Page 4 of Into the Blue (Shades of Vengeance #1)

Men are so easy.

It doesn’t take much to catch their attention. No matter what kind of guy they think they are, if they’re attracted to women—then they’re an easy mark.

And Blue Dupont has just been caught in what will ultimately be his downfall.

Standing in a private room with just about two inches of fabric covering my body, I should feel exposed and vulnerable.

Except, I don’t.

All the societal pressures and stigmas about modesty or even “purity” are an unknown concept for me.

That’s what happens when you grow up the way I did.

Walking over to the neatly-made bed, I arch my back so my ass is on full display for Blue. “Does this mean we can start?” I ask with my forearms on the soft mattress underneath me.

I feel his hot eyes on me, raking over the position I’m in and it only takes seconds for him to get to me.

“Fuck, Diamond. You’ve got me bricked up,” he says leaning over me but pointedly not touching.

Uh-huh. “So what are you going to do about it?” I kick a leg up for my diamanté heel to rest beside me on the bed. The position spreads me further so there is no mistaking what is waiting for him.

Take the bait. Take it and fall.

His fingers skim along my leg from my ankle, over my fishnets, to the exposed skin of my thigh and further to where the curve of my ass begins. His rough fingers graze the underside of my cheek there and I shiver .

“So what? You paid five grand just to have a conversation with me?” I drop my leg to the ground and flip, so my legs can wrap around him. He’s pliant, allowing me to pull him into my body easily.

His teeth pull at his bottom lip as he takes his fill of what he can see of my body. “Nah. Saw you walk in and knew I needed to at least have some time.”

This man is tall. At least 6’3”, probably 6’5”. And he’s built, strong like… he’s gotta work out. You expect that the higher up you go in an organization like his—the boss might be a little lazy. Probably let himself go. But this man looks like he’s still working at the bottom.

Hungry and grinding.

I run my hands under his collar and feel the warm skin beneath my fingers. Just because he’s a mark doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy myself…

“So, what exactly were you planning on doing with all this… time?” His hold on my waist is tight as he looks down at me on the bed with barely anything separating our bodies.

He smiles and it’s not the kind of expression that’s meant to convey happiness.

It doesn’t touch his eyes in a joyful way.

There’s an edge to this look and it’s enough to make my core clench.

His defined cheek bones and jaw are obvious under a neat beard.

He is all edges, hardened and menacing without having to say a word.

“Guess I was gonna figure out what you like and maybe show you what I like.”

“That’s an awful lot of maybes… “ I hedge, begging him to make a move .

“Well, if you know what I want and what I should be doin’ with my time here then maybe you should show me.”

“There’s that maybe again…” I tease. “I could show you, but I don’t know if you’re ready for all that.“

His hold on my waist tightens a fraction as his eyes sharpen further on me. “Well, why don’t you try me and see what’s up?”

Surely, the King of Green is not this easy.

I know I said men are easy, but my expectations for what I was going to be up against are extremely flawed.

If my mother taught me anything, it’s to tell them nothing. The most important rule is always to have the upper hand. And knowledge is power. Especially when it’s knowledge of the competition.

When Terrell Lafayette Sr. fell for my mother, he left her high and dry when he found out she was pregnant. She was never the vengeful type. She was the “fuck you” and “do better without you” type of woman.

And she did do better. She went back home to Georgia and raised me with all the strength of a hammer. Pretty, smart and resourceful—like any good girl should be. Straight A’s and an MBA to boot. From an online college but a degree is a degree. Like I said, knowledge is power.

She would likely still be the powerhouse she once was if she were still here.

But I want what Faye Sr. denied me.

An empire.

I could be running the business that should rightfully be mine right now. Instead, he gave everything to Terrell Jr, his sorry excuse for a son, who blew their biggest accomplishment all over hard drugs and greed.

Nothing is more important than the money.

But Faye Jr. doesn’t know that. He’s never had to earn and that’s why he will be the downfall of the Fayes in Louisiana.

Unless I step in.

Blue Dupont is key to having the upper hand so I can take over my family’s business. As the oldest, I should have first right to the succession of power. Dear old dad, never acknowledged me or my mother, so I’ll get what’s mine another way if I have to.

I’m going to come down on these families like the tool I was honed to be.

Untying the skinny straps from behind my head the two small triangles drop from my body. The man in front of me watches the glittering fabric fall and he catches his full lower lip between his teeth again.

His thumb slides up and over a nipple. They become hard and sensitive under his attention. His other hand is still holding me firmly, radiating heat through my middle and down to my core.

My head falls back and I moan when he fully grips my breast .

“Look right here. Don’t look away,” he says with gravel in his voice.

Shit, that’s sexy.

My eyes meet his and the intensity of his attention hits me twofold.

The presence of this man is a force within itself.

It seems to expand from his body and take up all the space in the room.

But it’s also in his voice. I know he can control how much force there is behind his words.

The ones he just said had so much weight behind them even I obeyed.

And obeying any man is about as low on my list of priorities as licking the concrete on Bourbon street.

It’s then that I snap back to my task and make myself remember there are actually things we need to discuss before this goes any further.

“R-rules,” I stutter out. Cursing myself internally—I have to get my shit together.

Another extremely unlikely thing for me to do.

I’m confident in my speech and have spent years perfecting my conviction to stand tall in a room of competitors.

This man is absolutely my competition. This is a job .

“You have to respect the rules in this room.”

There, sounds more like me.

“Really?” He nods slowly, still keeping his gaze locked with mine. “Tell me then. Never been in one of these before.”

He’s never had a private room? That surprises me.

He probably doesn’t need one. With the way he looks and the reputation he carries, I’m sure he has no issues finding a woman to warm his bed.

Warm his bed? Ugh, what am I? Geriatric?

I’m skeptical, but I lay out all the rules for him anyway. “No kissing on the lips. Consent is always verbal. Condoms, every time. No government names or identities. And finally, no recording.”

All of these are the reasons why I knew this would be my way to get exactly what I wanted from the man in front of me.

Sex work is not usually my bag. I’ve dabbled in it a few times at my old place, but it was too much for me to handle every night.

I found my love on the pole and tend to stay away from the beds.

Here though, I could at least be safe, all while I get the information I need.

If he can’t follow the rules then I’ll be stuck trying to find another in .

He shrugs and relaxes. “Ain’t gotta worry about any of that with me.

” He looks my body over from my clavicles to my hard nipples, down to my waist and bites his lip when he gets to the generous swell of my hips.

His intense gaze lingers on my calf and toes and it’s something I feel—like he’s touched me there when he hasn’t.

I am the product he has so generously paid thousands to possess for the night. And with the intensity of his inspection, I would say he is happy with his purchase.

“Good,” I say, stepping out of his hold, allowing my hips to brush over him when I turn for him to see my ass again. “Have any ideas now?”

“Too many,” he exhales.

Strong brows furrow over dark eyes that seem bottomless in depth.

Deep brown skin like mahogany beckons my fingertips to explore.

His locs are neatly styled and stop just below his shoulders.

I wonder if he maintains them or if someone else does it for him.

I can’t see his arms though they stretch the limits of the long sleeve shirt he has on.

Well defined and big enough to hold me up if we actually get to have some fun and try out any of the ideas he has so many of.

He wears tactical pants like he’s in the military or something, so they’re baggy on his dense frame.

Even still, I can see how hard he is for me.

I won’t lie and say I’m not thinking about what’s hiding underneath that fly.

“Lay back on the bed how you were before.” There is no leeway in his command. I purposefully take my time repositioning myself with my ass presented for him.

“Like this?” I ask primly, while blinking up at him. Looking as willing and desperate as I should for a client. But this time, I am very willing to see what this man will do next.

“Just like that, bae,” he says. “Spread your legs. Wanna see that pussy drip for me.”

A tingle shoots down my spine as I follow his directions and step apart. Cool air meets my lips. The string presses firmly against my clit, making me acutely aware of how turned on I am right now.

He wants to see me drip? He’s well on his way with how he looks at me open and ready for him .

With two steps, he reaches me and the knife from earlier glints menacingly in his grip. A thick finger traces the waist of my g-string before he asks, “Can I take these off?” He didn’t ask to cut up my skirt, but since I laid out the rules I’m happy he’s taking them seriously.

“Yes,” I respond quickly and with all the impatience I’m feeling. He lifts the fabric to slide the knife under. A needy little moan escapes me when my clit is pressed even harder against the thin strip of fabric.

He pauses and tugs on it again, but I try to stifle the second moan.

“Let me hear you. Paid good money for that needy moan you’re tryin’ to keep from me.”

I huff out a breath and, blessedly, he frees me from the g-string with a swift flick of his wrist.

His knife is practically an extension of him.

Men and women alike are terrified of what he can do with it.

Talk of his venom treatment is what strikes fear in anyone who dares cross him.

The shiny gleam of it tells me there is no venom on it now, but one wrong move and who’s to say what might happen with just a nick.

He puts the blade back into its sheath and before I have long to think about the menace that was only millimeters from my skin, his index and middle fingers slide through my folds with embarrassing ease. “That gets you wet, huh? Maybe I should bring the K back out.”

Did it? Turn me on?

Make me this wet?

I close my eyes, letting the feeling of his fingers running over the sensitive flesh between my legs light something inside me. “Did you like my knife between your legs, bae?” He asks again.

The words alone have me pressing my thighs together, trapping his hand between them. I’ve been doing this long enough to know work is work . It’s better to enjoy it than to resist any positive feeling you can get from a client. Never have I ever been this wet so soon into a job though.

Is it this man? What power I know he holds, not just in the room but in the business I admire. Is it because of the way he handles that knife? Is it how he’s touching me like I belong to him? Like he knows my body? Or am I just ovulating ?

White hot desire sparks low, demanding more already and I haven’t even seen his dick yet.

He pauses and I’m close to whining in frustration. “Need an answer or I’ll take my fingers away.”

“Yes. Yes, I liked it.” The honesty flows from me on the wave of whatever magic he is working on my clit as he rolls the bud up and down between his fingers.

Squeezing and teasing me with deliciously sure movements.

His confidence is sexy as fuck mixed with the deep timbre of his voice. It’s doing all the right things to me.

Suddenly something cold is at my entrance.

He doesn’t stop playing with me.

I clench over nothing as I can’t see exactly what is almost inside me. It’s hard to think when he’s getting me so close to coming. I turn my head to try and get a better look at what exactly he’s doing, but it’s no use.

He still wears all his clothes which do a good job of highlighting just how much I’m at his mercy right now.

“Fuck, Diamond. You’re gonna soak my shit.” Blue leans over my back with his lips so close to my ear when he whispers, “Are you gonna take this handle like a good girl and show me how bad you want this dick or am I gonna have to tie you up?”

Oh.

Fuck.