When I didn’t respond, Micah turned around to me with the satin gown in his hand. “The only thing that should surprise me is that they aren’t all pink,” he said, walking back over to me. “After seeing that insanely feminine robe you had on the morning I woke up here and the panties and bra I took off you the other night, I should have known my Tink wears dainty, little, feminine nighties to bed.”

  My Tink.

  I felt my heart do a crazy jolt at those words.

  When he reached me, he nodded his head. “Stand up.”

  As if I was completely under his command, I did as told.

  Micah laid the nightgown on the bed beside me, then took the hem of my sundress and lifted it up and off my body. I stopped breathing when he dropped it to the floor. His gaze traveled down my bare chest to the ice-blue lace panties I was wearing. The way his neck flexed as he swallowed before trailing his gaze back up my body made my nipples pebble, and I shivered.

  “Get in bed, Tink,” he said in a raspy voice.

  Wanting to cover up, I reached for the nightgown, and he snatched it from my hands.

  “You won’t be needing that.”

  This meant…we were going to have sex again. At least, that was what I hoped it meant. I scooted back on the bed until I was in the center of my queen-size mattress. Micah began to remove his clothes with such swift movements that I wanted to ask him to slow down so I could enjoy the show. If I were more secure or self-assured, I would have done just that.

  “I didn’t stay to fuck you. I stayed to take care of you. I wanted to hold you while you slept and know you were okay. Should’ve known once I got in this bedroom with you, all my goodwill would go to hell. As if you’re not tempting enough, you have a drawer of sexy little nighties that no man has seen on you.” Micah climbed on the bed and knelt over me. His appreciative gaze made me feel special.

  When his fingers brushed the new bandage he’d put on my thigh after we walked back to the apartment, I saw him wince, as if the sight pained him.

  “Promise me, Tink, fucking swear to me, that I’ll never have to see you hurt your body again,” he whispered as his eyes lifted back to meet mine.

  I wanted to promise him anything, but I also didn’t want to lie. What if I couldn’t? What if I had opened up this addictive need and it was going to take years of therapy for me to control it again?

  Micah’s fingers slid into the sides of my panties, and he tugged them down my hips, then thighs, being extra careful of my wound before pulling them the rest of the way off.

  “Jesus Christ, you’re beautiful,” he murmured, then moved over my body, lowering himself until his mouth covered mine.

  He tasted of mint and whiskey. Reaching up, I grabbed his arms and felt his muscles flex beneath my touch. He licked at my bottom lip and groaned before sinking back into the kiss, giving me more of his talented tongue.

  His hand ran down the side of my hip, then over my stomach before he slipped his fingers between my legs. Opening me and caressing the ache that he had caused to stir. My hips lifted of their own accord. I wanted more, knowing what else he could do to me. Craving it like I did my next breath.

  “So wet,” he said as he kissed the corner of my mouth. “So sweet,” he murmured, trailing his gentle pecks down my neck and collarbone until he reached my breasts. He began to suck on one of my nipples as his fingers squeezed and caressed the other one.

  He was everywhere, it seemed, and my body was humming with pleasure. I was sure in this moment that he could ask me anything, and I’d agree to it. Just to have him here. Keep him with me in this bed. Nothing had ever made me feel the way he did.

  When he began to pump his fingers in and out of me, I felt the world fall away and center on him at the same time. I wanted more. My body was desperate for the feel of him inside me. Filling me, stretching me to the bite of pain that would soon be taken over by bliss.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, baby,” he groaned, as he watched me moving against his hand, trying to take more.

  “Please, Micah,” I pleaded. “I need…”

  “Tell me, Tink. What do you need?” he urged.

  I gasped for air, and my eyes found his. “You. Please. Inside me.”

  He hissed, then shoved my unharmed thigh up and to the side, opening me wider. He ran his knuckles along my opening and caused me to cry out as he circled the most sensitive spot between my legs with his thumb.

  “Micah!” I cried, grabbing at the sheets and lifting my hips again.

  He moved then, his arms flexing as they held him over my body. His perfect teeth bit down on his lower lip as he thrust inside of me. The invasion was what I’d wanted, but there was still a sharp pain that came with it. Throwing my head back, I cried out, but didn’t pull away. I wanted him there. I never wanted him to leave.

  “GODDAMN, Tink!” he shouted, then began to move. Sinking deeper, then withdrawing and doing it again.

  I was lost in the sensation. The promise of paradise and the sheer beauty of the man inside of me. The veins on his neck stood out as his entire body flexed with each glorious movement. If this was a sin, I was one hundred percent sure it was worth going to hell over.

  “Nothing,” he growled. “Nothing has ever felt this fucking incredible.”

  His eyes stared down at me. The black of his pupils almost dominating all of the blue of his irises. Seeing his pleasure triggered something, and the euphoria exploded inside of me.

  My vision blurred, and I clung to his arms as the powerful tremors overtook me. I heard him say my name, but I was lost to this. Everything about it.

  “FUUUCK!” he let out in a roar before jerking back and pulling out of me.

  I wanted to reach for him and pull him back, but the warm sensation that hit my stomach snapped me from my crazed rapture. My eyes flew open, and I watched as Micah pumped his release onto me. His chest heaved with each shot that came out of him.

  “Goddammit,” he swore when he finally stopped and stilled, panting as he stared down at the semen on my skin. His eyes closed for a moment, and he inhaled a deep, ragged breath. “Shit. I didn’t mean to.”

  He lifted his eyes to mine, and I saw the whirl of emotions there.

  “I never forget. I don’t fuck without a condom. I swear. I get tested regularly. But I’ll take us both to get checked. I got—” He ran a hand through his hair and let out a weary sigh. “Dammit, Tink. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten so carried away. I should have thought.”

  I listened to him, understanding that he was worried about not having used a condom, but he’d pulled out. The cum was on me, not in me. The only thing bothering me was…he seemed to think we needed to get checked.

  “I’ll clean you up,” he said, climbing off the bed and walking, naked, toward my bathroom.

  I lay there, not sure if I should have said something or if I was missing something. He seemed more concerned than I would have liked.

  Had he…had he had sex since we had a few days ago? When was the last time he had gotten checked? And was I jealous—because he’d had sex recently enough with someone else—more than I was worried about getting an STD?

  When he returned, he paused and looked down at me. The damp cloth was fisted in his hand. “I should be feeling like a bastard right now, but seeing my cum on your pretty skin only makes me want to rub it all over you,” he said hoarsely. Then, he looked up to meet my gaze. “I want to see my cum leaking out of your cunt, Tink. I came real damn close to unloading that inside you.”

  I let out a shaky breath. If he had, this would have been a much different conversation. As much as I loved seeing the territorial gleam in his eye, there was one problem with that scenario. I had never taken birth control a day in my life. I hadn’t needed it. I’d figured when the time came for sex, we would use a condom.

  Now understanding how different it felt with him bare, I got the need for birth control. I wanted to do that again. I wanted him to come inside me. I wanted to see him look at me like that while we were still joined.

  He began to clean my stomach, then between my legs before tossing the cloth to the floor.

  “Sit up,” he instructed me. “Let me pull the covers back.”

  I did so, helping him get them out from under my butt, then slid beneath them as he climbed in beside me. I was unsure what it was he needed me to say. I wasn’t sorry we’d had sex, and honestly, the sight of him shooting his cum onto me wasn’t one I wanted to ever forget.

  Micah slid his knuckle under my chin and tilted my head back to look at him. “You’re not on any birth control, are you?”

  I hesitated, then shook my head.

  “I was just tested two weeks ago. I’ve been with someone else since then, other than you. I used a condom though. I always use a condom. You’re safe. I promise, but I’ll get checked just to give you some reassurance.”

  Again, I should be concerned about the STD thing, but I wasn’t. Not when he had just admitted to sleeping with some other woman. I was more focused on the when. Had it been before us or in between our two times? I felt a sick knot in my stomach and wished I didn’t care.

  “Say something, Tink,” he urged.

  I blinked up at him. What did I say? I’d just had the best sexual experience of my life—not that I had many to compare it to, but I seriously doubted it got better than that—and he wanted to discuss his sex life with other girls and getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

  He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. “I can see your brain spinning. Your eyes give you away. Just talk to me.”

  Okay. Fine. Just be blunt. He sure is.

  “Have you had sex with another woman since we slept together?” I asked.

  The right corner of his mouth twitched slightly. If I hadn’t been studying him so closely, I would have missed it.

  “That’s what has that unhappy frown puckering your brows?” he asked with an amused tone.

  I started to turn away from him, angry that he was going to tease me about this. He’d asked, and I had been honest. Now, he was going to make light of it.

  His arm clamped down over my waist, holding me in my place. “Oh, no, you don’t. Stop getting all worked up into a snit.”

  I glared at him. “You asked me, and then you made me feel like an idiot when I told you the truth.”

  He leaned down and rested his forehead against mine. “That wasn’t what I meant to do. I’m sorry. I just hadn’t expected that to be what you were worried about. The answer is no. I’ve not touched a woman or looked in her fucking direction since you were in my bed. I swear.”

  “Oh,” I whispered.

  He kissed the corner of my mouth. “We need to get you on birth control,” he said softly, then pressed a kiss to my chin. “Because now that I’ve had you raw, I’m gonna need it every time.”

  I shivered as his hand slid over my stomach where his cum had been.

  “Every time?” I asked.

  “Mmhmm,” was his reply as he began to trace circles over my skin. “As much as I liked seeing my cum on you, I want it in you more. The thought of knowing you’re walking around with damp panties from my cum makes me feel some strong shit I’m not ready to put a name to just yet.”

  Oh good Lord. How was I going to survive this man?

  27

  Micah

  The Hendricks was known for two things: the place to get any fix you needed and prostitution. It paraded as a strip club, but had been raided and shut down several times over the years. New “ownership” would take over, and it always seemed to go undetected for a while until the DA got wind of it, and then it happened all over again.

  “You sure this is where Canyon is hiding out?” I asked Levi Shephard as we stepped down into the underground entrance to the club behind Gage Presley and another one of the family members, Huck Kingston.

  Liam had called and said Blaise was ready for this to be finished and was sending his top three men. Once we were inside, The Judgment members that we’d brought along would surround the parking lot. However, I was the only one going inside with the Mafia. That had been Liam’s call.

  “I put a tracker on him three days ago. I’m positive,” he replied.

  Of course he had. These men were on another playing level when it came to shit like this. Where we would barge in with our guns and demand shit, they would have things already set in place to ensure it went their way. It was smart, but rarely did we deal with this kind of thing. They were experts at getting what was owed to them.

  “Blaise know the sick fucker in charge has underage girls here he’s pimping out?” Gage asked.

  “Yes, I gave him all the info I could pull off their private servers,” Levi replied.

  “Then, if I slice his neck open, he’ll understand,” Gage said.

  The massive man built like a damn brick wall, Huck Kingston, turned his head to look back at Gage. “You’re not slicing anyone today. We came to get the fucking money. If Boss wants us to stop the underage shit, then we set that up and come handle it.”

  “If my blade slips,” Gage drawled.

  Huck shot him a warning look before turning back to the door.

  “Nine, five, three, F-R-S, seven, pound,” Levi told Huck.

  He pressed the code into the keypad at the door. I didn’t question how the fuck they knew it. They seemed to know everything.

  The door clicked, and Huck pushed it open.

  We all filed in with Levi being the last one inside. We had come in through some back entrance, seeing as there would have been no way they’d let us in the main door without bloodshed. The room we were in looked like a cellar.

  “Through there,” Levi instructed. “Huck, you go first. I don’t trust Gage not to kill some fucker.”

  Huck moved in front of Gage, who smirked as if he found it amusing. I wasn’t sure anyone could keep that psycho from killing if he wanted to, but I didn’t know them all that well. Maybe they knew how to handle him.

  The beat of the music was faint, but the farther we walked down the dark hallway, the closer it seemed. I knew that the plan was that we were all going to go in as undetected as possible, find Canyon and surround him.

  Motherfucking pink roses had been outside Tink’s door this morning. I’d found them and dropped them off outside Mrs. Mildred’s door on my way to get Tink’s caramel doughnuts before taking her to work.

  Admitting that I was more pissed about him still going after Dolly, like he had a chance, than the fucker owing the club a hundred grand was something I tried not to focus on. The past three days and nights with Dolly had been perfect. I couldn’t remember a time I had ever been this fucking happy.

  Pepper wasn’t speaking to me after I had the lock changed on Tink’s apartment and refused to let her inside. But she’d get over it. We’d get it worked out soon. I had just wanted some time with Tink before I dealt with my sister. Explaining to her this was different for me was going to be difficult, considering I didn’t have a real understanding of it yet either.

  I just knew I missed Tink when she wasn’t with me. I thought about her all damn day, and I wasn’t even freaking out about it.

  “Up those stairs, to the left,” Levi instructed behind me.

  “How do you know your way around this place?” I asked, amazed.

  “He’s lethal when it comes to finding out shit. Give him an hour, and he will have every secret you’ve ever had printed out and in a file,” Gage said, then chuckled.

  The music was louder now, pumping heavy behind the door. Huck opened it and moved slowly into the main area of the club while we filed in behind him. He glanced back at Gage and nodded once. Gage grinned and walked toward the bar as if he owned the place. No fear. His hand wasn’t even on the gun tucked away at his side.

  “There,” Levi said, pointing to the booths to the right of the bar. “He’s alone.”

  Huck walked off in the opposite direction, and Levi looked at me.

  “Let’s go get the money,” he said, then started toward Canyon.

  I’d never been in this place, but from the money I knew these fuckers made with their illegal shit, they could afford to keep the place clean. It looked like it hadn’t been updated in twenty years. I fell into step beside Levi, who was acting as if we’d come to get a beer and watch the stripper onstage.

  The closer we got to Canyon, who was leaning back in his booth, staring down at his phone, the more agitated I got. He’d kissed and touched Tink. She’d liked him. Had she thought she was in love with him? The thought made my stomach turn. I hated the sight of the fucker, but the idea of him having any hold on Tink caused rage to build with each step closer to him I took.

  We were almost to him when his head snapped up, and his eyes locked on us. He reached for his gun, and I watched his entire body tense up.

  Levi shook his head at him. “I wouldn’t do that,” he warned.

  Canyon’s eyes shot from me and back to Levi, and then they scanned the room. I could tell the moment he spotted Gage. There was a slight pale color that came over his complexion. I enjoyed it immensely.

  Levi slid in the booth across from him, and I sat down beside him.

  “I got shit to do, Acree,” Levi told him. “And seeing as one warning wasn’t enough for you, the boss has sent us out to make sure this is the last time. Now, you can take your hand off the gun and put both your hands up on the table so we can see them, or Gage can take you out from his spot at the bar.”

  Canyon stared at Levi before slowly moving his hands back onto the table. “I don’t have the money yet.”

  “Bullshit,” Levi replied with a grin that was more evil than amused. “The Crowns have the money. Now, you can pay the Judgment back, or I can hand you over to Gage. He brought his knife, and he’s a little more than pissed off about the underage girls being used here. I’d steer clear of him if I were you.”