Faster (Stark Ink, #3) (20 page)

“Nah. Pose-off,” Doc suggested.

“That’s some
Zoolander
shit right there,” Tex agreed.

“Who-lander?” Hawk asked.

Tex turned to him. “What do you
do
all day, chief?”

Hawk grunted indignantly. “Make babies with my woman! That’s hard work. I don’t have time for the White Man’s culture!”

“
Will you get your butt to the table!
”

Ava turned to see a wisp of a woman with long, dark hair and slitted eyes standing on the other side of the living room. She had a toddler perched on her hip, a boy slightly older than DJ, Ava noted. She glared at Hawk the way Zoey sometimes looked at Dalton, exasperated.

Ava stifled a laugh. She noticed the others were doing the same.

Hawk lurched out of his chair and drew himself up to his full height, squaring his shoulders and jutting his chin. He and Dalton were about the same size, certainly the same shape with hulking thighs and biceps. Ava watched as he ducked his head and nodded. “Coming,” he muttered.

She did laugh, then, along with everyone else.

As the large man slunk past his tiny wife, Ava heard the angry whispering that she was used to hearing at home during family dinners. She grinned and followed everyone into the dining room.

Spending time with the Burnout crew and their wives was exactly like being at home when everyone was together, just with more participants. The men argued over their chips and cards, the women rolled their eyes at them and swapped knowing glances.

Hawk and Tex were the ex-army version of Adam and Dalton. Tex constantly slid the bowl of nachos out of Hawk’s reach, earning the larger man’s ire each time.

Emilio was right; Ava loved them.

She caught Shooter’s wife looking at her from the other side of the table. “I’m Sarah,” she called out and Ava nodded. The older woman grinned from ear to ear as she spoke. “So, you’re Emilio’s girlfriend.”

Ava was about to argue the word but she was less a participant in the conversation than simply the object of it.

“Is he nice to you?” Tildy asked. “I hope so. When I first met him, he said all kinds of terrible, filthy things about me.” Tildy wrinkled her nose. “About my ass.”

Ava’s face burned.

“Looks like he hasn’t changed much,” grumbled Shooter.

She wasn’t all that surprised that Emilio had always been a cocky asshole. He probably flexed for the girls at daycare in his Huggies.

“Better watch yourself,” Shooter warned him. “Her brothers are no joke.”

Emilio nodded. “I already met a few. Jonah? You’re right, he’s no joke.”

Shooter’s mouth twitched. “Don’t know that one. But you jerk Adam’s little sister around and he’s going to end up jerking
you
around. And I won’t stop him.”

Instead of being offended, Emilio looked at her. “What if
she’s
jerking me around?”

“We’ll sic the cat on her.”

As though she’d heard, a ball of white fluff jumped onto the table beside Ava. She pushed her way through Ava’s carefully stacked chips and deposited herself right into Ava’s lap. For a moment, Ava didn’t move, unsure what to do. But she felt a low rumble on her thighs, and realized the cat wasn’t growling at her. It was purring.

Tentatively, Ava reached out and wiggled a finger at her. It snatched her hand and began licking. Its purr grew louder and rivaled Ava’s Honda’s engine.

“She won’t hurt you if you keep her fed,” Emilio declared.

Ava picked out a piece of shredded beef covered in nacho cheese and offered it to the tiny squatter. As the cat pounced, Ava said, “When I was little, I stayed with this lady, Mrs. Stoddard. She had a ton of cats. None of them liked me.”

She bit her lip, not believing she’d just blurted that out. She didn’t say anything else. She didn’t say that she’d been bad, either picking at her tights again or losing her shoe, and Mom and Pop had sent her away for a while. To teach her a lesson.

Ava had learned that lesson well. With every scratch from a pissy, hissing, mangy feline, little Ava swore that if the Starks ever took her back, she’d be the best Stark ever— the strongest, the bravest... the fastest.

They did come back for her. And Ava kept her promise. From that day on, Ava sat like a statue at church so that Mom would love her, and rolled around afterward in the dirt with the boys so Pop would love her, too. Though she preferred the dirt.

Ava’s phone buzzed in her jeans pocket. As she drew it out, the cat rubbed her face on it enthusiastically. She was cute, in spite of the warnings. Ava smiled... until she glanced at the screen.

Clint had sent her a text.

Need you now.

Ava quickly swiped it off-screen. She was tempted to shut the phone off entirely, but Pop had been off tonight and Adam might need her. She stuffed the phone away and fed the cat another piece of beef and cheese on a chip. She snuck a look at Emilio out of the corner of her eye. If he’d been able to see the text, she couldn’t tell.

He petted the cat in her lap and smiled at them both.

She played the game, trying to put it out of her mind, but her phone went off twice more and she wanted to spike it across the room.

“Is that Adam?” Emilio asked and Ava knew she had to deal with it.

She pushed back her chair and gave him an apologetic look. “Um, I’ll just see what he wants,” she told him. Then she took off, out of the dining room.

It wasn’t a lie, she told herself as she headed for the front door. Not exactly. Clint was a
he
. And she was seeing what
he
wanted. If Emilio had thought she was talking about Adam, well, that was his problem, wasn’t it?

Even as she tried to rationalize it, she wanted to kick her own ass.

She slipped out the front door and onto the porch. The warm summer breeze tinkled a wind chime. That and the night birds were the only sounds. She hated marring it with the sound of Clint’s voice.

“Where the fuck are you!” he snapped, not bothering with ‘Hello.’

“Clint!” she hissed quietly. “I really don’t give a shit, okay? Whatever it is, I do not fucking care! Stop calling me!”

“I need you for another run.”

“Bullshit!” Ava countered. “What you
need
is a good ass-kicking. I cannot believe you roped me into this mess. Are you insane?” She glanced quickly over her shoulder toward the door, then away. “Look, Clint, I’m busy. I can’t talk to you now.”

“Ava, we have a deal—”

She sighed heavily, cutting him off again. “I’ll talk to you later, Clint. Don’t call me. Don’t text me. Not tonight. I’m done with you for today,” she finally told him. She hung up before he could argue further. She shoved the phone back into her pocket and turned. A large figure stood in the doorway. She jumped. “Jesus!” she exclaimed, ducking her head. “You scared me.”

The man in front of her had dark blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Ava felt like a trapped bunny in his harsh gaze. Tex frowned at her as she wiped her hands on her jean-clad thighs.

A long moment of silence passed between them before the man said, “Don’t know how well you know Emilio. But
I
know him pretty well.”

Ava stood frozen, unable to think of a response.

“Once he sets his sights on something, or someone, that’s all there is to it. He won’t take kindly to other guys sniffing around.”

Ava felt her cheeks pinken from embarrassment at having been overheard. Of course, Tex didn’t know Clint and didn’t realize what an insult it was to think he was any kind of competition for Emilio. But she couldn’t exactly ease the man’s mind by telling him the truth, could she? Instead, she jutted her chin and glared at him. “No one owns me,” she argued firmly.

Tex merely shrugged. “You and Emilio can work out who owns who. But he’s spent several years around some hard, possessive men and, for better or for worse, we seem to have rubbed off on him. If you’re not serious about him, if you’re playing around, that’s your right. But you could do him the courtesy of telling him that.”

Ava felt chagrined even though she wasn’t guilty. Her pride niggled at her again. She wasn’t that kind of person. She’d been cheated on, by Clint no less, not long after she’d given him her virginity. Even though she hated the sight of him now, she still felt the sting of the betrayal.

She wasn’t like that. Ava would never do that to someone. “It’s not what you think,” she insisted, even though she shouldn’t have to explain.

Before she could even try, the front door swung open again and Emilio stepped out. He looked concerned. “Is everything okay with your dad?”

Ava felt crushed.

He looked genuinely worried, like he actually fucking cared. He
did
care.

She was such an asshole.

Ava cleared her throat and purposely avoided glancing at Tex, who was still standing in the doorway. “Everything’s fine,” she told Emilio. “It’s okay.”

He crossed the porch to her and slid his arms around her. Beyond him, Ava watched as Tex turned and disappeared back into the house.

“You sure?” Emilio asked.

“Yep,” Ava replied, keeping her tone light. 

He pulled her closer and kissed her gently. His tongue ran along her lower lip.

This was easier than an actual conversation. So, she opened her mouth to his. His tongue teased its way in, making her melt. His hands slid down her back, over her hips, and gripped her ass.

“Tell me you’re ready for me again, muñeca,” he whispered

She pulled away and grinned up at him. “But are you ready for
me
?”

T
he race back to Emilio’s apartment wasn’t as playful this time. Ava could feel her entire body tingling as she ran the Honda through its gears, desperate to get off so she could get off. She could tell he felt the same anticipation to have her back in his bed tonight.

They ditched their bikes in his driveway and bolted up the porch steps toward the door. Emilio fumbled the key into the lock with one hand and felt his way into her shirt with the other. His lips never left hers.

Once inside the living room, she tossed her jacket and helmet aside just as he was dragging her to the bedroom. Her clothes melted off and puddled on the floor next to his. She pushed him back onto the bed and straddled him.

He didn’t reach for the nightstand drawer, so she did it for him, snatching one out and ripping the foil.

He watched her as she rolled it onto his rock-hard shaft. “You’re gonna have to learn to slow down, girl,” he told her.

She grinned down at him. “Maybe you’re gonna have to learn how to keep up.”

He grunted and she could tell he was annoyed by her comment. She suppressed a giggle. It was fun to tease him, but she was curious how far she could push him, and what would happen if she did.

He slid inside her more easily this time and Ava felt confident she could handle him better. She pumped her hips, driving down onto him, enjoying the feel of him beneath her.

She closed her eyes and remembered his hands on her pussy, the expert way he’d made her come with his cock and his fingers. He made her feel things she didn’t even know were possible. What else did he know? And what else could he do to her? She shivered with delicious anticipation as she decided she was going to find out tonight.

She lifted herself up and pushed down again, hard. He groaned in appreciation. She had to hand it to him—he could really hang in there, longer than anyone else she’d been with. Emilio delaying his own orgasm made the sex even better, more real, more naughty, more everything.

What if he didn’t come at all?

Trying to conceal her devilish plans, Ava squeezed and pinched her own nipples, moaning loudly. She hoped his neighbors wouldn’t complain. She rode him hard, panting and mewling, putting on a great show for him. And though it did feel good, so damn good, it was only a show.

On the last thrust, she froze, closing her eyes to savor the heat in her core. It was tempting to actually finish, but she didn’t want the game to end— not just yet. Her body rebelled as she slid his cock out of her. Her clit pulsed wildly, begging for just a little more attention.

She slapped his hip and smiled at him. “Well, that’s it for me. Sorry, cutie pie. Better luck next time!”

Her heart hammered away in her chest as she swung her leg off him and turned away. She was on all fours, crawling to the end of the bed. Her thighs burned; her breath was ragged. Being a tease was hard work. She hoped it was worth it.

Before she made it to the edge of the bed, she felt him moving behind her. Emilio grabbed her hips with both hands.

She gasped, not really surprised, but she’d been on the knife-edge of an orgasm just moments before and her body was like a live wire, so sensitive to his touch. She looked back over her shoulder, heart-pounding, hair in her eyes.

“So, you get yours, but I don’t get mine?” he growled.

Ava swallowed hard as heat pooled again between her legs. The deep timber in his voice was almost enough to push her over the edge.

“Uh huh,” she replied as lightly as she could.

Emilio gripped her tighter and tugged. She slid backward across the sheets. “You’re lying,” he admonished.

She stared at him as he balanced on his knees behind her, towering over her. His hand slid over her hip and across her bare ass.

Ava bit down on her lower lip.

He slipped his hand between her legs and gently rubbed her pussy. A finger dipped in.

She groaned. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. In teasing him, she’d teased herself and now all she could think about was getting off on his fingers.

“I know you, muñeca,” he growled softly. His finger pushed in again then retreated.

She whimpered, trying to push back against him.

“I’ve felt that sweet pussy tighten up on me before. I know how fucking good it feels.” He looked down at her and his gaze caught hers again.

She gasped at the heat in his dark eyes. Heat of her own pooled in her belly. She wiggled her hips at him, silently begging.

“You testing me, Ava?” he demanded. “‘Cause I know you didn’t come. I
know
you didn’t.” His fingertips grazed lightly over her swollen lips.