Chapter 2
Sir Daniels
Ileaned against the cool granite of my penthouse kitchen counter. My black satin pajama pants hung low on my hips, and my arms folded across my broad tattooed chest as I tried to channel some calm into the restless energy coursing through my body.
I opened the door to find her standing there, her cocoa-brown eyes holding a hint of something reckless and her full lips parted slightly as though she was still catching her breath from whatever decision had propelled her to my door at the ungodly hour.
Her curly black hair was a wild mane around her face, and even though there were shadows under her eyes, a testament to her exhaustion, there was no mistaking the spark of excitement that lit them up like embers.
“Didn’t think you’d actually show,” I murmured, stepping aside to let her in.
“Neither did I,” Averie replied, her voice husky, telltale of the fatigue that pulled at her petite but fiercely curvy frame. But there was no nervousness in her stance, just a kind of bone-deep tiredness that made me want to take care of her for the night.
“Come on in. You look like you could use this.” I guided her toward the kitchen and pushed a mug of freshly brewed black coffee into her hands.
Her lean caramel fingers brushed against mine, sending a jolt of electricity through me.
Averie brought the cup to her lips, sipping slowly, her gaze never leaving mine.
“Thanks,” she acknowledged, relaxing ever so slightly against the marble island. “The investigation is a mess, Sir. Leads are going nowhere fast.”
I grunted, leaning back to observe her. “Figured as much. But we’ll handle it. My guys are on it too.”
She scoffed. “Of course they are,” she said with a touch of dry amusement in her tone.
But details weren’t forthcoming, and we danced around the specifics like seasoned pros.
It was our way and always had been. I didn’t press.
She knew I loved the streets since we were kids.
I was raised with killers, and all I hung around was badass mothafuckas.
My hustle was unstoppable. But lately, I’d been stressing.
Niggas were on my head, vying for my spot at the top of the food chain.
I’d handle it my way, and she’d handle it hers.
All that mattered now was that she was with me.
“Tonight’s not about that, though… is it, Averie?” I quizzed, the corner of my mouth quirking up in a half-smile as I closed the distance between us.
I felt the gravity-like pull, the desire to start what was shaping up to be a sleepless night for us both.
I didn’t care if we fucked standing up, sitting down, sideways, on her knees, in the morning, or late at night.
All I wanted to do was be inside her. I couldn’t wait to pull her lengthy, black hair and hear her sing my name. Still, I wouldn’t rush the moment.
“No.” She breathed out, locking eyes with me. “It’s not about that at all.”
I felt a surge of triumph mixed with raw need.
This woman, the fuckin’ force of nature, had chosen to come to me after years of a cat-and-mouse game that had nearly driven me mad with wanting.
Averie and I were a recipe for a disaster, and I didn’t give not one fuck.
I planned to take my time. Tonight, she was mine, and God help anyone who tried to tear her away before dawn.
“Then let’s not waste any more time,” I growled softly, the anticipation of the night ahead lighting a fire in my veins. I slid my hand along her soft jaw, feeling her lean slightly into my touch. She pulled away, moving to sit down on a stool, the hint of a smile playing on her lips.
“Agreed.”
I watched Averie take another slow sip of the coffee, steam swirling around her face like a tender caress.
The silence between us was charged, heavy with unspoken words and the weight of our impulsive actions earlier in the closet.
I noted how the dark liquid seemed to revive her, adding a subtle sheen to her dark eyes that had been dulled by fatigue.
As if on cue, Averie set down her mug with a decisive click against the gleaming surface of the countertop, her gaze steady on mine.
“We can’t have an open relationship,” she stated bluntly, her tone carrying that familiar authoritative edge I found so fuckin’ sexy.
“And who knows…” she continued, a shrug lifting her coat-covered shoulders as if she were discussing something as ordinary as the weather.
“We may both want it to end after tonight.” Her gaze drilled into me, betraying the importance of whatever she was about to say.
“However it goes, nobody can know about this, Sir. And I mean… nobody. If anyone asks, I was here following up on the case.”
I leaned back against the counter, crossing my arms over my chiseled, bare chest. My muscles flexed subtly.
“You know I’ll take care of you if you lose your job.
I won’t let your lifestyle change. That’s not my style.
” My voice softened, a rarity for me, but the sincerity was unmistakable.
“I don’t want to settle on having you just for tonight, Averie. I want you forever.”
Averie Morris set the bar back in high school. It didn’t make sense that we were still teetering on such a thin line after fourteen years. She’d been fighting me so hard when we both knew I was her heartbeat. Watching her run away from her feelings was almost as amusing as it was infuriating.
The impact of my words hit her visibly. Her caramel cheeks flushed a dark pink, and she darted her eyes away.
Her lashes cast long shadows on her high cheekbones.
She might not have wanted forever with a gangsta, but I saw the truth in her quickened breath and the way she chewed on her lower lip.
It was a telltale sign that she was affected more than she wanted to admit.
Whether she realized it or not, she’d sealed her fate earlier in the closet.
She was mine. Still, I said nothing, giving her the semblance of control she desperately clung to.
After a minute, Averie’s gaze snapped back to mine, fierce and unyielding. “I don’t want your charity, Sir. I want what you promised me. I want you to homicide this pussy. We don’t need a title for you to do that.”
There she is. There’s the Averie I know.
My lips curled into a grin at her blunt reply. Bold, brash, never one to mince her words or shy away from what she wanted—it was one of the many reasons I found her so enticing.
“Then you’ll have it,” I said, my pitch charged with the promise of pleasure to come. I pushed from the counter, closing the distance between us in two long strides. “I’ll give you everything you want, Averie. Everything.”
Her eyes met mine, and I saw the flicker of desire, raw and wild, that mirrored my own. The electric connection between us was undeniable, unstoppable. And we were finally about to stop denying it.
She smirked at me, her dark eyebrows lifted in a teasing way that was sexy as hell. But then, everything about her had always been attractive to me. “I told you, Sir. I just want your dick.”
My laughter rumbled deep in my chest, the sound as dark and rich as the night outside. I flashed Averie one of my most charming smiles for two o’clock in the morning, the kind that had disarmed many but seemed to only harden her firmness to resist me.
“Have it your way, detective,” I conceded, the corner of my mouth quirking upward. “I’ll give you whatever you want. And if you want a secret affair, that’s what you’ll have for now.”
The for now hung silently between us like the view of the city’s lights that twinkled beyond the windows of my penthouse.
Averie nodded, a determined tilt to her rounded chin as she excused herself to freshen up. When she returned, a clean, minty scent clung to her. She moved past me with an exhalation of breath, heading straight for the floor-to-ceiling windows that framed the city below.
“You must feel like the king of the world up here,” she remarked, her voice revealing a hint of awe.
I couldn’t deny the power the view afforded me, but as I approached Averie, I knew that the true force in the room was the woman standing before me.
I reached out, turning her around to face me, and without a word, my lips claimed hers.
Her hands found my arms, gripping them tightly as she rose on her tiptoes to meet the intensity of my kiss.
Desire surged through me, wild and uncontrollable, like a bucking bronco, as Averie pressed her chest into mine.
Her body spoke the language of need that words could never fully describe.
My pulse hammered in my ears, every nerve ending burning with the fire that sparked whenever we touched.
It wasn’t just lust; it was a craving deep in my bones, a yearning that went beyond the physical.
I wanted Averie Morris, every inch of her, and I finally had her exactly where I wanted her.
My grip on Averie softened as I pulled back from our kiss, the electric charge between us pulsing in the air. My gaze flickered with a playful dominance, an ironic twist to my lips.
“I do feel like a king up here,” I murmured, voice low and smooth as aged cognac. “But tonight… I’m your servant, and you’re my queen. Let me show you, Averie.”
I guided her toward the plush couch, its dark fabric facing toward the city lights that shimmered like a custom constellation through the windows.
Averie moved with me, a mix of confidence and curiosity in her steps.
I watched as she eased onto the cushions, her posture majestic yet inviting.
I lowered myself before her, kneeling as if she were royalty and I, her devoted subject.