She shrugs, “I get ‘prickly’ with everyone. I don’t do feelings or attachments.” She hesitates. “Nothing good comes from letting someone in.”And yet, I can’t seem to stay away from you.I pull into the lot, kill the engine, and hop out, rounding the front of the truck. Kiera’s already slamming her door. “Gotta be quicker than that.” She tosses over her shoulder as she heads for the building.
I shake my head and lengthen my stride to catch up with her. I reach the door first and swing it open. “How’s that for quick?” She smacks myarm as she slips by. We head up to the counter where Adrian, the owner, is standing. “Hey, bud, you got a lane for two?”
“Sure do, Sterling. And who’s this spitfire you brought with you? You get yourself a girlfriend and forget to tell me?” Adrian looks over Kiera.Don’t kill him. At least not in front of her.
Expecting Kiera to bristle, I’m caught off guard when she does the exact opposite. “I knew you were hiding me. No wonder you ghost all the time. Does he bring other girls here?” she asks, flashing Adrian a mischievous grin.
“Oh, all the time!”I’m going to kill him.
I shoot him a flat glare, “If you could get us set up with two Walther PDPs, that would be fucking fantastic.”
Adrain hurries to get us set up. “Aw, babe, don’t give him such a hard time. We were just teasing, Ghost,” she says loudly.There it is again.Adrian returns, motioning for us to follow him. He shows us to a private room, points out where everything is, then leaves us alone.
Kiera heads over to the bench to start setting up her gear. I catch her by the wrist, spin her, and pin her back against the wall. “What do you know?” She feigns a gasp of surprise. “That's what… three, four times, you’ve called me Ghost.” I lean in, voice low. “So, what do you know?”
“I don’t know… what do I know, Sterling?” She smiles at me with fake innocence, all wrapped in razor blades.Fucking hell, she’s going to ruin me.“You tell me.”
“Kiera..,” I warn, her name a low growl between us. If she knows everything, this is over before it even begins.
“I know that you’re the one stalking me. I know you’re the one who was in that theater box with me, which is a whole other discussion about fucking boundaries we need to have at a later date. And I know my dad hired you to find his blackmailer.” She plants her hands on my chest and shoves, forcing me back a few steps. “So, Sterling…tell me—what doyouknow?” There’s a wicked glint in her eyes. She’s enjoying every second of this.
A lopsided smirk spreads across my face as I grab her waist and haul her closer, catching her sleek ponytail in one hand and tipping her head back so she has to look up at me. “I know you're Wade’s daughter. I know I have a dangerous obsession with you. And I know you enjoyed every second that night.” Her breathing hitches, just barely.
“Do you know who’s threatening him?” She searches my eyes for even the smallest hint of a lie.
“Not yet, but I will. I promise I’ll find who’s doing this.” Something in her eyes shifts as she bites down on her bottom lip. Before I can stop myself, I tug Kiera back in and crush my mouth against hers, capturing her lips. I let her set the pace, giving her every chance to pull away. She doesn’t. Instead, she fists my shirt, pulling me closer. The kiss morphs from something sweet into a dark, depraved demand, like she needs it to breathe. My hands slide from her waist up to her throat, squeezing just enough to make her gasp. “I knew you enjoyed it.”
Kiera rips herself away, fingers darting for the gun. “You can’t just take what you want.” She cocks it and levels the barrel at my chest.Ohhh, let the games begin.
“You begged, remember? I gave you the option to say no. I gave you a way out.” I take a step closer into the muzzle until the barrel digs intomy chest. “What are you going to do, shoot me?” In one quick move, I catch her around the hips and lay her out on the counter behind us. I don’t reach for the gun. I want her to cling to the illusion that she has control. “Just like now,” I whisper. “I can smell how worked up you are; see the slightly darker spot on your leggings. I bet if I touched you, you’d already be soaked for me.”
Kiera pants, pupils blown wide. “I will shoot you. I’m not a weak girl.” The gun stays trained on my chest, despite her heavy breathing— her hands stay perfectly steady.
Grabbing her wrist, I guide the gun up until the barrel rests against my temple. “Keep it right here. Don’t move it.” I sink to my knees in front of her. “There’s no denying it this time. If you don’t want this, if you change your mind—you pull that trigger, Thorn.” I peel her leggings down and glance up. There’s the slightest tremor in her hands now. I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t make me nervous, but I need her to understand. I needher.One look between her thighs tells me she skipped underwear, already glistening. “Fuck,” I let out a low groan. “Look at you.” Sliding my fingers through the slick heat of her arousal, I start circling her clit before dipping lower, spreading the mess she’s already made. “You’re dripping for me.”
Her breath stutters as the muzzle nudges harder into my skin as her arm trembles. I glance up, holding her gaze while I suck her taste off my fingers. “Kiera, I need you to follow the rules, okay?” She nods, the gun staying exactly where I placed it. “Good girl.”
I lower my head and drag my tongue in one slow, taunting stroke over her clit. Her thighs quiver around my ears, the muzzle digging in even harder. I smile against her, lapping her up faster, lazy little flicks turning sharp and focused as I slide a finger inside her. Kiera lets out a broken,breathy gasp, but she doesn’t move.Good. I angle my head, following the line of her body. Her eyes are glassy, lashes wet, pupils drowning out the color as she stares right back down at me, gun steady and hands trembling. I slide back out, my knuckles coated with her sweet juices.
Pressing a second finger beside the first, she chokes on a quiet moan. I set a brutal rhythm—tongue circling and lashing her clit while my fingers thrust in time, curling deep to grind against that perfect spot. Her hips jerk, her moans rising a few octaves. Her hands are shaking a little more, causing the metal to scrape my skin. “Don’t you dare drop it,” I murmur against her, lips vibrating against her. Then I fuck my fingers into her harder, faster. She tightens around me, velvet and vicious, breaths coming in ragged little bursts. Her whole body is starting to tremble, teetering on the edge, and I push her right over with a few more ruthless strokes.
She shatters with a strangled cry, her orgasm flooding my mouth. I groan into her, licking and sucking her clit through it as she rides my face, milking every last twitch and aftershock until her legs start to give out and the gun finally wobbles. Only then do I let up, pressing a soft kiss on her swollen clit before I pull away.
Rising to my feet, I tug her leggings back up her shaky thighs, slow enough for the seam to drag against her sensitive spot. My hand closes around her wrist, guiding the gun from my head. “You had all the control,” I tell her, voice low and rough. “You didn’t shoot because, just like me, your soul answers when mine calls. But let’s get one thing straight, Kiera—you are MINE. Now that you know, I will not let you go. Understand?”
She sits up on the counter, staring at me. She’s trying to fight herself and is losing. I can hear her thoughts screaming. Finally, she nods, jawtight. “Then let’s get another thing straight,” she fires back. “If I’m yours, you’re mine. I don’t share. You don’t treat me like I’m disposable. I wasn’t weak before you, and I won’t be weak now. Understand?”
A dark laugh rumbles out of me as I step in, fisting a hand gently in her hair and pulling her close, placing a kiss to her forehead, “Understood, Thorn.”
A few hours later, we’re wrapping up practice, the scent of gunpowder still clinging to the air. For someone so small, Kiera has pretty fucking good aim; every shot lands damn near exactly where she wants it. She could have pulled that trigger on me at any point tonight, but she didn’t. I watch her as she reloads, eyes stormy, shoulders drawn up tight like she’s bracing for impact. She’s not just fighting me; she's at war with herself. She thinks I stole her control. All I did was hand it to her in a different shape.
Kiera turns and faces me fully. “Sterling?” My name on her lips is soft, frayed at the edges, like she's not sure if she’s calling me out or calling for me. Her eyes search my face, that storm churning just beneath the surface.
“Yes?” Kiera’s mouth opens, then closes again, like the words hit a snag. That uncertain, wrecked look on her face does something violent in my chest. In a blur of movement, she drops to her knees in front of me. One second, she’s staring up at me, wide, pleading eyes. The next second, her fingers are at my belt, working the buckle with a desperation that's all shaky breath and stubborn resolve. She has my jeans unbuttoned, zipperdragging down, and my cock in her hand before my brain fully catches up. I’m already hard, but the sight of her kneeling for me—after everything—makes me twitch in her grip. Heat punches low in my gut. “Kiera, you don’t have to,” I grit out, hand hovering uselessly in the air, not sure whether to stop her or push deeper into her palm.
She looks up at me through her lashes, the same mix of defiance and need burning in her eyes, and I know damn well she’s about to show me exactly how much of this is her choice. She whispers in a sultry tone, “I know.” One hand trails up my thigh, deliberate and unhurried, while the other wraps firmly around me, claiming instead of asking. Her lips graze my swollen head, breath hot against my skin. She’s setting the pace, and I’m going to take whatever she decides to give. Kiera's tongue flicks out, swirling around my head in lazy torturous circles that almost make my knees buckle. One hand inches higher on my thigh, nails digging in just enough to sting, while the other tightens around my shaft, stroking with unyielding pressure. She takes me deeper, inch by inch, until I'm nudging the back of her throat, her muscles clenching around me like a vice. Spit drips from the corner of her mouth.
“Fuckkkkk, Thorn,” I rasp, my voice breaking as pleasure coils tight. She’s unraveling me, lick by filthy lick, and I can’t fight it right now.She’s going to be the death of me. My hand instinctively threads through her ponytail around the base. I push her head a little further down, cutting off her airway. Kiera looks back up at me with a challenge in her eyes. I buck my hips, trying to set a punishing pace, her free hand snaking its way up, cupping my balls. She squeezes with a calculated force. A guttural moan rips from my throat, echoing off the walls in the dim room. “You keep doing that, and I’ll be flooding your throat like a fucking teenager,” I warn, but my words come out desperate. She squeezes them tighter as sherolls them. She hums in challenge, sending vibrations around my cock, refusing to back down.
