SHOOT: A Novel (23 page)

By the following
night, Emma had still not heard anything from Nathan and she certainly wasn’t
ready to reach out to him first. She was laying back on her couch, one leg
draped over the armrest, wondering how she even wound up as a bet taker in the
underground fighting ring when her phone rang. She ignored it at first.

It had all started
when she met Nick, but the way she wound up with him was still a fuzzy memory.
For the first time ever she wished that had never happened because then she
wouldn’t be sitting home alone wondering if she still had a boyfriend or not.
She would have never met and fallen for Nathan and she certainly wouldn’t have
been part of a lifestyle she now wanted to get out of more than anything else.

It was with that
thought that it dawned on her how unfair she had been with Nathan the previous
night. She had thrown in his face that fighting was more important to him than
she was, all the while she had feared the break up between them because she
wanted to get out. She was already choosing her exit to California over her
relationship with Nathan. She sat there thinking of what a hypocrite she had
been and lamenting how insensitive some of her accusations were during the
fight when her phone rang again.
   

This time,
something in her perked awake and she lurched forward in the hopes that it was
Nathan calling her. When she saw Nick’s name flashing across her screen her
heart sank. In an instant she had a deep feeling of disappointment mixed with
anxiety all at once. She inhaled and felt light headed from the overwhelming
feelings. Reaching out with a slightly trembling hand, she answered the call.

“Hello,” she
murmured into the phone. Nick was the last person she wanted to speak to, but
she knew it wasn’t a good idea to ignore his call, especially not now that he
knew she was with Nathan. Or maybe he just assumed she was screwing Nathan for
fun. Either way, he knew there was something between them and she didn’t want
the man she loved to pay the consequences of her having been mixed up with
Nick.

“Emma,” Nick’s
voice came in, deep and sure as ever. “I’d say it’s a pleasure but we’d both
know that’s a lie.” Emma cringed.

He was even more
of an asshole now than when she had dated him, something she had thought was
quite impossible. “You need to come into the office,” he instructed.

Although she
assumed he was talking about
his
office, the fancy office that kept up the image of his thriving business, she
wasn’t entirely sure. Either way, the tone he took with her left a bad taste in
her mouth. It was as if he thought he had some sort of ownership over her. He
knew she wasn’t in a position to anger him, much less defy him, and she hated
it.
 

“Now?”

“
Now
,” he emphasized before promptly
hanging up.

Emma jerked her
phone away from her face and looked at the screen with disgust. She couldn’t
stand him, but she really thought she had no other choice but to go meet with
him. She stood up and walked into her bedroom, opting for a lavender button
down shirt and a pair of black jeans. Those were the first things her eyes fell
on and she really had no interest in dressing to impress Nick.

 
She swung the leather strap of her purse over
her shoulder and walked out the door to head down to the parking garage of the
apartment building she lived in. She slid into the driver’s seat of her car and
took a deep breath, head leaning back against the headrest. She had absolutely
no clue what was to come of her meeting with Nick, but she was sure it was
nothing good.

Emma turned on her
car and went down the familiar route to his office, trying to ignore the gross
feeling that came over her at how well she knew the way to begin with. She
didn’t want to think of the times and reasons she had gone to his office in the
past. Once she was parked, she sent him a message to let her in. His office was
in a penthouse of a big city skyscraper and, as such, she needed to be buzzed
in to go up.

It took nearly ten
minutes for her to finally step into his office.

“Shut the door,”
he instructed without so much as a sideways glance toward her.

She did as she was
told and stood with her back against the door, hand firmly holding the handle.
He lifted his hand and motioned with two fingers for her to sit across from
him. She took a deep breath and walked over, trying to look as composed as
possible. The truth was she was very worried about what he could possibly say, or
even do.

Nick continued
writing on whatever paper he was scribbling on when she had first walked in,
completely ignoring her presence. She found it dismissive, rude, and annoying.
He was the one who had insisted she visit his office immediately.

Tired of waiting,
she cleared her throat and asked, “What did you need?”

It was hard to
keep her attitude to a minimum. Whatever it was he wanted, she didn’t want to
risk angering him.

She saw him smirk
before finally setting down his pen, which easily looked like it could cost
more than a month’s rent for her one-bedroom apartment. He tugged at the cuffs
of his suit and straightened his tie before standing up and walking around the
desk to lean against it in front of where she sat. Emma looked straight ahead,
trying to ignore the scent of his expensive cologne or how close he was to her.
It was an intimidation method and she knew it.

“A very special
guest is coming to your little boyfriend’s next fight,” he informed her. It was
sickening the way the words ‘little boyfriend’ rolled off his tongue so
patronizingly. “Or fuck buddy. Hookup. I don’t know what he is to you,” he
added with a mocking chuckle. He was trying to get a rise out of her. It was
working but, for the time being, she was managing to at least keep it all
bottled up.

Emma cleared her
throat, but said nothing. She wasn’t about to dignify his insults with a
response. He didn’t need or deserve any sort of clarification. It was enough
she had to bite her tongue, especially for the sake of Nathan, but she wouldn’t
give in to the extent of playing along to his gross little game.

“I’m sure you
remember Alex Moretti?”

This time it was a
question and she easily picked up on the fact he wanted an answer from her. She
knew it didn’t really matter to him whether or not she knew who he was, he just
wanted to know she was at his mercy. Whatever he demanded from her, he would
get– at least until he reached the line she had mentally drawn up. She nodded.
Of course Emma knew who Alex Moretti was. He was a rich Italian mobster who
owned another fighting ring in Chicago. Although it was different than The
Ring, that didn’t mean he was the unspoken rival of Nick.

Nick leaned
forward and sneered, “I asked you a question.”

Emma looked up to
make eye contact. It took everything not to jerk her head back upon finding how
much he had actually leaned in. His gaze was dangerous; the sneer curling
around his lips pronounced. But Emma held strong and responded with a simple,
“Yes.”

If she had to give
in to him, it would be at least somewhat on her terms. If it were up to her, he
would have no clue that her heart was racing out of fear and discomfort at that
moment.

“Well, he’s coming
to watch your little boyfriend’s next big fight and I have a job for you.” He
stood up and leaned forward, placing his hands on either armrest to trap her in
the chair. Emma held her breath and looked into his eyes, icy expression in
place like always. “I think even you should manage this, at least if you know
what’s good for you.” His voice was low and a cold shiver ran down her spine.
Every word dripped with a threat she didn’t even want to begin to comprehend.

“What is it?” she
asked, wishing her voice wasn’t at all shaky. But it was and it had given away
how she was feeling inside, at least a little.

She saw a little
satisfaction flicker in his eyes at the sound of her wavering voice.

“Alex Moretti’s
bet needs to be on Nathan,” he warned her. It was unreasonable for him to
expect her to make sure that happened, but she knew better than to argue or
question it. He raised one of his hands up and placed his index finger under
her chin. She cringed and backed away, causing him to chuckle. “Aw come on, you
used to
love
that.” He leaned even
more in her face, “Hun.”

Emma stared him
down, but knew the disgust and even fear in her eyes were obvious. She wanted
to tell him to screw off, walk out of the office, and disappear but knew damn
well that was as far from a viable option as anything could get.

“Here’s the
catch,” he muttered, “That little boyfriend of yours? Well, he better throw the
fight. He goes down in the third. And it’s on you,” he pressed the tip of his
index finger into her forehead, “to make sure that happens. Even you have to be
good for that.”

She saw his eyes
flicker down to her breasts. She had tried to conceal every bit of cleavage,
but with breasts as generous as hers and with him standing over her, it was
impossible. Slowly, he ran his index finger down the side of her face, down her
neck, until he was slightly pushing the top of her shirt open. She felt his
finger right above her cleavage line, not touching her but close enough that
she could still feel his heat. She gulped as Nick chuckled.

“Yeah, I’m sure
you
can
do
that.” He flicked the shirt open a bit and dropped his gaze to
her breasts, now a bit exposed.

There was no way
to hide her shaking body, trapped in the chair by his body. She wanted to
scream. She wanted to slap him and run out, but she was frozen. It was as if
she had been glued to the chair in fear. She hated to think how much further he
would take this. If his goal had been to intimidate and belittle her, he had
far surpassed it.

Right at that
moment he stepped back and motioned toward his office door for her to leave.
There was no room for questions or complaints. She had received her
instructions and she knew she had to make damn sure she completed the job or it
meant more trouble than she could imagine for both herself and Nathan.

She was starting
to get in over her head. Never before had she wanted to leave so bad.

Emma sat in her
car for some time debating on what move to make next. She knew she had to warn
Nathan, but wasn’t sure when or how. Their fight could be placed on the back burner
for this. She grabbed her phone from her purse and called him.

“Hello.”

“Are you home?”
she asked, getting straight to the point.

She could tell
that startled him, but he went with it anyway. “Yes,” he responded.

“I’m heading
over.”

She ended the call
and turned on her car, peeling out of the parking lot in the direction of
Nathan’s apartment. She needed to tell him now and it had to be in person. This
wasn’t a small thing and it was definitely not a conversation that could wait a
second longer. As she drove, she hoped more than anything that he wouldn’t
blame this on her. After their argument last night, she thought it was a very
real possibility Nathan would think it was her fault that Nick planned this.

She pulled into a
guest parking spot and ran up the stairs to his apartment. Even though she had
a key, she knocked on his door. Despite the urgency of the matter, the
weirdness between them wasn’t gone and she didn’t feel at the liberty to just
stick her key in the lock and walk into his place. Nathan opened the door,
looking perplexed. He was wearing only pajama pants and his hair was messy. He
was either already in bed or lounging around on his couch. Had the matter not
been so serious, she would have looked at his chiseled arms and six-pack abs in
appreciation. Instead, she pushed past him into the apartment and turned to
look at him. Once she made sure he had locked the door behind him, she opened
her mouth.

“I just came from
Nick’s office.”

It was only then
that she noticed the expression on his face. It had already been there when he
opened the door. He looked frustrated and worried at the same time. She had a
sinking feeling that he already had some idea of what was going, something that
was only confirmed when he finally spoke.

 
“He talked to me,” Nathan told her.

Emma starred at
him silently, waiting for him to elaborate. He went on to tell her, with a lot
of fury, the plan Nathan had proposed. Or, rather, instructed him to follow
along with.

“What did you
say?” she asked. She had another sickening feeling he had done exactly what she
would have expected him to, only it wouldn’t be a smart move on his part.

“What else? Told
him to go fuck himself. I’m not throwing a fight.”

He was glaring at
her, but she knew it was because of the situation. Whatever anger he had toward
her the previous night had disappeared completely to make room for this.

“Nathan,” she said
unsurely, taking a step toward him. She wanted to reach out and place her hands
on him in an effort to calm him down, but she knew it would be in vain. Not
only that, but things were still weird between them. She still didn’t even know
if they were together or not. Even if that issue was on the back burner for the
time being, that didn’t mean it had ceased to exist.

He looked over at
her. “What?” he asked, a bit more hostile than she knew he meant.

“I don’t think
that was a good idea,” she told him. She cleared her throat and starting
twisting her hands together. “I mean… I think you should just do it. I know it
goes against what you believe, but Nick is a dangerous man. More than you know.
He’s the type who won’t take no for an answer and if you dare defy him–”

Nathan walked
forward and pressed his index finger to her lips to silence her. He looked deep
into her eyes, “Everything will be okay.”

He was strong and
always the type of man to take charge. He never backed down. Emma knew these
things about him and knew he was talking about the situation, but something about
the way he was looking at her and the tone of his voice when he said it implied
he meant something else, too. She felt as if he was trying to reassure her that
everything would be okay between
them
as much as he was trying to promise her he would be okay when it came to
Nick
.

She felt a
fluttering in her chest and her breath caught in her throat. He moved his
finger from her lips in favor of cupping her cheek with his hand.

 
“Nathan,” Emma whispered. He took a step
forward and leaned in closer to her. She could feel his hot breath on her face.
Without thinking about it, she placed her hands on his chest. Not once did they
break eye contact until he leaned all the way in, bridging the gap between them
and pressing his lips to hers. Although it had been just a day she already
missed him so much, but she knew it was because of the uncertainty surrounding
their relationship. And as she moved into the kiss the uncertainty didn’t
leave.

Her questions were
still in mind and everything that had come up during their argument was still
valid, but it didn’t matter at that moment. Nothing mattered as much as the
feel of his lips so perfectly molded to hers. She moved her hands up to rest
them on his shoulders, marveling at how incredibly smooth his skin was and how
firm his muscles felt.

Nathan kissed the
corner of her mouth and then her jaw before kissing her ear and whispering, “I
love you.”

A single tear
escaped the corner of her eye and slid down her cheek as she whispered, “I love
you too.”

She held her
breath when his lips touched her neck and then moved down to her collarbone.
This was inevitably leading to sex. She wanted it, not only because she found
him irresistible, but also because she needed to feel him close now more than
ever. He kissed down the middle of her chest until she felt his lips brush
against the top of her cleavage. The same spot where Nick had violated her
using his gaze and his words was now a feeling of desirable weakness.

Nathan moved his
hand down and started unbuttoning her blouse, slowly, until it had fallen open.
He leaned back and looked at her exposed bra and cleavage spilling out of it.
Although it was just a plain, white bra the desire in his eyes was obvious. He
made her feel sexy no matter what.

He pushed her
blouse off her shoulders and she shook it off her arms until it fell to the
floor. He reached around her back and unclasped her bra, pulling the straps
slowly down her arms. Goosebumps erupted on her skin as his fingertips trailed
slowly down her arms. He pulled her bra straps off with a smile playing along
the corners of his lips. Even the slightest touch of his made her feel weak in
the knees. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced.

He placed his
mouth close to her and drew in a breath as he ran his hands through her flowing
natural red hair. His hands trailed down her face, over her shoulders and
finally down her arms. He grabbed one of her hands and turned her around,
pulling her in so that her back was pressed against his chest. Her breath
stilled as he placed both hands on her stomach and moved them up until he
cupped her breasts, slowly starting to massage them.

 
As he placed his lips against the side of her
neck, one hand moved down to unzip her jeans. Once they were unbuttoned, he
stepped back and turned her back around to face him. He knelt down in front of
her and pulled down her jeans along with her panties in one, swift movement.
Emma gave a little wiggle of the hips to help him tug them down her thighs
before she stepped out of them. As soon as she kicked her jeans away Nathan
tapped the insides of her thighs for her to open her legs.

As soon as she
did, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against her mound before moving
down and running the very tip of his tongue along her slit. She trembled and
sucked in a quick breath. She was already wet and he was only going to get her
soaking in no time. It was rare for Nathan to go down on her but, when he did,
it was amazing. He lapped up her juices before sliding his tongue inside her
and moving it in gentle circles.

She had to grab
onto the top of his head with one hand and his shoulder with the other to keep
from falling, knees bent in a crouch. “Oh,” she moaned out slightly more
high-pitched than usual.

“Oh, Nathan.” He started
easing his tongue in and out of her, every once in a while licking upward while
inside to drive her wild. Just when she felt her knees might buckle, he pulled
his tongue out r and pressed a sloppy, wet kiss to one of her hipbones.

He stood up and
kissed her jaw again before taking her lips into a fiery kiss. She could still
taste herself on his tongue when he slipped into her mouth, but she didn’t
care. It only turned her on even more. He eased her legs, one at a time, around
his hips so that he could carry her over to his bedroom. She loved that about
him. He could carry her whenever he wanted.

 
Nathan placed her down on the bed and stood
back to take off his pajama pants and boxers, his big cock springing free as he
kicked his pants away. Emma couldn’t help but look at his manhood and lick her
lips. Without a word, she got on all fours and crawled forward until her face
was right in front of his cock. She licked her lips again as she looked up into
his eyes before opening her mouth and taking the tip of him into her mouth. She
gave a pert suck before slowly taking in his entire length into her mouth.
Nathan groaned in pleasure as she looked up to see, with delight, that he had
his eyes clenched shut.

Her head rocked
back and forth, working his cock in and out of her mouth before picking up the
pace. She felt his hand land on the back of her head and grab a lock of her
hair, eventually directing how fast and deep she should take him. She closed
her eyes and let out a muffled moan against him.

Nathan groaned
again and rocked her head faster before he started thrusting his hips.
Eventually, he was holding her head steady with both hands as he thrust in and
out of her mouth. That was another thing he did rarely, but when he did she was
perfectly okay with it. She loved it when he took charge. Finally, he pulled
his cock out of her entirely and moved her body around so that she was still on
all fours, only now the head of his cock was playfully brushing up and down her
soaking wet slit.

He shoved in all
at once without warning, making her body collapse forward onto the bed. She
struggled to get back up as he continued to thrust in and out of her at a rapid
pace. The rhythmic slapping of his hips against her ass filled the room as she
clutched at the bed covers.

There was need in
his thrusting, but she could also sense the pent up anger he had. All that
energy was going into every one of his thrusts. She gripped the bed sheets
tightly as he continued thrusting in and out of her quickly, not going all that
deep. He finally slowed down and pushed himself deep into her, almost hitting
her sweet spot and driving her crazy with the teasing. He reached around and
started rubbing her clit as he continued bucking against her. Emma didn’t even
know how to handle the sensations and she eventually collapsed forward on the
bed, hips still up in the air for him.

“Fuck,” she cried
out with a panting breath into the bed sheets.
 

Nathan started
rubbing one of her ass cheeks with his hand playfully pinching her from time to
time. She knew exactly what he was aching for and to say she didn’t want it was
a lie.

“Do it,” she cried
out. Without another moment he reached back and gave her a sharp smack on her
cheek. Emma hissed through her teeth as her skin flared red. There was nothing
she loved more than the perfect blend of pain and pleasure.

She let out a heavy
moan against a pillow. He hadn’t let up on the way he was thrusting deep into
her, almost hitting that sweet spot but purposely avoiding it. He shifted his
body and pushed his cock deep inside her, this time hitting her perfectly. She
cried out in sheer pleasure as he swung his hand back for another punishing
slap that bounced off the walls.

She grabbed the
pillow tighter and placed it under her face, her fingers curling around the
edges so tightly her knuckles turned white.

His hips smacked
against her stinging skin as he drove his cock deeper. She cried out, making
every effort to relax her muscles and give in to the pain and pleasure. He
gripped her hips and jabbed deep inside, forcing a pained whimper to escape
her.

Emma moaned loudly
into the pillow, her body shaking.