SIX (18 page)

“I don’t think it’s sexual,” Lucky states, jumping in with his opinion.

“There’s a guy there, too.” He shrugs, nodding his head at me.

Lucky must not be aware of Six’s tastes for both sexes.

It’s embarrassing having them both acting like I’m a delicate flower on the verge of being crushed just because Six has company.

Thoughts of our conversation about him being part of a gang race through my mind and curiosity has me walking straight into the shop.

He’s sitting at his station getting his equipment ready to tattoo.

He told me he wasn’t going to work today, so maybe he’s regretting last night?
Thanks for letting me know, ass.

When he looks over to see who’s entered, his whole face lifts with a stunning smile and my heart races.

Placing down what he has in his hand, he comes straight over to me.

His palm strokes up my cheek as he brings my face to his lips.

My body falls against his and I reach up on my toes to enjoy the caress of his mouth on mine. Pulling back, I gasp for air.

“Well, that was—”

“Hot,” a male voice comes from behind me.

I turn to see a guy standing there with his arms folded, ink decorating his skin, short spiky hair, and pretty eyes that twinkle.

“Max, Misty. Misty, Max.”

“Hey,” I offer with a finger wave before stuffing my hands in my pockets and ignoring the heat in my cheeks.

“And this is Haley,” Six murmurs, and his tone, soft and delicate, is one I’ve never heard from him before.

My eyes scan the female coming to stand by the Max guy.

I recognize something about her, but can’t pinpoint what it is until she smiles. Despite the scar tugging at her lip, she looks like the girl from the picture Six was looking at this morning.

She’s older, thinner, and has marks she tries covering with makeup and by letting her hair fall over her face, but it’s her.

Realizing I’m standing there just staring at the poor woman, I shake off the weird sensation pulsating through my body and offer her my hand, but she doesn’t accept it. Instead, she leans into me and gives me a self-conscious hug, leaving a gap between our bodies.

My eyes feel wider than saucers, but I embrace her in return, patting her back in an awkward exchange.

“I’ve never seen his face light up like that before,” she states.

“You must be real special.”

My cheeks flame ever hotter and I divert my eyes to my sandals.

I don’t dare to look at Six, scared of his reaction to her words.

He isn’t very forthcoming with his emotions and I don’t want him to freeze up now that someone else mentioned them.

“I’m sorry about this morning. I wasn’t expecting them.”

His hands rub down my arms and the warmth of his skin on mine has a content sigh leaving my body.

“It’s okay.”

“We can get together later?”

“Sure, have fun,” I say before leaving them to whatever they’re doing.

Left feeling comforted by Six’s reaction to me, but a little unsettled by the re-appearance of this woman from his past, I push down the urge to stay there and claim what I want to be just mine: Six.

Being sleep deprived isn’t helping my mental state either and I debate sneaking up to my apartment and taking a nap, but the thought of Parker doing double the work load causes guilt.

Hovering my hand at Haley’s lower back, I take care not to touch her in case it triggers any memories inside her.

Night time is hard enough on her, I don’t want to set her anxiety off.

“Is this okay?” I ask, showing her the spare room in my house.

She walks around the room, brushing her hand over the fabric of the curtains draping over a large window, which lets the warm glow of the moon cast light over the bed.

“It’s perfect,” she murmurs.

My mouth opens and closes, wanting to ask how long she’s staying but thinking better of it.

I don’t want her to interpret my question as me not wanting her here.

Max’s shadow catches my eye.

He’s leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded over his chest.

“You got some spare pillows?” he asks.

Reaching up, I grab one pillow from a stack on top of a freestanding closet and throw it at him. “Oomph,” he coughs as the pillow hits him in gut.

“Be nice,” Haley tells me for what must have been the tenth time since she arrived.

I hold my hands up and grin at her.

“So, is it okay to crash on couch?” Max asks, following me out of Haley’s room and down the stairs.

“It’s fine.”

In truth, I’m relieved he’s not staying with her.

Maybe his and Haley’s relationship really is just friendship, but that doesn’t mean he’s not after something more.

He drops his pillow on the couch and looks around the room.

“Do you have a blanket?”

“No,” I bark, slamming the front door behind me as I leave.

It’s past midnight and I’m driving back to the bar to see if Misty is still awake. My body craves hers after not getting to spend any time with her today.

When I pull in, the lights are all out apart from the one to her bedroom.

Hope blooms in my chest and a grin spreads across my face as I turn the engine off and jump from the truck.

Maybe she’s waiting for me.

Letting myself into her apartment, the pitter-patter of the shower sounds over a humming.

Steam fills the bathroom and her silhouette moves around behind the glass door, her voice butchering the lyrics to
California
by the Red-Hot Chili Peppers. She’s adorable.

Stripping my clothes off, I open the door and Misty spins around, her arms flailing like she’s in a really bad Kung Fu movie again while a scream wretches from her chest.

Who taught her that shit?

“Oh my God, I nearly died.” She hugs her body all dramatic and it just makes me want to take her harder.

Her dripping wet flesh looks tantalizing and I can’t hold back or make chit-chat.

Spinning her body, I place her hands above her head on the tiled wall and part her legs with a gentle nudge at the ankle.

“I need to be inside you,” I breathe against her ear, nibbling the lobe and tracing my lips down her neck and spine.

My hand snakes around and spreads her folds before dipping a finger inside her pussy.

Her ass wiggles and grinds on my hand.

The way she ignites the passion in me is so different from any other before her. Our chemistry isn’t just sexual, it’s mental.

She makes everything burn with need to get inside her body, her mind, her heart.

“Touch me,” she begs.

“Lose yourself between my thighs.”
Shit
, she’s so sexy.

“Rub your ass against my cock, Mist. Let me fuck those cheeks.”

“Not the hole, though,” she says huskily, and I have to bite her shoulder to stop myself from laughing.

She must sense my amusement because she eyes me over her shoulder

“You’re massive and I’ve never done that before.”

Dropping a kiss to her nose, I push my dick between her ass cheeks and stroke up and down.

“We can build up to anal if that’s something you want to do,” I tease.

“I do like the build-up,” she pants, pushing into me.

Rousing from slumber to a woman riding your cock is the best wakeup call a man can get.

Misty’s hips rotate and buck over me, her skin slick with a sheen of sweat.

The sunlight bleeds through the curtains, highlighting her frame as she grinds over me.

Her hair dangles around her face, her tits bouncing.

Leaning back, she places her hands on my shins and demands, “Touch my clit.”

Who am I to refuse? Using my tongue to wet the pad of my thumb, I rub just above the hood of her clit.

When she bucks forward, the pressure intensifies.

Misty lets out a string of incoherent slurs as her pussy tightens and pulses around my dick, strangling it for release.

Joining her in her bliss state, my dick tingles with sensitivity.

I’ve fucked her a lot the last few days and my dick needs a rest, but the urges didn’t obey.

Her body collapses next to mine and she takes a good three minutes of heavy breathing before smiling up at me.

“That was amazing.”

“Are you not sore?” I ask, rubbing my hand over her pussy and collecting our mixed juices before bringing my fingers to my lips to taste us.

“How long are Haley and Max staying?” she asks, tickling over my abs.

“I don’t know.”

“When did you meet her?”

“A long time ago.” I don’t want to talk about Haley; it always kills my mood.

“How old were you when you joined the gang?”

“Seventeen. Why?”

“That’s so young,” she breathes.

“That isn’t young, Mist. Gangs usually recruit teenagers, but some recruit as young as eleven.”

“You make them sound like a company—a firm or something,” she says, crinkling her brow.

“That’s what it is really. The foundations are the same.”

“Why so young, though? What could a kid do for them?”

“Carry guns, drugs. The younger they are, the less likely they are to be stopped by cops.” Grabbing her hand, I entwine our fingers.

“That’s awful. How do they end up in a gang—isn’t there anyone who can help them?”

“It’s not a cult, Mist. Fuck.” I drop her hand and rub a hand through my hair.

“When someone lives in a gang dominated area, or goes to a school with a strong gang presence, it’s just a thing—a part of everyday life—and most people have friends or family who belong in gangs. It’s just life for them. Most kids are bored and need an outlet. Sad, but it’s the truth. All these kids think they have is their respect and in order to get respect you have to commit crimes—most of them violent.”

“I’m glad you stopped. Being in one, I mean. A member,” she clarifies.

Her disdain for me being part of a gang shouldn’t get under my skin, but it does. I’m not proud of the path I took, but there weren’t a lot of options—not ones I could see back then anyway.

“You don’t know anything about why I got out. There wasn’t a choice for me. I went to prison for killing people, Misty. These hands that touch you have done things that would turn your hair grey. And I’d do it again.”

“Why?”

“Because they hurt someone I love.”

Her body shifts and she sits up, bringing the sheet over her chest.

“Is it the girl in the photograph, the one staying at your house, Haley?” she asks, her voice soft, but there’s an undertone of jealousy and I don’t have room for that in my life.

Haley’s life was stolen from her because of me, and no matter the amount of time or distance that passes between us, I will always love her and be there for her. I still owe her vengeance and if she asks me to fulfill that, I will in a heartbeat.

“Haley is a part of me, my life—my past.”

“Where has she been since you got out?”

“She’s been lost to me, to herself.”

“What does that even mean?”

“I’m done with this. I’ve got work to do.”

Throwing back the sheets, I go to the bathroom to get the clothes I left in there from last night.

When I come out, Misty is still in bed. She stares at me and it makes me squirm.