The Debt Collector: An Underground Bad Boys Romance Read online

  It was always a little painful to talk about her mother, but she wanted to focus on the positive more than dwell on what couldn’t be changed. No way was she going to fall in a bundle of tears and snot in front of Mr. Cold and Detached. After all, they were trying to establish some sort of trust between them to conclude a deal, settle her debt.

  Another sip, more silence. Tessa almost gritted her teeth at how long it took the man to make a move or say a thing.

  “I’m sorry.” At least there was a hint of compassion in his voice. Maybe more than just a hint. She had to be fair with the guy, he’d treated her right so far, and the way he’d helped his injured friend said a lot.

  “And you? You’ll probably not answer my questions about what you do for a living, although I suspect you make a lot of money because owning a building this posh in this side of town is anything but cheap. But I don’t care about money. What I really want to know, in fact, the only thing I want to know is, why you want to save Allison. And how you found out about her.”

  Locke put his mug down. “You’re asking a lot from me. I don’t trust people that easily as I’ve always found that very few of them could be trusted. How would you be different, Doctor?”

  Another dead-end. The man was always playing that game although Tessa believed that he trusted her more than he revealed, especially since he brought her here.

  “How many girls have you saved? And don’t tell me you don’t remember. With your OCD, you’ve probably memorized their names as well as their social security numbers.”

  From the look in his eyes he was insulted. “I don’t have OCD…”

  “One problem at a time, Mr. Locke. So? Answer me.”

  The man shrugged, clearly not willing to answer, so she supposed the number was important.

  “Out of all the people you’ve saved, how many have you brought here?”

  “None. I don’t bring anybody here. I send them to safe-houses where they are taken care of and protected.”

  Tessa nodded, taking a sip from her mug. “See?”

  And now he was thrown off. “What?”

  “You trust me. Admit it. If you didn’t, you would never have hidden me in your sanctuary.”

  He arched an eyebrow before shaking his head. “And I just remembered why I never bring women here. You want a summary? I’ll give it to you, but I warn you, my patience is wearing thin. I work as a trader, which allows me to have this sanctuary as you say. I’m good with numbers. I told you I took part in more shady activities years ago. I don’t anymore, but I still have ties, and use them to help the best I can. I’m bringing Luther down, it’s only a question of time. You walked into the line of fire at the worst possible time, but that won’t change my objective. It only complicates it, as I need to keep you safe from him, and negotiate like hell so you don’t become another one of the broken dolls I’ve saved from his cellar.”

  Tessa licked her lips, as she felt him growing restless and angry.

  “Do I trust you? I haven’t decided yet. If you follow my rules and you are still breathing when this is all over, I’ll say I trust you. As for telling you my name or who I truly am, it’s not a question of trust, so don’t bang on that closed door. I don’t need saving, I’m not broken. The deal is off, you stay here for six months and take care of Gage when he comes back from fights. This discussion is over.”

  He stood with a snarl. Somehow, she had pushed all his buttons, even if she didn’t know what they were yet. She was drawn to him on so many levels, it was different to anything she had experienced before in her life. Her heart went to out her patients, but she needed to stay alive, so she needed to consider his terms.

  Pushing herself up, she put her hands in her pockets. “Here’s the deal. I want to be involved in shutting Luther down. I want to know what you’re doing, every single thing. I need to call the hospital, and a few friends to tell them I’m okay and taking a vacation. Before you howl, everyone I know was begging me to take a break, so I doubt I’ll have opposition. Also, I want our arrangement to be for one month only, no matter how many times we have sex in a day. However, I’m an equal opportunity kind of gal, so I suggest a one-for-one orgasm plan.”

  He’d been listening with his back turned to her, but the mention of sex seemed to pique his interest. “You’re in no position to negotiate.”

  His low menacing voice could have shaken a weaker soul, but not her.

  “In that case, I want to thank you for saving my life, but I’ll go on my merry way.”

  Shaking his soapy hands, Locke turned. “You can’t leave without me unlocking the door.”

  “Am I your prisoner?”

  The hesitation spoke volume until he answered. “No, you’re not. Are you so eager to die or become one of those you’ve tried so hard to save?”

  Tessa knew how to play dirty too. “Are my terms so unacceptable?”

  Locke was obviously considering them, although he was a man used to having his way. “I don’t know that Luther won’t be a danger in a month.”

  “We better work fast in that case.”

  Locke frowned, not pleased at being pushed or rushed. “Are you always so bossy?”

  Tessa shrugged. “I am who I am. It’s kind of difficult to change me.”

  It was only a flicker, but his mouth quirked up. “That’s debatable. But I accept the deal.” When he offered his hand, something settled deep inside her, but the calm was quickly replaced by simmering heat.

  Her first instinct was to kiss him, but instead she reached for his waistband.

  Locke quirked an eyebrow but didn’t stop her. “Feeling impatient to start I see, Doctor.”

  But his smile turned to smoldering heat when she fell to her knees in front of him, pulling his pants down. “Yes, Mr. Locke. Impatient and hungry.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  His breath seized in his lungs as her knees hit the floor. With her curly brown hair a mess around her oval face, arousal coloring her cheeks and the way she licked her lips flushed all the frustration from his system, replaced by a familiar tingling low down on his spine.

  Part of him doubted he had made the right decision in bringing her here, but on the other hand, it had been the first time he’d ever strayed from his initial plan. When he succeeded in getting a girl away from Luther’s clutches, he had his own contacts help her safely disappear. But the doctor? She had been on his mind since he’d first seen her. There was no doubt that his body reacted to her, but what hooked his interest was when she poked fun at him, at his obsession for rearranging objects in straight lines, in order. But there wasn’t annoyance in her eyes, only amusement. That moment, he knew that he had to have her. Only, he hadn’t thought that a sudden turn of events would put her in his path so quickly. He couldn’t go against who he was but asking her for sex so blatantly was pushing his need for control a little too far, maybe even bringing him closer to Luther than he was comfortable with.

  As the doctor swirled her tongue around the head of his growing erection, he doubted his resolve. The woman was in danger, there was no doubt about it, and he wanted her safe. And now, he just wanted her. Scratch that. He craved her.

  Sex has always been a catharsis, until it almost destroyed him. He reminded himself to be careful, and not lose control.

  The words almost vanished from his head when the wicked doctor started sucking his pulsing head like a lollipop. Her hot mouth was way too talented for medicine. On the other hand, the image of her kneeling before any other man but himself, made him want to snarl. An unwelcomed thought he pushed away.

  Locke only looked at the woman, his fingers itching until he couldn’t resist her enticing curls and started to twist them. Those hazel eyes captivated his attention like no other, full of heated expectations. And he intended to fulfill them all.

  The good doctor caressed his calves, going up with every pass. Massaging up his legs, she ran her fingers over the sensitive skin inside his thigh, making him shiver. Locke would normally order her to
stop, but the tingling along with the pure pleasure of her mouth heightened the sensations. When she gently cupped his sack and worked his balls in her fingers, he had to grind his teeth and hang on for dear life to his self-control otherwise he would have exploded there and then. He looked down at the witch between his legs, and she groaned as she took him even deeper in her sinful mouth. The vibrations of her throat reverberated throughout his body, making him hiss in delight, on the razor’s edge of pleasure.

  “Doctor, slow down or I will get off.”

  With one last swirl, the doctor let him go, licking her lips in the process. “And is that a bad thing, Mr. Locke?” While she was talking, her hands still played with him. One hand snaked between his legs and started applying increasing pressure on the patch of skin just before his anus, stimulating his prostate, a sensation he knew from a completely different kind of sex game.

  Distracted, he didn’t see her take his cock deep into her mouth once more. In complete pleasure overload, he knew he could stop her or order her to slow down, but he felt too greedy to care. He should tell her that he was about to blow, but words seized in his throat. In an ultimate move to tell her, he grabbed her hair, trying to pull her away, but the way she started to deep throat him made him forget anything else, and instead, he used his leverage to pull her even closer.

  The burning low down his back spread like wildfire and his hips jerked as he felt his balls draw up and tighten. It was her tongue swirling on the underside of his cock and her finger pressed against his asshole that was the trigger and he howled. Jets poured into her mouth and she swallowed all of him, making his head swim and his body unsteady.

  The doctor kept sucking with the same intensity for a little while longer, almost to the point of pain, and decreased the pressure as he slowly softened and slipped out of her lips.

  Locke had trouble finding his balance. The only thing that helped was keeping his eyes locked with those of the sexy woman at his feet. Breathing hard, he saw the fiery lust still burning in her hazel irises and despite the satisfied relaxation invading his limbs, the craving for this woman reignited deep inside his belly. One that made him restless and twitchy, the opposite of his normal self. Now he realized why he had made the stupid proposition; so he could fuck her until he got her out of his system.

  As he helped the doctor to her feet and pulled up his pants to stay precariously on his trim hips, Locke turned her, so he cradled her lush frame from behind, his large hands splayed over her soft belly. The way she shivered and tilted her pelvis back at him confirmed she was ripe for the picking. Pushing her wild mane of curls aside, exposing the pale skin of her neck, he ran his tongue over it until he reached the shell of her ear. Immediately, she froze waiting.

  “Doctor, you had your fun, now it’s my turn.” His hands went to the fly on her pants before slowly pushing them and her panties down her hips to her knees. “Now, bend over and put your hands on the coffee table. And most importantly, don’t let go.”

  Tessa wanted to fight the command, part of her mortified to expose herself like that to a virtual stranger. Even one she trusted. However, that was the deal, one her body craved like no other. Her brain screamed that she must be out of her mind, but it didn’t matter. She’d agreed to this insanity and wasn’t the type of woman to back away from a challenge. Despite the awkwardness of the situation, she lifted her chin and decided that the only way was all the way. Removing her pants and panties completely, she pulled her sweater off before unhooking her bra and slinging it across the room. There was no going back.

  Her heart beating so fast, it made her head spin, she bent over, both hands firmly on the low table. Not only was she exposed like never before in her life, but her slick arousal at the situation was blatantly on display.

  “Breathe.” His voice was low and getting closer, which made her tense. “Breathe, Doctor. You look fucking hot like that. Do you know I still remember your taste on my lips?”

  Even though he approached, Tessa tried to focus on getting air to her lungs. However, she couldn’t help but jump just a little when his warm hand touched her lower back caressing her spine in a slow movement, her body started to warm up, seeking the touch that was both soothing and arousing.

  The touch changed as his fingertips started to trace her spine, awakening goosebumps on their way before sliding through her butt crack. Surprised, Tessa was about to turn when his fingers, instead of lingering, started to circle her lips, spreading her fluids, the touch way too soft for her taste.

  Groaning, Tessa pushed back against his hand, wordlessly asking for more, but Locke was having none of it and smacked her ass cheek before grabbing the flesh with his other hand.

  “Stop moving, Doctor. If you move again, I will stop.”

  Tessa was about to turn once more when he dipped a finger inside her.

  “Wet, hot, and tight. I imagine you’ll squeeze my cock like a fucking fist.”

  With one, then two fingers, he continued to pump her, back and forth at first, then circling inside her sheath. A distant thought reminded her not to move, but the random teasing, as he tested what would arouse her, triggered a response. Not knowing what he was about to do, or how he would touch her next, left her in a state of anticipation. As if the longer he had his hands on her, the most desperate she became, until his fingers settled and stopped moving. Well, almost. Two fingertips started to rub insistently in a small circle inside her. Tessa knew what he was trying to do, but her g-spot wasn’t the most sensitive part of her body. Even with her lovers, she had never reached orgasm that way, but the sensation was kind of nice. She welcomed the pleasurable pressure making her body tingly and warm.

  As she settled into the sensation, she barely noticed him removing his other hand from her bottom until she felt him press his palm against her mound, smashing her clit. Electricity coursed through her veins and as Tessa shivered, Locke removed his hand once more and swatted her ass. It stung and immediately reminded her that she wasn’t to move. Still facing forward, she felt him kiss the exact spot he had spanked, and he started to caress her again, his fingers making their way inside her, stimulating her with a steady rhythm on that rough spot of skin inside. Now that she knew what to expect, Tessa locked her knees when she felt his palm hovering over her mound. This time, he switched gears, and instead of pressing, she felt his fingers pushing at her clitoral hood, until two fingers slid on both sides of her love button. God knew how she kept still at the sensation. With dexterity, Locke adjusted the pace of both his hands. The speed and pressure never remained steady, on the contrary; sometimes, only one hand moved, while the other stayed still. Sometimes, his hands flew over her flesh with such speed, her vision blurred. And he wasn’t touching her clit directly yet! Only pulling and pushing at the skin surrounding the small organ, he stimulated her step by step, always pushing her forward. At some point, one caress heightened the other, blurring the increasing pleasure to the point where she didn’t know which part of her body responded to his touch.

  Still blind to what he was doing, she felt his lips peppering her spine. In her current state, her skin so sensitized, it felt like burning pricks of white heat, his stubble probably leaving red marks.

  “You are still holding back. I can sense it in you.” Another kiss, and this time, his tongue soothed the burn before repeating his torment. “There is nothing else but me, here. I’m the only one looking at you, touching you. Desperate to have you trust me enough to let go. Not like you orgasmed earlier, that was the proper and logical doctor. I want the woman.” His fingers rasped against her clit and she whimpered. “I want the woman who taunted me, who confronted me. Who fell on her knees taking my cock into her greedy mouth and made me cum so hard I was lost between her lips. I want you to let go, to cream my hand and scream in rapture as I pleasure you. You know I’m only here for your pleasure, don’t you? Use me. Use my body.”

  The hand on her clit disappeared, but Tessa barely noticed it, as the fingertips inside her became more a
nd more insistent. As he rubbed, he started pushing down and the sudden movement felt as if he had impaled himself inside her. Fisting her hands on the table, Tessa hunched her shoulders, trying to stay still as a storm was brewing between her legs.

  “Yes, you’re so close, aren’t you? I can feel how you squeeze my fingers, how you breathe, how your body shakes. Don’t you feel the need for release? Can you taste it?”

  “Yes, please!” Tessa didn’t recognize her own voice. It was breathless and imploring. Almost a sob when it escaped her lips.

  He kissed her spine again and again, keeping her on an edge she didn’t recognize. One hand traced her spine once more before tangling in her hair. Closing his hand into a fist, he tugged, making her arch her head into his unbreakable hold. Breathing was becoming more and more difficult in that strained position, but she didn’t care. The center of her world was his fingers leading her to climax. And yes, at this moment, she could almost taste it.

  Her body wild, she didn’t care about his command to remain still and pushed her hips back against his fingers. It was like a beat drumming between her legs, and she craved it now. Craved release and the release he kept but a hair’s breadth away. She was at his mercy and a willing submissive to his orders. To her surprise, his low voice was the trigger she longed for.

  “Now, release. Come for me.”

  The sensation was so sudden and unexpected, Tessa cried out as her body seized. Unable to move, her vision blurry, she sobbed, the sound animalistic, unhinged. His fingers were relentless, spurring her pleasure, and as heat exploded between her legs, it felt like falling. Something warm ran down her legs, but she couldn’t focus. Only then did Locke gentle his touch, easing his rough fingers out of her. Bereft, she moaned, unable to express herself. As if sensing her feeling of loss, he cupped her sex, the pressure steadying.