Claiming Her Innocence: Alpha Ever After (Book 1)

by Kelli Walker

  “Thanks for tonight, Lux,” I tell him, and I kiss him on the cheek and head out to walk back to my place. And, without looking back over my shoulder, I silently hope that he’ll call my name and ask me to come back.

  But he doesn’t, and it’s not like I could have expected anything different. After all, when I brokered this deal, I didn’t ask him to stick beside me. I just asked for one night of sex, and that is what he has given me.

  As I walk home, I wonder what the hell I have done. Because I seriously enjoyed what I just did with him, so much that it surprised me a little if I am being honest. I thought that the first time was meant to hurt, but with him, it had been nothing but pleasure, all the way through, and I had adored every inch of it, every moment that we were together. I know that moving on from that, pretending like I’m not craving more, is going to be hard.

  But it’s not like I’m going to have to worry about running into him again. If I was still working at the bar, then I might have been a little more concerned. However, I already had an interview at another place outside of town: Norton's, a little dive where the bikers of the county get together and get drunk.

  But I know that it’s going to be strange working without him looking over my shoulder to keep me safe. I am sure that he feels the same things that I do, am certain that he can feel the need that burns between us, and I’m sure that’s where this attitude of his came from, where that possessiveness had started in the first place. Well, now that he knows that he had me, now that he knows that he will always be my first and that no other man will get to have me the way he did, will that change?

  I make it home and slide into bed, ignoring the sounds of Gavin and my mom talking in the kitchen. Normally, I would go in to join them, but I am too tired right now, and I don’t want to have a conversation with the two of them about where the hell I have been this evening. I know that they will be celebrating Gavin’s new job, and I am glad that he seems so happy about having work again. I’m glad that I was able to get him through the door. I know that he struggles when he does not have somewhere that he can call his own, and I don’t want him to feel useless while he is back here.

  I lie in bed, stare at the ceiling, and wonder if Lux is doing the same thing on the other side of town right now. He didn’t even call after me once, not to say goodbye, not for anything. And I wish that he had. I wish that he had.

  I doze off in my sundress. I’m too tired to get undressed and take it off. I wake the next morning to my alarm going off to remind me that I’m meant to be heading across town to my interview right about now. I jump in the shower, kiss Momma on the cheek before I head out the door, and hop on the bus just in time to make it to the place I’m hoping will hire me.

  I’ve seen pictures of it online, but Norton’s is more of a dive than I am prepared for in real life. I wince when I climb out of the bus and see the faded sign hanging above the door. It looks as though the windows haven’t been cleaned in about ten years, and there seems to be a thick fog of cigarette smoke just hanging over the building as a whole. I take a deep breath, trying not to let the scent of stale tobacco get caught in my lungs, and stride over to the bar with a smile on my face. Positivity, right? That is all that matters. Approach anything with the right attitude, and everything will be a little easier.

  By the time that I get inside, the man behind the bar is eyeing his watch, like he has been counting down the seconds until I walked through the door.

  “You’re on time, that’s good,” he remarks, and I keep the smile pinned in place and extend my hand to him as I close the distance between us.

  “I’m Vanessa,” I tell him. “And you must be Cash?”

  “That’s me,” he replies, and he ignores my hand. “Look, you any good at slinging drinks?”

  “Yes, I have a few months of experience, and I—”

  “And can you handle it when the customers get rowdy?” he asks. He doesn’t seem much interested in hearing what I’ve got to say, and I wonder how many people actually applied for this job. Am I the only one? And is it because everyone else just knew better?

  “Yeah, I think so,” I agree, and he nods at me curtly.

  “That’s all I need to hear,” he tells me. “You’re hired. Come back tonight at seven and run the midnight shift. I’ll pay you time and a half this first time, and then we can work out an hourly wage from there. Got ourselves a deal?”

  “Sure,” I reply. I know that it’s not exactly a good sign that Cash is so quick to take me on. It suggests that he hasn’t had that many people apply, probably because they know better. I cast my gaze around the place and try to ignore the fact that a lot of the chairs are stuck to the ground. Nailed in place. Probably because people tried to use them as weapons against each other. My heart sinks. Okay, this is going to be more challenging than I thought.

  But, as I walk back out into the sunlight again, I remind myself that I need this job more than anything right now. I need to make sure that I can provide for my family. And, now that Gavin has the job that I left, I’m going to make sure that I work double-time to pull in all the cash that I can so that we can get the house back to normal soon.

  I sit down on the sidewalk and wait for the bus to come back around. It’s going to be nearly an hour before it shows up again, but I can wait. I don’t want to, but it’s not like I have much of a choice. And, silently, I wish that I don’t have to leave The Last Call, because I know that Lux would never have left me sitting out here, looking like a fool and feeling like one, too. He would take care of me...

  But I’m not going to let Lux get into my head right now. Not a chance in hell. No, I know what I want from him, and now that it’s over, I’m not going to go searching for anything more. I know men like Lux, and I know that they don’t come around again so easily. And I’m not going to be the girl who spends the rest of her life hoping that he makes an exception just for me.

  Lux

  I sit in my truck outside the bar and stare at the door.

  I know that she can’t have that much longer to go on her shift, and I’m sure as hell not letting her wander around looking for a lift at this time of night, at a bar like Norton’s. I still can’t believe that she really took a job there. Hell, I would pay her to sit on her ass at home if it meant that she didn’t get herself involved with a place like that.

  “Where did you say she’s working?” I had asked Laura when she had mentioned that she’d heard that Vanessa had gotten another job. She is always on top of all of the comings and goings in town, and, much as I have tried not to think about Vanessa these last few days, I want to make sure that she’s doing alright.

  “At Norton’s,” she replied. “You know, the biker bar?”

  "Shit, really?" I muttered. I know that place. Everyone knows that place. Because it has the worst reputation this side of the county, and I don’t like the thought of a pretty little thing like Vanessa getting caught up in it.

  “Yeah, she’s been covering shifts for a few days now,” Laura replied, shrugging casually, as though it was no big deal. “Why?”

  “I think I need to go down there,” I told her, and I could see the shock on her face.

  “Uh, what?”

  “Can you watch the bar for me while I’m away?” I asked her as I felt for my truck keys in my pocket. She nodded, but she looked skeptical.

  “You sure that’s a good idea?”

  “I’m not letting one of my girls get into trouble,” I replied.

  “She’s not one of ours anymore,” she pointed out, and I shook my head.

  “Once you work here, you’re always a part of this,” I said. “I’m going. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  And, with that, I was out the door before anyone could stop me. On my way out, I did my best not to look Gavin in the eye. If he knew that I was going after his sister, I doubted that he would be much impressed. But I’m not here to impress him right now. I’m here to keep his sister safe. Because I’ll bet that he doesn’t have
any idea where she’s working. If he did, he would have been sitting in front of Norton’s with a rifle in one hand and a big fuck-off sign telling everyone that he would kill them on the spot if they so much as look at his sister.

  I know that I shouldn’t be here, but I can’t stand the thought of her getting into trouble in a place like this. I know what bars like this one can do. I know the kind of people that they attract, and they’re hardly the sort of crew that she wants to be hanging out with. No wonder they hired her so quickly, they probably have a faster turnover than the fast food places in the city. Nobody wants to work here any longer than they have to, because the people who patronize a bar like this one are never exactly the cleanest-cut bunch. The Last Call might have a reputation, but this place has a body count. Probably.

  I stare at the door as I wait for her to come out, counting down the seconds until two in the morning when the liquor licensing for the state mandates closing. And, sure enough, just a few minutes past two, she emerges.

  She looks tired, and she covers her mouth and yawns as she exits along with the last few of the patrons who had been at the bar. A few of them are looking over at her as though they’d like to take a bite out of her, and it takes everything I have not to climb out of the truck and tell them to go fuck themselves right there and then. But I know that she’s going to be freaked out enough by the fact that I’ve just rolled on up out of the blue. I don’t know what she would do if she thought that I was getting in the way of her tips, too. If there is one thing that cuts a profit in half for a female bartender, it’s the revelation that she has a boyfriend to go home to.

  I notice one guy in particular who seems to be extra-keen on chatting her up. She is humoring him, but she looks as though she just wishes that he would leave her the hell alone already. I know it’s not my place, but I can feel myself getting tense, and I have to fight the urge to jump out of the truck and push in between them and let this guy know that he is getting in on spoken-for ground.

  It’s not until I see him put a hand on her shoulder that I climb out of the truck. I call her name, and she looks up in surprise. The guy with his hand on her lets it drop to his side at once, and he backs off swiftly. Just as I had hoped.

  “Lux?” she calls back, and she freezes in her tracks. “What are you doing here?”

  “You need a ride?” I ask her, jerking my head towards the truck. She shakes her head.

  “I’m good,” she replies, but I can tell that she is considering my offer. I make my way over to her, closing the distance between us. It is the first time that I have been face-to-face with her since the night that we spent together, and it’s hard for me not to think about that, not to think about the gorgeousness of her body on top of me as she rode me.

  “You sure?” I ask. “Because I know what this part of town is like, and I doubt you want to be wandering around here late at night.”

  “I can handle myself,” she replies. A couple of the regulars are looking over at us in amusement, as though they are enjoying the spectacle. I shoot them angry looks, and they draw their gazes away again, figuring that I’m not one to mess with right now.

  “You sure?” I ask. “How’s your shift been? No trouble?”

  She falls silent, and I know that something had to have happened in there. I wish that she would just tell me what it was, but I know that I’m not going to get that lucky.

  “None,” she blurts out finally. “What are you doing here, anyway? How did you even find out that I was working here? Did Gavin tell you? Does he know?”

  “He doesn’t know,” I assure her, and I can see a wave of relief hit her all of a sudden. “And you know I can keep a secret. Just let me give you a lift home, I don’t want to see you wandering around here late at night where you could get hurt...”

  “So, you decided to stalk me here instead,” she shoots back, and there is a sharpness to her voice that makes me stop in my tracks.

  “What did you just say?” I ask her, and I can see a flicker of amusement in her eyes. She likes it when I’m mad. She’s never been a girl who hides from that. She likes it when she can piss me off, whether it’s by wearing those short shorts at the bar after I told her not to, or by teasing me about following her here.

  “You heard what I said,” she replies. “You followed me here, didn’t you?”

  “Laura told me that you were working here,” I correct her. “And I didn’t want you wandering around here alone at night. Let me give you a lift. Your brother would kill me if he knew that I’d been letting you wander around a place like this late at night.”

  “And he’d kill you if he knew what you had done to me back at your house,” she fires back. And, with her eyes locked on mine, I know that she is daring me to say something back to her. Even though I know it’s a bad idea, I can’t resist. And, before I know it, I have scooped her up into my arms and tossed her over my shoulder.

  “You should watch that smart mouth of yours,” I warn her playfully. “It’s going to get you in trouble one of these days.”

  Vanessa

  As he throws me down over the back seat, I feel a rush of desire pulse through me. It’s the same feeling that I had the first time I saw him standing there in the parking lot, and I know that it’s not going to be so easy to get rid of it.

  I need him. I need this man. I haven’t been able to get him out of my head since the moment I walked out of his place, and ever since then, I have been praying that he’ll turn up once more. I knew that the chances were slim, but I had to keep hoping, had to keep trying because the thought of failing in all of this is too much for me to bear. I have to at least have something to look forward to. And, since my new job has turned out to be far from that, I’m going to turn to the man that I can’t shake from my memory, instead.

  He climbs on top of me, kisses me hard. He's not gentle like he was back at his place, no, he’s frantic, as though he wants nothing more than to take a chunk out of me just to see how I’ll react. I gasp and arch my back from the seat, ignoring the gears and poles that are sticking into me. All that matters is the weight of his body against mine, and I know that I’m already addicted to the feeling of him on top of me like this.

  His teeth catch on my lip, making me start with something between pleasure and pain, but the lines are so thin now that I can’t tell the difference either way. I don’t care. He reaches down to my pants, pushes down my jeans, and guides his fingers inside of me in one swift motion, the pressure of his hand against my pussy almost more than I can take.

  “Fuck me,” I plead in his ear, needing him, needing this. I know that I should be telling him to leave me the hell alone, but I don’t want him to. I can’t imagine asking him to stop, not when things are already so far out of control right now. I need this. I need to feel him inside of me. It feels as though this is the only thing that will guide me back down to earth, and I don’t want to lose it, not when he is right here, trying to make sure that I’m safe. Still trying to make sure that I’m his.

  A moment later, I hear the rip of a condom package and the zip of his pants, and I glance around to make sure that there is nobody from the bar lurking and watching the two of us. The last thing I need right now is to be fired for getting up to something indecent in the parking lot with a man who isn’t even my boyfriend. I mean, maybe it would be enough to stop the people who had been hitting on me all night long, but still...

  I close my eyes and hook my ankles around his back as I feel the pressure of him at my entrance once more. It’s almost too good to be true, the sensation enough to make my skin crawl, and my spine tingle with need. I can feel every inch of my body coming alive all at the same time. The need that demands my attention—wiping everything else from my head: everything but the sheer, decadent pleasure of having him thrust inside of me.

  “Fuck,” he growls in my ear, and he runs his tongue up the side of my neck, finding that sweet spot right where my ear meets my throat and tracing his lips across the soft, sensitive sk
in. My entire body feels as though it is on the brink of crumbling, but I hang on to him for dear life, knowing that he can keep me safe, knowing that he can take me where I need to be right now.

  He shifts his hips slightly so that he is grinding against my clit as he fucks me, and soon, I am totally lost to the helpless rush of pleasure that is coursing up and through my body. I can’t control myself. I don’t want to, even if I could. I can only think of one thing, and it is the release that I am craving so badly, the release that I have wanted since the moment I walked out of his house. I need this. I need him. I need him more than I thought it was possible to need anyone.

  Tightening my grip on his shoulder, I groan as I feel him fuck me even harder than before. It is right on that edge between pain and pleasure, but I am just focused on how good it feels, and, sure enough, soon, it just mellows into nothing but the sensation of pleasure. My nerve-endings feel as though they are on fire as he turns his head to kiss me once more, and I kiss him back like I am ravenous for him, like my life depends on it. How can this only be the second time that we’ve ever done this? It feels as though we have had months of practice. Because there’s no way that it can feel this good right away.

  It doesn’t take long till I feel myself hurtling towards the release that I know I need so badly, and, sure enough, a few moments later, it explodes through me. My legs tremble as my body clenches and tenses and then releases, the rush of it almost more than I can bear. I bury my head in his shoulder to hide the cry of pleasure that escapes my lips when I finish, and it doesn’t take long until I feel him reach his own release inside of me. He stills as he comes, as though savoring the feeling of me engulfing him, of the way our bodies fit together as though they had been made for each other.