CHAPTER 7
RYAN

I groaned as I woke up, feeling my cock raking against the sheets. Fuck. I’d dreamed about Grace the whole damn night. Had it not been for Jason coming into the house and announcing his presence, I would have had her. I would’ve felt her clamped around my dick, throbbing and soaking me with her juices.

I slid out of bed and tossed my clothes into the hamper. I made my way to the bathroom, my cock swollen and aching for release. I hadn’t been able to shake the thought of fucking Grace all damn night and I had to do something about it.

Turning on the shower as hot as I could stand it, I stepped into the stream. I wrapped my hand around my cock and leaned against the shower wall as pictures of Grace flooded my mind. How beautiful her tits had looked in the moonlight in the back of my car, how soft her thigh felt as I squeezed it in the palm of my hand. She wanted me as much as I wanted her. I could feel her panties getting wetter with every stroke I took over them at the damn dinner table.

Pumping my cock, I started to pant her name.

I bet her curves were luscious. Having a kid? The swelling of those thighs? That little paunch behind her belly button with marks that proved she had grown Harper? It fucking messed me up. I gritted my teeth and pumped into my palm, thinking about all the ways I could take her.

Envisioning her pressed against the bed, her hands pinned over her head and her tits bouncing with each thrust I delivered. I saw her with her ass in the air, taking my cock in her tight, puckered hole. I saw her ass cheeks jiggling as I slid a vibrator into her pussy while I worked her clit with my finger.

Fuck. I bet she still squirmed like she did in high school.

I saw myself pinning her hips to the bed. Devouring that juicy pussy as I lapped up every single drop. I saw us in front of a mirror, her eyes watching us as my cock dove between her thighs. I could still feel her tits against my body. I could feel her breath on my neck. I could taste her salted skin and feel her fingers dancing over my abs.

“Grace. Shit. Holy fuck.”

Pumping into my hand, I gripped myself tighter. I imagined her pussy clinging to me, pulling me deeper into her body as she shook with her orgasm. I bet she was still loud. A screamer. Wailing my name with her nails curled into my arms.

My toes curled into the shower floor as my head fell against the wall. My cock pumped stream after stream of cum onto the tiles as I imagined filling her to the brim. Filling Grace’s throat with my hot cum and pressing myself into her pussy. With my eyes shut tight I watched as my cum ran out of her, each pump holding more for her than the last.

I slid to my knees with my cock limp in my hands, my chest panting.

Grace.

I wanted to mark her in all the ways a man could.

Cleaning myself up, I pulled myself back together. The aching in my hips was gone, but my want for Grace wasn’t. I stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel, then wrapped it around me as I started for my cell phone.

I wanted to call her and apologize for our night being cut so short.

“Morning,” Grace said.

“Good morning, beautiful. Still smiling?” I asked.

“After last night, definitely,” she said.

“I was actually calling to apologize about that.”

“About what?”

“For us being interrupted the way we were,” I said.

“Why would you apologize for something like that?”

“I just… know where things were headed. And I don’t know about you, but I woke up pretty disappointed in the matter.”

“We have people who rely on us. It’s going to happen more often than not.”

“So you’re not upset?”

“Never over something like that,” she said.

“You know what makes me upset?” I asked.

“What?”

“You not texting me when you got home last night.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I got home and there were things that needed to be cleaned up, then I had to run something to my mother’s because Harper forgot it and—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save it for the jury,” I said, with a grin.

“I tried to send you a message as I was laying down in bed, but I forgot to hit ‘send’ before I fell asleep.”

“In bed, huh? Was it a picture?” I asked.

“You’re relentless.”

“I’m a man. So sue me,” I said.

“I’m actually glad you called. I wanted to ask you something.”

“What’s up?”

“How would you feel about me wanting to introduce you to Harper?” she asked.

In any other world, I would have been honored. Ecstatic. Elated even. But with the life I led and the things I was planning on doing, this wasn’t good. Her introducing me to her daughter meant she thought I was sticking around. At least long enough to try and cultivate a relationship with her. With the life I led, I couldn't do that. I would get attached and it would put them in danger. Her meeting Jason was different. He was a teenage boy fully aware of the world around him.

Harper was a five-year old girl who didn’t have a father.

But I really liked Grace, and I knew if I liked Grace I would like Harper. Every single part of me wanted to do it. The only thing holding me back was all this shit Kenneth and Jesse and I were planning.

I knew I was going to regret it, but I went with my heart on the decision.

“I think it’s great,” I said. “But you know I don’t have to meet her simply because you met Jason.”

“No, that’s not why,” Grace said.

“I just—don’t want to mess it up.”

“She’ll love you. I promise,” she said.

Yeah. That was my fear.

“What are you doing Saturday?” Grace asked.

“Nothing, as far as I know,” I said.

“Wanna go to the park with Harper and I?”

“I thought Harper was with your mother until Sunday?”

“I think my mother’s going to be ready to relinquish the little tyrant a day early. Harper left her favorite blanket behind, and when I handed it to my mother, she already looked like she had one foot in the grave.”

“So—she’s just like you,” I said.

“Hey. I resent that comment.”

“Don’t. A bull-headed daughter turns into a strong-willed woman. We need more of those,” I said.

“So you’ll come with us Saturday?”

“I’m looking forward to it,” I said.

I hung up the phone with Grace before a message came through from Kenneth’s burner phone. I rolled my eyes and sighed, noting the meet up place and time. I gathered all the things I’d been picking up around town and tossed them into the trunk of my car, then made my way out to an abandoned warehouse on the opposite side of town.

We never met in the same place twice. My father had learned that lesson the hard way, and we took our cues from him.

“You got the shit?” Kenneth asked.

“Yep. The wide-brimmed hats and the gloves,” I said.

“Where the fuck’s the equipment for the damned power system that bank has?”

“What the hell’s up your ass? I’m going out of town tomorrow to get it. Getting that shit in a small town like this will raise all sorts of flags,” I said. “Where’s the shit you’re responsible for?”

“I got the masks,” Kenneth said.

“I got the jumpsuits,” Jesse said.

“Wasn’t Jesse supposed to get the boots, too? You know, boots a size and half too big?” I asked.

“I’ve got them in my car. Chill out,” Jesse said.

“Yeah, Ryan. Chill the fuck out,” Kenneth said.

“Then stop coming at me with all this heat. It’s not gonna be good for us to go in with whatever “Forgive me if I don’t one-hundred percent trust the son of a guy who got sent to federal prison for getting caught,” Kenneth sneered.

“Where the fuck is this coming from? Have I ever screwed up before? No. And my old man pulled off eight jobs before he got caught. And he only got caught because he got lazy. I am not lazy and you fucking well know that. Your hotheaded ass is more likely to get us jammed up than I am,” I said.

“Well just remember, if you blow this for us, we won’t just kill you. We’ll go after that runt brother of yours, too,” Kenneth said.

“Trust me. I’d pull your throat out from your asshole before you laid a finger on him,” I said.

“You’d better be ready to put your money where your mouth is,” Kenneth said.

“Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t like you. I never have and I never will. And I don’t give one good goddamn how you feel about me. You just chill the fuck out and get the job done and we can be done with one another for good. You got that shit straight?” I asked.

Kenneth clenched his jaw as Jesse took in a deep breath, clearly waiting for Kenneth and I to come to blows.

“You don’t get to threaten me,” I said. “So here’s what’s happening. I’m going out of town tomorrow to get the electrical shit. That’ll get us past the door and back into the vault. It’ll also disable all of those red buttons those bankers can toggle underneath their desk. We’ve got everything else we need to lock down that place while we’re in it and escape out the back. Jesse, you still okay with driving?”

“Yep,” he said. “I’m good with it. Got an average everyday run of the mill car like everyone else has from a tow yard in Ohio. Stole the plates yesterday from a salvage yard. No one will pay any attention to a car that ordinary. Should be the perfect escape vehicle.”

“Good. Once we get back to the vault that’s where you need to head. Kenneth and I will fill up the bags and you’ll have the car running. If we can get to the city limits with at least fifteen minutes between us and the cops, we’re home fucking free,” I said.

“You make it sound easy,” Kenneth said.

“If your temper doesn't fuck it up, it will be,” I said. “Any more questions?”

I watched the two of them shake their heads as I pushed the blueprints toward Kenneth.

“Don’t you call another damn meeting ever again. You don’t run this show. I do,” I said.

Then I picked up my shit, stored it back in my car, and headed back into town.