The Bet Page 3
“I didn’t answer the question because I don’t have an answer. I target rich kids because most of them are assholes.” He took a deep breath. “When I came into the money, it was a lot. At first I was tempted to blow it. I mean, what young kid wouldn’t, right?”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I took a step back and looked around, and the shit I was doing sucked. In that moment I had this realization come over me that I could be a fuck-up my whole life, or I could attempt to be something else. So I decided to buy a business. It was the right choice, although I still hustle when I need extra cash.”
She traced over some of the designs on his body. “They’re beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful,” he said.
“You think I should get a tattoo?”
“I’d love to brand your skin,” he murmured, running a finger up and down her chest, lingering over her heart. “Maybe my name right here.”
She leaned up and kissed him. He responded, sliding his tongue into her mouth to dance with hers. They came up for air a moment later, and she could feel his hard cock bumping against her stomach. She reached between them and wrapped her hand around the shaft, pumping it lightly.
“Oh, girl, your touch is magic,” he whispered.
He lay back and let her continue her magical touch. In the daylight his girth and length were just as impressive as she remembered. The barbell twinkled up at her like it was saying hi.
Hello, apadravya, may I kiss you now?
She proceeded to do just that before taking Saber’s long hard cock into her mouth. This time she wasn’t going to stop. Up and down she bobbed her head, each time relaxing her throat a little more. In a short time she was deep-throating him, making him moan and shake with pleasure. After a few minutes of driving Saber out of his mind she was able to swallow all of him. He let out a deep moan of pleasure, and his hands tangled in her hair. And then he was face fucking her, using her hair to move her mouth up and down his dick. She kept her throat relaxed and let him do the work. She’d just reap the benefits when he came. And then she felt his body shudder and knew he was about to blow.
“Ember!” he shouted in a hoarse cry of pleasure as his cum began spurting in her mouth. She swallowed quickly, loving his salty essence. It was like oysters on the half shell, and she gobbled up all that she could.
He collapsed back, releasing his tight grip on her hair. She played with his cock, licking and cleaning it up until he gently pried her off.
“Enough,” he said with a smile. “We’re heading into the over-sensitized department.”
“Mm,” she replied. “I loved my breakfast.” Ember pushed to her feet and headed for the bathroom. “I’m going to take a quick shower, and you’re going to drive me first to home and then to work.”
“You don’t have a car?” he asked, calling after her.
“Nope. Today you’re going to treat me to a no bus morning.”
She saw him purse his lips as she closed the bathroom door.
Chapter Five
Much to her dismay, Saber followed her into her apartment to wait while she got dressed for her shift. The last thing she wanted him to see was how worn and threadbare everything was. Luckily, her mother was passed out in her room again so she didn’t have to worry about that train wreck saying something inappropriate. She shouldn’t have any loyalty to a mother who hadn’t been a mother at all, but Ember found it difficult to hate the woman who’d given birth to her. She supposed once upon a time her mother had cared, had made an effort to love her daughter, because Ember had survived childhood. But sometime around beginning her teenage years her mother had begun to fade away until Ember was hard pressed to remember what she had really looked like at all.
She ran into her bedroom and hurriedly changed out of her black dress and heels and into fresh panties, comfortable worn jeans, and a uniform shirt. She brushed her hair back into a ponytail and then pulled it through the back opening in her cap. Socks and sneakers completed the outfit, and three minutes after she’d run into her room she ran right back out.
“Oh!” she said, coming to a halt. She put a hand over her mouth and held up one finger to Saber before running into the tiny bathroom to brush her teeth. Some eyeliner and mascara and she was set to serve coffee and tea.
“Ready?” she asked a bit breathlessly as she rushed back into the living room. Saber had been staring at one of her elementary school pictures that her mom had put up on the wall years before.
“You were a cute little girl,” he said, pointing at the old picture.
“Yep, pigtails and all. Come on.” She grabbed her real purse, the one that held her identification, and his hand and urged him out the door.
But Saber abruptly pulled back when her mother’s bedroom door opened. Even Ember’s mouth dropped open when she saw her wisp of a mother step out of her darkened bedroom. She was nothing more than skin and bones, pale and trembling, the poster child for addiction.
“Ember?”
Her mother’s voice was scratchy from disuse. Jesus, why did she show up now with Saber in the apartment?
“Yeah, Mom?”
“Bring me some whiskey home from the store. I’m out.”
“Sure thing, Mom,” she said and tugged on Saber’s hand again.
“Who’s that man you’re with?” her mom asked.
Crap! All she wanted to do was get out of there. Her mother embarrassed her, and it made her feel bad that that was the only emotion Ember could feel about her.
“I’m Saber,” he answered, stepping forward and holding out his hand. Ember’s mom blinked at it before taking it. He shook it once. “I’m Ember’s boyfriend.”
“Oh. That’s nice. Don’t die on her, you hear? Not like my Jim.”
And then she turned and went back into her room, a ghost returning to the night.
“Jim?” Saber asked.
“Some man from her past, before the man who impregnated her. Jim died, so she decided to have a baby to try to alleviate her heartbreak. Give her a reason to live. I guess she tried as long as she could before giving up. I think she wants to join him, but she’s too cowardly to do the deed. I don’t know which is worse, watching her slowly kill herself or living with a shadow.”
Ember tugged on his hand one more time, and this time, fortunately, Saber followed her.
****
He dropped her off and left her a promise to pick her up after her shift and with a scorching kiss that made her daydream one too many times throughout the day. Her boss kept throwing her dark glowers. The coffee shop had its busy moments around breakfast and lunchtime, but the rest of the day Ember allowed herself to fantasize about what she would do to Saber’s delicious body once they got back to his place. Or maybe she’d straddle him in the car and take care of the itch she couldn’t scratch. She’d ride him until she came screaming his name.
Right before her shift was over, the bell to the coffee shop jingled, and Ember looked up, smiling a welcome. Saber was there, looking deliciously bad-ass in black jeans, a black body fitting t-shirt, and Shit-Kicker Boots. Ember could hardly believe he was here for her.
She held up one finger in a wait gesture and made her way into the back. Her relief, Doug, was tying his apron.
“How is it out there?” Doug asked.
“Dead,” she replied. She untied her apron as she moved to punch out her time card.
“Oh, Ember,” her supervisor called out. “Could you throw the trash in the dumpster before you go?”
“Sure,” she said. She threw her apron over a chair and grabbed the couple of bags of trash. She hurried outside and walked up to the smelly green garbage bin, hefting the see-through bags one at a time. When she was done, she turned to hurry back inside, only to come up short as she saw Kenny Winthrop and his posse of two waiting for her, blocking the way back to the store.
“Kenny,” she said, surprised and a little fearful. Why the hell was he in the alley? “What do you want?”
“I want my money,” he said coldly. “You and your little fucking boyfriend robbed us out of a thousand dollars.”
“No, we didn’t,” she said. “I’d never met him before last night. You were the one to take us to that bar. I wanted dinner, if you remember.”
Kenny took a step toward her, and panic suddenly filled her. Her inner voice was shouting at her to run. Danger! Danger! Get as far as fuck away from this madman! But her feet seemed glued to the ground, and all she could do was try to keep calm and gather her scattered wits.
“There are people waiting inside,” she managed to say without betraying how scared she was. “My boss. My co-worker. They’ll come looking for me, so don’t do anything stupid.”
“You fucking cunt, I want my money,” Kenny sneered at her. “And while you’re at it, I’m going to fuck you in the ass for the trouble I went through.”
She gasped and took a step back.
“Get the fuck away from her!” came a deep, menacing voice. Ember looked over Kenny’s shoulder and saw Saber step through the coffee shop’s back door. And behind him, she saw her boss watching what was going down.
Would she call the cops? God, Ember hoped so.
“There’s the good ol’ boyfriend!” Kenny said in a mocking tone, turning away from Ember. She saw Saber jerk his head toward the left, which was the end of the alley, and she didn’t hesitate. She ran for safety, knowing to help Saber she had to quit being a problem. She raced around the side of the building as fast as she could, skidding a little on the loose rocks, and back inside the coffee shop through the front door. The bell jangled, and Doug stared at her in concern.
“What’s going on back there?”
But she ignored the question and raced into the back. Her boss filled the doorway, on the phone talking to the police. Ember pushed past her and out the door, only to come to a skidding halt. Kenny and his two friends were out cold, and Saber was rubbing his knuckles.
“Oh my God,” she whispered, wide-eyed. She reached for Saber’s hand. “Are you hurt?”
He gave a one shoulder shrug and grimaced. “They got in one punch.”
She blinked. “One punch? That’s it?”
“Yeah. I’m slacking,” he said with a sigh.
The words were ludicrous, and she gave a strangulated laugh as she threw her arms around him. He pulled her in tight and molded her body to his. She felt all his muscles as well as his hard cock poking her in the stomach. Hm, testosterone after a fight. Maybe she should learn boxing.
“I saw it all,” her boss called from behind them. “The police are on their way.”
“His daddy will get him out of this,” Saber murmured in Ember’s ear. She pulled back and frowned up at him. “You can’t work here anymore.”
“But … but I need the money,” Ember argued back.
“Listen to me,” Saber said. “I want to get your mom some help. She needs to go into a facility, and there’re lots of good, state-paid places that can help her. And I was serious about hiring you. We can grow the tattoo business together.”
There was so much going through her mind that she wasn’t quite sure what to say. She was spared for the time being by the arrival of the police. Cop cars came into the alley, and she and Saber backed up until they stood next to her boss. For the next hour they had to give their statements, and they watched while Kenny and his friends were arrested. It didn’t help his case when he called her a fucking bitch.
But finally, they were free to go. Ember told her boss she wouldn’t be returning to work, and frankly, it looked like her boss was relieved. She had a business to think about, and roughhouse brawls weren’t good for business.
Ember collected her personal belongings, and then Saber swept her out the door and into his black car where the first thing he did was kiss her. And if she might have thought the zing was gone, satisfied the night before with a mind-blowing orgasm, well, she would have been wrong. Electricity arced between them and set her blood on fire, and the fantasy about riding him in the car bounced back into her head. Oh yeah. Oh boy. Oh—
“So will you?” he asked as he pulled back, interrupting her thoughts.
It took a moment for her brain to catch up to his words. “Will I what?”
“Get help for your mom. Move in with me. Have us work side by side.”
“Move in with you?” she asked softly, unable to fathom that this beautiful bad boy wanted her, little old Ember. “We just met. What if it doesn’t work out?”
“What if it does?”
She grinned. “I like your point. I’ll say yes, after you let me ride your gear stick.”
“Oh, baby, you say the sweetest things.”
The End
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Other Books by Beth D. Carter:
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Evernight Publishing
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