Page 40 of Laila Manning (Shadeport Crew #3)

I wiped the steam off the mirror above my sink when my front door banged open. Leaning back, I caught a flurry of brown copper hair coming through my door before the doorknob had even stopped vibrating from the dent it had left in the wall.

“How can I find Kade?” Laila demanded in her haste, with her hands on her hips as I turned and walked out of the bathroom completely.

“Hello to you too, Dove.” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest as I leaned my shoulder against the wall. “How was your day? Mine was fine, thanks for asking.”

Laila rolled her eyes and dropped her fists from her hips as a deep breath filled her lungs.

She still wore her work uniform, and her cheeks were pink and flushed, breathing life into her light skin.

“Hi.” She gave me a soft smile, and then it was like she finally paid attention to the fact that I stood before her in just a towel, fresh out of the shower.

Her warm brown eyes traveled down my body, and her pink lips parted momentarily before her dark lashes snapped back up to my face and her cheeks got even more color to them.

“My day is getting better by the moment.”

I chuckled, standing up off the wall and crossing the space to her.

We’d only been together for a short while, but my hands knew her body like they’d never been without the feel of her skin against them, and when she was in reach, she leaned into me as I hugged her.

“I missed you.” I whispered against her ear, and she pulled back to kiss me.

A few weeks ago, she wouldn’t have been able to be in the room with me alone without panicking, yet now she openly came to me and physically relaxed in my hold instead of tensing. The weight of her trust settled upon me, a powerful and incredible feeling.

“I’m pretty sure I missed you more.” She pouted comically, resting her cheek against my chest and holding onto me.

“Did something happen?” She was on edge when she walked into my apartment, and even though she relaxed with my touch, I could still tell something had her rattled.

“No, I mean, not really.”

“Hmm.” I grunted, pulling her over to the couch and into my lap, adjusting her until she lay against me with her head tucked under my chin. “Tell me.”

She snuggled in deeper, and her breath warmed the flesh of my neck as she spoke. “I ran into a couple of junkies out back behind Neat. One of them asked me if I’d seen Kade lately. Apparently, he hasn’t been around, and I guess he thought I knew where he was.”

“Street kids tend to come and go, Dove.” I replied, mentally tracking the last time I saw the scraggly bag of bones kid.

But I couldn’t think of any times past the infamous day here at the estate when I fired him.

He wasn’t actually fired, and I let him keep unloading the truck with Jed. Since then, though, he had been gone.

“The kid said it wasn’t normal for Kade, though. If he’s not here with you or the crew, where else would he be?”

I shrugged because, to be honest, I didn’t know where the kid hung out or slept at night. I had never cared to check in.

Laila cared, though, and that meant I should have cared. “I’ll ask around. See what he’s up to.”

“Yeah?” She leaned back and looked up at me with hope in her warm chocolate eyes. “Really?”

“Really. He’s probably just off doing riffraff shit, but I’ll check on him.”

“Thank you.” Laila murmured, sounding slightly surprised still.

“I’d do anything you asked of me, Dove.”

She snorted, “The last time we talked about Kade, you yelled at me. Pardon me if my confidence is a little shaky on that topic.”

At first, I wanted to rebuke her claim, arguing that she was wrong.

But she wasn’t, not really. I didn’t remember yelling at her exactly during that exchange outside of the shop, but it didn’t matter.

I failed her needs at that moment by reacting to the news that she had once again been with Diesel and taking it out on her.

“Just promise me one thing.” I said, running my fingers through her hair as she leaned back again to look up at me.

“I’ll try.”

“Promise me that if he’s a lost cause, you'll let him go.”

“Zeke,” She started, but I shook my head and silenced her.

“Some people can’t be saved. Some things are out of our control, and not everyone even wants help. So, I’ll get involved and help you, but I don’t want you to hold yourself to blame if it doesn’t go your way in the end. Not everything can be fixed. ”

“I know.” She sighed. “But I want to try. I can’t explain the draw to him, but it’s there. Something bigger than you and me is telling me that I need to try. Past that, I don’t know what will happen, but I think he needs us.”

“Us.” I repeated, rolling the word around in my mind as she smiled against my neck.

“Unless you want me going off on my own again—” She joked. “I seem to be a magnet for trouble, though.”

I scoffed, adjusting her on my lap until she was face down over my lap across the couch.

She giggled, wordlessly telling me she was okay, so I went further, rubbing my hand over her ass in her tight jeans before squeezing one of her plump ass cheeks.

“I think I like when your trouble is only found here with me.”

“Mmh,” She wiggled her hips and looked over her shoulder at me. “Can we try something?”

My dick throbbed under her as I nodded.

She was nervous, I could tell by the way she nibbled on her bottom lip and avoided eye contact. “Will you spank me?”

My hand tightened on her ass cheek, and my breath hitched in my throat as my heart raced like it had just been electrocuted.

For the last few days, she had been working through her list—the kink list. Asking me questions like they were hypothetical and not specific to her, but I knew better. “Why do you want to try that?”

“Because I think I’d like it.” She licked her lips, “When you touch me, I—” She sighed, “I burn, Zeke.”

“What does spanking have to do with that?” I questioned, rubbing my palm over her ass, dipping my fingers between her thighs ever so slightly and rubbing.

“Because I throb when I think about you doing it to me.” Laila’s sweet innocent voice speaking such filth nearly broke me .

“If you want it, you have to prove it.” I slid my fingers between her legs and pushed them against her hot and apparently throbbing core. “Stand up and take your jeans off.”

She blinked once, and then scrambled from my lap, flicking the button of her pants open and then pushing them down over her flared hips.

The entire time I sat on the couch, leaned back, watching her, letting her see the hunger in my gaze as she gave me the only thing I ever craved from her—her words.

There she was before me, in a pair of black panties and her black uniform shirt. “Take your shirt off, Dove.”

Laila didn’t even hesitate as she pulled it up over her head and tossed it on the floor with her jeans. “Now what?” she asked softly.

We were toeing the line of right and wrong, safe and dangerous, yet I ached to see how far she would go with me. Because with me—she was safe.

“Lie down like you were.” I ran my palm over my thigh, still wearing only my towel from my shower, but my good girl crawled across my lap, just like I said.

“That’s a good girl.” I praised, running my knuckles down the long length of her spine, teasing the clasp of her matching black bra before flicking it open so I could trace a line from the base of her skull to the base of her spine.

“Tell me what you like most about the idea of me spanking you.”

She swallowed, the noise audible as she laid her cheek on the couch so she could look at me. “I don’t know exactly.” She took a deep breath, “It started spinning in my head the other night at Neat. When you were all aggression and testosterone and so—” She groaned, “So damn sexy.”

“And you think if you feel that strength and testosterone, that you’ll what? Enjoy it? ”

“God, I hope so,” She groaned, “Or this will all be incredibly embarrassing.”

“No, it won’t.” I admonished, tracing the edge of her panties over her ass cheeks, dipping between her thighs and back over the seam of the fabric, tempting and teasing her.

“Anything we learn about each other is invaluable information to have. You need to remember that. And anytime you want something from me, just tell me, and it’s yours.

Anytime you don’t like something, just tell me and I’ll never do it again. ”

“What about you?” She whispered. “This—do you like this?”

“You on my lap in your panties?” I questioned, though I knew she was talking about the idea of spanking.

“I love it.” Dipping my thumb under the seam of her panties, I pushed it between her thighs to find her dripping center, she was soaked already.

“And spanking you—” I moaned as I pushed my thumb into her and then circled her clit with it.

Her thighs widened, and she arched her back, presenting her ass just the slightest bit for me.

“I think we’re both going to enjoy it, Dove. ”

“Spank me, Zeke.” She begged, curling her fingers into fists and bracing as she shimmied in my lap. “Please, I’m begging you.”

“No.” I mused, torturing us both. “Not until you’re so delirious with need that you don’t know any better.”

“Zeke.” She whined and then moaned when I changed the angle of my thumb, replacing it with my finger and pushed it into her pussy, going deeper. “Mmh, okay.” She gasped, “Whatever you say, just don’t stop that.”

Sliding her panties down over her ass until they tangled around her knees, I used my fingers to spread her cheeks apart so I could watch my fingers disappearing into her body.

What a fucking privilege it was to be inside of her, any part of my body, it didn’t matter.

I just wanted to exist inside her pretty pink pussy .

I curled my finger inside of her while playing with her clit, making her wiggle and shift on my lap. “Tell me how that feels.”

“Like I’m going to burst into flames.” She moaned, “Like my skin is on fire.”

“What do you want?”

“You to spank me. And then fuck me.” She gasped. “Or hell, fuck me and spank me at the same time, I don’t care. I just want to come.”

“Are you ready?” I asked, using my free hand lazily to palm her plump ass cheek.

“Yes!” She all but screamed at me, and I grinned as I laid my palm down in a sharp slap across the supple flesh. I didn’t go easy on her, that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to be spanked by a real man, to find pleasure from it. So, I started rough, and I could always lighten up if needed.

“Fuck yes!” She groaned, fisting the couch and pushing back into my hand. “Again.”

“Beg for it.”

“Please, Daddy, again!”

I spanked her again. And again, she let out a guttural groan that sounded like part of her soul was being freed, piece by piece with each spank.

I kept my fingers working on her, pleasing her with the pain so she didn’t slip into her traumatic past, but with every moan and plea for more, I trusted her words more. “I’m so close.” She moaned, looking over at me with wild eyes. “From you. Because of you. For you.”

“That’s it, Dove.” I pulled my fingers free from her body and slid out from under her before laying over her back, letting my big body dwarf hers on the couch. “Beg me for more.”

“Please, I need to feel you, everywhere. ”

I ripped my towel off and pressed the tip of my dick between her wet thighs, letting them stroke my cock from root to tip as I teased her before switching my angle and giving her just the head. “You’re such a good girl for me. So fucking perfect.”

“Fuck me, Zeke.” Laila begged, pushing back onto me until I was buried halfway inside of her tight little body. “Just like that,” She purred as she laced her fingers through mine, holding me to her.

I gave it to her, pushing deep into her body and clenching my jaw to keep from biting her shoulder as she gasped and took it. “You take me so perfectly, Laila. This pussy was always meant for me. Your body will only know mine for the rest of forever.”

“Promise me.” She cried, and I pulled back, lifting her hips until she was on her knees, and slammed into her as I spanked her ass for emphasis.

“Mine.” I vowed, and she shot off before the word even died on my lips. Screaming my name in ecstasy as I fucked her harder than I had yet. It was primal and raw, and everything she was craving from me.

And it meant everything to me.

She meant everything to me, and I would never let her go. Whatever she wanted out of life, was hers. Me included.