“Well, we have cleared the city. The only people who will be taking the bounty are out of towners or people hired directly by the Triad,” Garrett rumbles into the phone.
“Good, did we figure out anything about the leak?” I inquire, and Diesel snorts.
“He won’t let me play with them,” he whines, making me grin.
“We’re going to head out again tomorrow and get back on it. We cleared a few names. Simply threatening their families and their lives was enough, they didn’t betray us.”
“But someone did,” I snap, and then sigh, drumming my fingers on the table as I think. “It has to be someone who worked here, they wouldn’t know anything otherwise, keep looking.”
“Sure,” Garrett grunts, and then it goes quiet, but he doesn’t hang up. My eyebrow arches in surprise, Garrett isn’t usually chatty.
“What’s up?” I ask, and I hear rumbling down the phone before he sighs loudly.
“Diesel would like to know if…if Roxy is okay?” he queries, sounding pained. I smile, but manage to hold back my laugh. I’m betting it’s more than just Diesel, but I’ll let him use D as an excuse.
“She was fine last time I checked, though I think she’s bored. You were right, we will need to give her a job at some point.”
“You don’t sound sure,” Garrett observes.
“Tonight, when you all get back, we need to talk,” is all I say before hanging up. I can’t decide anything without them, that’s not how it works. We all say yes, or we don’t do it.
And this is about Roxy’s freedom.
I’m unsure if Diesel would even let her go at this point, but I have to know. Dropping my phone onto the desk, I loosen my tie and close my eyes for a moment. There’s always so much to do. Is Roxxane right? Do I not know how to relax?
I hear a creak as the door opens, but don’t open my eyes. It’s her. I know it. Anyone else would knock, too scared not to, only my girl would be brazen enough to stroll into my office—which she somehow found. She must have bribed one of the guards again.
“Yes?” I ask, and she laughs. When I open my eyes, she’s lounging on the chair opposite my desk.
“I’m bored, can I help?” she requests, her bare feet waggling. She is in nothing but that shirt still.
“You want to help?” I question, arching a brow.
She sits up and stands, and I watch her carefully as she rounds the desk. She kicks back my chair and hops up on the desk right in front of me, kicking her legs as she grins. “Yup, so who needs killing?”
“We do more than that.” I laugh. “We actually run businesses, invest in people, build buildings, and renovate struggling areas. We run homeless shelters and soup kitchens, we help with charities…”
She waves that away. “I get it, you have your fingers in everything.”
“Not everything…yet,” I murmur, running my eyes across her parted thighs, which allow me to see her knickers.
“Smooth,” she teases.
Narrowing my eyes on her, I point at the floor. “On your knees, love.”
She smirks and sinks down without question. Roxxane might like to be in control, but with me, she loves it when I control her. In fact, I’m betting if I reached into those little knickers, she would be soaked. “Shirt off,” I order, leaning back and watching her. My cock hardens in my trousers as she rips it off and throws it away. Her breasts are bare except for that little scrap of lace. “Off,” I command.
“This?” she purrs silkily, before caressing the swells of her breasts.
“Now,” I demand.
Grinning, she unclasps the bra before slowly sliding the straps down each arm, holding it against her until I clench my fists, and then, with a laugh, she pulls it free, baring her magnificent breasts to me, her nipples turning into stiff peaks as I watch.
Her hands reach my thighs and stroke upward, coming dangerously close to my cock, which is pressing tightly against my trousers. “Free me,” I demand.
She teases me again, knowing she will get into trouble for it, she wants it. Her hand strokes across my cock, not doing as she was told. “Now,” I snap. “Then you will suck me for not doing as you were ordered fast enough.”
“Yes, sir,” she murmurs, before freeing my cock and taking it into her hand.
Silver hair tumbles over her shoulder, which she tosses away expertly, as those dark eyes meet mine as she closes her mouth around the head of my cock and hums. Groaning, I watch her as she lashes her tongue over my slit, digging for my pre-cum before pulling back, her hand wrapped around my base, squeezing. She licks her lips. “Delicious.”
Grabbing her hair, I tug her closer without a word, and she swallows me down, taking me nearly all the way before pulling back and then rolling her eyes to mine once again before consuming me whole.
I grunt loudly, jerking in her mouth as I reach the back of her throat. Fuck, fuck, fuck. She pulls away, dragging her teeth along the underside of my cock before slipping back down, bobbing until I’m almost spilling in her mouth.
My phone rings, making me groan, and she pulls from my cock with a smirk, licking her lips teasingly. “Answer it,” she purrs, voice hoarse. “Let’s see that icy control now, love.”
She waits, and I grind my teeth but reach for my phone, not looking as I hit answer, my eyes on her. “Hell—” I cut off in a gasp as she swallows me again.
“Mr. Viper? Sorry, is this a bad time?” a scared, weaselly voice asks.
“Who is this?” I snap, thrusting up to meet her mouth, trying to contain my desire as that ice melts away. I reach for my control, counting in my head, but I don’t reach four because she hums again.
Fuck.
“Mr. Viper, are you still there?”
“What the fuck do you want?” I snarl, making her giggle, so I yank harder on her hair, taking over as I slam into her mouth again and again.
“I have the numbers you were wanting from the new club, which you asked for,” he rushes out in a squeak.
Club…oh, right.
“It seems like a good investment, but I would like to ensure the owner is capable of paying back the loan, so I was hoping I could look into their information,” he blurts, probably not wanting to annoy me. I am known for being an asshole, and they don’t call me a beast behind my back for nothing. They all fear me, I’m not known for being polite.
Biting back my groan, I try to keep my voice even. “I agree, let’s pursue that.”
I don’t hear his reply, because Roxxane does something with her tongue that has me arching into her mouth and growling loudly. “I have to go. Get me those numbers.” I hang up, throwing my phone away as I glare down at her.
She pulls her mouth from my cock and wipes it with one finger, looking smug. “Problem?”
Grunting, I grab her and pull her up. Freeing my tie as she watches, I jerk her hands behind her back until her chest is arched out, and she gasps in pain. I tie them at the base of her spine, kissing her hard and tasting myself on her lips before ripping away and spinning her around. I tear away her knickers, leaving her bare, even though I’m still in my suit, minus the tie, which I will never be able to wear without getting hard again.
She laughs as I kick open her legs and force the top of her body down onto the desk. “I wonder if you could concentrate on work now,” she teases breathlessly, as I palm my cock and run it down her crack to her soaking pussy. She moans loudly, pushing back to try and take me, so I reach up and wind my hand through her hair, yanking her head up painfully.
“I could fuck you, making you come again and again and still run this empire, love,” I snarl, even as I press the head of my cock to her pussy. When she goes to answer me, no doubt with a teasing remark, I slam into her, making her scream.
When I still, she pants, leaning heavily on the desk. “Really? I don’t think you could, poor little Ryder…his cock taking over.”
“Behave,” I growl, smacking her ass as she moans and clenches around my cock.
“Why would I when your punishments are so good?” she whimpers, pushing back to meet my brutal thrusts, the sound of our skin slapping together loud in this room. My control is shattered to pieces.
Slamming into her, I twist my hips as I reach between her legs and flick her slick clit, making her scream my name. “Yes, fuck,” she groans, pushing back harder, taking all of me, her tight cunt so wet.
I grunt again, trying to slow down, to stop the release I can feel building. I want this to last, to see her explode around my cock only when I say so, but she doesn’t let me. She pushes back desperately, making me jerk and ram into her with hard, feral thrusts.
My phone rings and it’s Garrett so, grinning, I pick it up, smacking her ass. “Quiet, unless you want them to know,” I mock, not telling her who it is as I continue to drive into her with one hand gripping her hip as I answer the call, and hold my phone to my ear with the other.
I’m almost panting now, but I try to concentrate on what he’s saying and not the clinging pussy wrapped around my cock, the way sweat drops down her spine to her bound hands, or how fucking beautiful she looks bent over my desk, taking me like a good girl.
“Speak.”
“We have covered half the list, but Diesel is threatening to burn my balls unless I bring him home to see Roxy, so we’re on our way.” He sighs.
Laughing, I put it on speaker and lay it on her back as I drive into her. Little breathy moans escape her lips as she tries to stay quiet. “She’s here,” is all I say as I reach between her legs again and rub her clit relentlessly. My own release is building, my balls drawing up, pulled from the very base of my spine as I try to hold back. My thrusts stutter, becoming jerky and desperate now.
“Roxy?” Garrett asks, and then I hear a yelp and another voice, no doubt we are on speaker now, even better.
“Little Bird, what mischief are you up to?” Diesel questions.
“Goddamn it, my nose, you asshole,” Garrett snarls.
Grunting, I bite my fist to stay quiet, but I shouldn’t have cared, because with one last thrust, and one flick of my finger, she comes with a scream, her body writhing beneath me, her pussy clenching so tight, I can’t help but come myself. I spill into her as I still, panting and containing my own yell.
She drops to the desk, breathing heavily as I quietly chuckle, still locked in her tight channel. The phone is quiet for a moment until a laugh comes through. “Oh, I see what mischief! Did you come for him like a good little bird?”
Garrett groans. “Did you actually just put us on speaker so we could hear her scream?”
Laughing, I sit back on my chair, pulling her with me, keeping her impaled on my already hardening cock with the phone held in my other hand as I stroke her trembling side. “Yes, she was being punished.” I shrug, making her laugh.
“Didn’t seem like a punishment to me. Hey, crazy man,” she greets Diesel. “Hey, angry man.”
They both laugh. “We won’t rush back then. We’ll bring in some food, you’ll need it,” Diesel offers before they hang up. I toss the phone away then, her slick back pressed to my chest as she wiggles, making us both moan. Gripping her hips, I force her to still as I press my forehead to her sweaty shoulder. “Be still.”
I’m hard, wanting to fuck her again. Christ, will this ever lessen? This fucking desire for her? How can one woman control my emotions so much and force me to lose control with just a smile and a few words?
“That was amazing. Ready for round two?” she asks, and lifts herself before dropping down on my cock.
Fuck.
“Always,” I snap, helping her ride me, watching my cock slip in and out of her wet hole, her ass pressed to my hips. She rolls her hips enticingly, and I reach around and grab one of her breasts, tweaking her nipple and forcing a moan from her throat.
“That was just your first orgasm. Let’s try for three, shall we?” I murmur, as I stroke down her belly to her clit and flick it again.
She comes three more times. Twice on my cock and once in my mouth. By the time we’re done, we are both boneless and covered in a sheen of sweat. “Let’s shower before they get back,” I suggest, and she sighs, snuggling closer.
“I can’t walk, so carry me,” she demands.
“Still ordering me around, princess?” I tease.
“Still pretending it doesn’t work?” she taunts, as she nuzzles into my chest.
I lift her, and she wraps her legs around my waist as I carry her from my office and to my room where we shower together. Only when I’m dressing do I realise I left my phone on the desk. I freeze. Me? Leaving my phone? Unheard of. But as I’m about to go back and get it, she grabs my hand and leads me downstairs to where the others are waiting.
I soon forget about it again. It’s my first night off…ever.
I like it. Especially with her perched on my knee, sharing my food, a beer in one hand, and a smile on my face as Diesel tells his stories for the day, making her laugh along with us.
It’s nice.
It’s home.
ROXY
It’s early when I wake up, I don’t know why. Flipping onto my back, I sigh. I’m so used to waking up in the afternoon, that even though it’s only ten am, I feel like a whole new person. Getting up, I don a dress, not bothering with shoes, but I do stop as I pass the mirror before going back and adding the earrings and the rings Ryder bought me.
They look good and cause me to smile as I head outside, already hearing them arguing at the breakfast table. It’s a habit now, eating with them, and it’s probably why I woke up. How my life has changed. When I sit down, they all give me a smile before doing a double-take at the jewellery. Ryder looks smug, Kenzo grins at me softly, Garrett just grunts his approval, and Diesel leans forward.
“Yes, one of us, one of us!” he chants, banging his knife and fork on the table, making me laugh. “Oh, you wanna see something?” he asks me, wiggling his eyebrows.
“I don’t know…do I? If it’s your cock, babe, I’ve seen it, and as nice as it is, I would rather just eat the sausage on my plate,” I quip, as I accept the mug from Ryder with a gentle smile at him. His lips quirk up at that, bigger than normal. Maybe that ice is finally cracking.
“No…that will be later. Once you see this, you are bound to jump me.” He laughs as he gets to his feet. I look over just in time to see him rip off his shirt.
“D, your abs are nice—” I start, but freeze at the new ink on his chest. I don’t even get distracted by the muscular torso of the crazy man like normal. He stands there proudly, puffing up, with that insane smile on his lips, while all I can do is gawk.
There, on his chest, right over his heart, is a bird.
The bird sits on his pec, perched on a coiled viper. They both look so lifelike, I ache to touch them to see if they’re real. The bird is standing there, so brave and unafraid of the snake, its beak held high, and the snake? It’s wrapped around it, not restraining it…keeping it.
Me and him.
The crazy bastard got a tattoo of us over his heart.
“Like it, Little Bird?” he asks, and he suddenly seems nervous.
I glance around, and Garrett widens his eyes, jerking his head towards Diesel to prompt me. Swallowing, I look back at D and lick my lips. “I’m guessing that’s me…and you?”
“Course.” He grins. “My little bird, right over my heart.”
“I—” I swallow again. “I love it.”
And I do. It’s magnificent, clearly Garrett’s work again, but what does it mean? A small part of me knows, and fear and excitement fill me. Does Diesel…love me?
To be loved by him would be both dangerous and an adventure. It might kill me, it might consume me, but I would die smiling. Except he can’t love me. Can he? And is that how he sees me? Standing so strong, capturing them?
“It’s beautiful,” I murmur, and he rounds the table, crouching before me.
“So are you, Little Bird.” He winks before leaning in and kissing me hard, not seeming to realise I’m frozen. He pulls back, looking way too happy. “I told you, you’re ours, Little Bird, and you’re never getting away from us. This is just to show people. You wear our marks, we wear yours.”
My eyes widen at that. Did everyone else get this too? The thought overwhelms me. “Just D,” Garrett comments, like he knows my thoughts, and I deflate. Thank fuck. D is crazy, and his emotions are different than everyone else’s. He wants me, he takes me. He loves me and hurts me. It’s simple for him. For the others to get it would be another reason why, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that.
But Diesel?
It doesn’t matter if I don’t say it back or if I’m unsure how I feel, he knows. He always does. He kisses me again, and this time I return it. He laughs, happy as he returns to his seat, but I’m quiet the whole meal. I can feel Ryder’s eyes on me the entire time.
Is this my life now?
Falling in love with the Vipers? Lust and accepting my new life is one thing…but can I really love them? We started out rough, and part of me still hates them.
Somewhere along the line, did the ‘hate yous’ really start to mean something else? I don’t know, and that scares me. Ryder is terrified I’ll destroy his family…what if he’s right?
But what if I don’t? What if I find happiness here? I suck in a breath, deciding I have to try. I might be afraid to love someone…more than someone, but I don’t want to give this up yet, so I won’t let them know just how hard it is for me to love, or how messed up I am that when people say they love me, I wait for the pain to come. Because it always does.
Those who love us have the opportunity to hurt us the worst, and in my experience, they always do.
* * *