For a long, fraught moment, Jessie contemplated slapping him again. He deserved it, the way he was using moves on her like she was a rabid dog he had to corral. She was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a jealous woman. If he was with this Vanessa girl, then fine, more power to him. She’d tell him off for lying to her, but she wasn’t going to fight over him. That was a bunch of patriarchal bullshit she didn’t want any part of.

 

“So,” she said instead. “Family friend?” It was kind of funny, once the words were out, and she had to choke back a giggle. If she started giggling, she’d be laughing before she knew it, and laughing was the path to more hysterical crying and hiccups. She’d just stopped hiccupping, and her belly was still hurting from the muscle convulsions. No more of that would be just fine with her.

 

“Not even close,” Tex said. He paused for a moment, and then nodded a little at himself. “We used to date, a few years back. I’d just gotten back from Afghanistan, and my head was in a very bad place. Hers was too. We took it out on each other. After a while, I got help, and she didn’t like who I was anymore, so I split. I had no idea she was in town. It turns out that she’s…attached to the Racketeers, and I had to talk to her. What did she say to you?”

 

“That I was fucking her boyfriend,” Jessie said, doing her best to make the words calm and cool. It didn’t work very well, but hey, participation trophy for making an effort, right?

 

She was rewarded by a flash of pure anger that twisted Tex’s features for a moment. He covered his eyes with his hand, and when she could see his expression again, he was calm and still. “Okay. That’s absolutely not true. I promise you, Jessie, I haven’t seen her in three years, and I would have happily gone the rest of my life without ever seeing her again.”

 

Since she wasn’t a jealous woman, there was absolutely no reason for the flush of pleasure that ran through her, brightening her skin and lightening her mood, pushing her mouth up into a smile. No reason at all. “Okay.”

 

“Do you believe me?”

 

A simple “yes” was too difficult to say. “I don’t have any reason to not believe you.”

 

He reached out slowly, crossing the space between them. Her hands were still tight around her middle. She’d had to support herself, to stand up from that sobbing corner and step back into the salon after she’d heard him letting Vanessa out. It was an odd act of faith, releasing that grip and taking his hand. But once her fingers twined with his, she found herself wanting him so much that it felt a little dizzying.

 

His pupils flared just a little, too, at the contact. She stepped closer into him, and let her head fall back a bit to gaze up at him, all loose and interested. “I feel so tense,” she said, letting her voice blend and purr just a bit. “Maybe you could help me with that.”

 

He tugged her another step closer, so that the front of her body pressed up against him. She could feel the beginnings of an erection pressing into her belly. “I bet I could,” he said, his mouth ghosting over her lips as he leaned down over her. “I am very good with my hands.”

 

“Show me,” she said.

 

He stepped away, keeping her hand, and led her through the salon to the small massage room. She started to move towards the table, but he shook his head. “There,” he said, pointing at the chair. “And take off your shirt.”

 

So many of her partners had been practically routine when it came to sex. A little finger, a little fucking, they’d get off, and then if she begged, she’d get a little bit of half-hearted head to finish her off. No wonder she’d never been particularly bothered about her lack of partners. But Tex was something else. He liked to boss her around, but he also liked it when she took the initiative and told him what she wanted. Sometimes.

 

Based on the growl in his voice, this was not going to be one of those times. She unbuttoned her blouse very slowly, keeping her eyes on his face, but he didn’t pay any attention as he busied about the room. He closed the door, put on some quiet, instrumental music, and flipped on a white noise machine that was set to sounds of soft rain. The room also had a scent infuser running, pumping out a thick floral scent. Jasmine. It wasn’t something she’d want in her own home, but while she was here, it loosened the tension in her shoulders and made her hips roll just a little bit while she walked.

 

The first time she’d seen the massage chair, she’d been boggled by its weird look. The pillow for her face, the weird incline, the odd spots to put her hands. It looked less like a place to relax and revitalize and more a place to get strapped down and spanked. And thinking about that had set off a strange and confusing whirl of emotions inside her head—and her pussy—that had no place in her good girl image. But now? Today? She didn’t care as much. Not when it was Tex behind her, watching her with heat in his gaze.

 

“Sit,” he said again, and she sat.

 

She faced the inclined back of the chair, rested her arms on the grips, and scooted forward until she could relax her body into the angle of the chair. Given the weight and heat of Tex’s look, she’d almost expected him to go straight for her tits. When his warm, oiled hands descended instead on her shoulders, it was a surprise. A pleasant one, an eager one, but still a surprise. His strong fingers began to work into the knots in her muscles. She wasn’t just tense from the strangeness with this Vanessa woman; it was also being on her feet all day, and smiling pleasantly at everyone who came in the door. People acted like her job was easy and brainless, but she’d worked hard to get good at cutting hair, and that was the easiest part of what she did. Interpreting what people wanted, figuring out how to go from the pictures of actresses and models they brought in to a look that would suit them—it wasn’t simple. But she loved it.

 

“I didn’t realize you were so tense,” Tex said. “I’m going to have to get you into my chair more often.”

 

She groaned agreement as he dug into a spot right along her spine that ached all the way down to her bones.

 

“I have to admit, I had an ulterior motive when I brought you in here,” he added. “But I think that plan is going to have to wait for another day.” His hands glided down her spine, working into her low back, pressing out along the muscles on top of her hips, just above her ass.

 

“No,” she murmured.

 

His hands vanished instantly. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”

 

“Not what I meant,” she said, blinking. “I meant I didn’t want you to wait.”

 

He laughed. “Are you inviting me to have sex with you at your place of work? I gotta say, Jessie, I wasn’t sure that would be your speed.”

 

Her pussy was heavy with heat. “There’s no one here. Delilah won’t be back until morning, and the door’s already locked. Who would catch us?”

 

She felt his weight behind her as he scooted his stool right in behind her. His hands gripped her hips, tugging her back so that her ass lined up perfectly with his cock, now hard and eager in his scrub pants. All that was holding them up was that one little bowknot. She could probably undo it with her teeth.

 

“Oh,” he murmured as he tugged her back, pulling her against his chest, stroking his hands over her neck, her upper arms, her belly. She’d worn a stretchy lace bra today, and her nipples were hardening, poking at the lace as if they were begging him to touch them. “You’re taking all the fun out of sex in a semi-public place.”

 

“Sorry,” she lied, and then his thumbs found her nipples and she didn’t even pretend she cared anymore.

 

“I have plans for you,” he said, his voice dropping down lower and gaining intensity. “I have all sorts of plans for you. I don’t have half of what I need with me.”

 

“What were your plans?”

 

He twisted her nipple hard enough to make her gasp. After a week, he’d gotten incredibly good at finding that delicious line between pain and pleasure. “As if I’d give away my secrets.”

 

“What if I begged? What if I told you all my secret fantasies about how I want you to take your thick cock and ram it in my ass.” Her cheeks felt flaming hot, but she twisted her head to look back at him and raise her eyebrows. “Isn’t that what all the guys want to hear in porn?”

 

He chucked softly as he gripped her breasts again, flicking at her nipples while she struggled to control her hips. “Maybe. That’s not exactly my thing. But if you wanted to try, I’d certainly help you out.” His look got very serious for a moment. “I don’t have lube here. I’m not sure if this massage oil is actually internal safe—”

 

She laughed, caught the back of his neck in her hand, and pulled him down for a kiss. He met her eagerly, his tongue tracing over her lower lip before he nipped at her. “I think I was kidding.”

 

“You think?”

 

“It’s…not a thing I’ve done before. Not something I’d want to leap into.”

 

“Understood,” he said. He rolled his hips, and his erection pressed hard against her. “So what do you want to leap into? Or onto? Or whatever works for you.”

 

“This,” she said. She reached back around and gripped him through those lightweight pants. He was damp already, a small circle of wetness spreading around the head of his cock. “I want you inside of me. Does that work for you?”

 

“Always,” he growled. “You wanna play with me, baby?”

 

“Always,” she said back. And she meant it. He’d yet to disappoint her.

 

“Stand up.”

 

She obeyed his command without question. Her legs were spread over the chair’s seat, and he rolled back on the stool, tugging her along with him until she stood with nothing between her knees. His fingers played up her inner thighs until he reached the band of her panties. He slipped his fingers inside the fabric, tracing over the lips of her pussy before hooking the waistband and dragging them down her legs. He kicked them into a corner, then moved her again, leaving her standing, leaning on the back of the chair, her legs spread. He shifted himself forward so he was sitting on the seat, his face about level with belly. He pushed her shirt up and kissed her soft stomach while his fingers pressed up and inside of her cunt again, one thumb finding the hardening nub of her clit while the other circled the wet opening of her body.

 

It felt good. It felt amazing. There had been a moment, when Vanessa had said that she was with Tex, that had felt like her world was falling down around her shoulders. There was a cynical part of her brain that wanted to claim Tex was only trying to play both sides of the coin, that he didn’t give a shit about her at all, but when she looked down into his eyes as he worshiped her, there was no way to believe it.

 

“Are you with me?” he asked quietly.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Does this feel good?”

 

“God, yes.”

 

“Do you want more?”

 

“There’s more?”

 

He laughed; his thumb left her pussy, making her whimper, but he replaced it with three fingers that spread her so wide open she didn’t have enough air to do more than gasp. “Baby, there is always more.”

 

“Shit,” she murmured, feeling intense waves of urgent need starting to swirl through her as her pussy clenched around his fingers. “Oh, shit.”

 

“Are you gonna come for me, baby? Do you want to?”

 

She nodded, her breathing too fast to give him a proper answer.

 

“Do you love how fast I can get you churning? Or do you want me to slow down?” His fingers went from a rapid, almost punishing thrust to a dragging rhythm, pressing on the front wall of her body, finding the little nubby place that made the world go white.

 

She tried to make words, but her mouth wouldn’t move the right way. Her hands were gripping—shit, something, she didn’t know—so hard she thought her nails would leave marks. Her hips rolled with his thrusts, urgent and desperate, trying to get him to move faster. Harder.

 

She heard fabric move, and then the rapid slap of his hand against his flesh. “You’re so gorgeous,” he murmured against her skin. “Jesus, I love you.”

 

Her brain vapor-locked for a moment, and the spinning urgency fled. He was kissing her stomach, moaning against her skin, and she wasn’t sure he’d even heard what he said.

 

She reached down and tugged his chin up so he was looking into her eyes. When she had his full attention, she let her knees go weak, sinking down so his cock teased at her opening. His fingers made way, gripping her hips, his pupils so wide she could hardly see the color of his irises. “I don’t have a condom,” he said.

 

“I’m on the pill,” she said. “I’m clean. Are you?”

 

He nodded. “Tested a couple months back. No one since then.”

 

She rocked her hips, seating the tip of his dick inside of her. His mouth opened in a deep, wordless sound that pulled her wide open. “This okay?”

 

“You’re amazing,” he murmured, and his head ducked low again, kissing the space between her breasts and lifting up her nipples so he could roll them between his teeth. She ground down into him, taking his thick cock in one easy stroke. She let the chair support her back, giving her body a soft arch, and enough room to look down and see where they were joined. “Good goddamn,” he breathed, and then he bent over her, thrusting into her as clung to him, rolling with him.

 

The vapor-lock in her brain eased, and she went with him, driving down onto him, meeting his pounding hips until the need inside of her burst into an all-white explosion of sensation. She felt her body tighten around him, squeezing him as she took him so deep inside of her it danced the edge of pain. He groaned and bit down on her shoulder hard. She thought he’d follow her, but in one quick move, he lifted her free of him and finished himself by hand in a few quick strokes. He pulled his t-shirt down and caught the spray as he moaned quietly, his forehead resting on her shoulder.

 

“Sorry,” he murmured, turning his face to gently press his lips against her neck as he stroked out the aftershocks from his cock. “I thought—it’s not you—”

 

“I get it,” she said. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and snuggled him against her, not even caring if he left stains on her skirt. She could get it cleaned. Truthfully, if she hadn’t been completely twisted up with lust, she probably wouldn’t have even suggested it. She was not, historically, a woman who made rash decisions, and deciding to ditch condoms was a conversation to be had with all clothes firmly in place, far away from a bedroom. And definitely after she’d been dating someone for more than a week.

 

“Just so long as you know,” he said. “It’s not you. It’s—some of the guys I knew, growing up, they had kids in every town they’d stayed in for more than a month. And I won’t be that guy. I always promised myself. If I have kids, I’m going to raise them right. I’m going to be there for them.” What she could hear, even though he didn’t say the words, was that he wanted to be there for his kids in a way his parents hadn’t ever been, not really.

 

“So you want kids?” was the dumbass thing that unfortunately spilled out of her lips. She clapped her hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. He hadn’t even noticed that he’d declared his love for her, there was absolutely no way they needed to have this conversation right now.

 

He looked up, the lust clearing out of his eyes and replaced with that same soft humor. “Don’t you?”

 

It was an odd way to phrase the question, and it felt distinctly off to her. She frowned. “I haven’t really decided one way or the other,” she said. “I don’t particularly think of myself as a mother-in-training, like some women I know, but I also like hanging around with kids. But the idea of having one at home, all the time?” It took a minute to find enough breath to say the thing that she’d never actually admitted out loud, not even to the therapist. “I already had to work through the loss of my big brother. My hero. The idea of having a kid, of making myself vulnerable to that kind of loss again? It kind of makes me want to throw up. I don’t know if I could handle it. I don’t know if I want to handle it.”

 

“Yeah, I get that,” he said. “I don’t have really strong feelings either way. Just, if I do have them, I’m going to be a father to them.”

 

“I like that as a goal,” she said. And then she needed the subject to change before she started to cry. “So, what have you found out about Danny? About the man who killed him?”

 

Everything about Tex’s demeanor shifted. He stood up, moving back from her, and stripping off his scrubs and t-shirt with a total efficiency of movement that was cold and clean. “This is going to be complicated,” Tex said. Even his tone had changed. When had he developed that cold edge? He hadn’t had that, the first few times they’d talked about Danny and investigating the murder. “I still think you shouldn’t be involved in any of this.”

 

A number of things clicked together, all at once. “This has something to do with Vanessa, doesn’t it? She’s involved in some way.” The fury that had been bubbling way down low got bigger, hotter.

 

But Tex was shaking his head. “No. At least, not directly. But—Jessie, we’ve talked about how I need to go about this.”

 

As he reached for a clean pair of scrub pants and a t-shirt from a drawer, tossing the dirty items into a basket in the corner, Jessie tried not to get distracted by the rippling musculature of his back. She could see scratches she’d left in his shoulder blades the previous evening. She hadn’t managed to break his skin, thank goodness, but he had red marks running along his spine. Down, girl, seriously. And then the flex of his ass as he bent to step into his pants. Men were always stereotyped as oh so horny, but damn if she wasn’t ready to go all over again.

 

“This isn’t going to be like some cop show, where I wear a wire one time and we turn a tape over to the one magically clean DA in a corrupt town, and all the bad people disappear. There’s a chance there could be blood shed before this is over.”

 

She stood up, letting her skirt fall back down over her thighs, and moved forward to wrap her arms around his waist, curling into his back. He didn’t melt into her like he usually did, and when she tried to sway with him, he held still as a statue. “We’ve talked through this, Tex. I get it. I understand. I’m ready for whatever comes.”

 

He turned around, and his eyes were so cold that her stomach flipped over. He rarely talked about what it had been like being a soldier, or the things that had caused him to find running a motorcycle club to be more appealing than a typical civilian life. She didn’t ask him to. If she’d been through all those things, she wasn’t sure she’d ever want to talk about it either. But she had also never seen that dark side of him. Not until now. “What if I have to take Vanessa to bed to get information I need? How would you feel about that?”

 

Like I was going to vomit on your shoes. Christ. “It wouldn’t be my favorite thing to hear.”

 

“What if I came home covered in blood and told you to get on my bike because we had to run? What if I told you that you couldn’t ever speak to your mother again, because it would put her in danger?” He shook his head. “Li, if I can do this without you, it’d be safer. Maybe for both of us.”

 

She stepped back from him, only realizing then that he hadn’t taken her in his arms when he’d turned to her. “You don’t trust me.”

 

The cold façade cracked just a fraction. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

 

“That’s exactly what you’re saying.” There was no reason for crying. She scrubbed at her eyes, determined not to cry any more today. “You think that there’s some arbitrary limit to how far I’ll go to avenge my brother’s death.” She jabbed a finger straight into Tex’s left pectoral. He winced. It was almost certainly because of her long nails, but she let herself believe that it was because of her formidable strength. “You don’t know the first goddamn thing about me. You trust me to fuck, but not to actually be of use.” She shook her head, pushing him back when he tried to step closer to her. “No, damnit. No. You don’t get to keep me on the outside edges of everything. I’m not going to be your—your bait or your fucktoy or your whatever you want while you run around playing assassin and private detective by turns.”

 

She was panting. When had she started panting? He grabbed her waist and pulled her close, but it was Jessie who initiated the kiss. It was bruising and cruel, all teeth and tongue and angry pressure, but it felt like the safest thing she’d ever experienced.

 

“Take me home,” she hissed into his mouth. “Take me home, right the fuck now, and fuck me like you mean it.”

 

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.