9. Girls that like fast cars and racing

aren’t weird, they’re a rare gift from God.

- Carmemes.com

“Where’s Chevelle?” Odin asks as he and Nightmare help me load the comatose Iron Fist into the back of the pickup truck.

“She fell asleep watching me wait to shoot this asshole.”

He chuckles. “Guess you can go have some fun with her now.”

“I wish. The bitch is dead set on me living my life with blue balls. I didn’t even enjoy tranqing this guy, my dick hurt too badly.”

They both laugh. Fuckers.

“It’s true. I had to spank her ass earlier to get her to simmer down. Probably would’ve lost my shit if she hadn’t fallen asleep eventually.”

“She never would’ve gone for that,” he argues and Night nods his agreement.

“I didn’t give her a choice, brother. I spanked her several times.” With a shrug, I grumble. “She’ll learn I won’t allow her to push me around.”

“Jesus, brother.” Nightmare shakes his head. “Be careful. Before you know it, you’ll be putting your name on her back.”

“I’m not looking to add a property patch to her, although can’t say I’d mind too much if it ended in that.”

“Damn,” Odin grins. “It’s only been a week Merc.”

A sigh leaves me, thinking how tight she’s already wound me up. “You think I don’t know that? Shit, Saint and Sinner must be thrilled. At this rate, I have no time to fuck with Jude. And someone’s going to win that damn bet.”

‘That’s a positive on your part,” he says and Night grunts in agreement. “Having a thing for their woman would’ve ended in them killing you.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree.”

Nightmare snorts. “Give it time, you just got here. Wait until you see them play with their food. My name may be Nightmare, but they’re the shit nightmares are made of.”

I’ve yet to see this craziness that multiple brothers have warned me of, and part of me wonders if it’s mostly just hype. Viking’s the brother that strikes me as the one not to cross out of all of them. Any man who carries around an axe like it’s an everyday utensil should be taken into consideration. Just like Torch—the brother fucking torches people. I wouldn’t fuck with him, that’s for sure.

He slams the tailgate shut, and I step back. “You want me to keep shooting them and calling you if any others show up?”

O nods. “Yeah as long as it’s just onesies and twosies. Any more than that call for reinforcements ‘cause it’ll mean they want to do more than just keep an eye on The Pit.”

“All right, brother,” I agree, and fist bump them before pulling the metal bay door down and locking it. I hope no others decide to show up tonight, but so far, they’ve been fairly resilient. I’d like to get some kind of sleep tonight, especially if Chevelle plans to keep me on my toes.

Arriving back to her place, I find her still curled up in the chair fast asleep. She’s so sweet and innocent looking when she’s like this. It’s when she’s awake that her mouth has a sharp sting to it.

I scoop her into my arms, her body tilting and curling into me like a sleepy cat. I could get used to having her in my arms, all pliant and safe but I won’t hold my breath on it happening. Pushing the covers away, I lay her down, tugging her free of her tight jeans. She stirs but lets me remove them, leaving her in her tank and panties. I snuggle her under the fluffy blanket before crawling into the spot beside her.

I’m on my back, staring at the ceiling when she shifts toward me. Her arm goes around my waist, her nose tucking into my bicep. She’s fucking adorable, a goddamn wildcat and having her close to naked has me wanting her fiercely. She’s asleep, and it’s probably the only chance I’ll get to really stare my fill.

I watch her for a moment before leaning over and pressing a kiss to her temple. She doesn’t say anything, but I feel her hand pull me to her, tightening around my hip a bit more and I can’t help but wonder if she’s faking sleep. That’s fine if she is, if she feels the need to pretend to be asleep in order to touch me, I’ll roll with it. After all, it’s just one more step in the direction I want her to go.

I wake to an empty bed and glance around to discover I’m alone in the apartment as well. What did I expect? Waking up to breakfast in bed or some shit? Chevelle made it clear she doesn’t cook, so my mind shouldn’t even be going there. Shit, I should’ve woken up early and done that for her. It would’ve caught her off guard even more. Stubborn female.

With a stretch and a massive yawn, I head for the window to see if dumbass has been replaced.

“Motherfucker,” I grumble and grab my burner from the jeans pocket on the floor.

“Odin,” the VP answers.

“You won’t fucking believe this.”

“What?”

“There’s someone hanging from the pole out front.”

“Wait, what?”

“That damn light pole...it looks like a giant bolt has been screwed into it. There’s a body hanging from it, rope around their neck. From here it definitely looks like they’re dead.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Viking is going to be pissed. I’ll send Torch and Nightmare to go collect the body.”

“Did you get anything out of the guy from last night?”

“He hasn’t woken up yet, those horse tranquilizers are strong.”

“Apparently. He’s not dead, right?”

“Not yet, anyhow.”

I grunt. “You want me to go out there and get the body down?”

“No, stay inside with Chevelle, just in case they’re waiting for you to leave her vulnerable.”

“Shit, I haven’t even seen her yet. I just woke up.”

“Go find her and make sure she’s okay.”

“I will.”

“Later.”

“Later,” I reply and end the call then yank on my pants and boots and head out of the studio.

“You weren’t there when I woke up.” Mercenary comes up on the other side of the hood. I was just checking the plugs before clocking my time.

“I thought you’d be tired from being up all night.” I tiptoed around, not wanting to wake him. He looked dead to the world with how hard he was sleeping.

“I was. What are you doing?” His cool blue irises run over me like he’s famished and I’m breakfast.

“Checking plugs then I planned to run this pretty lady to get my latest track time. I put new tires on her a week ago, and I’m not quite used to them.”

He nods. “You probably shouldn’t drive right now.”

My back stiffens as I stand to my full height and sputter, “Excuse me?” The man has a lot of nerve; I have no doubt about that.

“A bomb went off yesterday,” he emphasis slowly, tilting his head like I’m nuts. “It’s smart to not drive your cars right now.”

“But it’s what I do,” I argue. He’s lost his mind telling me not to drive. It’s like having your favorite toy and not being able to touch it. That doesn’t sit well for me. I learned at a young age that if I want something to go for it, to take it. Waiting around gets you nowhere and nothing to show for it.

“You’ll be safer if you take a short break, just a week or two.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Not to mention that’s asking me to take a ten thousand dollar cut to my monthly pay. It definitely won’t be going down while I have anything to say about it.

He throws his hands up dramatically, and I hold back my smirk. “Fuck, woman, why do you have to be so damn difficult?”

I stomp around the front of the car coming face to face with the grouchy male who’s decided to rudely interrupt my quiet morning time. “Listen here, cupcake, go eat a fucking banana or whatever it is you need to take it down a notch. Racing is my job, it’s my life. I won’t stop just because it gets a little dangerous. Racing is not safe, that’s partly why it’s so damn fun.”

“I know,” he admits, catching me off guard.

“You know?”

He nods. “I get it. I wouldn’t stop if someone told me to either. At least let me check your car over before you go cranking the engine and taking off.”

I release a breath through my clenched teeth, unaware I was even holding it. He wants to check my car over to see if it has a bomb in it. That’s pretty freaking sweet. Why can’t he always be like this? “Yeah, sure, I can deal with that. Thanks.”

He tilts his head toward me slightly and then crouches to slide under the car. On the way down he gripes, “By the way, it’s eat a Snickers bar, not a banana.”

“Ugh, did you just correct me?”

“Well, the commercial isn’t about bananas.” He calls from the ground.

“Un-freaking-believable! You just can’t help yourself from correcting me and being in control, can you?”

He rolls out, opening the trunk to snoop around there next. “Oh, I’m the difficult one?”

“Yes, you are. I do not remember this much stress in my life before you showed up.”

He pokes his head out, meeting my stare. “All this over a banana?”

“Holy shit,” I hiss and stomp away.

I go straight to one of the concession stands. They’re all locked up, but the benefits of owning the place is I have a key to everything. I grab a king-sized Snickers bar and also a banana from the walk-in cooler. I knew we’d have them because one thing we offer is banana splits with hand scooped ice cream. Surprisingly they’re one of the concessions top sellers.

I’m still stomping around when I make my way back down the stairs to the center and find Mercenary leaning up against my car. He’s propped against the shiny paint all nonchalant, arms crossed over his chest, muscles bulging while wearing a cocky smirk. He looks every ounce of a badass, and so help me God, do I want to jump his bones.

“All done. Your car’s safe for you to drive in circles now.” He winks, and I toss the candy and fruit in his direction. Surprisingly he has reflexes like a cat and snatches them in midair.

“Two hands?” I gape.

“I’m ambidextrous,” he shrugs and opens his fingers to see what I threw.

“You went to get me one of each?” His wide eyes meet mine.

I nod, biting the inside of my cheek.

He drops them to the ground and with a few powerful strides, stops in front of me. I’m about to rip into him for being ungrateful when his hands cup my cheeks and his lips meet mine. My world seems to stop as his mouth roots me in place. My mind and body fight each other, one tells me to fuck him while the other screams for me to thrash against him. What is it with this man that has me teetering on the edge of control?

He coaxes my mouth open, parting my lips to dip inside with his tongue. It twists with mine, caressing me, forcing my resolve to weaken. We fight each other for control, teeth clashing, and tongues sparring to gain control. I feel like I’m falling, but it’s only Mercenary pushing me to the ground. His heat encompasses around me, warming like an electric blanket. His knee parts my thighs, wedging his way where I’ve craved him to be since I first laid eyes on him.

Rocking my hips, I flip him to the side, climbing over to straddle his groin without breaking our kiss. His hands land on my upper thighs, pulling me to him and grinding into my core. Groans escape from both of us at the delicious friction, and our kiss takes a turn to become more dirty than angry.

The craving to have this man underneath me, naked, while I bounce on his cock has my skin breaking out in cold chills like an icy wind just came out of nowhere. My nipples grow hard under my tank top, and a whimper breaks free as our tongues tangle with each other. I want to tie him up and fuck him until his dick no longer stands up.

“Uh, Chevy?” Ace’s curious voice in the distance breaks through my Mercenary induced foggy brain.

He continues yammering on. “Sorry to uh, bother you guys, but the truck’s here and the driver needs you to sign before he can start unloading.”

“Shit,” leaves me in a breathy huff as I pull back. My lustful gaze locking on Mercenary’s lowered lashes as he stares back, lazily, irises portraying he wants to fuck me just as badly.

“I love Snickers,” he rumbles after a second of our trance, and I smirk.

“Good, cupcake, eat up.” With that, I stand and follow Ace toward the loading bay.