She nodded.
“Right. Tonight, you’re back here.”
She nodded again.
“Six, Olivia. And if I’m not here, I’ll give you a key.”
“I’m uncertain I have the brute strength to open your door.”
He grinned. “It sounds angry but it’s a piece of cake.”
“Right,” she murmured, her eyes drifting to his throat.
“Livvie,” he called.
Her gaze came back.
Before he could say more words to reassure her, she spoke and as she did, just the way she did it last night, he caught the look deep in her eyes.
“You’ll give me a key.”
That said a lot for any man and woman, he knew it.
For them, the level of trust it communicated was out the roof.
And the way she felt about it wasn’t right there for him to see, but she gave it to him because he put in the effort to look deep.
“I’ll give you a key,” he confirmed quietly.
She leaned into him, her soft body yielding to his hard.
“Fuck, you gotta stop bein’ sweet or I’m gonna need to fuck you against the island and I got zero time this morning,” he warned. “I need coffee and to get a move on.”
“Okay,” she said in her soft voice.
“Now make coffee,” he ordered.
She rolled her eyes.
She’d never done that.
Now she was being sweet with her body and her normal just plain cute.
He moved his hand down, catching his shirt, yanking it up and he was about to swat her ass when he felt it was bare.
“Fuck,” he grunted.
“Sebring?”
He curled his fingers into her ass cheek.
Her lips parted and her lids lowered.
Fuck.
Without another word, he turned her and bent her over the island, yanking up his shirt and seeing her bare ass.
“Fuck,” he groaned, his hardening cock going solid.
“Sebring,” she whispered, and tipped her ass.
An invitation.
Christ.
His princess.
“Goddammit,” he muttered. Powerless against her pull, he undid his pants. “Hold on,” he ordered.
She shifted her hands to the sides of the island.
He drove his cock into her wet cunt.
Fuck.
He took her hard and fast. She came for him hard and fast. He shot deep, did it hard but luckily not quite as fast.
When he was done, still breathing heavily, he turned her, lifted her and planted her ass on his island, shoving in so he was between her legs. When he got to where he wanted to be, he kissed her.
And when he was done with that, he stayed close and held her tight as he said quietly, “Like you in my shirts, Liv, but so I can fight the urge to spend every minute I’m awake fuckin’ you, panties would be good.”
“Hmm…” she murmured as reply, her beautiful green eyes even more beautiful hazy with sex.
She was totally not going to wear panties.
Yeah, she owned him. He told himself he’d resisted the brand but she’d burned it deep weeks ago.
Admitting that and still powerless against her pull, Nick kissed her again.
Then he put her on her feet.
She wandered to his master bath off his bedroom to clean up.
By the time she was out, he’d finished the coffee she’d started making and he’d gotten her a key.
He poured himself a travel mug.
She grabbed her cell and gave it to him. She also wandered to the door with him.
He kissed her there and muttered, “Bolt this after me.”
“Yes, master,” she teased.
“Already late. Don’t tempt me,” he warned.
Her lips twitched up, not a smile, not completely but it was something.
He’d take it.
For now.
“Six, babe.”
She nodded.
He left Olivia Shade in his house without him there, rolling the door closed himself.
He heard the bolt go.
Livvie safe inside, he walked to his Jag.
* * * * *
11:56 – Late That Morning
“Okay…” Knight said, his voice vibrating.
Nick watched his brother take a breath in through his nose.
Then he finished, “What?”
His brother was in his office, the door closed, Nick was giving him a full brief.
He’d just shared about Olivia’s scars.
Many would misunderstand Knight Sebring’s purpose of providing administration services, including client vetting as well as protection, to a stable of call girls. Most every human being would think he was doing it for the ten percent he got, making money off pussy.
He was not doing it for the ten percent.
He was doing it because he was Knight, a name that defined him, a baby born to a whore with the intent to use him as a shield. Knight had protected his mother for as long as he had memories. It was the first thing he’d learned to do.
Shit like that was hard to shake.
Needless to say, that being him, a woman being burned for any reason was not big with Knight Sebring.
“You heard me,” Nick said quietly. “We aren’t that far with figuring shit out so she hasn’t shared the story direct, but from what she said, she had somethin’ with Tom Leary and her dad didn’t like it. Made his point. She says her dad owns her and she’s terrified as fuck he’s gonna find out about us and hurt me.”
“He burned her.”
“Knight, brother, need you to focus.”
“He burned his fucking daughter.”
Nick fell silent.
He gave Knight a few beats to pull his shit together.
Then he said softly, “I feel this, brother.”
“I know you do,” Knight gritted out.