I felt uneasy in the dawn.

Lifting the curtain back from the window with the tip of my finger, I peered out into the parking lot of the motel. Nothing stirred in the immediate vicinity, but further out, I could see the red and white lights of traffic on the highway.

Overhead, the sky was turning. Another day was here, and we were still in the middle of nothing and nowhere. Sitting on the ass crack of America with devils on our tail.

“Chaser?”

Sloane’s sleepy voice echoed behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder.

“Nice ass,” she said. “You giving the neighbors a free show?”

I grunted and leaned my head against the window frame. I just couldn’t help myself…

The sound of rustling blankets signaled she’d climbed out of bed, and then she was behind me, moving as silently as a panther in the darkness. Looking at her, she was still naked, the swell of her breasts drawing my gaze. Her hands were warm to the touch as she rubbed her palms over my bare chest.

I didn’t have the heart to push her away. It was too late for that now we’d fucked. Far too late.

“Why can’t you leave Fortitude?” she asked.

Of all the questions she could’ve asked at that moment, it was the last I wanted to hear. Usually, women wanted a label to stick on the morning after—were we dating, just fucking, in a committed relationship, a one-nighter, etcetera—but not Sloane. She always had some bigger fish to fry.

“I can’t,” I replied, glancing back out the window. The stars were disappearing.

“Explain it to me.”

“I’m indebted to Fortitude,” I said. “That’s why I can’t leave.”

“Why?”

“They did something for me. Something big.”

“And in return, they branded you into slavery,” she whispered, caressing the tattoo on my thumb.

“Sounds fucked up when you put it that way.” I snorted and narrowed my eyes.

What was it about this woman? She had my tongue all fucking loose and shit. With one taste of her pussy, I was teetering on the edge of screwing everything up. If she asked again…shit. If she knew how messed up my head was right now and took advantage, I wasn’t sure I would be able to say no. I wouldn’t put it past her, which made any kind of entanglement a danger to my health.

“What a mess.” She sighed, leaning against me. “How did we get here?”

“Fucked if I know.”

Thankful she hadn’t pressed the ‘where to’ question, I slid my hand over her little waist and cupped her ass.

She wasn’t the kind of woman I would usually go for, but something about her just drew me in. I’d met the daughters and whores of the other Fortitude guys, and they had nothing on Sloane. She didn’t expect a gravy train from daddy’s drug money or the high of being with a dangerous guy who flirted around the edges of violence. She was cool, calculating, stubborn, intelligent… Hated to say it, but she reminded me of her father.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked, biting her bottom lip.

“I was just thinking about your dad.”

“Way to set the mood.” Her eyes rolled. “I don’t need his permission to fuck, you know.”

I grunted.

“I’m my own woman.”

“How could I forget? You keep fuckin’ reminding me.”

“You could’ve said, ‘I was thinking about how I came inside you last night,’ but no…”

Grasping her hair, I twisted her face toward mine. The smile faded from her lips, and her fingernails dug into my skin as I drew her closer.

“Chaser?” she whispered, her eyes full of lust.

“What?” Rolling my hips, I worked my cock against her thigh, hardening up.

“From behind this time.”

Dammit. She’d entrapped me and dangled the sweetest fruit she could find right in front of my nose. Giving a man permission to dominate during sex was pure heroin.

Capturing her mouth with mine, I forced my tongue against hers. Kissing her felt like drowning in a fucked up way. She was the worst kind of addiction.

Bending her over the table, I let her hair go and pulled her little ass back onto my cock. Sinking into her wetness, I bit my lower lip as I buried as deep as I could go. Her soft moan pulsed through me, and I tightened my grip on her hips.

I thrust, unable to take it slow. I slapped her ass, watching my cock pound into her as she bucked like a wild thing.

The motel room filled with the sound of our bodies slapping together, and her cries rose as I drilled harder and faster.

Reaching around her body, I stroked the inside of her thigh before my fingers found her clit. I pinched hard, and she erupted, coming violently on my cock. Her entire body quivered, clamping down on me, and I thrust erratically as I blew my load.

Dragging my teeth along her shoulder, I grunted, relishing the strength with which her tight little pussy milked every last drop of cum from my balls. My ears rang with the fury of my orgasm as I grasped her breast and rubbed her clit, forcing the moment out as long as possible.

When I felt my dick soften, I kissed her neck, the tang of salt hitting my tongue.

“Four times,” she exclaimed with a heavy breath.

Pushing her back onto the table, I pulled out, watching my cum drip from between her folds. Rubbing my thumb along her seam, I spread myself around her clit, relishing the moment she shivered and reared into my palm.

Fuck, it was so dirty with her. I wasn’t marking territory like an animal but drawing battle lines. Cum soaked trenches.

“Four times,” I whispered, repeating her words.

Sloane turned her head and glanced up at me, her big eyes glittering in the silver light of dawn.

Afterward, I let her shower before I washed off the evidence of our entanglement.

“What are we going to do?” she asked, watching as I dried off my hair.

It was a loaded question, and I knew her mind hadn’t changed about our destination. Now our dynamic had changed, and emotions were involved. It was a bad thing when a group of organized criminals with an America-wide network were on our tail. Caring got people killed. I knew all about that and then some.

I didn’t know what would happen to me and Sloane after the fact, but for right now, my mind hadn’t changed. Not really.

“We move toward California,” I replied, throwing the damp towel into the bathroom.

“For now.”

I clenched my fists, my conviction wavering.

“For now,” she whispered.