Torque Read online

  Dysfunctional as we were, he was still my brother. He’d always be my big brother. Even when I screwed up beyond imagining.

  Dysfunctional… we had nothing on Colt and Devlin.

  I crept into the bathroom, hoping not to give Colt any reason to come check on me. Leaning over the sink, I splashed a handful of water over my face. Then, stared at my reflection.

  I had bet my own body that Colt could get me out of this. Devlin upped the ante with my family, and now I had to wonder whether it was in everyone’s best interest to keep playing or fold before it got any worse.

  The only problem was I didn’t understand the rules of this specific game and bowing out gracefully wasn’t an option. I stepped out of the bathroom and startled for an instant when I saw Colt in the bedroom doorway.

  “I wasn’t doing anything,” I explained quickly.

  “I know. I need to pick up a few things before we case Merc’s place.”

  We… case….

  I rubbed my temples, staring off at the windows. The sun was already setting, and I couldn’t believe I’d spent most of the day curled up in his bed questioning everything possible about the situation. “I can’t do this. I’m not—”

  “Doesn’t matter. You do what you have to do. You weren’t a stripper either, but you climbed on stage and well…” He cocked his head and grinned. “I guess that’s not a good example. Be a better driver than you were a stripper.”

  With those words of advice hanging in the air like gasoline ready to explode, he headed across the room and started going through my clothes.

  “What are you—?” I sighed. I really didn’t want him dressing me again.

  He chucked a mini skirt at me. “Put that on.”

  Then, he tossed a skimpy tank top on the bed. A lacy top that I only wore under other shirts.

  “Get dressed,” he said, crossing his arms and watching me.

  I was going to freeze as soon as we stepped outside. “I assume ducking into the bathroom—“

  “Now,” he licked his lips. “Give me a good strip tease.”

  Back to that again. I pulled off my top and tossed it on the floor. I was crankier than the worst PMS and already tired of his game.

  “Come on, baby,” he grabbed my hips and pulled me back forcing me to rub against him. Then, he squeezed my breasts through my bra and pushed them together, nipping at the mound of flesh. “You really are a shitty stripper, but a damn good lay.”

  He smacked my ass and backed away.

  I had to take several long breaths to push down my reaction. You’ll only make it worse.

  I pulled on the top, then replaced my pants with the skirt. I thoroughly felt like a hooker, but I wanted as little interaction with Colt as possible. Given my body’s recent reactions, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take his teasing. Every touch angered me, but did the opposite to my core. How long until I admitted how badly I wanted to come?

  I couldn’t do that.

  But, Colt got what he wanted, as he’d already proven. I could have taken that bit of knowledge as a comfort—if he was driven enough to keep pushing until he got his way, he could keep his promise. However, the things he’d do to me in the meantime….

  “I’m going to freeze,” I said.

  “We’ll turn on the heat in the car. Get your shoes on and the leather jacket.” He walked around me, then tugged on my hair. “But first, fix your hair and throw on some makeup.”

  I gave him a questioning glower. “Planning on auctioning me off later tonight, or putting me on a street corner?”

  “No, darlin’. But you never know when a distraction will come in handy.”

  I truly didn’t want to know what kind of distraction he had in mind and if I thought about it too long, I feared he’d show me.

  I did as Colt ordered with what little makeup I had and twisted by hair back into a messy bun. It was going to have to do for now, and if he expected more he’d have to spring for some more heavy-duty tools for me to work with. As I headed out to the living room to meet him, I pulled at the hem of the skirt, wishing it’d stretch even a little.

  “Not bad,” he said, brushing the wisp of bangs away that fell around my face. I tugged the leather jacket closed. I wanted to be wearing more, but I was already tired of arguing with him. He could make it worse—clamps, vibrators. It could be so much worse.

  He held up his keys, dangling them in front of my face. “You’re driving.”

  I sighed and grabbed them. That made me Buck for the evening. At least I wouldn’t be the one driving the stolen car….

  Not that I knew where Colt’s car came from either. If I didn’t find a way to shut my own damn brain off I’d drive myself insane without any help from Colt.

  “Where to?” I asked, keeping my eyes lowered. I wanted to get it all over with while avoiding as much drama as possible. If I looked at him, his cool green eyes, his smug and ever-confident expression, I didn’t think I’d be capable of choosing the amenable approach.

  “Jay’s Checkered Flag Car Shop on Ninth Street.”

  “We need a mechanic?” Somehow I doubted that, since I figured that Colt was better with cars than any mechanic I knew.

  “Nope, we need a broken window.”

  I squinted at him. Did I or didn’t I want to know?

  “Okay,” I braced for the cold and followed Colt out. Isabella tried to follow us as well, but Colt shooed her back into the house.

  I drove us over to the mechanic, and Colt left me in the car while he went in and returned with a duffel bag which he placed in the trunk before climbing back in the car.

  “Waller Street,” he said.

  “You’re kidding right?” Fuck not arguing. That was the scary as fuck part of town.

  “Do I look like I’m kidding?”

  Unfortunately, he didn’t. He never did.

  Waller Street was where you went if you were looking for cheap drugs, a dirty hooker, or a not so peaceful end to your life. Otherwise, it was a place best avoided—especially after dusk.

  “Anywhere in particular on Waller?” I wanted to spend as little time there as possible.

  “I’ll tell you when we get there.”

  As we passed by the low-income housing units—the units where only the week before I’d read about a huge meth bust—my heart raced on. People lined the streets staring us down as we passed.

  “Pull in the next alley on the right,” Colt said.

  Waller Street. Alley. All eyes on us. I had to keep assuring myself he knew what he was doing. These were basically “his people”.

  None of that was reassuring.

  Colt pointed to a house on the right. “Pull up to the back of that brick house and park.”

  He looked around then climbed out of the car and opened the trunk. Through the rear-view mirror, I watched as he grabbed two duffle bags, but I was too frozen to move until he opened my door.

  “Come on, darlin’. Unless you really do want to freeze.” He took my arm and led me up the back stairs and into the house.

  “Have a seat,” he pointed to a wooden chair in the hallway and sat his black bags by the back door.

  “Please, explain,” I said, my nerves rattling and leaving my voice unsure.

  “That’s two pleases in one day. I could go for three.” He lifted a painting from the wall, pulled a key free from the back of it and tossed it into my lap. “We wait here until dark. Then, we take a car that can’t be traced to us, and take care of the job.”

  “Why here?” I expected someone to burst through the door and rob us at gun-point at any moment.

  “Welcome to my fuck house.” He waved his hands in a grandiose gesture, then dropped back to lean against the wall.

  My mouth fell open and nothing I could do would convince it to close. “Here?”

  I looked around. It was actually a decent looking house on the inside. But if Colt had money to throw around, I couldn’t understand why he’d want a house here.

  Colt wat
ched me then took a step toward me.

  “Insurance,” he said. “Keep a place where no one wants to go and most people will leave it alone. No one in this neighborhood wants to mess with me. Merc makes sure their business keeps flowing, so for me, it’s a relatively peaceful place as long as I’m not looking for quiet.”

  The wail of a siren pierced the air, and I was convinced it served as a foreboding warning of what was to come.

  “So,” I whispered, too caught up in shock to think about my words. “If anyone asks around, you were here having a fuck?”

  Chapter 9

  Now that Aubrey mentioned it, having a fuck did sound like a damn good idea. Especially if I could fuck with her head in the process. And finally get what I wanted.

  Having a fuck where I brought all of the women who meant nothing would be a perfect start to the night. I stopped bringing women where I lived years ago—that made things too complicated. Every time.

  I still couldn’t explain, however, why I had dragged Aubrey straight in to my apartment only hours after meeting her in the first place. I had considered keeping her at a distance, locked up and waiting to serve my needs. But Devlin already knew about my fuck house, and if Devlin found her here alone, that’d make everything too easy. I wasn’t going to let him screw this up without a fight.

  Besides the place wasn’t really equipped for living in. Nothing in the kitchen worked and aside from some new comfortable furniture I had moved in for fun, and a sex swing I had bolted to the rafters in the bedroom, the place was barren. It was for fucking and forgetting.

  Or getting high….

  High… I needed to forget.

  I grabbed Aubrey’s arm and jerked her up out of her seat.

  “Colt,” she squeaked. “Do we really need to do this now?”

  “Yes,” I breathed, crushing her against the wall and hiking her skirt up. She squirmed, but there wasn’t so much fight left in her. Most of her energy was still going to fighting her own body and mind—once she let that go, we’d have more fun.

  She could start fighting me instead of herself. The one barrier I wanted to break.

  My mind was a confusing place to be—I hated it when women wanted it. I couldn’t get off on needy pleas and moans. And yet, I indulged in pushing Aubrey to do just that. Pushed her to beg for it—not because she wanted it, but because she needed it. Because she couldn’t take the teasing anymore. Because she felt ready to explode and only a physical release would set her free.

  I wanted her to associate my pain with pleasure.

  The fight with pleasure.

  In short, I wanted to make her as fucked up as me.

  It voided my promise that she could walk away and go back to life as usual. That would be a withering false hope. But it wasn’t my problem. It wouldn’t be by the time I pushed her away.

  If we lived….

  Fuck. I had to stop thinking. I stepped back and grabbed a handful of hair, dragging her to the front of the house and flipping on all of the lights until we stood in front of the large living room window. I pulled a condom from the drawer on the end table, then shoved her into the chair in the middle of the room and unzipped my pants. In the low chair, she sat eye level with my cock, but her gaze bounced around the room, nothing to see but sparse furniture, sheer curtains over the window….

  I shoved up her skirt, parting her legs so I stood between her knees. Then, I grabbed the hair at the back of her head in one hand and the base of my cock in the other.

  “Open up,” I demanded.

  Her quivering, lowered eyebrows indicated that was the very thing she didn’t want to hear.

  “Ever give head?” I asked.

  She nodded, slowly opening her mouth, but not nearly wide enough for my cock.

  “Tongue out,” I told her, yanking her hair back.

  She closed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

  I slid my engorged cock, piercings and all into her mouth until she jerked and gagged.

  Oh, to face fuck her. Just the thought sent a rush of desire down my spine.

  I paused, staring down at her pleading eyes. Longing to mess up her pretty make up. Come all over her pretty face.

  If she didn’t gag and bite my dick off first. We’d have to work up to that. And take out the piercings. I didn’t need a toothless… commodity.

  Fuck. Now I was thinking like Devlin.

  “Suck,” I ordered. She pulled ever so slowly at the head of my cock. “Use your tongue. I don’t need you breaking off your teeth in the process. Got it?”

  She moaned an answer around my dick and flicked her tongue against the underside of the shaft. She pulled and licked, sucking and coaxing until I stood shakily at the edge.

  I took her chin, pushing her away from my erection, then I lifted her out of the chair, changing our positions so she stood over me. I reached up her skirt and pulled down the thong—already wet with arousal and I hadn’t even gotten started. She was too much. Her body so easily gave in where her mind fought.

  I rolled the condom over my cock, then pulled her down to straddle me, impaling her hot, slick pussy. She went along with my motions, no longer trying to get away. The long day had gone a long way in wearing her down.

  I brushed her hair back and forced her to face me. “Still trying to convince yourself you don’t like my games?”

  “I don’t,” her teeth were clenched, but I didn’t believe her.

  I forced her hips to rock against my cock and she tightened around me.

  “Then explain why you’re wet,” I teased.

  “It’s a biological function.” She flipped the words off her tongue, giving me a half-hooded glare.

  “Accompanying arousal. You like my dirty, fucked up game.”

  “No,” she said pushing herself away, but I caught her arms, twisting them behind her back until her breasts jutted forward. Every movement of her struggle rocked her against my cock. It pressed inside of her until she grunted and stilled.

  “You’re not getting away,” I promised.

  She kicked out her legs and I sank deeper inside of her.

  Biting her lower lip, she held back everything she could until something in her coat pocket started to buzz. I felt her pocket and pulled out her phone.

  Douche Canoe. AKA Devlin.

  “I’m going to put it on speaker,” I rocked her again. “And you’re going to say what he wants to hear.”

  She glowered down at me. We’d soon see how well she could hold her composure. I accepted the call and held it up for her.

  She swallowed. “Hello.”

  “Where’s Colt?” My brother asked in his too sweet conman voice.

  Panic flashed in her wide eyes for a second. Then, she reeled it in. “In the shower.”

  “Did you get my message?”

  “Yes.”

  I rocked her again, grinning as she fought to hold back her response enough to speak. “What do you want?”

  “What did Colt do with the package he got today?”

  Her eyes locked on mine and she squinted. “I don’t know about it. He had me tied up. I—I think he’s going to be out soon.” But I rocked her again. She knew she couldn’t move. Now she was helpless to me.

  Devlin was quiet. “I’m sure you’ll find out—no matter. Keep riding him—”

  She frowned.

  “I want you to wear him down. That shouldn’t be too hard for you.”

  I released her arms and slid my finger between us kneading her clit. She grabbed my shoulders, digging her nails into my skin. Her hips jerked and she shuddered, eyelids fluttering closed.

  “Why?” she asked—somehow with a steady voice.

  I shook my head and pulled her hips tight against myself.

  Her face twisted, but she still kept her reactions silent, forcing her nails deeper into my muscle. .

  “Just do it,” Devlin growled. “No questions. Think of every punishment that he takes out on you as one I won’t take out on your family.”


  The call disconnected.

  Aubrey gasped. “You are….”

  I rocked her, massaging her clit against me with each motion.

  She rocked her head back and moaned.

  “Still don’t want it?” I asked, pulling her face down to mine. “Keep in mind I can clearly feel your answer. I can see it on your face. Hear it in your voice. So can you. Who will you be lying to? And what’s more, why does it matter?”

  Her muscles shook, doing most of the work for me.

  Her breath was shallow and rapid. “I don’t want this.”

  I pinched her clit and she gasped, leaving her mouth hanging open.

  “No?” I asked.

  Her hips rocked forward.

  “You don’t want to come?” I whispered.

  Her nails dug deeper into me.

  “Yes,” she admitted on a breath. Her head dropped forward.

  I jerked her hair down her back, raising her face to mine. “Say it.”

  Her heavy breath and subconscious motions continued my work.

  “I. Want. To. Come.”

  I grinned, lifting against her. “Now ask.”

  She shook with the effort of keeping her body still, fighting my imposition.

  “Please, make me come.” The fight and hatred were still behind her eyes, cloaked in desperation.

  “No.”

  Her back straightened, eyes narrowed.

  “Please,” she hissed, all composure gone. “Isn’t that what you want?”

  “No,” I repeated. “But I’ll let you ride me until you come.”

  The golden carrot. Only she could take it.

  Her anger faded to disbelief. “If I don’t?”

  “Then, we’ll have a repeat of this morning. And I’ll make it worse tomorrow.”

  She closed her eyes and slowly rocked her body against mine—no doubt imagining someone she really wanted to be with.

  I pressed the arch of her back, curing her body toward me, and lifted her shirt and bra so I could take her right nipple in my mouth, rolling the hardened nub. Then I did the same to the left nipple.

  She moaned, riding me harder and faster, chasing her orgasm….

  Chasing away my thoughts.

  Her eyes still closed, I slid my index finger in my mouth, wetting it, and then I grabbed her ass, pulling her tight against me to slide my finger in her back hole. Her eyes and mouth opened at the same time. She tried to squirm away, but she was close. Too close.