Anguished (Crimson Elite Book 2) Read online

  “Who was that?” The bartender looks to where she’s standing then shrugs his shoulders. Maybe she’s exactly what I need to get me out of my funk. Maybe she can make me forget just for one night. It’s only one night, I want. Slamming down a few more shots, I don’t take my eyes off her as I watch her hips sway to the music. Her smile is bright as she yells to her friend while they drink. I used to have fun, have that kind of smile once. Not anymore. It was stolen and I’m searching to get it back.

  Looking past her, I see the boys stuck in the booth. Well, the only person who looks like he doesn’t want to be there is Darby. He’s looking everywhere but at the woman standing directly in front of him. I thought about saving him and telling him he can go, but fuck it, he never has a life because all he does is work. When was the last time he even got laid? Who fucking knows?

  Her hands are up above her head, and she’s swaying them with her hips. Licking my lips, I wonder how they would move when she’s riding me fucking hard. Would she be soft and slow, or hard and fast?

  My feet start pulling me toward her before I can even think of talking myself out of it. I stand directly behind her, watching her and hoping she backs up just a little, so she pushes herself onto me. Her friend sees me before the red-haired dancing beauty does. She smiles and with one hand pushes her friend back, so she lands at my front. My hands wrap around her hips to steady her, as her heel steps on my toes. I cringe but don’t let the words I want to say leave my mouth.

  She turns fast, so I’m not touching her. Her hands fly to her mouth, and when she sees me, she drops them as a small smile creeps up on her face. Her eyes roam me over up and down before she stops at me.

  “Blondie.”

  “Red,” I say back to her not hiding the smile sitting on my lips.

  “I would apologize but I have a feeling she did it intentionally.” She turns back to her friend, says something, before she looks back to me. “You want something, blondie?” she asks in a way that should be illegal. It drips from her lips as if she’s ready to let me have my way with her. It’s an invitation and one I’m gladly going to take.

  “You, red, what do you say? Let me have you?”

  Her long, black eyelashes fall across her cheeks as she looks down, then open wide as she looks up to me. She takes one step closer, so her heels are now toe to toe with mine. This woman is something else, and I want to explore that something else.

  “You’ll have to kiss me first… if you suck we can’t do this. Do you think you’re a good kisser?”

  She’s challenging me.

  I love a good challenge.

  Challenge accepted.

  One hand swoops around her waist pulling her close, so she’s flush with me. She smells like cinnamon and I’m dying to taste her red, cherry lips to see if she tastes as good as she smells. But instead, I drop my head to her neck, kissing her softly so I can taste her skin. She hums under my lips and I feel the vibration, it’s an even bigger challenge now.

  I don’t mean to do it, it’s not something I’ve done since I was a teenager, but I have the sudden urge to mark her. Sucking on her lower neck, I know it’s going to leave evidence of me on her, and she will remember me even if she lies and says our kiss did nothing for her. With a lick of my tongue, I move upward, her lips are parted and she’s stopped humming. Nothing leaves her mouth as I bite her bottom lip taking it into my mouth. She doesn’t move from where I hold her, I don’t even feel her breathe. And in one swift moment, I lift my lips to match hers and take hers with me. She opens, so I don’t have to fight it. Our tongues dance as if they know each other. We taste each other like old lovers who have been found. And we hold onto each other as if we’re looking for a new beginning.

  When I pull away, she nods her head. And that’s all I need to know. I grip her hand in mine and pull her with me.

  5

  Storm

  The man can kiss, fuck can he kiss. I’m lost. Beyond lost when his mouth’s suffocating mine in every good way possible. I try to distract myself from his lips on my neck and hum to tell myself I don’t want what this gorgeous man’s offering me. Men like him don’t go for a woman like me. He looks like he’s just walked off the set of a movie that only employs models, and I know models because I deal with them. This man’s no model even though he could rival the best of them. He’s all man, I felt that when he pushed himself on me.

  His hand pulls mine but he doesn’t take me out the front door where I thought he might, I look back as he pulls me through the crowd to see Mel waving at me with a smile. I smile back because I’m more than happy to take my mind off of work with this fine specimen. He looks back his eyes travel the length of me, and I feel… dare I say, intoxicated. Like I’m this man’s greatest treasure. His looks do that as if he’s ready to eat me up and have his way with me. I’m ready for it. Fuck! I hope he doesn’t suck.

  I watch as he looks up to the private area, nods his head then turns back to where he’s heading. I glance up to see two men watching us with women surrounding them. Looking away fast, I don’t like their eyes on me knowing what we’re going to do. Judging me. I’ve never had a one night stand, but who better to start it with than this beautiful man in front of me. Fuck, he really is beautiful.

  “Where?” I ask as he pulls me through a black door, shuts it and only one small light shines down on us. He locks the door as I look around. There’s only one small love seat in the room and nothing else. It’s bare.

  “Lift your dress,” he says it in a demanding way. His hand drops from mine leaving me standing at the door wondering. Taking a deep breath, I do as he says, by hiking my dress up and watch as he bites on his lip. “You’ve been dancing all night with nothing under your dress.”

  I don’t like to wear underwear. Ever. Bras are optional, but I hate them.

  “Fuck me,” he curses and steps forward. His warm hand lands on my ass. He does something I don’t expect, he drops to his knees and kisses me right there. My hands fall back as he slides his finger between my lips and plays with my clit then inserts one finger. He kisses me between my legs like he kisses my lips, with passion and everything he is. His tongue is warm as it slides up and down, one hand on my ass the other inside of me. His tongue starts in circles around my clit and a loud moan leaves my mouth. I’m thankful for the music that’s blasting on the other side of the door behind me. I can feel the vibration of the bass through my hands as I grasp the door handle and the other palm lays flat on it.

  I didn’t see my night going like this—with a man on his knees between my legs showing me what heaven feels like. My eyes go blurry, and I feel myself start to tighten around his fingers when he stops disappearing from me. When I manage to open my eyes he’s standing in front of me his cock pulled out and he’s sliding on a rubber. I’m glad one of us is thinking because I sure as shit aren’t.

  When his eyes lift to mine, I can see the hunger and want written all over them. But there’s something else there as well. I shake my head not wanting to care. This is meant to be a one night stand, not one where I develop feelings.

  Hands grip me as I grasp him. Effortlessly, he lifts me so I fall onto him, clinging to him. Looking at him he smirks as he slides into me and I close my eyes when he’s fully inside me.

  Fuck! I should have one night stands more often, because if they’re all like this, what have I been doing all my life with one man who didn’t even fully stay with me. Stupid. Love’s for the weak. I don’t want to be that person anymore.

  Sex with no connections, that’s what I need.

  He bounces me on his dick. Who the fuck does that? I thought that was only in songs, but nope, he’s fucking bouncing me on his dick, and what a bounce too. It hits that spot, and I automatically grip his shirt wrinkling it under my fingers as my nails dig in. He leans in and bites my neck, as he slams my back against the door. His hands lift and slide under my arms as he pins me to the wall and lifts backward. He continues to fuck me like I’ve never been fucked before i
n my life. I close my eyes as he slams into me and pray the orgasm that’s building can hold off a little longer. It feels too good, way too fucking good.

  “Red,” he says, my eyes spring open and he’s watching me greedily. “Leave them open.”

  I do as he commands not arguing with him. I argue with everyone, but for some reason, the reasoning part of me that screams to do the opposite does nothing and sits dormant at his request. Like she knows he’s about to give me what I want. What I’ve wanted for a long time. And just as I move forward, he holds me still, pushes into me hard and I leave my eyes open as I come. His eyes don’t leave mine, and I wonder what I look like right now. Is my red hair a mess falling over my face, I can feel it has come out of its bun on my head and dangles down my back. Is my eyeshadow smeared over my face?

  Then I realize, I don’t really care.

  Because what he’s doing to me right now far outweighs how I look. Even if how I look is a big part of who I am and what I do. I like that he makes me not care about that. I bet it’s because I’ll never see him again, so that part of me which would usually care doesn’t. I love it.

  I see it in his eyes when he comes, I feel it as well. And I know without a doubt, he will be a man I won’t easily forget. I’ll compare this blond man to every other man that touches me from this moment on. And that’s okay because we all have someone in our mind for that. Before it was Matthew, now it’s blondie. Whose name I really don’t care to know. I want to keep him in my head just the way I see him now. Disheveled and fucked. And he looks damn good. He pulls out placing me carefully on the floor. I find the heels I kicked off, and slide them on as I stand pulling my dress back down.

  He’s pulling the rubber from his cock before he tucks it back into his pants when he looks up at me. He’s smiling, so I smile back and open the door, but as I do his hand captures mine before I leave. “What’s your name?”

  It’s a simple question, maybe one that should have been asked before we fucked. I smile pulling my hand free and walking off. He doesn’t follow because he’s still trying to finish dressing. I may have torn a few buttons from his shirt just to see his chest earlier, and I smile as I reach Mel who automatically starts pulling me to the door.

  The minute the cold air assaults me, and we get into a cab she drills me. And my smile doesn’t drop.

  “Who was that? Tell me he was good? Was he the best? Oh my God, you had sex. Where though? Tell me?” She grabs my arm and squeezes it.

  “In a small room and Mel…” she looks at me with big eyes, “… he was a ten.”

  She fans herself.

  “A ten? We’ve never had a ten. I mean you didn’t even class Matthew as ten, and you loved him.” She’s right, I didn’t.

  “He was more than a ten, trust me, Mel. Men like him aren’t made, they’re dreamt about. And that’s where he will stay in my dreams.”

  She places a hand up to my face. “Are you telling me you met your ten, and you didn’t get his number? Tell me you got his name at least?” Her hand drops from my face as the car slows down arriving at my house. I pay the driver who’s watching us and get out.

  “A ten, Stormi. You got his name? Please, tell me you got his name?”

  As we enter the house, I laugh and know she will flip her shit when I tell her I didn’t.

  “I didn’t.” Her eyes go wide and she walks back out the door pulling me with her. “What are you doing?” I ask pulling my hand back while she starts waving down another cab.

  “We’re going back to get his information, you silly girl. You don’t let a ten walk away from you.”

  A cab driver slows down and I wave him off, walking back to my house.

  “No, Mel, he’ll stay ‘blondie’ to me. The way he should be.”

  “You’re insane. You know that, right?”

  “A man shouldn’t be that perfect. He’s bound to have some major skeletons. I want to stay clear of them. Keep him perfect in my head.”

  She shakes her head at me. “You’ve lost it, I’m going to check you into the looney bin. You need to go visit, and stay there until you realize how stupid you sound right now.” She walks away then mutters, “A fucking ten.” I laugh at her as I walk to the bathroom.

  That’s when I see it and scream. What the fuck.

  There are two large hickeys on my neck. Two. Not small either. Concealer won’t cover them. Two fucking dark hickeys each the size of a golf ball.

  “Oh my God, you look like a hooker,” Mel says then pokes her tongue out at me before she walks away. Reaching for the toothpaste, I place a little on each of them. It’s an old trick my mother once told me to do when I was a teenager, and a boyfriend would do that. Stripping my dress down, I go to catch my cards and stop when only one falls out.

  Where the fuck is my ID?

  I walk out and backtrace my steps, then panic starts to set in. Where the fuck is my ID? The last time I remember seeing it was before I paid for my drinks at the bar next to blondie. Now, I don’t know where it is. It could have fallen out when I was slammed against the door but I don’t remember shit.

  “What are you doing?” Mel asks as I pick up my heels like it could magically be stowed in them.

  “Do you have my ID?” She pauses then starts laughing. “Mel, do you have my ID?” Her laughter doesn’t stop.

  “You dropped it, didn’t you? He now has your ID, I bet you.”

  “Fuck off,” I say flipping her off and walking into my bathroom lifting the mat and not finding it there either. Fuck! The last thing I want to do is to have to get a new ID. I don’t have time during the work week to do that. I’m too busy.

  I try to not think about the fact if he has it or not. If he does, he now knows where I live and my name. The two things I didn’t want him to know.

  6

  Echo

  She wouldn’t even tell me her name. She left as if I was about to trap her and I probably would have. I didn’t want to let her go just yet, I was more than happy to keep her trapped in the room with me for as long as humanly possible. Fuck! I would have gone again even knowing I didn’t have another rubber in my pocket. There were other things we could have done, especially with that sweet mouth of hers. What I wouldn’t give to have that wrapped around my cock. My buttons are broken and I don’t even fucking care right now. She’s gone. I watched as she went straight to her friend then disappeared. I almost chased her down until I noticed what she dropped on the floor.

  Storm Hale.

  It even has her address on it, her age, and her picture. The dirtier part of me is happy to have a visual to go home with, to pull my cock off to while looking at her picture. The other part smiles sinisterly knowing I can find her from now on. And there isn’t anything she can do about it.

  Walking up to where Falcon is sitting he’s in a lip lock with a woman while his other hand fingers one of the other girls. I sit down next to Darby who’s pulling a face of disgust like this is the last place he wants to be. It probably is.

  “You’re smiling.” He notices as he watches me.

  “I am.”

  “The redhead,” he says looking around.

  “She left.” He nods his head sitting stiffly in his seat. “Do you want to go, D?” He looks to Falcon then back to me.

  “Fuck, yes.” I laugh at him and stand, we don’t even bother saying goodbye to Falcon he won’t even fucking notice us leaving.

  “That’s the sole reason Creed does the women, he’s the only one with control,” Darby says shaking his head at Falcon.

  “I could do what he does,” I argue, he looks at me as we reach his car opening the door.

  “No, you couldn’t. Creed doesn’t get attached. You get attached.”

  “Creed is attached,” I state referring to Elicea.

  “That’s different, you know it.”

  I do, he’s right. Creed wouldn’t let a woman worm their way in to get more money or suck up to him to fuck us over. He’s like a block of fucking ice almost impossibl
e to defrost. That’s why we were so surprised to see Elicea stick to him like fire.

  “Fine, your right. But I want it on record I could pick women for the club and not get attached.” He scoffs at me and starts to drive. “When was the last time you were with a woman, Darby?” He shakes his head at me.

  “That’s none of your fucking business.”

  “Why? Why do you want to be so secretive?”

  I turn to him and he grips the wheel tight. “I’m not secretive, I just don’t blab like you bitches do.”

  “What bitches? I’m not a bitch,” I say pretending to be insulated.

  “You and Falcon,” he states.

  “Python is your favorite, isn’t he?” I say teasing him. He doesn’t answer as he pulls up to mine. A house I once shared with her. It’s the last place I want to be.

  “Take me to Ma’s.” He knows whose place that is. Ma is the mother I wish I had. Creed is one lucky prick to have a mother like her. She makes me feel welcome, and I enjoy being there. Especially, when I don’t have anywhere else to go.

  “Do you want to come to mine?”

  I look up at him shocked. He never lets us come to his. He’s much like Creed in that way.

  “Ma is probably sleeping, best to not wake her.”

  I nod my head. Then look back up at the house I bought with her. It’s time to sell it, even if I do love it. She’s in every aspect of it, and everywhere I step or touch I’m reminded of her. It’s too fucking much.

  Waking up in Darby’s spare room isn’t something I’ve ever done before. I knew his place would be like a showroom, but I didn’t think it would be to this extent. It feels like you can look but not touch. The floors are white. The table, which I’m guessing is an office is white, no pictures hang, and nothing that makes it feel homey is in here. Careful to not touch anything because I would hate to leave a stain on it I get up. He told me he has a cleaner come every week. Why? Fucked if I know. It’s not like he’s here to dirty it. He basically lives at the fucking office. Walking into his kitchen, he’s seated at his bench with a cook on the other side making him waffles. I can smell them as I rub my eyes wondering if what I’m seeing is real.