Above All Else: A Bad Boy Military Romance (Easy Team Book 2) (32 page)

              “What’ll happen if I’m still here at ‘three’?” I asked, the alcohol again making me feel a little too reckless.

              Marco raised a dark brow. I saw a humorless smile play faintly on his lips, like a lion amused with a field mouse that dared to defy him.

              But before I could think of anything else to say, a large hand wrapped itself around my upper arm and pulled hard. Marco, leaning against the edge of the table, pulled me hard towards him, flinging me across his knee.

              The wind was nearly knocked out of me as I landed hard across his lap. With how tall he was, I found myself dangling precariously across his knee. Even with my addled mind, I quickly realized what was happening.

              “Don’t you dare!” I cried out, wriggling desperately to get free. It was useless. Marco kept me perfectly pinned against him with absolutely no room to even attempt an escape. “Don’t you even think about it! If you—”

              A ringing smack echoed across the high ceilings of the dining hall as Marco’s hand made firm contact with my rear end. I nearly choked on my words as the stinging pain enveloped my ass.

              The pain was quick and burning and I definitely felt it yet as soon as his hand made contact with my ass, I felt a deep and hungry pull right at my core. Despite the pain, it felt as if the spank had shot right through me and to my pussy.

              Confused, embarrassed, aroused, and drunk, I wriggled again and this time he let me up.

              I stood before him, panting a bit in fright and arousal. Marco gave me an even stare.

              “Be here when I reach ‘three,’ and I do that all over again with your dress pulled up and your bare ass hanging in the air,” he threatened calmly.

              “Two—”

              But before he could finish, I was already running for the doors.

Chapter
Ten
Marco

              I sat on the table, taking in a deep breath.

              My back from my neck to my ass felt as tight as a guitar string. Slowly, I let out a breath.

              I stretched the fingers of my right hand. I could still feel the sweet plumpness of her ass. There had been such a satisfying slapping sound as I had given her a good and well-deserved spank.

              Despite my threat, I had been dying to rip her dress off right then and there and spank that bratty little ass till it was glowing red and then bend her over and take her till—

              I took in another deep breath before I shook my head clear.

             
No.
I couldn’t let myself get distracted. There was too much at stake right now. Too much risk.

              And yet, every time I saw her, I couldn’t help but feel every fiber of my body being drawn to her. My body seemed to always know where she was in a room without my having to look up. No matter how much I told myself it was just a physical thing, I knew it was something else. It was a deep and undeniable connection.

              And the connection had been tested tonight when I had watched her tossing back drinks while literally sitting in the lap of danger. It was a lucky thing that I had decided to swing back into the dining hall after I had left. I had come back under the pretense of wanting to speak to one of the men when really, I had just wanted to make sure Halle had left.

              When I had seen the men surrounding Halle, an overwhelming urge to ram my fist through every single man’s head took hold of me. A hunger for it, really. It had taken an incredible amount of strength not to bash in Wiggy’s face till I could hear bones crunch.

              It wouldn’t do either of us, Halle or me, any favors if I had.

              No matter this unique draw I felt to Halle, I couldn’t have others think that there was something special between us. That kind of talk would immediately work its way up to Roy and the last thing I wanted was to give Roy another thing to use against me.

              Especially if that thing was Halle.

              Feeling my body finally loosening up and my cock returning to a more manageable pressure, I swiftly left the dining room to follow Halle up.

              But as it turned out, I didn’t need to go very far.

              Standing only three steps up from the foyer, Halle was leaning her head against the banister, one heel dangling off the step as she precariously balanced herself in the odd position.

              I huffed a laugh and shook my head as I walked towards her. She certainly could drink stiff brandy like a pro but that definitely didn’t mean she knew how to hold it.              

              “What are you doing?” I asked, standing on the foyer behind her.

              “Admiring your marble stairs,” she mumbled, still hunched over. “What do you think?”

              I ran a hand down my chin, trying not to laugh. This girl had some balls. There were very few people who would dare talk to me like that. And even fewer after witnessing me punch a man onto his back.

              “Do you think you could save that for tomorrow instead? Why don’t you admire the porcelain of your toilet instead?” I said, coming up behind her and raising her upright.

              Halle winced as her eyes were pulled away from the darkness of her arms. “Oh god, I think I might just have to,” she groaned. She tried to take a step up but swayed alarmingly before falling back.

              I caught her swiftly in my arms, her body molding against me as if it had been made specifically for me.

              “Jesus, woman,” I said hefting her up and nearly chucking her over my head. “You need to eat more. You hardly weigh anything.” But Halle ignored me and instead burrowed her head into my chest.

              She was a soft weight in my arms and I carried her easily up the stairs. With every step, I felt myself feeling the true weight of my attraction towards this woman. It was so strange. So surreal. I hardly knew her.

              And yet, there was something so undeniably alluring about her. She was a bag of contradictions. She was shy one moment, then flirtatious the next. She was ballsy and then frightened. She was quiet but she was also funny.

              I had wondered in the beginning if she had been trying to land the un-landable Marco Desmond. I had experienced more than a fair share of women who had come into the Family for that express purpose. I could pick them out from a mile away.

But if that really was her goal, she was certainly taking a route never tried before. Very few women got so drunk that they could barely bat an eye at me. That usually wasn’t very conducive for strategic flirting.

              I reached the second floor and headed towards the east wing.

              But I realized, if I truly cared about her, I couldn’t let my feelings get the better of me. At least, not anymore than they already had. In fact, if I had really wanted her safe, I wouldn’t have stepped back into the dining hall.

              The quicker she was scared away by the Desmond Mafia, the better.

              Working for the Desmond Mafia was a gamble at best. And right now, with the plans I had in works, it was a death sentence at worst. Love had always been a mythical idea around the Desmond Family. A mythical idea that was frowned upon and mocked.

              I had definitely done my fair share of mocking. Countless women had claimed they had loved me, nudging me for a diamond ring in return.

              Shifting Halle’s weight, I opened the door to her suite. The rooms were still quite bare. She hadn’t brought much in way of clothing or decorations. I laid her carefully down on her bed.

              As I laid her head down on the pillow, I wondered,
could I love her?
I almost laughed at myself. Me? Love anyone? I could hardly stand myself sometimes. There was no way in hell this jagged piece of heart could love someone else.

             
Get your head straight, Desmond,
I thought, shaking myself mentally.

              Just as I was about to stand back up, a hand reached out and grabbed at my shirtfront. I looked up in surprised to see Halle staring up at me, her blue eyes as wide and deep as lagoons.

              “You came back,” she murmured. “You came back to the dining hall.”

              I stared at her.

              Despite the countless women I’d fucked in my lifetime, I’d learn that none of that could patch that void I felt inside me. That void which only grew with every job I did for Roy and the Desmond Mafia. And it was ridiculous to expect anyone to ever be capable of such a thing.

              It was safer for both myself and for all womankind in general if we kept our relationship on a biblical level. Let’s fuck. And then forget.

              Whatever it was called—love, companionship, romance—it wasn’t for me. And it was time this girl learned that about me.

              “No, I didn’t,” I said coolly. “You and your tablemates were making a racket and that’s something Roy does not approve of.”

              Halle’s eyes washed over me. “But you saved me,” she insisted.

              I sighed. “I saved Roy from having to look for another accounts manager,” I corrected. I gave her a cold look. “Although, it might’ve been a favor to him if he did find another one. Preferably one who was a little more drink shy.”

              Those two blue orbs that seemed to hold the power of oceans studied me carefully. I kept my face neutral and cool. Her hand was still wrapped around my shirtfront. Although I kept my expression aloof, I couldn’t help be feel that unnatural draw towards her soft lips.

              “You saved me,” she finally said quietly, in a decisive tone of voice.

              I pressed my lips together in a hard line. If I wanted to do this girl any favors, it was to show her that being with me is exactly the opposite of what she should want.

             
You’re gonna have to learn quick, little girl,
I warned mentally.
If you want to stay alive around here.
             

              With lightning quick movement, I grabbed at her wrist that held onto my shirt, pinning her to me. Then with my other hand, I thrust it up her dress without warning, finding the lacy panties that lay hidden underneath.

              Halle’s large blue eyes widened in shock as she felt my hand touching her intimately under her dress. She wriggled and tried to pull away but I kept a good tight grip on her wrist, keeping her close.

              “Wha—” she started but I cut her off.

              Grabbing the front of her panties, I yanked them hard forward so that the material bunched into the center of her pussy, rubbing the fabric directly across her clit
hard.

              She gasped as she felt her panties scrape across her most sensitive folds. I held the bunched material mercilessly taut, almost making her hips rise so that she could relieve some of the pressure.

              Leaning in, I whispered, “There’s no saving here, sweetheart. This is the Desmond Family. Either you learn to survive on your own or you burn and die. Don’t expect a hero.” I gave her a cold look. “You are in the house where villains are born.”

              I gave another hard yank of her panties, making her hips bounce. Halle gasped, her cheeks red with shock and embarrassment. Her mouth had dropped open in surprise and had stayed open.

              I let go of her wrist and immediately she wriggled to the other side of the bed, the stupor of alcohol temporarily dissipated from my assault.

              I slowly rose and gave her one final cold look before turning around, letting the door slam behind me.

             
Consider that a favor from me to you, Miss Margot.
I took a deep breath, shaking off the heat of her body that still pulsed against my hand. Hopefully that scared her away enough to keep her far from my person. Maybe even enough to keep her far from the Desmond Family.

              But if it hadn’t been enough…if she hadn’t been scared off….

              Well, the devil doesn’t deal in second chances. If she wanted it that badly, we could burn together.