Scorch, p.3
Scorch, page 3
part #9 of Smoke Series
Eliana’s smile seemed forced now. She didn’t like that response.
I realized I’d stopped breathing when my lungs began to burn. I dropped my gaze and silently sucked in a breath. Dear God, that man was gorgeous but terrifying. The warning of danger in his gray depths, mixed with the air of power that seemed to come off him in waves, was intense. I didn’t think I wanted to come back in here. I had never reacted to someone like this before, and I didn’t care for it. At all.
“Of course, Mr. Ford,” she replied. “Can I get either of you something more at the moment?”
“Cohiba Behike,” Garrett said.
Eliana turned to me and pushed the empty tray at me. I took it, then watched as she went over to the cigars.
“What’s your name?” Mr. Ford asked.
I swung my eyes back to meet his. His gaze slowly took in my body instead of meeting mine.
“Fawn,” I replied.
His eyes finally made it back to my face. “That’s a lovely name.”
“Thank you,” I said, wishing Eliana would hurry up.
Garrett was making me feel unsteady.
“Anything for you, Mr. Ford?” Eliana asked him.
He didn’t look at her, but continued watching me as he waved her off instead of responding.
Eliana walked over and held out a wooden case to Garrett while opening it. He reached inside and took out a cigar. Why was it that I thought his hands were sexy? Because they were. Big and tanned. I could see the veins in them, and the image of those hands on me came into my thoughts. I shut that off quickly. Nope. Not going to go there. This man was powerful and important, and without saying anything, he was still terrifying.
When Eliana turned around, she glared at me. “Take the tray away, please,” she told me.
I hadn’t realized she had wanted me to leave. I nodded, then turned and exited the lair, now understanding why Leo had called it that. It felt like it, although it was far nicer than the other private areas. With Garrett whoever he was in there, it had a dark feel to it.
Leo was watching me as I walked out. He seemed curious. A little too curious. I took the tray over, and he leaned closer to me.
“So?” he asked.
“What?” was my response. I still wasn’t sure what he had expected to happen in there.
“What did he say to you?” he asked as if that was an obvious question.
“Which one?”
I knew which one. There was only one man in that room who would get this kind of interest. I didn’t want to admit that though.
Leo gave me a look that said he couldn’t believe I’d asked that.
“Garrett Hughes,” he whispered. “Who gives a fuck about Ford?”
I shrugged. “He said he didn’t mind me shadowing Eliana if I didn’t talk or mess up his drinks.”
Leo seemed surprised. “Really? He didn’t say more? Flirt?”
Flirt? Was he serious? That man, flirt with someone?
I shook my head. “No.”
I could see the disappointment in Leo’s eyes.
Eliana appeared at my side then. She was grinning at Leo. “I hope you make good money tonight. You’re gonna need it,” she told him, then turned her pleased smile toward me. “Come on. We have work to do.” The chirpiness in her tone was new.
I followed her, glad she seemed less pissed off by my existence.
Four
Garrett
There was no reason for me to be here again tonight. Thursday nights were my standing visits to Morii. I didn’t want to think too deeply about why I’d found an excuse to be here on a Friday night. Using after-dinner drinks was weak. My evenings with Lydia were always dinner and then back to her place, where I fucked her as much as I wanted or needed before going home alone. This was out of character. During dinner, she’d been an excellent companion, like always. She never annoyed me with incessant talk about stupid shit.
Eliana walked into my private space in the Winchester Parlor. My gaze went to the area behind her, and for a moment, when no one else appeared, I had a flash of anger. Thankfully, what I’d come here for stepped inside, and I let out an easy breath. Those eyes looked nervously at me, then flickered over to Lydia before focusing on the back of Eliana’s right shoulder.
Last night, I had let Gunther Ford speak to her and said nothing. I’d silently enjoyed the drawl to her voice and the way she spoke. Tonight, he wasn’t here to interact with her, and if I was going to get to see those full lips of hers move and that sultry voice make my cock throb, then it was up to me to get her to talk.
I’d been wrong about her up close. She was just as stunning, if not more so. Forgetting she was a biker slut was hard to do when she looked at me with those incredible eyes. I’d had Silas send me her background check, then ordered one of my men, Levi, to run one too. She was the blonde I’d seen at The Judgment clubhouse even if it didn’t show up on either of the background checks. That face was one a man didn’t forget.
Eliana was asking me what we wanted, and I tore my gaze off the exquisite blonde to look over at Lydia. I’d believed Lydia was a stunning blonde, but in the same room as Fawn, she appeared average.
“A drink?” I asked Lydia.
She nodded, and I turned my attention back to Eliana. “My usual and a dirty martini with a twist.”
Eliana was clearly pleased that I was here even if I was with a date. I’d let her get on her knees and suck my dick a few times, and every time I was here, it was clear she was hoping to do it again. I liked the redhead, and her dick-sucking abilities were superb. She was just so fucking young. I wasn’t sure she understood that my desire to choke her with my dick meant nothing more. I’d had my share of hard-to-shake females.
She turned to leave, but before Fawn could follow her, I opened my mouth to stop her.
“Fawn can stay,” I said simply.
She stopped and slowly turned back around. When her eyes met mine, I could see the uncertainty there. I scared her. That wasn’t new for me, but the fact that it made me instantly hard was. It typically took more to get my dick’s attention. I’d fucked more gorgeous women than I could count. Even knowing this one was a biker whore, I couldn’t manage to control my attraction to her.
“Sir?”
Eliana’s question was brave. She knew better, and because this was her not wanting to leave Fawn near me, even with another woman beside me, I let it go. But I would only allow that once. She needed to remember her place.
“I didn’t stutter,” I replied to her.
She tensed and nodded before leaving.
Fawn was standing silently, watching me or waiting for me to say something. Either way, I enjoyed it.
“How do you like working here?” I asked her, needing to hear her voice again.
If there could be a flaw that would make her unappealing. Anything to keep my dick from reacting to her. Before now, I’d have thought her being a used-up biker slut would work. Apparently, when your face looked like hers, it wasn’t enough.
She swallowed hard, and my hand fisted as I watched her throat bob. There were other ways I’d like to make her throat constrict. Micah’s shouts of pleasure taunted me, and I hated it. I hated knowing she’d been on her knees for him and other men in that club. Unkempt, disgusting, uncivilized men. Had she been in one of their porn videos? The thought made my stomach twist into a sick knot.
“This is only my second day, but I’m enjoying it, sir,” she replied.
Fuck, I loved the way she talked. It was pissing me off that she appeared to be so damn precious when I knew better.
“Who did you contact to interview for the position?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
I had read the detailed report of her interview that Silas had given me when I asked for it and the background check Levi had also run on her at my request. This was a test. I wanted to see how honest she was. Maybe she was a liar. Although would that even be enough to keep me from wanting to fuck her?
“I didn’t. I was in a restaurant, looking for a job, and Silas—uh, Mr. Tatum …”
Her cheeks reddened at her mistake, and the way her skin colored so prettily made me ache to make other parts pink. Taking her over my knee and spanking her for being a slut. With a face like hers, she could be so much more. Why had she sold herself short?
“He was picking up a to-go order—his lunch—and told me he was looking for a new server at the place he worked. I met him here for an interview an hour later.”
She hadn’t embellished the details at all. If anything, she’d played them down. She hadn’t mentioned that Silas had told her that she was beautiful and exactly what he was looking for. She also hadn’t mentioned that he’d basically begged her to come in for the interview and offered to have the local police chief vouch for him when she seemed unsure about it.
“Did you just move to town? Or were you looking for a new job?”
Again, I already knew the answers, but I needed something more to be wrong with this woman. Anything to keep me from obsessing over her. She had to have another fucking flaw that would snap me out of this. I would pull it out of her. I always did.
“We just moved here. From Miami,” she replied.
I knew we was her and her nineteen-year-old daughter.
“You’re married?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, sir. My daughter and I moved here.”
I thought for sure she would leave out the detail that she was a mother. But she’d fucking admitted it without flinching.
“How old is your daughter?”
She would lie here.
“Nineteen,” she replied with almost a flash of pride in her eyes.
Damn this woman for not being the low-class, conniving bitch I had been sure she was going to be.
“How old are you?” Lydia’s question surprised me since she rarely spoke without permission.
The horror in her tone pissed me the fuck off. Lydia wasn’t one to judge anyone. She’d had five abortions that I knew of.
“Thirty-six,” Fawn answered truthfully, but the flare of annoyance in her eyes as she looked at Lydia told me she didn’t appreciate her reaction or question. Those incredible golden eyes of hers swung back to me, and the fire in them only made my cock throb harder. “If that will be all, may I go?”
I wanted to laugh at the tone she’d just used with me. When had anyone spoken to me like that, except my oldest son who didn’t give a fuck?
Letting Lydia—or anyone for that matter—see me allow that kind of impertinence, however, was impossible. This was what I needed to save me from making a mistake. She’d handed it to me by speaking with disrespect. I leveled my gaze on her, and when she paled, I felt guilty.
“Yes, you may. You may also take your things and leave the premises.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “Leave?”
Fuck, this was harder than it should be.
“Now. Please don’t continue to speak when you’ve not been invited to.”
I expected her to tear up and rush out. Or at the very least make the mistake of begging me for her job. She did neither.
Those golden eyes glared at me. She fucking glared at me before she spun around, giving me a view of her perfect, round ass before stalking out. I heard Eliana ask her what she had done. I couldn’t hear Fawn even though I had my complete attention zoned in to hear her voice.
Eliana let out a small laugh, and the sound of her amusement at Fawn’s dismissal infuriated me. It took all my fucking willpower to sit there, acting as if firing her wasn’t bothering me. The redhead sauntered into the room, looking entirely too pleased. She was thrilled Fawn was gone. I remained uninterested as I took the glass she’d set down beside me and drank from it.
“Do you need me for anything else?” she asked with a purr in her voice.
“Close the door when you leave,” I replied, not looking at her, but over at Lydia.
Perhaps my having Lydia suck me off here would get the message across to Eliana that we were never going to be anything. She was just a young piece of ass for me to shoot my load down her throat.
When we were alone, Lydia took a drink of her martini. I watched her throat work and tried to get my dick even remotely interested. My hard-on, however, seemed to have left with Fawn Parker.
Five
Fawn
Telling Gypsi I had been fired on day two was just too humiliating. I hated lying to her though. I needed to just admit that I’d lost the best-paying job I had ever had and we might not be heading north in a month—or even a few months. Although, if the asshole she’d dated in the stupid biker club showed up here, we would move with or without the money. Micah had promised me he’d handle the kid and Gypsi would have no more issues with him. I wanted to believe he had followed through on that. Especially since I now had to find a new job, thanks to my inability to keep my mouth shut.
I had to drop Gypsi off at the coffee shop she had gotten a job at, then head back to the camper to get ready for a job hunt. I hadn’t wanted to get ready before and make Gypsi question why I was fixing up when I had work tonight and would have to shower again anyway. She knew me too well. I would have to tell her about losing the job tonight. It wasn’t like I could hide the fact that I wasn’t going into work.
The Harley that was sitting outside my camper when I pulled up made me groan. I knew that bike. Why was Micah here? I parked my car and scanned the area, but I didn’t see him. Just as I stepped out of the car, the camper door opened, and Micah stood in the doorway.
I shook my head and walked toward him. “I can’t decide if I should be asking why you are here or how you got into my camper first,” I said as I approached the door.
He gave me a cocky grin that used to turn me on. “I miss you, and the lock on this place is shit. You need a new one. I’m going to go get one and put it on after you talk to me.”
I put my hands on my hips and looked at him. “We aren’t talking, and you aren’t changing the lock. I’ll go do that. I do not need a man to handle things for me.”
He stepped forward with his eyes roaming down my body. “You miss me, right?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t.”
His blue eyes seemed lackluster now, and I realized it was because of the piercing gray color of Garrett’s eyes.
“Damn, baby. You’re killing my ego.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Micah, there isn’t a force on earth that has the power to kill your ego.”
The corners of his mouth curled up. “You miss me.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. As if he was telling me something that was a fact.
I sighed and waved my hand at him to come outside and exit my camper. “You need to leave. I ended this. It’s over. I have to get ready and go find a job.”
Micah groaned. “You’re still doing this? I gave you some time. We’re good together, Fawn.”
I was about ready to swear off men. Even if I liked sex. I could go buy a really good vibrator. When I had money again.
“Micah, listen to me. It is over. We are friends. I’m not interested in anything more.”
He reached out and ran his hand up my arm. “If you’ll go inside with me, I can make you rethink this with my head between your legs. You love how good I can eat that pussy.” His voice lowered as he moved his hand to cover my butt. “You pulling my hair. Screaming my name as you come all over my tongue.”
I started to tell him that his tongue wasn’t as magical as he seemed to believe when I heard the gravel crunching under tires and saw a frown form between Micah’s eyes as he stared over my shoulder. Turning, I watched as a Bentley pulled up in front of my camper. The only reason I knew it was a Bentley was because I’d once dated a guy who had been restoring a much older model.
“Did you make some rich friends, baby?” he asked behind me.
I shook my head. I hadn’t made any friends. Especially of the Bentley-driving variety.
When it came to a stop, two doors opened at the same time. The driver’s side, where a young blond guy with tattoos stepped out, and the back right door, where a man in a brown cowboy hat, jeans, boots, and a black button-down shirt that was tucked in appeared. He reached up and tilted the front of his hat back.
I gasped at the same time Micah whispered, “Fucking hell,” behind me.
Why was Garrett at my camper? How did he know where I lived? I was so confused that I squinted my eyes and studied him closer to make sure I was seeing him right.
Micah’s hand went to my hip, and he gripped it, tightening his hold and moving me back and to the side as he stepped around me. His entire body was tense, as if he was nervous about something. This was all so odd and out of place that I wasn’t sure I was awake.
“Garrett,” Micah said as a greeting, and my gaze swung up to him in surprise.
He knew Garrett? How? Why? This was a weird dream brought on from being fired last night. Nothing else made sense.
“Micah,” Garrett replied.
“How do you know him?” I asked Micah, but he held me back, and his body was so rigid that my heart started to race.
What was wrong? I looked back at Garrett to see his focus was on me.
I tried to move forward, but Micah physically pushed me back.
Frustrated, I glared up at him. “What is wrong with you?” I asked.
“Move away from Fawn.” Garrett’s tone wasn’t threatening. It was casual. But somehow, it seemed laced with a warning.
“I wasn’t aware you knew Fawn,” Micah said, his hold easing up on me, but he wasn’t moving out of my way.
Garrett let out a low, deep chuckle. “Boy, don’t mistake my loyalty to Liam as one to you.”
Liam Walsh? The president of The Judgment? Garrett didn’t look like a man connected to a motorcycle club. He looked like a wealthy ranch owner in his cowboy hat and boots, being driven around in a Bentley.
