Chapter Ten #2
I glanced around quickly to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind and knocked quietly on the bathroom door but got no response.
I sighed, knocking again, a little louder this time with the same results.
I leaned my forehead against the solid surface, closing my eyes as guilt washed through me before finally turning, walking to the door, and letting myself out.
CAM
I stood under the shower, washing off, noting areas of redness on my hips where Mars had held me down as he sucked me off.
I’d wanted him to do even more with me, have him give me a hard fuck, even though how that’d be accomplished without condoms and lube, I had no idea.
I’d run out and hadn’t had time to pick any up, even if I could’ve anticipated a hot roll in the sheets with the gorgeous FBI agent.
I’d ended up settling for giving him a pretty spectacular blowjob, if I did say so myself.
The one he’d given me had been nothing to sneeze at either.
Mars really knew his way around a man’s body.
Most surprising to me had been the tenderness he’d shown during the encounter.
The man was as big as a mountain, and I’d hoped for a little more man handling.
Next time. Shit. If I took him at his word, there wouldn’t be a next time.
I spread shower gel over my body, closing my eyes and cupping my balls as I remembered his touch.
I could still feel his mouth on mine, the way he’d kissed me passionately, abrading my cheeks with his beard, making me want him more than I’d ever wanted any man before.
It had been obvious he had a lot of experience giving blowjobs of his own.
I’d never come as hard as I had tonight.
I had a feeling that this would end up being one of those encounters to tuck away in my spank bank, since the possibility of it happening a second time, was no doubt, nonexistent.
I shut off the water when I felt my fingertips beginning to prune, and got out, toweling off for the second time in an hour.
I hadn’t needed the second shower, but I’d gone into the bathroom to escape Mars’ pitying expression after telling me this was a one off.
I should’ve known he’d be good for one fuck and that’d be it.
I didn’t really expect even that to happen, and if I were being honest, calling trading blowjobs a fuck, was a bit of a stretch.
As I brushed my teeth with the cruddy little toothbrush provided by the hotel, I reflected on how I’d gotten myself into this mess.
I hadn’t told Mars and Mickey how I really felt about Josiah, the terror I felt every time I met with the man.
Though I’d explained my initial meeting with him, I hadn’t wanted to convey how he’d looked at me with pure evil under the placid mask of efficiency he always wore.
I’d responded to his offer of better money, first, being ordered to meet him at the Four Queens, and then, agreeing to keep working for him.
But I hadn’t told either of them that with each car I delivered to him, I’d also given up just a little more control in the relationship. I didn’t think either of those things would be smart to confess. It just made me out to be a weak and easily manipulated asshole.
He’d quickly made me dependent on the money I earned from his jobs.
I’d been barely scraping by before meeting him, scarcely able to make my rent and pay the difference for my mom’s place every month.
Afterward, I’d ended up with enough to keep going, but I hadn’t gotten rich on the jobs he’d doled out here and there.
I’d never been able to put anything aside for a rainy day, or for the day when I would walk away from him.
I wasn’t even sure he’d let me walk away.
I’d always suspected he kept an eye on me the way he did all the guys he had stealing cars for him, including the guys who’d up and disappeared.
And I’d also wondered if he was into other stuff that paid better than the car business.
Guys like Josiah always looked sleek and polished.
He practically dripped with wealth. From the Rolex on his wrist to the cars he drove, to the bespoke Armani suits, I knew he was rolling in dough.
I’d long suspected it came from more than one source.
Then there was the FBI’s interest in Josiah.
Mars’ boss, Captain Sorensen, had been really interested in his vehicle trafficking, but there was definitely more and now that I thought about it, I realized he was probably moving drugs.
Drug smuggling would totally make sense, if that was what this was.
Josiah had the means to do it by moving cars in containers overseas, and he surrounded himself by some pretty scary thugs.
I wondered how many guys like me Josiah had extorted by using family members or by exploiting other flaws they might have.
Finding guys with gambling debts in Vegas was like finding snowflakes in North Dakota.
There was no doubt in my mind that Josiah used guys like me by exploiting weaknesses.
And finding weaknesses in people seemed to be his specialty.
In my case, Mom’s safety and well-being was my Achilles’ heel, and the veiled threat of harming her was always hanging over my head.
Ever since I’d blurted out that stupid comment about having a mom with Alzheimer’s, I’d regretted it, knowing it’d probably get back to Josiah. I was just too stupid to live.
I spat out my toothpaste and rinsed my mouth, wishing I had clean clothes for the millionth time since finding out I wouldn’t be going back to the apartment tonight.
At least then, I’d have fresh underwear to put on in the morning when the FBI came to collect me.
We hadn’t gone over what I’d say to his goons when they showed up at my apartment and for that matter, I wondered how they’d respond when they found out Mom wasn’t going to be at her care home when they went to get her.
Josiah was going to be even scarier than he normally was.
Maybe Mars would give me a gun. I snorted, angry at myself for being so stupid. Holding a gun and firing it with any sort of accuracy were foreign things to me. Given the opportunity, chances were I’d shoot my own dick off by accident.
I wiped my mouth with a hand towel and tossed the one around the waist in the bath before padding back into the bedroom.
One look at the rumpled sheets brought the anger at myself rushing back.
I should’ve never come on to Mars like that, even though I’d been thinking about getting him naked every second since meeting him.
I’d been vulnerable and worried and I’d wanted to change the subject when he’d hugged me close. Well, I’d managed that in spades, another thing to kick my own ass over. I sighed, crawling between the sheets which smelled faintly of his citrus/spice aftershave and sex.
I flipped off the light and laced my fingers together behind my head, ignoring my damp hair, staring up at the ceiling.
I couldn’t see anything in the dark hotel room.
I hadn’t bothered to open the heavy curtains, knowing the million-dollar view of the Strip at night would bring a trillion twinkling lights along with it, keeping me awake.
I stared sightlessly for a long time, then bolted upright. Shit. We hadn’t called Josiah.
I groaned and rolled out of bed, throwing on dirty clothes, and bracing myself with seeing Mars again so soon.
I knocked on his door with great hesitancy, phone in hand.
God only knew what he’d think when he found me here.
It took him a few seconds to answer and when he did, he looked surprised. “Cam, what—”
“We forgot to call Josiah.”
“Shite.” He reached up and ran fingers through his hair, then nodded and stepped back. “Totally forgot.”
I walked in, noting one bed was unmade. He hadn’t changed, still dressed in the same clothes he’d been wearing a half hour before.
“’Ave a seat,” Mars said, waving vaguely in the direction of the unmade bed.
I did, holding up the phone. “I should just say my sister called…that she’s stopping by?”
He nodded as he sat on the bed beside me. Having him so close after practically kicking him out a half hour ago was making me nervous as hell…as if I needed more nerves right now.
“Tell ‘im she’s flying in tonight and will be picking up ya mum to spend the day with ‘er tomorrow. It’s a spur of the moment thing that she does all the time. Tell ‘im ya ‘ave no say in the matter, Cam.” He pinned me with an encouraging look. “Make ‘im believe ya.”
I nodded, looking down at the phone as nerves filled my guts all over again. I took a deep breath and looked at Mars before dialing his number and waiting. I put the call on speaker, praying I wouldn’t fuck up. Josiah picked up after the fourth ring.
“Why are you calling me?” he growled. No greeting. No nothing. Just obvious anger in his voice. “I’ve told you not to do that.”
“I’m sorry, Josiah. I didn’t want to, but my damn sister just called. She’s flying in tonight and called to say she’ll be picking up my mom to spend the day with her tomorrow.”
“Your sister?”
“Yeah, my sister. She’s always doing shit like this.
She never gives me any warning. Sometimes she just shows up on my doorstep.
” Josiah didn’t say anything for a few seconds, so I kept talking, praying I didn’t sound nervous.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you because she’ll expect to stay with me tonight.
She’s a big mooch and it’s not like I can tell her she can’t. ”
“Why the hell should I care about whether she’s staying with you tonight?”
“Because I can’t start packing my apartment with her underfoot. I have a lot of stuff. I know you said your guys were going to move us the next day but neither Mom nor I will be ready until afternoon since I’ll have to wait for my damn sister to leave.”
Josiah let out an audible growl…an honest to God growl. “I’ll tell my guys not to come until five.”