Reaper's Stand(42)

God damn. I needed to either f*ck her or fire her, because this in-between shit was not workin’ for me. ’Course Gage wanted her crew working out at The Line permanently, so I guess that meant firing was off the table.

Okay, then. I’d take one for the team and f*ck her. “I’m cleaning your oven,” she announced loudly, turning to face me, hands on her hips. The stance was pure challenge. Spoiling for a fight. Why, I couldn’t imagine, but it was a good look on her—fire in her eyes and all that shit.

I’d screw the fire right out of her. My cock took note, tightening just enough to be uncomfortable, and I decided what the hell. No time like the present.

“What crawled up your ass?” I asked. London scowled.

“I’m just trying to do my job. I was supposed to come tomorrow, but I’ll be at the airport instead. Jessie is coming back home.”

Interesting.

“You don’t seem too happy about that,” I said, sauntering across the floor toward her. I came to a stop about three feet away, which put my eyes level with her boobs. She sniffed, then turned and lifted her arms to reach one of the higher knives with her duster. It made her tits jiggle under the tank, a sight my cock appreciated greatly.

“My cousin’s boyfriend is apparently some kind of criminal,” she said tightly. “I guess the place is crawling with scary goons. A couple of them cornered Jess last night, terrified her. She says she’s safe until tomorrow, but I wanted her to come home tonight. She said she’d text me but she hasn’t.”

I stilled.

“You know anything about these guys?”

She turned back toward me, shaking her head. A smudge of dirt ran across her forehead and her bright red hair flopped around like she’d just gotten out of bed.

Not a bad look on her at all.

“Nothing, but I know I want to hurt them. She said I shouldn’t fly down there. Probably a good thing, because I don’t need to spend the rest of my life in jail and that’s where I’ll end up if I get my hands on these *s.”

“So you came out here instead? Not sure how to take that, sweetheart.”

She put her hands on her hips.

“I won’t be around tomorrow, and I don’t want you accusing me of backing out of our deal.”

Yeah, right.

“So you think I’m such an * I won’t let you off the hook to pick up your cousin from the airport?” I asked, trying not to smirk because I had her cold. She’d come here because when shit hit the fan, she wanted to be near me. Might not be ready to admit it, but that didn’t change what was really going on.

“You’re enough of an * to have sex in front of me.”

“Yeah, I’m a real piece of work—a single man f*cking a willing partner in the privacy of my own home. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep, I’m so ashamed of my actions.”

“Are you saying the timing was a total coincidence?” she demanded.

I laughed.

“You’re the one who showed up early,” I reminded her. “But yeah, I’ll give you that. I’d already decided to keep Sharon around all afternoon, make a point of her bein’ here. Didn’t plan to screw her in front of you, but I wasn’t disappointed when you walked in and saw it, either. I was f*cking pissed off, London. I was there for you when you needed it, I took care of you, and then you called me another man’s name. One of my least favorite men, for the record.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth opened, then closed.

“You’re a jerk.”

“No, I’m an *. You wanna fight like a grown-up, start using grown-up words.”

“Fuck off,” she hissed, and I swear her hair started levitating a little like Medusa. Okay, so it might’ve just been how she shook her head, but either way it was hotter than hell. The fighting had been fun, but we’d wasted enough time. Time to get inside that tight cunt of hers, check out whether it felt as good wrapped around me as my imagination suggested.

I wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her off the chair, hoisting her horizontally against my side as I started toward the bedroom.

“What are you doing?”

“Enough foreplay. Time to get down to business, babe.”

“I’m not your babe. Put me down!”

“Not gonna happen.”

She started kicking, which would’ve been a lot more effective if her legs could’ve reached any part of my body from that position. Not my first rodeo. Then she slapped at me, prying at my arm around her waist.

“Careful, don’t want me to drop you.”

“God! How can you be doing this? It’s not fair—you’re too strong for me. I hate you!”

I decided how I could be doing this was f*cking obvious, so it didn’t need answering. Good thing, too, because she dug her fingernails into my arm so hard I think she drew blood.

“Stop playin’ around, London.” We passed through the kitchen. My bedroom door was open. I kicked it shut behind us, then reached around to lock it because I’d be damned if I’d put up with any interruptions at this point.

Then I tossed her on the bed.

London scuttled back like a crab, bracing herself against the headboard with wide eyes.

“What’s wrong with you?” she demanded breathlessly.