“She didn’t tell me.”
“She did, you or anyone, his ass would be out. And that came from me.”
I felt a tremble glide through me as I asked, “So you were going to keep this from me?”
“Fuck yeah.”
My voice was high and tight when I pushed, “Why?”
“Christ, Anya, ‘cause of the way you are right now lookin’ at me,” he bit out. “I just told you how I grew up. Carl made that good for Mom and me. But I raced. You would not believe the skank pussy at races. I got even a hint of sweet, if I broke down, let them in, told them that shit about me, that sweet got sour. But not one of them, not one, Anya, was your kind of sweet. Never in my life did I expect I’d taste your kind of sweet so, yeah, fuck yeah, I was going to keep this from you to guarantee I’d keep your sweet.”
“I thought you weren’t hiding anything from me.”
“I didn’t. I didn’t lie. I didn’t adjust the man I am. I just didn’t share.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“You feel that way, nothin’ I can do.”
I held his eyes.
Then I whispered, “He said you ran drugs through the club.”
“Well, he fuckin’ lied. But, cards on the table, babe, the Russians got this territory. I made that deal so I could control that shit. It’s a fuckin’ club, my boys could have eyes in the backs of their heads and not see all the deals that went down. Four years ago, five kids got hold of bad shit and cops traced it, sold by a dealer in my club. First, I do not need that attention. Second, no fuckin’ way am I cool with people dyin’ because of shit they sourced in my club. We cracked down, we still could not stem the flow. It’s was a fuckin’ nightmare. Got to the point, I wanted to control that, I’d have to close my doors. The Russians approached me, made assurances they would not recruit buyers in my club, advertise outside the premises so anyone wanted that shit, they knew who to go to. They promised they’d see to the dealers that were workin’ my club, sweep them clean. They got no problems doin’ shit I won’t do and won’t allow my boys to do, to see that happen. They use them, I ask no questions but I get a clean club. They also promised their shit would be good shit, not laced, not bad, someone fucked up, it would not be the shit they were takin’ but them. And last, I allowed the connection in my club but any deal goes down off the premises. I give them one. One fuckin’ dealer. He does what he does but only if people come to him. I keep an eye on that. The first guy they chose, he got ambitious. I went back to the Russians. They yanked him, put another boy in. He keeps a low profile. I got control of that. It sucks. Saw my Mom hooked to that shit, do not like it anywhere near me. And the Russian mob is fuckin’ crazy. But they get me, they know my boundaries, they keep their shit on the other side and it’s the only way that works for me. I do not get a cut of that because I don’t want it. They do not sell to my girls. They do not sell to my staff. One of them approaches their dealer, they report it to me and that person is gone. The only thing I get from that is a club free of that bullshit except what I control.”
Okay, all right.
Right.
“The girls come to you?” I asked cautiously.
“Yeah, believe it or not, some bitches get off on that shit. But not all of them, Anya. Most of them get in a situation where they need money. I am not a benefactor. Life leads them to that shit, I offer administration, vetting and protection. They gotta do it, they do it safe. That profession, babe, oldest in the world and it is never gonna die. You think it’s right or wrong, life led me to my code. That business is not legal and it fuckin’ should be. Women on the streets, they got nothin’ unless they’re really fuckin’ lucky and they got a man who looks after them, keeps ‘em safe and doesn’t expect freebies. That is rare. The only one I have ever known is me.”
“So you don’t take freebies?” I whispered and his face got hard, the room filled with his vibrating heat and I again whispered, this time quickly, “You don’t take freebies.”
“Me or any of my boys. They got a taste, they pay. My girls do not give that for free. And I have never stuck my cock in one of them. Not one. They do not walk the streets. They did for Nair. They do not for me. Exclusively clients. And they do not get paid twenty dollars a blowjob. They get paid what they should for givin’ that up to some asshole who gets off gettin’ it. I get my cut for keepin’ ‘em safe and dealin’ with hassle. Our first date, babe, the first day you spent with me, had a girl, too sweet for the fuckin’ business, too weak. Took it up the ass. Twice. Two different visits from this guy. She did not want that shit. She did not get paid for that shit. I did not get paid for providin’ that shit. And he did not say he wanted that shit. First time she took him, she didn’t report it. Second time, she called Rhashan and Rhash called me. Dude got a visit. He’s no longer on the client list and it was me, personally, who broke his cheekbone and his arm so if he thinks he can go to another shop and pull that shit, he’ll think again.”
I held his eyes. Then I asked quietly, “What did Nick do for you?”
“Nick was supposed to be my eyes and ears in the club. He watched the Russian dealer. He made certain no one but who I knew worked my club. No bitches not in my stable. No dealers. If he got a whiff that some outfit was casin’, lookin’ to take over territory, however they might do that, he reported it to me and we put a stop to it before they got any ideas or had enough time to assess my organization and find a weakness. He kept an eye on my staff, bartenders skimmin’ off the top, waitresses pullin’ bullshit moves, he reported it or, if it was piddly shit, dealt with it. You know my problems with him. What you don’t know is he did that shit and I paid him at the same time he played the big man. Sittin’ in his VIP section, suckin’ back Hennessy Paradis on me. That shit is not cheap. Took his eyes off the ball frequently in order to play big shot and get himself some pussy. And he was the Russian dealer’s biggest client. Blow. Staff, unacceptable. Family, he made me eat that shit. The shit with you, babe, last straw. But even before that, had that shit in my life with my Mom a junkie and the world as it is, I gotta deal with the Russians when I would definitely rather not deal with those fuckin’ lunatics, I do not need my brother in that shit. And I didn’t want it in my house. I talked to him, he didn’t hear me. I told him that shit was not in my condo, he didn’t listen to me. He fucked with you, I was done.”
“Do your parents know that Nick –?”
Knight interrupted me.
“I shield them from Nick’s bullshit but other than that, my parents know everything, Anya. I told you I had a good life and except for daily headaches like everyone’s got with work and shit, I do. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Way they met, Carl needin’ to clean her shit up, they are not Ozzie and Harriet. They know I got girls. They know it’s not only this club, the real estate I own but also that business that set their asses up in their house in Hawaii and lets them live a good life. You might think it’s whacked but with my life, my family, it isn’t. They’re proud of me, they believe in what I do and they don’t hesitate to say that shit to me.”
I pulled in a deep breath and Knight watched me do it.
Then I shared, “I’m scared of buildings falling on me when I’m in underground parking lots.”
At my words, the entirety of his powerful frame jerked.
Then he asked, “What?”
“I know it’s irrational but it’s true. Shit happens. My parents got murdered during a carjacking. So I know. Some architect makes an error with his compass or… whatever, crash. The building collapses on top of me.”
“Anya –” he whispered.
“And,” I went on, cutting him off, “I’m scared of elevators. I get in them and unless I can focus on something else, all I can think is that they’ll plummet me to my death. I never took the elevator in my building. You live on the fifteenth floor. I’m in okay shape but that, uh… no.”
Knight was silent a moment then he asked softly, “Baby, why are you tellin’ this s
hit to me?”
“Because you just told me all your secrets. I thought I should return the favor.”
At my words, instantly, his head dropped to contemplate his boots but I knew he wasn’t seeing his boots because I saw his eyes close on the way down.
“Knight?”
His head shot up and he growled, “Here.”
I went there and two feet away, his arms shot out, his fingers curled tight into my hips and he yanked me to him, his arms closing around me. One of his arms stayed super tight around my waist, plastering my body to his while the other hand drifted up and tangled in my hair.
His eyes holding mine captive, he whispered, “You cool with this shit?”
“It’s a shock, I will admit. But you told me if I hear shit, I should come to you and you’d explain. You explained and you did it thoroughly. But bottom line, I’m the woman for you, Knight, I was made for you, just as I am. What you don’t get is, you’re the man for me just as you are. I get that, honey. And I got it a while ago.”
I got out the “go” in “ago” but just barely before his hand in my hair tilted my head one way, his slanted the other and his mouth slammed down on mine.
Then he plundered and I held on, like usual, like always, enjoying the ride.
He tore his mouth from mine but slid his lips along my cheek to my ear, holding me close, tight, in a way it felt he’d never let me go and he whispered, “Fuck, I love you.”
“I know, sweetheart. I love you too. And, while we’re sharing secrets, you should know that I figured that out when you put the blanket on me.”
His head came up and he caught my eyes.
“What?”
“Our first, very long, very weird, very intense date. I fell asleep and woke up and you put a blanket on me. Not since my parents died has anyone cared if I might get a chill. Until you. A man who would think about that and do something about it, I knew deep down in a place that made me smile, was the man for me. I didn’t get it until, well… just now. But, you know… you should know.”
He grinned at me but muttered, “Never throwin’ that blanket away.”
“You try, I’ll wrestle you to the ground.”
I felt his body shaking against mine and I smiled at him.
Then my smile faded and I whispered, “One other thing you gotta know, honey, and I’m sorry, but Nick set that up with Drake Nair. He was on the street outside my place. He watched it. He didn’t get close to me but Nair told me Nick spoke to him and I know by the way Nick was watching me that he was the one to set that up.”
I watched Knight pull in a sharp breath then blow out an annoyed sigh.
Then he muttered, “Sorry, baby.”
“Me too, but it’s done so whatever.”
“Not whatever, puntin’ this shit to Carl.”
My head tilted and Knight started to run his fingers through my hair as he replied, “Been dealin’ with it. Not dealin’ with it anymore. Carl knows Nick’s fuckin’ up this bad, he’ll lose his mind. Brace, babe, he’ll also strap his ass into a seat in an airliner about five minutes after I share and he’ll come to Denver and rip his boy a new asshole.”
I blinked.
Knight’s lips twitched.
“Just so you know, Carl was muscle for a local big man. Only way he could pry my Mom from her pimp was bein’ able to jack him up. Somethin’ he did. Carl is a good man but that doesn’t mean he’s clean. What he is, is big, built and he did and still does take care of himself. Nick has not made a habit of fuckin’ up exclusively with me. Carl has a way with gettin’ him to get his shit in line. Nick doesn’t take Carl’s way, the least he’ll do is make certain that shit no longer leaks to you and me. And Carl will probably be all kinds of pissed that I kept what I have from them and he’ll be loud about it. You’re around, don’t take that shit in. He’ll get in my face but he’d never hurt a woman or freak her out directly. After he tears me a new one, you happen to be there, swear to Christ, babe, he’ll turn to you and offer to get you a beer and give you a foot rub.”
I started giggling.
“No joke,” Knight told me.
I giggled harder.
Knight watched, smiled and his fingers ran through my hair.
I pressed closer.
Then his smile died and he said gently, “Okay, baby, you got it all, now you got my word that’s all there is but it’s also all you’re gonna get. That shit, the girls, the Russians, it is my business, not my life. You are my life. That doesn’t leak to it, except what I gotta do to maintain it that takes my time and energy. You are not new best friend to fifty-seven bitches. That does not exist for you. Rhash, he’s tight and gettin’ tighter with Vivica. He wanted no secrets, nothin’ between them. But you should know, he laid down that law with her too. Business is business, home is home, life is life. The first, you and Viv don’t have shit to do with, both of you are only the last two. You gotta share with her you know, so she knows she doesn’t have to worry that she’s keepin’ somethin’ important from her girl, you two talk. Once that’s done and outside of that, babe, we live quiet. You with me?”
I nodded.
His eyes roamed my face.
Then he whispered, “You’re with me.”
“Always, Knight.”
His gaze came to mine.
“Fuck me,” he whispered. “Fuck me,” he repeated then warmth washed over his face and he said it again. “Fuck me.”
He said that when I did something that moved him (and, of course, other times).
And that’s when I got it. For Knight, my sweet never went sour.
And that meant everything to him.
So I knew then I was giving him everything just the same as he was giving me.
And that meant everything to me.
So I pressed into him, my arms around him got tight, my head tilted back further and I smiled at my man.
Epilogue
The Real Ones
I felt Knight’s hand slide lightly between my legs.
“Wake up, baby,” he whispered in my ear and my eyes drifted open.
He’d called before I went to sleep and told me what he wanted me to wear to bed (my red nightie with the black lace and, as usual, nothing else) and not to pull the covers over me.
So I didn’t.
I was lying mostly on my belly, my top leg hitched high, my bottom leg slightly crooked, perfect access and I knew this when my belly curled at what his hand was doing between my legs.
“I’m awake,” I muttered sleepily.
“Good, baby,” he whispered, lips still at my ear. “Get up. Position for Daddy. You know how I like it. Facing the headboard. Arms up in the air. Yeah?”
“Yeah, Daddy,” I agreed softly and his finger trailed deeper through the wet gathering between my legs.
My eyes closed.
My reward.
Then his hand drifted away as did his heat at my back.
I shifted up. Getting on my knees, sliding them wide, I slowly lifted my arms up into the air.
I felt Knight move in behind me. His hands glided on the silk of my nightie, all over it and that felt lovely. His lips came to my neck and worked there. That felt better. Then his fingers curled into the deep lace edge at the bottom of the nightie and he slowly pulled it up my body. His mouth left my neck, the nightie cleared my hands and was gone.
“Right, baby,” his lips were back at my ear, “hold onto the headboard. Keep your hands there. Don’t move them. And you can talk if you want. Okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
“Okay,” he whispered in my ear then his tongue trailed down my neck as I dropped my arms and grabbed onto the headboard.
Then his hands came back to me, moving, gliding, sliding, over my ribs, belly, hips, down the outside of my thighs, up the insides. A barely-there touch between my legs. Lips and tongue at my neck, my shoulder. Hands drifting up my sides, over the curve of my armpits, down my arms then back.
I trembled and held on as his light, loving
touch melted through me.
More gliding, sliding then one hand went south, one hand curled around my breast.
Yes.
“Does my baby want her Daddy to play with her?”
“Yes,” I breathed, quivering , waiting, wanting to strain against his hands that were cupping me warm but not giving me anything.
“You can move, Anya. I wanna feel you get excited,” he whispered in my neck.
I was already excited.
But.
Goodie.
Knight played. I moved, moaned, whimpered, strained, rubbed, rolled.
Oh God. Fantastic.
When I could take no more, my head fell back, hitting his shoulder and my neck twisted.
Pressing my forehead into his neck, I begged, “I need you, honey.”
“Arch your back, tip your ass and take me.”
I obeyed immediately.
Knight’s cock surged inside.
My head flew back and I moaned.
“Fuck, my baby likes my cock,” he growled, one hand still at my breast rolling and tugging my nipple, his other hand still between my legs, finger working my clit and he was right-ish but I didn’t like his cock. I loved it and all of him. “Move, Anya, meet me. Fuck me while I fuck my baby.”
I did, hard. Slamming back into him as he thrust into me.
“My baby likes it rough. Love that, love it when she fucks herself hard,” he grunted.
Oh yeah, I loved it too.
“Christ, this cunt, my cunt, so fucking sweet.”
Oh God. I loved that too.
I moved faster, harder.
His fingers at my nipple tugged sharper, his finger at my clit pressed and rolled deeper. My whimpers came faster, more desperate.
“Give that to me,” he growled in my neck, my back arched further, my ass tipped up higher, my head pressed into his shoulder and I came on low moan. “Fuck yeah. Keep givin’ that to me, baby,” he groaned and his hands and cock kept at me so I had no choice but to comply.
When I was whimpering so much it was a keen, every inch of my skin oversensitive, Knight stopped manipulating my nipple and his hand cupped my breast. His finger at my clit stopped pressing and rolling and his hand slid deep, fingers separating around our connection, cupping me. He kept driving into me until both hands tensed, fingers digging deep and I felt and listened to him find it.