I pushed up her t-shirt, and she lifted her arms long enough for me to toss it away. Then I worked her sports bra up over her tits, and I took one in my mouth. Her pussy clamped down, and she groaned.
We didn’t last, this frantic fuck what we both needed. This wasn’t what she’d have had with Larry. While this was straight up fucking, it was also a connection. She was right there with me. An even exchange. I was taking her bare. As she came all over me, coating me in her cream, I couldn’t hold back and came deep inside her.
Making her mine. Fucking marking her. I was a Neanderthal, but I didn’t give a shit. All I could do was say, “Mine.”
25
HARPER
“Stay by my side the entire time,” Reed said. Again. “I hate this, Quake, just so you know. She shouldn’t fucking be here.”
We were in the parking lot of a vacant strip mall on the north side of Denver. Quake had called Reed this morning and told us about the meet up he’d arranged with Randy. We’d caught up with Quake and his son, Frankie, at the diner then followed them to this meeting spot.
“Noted,” Quake replied, leaning against the hood of his SUV.
We weren’t meeting for drinks. This wasn’t some kind of work happy hour. This was how criminals got together. Although I didn’t know enough about Quake to call him a criminal. Like he’d said, he had friends in low places. I couldn’t judge him so harshly or at all when he was helping me. I couldn’t understand what he got out of this, but I wasn’t going to question.
I glanced around. The lot was deserted but public and on a busy street. No one was going to shoot each other—I hoped—in broad daylight with cars going by. I was still nervous and internally, I was freaking out. The guy we were waiting for had been the one to give me nightmares ever since he’d had his men try to kidnap me. I’d been trying to avoid him, and now I was intentionally going to face him.
Quake pushed off his SUV and came to stand beside me as a black Cadillac pulled in and parked. Randy got out along with two guys. Guys I immediately recognized.
I sucked in a breath and felt the adrenaline dump, remembering what they’d done.
The usually sunny Colorado sky had a layer of clouds that covered the sun. I shivered in my heavy puffy coat. With shaky fingers, I tucked my hat down lower on my head. Reed took my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. He was so warm. So calm. I had to wonder if he was afraid of anything.
“Those… those are the two,” I whispered.
Quake stood on the other side of me. I was flanked by the president of an MC and a professional MMA fighter.
“Those two did what, doll?” Quake asked.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from those men. God. I saw them in my sleep. “From the hotel elevator two years ago.”
“They’re the ones?” Reed asked. This time, he squeezed my hand, and it wasn’t for me. It was because he was pissed.
“Easy,” Quake murmured. “Let’s get through this meeting. Frankie will take care of them.”
“With pleasure,” he said, dark promise lacing the words.
I leaned around Quake to look at Frankie. He was around my age with dark curly hair and the palest blue eyes I’d ever seen. He had the lean, long legged physique of a runner. He was an inch or so shorter than his father, and the way he eyed Randy and his men, I assumed just as ruthless. He gave me a wink then put on the neutral mask that Quake and Reed both wore.
We stood in front of Reed’s pickup and waited for them to approach. They stopped about ten feet away, and I felt like I was in a cowboy standoff.
“So, Harper Lane,” Randy said. “We’ve been looking for you.”
“Don’t know why,” Reed replied before I could even open my mouth. “She’s got nothing to do with you.”
All I could think of—besides freaking out—was that Randy had a Napoleon complex. He was shorter than me, his hairline receding probably at the same pace as his gut was growing. He was in his early forties, and he looked like the kind of guy who kicked puppies for fun.
“She’s got something I want.” His sleazy gaze raked over me, and I didn’t miss the fact that he was talking about more than money.
I tugged on Reed’s hand when I felt him coil up to strike. While he was good with his hands, he couldn’t punch his way out of a gun fight.
“Easy,” Quake murmured as Randy grinned, knowing his words had hit their target.
Reed gritted his teeth and said, “You want her brother.”
“I want her money.”