Unfinished Hero 01 Knight (25 page)

It was her turn to say, “Yeah.”

I grinned.

Then I heard a faraway, indistinct sound echoing in Knight’s vast apartment like someone was coming in the front door.

My body jerked then my head went back to the clock.

Ten eighteen.

I listened to the noises.

Knight was home early. Or maybe he just came home to get something.

I listened for footsteps on the floor, didn’t hear them and wondered why he didn’t come see me as I pushed off the bed and said, “Knight’s home. Maybe he’s picking something up.”

“As you walk your round, white ass to wherever he is in that crib, wrack your brain about how you can be a bad girl then call me tomorrow and thank me.”

I smiled at the phone so I knew she heard it when I hit the hall and whispered, “Later, honey.”

“Bad girl, baby.”

“Right,” I muttered.

“Right,” she stated firmly then softly, “Later.”

Then she was gone and I was rounding the L of the hall.

The living room was dark as I left it since after talking with Viv, I was going to bed. But I saw a faint light coming from the hall to the front door.

I rounded the corner and saw the door in the hall that I’d never seen open, opened and light was pouring out.

“Honey, you needed something, I don’t usually go to sleep until eleven,” I called down the hall, still walking. “You could have phoned me. The club is a ten minute drive. I could have dropped it –”

I stopped in the door, stopped talking, saw it was an unsurprisingly very big, well-appointed, kickass study, though not in any way like the rest of the kickass but spare, colorless, stylized apartment but warm, masculine and lived in.

And last, Nick Sebring was squatting next to what looked like a safe set in a golden wood cabinet. The safe was unopened and his furious gaze was aimed at me.

“Take one step to me, Nick, I run to Knight’s room, lock myself in and I don’t call 911. I call Knight,” I warned as he straightened.

“Now I fuckin’ get it,” he whispered irately, his eyes on me burning with barely controlled fury.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, looking at the safe.

“Not dinner, not you,” he hissed. “That pussy’s for sale.”

My eyes shot to him.

“Um…
excuse me?
”

He crossed his arms on his chest. “Disappointing. Thought you were a sweet piece. Worth it. Worth the work. The trouble. The kind that would make you wanna fix. Permanently. Shoulda known when you showed at that party here. Not your scene. But you wanted Knight, hoped he’d be here. And, congratulations, babe,” his eyes swept me in my PJs, “seems you got him.”

I sucked in breath and asked, “Nick, how did you get in here?”

His gaze swept me again and they were working. Then something shifted in his face, his eyes. Something ugly, calculating but I wasn’t certain I got it.

Then he spoke but not to answer my question.

“Head’s up, you don’t deserve it but you’re not the first.”

I sucked in another breath and informed him, “I know that.”

His head tipped to the side, he smiled a nasty smile and he asked, “So, you’re okay with the charity?” My body got tight. “’Course you are, baby.” He took a step toward me, I took a step into the hall, bracing for flight and he stopped. “Comes with the good shit. The apartment. He buy you clothes yet? A car?”

I stared at him as my heart started beating faster.

“No car,” he muttered, watching me closely. “Knight, he likes it like that. Sees the pretty ones with the cheap shoes and twenty dollar haircuts. Wantin’ more. Got a streak in him, acts on it. Shows ‘em good. Shows ‘em sweet. Steaks. Nice clothes. Satin sheets. Gets off on it. Advice? Hang on tight for the car, baby. He’ll let you keep it.”

I ignored this, for now, and stated, “You obviously have keys. It’s likely Knight would want you to return those to me right before you leave, which would be about now.”

“Don’t get lost,” he whispered, leaning into me, watching me closely. “Don’t think he’ll keep you. He gets bored with his charity cases and he does it easy. Could be days. Could be weeks. Could be longer. Anya, with you, I bet he keeps you around a while. But he’ll get tired of you. He’ll scrape you off. And you’ll have the car, the clothes but you’ll be precisely where you started and Knight won’t look back. He never looks back. He just waits for the next pretty one to show at Slade in a dress someone else wore before her and shoes she hopes no one notices and then he’ll give it to her sweet. Until he’s done with her too.”

I tried to calm my breathing, lifted my hand, palm up and demanded, “Keys.”

He walked to me.

I stepped back to give him plenty of room then braced as he stopped in the hall with me.

“Just sayin’, I know it’s sloppy seconds to my fuckin’ brother but, he gets done with you, find me. I’ll give you sweet too and it’ll also last a while.”

“Keys,” I hissed.

He lifted his hand and dropped the keys but did it purposefully so they missed my palm and hit the floor. I kept my eyes to his not about to go for them with him still there.

Then I jumped to the side as his leg went back and he kicked the keys. I didn’t watch them but I listened to them sail across the floor and bump down the stairs into the sunken living room.

“Fuck him good, Anya, and when you come to me, you can show me how my brother likes it,” he whispered to me.

“Now’s your time to leave,” I whispered back

He glared at me.

Then he turned and took his time walking to the door.

Knight’s door locked automatically. I heard it catch then I ran to it and turned the deadbolt.

Then I stood at the door.

Charity case.

Clothes.

Steaks.

Car.

Car.

“
Shit car, babe. Gotta get you something decent.”

He said that, not straight out saying he’d buy me one but hinting at it and he barely fucking knew me.

Nick knew.

The steaks.

The
stupid
steaks.

Nick knew.

Knight Sebring looked at my shoes, fifteen minutes later walked through my apartment and he got himself a live one.

Nick knew.

Knight hadn’t even fucked me and he spent thousands of dollars on me.

I should have known in his luxury condo with his Aston Martin and his shit-hot club that Knight Sebring who could have anybody would not chose me unless there was some jacked reason why.

“
Wars fought over a face like this.”

Bullshit.

I wondered how many woman he’d said that to.

I closed my eyes tight.

Then I turned, moving stiffly, I reached in and flipped the switch on the light in the study and the windowless room went black. Then, like I’d be graded for the endeavor, I carefully closed the door.

Then I walked slowly down the hall to the bedroom.

Then I got dressed, shoved my PJs in my overnight bag, went to the kitchen, grabbed my purse from the counter and dug out the keys to Knight’s apartment. I dropped them on the counter, pulled on my jacket and grabbed my bag and purse.

Then I got the heck out of there.

* * * * *

The covers were yanked off, my eyes flew open and my first thought was that he busted through the chain.

I knew it was him.

And I knew this because the room was filled with vibrating, searing heat.

“Knight –” I whispered but that was all I got out before I was out of bed, moved, tugged and positioned until I was straddling him as he sat on the side. His arm locked around my hips, his other hand fisted in my hair holding my face an inch from his

“It’s fuckin’ three thirty in the morning and I drove here from my place where I found my bed empty. Then I got here and the chain was fuckin’ on. One word answer,” he bit out. “Yes or no. You forget where you were supposed to sleep and who was gonna be sleepin’ beside you? And, babe, warning, the answer better be yes.”

I stared into his shadowed face.

Then I said, “No.”

He instantly started to swing me out.

But I clamped on and snapped, “Knight! No. You don’t get to punish me. We’re over.”

He stilled.

Completely.

“What the fuck?” he whispered.

“Nick came over tonight.” His body, already still, went solid under me. “He had a key. We had a chat. I know.”

“You know,” he clipped then, “You know what?”

“I know about your charity cases.”

Silence.

Scary silence.

Terrifying silence then in a sinister, soft whisper, “My
what?
”

“The girls you find, the pretty ones that you take care of, you spoil then you get tired of and scrape off,” I reminded him. “Girls like me.”

More silence and it was more terrifying, the room stifling such was his fury.

I kept going. He might be pissed, really pissed but I couldn’t imagine he’d hurt me.

“So we’re over.”

“Nick told you that,” he stated.

My arms clamped around his shoulders loosened and I tried to push away but his hold got tight so I stopped.

“Yes,” I answered belatedly.

“Nick came to my house, saw you, told you that and you believed it and left me.”

It was my turn to still.

And I did it at his tone which was scathing.

Then I whispered, “Yes.”

“Left without callin’. Left without callin’ at the very least to tell my motherfucking dickhead of a brother was in my house when he shouldn’t be. He shouldn’t even have a key, which is obviously somethin’ he hid from me then he lied to me when I took his other key. Then he talks shit to you about me and you don’t call me about that either. You don’t wait for me to come home and tell it to me. You just leave.”

Uh-oh.

“Knight.”

“I’m gonna let you off me, Anya, then you’re gonna crawl into bed on your own, cheek to the mattress, ass in the air and feel lucky we are not at my place. You need a cane, at least a strap but all I got is my belt and that might mark you so you’re gonna take my hand.”

A cane?

I didn’t ask that.

“He lied to me?” I asked and it was the wrong thing to do. His arm got so tight, I couldn’t breathe, his fist twisted in my hair and pain spiked across my scalp.

Both these went on for no more than a second before his hold loosened and he spoke.

“Yeah. He lied to you. You know who hasn’t lied to you?”

Oh God.

“Knight –”

“Me,” he growled.

“Honey.”

His arm and hand left me as he ordered, “Crawl in bed, Anya.”

“Knight –”

“Do it or I swear to Christ you won’t sit easy for a week.”

My pulse spiked but my limbs moved. I crawled into bed, my breath stopping and starting until I got to the middle. Then I put my cheek to the mattress, my ass in the air, my arms cocked at my sides.

The bed moved with Knight moving but I could only see his frame shadowed in the dark room.

“Yank the drawstring,” he ordered.

My hand moved and I yanked.

I no sooner did this when my pajama shorts and panties were yanked down to my thighs.

“Spread your legs, Anya, wide, keep those tight.”

I spread my legs until I couldn’t spread them further as they caught taut on my shorts and undies.

Surprising me, his hand slid between my legs and my thighs quivered.

“My baby is very lucky,” he whispered, pressing in and rubbing and my fingers curled into the comforter. “I love her pussy, love this sweet ass. Tonight I’ll make that ass throb but I love that pussy so much, I won’t wanna take it tomorrow with pain getting in my way.”

I closed my eyes tight and put everything into keeping perfectly still.

His hand left me and the bed moved some more. Then nothing but I heard the swish and whoosh of clothes hitting the floor and when the bed moved again I knew he was coming back to me naked.

Oh God.

Viv was right.

I’d jacked up.

Big time.

And this was scary, crazy,
hot.

My thighs kept quivering.

I felt him above me then I felt his fingers curl into my camisole and pull it up. My head and arms went with it as he yanked it off and it was gone. But he caught my hair, gave it a rough, gentle tug and I came up to my forearms.

“I wanna be hard and aching when I beat that ass red, baby, take my cock, make it ache,” he ordered then another tug on my hair until I was on my hands. Then I felt his hand guiding his cock to my mouth. The tip against my lips, he slid it light against them until I opened them and he surged inside, already hard.