Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
“Fine. But I get to put a bubble beard on you.” She wiggles her eyebrows, and I kiss her once more before she hops out of my lap.
I turn around to watch her leave, and she’s still got her dress tucked around her waist. I can see the marks I left on her ass, and I grin. It’s torture to put my cock away and focus, but I remind myself that I’m going to join her in the bath as soon as I’m finished with my phone call.
There are twelve missed calls, and I curse as I dial the familiar number back. I was planning on calling my handler sooner, but I sort of got distracted.
“It’s Maxim,” I say into the phone when Johnson answers.
“Where the fuck have you been!” he shouts but doesn’t wait for me to answer. “You left me with more than two dead bodies. I’ve got an entire organization crumbling and I’m trying to sort through the wreckage before this blows up in my face!”
Johnson runs the department I technically work for, but they don’t exactly send my paychecks through human resources. I get hired out and paid cash under the table periodically so that I don’t blow my cover. It allows me to go where they can’t and do the things they’re not allowed to. I’ve helped him out with several cases over the years, but I’m not his bitch.
“Watch your fucking tone or I’ll make sure your entire department knows about your side hustle down on Seventh Street.”
He’s quiet for a second, then clears his throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Cut the shit. What do you want?”
“You need to come down here. We’ve got a lineup, and you have to identify the witnesses before time’s up. We want to make sure this entire operation is finished, but if we let these guys go, they could rally Sledge’s suppliers and be back in business.”
I clench my jaw as I glance back to the bathroom.
“I want to make sure that you didn’t take Vince out for nothing. That’s all. I need ten minutes of your time and then we’re square.”
“Fine,” I agree, but I’m pissed as hell. “I’ll be there soon.”
Chapter Nine
RUE
I stand by the door trying to listen in on Maxim’s phone call, but I can’t make anything out. He’s slowly gotten information out of me about my life, but I still don’t know anything about him. When the man gets his hands on me, I melt for him. In the moment it’s freeing, but then when I get some space and so many thoughts and emotions take over. It makes me want to run away and be all alone. That’s the only kind of self-preservation I know.
I rush into the bathroom to start the water in the tub so he doesn’t bust me trying to spy. I should probably try to earn his trust because that would make it easier to escape. I don’t want to, my mind screams, but I ignore it and dump bubbles I found on the counter into the giant tub.
“Hey.” Maxim comes up behind me as I’m bent over the tub and wraps his arm around my waist.
His cock is hard and pressing into my ass. The man is always hard even after he cums. The evidence of his release is still on me, and the thought of him doing it again makes my body heat all over. Maxim is becoming an addiction.
“I’m getting our pool ready,” I tease, wanting to keep my mood playful. I need to keep myself in control and remember what this all really is. The sour taste of him hurrying me out of the room so he could take his call is still lingering.
He presses a kiss to my neck, and the simple brush of his mouth has me leaning back into him. When we’re like this, I feel safe, but I have to remember it’s an illusion. We’re locked away in a beautiful suite pretending the rest of the world doesn’t exist. At least until someone calls his phone again.
“We’re going to have to take a quick shower.” He turns me in his arms, and I school my face so he can’t see my disappointment.
I know what’s coming because this is how things always go. I think I’m going to get one thing then I don’t. He told me that we were going to lay low in the hotel for a few days, and I started to want exactly that. Now it’s being ripped from my fingers. I should know better and that I can’t trust anything anyone says. In the end, they always do what suits them, and always pick themselves.
“You have to go,” I say before he can. I don’t want to hear him say the words. It would make it hurt more.