Jack of Spades.

The bar and lounge were my old stomping ground and where I slung liquor on the weekends.

I hated having to quit. Losing my sole source of income had been one of several cons on the list of why leaving town was a bad idea.

To be honest I was a little apprehensive showing my face. The boss and I had a few choice words for each other once I told him my plans to leave. He couldn’t understand my refusal to move in with him.

No way my hot-headed ass was going to live with my parttime boss and fulltime lover. Imagine this, I ran my mouth, pissed him off and he kicks my ass out. Oh, one of us would probably end up dead and the other in jail.

Besides that, I didn’t like the way he was starting to move—the tender looks, reaching for my hand, softly calling my name when we’re supposed to be riding each other hard, not kissing and caressing.

Yes, I know, I was a walking contradiction, considering I was doing all those lovey-dovey things with Alana. How do I explain it? Should I even bother try. All I know, things between Jax and I was different—intense, and I was too much of a pussy to take stock and figure the shit out.

We’d been together for two years. In many ways, he was my safe-harbour, the one I ran to when the world got a little too much and I wanted to be in my headspace. Be his princess.

Before I was forced to uproot my whole dang life, every day my gut twisted with dread, praying he wouldn’t drop those three damn words. I wasn’t prepared for Jax loving me, wanting more than I could give.

Shit, I could have said that and let him down easy. Instead, I told him we were good, as long as he kept hard whenever I needed a dick to ride. Anything beyond that was asking for too much.

For the first time in our history his green eyes turned cold. Without another word he turned his back on me and walked away. It was the last time I saw him. I won’t lie and say I haven’t missed him.

Jax was good to me, and I have no doubt he would have taken care of me had I let him. This still didn’t change the fact it wouldn’t have worked out between us. He would have ended up hating me.

“Ready?”

I snapped from thoughts and gave Alana a quick once over. She was cute as a fluffy-tailed bunny in a floral, off-the shoulder, bustier mini dress. Her golden locks swept up into a messy pony-tail, her lightly-made up faced flushed from our romp in the shower.

I pressed the nifty little remote in my hand to test it out. She jumped from the unexpected jolt.

“Mistress,” she moaned, pressing a hand to her lower stomach. As if doing so would stop the vibrator I had complete control over.

 “What’s the distance on this thing?” I wondered out loud, punching it two levels higher.

 “I’m not sure.” She crossed her legs, squeezing her thighs together to keep from crying out.

I clicked it off. “Let’s go.”

Nodding, she took my hand. I fucking loved the way she trusted me. Her submission turned me on more than I thought it would, considering I’d always preferred being the submissive in my sexual relationships.

The girl was changing me in surprising little ways.

On our way out we ran into Regina and Nate. They and several other people were lounging in the foyer. The mansion was alive with activity. Staff rushed to add the finishing touches in preparation for the night’s festivities. There was always something or another happening. Thankfully, Papa Knight was out of town, so I’d declined to attend the family’s nightly gathering. They didn’t seem broken up about it.

Nate and Regina pushed to their feet at the sight of me, like soldiers standing attention.

Persuading Regina I didn’t need her services for the night, had been easy. Ditching Nate, not a chance.  Ever since Papa Knight left on business the night before, my bodyguard had been on my ass like white on rice.

Before I even opened my mouth, the man crossed his arms across his brawny chest, looked me dead in the eyes and said, “You’ll have an easier time convincing the Pope to celebrate his next mass in drag.”

Bastard thought he was funny.

I didn’t waste precious time arguing. Alana and I were on a mission for fun before the clock struck twelve and she risked losing one of her Prada sling-backs.

Exited, I jumped into my candy-apple red Mercedes-AMG SL, top down, music blaring, Alana riding shotgun as I flew down the hillside, taking corners, like they were mere suggestions. Nate, helmeted and dressed in all black, rode his M RR—a snarling beast tearing after us. 

Up in the Hills, the stars were bright and clear. That night there was a nice gentle breeze. We were alone for miles on the winding road. Alana and I hype as fuck, rapping along with Lil’ Jon and the East Side Boyz.

By the time I reached my side of town it was quarter to nine. Jacks was a popular spot, and for a Friday night I expected to find it packed. I wasn’t disappointed. Music filtered through the open vista windows out onto the patios where there wasn’t an empty seat in sight. It would shock you, I’m sure, if I told you the bar hadn’t been open for a full two hours.

Finding a parking space would have been a nightmare if not for the small lot around back, Jax quartered off for staff.

I parked next to his F150, grabbed Alana’s hand and made my way to the entrance, Nate hot on my ass. Leading the way, I wound my way through the crowd spotting a few empty tables in my girl Billy’s section. Expected, seeing as most customers were taking advantage of the patios, enjoying the nice night. In a few hours when the bar’s packed to the rafters, Jax would open the rooftop lounge.

Billy’s back was to me as she took the order of a table of six, dressed in Jacks’ typical uniform, black tank-top and black ‘ass-out’ shorts. Sidling up to her, I pinched a cheek. She spun around, fist cocked.

“Bitch!” she screamed, face lighting up with laughter. “What the fuck, I thought you left town.” she shouted over Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk.

“Change of plans.” I hugged her back in a quick embrace, and wrapping my arm around Alana’s waist brought her forward to introduce her. “This is my girl, Cindi. She’s new to town and I thought I’d take her to the best bar on the north side.”

Alana bit down on her lips to stop from laughing at the lie. “Hey.” She gave a tiny wave.

Billy smiled at her, eyes moving behind us. “And the pussy tease?” she kicked her chin up at Nate.

I cackled. Billy was a riot, and one of the few girls at Jacks I fucked with. She was mixed, Jamaican and Korean, I think. We didn’t hangout outside of work or anything, but she was good people.

“This is Nate, Cin’s bodyguard. Are all your tables open?” I pointed to a corner were there were seating for four.

I would have preferred a seat at the window bars, but seeing as all the stools were occupied, the alternative was close enough to the patios, that I didn’t mind.

“Yeah, grab a seat wherever. I’ll be back with the menus.”

“No worries,” I told her. “Is Jax in?”

“Yeah, office. Want me to call him up?”

“Nah, I’ll run down in a minute.”

First, I wanted to get Alana settled at the table, and a drink in Nate’s hand so I could move freely around without him running interference. In no time Billy returned, after delivering a few platters of fried foods and drinks. She handed the menus to my guests, took their drink orders and was off again.

Perfect, I pulled to my feet and of course Nate jumped up. Alana stared up at us, her wide eyes filled with questions.

“Easy big guy, I’m just checking in with my old boss. I’ll be back before you know it.” I leaned in, whispering. “Watch Alana for me, please.”

“I wasn’t hired to watch the maid,” he clipped.

“Don’t be an ass.” I clapped his shoulder. “If anything happens to her, I’ll make sure Papa Knight knows who to blame.”

Man, it tickled me pink throwing Papa Knight’s name around. The fear his name alone instilled should be studied.

“One drink,” I told Alana and pecked her cheek. “I’ll be back.”

Blowing her a kiss, I cut across the crowded common room, heading for the security door, accessing the back of the house and Jax’s office. Nervous excitement stirred at the pit of my stomach at the thought of seeing him after weeks of no contact.

Would he turn me away, cuss me out and tell me never to step foot on his property again? Nah, that wasn’t Jax. The man didn’t have a mean bone in his body.

Billy let me through the coded door.

“Roof,” she said handing over a tall coffee mug to give him.

The further I moved away from the front of the house the music filtering through the kitchen into the hall became muted background noise, the echo of my heels clicking against the polished concrete floor drowned out. I passed under the camera overlooking Jax’s closed office and made my way up the wide staircase at the end of the passage.

The stairs opened into the bar that overlooked the L-shaped lounge, shrouded in darkness. At first, I didn’t see Jax. He wasn’t in the bar checking inventory as was his way of doing things. I could hear him on the other side of the lounge, just out of sight. His voice low, talking to someone, though I wasn’t sure if it was by phone or in person. I set his mug down on the countertop, moved from behind the bar, following his voice.

Smoke curling on the air pinpointed his location in the shadows as I turned the corner, the rich, earthy scent of his robusto a welcoming reminder of the man. I stopped in my tracks, admiring his profile, the light of the moon casting half of his face in stark relief.

Jax had that boy next door charm about him, wholesomely handsome and the tall powerful build of a linebacker. To me he’d always been a big ole’ teddy bear. I’m not too proud to admit as I stood there silently admiring him, that I experienced a bite of regret. Despite everything I didn’t want to lose him as a friend. It would suck.

“I don’t see why the fuck you continue to smoke this shit,” the male standing deeper in his shadows said.

The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. Neither of them was aware of my presence. The slip-resistant pavers lining the floor, soft underfoot, cushioned the strikes of my heels.

“Something to remember,” Jax said to the man.

“I hate remembering. It’s fucking cruel.”

“Sounds like you regret, His gift.”

“How can I. It saved my life. It’s just not all sunshine and roses.”

Jax laughed. Puffing on his cigar, he tilted his head and blew a plume of smoke into the air. “You miss the sun.”

“Yeah, that part.”

I didn’t know what the hell they were talking about. None of what they were saying made sense. I took a step forward and Jax’s head snapped around simultaneously as the other man stepped out of the shadows.

Bash.

Fucking hell, I couldn’t believe my luck. Did Papa Knight have this man following me, too?

“What the hell are you doing here?” Bash demanded.

Jax’s brow dipped into a deep frown as his eyes shifted between Bash and me, confusion quickly morphing to anger.

Ignoring Bash I cut the space separating me from Jax. I reached up on my toes, snaked my arms around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss. For a millisecond his body stiffened and then he melted, wrapping his big arms around me as he deepened the kiss.

Oh, fuck yes, I forgot how much I loved the way this man kissed. Horny and wet I mewled, reaching between us to grab and squeeze the damn baseball bat between his legs. There was a saying a girl never forget her first. Me, I say a girl never forget the first big dick motherfucker who turned her out. Bonus if he was unselfish. There was nothing more exciting than being with a man who loved the female body. That was a man who’d take his time to worship every inch of you, help you see your insecurities as endearments.

Has a man ever laid back and allow you to explore him, encourage your kinks?

I pulled my head back just enough so we could both catch our breaths. “Missed me?”

In answer he gripped my ass with both hands and grind his pelvis into my center, his hard dick digging into my stomach. “What do you think, Princess?”

Jax’s husky bedroom voice had the power to turn a timid woman into a wanton slut.

“I’d say you’re happy to see me.” I slicked my tongue over his full bottom lip.

“Very fucking happy to see you. When did you get back?”

“I never left.” Turning slightly in his arms, I glanced up Bash. “Isn’t that right, fam?”

I’ll never call him brother, not when I had every intention of fucking him. Shit, I’d fuck them both right then, if they let me. Jax might indulge me; we’ve fucked plenty of other people together in the past.

Blowing out a breath, Bash shook his head. “Small fucking world.”

“You two know each other?”

“Something like that,” Bash waved off. “Does he know you’re here?”

“Who?” Jax’s arm tightened possessively around my waist.

See what I mean? This was the same man who once brought another man to our hotel room to watch him fuck me. And now he was acting jealous.

Bash tilted his head as he met and held Jax’s gaze. An unspoken understanding settled between them. I wouldn’t have thought much of it, if not for the sudden jerk of Jax’s arms falling away. He stepped back, the crease in his brow deepening as he looked me over from head to toe.

Shock and confusion warred to take precedence over his expression. “But she’s not–”

“No.” Bash interrupted.

“Is he going to?”

Bash laughed. “Won’t have to. She’ll get there on her own, it’s a waiting game as far as I’m told.”

“You two assholes, see that I’m standing here, right? And why the fuck are you all talking in riddles? Jax?”