We make our way into the apartment complex and immediately turn to the right, heading for the stairs. Alex takes my hand again, and as we start to climb, I’m hit with that familiar disappointment that comes every time my night with Alex is coming to an end.

  The walk to the third floor is quiet, both of us clearly lost in our thoughts, and as we reach our landing and make our way toward our doors, I find myself clutching his hand just a little tighter. “What is it?” he asks, those dark eyes lingering on me.

  “I don’t think I’m ready to tell you good night.”

  “Good, because I had no intention of ending this here,” he says. In a blinding flash, Alex grabs me by my ass and lifts me into his strong arms. His lips crash down on mine, sending a low groan rumbling through my chest. Before I know it, my back slams against my door, and I lock my legs around his waist as my short skirt rides up.

  His tongue plunges into my mouth, and my eyes flutter closed as his rock-hard cock grinds against my pulsing core, my panties already soaked with need.

  God. It’s everything, and when we pull away to catch our breath, his lips trail straight down to the sensitive part of my neck. My fingers knot into his dark, unruly hair, and I groan with hunger as I tilt my head to the side, needing so much more. Hell, I need all of him.

  The anticipation of waiting is surely going to kill me. I can’t stand it a second longer.

  “Alex,” I pant as his lips come right back to mine, cutting off whatever I was going to say. But it’s fine because I really had no idea what the hell I was going to say.

  He keeps me pinned to my door, taking full control, and as he continues grinding against me, showing me just how ready he is, my core begins to throb. “Tell me to stop,” he growls against my lips, but I shake my head. That's the last thing I want.

  “Mace,” he warns. “I can feel how fucking hot you are for me. If I don’t stop, I’m going to fuck you right here in the hallway. Tell me to fucking stop.”

  I shake my head again, not giving a flying fuck if he wants to tear my clothes off my body and bend me over right here where we stand. Hell, I’ll start taking my clothes off for him if it’ll save us some time. All I know is that I need to feel him inside of me.

  “Please,” I groan, jolting my hips to get more traction against him. “Don’t you dare walk away leaving me this fucking desperate for you.”

  “Ky,” he groans, his lips furiously moving against mine as his hands roam over my body. “I don’t want to take you like this. Not the first time.”

  “I’m not a wine and dine kind of girl. I don’t need the romance,” I pant, my fingers tightening in his hair. “I just need to come.”

  “You said,” he grunts, barely holding on to that shred of control. “You fucking said if I was to take you out, that I was to respect you.”

  I shake my head, hating how damn good his memory is. Hell, I can’t even remember what I ordered at the restaurant. “Disrespect me, Alex,” I demand. “I also said that when I tell you you’re welcome to my body, you can take it. And fuck, Alex. I need you to take it.”

  He groans low, and I feel the vibration through his chest, and before I even know what’s going on, his grip tightens on my ass and he throws me up until my thighs are braced over his strong shoulders, his face hovering right in front of my needy cunt. “Holy shit,” I breathe, my chest heaving.

  “Hold the fucking frame, Ky,” he says, his gaze pointedly shifting to the door frame just behind my head, and I don’t hesitate, my hands flying over my head as I cling on to the narrow ledge to keep my balance, trusting Alex to hold the rest of my weight.

  His gaze darkens with an intense hunger, and as they shift from my eyes back down to my cunt right in front of him, I know exactly what he’s seeing—the front of my soaked white thong just daring him to come closer.

  “Alex,” I moan, watching as he tilts his face toward my pussy, inhaling deeply and sending me into near heart failure at the pure animalistic groan that tears out of him.

  “Fuck, Ky. I need to taste this sweet pussy.”

  “Please,” I groan, not giving a shit that he’s about to eat my pussy in the middle of our hallway. All that matters is how it’s going to feel when I come on his tongue.

  Alex hooks his arms over my thighs and tears the thin material of my soaked thong at the seams, leaving me fucking bare for him. “God, I knew you’d have the prettiest fucking cunt, Mace,” he growls, his voice so damn thick and low, speaking right to the whoring vixen who lives within me and pleasing her more than ever.

  Alex pushes my thighs further apart, spreading me wider until my legs are just about falling off his shoulders. He braces his elbows against my door to keep me up, and just as the desperation begins eating me alive, Alex dives in, unable to wait a moment longer.

  His tongue immediately strokes through my core, starting at my entrance and trailing up to my clit, making my hips jolt with a fiery need. He does it again, and as he groans, I feel the vibrations from his lips right against my clit. “Oh God,” I cry, releasing one of my hands from the frame behind my head and knotting my fingers into his hair as though I could hold him right there against my cunt for the rest of time.

  His tongue begins circling my clit, working it as though he knows my body better than I do, and my eyes grow hooded as I shamelessly watch the show. He flicks his tongue over my clit then closes his mouth over me, gently sucking before taking me harder.

  Alex works me so perfectly, his tongue roaming up and down my cunt and making my body shudder with pure, unadulterated pleasure. It’s not long before I feel that familiar build deep inside of me, coiling like a spring, getting ready to explode.

  He sucks and nips at my clit, every swipe of his tongue taking me higher.

  I cling on to him, my fingers tightening in his hair as I cry out, the intensity creeping up on me. “Alex,” I groan. “YES!”

  Then as he sucks against my clit, his tongue furiously flicking, it’s all I can take as the coil springs free, my orgasm exploding like a rocket and sending me soaring. I clench my eyes, my fingers balling into tight fists until my nails bite into my skin, the frame above my head long forgotten.

  My pussy wildly convulses, and as I come hard, the intensity shatters me like glass. Alex continues working my clit, his tongue greedily lapping up my arousal like a starved man desperate for more.

  My walls contract, and despite the overwhelming satisfaction and release of the wild sexual frustration I’ve felt since first meeting Alex, I’m still desperate for him. This small taste wasn't nearly enough to satisfy the hunger within me.

  As I finally come down from my high, Alex reluctantly pulls his lips away and knocks my thighs off his shoulders, easily catching me in his strong arms. He lowers me back to my feet, and I clutch his shoulders as my knees shake beneath me, certain I’m going to crumble to the ground. As I take a moment to find my footing, Alex fixes my skirt around my ass, covering the goodies.

  “Shit,” I breathe, barely able to comprehend what the hell just happened out here in the hallway.

  He hovers closely, and as his straining cock presses up against my hip, my gaze drops between us. “Let me repay the favor,” I purr, more than eager to drop to my knees right here.

  Alex shakes his head. “Mark my words, Kyah. You’ll repay the favor, but not like this,” he tells me, leaning in and letting his hot breath skim across my neck. “When you take me in your mouth for the first time, I want you on your knees in black lingerie with that collar strapped tightly around your throat. Only then will you taste me.”

  My knees give out, and Alex tightens his grip on my waist, keeping me standing. “Go to bed, Mace,” he tells me. “I’ll swing by tomorrow and show you exactly how I want you.”

  I swallow hard, barely able to catch my breath as I try to come up with a smartass response, but I’ve got nothing. This dominant side of him renders me speechless, and I absolutely love it.

  He watches the way I react to him, and those dark eyes fill with a devilish excitement, and as a grin rips across his face, I see that boyish charm that drove me insane the first day I met him. “Bed, Mace,” he scolds. “You’re gonna need all the energy you can get.”

  Rolling my eyes, I find I’m still lost for words, barely able to string two syllables together. He steps into me and slips his fingers just inside the cup of my bra, fishing out the key to my apartment, but I don’t know how the hell he knew that was there. Then with a smirk playing on his delicious lips, he unlocks my apartment and swings the door wide before offering me the key.

  I reluctantly take it, still wishing we had more time tonight, but soon the sun is going to make an appearance. Alex leans in and presses a feather-soft kiss to my cheek. “Goodnight, Mace,” he murmurs, hovering outside my door.

  “Night,” I whisper.

  Alex holds my gaze a moment longer, and before I know it, he’s closing the door between us, and I quickly crumble against it, needing a moment to breathe as I come to terms with everything that just happened.

  That was incredible. Not just the way he threw me in the air and ate my pussy, but the whole night, and I can’t wait to do it again. I just hope he feels the same way because I can easily see myself getting in over my head with this guy.

  Realizing just how late it is, I wander into my bedroom and throw my phone down on my bed, and as I go to turn away, my gaze catches out the window, finding a familiar bike parked in the shadows across the street.

  Fucking Viper.

  I let out a frustrated breath. I’ve been seeing him a lot lately, ever since Crew’s murder, and at first, I told myself that he was just checking in on me, but this is becoming ridiculous. Is it because I asked him to install the security system? Maybe I gave him the impression that I was in some kind of trouble. Hell, maybe this has something to do with that text message I received from Crew’s brother. Viper was weird after that came through. Maybe it was a mistake letting him know.

  Reaching for my phone again, I quickly type out a new text.

  Kyah - I don’t need a babysitter.

  Viper - The fuck you don’t. Go to bed.

  I groan. This has become a nightly ritual with Viper, whether it’s him or one of his men. There’s always someone stationed outside my apartment as though I need some kind of protection, and no matter how many times I tell Viper to lose the guard dogs, I never seem to win.

  Knowing a losing battle when I see one, I do my best to ignore him before striding over to my chest of drawers and finding a new pair of panties and a silk pajama set. I strip out of my clothes, and as I go to step into my new panties, I pause.

  I’m too worked up after all of that. I’m never going to be able to sleep like this. I need to calm myself down, and what better way to do that than by having a quick shower?

  Strutting through my apartment in the nude, I reach into the shower and turn on the taps before waiting for the water to warm. And just as I expected, as I step in and the water cascades over my body, my overactive mind begins to calm.

  I take my time, and as I lather up the loofah and move it across my body, I can’t help but picture Alex, imagining his hand moving over my body. A subtle moan slips from between my lips when a distinct creak sounds in my living room.

  My blood runs cold, and my hands fall away, the water quickly rinsing off the body wash as I realize someone is in my apartment.

  My hands start to shake, my heart pounding with fear.

  Is this my stalker? The asshole who left me the message at the beginning of the week. Has he come to play whatever game it is he’s been waiting to play?

  Fuck.

  The creak sounds again, and the fear becomes too much as I whip around in the shower, grabbing the taps and turning them off before reaching out and fisting my hand around my towel. I hastily wrap it around my body, and with shaky hands, I open the shower door and peer around through the open bathroom door. “Hello?” I say, my voice cracking.

  I swallow hard, and when no response comes, I try it again. “Is someone there? Viper, is that you?”

  Again, I’m met with silence, and as I try to convince myself that it’s all in my head, the fear only gets worse. The creak comes again, and it’s all I can take before completely losing my shit and racing from the bathroom. I sprint to the front door of my apartment, not daring to look back in fear of what I might find.

  “FUCK. FUCK. FUCK,” I panic, my wet hand slipping on the door handle, certain I’m about to be slaughtered like cattle. After all, it’s always the dumb bitch who can’t work a door handle who gets killed first in all the horror movies.

  Then finally, I get leverage on the handle and yank the door open, and with my towel clutched tightly around my dripping-wet body, I race out into the hallway, slamming the door behind me.

  22

  ALEX

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  A heavy pounding sounds at my front door, and I hurry toward it, wearing nothing but a pair of pants after standing in a cold shower and trying to work Kyah out of my system.

  Fuck. She was delicious, my new favorite snack, and the way she smelled . . . God. I need to have her again.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  The pounding sounds again, this time more forceful, and coming with a desperate panic, and I pick up my pace, my brow furrowed. It’s well after midnight, and despite having sent Ky home to bed, the likelihood that it’s her has me moving faster. Nobody knocks on a door like that unless it’s an emergency, which means over the space of the last eight minutes, something must have gone very wrong.

  “Alex, please,” Kyah cries quietly from the other side, yet even through the door, the sound somehow speaks directly to my soul.

  I all but leap the last step, my hand diving for the handle, and I barely get a chance to tear the door open before Kyah shoves past me, her eyes wide and filled with terror as she grabs the door and quickly slams it closed. Her chest heaves beneath her towel, her body dripping wet, and I immediately move into her, my eyes darting around as if searching for a threat, my military training keeping me on edge.

  “What’s wrong?” I demand, my hand clutching her wet upper arms, fear shining through her big blue eyes.

  Kyah visibly swallows, holding my stare as though silently begging me to be her knight in shining armor, and fuck, at this point, I’ll be absolutely anything she needs me to be. “There’s . . . there’s someone in my apartment.”

  My eyes widen, my gaze snapping up toward my door as if expecting someone to come barging through it. “The fuck?” I grunt, my fingers digging into her soft skin, searching her terrified gaze. There’s only a handful of things someone waiting in a woman’s apartment would want with her, and every single one of those things sends me into a blind rage. “Are you okay? Did he touch you?”

  She shakes her head, her hands visibly shaking as she reaches for my chest, her fingers digging in as if clutching me like a physical lifeline. “No, I . . . I didn’t see him. I could just hear him moving through my apartment,” she says, still heavily panting, unable to calm herself, “and I just . . . I ran.”

  I pull her into me, crushing her chest against mine as I wrap my arms around her. “Shhh,” I murmur, desperately trying to soothe her as I listen intently to any noises coming from outside my apartment. “You’re safe with me. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  Kyah reluctantly nods her head against my chest as if not sure just how fiercely I could protect her from this, and from what I’ve learned of her so far, I’m sure she’s warring with herself over asking me for help in the first place. She’s so independent, never asking anyone for handouts, not that she needs them, but this is different. I know she’s strong and can handle herself, but having someone in her apartment isn’t the same as dealing with some loser catcalling on the sidewalk.

  This is different.

  Pulling my hands back to her shoulders, I gently push her back to meet her eye. “I need to go and check it out,” I tell her. “Stay here.”

  She nods, her eyes still so wide and it fucking kills me.

  Hell, how could I have sent her in there without checking it out first? It’s not as though I haven’t noticed Viper and his men tailing her for the past week. Everywhere she goes, they’re always watching, and considering how Viper cares for her, that could only mean he believes there’s some kind of threat she needs to be protected from.

  Sending her in there alone was foolish, but I wasn’t thinking. I was out of control, more than ready to break every fucking rule we’ve established. All I could think about was how fucking tight she’ll feel when I sink my cock into her sweet little cunt, and the thoughts were quickly overwhelming me. I needed to step away before I grabbed her and fucked her right there in the hallway.

  I should have been thinking about her safety.

  Kyah clutches my forearms, her nails creating little half-moons in my skin, and as I step away and reach for the door, she refuses to let go until the very last second. The door opens, and I step out into the hallway, my gaze trained on Kyah’s door, and as mine closes behind me, she quickly locks it.

  Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for the worst as I curl my fingers around the door handle, pushing into the silent apartment. I close the door behind me, not risking leaving it open and offering a straight line right to Kyah.

  My gaze quickly sweeps the apartment, shifting to every shadowed area, but I don’t feel anyone here.

  I slowly make my way around her apartment, checking beneath the couch, behind it, and around it before checking the linen closet and her kitchen pantry. I check every single cupboard throughout the small apartment before double-checking it just to be sure.

  There’s no sign of anyone in here. She must have been imagining it. Unless there was and the asshole somehow managed to slip out the window in the time it took Kyah to come pounding on my door.

  Certain her home is clear, I make my way back to my apartment, guilt starting to build with each new step I take. She’s starting to trust me, starting to lean on me and open up, but I haven’t exactly been honest with her. If she knew . . . everything would change.