Authors: Linda Wright
“Maybe he’s just afraid I won’t like him back. But I do. God, this sounds so fucking juvenile, doesn’t it? I’m acting like I’m in kindergarten.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Fucking?”
She grinned. “What? You say it all the time. Why can’t I say it?”
Fuck, she could say it all she wanted. It just wasn’t helping my dick calm down. Hearing her say something even remotely dirty sent heat pulsing to my dick. “You’re all sweet and shit. You say sweet things. Not fucking.”
She grinned. “Fucking, fucking, fucking. I’m not just sweet, Patrick. Maybe that’s the problem. You only see me as sweet.”
“What problem?”
I watched as a deep red color took over her neck and then her face. Even her ears went red. She stood up abruptly and walked down the steps until she was standing on the grass, facing me. Her body looked tense and I could see that she wasn’t wearing a bra. I would’ve done anything to taste her hard nipples.
“I know you’re not like the rest of them.”
A dangerous feeling crawled up my back. “No?”
She shook her head. When even more hair fell she made an annoyed sound and ripped the band in her hair out. Her hair fell around her shoulders and trailed down to the middle of her back. “No. Do you want to know what I think?”
I swallowed. I had a feeling it wasn’t going in a good direction. I kept my mouth sealed and nodded.
She crossed her arms over her ample chest and then straightened them at her sides. She was nervous. “I think you’re pretending to be something you’re not.”
I stood up, erection gone, and marched towards my bike. I’d watch her house from the end of the road. I didn’t know what the hell she was getting at but if she blew my cover it would be deadly for me.
Stormy took three steps for every one of mine and before I could grab my leather and throw my leg over the bike she put herself between it and me. She looked up at me and rested her hands on my chest.
The warmth from her skin scalded my body and I felt like running away from a woman who was more than a foot shorter than me. I stared down at her and made sure my face didn’t show anything.
“Please, don’t go. I’m sorry. I won’t say anything else.” Big tears filled her eyes and I was a goner.
I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into my chest. Her little body shook against mine as she cried. I didn’t have a clue what the hell she was crying about but I hated it. She was always as happy as she could be with her life so seeing her let it get to her was shitty.
“I’m so sick of this life, Patrick. I don’t want to do it anymore.”
I jerked away from her and leaned down until we were eye to eye. “What?!”
She chewed on her lower lip more and it was driving me up a wall so I used my thumb to pull it out from between her teeth. My mistake was touching it, though. She had the softest lips and it was wet from being in her mouth. My mind went straight to other things about her that would be soft and wet.
Stormy froze and her tongue streaked out to wet her lips. My thumb was frozen in place so she licked the tip of it. Her cheeks turned pink again and she looked away. “Sorry.”
I moaned. I couldn’t help it. There was only so much torture one man could take before he snapped. I’d found my snapping point. “Who do you like?”
She blinked a few times before trying to back away. Only the bike was right behind her so she was trapped. “Why?”
I curled the ends of her hair around my fingers and grunted. “I’m going to go kill him.”
A shy smile tugged at one corner of her mouth and she surprised me by going on her tip-toes to press her lips to my cheek. “I know you were raised Catholic, and suicide is the worst sin, Patrick. I’m going to go inside if you’d like to talk about anything. It’s chilly out here.”
I stood there like an idiot for another minute or so before my brain started working again and I realized what she’d said. As soon as I did I turned and made my way into her house. I’d only been inside a few other times when I’d first started working as her security. It was warm and comfy looking with stacks of books all over the place.
She’d moved to the couch and was curled up with her feet under her and her hands resting on her lap. Her hair was falling over her face but I could see a smile playing at the corner of her lips.
I sat down next to her and tried to stretch my legs out in front of me. Her coffee table was to close and I ended up just bringing my knees back in. When she giggled again I looked down at her and frowned. “Your house is meant for a little person.”
Stormy’s laughter was sexy as fuck and I had to remind myself more than once that I couldn’t just grab her and attack her. She reached up and slapped my arm. “You’re just a giant.”
“What did you mean out there?”
She coughed and looked away. “I thought you knew what I meant.”
I nearly choked on my own spit. Real smooth. “I mean about not wanting to do this anymore?”
She pushed her hair behind her ears and turned to face me. “I don’t think you’re ready to hear about it. Why is that the part you want to talk about, Patrick?”
“You’re not planning anything crazy, are you?” I rubbed my chest as a weight settled there.
“I don’t know yet. I just want out. I want to live somewhere new. It would be fun to not have the guy I want to kiss be too afraid of the consequences to want to kiss me back. I have this dream of waking up and not feeling scared that someone is going to be waiting in my living room to kill me because of something dad’s done.”
Kiss. That one word coming from her soft lips and I was having to dig my fingers into my legs to keep from showing her what it would be like. “No one is going to hurt you.”
She inched closer to me, the shy girl gone and in her place a woman who was staring at me with a dare in her eyes. “But is anyone going to kiss me?”
I didn’t move. I couldn’t. I had rules. Rules from my job and rules from the club. No fraternizing. I’d never broken that rule before. I gritted my teeth so hard I was sure I’d have less teeth when I was done.
“I guess not. I think I’m going to head to bed. It’s late.” She stood up and looked down at me with a fake smile.
I’d known her long enough to know that she was sad and I couldn’t handle knowing it was my fault. I caught her wrist in my hand and tugged her onto my lap. She landed against my chest and looked up at me with her big eyes. “Remember I tried.”
I took her mouth roughly. Even though I told myself to calm down I couldn’t. I’d wanted to touch her for so long. I held her hair in my hands and tugged her into a better angle so I could shove my tongue into her mouth and taste her.
Stormy moaned in the back of her throat and pushed against my chest. I broke my mouth from hers, breathing hard. I waited for her to climb off of me, figuring I’d pushed her too fast. She slung her leg over my waist and straddled me before pushing her hands into my hair and grinning down at me.
“It’s about fucking time.”
I jerked her back down to me and kissed her with everything I’d been holding back for years. She bit my bottom lip and then sucked it into her mouth to sooth it before rocking her core against me. I wrapped my arms around her little body and shoved both hands into her little shorts to cup her bare ass.
She moaned and threw her head back to give me access to her neck. I kissed and bit my way across her throat and neck. She writhed against me until I wasn’t sure I wasn’t going to embarrass myself by shooting my load in my pants.
My fingers dipped down and I felt wet heat coming from her core. My hips jerked into her at the sensation and she moaned louder. I moved my finger lower and dipped it into her wetness. She was drenched and her lips felt like heaven as I teased them. I’d just pushed my finger into her tight pussy when she froze against me and cried out my name.
“Jesus, you’re responsive.”
“Don’t stop.” Her normally smooth voice was broken and hoarse.
I stood up with her in my arms and moved towards her bedroom. I’d just pushed the door open when she went rigid.
“Wait!”
I snapped to attention and just happened to see what she was trying to hide. I sat her down at my feet and moved to her bed, despite her trying to pull me back. Sitting in the middle of her bed was a large duffle bag full of money. I grabbed a handful and held it up in front of her face. “What the fuck is this, Stormy?”
She grabbed the money from me and shoved it back into the bag before zipping it and kicking it under her bed. “It’s nothing.”
“What did you do?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I didn’t do anything. The money is mine. That’s not to say it’s clean, but it is mine. It’s money dad’s been giving me since I was little.”
“What the fuck are you doing with it out?”
She couldn’t look me in the eye as she answered. “I won’t lie to you. I’m leaving.”
I nodded and stormed out of her small bedroom. The living room didn’t make me feel any better. Everywhere smelled like her and I needed to clear my head and hopefully lose the erection I was sporting.
Stormy chased me around until she was able to corner me on the porch. Her hard nipples were distracting as hell in the cool weather. “I have to, Patrick! I can’t stay here.”
I slammed my fist into the side of her house and felt wood splinter. It was satisfying so I did it again. Stormy grabbed my arm and threw herself at me. She was crying again.
“Patrick, you’re hurting yourself. Please, stop.”
I looked down and, sure enough, I was bleeding. “What was this, Storm? You just decided that since you’re leaving you’d fuck me for the hell of it? Get my fucking head blown off and then go about your merry way? Because that’s what fucking you is going to get me, one way or the other.”
Fat tears were pouring down her face and she shook her head aggressively. “No one will know. I wouldn’t do that to you. You have to know by now that I’d never do anything to get you hurt.”
I blew out a big breath and looked down at her. I wanted to shake her but I knew it had nothing to do with the danger she put me in. Not really. I’d spent nearly every day with her for so long that the idea of her being gone hit me like a brick in the chest.
“I was going to talk to you about it. I just wanted a chance to see if what I feel for you is real first.”
There was no way I was going to be able to stay angry with her. Not with the way she was looking at me with big, doe eyes and her lips all pouty. “Well? Did I pass your test?”
She laughed and wrapped her arms around my waist. “If I say something will you promise not to freak out?”
I picked her up and carried her back inside so we weren’t out in the open. “I don’t know. Are you going to tell me that you’re against sex now?”
She rubbed against me when I sat her down and shook her head. “I’m very much for sex. I wanted to talk to you about it because I want you to come with me.”
I stopped breathing. There she sat, my chance to finally get out of the hellhole I’d ended up in, with a halo practically glowing above her head. I rested my elbows on my knees and tried to remember how to breathe.
“I know it’s crazy, Patrick, but I also know that you’re not really who you say are.” She held up her hand when I jerked my head in her direction. “I don’t have any proof. I just know that you’re not one of them. I just always assumed you were a cop.”
I felt my small world closing in around me. I gripped the phone in my pocket and itched to dial my handler. I had to get out. If I wanted to live I had to get out. If I didn’t finish my assignment I’d never work in my field ever again, though. I didn’t know where the line was between finishing my assignment and outstaying my welcome.
Stormy took my silence as her answer. “You can’t stay. I’m not leaving silently, Patrick. I’ve got a book full of dates and names with all of dad’s business transactions. I’ve had a friend keeping tabs for me and I have everything I need to take the club down. It’s time. When I turn this in, though, they’re going to go on a manhunt for whoever helped me get this stuff. My friend is already gone. She’s safe. If they dig too hard into your life are you going to be safe?”
“Holy fuck, Stormy! Is there anything you’ve set in motion that won’t kill me?” I paced the length of her living room and threw my hands up. “Shit. This is bad. You can’t turn that book in, sweetheart.”
She stood up and glared at me. “You think they don’t all deserve to go to jail for what they’ve been doing? The guns were one thing, Patrick, but there are drugs now. Serious drugs. You’re telling me that you’re okay with them shipping that shit out?”
I shook my head. “There are no drugs, Stormy.”
She climbed onto a chair under an air vent and unscrewed one side of it before pulling out a leather notebook. “It started six months ago.”
I snatched the notebook from her and flipped through the pages. It was everything a DA would need to put Bear away for a very long time. Along with most of the other members. I recognized some of the meetings but in the six months previous to that night there’d been meetings and numbers that didn’t make any sense to me. “I don’t understand. Bear is running a side business?”
She jabbed her fingers to the pages. “It looks like it. A pretty lucrative one. New, synthetic drugs. At least one I’ve heard about is about three times more intense than GHB. Seen any severely unconscious women around the club lately?”