Addiction (22 page)

“Vodka,” I say without thought. She nods her head once again and then disappears out into the hall. Vodka? Why did I just order that? I hate vodka. Well, technically, I hate almost anything alcohol.

“Please have a seat.” He gestures to a couch that sits back against the far wall.

Case leads me over there with his hand on the small of my back, and I take the second to wipe my sweaty hands on my dress and take a deep breath.
Stay calm and keep your mouth shut.
“What can I do for you, Case?” The guy, Rox, asks cutting straight to the point.

Case sits down beside me and places his hand on my left thigh. I know he can feel my nervousness. Hell, I’m fucking sweating. I take a quick sniff to see if I stink. Nope, not yet.

“What
can
you do for me, Rox?”

My eyes widen at how hard his voice has become. All business like before.

Rox doesn’t seem affected by it, though. He just smiles at Case and leans back in his chair, getting comfortable. “Let’s not play coy, Case. You know I can get you anything that you want.”

My throat goes dry, and all of a sudden, I feel claustrophobic. I reach up to grab the collar of my dress but Case intervenes and grabs my hand, lacing his fingers in mine. He holds them prisoner in a vise-like grip.

Thankfully, the woman in the black dress comes back and has my drink in her hand. As soon as she hands it to me, I take a big gulp through the straw. I cringe as my throat burns from the vodka. Shit! What in the hell did she put in this? Vodka and just fucking ice? I take another sip, and it burns even more.

My chest tightens and my body breaks out in goosebumps as the drink warms up my entire body. I feel like I was just lit on fire from the inside out.

“What I want is a shipment worth my time,” Case snaps.

I look down at my lap as I take another big sip. A few seconds later, my head starts to spin. Can it work this fast? No, it’s just me being paranoid. Or maybe it’s the fact I’m holding my breath.

Rox leans forward; placing his elbows on his knees, he narrows his black eyes at Case. “Are you saying that my product isn’t up to your standards?” His accent has thickened, and I take another big gulp.

I close my eyes as the vodka just sits in my mouth. I have the urge to vomit, to just spit it out. It feels like the drink is expanding as I hold it in my mouth. I try not to concentrate on the taste and am able to swallow the big lump. I open my mouth and take a deep breath, which causes the burning sensation to intensify.

“I never said anything about it not being good enough. I’m telling you to give me a larger count.”

I take another big sip and everyone turns to look at me as my cup makes a slurping sound. Shit. I’m out!

“Baby, get …” Rox pauses. “I’m sorry, gorgeous. I didn’t catch your name.” I feel Case’s hand tighten on my thigh when he calls me gorgeous, and I remind myself not to flinch.

“That’s because I didn’t give it,” Case replies flatly.

Rox looks over at him, and to my surprise, he looks just as shocked as I feel. Is Case trying to get us killed here? Rox looks back at me, and his black eyes look down at my blue heels; he tilts his head to the side as his gaze slowly travels up my legs. His eyes seem to darken, if that’s even possible, as they reach my exposed thighs. I shift, placing my right thigh over my left, the motion causing me to trap Case’s hand between them. His fingers dig further into my leg as Rox’s eyes land on my chest. Even though my tits aren’t hanging out, you can still see how fucking big they are in this dress; plus, my nipples are hard and pointing right at him.

“Here you go, ma’am,” the woman says handing me another drink. Whoa. Where in the hell did she go? I didn’t even see her leave.

“Thank you,” I mumble and take it from her. I don’t waste a second as I place the straw to my lips and suck. It amazes me how easily this one goes down. And how the lights seem to darken in this already dim room.

Rox finally looks away from me and back at Case. “You don’t have to hide her.” Are they talking about me? “Every woman you bring to my club is off-limits. To everyone,” he adds, and I don’t miss the fact that his voice isn’t as hard as before.

Every woman? How many women has he brought here? The idea of that has me sucking down another gulp.

“Her name is irrelevant,” Case says his voice still hard.

I look up at the door when it opens again. Shit! How many damn people are in this place? A woman wearing a pair of black leather leggings and a tan shirt, falling off her right shoulder walks into the room. “Darling, you have a visitor …” She pauses as she sees Case.

“Case,” she says in surprise. “How are you doing? Nice to see you again this week.” See her again this week? Is that what Rox was talking about when he said twice in one week? Did Case come to see her? I grind my teeth in jealousy.

He has to pry his hand from between my somewhat sweaty thighs to stand from the couch. I watch him give her a hug and then kiss her cheek with pure jealousy. Case is a very attractive man. But women don’t fall all over him at
Seven Deadly Sins
. He’s too busy working and the girls who work at the club respect him. But this, this is hard to watch.

“I’m doing well. How about you?” he asks taking a step back from her, and I hate the way his eyes look her up and down. They linger on her hourglass-shape body just as Rox’s just did on mine, and I have a feeling he’s seen her naked. I take another drink.

“Things have been good, although I would prefer better.” Her chocolate brown eyes fall down to his crotch and when she looks back up at him, she gives him a little wink. I take another drink.

“Honey. What did you need?” Rox demands. “We are in the middle of a meeting,” he informs her, and I smile at her frown. Another drink.

“I just wanted to let you know you have a visitor.”

He lifts his hand and waves her off. “Tell them I’ll be out when I’m done.”

She throws Case one last smile and then walks out of the room, closing the door behind her. He comes over and sits back down beside me. This time when he goes to place his hand on my leg, I scoot over and take another drink. He doesn’t even bother to look over at me. He just picks back up where he had left off with Rox.

I look down at my drink and see there are only a few sips left. I pick up the straw, throw it to the floor, and knock it back, the ice clinking against the glass. As I set the now second empty glass on my thigh, the room starts to sway. I close my eyes as I take a deep breath, waiting for the waitress to bring me another one. My nervousness is officially gone and replaced with pure hatred, but I’m gonna drink until I feel absolutely nothing.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CASE

I pull into Taylor’s driveway, and she opens the passenger door to my Corvette and gets out before I can even place the car in park. She slams the door shut and then stomps her way toward the front door. Her blue heels make a loud clicking noise as she storms across her driveway.

I get out with a sigh and follow her. She hasn’t said one word to me in two hours. I want to say she’s mad at me, but I’m not sure what I did wrong exactly. So I’m hoping there is another explanation for the mood change.

“Are you mad at me?” I just come out and ask as I enter her house.

“If you have to ask, then you’re an idiot,” she throws over her shoulder.

I sigh. “What’s wrong?”

She comes to a stop and spins around to stare at me. “I’m drunk,” she declares while she bends down to kick off one of her blue high heels. I reach out and grab a hold of her before she falls over from the stumble.

“You are?” I ask truly surprised. “How many did you have?” I didn’t really think she drank that much. And how was I supposed to know she was drunk? When I was done with Rox, we walked straight to the car, and I drove us straight here.

“Three.” She answers my question, and I frown as I notice the little slur in her voice. She hasn’t spoken, so I hadn’t really noticed it until now.

“You shouldn’t be drunk after three drinks,” I say with a frown.

“I never drink,” she shouts, making my frown deepen. “But you had me scared to death, so I started drinking.”

“I would never put you in a situation where you could get hurt,” I say truthfully.

She rolls her eyes, and it causes her to sway on her feet. “What if they wanted to fight you? You were very hateful.”

Hateful?
How cute. I smile at her concern for me. “I would have won.”

“Conceited much?” She reaches out and swats my chest.

“No.” I chuckle. “I’m just confident.”

She huffs and then rambles on. “And then that bitch walked in …”

“Bitch?” I ask interrupting her.

“Yeah, the one who kept eye fucking you. God, I thought she was gonna offer to suck your cock right then and there.” She rolls her eyes again, and it throws her off balance. She places her hand on the wall to stabilize herself. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you look at her the same way. Have you fucked her before?”

I smile as I place my hands on her hips. I push her backward until her back is against the wall. “I like this look on you,” I whisper.

“Drunk?” The single word is slurred, and it makes her sound so cute.

I shake my head. “Jealous.”

She slaps me in the chest. “Stop, Case. I’m not joking.”

“I know you’re not.” I push myself into her and she lets out a long breath when she feels my hardening cock press into her stomach. Her short dress and fuck-me heels have kept me in a constant state of arousal. I want to rip it off her now.

“Would you have let her?” she demands.

I arch an eyebrow. “Let her what?” I ask slowly.

She huffs, and being this close to her allows me to smell the vodka on her lips. “You know … would you have let her suck you off in front of everyone?”

I want to smile. To tell her that if I wanted to sleep with that woman, which I don’t, then I would have. If Rox thought I had the slightest desire for his wife, he would offer her to me. He believes in pleasing his clients. No matter what it costs him. I’m not saying his wife doesn’t want me, but I sure as hell don’t want her. That doesn’t mean I don’t play the part. I could tell her all that, but instead, I reach up and place my right hand in her hair. She tries to pull away from me, but I tighten my hand and she lets out a whimper as her legs give out a little. “You’re the only one who is going to be sucking me off tonight,” I say placing my lips up to hers.

“Case …”

“What, baby?” I run my free hand up her soft and creamy thigh, pushing her dress up along the way.

Her blue eyes look up at me, and now that I get a good look at them, I can see they are glazed over. She’s drunker than she thinks she is. “I want you.” Her hands go to my belt, and she fumbles to undo it.

I just let out a chuckle. Letting go of her hair, I reach down and pick her up with an arm around her back and the other under her knees. I walk her to her bedroom and lay her down on her bed. She reaches up her hands and grabs my shirt, pulling me down on top of her. “Tell me again how jealous you were,” I say as I kiss up her neck.

“So jealous,” she breathes, arching her back. “And terrified …”

I pull away from her and look down at her. “Why were you terrified?” I ask, pushing the hair away from her face.

“Because I thought that you were going to make me do something I didn’t want to do,” she says breathing heavy.

My brows pull together. “Like what?”

“Drugs,” she whispers as she looks away from me. “I saw them, and I panicked. I didn’t know if you were going to make me do them or not.”

I position myself over her, and my hands grab both sides of her face. “I would never, never make you do something you don’t want to do. Do you understand?”

She swallows nervously and closes her eyes for a brief second as the alcohol continues to take effect. “Taylor.” I give her body a little shake, and she opens her heavy eyes. “I’d never make you do that. Okay?”

She nods slowly. “But you told me not to talk. I was afraid you were gonna tell me to do something and then be mad at me if I tried to argue.”

I let out a long sigh. Fuck! What did I do? This is not how I planned the night to go. “Baby, I promise you with everything I have that I would never put you in a situation where you couldn’t say no. I would never make you do something you don’t want to do.” I lean down and softly kiss her lips.

When I pull back, her eyes are closed and her lips are parted as she breathes heavily. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” she whispers.

I release her face and run a hand down mine, the facial hair scratching against my palm. I hadn’t paid much attention to her at Rox’s club. I mean, yeah, I kept her close to my side, but I had business to take care of. That was my main priority. And I thought bringing her was the best plan I could have. Now, they know she belongs to me, and they won’t dare touch her. A lot of my business is done through my club and Blane bringing to my attention how short her shorts were and how small her top was got me thinking … I don’t want other men to look at her as if she is available. I never thought taking her tonight could have her pull away from me. That it would cause her to think I would force her to do something against her will. Hell, I didn’t even touch anything but her tonight. I didn’t want to frighten her, but it turns out I did anyway.

“You didn’t, baby,” I say softly as I lean down and give her one last kiss on her lips.

Her head falls to the side, a few strands of hair covering her face. Her arms fan out to her sides and her lips part as she softly snores. She’s out!

I help her get undressed. Once she is wearing nothing but her black lace thong, I place the covers up to her chin. I turn around to start undressing when a picture on her long dresser gets my attention. I pick it up as I run my finger over it. It’s of her family. She sits on the grass with her legs out in front of her. She has her dark hair down and the wind is blowing it to the side. Her mother is sitting behind her with her arms wrapped around Taylor’s waist. Her dad lies on his stomach beside them with Blane sitting on his back. They’re all laughing, looking anywhere but the camera. I feel a pain in my chest at what she lost. That she lost her mom at such a young age. She can’t be any older than five years old here.

She sighs and I turn to look at her in bed. Her dark hair with blue streaks fans out over her pillow, and she’s rolled to her side, giving me her back. I set the picture back down and get undressed making my way into her bed next to her.

I reach up and push some hair back from her face as my eyes roam over it. This is gonna be harder than I expected. But then again, I think a part of me knew she was gonna be a challenge for me. I just didn’t know that it would break me down. That she was gonna affect me on the inside. No woman has ever had me this confused.

My eyes look over her beautiful face and full lips. I feel that tightening in my chest return. How could I have thought I could bring her into this world? Why didn’t I demand more information from Blane in the beginning? I could call him right now; I could tell him that the deal is off. I could leave right now and leave her a note that this just isn’t going to work out.

I lift my wrist and run my fingers over
Nicole
. I wish she were still here. She would know what to do. She would tell me to close my eyes and jump. To take that chance with Taylor and not to run. But she’s not here. And she can’t tell me what to do. So I have to make a decision. I just hope that it’s the right one.

TAYLOR

I open my eyes and see that I’m in bed alone. I let out a sigh as I place my hand on my forehead. I have a pounding headache and what little light enters my room is blinding. And I am hung over.

I roll over onto my stomach and a moan of pain falls from my lips. I have never been this sore and hung over in my life. Damn, did I fall down last night? Why am I so sore? I know it’s not from sex. 

I open my eyes as I hear the front door open and close. “Thought you guys were staying gone all weekend?” I call out with my scratchy throat. All I get is silence.

“Savannah?” I call out again. Still silence.

I roll out of bed and then pull the sheet with me. I pull it up to the back of my neck and wrap it around myself, shielding my body from my brother; I just don’t care to put clothes on at this second.

I walk out of my bedroom and my right shoulder hits the corner of the door, hard. I can’t even walk straight. “Savannah?” I say again as I round the corner to enter the kitchen.

“Sorry to disappoint you.”

I come to an abrupt stop when I see Case standing in the kitchen. “What?”

He holds his hands out to his side with a smirk on his face. “I’m not Savannah.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I thought … you weren’t here when I woke. I just figured you had left,” I say.

“I did,” he says pointing at the bag on the kitchen table. “You were pretty drunk last night. I figured you would need some breakfast.”

I smile. I’m wearing a big, goofy smile that probably makes me look like a love-struck teenager, but I can’t help it. “Thank you.”

He walks over to me, and I notice that he still has on what he was wearing last night. The shirt brings back memories to mind. “I’m sorry,” I say softly.

“For what?” he frowns

“For snapping at you. For being jealous. I had no right to act that way.” It hurts to admit I was jealous, but I need to apologize. I don’t want him to think I am head over heels in love with him and that he’s gonna have to fire me.

He reaches up and places his hands on my face, and I close my eyes enjoying his hands softly gripping me. I love it when he touches me.

“Don’t apologize for that,” he replies just as softly, and I open my eyes to look up at him. “Honestly, the way the guys were looking at you last night … made me mad with jealousy.” My eyes widen at that. “I wanted to lay you over that table.” I swallow thickly knowing where this is going. “Push up that dress and fuck you right there in front of Rox.” Why does that thought turn me on? “I wanted them all to know it’s my name you scream out when you come. It’s my cock you like in that tight pussy.” I inhale sharply. “Don’t be ashamed to be jealous, Taylor.” He lifts his hands and pulls mine away from the sheet. It falls down to the floor around my feet. His dark blue eyes look me up and down, and he sucks in a breath. When his eyes return to mine, he laces his hands in my hair. Tightening his hands, he pulls my head back so my face tilts up toward him. He lowers his lips to mine and speaks softly. “Don’t be ashamed because I feel the same way about you. I don’t share what is mine, and you are mine.” Then his lips slam on mine.

I should be afraid of how territorial he is. I should shudder at the thought of how he wants other men to watch him take me and show them I am his property. But instead, it ignites a fire in me. It lets me know he wants me just as much as I want him. I’ve never felt his way about a man before, and I know it’s unhealthy. There’s no way we can have a future. I’m a waitress, and he runs a club and sells drugs, but I kiss him back with everything I have. I wrap my heavy arms around his neck, and I pull him to me as if I could become a part of him and he a part of me.

My knees weaken as he tilts my head to the side with his hands in my hair and deepens the kiss, stealing my breath. I moan as he presses his hard cock into my stomach. It has me pulling at his shirt, needing to take this to the next level. Needing him inside me this very second.

He must feel it as well because he removes his hands from my hair and lifts me up, his hands digging into my ass cheeks. As he sets me down on my feet, I see we are in my room. I rip his shirt open; his buttons go flying and he lets out a growl. I undo his pants, and before they are even all the way off, he is on top of me on the bed. His hands are in my hair one second and then massaging my breasts the next. His lips are on mine, and then trailing down my neck. My mind goes blank, and my body can’t sit still. My fingernails dig into his back, and his teeth sink into my collarbone. I cry out as I close my eyes. My pussy throbs, and I lift my hips to meet his. I’m so wet for him it should be embarrassing.