Chapter Ten
King disconnected hiscall with Traeger, wondering what was going through Ayesha’s mind. He’d known she was there but let her hear his conversation. Early this morning, his Sergeant at Arms called to inform him about the rescue of Tiana with news about the men who’d taken Ayesha’s sister. Since Traeger and he had split up, with King taking Tiana and Traeger taking Kailani, they both knew there would be danger. Only he hadn’t counted on it coming so soon, or that his friend would have to kill...so more quickly.
“The father is dead, along with a couple of his men,” King said, waiting to see how she handled that bit of news.
Ayesha gasped. She took a deep breath, turning back toward the coffee bar, her face averted from him. “Do you have sweetener?”
He moved to where she stood, opening the cabinet above her head. “Here you go.” He had several choices for her to choose from. Ayesha opened several packets, stirring the coffee while she appeared to mull things over in her mind. He let her have the time she needed. In his life, he’d seen too much, been party to many things that bordered on illegal shit, and probably slid on the wrong side. “What’re you thinking?”
“What about the son? The little fucker who talked my sister into...” She waved her hand in the air without finishing. Finally, she stopped stirring her drink and took a healthy swallow.
“You leave him to me and my brothers. Just like the father learned. If you fuck with the Royal Sons, you’ll not like the outcome.” King pinned Ayesha against the counter, letting her take another drink of her heavily sweetened coffee. “How much caffeine do you need before firing on all cylinders?”
She tipped the cup to her lips, drinking the rest down. “I could use another cup, but I’m good.”
King eased the porcelain from her fingers, setting it beside his. Bracing his arms on the counter on either side of her, he placed his forehead on hers. “How’d you sleep?”
Ayesha lifted her arms, touching his sides and dropping them before he could truly enjoy her touching his skin. “I slept like a log once my head hit the pillow. That’s one comfy bed.”
He kissed her forehead where he’d been resting his own. “The one in my room is even better,” he said with a wicked chuckle.
“Hmm, is it now?” When she lifted her hands this time, she kept them on his sides, tracing his ribs. “I love your tattoos. I’m too chicken to get any but love to see them on other people.”
“They don’t hurt much—at least not for me. I just zone out and let the artist do his thing. I think your skin would look beautiful with my ink on it.” He feathered a kiss over her collarbone.
“Your ink? Do you tattoo people?” She rolled her head to the side, giving him access to her.
He gave the tendon she exposed a little nip. “No, but I like to draw. If you got a tattoo, I’d be the one to draw what was put on you.”
Shit, he jerked backward as he realized what he said. Here he was, laying claim to a woman he’d just met. It had taken him longer than usual to fall asleep last night after he’d left her in the bedroom with her sister. He’d had to take himself in hand, with images of her in his mind, to ease the ache that kept his dick hard long after he’d walked away from her.
“I’d like that. Would you go with me too?” Ayesha asked softly.
Before he could answer, his phone rang, saving him. “I need to take this. It’s Duke.” Shit, why was he explaining to her? King straightened. “What do you have for me?”
He heard the coffee maker working and a spoon clanging against porcelain, as he listened to Duke, give him a rundown of what they’d found out about Rico.
“This sex ring isn’t small time, brother. I’m afraid we’ve only just scraped the surface. You heard from Traeger?” Duke asked.
“Yeah. It seems someone killed the father and a couple of his men this morning. The cops got involved, but since Traeger looked like a man on vacation with his girl and is ex-military, he and Cosmo are sure it will be an open and shut case. The problem with that is, it’ll make the papers, and more than likely, the old bastard’s buddies will know who killed him. The repercussions could have a lot of recoil all the way up here. I told Traeger I wanted him to bring the girl here. We’ll set up a safe house for them both, but Cosmo needs to be patched in as a full brother, or there’s gonna be issues.”
Duke grunted, which King knew meant his brother was thinking. “I’ll touch base with Cosmo and put some feelers out. We had a hit on the dark web.”
King cursed. If they had a hit on one of their profiles, that meant someone was looking for something they shouldn’t. “Could Keys trace it?”
“I”m Working on it. Let’s worry about one thing at a time, and that’s Tiana right now.”
When his brother”s tone became flat, almost toneless, King knew he could not sway him. Oh, he could order him as the President of the MC, but that wasn’t how their relationship worked. He wasn’t like his father and never would be. “Don’t go rogue on me, Duke.”
They’d lost their little brother, Duke’s twin, to suicide only a few months ago. It hit King hard, but he’d been Duke’s identical twin. Well, identical in looks. Personality, the two couldn’t have been more different.
“You don’t have to worry that I’ll do something stupid like Luke.” The sound of something breaking came through the phone. “Shit, that was...that was a dick thing to say. Listen, I’ve got some things to look into. I’ll keep you in the loop. Love you, brother,” Duke said and hung up.
King dropped his head, his chin resting on his chest, taking several deep breaths. “Fuck,” he muttered.
A soft hand touched his back, making him jerk. “I’m sorry,” Ayesha jerked her hand away.
He spun around, reaching for her. “It’s not your fault.”
She walked into his arms, her soft body molding to his. “Is there anything I could do?”
King tugged at the messy bun she wore on top of her head. He gave a slight tug, pulling the band out that held it until her hair fell free. His fingers worked through the silky strands. “I love your hair. It”s so soft and silky.”
Ayesha laughed against his chest. “You know, you say the nicest things. I bet it gets you laid quite often.”
He fisted his hand in the dark mass at the back of her head, tugging until she looked up at him. “Want me to tell you what else I like?” He didn’t let her answer, keeping her trapped in the position he had her. “I want to hold your hair in my fist while you kneel at my feet with my cock in your mouth. I want to watch you part those sexy lips and see just how much you can take of me before you have to back off, and still, I’ll push for more. I want to train you to take all of me.”
Her eyes dilated, not in fear. King knew what fear looked like, but what he saw was need and want. “I bet if I was to strip you right now, your pussy would be dripping with your juices. Wouldn’t it?”
She licked her lips and nodded but seemed to remember he wanted a verbal answer. “Yes,” she said.
“Good, girl. Have you ever swallowed a man’s cock, Ayesha?” he asked.
“You mean given a blowjob?” She moved her hands up and down his sides, her touch setting his body on fire.
“No, I mean swallowed a man’s cock. There’s giving a blowjob where you lick and suck dick, but then there’s what I want, what I like. I like it when my woman takes me into her mouth, all the way to the back of her throat. I want to feel my dick at the back of your throat and feel you swallowing around the head of my dick. I’ve been imagining you doing that. It’s had me hard as a motherfucker since the first time I met you.” He pushed his pelvis into her for emphasis.
She licked her lips but shook her head. “I’ve never...I’ve never done that, but I’d like to, with you.”
“Damn right, you will.” He tilted his head, groaning as he recognized the sound of soft footfalls. “Hold that thought, Little Dove, your sister is coming, which means neither of us will be.”
The little vixen laughed. “That is such a bad play on words.”
“Ayesha, your phone has been ringing and ringing.” Tiana held her phone out.
SHE SHOOK HER HEAD, happiness making her steps lighter. “Here, let me see who it is.” She didn’t know who’d be calling her since she didn’t have any appointments at her salon, having called and canceled them once Tiana had gone missing. Her manager ran the salon when she wasn”t there, leaving the stylists to handle their booths, which meant her business could run efficiently whether she was there or not.
Seeing her salon manager’s number on the screen, she frowned. Instead of listening to the voicemail, she hit redial.
“Jesus, Ayesha, why didn’t you answer the phone? Oh, never mind. It’s not like it would’ve saved anything. The salon is gone.” Carly Jo’s words made Ayesha freeze in place.
“Carly Jo, what do you mean? What’s gone?” A shop didn’t just disappear. For crying out loud, this wasn’t the Twilight Zone.
King snapped his fingers and held out his hand. “Put her on speakerphone.”
Her hand shook as she tried to do as he’d said. Her fingers fumbled as she tried.
“Here, let me.” King took the phone, stabbing the appropriate button. Once he made sure it was picked up, he gave her the phone back. “Hi, Carly. Can you explain what’s happened?” he asked.
“I went to the salon to open like I do every day. I noticed a vehicle pulling out from behind the shops, which is odd since Twisted Ink and High Maintenance employees are the only ones who usually park back there. I was just easing into a space when there was a huge boom. I mean, it was so loud it shook my car. Ayesha, if I’d been there just minutes earlier—” She stopped talking. Her sob filled the air.
Ayesha looked at Tiana and King. “I’ll be there in a couple hours. Are the cops and firemen still there?”
Carly Jo sniffed. A man speaking in the background could be heard. “Yes, they’re all here. They think there was some kind of chemical explosion or something we did to cause it. Ayesha, I swear I didn’t leave anything turned on that would do that. None of the stylists did, either. I checked before leaving last night.”
She met King’s knowing look, biting her lip. “Of course you didn’t. Listen, I’m just glad nobody was hurt. Please give whoever is in charge my number and let them know I’ll be there as soon as possible. I’m a couple hours away.” She didn’t say where she was since King had shaken his head when she’d mentioned time earlier.
“I called the other stylists to let them know. You’ll have to handle the insurance and stuff. I’m really sorry, Ayesha. I know this is a terrible time for you.” Carly Jo coughed as if something had caught in her throat. “Listen, I need to go. All this smoke is making me sick. Call me when you get close.”
Her eyes burned from the tears she held back. No way was it an accident or the fault of one of her stylists. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that Rico had blown her salon up somehow. The burning question was why he would do such a thing.
“You realize it’s a trap, right?”
The deep voice had her spinning, her body moving automatically in front of her sister’s.
“Oh, you got a protector,” the man said, nodding.
“Cosmo, you realize I could kill you where you stand for coming in uninvited, right?”
Ayesha looked at the man named Cosmo, jumping to King to gauge his mood. Each man ended their statement with the word right, confusing her. Were they friends or not?
“We all gotta meet our maker someday.” Cosmo shrugged. “I brought your boy and his girl home. Ps. You’re welcome.” He gave a bow.
King shook his head, grunting. “Come here,” he ordered.
“Are we gonna hug it out?” Cosmo asked, but he walked up to King, each man giving the other a back pounding, their arms around the other in what men deemed a hug.
Ayesha winced at the loud slaps they gave one another. “Um, I hate to break up your bromance, but I need to go.”
Cosmo sighed. “A protector, but not very bright. Such a shame.”
“I can still kill you, fucker,” King warned.
“Try to refrain yourself since you’re gonna need me ‘til Traeger recovers enough to do his job. It was only a flesh wound, but he’ll still need to baby it a little. Luckily, it was his left arm. Not that it slowed him down much at the time.”
“Can I shoot him?” Tiana asked.
The man, whom Ayesha wasn’t sure was sane or not, tilted his head to the side as if contemplating Tiana’s question. “I will teach her to shoot.”
King tossed his hands in the air. “Alright, this is how it’s going to go. Cosmo, you’re getting patched in, you bastard. Ayesha, your salon was blown up to lure you out of hiding. That means you won”t be going anywhere near it. Tiana, you’re not learning to shoot a gun yet. Now, everyone, get dressed so we can grab breakfast.”
Cosmo leaned closer to Ayesha. “He needs to get laid. Of course, I’m not volunteering, but I will go ahead and shove you in his path. If you happen to fall on his dick, nekkid, all I can say is, you’re welcome.”
Tiana laughed, her hand covering her mouth, but nothing could contain the mirth from escaping.
“Wouldn’t I falling on said dick injure him?” she asked, tapping one finger against her lip.
“Hey, you worry about the logistics. I worry about my ass, which is outta here.” Cosmo walked toward the front of the house. “Oh, Keys said to tell you my helicopter was quiet as a church mouse on Sunday, but it still set off his alarms.” He gave a salute, walking out the door without another word.
“Fuck, that shithead is gonna give me grey hair.” King ran his hand down his face.
“I like him,” Tiana informed them.
King put his hands on his hips. “No. No, you don’t. You, young lady, are not allowed to like Cosmo. As a matter of fact, you are not allowed to like any of the brothers.”
Ayesha took a second to look at Tiana’s face, seeing an expression she didn’t want to define compared to King’s too-serious expression, and laughed again. “Oh my god. My salon exploded. I just met a certifiable crazy man who may or may not own a helicopter. Now you two are...you two are my two favorite people. If my world wasn’t spinning out of control, I would probably think it was awesome.”
Tiana grinned, quickly covering her lips to hide the action. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t laugh. Your salon is g... gone. All because of me.” Her eyes welled with tears.
“No, Little Bit, what happened is because a bastard is throwing a hissy fit. I mean to show him what happens when he fucks with one of mine.”
Ayesha’s stomach did that flip she’d read about but hadn’t thought was real until that moment. She lifted her hand, covering her stomach, and then she raised the other to her face, feeling her chin actually wobble. Son-of-a-bitch, how the hell was this rough, tatted-up biker making her feel things she’d never felt for any other man, not even her late husband?