Chapter 8
R iordan
Outside in the cold, I slid down the wall to park my backside on the floor. Cassie’s apartment was the safest place for her, just as out here was safest for me.
My dick disagreed.
That motherfucker had been alert and raring to go from the moment she made her offer. A lie. From before that, as well. Accepting her was the only thing on my mind.
I’d order her to strip for me. Piece by piece. Her hoodie, her dress. She’d unclasp her bra, and I’d die a thousand deaths at the sight of her tits.
I palmed my face and hid my eyes, needing this to play out, even if only in my head.
Next, she’d remove the remainder of her clothing aside from a tiny pair of knickers. A shocking red pair, knowing her. I’d tell her to keep those on.
I’d never had a lap dance, but I’d seen countless while working in Divine. I’d seen far worse in the brothel, but if I let my mind go there with Cassie in the frame, I’d come in my fucking jeans.
No, we’d start off slow.
She’d straddle me. Tip up my chin to kiss my cheek while commanding me to keep my hands on the back of the sofa. From her comment about wanting to learn, I guessed she had limited experience, which gave me the strangest sense of…what? Duty? Care? Red-hot fucking need?
Either way, she’d learn fast. Or I’d embarrass myself at the first touch. One or the other.
She’d want me naked, because this wouldn’t be a one-way show. She’d take from me as much as I was getting from her. I’d let her remove my shirt. Enjoy her hands sliding over my body. She’d make some quip about strong muscles.
Her touch alone made me hard. God only knew how I’d feel at her fingers reaching my waistband.
I groaned under my breath and repositioned myself on the floor.
From inside the room, Cassie made a sound.
I paused, one hand to the cool floor to jump up. The noise came again. Wait, it wasn’t her, but someone else’s feminine tones. A male voice joined in.
“I’ve come to fix your bedroom light. Wouldn’t want you alone in the dark, mama.”
“I’m so glad you came so fast.”
“Not what most of the ladies say. They want me to take it slow.”
She was watching porn.
Holy fuck.
The man continued speaking. “Like my toolbelt?”
A thud followed, presumably him taking it off. Cassie uttered a gleeful laugh. I pictured her rubbing her hands together and thumped the door with my fist.
She giggled again. “We could be doing this right now, just saying. The difference is that I can act on my problem solo. You’re stuck out there having to listen.”
With a grumble that was fifty percent desperation, I closed my eyes, unable to move away but equally unable to go join her.
The backtrack of cheesy dialogue and sultry music continued, with the porn star guy commenting that he had to strip to his underwear so he didn’t get the woman’s quilt dirty while he fixed her overhead light. Then he groaned in shock as she crept up on him and tugged down his shorts to reveal his dick.
“I’m holding a live wire. I can’t let go. Mama, you’re killing me here. This isn’t part of the service.” The tone changed. “Yeah, that’s all for you. I was hard when you answered the door in that shirt with your nipples poking through. Right then I knew you were a dirty girl.”
Cassie was probably taking notes on the sex act. I strained to hear any sound that wasn’t the film. At last, the guy ordered the woman to let him come on her face and not in her mouth.
I expected another joke. A line about how Cassie was watching carefully. Instead, I picked up a small sigh that was all her.
But of pleasure? Frustration?
I gritted my teeth and let my imagination fill in the gap. She was touching herself for sure. Damning need zapped through my veins, so much, my balls tightened without even a single jerk of my dick.
I breathed through my nose.
Was she naked? Did she have a toy to play with or just her fingers? In my head, all options played out. She’d be shy but enthusiastic. Willing. So goddamned beautiful on her knees.
My dick thickened all the more.
Abruptly, the porn show cut out. I took a sharp inhale, hopelessly turned on.
“You done?” I demanded through the door.
No reply came. No further noises followed.
I waited and waited, my blood still running hot, but Cassie wasn’t answering me now. After long minutes, I picked up the faint sound of breathing, as if she’d taken a nap after her hard work.
For fuck’s sake.
I was charged up still, desperate and on the edge, though I wasn’t going to touch myself. Not only for the sake of being out in the corridor but because it didn’t feel right. I wanted her on me. Under me. With me.
That electricity in my veins shifted to something else. No matter how badly I was attracted to Cassie—a need that apparently refused to die no matter what she did—I had good reason not to go there.
The longer I sat in the cold corridor, the darker my thoughts became.
Anger ate away at me. A bitterness that I’d never felt in my life, not even when I’d realised the reason Genevieve’s dad hated me. Adam Walker had never been kind to me in his whole life, not when I was a kid and not when I’d returned to live with him as a teenager. Yet he’d kept up the facade of being my parent, at least on paper, and presumably for the rest of the family’s sake.
When I’d finally confronted him, he’d laughed in my face.
It hurt to think about. Not his rejection but the child version of me wanting his approval and having no hope of getting it. He’d fawned over Gen, and I’d watched from the sidelines. Mum had doubled down. I realised now that she’d done everything she could to give me what I needed, and I’d loved her with my whole heart. I missed her so badly I was almost proud of Adam for hunting down and ending the life of the gangster who killed her.
Almost. I was in a gang now. That revenge could’ve been mine.
Yet over all of this was a worse consideration. The true source of my twisted hate.
The mayor. For all Adam had done, he’d never wished me dead. Mayor Makepeace had happily thrown that in my face along with the jibe from his partner in crime, Piers, that he’d only ever wanted a son to be proud of. Implying that could never be me.
A chill crept in around me.
The mayor had been equally vicious to his daughter. Everly was a sweetheart. Gentle, helpful, and softly spoken. He’d given her over to a man who would’ve abused her.
Yet it was whatever he’d done to my mother that killed me. She was openness and truth, but he’d forced silence and fear. I wished I’d had time to ask for more details, but history spoke for itself.
Revenge was a cure for a bitter heart. Mine was broken. There was no chance of fixing it if I was to go head-to-head with the mayor, and I couldn’t live with the knowledge of what he’d done.
Someone needed to bring him down, and that person was me.
I didn’t know how, but a month ago, I hadn’t been in a gang with access to dangerous men and weapons. I only wished I’d had more time to learn.
The morning crept on. A storm rolled in and darkened the windows at the end of the hall. Rain spattered the panes.
I kept to my post. Read the updates from Tyler and the team. Watched the cameras which I’d now accepted access to. Nothing happened to make me worry. Or to distract me from my spiralling thoughts.
Eventually, I clambered up. I needed a quick bathroom break but wasn’t willing to open the door to Cassie again. The cameras showed me Tyler was in the entrance hall at the bottom of the staircase, so I tried the doors across the hall. The first two were locked, but the third gave me what I was looking for. I did my business, splashed my face with water, then stomped back to my post.
Cassie’s door was wide open.
My heart lurched. I flew forward and stuck my head in her living room. “Cassie?” I bellowed.
A click from behind had me spin around. Cassie was at the far end of the corridor. She’d changed. Spiked heels—the source of the click—and a floaty red dress with long sleeves but an ultrashort hem.
I stared at her, my heart racing. “How did you get out?”
“I have a spare key, obvs.”
Astonishment flashed along the path of my upset. The whole time, she’d let me believe I had the upper hand. Yet for all the long hours I’d spent out here, she’d been able to leave.
My chest rose and fell on a heavy breath. None of my mood had left me. Being outsmarted by Cassie yet again was the nail in my coffin of control.
“Back inside,” I growled.
“Nah, don’t think I will.” Holding my gaze, she stepped backwards.
I took a pace in her direction.
Cassie turned and fled.
For fuck’s sake. I bolted after her, my heavy biker boots thudding and echoing on the floor. At the grand staircase, she fled down in a rapid staccato beat of those damn high heels. I put on a burst of speed with an arm out to catch her. Her hair ghosted over my fingers, just beyond my grasp. There was no one else in sight in the entrance hall now, and Cassie reached the marble floor and spun around, still moving away and with the most infuriating smirk on her face.
“I worked out why they called it a rampant rabbit?—”
With a snarl, I grabbed her. Then I crowded her to a pillar. “Stop talking.”
She peeked up. “Why?”
“You’re driving me insane.”
Cassie hesitated for a beat then wound her arms around my taut neck. She jumped into my arms. I had no choice but to catch her.
And hold her.
Surprise chased away some of my pain. In my arms, she was warm, a slight weight that felt good. Somehow not strange. She crossed her ankles behind the small of my back, her dress riding high around her waist so the only thing keeping her decent was me.
Fucking hell.
“What are you doing?” I managed.
Her reply was a whisper. Her lips so close to mine. “The first time I saw ye was in your fight on Divide’s floor. Ye were savage. Ready with your fists and so determined. Know what I wanted in that moment? For ye to hold me, just like this. But that isn’t why I leapt into your arms. You’re upset about something. I can feel it pouring off ye. I also knew there was no way I was going to get under your skin without a chase. You might not be ready to kiss me, but don’t tell me you’re not in need of this, too.”
She tucked her head into the crook of my shoulder.
Goddamned hugged me.
I was frozen. Furious.
Her heat defrosted me until, glacier-slow, I sank into the hug. It was impossible to resist. My head came down next to hers, those curls of hers a soft pillow. My grip on her tightened then settled to a close hold. The pillar supported us both.
When was the last time anyone hugged me for the sake of comfort?
Though I’d relaxed, my heart thundered.
It was all I could hear, the race of my blood in my ears. Then Cassie’s breathing took over. Her steady inhales and exhales. A hitch as I squeezed her closer.
Those bare legs of hers were stretched wide around my middle, and I shifted my hands to make sure her dress covered her. Which meant I was cupping her ass. She made another soft sound.
I inched back to see her face. Her pretty eyes were hazy. Her pink tongue moistened her lips. Too fucking tempting.
I forced out words in a growl. “If you run like that again, I’ll tie you down.”
“Didn’t figure ye for kinky, but I’m game.”
Lightning crackled between us.
Someone cleared their throat.
I whipped around to find Tyler at the end of the corridor.
“Lunch is up. I messaged you both but I can see you’re occupied.”
Fuck. I was on the clock, working for the skeleton crew while allowing myself to get entirely distracted.
In pain, confused, hard , I set Cassie on her feet, ignoring her huff of frustration.
Hugging her, or allowing her to hug me, had been yet another mistake. No matter how good it had felt.