Page 35 of Painkiller (Sin Records #3)

P oppy grips the door handle like she’s waiting for an escape, and hiding my grin isn’t easy. After everything in the club, the need to smile at all feels like a relief.

Buildings blur. Traffic surges. I press the pedal harder, weaving through Midtown. I’m only going sixty, tame really, but in bumper-to-bumper madness, I guess it’s enough to make a passenger sweat.

It’s a little under two miles from the club to my apartment by Central Park. The trip can take anywhere from five minutes to fifteen, depending on traffic. I’m pulling into the high-rise garage in two and a half minutes.

When I cut the engine, I cast a sidelong glance her way. “You can open your eyes now,” I tell her, unable to keep the humor from my tone.

“I’ll wait until we stop moving, thank you.”

I shake my head as I climb out of the car. Rounding the hood, I go to her door and open it. My shoulders shake as I reach in and grab her arm, tugging her out. “We have stopped.”

Long lashes stay glued to her cheeks as she tosses her head from side to side. “You might have, but I’m still very much moving.” As if to prove her point, she sways on her feet.

“We weren’t going that fast.”

Those lids pop open, and green and gold stare back at me in disbelief. “You just took a turn— a turn! — without slowing down. You didn’t even tap the brakes!”

“Come on,” I chuckle, taking her hand in mine. “Let’s get upstairs, and you’ll forget all about it.”

She lets me drag her behind me, but I feel her hesitation. As we step into the elevator, she stands beside me but keeps a foot between us. Tension radiates from her. Tight muscles, a stiff spine, a furrowed brow. Second and third guesses swirl in the air like a physical entity.

Her lashes drop as she shifts on her feet. Her apology screams even before she speaks. But she doesn’t have to. I know what she’s going to say before she says it.

When she turns, I turn, caging her body with mine, making her eyes grow. It might look like a coincidence, but it’s not. I waited for her to decide. Just so I could tell her she’s wrong.

“You’re not backing out of our deal,” I tell her, watching every inch of her pretty face, not wanting to miss even the slightest micro-expression.

Her tempting pink tongue swipes over her bottom lip, making my dick twitch, imagining how it would feel to have her mouth wrapped around me.

The slow, nervous bob of her throat as she swallows her anxiety makes it pulse that much harder.

“You can’t hold me to that deal.” Despite the pink tinting her cheeks, her tone is strong and clear.

“What happened back there at the club…” Her copper hair dances over her shoulders as she exhales.

“No one knows, and technically, I just did my job. After all, you paid an exorbitant amount of money. Oh, and even though I want to punch you for turning me into an overpriced whore, I’m not giving the money back. ”

A muscle in my jaw ticks. My hand flies up between us, gripping her jaw forcefully, yet carefully. “You’re not a goddamn whore. Don’t say that again.”

Her eyes narrow, but her pupils dilate. She likes the assertiveness. The dominance. But she doesn’t want to. At least, not right now. “Fine. My point remains. I know you don’t care if our sisters get hurt, but I do. I have to go.”

“Is that what you think? That I don’t care?

” It couldn’t be further from the truth.

I spent the better part of a week at war with myself over Casey being upset with me over my attraction to her friend.

Worry ate at me. It was the only thing that stopped me from calling her while I was out of town.

Every time I picked up the phone, thoughts of what pursuing this in any form would do to Casey weighed on me.

Her eyes don’t waver from mine as she shrugs her shoulders. “You shouldn’t make assumptions, Halfpint.”

“You’re the one who said—”

“I said this was between you and me, not them, but don’t think for a minute I don’t care about Casey,” I growl as I drag my hand slowly from her face to the column of her long, slender neck.

When she swallows her worry again, the feeling of her throat contracting makes me groan, as do the vibrations of her voice when she speaks.

“Fine. You care, but I guess I care more because I won’t risk my relationship with my friend or further damage my relationship with my sister for sex.”

For sex? Is she for real? Do I want her body? Absolutely. One taste of her pussy, the feeling of her warmth wrapped around me…it made the addiction stronger, but it’s not what caused it.

How the fuck do I explain it to her without telling her the truth? My secrets are dark, disturbing, and badly kept, but they are my secrets, only known by a small few. And I wish those few didn’t know either.

I’m not sure what she truly thinks of me, but I know it’s not pity or shame. She doesn’t see me as a victim or a deadbeat. She just sees…she sees me.

“We did our thing…got each other out of our systems. It’s time to move on before people get hurt.”

A slow, knowing smirk spreads across my face the more she talks.

She’s not trying to convince me. She’s trying to convince herself.

Which means she feels whatever the fuck this is as much as I do.

“We are anything but out of each other’s system.

” I drop my mouth to hers, feeling her pulse flutter erratically against my palm.

“I need more, and so do you. You promised me a weekend.”

“I-I told you I’m done. You broke me. Closed for business until further notice.”

“We’ll see about that.” My tongue swipes across her lips, and she automatically opens for me, seeking my mouth as if it’s her lifeline. Her fingers dig into my shirt, trying to pull me closer as her need tangles with mine.

My hand on her hip slides beneath her coat, finding the waistband of her leggings.

Dipping beneath the soft material, I massage her ass before going lower.

She shudders against me, moaning against my mouth when I slide a finger through her seam.

“Shit,” I mutter against her lips as her desire coats my fingers.

“Closed for business? Then why are you dripping all over my hand?” I sink my index finger inside her, earning a pleading whimper.

“But you also have more holes I can fill.” I nip at her neck with a growl. “And I will fill them all.”

“The weekend?”

“Monday, if you can walk away, and I’ll leave you alone.”

It won’t happen. I don’t know where this is going, but I know it won’t end on Monday. Not when I plan to carve myself into her bones just as she’s done to me without even trying.

“We’re playing with fire,” she says breathless and desperate.

“Baby, I’m the flame.”

She grabs my jacket, fingers digging into the fabric, pulling me closer. “Then burn me.”

I won’t just burn her, I will burn with her. And for her.

I grip her hips and pull her up my body. Her powerful thighs wrap around my waist just as the elevator doors slide open.

My lips devouring hers, I stumble my way down the hallway toward my apartment. The code gets punched in blindly, and the door is flung open. Our lips never part, and I don’t stop on the way to my bedroom.

Reluctance slows my movements, setting her to her feet, not wanting to release her from my hold, but once I’ve let her go, I waste no time ripping my shirt over her head.

When she reaches for my pants, once again, what my body wants and what my mind allows don’t align, and I’m shoving her hands away.

Not wanting her to notice, I toss her on the bed and tuck my fingers into her leggings, pulling them down her body until she’s once again splayed naked before me.

But this time hits differently. For reasons I can’t understand or explain, seeing her spread over my bed makes my heart pound and my head spin.

Words I’ve never fathomed before tease my mind until I’m dizzy.

Somehow, I regain focus, peeling my leather jacket and my hoodie away from my body, then removing my pants. Her fiery gaze laps like flames across my body, leaving a trail, hot and desperate, everywhere her eyes touch.

I climb onto the bed and hover over her, taking her wrists in one of mine and shoving them over her head while dipping my mouth to her peaked, pink nipple. Our moans tangle in the air as I suck one taut nipple into my mouth, biting gently before moving to the other.

As the pressure and pain of my attention increases, so does the way she writhes beneath me.

Skimming my hand down her body, I slip a digit inside her, dipping in and out with deliberate taunting.

My mouth trails from her tit over her chest to the soft skin of her neck.

I release my grip on her wrists. “Keep them there,” I warn as I bring my free hand to her breast. A pained cry erupts as I twist her nipple hard while sinking my teeth into her neck.

But her pussy clenches my fingers in a death grip, begging for more.

“You like pain.” It’s an observation. One I’d already assumed, but given the force I just used, I know for certain.

“I should’ve brought some toys from the club. ”

Her cheeks flush with pleasure as she tosses her head back when my thumb presses into her clit. “Ju-ust…Oh, God…that feels so good.”

“Just what?” I ask, not stopping my assault on her flesh.

A few incoherent rumbles leave her mouth along with plenty of curses. “Just use whatever you haven’t stuck inside someone else,” she finally gets out between pleas and profanities.

“You like toys?” I ask, ignoring her comment for now. If we get into that, it might kill the mood, and I’m not ready for that yet. I grip her right breast in a bruising grip. She nods, panting. “What toys? Pleasure? Pain?”

“I-I…fuuuckkk…I don’t know. Both maybe.”