Serving the Wolf's Den (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (15 page)

Maura approached the table and smiled at the two men. They both looked up, undressing her with their eyes. The taller one with long, stringy blond hair and a receding hairline spoke first.

“Hey girl, you looking good tonight. What’s your name? I’m Jack.”

Maura pointed to her badge above her right breast. “Maura.”

“Yeah, like that name. How about you, Beamer, you like that name?”

The man he had called Beamer smiled and nodded. “I like more than just her name.” His eyes were focused on Maura’s breasts and then dropped lower to her pussy.

Maura took a breath but kept the forced smile in place. She had a bad feeling about these two.

“What can I get you?”

“How about a couple drafts, baby?”

“Sure. I’ll be right back.”

“Better bring two each,” Beamer called after her.

The two men kept her busy. They guzzled down their beer like there was no tomorrow. However, neither of them acted as if they were drunk. With each visit to their table, they questioned her about her likes and dislikes, especially where men were concerned. She tried to be friendly but kept her answers short. The last thing she wanted to do was to encourage their questions.

“You know, baby, you seem a little lonely to me. You got a boyfriend?”

“Yes,” she said, removing the empty bottles from the table. “I’ve got two.” She knew immediately from the look on their faces that she had said the wrong thing.

“Whew!” Beamer said with a whistle. “You are hot!”

“If you like two, then you’re going to love us,” Jack said, his hand going down to his crotch.

“Not interested. I’m well taken care of. You boys will have to look elsewhere.”

“Maybe we don’t want to look elsewhere,” Beamer said, his hand suddenly grabbing Maura’s arm.

“Let go,” Maura said, trying to remove her arm from his grasp.

“I want you, baby. Have since we walked in here.” Beamer hauled her closer to him, forcing her to sit on his lap.

Jack leaned over and slipped his hand into the V-neck of her shirt, latching onto her nipple that he twisted painfully. “Those are some nice tits you got there.”

Beamer slid his free hand under her skirt. She felt like it was Frank all over again. She went totally cold. She couldn’t move. They had her trapped.

“Take your filthy hands off her!”

“You think I give a flying fuck what you want?” He ended with a growl, looking up to where Max towered over them.

Maura’s eyes searched frantically for Antoine.

Toby arrived as Max’s fist slammed into Beamer’s face, knocking him off his chair. Jack lunged toward Max, but Toby stopped him in mid stride. Dumped on the floor, Maura crawled to a nearby table. When she looked back, all hell had broken loose. Antoine was in the middle of the four men, trying to break them apart. The customers were watching with their mouths open while others were shouting encouragement to Max and Toby.

Maura gasped when she saw Beamer’s fist connect with the side of Max’s face with enough force that it brought him to his knees. Blood trickled from his mouth.

Maura cried out Max’s name. Without thinking about anything but Max, she ran to where he was dazed and bleeding. From the corner of her eye she saw Katie running toward the men with a bat in her hand. Antoine now had Beamer in a choke hold. However, Toby was still locked in combat with Jack, who must have seen Katie coming at him, because he pushed Toby and ran toward the door. Toby caught his jacket, following his body down to the floor. Katie shoved her bat in Jack’s face.

Within minutes, the police arrived. Jack and Beamer were escorted out of the bar in handcuffs. Antoine ended up going with them to fill out the complaint. It was near closing time anyway, so what customers were left were asked to leave. Joanie refused to leave and continued to sip her drink.

Maura held Max’s head in her lap.

Katie’s worried face looked down at him. “You okay, Max?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“You took a helluva hit there. You’re bleeding, but nothing that needs stitches.”

“Thanks, Katie. I got sucker punched.”

“That bastard blindsided you. Police have them both now.”

“Good. We’re pressing charges.”

“Antoine’s seeing to that. You need help?” Katie held out her hand.

Max shook his head.

“I’m so sorry,” Maura cried, tears running down her cheeks. She looked up to see that Toby was standing above them, watching them. “I’m so sorry, Toby. Are you okay?”

“I’ll live.”

Max shook himself free of Maura’s arms. Katie and Toby helped him to his feet.

Katie looked down at Maura. “You okay?”

“I’m okay. I can’t believe this happened. I’m so sorry.”

“Not as sorry as I am,” Max said. “I want you in my office, Maura. Now!”

Maura looked from Max to Toby. There was no warmth in their eyes. It was obvious that they blamed her for what had just happened.

Ignoring Maura, Candy walked up beside Max. “Here’s something for your head, Max.”

She handed him a wet towel that he used to wipe off the blood. Some of it had already started to clot.

Katie gave Maura a sympathetic look before she walked with Toby to the bar. Candy glanced briefly at Maura, her eyes showing no sympathy, only anger.

Max turned without a word and walked to his office. Maura followed, knowing the worst was yet to come.

Maura stood nervously in Max’s office. Without a word he disappeared into the bathroom. When he came back out, he sat down stiffly behind his desk.

“Sit down, Maura.” She just stood there. How had everything gotten so out of control, and why did it keep happening to her? Was she really a magnet for trouble? None of the other girls had this kind of drama.

“I said, sit down,” he said more sharply.

She sat down immediately, her hands in her lap.

“There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. You’re fired.”

She had anticipated this so many times, but now, hearing him say the words, it didn’t seem real.

“You put me behind the bar to avoid this kind of thing. I was a good bartender, wasn’t I? You should have never put me back on the floor. Why can’t I go back to doing that?”

“I put you where I needed you. I gave you another chance against my better judgment. I knew your youth and inexperience would be a liability. It didn’t work out. I should have let you go the last time this happened.”

“So that’s it, then? You’re just going to fire me without hearing my side? I guess this means you want me out of your house and your bed tonight, too?

“Damn it, Maura. You can’t handle working here, and I can’t handle you working here. What’s happened between us should have never happened. Mixing business with pleasure has always been a recipe for disaster. I’m going to give you a severance package that will help you find a new place and will tide you over until you find another job. I know it’s not the usual thing to do, but considering the circumstances, I want you to take it.” He reached inside his desk drawer, pulling out his checkbook.

In shock, she watched him fill out a check and then stuff it in an envelope that he handed to her.

Maura went cold. Did she really mean that little to him?

“So, you’re paying me off like a whore who’s displeased you. Do you always buy your way out of unpleasant situations? How could I have thought you…” she hesitated. “You really are a bastard.”

She knew her voice was cracking, but she didn’t care. She looked down at her hands that were still folded on her lap and then back to Max, who was still holding out the envelope in her direction. She wasn’t going to let him get away with what he was doing quite that easily.

“Why don’t you tell me why you’re really firing me, Max?”

“I just told you.”

Maura jumped up from her chair and walked around the desk. She grabbed the arms of Max’s chair and twirled it so that he was facing her. “I don’t think you’re being entirely truthful,” she said in her most seductive voice. “I think there’s a lot more to it than my youth and inexperience. In fact, I think my youth and inexperience are exactly the reason you hired me.”

“Watch yourself, Maura.” What had started as a warning ended with her name sounding like a caress.

Whatever insanity had taken hold of her now gave her the courage to push his legs apart with her knee. She slid in between them. “You and I both know you’re not firing me because of the way I wait on tables. You’re firing me because you and your brother like fucking me too much.”

Max growled. He started to push her away, but she surprised him and pushed him back in his chair to straddle him.

“You want me, Max. And it’s driving you crazy that you can’t control your lust around me. You want my cunt wrapped around your cock, don’t you?”

“You’re going too far, Maura.” Max’s eyes glittered dangerously, but he didn’t move.

“Am I, or am I not going far enough?” She leaned her head down toward his.

Max groaned with a curse as he grabbed a handful of her hair that he twisted around his fingers, pulling her lips to his. She could taste his blood. The envelope, forgotten, had fallen to the floor.

His cock rose beneath his jeans. His tongue forced her lips open. She moaned, enjoying her victory. At least his body couldn’t lie to her. He still wanted her the way a man wanted a woman.

Without warning, the door flew open. “What the fuck’s going on? Is this how you fire someone?”

Maura looked from Max to where Toby stood watching them. “Max and I were just saying our good-byes.”

Toby stiffened. “How touching.” His flippancy tried to mask the hurt she saw in his eyes.

“Would you like your turn?” Again she felt the recklessness that had overtaken her moments before consume her once again.

“Stop it, Maura.” Max pushed her body upward, this time forcing her to stand.

Toby walked out, slamming the door behind him.

“Damn it all to hell,” Max yelled.

“That’s right, Max,” Maura yelled back at him, heading for the door. “Damn you both to hell!”

She stumbled out the door and ran right smack into Toby’s hard chest. Looking up at him, she said, “Decided you want your turn after all?”

“Maura,” Toby said gruffly. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her back as she tried to get around him. “What I want is to talk to you.”

“What I want is to never see either one of you again. I’ll sleep at Rhonda’s tonight. I’ll be by to pick up my things when you’re not home. I’ll leave the key.”

“Maura, we have to talk.”

“Get out of my way, Toby.”

“No. You’re coming with me.” He held her firmly as he moved her with him down the hall. He opened the supply room door and turned on the light before he slammed the door behind him.

“I want you to understand this has nothing to do with you.” His voice had become calmer.

“Are you kidding me? Nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with me. You and Max want me out of your lives. Firing me was the perfect way to do it. End of story.”

“We don’t have a choice. We’re doing this for you.”

“There are always choices, Toby. This was a setup right from the moment Max put me back on the floor, wasn’t it?”

When he didn’t respond, she repeated the question. The clear blue eyes that looked back at her were filled with sadness.

“We’re not good for you, Maura. We knew it, but we wanted you so badly we put our own needs first, and maybe from what I just witnessed, Max still is. We’ve hurt you, and for that I’ll never forgive myself.”

“I don’t believe you,” she screamed, shaking free, a crazy laugh erupting from between her lips. “Stop lying! You and your brother just wanted a good fuck, and now you’re ready to move on. You never thought I was good enough for you.”

“Maura!” The sharp tone of Toby’s voice had the desired effect. She stopped laughing.

“What’s the matter? Afraid I’m going a little crazy?” Maura knew she was over the edge of any sensible reasoning. Once again, she had put herself in a no-win situation where men were concerned. Only this time, her heart was breaking more painfully than she thought possible. She knew now that she had never been in love with Tim. She had been hurt, but nothing compared to the pain she was feeling at this very moment.

“Maura,” Toby said gently, “I can’t bear seeing you like this, and knowing I’m the reason is killing me.”

“How long have you and Max been conspiring to fire me?” She stepped back from him.

“You don’t understand. It’s complicated.”

Suddenly all the fight went out of her. It was over. “You’re right. It is complicated, and I’m sick and tired of complicated. I need to go and get dressed.”

She turned, but Toby’s hand shot out from behind her to block her exit. “Maura,” he whispered into her hair, “I need you to try and understand.”

She began to tremble. His touch was doing strange things to her. “What do you want from me, Toby?”