Collateral by Roxie Rivera

  We were playing with fire. We'd known each other for an hour and already we were locking lips. Of course, we had just survived being chased and shot at by criminals.

  And now you're being kissed by a criminal.

  The truth was painful and raw—but it was real. Ben wasn't a lawyer or a doctor. He wasn't a professional athlete or a banker. He was a mechanic, a mob enforcer and a car thief.

  And he could kiss.

  My God, could he kiss!

  Lightheaded and trembling, I clutched at his shoulders as he stabbed his tongue between my lips. He bit my lower lip with enough pressure to make me gasp. I had a feeling he had done it to remind me that he wasn't a nice man and that he could hurt me—that he would hurt me.

  Refusing to be cowed, I cupped the back of his head and deepened our kiss, wresting control from him and proving I could give as well he gave. Ben turned around and put a knee on the bed, taking me down to the mattress. He broke away from my mouth just long enough to hitch me up a little higher on the bed and throw his legs on the outside of mine. Then he was attacking my mouth again and driving me crazy with his wicked tongue.

  "Aston?"

  "Yes?"

  "You're out of college, right?"

  "I'm in grad school." I pulled back and peered up at him. "Why?"

  He brushed his knuckles across my cheek. "You look young. I wanted to be sure."

  I rolled my eyes. "I'm not a card-carrying member of the V Club, either, if that's on your list. You aren't taking advantage of me."

  "I am." His gaze turned dark. "I made you trade your body for your car."

  "Nobody makes me do anything. Not you, not my father, not my evil stepbrother. I make my own choices. Always."

  At the mention of Calvin, he jerked back his hand. "Aston, earlier, you said that he drugged you and gave you to his friend. Did that friend—did he hurt you?" He swallowed. "I don't want to scare you. I don't want to hurt you more."

  His concern touched me. Considering that he had probably spent his formative years running the halls of this very brothel, I could only imagine the awful things he might have seen. To know that he wanted to spare me any trauma endeared him to me.

  Running my fingers through his hair, I told him what he wanted to know. "Russ didn't hurt me. He had the biggest crush on me, and I guess Calvin had been sending him these fake love letters and emails. It was really sick how far he was willing to go to set it up, but he failed. When Russ realized I had been roofied, he got me dressed and drove me straight to the nearest hotel to sober up. Later, he called my father and told him everything."

  "How old were you?"

  "Sixteen," I said, remembering how humiliating and devastating the experience had been. "Marley wanted to tell Spider. She swore he would gut Calvin for doing something so cruel."

  "He would have done worse. What about your father? What did he do?"

  I closed my eyes as the violent memories returned. "I had never seen him that angry. I thought he really was going to kill Calvin. He beat him to a bloody pulp in the foyer of the house. Just beat the shit out of him until our housekeeper and her husband finally intervened and dragged him off. Calvin laughed. He had blood running down his face, and he couldn't stop laughing."

  "What about Calvin's mother? Did she say anything?"

  "Marjorie? I think she knew he was…broken. She was afraid of him just like me. When she died from an allergic reaction a few years later, we found a letter with her will that warned Daddy to be careful because Calvin wasn't stable. She said that she had always feared he was going to kill her or me."

  Ben clasped my chin and stared at me. "I won't let him hurt you."

  Running my hands along Ben's strong arms, I said, "You might actually be the only person in the whole world who can keep that promise."

  Something in Ben's demeanor changed. Instead of the rough, quick fuck I had been expecting, he treated me gently. I sensed he was trying to make a point. Shivering with excitement, I reveled in the way his powerful hands moved over my body. He stripped me easily, shifting me this way and that to tug free my clothing until I was naked underneath him.

  Wanting to feel his skin on mine, I grasped the bottom of his shirt. He sat up and finished taking it off himself, kicking off his boots and peeling away his socks while he was at it. His jeans and boxers followed and then he was on top of me.

  He kissed me with such tenderness and took his time making love to my mouth. Our tongues dueled, his winning the fight and leaving me breathless. I clenched my thighs together as a pulsing heat throbbed there. My nipples were tight, pulsing peaks by now.

  Ben soothed the ache in my breasts with his hands and mouth. He massaged my supple flesh and suckled me with long, hard tugs. Each sucking pull on my nipple traveled right down to my clitoris. The swollen little nub wanted to be played with, but Ben was busy with my breasts. I squeezed my thighs together again and drew his attention.

  With a wolfish grin that made my insides wobble, Ben kissed his way down my body. He took his time on the downward trek, meandering around my belly and along my hips before ending up at my thighs. He slid to his knees next to the bed, and I realized he was going to do that.

  "Do you like having your cunt licked?"

  I made a choking sound that teetered on the verge of indignant but was really more shocked than anything.

  "Oh, right. I guess that better class of men you prefer doesn't use words like cunt."

  "Ben," I said warningly, my face on fire now. "Don't be so crude."

  "I'll be whatever the hell I like." He parted my thighs with his strong hands and kneaded my sensitive flesh. He nibbled and nipped at my inner legs. I gasped and squirmed, but he didn't stop. "You never answered me. Do you like having your pussy eaten?"

  "I…" Gulping nervously, I admitted, "It's not something I've experienced much. I think I like it."

  "You think?" He made a humph sound. "Sounds like the men you've let into your bed don't know what they're doing. A sweet, pink pussy like this one?" He parted me with his thumbs and made a hungry noise that caused me to blush. "I know what to do with it."

  Without warning, he swiped his tongue along my slit. I exhaled roughly and gripped the duvet beneath me. He repeated the motion twice before probing between my labia and finding my clit. As if savoring his favorite dessert, Ben took his sweet time between my thighs.

  He slipped a finger inside my pussy, working it in and out of me at a leisurely pace. His tongue was the real star of the show. He did such sinful things with it, things that made me squeal and things that made me groan. He lapped at my clit and sucked on the little bud before fluttering his tongue over it.

  "Ben!" He chuckled against my clit, and the low, rumbling vibrations felt so wickedly good. Finding the perfect rhythm, he licked and suckled until my hips shot off the bed. Rocked with spasms, I surfed the blissful waves gripping my lower belly. "Ben!"

  Growling like a damned bear, he grabbed my bottom with his free hand and held me fast to his mouth, refusing to allow my escape as he drew out my climax. Only when I was limp and whimpering did he let go of me. By then, I was too boneless to move. His tongue continued to roam my pussy, sliding through my folds and even replacing his finger. I found it hard to breathe as he explored and tormented me, but I didn't want him to stop.

  When he finally dragged his mouth away from me and stood, I caught sight of his shaft. I sat up and eyed the impressive cock jutting out from a thick thatch of dark hair. With an enthusiastic smile, I replaced his hand with mine and fondled his heavy length. I stroked up and down his erection, swirling my hand and marveling at the velvety steel beneath my fingers.

  Wanting to taste him, I moved to a kneeling position. Ben seemed uncertain when I glanced up at him. His hesitance surprised me. "Aston, you don't have to—"

  "Shut up, and let me suck your cock."

  My brash reply stunned him, and he laughed. Before he could recover from hearing me using the coarse language he seemed to love, I painted the tip
of him with my tongue. His laughter transformed to a groan, the noisy, needful sound exciting me and encouraging my exploration. I licked my lips, wetting them nicely, and then wrapped them around his cock.

  "Fuck yes," he growled. "God, your mouth is so hot."

  Thrilled by his reaction, I tried to make the experience good for him. I took him deeper and deeper with every downward stroke of my mouth. For a moment, I thought he might be disappointed that he couldn’t bury himself in the back of my throat, but he didn't seem to mind in the least. His threaded his fingers into my hair, making a mess of my artfully arranged ponytail, and gently pumped his hips. Our gazes met, his needy and dark, and I saw that he wasn't going to try to wrest control from me. I could go as fast or as slow, as shallow or deep, as I wanted.

  Wrapping my hand around the bottom of his shaft, I bobbed on the crown of his cock. I used my tongue in the way that seemed to make him breathe the hardest, rubbing it along the sensitive underside of his head. He wasn't the only one breathing hard, and I wasn't panting from exertion either. I was getting hot again.

  Ben gently moved aside my hand and grasped his shaft. Realizing he was close and wanted to be in control now, I sat back on my heels and placed my hands against his thighs. His muscles bunched and tensed under my hands. Nostrils flaring and cheek twitching, he said, "Touch your tits. Pinch your nipples for me."

  No one had ever dared to give me such an order. I should have been outraged that he thought he could order me around like a sex doll, but I couldn't ignore the way it made me breathless and lightheaded. When I pinched my nipples, the bright bite of pain caused my clit to throb mercilessly. I liked it. I liked it a lot.

  "Open your mouth. Tongue out," he added, stroking faster now. When I complied, he smiled down at me, his eyes shining with approval. "That's it. Just. Like. That."

  With a groan that erupted from deep inside him, Ben climaxed. His hot cum splashed my tongue, the white bursts of it pooling there. I didn't break eye contact with him, not even once, and that seemed to make him come even harder. He milked the last drops onto my tongue before sweetly caressing my face. I swallowed his seed, my mouth curving with pleasure when he used his thumb to swipe me clean.

  Somehow he knew that I was aroused again. With one swift movement, he picked me up and tossed me onto the bed. He climbed up beside me, trapping one of my legs under his and forcing my thighs open again. He gazed at my sex and probed me with his thick, rough fingers. "Look at how shiny and wet your pussy is, baby. Does sucking cock turn you on?"

  "Yes." There was no point in denying what he could see.

  "Do you want me to make you come again?"

  I rocked my hips and bit my lower lip. "Yes."

  Two fingers speared me and his thumb flicked side to side over the engorged bud that ached ceaselessly. Ben kissed me like a starving man, his tongue stabbing against mine again and again. Lost in the sensations he evoked, I climaxed quickly. Thrashing atop the bed, I relished the powerful release he gave me and sagged against him when it was all over.

  He ran his finger along my lower belly and drew shapes on my skin. His initials maybe? The thought of him branding me as his after only one time together should have perturbed me, but I found the possessive gesture exhilarating. What mark would he choose for me? It would be a beautiful tattoo I was sure but nothing so simple as his initials or his name.

  Exhaling loudly, he finally spoke. "I have to leave for a while. I'll be back before sunrise, but you need to stay here."

  "I can't hide out here indefinitely, Ben. I'm not the CEO yet but I'm working hard to earn my place while studying for my MBA. It's all right if I miss one day, but…"

  "I'll have you back in your office by Monday." Ben hovered over me and traced his thumb along my lower lip. "I'll get Baby back too."

  The mention of the prized car that Calvin had stupidly given away made my heart ache. "I think she's gone forever. There's no way we'll ever find her again."

  He smiled before teasing his mouth against mine. "You don't know the people I know. There's nothing we can't find."

  He kissed me properly now, our tongues flicking together and lingering. His forehead touched mine. "Stay here. Open that door for no one but me. Understand?"

  "Yes."

  "Good girl." He said it in such an endearing way that I could only smile.

  Rolling onto my side, I watched him dress and enjoyed the view of his magnificently toned and inked body. I couldn't wait to have him again and was already planning the ways I wanted him to take me. He wouldn't make me feel bad for asking for the things I really wanted in bed—a smack on the bottom, a yank of my hair, a nip on my shoulder. Thinking of the aggressive way he had taken me just now, I wondered if I would even have to ask.

  "You keep staring at me like that and I'm going to have to pin you to that mattress again." He jammed his foot into his boot. "But it won't be my fingers or my tongue enjoying your cunt this time."

  "Ben!" My face flamed with embarrassment. "You can't say things like that!"

  "I can, and I will." Amused by my scandalized expression, he leaned down and kissed me long and hard and deep. He palmed my breast and pinched my nipple between his fingers, not to hurt me but to make me tingle and ache in the very best way. Breaking off the kiss, he whispered, "Get some rest. I'll take care of this. I'll take care of you."

  He spoke the words so easily. I tried to remember the last time a man had promised to take care of me. A memory of my father's last lucid moments in hospice flittered before me. Hating the sadness that threatened to overwhelm me, I pressed my lips to Ben's one last time. "Be safe. Please."

  Surprise filtered across his face at my plea for his safety. "Don't worry about me. I'll have Devil with me. No one fucks with him."

  Remembering the man's scarred face, I didn't doubt that. "What happened to his face?"

  "Oh, sweetheart, that's not a story you want to hear before bed." He curled some of my hair around his finger and gave it a tug. "I'll be back soon. Lock the door behind me."

  I shadowed him to the door. Before he stepped out into the hall, he seemed to remember something. Turning back to me, he retrieved my cell phone from his back pocket and then handed over the handgun he had just tucked into the waistband of his jeans. He held onto the muzzle and didn't let me take it right away. "Do you know how to use this?"

  "This is Texas, Ben. I was shooting guns and going hunting at, like, six years old."

  He released it into my hand. "Keep the safety on until you need it."

  After pressing a lingering kiss to the crown of my head, he darted into the hall. I hid my naked body behind the door and turned the deadbolt as instructed. Sliding back into bed, I tried not to think about how many other naked couples had writhed with passion on this heavenly, plush mattress. I also didn't want to think about being shot at or my stupid stepbrother losing Baby or how much danger Ben was in at this very moment.

  Closing my eyes, I chose instead to think about Ben and that sinful, wicked mouth of his.

  Chapter Four

  Ben spotted the quad cab truck idling at the end of the quiet street. He had left Madam Alina's brothel silently and without seeing anyone. Now he kept to the shadows, moving down the sidewalk with purpose. Always alert, he scanned his surroundings. After being shot at, he was jumpy and expecting another attack at any moment.

  He tried to stay focused on the matter at hand, but his thoughts strayed back to Aston. For the first time in his life, he had actually been reluctant to leave a woman's bed. He had never wanted to linger or cuddle. That simply wasn't his way. He liked a good, hard fuck and a quick exit, but Aston with her swollen pink lips, bright eyes and soft hands made him want to stay. He wanted to take his time and explore her lush curves. More than anything, he wanted to show her pleasure like she had never known.

  When he slid into the front passenger seat, Devil cast a knowing glance in his direction. Shaking his head, he put the truck in drive and pulled away from the curb. "You fucked her." r />
  "No." It was the truth, but only technically.

  "It's a bad idea."

  "I know."

  "So stop listening to your dick," Devil warned. "A girl like that? She's not for men like us. It won't end well."

  It was a reminder he didn't need. "Did you go to the containers?"

  Devil let the discussion shift without complaint. "Yes. Your bike is back at the shop, but it's fucked. We searched the SUV left at the storage center."

  "And?"

  "It belonged to the 1-8-7 crew. We found a bloody shoe with their gang sign all over it. Whispers has already heard that you clipped their leader. Another one ended up in the hospital."

  The name of the startup street gang that had been trying to take over some of the territory their family controlled surprised him. "You're sure? They don't have any money. How are they buying weapons and vehicles?"

  "They've got an anonymous backer."

  "Who would back a bunch of punks? Half of them are barely out of high school."

  "Which is why they're stupid enough to think they can steal from us," Devil interjected. "Do you think any other crew in this town would have the balls to do something so brazen?"

  "Not unless they wanted a war," he said, "and there's already enough of a threat of that with all the cartel bullshit spilling into the city."

  South of the border, the Guzman cartel was in the throes of an internal rebellion. So far, the bosses of Houston had been able to keep most of the mess away from the city limits, but Ben had a feeling the tenuous peace wouldn't last. Alliances were being forged, and only an idiot would take on their family who held one of the strongest positions of all.

  "There's something else you should know." Devil glanced at him as they idled at a red light. "I asked around about the money the brother borrowed."

  "Stepbrother," Ben corrected, thinking of the awful things that rat bastard had done to Aston.