Page 19 of Need (Men of Inked Sinners #3)

OLIVER

“Did you have fun with your sister last night?” I ask Lulu as she reaches for a container on a high shelf.

She started on organizing the garage even though I tried to talk her out of it. I love the idea in theory, but I know once she’s done, I won’t be able to find shit.

“Yeah. It was productive.”

“Productive?”

I don’t think I’d ever describe hanging out with my friends as productive. We are dumbasses and do a lot of dumbass shit, none of which is anything near productive.

My cell phone rings, drawing my attention away from her perfect ass in those damn black leggings that are my weakness. Hal’s name flashes on the screen.

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath as I lift the phone, answering the call. “Hey, Hal. ”

Lulu glances over her shoulder with wide eyes but is quick to turn back around when I shoot her a look across the garage.

“Hey, Oliver,” Hal says on speakerphone, his voice echoing through the open space. “I just got a call from the DA.”

“And?”

“Something happened.”

I wait for him to say more, but he doesn’t.

“Okay. And?” I ask again, my leg now bouncing up and down under my desk as a sense of unease overtakes me.

“Mark is dropping the charges.”

Lulu stops moving as soon as the words are out of Hal’s mouth.

“He what?” I ask, figuring I heard him wrong. “Why?”

Hal blows out a breath. “Hell if I know. I’m shocked. I thought the DA was calling me to talk about a deal, but he said Mark was at his office first thing this morning and said he was withdrawing all charges against you and that it was a misunderstanding.”

I blink a few times, letting everything he’s said work its way around my brain. “A misunderstanding?”

“Yep. That’s what he told him. Odd, right?”

“Very,” I tell him, staring straight ahead.

Lulu still hasn’t moved. She’s like a statue, holding a box in one hand as she stands in front of the giant cabinet that’s too tall even for me to reach the top without a ladder.

“So, you’re in the clear. Charges have been dropped. It’s the best scenario because that DA does not like to give deals to anyone, especially when there’s physical violence involved.”

“Thanks for your hard work, Hal.”

“I didn’t do much, Oliver. I didn’t have a chance to. I don’t know what happened with Mark, but I’m glad he had a change of heart.”

“Yeah,” I tell him, watching Lulu as she starts to move again, working a little faster than before. “I don’t know what happened either.”

“Have a good one,” Hal says.

“You too, Hal,” I say before disconnecting the call.

I watch Lulu, not saying a word as I set my phone back on my desk. She doesn’t look at me as she continues working, searching through a container like a treasure is hidden inside.

“That’s good news,” she says with her back to me. “Are you relieved?”

“Yeah, but also confused.” I stand, making my way across the garage until I’m right behind her.

“Why are you confused?” She doesn’t bother turning around even when I know she can feel the heat radiating off my body because I’m so close behind her.

I touch her shoulders, pressing my front to her back. “Because I don’t understand why he’d drop the charges. You have any ideas?”

Her muscles are tense under my palms. “No. Not a clue.” Her voice is higher pitched than normal.

Everything about the way she’s acting is suspicious.

“What’s productive mean, Lulu?” I graze the tender skin on the backs of her arms near her shoulders with my thumbs.

“Zoey and I…” She moans as I knead my fingers into her muscles, trying to relax the tension out of her.

“You and Zoey what?”

“We…” She leans back against me, almost melting. “You’re going to be so pissed at me.”

My hands still. “What did you do?”

She turns in my arms, peering up at me with her big brown eyes. “Don’t be mad, okay?”

My teeth grind together as I gaze down at the woman I’m quickly falling for. She has a big heart. Her brain sometimes short-circuits, but everything else about her is more than I could ever dream. “I can’t promise anything, but I need to know. What did you and Zoey do, Lulu?”

She gives me a smile that quickly fades. “We may have gone to Mark’s place.”

My entire body stiffens, and my stomach twists like someone stuck a dagger in me and scrambled everything up. “You what?” I take a step back, feeling a fire flicker to life inside me. “You went to his place? ”

Lulu clasps her hands together in front of herself and twists her upper body back and forth like a little kid does when they’ve been busted doing something they know they shouldn’t have done. “Zoey wanted to talk to him.”

I rub my forehead, digging my fingertips into my skin. “Of all the shit…”

Lulu steps closer, barely leaving any space between us. “We were safe.”

I close my eyes, trying to remember she is safe. She’s here with me, and Mark didn’t do something to Zoey or her. “Is that what productive meant?”

She nods slowly. “Zoey told him to drop the charges, or she was going to the police to file an assault charge against him.”

“Fuck,” I groan, hating that she faced that piece of shit. “You two should’ve let me handle him.”

“We did that once,” she says, as if somehow their stupid idea was the best solution. “And Mark listened. You’re not in trouble anymore.”

“There’s always a price, Lulu. You think Mark’s just going to forget about everything?”

She wraps her arms around my middle, placing her head on my chest. “You’re mad, aren’t you?”

“Mad? No,” I tell her, placing my arms around her shoulders, holding on to her tightly as I bury my face in her hair. “I’m fucking terrified.”

“Don’t be. It’s all good. ”

“It’s not that simple for guys like him. I can’t believe you went there. You could’ve been hurt.”

“I had protection.”

“Please tell me you didn’t bring your gun.”

“No. Of course not. I brought pepper spray.”

I groan.

“We were safe. It’s hard to hurt someone when you can’t breathe or see.”

“It’s hard to run when you can’t either. Pepper spray in a small space affects more than just the target.”

“Oh,” she whispers like she hadn’t thought about that fact before now. “Then it’s a good thing I didn’t have to use it.”

“Look at me.”

She doesn’t move.

“Lulu, look at me,” I plead with her.

She releases her hold on me just enough to stare up at me. “Yeah?”

“Promise me you’ll never do anything like that again.”

“Well…”

“Promise.”

“I promise,” she says with absolutely no conviction to her voice.

“I mean it.”

“Me too,” she says.

I study her gaze, hoping she isn’t lying. “I would’ve burned the world down if something had happened to either of you.”

“We’re okay.”

“Don’t you ever put yourself in harm’s way for me. Do you understand?”

She narrows her eyes as she stares up at me. “But it’s okay if you do?”

I lift my hand, palming her cheek. “I will always protect you.”

“This is a two-way street, Oliver.”

“It’s not,” I tell her firmly as I stroke her cheek with my thumb.

A low grumble escapes her lips. “I would never let you sacrifice yourself at my expense.”

“It’s not your call to make, sweetheart.”

“Why?” she asks, her face scrunched up in the cutest expression.

“Because you’re mine,” I tell her, stepping over the edge of casually dating to something serious.

Her eyes soften as her mouth opens then quickly snaps shut again.

Before she has a chance to say anything—and by anything, I mean argue with me—I lean forward and cover her mouth with mine.

The kiss isn’t soft and gentle. It’s not sweet or innocent.

This is a moment where my lips demand her obedience and submission, wanting her to know she’s mine, and in return, I’m hers.

Lulu melts into me, becoming putty in my hands as she finds the hem of my T-shirt with her fingers and slides them beneath. The coolness of her touch makes the skin on my back pebble under her caress.

My hand slips to the back of her neck, holding her closer, bending her to give me more access. I deepen the kiss, our tongues tangling together like it’s a battle neither one of us wants to lose.

The shop is closed, and tonight, Liam’s busy taking Sharla out of town to some convention. The garage isn’t a place people wander into unless they’re meant to be here or have an appointment.

When Lulu arrived, I locked everything up, making sure we wouldn’t have any interruptions. I had plans for tonight, none of which included finding out I wouldn’t be facing jail time, but all of them ended with Lulu naked and underneath me.

She digs her fingernails into the skin at my sides. “I need you inside me.”

Her words crash over me like a wave, causing my control to slip from the final tether that had held it in place.

“Mine,” I growl, wishing life could always be like this.

Lulu slides her fingers down, the nails scraping against my skin hard enough they’ll leave a mark. My hand finds her ass, hauling her upward with one arm. As if she’s done it a thousand times before, she spreads her legs and latches them around my middle, but our mouths never leave each other .

I carry her to my desk, setting her down in front, and finally break the kiss. “Strip,” I tell her as her eyes blaze bright.

Without an argument, she moves quickly, tearing off her top, taking the bra with it. I’m not even sure the fabric hits the floor before her hands are at the waistband of her pants. Leggings are great for looking, but when it comes to quick access and getting them off, they’re the absolute worst.

Her leggings are finally down, and she kicks them off, nearly panting under the weight of my gaze. My hands find the button on my jeans, working faster than they ever have before. In under thirty seconds, we’re both naked and panting.

There’s nothing that needs to be said. We both know what we want. What we need.

Our mouths come together again as she nearly hurls herself against me. We’re a tangle of limbs and tongues, moaning as our hands roam each other’s naked bodies.

Lulu places a hand against my chest, pushing me downward, and I let my body crumple to the floor.

“Lie back,” she whispers against my lips. “I want to ride you.”

I do as I’m told because nothing in this moment sounds better. Being inside Lulu is like tasting a piece of heaven and having her above me where I can see and touch her, watching her fall apart, is nothing short of nirvana .

My head is barely against the rug under my desk when she lines her body up and spears herself on my cock. I’m momentarily winded by the sheer amount of pleasure that spreads throughout my body. I find her hips with my hands as she rises, about to slam back down to me.

I try to slow her movement, but there’s no stopping her. She has a look in her eyes that tells me there isn’t a thing in the world that could control her in this moment, especially me.

I can’t take my eyes off her as her hair sways and her hips move, riding me like she is racing toward the finish line. Her fingers curl into my pecs, her nails nearly piercing the skin.

When she moans, I nearly come undone underneath her. I can feel the orgasm clawing up my insides. I try to push it down, but I know I’m fighting a losing battle. With the way she’s fucking me, I can’t stop the freight train that’s barreling toward me.

I let her take what she wants, hurtling right off the cliff. My eyes snap shut as the wave crashes over, stealing my breath and my very ability to think. Before the pleasure ebbs, Lulu follows me over, moaning my name as her movements slow until she finally collapses forward on top of me.

“Damn,” she gasps, breathing heavily and trying to regain her equilibrium.

I trail a line down her spine with my fingertips. “Yeah,” I mutter as I wait for my heart to slow .

She lifts her head, her eyes finding mine. “I need more,” she whispers, “but I understand if you need time to recover. Age and all...”

She’s fucking with me. I know. She’s challenging me, and because I’m a man who never backs down, I roll over until I’m on top of her.

“My girl gets whatever my girl wants,” I tell her, letting the remark about my age slide.

I crawl backward, spreading her legs until I’m nestled in between. “I’m not stopping until you beg me.”

“Oh,” she says, looking down her body at me. “I like this challenge.”

“Me too,” I say as my mouth finds her flesh, and it takes three orgasms until she finally begs me to stop, but I make her have a fourth before I relent.