Chapter Two

 

Years of sleeping on a knife’s edge had left John a superficial sleeper. He suffered torturous bouts of insomnia when the pain in his knee and old memories haunted him from impenetrable shadows. But now, sprawled across his bed, butt naked and one hundred percent satisfied, he wallowed in a rare state of complete and utter physical relaxation.

It was the click of his front door, which caused his eyelids to fly open and his senses to spring to full alert. The familiar sound of the latch being quietly slid into its hole registered deep within his unusually slumbered brain and immediately brought him back to life.

It was as if he’d never been asleep at all.

He stretched across the bed for Kat’s warm, naked and particularly sexy body.

She was gone.

“Damn!” he cursed, sitting upright. He’d liked her and she was good. A little nervous, a lot naïve, but last night had been amazing. He’d forgotten how much he liked sex. No, make that loved sex. He at least wanted her phone number before she left. Perhaps he could call her when he’d set up his new life. Invite her for a repeat performance of their nocturnal athletics, up her experience levels a few hundred notches.

He pulled on faded blue jeans and, from the living room, grabbed the black T-shirt discarded on the floor the night before. After ramming his feet in sneakers, he grabbed his keys and wallet and headed out the flat.

He made for the fire escape instead of the lift—it would be a quicker route—but instantly cursed his decision when the familiar burning pain shot through his knee, the joint complaining bitterly at being asked to flex and take his weight so soon after rolling out of bed. But if he wanted her telephone number, it was a sacrifice his body would have to make. Kat was the best thing to happen to him in very a long time.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and limped into the small communal lobby.

He froze in his tracks.
His ears were sending his brain a signal he didn’t want to believe. Didn’t want to acknowledge.

The meaty hum of a Porsche reverberated around the lobby walls—its echo unmistakable in the bare concrete enclosure.

“Shit!”

How could I have been so gullible?

He held up his keyring and it confirmed what he already knew. The Porsche key was missing.

Its absence sickened him.

His heart pounded and his lungs exploded. He charged through the front door of the lobby onto the dark street.

“Hey, thief!” he shouted as he saw the tail end of his precious car, with its even more precious load, slipping smoothly up the gears. A low flash of silver in the London night which signified his whole damn future disappearing into the distance without him.

 

* * * *

 

Kat drove steadily away from John’s flat. Driving a sleek silver Porsche in the dead of night would undoubtedly draw some attention. But what she didn’t want was police attention. She didn’t want to give them an excuse to stop her, not least because she was probably still over the limit after all that wine.

She had to drive a mile and a half to get to the pre-arranged drop off point. Then as usual, she’d hand Carlos the key and grab a cab home. She was looking forward to home. Having a long, hot shower and climbing into her own bed and sleeping undisturbed until she woke naturally, probably late the next afternoon. She shifted on the seat, still pleasantly damp and swollen. At least there’d be no need to satisfy herself tonight. John had more than taken care of that department.

A smug smile tickled her lips and the muscles in her pelvis flexed at the memory of his skillful fingers and even more skillful cock. It had been such a unique experience, so deliciously satisfying that it was almost a shame it was over with him.

After several sets of traffic lights and three left turns she purred the Porsche up to the kerb directly outside Walberg’s Meats as instructed. She plunged the car into darkness and silenced the engine so as not to disturb anyone sleeping above the small parade of shops. She didn’t want the distinctive engine noise registering in drowsy memories.

Opening the car door, she swung her legs out, paused briefly to retrieve her purse from the passenger seat and stepped onto the deserted street. As usual, she shuddered as Carlos’s menacing shadow loomed from a BMW parked in the darkness. His apish shoulders swung and his bald head shone under the serrated halo of a streetlamp. Her hard-earned karate black belt would be worthless against his huge bulk—and utterly futile against the gun he stored about his person.

He hulked along the pavement on a collision course with her, his footsteps heavy and his breathing laboured. He held out a meaty arm so she could drop John’s car key into his ogre-like hand. His thick throat didn’t emit a grunt and there was no pause in either of their stride. Then she felt his body heat disappear, and his footsteps faded.

She heard the Porsche’s engine return to life. Kat knew a hefty sum of money would be transferred into her bank account on Monday morning. Deal done! Another step away from poverty, despair and the mercy of a fate which had never looked kindly upon her.

She stepped into the road, rubbing the chill of the night air from her bare arms as an available cab appeared round the corner.

The early morning sky was glowing in the East, a brilliant wash of yellows and oranges blending with deep blue, black. It was Kat’s favourite time, and as she alighted outside her apartment block, she felt like she had London all to herself. She liked that thought immensely.

Pausing, she looked up at the exclusive high rise towering above her. Sleek and modern, the sharp lines of the blue opaque balconies circled the building like a row of bangles. Her gaze automatically reached upwards to the top floor and searched out her own balcony. Branches belonging to her olive tree swayed over the chrome and glass rails, and next to them sat her little wooden table and chair. Chair in the singular because Kat never had visitors in her apartment. No friends or family and a job which didn’t involve work colleagues, meant she existed in a very solitary world despite the hustle and bustle of living in a capital city.

There was just her in her life. Nobody else.

She pushed through revolving doors into the elegantly furnished lobby and spotted the security guard sleeping in his office; mouth open, head hanging down and his newspaper on the floor in a creased heap.

She bent to remove her heels and wiggled her toes as she set each foot onto the cool tiles. As she padded to the lift, she relished the soothing sensation that spread through her stockings onto the balls of her aching feet.

Once on the top floor, Kat stepped into her softly carpeted apartment, alert to her surroundings. It was her beautiful home, and she loved it, but a little bit of paranoia could be healthy for a girl in her line of work, especially with the connections she’d developed with the underworld.

Her attention darted around looking for any disturbance and listening for signs of life coming from within the four rooms. Had anyone broken in and moved things while she’d been out? She didn’t think so. But just the same, Kat didn’t drop her purse and shoes like most girls would. Instead, she ritualistically went through each room, checking cupboards and behind doors.

Finally satisfied there were no intruders, she ambled into her luxury cream and gold bathroom, reached into the double shower cubicle and spun the hot water onto full blast. She dropped her shoes outside the slightly ajar door so they landed on carpet as opposed to the hard tiles. She didn’t want her new shoes getting damp even if they had hurt like hell.

She stepped out of her dress for the second time that evening, twisted her hair into a wide clip on the top of her head and peeled off her underwear and stockings. Moving under the hot water, she let out a contented sigh as heat streamed down her naked body, and the hard little side jets pummelled the delicate flesh on her chest and shoulders. She needed to wash the evening away, wash away the scent of the man she’d had sex with.

She covered herself in expensive, sugar-sweet shower gel before raising her face to the water with her eyes tightly closed. The spray beat down on her cheeks and eyelids like a torrential summer rainstorm. It felt heavenly. With her lips parted, she let the water slide into her mouth, blew out a spray and lowered her head to treat the back of her neck to the same hydro massage.

There was a sudden hot pressure over her face. Hard, fast, unrelenting. Her heartbeat trebled and her eyes popped open. Petrified, she realised the tightness around her mouth belonged to a hand.

A big, male hand.

It was covering the entire bottom half of her face, clamping her jaw and making it impossible to scream out. Hell, breathing was hard.

Within a split second of feeling the hand, her entire body slammed into what felt like a brick wall and her naked back made contact with thin material covering a wide, solid mass which didn’t move a fraction on impact.

Frantically she tried to remember her karate training for this type of hold. She’d practiced it enough times in the dojo. Surely it would come to her, if only she could think for a second.

She ground her brain into gear and flung her head backwards in an attempt to head butt her attacker and deliver a blinding blow to send him reeling. At the same time, she rammed a sharp elbow into his concrete bulk, aiming for a vulnerable gap between the ribs.

But it was futile. His big arm surrounded her bare body and pinned her arms so tightly against her own torso she couldn’t get up any momentum.

She wriggled wildly, twisting and curling, trying to take advantage of the fact she was wet and slippery and difficult to hang on to. Still no good. No let up.

In vain, she tried to ram her foot down her assailant’s shin onto the top of his foot but succeeded only in painfully whacking her own heel against the lip of the shower cubicle. If she’d been able to, she would have cried out in agony.

“Easy, Pussy Cat!” A deep voice rumbled into her ear as sharp bristles scratched her head.

Kat tried to twist and turn even harder, utterly terrified and beside herself with anger. She was furious with her attacker and even madder with herself for getting into this position. She was desperate to get out of this bracing arm lock and searched frantically for a small break in resistance to pull her moves. Who was this monster attacking her in her own shower? How did he get in? And who would call her ‘Pussy Cat’?

“Hey! I said easy.” The voice was sterner this time and the grip on her whole body tightened. “I’ll give you back your face if you stop your damn wriggling.” He paused and pressed lips to her ear. “Do you promise not to scream if I let go?”

Kat stilled. She would play by this madman’s rules then attack the second the opportunity arose. It was clear she would have to use technique rather than muscle with this monster, brain rather than brawn.

She nodded and let her arms go limp.

The hand was removed, though it hovered an inch from her mouth in the still streaming water.

Kat spun her head. “Shit… John,” she gasped, catching a side view of his face. “You scared the crap out of me.”

“Yeah, I bet you never thought you’d see me again, eh?” He smirked. Then his face shifted into a dark and dangerous expression. “I don’t want games, Kat, I want answers…fast.”

Kat turned to face him, trying to cover her nakedness with her hands. She looked at his huge, soaking wet, fully clothed bulk standing in the middle of her shower. How the hell had he found out where she lived? And how had he got in? Damn that stupid old security guard, always bloody asleep on the job. Her mind whirred like a computer. He must know she’d taken his car. She’d used it to get herself halfway home. The only way he could possibly know where she lived was if he’d followed her.

“Shy now, are you?” John dragged his gaze down her soapy body then slowly back up again. “You weren’t shy a couple of hours ago in my bed. In fact, you were the complete opposite of shy then.”

“Shut up and get the hell out of here,” she snapped.

His black eyes darkened, and he stepped closer, backing her against the wall of the cubicle. “I’m not going anywhere. You’ve just stolen my whole damn future and I want it back.”

She felt the chill of the tiles on her shoulders and buttocks. The shiver added to her tremble of nerves. Her first instincts had been right—she really had bitten off more than she could chew with John. “What are you talking about?”

“My car.” He stood directly under the stream of water. Rivers dripped from his brows and over his eyes—he didn’t appear to notice.

“I didn’t take your car. What a ridiculous thing to say.”

A noise similar to a lion’s growl rumbled from his chest. He slammed his palms against the tiles on either side of her head and the loud slap echoed around the glass walls.

Kat sucked in a breath. “I simply got up and left so there was no awkwardness in the morning.” She tried a casual shrug within the confines of his massive forearms. “We both know it was only a one-night stand.” She should be protesting more violently about his uninvited entry into her shower. She should be screaming, kneeing him in the groin…something.

“Tell me where my car is.” He continued to ignore the hot side jets pounding his T-shirt and the swirling steam swirling.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kat replied, banging her fists onto his sodden chest to prevent him coming any closer.

He stepped closer anyway. “Don’t give me that crap. You know full well what I’m talking about.”

“No, I don’t. How would I know where your car is? We walked to your apartment from the bar last night.” She tipped her head and raised her eyebrows, tried to appear nonchalant. “Frankly, John, it’s creeped me out that you’ve broken into my home. You could have just asked for my number.”

John’s guttural laugh gurgled around the cubicle; it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “You have to be kidding me. You must think I was born yesterday.”

Kat raised an eyebrow and swallowed a tight lump in her throat.

“I know damn well you took my car.” John leant down so their noses touched. “I followed you, I saw you get out of my fucking car and then strut away as some other arsehole drove it into the night.” He was thoughtful for a moment as if a riddle bothering him had given up its answer. “And I’m guessing you didn’t take it because you just saw my keys lying around… You’d planned it beforehand. Whoever that big guy is, he’s the organizer. He tells you who’s got a flash car worth nicking. Am I right?”

Kat decided to give up on the innocent route. She’d clearly been rumbled. Although how the hell he’d followed her home she had no idea. She was sure he’d been fast asleep when she’d left. “Yeah, well, deal with it. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there.” She smirked with a confidence she didn’t feel. “But you’re a big boy, John, you can handle it. Go claim on your insurance…if you have any that is.” She stared at the tiny crystals of water beading in the dark stubble of his cheeks.

“I couldn’t give a shit about the car.” Water tipped from his nose and chin onto her breasts. “It’s what’s in it I need back.”

“So why follow me, why not follow your CD collection? If that’s what you’re so worried about.”

His teeth clenched, a muscle in his jaw flexed and his eyebrows pulled together even closer. “Because that big bald bastard slipped into the night before I could get after him, which left you my only damn option.” He swallowed and grimaced as if biting back a bitter taste.

Kat ducked and went to bob under his arm. Her heart somersaulted; the situation was out of control

“You’re going nowhere.” He slid his hand down the tiles and pressed his hard groin into her soft naked stomach, trapping her and preventing her from moving an inch. “Not until you’ve given me answers.”

Kat dragged in a sharp mouthful of fogged air. He was hugely turned on. Despite his fury, he was rock solid. “I can’t…I can’t give you any information,” she managed through a conflict of emotions—fear and desire, terror and lust.

“Sure you can.”

I don’t know anything. I just do as I’m told and get paid.”

“God damn you!” he spat out in frustration.

“Sorry.”

“Sorry. Sorry is not enough, nowhere near enough.” He pushed his erection harder into her. “Jeez, I should have fucked you how I wanted to instead of treating you like a delicate little princess.”

She tensed but didn’t flinch from the solid dominant body invading all her senses.

“I should have gone for it hard and fast, just taken what I wanted,” he said, shards of fury scraping the words from his throat. “That’s what you did. Fucked me and took what you wanted.”

“You looked like you were enjoying it alright.”

“Oh yeah, Pussy Cat, I enjoyed it, but lying still and submissive is really not my style. It took a lot to give you that.”

“So why do it?”

He lifted his hand and moved a thick rope of hair plastered against her cheek. His fingertips brushed her neck, and a crackle of sensation shot across her flesh and spiked her nipples against his chest. “Because I thought you were sweet and naïve. You’d taken a risk with me, and I didn’t want you to regret it.” He snorted and banged his hand onto the tiles, the brief moment of gentleness evaporating. “If I’d known you were a common thief, I wouldn’t have been nearly so accommodating.”

Kat was trapped, she could go nowhere, but something inside her didn’t want to go. She liked him being so close to her nakedness again. She liked the feel of his glorious, demanding cock, which she knew could give such pleasure.

“So do it now,” she whispered. “Take me how you wanted to.”

He crushed his chest to hers, pinning her body to the ice cold wall. “What the hell did you just say?”

“Fuck me now. Hard and fast.” Her voice was firmer. “If it will make you feel better.”

“What do you think I am?” His mouth hovered an inch from hers and her tongue remembered his musky taste. “You think I’m a rapist?” he said.

Kat glared back up at him.

“You think I’m the sort of scumbag who breaks into girls’ apartments and rapes them in the shower?”

“Clearly you’re the sort of guy who’s up for breaking and entering, but…” Kat looked down at their connected chests. His was outlined by his wet T-shirt with hers flattened against it. She swallowed and pushed her palms against the cool tiles by her buttocks. “It’s not rape…” she looked back up into his sparkling, furious eyes, “if I ask you to.”

A low, growling sound erupted from his throat, just audible over the roar of the shower. “Don’t fucking tempt me.”

Kat held eye contact, unwavering despite the swirling steam and the flying water. Her clit throbbed and her skin prickled at the thought of him taking her how he wanted to. She’d caught such a brief glimpse of his raw wildness—a second, perhaps less—and something in her, curiosity, desire, wanted to see more of it, feel more of it.

“You couldn’t handle it, little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl.” Kat frowned, her stomach tensing at the pressure of his hunger.

“No.” He glanced at her engorged, heaving breasts mashed against his chest. “I guess you’re not.”

Kat trembled.

“But you’re a temptress who can’t follow through.”

“That’s rubbish—”

He reached for her face, placed his fingers on either side of her mouth, squeezed and gripped her jaw half open. “So how come you don’t know what to do with a cock, Pussy Cat?”

“I do,” she managed, something in her sparking to life at his dominant handling. She shouldn’t be enjoying this, but for some reason, she was.

“Oh, yeah.” His voice was mocking. “Want to prove it?”

She hesitated for a fraction of a second then nodded.

He moved back, let go of her face and reached for his sodden flies.

Bubbles of terror and delight popped in her chest like a glut of champagne.

He glared down at her body, raging, unquenched lust pooling in his eyes. “And you’re asking for it?”

Kat trembled. There seemed to be a sudden lack of oxygen amongst the steam; her head lightened.

“It’s not rape if you’re asking,” he repeated her words back to her, hand poised at his zipper. “Answer me, damn it.” His face looked savage, the skin stretched taut over his features, hollowing his cheekbones farther.

“I want you to do it…now,” she said. “I’m asking.”

His sudden, hard kiss was like that of a marauder intent on domination. His lips were controlling and urgent as his tongue pushed straight past hers, thrusting and pounding in a way her body cried out for.

She nipped at his tongue. He groaned and plunged all the harder down her throat.

The sound of his zipper was drowned by the cascading water, but Kat knew it was down because she felt the hot, hard length of him releasing from his wet jeans onto her bare stomach.

He pulled back, eyes narrowed, his chest heaving as harshly as hers.

In the bright light of the shower, she could see his cock springing forward. He hadn’t bothered to shove his sopping jeans down, just unleashed his heavily veined flesh from the material. She suddenly hungered for it, desperate to be re-acquainted. Her eyes devoured him. That glorious length of engorged penis had made her feel so exquisite only a few hours ago, now she wanted it all over again. She needed to know how John really wanted to take her.

His big body went rigid over hers, and he palmed her breasts, squeezing and massaging. Not gentle, but hard and urgent, like he was desperate to touch every bit of them at once.

Kat whimpered as electricity fired to her core, the muscles of her vaginal walls were clenching already, searching for something to grab hold of.

He caught her lips again, a hot open-mouth kiss that reduced her knees to jelly and they threatened to fold. It didn’t matter because as she began to slide, he stooped, grazed her nipple with his teeth and looped a forearm behind her left knee. He dragged her leg upwards. Fortunately, she was supple, and a knee higher than her waist wasn’t a problem.

But the upward force continued and his lift pulled her other foot high off the shower floor. He had her suspended on his arm with his pelvis jutting into hers, one leg bent tight up, the other dangling down. She grabbed his shoulders, needing something to hold on to—it was like grasping at a rain soaked paving slab.

“God damn you,” he said as her face drew level with his. “But you asked for this.” His teeth clenched as he squeezed his hand down between their bodies.

Kat braced, felt him position himself so her entrance was kissing his erection. It shouldn’t be so glorious to be roughly taken by a stalking, breaking-and-entering-bully, but it was… She was going to come just with heady anticipation.

“You’re just gonna have to cope on your own this time…” he said as his mouth sucked onto hers.

She formed her fingers into claws and squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for the inevitable.

In one hard plunge, he thrust deeply into her, his aim accurate and the suds from the shower thankfully easing his way. Kat cried out, but he caught the tormented noise in his mouth and only a faded scream echoed around the bathroom. He kept his lips locked on hers, absorbing her subsequent cries.

He’d filled her so suddenly and so acutely. The pleasure was there, but pain was knocking on the door with one foot over the threshold. Her pussy convulsed, complaining at the same time as rejoicing at his invasion. Stars danced before her eyes, and her nails bit into his shoulder blades.

Buried deep within her, he stilled and yanked his mouth from hers. “You gonna keep it quiet?” he asked gruffly.

Kat nodded, her dazed eyes meeting his.

He withdrew a fraction and heaved back in. With a Neanderthal grunt, he began to fuck her with earnest. Kat tried to stifle her moans but had little luck. The sound multiplied and rumbled around the shower like an underground echo.

A strong hand came up to clamp over her mouth “I don’t want…nosy neighbours…turning up,” he said between thrusts.

Kat nodded and gave herself up to his control over everything, including her voice.

He held her, supporting her as he went for long, fast strokes. Her back slammed against the wet tiles with each powerful jerk of his hips. She dragged her hand through his short, sharp hair; she wasn’t gentle.

She could feel the sharp zipper of his jeans on her arse, scratching her delicate skin each time he thrust. Her clit was being battered against his hard body; ground and hammered, it begged for more. Sensations shot through her flesh, and she felt her own hot juices add to the lubrication of the shower water.

His nostrils flared and his mouth twisted into a grimace. “You like this, Pussy Cat? You handling it okay?”

Kat wrapped her hand around his ear and yanked—hard.

He responded with a devastating pound she was sure went beyond her cervix. She bit into his hand, tasted the hot, metallic flavour of blood.

“Bitch,” he said, taking his hand away from her face, but immediately replacing it with hard, angry lips.

Kat thrust her tongue into his mouth this time, slammed her hands to his cheeks and felt the rasp of his stubble beneath her palms. His body jerked upwards, farther and higher. He reached for her other leg, and in one slick movement, wound them both around his waist.

Kat crossed her ankles and linked her fingers behind his neck. He was so deep inside her, each driving penetration pummelling her towards the brink. She wanted to come again. She was going to…any second.

He cupped the globes of her backside and spread her wider to meet his relentless pounds. His fingers tickled across the tight entrance of her anus. She pulled in a sharp breath around his lips and clenched her most intimate hole against his probing.

“You said you could handle it,” he mocked into her mouth.

Before she could respond, he tunnelled one finger into her back hole. She jerked as the hot pinch of pain nearly tipped her over the edge of her waiting orgasm. She felt tender tissue and muscle part as he pushed in deeper and deeper in time with his thrusts. No one had ever touched her there.

He braced his other hand against the tiles by her head. “I’m gonna come now.” He pulled his cock nearly all the way out but kept his finger wedged inside her anus. “You want to join me?”

“Yes…yes.”

“Without a sound?”

“Yes…yes, now.”

It was like flicking a switch. He pulled back another half inch and released a guttural groan as he forged back in, hard, fast, furious. The pace had been wild before, now it was unnatural. They were going to break something, either themselves or the shower cubicle.

Kat’s clamped her lips together to stop from crying out. The pleasure was like the devil, devouring her, mixing with pain, flying her higher than anything she’d ever known. Another insistent finger joined the one in her tight rear hole. Stretching and twisting, he ground upwards, filled her to capacity. The devil laughed, rejoiced, stabbed her with its sharp little fork, and her body gave up its battle and tumbled over the edge.

With her arse on fire, her pussy overloaded and her clitoris being hammered to oblivion, the orgasm consumed her completely. She squeezed her eyes shut and was greeted with a pyrotechnic display she couldn’t focus on. Nerve endings never before stimulated dragged in pleasure as though starving. His cock felt so huge inside her. The heavy engorged veins of his erection pulsed and added to the tremors of her womb.

“Fuck, yes,” he hissed. “Let me have all of you…”

He tipped his head up to the pummelling water and swallowed his shout of satisfaction as he became rigid with his own orgasm. His cock convulsed, and his hips bucked her up the slippery.

Her breaths came in harsh gasps, and she dropped her head onto his shoulder. Unbelievable bliss washed over her like the water. Wave after wave of sensation crashed through her. She gave herself over to him completely.

John gave one final ram, shuddered then pulled his fingers from her back passage and his cock from inside her. His head came back level with hers. For a moment, she thought there might be a murmur of approval or a word of sentiment.

There wasn’t.

He reached for her elbows, dragged them from his neck and stepped away from the wall, forcing her to release her ankles from his waist. She landed on the shower floor with legs barely able to support her weight and her insides missing him desperately as they juddered out the last tremors of her climax.

He turned through the water and stepped out the cubicle. “Now that’s out of the way,” he said hoarsely, “we can get down to business.”