Up in Smoke (Kisses and Crimes Book 2) Read online

  I barked. “Stop fucking talking about Sienna’s ass.”

  “We could talk about Penelope’s ass.”

  “Look at Penelope’s ass, and I’ll throw your fucking bow-tie into the street.” I lowered my voice. “With your neck still attached.”

  And then, within sixty seconds, after another expletive or two was exchanged, I did what I’d been dying to do.

  I took off.

  Hell and all of its demons couldn’t have stopped me.

  I’d barely said goodbye to Jeff and Sienna, bypassed every rich tax-dodger in a tux amidst the theater’s second floor mezzanine, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of Pea, looming within ear-shot.

  Rocking back and forth on my heels, I listened to the tail end of a dull conversation in which she had been pulled.

  Some white-haired bureaucrat was talking her ear off, and with Chip preoccupied by one suit-and-tie type or another, I took comfort in the fact that I could get her alone.

  I just decided to wait my turn.

  The geezer in front of me sneezed, blowing hard out of his nose.

  “Excuse me, young lady,” he said to Penelope. “Hope I didn’t spray you.”

  “Nonsense, Congressman Denton. You couldn’t have helped it. There’s way too much hairspray in the room. One whiff of the ladies in here, and you’ll think you’ve come down with an asthma attack. We’re practically swimming in a sea of oil sheen and Chanel Number Five.”

  She laughed musically.

  The affable older gentleman joined her, hacking with a cough. We both knew his sneezing and wheezing was more a product of poor health than it was aromatic aerosols, but I liked the way Pea ignored it.

  She was poised in everything she did—a certified pro. She was as elegant in an opera as she was tough in a courtroom, and through it all, she remained that New York City street chick that I’d known and watched grow.

  Loose tendrils framed her gorgeous face and as she looked attentively at the congressman, I realized I couldn’t wait any longer.

  I had to talk to her… no matter what my errant mouth might say.

  I reached in, touching her arm. Her expression told me that she wasn’t shocked to see my face.

  She snatched her arm away… just as my fingers had grazed her skin. Her eyes went stoic.

  At that moment, I knew she’d seen me with Veronica. I wanted to kick myself for being so careless.

  “Will you excuse me, Congressman,” she directed towards the false-toothed fellow. “I’ve been having so much fun with you that I forgot to spare a word for my…”

  “Doctor,” I interrupted, shaking the geriatric gentleman’s hand. “Just checking on my patient. Making sure the Chanel doesn’t drag her into a fit of sneezes.”

  The man bowed out gracefully, and when he stepped away, I replaced his position with my own, standing where he stood in front of Penelope, facing a wrath I could have seen coming from a mile away.

  Her cobalt blue irises were furious.

  She clenched her teeth.

  “You have some nerve speaking to me,” she grated.

  “You have no idea.”

  “You try to run me out of town, not once but twice. You ambush me at my office and insert yourself back into my life without an apology. And then…” She raised her voice, quickly checking herself. “You show up at the most exclusive networking spot in town with some woman.” She glanced around. “In front of my boss, my peers…” She stepped closer. “You aren’t welcome here.”

  Her voice was a violent hiss.

  It hit me like a knife to the stomach, twisting my insides. It wasn’t the anger in her intonation that dug so deeply…

  It was the hurt.

  I’d hurt her when I left. I’d hurt her when I tried to make her leave.

  And I never got the chance to explain why…

  “Listen to me, Pea…”

  “No, you listen to me,” she cut in. “Now, this is a networking event for the Governor—my boss. Now, if you want to jerk me around, pick me up like some toy and then discard me again, you can go play by yourself.”

  She clutched her purse, switching it between her hands.

  “In Hell, for all I care…” Her tiny nostrils flared. “Because that’s exactly where you’re going.” She shook her head. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

  She rushed past me without another word. Chip was too caught up in his own conversation to recognize that his date was bailing.

  But I wasn’t.

  That was my woman walking away. And I couldn’t let her do it without her knowing the truth.

  I pursued her without pausing.

  I was almost on her heel when she opened the women’s restroom door. A slew of women came traipsing out as I came trucking in.

  They glanced at me, but I didn’t stop.

  I ran in.

  “Pea,” I called as I power-walked through the stylish sitting room inside. “Penelope!”

  Her voice was no longer angry. Just meek… and emotional.

  I couldn’t tell where it was coming from, but it hurt me to hear it.

  “Just go away, Jax. Leave, before you make me more of a mess than you already have…”

  She was in a stall.

  I put my hands on the door outside of the one she was in. I stepped close to the dark wood, placing my forehead against the barrier, almost wanting to put my face right through it.

  I wouldn’t invade her space unless she wanted me to.

  I was already pressing my luck.

  “Pea, you don’t understand.”

  “Yes, I do understand,” she called out. “It was the promise we made, remember? This is ‘just business.’ I’m a complication. And you don’t do complications, right? You get rid of them. What was that you told Bishop when we were teens…? ‘If it wasn’t sex, money, or career, you couldn’t give a fuck,’ right? Well, you got some of the sex. Sorry that my pussy isn’t made out of hundred dollar bills. Maybe that would have gotten you to stick around…”

  I slammed my hand on the stall door, surprising her—and me—with my rage.

  “Goddammit, Pea! That’s what you think this is about? Me running you off? Me trying to get laid or paid? You aren’t a fucking transaction to me, and we’re too fucking old to play these games. It’s been fifteen years of running around each other…” I hesitated, growing angrier. “Regardless of how we’ve tried to treat each other, regardless of how we tried to keep ‘us’ strictly business, I’m not going to let you treat me like a contract or… or a settlement. This is real. I’m not trying to find the better deal, Penelope…”

  I growled into the surface of the wooden door.

  “You are the better deal. You’re the best fucking thing that ever happened to me.”

  I spoke softer.

  “And I know I’ve disappointed you so many times before. I disappointed myself… because that’s all I was made to believe I’ve been.”

  And there it was.

  My father’s voice coming out of my mouth. It was always ricocheting around in my head. It had been for years.

  But to hear it come off of my lips somehow made it real.

  I didn’t trust myself. How could I expect Pea to?

  I had always pushed her away because I feared what I was capable of. I feared that I was the unworthy fuck-up my father made me believe I was.

  So far I had done nothing to prove him wrong.

  My best friend was gone, and I didn’t have the power to stop it. The very least I could do was do right by Penelope, help her find justice for Chambers… and save her from Senator Fletcher while I still could.

  I pressed my hands harder into the stall.

  “This isn’t a chapter we can just close, Pea. Our story isn’t over. We aren’t over.” I lowered my voice, feeling my vibrato shaking. “There’s so much fucking more to us.”

  Several seconds passed, and then she opened the door.

  Her hair was no longer up but loose. A blush ran along th
e length of her neck, making her red hair seem even redder.

  Her mascara was running. Her pretty face was tear-streaked. And with the raw emotion unhidden in her eyes, I knew she had never looked more beautiful.

  She glared helplessly at me. “What ‘more’?

  “This ‘more.’”

  And then I kissed her… and by the fucking grace of God, she kissed me back.

  It was all the permission I needed. I almost wish it had started out slow.

  Because we came together fast and greedy, clinging to each other as if we were one another’s air.

  I inhaled her kiss, as Penelope devoured mine. I wasn’t sure I was even breathing.

  One hand in her hair, another above her ass, I backed Penelope’s body further into the stall, grabbing her. I bunched the fabric at her back with my hands, squeezing her waist into mine as I pushed a growing hard-on between her thighs.

  I went for her neck, nipping it.

  A slit ran along the chiffon of her elegant gown, down her leg and nearly up to her hip, and I began to play with the open expanse with my fingers—digging their tips into her skin, rubbing her upper thigh as I slid a hand beneath her dress and splayed it across the delicate areas that lay behind it.

  I didn’t stop until she moaned my name. I reached below her panty line.

  Her slit was silky—hot… and so fucking wet.

  And I needed it now.

  Rubbing my hand down and beneath her lace thong, I cupped her mound with my palm, pulsing her pussy with the pad of my thumb.

  I rubbed her clit until I could feel it grow. My cock grew with it, turning into hardened steel right before my eyes, straining against the fabric of my pants until it almost hurt to move.

  I nearly came when Penelope rubbed on it.

  With one free hand, she reached for me, gripping my beltline with her busy fingers. I helped her, pushing the button out of the way and sliding the zipper.

  The minute it was down, I cupped her ass in my hands. I let her free my cock from my boxer briefs… and then I impaled her, sitting her pussy onto my pulsating length as we both groaned with gratification, sinking into one another as I fit myself into the confines of her tight, silken cunt.

  God, she felt so fucking good.

  This wasn’t business; it was home. The only home I’d ever truly known… and it felt good to be back.

  Back where the pieces fit together and the world made sense. Back to where the walls were warm… and comforting…. and welcoming and totally and completely open…

  This homecoming was fifteen years in the making. And I was going to lap up every single second.

  I started out slow.

  Clenching onto Penelope’s upper thighs, lifting her lithe body in my hands, I bounced her gently on the tip of my dick, driving her mad.

  I pushed her back into the now-closed door of the darkened wood stall and held her there.

  Letting her slide along my length. Slipping slowly out only to plunge back in, drawing out her moans. Delighting in each whimper as it reached my ears.

  I drank in her gasps. I soaked in every single hiss from her lips and swam in her guttural groans.

  I reveled in her ecstasy… and joined hers with my own.

  Nothing had ever felt so right.

  And when I felt her coming, I sought to send her higher—to make her crash into the clouds of heaven with an orgasm that would rock the very fabric of all dimensions.

  I pumped into her harder, driving myself into her pussy with a need to push her past any and all boundaries.

  I rocked into her core relentlessly, sending her shooting for the moon as her fingernails scraped into my back, sliding recklessly.

  She gripped onto my shoulders, crying out, and when I felt her body melt, my own exploded.

  I came into Penelope’s wet center, and I stroked all the way throughout, never slowing.

  I needed her to feel my need. I needed to experience hers.

  I swallowed her ending screams with my kiss until she went limp, splaying her limbs over mine as her energy sapped and her body went slack.

  I placed my lips against her neck.

  “The best fucking deal, Penelope. It doesn’t get any better than you…”

  I kissed her nape and held her in my arms until she finally regained her strength.

  I set her down on shaky legs as she wobbled upright at last. I placed her panties back over her dampened slit.

  I licked my fingers when I was done, and she sighed.

  I wanted her again right then.

  And I would have had her… if she hadn’t stopped me. She tried to straighten her disheveled hair, staring at me with a bewildered look.

  “We are crazy,” she muttered.

  “I know.”

  “You are crazy.”

  “Even more so.”

  “I’m at my boss’s event.” Her eyes went blank. “I have a date. And I’m screwing you in a bathroom stall.”

  I lifted a brow.

  “Were any of those supposed to stop us?” I straightened my back. “And I thought Jeff invited you here…”

  “He did.” She met my gaze. “I gave my ticket to Sienna… I had my own. And Jeff was more than happy to save the money. I think he thought I’d come with you…”

  I glowered. “And why didn’t you?”

  “Because you just tried to run me away… You tried to convince my sister to do the same.”

  “Penelope, I…”

  “I know what you’re going to say, Jax. And I don’t care. It was my choice to stay. And if I want to go toe-to-toe with Senator Fletcher and whatever scumbags he sends my way, that’s my decision. I can take care of myself,” she finished.

  “You never have to while I’m around,” I reasoned. I came closer to her. “For God’s sake, woman… let someone take care of you for a change.”

  I saw her tremble at my words. I didn’t understand it.

  “All the same…” she started, shivering under my stare. “I…” I closed in on her. “We…” I was toe-to-toe with her… “I have to get back,” she blurted.

  She ran. Literally ran.

  And this time, I let her go…

  THE SMOKING GUN

  PENELOPE

  I was an idiot.

  A serious, serious, fucking idiot.

  I just fucked a man who, a few hours ago, basically told me to fuck off. This was a networking opportunity through the Governor’s office, and I squandered it.

  I had a chance to advance… and instead I used it to get off, jumping onto Jackson’s dick quicker than you could close the bathroom door in which we screwed.

  I hated the way he had me.

  I hated the fact that he always would.

  Penelope on a platter. Infuriated, but feeble. Weak when it came to him. Wrapped around his little fucking finger.

  Could I really afford to get emotional now? Emotion hadn’t saved Jordan Chambers. In fact… it had gotten him killed.

  And maybe if I hadn’t been so emotional, he would still be alive. I would have turned down his persistent pleas, kept the doomed man from pulling on my tattered heartstrings.

  I wouldn’t have involved Bishop, putting him on the senator’s radar. And I never would have given into Jackson, letting him sway me, letting him tug me off the beaten path that ruined both of our businesses… and possibly both of our lives.

  I was no better than the pretty, airheaded pups I’d seen follow him around like lap dogs.

  And needing a self-esteem boost, I’d dragged poor Chip into this.

  How shitty could a person get?

  Very. Depending on how pathetic she’d become… and how much the man in question made her quiver.

  I tried to get Jackson out of my mind and headed my overly priced seat. I saw Chip standing there beside it, his green eyes searching for me. With nothing but innocence in his face and a dimple in his cheek, he flashed perfect white teeth, giving me the biggest smile, gutting me with a guilt that I hadn’t felt in ye
ars.

  I grimaced, attempting to grin.

  Until the sound of thunder split the sky, and the world screamed.

  Except the thunder wasn’t thunder at all…

  It wasn’t the skies opening up before a rainfall. It was a…

  Gunshot.

  And the screams of the world came from the mouth of a woman. The crazy part? I couldn’t even tell if that woman was me.

  The crowd began to swell.

  A panicked mob of rushing people came charging in my direction, hording like a stampede. Like an embedded rock stuck in a river, I remained motionless as they swarmed all around me—surging towards the exits, clamoring for any open doorway they could find.

  And I was all but a statue in their way.

  I couldn’t move.

  My reality wasn’t reality anymore, and, caught in a nightmare that climbed out of oblivion and into my mind, I saw things that weren’t even there.

  I began to relive a horror that had hidden itself in my subconscious—a memory of a murder that happened four years ago.

  I smelled the blood on my hands as if it happened yesterday. I went weak at the knees.

  I recalled it all…

  The senator’s office was supposed to be empty that night.

  I didn’t know much about infiltration protocol, but I did know that Bishop was “primary” through the door. Jackson was on his “six,” and Jordan and I were… well, whatever fancy military-law enforcement term there was for freezing our preppie asses in the car.

  We watched from the outside.

  The night was cold. Snow had started to settle on the ground at sunset, and by three that morning, it was falling in heavy sheets, coming down in frozen colorless curtains.

  I too felt frozen on the inside.

  Oh, sure, the heat was on in the small rental in which we sat, the engine rumbling slowly as we waited; Bishop made sure of that.

  But there was no stopping the inherent cold—the shiver that ran through me as the reality of what we were doing sunk in with each passing second.

  We were robbing the senator.

  It was our only means of obtaining proof of his corruption—a corruption that had resulted in the untimely firing of my unsolicited associate, Jordan Chambers, and compelled him to sue the senator’s smug crooked ass.