Corrupt(16)

I’d done very well at ignoring her during my life, at first because she was too young for me to care and then because I needed to be patient.

Now, the timing was perfect, she was here, and so was I.

Only I wasn’t alone.

And the best part? She didn’t know that we knew. She didn’t know that we were coming for her.

Turning off the water, I breathed in and out, my cock aching and damn-near sticking straight out, needing release. I wrapped a towel around my waist and combed my fingers through my hair, walking out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

Alex, the young woman I’d taken to the team party tonight, still sat dutifully in the chair, her heart-shaped ass somewhat more appealing now that I was rock hard.

But I still wasn’t quite ready. Pouring myself a drink, I walked to the windows overlooking the city. The lights and the energy lit up the night, making it look like a sea of stars floating ahead of me, and it was one of the first things I learned when I’d visited this place as a kid. Meridian City was certainly more inspiring from a distance. Most things were, I’d come to realize.

The closer you got to anything beautiful, the less beautiful it became. Allure was in the mystery, not the appearance.

Letting my gaze fall, I spotted Rika through her windows. Her apartment sat on the level below but not directly beneath mine, so my windows offered an excellent view into the courtyard, as well as into her apartment. I narrowed my eyes, watching her flit about and wondering what she was doing.

She had splayed out a drop cloth below a wall, and there were cans of paint sitting on the living room floor. She stepped up on a ladder and arched up on her tiptoes, reaching for where the wall met the ceiling, smoothing something over with her hands.

She must’ve been putting up painter’s tape. It was nearly two in the morning. Why was she painting?

Her nice, little ass jutted out, and the black lace trim around the bottom of her tank top rode up, revealing the skin of her stomach.

Heat spread over my chest and down to my groin, my heart beating harder. Rika had a hell of a body, even though she didn’t have a clue how to use it.

Soft, cool hands ran over my shoulders as the girl came up behind me, standing naked at my side. The privacy glass wasn’t on, but neither were the lights, so Rika wouldn’t be able to see anything up here if she looked.

Alex gazed out the window, probably seeing what I was looking at, and then turned back to me, slipping her hand under my towel.

“Mmm…” she moaned, feeling how hard I was. “You like her.”

I stayed still, watching Rika as the girl stroked me. “No.”

One time I thought I might. For a few hours, long ago, we looked through the same eyes, and I felt like I could trust her.

It had been a mistake that cost my friends their freedom.

“But you want her,” she pushed, rubbing me faster and knowing exactly where my hard-on came from.

I let her handle me, but unfortunately I had no desire to reach out and touch her. I stared down, seeing Rika step off the ladder and drop to her hands and knees, running tape along the crown molding as she arched her back, taunting me.

I grunted, feeling the girl’s strokes get faster.

“Yeah,” she taunted. “So sweet and innocent, isn’t she?”

I swallowed through the dryness in my mouth and glared down at Rika. “She’s neither,” I gritted out under my breath.

“Maybe not,” the girl teased. “The shy ones tend to be the baddest after all.”

And then she leaned in, burying her lips in my neck and whispering, “I’ll bet your brother can tell you what a bad girl she is.”

Jesus.

I planted my hand against the window, leaning in as Rika sat back on her knees and looked up at the wall that she appeared to be getting ready to paint.

I hoped that wasn’t true. I only wanted two things…that my brother hadn’t broken her in as well as he bragged and that Rika had as much fight in her as I hoped.

“Yeah,” the girl breathed, kissing a trail down my jaw. “I’ll bet he knows exactly how she likes it.”

I instantly straightened, turning my head and placing a hand under her jaw, holding it tight. “My brother is the last person that knows anything about her,” I bit out, glaring down at her. “Now go home. I’m not in the mood.”

I pushed her away, and a shocked breath escaped her as she pinched her eyebrows together, looking confused.

“But you’re…,” she protested, gesturing to my cock tenting the black towel.

“That’s not for you, and you know it.”

Facing the window again, I tightened the towel around my waist and watched Rika pull her hair up in a ponytail and then bend over to pick up a can of paint.

But then I heard the ding of the elevator behind me, signaling that it was descending to pick up whoever had called it, and I quickly glanced over my shoulder to see the girl still standing there naked.

“You’d better hurry,” I warned. “I’ve got company coming up, and they’d love nothing more than to find you like that.” I let my eyes fall down, indicating her naked form.

Her eyes shifted side to side, hesitating and looking displeased. I didn’t know if she was really disappointed or just offended.

I really didn’t care. I’d already paid her, after all.