• Nineteen •
· Nineteen ·
“Were you watching me?”
Briar
Standing at the window of my apartment, I stared down at the black Jeep parked so it was facing the building. I was sure he knew exactly which windows were mine, so I stood back in the shadows with the lights off. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was looking at him. God knew that man’s ego was already the size of Mount Rushmore.
We hadn’t spoken in the car on the drive here. But now, I had a million questions. Simple ones, like: How was I going to get my car fixed tomorrow? When could I get groceries? How long did he plan on sleeping in his Jeep outside my apartment? What had he meant when he said he cared? Okay, that one was the main one that kept running through my head.
I’d thought he was stalking me for King, but now … I didn’t think he was. In fact, I wondered if King even knew he was here.
Thankfully, Dovie had been in bed when I got home. She was most nights, but every once in a while, she’d be on the sofa, locked into some TV series or reading a book. I had almost told Pepper about her. I wanted to believe I could trust Pepper, but in the end, I knew I couldn’t. I was the only person I trusted with Dovie’s safety. Pepper had trusted me though. Most people wouldn’t have agreed to help get me a fake identity for a fifteen-year-old without knowing the details. Dovie was a minor. I could have kidnapped her for all Pepper knew.
I dropped the strand of hair I’d been twirling around my finger and turned to walk over to my bed. It was almost three, and I needed some sleep. I just hoped I could shut my brain off long enough to get some.
A car door closing had me spinning back around and rushing back to the window. I could see Storm walking over to the building. Scanning the parking lot, I looked for a sign of anyone else, but I didn’t see movement. Was he coming up here? Glancing back at my door, I knew Dovie would hear him if he came inside. He wouldn’t know to be quiet, and what if she came out of her room instead of hiding? If she thought I was in trouble, she’d try to help me.
If he was headed this way, I had to stop him.
Hurrying down the hall, I unbolted the door, moved the chain, and then unlocked the doorknob before I could open it and step outside into the hallway. Looking both ways, I saw no one. I didn’t let the door close behind me because it would automatically lock. I hadn’t taken the time to get the keys, afraid of Storm banging on my door at any moment.
But he wasn’t here. Maybe he’d gone inside to the gym to pee? Was it even unlocked at this time? I didn’t know what to do. If he did show up and knock on the door, Dovie would wake up. I could always tell her to hide, but what if Storm noticed something that clued him in that I wasn’t alone?
I continued to stand there in the dark hallway, alone, waiting. There was no sound on this floor. Wherever Storm had gone, it wasn’t here. I should go back inside and lock back up. It had been enough time that if he was coming, he’d have already been here.
The slam of a door startled me, and I jumped, letting the door behind me slip, then click shut. Shit! I grabbed the handle and turned, already knowing it was going to be locked. I’d have to knock until I woke Dovie up and likely wake my neighbors in the process. Just perfect.
“Briar?” Storm’s voice was both a relief and an annoyance.
I was stuck outside my apartment because of him. The slamming door had to have been the stairwell closing. Of course he couldn’t take the elevator. That would be too quiet.
“What?!” I hissed under my breath, turning to glare at him.
“Why are you in the hallway?” he asked, his eyes slowly trailing down my body, making me very conscious of what I was wearing. Something I hadn’t thought of when I came running out into the hall.
“Because of you!” I said through clenched teeth.
His eyes were currently on my chest, and, dammit, I could feel my nipples harden.
“Me?” he asked, lifting his gaze back to my face.
The heated look in his eyes scattered my brain for a moment, and I forgot what we were talking about.
“Briar?” he said again, and I tried to clear my head.
He had asked me something. What was it?
Oh, the hallway. Yes. That had been the question.
“You …” I paused, not wanting to stammer over my words or sound breathless. “You came inside. I thought you were coming up here, and I didn’t want you waking my neighbors, knocking on the door.”
He tilted his head to the side slightly. “Were you watching me?”
I swallowed, then nodded, lifting my chin higher. It wasn’t like I was being a voyeur. I had just wanted to make sure he didn’t come inside—which he had!
“I was checking to make sure you were staying outside, where you belong.”
“I hadn’t planned on knocking on your door. I was doing a sweep of the place.” He nodded his head toward my door. “You can go to bed now.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I huffed, hating that I was about to tell him what I’d done. He’d no doubt laugh at me. But what did I care?
“When the stairwell door slammed, I was startled, and my door closed. Locking me out.”
He raised both his eyebrows. “You can’t get inside your apartment?”
“Not until my landlord is awake tomorrow.” Which was a lie.
“Guess you’re stuck sleeping in my Jeep then.”
Frowning, I shook my head. I was knocking on this door the moment he left until Dovie heard it and let me inside.
“I’ll wait right here. Or go down to the common room and sleep on the sofa.”
His eyes dropped back to my body. “Dressed like that?”
Okay, he had a point. I wouldn’t be sleeping in either place, but I just needed him to leave. Then, I’d fix this. No one but him would get a view of me in my cropped red camisole and matching red shorts that barely covered my ass. I just wished he’d stop looking at me like that. He was never touching me again. I had learned my lesson.
“Just go,” I urged him.
He shook his head. “No. You’re coming with me.”
Like hell I was.
“No thank you.”
He grinned then and cocked an eyebrow. “No thank you? I didn’t offer you a drink. I’m taking you to my Jeep until morning. Unless you’d rather I take you to a hotel.”
I shook my head. “No. I am staying here.”
“My Jeep it is then.”
“I’m not going to your Jeep.”
“You’re not staying out here alone.”
I took a deep breath, trying not to lose my temper and scream at this man. “I am okay here. You’re outside watching, right? I will be fine. Go back outside and do your stalker thingy.”
He turned and leaned up against the wall beside my door.
“What are you doing?” I asked in frustration.
“Waiting here with you.”
“You’re serious?”
“Very.”
“Why are you being so stubborn?”
He turned his honey-colored eyes my way and let them slowly drift down my body. “Because, Briar, you’re out here, barely dressed, looking like a goddamn centerfold. I will not leave you alone for one of your neighbors to walk out and see you like this.”
I was ignoring the centerfold comment. I. Was. Ignoring. It. I didn’t care that he thought I looked like one.
I do not care.I wouldn’t care. But clearly, my body did because it was very aware of the man.
“And you being out here with me keeps any one seeing me dressed like this, how?”
Storm smirked in response, and good Lord, now, my panties were damp.
“I’ll cover you.”
The image of him covering me wasn’t helping. My imagination was working overtime on that one. I had to get a grip.
“I’ll go to the gym locker rooms. They have benches. I need to use the restroom anyway.” If they were unlocked, that was.
He waved a hand. “Lead the way.”
“Are you following me?”
“Yep.”
Okay, fine. It wasn’t like he was going to go into the ladies’ locker room with me.
I went over to the elevator, and we waited in silence for it to open. Stepping inside, I was very aware he was behind me and that my butt cheeks were slightly visible in these bottoms. I didn’t know if he was looking, but the thought that he could be made me get goose bumps.
The doors closed, and he stood on the other side of the elevator, as if getting too close to me would somehow taint him. I ignored it the best I could, and when the doors opened up again, I bolted out of them.
“The gym is this way. I have it from here,” I told him, striding off, hoping he’d go outside to his Jeep.
The heavy footsteps behind me told me otherwise.
Stopping at the gym door, I spun around and threw up my arms. “What are you doing?” I demanded.
“Following you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can see that. I meant, why are you not going back outside?”
He leaned forward and pushed the door behind me open. “Because anyone could be inside here.” Then, he nodded his head for me to enter.
I went in the direction of the women’s locker room and held out my hands as I walked. “See, it’s empty.”
He said nothing, and I bit back a groan as I shoved the door to the locker room open and went inside. If I stayed in here long enough, then maybe he would leave.
The door didn’t close behind me, and I closed my eyes with a sigh. He’d come inside the flipping locker room.
“I am perfectly fine in here,” I told him.
He walked past me and then began looking around the place. In toilet and shower stalls. I stood there, trying not to watch him but it was hard. This whole protective thing he was doing had clearly messed with my head. I liked it, and I didn’t need to like anything about Storm Kingston. Not one damn thing.
When he seemed satisfied that we were alone, he walked over toward one of the hardwood benches and sat down, leaning back against the wall and propping his right ankle on his left knee, as if he was planning on staying awhile. If I was going to get back into my apartment, he had to go back to his Jeep.
“You are staying?” I asked, already knowing this answer.
“I am.”
Tired of being annoyed and just tired in general, I walked over and sat down on the other end of the bench, as far away from him as possible.
“You should sing more of your original stuff,” he said, turning his head to look down the bench at me.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t heard this before, but when he said it, I felt a jolt of pride. That wasn’t something I felt too often or ever. The elation that came with it was like a high I wished I could ride awhile.
“Shame you would rather use your body to make money when you’re so damn talented.”
And there it was. The end of the high. Why couldn’t he let that go? Leave it in my past, where I was trying to put it and close the door on it.
“We can’t all be honorable members of organized crime,” I replied sarcastically, giving him a hateful smile.
The amused gleam in his eye and upturned corners of his mouth made me momentarily forget that I hated him. It was really difficult to dislike a man who looked like that, and I was sure he knew it. Asshole.
“I don’t deceive anyone,” he said to me.
“No, you just kill them.”
The deep laugh that came from him made my stomach flutter. It was an intoxicating sound. One I wanted to hear more of.
“Only if they deserve it.”
I straightened and shifted my body toward him. “The men I’ve deceived didn’t deserve it? They were cheaters.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Only because you seduced them.”
This time, I laughed. “I absolutely did not. They always approached me first.”
Storm ran the pad of his thumb over his lower lip, and the movement distracted me. I felt my breathing hitch as I tried to tear my gaze off his stupid, beautiful face. It was hard, and I was failing.
“All it takes is one smile. One moment of your attention, and they’re seduced.”
Trying like hell to control my breathing as I lifted my gaze from his mouth to meet his eyes, I swallowed hard. Getting worked up over this man was a mistake. He’d say something cruel at any moment. He was disgusted by me.
“That sounds like a them problem,” I said, a little too breathy.
“Maybe, but you know the power you wield over a man. You use it to your advantage knowing you’re only in it for the money.”
My hands tightened in my lap, and I jerked my eyes off him and glared at the wall of lockers. “For someone who has never known what it’s like to be hungry, homeless, and desperate, you sure are judgmental.” I surprised myself by saying that. Admitting it. I never gave excuses for my behavior, yet here I was, doing it to this man because I didn’t like hearing the disapproval in his tone.
“You’re right. I don’t,” he agreed. “But again, with a talent like yours, you had another way to make money. Not everyone has that. You do.”
And it wasn’t enough! He had no idea how much money was required for staying on the run. Keeping Dovie safe. Making sure she had everything she needed while unable to give her any kind of education since I struggled to read a freaking menu at a restaurant. He had never raised a kid. Those were things I couldn’t say to him.
“I’m giving that a try now. I’ll let you know how it goes since you have such a strong opinion on the subject.” And it was going well, but only because of the thousands I’d put away that wealthy men had given me.
“You’re not currently looking for a new sugar daddy?” he asked, sounding slightly surprised.
I turned my head back to look at him. “Why? You offering?” I asked with a flirty smile I knew would piss him off.
His face was smug when he replied, “I’ve never had to pay for a hot fuck.”
Hearing him say fuck made me feel flushed.
I did my best to remain unaffected as I lifted a shoulder. “I never asked for money. They just gave it to me.”
“Don’t kid yourself. You asked. They knew they had one flex to keep you as their side piece, and they used it. Their wealth.”
Letting out a sigh, I laid my head back and rested it on the wall, staring up at the ceiling. “Whatever, Storm. I’m tired, and I do not have to defend my life choices to you.”
He was the first person I’d ever even tried to defend myself to. Why was I doing it now? Why did I care? It wasn’t like I would ever have him look at me differently. He’d never want me. Accept me. My crush, or whatever it was I seemed to harbor for him, needed to end. When I looked at him, I wanted to truly hate him. Every part of me. Right now, that was not the case.
“But you are,” he replied, then stood up.
I tilted my head to watch him as he walked toward me. My body began to do that tingly thing it did when he was close to me. It was not getting the memo that this was off the table.
“I’m what?” I asked, unable to remember what it was we were talking about while he towered over me.
The smile on his face held a touch of cruelty that should be a red flag, but I was overlooking it. He was too close to think about much else.
“Stand up, Briar,” he demanded in a husky tone that sent a thrill throughout my body.
I wouldn’t let him control me. Not again. I’d already suffered that humiliation.
“No,” I replied, not moving a muscle.
He tilted his head to the side, and his gaze traveled down my body slowly. Inhaling oxygen was a struggle. I tried to focus on that while he made his way back to my face.
“Now.”
My eyes widened, and the area between my legs clenched at his order. Dammit, why was this hot? I didn’t let men talk to me like this. I was the one who held the power. I decided what I would and would not do. Yet I uncrossed my legs and felt my body betray me as I did as told.
A pleased gleam lit his eye, along with the swirl of hate and desire I could see there. He lifted a hand and gently cupped my face as he seemed to drink in my features, as if he was trying to memorize them.
“Dangerous fucking beauty,” he said huskily.
Breathe, Briar. I had to breathe.
He stared at my mouth so intently that I wet my lips, expecting him to kiss me. Realizing I was going to beg if he didn’t. I wanted to know what that felt like. How he tasted. If it was as delicious as I imagined it would be.
His hand dropped then, and I gripped my thighs to keep from reaching out and grabbing his hand to bring it back up.
“Turn around and put your hands on the wall,” he said in a low, hoarse voice.
A major red flag. I should sit my ass back down and tell him to go to hell. I should. It was what I’d do to any other man who treated me like this.
When I turned around and leaned over the bench to place my palms on the cool, smooth wall, I closed my eyes in disbelief at my own actions. Maybe I would have changed my mind and walked off, but the hiss of Storm’s breath just as his hand slid over my butt stopped me from getting my act together.
My eyes flew back open, and I stared at that bare wall I was leaning against as his hands slid up to the waist of my bottoms. With a hard jerk, they were shoved down to my ankles. Storm’s large, callous hand ran over my bare bottom, and then he slid a finger beneath the thin satin strip of my thong and ran it down from the top until he reached the damp achiness he had caused.
I bit down hard on my lip to keep from begging him to touch me when his finger left, but the hard slap that landed on my right butt cheek had my teeth releasing the abused lip as I cried out. That stung. Another loud smack echoed in the room, and I jerked from the contact.
“Fuck, that ass bounces nice,” he snarled.
My entire body felt flushed. I fought back the moan I wanted to make. This time, when his hand made contact, it was a loud crack that had me crying out. Damn, that was hard. It was going to leave a mark. I should stop this. Get away from him because, clearly, he was one of those men who liked to hurt women while having sex.
His hands ran over my skin, then moved up my back and then around and under my camisole until both my breasts filled them. He squeezed as he pressed against me. The hard length of his erection through the denim of his jeans made me whimper. He rolled my nipples between his thumbs and forefingers, then pinched them until I was gasping. Too much.
“Does that hurt?” he asked, close to my ear.
I nodded, unable to use words.
“Good,” he growled. “Bad girls need to be punished. Even if you’ve got the sweetest ass I’ve ever seen.” He ran the tip of his nose over my shoulder. “And smell like a wet dream,” he added.
Oh God. Why was this hot? I pressed my legs together, needing to get some relief.
“Open your legs!” he barked, reaching down and grabbing my right thigh, jerking my leg out until I was completely exposed.
A hard slap landed over my sensitive clit, and I let out a strangled sound as my fingers curled into a fist.
“Your thighs are wet,” he said, running a hand over one, then the other. He let go of the breast he had been squeezing, then slid his hand over my stomach. With his open palm, he pressed me back against him. “Being punished makes you wet.”
Until this moment, I hadn’t known that myself.
I closed my eyes, and a whimper came out.
Storm moved behind me, and I looked back over my shoulder to see him lower his head to my bottom before his teeth sank into the bruised flesh.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out as his tongue lapped at the spot he’d just sunk his teeth in. Lifting his gaze, he gave me a sadistic grin before doing it again in another spot. I sucked in a breath and stood there, unable to stop watching him as he began to soothe that bite with his tongue.
“Bad girls don’t deserve to have their pussy eaten, but I’m gonna make an exception,” he told me as he lowered himself to his knees. “Smells too good, and I want it on my face.”
His hands grabbed on to my hips, and he buried his face between my legs. Throwing my head back, I let out a loud moan of pleasure just as my knees buckled. His talented tongue began to fuck me and lap at me as if I were his last meal. My climax was building, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to stand up for it. The power I felt behind it, pushing me higher, was as terrifying as it was exciting.
“Fucking sweet pussy,” Storm growled as he moved a hand from my hip to my butt cheek and squeezed.
I was going to collapse. “Storm,” I gasped. “I’m gonna … I can’t keep standing. My legs.”
His fingers dug into my flesh just before his mouth left me. That was not what I wanted him to do. That magical mouth was gone.
“Ride my face,” he ordered.
I turned to see him lying down on the tiled floor on his back. When my eyes met his, I felt a tremor run through me at the sight of his face wet with … me.
I moved, not waiting for him to change his mind. Walking over to where he was lying, I placed a foot on each side of his head. He ran his hands up my calves as I lowered myself over him. When I was on my knees, he took control, grabbing my waist and pulling me down until his tongue was shoved inside of me, followed by a finger.
The moment he flicked my clit with his tongue, I lost any control I had managed to gather. Rocking my hips, I rode his mouth and fingers while the intensity began to build inside me again. Storm’s other hand slid down until I felt a finger press against my back entrance, and I tensed.
A deep chuckle vibrated against me. “Easy, baby. I’m just playing.”
The darkness in his voice had me panting again and taking my pleasure from him. He never pushed his fingertip inside the small, puckered, untouched-until-now hole, but the way he gently massaged it somehow made me wilder. More desperate. His name fell from my lips over and over again as a powerful orgasm slammed into me.
“Fuck yeah.” Storm’s deep voice made me shiver as I jerked over him. His tongue still tasting me.
Feeling weak, I slowed as the reality of what I’d done sank in.
One more swipe of his tongue, and then Storm slapped me on my right butt cheek. I managed to lift myself off him without crumpling to the floor. Standing, I moved over to the bench and sank down onto it. My panties and pajama bottoms lay on the cold tiles as if they were mocking me. Reminding me how stupid I was when it came to Storm.
“Get on the floor,” Storm demanded.
My eyes snapped up to meet his face as he stood there, unzipping his pants. Was he going to fuck me? The way my vagina pulsed as if I hadn’t just had a record-breaking orgasm showed exactly how weak I was when it came to this man.
He pointed at the floor as he shoved his jeans down just below his hips. I sat there, transfixed, as he pulled out a long, thick, and pierced penis. Sweet Jesus. He had a bar through the tip. How would that feel inside me? Could I feel it through a condom?
His hand slid up and down it, and I watched unable to look away.
“Floor!” he growled angrily.
I moved then. Scrambling to get up and do as I had been told.
“Take off that fucking top,” he said.
Taking the hem, I slid it up and over my head with my back to him, then let it fall to the floor.
“Turn around.” His command this time sounded less harsh and as if he was struggling with his breathing.
Finally feeling some power, I twisted to glance back at him before letting my full front come into view. His eyes flared, and my entire body sang with pleasure at the sight. He wanted me as badly as I did him.
“On your back. Knees bent and legs open.”
He was so demanding. I went to my knees, then moved onto my bottom before lying back and getting in the position he’d asked for. He used his free hand to shove his jeans down to his ankles, and then he motioned for me to scoot closer to him with his fingers, all the while rolling his thick erection up and down with his right hand. The metal bar glistened with his pre-cum, and I was mesmerized.
Storm’s eyes slowly roamed over my body as he began to jack off faster.
“I don’t have a condom,” he said, “so I’m gonna coat you in my cum.”
Oh. Oh God. I sucked in a breath.
“I thought about letting you take it down your throat,” he said through his teeth. “But I want to see it on those tits and watch it drip over your thighs and pussy.”
Unable to take any more, I eased my hand down until my fingers slid between my legs. Keeping my eyes on Storm, I saw his gaze darken.
“That’s it. Touch that hot little cunt. Let me see you fuck yourself.”
Slipping my middle finger inside, I lifted my hips off the floor and let out a low moan as he began to pump himself harder. I’d never done this before, but damn, it was hot. Something about knowing you wanted to fuck so bad and were denying yourself.
“Motherfucker, I want to sink my dick into that sopping wet cunt,” he growled as the room was filled with sounds of his heavy breathing.
When he stepped forward, the veins on his neck standing out, his jaw clenched tight, I knew he was there.
“GAH!” he shouted as the first shot of his thick white release was on my chest. The next one hit my hand as I reached my own climax. Another on my stomach, and then the last one landed on my right thigh.
I lay there, staring up at him as his gaze followed the trail of his semen on my body. Neither of us spoke for several moments. When he pulled his jeans back up and began to zip them, he finally moved back from where he’d been towering over me.
He leaned down and held out a hand to me.
I slid mine into it, realizing it was covered in both our releases. His hand wrapped around it tightly as he pulled me up. Instead of letting my hand go, he ran his over it, as if he were rubbing lotion into my skin. His eyes were locked on what he was doing.
Then, he dropped it so quickly, as if it were on fire. I stood there, waiting on him to say something about what we’d just done. We might not have had sex, but somehow, this felt more intimate. I’d never done anything like it before. Sex had been … well, sex. This had been … on another level.
Storm turned and stalked toward the door. I opened my mouth to ask him where he was going, but he jerked it open and left before I could form the words. The room suddenly felt cold. The heat from moments earlier had seemed to vanish with him. Wrapping my arms around my waist, I shivered.
Part of me wanted to believe he was just checking things out and was coming back. But as the silence grew louder and the chill began to settle in my bones, I knew. He’d left. Without a word.