Deceit in Bloom (The Love Unauthorized Series Book 1) Read online

  “Looking good, you bronzed goddess! Where’ve you been?”

  “At a hotel. Spent a lot of the time in a bikini by the pool. I want to go out tonight. Do you have plans?”

  Brae’s smile drops a little, and she looks a little edgy. “I’m going to a house party. Some people I vaguely know. I don’t think it’ll really be your scene.”

  I feel a little defeated since it seems she doesn’t want me tagging along. Maybe she’s going to work a party or something. When the price is right, she does stuff like that and entertains a group of men at once in a private home. She’d put on a show by dancing and stripping and then basically let them do whatever else they want. “Is this a work thing?”

  “No, Paise. Just a house party, but if I do find work, then you’ll be left to fend for yourself.” That’s fine. As long as I’m not walking into some sort of orgy, I can look after myself, and if I’m not having fun, then I’ll leave.

  “I’m good with that.” Brae smiles and nods, but it looks forced. I’m not going to let her strange behavior deter me. I doll myself up in a short, black romper I bought at the hotel and pair it with wedges I stole from Brae’s end of the closet. I style my long, dark hair in big, loose curls and vamp up my look with more makeup than I normally wear.

  I look hot. I’ve heard from people that I’m pretty. I have hair meant for shampoo commercials and blue eyes that are a great contrast against my midnight black locks. It’s not something out of the norm for me to have strangers compliment me, but I don’t always see it. Not because I can’t recognize my outside appearance is appealing, but because there’s so much more that makes a person beautiful. I don’t smile as much as I should. My eyes are bright in color, but not filled with a spark for life and often have dark rings around them from lack of sleep. I’m not great with people or emotion. I’ve gone through a tough life with very little love or affection. My inside taints my outside.

  Tonight is about fixing that. It’s about helping my inside match my outside. Looking in the mirror, I can recognize I look good all around. My eyes are free of the dark circles after my good night’s sleep. I’m smiling from ear to ear, and my eyes look alive with the excitement of possibilities.

  An hour later, Brae and I are outside a house. One bigger than any house I’ve ever been in. A two-story painted a warm gray. The sound of moving water reveals it’s located directly waterfront, too. Even the property lot looks huge. Large trees, which are abnormal for Florida, give lots of privacy for the house. Not to mention the large cement wall encasing the area. A long driveway leads up to what must be at least a four-car garage. Intimidation sets in, and my nerves kick-start.

  Entering the house only perpetuates my anxiety. Inside isn’t decorated like I imagined a place like this would have been. I pictured lots of marble and fancy furnishings like the hotel I stayed in. Instead, it’s comfy and well lived in. The number of people is the daunting part. They are everywhere. Some stand in crowds. Others gather around tables, playing drinking games. Women are on top of all sorts of raised surfaces, dancing with crowds of men around them. There are even people passed out here and there. Most of the women wear next to nothing. The men are soaking it up. Different types of drugs and paraphernalia cover table tops not occupied by dancing women.

  The music is loud. It’s lucky these people don’t have neighbors real close by. I acknowledge that this is a bold venture for my first night of trying to live life a little more. I’m pretty sure I’ve bitten off more than a mouthful. I’ve seen a lot in my life. It isn’t like I’m naïve to the ways of the world. But people are not my area of expertise, and there are a lot of them filling this giant house. I don’t relate to a lot of people. It’s hard for me to find something to talk about, and more often than not, I end up putting my foot in my mouth when I’m uncomfortable. Chaos I can handle. Having a normal one-on-one conversation where I don’t come off looking like an idiot is the real tough stuff.

  Okay. Maybe Brae was right. Maybe this is a bad idea. This totally is not my scene.

  Burke

  The burning sensation shoots through my nose. Coke rushes straight into my system as I lean my head back toward the ceiling. Pinching the bridge and inhaling deeply heightens the rush. In doing so, I have to take my eyes off the naked chick in front of me who’s fingering her pussy wildly and moaning as she watches me destroy brain cells. She’s close to giving herself an orgasm, and I haven’t even touched her, yet.

  She came into the room and, immediately stripped down into nothing but her birthday suit. She’s been rubbing the entire length of her body, paying most of the attention to her clit, for the last ten minutes or so. The only form of communication is the insistent moaning barreling out of her. Well, that and the definite communicating she’s been doing with her eyes. They haven’t moved from me once, regardless of it getting more difficult the stronger her orgasm hits her.

  The smell of this girl’s orgasm wafts through my room, and it hits me through the shit clogging my nasal passages. The scent of her arousal awakens a different craving within me. Forgoing the remaining three lines in front of me, I stand. The approval in her eyes is evident as I move around the table and stalk toward her. She squeals when I grab her by the midsection and flip her around on the couch she’s been perched on. She tauntingly pushes her pussy out toward my face, seductively moving her hips and showing me how wet she is from her own workup.

  Once suited up, I plunge my cock deep inside her without preamble. It’s what we both want. Grabbing her hips and relentlessly pumping into her as I dig my fingers into her plump ass is taking my high to new levels. Fast and hard, especially with women who are in my bedroom for this very reason. I don’t know her name, but she most likely knows mine. She knows this is nothing more than a cheap fuck. They all know. For her to wander in like she did, she has to know she wouldn’t be getting soft and tender from me.

  Persistent moaning rings out from deep within her vocal cords, and it is only getting louder. It’s so loud that it drowns out the noise from the party that’s happening outside my bedroom. Her awful wailing, which is probably more act than reality, isn’t what I want to hear while I fill her with my dick. Don’t get me wrong, I know my way around a pussy, but her cries aren’t natural. In an effort to silence her, I push her face farther into the couch, hoping she’ll take a hint. If she doesn’t, at least it’ll muffle her wails a bit. Luck is on my side, because she seems to get the message, and my rough handling of her only seems to turn her on more. She’s practically trembling below me as I viciously pound into her, taking what I want. I pull her arms behind her back and hold firmly to her wrists, using them as leverage. Her walls tighten around my dick, signaling her emerging orgasm. She’s so wet I can almost feel her release through the condom. Bursts of real ecstasy finally come out of her mouth, the first sounds I’ve heard from her that weren't for show.

  Her orgasm subsides, and I pull out and rip the condom off while flipping her over and onto her back. I come all over her fake tits, finishing myself off. She looks up at me with wide eyes and drags her fingers through my come on her chest. She puts on a show by licking some off her fingers and swirling the rest around her nipples with the fingers of her other hand.

  Finished with her, I return to my lines while the girl lies there in post bliss. Noticing my interest in her is gone, she gets up from the couch and pulls her dress back over her head. She walks toward me, sans panties, with the biggest smile on her face. Taking the rolled up bill from my hand, she leans down and snorts a line off the nightstand.

  “Thanks for the fuck and the blow.”

  These are the first words she’s spoken to me. She leaves the room without any more conversation. We’re done and we’ll probably never exchange words again. Her screeching was enough for me not to want seconds from her. Currently there is a whole house full of people, and chances are, she won’t be the only one to creep into my room tonight. Girls like her are a dime a dozen with this crowd. There are only two people here
who I even actually like and trust, Kai and my sister, Teagan. The rest are bottom-feeders looking for something—drugs, sex, booze, or an in at the business. I don’t really care what they want. They are not going to get anything from me that I don’t want to give.

  There is a short knock on the door, and Teagan peeks her head into the room.

  “You decent?”

  I laugh and she takes that as a sign it’s okay to fully enter.

  “You have a house full of people and you haven’t come out of your room once.” Her nose turns up and she quickly sweeps the room once more with her eyes. “But from the smell, I can see you’ve had visitors. It smells like dirty sex and daddy issues.”

  I’ve been sitting working on a tattoo piece, and Teagan picks it up off the small table. I ignore her last comment about the smell of sex. She doesn’t really want to hear about what her brother has been up to. “You know as well as I do those people are only here because Kai invited them. I don’t give a shit about the party. It’s just noise.”

  “Your social skills leave something to be desired. Your drawing skills, however, are on point. Is this piece for you or a client?”

  I take my sketch back from her and study it. “I don’t know yet. We’ll see what happens when I finish.” Teagan lingers while I concentrate on the lines and details I’ve drawn. She won’t leave until I agree to come downstairs with her.

  “Fuck, all right. Let’s go.”

  Teagan smiles, revealing how happy she is to get her way. She usually does with me. I follow her down the stairs to the party that is fully raging. People call out for my attention as we pass, but I ignore them. Teagan laughs at me as I grunt in frustration. I spot Kai across the room with a petite blond, who is currently grinding her back against his front.

  I turned my life over to Teagan, and she still holds my heart. She’s the reason I’m sitting at this party surrounded by fucking idiots and why I’ll remain here as long as that little girl wants me to. Kai, having left the blond, sits with us, and we enjoy a beer while I give every guy that comes within ten feet of my sister a death glare. The thumping of the bass is the one thing about this party that doesn’t bother me at all. Teagan, however, tries to yell over the sound in an effort to distract me from mentally killing off every man who looks her way. I nod my head while the sound of her voice is easily drowned out by the madness going on around us.

  A new blond has found her way onto Kai’s lap. She tries every trick in the book to gain more of his attention, but he’s only minimally giving her what she wants. I’m surprised Kai summoned this party. These aren’t people we interact with on a day-to-day basis, unless it’s for business. We don’t really have anyone we’d call friends except each other. It’s hard in our world to really trust people. Lately, he seems as frustrated by this scene as I always have been. So, the house full of people tonight confuses me.

  My mind drifts, and Teagan continues to unsuccessfully communicate until a man interrupts us. I noticed him watching carefully as we sat down. He wants something. They all do, but normally they don’t have the balls to approach me, especially like this. I watch him gather his courage to speak what’s on his mind. He fidgets and pulls on the hem of his shirt while avoiding direct eye contact with Kai or me. I could put him out of his misery and speak up, but I won’t.

  “Burke. Kai.” He greets us with forced confidence. “Sorry to bother you at your party, but I’m in a bind. I need a loan. I have this watch.” He points to the shiny piece on his wrist. “It’s a Rolex. Worth a pretty penny. It’s a family heirloom, so I can’t sell it, but I need some cash.”

  I cut him off before he can waste any more of our time. “No. We don’t do loans. Not worth our time.” He doesn’t take the hint.

  “Please. I have kids. A wife. We’re about to lose our home.”

  Kai raises his hand to stop the man’s pity speech. We’ve heard every excuse out there. There is nothing he can say to make us play his game. If we bend for this asshole then, we will have every crackhead in the state coming out of the woodwork.

  “We don’t take loans. There’s no exceptions. If your family’s really in jeopardy of losing the roof over their head, then I’d suggest spending your time working instead of hanging out at places like this. Or you can sell the watch. Either way, your financial instability isn’t our problem. Get lost.” I vaguely hear Kai’s response before the man slumps away. Whispers are circulating the room, and all eyes have moved toward the back of the house. It’s obvious something is happening beyond the crowd. A man’s voice does what Teagan’s couldn’t and rings loudly over the music. People circle an area behind us where the hostility develops. Only because I don’t want my house destroyed, I head over to see what’s happening. Kai tosses the girl from his lap and follows. The crowd easily parts for us as we move, and it isn’t long before I can see what’s going on.

  Oh, fuck.

  The girl in the black dress who so recently moaned like a dying cat in my room stands with a crowd of people around her. A man towers over her, invading her personal space. His face is red, and his fists are clenched tightly by his side. The cowering woman looks nothing like the same one who ruthlessly pleasured herself in my room. She’s frightened by the flaring of this man’s enormous nostrils. In his verbal lashing of her, I’m clued into the obvious as he calls her a slut and tells her she’s trash. He’s aware she had her brains fucked out, and he’s not happy about it. Sucks for him.

  If I’d known how much her noises would interrupt my dick getting wet and that this drama would follow, I would have kicked her out of my room before she even lifted the dress over her head. Not because I care about fucking some other guy’s woman. That’s their problem. But because I won’t stand for a man hitting a woman. I hate these fucking parties.

  He grabs her by the front of her dress, and some of the women looking on gasp. Most of the fucking idiots egg him on, eager for more violence. She dangles like a rag doll in his hold. I’m the person that fucked his chick, but do you see him coming at me? No. He’s a fucking pussy who handles his issues by overpowering a woman. My blood boils as I continue toward the scene playing out. He pulls back his meaty arm and full-on punches the nameless girl straight in the face. Blood splatters from her nose as her head flies back from the impact. Gasps, moans, and encouragements are yelled from every direction.

  I’m going to kill Kai for this party.

  I continue to move forward with Kai on my heels until I’m front and center. The girl, who now lays in a crumbled mess on the floor as she holds her face, cries out as people spit in her direction. Grown men yell obscenities at her while women stand back horrified. Her smug boyfriend, or whoever he is, stands above her with a manic look on his face. With the approval from the crowd, he moves toward her once again.

  “Touch her again and you won’t be able to walk out of here on your own.”

  The man stops with his leg raised in midair, poised to kick her while she’s down. When he realized who just interrupted him beating the shit out of his girl, he squares his shoulders and gives me a smile like we’re friends. We’re not.

  “I have no problem with you. My problem is with this whore who can’t seem to learn the only dick that belongs inside her is mine.”

  The crowd silences around us. Someone has turned off the music. The only other noises are the whimpers coming from the girl still on the ground who has scrambled away from her attacker.

  “I don’t give a shit about the personal problems between the two of you. We have a problem, though. You created a problem with me the instant you put your hands on her.”

  He looks around confused, as if he can’t understand why I’d care if he beats the shit out of her. “You got a taste of her pussy and you want some more? Is that it?” There is no talking to this moron. Time to handle shit.

  Earlier did I think I’d be defending the honor of the slut who left my bedroom? Fuck no. Truthfully, I’m not defending her honor. She threw herself at me without a word, and jud
ging from this shit show, she obviously has a boyfriend. One who was a floor below while I had my cock inside her. But that doesn’t mean she deserves to be smacked around. No woman, slut or virginal, deserves that. No one knows that more than Kai. I’m not surprised when he leaves his spot beside me, storming the guy. Before anyone can even blink, Kai has three swings on him. Two land to his face and one in the gut. The guy who thinks it’s okay to hit a woman doesn’t go down, but the wind is knocked out of him with the punch to his stomach.

  Kai doesn’t need my help. I let him handle it, and he doesn’t let up. His fists continue to fly with deadly precision until the asshole is on the floor mirroring how his girl looked after she was hit. The crowd roars back to life, not caring who’s on the other end of the beating. They are hungry for the savagery.

  A quick glance over my shoulder tells me Teagan is following orders. She’s been coached well for when shit like this happens. She’s removed herself from the scene playing out in our living room, and is now watching from the second floor banister. Her hands cover her face while her eyes peek out between her fingers. Comfortable with her safety, I take my vision back to Kai and the man whose girl I fucked.

  The three men advancing through the throng of people circling the fight don’t escape my notice. They have determination and stupidity in their eyes. These approaching imbeciles must be with the barely conscious coward. Kai stands over him, breathing heavily and unaware of the jackasses pushing and shoving to make their way to him. My arm reaches around my back instinctively. I won’t let Kai be jumped while these morons rush him from behind. Kai notices the new arrivals. They stand in the makeshift circle ready to go to hell for their pussy friend. With one swift movement, I’m ready to put an end to this. The gun I pull from behind my back warns them off. I thoughtfully wave it toward them without the full-on threat of aiming.