“In here we are not Cole and Rose. We’re Colt and Lily. We don’t have a past, we just have this.” I glanced down at my c**k as I slowly moved my hand up my shaft, wet from her excitement. “You can pretend none of this ever happened when you leave, or pretend you had no choice. I don’t give a f**k what you have to tell yourself to sleep at night. For the next two weeks you belong to me.”

She moved her hips and I knew she was missing my touch. I smirked as I reached lower, grabbing my balls that ached for me to get off.

“Take your pants off.” I stepped onto the floor at the end of the bed and I watched her raise her hips, giving me the perfect view, before she slid her pants over her feet and kicked them to the floor. “Now the shirt.” My hand slid over the tip of my dick as I watched her bite down on her lip and pull her shirt over her head. Her f**king tits were beautiful, just the right size to fit in my hand, with light-pink ni**les that pebbled when I ran my tongue over them.

She lay back on my pillow, her long brown hair splayed out over it, as she waited for further instruction.

I climbed onto the bed, pushing her thighs apart as I lowered my face to her mound. I inhaled the sweet scent of her, enjoying the fact that I was the one that made her so wet, before blowing my breath out slowly over her clit as a shiver rolled through her body.

I ran my tongue between her lips and sucked her clit into my mouth. Her back bowed off the bed and I slid my hand up her stomach and pushed her back against the sheets.

“You can’t come yet. You haven’t earned it. Show me how you touch yourself, sweetheart. Show me what you do to yourself when you think about me f**king you.”

Her hand snaked over her stomach before she rubbed her palm over herself. I stroked my dick in time with her movements. I admired the view for a moment before crawling beside her and positioning myself on my knees, next to her head.

“I’ve been dying to have those lips wrapped around my dick from the moment I saw you at the bar.” I ran my fingers down her jaw as she looked up at me, her lips parting slightly. “I wanted to f**k you right there in front of everyone. In front of that smug f**king bastard who sat next to you.” I felt the familiar sting of jealousy as I thought of him with his hand on her back. I held my c**k down toward her mouth and rubbed it against her pouty lips. Her tongue shot out and rolled over the tip. “Good f**king girl.” I groaned as she wrapped her lips over the head. Her tongue rubbed against me as her palm rubbed against her clit. I pushed lower, forcing her to take a few more inches into her mouth as I stoked her hair. “It’s going to hurt when I f**k you. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself…even if I actually wanted to.”

Her tongue rolled over the sensitive underside of my c**k and my fingers fisted in her hair, holding her on me as I slowly began to f**k her mouth, pushing deeper with each thrust.

“God, you are f**king beautiful.” I dragged my eyes down her body. Her mouth was full of my cock, her tits heaved as her breathing grew more ragged, and her fingers slid between her folds as she worked to get herself off. Pure f**king perfection. “Don’t come. Not yet.”

Her fingers slowed to lazy circles as she swirled her tongue down my shaft. I grabbed my balls, massaging them in my hand.

“I want you on all fours.” I slowly pulled out of her mouth. “Now.”

She rolled to her side and pushed herself up on her knees, and I took a moment to admire the view.

I leaned forward and ran my tongue over her as she cried out at the sudden touch.

“You taste so f**king good, sweetheart.” I lay down and grabbed her knee, pulling it over my head so she was straddling my face. “Show me how much you want me.”

Her hand circled around me and she squeezed as she wrapped her lips around me and began to suck my dick. I grabbed her ass with both hands and pulled her down to my face as I devoured her. Her hips rolled against me as she f**ked my face.

I was intoxicated by lust, by Lily. I would have given her anything she asked for in that moment, as long as I could feel the heat of her body against mine. Her teeth grazed my sensitive skin and I growled, gripping her ass tighter as I shoved my tongue inside of her. Her lips left my c**k as her head flew back and she moaned, pushing herself against me.

I was so lost in the moment that when she cried out as she came, I never heard the door to the bedroom open.

“That was quite a show.” Whitey laughed as he ran his hand over his chin. “Can I get next?”

I pushed Lily off me, keeping myself between her and Whitey as she scrambled to cover herself with the sheet. A man I didn’t recognize stood behind him in the doorway.

“What the f**k are you doing here?”

“You didn’t respond to your messages. The meeting was half an hour ago.” He smirked as he shook his head. “I wouldn’t have answered either if I had that sweet ass on my face.”

I stood, my c**k painfully hard and suffering from one of the worst cases of blue balls in f**king history. I gathered Lily’s clothes and tossed them to her before grabbing my jeans and sliding them on.

“I’ll be right out.” I clenched my jaw as I waited for Whitey to leave the room. I ran my hands over my hair as I tried to figure out my next move.

“Colt…”

I glanced up at Lily, who was frantically pulling her clothes on. Panic marred her beautiful face.

“I’m sorry.” I shook my head as I took a deep breath.

“What does that mean? What is going to happen now?” She rose up on her knees and came to the edge of the bed. I ran my fingers through her hair and gripped it as I placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Nothing good.” I took a step back from her before turning to my dresser and grabbing a navy-blue T-shirt from the drawer. “Let’s go, sweetheart.” I pulled the shirt over my head and held out my hand to help her off the bed.

I led her from my room into the spare bedroom. I knew she was waiting for me to say something, anything to help ease her worries, but I didn’t want to lie to her.

“Take a shower while I’m gone. Everything you need is in your bathroom.”

She nodded, dazed as I backed out of the room and secured the lock on her door. I grabbed my sneakers and slid them on.

“Let’s go.” I walked straight to the front door as Whitey followed along with his backup. We began our descent down the stairs, and I wished I had grabbed my gun, even though I knew it would be of little use.

Whitey left me to my thoughts as I slid into his dark sedan with tinted windows and we drove to Fig.

Danny was sitting in the corner booth, flanked by two other men I didn’t recognize.

“I despise waiting, Colt,” he said as he picked up his mug of coffee and took a tentative sip.

“My apologies. I lost track of time.” I inclined my head toward Danny and he waved his hand, motioning for us to sit. My eyes cut to Whitey who held up two fingers to the waitress so she would bring us coffee.

“I hate to cut straight to business, but I have other things to do today.” Danny leaned forward, his elbows on the table. “You have proven yourself to be a good asset. That is invaluable to me.” He stopped speaking as a young waitress with a blonde ponytail appeared at our side, filling up two mugs of coffee.

“Thank you,” I mumbled as I grabbed the container of sugar and poured it into my cup.

“The coffee tastes like ass here, but I don’t mind the view.” Whitey’s eyes locked on the waitress’s ass as she walked away, before he grinned at me. “I’m sorry, Colt. I’m sure your coffee tastes much…sweeter.”

I tensed as I glared at him, waiting for him to open his big f**king mouth to Danny.

“Share with the class, Whitey.” Danny sat back in his seat as he slowly sipped his drink.

“I caught Colt with his hand in the cookie jar, or his mouth…” He laughed as he raised his eyebrow.

“This certainly changes things.”

“It was consensual.” I scanned the bar, two waitresses and the guy behind the bar. We were the only patrons. If this went south there would be limited casualties.

“This could prove to be very bad for us. You just added rape to the charges if we get caught. This was supposed to be about money.”

“I didn’t f**king rape her.”

“Regardless, I won’t muddy my hands any further. Get rid of her. I don’t care how you do it. Make it f**king disappear.”

“Consider it done.” Bile rose in my throat and I struggled not to reach across the table and strangle that smug f**king rat.

“Good. I like you, Colt, a hell of a lot more than I liked your old man, God rest his soul. Now onto more pressing matters. I have a shipment of heroin coming in three days. The profits will be enough to fund future operations and expand our business. We’re talking about setting up shop in every major city.” Danny poked his finger into the old Formica table top to drive his point home.

“Understood. What can I do to help?”

Chapter Eleven

There Is No Us

The entire ride home all I could think about was Lily. A million possibilities flooded my brain, but I knew none of them was an option. I had a job to do. I was in too deep to back out now.

The apartment was quiet as I entered. I slipped off my sneakers and leaned against the wall.

“Cole?” Lily called form her room. I sighed, looking up at the ceiling before making my way to her room.

“It’s me, darlin’.” I undid the lock and pulled open the door. Lily flew into my arms, dressed in only a towel. Her damp hair pressed against my face as I placed my hands on her shoulders and pushed her back from me.

“What? What happened? Are they going to hurt us?”

“There is no us, sweetheart. Put some clothes on.” I turned to go back in the living room, leaving her dazed. I couldn’t look into her eyes anymore. It f**king killed me to see the pain and betrayal that flashed across them.

“I don’t have any clothes.” I could hear her footsteps behind me and I stopped walking, clenching my fists at my sides.

“Don’t come out here like that. What happened between us was a mistake.”

“Then why do you care what I am wearing?”

I turned to face her. Water dripped from her hair onto the wood floor. The long strands clung to the tops of her br**sts.

“Just because I said it won’t happen, doesn’t mean I don’t want it to.”

Her cheeks flushed and she ran her tongue over her lips. I narrowed my eyes at her, letting her know I knew the game she was playing. She wasn’t innocent, and just because she liked to be told what to do, didn’t mean she didn’t call the shots.

“This is f**king serious, Lily.” I couldn’t hide the fear in my eyes and I was sickened by the fact that I was letting feelings get in the way.

“I’m scared.” Her gaze fell to the floor.

“You should be. I don’t know if I can save us from this.” I walked off into the kitchen and began pulling open cupboard doors, looking for food. I couldn’t look at her anymore. “You need to eat something. I completely forgot…”

“It’s fine. Food sounds good. Can I watch television?” I was beginning to f**king lose it and Lily was keeping calm. Just moments ago she looked like she was going to burst into tears, but she immediately switched gears when she saw my mood shift. That was something I always loved about Rose.

“Fuck!” I slammed the cupboard closed and scrubbed my face with my hands. The girl I loved is dead.

I nodded as I leaned against the sink, squeezing my eyes shut. Lily had too much faith in me. I didn’t deserve any of it. We had enough worries on our shoulders and I couldn’t even f**king remember to feed her.

“Is Shawn going to pay?”

That brought me back from the edge that I was precariously balanced on. I looked over at her, sitting on my couch, flipping through the channels. She had made herself at home in my apartment, my life. But she was concerned about leaving me again. She wanted to go back to that cheating piece of shit. Lily had an endgame planned, and it didn’t involve me.

“Yeah, he’s gonna pay.” I meant it in a completely different way, but she didn’t catch it. She was concentrating on the news about a bombing that had gone off at a baseball game in Texas.

I grabbed the bread and threw together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her. I wrapped it in a paper towel and went to her room.

“What are you doing?” She sat forward, watching me as I came out of the room.

“You want to eat you need to do it in there. I have to take a shower.”

“I’ve been locked in there all morning.”

“Do I need to remind you who is in charge?”

She glared at me as she pushed from the couch and walked angrily toward me. I pulled the door closed after she entered and slipped the lock in place. I walked into my room as I pulled my shirt off and tossed it across the room, before sliding off my jeans and heading into my bathroom. The silence was too much. I turned on the small radio on my towel cabinet, cranking the volume until I could no longer hear my own thoughts.

There was too much on my plate. Rose had come back into my life, her fiancé was a cheating piece of shit, and I had to figure out a way to make Rose disappear. Lily I reminded myself. She wasn’t Rose anymore. That on top of keeping myself on the good side of the mob so I could complete my job.

I turned on the cold water and stepped under the spray. The heat had been unbearable the last few days. I grabbed the shampoo and squeezed some into my hand, massaging it into my scalp before dipping my face into the stream of water.