even known each other in high school, both being born in the city. Their relationship was special. They had both claimed to have sensed it the first day they had been partnered together nearly eight years earlier. As their closeness tightened, they became closer than brothers, having to depend on each other for their lives.

  On one dark night a few years back, they had both admitted to their desire to share their women. They had dated a lot of the same girls over the years, their tastes very similar, and so a few months later, they had gone out together, bringing the first woman into the mix. It had been awkward and amazing, and they hadn’t looked back.

  When he had first laid eyes on Kat, he had known that he had to have her. For the first time since he and Rock had started this journey, he wasn’t sure he could share her. The thought of another man touching her, marking her, tasting her was enough to drive him to violence. Rock was his brother, and to ask him to stand down would hurt almost as bad. It could be enough to drive a wedge between them and ruin everything.

  Regardless, he knew there was no stopping. He would have her. “Running from me?”

  “Trying to, but you aren’t doing a good job of letting me.”

  “I can’t just let you leave.”

  Incredulity entered into her eyes, and she squeezed them tightly together. “Did you not hear Amanda in there? I am seventeen years your senior, old enough to be your mother.”

  “So? You don’t look a day over thirty.”

  “I’m forty-seven.”

  “Nonissue. Next.”

  “What do you have to gain from this? You are a cop, not a model.” Light flared into her eyes. “That’s it! The camera ate you up, and you want to turn in your badge and become the next hot male model and think I can help you get there. Think you can rake in the dough, but at thirty, you would already be washed up in this industry, so think again.”

  Anger settled into the clench of Kaden’s jaw. Moving forward, he pushed her against the back of the elevator. Settling his mouth close to her ear, he inhaled, loving the vanilla fragrance she wore, mixed with her own sweet scent. “I think that you have spent so much time around the fakes and phonies that were in that room that you wouldn’t know truth if it hit you in the face.”

  Sliding over so he was facing her, capturing her eyes, he smiled, a feral need growing in him as he pushed into the girdle of her hips, lifting her thighs and draping them around his waist. “I don’t want to become a model. I enjoy the job I do. It might pay for shit, but it makes my blood pump. So I don’t need your connections, as the only thing I plan on using is your body. Use it hard.”

  Kaden moved his pelvis around as he captured her lips in a bruising kiss. Swallowing her gasp of delight, he felt himself thicken against her, his need forming at the base of his spine. Her hands pushed at his shoulders, fighting her need, until she gave in to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and surrendering to the invasion of his tongue.

  A chime didn’t register to his ears, but the shocked gasp as the doors slid open did. Turning, he saw a group of partygoers attempting to enter the car. Grasping Kat’s hand, he wormed his way out, using his big body to shield her from inquisitive eyes, escorting her toward the door. He helped her pull on her coat, realizing he had left his own upstairs, but he refused to go back up to get it.

  Once outside, he shivered as the blast of Arctic air nearly stole his breath. He reached out and hailed a cab. Kaden pushed her inside, following close behind. Settling in, they looked at one another and both began laughing aloud, so much so that Kat nearly had tears in her eyes.

  “Sorry to intrude on ’joo good time, but ’joo folks wanna give me an address?”

  Kaden spoke up. “Fifth and Armstrong. There�
��s a coffee shop over that way…”

  “Fifth and Armstrong it is.” The cab took off.

  * * * *

  Kat looked over the brim of her coffee cup, sitting in a soft, comfy chair by a roaring fire. The coffeehouse was packed but still held on to some element of quiet and cozy, the little nooks of people enjoying the atmosphere and the company. Like she was. They had spent the last twenty minutes in quiet contemplation, sipping their coffees and looking into the fire.

  Instead of being awkward and odd, it was rather soothing. She felt comfortable in his presence, like she could just be who she was for once. “I don’t get over to this end of town. Good place, I like the vibe. Pretty good coffee, too. ”

  “The owner, JC, and I go way back. Went to high school together. He’s a good guy. Plus this is my neighborhood, which is miles away from the tinsel and glamour you are used to.”

  “That tinsel and glamour are highly overrated.”

  Capturing her eyes, he smiled. “You don’t need to tell me. I don’t know how you function around those people. I really don’t.”

  Sighing, she looked down into her coffee. “In the beginning, I needed them to jumpstart my career. I did everything I could to get into the right social circles so I could bag the big-name photo shoots. I crawled to the top of my game through that cesspool. And now that I am here…” She stopped, not knowing what to say next.

  “You’re lonely.”

  Looking into his eyes, she saw he knew the truth.

  She had wrapped herself in a cocoon, not wanting to let others too close inside, scared they would infect her with their poisons. Too bad she had infected herself. Because she had refused to let others in, she had no one to share her successes with. No one to vent to when she was pissed. No one to hold her in the night in her fancy fiftieth floor apartment. No one to keep the boogeyman away.

  I truly am the Ice Queen. Tears swelled in her eyes as she looked away, unable to look at the truth in his gaze any longer. Blinking back to the wetness, she stared at the fire, continuing to sip at her coffee to prevent her from telling him yes.

  Yes, she was so lonely her body ached. And yes, she wanted him to hold her under his big body and make her feel alive again.

  “All I want is the chance to be with you. To get to know you. Who you really are, not the face you show the world. The private face, the one who lets her tears show and her passions, too.”

  Carefully putting her coffee cup down on the table beside her, she leaned forward, staring at the crackling logs. Smiling to herself, she let one tear slip. “Once the cover is cracked, there is no looking back. And then I will have no defenses. Thanks for the coffee.”

  Rising, she pushed herself to the door and burst through it, trying to prevent any more of the tears from slipping. She hailed a taxi and slipped in quickly, giving the driver her home address. Part of her hoped he would come running out of the coffeehouse and stop her. The other part needed to get away so she could repair her armor.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Collecting her thoughts, Kat was sure glad that Jorge was going to be assisting her at the next shoot with three of the single officers, but once the three walked in, there was no reason for her concern. None of the policemen had the vitality that Rock and Kaden had, nor was anything there with the group that caught her attention. Her thoughts still swerved to the two cops from a couple of nights before and what might have been.

  As the second man in the group moved to center stage, Kat looked over to Jorge, who had been giving her the silent treatment the last couple of days. Kat had refused to tell him all of the details of what he had walked in on, so he was pouting, and she so did not need his prissy actions tonight.

  “Camera.” Jorge slammed the machinery into her palm just as the aluminum doors were sliding open. “Can you go see who is here? I’m not expecting anyone. This is a closed set.”

  Jorge stomped off as Kat began clicking away. Feeling a heated sensation, she looked up from her camera to see Kaden and Rock standing off set, both of them in their uniforms. Kat had never understood what all the hoopla was about regarding men in uniform until that very moment.

  Pressed navy blue with the very sexy gun belt, along with the very shiny, inspiring handcuffs, it was enough to make her pussy ache right there on the spot with thoughts of being sandwiched between those two very hard bodies, submitting to their will. Kaden’s very sexy smile awoke her once more.

  “Hiya, fellas. What are you doing here tonight?” She tried to keep her cool, pretending their visit did not affect her.

  Rock spoke up, smiling at her as he began. “We were in the neighborhood and thought we would swing by and see how the other shoot was going. See if these schmucks would out-photo us.”

  Out-photo them? Well, that wasn’t even a term, but were these two for real to think that any of the men tonight would be able to do to her what they had?

  Snickering to herself, she smiled at her two cops as they stepped closer. “I think that you held your own, boys.”

  Kaden approached her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I would rather have held you. Longer. Harder.”

  Kat felt her face go up in flames, embarrassed that this man had practically claimed her in public by his tone, stance, and kiss. Regardless of where he placed it, his actions were an attempt to brand her, and part of her rebelled against that, although another part of her screamed in pleasure, the desire to be marked by them both nearly bowling her over.

  As they caged her in, she felt suffocated. “I need to finish the shoot.”

  “Mind if we watch?” Rock raised an eyebrow as if daring her to say no.

  “Of course, watch. But stay out of my way.”

  As Kat finished up the second officer’s shoot, she could feel the heated stares of both Kaden and Rock searing into her flesh, heating her from the inside out. She felt agitated, and the whole room sensed the change. The third man got ready for his photos, and his discomfort was palpable. She almost felt sorry for the guy.

  Using her general techniques, she threw out lofty comments and bad jokes to get the man to loosen up but to no avail. She heard Rock whisper under his breath, and she wondered if he was jealous of her attentions to this man, ribbing him as she had done the other night. Pushing forth with some unknown desire, she wondered if she would anger the pair if she began flirting with the man behind the lens, if they would hold her down and punish her for doing so.

  Shaking her head once more, she knew she had definitely gone off the deep end. Five years of celibacy had driven her completely bat-shit crazy. To even consider pushing these two men to jealousy so she could incur their wrath was plain ol’ nuts. Why would they be jealous? Putting the camera down, she called the shoot over and asked Jorge to pick up her camera.

  Needing air, Kat strode to the other side of the warehouse and pulled open the hangar-size door just enough for her to squeeze out, stepping into the freezing alleyway, taking a deep breath, only to see the cold air coalesce into a fog before her. The temperature had dipped even lower, but the heat she felt from her anger made her oblivious. Walking farther down the alley, closer to the street, she heard Kaden calling her.

  Turning to the pair of men she instinctively knew would follow her out, she stomped back to them, pushing a strong finger into the middle of Kaden’s chest.

  “What the hell were you thinking? Waltzing into my studio and planting that kiss on me in front of that whole group? What were you trying to prove?”

  Grasping her hand in a strong hold, Kaden pulled her into his embrace. “I wanted those guys to know that you are mine. And no matter how much you fight, you will be mine.”

  “Yours?” Kat’s mind would not work as Kaden lowered his mouth to hers. Capturing her lips with his, Kaden drew her in, and her mind went blank as she felt the strength of his body, the bulk blocking her away from the street. She felt a warmth drift through her body, and all the fight left her. She was tired of being alone, tired of ignoring her needs. For the first
time in too long, she felt like a woman when these men were around, and she was going to open herself to their attentions.

  Rock stepped closer to her once more, his hands resting on her hips, pulling her closer to him. A sigh escaped her just as both men’s radios blared out a call.

  “Ten-thirty-one at one-one-three Fifty-Third Street. Available unit is requested.”

  Kaden raised his hand to the microphone on his shoulder. “Unit three-sixteen is ten-seventy-six.”

  “Ten-four, unit three-sixteen.”

  Lowering his head a moment, Kaden pressed another kiss to Kat’s lips. “We have to go, still on duty. We will be off around eleven thirty. Will you be up?”

  Crazy. I’m flippin’ crazy. “Yep, I should be up. I need to go through the films for tonight and find the right pictures to send over.”

  Watching the two walk away again twisted something inside her. Once they rounded the corner of the alley, Kat stepped through the gap in the door, sealing it shut behind her. Walking back toward the center of the studio, she was relieved to find the space empty. Sitting down on a prop couch she lifted her legs and lay back, resting her head against the armrest.

  “If you think you are going to get away with being non-comunicado another day, you got another think coming. Fess up!” Jorge straddled the back of a chair nearby, giving her his infamous single-eyebrow raise to the heavens.

  “Oh, Jorge, where in the heck do I begin?”

  “Well, you can tell me how Ms. Ice Bitch gets melted between two hunks.”

  “I am so over that whole Ice Queen-Ice Bitch bullshit.”

  “Well, anyone who wraps a thick wall around themselves should expect some slings and arrows on occasion.”

  “You of anyone should understand how fake this world we live in is. Every single man I have dated wanted to use me to get a leg up in the industry. I was a stepping stone in someone else’s career. It was all about who I knew and what contacts I could get them. I got sick of being used, so I figured if I didn’t let them use me, I couldn’t get hurt anymore.”