Savage (Park Avenue Kings #1)

6. Cooper

6

COOPER

T HE AMOUNT OF hours I’d spent mining information that never amounted to much was mind blowing. Being a journalist meant days and nights singularly focused on one story, hoping for a breadcrumb that could lead you to a bigger break.

So far my breadcrumbs had only led to a near-death experience and a whole lot of nothing else. Nothing I could use, anyway. I knew where a lot of the dealers congregated, which is how I’d ended up following some of them to an alley. I had photos of faces, had tracked down all I could find on them, had sussed out hidden drug spots, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. I still had no idea who the ringleader was, and no one was freely giving their name.

The only actual evidence I had was the key card, or whatever it was that I’d found, which I’d hidden somewhere safe.

I scrubbed a hand over my face and reached for my coffee mug only to find it empty. Surviving on caffeine felt like a requisite of the job, and God knew I’d gone through enough that it’d probably replaced the blood in my veins at this point. Hell, when was the last time I ate something? It was already dark out, though that didn’t mean much when the city was pitch black by five in the winter, but the clock on my phone said ten p.m.

Later than I thought. And what did I have to show for it?

Sighing, I went to close my laptop when an email notification popped up in the corner, and I clicked it open. When they deemed it too late to call with the time difference, my parents had resorted to sending emails to check in, and I skimmed through it to make sure there was nothing urgent that needed my attention or response.

Are you ready to come home yet… Will you be coming back for your grandfather’s 90th next month… Have you found a job… Are you being safe… Do you need any money?

I snorted at that, because they hadn’t given me money since I was fifteen and started mowing lawns. Would things be tight down the road if I didn’t get a job soon? Uh, yeah. But that would happen…at some point.

After writing back a response and promising to elaborate more later, I hit send and let my gaze wander out the lone window in my apartment. The view wasn’t anything much, not with the fire escape blocking most of it, but it was enough to let in the moonlight. I hadn’t bothered with curtains, being on the top floor, and I doubted anyone was interested enough to peer inside and watch me sit at a cramped desk most of the time. Although I’d considered getting some the last few days, because paranoia had made it feel like someone was following me. All. The. Time.

Are you being safe? If my family only knew just how unsafe I’d been, they’d have my ass on the next flight home.

Which was exactly why they didn’t know the reason I was really here. It’d been only too easy to say I needed to get away from it all after losing Alex, that I needed time and space away from my hometown.

While I hadn’t been lying about that, I hadn’t given them the whole truth—the part about wanting to find the people responsible for his death and bring them to justice. But to do that, I needed to stay alive myself.

This headspace was not going to help me fall asleep anytime soon, no matter how tired I was. I needed to think about something more carefree, more positive, and when my eyes fell to the empty coffee mug sitting on my desk, the image of Lachlan Stone immediately came to mind.

Now there was a positive. One I’d never expected to find. But every time I needed to pull myself away from the dark side of this city, his sexy smile and obvious attraction to me was my new go-to.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so drawn to another person. It’d been almost instant—the chemistry, the ease, the comfort I felt with him. But it was even more than that. He’d made me forget why I was here in the first place, to just stop and enjoy the moment. Stop and enjoy him.

And boy had I.

From his coffee-colored eyes to his tousled brown hair and stubble shadowing his lips and strong jaw, he was difficult to sit across from and actually form coherent sentences with. But somehow I’d managed. I’d even flirted with him, which was insane. I wasn’t the kind of guy who just ran into some random person at a coffee shop then sat down and eye-fucked him across a table, but I wasn’t alone with that. He’d come on to me as well.

At least, I’d thought he did. I still couldn’t believe it had happened, not really, and if it wasn’t for the business card sitting by my laptop, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.

A quick way to confirm it would be to give him a call, but something was holding me back. I wasn’t sure if it was the circumstances of how we met, the fact I would feel guilty doing something fun when I knew the real reason I was here, or that maybe, just maybe, there was something niggling in the back of my mind about how Lachlan seemed a little too good to be true.

Maybe that was the cynical side of me. Or the paranoid one.

I reached for the card sitting on my desk and ran my thumb over his number, Lachlan’s confident smile flashing through my mind as his gorgeous face appeared in vivid detail. My eyes drifted shut as I slumped back in my chair, imagining his wicked chuckle as he teased me about getting into trouble.

I shifted in my seat, propping my feet up on the small footrest beneath the desk, and allowed the dream to take over, to pull me in deeper to a place far away from my tiny-ass apartment. Back to the coffee shop where Lachlan sat across from me, his darkened eyes roaming over my body.

My fingers tightened on the small card I held connecting me to reality as I slipped further into my dream, and my head fell back against the headrest.

It felt like déjà vu, reaching for my coffee at the café’s pick-up counter, only for the sinfully sexy man beside me to reach it first.

Only this time, he didn’t pick it up but turned his attention on me instead.

Oh fuck. The man was even more handsome up close. His eyes practically smoldered as he ran them over my face and down the length of my body, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

He moved, cornering me so my ass hit the counter, and I let him, too stunned by all that intensity focused on me.

He was just… Wow .

And then he licked his lips, drawing my attention to them, and said, “So, what do you say we get out of here?”

My pulse began to race with need as the mysterious man gave me a sensual smile. There was no way anyone said no to whoever he was, and the knowing look in his eyes told me he knew I wouldn’t either.

I had to at least try to play the game.

“I don’t even know your name,” I said.

“Lachlan Stone,” he replied in that smooth, deep voice. “And you’re Cooper.”

“How do you ? —”

“It’s on your cup.” He shifted his stance so his arm brushed up against mine. “Looks like we’re not strangers anymore.”

I heard the question again in what was left unsaid: do you want to get out of here?

Did I? Even though I knew nothing about him but his name?

Fuck yes I did.

I didn’t even have to tell him to lead the way; he already knew I was ready and willing.

Leaving our coffees on the counter, he took my hand and led me out of the café, and a thrill raced through my body at doing something so spontaneous. Back home, many would even call it reckless, just going off with a strange man I barely knew. It wasn’t like me at all, but that only added to the high as he steered us into an alley that felt…familiar. I couldn’t place why, but I didn’t have time to think on that, because Lachlan spun me around so that my back was up against the brick.

“Finally getting you right where I want you,” he whispered as he pushed his leg in between mine.

I angled my head to the side as warm lips caressed the side of my neck. “Finally? We only just met.”

“I’ve been watching you.” His mouth moved up to nip at my jaw. “Waiting.”

My eyes flew open. “You have?”

“Mhmm. For days. The way you fill out these jeans…” He lowered his hand to rub my cock, and I sucked back a moan.

Maybe I should’ve felt unnerved at his words, but all I could focus on was that he’d noticed me, and now his hands were on me. This breathtakingly gorgeous man saw and wanted me . That wasn’t alarming in the slightest—that was hot as hell.

I slid my hands down to his tight ass and hauled him in even closer. He grinned against my neck before raising his head to look at me, and God, that stare. It was so all-consuming, made me want to do anything he asked, and I hoped he would.

A flick of his fingers and my jeans were unbuttoned. Then Lachlan took his time lowering my zipper, and my breathing became more rapid. Especially when he parted the material and reached inside to ? —

Something in my periphery moved, catching my attention, and I jerked my head to the left to see a tall, dark figure walking toward us from the depths of the alley. He was dressed fully in black, from his trench coat to his mask to his heavy boots, and I felt recognition spark when I looked at him.

Wait. This alley…the masked vigilante… I’d been here before. I’d seen whoever he was do unspeakable things, and yet as he made his way closer, I didn’t feel fear.

I felt anticipation. Curiosity. Desire.

But none of that made sense. He needed to leave. There was no trouble here for him to handle. It was just me and a sexy stranger, who had his fingers wrapped around my dick ? —

I looked down at where I’d felt his hand, but it was gone. Lachlan was gone, like he’d disappeared with the wind.

What the…

Pushing off the wall, I turned my attention to the masked man moving closer and said, “What did you do?”

He cocked his head as he continued toward me, but didn’t answer.

“Where did he go?” I asked. “What did you do with Lachlan?”

The second the words were out of my mouth, though, they felt unnecessary. Because my erection hadn’t gone away when Lachlan disappeared. It was throbbing harder than ever.

I wanted to ask him what he wanted from me, but he moved with a purpose that told me without words. So I waited, willing him closer, and wondered what I’d find hidden beneath his layers. And then he reached for me ? —

I jerked awake suddenly. I was no longer in the alley but in my chair in my apartment.

And standing outside my window was the very masked man I’d been dreaming about.