Hacked For Love & The Dom's Songbird: A Billionaire Romance Collection

by Michelle Love

  “Mom, I love you!”

  Anne shouted, “We are not about to die! Stop the damn bawling, Beth! Shit!”

  Arsen couldn’t believe that Anne was staring into the face of death and would tell her daughter to stop crying. She was a complete, heartless bitch.

  Allen’s hand was shaking as he pointed the gun at the women and Arsen knew the time had come. Allen took a couple of steps and pressed the gun to the side of Beth’s head.

  She was screaming and crying and begging for him to spare her life. Allen’s hand was shaking worse and Arsen knew he had to do something.

  He slammed the door back as hard as he could. The noise made Allen turn around. He only got two words out of his mouth, “What the…”

  Arsen was on him and had wrestled him to the floor. His hand touched the gun which was between them. He felt Allen’s finger on the trigger.

  Allen shouted, “Get off me! I’m going to kill you, Arsen! Then I’ll kill them!”

  Arsen wasn't about to let him go. He wasn't about to let him up. The pieces would just have to fall where they may.

  He tried to position the gun, trying to push the gun into Allen's gut. Allen's finger was still on the trigger as Arsen wrapped his hand around the gun.

  Arsen closed his eyes and prayed for the strength and the courage to do what he had to do. Then he squeezed Allen's hand until the sound of the gun going off rang out in the room.

  All Arsen could hear was the women screaming. Then a gurgling sound. He assumed it was the sound of blood coming out of someone's body, He knew someone had been shot, but he wasn't sure if it was him or Allen.

  His stomach burned and his heart was pounding. Arsen knew his adrenaline was so amped up, if he was shot, he wouldn’t feel it right away.

  He closed his eyes and pictured Steele and prayed he’d live to see her again.

  It can’t end like this!

  STEELE

  The afternoon sun made Detective Fontaine’s blonde locks glow as she walked up to the driver’s side window, Paul had rolled down. They had pulled up on the side of Anne Sinclair’s home, just her cruiser and the Suburban parked right behind it.

  Other officers were in the area, but all were waiting for Fontaine’s call for backup before moving in.

  “Okay, keep her here, Paul.” She drew her gun.

  Paul wiggled his finger for her to come closer. She leaned in the window as he said, “You be careful baby. We have a date later.”

  She smiled.

  “I know. I will, don't worry, I’ve never been shot yet.”

  Paul shook his head.

  “I hope you haven’t just jinxed yourself.”

  Fontaine gave him a smile, and he gave her a little kiss. Then she turned around and headed towards the house, staying close to the side of the outside wall. Steele’s eyes stayed glued to her as she ducked, going under the large set of windows she figured were in the living room.

  Just before Fontaine made it to the door the muffled sound of a gun blast was heard and she looked back over her shoulder at them and hurried into the house. Paul jumped out of the car and ran towards the house.

  Steele hauled ass out of the car and ran for the house as well. There was no way she could sit there not knowing who had been shot.

  “Steele, what the hell are you doing in here?” Fontaine asked with her jaw clenched.

  She was holstering her gun as Beth and Anne stood screaming and crying and holding on to each other. Paul stood between Fontaine and Steel as all looked at the two men on the floor.

  Paul said what all were thinking, “Fuck!”

  Blood had already stained the white carpet the men were lying on.

  “Arsen!” Steele shouted and ran fast to him. She fell on her knees next to him. Her hand on his back, her mouth near his ear. “Baby, please talk to me. Please.”

  Arsen’s head moved a little and his eyes opened slowly.

  “Hey, Baby. What are you doing here?”

  She laughed and tears ran down her cheeks.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “Not sure about that,” he said. “I feel odd, but not in any real pain. My stomach burns a little though.”

  Detective Fontaine kneeled on the other side of him and she took Allen’s hand and checked his pulse.

  “I think this one is dead.” She looked up at Paul who was right behind her. “Help me roll Arsen off this guy.”

  He nodded and did as she’d told him. They rolled him to his back and Steele stayed right by him. Her eyes went wide as she saw blood covering most of his shirt. “Oh, God!”

  Fontaine unbuttoned Arsen’s shirt as he lay perfectly still and kept his eyes focused on Steele.

  “I’m sorry I left without telling you where I was going. You must’ve been worried.”

  “Don’t worry about that now.” She ran her hand over his forehead, pushing back some damp strands of his dark hair.

  Fontaine let out a sigh of relief.

  “It’s all the other guy’s blood. No wounds on Arsen.” She gave Steele a wink. “What muscles this man has! Lucky girl.”

  Steele laughed and ran her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. With the information he wasn’t shot, Arsen sat up and Steele let him go and took a step back so Paul could help him up.

  Paul pulled Arsen into a hug.

  “You scared us all, you son of a bitch!”

  Steele was so busy starring at Arsen she almost missed seeing Anne slipping out of the living room. She moved quickly to get to the woman.

  “Stop!”

  Anne didn’t even look back. She took off running. Not nearly fast enough though as Steel caught up to her and had her down on the kitchen floor.

  “Stop! Let me go!” Anne screamed.

  Fontaine came into the kitchen and placed her knee in the woman’s back.

  “Thanks, Steele. I can take her from here.”

  “I didn’t do anything!” Anne shouted as she squirmed to get away.

  Arsen and Paul walked in and Arsen handed the recorder to Fontaine once she had Anne secured. “Here you go. This will exonerate me and condemn her. Seems Mistress Sinclair has been into some bad things. Revenge for leaving her had her thinking up new punishments for me. It’s an open and shut case with her words on this recording.”

  “How dare you, Arsen!” Anne yelled from her position on the floor. “That’s illegal! You can’t record someone who doesn’t know they’re being recorded!”

  Arsen let out a sigh.

  “I can’t listen to her speak anymore. I’ve had to listen to her voice for far too long as it is.”

  Beth’s voice came from behind them.

  “Arsen, can I talk to you?”

  Steele’s heart clenched, and she looked at Arsen who silently asked her to let him do what he needed to do. She gave him a nod and ran her hand over his cheek.

  “I love you, Baby.”

  “I love you,” he said them pressed his lips to her forehead.

  He walked towards Beth and took her by the hand, leading her away from the crowded kitchen. Steele watched as a pain filled her chest. But she knew Arsen needed this closure.

  Still, it wasn’t easy to witness. All the craziness was over. Arsen was a free man, all the hard times were over for him. Steele couldn’t help but wonder how Arsen would feel with all the weight off his shoulders.

  She wondered if he might want to slow things down between them now that prison wasn’t hanging over his head. He may have found some feelings left over for Beth.

  Beth was Arsen’s age, early thirties, but she looked as if life had been rough on her. Lines around her lips showed she was a smoker and dark circles under her eyes showed she was most likely a drinker too.

  Perhaps all that had happened all those years ago had Beth filled with guilt and it was showing on her face and body. Her posture was poor and she had extra weight on her. Arsen could feel sorry for Beth and that could turn into more.

  Arsen could feel he needed to save Beth and that
would be a powerful thing which could bring the two together again. The woman certainly looked like she needed some kind of help. But she had her own husband to do that for her.

  Steele knew if Beth had a choice between the man she’d seen sitting on the porch of their small home and Arsen, she’d be an idiot not to pick Arsen. It circled round and round in Steele’s head and it began to ache with fear of Arsen leaving her for his old flame.

  Steele left the kitchen and walked through the living room, finding some other officers had come inside and had Allen’s body covered with some black thing. She stepped out the front door and the light from the sun made her shield her eyes.

  Then she heard Arsen’s voice coming from the side of the house. He and Beth must have stepped to the side of the house to talk. She took a couple of steps away. Planning to wait in the Suburban but stopped when she heard Beth say, “I’m more sorry than you’ll ever know, Arsen.”

  Steele knew she shouldn’t be listening. But she couldn’t make her feet move. She stood still and listened.

  Arsen said, “Thank you, Beth. You don’t know how it helps to hear you say that. All these years I was left wondering if you were ever sorry about what happened.”

  “I was a very confused girl back then. And I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am my mother did all she did to you. If I would’ve had any idea about that stuff back then, I swear I would’ve put a stop to it.” Steele heard material move and thought Arsen’s hands must be running up and down Beth’s arms.

  She fisted her hands at her sides and had to focus on the fact Arsen needed to hear those things from Beth. No one else could help him heal the wounds she and her family had given Arsen.

  The sound of his lips making a little smack against somewhere on Beth made Steele take a step away. She couldn’t take knowing his lips were touching her anywhere.

  Arsen’s voice stopped her.

  “I know you would’ve. I knew I could’ve gone to you and told you what she was doing. I just didn’t do it. I take responsibility for my part in it. I told myself for many years that wasn’t anything I could’ve controlled. That was a lie I kept telling myself. Then I had to have all the control in my dealings with women.”

  “So, you became the dominant then?” she asked.

  “Yes. And I did it for all the wrong reasons.” His voice was soft and then she heard the sound of him running his hands over Beth again as the fabric moved once more.

  “That girl who came, is that her? The one you told me about?” she asked.

  Steele’s heart stopped beating as she listened as Arsen answered, “Yeah, that’s my Steele. My rock, my savior, my everything.”

  Steele walked away then. Giving him his privacy. Whatever he had to do was his to do, and she didn’t need to let her jealousy ruin anything that helped him get over all which had happened to him.

  Half way to the car she heard footsteps come up behind her. She turned to find Arsen in his blood-soaked clothes. His arms opened, and she went into them. Her tears flowed as he held her tight.

  “I was so afraid.” Her body shook.

  His lips pressed against the top of her head as he swayed with her.

  “So was I. It’s all over, Baby. Let’s get the hell out of here. I told Fontaine she could talk to me tomorrow. I’m done for the day.”

  Steele let him lead her to the back of the Suburban and saw Paul coming out to take them home.

  It’s hard to believe this is really over!

  The sound of people coming out and talking in medical terms had Steele and Arsen looking back to find a stretcher coming out the front door of the house next to Anne’s.

  “Gwen!” Steele said under her breath. “In all the drama I forgot she was in the house next door.” She pulled Arsen along with her to go see Gwen as the paramedics wheeled her to the ambulance.

  Arsen called out, “Wait a second. We know her.”

  They waited and Gwen raised her head a little.

  “Oh my God! You’re alright!”

  Steele was crying again as she got to her friend and hugged her.

  “You have no idea how happy I am to see you, Gwen.”

  Gwen laughed.

  “You too! Did they catch Allen? And that crazy old bitch he was doing all this shit with?”

  Arsen nodded.

  “He didn’t make it. We got into a scuffle with his gun between us and it went off.” He pulled at his bloody shirt. “I wasn’t hurt.”

  Gwen’s eyes went vacant.

  “He’s dead then?”

  Steele ran her hand over Gwen’s cheek.

  “Yes. You okay?”

  “Well, no. But I will be. I suppose it’s what was meant to be for him. And the woman?” she asked.

  “She’ll be going to prison for a long time,” Arsen answered her.

  Gwen nodded. “Good, she’s horrible.”

  One of the paramedics interrupted their little reunion.

  “We really should get her to the hospital.”

  Arsen ran his arm around Steele, pulling her back as he took a step back. “We’ll come and see you first thing in the morning, Gwen,” Steele said. “I would go tonight, but I bet your family will want you all to themselves.”

  “Probably,” Gwen agreed as they began moving her down the sidewalk to the waiting ambulance.

  Paul and Detective Fontaine were standing beside her car as Arsen looked up.

  “We’re ready, Paul.”

  Paul pulled Fontaine into his arms and kissed her, grabbing her ass in the process and Arsen stopped in his tracks.

  “When the fuck did that happen?”

  Steele laughed.

  “A little earlier today. Seems Paul moves about as fast as you do. Way to teach the man, Boss.”

  Arsen chuckled as they climbed into the back of the Suburban.

  “I cannot wait to get these sticky, nasty clothes off.”

  Steele sat on the soft leather seat and pulled him to sit close to her. “Me too.”

  Running her hand to cup the back of his neck, she pulled his lips to hers and gave him a kiss she hoped he’d never forget.

  Now to see where we’re headed from here!

  STEELE

  Arsen soaked in the warm water of the deep, jetted bathtub as Steele lit candles in the bedroom. She pulled her clothes off as she made her way to the bathroom and found him lying back in the water with his eyes closed.

  She turned on the stereo, playing something soft and romantic. His eyes opened and his lips curled into a smile. He held his hand out to her, and she took it and climbed in.

  Straddling him and sliding her body along his. Her hands ran over his chest then up to his face. She took his face between her palms and pressed her lips to his.

  She couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Something inside her was telling her things were about to be different and she didn’t want a thing to change.

  Steele wanted things to keep going like they had been. But something felt different with him. He was acting a little quiet, and it was as if he was keeping a secret from her.

  She kept thinking the worst. That when he saw Beth again it stirred something in him for her. Steele was feeling vulnerable and uneasy and she needed to feel him.

  Feel him all over her, all inside her. She needed him and she hoped he would feel the same for her as she felt as if he was drifting away from her.

  His lips tasted like the Cognac she’d made him a glass of and she ran her tongue over them. He moaned and his fingers pressed into the flesh of her ass. His tongue ran into her mouth and hers began a little dance with his as the music led their movements.

  He lifted her, and she felt his cock hard and ready for her. He slipped her down and filled her the way she’d been craving. Her heart sped up and her kiss went hungry. She was ravenous for him.

  He moved her up and down his long, hard cock as their mouths heated with the fevered kiss they shared. Steele ran her hands up to move through his shoulder length, silky locks.

>   The jets of water pulsed around their bodies as they slid against one another. Water splashed out onto the floor as he moved her faster and faster. Neither seemed to care much about the mess they were making.

  Arsen’s hands dug into her waist as he moved her over him. Her insides were tight as she felt every little movement he made. His muscles rippled against her stomach. His skin was like silk against hers.

  They moved together like practiced partners yet they’d only been together a short time. Their connection a quick one, Steele hoped was deep enough to last.

  Something inside her was afraid though. Her fingernails raked his back, and he moaned as he ran one of his hands up to wrap her hair around his fist. He pulled it back hard, making her mouth leave his.

  Her neck was exposed and his teeth grazed it as she kept up the movements he’d shown her he wanted. Up and down she went as his teeth raked over the tender flesh along her throat.

  Tugging at her hair, he bit her hard, making her growl with how it was making her feel. Primal and sexy and so hot for him, she felt as if her body was on fire.

  Arsen eased his grip on her hair and moved her face down, pressing his forehead to hers. “Out of the tub and onto the bed. This slipping shit is pissing me off.”

  She moved off him and climbed out of the tub. The floor was wet, so she tossed a fluffy, white towel on the floor before they got out. Her feet touched it and he had her up in his arms.

  He carried her to the bed and tossed her on it.

  “Knees, now!”

  She got on her hands and knees and felt his hand tangle up in his fist again and he pulled it hard as he slammed into her. She shrieked, not in pain but in desire for him.

  He was rough, nearly to the point of being violent. His body was pounding hers, but she knew it was something inside him finally releasing. Finally, he was losing control and she could tell that’s exactly what he wanted to do.

  He seemed to want to let himself go and Steele was both exhilarated and scared nearly to death as she’d never been around Arsen when he wasn’t in complete control of himself and whoever was with him.

  Arsen stopped his pounding and pulled out of her. She looked back to find him grabbing the television remote off the nightstand and clicking on the TV. Some hard rock music channel came on as he pushed the buttons and he turned the sound up so loud she could feel the bass line beating in her body.