Page 43 of Saving Blood

He takes another slug of his beer. “You’re good, but I’m better, so why don’t you stop the games and come clean?” He jerks his head toward the bedroom. “Then we can get to why we came here.”

Okay, so I have two choices: spill some half-truths, or get up and walk out. I doubt he would stop me, but that wouldn’t help my cause either.

“Fine. You’re right. I do know Hector Rodriquez. He owns the building I live in.”

“And that’s it?” Blood’s eyes narrow, calling my bluff.

“No. He’s also been trying to recruit me to fight for a club he’s setting up in Tijuana.”

“He approached you?”

“Only once, but I turned him down. I told him I had a good deal with the Bastards, and I wasn’t interested.”

“And how did he take it?”

I shrug. “I haven’t heard from him since.”

Blood crosses his tatted arms over his chest. “Interesting.”

“He’s a little scary.”

“Mmmm.” Blood’s dark eyes bore into me like he could see all my lies.

I mash my lips together when I want to scream, “The guy is a freakin’ maniac, and I’m trying to get away from him.” But that tactic would never work. I have to play it so Blood will help without me sounding helpless and needy. Because once a man knows you need him, all leverage is lost, and instead of being free, I’d be locked in another prison.

BLOOD

Total bullshit. I already knew she was involved with Rodriquez, but either fear or loyalty to him prevented her from coming clean with the truth.

She said he was “a little scary?” The guy is a fuckin’ nut job.

“If he bothers you again, tell me. I’ve got people who can back him down.”

“Okay.” She keeps her eyes trained on her bottle of beer.

I take the bottle from her hands and place it on the table. She barely drank any of it, which doesn’t surprise me, the way she trains at the gym.

“I know you’re not telling me everything.”

She rests her palm on my thigh and inches it higher. “You really want to keep talking?”

“I also know you’re using sex to change the subject.”

Her fingers work the inside of my thigh. “Do you want me to stop?”

I shake my head slightly. “Nah, but you already know that.”

“So, what’s the problem?” She wraps her other hand around the back of my neck and leans in for a kiss.

I take my fill, pull back and huff out a harsh laugh. “The problem is, I know you’re lying your ass off. I also know you’re either working for Rodriquez outright, or he’s pressuring you to somehow get to me and the Royal Bastards.”

“No, that’s not?—”

I press my forefinger against her lips. “The thing is, I don’t give a fuck. I should, but I don’t, ‘cause I never had a woman in my bed who fucks like you.” I snake my hand up the nape of her neck, grab a clump of her hair and pull. “But if you try to hurt me or the Bastards, you’ll find out why they call me Blood.”

Her eyes widen, then she twists her body out of my hold and sinks to the floor between my legs. Her fingers fumble with the tab and zipper of my jeans. When she pushes the denim away, she smiles. “Love a man who goes commando.”

She licks her lips as she works me with her hand. I force my eyes to stay open ‘cause I don’t wanna miss one fuckin’ minute of this show. Her full, wet lips shine against the light, and I can’t wait until they wrap around my cock.

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