Chapter 17
Joey had the sense not to ask her any questions before they arrived back at his place.
His unit hadn’t changed much since the last time she had been there. It still had the same minimalist decor representative of how little time he spent in the quaint apartment. There were no photographs or anything else that made it feel personal. It was clear that if he had to up and move, it wouldn’t take long to pack it all up.
The bottle of whiskey was set down on the center island of the kitchen in front of her at her request.
Layne sat there on a kitchen stool her head held in her hands with her fingers tucked into her hair. When she finally looked up, she saw his puppy-like brown hues locked on her and filled with concern.
“Stop staring at me like I’m a wounded animal.” She hated it when her emotions got the best of her, except for anger. She was more than happy to embrace that one any day of the week.
Her hand reached out, pulled the bottle closer to her, and removed the cork. Taking a swig straight from the bottle she let out a sigh as the smooth burn traveled down her throat.
Joey came around from the other side of the island and pulled out a seat for himself. Perching on the stool, he turned to face her.
“What did you want to talk about?” Her eyes drifted over the label of the whiskey bottle to avoid any more looks of pity in her direction. Angel’s Envy. The bottle had an outlined design of feathery wings down the backside of the clear glass container.
His hands reached over and grabbed her legs, pulling her so the stool swiveled to rotate her to face him.
“Last night.” His hands remained latched onto her legs.
Her eyes reluctantly looked over at him. “The part where you left two bodies in Eric’s house or the part where you railed into me on the hood of your car?”
From the draw of his deep breath, it was clear he was summoning as much patience as he could. “Layne, I get there is a lot of fucked up shit going on. You gave me your word last night that you weren’t going to run from this, from us.”
“I’m still here, aren’t I?” It sounded bratty, even to herself. “You told me you just needed to get into Eric’s house to go poke around and look for information. You dropping bodies was not part of the plan. Do you realize how stupid that was? If Eric knew that it was you or that I had any knowledge of what was going on, I’d be six feet in the ground by now or worse.”
Her temper was beginning to roll and it felt better to embrace it than some of the other feelings trying to resurface. Layne lifted the bottle of amber liquid and before she was able to bring it to her mouth again, Joey’s hand grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
“First off, I didn’t have a choice.” He pulled the whiskey from her grasp and set it to the side out of her reach. “Second, he’s not going to lay a hand on you.”
She gave a short laugh of disbelief at how delusional Joey was to think he was going to step in and be able to protect her. That may have been the case a year ago, but it sure as hell wasn’t the same world she was living in now. “Good luck with that.”
He perked a brow at her. Before he could comment, she continued her thoughts, “In case you missed the memo, we’re going to tie the knot so that Liam and I aren’t executed in a horrible and grotesque display of fucked up dominance across the city’s factions. Eric’s ready to charge full steam ahead on this little agreement we have. He was at my house this morning, fucking around with my security system all in the name of ensuring my safety.”
She stood up to walk away from him, but his hand curled around her wrist and tugged her back so she was standing between his legs while he sat there on his stool. Joey’s other hand came up to hold onto her chin so she could stare at him while he spoke calmly to her. “What did I just tell you? That twisted motherfucker is not going to lay a goddamn hand on you.”
Attempting to refrain from rolling her eyes at him she shook her head in disbelief. “What makes you so sure of that?” Her eyes searched his face for any hint that he had a miracle stored away.
“Because, Layney, you’re mine and I’m not sharing. Now, sit your pretty ass down so I can tell you what I need to say.”
“And if I don’t?” She was being a challenging pain in the ass, but she didn’t give a damn as her words began to come out hot. He had signed up for this the moment he stepped foot back inside her house asking for a favor. “Are you going to come at me again like you did when you told me that I should stop taking pills? They’re the only thing that is keeping me fuckin’ sane right now as I deal with all of this bullshit. If I’m not dealing with Liam’s unhinged ass, it’s Eric, or you, or maybe the fact that I have to worry about getting shot at in public on any given day. You haven’t been around for the past year, so news flash, people change and I’m doing what I can to cope.”
Joey’s gaze darkened as Layne indirectly admitted that her coping mechanism of using pills hadn’t ceased. He stood up to his full six-foot-two height towering over her. “Give me a reason to remind you that I don’t ask twice.”
Maybe it was the whiskey, or maybe it was the mounting pressures she was dealing with, but she straightened up, not willing to back down this time. “You talk a big game.”
He nodded as he considered her response. Joey’s hand came up along the back of her neck until he had a handful of her hair in his grasp. He tilted her head back so that she was looking up at him. “Suit yourself.” He spun her around until she was bent over the top of the counter.
Stepping up behind her, he sealed his hips up against her ass. Even through the thick jeans, she could feel the swell of his cock begging to be freed. Leaning over and whispering into her ear, “We’re going to have this conversation whether you want to be my good girl or not.”
The next thing Layne felt after he took a step back was the sharp sting of his palm landing on her ass. It was his way of ensuring he had her undivided attention. It elicited a sudden squeak from her, and when she tried to stand back up straight, his hand slid down from her hair and firmly pressed between her shoulder blades so she remained bent over the counter for him.
He continued to explain himself to her. “As I was trying to tell you, I had no intention of taking out two of Ellis’ men. They were unfortunate but required casualties. If I hadn’t indisposed them, you and I both wouldn’t be here right now.”
She pushed back against his hand but he kept her pinned there. “That still doesn’t make up for?—”
Joey’s hand came smacking back down onto the same spot on her ass, this time a little more vigorously. “I’m not done yet.”
His hand reached around and tugged hard enough on the button of her jeans that it popped off entirely. It caused the sound of a light dink against the floor when it landed and rolled away. Joey made quick work of her zipper before he shoved the jeans down over her ass, exposing the bare flesh of her cheeks and the thin strip of material between them. A light flush of pink on the one side from where his hand had made contact twice already.
Layne wiggled underneath his hold. Her teeth pressed into her lower lip finding herself getting heated at her center despite wanting to take her anger out on him. She then parted her lips to say something and before any sound came out, Joey cleared his throat as both a warning and a reminder.
“Now, about last night. There was a small snag in what I was able to get my hands on and I’m going to need your help to get it.” He dragged his hand down along her spine to join his other hand as they both slid down over the curve of her exposed rear until they settled between her legs. He applied pressure, spreading them open at his command.
He continued talking while his fingers toyed with the narrow and stretchy material of her thong. He ran two fingers along the soft material up to the waistline and down all the way to its midpoint where he felt her arousal dampening the underwear. “However, before we get to that,” he gave a tug on the strip of fabric allowing it to tug against the more intimate parts of her, “I’m laying down my rules.”
Layne felt his fingers so close to her body which was already begging him to explore further. Her eyes looked back at him, while her hips pressed into his touch hoping to get more of his attention.
He pulled on the back of her thong before releasing it to lightly smack against her skin. It was followed by the sound of his belt coming undone and the zipper of his jeans sliding down.
When he leaned over, his hard cock teasingly pushed between her thighs. Joey placed one hand on either side of her bent-over body on the countertop and leaned against her back close enough that his breath wisped at the skin on the back of her neck. “Rule one,” he rolled his hips so that his length rubbed against her. “No running. I don’t care how hard things get. If you run away this time, I will hunt you down and drag you back a thousand times over until you realize I’m all in and I’m not going anywhere.”
Layne swallowed hard, whimpering at the sensation of the heat of his body so close but not giving her the touch she wanted. The pace of her breathing ticked up a notch.
“Two,” he slid his hands down over her arms until they rested on her wrists putting pressure on her hands to stay where they were. “No more damn pills. If you want an escape, I will fuckin’ worship your body in every way I know how until you can’t even find it in you to scream out to God anymore.”
She pressed her lips together, squirming underneath him at the discomfort of his second demand to knock off her reliance on the prescription drug to wash away her stress.
He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. The sensation seemed to draw away her anxieties for a brief moment. “Finally, my favorite, rule three.” He paused and smirked down at her. “No more of these.” His hand traveled down to the side of her hip, his hand wrapped around the waist of her thong and forcefully tugged. The material easily gave away under the sudden onset of force.
Layne gave a light gasp followed by an excited smile.
He dropped the now useless article of clothing to the floor. “Any questions?”
She pushed her hips back against his thick length. “When does all the worshipping begin?”
He grinned already knowing by the feel of the warmth of her soaked pussy rubbing over him that she was very much looking forward to being taken. For added measure, he rubbed his aching cock against her slit. Her arousal left a sheen of desire along the top of his shaft. “If you had been a good girl, I’d already have you riding my dick.”
He pulled back and tucked himself back into his pants despite the way he wanted to get another hit from his addiction to her body. “Since you wanted to mouth off, you’re going to have to wait.”
As he pulled away from her, her body’s anticipatory tension tanked. Every part of her felt lit up like a firework about to be launched toward space, only to have the fuse fail before the fun could even begin. At first, she frowned in frustrated disappointment, then she furrowed her eyebrows at him for leading her on. “You can’t be serious.”
With a sigh, she tugged her jeans back up, only zipping them since the button suffered a glorious end to its functionality.
He walked over to the freezer and pulled the bottom drawer open. “As the grave.”
Joey reached in and grabbed a pint of Baileys Irish Cream flavored H?agan-Dazs and lifted it for her to see. “Go sit on the couch, Layne.” So demanding, wasn’t he?
“Ice cream is not really what I’m in the mood for.”
After retrieving a spoon, he walked up to her, capturing her chin with his fingers, and gently kissed her. “Next time, don’t make me ask twice.” He grinned unapologetically.
After she begrudgingly went and sat on the sofa, she tried to ignore the desire that was screaming at her between her legs. Layne drew her legs up onto the couch with her, criss-crossing them.
He joined her and handed her the pint of ice cream and the spoon before sitting down next to her. Comfortably, he leaned back and rested an arm along the back of the dark grey sectional. The dark brown of his eyes settled on her as she opened up the frozen dessert and began to dig in. Despite the dirty looks she was giving him, Joey could have watched her like this all damn day.
Layne moaned quietly on the first taste of the ice cream as it danced across her taste buds. It had been far too long since she had indulged in this particular sweet treat.
Discreetly, Joey adjusted himself at the sound of her approval. It was going to be a long evening if she kept that up. By making his point to her there by the kitchen counter, she wasn’t the only one who was being left unsatisfied here.
After Layne finished her pint of ice cream, Joey internally questioned how the hell it was possible to be so painfully hard watching a woman enjoy something as innocuous as a little frozen dessert. The idea of jerking off to find relief didn’t even appeal to him when she was sitting right there, so close to him.
With the television on some show about two brothers and the family business, Layne curled up into Joey’s side. He dropped his arm around her shoulders, keeping her close. His fingers traced small and senseless patterns along her arm as they sat there just enjoying one another’s presence.
He looked down at Layne, he parted his lips to say something but before the words came out, he shut his mouth after thinking better of it. A few more moments passed and he finally spoke up. “I will raise all hell for you, always. Don’t ever question that.”
When she didn’t respond, he shifted to lean over and take a peek at her face. Layne’s eyes were shut as she was soundly asleep in his embrace. Joey kissed the top of her head and carefully maneuvered her, doing his best not to wake the little Irish beast in the process.
He shifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom where he got her tucked in. He joined her moments later. His fingers tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as he leaned over and whispered a few words to her knowing she’d never know of his confession to her come morning.