Page 4 of Legacy
“Excuse me,” I said again, my voice slightly louder this time, “could I talk to you?”
The one furthest away from me scowled in my direction, clearly irritated by my interruption. His eyes raked over me. “Look, love,” the twang of his accent was thick, “you’re pretty and all, but you're too old to work here.” He went back to staring at the half-naked girl.
My fingers flexed on the cracked, fake leather chair. He thought I was there for a job. It was comical. Even if I was desperate, I wouldn’t work in a place like that. The girls who did would have had more luck on street corners.
“Now, now, Tony.” The younger of the Hunter brothers swivelled in his chair. Tristan. His eyes lingered on all the parts of my body that I didn’t want him noticing, let alone staring at. “Let the lady talk. You never know, she might bring in a new clientele.”
Heat crept up my cheeks. I fought back the urge to shudder.
It wasn’t that they were hideous to look at. In fact, they were fairly handsome men. No, what was off-putting was the very air around them. Their auras. They oozed violence and cruelty.
“I’m not here about a job,” I snapped before he could say anything else. “I’m here to ask you to leave my ward alone.”
I blew out a breath. There I had said it. Sure, it had come out rushed and a little fearful, but I had said what I needed to.
“And who is yourward?”
“Conner—”
Tristan threw up his hand, silencing me. Again, his eyes flickered across my body. And this time, he did take his time about it. “I see.” The tip of his tongue appeared between his lips. “Well, that’s something we can talk about for sure.” He stood up. His tongue was still playing across his lips like they tasted of something delicious. “Follow me. Let’s discuss this somewhere more private.”
At his side, his brother started to laugh, but he didn’t even glance up as Tristan led me away.
He was being reasonable. Something I never expected. All the stories I had heard about the brothers made them seem like monsters. But Tristan was being…
The thought scattered when he shut the office door behind me. Trapping me between the peeling wood laminate and his body, his arms caged me in.
“So, let’s discuss.”
There was something sour about his breath. Not rancid, not quite, but it was a strange mix of aromas. All fighting for dominance. He smelt like his club; my stomach roiled.
“Conner is a good kid.” Swallowing hard, I tried not to think too hard about the arms on either side of my head. “He didn’t mean to…” Fuck, why was this so hard? “Um, look, if we could sit down and talk about this, I am sure we can come up with a payment plan for any money you are missing.”
“You wouldn’t be able to afford it, love. You don’t make that much money. I doubt the dead squaddie's pension would be enough to even—”
I saw red. Gathering my strength, I pushed at his chest. My sudden attack made him stumble back a few steps before he righted himself.
“He was a marine, and he was a million times more of a man than you are. Smacking around little boys,” I snapped with disgust.
Throwing back his head, Tristan laughed. The smash of his knuckles against my cheek was so sudden and so unexpected that my head cracked painfully against the door. Stars burst into life before my eyes. They were still going off when his hand closed around my throat.
“Now see, I was being all polite, and you had to spoil it. Why did you have to do that?” Stepping into my space, he rubbed his nose against my cheek, inhaling deeply. “Are you missing your big, strong marine, Kate?”
I felt myself pale at his use of my name, and his laughter grew louder.
“Oh, I know who you are, Kate Morgan, or do you go by your maiden name now?” He didn’t let me answer. I wasn’t even sure I could have. It was hard enough to breathe with his fingers flexing over my windpipe. “And I have just what you need to help you get over your loss.”
The hand on my cheek slipped down until his fingers brushed against the swell of my breasts and lower.
“Get off me, don’t—”
His hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my yell as he pawed at my breast. There was no finesse about it. He wasn’t doing it for my pleasure, but for his own.
“A woman like you…” he licked a long line up my cheek and I gagged, “needs a man’s hands on her to keep her in line. You miss it. Youneedit.” Loosening my breast, he shoved his hand between my legs, pulling my skirt so he could rub against my panties.
Vomit filled my mouth. I gagged and swallowed it down. Fear gripped me, paralysing me. What kind of moron was I for walking in there and thinking a man with his reputation could be reasonable? There wasn’t a reasonable bone in his body. The stories were true; they were monsters.
“You miss a man touching your pussy, don’t you?” One thick, slightly clammy finger jammed into the side of my panties and he thrust it inside my body. “You need a big, long cock to fill you up.”
