He caught the hem of my shirt and began peeling it back, exposing the tops of my thighs, then my hips, and finally, my naked pussy. My fists clenched again as he looked at me. The last time, I had been the one putting myself on display for him, but this time, he was unwrapping me, taking me in for his viewing pleasure. He ran his index finger up the inside of one thigh and back down again, a sharp, sudden movement that burned up my skin like he’d lit a match against me.

  “You’re so wet already,” he murmured, glancing up at me and apparently finding the sight of me, teeth gritted, trying to control myself, amusing. He grinned and moved closer, parting my legs and hovering his mouth so close to my pussy that I could feel his hot breath against me. I let my head dip back, my mind swimming as I tried to keep myself together. This was too much, in the best way possible. I could have asked him to stop, but I didn’t want to. I couldn’t. And, as he finally sealed his lips around my pussy, all thought flooded from my head and I gave myself over to the pleasure of it all.

  I cried out, the sound echoing off the walls around us, as he began by running his flattened tongue from the bottom of my slit to the spot where my lips met again; he let out a small moan, sending vibrations up my cunt and making me squirm in my seat. Then, he moved upwards, sucking lightly on my lips while my fingers flexed against the seat, trying to find something to cling on to. It felt as though the ground might drop out from under me at any second, and I was having trouble keeping myself conscious, all too willing to lose myself completely to the pleasure between my legs.

  Breaker reached around and dug his hands deep into my ass, gripping the flesh and tilting me up towards him so he could taste even more of me. I wanted to reach out, to run my hands through his hair and hold him in place, but I was still tightly bound to the chair and couldn’t move an inch. I had never been more frustrated or turned–on in the same breath, and it was almost agonizingly sweet.

  He finally found my clit, sealing his lips around my sensitive nub and drawing it gently into his mouth. He sucked gently at first, as though warming me up, before he began to lick harder, pressing his tongue against me over and over again. I couldn’t hold back the sounds now, a series of frenzied groans and moans falling from between my lips as he furiously ate me out. I had never had a man want it this badly, never had a man who seemed so determined to push me to the edge of what I could cope with, never had a man so committed to making me come like a demon—

  And, just like that, he stopped. Everything. He let go of my ass, pulled his face back from my pussy, and looked up at me. It took me a second to get my eyes open, but when I did, the sight of him was almost enough to bring me to completion right then and there. His lips were shiny with my wetness, his hair messy, and his eyes black and hungry and hot as hell.

  “What...why...?” I managed as he got to his feet and began unbuckling his pants.

  “I want to feel you come,” he murmured as he grabbed a condom from the side drawer. “I want to feel it on my cock.”

  His voice was low and ragged around the edges, and who was I to resist him? I pulled my legs back as best I could, exposing myself, and clenching my fists on the arms of the seat as he leaned down to position himself over my pussy. The head of his sheathed cock nudged at my slit, and I gasped, straining to reach out towards him.

  “You want this?” He asked, his eyes scanning mine. I could only nod. “Tell me. Tell me, now.”

  “I want you,” I blurted out, finally managing to speak. “I want–“

  Before I could finish what I was saying, he thrust up inside of me in one sharp motion. I let out a gasp, rocking back in the seat. He felt just as good as he had in the bathroom, but this time I could see his face, see the way it twisted up in pleasure as he pushed himself into me. I could smell myself on his lips, and I strained my head forward, trying to kiss him, begging him to finally give me what he wanted. He held out for a split–second longer, and then, at last, our lips met. His tongue was inside my mouth, one hand cupping my head to keep me steady and the other shoving my leg back as far as it would go to allow him even deeper penetration. I curled the other one around his waist, pulling him in, and lost myself to the feeling of his mouth up against my own.

  “You taste good,” I murmured, and he brushed his lips across my jaw and down towards my neck. I could feel his stubble against my skin, rubbing it raw, and craved more at once. The way he took control...I had never felt anything like it before. I was so used to being in charge that handing over this situation to him was addictively intoxicating.

  “Same to you,” he replied, as he picked up the pace and thrust into me with even more abandon. He was rough, but controlled. He knew exactly how hard to push me, how fast to fuck me, how deep to go, and all I could do was sit there and take it. Not that I was complaining.

  My fingers flexed back and forth from where they were bound. All I wanted in the world was to touch him, to run my hands over his body and feel his muscles beneath his shirt. I wanted him naked, wanted to take him in, wanted to lose myself to the sight and the smell and the taste of him. But when he took control, I would have to wait. The promise that this could happen again was enough for me. And next time, I would make sure that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

  Before long, I felt myself edging again, my body growing tense as he slowed his pace and thrust inside me slowly and deeply, as though luxuriating in the sensation. He must have seen it in my face, because he reached down and skimmed his thumb lightly against my clit. My jaw fell open, my eyes glazing over as I managed to force myself to look up at him.

  “You want to come?” he asked, as though I needed his permission. Without thinking, I nodded.

  “Then come,” he ordered, leaning down to my ear and biting it, hard. I had never realized how hot it was before, to have someone tell me when I could finish, but as soon as the words escaped his lips, it hit me.

  Wave after wave of it, my pussy tightening around his cock, my clit pulsing beneath his thumb. Every muscle in my body seemed to release and tense again, my jaw chattering as the feeling squirmed out from between my legs to send every part of me into a frenzy. I wasn’t able to make a noise, but I didn’t need to—he could read my pleasure etched on to my face. My head slumped back as he continued to fuck me, the grip I had with my leg loosening. I was completely and utterly spent, and it felt incredible.

  A few seconds later, he thrust inside me one last time, pushing himself deep—and then he came, letting out a satisfied grunt against my ear and slowly withdrawing from my cunt. He unrolled the condom and disposed of it quickly, leaving me still tied to the chair. I tucked my legs up underneath me, feigning modesty, as I waited for him to return. I couldn’t think straight, the blood still slowly returning to my brain after it had all rushed down and between my legs.

  He re–appeared, pulling up his pants and eyeing me, amused.

  “You going to let me go?” I pointed up, jiggling my wrists up and down against my restraints. He paused for a moment. He looked me up and down slowly, the expression on his face enough to send a flush up my neck. “What is it?” Even now, completely sated, I found myself growing hot beneath his gaze.

  “I just think I like you like this,” he remarked. “No trouble when you’re all tied up.”

  “Very funny,” I rolled my eyes sarcastically, and he finally made his way over to me and began to loosen the ties around my wrists. I pulled them free, and rotated them at once, the bone clicking satisfyingly as I stretched them out once more.

  I crawled back into bed, and waited for him to join me, but instead, he had made his way through to the bathroom, and flicked on the shower.

  “Aren’t you coming to bed?” I asked, and didn’t get a reply. I was too satisfied to give a damn; the orgasm had been enough to wipe any energy I had left out of me, and as soon as I put my head on the pillow, I found my eyes drifting shut and my brain closing down again. I gratefully embraced the darkness, hoping that the next day would bring something a little more palatable.

  Chapter 4

  I let out a small sigh and glanced around the table. It wasn’t the same without her here.

  I was doing my best to keep my mind on the game, but it was tough when I knew that Angel was sleeping only a few hundred feet away. She would wake up and find me gone. I mean, she was far from the first woman who I’d left to wake up solo after we spent a night of hot sex together, but this time I wasn’t going it out of obliviousness or callousness. I was doing this because I was pretty sure that if I didn’t put some space between us, we were going to fall into something that neither of us wanted.

  I forced myself to pay attention to the cards in my hand. Come on. I could still win this. I was doing okay today, but not as well as I had done the last time I was in. I was annoyed, distracted, my brain imprinted with the image of Angel’s bare leg dangling out of the side of the bed when I left her.

  “You didn’t bring your eye candy today,” one of my fellow players had remarked. I’d shot him a look, but he hadn’t taken the hint.

  “She dump you already? Tell her that I’ll double your price,” he flashed me a grin, and I found myself unable to keep my cool.

  “You couldn’t come close to affording her,” I snarled, my voice lower and more threatening than I intended it to be. But it did the job. He backed off, and I didn’t hear a word about Angel the rest of the time I was there. I was playing on autopilot, and my brain kept on drifting back to her.

  How long had she been hiding away in my head without me knowing about it? All I could be sure of was that as soon as I had her tied up like that, I couldn’t hold myself back. I had to have her. At first, I assumed it was some kind of twisted retribution for the times she’d had me in similar cuffs, but it soon became clear that this was so much more than that. I wanted it to be a catharsis, a reminder to her of who was in charge that we could both remember, but I lost myself to her. She tasted intoxicating: sweet and musty, a light scent that clung to my skin even as I showered in an attempt to rid myself of it—and when I entered her and felt her pussy flexing to accommodate my cock, it was like this is what I had been waiting for all along. I hadn’t given her much thought—or, at least I hadn’t—before I had seen her in this place and purchased her a few days ago, but I was being reminded with every passing second that Angel wasn’t just some asshole cop who wouldn’t leave me alone. She was brave, smart, strong, and I was fucking obsessed with her. I had to have her. I had to make her mine. And the only way I knew how to do that was to tie her to that chair and fuck her till she came so hard she could only manage a tiny gasp of pleasure.

  “Breaker?” A voice snapped me from my reverie, and I looked up.

  “You want another drink?” One of the waitresses who’d been all over me the night I saw Angel again had been hovering since I walked through the door, allowing her body to brush up past me whenever she did the rounds. I shrugged, downing the scotch that had been placed in front of me, on the house, a few minutes earlier.

  “Go for it.”

  I didn’t usually drink this heavily when I was playing, but I needed something, anything, to get my mind off the woman who wouldn’t get out of my head. Usually, I’d be happy to have slipped out of there without her noticing and would already be wondering what that waitress looked like without her panties on, but I could barely offer her a second glance. Angel, Angel, Angel. An ironic name, considering the things she liked me to do to her.

  Another scotch appeared in front of me a few seconds later, and I didn’t bother glancing up as I offered my thanks to the chick who brought it to me until I noticed that everyone else around the table seemed to have tensed up notably. I twisted my head around, confused, until I found myself face–to–face with Thaddeus Bane. My stomach dropped. Oh, crap. I had only come back here today because I’d been invited and I knew it was a test of my mettle, but I hadn’t expected Thaddeus to grace me with his presence just like that.

  “Good to see you again, Breaker,” he remarked, my name sounding like dirt on his tongue. I managed a deep breath and I nod in response.

  “Could we get a little privacy?” Thad asked, glancing around the table. Everyone else scattered, leaving their drinks and their winnings just sitting there, abandoned. I couldn’t help but smirk at their reactions.

  “What’s so funny?” Thad asked as he took a seat opposite me.

  “Just that they’re all so scared of you,” I replied, forcing myself to meet his gaze. With a guy like Thad, you couldn’t back down. I had to make myself known, right here, right now. That was the only way to play this game.

  “And you’re not?” He asked coolly. I shook my head.

  “Should I be?”

  Thaddeus didn’t reply, but he didn’t break my gaze, either. He was a big guy, wide, with a shaved head that gleamed dully in the low light around us. His suit was expensive, but his tie wasn’t. It looked old, as though it came from family. I wondered whose it was and why he wore it, but knew this was hardly the time for family reminiscing.

  “I see you haven’t brought that bitch with you,” he remarked, throwing off the remark so casually that I had to fight the urge to clench my fists. I hated hearing the way the people here talked about her, like she was a thing, like she didn’t even deserve a name or a pronoun. I wondered if he was trying to figure out whether or not she was alive. He didn’t seem surprised to see me, but perhaps he thought I’d thrown her under the bus instead.

  “Yeah, she’s passed out upstairs,” I flashed him a grin. “Guess I wore her out.”

  “Impressive,” he cocked his eyebrow. “I heard there was some trouble over at your place last night.”

  “There was a break–in,” I replied, hackles raised. Both of us were dancing around the point, and I didn’t want to be the one to call him out on it.

  “Shame,” he shot back calmly. “Bad neighborhood, though. I guess that’s what you can expect.”

  “I guess so,” I nodded glancing down at my cards where I’d laid them on them table.

  “Both of you were alright, though?” He confirmed, running a hand over his cropped hair.

  “Yeah, both of us were fine,” I nodded, daring him to push me any further on the subject. Instead, he asked something that took me by surprise.

  “Angel’s her name, right?”

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “Why?”

  “I was doing a bit of research into her,” he shrugged. “Thought the name sounded familiar. It’s not the first dealings her family have had with us, you know.”

  “What do you mean?” I wrinkled up my nose. I would have heard about it if Angel had been tied to this lot before, because I would have used it to try and ruin her career, of course. This was news to me.

  “Her father was a cop too,” Thad went on, and he eyed me interestedly as he recounted the story. I stayed quiet, letting him continue. “He worked with the undercover unit so he was away from home a lot, but everyone loved his daughter. You can find that out from anyone he worked with. They’ll tell you.”

  “What happened to him?” I noticed that he was referring to Angel’s father in the past tense.

  “He’s dead. Died on the way to her ballet rehearsal.” The son of a bitch was grinning as he said the cold words. My teeth were on edge.

  “How?”

  “Car accident.” A small smile played at the corner of his lips, as though he was amused by the story his was recounting. There was a small glint in his eye, and I knew that he wasn’t telling me this just because.

  I swallowed heavily, trying to figure out what his game plan was here.

  “Richard Greer, taken too soon,” he shook his head. “They say that’s why she became a cop, you know.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she sure as shit wasn’t going to be a ballet dancer after that!” He laughed, as if delivering the punchline to a fantastic joke. I clasped my hands in front of me, around my drink, and took a sip. I needed to get my head on straight, need to figure out what he was playing at by telling me all of this. I had no idea what the end–game was here, but it had to be something. Thaddeus Bane hadn’t done something just for the fun of it without a twenty–something girl in his bed for at least a decade, that was for certain.

  He paused for a moment, his tongue darting out to moisten his lips as he waited for me to follow up with another question. I had no idea what to say next. I was still trying to get my head around this situation in the first place.

  “I know who killed him,” Thad spread his hands wide as he spoke, shuffling some of the cards that had been abandoned on the table.

  “What the fuck? I thought you said he died in a car accident?” I furrowed my brow at once.

  “He did,” Thad confirmed, his voice soothing. “But I know why.”

  “Why?” I leaned forward at once, my heart beating out of my chest. I didn’t know why he was telling me this, but I had to know more. Had to know now. Maybe that was why Angel didn’t run when I told her about Thaddeus, and that I wanted to bring him down–maybe she saw a chance to do something her father hadn’t, a way to make him proud despite his absence.

  Thaddeus leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head. He looked as if he was in his element, taking total control of the situation and not giving much of a damn about my reaction or my feelings on the matter.

  “How much are you willing to gamble for it?” His voice was cool and smooth. I stared at him for a moment, blinking.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I snapped. The words came out harsher that I intended them to, and Thad’s face flashed with annoyance briefly at my insolence before returning to its previous state of cat–like satisfaction.

  “You heard me,” Thad replied. “And I’m not in the habit of repeating myself.”

  “For the truth about who killed her father?” I raised my eyebrows. “I’m afraid I’m not that invested in her.”