Booker
I may have spent the last four years alone with only my hand for company when I needed to get off, but it was fair to say Karsen kept her word when it came to making up for lost time. She and I barely left my bed in the days leading up to the wedding. She pried herself loose to do all the maid-of-honor things she was obligated to attend to. But when she wasn’t going to fittings, or shoe shopping, or to a hair appointment, she was naked and under me or over me as we learned every inch of each other’s bodies. She was just as voracious and insatiable as I was. Her hands were always reaching for me, and her mouth was always hungry for a taste of mine. She was wildly uninhibited in bed . . . and against the wall . . . and on the kitchen counter. . . . and bent over the couch. She was a breath of fresh air, and the more time we spent together, the more certain I became that there was no breathing easy without her. I had years on her, in both age and experience, but every day I felt like she was teaching me something new.
And yes, I even agreed to go to the stupid wedding with her, because it was impossible to deny her anything when she rode my dick so good and so often I forgot my own name.
I was supposed to deliver her to the fancy hotel in the good part of town, where Race had grown up, later in the afternoon. Brysen wanted everything surprisingly traditional for a woman who was knowingly marrying a criminal kingpin. The hotel was old and high end. It was going to be an odd event. I was almost glad I agreed to go, because I was curious how Bax was going to handle being forced to wear a tux while spending the evening in the exact type of place he hated. The crystal chandeliers were bound to give him hives, and I was willing to bet good money my fellow ex-con wouldn’t touch a drop of the expensive champagne Race was having flown in from France.
However, before I handed Karsen over to get primped, plucked, and painted, I was going to do my best to fuck her through the mattress she was currently bent over. If there was a prettier sight than her ass up in the air, pushing back to meet each thrust with a force and vigor matching the snap of my hips, I had yet to see it. She had her forehead pressed against the bed, one hand clenching and unclenching the comforter. The other dipped between her legs and I could feel the brush of her fingers against my cock every single time I slid out of her and pressed back in. She was toying with her clit and chanting incomprehensible words as we moved in perfect sync with one another. I was entranced by the sight of her hair slithering across the elegant line of her spine and sliding over her shoulders. I was also completely obsessed with the faint redness between her slender thighs from the scruff on my face. She asked me not to shave, told me she liked the beard that I was growing. But the bristles were hell on her sensitive skin.
I rocked into her harder, reached out for a handful of her pale hair so I could use it to pull her head back. I wanted to see her expression. I still couldn’t believe she was with me now, how I was allowed to leave marks all over her and come inside of her. There wasn’t anywhere on her body I hadn’t claimed as my own.
She obediently turned her head to accept a sloppy, uncoordinated kiss. The rough mashing of lips and teeth made her laugh, but the sound slipped away and turned into a gasp when I hit the spot inside of her guaranteed to make her turn into liquid heat and a quivering mass of pleasure. Her eyes drifted closed and her teeth clamped down on her lower lip. I replaced her fingers, which had gone lax between her legs, with my own. Trapping her swollen little clit between my fingers and giving the already sensitive nub a tug. A rush of wetness coated my cock where it was buried inside of her. She let out a high-pitched keening sound and rolled her hips in a tiny circle seeking more friction and more pressure on the tortured point. Her entire body vibrated in response and her head dropped back down to the bed as she pushed back on my hammering cock as if her life depended on it.
I could feel my orgasm pushing its way through my body. I could feel it circling my spine and running through my blood. There was a roar between my ears, and I felt my heart trying to beat its way out of my ribcage. I groaned her name and pulled her hips violently against mine as my cock kicked and jumped, firing my release deep inside of her. She mumbled something incoherent as her body locked down on mine, dragging another spasm out of my spent cock. Given ten minutes or so, I was pretty sure I could go again. My refractory period where she was concerned was shockingly short.
I couldn’t get enough of her.
Every time we were together like this, the experience stole away one of the bad memories taking up so much space in my soul. Slowly but surely, she was doing exactly what she promised, she was chasing away all the demons who owned so much of who I was and who I had been for so many years. She was giving me back all the things I’d had taken away from me.
I pulled out of her with a strangled noise and smoothed a hand down the long line of her back. She was so elegant, built so sleek and refined. I growled as I watched the evidence of our hurried coupling start to drip and slide over the loved skin of her thighs. It was so hot and settled the territorial, possessive parts inside of me that refused to let her go for any reason. I stroked her curves as she collapsed on the bed in front of me. I loved how she was willowy and graceful. It made the tensile strength running throughout her lithe frame even more appealing. She didn’t fit the everyday image one might have of a fierce warrior and dangerous combatant, but she was. Karsen was a fighter through and through. I was still getting used to the fact she was fighting for me, for us.
She was everything I’d ever wanted, and everything I was so sure I didn’t deserve to have.
I tugged on the hair still wrapped in my fist and gave one pert ass cheek a firm smack. The sound echoed in the room followed by her indignant yelp of surprise. It wasn’t the first time I’d taken a hand to her ass, but this time it was to get her moving from her blissed-out state rather than to get her off. Karsen had several surprising interests when it came to what she wanted in bed. I refused to think about where her curiosity came from, and instead focused on being the man who provided her with everything she needed. She gave me a pointed look over her shoulder, and I lost myself in the sight of her satisfied gaze and kissed-swollen lips. She was going to look totally well-fucked when I dropped her off. My inner barbarian was thrilled.
“I need to take a shower.” She stretched languidly across the bed.
I landed an open palm on the other side of her backside and took a step away from the edge of the bed as she rolled over and flipped me off. She looked so perfect in my bed, covered in glistening drops of sweat and sex. If I wasn’t sure she would try and castrate me for making her late, I would have tried to talk her into another round of soul-searing sex.
“Take a shower. I’ll jump in the guest bathroom so you don’t get distracted.” And wasn’t that just the damndest thing? A guy like me, being a distraction for a girl like her. Never in a million years would I admit to dreaming of this exact scenario when I first realized how unique and special she was.
I was digging through the closet for a pair of jeans and she was rambling around in the ensuite bathroom when my cell phone rang. Everyone I knew was tied up with the wedding today, so I frowned as I picked up the burner phone from the nightstand where I’d tossed it when I lost my pants earlier. Stark’s number flashed on the display and I frowned even harder. Stark didn’t typically call. He was much more a one-word text message kind of guy.
I swiped to answer the call, keeping an eye on the open bathroom door in case he had information about Karsen’s stalker that would ruin her good mood and steal away her excitement over her sister’s wedding.
“Hey.” I tugged the jeans up my legs and trapped the phone between my cheek and my shoulder. “What’s up?”
“You need to get down to the security room right now.” His voice was abrupt and hard.
“The security room in the condos?” I was confused, but already moving out of the bedroom and down the hallway.
“Yeah. Hustle. The head of security over there called me an hour ago because something weird was going on with the system. I tried to remotely access the system, the fucking system I built, and I couldn’t get in. Someone hacked in and blocked all my access.”
“What? I thought you built an unhackable system, boy genius. How is that possible?” I was out the door without bothering to put on a shirt or shoes.
“Shut up. I haven’t updated things in a while. And I think he was already familiar with the system. Something is going on with the video feeds. They all went black and I can’t pull them back online. I don’t want to stress Race out on his wedding day, but this isn't good. Karsen said the kid in Boulder was a computer engineering major. If he’s good with computers, there’s a good chance he’s the one behind the hack.”
I pushed the button for the elevator with more force than was necessary and scowled at my reflection in the mirrored interior. “I can barely use a smartphone. What good am I going to do in a room full of computers and cameras?”
“If it is the kid from Colorado, then he’s waiting for something or someone. I’ve tried reaching out; I sent him an invitation to chat but got nothing back. He has to know you won’t put Karsen in front of the camera knowing he was watching her, but I’m betting if he sees you, he’ll tell us what he wants. There’s a reason behind all of this. Even if he doesn’t make a statement, it’s going to take me a couple of hours to get the system back from him, so you should come down here and say your piece in case he’s lurking.”
I typed the security code into the keypad used for the secure floors in the building. When I reached the lowest level in the complex the doors whooshed open and dumped me into the bowels of the building. I never liked this part of the job. All the surveillance and invasion of privacy made my skin crawl. I hated knowing my every move was being monitored and recorded. It reminded me too much of being behind bars.
Stark had emptied out the busy security hub and commandeered the room. He had two laptops open in front of him and was alternately typing on the keyboard of one and glaring at the screen of the other. The wall of video monitors was blank, nothing but black screens staring back at me, as I walked deeper into the room. “I asked Noe to head over to the hotel where Race is having the wedding. She’s making sure their system is secure and nothing goes wrong over there. I also called Nassir and asked him to beef up security. Hopefully, we won’t have to drag Race into this on his big day.”
I turned my head to ask Stark what he wanted me to do, but before I got a word out, all the screens suddenly flickered to life.
“Holy fuck.” Stark leaned back in the leather chair. He shifted his gaze between the images on the screen and where I was frozen.
Over twenty monitors showed a young woman tied to a chair. Her head was bent, dark hair hanging over her face. There were no identifying markers indicating where the video was being streamed from, but the background looked industrial.
“Can you track where the video feed is coming from?” I wasn’t sure if whomever was on the other end of the video could hear me, and I didn’t care.
Stark swore and continued frantically typing away on the laptop. “Maybe. But he’s probably bouncing the signal around a bunch of different proxy servers, so it will take a while.”
We both stiffened as another person appeared on the screens. He was young, terribly average looking, and grinning like a lunatic. Without saying anything, he walked over to the dark-haired girl tied to the chair. He grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her head back, and I growled when I recognized Karsen’s pretty roommate. The young woman had a fat lip and a black eye. Even through the grainy footage, it was clear her gaze was glassy and unfocused. Her movements were sluggish and unnatural. The bastard had no doubt drugged her.
The creep let her head loll back down and sauntered closer to the camera recording his little show. He smiled even wider, flashing a lot of teeth and getting close enough that there was no missing the crazy in his eyes.
“Trade ya.” The taunt was delivered along with a raised middle finger before everything went black again.
Stark and I stared at the monitors for a solid five minutes. Nothing happened. Not another video. Not a blip of activity. Stark got to his feet and a second later one of his laptops was flying through the air and colliding with the wall in a spectacular crash. The delicate electronic exploded in a shower of glass and circuits. He locked his fingers together and put them on top of his head. I could feel anger and frustration pouring off him in volatile waves.
“I can’t believe that little shit hacked my system.” He kicked the chair in front of him and turned to me. “I’ll figure out where he was streaming from. Then I’ll help you get that girl out of there.”
I exhaled a long, slow breath and put my hands on my hips as I considered where we needed to start. “Do you think he’s back in Colorado?”
Stark adopted a thoughtful expression and after a couple silent minutes, slowly nodded. “I do. He would have had a hard time getting the girl to the Point with no one noticing, especially with everyone on high alert knowing Karsen has a stalker. Plus, this is home field advantage for us. He has the upper hand in Colorado, or really anywhere else. He knows the lay of the land there and would have had time to prepare.”
I nodded in agreement. “Makes sense. You think you can find where he’s holding her?”
“Absolutely. It may take a little longer than normal, since he’s got a hand in hacking, but I’ll track him down.” He sounded pissed and determined.
I nodded again and cracked my neck. “All right. I need to make a few calls, and I need you to get me on a flight to Colorado. He might have the upper hand right now, but I doubt he’s expecting an ambush. He thinks Karsen is going to show, and if her sister wasn’t getting married today, no doubt she would walk right into whatever trap he has set. If you can get me there as quickly as possible and under the radar like last time, it would be ideal.” The kid had devoted all his time to watching and studying her every move. He knew there was no way she would walk away while Ari was in danger.
Stark grunted and righted the chair he’d kicked over so he could throw his big body down into the seat. “What are you going to tell Karsen? She’s going to want to go with you.”
“I’m gonna tell her the truth. I’m going to get her friend back. She might want to be there, but she needs to be here. I’m going to prove to her she can rely on me no matter what.” It wasn’t a conversation I was looking forward to having, but it was one that was necessary.
“Okay. You go do your thing, and I’ll stay here and do mine. This little punk needs to be taken down. He’s a menace. No one pisses in my territory without repercussions.” He turned his attention back to his only surviving laptop as I made my way back to the elevator.
He was more than a menace. He was a threat to the one person in this world who meant everything to me. He wasn’t going to get taken down. He was going to get put down. He was going to disappear into a hole so deep and dark no one would ever find what was left of him when I was done doing my thing.
When I reached the apartment, Karsen was hovering in the doorway, concern stamped all over her pretty face. She looked at me, and I felt like she could see everything twisting and turning inside of my head.
“Is everything all right?” It amazed me how calm she sounded. They broke the mold when they created this girl. She was born to be the queen of a kingdom ruled by constant chaos and confusion.
“We need to talk. Everything will be fine, I promise.”
I had yet to break one promise I made to her, and I wasn’t about to start now.