Page 29

Junior

I revved my motorcycle, merging in and out of lanes as I raced across the city. Lauren had been brave enough to give me a second chance, and I was already fucking it up by running late.

This was why I’d never pursued a serious relationship before; I knew I’d end up disappointing someone.

The fact that it was Lo I was disappointing felt unacceptable, made me even more convinced that if I had any chance of gaining some sort of normalcy, I needed to get the fuck out before Dad dug his claws any deeper than they already were.

Up ahead, the light turned yellow. I gunned it, racing through the intersection just as it changed to red.

The wind buffeted me. I kept my head on a swivel to avoid the cars and pedestrians in my path.

If Lauren didn’t forgive me for standing her up, there’d be hell to pay, fuck the consequences.

I was pissed at Dad before, but now that I’d put a little space between us, that anger had morphed into rage.

I felt trapped, cornered, like some wild animal with no chance of escape.

I shook my head, trying to dislodge thoughts of my father, trying to unsee the look of triumph on his face when I told him he could trust me. This anger of mine was a problem, and I didn’t need it infecting my time spent with Lauren. She was too important, too special.

I parked right outside the club this time and headed toward the front door, handing my helmet and jacket over to the coat check while the hostess scanned my member card. As soon as her handheld device flashed green, I snagged a mask off her desk and strode into the lobby.

Lauren sat front and center at the bar, a gorgeous woman on one side of her and a familiar man on the other. My mood plummeted right back into rage. It was the same collegiate-looking motherfucker I’d seen sniffing around her before.

I stalked toward the trio, feeling eyes on me. People at the bar started to turn like they’d felt the vibes in the room shift, Lauren turning with them, the smile on her face faltering when she caught sight of my expression.

“Oh,” she said, “you actually ca—”

I cut her off with a kiss, going into it hard, shoving my way between her legs, hands on her face so I could hold her at the right angle. She tasted like champagne and strawberries, and I was pissed I hadn’t been here to watch her consume them.

The mask dug into my face, but I ignored it, too focused on how stiff Lauren was in my grip, her body radiating tension.

I slanted my mouth over hers and stroked my tongue across her lips, begging her to let me back in, telling her with my touch how sorry I was.

Her palms hit my chest, and I had just enough time to brace myself against getting shoved away before her fingers curled into my shirt and she pulled me closer instead, her mouth falling open on a jagged inhale, the first stroke of her tongue like heaven against mine.

“Woah, hey,” the guy beside us said.

I broke the kiss just long enough to tell him to get fucked and went back to claiming Lauren like some sort of goddamn caveman. Sure, I’d been late, but that didn’t mean I’d forfeited. It didn’t mean the vultures circling Lo could descend in my absence.

Was it my best moment? No. But it also wasn’t my worst, and from the way Lauren kissed me back, she didn’t seem to mind all that much. I kept going, dropping a hand to pull her leg around my waist, fitting my hips against hers so she could feel how fucked-up I was for her, how hard she made me.

“Where?” I demanded.

“Upstairs,” she said.

I scooped her off the barstool and carried her toward the stairs. She clung to me, our chests pressed together, her arms at my neck, legs around my waist. Her dress was short, so I hooked my forearm beneath her ass, tucking the hem of it in place to keep her from flashing the room.

If people had been surreptitiously watching us before, they openly gawked now.

Let them. Everyone inside this building needed to know who they’d have to deal with if they went after Lauren.

Dropping all pretenses, I let the menace and aggression I felt creep into my expression, my eyes daggers, my sneer a promise of violence, even as I cradled Lo against me like she was the most precious thing in the world.

People tore their gazes away when I met them, and it should have been a warning sign that I needed to check my fucking temper, but all I felt was dark triumph, my blood humming, soul baying like a wolf claiming its kill.

Mine.

I carried Lauren upstairs, so distracted by how she felt in my arms that I was blind to where we were going.

She tugged on my sleeve as we were passing a door. “In here.”

I turned right, and she released me with one arm to press her card against the lock. The second it clicked open, we were in. I was desperate to taste her again, to drop her onto the nearest flat surface and—wait, where the fuck had all these people come from?

My body jerked to a stop as I took in the room around us. The voyeur room, to be exact. Or at least a carbon copy of it with the same bed and pillows and chair.

“You made it after all,” someone said.

I pivoted, still holding Lauren, to see one of her roommates, the tall, androgynous blond who’d turned absolutely scarlet when they’d caught us in the stairwell.

They wore a black mid-length skirt and matching tank top, their hair piled in a messy bun atop their head, light blue eyes rimmed in dark liner.

I set Lauren down, keeping her in front of me to hide my obvious arousal. This was...not what I’d expected. I’d thought she was leading us to a room where we could be alone, not surrounded by more people.

“Junior, this is Ryan,” she said. “They’re one of my roommates.”

Politeness didn’t come easy to me at the best of times, let alone now when all I wanted to do was get Lauren naked, but it was clear that Ryan was important to her, so I shoved my frustration aside and tried to make a better second impression than my first.

I stuck my hand past Lauren toward them. “We’ve...” I cocked my head sideways and grinned, one eyebrow rising in question. “Met?”

Ryan let out an awkward laugh and slipped their hand into mine. “That’s one way to put it.”

“Sorry for being a dick that night,” I said as we shook.

They released me and stepped back. “Understandable, given the circumstances.”

“Right,” Lauren said. “The staircase.”

“Great documentary,” Lauren’s other roommate chimed in. “He totally fucking did it.”

I shook my head and held her gaze with monumental effort, trying not to think about the fact that I’d watched her riding someone’s cock the last time I was in this room. “I don’t know. There might be something to the owl theory.”

She smiled and glanced at Lauren. “I like him. He can stay.” With that, she turned and flounced back into the crowd.

Lauren shook her head, looking amused. “That was Taylor.”

“I’m going to take my seat,” Ryan said. “Nice to officially meet you, Junior.”

I tipped my head up. “You, too.”

They turned, and Lauren dragged me away from the door to a pair of unoccupied seats in the far corner. I took the one closest to the wall, and when Lauren made to sit next to me, I wrapped my arms around her waist and tugged her onto my lap instead, happy for the shadows on this side of the room.

“I’m sorry I was late,” I said.

She might have kissed me downstairs, but I could tell from the stiffness in her shoulders and the guarded look on her face that she was still wary. “I thought you stood me up.”

I tugged her close, brushing our cheeks together, barely managing to hold my lower body still against the urge to grind against her. “I would never willingly do that.”

“Then where were you?” she asked.

“At an absolute trainwreck of a family dinner.”

She pulled back, looking surprised. “Seriously?”

I nodded, holding her gaze, letting her eyes drink me in as she studied my expression, no doubt looking for lies.

“We have them once a month,” I told her. “My dad called this one last minute.”

“Oh.” A little line formed between her brows. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“I did , which you would have seen if you hadn’t been so quick to turn your goddamn phone off.”

She glanced away, cheeks pinking. “I was in another room and the show was about to start.”

I gripped her chin and turned her back to me. “Bullshit.” She tried to pull away, but I held her firm. “Why’d you really do it, Lo? The truth this time.”

Her response was so quiet I barely caught it. “I thought you were doing the same thing to me now that you did back then.”

I swore, low and angry, and tugged her back into my chest. My hand smoothed over her shoulders, and I took a second to choose my words, hoping to get through to her.

“I’m not that scared kid anymore. I’m not going to ghost you again.

Anything that happens from here on out, I’ll talk to you about it first. But you should know, because of what I do, making plans is hard. ”

“So, what?” She mumbled against my shirt. “I’m just supposed to wait around for you?”

“No. I’m only asking for a little more patience if this happens again.” I dropped my lips to the top of her head, willing her to understand. “And I promise I’ll make it up to you afterward.”

“How?”

“However you want me to,” I told her.

She leaned back and gifted me a smile, and maybe it was because of the shadows, but it looked a little scary. “Dangerous words. I’m not that shy girl anymore.”

“What shy girl? The one I remember wrote me an explicit, two-sided note telling me all the things she wanted to do to my dick.”

“She was tame in comparison.”

I sent her a flat look. “And you don’t think I know that after how long I’ve been a sub?”

She shook her head. “Most of what I post, and what you’ve requested, has been pretty standard. But I like other things, too, want other things.”

My gaze tripped past her toward the unoccupied stage. “Things like this?”

“And more.”

Our gazes locked. “Things like being chased down a hallway?”