Ciara giggles. “She likes it, secretly.”
Cade walks over, wrapping his arms around Addison. “She better fuckin’ not!”
Addi grins up at him. “My lips are only made for you, amongst other things.”
“Ew,” I mumble, stepping away.
“Right, boys, we got a meeting,” Jackson announces, staring at me again. I shudder.
“You girls be here when we’re done?” Spike asks.
“You know we will be,” Ciara smiles.
They kiss their women once more, before walking out. When they’re gone, Ciara turns to me and squeals.
“What?” I ask, confused.
“Addison, your daddy was just giving our Serenity here the fuck me eyes.”
“What?” I cry. “He was not!”
“Oh my god!” Addison groans. “He wasn’t?”
Ciara nods her head furiously. “He totally was. He was checkin’ her out!”
“Oh no, no way.”
I feel my cheeks burn. “I think pregnancy has given you hallucinations, Ciara.”
She shakes her head. “Nuh uh, I saw it. Jackson wants to give you more than two pumps!”
I feel my eyes widen. “He’s too old!” I cry.
“He’s only forty,” Addison says. “You know, older men are said to be better in bed.”
“Addison!” I gasp. “That’s your father!”
“Yeah,” she grins. “But he ain’t yours!”
“You girls stop it, Jackson is off the list!”
“Jackson wants Serenity,” Ciara sings, doing a little dance.
“Oh la la!” Addison adds, joining in.
I put my head in my hands. They both laugh, and wrap an arm around me.
“You’re nearly twenty-six, he’s nearly forty, it’s not a huge gap you know,” Ciara says into my ear. “And he’s mega fine for an oldie!”
I groan. “Oh my god!”
“I mean, I never want to imagine my father doing...that...but he is kind of lonely,” Addison says, giggling.
“You know, I’ve seen Jackson doing that, don’t you?” Ciara groans.
I lift my head. “Seriously?”
“Yep, with another man and a woman. He likes to share his girls.”
I feel my cheeks heat. So they know about Jackson?
“You’re not reacting...” Addison says, narrowing her eyes. “Oh my god, you know don’t you?”
“I may have caught him and Muff tag teaming the other night...”
Addison squeals and covers her ears. “God, no!”
“Oh, you caught them?!” Ciara laughs. “No wonder he was eye fucking you.”
“He was not!” I laugh.
“He totally was!”
I throw my hands up, still laughing. “You two are so wrong, I’m going to get to work, join me when you move on from your shenanigans.”
I leave to the sound of both of them giggling.
I leave a room for the first time in my life, completely happy.
~*CHAPTER 8*~
JACKSON
I can’t get her out of my head. She’s in there and she ain’t budging. Serenity. Fucking Serenity. She’s so fuckin’ perfect. So fuckin’ gorgeous. I shouldn’t even be lookin’ at her, but there she was, talkin’ freely about her innocence and blushing so damn sweet. I want her. It doesn’t matter how much I try to tell myself I don’t, I do. That kiss, fuck, that kiss. It consumed me. All night I lay awake, thinkin’ about it, wondering how the fuck I was going to get around this one. I can’t ignore it, I know that, but I can’t pretend it’s not happenin’ either.
I’m in the shower, trying to wash away all the tension of the morning. I’ve tried to clear my head, but I can’t get her to budge. I had to get away from the compound, just for an hour. I fill my palm with shampoo, and lather it into my hair, before throwing my head back and washing it out. My body is tight, my dick is hard, and I am acting like a love struck teenager. I don’t know what the attraction is, granted she’s fucking gorgeous, but she’s so much younger than me. I’ve never looked at a younger woman, never even thought about it, but she gets to me. It’s like we have something between us that just can’t be explained.
I get out of the shower and take a towel off the rack, running it over my body. I let out a deep sigh, and stare down at my dick, hard, standing on alert, and not going anywhere anytime soon. It jerks when I remember that kiss, when I remember her lips on mine. I will not fucking jerk off to a memory of her. I won’t do it. It’s fucking sick. Isn’t it? Closing my eyes, I reach down and wrap my fingers around my dick, squeezing it. Little bolts of pleasure shoot up my spine and I shudder. Fuck, I shouldn’t be doing this. I haven’t wanted to fuck a woman so much in years.
I begin stroking up and down, in a slow, steady rhythm. I groan, letting my head fall back. I move my hand a little faster, widening my stance so I don’t stumble backwards. Fuck, feels so damn good. I hate having to do this myself, but I have no interest in going anywhere near one of the club whores. No, my stupid, fucked up head only wants one thing - Serenity. I stroke harder, faster, my breath hitches as I feel my dick swell in my hand. One more hard jerk and I come. I feel the warmth hit my hand, and I hear my own groan as I gently slow the pace.
Then I hear a little gasp.
My eyes pop open.
And Serenity is standing at the door, mouth open, cheeks flushing, eyes on my dick.
Fuck.
“Oh. Oh. My. Oh. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were home. I thought...I thought...Oh...”
I quickly take a towel, covering myself. “Shit,” I rasp, my voice still husky from pleasure.
“I...I was just...I was just getting my cell and...”
“Um,” I mutter. “Fuck. I got nothin’.”
“I’m so sorry,” she babbles, “oh god, Jackson, so sorry.”
“It’s ok, I mean...”
“I...I...should go!” she stammers, turning and rushing out of the door.
“Serenity!” I call, but she’s gone.
A moment later I hear the front door slam.
Fuck.
~*~*~*~
SERENITY
I get home that night before Jackson and Addison. I was hoping Jackson wouldn’t come home tonight, but he found me in the club earlier and apologized for the incident in the bathroom. Just thinking about it has my cheeks flushing. God, seeing him like that, watching him come with his eyes closed; his hard body tense. It was stunning. He was stunning. My pussy clenches, and I grit my teeth, hating that I want him so badly. I can’t escape it. Doesn’t matter what I do. It’s not going anywhere. And worse, Jackson hasn’t once mentioned the kiss, which kind of hurts.
I decide that while I’m here, I might as well try to make dinner, hoping it will take my mind off everything. I still feel like I’m putting them out, and guilt wracks me most days, so I try and do what I can. I hate what I’m doing, and I’m trying to figure out a way around it. I’ve thought about it, but I just can’t figure out how to bypass Hogan without him figuring it out. I just know I can’t keep telling him what’s really going on. How can I? These people have become my friends. They’ve made me feel a kind of warmth I’ve not felt before. How can I betray them? How can I be that person?
I head to the fridge, fumbling through until I find some chicken and vegetables. I find a knife and a chopping board, and begin dicing the chicken. A minute into my cutting, my phone begins to ring. I peer down at the screen, and see it’s Janine. Beaming, I pick it up and press it to my ear, using my shoulder to hold it so I can keep chopping.
“Hey you!”
“Why didn’t you tell me what he’s making you do?”
Shit.
“Janine...”
“He’s putting you in danger; he’s making you lie and risk being killed if you’re found out.”
“I had no choice, Janine.”
“There’s always a choice!” she cries.
“No, sometimes with Hogan, there isn’t.”
&nb
sp; I’m not about to tell her he threatened her daughter. I can’t do that. She has no way to escape. It would cause an all-out war, and that wouldn’t help anyone.
“You could be killed!”
“They’re not like that,” I whisper.
“Oh my god, you like it there...”
“Janine,” I whisper. “Please. I know it doesn’t make sense, but these people, they’re different. They’re funny, and kind, and friendly. It’s not like Hogan’s club, it’s so different. I am struggling, because I don’t want to lie. They’ve been so good to me; they took me in and made me a home. They knew nothing about me, but they did it anyway.”
She sighs deeply. “You know I worry. This could go so wrong.”
“I know,” I say, weakly. “I just don’t know how to get out of it. If I don’t deliver to Hogan, he’ll do very bad things. If these guys found out what I’m doing, well, I lose them and they’re the first good things in my life for so long.”
“Have you ever thought of just lying to Hogan?”
I stop chopping and listen. “I don’t understand...he would know...”
“No, he wouldn’t. If you gave him the wrong information, you could send him away for a while; maybe give that club some warning.”
“They’ll likely kill me if they found out...”
“I thought you said they were different?”
I sigh. “They’re still a club, Janine. I’m still betraying them,” I say, shaking my head. “No, I can’t do it. I can’t let them know what I’m doing.”
“You have to think about what’s more important. You don’t tell Hogan the truth, and you tell it to them, you might find a way around it. You lie to them, and tell Hogan the truth, and he does damage. It’s all the talk around here; it’s how I found out where you were. I heard them talking. Honey, they’re not planning on making it a mild attack.”
I feel sick. I drop the knife and clutch my stomach. Her words are true, I know they are. Hogan is vile and will kill anyone in his path. Addison. Ciara. Muff. My stomach jerks violently.
“I know,” I whisper. “But what choice do I have?”
“There’s a choice, you have to decide if you’re going to make the right one.”
“I can’t go back there,” I whisper, feeling my eyes burn with unshed tears. “I can’t go back to that life.”
“No, but you can’t live with that club being slaughtered either.”
“Oh god.”
“Lie, honey. It’s not easy, but it’s the best option.”
“Do you have any idea when he plans to attack?”
She lowers her voice. “It won’t be for a few months, because he wants it to be precise. You have time.”
“I have to report to him in a few days.”
“Then lie, give him something that’s kind of true, but not quite.”
The front door opens, and I see Jackson step through. Feeling my body prickle with awareness, I whisper, “I have to go, I love you!”
I hang up before she can answer. Jackson appears at the kitchen counter, wearing old, faded denim jeans, a dark black top, and his leather jacket. His long hair is loose tonight and flowing around his shoulders. Every time he moves, I can smell the shampoo he used earlier. He has a few days stubble on his jaw. God, he’s beautiful.
“You cookin’?” he murmurs, staring at the food.
“I am, but if you don’t want me to...”
“All good,” he mutters, pretending nothing at all has happened between us.
I feel a pang of anger in my chest. Jackson kissed me, hell, I saw him giving himself pleasure, and the look he gave me after it told me it aroused him that I saw, and yet he’s refusing to speak about it, like it never happened. The tension between us is huge, and yet he wants no part in acting on it. I get it, I do, but he should have thought about it further before he came into my room and kissed me.
“Jackson, can we...”
“No.”
His word is hard, icy, and offers no argument.
I don’t care. I argue anyway.
“Are you seriously going to pretend nothing is going on here?” I cry.
He glares at me. “There’s nothing going on. I told you that.”
“Oh get your head out of your ass! There’s so much sexual tension in the air, I should just orgasm standing here.”
He raises a brow, before muttering, “I said we ain’t talkin’ about it.”
“You kissed me! Why did you do that if it wasn’t what you wanted?”
His eyes flare with anger. “It was a mistake. Whatever this is,” he says pointing between us, “Is just a silly infatuation.”
“Don’t speak to me like I’m a child,” I protest.
“You are a fuckin’ child!”
My eyes widen, and I know my expression changes to that of hurt, because he sighs deeply and runs his fingers through his hair. “Look, Serenity, I’m over ten years older than you, my daughter is only a few years younger. I’m too old. You’re too young. You can do better than an old man like me. I get it, ok? I get the tension is there, and I don’t fuckin’ know why it is. It can’t happen, you need to understand that. The kiss, it was a mistake.”
I’m hurt, his words crush me.
“Why would you do it then?” I rasp. “Why would you come into my room and kiss me if you didn’t want it? Why would you stare at me the way you do...”
My voice is breaking, and I hate that. His eyes soften, and his jaw tenses. “I don’t...I don’t know...”
Before I can say anything more, the front door swings open, and Addison comes skipping through it. Her dark hair bounces around her shoulders, and she’s got a huge grin on her face. I’m blinking back the burning tears under my eyelids, and I just want to get out of here. My body is tingling with shame. I feel like a stupid little girl with a crush that isn’t returned.
“Hey Serenity, you up for a party tonight? There’s loads of hot guys?!”
I stare at Jackson, and he narrows his eyes, like he’s challenging me. God damn him. That asshole. I lift my chin, and then turn to Addi and force a smile to my face. “You know what? I think that’s a great idea.”
“Great, come upstairs and we’ll get dressed together. I’ve got something you can wear,” she grins, before turning and rushing up the stairs.
I nod, and then turn and lift the cutting board, carrying it over to the bin and emptying everything into it. Then, I toss the knife into the sink and turn to Jackson. “You’ll have to order out.”
He grips my wrist, but I snatch it away. “Stop it,” he growls.
“Why? It shouldn’t bother you what I do. I’m just a stupid child with an infatuation, right?”
“Serenity!” he barks as I walk off toward the stairs.
Screw him.
Screw it all.
I don’t have time for games.
~*~*~*~
JACKSON
Fuckin’ women. They are all a giant pain in the ass, and yet I can’t get enough of them. Damn Serenity and her bullshit. I can’t understand why the hell I want her, it makes no sense to me, but shit, I want her. I want her so badly it hurts. My entire body is alive with want. I should be pushin’ myself away, yet I can’t get her out of my head. Something about her speaks to me, and I fuckin’ don’t know how to stop it.
I slam my beer down on the counter top, frustrated. It’s been four hours since they left, and I can’t stop thinkin’ about her. I don’t know where they are, or what they’re doing, and it’s getting to me. I was a jerk to her, because I wanted her to back off, but it’s clear that ain’t going to happen anytime soon. I thought it was the best decision, making her feel like it was nothing, but when she walked out, with that hurt look on her face - I realized it was so much more than nothing. She deserves to know that. She does. But I don’t want to start something that I can’t finish.
“Yo’!”
I turn to see Spike and Cade walking in, beers in hand. Fuckin’ magic, I’m not in the mood for company ri
ght now. I’ve got too much on my mind as it is, without adding more.
“Boys,” I mutter.
“Uh oh,” Cade grins. “Boss man is pissed.”
I glare at him, clearly he doesn’t know what my daughter is up to, or he wouldn’t be here smirking like an ass. “You know where the girls went tonight?”
Spike shrugs. “Some girly party.”
“Ain’t no girly party, Addison said there was loads of guys there.”
Both men tense. “Failed to fuckin’ mention that to me,” Cade grunts.
“You sure about that, Jack’s?” Spike asks.
“Fuckin’ sure alright, I saw them go out the door giggling about cute men for Serenity.”
“Fuckin’ daughter of yours will be the fuckin’ death of me,” Cade growls.
Spike lifts his keys, his eyes flashing with jealousy. “We goin’?”
“Fuck yeah we are,” Cade growls, turning and storming out the door.
I follow. Fucked if I know why I do. I opened my mouth knowing they would go after the girls. Part of me wants to go, even if I don’t want to accept it.
Can’t get her out of my head.
Fuck.
~*CHAPTER 9*~
SERENITY
“Oh my god, Addi!” I laugh, taking another shot.
“You started it!” she giggles.
“You two are so feral!” Ciara says, rolling her eyes.
“Oh, you’re just jealous because you can’t drink,” Addison sings, taking another shot herself.
“Don’t remind me!”
We’re at the local bar, we ended up here after the party turned out to be a flop. We got rounds of tequila, which so far has ended with dancing on the tables, singing at the top of our lungs, and harassing poor, innocent men. I haven’t had so much fun in my entire life. I haven’t laughed so much, or felt so at home.
“Oh no!” Ciara suddenly gasps.
I turn towards her, and see her eyes are on the door. I turn, and see Jackson, Cade, and Spike glaring at us. I snort a laugh and turn back to them. “Uh oh, you girls are in deep shit!”