Chapter Twenty-Two
Wet Dreams and Panty Flags
Harlow
“What’re you doing, little one?” the big dude asked. His accent was thick, and I was pretty sure Irish.
Hiding the stun gun behind my back, I forced a smile. “Uhh, it’s a sex thing?”
He chuckled, stepping into the room. His dark auburn hair was slightly overgrown, as was his matching beard. Tall and built, his jeans and black tee seemed to show every cord of muscle.
And there were a lot of flippin’ muscles.
There’s no way I’m taking him down with a stun gun.
Amused hazel eyes looked down at my heel on Rick’s prick before meeting my gaze again. He quirked an eyebrow.
“It’s a kinky sex thing?” I tried again.
At that moment, keeping with the cursed theme of the night, the body under me started to shift.
“Let’s go,” the accented man ordered, no longer amused.
“No.” Given the choice between the devil I knew and one I didn’t, I was sticking with the guy I had a chance against.
But big man’s voice was firm as he stepped forward. “Now.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” He opened his mouth to speak, but I continued over him, aiming my stun gun in his direction. “Only I could get kidnapped from my kidnapping. Seriously, it’s just my luck.”
“Little one,” he started, his voice placating before it was cut off by my startled shriek.
“Get off my dick, you crazy bitch!” Rick’s hands came down to grab my ankles but his muscles were still weak. “Oh fuck, I’m gonna be sick. Get off. Pass out. Fuck. Off!” His words were a jumble, his pale face turning red.
My effort to not put any weight on my foot was forgotten in my frustration.
Oops.
“Little one,” the new dude tried again, slowly approaching. “You’re gonna have to let him up before you literally bust his balls, lass.”
My eyes widened, and despite my lack of the necessary equipment, I cringed. “That can happen?”
“Aye.” He inched forward.
“Good.” I pushed down a little harder, ignoring the slur of insults and retching coming from the floor.
Big man’s eyes dropped to my feet, a smile pulling at his lips as he muttered, “Nice to see Teo has someone to keep him on his toes.”
I aimed the stun gun at him. “You know Teo?”
“Aye. Kase.” At my suspicious look, he raised his hand by his cheek. “Yay high. Dreads. Covered in tattoos. Nicest lad you’ll meet, but a mean temper.”
Since none of that was hard to come by information, I kept my position.
Hesitantly, he studied me as he added, “Did a wee bit of time with Lars and me.”
That Kase did time wasn’t common knowledge, but it wouldn’t be hard to find out. Who he was close to was another matter, though.
“Need him awake, little one,” he said, drawing my attention to the fact I was putting more pressure on my foot again.
“Why?”
“Business, lass. Got some questions he needs to answer. And to do that, he’s gotta be able to actually talk.” He put his hand behind his back. “Count of three, I want you to go stand right outside and wait.”
“There’s guards—”
He gave a sharp shake of his head. “One. Two. Three.”
Before the word was finished, I was already on my way as fast as my trembling legs could carry me.
Collapsing against the cold siding, I slid to the ground. I put my knees up and dropped my head between them, gulping in air like there was a worldwide shortage. I knew my dress had ridden up and rocks were poking into my ass, but I didn’t care.
I just need to catch my breath, get my bearings, and take off. Maybe find a payphone.
Do they even still have those?
I’ll just keep an eye out for Clark Kent.
Burying my head in my elbow, I muffled my hysterical giggle.
Okay, time to take a walk.
Before I could take a single step, a loud noise echoed from the warehouse. It was quieter than I thought a gunshot was, but I didn’t know what else it could be.
Why walk when I can run? Get some good cardio in.
“Don’t move,” the man said, sticking his head out the door. “You run, I’ll chase you, and Kase will kick my ass.”
“Did you just shoot that guy?”
He didn’t even pause before nodding. “Aye.”
“It wasn’t as loud as I thought,” I stupidly babbled.
“Suppressor.” Following on the topic of offing people, he continued. “Little one, you need to decide what to do about your da.”
I assumed he meant ex-stepdad. “He’s still alive?”
He nodded, stepping outside and quickly pulling the door closed behind him. “But it’s up to you for how much longer.”
I seriously disliked David before. After finding out about the drugs and gambling, I hated him. Not just for what he put me through, but for the danger he put Mom and Hadley in.
Even still, I couldn’t just sign away his life. I wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to avoid what was coming to him. But when it caught him, I wanted it to be on his hands, not mine.
The dude gestured to the stun gun I clutched in my fist. “If it helps, he told me he left you that. He knew he’d get patted down, so he dropped it where you would see it. Doesn’t do much, lass, but it’s something.”
“Let him go,” I said, hoping I wasn’t making a mistake.
He nodded, taking out his phone.
“But put some fear in him first. I don’t want him so much as uttering my mom’s name.”
A big smile spread across his face. “Aye, little one.” He glanced back at his phone when it beeped. “Kase will be here in about five minutes.”
“Okay.” I crossed my arms as the wind picked up.
“I’d offer your coat, but I don’t think you’ll be wanting it back.”
I grimaced, my head swimming at his meaning. “Why?”
We both knew I wasn’t asking about the jacket.
“Rick worked for me,” he said after a moment. “He got greedy.”
I locked my knees in an effort to not immediately step away. “You sell drugs?”
I couldn’t even begin to fathom what prison was like or what it took to survive there. Even then, though, I had a hard time imagining Kase being tight with a dealer.
Other than plotting new ways to be assholes with Nash, Rick seemed to spend his time selling Oxy. I wasn’t sure what other job he could’ve had with the Irish dude.
“No, I don’t sell them” he said. “I give them away. Boost shipments, take the drugs that are needed, and send the rest on their way.”
I snorted my disbelief. “Free Oxy?”
He shook his head. “That’s where he got greedy, lass.”
“Oh.” Resting my head back against the siding, silence fell between us as I watched for Kase.
“You can’t go to the police about any of this,” he said, his tone firm but soft.
“I figured.” Shivering, the adrenaline was slowly seeping from my body, leaving me sore and overemotional. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and was counting down the seconds until I could climb into the cloud bed.
Headlights brightened up the road. They turned into the parking lot, reflecting off the shiny metal gun in the man’s hand.
As soon as I saw Kase get out of his car, I found enough energy to haul ass across the grass. I lost one of my heels in the soft dirt, but I kept running.
I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist.
“Ipo.” The word was rough, raw, and tortured.
I burst into messy tears, completely unashamed.
Finally feeling safe enough, I collapsed the boxes and let myself feel everything.
The fear, heartache, frustration, and anger. The worry and anxiety.
Pride from thinking on my feet, keeping my shit, and not letting the fear paralyze me.
I even let myself feel the darker emotion that was lurking in the back of my mind.
Pleasure.
Between the stun gun and smashing his junk below my shoe, I brought horrendous pain to Rick the Prick.
And I liked it.
It probably didn’t make the best person in the world, but I didn’t care.
“Nox, man,” Kase rumbled, giving the man a name to put with the face.
“She did all the work, brother,” Nox said with an amused chuckle. “Had to call the lass off before she crushed his shalalee.”
Kase’s arms tightened reflexively around me. “And now?”
“Got my answers, and him nor his shalalee are a problem anymore.”
Kase didn’t say anything, but I felt him lift his chin.
“She was swaying on her feet waiting for you, lad. Put up a fuck of a fight, but she’s flah’ed out.”
“I’ll help with clean up and catch a ride with Nox,” I vaguely heard Lars say.
I unhooked my legs from around Kase, wanting to say goodbye and thank Nox. Because, despite what he’d said, I might have been stuck in that warehouse with Rick had he not shown up to open the door.
Kase’s hold on me stayed firm as he turned and carried me to the car. “Home. Bath. Then I’m gonna eat your pussy until you scream so loud the ocean life complains. After, I’ll fuck the hell out of you until I can convince myself you’re safe.” He opened the car door and set me in. Hands on the roof, he leaned down, his eyes intense on mine. “Anything to change or add?”
I shook my head. “I think you covered it all.”
*******
Kase
“It was fuckin’ brutal, man. She’s savage.”
Not looking up from my paint order forms, I gave Xavier half my attention. “Who?”
“Have you not been listening to us?”
Looking between Xavier and Eli, I shrugged. “Not usually. Gotten real good at tuning you out.”
“That’s cool,” Eli said, picking up my stapler spinning it around. “You don’t wanna hear about Harlow, it’ll be on you when she breaks your dick.”
I set the papers down, giving them my full attention. “What?”
“I’m just saying, if I were you, I’d be careful about pissing her off.”
Yeah, like I haven’t learned that lesson.
I bit my tongue to keep from snapping at them to just spit it out. It wasn’t on them that I was overtired and had zero interest in being at work.
After getting Harlow home and into the bath with a strong margarita the night before, I fielded calls from everyone checking on her. By the time she trudged out of the bathroom, she flopped onto the bed and was out within a minute.
Sleep was an elusive bitch to me. I held Harlow close and watched, waiting for the nightmares to hit.
They never did.
I had a shit ton of paint that needed to be ordered that day to keep my workload from getting fucked. Loyalty to Jake be damned, my concern was with Harlow’s well-being, not the shop.
Unfortunately, I’d already told her about how important the shipment was. It’d taken the promise of her staying home, lani pussy, and a short workday for her to push me out the door.
Still, my patience was at zero and their story time buildup wasn’t helping.
I rubbed my palm down my face. “What’re you talking about?”
“I talked to Lars,” Xavier said. “And he saw firsthand what your girl does to people that piss her off.”
“Which is?”
“Dude, she busted his balls.” He grimaced, fidgeting like the pain was real for him. “He only knows ‘cause it was bleeding.”
I shuddered, my dick hurting at just the thought.
On the car ride home, Harlow had told me about what happened, switching between anger and fear as she spoke. She’d used a stun gun to knock the fucker out, but she hadn’t gone into detail. Definitely nothing about squashing his balls.
“Maybe Nox got creative with his interrogation,” I muttered, vaguely remembering him mentioning something about Rick’s shalalee. At that point, I’d been focused on Harlow and the fact the stupid fucker was dead. Everything else had been white noise.
“Nah, man. That’s what Lars thought, too. But Nox said he walked in to Harlow already doing damage. She was about two seconds from finding the key and getting out. That asshole squealed his answers to the questions between sobs and puke. After that, Nox made it fast and clean.”
Fury coursed through my veins, ending in a hopeless frustration with no outlet.
Actually, there was one.
Standing, I closed my papers into my calendar of jobs. “I’m out. Tell Jake I’ll send him a message with what I need from the order.”
Without a backward glance, I stormed from Hyde, heading straight to the only thing I knew would make me feel better.
*******
Fuck, she’s gorgeous.
Standing in the sand, her rolled cotton shorts showed off long as fuck legs and an ass that was made to be grabbed. Pale, creamy skinny peeked out of the gap between her waistband and the Hyde tank she wore. Her red hair blew around her in the breeze, flying into her face as she played with the dogs.
Closing the backdoor, I stepped onto the dock and jogged to Harlow.
As the pups ran my way, she turned. Fuckin’ smiling.
It wasn’t guarded, forced, or despite anything.
She was just fuckin’ happy to see me.
It dropped a little as I approached. “Everything o—” she started before I covered her mouth with mine.
Bunching her hair into my fist, I started slow. Biting, sucking, and licking, our tongues and mouths moved together as the hunger and intensity between us grew.
I gripped her ass and lifted, loving the way she wrapped her arms and legs around me with zero reluctance. Even when I took her down to her back in the sand, she just held me tighter.
Pushing her shorts out of the way, I teased my finger up and down while my thumb stroked her clit over her panties. My small groan at the feel of her wetness turned into a loud one as she gripped my dick through my jeans.
Not one to let anything stand in her way, she pushed her hand into my pants and boxers.
Pulling my mouth from hers, I pressed kisses to her neck. I worked my way down to the sensitive spot where it met her shoulder, and bit down until I heard her sharp gasp. The tip of my tongue soothed the spot, causing a shiver to run through her.
I leaned up and reached over my head, pulling my shirt off and sliding it under her. Gripping her shorts, I pulled them and her panties off, tossing them to the side.
“Boba’s gonna go running with them,” she said, her husky voice teasing and so fuckin’ sexy I somehow got even harder. “If him dropping a roll of condoms down the beach was bad, how embarrassing would undies be?”
Undoing my jeans and pushing them down, I couldn’t help my smile. “If they were yours? No embarrassment. You’re lucky I don’t tie those things to a stick and carry them like a flag.”
“You wouldn’t.” Her wide eyes didn’t seem as sure as her words.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t.” Inching my cock into her pussy, I pressed my body as tight to hers as I could. I felt soft skin as I pushed my hand under her top, my other one curving across the top of her head, keeping her hair out of her face. Starting at her collarbone, I licked up to her ear and whispered, “I don’t want anyone else even thinking about my lani.”
Nails scratching, pussy clenching, her body tightened around me.
Rocking deeper, I kept my steady pace as my pelvis ground against her. I tasted her shoulder, neck, lips, and back down again.
It was slow, but it wasn’t boring. There was a controlled roughness that left us both moaning.
And, for the first time, she didn’t rush me to go faster. She wasn’t even clutching at me in an effort to stop herself from being bossy.
She was giving me what I needed. What we both did.
Time to feel and savor.
Moving my hand from her tit, I pinned her hip down. My speed stayed slow, but I put more power into it, pushing in deep.
Panting, moaning, and gasping, our lips grazed each other as we got closer. Her eyes went dazed as her muscles started to tighten. Pulsing around me with my name on her lips, her pussy squeezed my dick as she came.
I rocked my hips a few more times before letting go, coming so hard I wasn’t sure I’d ever breathe again.
Keeping us connected, I rolled and pulled her with me. Her head hung for a minute as she caught her breath. Red hair flying, she raised her head and smiled.
“We’re good at that,” she said, full of her bouncy energy despite the fact she was still breathing heavy.
“We are.”
“We should probably still practice. Even top athletes have to maintain their position.”
I rubbed my hands up and down the curve of her sides. “And what position do you think we should practice next?”
“Hmmm.” She tapped her full lips. “Give me some time to come up with a whole regiment.”
I laughed, letting that happiness be my outlet. “We training for the Fuck Olympics?”
“Maybe. How do you feel about people holding up score cards after?”
I cupped her cheek, my thumb stroking across the softness. “Love you, Harlow.”
Her expression softened, her eyes looking more green than blue against the ocean backdrop.
With her hair wild and messy, her creamy skin flushed, and her hard nipples poking against the thin ribbed material of the tank, she was both a work of art and a wet dream.
My fingers itch to paint her like this almost as much as my dick twitches to fuck her again.
Ignoring both, I leaned up slightly to reach in the jeans still around my thighs. Pulling out the box, I set it on my chest and put my back down on the sand.
Her eyes shot to it, then up to me, before returning to the box.
I grabbed her wrist and pressed her palm to my lips. “Marry me.”
“The ring?”
Raising my brows, I looked at her through narrowed eyes. “Did you go snooping?”
She shook her head, still staring at the box like a clown was gonna pop out. “Last night. They’d looked into you. Way into you.”
Nox had assured me Nash wanted nothing to do with Harlow anymore. Rick had gone way off script, and Nash was bending over backward to defuse the situation.
But I didn’t trust the fucker.
“I’ll have Nox check it out.” When she didn’t say anything, I tugged her hand. “Bought it right after we started actually seeing each other. Tried to tell myself it was too early and I was being blinded by lani pussy, but I knew. Didn’t wanna freak you out, so I’ve been waiting. I’m done.”
She looked off to the side. “Is that what was in the wrapped box on the table that I maybe gave a tiny shake to?”
“Since that’s your new phone, how little of a shake we talking here?”
“Barely at all,” she said, though I wasn’t convinced. She looked at me, her face lit up.
“Marry me, ipo?” I repeated, making it a question. “Let me give you lani. Make your life moeʻuhane.”
She nodded, her face turning red as she blinked back tears. “But it already is.”
Grabbing the ring and tossing the box to the side, I slid it onto her finger. I cupped her face, my big hands covering her cheeks. My fingertips dug in as I pulled her down to me.
“Then I’ll make it even better,” I promised before taking her mouth with mine.
I lifted my hips, entering her hard and fast as I got started on fulfilling that promise.