Kink's Way (8 page)

They headed out together, and instantly Kink scanned
the room. He saw Callie sitting over by Molly and Dakota, and moved over to his
daughter to make sure she was settled. Once he realized she was okay, he headed
toward the bar for a drink. He tossed back the shot that Tatum handed him. He
tapped the bar, and she refilled the glass. Once he had that shot back, too, he
turned and glanced around the main room. He couldn’t find the woman he was
looking for … Cookie.

“She’s in the back,” Tatum said from behind him.

He looked over his shoulder. “What?” Of course he
knew who the hell she was talking about, but he turned and faced her fully and
kept his mouth shut.

Tatum cocked an eyebrow, as if she knew he was
bullshitting her.
“Really, Kink?
You
really going
to play the ‘I don’t know what the hell you’re
talking about’ card?” She refilled his glass for the third time, and he didn’t
waste time in drinking it. “Listen, I’ve been walking around here for the last
couple of weeks watching the way you look at Cookie, and the way she looks at
you. It’s exhausting realizing you guys are trying to fight something like
this.”

“I don’t think this is really your business, Tatum.”

“No, it’s not, you’re right, but I can see a pain
and distance in that girl’s eyes when I look at her.” Tatum leaned on the bar
and stared him right in the eyes. “But then she looks at you and all this life
moves across her face for a second, and I don’t even think she realizes it.”

Kink leaned back slightly but made sure to keep his
expression neutral. “I don’t have the time, energy, or lifestyle to take on an
old lady, let alone one that probably hurts every single day from the life she
has led.”

“Honey, I’m not asking you to claim an old lady, but
to show that girl what it means to be wanted.”

Kink would have chuckled at the absurdity of what
Tatum was suggesting. “Let me get this straight, you want me to sleep with her
so she can feel good about herself?” That was a pretty fucked-up thing to even
suggest.

“No, Kink, I want you to show her that you notice
her, that someone wants her, and show her that it doesn’t have to be wrong or
bad to be with a man.” She stared at him right in the eye. “She is scared in
the worst possible way, and if showing her that she is wanted means being with
her intimately, then so be it, but only if she wants that. I didn’t say
anything about fucking her, you damn pig. You’re so damn crass sometimes.” She
turned away and shook her head as if she was disgusted with him. She gave out a
few drinks to some of the people that came up to the bar, and then faced him
again. “Talk to her, and let her know you’ve been watching her, and that you’ve
seen
her.”

This was a bizarre fucking conversation, and one
Kink didn’t want to talk about anymore. “I have had a mother, Tatum, and don’t
need another one.” He turned and stalked away, but not before he heard her
mutter what a hard, stubborn ass he was. She might have been right about that,
but he also wasn’t the type to fucking woo a woman into his bed, and he sure as
hell didn’t talk out his feelings. He headed toward the back hallway and toward
his room. He needed to sleep and forget about the crap going on around him, but
just as he reached his room and had his hand on the doorknob, he stopped.

Who the hell was he kidding? Tatum was right. He did
want Cookie. But it wasn’t just for sex, although he wanted her bad enough that
his fucking cock ached. There was just this strength inside of her, and every
time he looked at her he felt this part of his hard exterior cracking. It was
crazy shit given the fact he had hardly spoken to her. But maybe when something
was good and right, and supposed to happen, time didn’t matter? He turned and
looked back down the hallway and toward the kitchen door where Tatum had said
Cookie was. This was probably a bad idea, but he found himself walking away
from his room, and right toward the woman that he wanted more than he had ever
wanted a female before.

Chapter Seven

Cookie needed to get back out front. She had been
sitting in the kitchen for far longer than she should have, and she knew Tatum
was probably wondering what in the hell was up with her. Cookie didn’t know,
though, and that pissed her off. She had never been so confused in her life,
and none of it made any sense to her. She shouldn’t even want a man in her
life. She should hate and feel disgusted with men given what she had been
through. But she had never allowed that to define her. Pushing forward and
thinking that one day something would change had allowed her to have hope. The
sound of the kitchen door opening and closing sounded behind her.

“I’m sorry, Tatum. I know I was back here for a
while. You ready to start cooking dinner?” she said and turned around, but it
was Kink who stood by the now closed door. She swallowed, felt her pulse
increase and her palms sweat, and hated the fact this seemed to be her reaction
to him anymore.

“Hi.” She hated that she didn’t sound stronger in
the voice department, but aside from the couple of times she had served him at
the bar, and the clipped words he had given her, they really had never been in
each other’s company, and certainly not alone. It felt like the walls were
closing in on her, and she wiped her hands on her jeans.

“I make you uncomfortable,” he said bluntly, and
moved closer. He had his hands shoved in the front pocket of his jeans, and his
muscles bulged out. His biceps were so damn big they looked like they would
burst right through his t-shirt and his cut. He stopped on the other side of
the stainless steel table between them, and she gripped the edge and curled her
hands around it.

“Yeah, you do.” She wasn’t going to lie, because
there wasn’t a point. “But I think I make you uncomfortable, too.” She didn’t
know why she had said that, but the words had tumbled out of her
on their own
. She didn’t regret saying them, though, because
she did think she made him feel a bit off balanced at times, like right now.

He didn’t respond but moved around the table and
stood right beside her. He leaned against it, crossed his arms, and stared down
at her. But Cookie wasn’t about to move. Cookie had seen a lot of frightening
men, and Kink might be one of the most intimidating ones she had ever met, but
there was no fear in her. The longer he stared at her, the more she felt her
arousal grow. She was wet between her thighs, and that was a feeling that she
was not used to, this need to be with a man so urgently that it made no sense.
She was
so
confused as to how a man just staring at
her could make her feel this kind of lust. What was it about Kink that made her
feel like she was about to dive down into this darkness … a pit of darkness
that she craved? The scent of the alcohol came from him, surrounding her, but
there was also the crisp, pungent aroma of his leather vest, and a hint of
exhaust from his bike. It was a weird combination, and one that shouldn’t be
arousing whatsoever. But to Cookie it made her belly twist and turn, had her
body heating to a point sweat beaded along the center of her breasts, and had
her wishing that she could have the courage to just take what she wanted.

“What’s your name?” he asked in that low, deep voice
of his that actually had her toes curling.

He didn’t even know her name. That had the high of
being around him vanishing.
“Cookie.”

He shook his head slowly, and a small smile spread
across his ruggedly handsome face. “I know that,
darlin
’.
I meant what is your real name.” He lifted a dark eyebrow and curled the corner
of his mouth. “Surly your folks didn’t name you after a dessert.” He was
teasing her, and although she didn’t even want to think about the people that
had brought her into this world, she found herself smiling in return.

“No, of course not.”
She swallowed. “It’s Bailey Marie Smith.” Her cheeks heated uncomfortably, and
the smile faded from Kink’s face.

“Bailey, like the liquor.”

She licked her lips and took a step back when he
moved one closer to her. “Yeah, my mom was probably drunk when she had me.” She
wasn’t joking about that, and was thankful Kink didn’t start laughing. Despite
all the stuff happening in the last few weeks, wanting to be with him was the
last thing she should even think about. He probably saw her as nothing more
than this slut that had been sold to men and passed around like an ashtray. How
she wanted to tell him it was far from the truth. She had been a virgin up
until her uncle had sold her to Morris, despite the nasty touches from the men
in her life who should have protected her. Even though she had stayed with
Morris, that lowlife piece of shit for far too many years, and he had finally sold
her, she hadn’t been passed around like a piece of meat. The Brothers had saved
her—all of those women, in fact—before it had gone down that road. But she kept
her mouth shut. It wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.

“You’re too young to be in this kind of lifestyle.”

She straightened her shoulders. “And what kind of
lifestyle is that?”

He didn’t speak for what felt like long, grueling
minutes.
“The hard, unforgiving kind, Bailey.”

She swallowed roughly at the sound of hearing him
say her real name. She had never thought she’d like hearing a man speak it, but
yeah, she liked hearing Kink say it a lot. She shrugged, not knowing exactly
how to respond to that.

“How old are you anyway?
Twenty-three,
twenty-four?”
He took another step toward her.

“Twenty-one.”
She breathed out and realized she had nowhere else to go when the fridge
stopped her retreat.

He stopped when he was only inches from her, and
lowered his gaze down the length of her body. When he made the trek back up to
her eyes, he held her stare with his own for a second. “Yeah, you’re too damn
young to be in this kind of fucking life. And you’re really too young for me,
Bailey.”

“My name is Cookie.” She said that on a breath,
knowing it was a damn lie. She liked hearing him saying her real name, liked
the way it made her feel, too.

“My name is Kink, but I think I’d like hearing you
call me Logan.” He lifted his arms and placed his hands on the refrigerator
right by her head. “That’s my real name, Bailey. Logan Roberts, but Kink has
always been who I was.” He lowered his gaze to her lips. A moment of silence
passed between them. “Do I make you nervous because you’re afraid of me and
what I’ll do, or because you’re anticipating it?”

A visible shiver worked through her, and she slowly
licked her lips. He watched the act, and she wondered if he saw how hard her
nipples were. “Both.” She was afraid of him, and not just because of the way he
made her feel. This man was older than she was, probably close to twice her age
even. But the way he carried himself, like he was not afraid of what the world
held, made her realize that he could take so much from her. He probably
wouldn’t even realize he had left her behind when he was done.

“I shouldn’t even be here, you know.”

She didn’t say anything to his statement.

“But there is something special about you, Bailey,
something that makes me feel pretty fucking strange inside.”

Yeah, she knew the feeling. “Maybe you shouldn’t
explore that then.” Was she trying to push him away? It seemed like that, but
now that he was right in front of her, and she was inhaling the same air as he
was, there was this moment that her body was screaming at her to leave and not
look back. This man could hurt her, but not in the physical way that she had
experienced too many times already. He could hurt her heart.

“I should leave, but I’m not going to. In fact, I
haven’t wanted to be anywhere else in a long fucking time.” He leaned in an
inch closer, and she held her breath. “But do you want me to walk away from
whatever it is we are doing here, Bailey?” He stared right in her eyes, and she
wanted to look away from their intensity, but she couldn’t.

The smart thing to say was to tell him that yes,
starting something between them was so very wrong. He didn’t live a good life,
so wouldn’t being together make an explosion of disastrous proportions? But as
she opened her mouth to say that, something sparked inside of her. It was that
little voice that she had tried to bury so deep it would never resurface. She
had hidden it, and waited until it could never resurface again.

You’ve never
had anything in your life worth fighting for. But you want
Kink,
want to feel something that makes you alive. Stop being afraid, take off the
mask, and take what you want for the first time in your miserable life.

It was the voice of reason, of temptation and need,
and it was the one she didn’t let outside because it frightened her. She wanted
to live, and she was now free, had the man she wanted right in front of her,
and her fingers itched to bring him closer. She could hear her heart beating in
her ears, feel the heavy
thump-thump
in her throat, and actually felt the wave and push of her blood through her
veins. And like something possessed her, just took control of her and pushed
away all of her trepidation, apprehension, and nervousness, she reached up,
grabbed hold of the short hair at the base of his skull, and pulled him down
toward her. To say this was not normal behavior for her was the understatement
of the century, but it wasn’t because she had witnessed a lot of nasty stuff in
her lifetime. Maybe some would say she was sick in the head, damaged and broken
over the things she had witnessed at home, or the things Morris made her to do
him, but she always felt like she rose above that, didn’t let it define who she
was, and knew one day she would be able to be her own person.