Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

TRISTAN

I already have half the cash in the stash under the rear seat, but I’m not happy about it. As I drive through the night, sighing, I lament I’ll never be able to get a dog of my own thanks to all this crap with the Mob. That’s always been in my head, but I can’t take time for self-pity. I’ve got to dump Raffie’s shit before I get serious prison time.

My phone buzzes. I glance at it. Fuck. It’s my Maya. No, it’s Maya , I correct myself. Cold, calculated, focused.

I pull over, checking the phone. I’m wired, tired, and on edge, but her words light me up, but not in a good way. Some guy came by the house. He didn’t break in or anything, but he was pretty intimidating. He was hinting that he was watching us. Anyway …

She finishes with, “ That’s it ,” and that gets my blood boiling, dammit. It shouldn’t be easy to push away her feelings and not care.

When I pull away from the curb, I turn in the opposite direction. My body’s sore from a long day cleaning the kennels, now this crap. Raffie’s going to be in serious shit if anything happens to her.

It’s not like I can leave her after learning all that. Maybe she won’t appreciate me showing up with a trunk-load full of this filth, but it’s better than leaving her alone at night, her and her ma, leaving her without me to protect her.

Do I think it’s my job or something? That’s Tank sneering in my ear. I love that man like a brother. We served together. We survived together, but sometimes he makes me want to bash his teeth in with that crap.

I get another text from Raffie. How’s it going?

He was erratic when I left, jittery, looking at me with his red, high eyes. “Just get rid of it, bro. Please.” Then he shoved my fight purse into my hand. I couldn’t help but see that little kid again, despite knowing what he’s done, who he is, and what he tried to force me to do.

When I’m almost at Maya’s street, I slow the car down, not wanting to wake up the neighborhood so late. I do a quick scan but don’t notice any cars with people in them. Maybe they’re hiding, but more likely, Maya was right. They just wanted her to know they were there.

The fucks. Trying to take this good thing from me.

Parking up outside, I glance at the trunk. I’m going to have to be quick. It won’t feel good pulling out of here again and leaving Maya behind, but good and necessary aren’t always the same.

I text instead of knocking on the door. She replies, I’m coming out.

She’s in yoga pants and a hoodie when she comes out. It’s like she wants to get as far away as possible from her outfit earlier, with those tempting shorts and that thin tank top that didn’t leave much to the imagination.

I need to focus. Stepping forward, I take her hand. I don’t mean to, but everything with her is so much more natural than it should be. Not like I can take the time to give a damn.

“Are you okay?”

I pull her into my arms when she nods, making a soft hmm noise, but I can tell she’s not okay. She collapses against me, pressing her face against my chest. When she begins to cry, I hold her, hating the way her whole body trembles like her world is falling apart.

“You’re right,” she moans. “She needs a home. I can’t keep her here. The stress, the fear …”

“You need to sit down,” I say softly, wanting to take her inside and hold her, but I can’t help thinking of what’s under my backseat. The longer I leave it there, the more risk there is.

She makes another heart-wrenching noise. I’d have to be some monster not to lead her into the house gently. I take her into the living room and sit her on the couch. Then, I sit next to her. It’s like the life, all that sass and heat, has drained out of her.

She turns to me slowly. “It’s true, isn’t it?” she whispers. “I’ve been holding on too hard.”

“It’s not your fault,” I tell her. “What are you supposed to do? Just accept it and somehow be okay with it? Life’s just fucked up, Maya.”

She blinks, her eyes glistening. “That’s just what we have to accept, is it?”

“It’s what I’ve tried to do,” I tell her.

She presses both her hands on mine, leaning closer. Even now, with the tears shining on her cheeks, with her pain tearing through her, there’s this savagery in me that won’t quit. She presses her lips against mine, gasping like she can’t believe how good it feels.

There’s something in her pleasure that gets me going. It’s how suddenly ramped up she is, ready to go and give everything.

“I want to forget,” she moans between kisses. “I don’t want to think …”

The unspoken follow-up is … “ About anything ,” but we can’t speak anymore. When she throws herself at me, I forget about everything. All I can feel is the heat and the curviness of her body as I press her against the couch, gently laying my weight against her.

My manhood hardens. I grind it against her, savoring the way she moans, the hot breaths moving over my face. When I begin to slide my hand down her body, over her hoodie, I expect her to stop me. I’m moving too fast. I need to chill.

Instead, she shifts slightly, creating some room between us. My whole body trembles as I slip my hand between her legs. She ends the kiss, leaning back and craning her neck. She’s so damn receptive to my touch. I slide my hand against her pants. The fabric is thin, a petal of wetness spreading as I lean back so I can watch her.

Her curvy hips twitch for me as she rides the pleasure. Her moans always come quietly, held back. She doesn’t want to disturb her mother. I get it, but I can’t stop, either.

Moving my hand to her waistband, I push beneath it, feeling the mound of her pussy, tempting me to go further, feel her sweet virgin clit and her fluttering walls, getting ready to take everything I have to give, which is a damn lot with Maya. She turns me into somebody else.

She grabs my wrist and looks at me with wide eyes. “Do you remember what I said?” she whispers.

“Relax,” I tell her, trying to sound soothing and understanding, but my voice comes out deep, husky. “You don’t need to do a damn thing except let that pussy get nice and wet for me. Then cream when you’re all riled up.”

She swallows. A shiver runs through her perfection as she slowly lets go of my hand. My dick is rock-solid, my tip pushing against my zipper. My balls have never felt so full, but somehow, I have to hold back.

“Cream?” she whimpers.

I smirk, but then I can’t smile or make light. My hand glides the rest of the way down, feeling her naked clit, her folds swollen with pleasure, all of her soaked, drenched for me. “Come,” I groan. “You’re going to come for me.”

I can barely get the words out. She lies back on the couch, glancing at the door, guilt trying to grip her. It’s like I can read the thoughts moving through her head; she doesn’t think she deserves this, and she couldn’t be more wrong. I won’t let those intrusive thoughts get the best of her.

Leaning down, I kiss her again, then start to grind my hand faster. Her eyes flutter with the sensation. She moans against my lips when I push my finger against her swollen clit. My hand is soaked, her pussy seeping even more wetness. I’m fucking wild for her. All I want to do is tear a hole in her sweatpants.

I want to see her tight wet slit. Spit on my hand and slide it up and down my dick. I want to slide into her, clamp a hand over her mouth, knowing she has to be quiet, and hammer her until she’s squirting down my dick.

“Come for me,” I growl because I know I have to leave soon, but I want to watch her fall over the edge before I do. She’s making me too crazy. Fuck. I want to claim her right this second.

She shifts against me, then moans, nodding.

“Right there?” I groan.

She twitches against my touch, nodding as she grinds her hips up and down like she’s trying to smear that hot-as-fuck wetness against my hand. I push the heel of my palm against her clit. She grabs onto me, moaning and nodding as she rocks up and down in time with me.

I couldn’t stop even if the whole Mob pulled up outside and started firing. Not when I see the way Maya’s eyes flutter, the way her hips move like she’s chasing my hand, the wetness of her pussy. Then, oh my God, she’s perfect. She moans as her release pulses out of her.

She bites down, trying to catch the noise, but some of the pleasure escapes anyway. She stares up at me with those wide, innocent eyes. I can’t look away. I want to keep her safe: always make her feel good, make her forget.

Finally, she falls back, letting her hand slip from my wrist. That’s my cue to take my hand away from her soaked, excited pussy, but I don’t do it straight away. Instead, I leave my hand there, staring at her, as my cock aches and pulses and roars at me to do it, to drive into her.

She bites her lip, glances at the hallway, then nods. “Do it,” she says.

“Are you sure?” I groan.

Her eyes snap open again like she can’t believe she’s saying this, but her voice is confident. “Yeah. I want you.”

“I wanted you the first moment I saw you,” I snarl, my head rushing as I reach down for my pants.

“Really?” she moans.

“Take off your pants,” I growl, realizing she still doesn’t know I watched her that night.

Her hands move down to her waistband. She starts to wriggle free. Precome coating the head of my dick, hot and ready. My heart is hammering harder than ever in combat, armed or unarmed.

I pull down my pants, my cock springing free. Maya doesn’t look up right away. She’s wriggling out of her pants, her underwear sticking wetly to her folds as she slides them down.

I stare at her, panting, as she lies back, looking down at her body and my cock. When she swallows, her thighs tremble. “I don’t think I can take my hoodie off,” she murmurs.

She doesn’t need to tell me why. I get it. What if her mom needs her?

“It’s fine,” I growl, not letting myself think about anything else. “Your legs are perfect. Your pussy is perfect. So wet …”

I move forward, gripping my dick in my hand, guiding my tip to her core. Her moans are filled with intense pleasure, the same pleasure rushing through me. Heck, we didn’t plan this. Perhaps we’re both nuts in our own ways, but here, now, everything makes sense.

When my tip grinds against her entrance, I almost lose it. I push into her warm, tight slit.

She’s moaning in that intriguing way. I look down at her, and she nods, and I know what she’s telling me. Be in the moment. Enjoy it. Enjoy us . Don’t treat everything like a mission to complete. Let go.

I groan as I reach down, massaging her clit, her walls opening for me as I press deeper. She gasps, whispering with urgency in her voice, “Fuck, that’s big. It’s so good.”

“Your pussy feels perfect.”

“We have to be quiet.”

“You’re so fucking tight …”

She reaches up for my neck, clinging tightly to me. “Your dick, it feels … so good, like I thought it would.”

“You’ve thought about this?” I groan.

“Haven’t you?”

“I thought you were supposed to be a virgin, eh?” I grip her hip, meaning to hold her as I slide in even deeper.

Then sirens cut through the air. They start suddenly, and I know what that means. The bastards waited until the last minute so they could claim, after the fact, they’d done everything by the book.

“Fuck,” I growl, leaping away from her.

“What is it?” my Maya asks.

“I need to get to my car.”

I pull up my pants and run through the house, my mind clashing and cloudy as my head tries to play catch up. It’s like events are slogging along slowly. I need to get into action mode.

If I get to the car and make a run for it, they can get me for resisting arrest. I’d rather take that than the drug charge. Even if I get away and they arrest me later. I won’t run entirely. I can’t afford to. I’ve got too much to leave behind.

From the house behind me, I hear Loki barking urgently.

I’m about to climb into the driver’s seat when I realize my mistake, far too late. A tracker’s on my car, glinting up at me from the wing-side mirror, a telltale shine in the rear wheel’s underside. I’ll have to ditch it on the way.

The sirens are getting closer. I can’t fuck around. I climb into the car and start the engine.

The lights burst on, showing Tank standing in his cop’s getup with a bulletproof vest and everything. He frowns at me as he stands in the middle of the road.

Suddenly, the sirens are all around me. I try to get myself to react, to think, to what? Run my friend over? However, he’s not my friend anymore. Betrayal tears through me like a hot bullet. Tank. In a million years, I never would’ve thought Tank would do this.

As the police move in, he walks around to the driver’s side, gesturing at me to lower the window. I do so, then put my hands on the wheel. There’s no use fighting now. Fuck .

“You’re working with Raffie,” I growl.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tank says, unwilling to look me in the eye.

“Do you think they’ll forgive you, Tank? Wilson? O’Connor? The others? Will they forgive you for this?”

Tank looks at me darkly. “How did you think this was going to end? You kept pushing, man.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

He steps back as the arresting officer steps forward.