Faster (Stark Ink, #3) (15 page)

“If he’s not, I’ll go back and finish the job,” Emilio snapped.

Ava gasped.

Despite his anger, his voice softened a bit. “He’s not. I saw him. His leg might be broken, though. I don’t know for sure. Fucking asshole deserves it.” His eyes narrowed into a laser-like focus. “He tried to
kill
you.”

She shook her head. “He was just trying to win.”

“
By killing you
,” Emilio insisted. “Jesus.” He looked her over carefully. “Are you all right?” he finally asked.

Ava felt like laughing. She couldn’t blame him. He was out of his element, overwhelmed by it all. Frankly, she was, too. The
idea
of being set up for a wipe, and then
actually
coming that close to it, were worlds apart.

“I’m fine,” she told him honestly. “I’m okay.”

He reached for her. Her whole body wanted to give in to it, jump off her bike and onto his and get as close as possible. Hold onto him for as long as she could.

As the buzz started to wear off, so did her desire. It was a bad idea. He survived tonight, but he might not survive
her
. Having half-convinced herself that she should just end it, she turned away from him.

Surprisingly, Emilio reached out and snatched the keys from the ignition of her Honda.

“Hey!” she cried, fumbling for them.

He caught her arm with his free hand and held it. His skin was warm against hers.

“Every time I want to talk, you run away, muñeca,” he told her. “Why is that?”

“I— ” Ava began to protest but couldn’t think of a response.

“Hot, cold, hot, cold. You’re definitely tough, Ava, but not in the way you think you are.” He tugged on her arm and pulled her closer. Between their bikes, his face was just inches from hers. “What if I don’t let you run this time?”

This close to him, the heat of his hand over hers, Ava knew she couldn’t really resist. Selfish as it was, Clint and the specter of the Buzzards fell away and Emilio became the only thing that filled her senses.

Dirt, darkness, leather, and heat swirled around them. All Ava wanted was to be dirty with
him
, just forget for a little while. She wanted this pumping rush, this swirling feeling to last just a little bit longer.

She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his. While her tongue explored his hot mouth, her fingers searched his hand and located the keys to her bike. He didn’t let go of them, though.

Ava pulled back, just a bit, breathing harder. “I’m not going to run,” she told him.

His lips barely touched hers again. “You sure?”

She slid her finger through the metal key ring and held on firmly. “No,” she replied and held his gaze with hers. “It’s time to go for a ride.

T
he world fell away, exactly as Ava had wanted it to. As they raced down the highway, she gunned her Honda’s engine and pulled ahead of him slightly. It was just a tease, though, since they were going to his place and she had no idea where that was.

Determined to take the lead, Emilio responded, surging forward on his Interceptor, giving her a run for her money.

It was late and traffic was almost non-existent. Darkness surrounded them, stars glittered above them. As much as she was looking forward to falling into his bed, Ava had to admit that she wouldn’t mind just riding forever. Just her, Emilio, and the canyons lit by the night sky.

She’d made a lot of mistakes, especially lately, but this wouldn’t be one of them. She’d get what she was after and then she’d split. Tonight would be a memory she could hold onto for a long, long time. Maybe forever.

She shook her dark thoughts away and slid around him again. She couldn’t see his face, but she could see his hands tightening on the grips of his bike. Soon they’d be wrapped around her. She could barely wait.

As they barreled down the highway, the lights of the city warred with the stars overhead, civilization finally won out. The darkness gave way to streetlights, the canyons were replaced by buildings, pinning them in.

She gave up the competition and settled in behind him as he led her through the winding streets of sleeping neighborhoods. Emilio turned into the driveway of a small, blue house with white shutters. He killed the engine of his Interceptor. Ava pulled the keys out of her own ignition.

When she pulled off her helmet, she looked around for a moment. Next door, a Harley was parked in the driveway, next to a car. The neighborhood was a bit nicer than her own, but not by a lot. Honestly, she was a little relieved.

“This is your place?” she asked as she swung her leg down onto the concrete.

The house was small but nice. She was impressed that he could afford it, being so young. She’d never given much thought to moving out of her parents’ house. Pop needed her and that was that. To wish for freedom was akin to wishing her father to die. Ava fiercely resisted it.

Emilio shrugged as he headed to the front door. “Hawk and his wife used to live here. You know,” he said, grinning, “the big guy whose ass you said you’d kick? Anyway, she’s pregnant again, and they needed a bigger place. He owns the house. He gives me a break on rent.” As he slid his key in the lock, he jerked his head toward the house next door. “Easy and Daisy live next door,” he told her.

Ava followed his gaze. The house was dark. “So, you’re like your own family,” she mused.

“Pretty much.”

Before she stepped inside, she hesitated, glancing back at the house next door. She frowned. “So, um, if I scream your name—”

Emilio cut her off. He grabbed her by the waist and yanked her into the house. The door slammed shut behind him, nearly shaking the small house. He pressed her back against the door, leaning into her. “Not
if
, muñeca.
When
,” he growled.

Ava threaded her fingers through the belt loops of his jeans and yanked him toward her. As his mouth came down over hers, his already-erect cock pressed into her belly.

She forgot all about the neighbors and what they might think.

Emilio slid his hands down her hips, gripped her thighs and pulled her up higher.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he ground into her. He felt so damn good, pressed up against her. He was bigger than Clint—in every possible way, she was discovering—and held her easily.

His tongue dipped into her mouth and teased her own.

Ava was dizzy, panting, and on fire already. “We gonna make it to the bed?” she asked him quietly.

He pulled back and grinned at her.

Ava’s core melted. That mouth was too much. An image flashed in her mind of him using it on her, but she shook it away. She’d never done that. She wasn’t sure she could handle it now.

“My baby wants the bed, then we do it in the bed,” he declared.

He shifted her weight and turned, carrying her with him. They made it down the hall, to the bedroom, with his cock teasing her the entire time. Ava didn’t need to see it to know it was big... and ready for anything.

In the room, she slid down his long, lean body and planted her feet on the carpet. Her hands ran over his chest, his stomach, all that hard muscle practically quivering beneath her palms. She was glad he was just as excited as she was.

It didn’t feel like she was just another fling to him, even though she’d promised herself that’s all it would be, all it
could
be. It felt real enough, right here, right now. And that was enough for her.

Ava lifted his shirt over his head. In the dim light, she ran her hands over his smooth, tight skin. “Pure as the driven snow,” she murmured, commenting on his lack of tats.

He laughed. “I’m a little darker than that, muñeca. And I’m anything but pure.”

Ignoring his innuendo, she looked up at him. “You never thought about ink?”

He shrugged. “Can’t say I really have. But then, I never had a reason to get one.” His fingers danced along her bare arm, tracing her black, red, and gray, lines. His eyes rose and caught her gaze. “I want to see the rest of you,” he demanded.

“Why?”

He leveled his gaze at her, suddenly deadly serious. “I want to make sure there are no names that shouldn’t be there.”

She smirked at him (and secretly enjoyed the idea he might be jealous). “Ink is permanent. I’d never do some shit like that.”

“You can have them removed,” he pointed out.

She shook her head. “We don’t do that in my family. Mistakes are forever.”

“You make a lot of bad ones?” he asked.

She hesitated, musing about how much to say. She couldn’t blame him for asking. The thought of him with a long line of bunnies didn’t exactly sit well with her, either. He had a right to ask, even if Ava didn’t want to know about
his
past. She shrugged. “A few,” she admitted. “Not many.”

He nodded and pulled her down to him. His lips pressed against hers. “I won’t be another one,” he told her.

“I know,” she replied, as she lifted his chin and brushed her lips over his exposed throat. “I don’t have any expectations. So how can you disappoint me?”

Suddenly, he grabbed her hips and tugged. Her pussy grazed his hard-on. “No expectations?” he growled. “None at all?”

Unintimidated, or at least unwilling to show it, she put her hands on his chest and shoved him down to the mattress. “Well, okay,” she teased, “I expect
that
to be good. I have a feeling it will be.”

She put her palms on his chest and pushed. Despite his relative size, he complied. He lay back, head on his pillow. “Gonna show me now?” he asked darkly.

Ava hesitated, licked her lips. She wasn’t shy, but she’d only fooled around with guys in small, dark places. Clint’s basement, the back seat of a guy’s car, a movie theater. None of them wanted to look at her. None of them had cared.

He expected it, though, clearly.
What the hell?
she thought, peeling off her jacket and letting it hit the floor. Her tits may have been on the small side, but she had ink to make up for it. Ink she was proud of.

He gazed at her under heavy lids as she kicked off her boots and then shimmied out of her jeans and panties. Just like she was barreling toward the finish line, she yanked up her own shirt and pulled it off over her head. Emilio’s eyes only skipped over her tats, zeroing in on her tits as she plucked the clasp on her bra.

He didn’t look disappointed in any way as she dropped the last of her clothing. In fact, he looked hungry. Hungry for
her.
 

“Turn around,” he ordered.

Ava was surprised, hesitated, but slowly complied. When her back was to him, she glanced over her shoulder at him. His eyes were on her ass. Finally, he dragged them back up to her eyes.

“Just checking,” he told her.

She snorted and faced him again.

He liked looking at her. And she was glad for it. Her confidence soared and she was glad she’d decided to follow him home. He took another few seconds, enjoying the view. Ava wondered what it would feel like when his hands replaced his gaze. It seemed like it nearly tortured him to turn away, but he finally did.

Ava watched as he snatched open the nightstand drawer, fumbled a bit, then came up with a condom. She hid her own disappointment. A quick fuck, in and out, just like the others. She probably wouldn’t come this time, either.

She was half-tempted to call it off, grab her shit and leave. This was not quite the farewell performance she’d been envisioning. But he surprised her by tossing the rubber aside. It hit the mattress and, just like that, Emilio’s eyes were back on her.

“We have a problem, muñeca,” he told her.

Ava’s belly fluttered. “What’s that?” she replied, managing to hold her voice steady.

He grinned again. “Only one of us is naked.”

She laughed, relieved, and grabbed one of his boots. “Bet I can fix that,” she told him. She tossed his boots somewhere across the room and then crawled up over him to get to his zipper.

Surprisingly, Emilio didn’t help her at all. The others had fumbled at their flies, just desperate to get inside. She could tell by the bulge in his pants that Emilio was just as desperate, but he was holding off, enjoying the moment.

She loved him for that.

Slowly, she tugged the zipper, each tooth catching and then popping open. She looked up at him, smiling. “I think we have another problem,” she told him. “A
really big
problem.”

He frowned. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

Ava opened his fly and ran a finger over the waistband of his boxer briefs. Then she grabbed them and pulled. He hissed in surprise as his cock sprang out, fully erect, bouncing on his flat belly.

Ava was impressed. “A
huge
problem,” she observed.

He closed his eyes as she ran her hands along his hips. “My boss says problems are opportunities in disguise.”

“Does he now?” Ava purred. She rubbed everywhere
but
the sweet spot— his abs, his chest, his shoulders, his arms.
You might have been right, Chris Sullivan
. Ava wasn’t about to waste this opportunity. Her life might be shit right now, but this didn’t have to be. This could be good, for however long it lasted. “Does the boss-man always know best?”

“He gives good advice, yeah.”

“Like what?” Ava asked, intrigued.

Emilio caught her gaze with his own. “He says anything worth doing... is worth doing
well
.”

She shivered at his words.

“You gotta take your time,” he told her. “Do the job
right
. You gotta go over every nook, every cranny, get your hands on every part. It’s gotta purr like a kitten by the time you’re through.”

“It?”

“The bike,” he said with a sly grin.

Ava glared at him and ran her fingernails down his torso.

“Ay, woman!” he cried as he grabbed her hands before she went any lower.

She giggled at him, though, because she hadn’t really hurt him, only surprised him. He was cute when he was at her mercy. It didn’t last long, though.

Emilio took her hand and pressed it to his shaft, curling her fingers around it. He was back on top again, even though he was technically on the bottom. Under his direction, she stroked him slowly, base to tip. Even in the moonlight, it looked primed, ready,
restrained.