I pour the whiskey into a short glass, savoring the way the ice cracks under its heat. She’s damn near panting from what I just did to her. Using the back of my hand, I wipe the mess she left on my face, licking over my lips to enjoy the taste of her. This girl is one of my favorites. She gives me everything I crave: power, control, and fucking killer sex with no strings attached. “Don’t move a muscle. You stay just like I had you.”
Plucking a cube from the drink, I dim the lights and make my way back to her. My dick twitches as I stare at that curved ass bent over my desk. I set the chilled glass on her lower back, and it bows. “Ah, ah, ah. I didn’t tell you to fucking move.”
She giggles and slings her head back; her red hair flies over her bare shoulders and hits my face. “I didn’t ask.” She glances over at me and bites down on her lip.
“That mouth of yours is gonna get you in trouble.” I arch a brow, rubbing the ice over her ass and up the indention of her spine as I say, “Move again and I’ll choke you.”
Her nails tap over the desk, scratching across its surface while she fights the urge to wiggle by pushing her ass against me. “Stop torturing me,” she pleads.
“Honey, this isn’t torture. Trust me!” I massage the melted ice into her skin, then fist her hair. “Torture would be not letting you fuck me, and I promise, in about five minutes I’m going to be balls deep in that pretty little pussy of yours.” I tug on her hair, yanking her head back so I can kiss my way down to her shoulder.
She pushes off the desk and spins around, rubbing her hand over my jeans and clawing at me. I slowly pull my shirt off, holding it in my hand as I dig my fingers into her sides and twist her away from me. With one swift movement, I mercilessly slam her face down over the desk.
I stare at her ass, thinking about how much I love the slapping sound it makes when I lay into a woman. “I’m fucking you from behind,” I say, squeezing her firm cheeks in my palms. I loop the shirt around her throat, and tug her head back to me. Sweeping my fingers over her wet pussy, I give it a quick slap, and she jumps a little from that unexpected sensation.
“Fuck, JP. I’m about to die here,” she moans, grinding her bare pussy against me. “You’ve still got half your clothes on.”
I laugh, and, keeping a good grip on my shirt, I use my free hand to unfasten my fly.
“Oh,” she sighs. “Just fuck me, you asshole.” She attempts to turn around, but I hold her in place. “Would you please, for once, take the gun out of your jeans? It makes me nervous.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t like it,” I say, pulling my cock out and stroking it, teasing against her entrance.
A groan bubbles up her throat. Frustrated, she slams her palm over the desk out of frustration. “Fuck me, damn it!”
“Oh, I’m gonna fuck you up,” I growl as I widen my stance behind her.
I’m not gentle at all, I hold the shirt with one hand, and slam my dick into her with the other. She moans loudly, her back arching from the sudden assault.
Her breaths morph into sex-drunken moans, and she tightens around me, the sensation damn near making my eyes roll back in my head, forcing me to grit my teeth. I’m about three seconds from losing my shit when the door is suddenly thrown wide open. I instinctively pull my gun, aiming into the hall. The safety clicks and my finger rests on the trigger. Staring down the barrel, I realize its Richard, and with him is a girl, bound and gagged, on her knees in front of my desk.
“Aw, fuck,” he says, covering his face with his hands. I’m taken so off-guard by the unwelcomed intrusion that I briefly stand with my cock still buried in the woman before pulling out.
“What. The. Fuck?” I shout. I glance back down at the girl in front of Richard. “What the fuck?” I ask again as I shove my dick back inside my jeans.
Crystal’s still sprawled out on the desk, ass in the air, and panting. I snatch the clothes from the floor and hand them to her. “Get out.” She straightens up and takes her clothes from me, a bewildered look plastered to her face. I raise both brows, then smack her ass. “Don’t worry, I’ll finish with you later.”
“You know, your job really is a pain in the ass.”
“Go to work, Crystal, I’d hate to fire my favorite girl for being late anyway.”
She huffs and stomps off, not bothering to dress. She just trots past them both, completely unfazed by any of this. My eyes dart to Richard as I pull in a breath. I wipe my hand over my sweaty chest, and my gaze drifts down to the girl. She’s dressed in jeans and a Vanderbilt University hoodie. Her hair’s a complete mess. She’s covered in grease and dirt, and her eyes are swollen and red.
“The kid couldn’t pay.” He smiles nervously at me. “She’s a deposit.”
I roll my bottom lip underneath my teeth, and bit down, fighting to maintain my calm. “You took a person”—I point at the girl—“as collateral?”
My heart repeatedly slams against my chest, a tingly heat spreading across my body from anger. This motherfucker is stupid as hell. I really want to beat the shit out of him, ram his head against the wall a few good times, but I clear my throat instead, and point my finger at the door. “Get out! I’ll deal with you later.” I manage to keep my tone completely calm, which is, to anyone who knows me, worse than any shouting.
He doesn’t say a word, he just turns, shutting the door behind him as he leaves.
I snatch my shirt from the floor and wipe the sweat from my body. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I inhale deeply before I turn around to look at her. Blonde mussed hair hangs over part of her face, she has a nasty black bruise on one cheek, and she’s staring at the floor, visibly trembling.
I need a drink to handle this shit right here. I shake my head, scratch over my stubbled jaw, and reach for the whiskey. My eyes lock onto hers as I top off the drink. I take a sip, then set the glass on the edge of the desk. Her gaze follows my every move as I grab a cigarette, place it to my lips, and flick the lighter. I take a long drag and slowly blow the smoke in her direction, the light grey cloud blanketing her.
What the fuck am I gonna do with this girl?
She hasn’t stood up. She hasn’t moved a muscle. I lean against the desk, and take another drag, blowing a plume of smoke at her again. She coughs weakly. She’s staring at me like I’m some fucking caged animal that’s been let loose.
“Hmm,” I mumble, balling up my shirt as I push off the desk and walk toward her. The closer I get to her, the bigger her eyes grow. I squat in front of her and pull in another puff. The gag is so tight the material’s cutting into her skin. The least I could do is take it off. Gripping the cigarette between my lips, I reach around the back of her head and unfasten the knot. The cloth falls from her face, revealing a swollen and bloodied lip. He fucking hit her? I’m gonna kill him for this. I brush my finger over her wounded lip, and she jerks away.
“I demand that you let me go,” she says, glaring at me.
I cock a brow at her as a slight smile pulls at my lips. Feisty and British. I won’t pretend the accent doesn’t do something for me. I rise and turn my back to her. “I wish I could.”
“This has nothing to do with me. Your stupid guy took me against my will. Your argument is with Euan, not me.” She’s trying her damnedest to sound strong, but I can hear the slight tremor in her voice. Yeah, she’s pissed, but it’s obvious that she’s scared, and judging by the state of her face, she should be.
I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the edge of the desk as I take puff after puff, stewing over how fucked up this shit is. After a brief moment of silence, I say, “But you’re here, so unfortunately, doll, it now has everything to do with you.”
She hangs her head, leaving it bowed as she lifts her gaze to mine. “Please.” Her voice trembles. “This is a misunderstanding. Please, just let me go,” she chokes.
A sensation I’m not all too familiar with creeps through me, but I swallow that uncomfortable feeling down. There is no room in my world for guilt.
“Now, as much as I’d like to just let you leave, you see, when Euan decided to hand you over to me, you became part of that debt. I’m sure you’ll understand why I can’t let you go, huh?” I shrug. “Don’t take it personally or anything. It’s just business.”
I watch as the gravity of her situation sinks in. Her eyes slowly drop to the floor, and she pulls in a ragged breath like she’s about to burst into sobs. “Please,” she whispers again. She looks so small and vulnerable, it forces me to look away from her.
She may be just a girl, but she is in my house, and unfortunately for her and that dipshit, Richard, she’s now seen my face. She’s a security risk at the very least. “You play nice, your boyfriend pays up, and I’ll let you go unharmed.”
Her gaze narrows. Those eyes of hers are so bloodshot, and all that does is make the deep blue of her irises pop. “Who are you?” she asks, hushed.
“A businessman.” I shrug, then take her by the arm to help her up. I place her against the wall. “You gonna stay there, right?”
“It’s not like I’m going anywhere,” she mumbles.
I take my shirt from the desk and pull it over my head, then dig my cell from my pocket and dial Marney’s number. As usual, he picks up on the first ring.
“Yeah?”
“That deal in Vanderbilt’s fucked up. I’ve got a damn hostage now, and what the fuck am I supposed to do with that?” I groan, my eyes locked on hers.
“A hostage?”
“Yeah, a fucking girl!” Hearing it out loud sends me into a sudden fit of rage. “Someone’s gonna fucking die!” I shout. I exhale in an effort to calm myself. “Call around and find out some more about this Euan kid for me. Tap his fucking line. I want to know everything about him down to what kind of lotion he uses when he jerks off, got it?”
“Yeah, sure thing,” he chuckles. “So, what you gonna do with the girl?”
“I don’t fucking know!”
“Well, have fun with that. I’ll let you know what I find out.” He hangs up the phone, and my eyes zero in on her swollen lip again.
I will fuck Richard up so bad for doing this. I take her by the shoulders and, without saying a word, turn her around, my gaze instantly falling to her bound wrists. The skin is red and raw, the flesh worn into the rope. Bastard. I quickly untie the knot and notice just how deeply the burns have cut into her fair skin.
She wiggles her fingers, working to get feeling back into her hands. “Thanks,” she mumbles.
I don’t know what the fuck to do with her, but she’s got to go somewhere besides here.
”Come on, then.” I reach for her arm to escort her to another room, and the next thing I know, her knee is coming at my balls. I jump back, bite down on my lip, and hiss in a breath. Fucking bitch! I catch both her arms in my hands, jerking her around as I pin them to her sides and slam her into the wall. She fights me, thrashing her entire body in a feeble attempt to get away.
Leaning into her, I place my nose inches from her ear. “Really?” I growl against her neck, as I press her against the wall. “Now, do you think that was a wise decision?”
“Let go of me!” she screams.
I force her harder into the wall. I’m using so much of my own body weight I doubt she can hardly breathe, much less move. “Not a chance,” I say, and push into her more, my thighs now firm against her ass. She gasps, and I keep my voice calm and low as I say, “I’m telling you, girl, it’s best not to test me.” She squirms and her body rubs over me in a way my cock can’t ignore. I back away an inch so she can’t feel that I’m slightly aroused by her.
“Please just let me go,” she begs. “You don’t have to do this. I won’t tell anyone. I won’t call the police. I promise.”
“I don’t trust anyone, not even pretty little blondes. And you know what usually happens to people I don’t trust that try to kick me in the balls?” My hold on her tightens, and I yank down on her arms. “They end up in a fucking body bag.”
She grunts and, without warning, drives an elbow into my stomach. To my surprise, she actually has some force behind it because it knocks the breath from me. That little stunt makes my hold on her let up, and she wiggles from my grasp, running for the door. I storm after her, my heart thrashing in my chest. When I catch up to her, I grab the ends of her long hair, yanking her head back so hard she stumbles and falls to the floor. I drag her back down the dark hallway, and she’s pitching a fit. Screaming, yelling; she’s clawing at my hands so hard that her nails are slicing through my knuckles.
“I’m gonna fucking kill Richard for this shit,” I grumble. She lets out a scream so shrill I’m certain only dogs can hear it, and I cringe. “You can’t just make things easy for me, can you?” I mumble as I plop down in the office chair and pull her onto my lap. “Had to go and make me act like an asshole.”
She’s still fighting me, slapping me, wiggling around. I manage to yank the drawer open despite her bucking like a rabid mule, and I fish out a zip tie. “Would you just fucking be still?”
She screams again, then I grab her by the waist, and in one swift movement, I lay her face down across my lap, wrapping one leg over her thighs to hold her there. “I don’t guess you’re gonna put your hands behind your back without a struggle, huh?” I ask, my tone dripping with sarcasm. She grabs onto the edge of the chair. I guess she thinks that’s going make it more difficult for me to get her hands? I just laugh and take both arms, bringing them behind her back. I fasten the restraint, then pat her on the back. “You gonna behave now? Not try to kick me in my balls again, huh?”
“Fuck you!” she shouts, still struggling underneath my leg.
I trail my eyes down from her hands to her ass, and unfortunately, the way she’s continuing to thrash around combined with the sight of her flipped over my lap and tied puts my dick in a compromising position. I shift my hips, adjusting the semi-hard on I can’t seem to fucking get rid of, then I feel her teeth tear into the upper part of my thigh.
“You crazy....” I hiss at the throbbing pain and grab a fistful of her tangled blonde hair, jerking her head away from my leg. It shouldn’t turn me on, but fucking hell, I love a feisty girl. Fuck, I’m sicker than I thought. I probably need to get the hell away from her.
I rise and she falls from my lap to the floor. Before she has a chance to try and stand, I pick her up, and toss her onto the couch across from my desk.
“You really don’t know when to just stop. Fuck, I was being nice to you!” I say as I loom over her, wiping the sweat from my brow.
“Yes, I’ll just lay down and let you kill me,” she says with bitter sarcasm.
“Who the fuck said anything about killing you? Don’t fuck with me, and you won’t have to lay down and get killed. Damn!” I drag my hand down my face. This is such a fucking pain in the ass. “Don’t fucking move. I’m done playing with you. Just sit right there.” I arch my brow as I point at her, and she looks away. I’m pretty sure she’s afraid to move now.
I fall back in my chair and sit, staring at her and wondering how in the fuck this is ever going to go right.
“I had no idea he was mixed up in any of this shit.” Her face crumples and her head falls back into the couch. “How could I not know?”
The longer I sit here and look at her, the harder that guilty feeling tries to bubble to the surface again. The professional in me knows what I should do, but that dirty, miniscule part of me that still has some deformed part of a conscience is screaming that I shouldn’t. If this were a man, I would have one of my guys kill him, but it’s a fucking girl, and I’d really rather not kill her. I can lie, cheat, steal, kill; I can do a number of horrendous things without batting an eye—as long as it doesn’t involve a woman. And as fucked up as that mess with Joe’s wife was, I can’t go there, even though I know it’s probably safer for me to; I can’t kill her.
“You just…” I shake my head, “stay there.” I stand and pace in front of my desk, then grab the bottle of whiskey, twisting the cap and tossing it to the floor. I turn the bottle up and suck back several mouthfuls of the burning liquor while staring at her. I take one more large gulp, then sit on the floor and slump against the door.
“If you try to leave, you’ll have to get through me. I’ve been pretty fucking patient up until now. Don’t test me.” I flip my shirt up to reveal my gun. “Just so you know, if I have to kill you to get my fucking money, I will.”
Her chin drops to her chest, and she cries. And I drink. I drink until my eyes fucking cross because I see no solution to this situation that I like. At some point, she falls asleep, and I keep tipping back the bottle, watching her. She’s just lying there, arms behind her back, hair matted to her face. I skim over her, stopping to admire her breathing. She’s out cold, and each large swell of her chest forces her breasts up. That is one thing that gets to me, for some reason, watching a woman breathe—the way their breasts rise and fall, it’s a turn-on, and the fact that her hands are tied behind her back is just making each draw she pulls in more pronounced and slightly labored. Fuck me! I have to shake off that automatic response my body has to it. I keep watching her for God only knows how long, my dick pressing against my jeans like goddamn roadkill. I can’t take it any longer.
I manage to stand, but only briefly before staggering and falling into my desk. “Fuck this,” I grumble and grab the knife lying on the desk. “Just fuck it!” I stumble toward her, losing my balance several more times before I kneel next to the couch. I stare at her, flipping the knife in my hand. I shouldn’t do this, but I’m drunk. I take the blade and slip it between her wrists, and the zip tie snaps free. I guess even soulless motherfuckers like me have a weakness. Fuck it to hell. I rub my hand over my head, dropping the knife to the floor when I fall into the wall. I settle back against the door, and my eyes grow heavy. Great! The damn room is spinning. I lean my head against the door and pass out.