15. Esteban

15

ESTEBAN

M y lips tingled from the kiss and the back of my neck warmed in satisfaction from slamming the door in Matías' face.

He thought he did something by reminding me that Rita loved him and not me. Fucking cabrón . I knew that.

But it was what I was willing to do that made all the difference. I could make Rita love me. Show her that I was the right man for her. She might not love me today, or tomorrow, but she lusted for me.

That was enough for me until she did. By then, Matías would be a long forgotten memory.

Rita stopped in the center of the room, then whipped around to face me. Her brows pinched together and her mouth was slightly parted as she stared up at me.

"What's wrong?" Everything fell away except for the obvious upset on her face.

"We have to go to the compound. Tiago is dead."

What the fuck? I almost had to reach out a hand to steady myself. It took a minute for her words to process .

We didn't have deaths like this. Not since we fought with the old Institution.

"We have to go. Come on. I'll take you." I grabbed her hand and bolted for the door, picking up her keys on the way.

This was big. Huge. If this was the work of that new club...

It really had meant war.

I glanced back to make sure she had her shoes on still. She did.

Outside, Matías was already gone. Thank fuck. The last thing we needed was for him to try and stick his nose in our business. He would too. If he saw us leave in a rush, he'd follow.

I scooted Rita to the side and locked her door, then led her down the path to my bike.

"Here, put this on." I handed her my helmet. It would be a little big but it would work. I'd already ordered her a helmet, it just hadn't come in yet.

"It's yours."

"Baby," I said, sliding it onto her hands then cupping the sides of her neck. "You're more important to me than this helmet, this bike, or even my own self. Wear it."

Then we were off. She molded herself to my back, and if it wasn't for the looming dread, not knowing what was going to happen next, I'd have savored our first ride.

We arrived at the compound all too soon and inside, there was already a good portion of the chairs taken up. More guys trickled in as some of our club girls brought water, more chairs, then scurried back to the kitchen.

Rita took her hand from mine as she pulled back her shoulders and held her head high. "What happened?" she asked as she strode toward the table on the platform. Whatever she was feeling at her house and on the way here, she masked it.

As fucked up as it was, my cock twitched.

Then I remembered why we were here.

Joel stood in front of the table as his gaze tracked every person who entered the room. Almost like he was counting them. Hell, maybe he was.

There was a somber mood in the air that seemed to be boiling just under the surface. We needed retribution, and each man here wanted to be the one to deliver it.

"Tiago was dropped at our gates thirty minutes ago. No one saw who did it and it was just outside of the cameras." Joel crossed his arms and stared at the floor.

"We know who it was!" Due stood up. He was usually pretty level, but not today. His face was mottled red and his fists were clenched tight.

"We can't let this stand," Roddy, a ten year member shouted from the seats. He was a lunatic on the best days.

"You're right. We can't." Joel nodded. "We need a plan of attack. The Dirty Dogs are not to be fucked with."

"Wait." Rita walked next to Joel, facing the men. "We can't just go half-cocked. We don't even know for sure that it was them."

"Don't we?" Joel returned, a hint of a snide tone lacing his words. I glared at him for his disrespect but he wouldn’t look at me.

"Rita, it was the new club," Ricco said softly from his seat. His face was drawn tight, and his shoulders bunched up. "Shit, we have a club after us and we don't even know their name." He looked at the rest of us. "Do they have a club name?"

I shook my head. They hadn't introduced themselves with a club name. Only Matthews. No one else knew either .

"I need five volunteers." Joel glanced around the room. Fifteen men instantly lifted their hands.

"You can't do this! Not yet!" Rita raised her voice, panic rising.

"Why not, Rita?" Joel was starting to lose his patience. "Tiago is currently on the back table, beaten black and blue. He's almost unrecognizable if not for his tattoos. He was murdered. And we know who did it. We have to strike back fast before they really do come for our asses."

"This would be a suicide mission. I'm not saying we shouldn't retaliate, just that we need to wait. We need more information." Her voice started to shake as her wide-eyed gaze moved from one volunteer to the next.

"Who else would it be, Rita?" Ricco asked, trying to force her to back down. "Carnage Industries?"

"No! Of course not–"

"The Movement?" He pushed.

"You know they don't give a fuck about us," she shot back. But she barely finished her sentence before Joel talked over her next.

"If we don't hit them now, we could lose more men. They could pick us off one by one. Do you realize that?"

"Stop fucking trying to patronize me!" She raised up as high as she could on her toes, getting right in Joel's face.

"Then make decisions like a Dirty Dog! Javier would have hit them hard. We have to make a stand for our territory. Our pride." Joel touched his nose to hers.

As soon as he said Javier's name, Rita backed down. She tried not to show it, but she wavered. He'd made her question herself.

Fuck that . I didn't belittle women, and I damn sure wouldn't let him do it to her. I waded in the middle, forcing Joel away from Rita .

"I'm with Rita. We didn't see who it was and we don't have enough information. The only thing you're doing is igniting a war that may or may not be on our doorstep anyway. We can wait ten fucking hours for someone to do some goddamned research."

I pointed at Joel and Ricco. "This emotional manipulation bullshit stops now. You have an idea. Say it. Don't try to make Rita or anyone in the club think it's the right idea just because Javier would have done it. And you're fucking wrong anyway. Javier would have done his homework to see who dropped him off at our gates."

"Twenty-four hours," Due said slowly. "Twenty-four hours. If we don't have an answer then, I'm riding to their place. I'll ask questions, and if I'm not satisfied, I'll do what I think is necessary. On my own."

Due wasn't close with Tiago, but he was as rage filled as the rest of us.

I shook my head. "Due, man, we don't need anyone going off on their own–"

"I'll go." Rita's voice was loud and clear. "If you can't figure out who dropped him in twenty-four hours, I'll go question them."

"I'll go with you." Joel straightened up.

"Fuck that, you'll try to undermine her like you did here and that's not the look we need in front of those assholes." I shook my head. "I'll go with her."

"Then take Matías," Ricco said.

"Absolutely not." Rita backed up, affronted.

"Rita, his name does more than ours does. If these guys did their homework like they said they did, his presence will help. That is what Javier wanted." Ricco eyed me, daring me to argue, but fuck. I knew for a fact, that at least, was true.

"Fuck," Rita muttered under her breath as she twisted away from us. I almost jolted forward to steady her, but she started heading for the door in a fast clip. "I'll be back to see what you've found in twenty-four hours."

"Due, pick two guys and start checking the area for clues," I called over my shoulder as I chased after Rita. Ricco and Joel protested, but it didn't matter. Due would do it because I asked him to, even if Ricco and Joel sent someone else on the job.

He was loyal to me before the VPs. The Dirty Dogs had just never had a reason to split ourselves.

"Rita!" I called as she reached the top of the stairs.

She didn't stop. Her feet moved quickly toward her room. I sprinted the last several feet so I could catch the door before she slammed it shut.

"Please, Esteban. I need a few minutes to myself." Rita wouldn't look me in the eye. Her gaze was locked on my chin as she shifted and fidgeted, acting like she was going to crawl out of her body at any second.

"Nope, that's not what you need." I pushed the door open far enough for me to slip through. "You don't want to chat? That's cool. But you're upset, and you shouldn't be alone."

The perfume of her room wafted over me and I was assaulted by memories of the best night of my life.

Rita at the club dancing her ass off. Me disengaging from my partner and sliding up behind her. At first, I thought she was going to push me away, but when she glanced over her shoulder, her glassy eyes sparked in recognition and a sultry smile softened her face.

"Esteban..." she said, but I couldn't hear her over the music. She turned and grabbed fists of my shirt as she started to grind on me, dancing to the erotic beat of the music.

One thing turned to another, then we had shots …

Another round of dancing before we found our way to her room.

"Esteban."

Snapping back to the present, I took in the space. It was exactly the same. Luxurious bedding on an expensive mattress even though the walls and flooring were jacked, just like the other rooms in the compound. Yet somehow, because it was hers, it just seemed feminine, sexy.

I dropped my gaze to her questioning one. "Hmm?"

"Where did you go?"

"Nowhere. What do you want to do? We can talk or sit in silence. Your choice. Just not alone."

Somewhere in the span of minutes, she’d gone from upset, to a confident badass, then waffling with her emotions written across her face and body.

I didn't know what bothered her the most, but I had my guesses. She'd experienced so much death in a short time, and it was getting to her.

She shook her hands out as she started pacing. "I don't want to sit. I have all this nervous energy inside me. I can't get my brain to stop."

"What's going on inside your head?" I asked softly, leaning my ass back on her dresser.

She tossed her head back and laughed, but the sound was stretched, distorted from her usual exuberance. "So fucking much. While they were talking about sending guys downstairs, the only thing that went through my head was no, we'd have ten more deaths, and I can't deal with that. Not for a stupid reason. I mean, if we have to go to war with those bastards, we will, but I need to know it's not pointless. But then..." She cut her gaze at me as she kept pacing.

"Joel and Ricco made you question yourself?" I supplied.

"They made me feel like a little girl who didn't know shit. And I do, Esteban. I've seen Javier make a hundred calls for the club. I know how to run it. I know I'm right, but damn. It just–It just made me pause. And that's all it takes, right? For the guys to lose faith in me? A second." She huffed, but then her breathing started turning erratic.

"You're right. We don't need to be sending men off half-cocked to make a statement. That's what kills people." I wanted to make her feel better, but she seemed like she was becoming more agitated, not less.

"What am I doing, Esteban?" She spun and threw her hands out. "What the fuck am I doing?"

"You're following in Javier's footsteps. Whether he wanted that or not, I think you're the right one for the job. Joel doesn't have his heart in the right place. He just wants the status. You care about the men more than the club."

"The men are the club!"

"Exactly." I gave her one solid chin dip. "Want to talk some more? I got twenty-four hours for you."

"No." She forcefully shook her head. "I don't want to talk. I want to fuck. I want to forget this agitated feeling that's too much like insecurity. Because that's not me. I'm strong. I'm ruthless. A little bullheaded at times."

I laughed. More like at all times.

Smoothing her hands up my chest to rest on my pecs, she glanced up at me through her lashes. "I'm a hell on wheels sex goddess. I want to remember that."

My cock filled up so fast my head spun.

"You made me feel like that. You always have, but that night..."

I peeled her clothes off of her body with so much reverence, I couldn't stop just as much as I couldn't not realize that this was making love. Not fucking. I left a trail of kisses everywhere my fingers went, so fucking glad she had the lamp on so I could engage all five senses.

"You make me feel powerful, Esteban."

I gripped her hips and pulled her tight against my throbbing cock. "Say my name again."

"Esteban..." The warm, throaty voice was my undoing.

She said my name. Not Matías'. Mine. She wanted me. Matías could say whatever the fuck he wanted, but she was mine too.

Sliding my hands over her plump ass, I picked her up by the back of her thighs, guiding her legs around my waist. "You want to forget, baby?" I murmured, staring deep into her big, beautiful, brown eyes.

Biting her lower lip, she sucked in a short, quick breath. Her chest was rising and falling so fast now, stretching the material of her dress.

I loved her body almost as much as I loved her.

"Come on, Rita, baby. You want me? You want me to make you feel like no one else can?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Yes, what?" I asked as I laid her in the center of her bed. With slow methodical detail, I tucked my thumb in the side of her shoe and slipped her heel off, then moved to her other foot.

"Yes, Esteban."

I groaned. "Everything you say, I want Esteban to be attached to it. I want to hear you say my name over and over again."

"Okay, Esteban." She smirked as I kissed her ankle. This woman was going to be the death of me. Now she was going to say my name just to be a shit.

Whatever, I'd have her screaming in ten minutes, after I stripped her bare .

Pushing her dress up her thighs, I paused when I reached her panties.

Take them off or leave them on until I had her dress off?

She took the decision from me when she spread her legs wide, arching her back and moving her feet across the comforter in a sensual move.

Fuck. I narrowed my eyes on her. She was the very definition of sex appeal.

Dropping to my stomach, I sucked on her clit through the thin material of her panties, and her breath caught. I hummed and sucked harder until a soft moan fell from her throat. That was what I wanted, and this time, both she and I would remember every second of it.

I raised just enough to remove her dress. She lifted her torso to help. Then fell back on the bed with a bounce when it was off. Her tits jiggled in her bra, drawing my eyes.

"That has to go." I opened the front clasp and pulled her bra down to trap her arms. It was a weak trap, but she humored me as I worshiped one breast then the other.

Yanking the bra from her body, I caught her hands and held them above her head, grinding my hard cock against her as I kissed and licked her nipples. I needed them to be that perfect dark purplish pink before I could move on.

I caught one nipple between my teeth and sucked so hard, she arched against me, her hips riding me.

"I want your clothes off," she panted.

"Hmm...Not yet." I scooted back down the bed and cupped her thighs around my ears like the best fucking earmuffs. "I love the way you smell. And you're so wet for me."

She was. Her slit glistened with her arousal. Working her hips forward and backward, it was the most erotic sight I'd ever seen .

I licked every bit of her up, eating her out like she was my favorite meal. She was. And I wanted her to remember it.

"Oh, God." She pressed the heels of her hands to her forehead.

That's it. A little farther. I stuck two fingers inside, thrusting and twisting so slow, it was torture for her. She writhed under my hands and before long, she clamped around me and bowed her back so I couldn't see her face or tits.

She shuddered and shook from her orgasm. I kept eating and fingering her until she quivered.

"No more. No more..." she moaned as she continued to pulse around my fingers. Fuck, she was still coming.

Using one hand, I reached down and undid my pants, freeing my cock. Then I pulled my fingers from her soaked pussy and slammed inside her on a grunt.

Shit, shit. She still contracted around me so tight, I was going to come.

Breathing through my nose, I didn't move as I reached behind my head and pulled my shirt off. Then I shoved my pants down a little more.

Rita whimpered, looking at me through lust-drunk eyes. When she reached for me, I fell over her, molding my body to hers.

Then I moved, rolling my hips in strong yet lazy circles, gasping and groaning just as much as she was.

I raised my head, kissing the shit out of her, sliding my tongue inside her mouth, mimicking the motion of my cock. Her legs trembled around my waist.

That was it. She was close again.

Using more pressure and a slightly different angle, I ground against her clit, pistoning my hips in short bursts. Then she tossed her head back.

"Esteban!" she cried, her nails cutting into my shoulders.

"Fuck," I grunted, losing it. Jamming my fat cock inside her over and over again as I came. "Say my name," I panted. "Say my fucking name one more time."

I thrust harder, getting every goddamned ounce of pleasure from her as I could.

"Esteban. Esteban, Esteban, Esteban," she whined, lowering her head and meeting my stare.

One last shiver, and I stilled my hips, my heart trying to break out of my chest and into hers.

This was perfect.

This was what I'd make sure I'd never lose.

Rita was mine.