Touch Slowly (Red Light: Silver Girls series) (11 page)

"Answer something for me." He put his feet up on the coffee table. "You come from a park, right?"

She tilted her head and frowned. "Yes."

"Did you grow up with Shayla and Nick?"

"My whole life. First in the lot next to theirs and when I was eight, in the same house after my mom left me," said Nova.

His chest tightened. He'd heard the same story many times, repeated by other women and men who had lived in the trailer park. Single mothers showed up to rent a lot space or moved into an existing trailer and ended up leaving their child behind with a relative for reasons that continued to escape him.

"I thought so." He lifted her hand off her thigh and strummed his thumb against the tender skin of her wrist. "The first night you showed up, the dogs started barking, and I shot the gun off to quiet them down. You never flinched."

Her brow softened. "Yeah, well, that's deeply engrained in my life. I've shot a gun off a time or two myself to get the dogs to shut up."

"Every park has them." He stroked her finger, taking in the smoothness and how dainty her hand looked compared to his. "But, you got out."

She laughed harshly, hiding her face from him.

"What?"

"Nothing." She exhaled, staring down at their hands linked together. "I've had years to think about why people stay living in a trailer, in a park, and put up with all the drama and struggles of living side by side other people their whole life. Each one of them wants to leave, and yet they never make steps to improve their life."

Emmett put his feet on the floor and let go of her hand.

"Shit," she mumbled. "I'm sorry. I'm not putting you down. I understand circumstances don't always—"

"You have your view of things. That's your right." Emmett paused. There were times when he thought of leaving. When the people kept him up all night for a week straight or when shit happened. A divorce, death, birth in the community upset the flow of life.

"Still, I was rude." Nova gathered his hand and brought it back to her lap. "It's not the life for me, but I admire my cousins. I think they're doing great, and they're happy. That's all that matters. Living in a trailer park is nothing to be ashamed of. It's honest living."

"Right." Emmett leaned forward. "You're here."

"To visit."

He dipped his head to get a better look at her eyes. "How much time do you have left of your vacation?"

"Work vacation." She grinned, and her teasing nature came out. "A little over two months, why?"

"When you go home to wherever you live do you have a man waiting for you?" He raised his other hand and lifted her chin, needing her eyes on him. "I'm asking if I kiss you again if another man will be putting his lips on you and taking what I'm going to give to you?"

"Would it bother you if I did have someone in my life," asked Nova.

His jaw ticked. "Yeah, I think it would."

"Why?"

He gazed at her mouth. "First, tell me there's no man in your life."

"There isn't," she whispered.

"Good." He tilted her head. "Then you're mine for the rest of your vacation."

"Work vaca—"

He captured her mouth and deepened the kiss when her tongue made the first appearance. Her warmth encompassed him, and he closed his eyes. Soft lips pressed against his, matching his desire to take more. Take everything she wanted to hand him. Take her places she'd never been. Take what he wanted. Take her.

His pulse raced, and he held her firmly in his hands. He wanted to keep her from walking out of his trailer. Aware of his strength, he fought holding her too tight. An uncomfortable rush to keep her from walking out of his trailer took a backseat to the hell she created with her mouth.

There was no way he'd stop with one kiss.

He had to figure a way to keep her.

She slipped her hands around his side and pressed herself closer.

He leaned ahead, holding her with no wiggle room to move away and she moaned into his mouth. He answered with a groan, stroking her tongue. The softness, the wetness, the heat, perfect in every way, he lost himself in a kiss that was bigger than the both of them.

T
he phone vibrated on the nightstand. Nova reached over, picked up the cell, and hovered her thumb over the screen. It was the third time Shayla had called in the last hour.

She swiped the screen knowing she only had twenty minutes until she had to turn the phone off and start work. "Hey."

"Finally. I can't believe you left me hanging in the car without telling me what is going on between you and Emmett," said Shayla.

Nova stood and with one hand, pushed her panties over her hips and stepped out of them. "I don't know."

"Come on. You were kissing him, and he followed you to my car and kissed you again. You were hanging all over him and ignored everyone else." Shayla's voice grew louder over the phone. "Did you tell him what you're doing in Federal?"

"No, and you can't say a word." She pulled her arm into her sweatshirt and wiggled the material over her head, putting the phone back at her ear. "Swear it, Shayla."

"You don't even have to ask. I know the dangers of anyone knowing." Shayla blew out her breath. "It's just that Emmett is a good guy. You can't jerk him around. A relationship between you two would be impossible. It's not fair to him."

Naked and cold, she walked over to her closet and removed her robe. "I know it's not, and I'm not the one who started anything. He's...well if you haven't noticed, he pretty much does what he wants."

"Didn't you tell him no?"

"Of course, I did."

"He forced you?"

Nova stood in the middle of the room. "No. Absolutely not."

"Then, you need to tell him you're not interested."

"I did. Several times. Then he kisses me and calls me a liar when I tell him we can't do any of that." Nova pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead. "Maybe I'll stay away from the trailer park. You can tell him I had to leave."

"No, because then I'd never get to see you. I can't go to you. You have to come to me. You only have a little more than two months left, and you'll leave again to somewhere far away, and who knows when I'll have a chance to see you again. Besides, you promised to come over tonight."

Shayla couldn't have it both ways. Emmett was her next door neighbor. The only time Nova could sneak away was after she finished taking customers and Silver Girls opened downstairs. Then she had to wait until the building closed at two o'clock and everyone went to sleep before she pressed her luck and returned to her room. All the while, playing hide and seek with the bikers that patrolled the area.

"Did you get some rest today?" asked Shayla.

"Yeah." Nova walked across the room and unlocked her door.

If five hours of restless sleep counted for anything.

She'd had trouble forgetting about the kisses she'd shared with Emmett. Her mind wouldn't shut off. She'd had many opportunities to stop him, even walking out of his house, but she'd stayed.

"What are you going to do?" asked Shayla.

"Ignore Emmett. If he touches me, I'll tell him to stop, and if he doesn't I'll leave, so he knows I'm serious." Nova turned on the warming container for the tube of lubrication she used to make sex almost unobtrusive. Men believed if her pussy was warm and wet she was aroused, and they got off quicker thinking they'd excited her when in fact it was all a distraction.

"Maybe you should trust Emmett and tell him the truth about what brought you to Federal. He's not one to gossip, and after he knows what you're doing, he won't want to touch you. Problem solved."

Nova's head pounded. "Thanks for that bit of advice," she muttered.

"You know what I mean. Emmett is a lot like Nick. They don't like trashy women and—"

"God, don't be a bitch." Nova brought the phone down and checked the time. "I only have ten minutes until I have to work. Don't make me mad."

"I'm not saying you're a—"

"I am, Shayla. I am what you're saying Emmett doesn't like, okay." She clamped her teeth together. All these years of working for the Network, being accepted by other ladies in the same business, and admired by men, and her cousin was the one to drill home the point that normal men, good men, would never want her.

"I'm sorry. Listen, come over tonight. You know I love you, no matter what you do," said Shayla. "I really am sorry."

Nova closed the drapes for the sliding glass door. "It's fine."

"Are you going to come over?"

Nova gazed at the closed door. "I'll try. It depends on how tired I am after work, okay?"

"Give me a call if you want me to pick you up under the viaduct." Shayla paused. "Bye."

"Shayla?" Nova sighed. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Nova disconnected the call, shut off the power, and put her phone in the top dresser drawer. She'd held off on telling Shayla her plan to leave the Network after her contract ran out at Red Light. There was no use getting her hopes up, and after her conversation with her cousin, she wondered if anyone would accept her in Federal.

Secrets were best kept hidden, and if former customers spotted her in the community after she quit, they had their reasons for keeping their affairs from getting out to their friends and neighbors. It'd make for an awkward situation for most if their dirty, little secrets got out.

A knock brought her out of feeling sorry for herself. Marci walked into the room and handed her a slip of paper.

"Thanks." Nova skimmed the list.

First customer
— Fifteen minutes, half and half, orders whispered.

Second customer
— twenty minutes, straight sex, on top.

Third customer
—fifteen minutes, Frenchie, orders.

She looked up at Marci, knowing the other three customers were the same as the first three. "Only six customers?"

"Look at your last customer." Marci stepped backward, smiled, and closed the door.

Nova lowered her gaze to the paper.

Sixth customer
— Forty-five minutes of him begging for sex, fifteen minutes of straight sex. The customer paid triple rate for the extra time. A proven tipper.

She laid the paper on the dresser. Adrenaline filled her, and she stretched up on her toes to burn the extra energy. She hated long sessions, but at triple pay, and hopefully a large tip, she was that much closer to her goal. The extra money gave her a cushion in case she had two slow days, making it possible to walk away from the Network in ten weeks.

The second knock of the evening came. She let the front of her robe fall open and propped her hand on her hip. Tiff opened the door and ushered the first customer inside.

"Rick, this is Nova." Tiff put her hand on Rick's arm. "Your time starts when I close the door. Enjoy."

Rick ogled Nova. She let her robe fall to the floor at the click of the latch and walked forward. Caught up in her angst with Shayla, she forgot to apply lubrication.

"Turn around," she whispered, twirling her finger in front of her.

Rick pivoted. When his back was to her, she quietly said, "Stop."

At fault for making a mistake, she picked up the warm lubrication, applied a drop to her index finger, and swept the lube along the slit of her pussy. She stepped into the bathroom, washed her hands, and returned to the room.

The customer hadn't moved.

"There's a condom on the dresser," she whispered. "Put it on."

Rick undid his belt, his zipper, and released his cock. She'd seen many dicks in her life, and the stubby hardness sticking out above his jeans barely registered.

He rolled the latex over his erection and waited for her to order him into the sexual act of his choice. She moistened her lips and stepped toe to toe with him and lowered her voice to a hush. "Sit on the bed, and don't touch me."

The man's body shuddered, and he took an unsteady step toward the bed. She followed him. Three strokes of her tongue on his condom covered cock would be all he could handle if he wanted to complete his session with her on top of him.

Instead of kneeling on the floor, she bent at the waist and took him in her mouth while he laid on the throw rug atop the bed. She never submitted to the customers. It was her job to make the men let go and hand all their control over to her.

Rick's legs twitched, and his head lifted to look down at her mouth going up and down on him. She sucked harder. He hissed between his teeth and panted. Skilled at knowing when a man was on the verge of letting himself go, she pulled off him.

"Stay there." She swallowed, tired of whispering.

He hooked his hands behind his head and stared at her climbing atop him. She gripped his cock only long enough to put him at her entrance and sank down on him. His heightened arousal forced him to close his eyes. She glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall and rode him steadily. Five more minutes and she'd have a five-minute break between customers.

Just enough time to text Shayla and let her know she wasn't coming over tonight. She'd spend the night clearing her head. If she faced Emmett now when she lacked sleep and coherent thought, she'd never be able to tell him to back off.

He was too appealing. Too sexy. Too dominating.

Once she gathered the strength to face him down, and he learned she wasn't available, the easier it would be to keep her private life separated from her professional life.

T
he roar of motorcycles lowered in intensity and went silent at once. Tawny grabbed Nova's arm and dragged her across the roof of the Sterling Building to join Kathryn and Tara. After spending two nights in at Red Light, hanging with the other ladies, she could no longer pretend that watching the bikers gather outside the back door of the building excited her.

Nova kneeled at the foot-high brick barrier at the edge of the roof. She stuck her head over the threshold and peered down at three rough-looking bikers. She'd seen them during her escape from the building and again on her return to Red Light.

"Look at the older one who limps." Tawny leaned her head closer to Nova. "I bet he's killed people. Even from up here, he scares me."