Harley regarded him stoically across the small space between them in the dimly lit van. King’s words struck home, filling her with fear at the thought of losing everything she’d worked so hard for.
“Like I said, I know everything about you, Harley. All your secrets are now my secrets. Hell, you know how this works – you grew up in the biker world. The people I work for will kill you if you run your mouth. I know where you live, how many pets you have, hell, I even know your fucking monthly cycle. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating me, darlin’. It will cost you your life if you do.
“Consider me your new best friend. I’m going to show up when you least expect me. If you were dating anybody, I’d tell you to stop, but I’ll just tell you know that you can consider yourself off the market. I don’t need you suddenly developing a conscience and running your mouth during pillow talk.”
She couldn’t resist making a smart-ass remark. “If you know so fucking much, why don’t you think I’m dating?”
“Because, first of all, you seem pretty fucking devoted to your purple battery-operated boyfriend. And secondly, your loudmouthed friend is always trying to hook you up with someone but you always say no. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to her, now would you?”
“Leave her out of this, King. This is between you and me.”
“You’re not running things, darlin’. I am. Let me re-word that: don’t fucking see anyone else.”
“Anyone else!?”
“Yes, anyone else. I have plans for you.”
“I have no intention of dating the likes of you! I’ve spent years getting away from the criminal element. I’m not letting you pull me back into it. I don’t give a fuck if you are cartel, you’re not the boss of me.”
He reached over, placing his hand on her cheek and when she tried to jerk away he held on tight. He fisted her hair with his free hand, yanking until there were tears in her eyes and her bottom lip was quivering.
“Why are you being like this?” she cried. “I thought you were this mysterious, nice, easygoing guy…I mean, you look like a surfer dude or a frat guy. Guess I was wrong.”
“I can be a very nice guy and, yeah, usually I am. It’s a good cover and lets me move through polite society unnoticed. But you bring out something much darker in me, Harley. And I may have picked up a tip or two from the Ramirez family, so, really, it isn’t entirely surprising.”
He couldn’t help himself. He leaned in and ran the tip of his tongue over her trembling bottom lip. “And I have no intention of ‘dating’ you, Harley. Not my style. I do have every intention of climbing inside you and fucking you so hard that you forget your own name. Now, this whole, blushing ‘little girl’ thing you’ve got going on is making my dick hard. Get the fuck out of my van before I do something about it.”
When she turned toward the door, he pulled her back around until they were face to face once more. Nostrils flaring, he stared at her for a long moment, then muttered, “Fuck it,” and brought his lips crashing down on hers. Taken by surprise, she gasped and felt his tongue slip inside to tangle with hers. In that moment, Harley felt her insides melt, right along with her resistance.
With her lips flushed and swollen from King’s kisses, Harley couldn’t get out of the van fast enough. She almost tripped running to her car. It seemed to take forever for her to unlock her car door as she struggled to work the key fob with her quivering hand. Safely ensconced in the driver’s seat with the door locked, she rested her head on the steering wheel and tried to wrap her brain around all that had just happened.
She couldn’t go home, at least not right away. Not knowing that he knew where she lived. She grabbed her phone and called Stacy. “Meet me downtown at our spot for a drink. I need to unwind. Desperately.”
“Can’t stop thinking about the hospital hotty, huh?”
“The last thing on my mind is the hospital hotty,” she lied. She knew she’d be thinking about King for a long time to come. She’d never be able to use that purple vibrator again without him front and center in her thoughts. Maybe she should just throw it away. She scowled at the thought of tossing it out with the trash. Dammit, she really did love that thing.
She parked outside the bar, remembering little about the drive across town. At least she wouldn’t have to walk too far. She didn’t feel safe anymore, would probably never feel safe again. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a faint tap on her window.
“Damn, girl, why are you so jumpy?”
Harley ignored Stacy’s comment and got out, putting her purse in the trunk after she grabbed some cash from her wallet. It was a question she had no interest in answering.
“I need a drink, long day is all.” Her friend had to almost run to keep up with her.
“Hey, wait up.”
“I told ya, I need a drink.”
The doorman smiled as they walked past. He watched them take a seat at the bar and smiled to himself. They were two of his favorite customers and not too bad to look at, either.
“What can I get you two beautiful ladies?” The bartender placed two napkins down on the bar. He smiled, revealing perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth.
“I’ll have a Bloody Mary, make it a double,” Harley immediately answered.
“Hard day at the hospital, huh?” She wasn’t going to answer that question either.
“Jack and Coke for me, but not a double,” Stacy smiled, leaning over just enough to reveal some cleavage, which didn’t go unnoticed. He quickly made their drinks and set out to wipe off the bar and check on patrons at the other end; the perfect chance for Stacy to start in on her single friend.
“So, are you gonna give ‘hospital hotty’ a chance?”
“No. I’m married to my career. I’ve spent my life making sure I don’t have to depend on a man financially and I’m not changing my mind about that—ever.”
“Seriously? Sex isn’t a commitment to being barefoot and pregnant, you know. For such a beautiful woman, you really are a prude.”
Stacy was one of the few people who knew about Harley’s childhood. But she really couldn’t relate, having grown up in the suburbs behind the proverbial white picket fence.
“I don’t expect you to understand my need for independence, but I do expect you to respect it.”
Stacy raised her hands in mock surrender. “Okay, I get it. Anyway…what a trip, that guy dying from a broken nose. That’s a first. Every time I think I’ve seen it all, something new happens.”
Harley raised her glass in a toast, “I’ll drink to that.” Through their laughter neither noticed the figure in the darkened corner observing them with interest.
Harley couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to be the object of someone’s passion. What would it be like to have a man so obsessed with you that he wouldn’t even look at another woman, much less fuck around?
She’d seen what manwhores the bikers were while she was growing up. The women being played against each other would beat the shit out of each other but then take the whoremonger back like he wasn’t at fault. She still cringed whenever she heard a woman whining those magic words: “You don’t know him like I do.”
She’d never be any man’s doormat. She had made that decision at a young age and she was tenacious enough to stand by it. Unfortunately, her determination only made her more appealing to the opposite sex – the manwhores, of course. The bad boys.
They had another round and made small talk, chatting easily about things that didn’t really matter. The kind of things her brain could handle. She was thankful for the pointless conversation.
“Well, sweets, I’ve gotta run. I’ve got to get to work early tomorrow,” Stacy announced, hugging her friend and saying her goodbyes.
Harley finished her drink and left a twenty-dollar tip, which didn’t go unnoticed by the handsome bartender. He nodded in her direction and gave her a slow smile as he eyed her with masculine appreciation. The classy kind, nothing that would piss her off.
“See ya next time, beautiful.”
“Ha, thanks. I don’t feel so beautiful in these scrubs.”
“You wear ‘em well.” He winked as he slipped the generous tip into his pocket and turned away. He looked over his shoulder at her. “Seriously, thanks for the tip. You really know how to endear yourself to a guy counting on tips to pay the bills.”
“No problem. If anybody understands making ends meet, it’s me.”
She stepped out into the night air and took a few steps toward her car, digging around in her purse for her keys. She didn’t see King until she looked up to find him leaning against the passenger door of her car, his arms crossed. His arrogant smirk almost concealed the heated, accusing look in his eyes. But not quite.
Ignoring him, she strode past him around the front of the car and made to unlock the driver’s door. Before she could release the lock and open the door, King grabbed her arm. He took her mouth without mercy, working her over with his lips and tongue, ravishing, taking, and exploring her without restraint. This time she kissed him back. Maybe the liquor had lowered her inhibitions, but she didn’t care.
“C’mon,” he said, taking her elbow in a firm grip as he pulled her away from her car and began walking her toward his.
“Whoa, whoa, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she snapped, digging in her heels against his insistent grip.
“You’re going home with me.”
“No, I’m not!”
“Yeah…you are,” he countered, clearly irritated. “You’re too buzzed to drive. C’mon, I’ve already got someone coming to get your car.”
“I’m not leaving my car unlocked.”
He smirked, giving her that lopsided lazy grin that meant nothing but trouble. “No worries, darlin’. I’ve already made a duplicate of your car key and your house key. You really should think twice about that magnetic key holder you have behind your left front tire. Now, be a good girl and come with me. I promise I won’t hurt you; at least, not without bringing you great pleasure.”
King took his time getting them both settled in the front seats of his van. As he pulled her seatbelt taut, he leaned in close to her and let his forearm brush against her breasts. Her nipples quickly pebbled in response to the contact, the pointy tips dragging against his arm through the thin fabric of her scrubs.
With his left hand resting on her thigh, he leaned back and placed his right forearm along the seatback, just behind her shoulder. With her strapped in and caged by his body, he let his gaze drop to the main attraction beneath her shirt, enjoying the view as her nipples puckered impossibly tighter. Fuck, it was like they were reaching out, straining to get to him.
The silence was broken by a low growl that he realized too late was coming from him. He needed move away and drive her to his place. Just lean back, King. This is not how you typically operate. Rein it in.
Without warning, he leaned down and sucked on a nipple through the thin fabric of her scrubs, sucking as he opened his mouth wide to take in as much of her flesh as he could. He lingered there, letting the tip of his tongue dance as he savored the texture of her lacy bra cradling her breast beneath the drenched fabric of her top.
Harley gasped harshly at the outrageously intimate contact with this man she hardly knew. The intake of air inadvertently pushed her breast deeper into his welcoming mouth and he groaned against her flesh. Her nipple tightened nearly to the point of pain, rubbing against the roof of his ravenous mouth as he devoured her like a starving man.
When he finally pulled away, he did so reluctantly, lingering long enough to pull her pebbled flesh slowly between his teeth. “Fuck,” he muttered between ragged breaths, then he straightened and started the engine, leaving his disheveled passenger speechless. Her eyes were soft and unfocused as she looked out the window. King, on the other hand, struggled to keep his eyes on the road when all he wanted to do was look at her.
As the streets of downtown Louisville passed by in a blur, Harley clenched her thighs together and discreetly shifted in her seat. A strange calm settled over her and this time she knew she had no desire to fight the enigmatic stranger who seemed determined to insert himself into her life.