Only Forever (3 page)

“God, Ems…”

His massive chest rises and falls in a way that matches mine. We’re a shade away from gasping and panting. “I love you, Gray.” Such sweet words in a filthy place. “As much as you love me.”

“Hold that thought because you might forget that in a minute.”

What?

Grayson’s hands lock on my bottom, and he squeezes. Hard.
Oh, God.
My back arches, and the bite of pain from his strong grip makes me fly high. He grinds me against his shaft, and the friction is far more than a tease.

“Because I am furious.” He bites against my shoulder, drags his teeth up my neck.

My mind spins. I can’t think, so I act only on instinct. “Holy shit.”

One of his hands runs up my spine. The other drops lower. I’m writhing in place, dizzy over him. Not once have I ever been turned on at Emerald’s. Every move, every tease was mechanical, but this is extraordinary.

“What else don’t I know about you?” he growls.

All I can do is moan—and then I remember where we are. I should stop and remind him I need rescuing, but I can only think of the needy ache building in me. “There’s a camera in here.”

“Behind you or me?” He bites my shoulder.

“You,” I gasp as bites harder.

Quickly, he stands up, his head swerves, then he grabs the nearly hidden camera and rips it free. “Done.”

Well,
shit, shoot, shit some more
. Bruno won’t be happy about a dead camera in a private room, but Grayson unbuckles his jeans, and I don’t care about anyone outside this room. I’ve had too many years of dreaming about Gray in Emerald’s.

He falls to the chair, taking me with him. My legs wrap around him, and my arms do too. I’m surrounded by him, burrowed against his chest, and his hands slide over me as though I’m God’s gift to him.

“Pretty mama,” he whispers against my ear and pulls my thong to the side. “I need in you.”

“Yes.” The blunt head of his shaft presses against me. I’m already so wanting that I can’t wait another minute.

He squeezes me tight then pushes into me, spearing me, stretching me, making me cry out for more. Grayson drives back then thrusts his massive self back in.

“Damn, woman.” His growled words don’t sound as if they are mine to hear. But I don’t just hear them—I feel their vibrations. They make my nipples harder and set my most sensitive muscles on fire. “You’re my world. You know that?”

He sinks deep into me again, and I gasp. I hang on and clamp my mouth to his neck. Grayson pounds into me. The fury and heartbreak are there with each slam of his body into mine. The roughness—the greedy, starving need that he takes me with—is addictive. As his harsh breath burns against my skin, I climb faster, past the point where I can handle it.
Ah, oh, God.
“Grayson!”

I moan, come, and cry his name through clenched teeth. His heartbeat explodes against my chest as he comes, too. We’re knotted together, breathing as one and surviving a high so dark it’s spectacular.

“Love you,” I murmur against his skin. “I love you more than I can understand.”

He catches my mouth in a kiss that’s as harsh as it is sweet. I’m lost in him and completely exhausted.

Knock, knock.
“Hands off the girl unless you pony up some cash,” Bruno’s voice bleeds through the door.

Oh, shit.

CHAPTER FOUR

Emma

Before I can say no and try to explain to both men that there’s nothing to see here, Gray sets me to the side. We quickly right our clothes, and a second later, the door slams open. Bruno stands there, glaring and assessing.

Grayson folds his arms over his chest. “Got a problem?”

“Know anything about my camera?” Bruno’s thick accent rolls off his tongue.

Gray’s body language shifts, and he acts as though he couldn’t care less about doing a stripper. “Not a fan of an audience.”

“Not your decision.”

I step forward. “Come on, Bruno. You know I
just
dance.”

Bruno’s eyes narrow, assessing Grayson, then me. “Finish up.”

“We’re good,” Grayson offers. He turns to me, angling away from Bruno, an odd expression playing on his face. I can’t figure out what he’s thinking. My mind’s still climax-clouded, and I’m suddenly shaking, not wanting to be alone with Bruno.

“Thanks for the dance.” He doesn’t kiss me but does brush the hair away from my ear, lean close, and whisper, “Back to work. I’ll get eyes on you—no worries.”

Then he walks away without another word, brushing past Bruno and leaving me uncomfortable under my boss’s intense study.

Bruno cracks his knuckles, making the process last forever, and then shoves them back into his pockets. “We need to talk about what you saw.”

“I didn’t really see anything, and I’m still sick. So, I’ll just—”

He shakes his head and opens the door to let in one of the security guys I rarely see. It’s a very cramped space, and I take a step back, but his hand lands on me. My feet don’t move, yet we’re all still moving through the door together as they drag me out.

“Hey, guys.” I struggle in his hold. “Let me go.”

There’s no response, but we’re moving away from Emerald’s open floor and toward a set of back stairs that only Bruno and his muscle use.
Shit. Shoot. Shit.
Bruno is going to… I don’t know what, but it’s very bad.

“Think the girl said to let go, asshole,” Grayson’s voice booms from behind me.

Thank you!
I turn toward him, elbowing the guy on my arm. He shakes me, and the twist on Grayson’s face says he’s about to kill everyone here.

“Not your girl to worry over.” Security lifts me and turns.

A gut-twisting roar comes from behind me, and I’m flung to the side as Grayson rips between Muscles and me. I skitter back, then I spin to leave but slam into a solid wall of man. Dread washes over me. When I look up, I see it’s not one of Bruno’s Rasta security guys. He picks me up
and hands
me to another—equally big—guy.

“Aren’t you a pretty thing,” he says casually. He sounds so out of place, especially with his Australian accent, that I have no idea what is happening. I’m in his arms after being passed away from Bruno, and I still feel out of control but not about to die.

The Australian guy nods to someone. “Let’s go.”

I turn for Grayson, but he’s squared off with Bruno and security. What other choice do I—?

“Put. Her. Down,” a voice bellows from behind me.

Oh, God.
That sounds way too much like my brother. My stomach bottoms out. I roll myself into a ball against the unknown Australian guy. None of this makes sense except
—oh shit—
I remember that I pulled the emergency lever and told Cherry to get Ryan to get me out of here. I pop my head up, praying that my ears are tricking me.
Oh. Shit. Shoot. Shit.
Ryan’s out of uniform, with his badge clipped to his jeans and two
very
large guns strapped to his side.

“Put her down, so help me—” His hand is on his holstered gun. “Emma, come here!”

The Aussie blond looks down. “You know him?”

“My brother.”

The look on his face says
Oh, shit
, but he tells me, “Alright then.”

From out of nowhere, security surrounds Ryan from behind. My brother’s an intimidating guy, and there’s pure, one hundred percent rage on his war-ready face. We’re in a small area full of large, violent-looking men who seem ready to fight to the death. The Aussie edges back with me still in his arms. Grayson and the other man push toward Ryan till the three of them stand shoulder to shoulder. But they’re outnumbered two-to-one.

“I have an agreement,” Bruno says. “No badges in here.”

“You don’t have an agreement with me, asshole.” Ryan squares his shoulders. “If my sister wants to leave, she gets to leave.”

Bruno swerves toward me. “Brother’s a cop?”

The Aussie’s protective hold on me tightens, reassuring me, and the dark-haired guy next to Grayson steps in front of me. “Girl goes, place closes down early tonight. We sort shit out.”

Bruno shakes his head. “Nothing to sort out.”

Aussie guy shifts again, and he’s slowly extracting us from what seems ready to be a bloodbath. Bruno casually lifts his wrist toward his mouth. I know that move! Communicating with his behind-the-scenes guys.
Shit
—this is so bad.

I don’t know Aussie from a hole in the wall, but Grayson said he was interviewing for a security job with good men. He’s protected me so far, so I turn to him and whisper, “There was a girl downstairs. I wasn’t supposed to see her.”

His blue eyes study me for a second then jump to the guy in front of me. “Boss.”

The dark-haired guy pivots, keeping his eye on Bruno. “Yeah.”

Aussie and dark-haired guy exchange a look, a passing of information with a shift of their hands and eyes.

Bruno watches them then shouts into his mic, “Close it down.”

“Shit,” the Aussie says casually, even though we’re suddenly moving fast. He dives us behind a table.

Noise explodes from where we were seconds ago—flesh hitting flesh, people the size of mountains wrestling each other to the ground.

A new guy ducks under the table with us. “Talk fast.”

It’s another accent—South American maybe. His face has fading bruises. Are all these guys ready to throw punches or what?
Okay. Talk fast. Um.
I struggle with my thoughts. “There was a girl in a room downstairs, and I didn’t recognize her. But I heard
sold
…” My stomach drops all over again. “Like she was
being
sold.”

His swollen eyes narrow. “You saw a prostitute?”

“Bruno lets girls pro here if they want. This was more like an auction.”

“Fucking confirmation.” He shakes his head. He rambles into his wrist faster than I can speak then turns to me. “Good girl. I’m Javier. That’s Ryder. Welcome to our world, gorgeous.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Grayson

It started as three of us versus them. We could have handled it. Then the rest of the team showed up and quickly ended the brawl. Ryan’s badge was surprisingly helpful, but when all was said and done, he and I weren’t on the team that was going to wrap up this job. I was on a trial run for a job I’m now never going to get, and he didn’t need to be in the mix.

Delta goes off to do whatever Delta does behind the scenes, and I head toward a table where Javier and Ryder have safely stowed Emma. Emerald’s is chaotic. People are evacuating—men running for their cars, strippers running for their clothes. The place is wild, and my girl’s upset and being calmed by two guys I don’t know. I’m grateful they’re here, but enough of that.

I hop over a railing, and when she sees me coming toward her, Emma’s face lights up.
Damn.
Man, that reaction does something to me deep inside. Forgetting about the two men standing guard beside her, I scoop her into my arms, pressing her head to my chest. I need to feel her and hear her voice to know she’s alright.

“You’re good, pretty mama?”

She nods. Then she sniffles.

God
—not okay. Of course, she’s not okay. I don’t know specifics on why she thought she was in trouble earlier, but if it has anything to do with why Delta is here, I’m going to shred whoever scared her.

Stroking her hair, I drop my chin to the top of her head and eye the guys. “We’re good. Thanks.”

Ryder angles his head toward where the team disappeared. “Brock’s gonna want to talk to her.”

I nod. “Later.”

Emma pulls back and turns to both men, smiling weakly. “Thank you for… that.”

Javier nods, gives her a fist bump to the shoulder, and walks away.

Ryder crosses his arms over his chest. “Shitty circumstances, darlin’, but we were serious. Nice to meet you.”

“Thanks.” She relaxes against me again, but her fingers touch the side of my face, where I’m sure a bruise or two is forming. “That fight sounded like it hurt.”

My lip pulls into a half grin, and I laugh quietly. “Didn’t think about it, I guess.”

She shifts, and her fingers tangle with mine. “Your knuckles are bleeding.”

“Shit. Sorry.” I wipe them on my pants. “Fixed.”

“Tough guy.” But she genuinely smiles this time.

Across the room, Ryan is talking with a few cops. They look buddy-buddy, but then his gaze lands on me and slides to Emma. He shakes hands with the men and heads our way. “I take it Ryan didn’t know, either.”

“No,” she whispers.

“He’s ten feet away and gaining.”

Emma groans. “Oh, God. This is going to—”

“Emma.” Ryan’s voice is low with concern. “Can we talk?”

“—suck.” She slumps against me.

I hang onto her, catching his eye. He’d better watch his ass on this conversation. If I can deal with this, so can he.