Chapter 1 #2
A few of the girls finish up with their johns and are clustered back in the alley with me by the time Harley arrives.
The roaring of the engine reaches me first, then shouting and whistling pierces the air.
I groan under my breath. When the Mustang pulls up in front of me, I already know it’s him, but the car suits him perfectly.
It’s a fucking beauty; a vintage muscle car, matte black with silver trim, and even to me, it looks like a wet dream.
It rumbles like a beast as it idles at the curb, so if I don’t take the lead here, and fast, my cover will be blown to pieces.
I’ve always thought quickly on my feet and my survival instincts kick in with a vengeance.
Fixing my best Mounty street girl smile on my lips as I push away from the wall, the other girls get their asses out of my way like their lives depend on it, which is pretty accurate.
I make a big show out of sauntering over to the driver window right as another wasted group of assholes get out of the bar.
A couple start catcalling me, and another cluster of street girls in the alley across the street start talking shit loud enough for me to hear some of it.
I ignore it all for the guy smoldering in the driver’s seat.
Harley is pissed.
“I’m working, so unless you want me out here again, you should play the fuck along,” I croon the moment he gets his window down because I have to make it look like I’m giving him the sales pitch of his life.
Harley grunts, but a fake smirk plasters itself across his lips and he grits out, “I can see the outline of your fucking pussy in those shorts, Mounty.”
Jesus fuck.
I can’t help but glance down to double check that he’s just being moody, my breath rattling a little in my chest, but it’s fine. Okay, I have a teeny tiny bit of a camel toe but nothing so dramatic that it’s indecent or anything.
“I can’t leave. This is my last job for the summer, and I’ve worked my ass off since I got back to make sure we’d be safe here together. Please, just leave and let me finish this. You’re getting too much attention, and I need to be a shadow to get this shit done.”
He stares at me for a second before the smirk on his face gets a little bigger, my breath catching at the heat there entirely for me.
When I open my mouth to argue my point a little more, he shifts in his seat to grab his wallet.
The girls in the other alley yell out to him, trying to get his attention and cut me out of the deal.
Harley curls his lip in their direction and they quiet down.
He pulls out a fifty-dollar bill and waves it at me obnoxiously. I’ve snapped bones tonight for less. “This gets me an hour, right? A street girl disappearing into some guy’s car is a good way to vanish. You pick whatever spot works for you, and I’ll keep watch while you work.”
Shit. It only takes me a second to consider that plan, but it’s a good one, and it might get me out of here with the job done tonight. I chew on my lip for a second and then bend down to lean into the car and kiss him, dirty and raw like the street girls do.
Harley grunts as I bite his lip, and he slips the money into my bra, careful not to touch me.
It’s clear he doesn’t want to touch me like this, not for show and not while I’m hating every second of being dressed up to work.
It’s fucking sweet. I have to remind myself of our audience and keep the kiss outrageously sexual.
It’s ridiculous that I know how to do that just from growing up here.
Finally pulling away from him, I trot around the car like I’m giving him a preview of what he’s paid for. His eyes stay glued to mine, no matter how much the other girls try to get his attention.
I have to do a weird slide to get into the car because my shorts are so tight, and the smell of the warm leather seats hits me as I shut the door. I direct Harley to a good spot, and he parks, cranking the air conditioning up until a blissfully cool breeze rolls over me like a balm.
“Information or a hit?” Harley asks.
“Photos. Nothing too dangerous really.” That’s a partial truth. The mark isn’t a concern, but if the dealer sees me, there will be serious fallout.
“How much?” Harley murmurs, watching me as I watch my mark.
“Fifty grand. It’s the smallest job, so I left it until last.”
He nods and settles back in his seat, his attention shifting to keep watch even as he grabs my hand. I blush and try to keep my own focus fixed on the drug addict. Harley traces his thumb along my knuckles absently, a quiet peace settling around us that I’m almost desperate to keep.
He can clearly read me like a book, giving me a careful look before he finally murmurs, “I’m not going to lose my shit, but we need to talk. Or will that distract you?”
Ugh, fuck. I guess there’s really no way out of this. I sigh. “Is this about Illi or the Jackal?”
He lets out a long breath of his own. “Both of them. I know who you are. I know enough about this world to know it’s not fair of me to ask you to stay the fuck away from the Jackal, but seeing him touch you and knowing how much he scares you was fucking bad, Mounty.”
I swallow around the lump at the back of my throat. “I know. I’m… I’m taking care of it. Illi is part of that.”
He doesn’t get the chance to answer me because the dealer finally arrives.
My spine snaps straight and I pull the camera up on my phone.
The mark is directly in front of the car, across the street at the back of an empty lot, but the photos I get are clear enough to show what’s going down.
The guy isn’t subtle, but the outrageous price I’m being paid isn’t really because of the legwork this took or how hard it is to find this asshole scoring his dope.
He’s so far gone he would buy it in front of his own mother.
The price tag is entirely down to how high the risk of being caught is, and the consequences I’d face from it.
Harley waits until I’m checking the shots before he continues. “How did you meet the Butcher?”
I wince. “I hate that name for him.”
Harley grunts at me. “That’s who he is; he fucking mutilates people.”
I cut him a look. “He also saved both our asses. He’s…
the same as I am. He came into this life unintentionally but with a set of highly sought-after skills.
When I told him I’d applied to Hannaford, he helped me get out, he helped me remove myself from Mounts Bay, and then he cut off all contact with me so I’d have a fucking chance at getting clear. He’s a good guy.”
Harley looks at me like I’m challenging his very moral system, then his eyes slide away from me and he snaps, “Fuck. We’re made.”
I dart my gaze over to find the dealer, one of the Jackal’s men I know and who most definitely knows me, is now stalking over to the car, and I move without really thinking it through.
I lean forward to grab the release on Harley’s seat to push it back.
He inhales sharply as I climb over to kneel on the floor between his knees and crouch awkwardly under the steering wheel.
His eyes widen and he swears viciously as I fumble to get his belt unbuckled and his pants undone.
I can feel his dick getting hard as my hand brushes against him even as he protests.
“Mounty—” he hisses, and I cut him a look.
“I’m not going to fucking suck your dick to get out of this, but I am going to pretend. How are your acting skills?” I whisper, and before he can answer, there’s a knock at the window.
I blanche a little—because, really, am I going to bob my head and fake this properly? Harley, thankfully noticing me hesitate, grabs a fistful of my hair and twists it around his wrist, before winding the window down a few inches.
“I paid good fucking green for this slut. How about you fuck off and let me enjoy my money’s worth before I get angry, dickhead?” Harley drawls, becoming the arrogant asshole from school once again.
I can’t move with the grip he has on my hair, thank God.
I can smell the cigarettes and weed on Reggie from where I’m crouched.
He’s a fucking creep, and I have to hold in a repulsed shiver at his close proximity.
Thankfully, the steering wheel hides most of the skin I’m showing, and he won’t be able to see or recognize the scars.
“What’s a guy like you doing down here, anyway? If you can afford the ’67 Rector, you can afford better pussy than what the slum girls have on offer.”
Harley chuckles under his breath and replies, “More expensive doesn’t mean better. No one sucks like the slum girls.”
Reggie waits a second and then laughs. “Yeah, and you can smack them around if they don’t. I bet those high-class girls cry if you’re too rough with them. All good, man, enjoy your time with her. Maybe I’ll find her myself later, see if that mouth is as good as you say.”
Harley grunts and rolls the window up. His tight grip loosens a little, but when I glance up at his face, he’s watching Reggie leave. His hand doesn’t drop away until Reggie is back in his own car and driving away. He looks fucking pissed, so I try to distract him.
“You might be disappointed with this Mounty pussy. I haven’t exactly been broken in like the others, and I might be a shit lay.”
Harley’s eyes flash as he hauls me up and into his lap awkwardly, thanks to the steering wheel. “Don’t fucking compare yourself to them, and to be real fucking clear, I haven’t ever been disappointed with you. I’m not gonna be either.”
He sounds even more like a street kid away from Hannaford, and I grin back at him even as I blush. “We’ll see.”
He smirks lasciviously at me. “Fuck yeah, we will.”