Six

Carmen

“Let’s just say that Venom Vultures is a motorcycle club, plus benefits.”

“What kind of benefits?”

“The kind of benefits that don’t come with rules. You can do whatever you want.”

“Within reason,” Carter chips in.

Vex flashes his friend a calculating glare. “Then tell me—what was your reason for bidding all of this money on a girl?”

“I don’t see you complaining,” Carter counters.

Vex looks me up and down and smiles. “I’d never dream of complaining. Carmen is priceless.”

Flattered, I’m sure.

I take a sip of gin again. “I don’t understand. If you want a girl, why not head out onto the Strip and find one the normal way?”

Skipper gets there before Vex. “Things here can get complicated. You have to understand, the world of Venom Vultures is a dangerous world to be in, especially for outsiders. At the auction, we have a deal. We have one night with a girl if we bid high enough, and then we go our separate ways…” Skipper’s eyes trail over my half-naked body.

Why am I getting the urge to cut the straps and flash them?

The thought alone sends a burning heat between my legs.

A vibrator couldn’t give me this.

Men might suck ass and disappear as soon as they have what they want, but that doesn’t mean I’m not sexually attracted.

All of a sudden, I find myself reunited with my best and last one-night stand, wet through my sequin panties in a motorcycle club one random Friday night.

Waiting on the other side of sex is millions of dollars.

Why does this sound too good to be true?

Skipper’s ocean-blue eyes feel like they’re scoring through my skull. I rip my eyes away from his face before I become completely hypnotized, and focus on something else—a faded compass tattoo on Carter’s arm.

Before I have time to ask him what it means, I catch him staring at me.

The last time I met Carter Trescott, he didn’t have tattoos. I saw him naked. And he had zero.

Now, he has many. They’re scattered all the way up his arm, designs disappearing under his clothes. I look away, afraid that I’m gonna start picturing him naked.

The problem with me is that I always seem to go for the bad ones. The hot, emotionally unavailable men who are always too in love with their looks.

“What kinda trouble are you in?” Carter asks.

“Excuse me?”

“Maybe we can help.”

If he wants to pry into my life, he can do a G****e search.

If he still uses the internet. I don’t see any computers here.

I take another sip of gin and wonder why Carter decided to sell his business. Lots of things aren’t adding up at the moment. It’s why I should probably get my ass out of here. Now.

Except, there’s no voice inside me telling me I need to do a runner.

I sip the gin again, each sip even more delicious than the last. The men in front of me are becoming harder to resist too.

“You should be proud of what you did up there,” Carter says suddenly.

Proud? Is he kidding? I was running around on stage half-naked like a woman possessed.

“What are you talking about?”

“Most women are too scared to fight when they realize what they walked into. Though, even if you had been fully clothed, your actions still wouldn’t have made a difference.”

I note the beer in Carter’s giant hands and wonder if his words are being influenced by alcohol. “I don’t understand.”

“Somebody still would’ve picked you.”

I toss him another questioning look.

“Beautiful women aren’t beautiful just because they’re half-naked. They’re beautiful period, no matter what they wear.”

The alcohol has definitely reached Carter’s head. Self-made millionaires like Carter Trescott don’t toss words around like “beautiful” for fun.

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“I know we barely know each other, but I had to get you out of there.”

His grave face says it all. Maybe Serena was only touching on the surface earlier when she was telling me about Conrad.

“What happens if you’re bought by an O’Neill?” I ask.

Skipper downs the rest of his drink. “It’s best not to talk about that.”

Carter lifts his eyebrows, a pensive look on his face. “How did you hear about the auction?”

“Conrad approached me in a parking lot.”

“And you…agreed to attend?”

Carter can continue looking at me like I’m brain-dead, but what other fucking choice did I have? He should be grateful that I’m doing this for his son.

The one he doesn’t even know exists.

“Do you wanna talk about how I ended up at the auction, or do you wanna talk about our arrangement?”

I survey each of them, trying to keep my heart rate at bay.

It’s impossible.

“Arrangement?” Carter seems surprised.

“Come on, we might as well forget the small talk. We all know why I’m here.”

Carter’s face turns hard again, jaw clenched into a beautiful right angle.

“I think we should be more direct with one another and say what it is we all want. Let’s start with you.” I eye all three of them. “I’m here because you want to fuck me.”

“No.”

Carter couldn’t have said that any faster, even if he tried.

I sit forward and fold my arms over my chest. I’d be offended if he wasn’t such a fucking sleaze. “No?”

Vex and Skipper also side with me. Skipper says, “What’s the big deal, man? You slept with her once. You can do it again.”

Carter sighs. “You two can have some fun of your own. I want nothing to do with this.”

I’ve experienced some wild things in my life. My chest sinking at Carter refusing to sleep with me is one of them.

I wish I knew the reason why.

“I’m not opening that can of worms again” is all he says before sulking off to the bar.

I watch him go and wonder if the man really has come to his senses.

But then I see him smile at another woman in passing and shove that thought aside.

“What’s up with him?” I ask.

Vex’s response is vague. “I don’t know. It’s been a tough year.”

“Tough how?”

Vex flashes Skipper a look and moves on. “If Carter doesn’t want to join us in the bedroom, that’s his own loss.” He reaches out and offers me his hand.

I accept immediately, desperate to feel his skin against mine.

Skipper grabs my other free hand before I can take another sip of gin. “You don’t need that.”

“I do when I haven’t had a drink for three years.”

Saying that aloud makes me realize that maybe Skipper is right. I chose to be sober three years ago for a reason—I wanted to do what my own mother couldn’t bring herself to do, for the sake of her own child.

I put my days of drinking and hooking up behind me as soon as I realized I was pregnant with Otis, but now I find myself slipping right back into that lifestyle. If I drink too much, I not only risk going back to my old ways. I also risk oversharing.

And these men don’t need to know I have Otis.

I let go of their hands and walk over to the bar to get rid of my glass. When I return, I wrap my arms around Vex. Next thing I know, I’m planting a kiss to the side of his neck.

He stiffens. “Right now? Here?”

“Does that bother you? You were all planning to fuck me collectively anyway. What difference does it make?”

“The difference”—Vex swings around—“is that we have a code. Tonight, you’re ours, not everybody else’s.”

“What about tomorrow?”

It was supposed to be a lighthearted joke, but the two bikers are looking at me like I’ve said something scandalous.

Don’t they like to share?

I shrug. “Just kidding.”

Vex yanks me into his lap and captures my mouth in a hungry kiss.

The kiss is heated, his tongue brushing against mine. In the heat of the moment, I find myself inching closer, my legs widening to straddle his waist. Already, I feel something hard pressing into my thigh.

And just when I thought my pulse couldn’t get any faster…

Another hand enters the action, pulling back my hair with just the right amount of pressure for it to feel pleasurable. It’s Skipper, and he’s peppering kisses along my neck, way too slow and sensual. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a guy taking his time like this before.

Carter and I were over in twenty minutes, but it would appear that his friends like to play slow.

I’m seconds away from ripping off this lingerie when I’m scooped up and thrown over a shoulder. With my head forward, I don’t see much of the clubhouse, but I do catch the incredible bulge popping out of Vex’s pants.

My heartbeat increases even more.

It didn’t used to be this exciting, back when I was twenty-one, following strangers home multiple nights a week. Something about this is different.

Maybe it’s because I’m about to participate in my first ever groupie.

Maybe it’s because both men are smoking hot.

I’m so wet it could be used to solve a drought.

By the time we make it to a room, I don’t know left from right. My body hits a mattress, and I look up to see Vex’s enormous figure handling me, his hands everywhere, gliding up and down my skin.

Skipper joins and mutters something I can’t quite understand because of the Australian accent.

I’m getting impatient. “Are you gonna take off my clothes, or should I?”

“Not so fast,” Vex says. “We’re in no rush.”

“Really?” I prop myself up on the mattress with my elbows. “Then tell me, how long do you plan on being in this state for?” I make a point of staring at his crotch. “It looks uncomfortable.”

“I like a challenge.”

“I don’t.” Skipper tugs on my lingerie strings. Material sheds away from parts of my anatomy I’ve been dying to free since I first set my eyes on them.

The only way this could be made better is if Carter decided to join us. But two is still better than one. I’ve only ever been with one guy at a time, and I’m way too excited to waste time caring about that man when he obviously still gives no shits about me.

“Fuck,” Skipper says as he and Vex stand back and admire my naked body for a moment.

“I know it’s a lot of money, but I’d pay more,” Vex says.

I grab a breast and tease it, meeting Vex’s eyes. “Still wanna take things slow?”

He tenses his jaw, his eyes black.

I see now why he doesn’t want this to be over so fast—it’s a fucking lot of money. They want it to be worth it.

But I’m no hooker. I’m just a woman who became a mother and lost her sex life.

I crawl down the mattress and lock lips with Skipper, our mouths colliding in a hot, fervent mess. It’s sloppy and messy—everything I didn’t realize I fucking needed.

He breaks the kiss and returns to his favorite body part of mine.

But he doesn’t stay at my neck long, journeying down the length of it until he reaches my collarbone. After trailing a few kisses over the area, he progresses to where I need him most.

My nipples.

He closes his mouth around one, and that’s when Vex finally decides to join, his mouth sucking on the other.

I catch a glance of myself in the mirror and feel like I’m watching the start of a dirty porno. But it also confirms something else—this is real. I’m not just imagining things.

In the mirror are two ridiculously good-looking men worshiping my naked body. Even though I’m bucking my hips, urging them to speed up, they’re taking their time. They move with precision, hands gliding over my naked body like I’m fragile.

If they knew a thing or two about my past, they’d know I’m anything but.

“I thought you guys knew how to be rough?”

Skipper grins against my breast. “We do, but we also know how to take our time and pleasure a woman.”

I let out an exasperated sigh.

“Are you not enjoying yourself, darling?” Vex asks.

It’s not that. They’re being too slow, running their hands over every inch of my body. It’s too much. It’s like they’re Midas—everything they touch turns to gold. Every fingertip. Every little caress. All of it has my skin breaking out in little fireworks.

It’s sweet.

Way too sweet.

I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.

Unable to resist, I slide a hand between my thighs and locate my bundle of nerves, rubbing. But as soon as they notice, they rip my hand away.

That’s when I feel something enter me.

A finger.

A heads-up would’ve been nice.

I scream loud. Way too fucking loud.

Loud enough for Skipper’s family to hear me all the way in Australia.

Loud enough for the door to burst open.

A large, blurred figure rushes in. My vision is hazy, so it takes a few seconds for me to focus.

When I see Carter standing in the doorway, I realize that the party’s just getting started. His gaze is focused between my legs, watching as his friend pleasures me with one very practiced finger.

“What are you doing?” he demands.

“When you snooze, you lose,” Vex says.

Carter needs me. He can deny it all he wants. The giant bulge in his pants has spoken for him.

I grin at him. “Take off your pants and join us.”

Carter grinds his jaw and forces his eyes up. He looks like he’s about to finish in his pants, which would be a shame.

I widen my legs and invite him to look between them. Skipper takes this opportunity to plunge another finger inside of me. Making intense eye contact with Carter, I bite my lip and moan. Loud.

Sure, he’s an asshole. But you don’t have to be on good terms with someone to have sex with them.

“Don’t you want to join?” I tease a finger through my folds. “Or are you more of a watcher these days?”

“For now, he’ll have to watch.” Skipper takes his fingers out of me and replaces them with something else.

Something that fills me up in an instant.

“Oh my god,” I gasp as he slips it in, my body instantly joining with his. I bring my legs up high and lie back so he can take me.

I’m not one to surrender, but for an orgasm I’ll do whatever it takes.

I lock eyes again with Carter from the pillow, parting my lips to release another moan. He tenses in response.

He probably thinks I can’t see him touching himself from this position. But he’s wrong. I see every stroke. Hear every grunt.

“Fuck,” Skipper says. “I can’t hold on much longer.”

“You don’t need to.” I spread my legs even more to accommodate his length. “I want to feel you let go inside of me.”

I try to get my vision straight so I can watch Skipper as he comes. He grits his teeth and drives into me as the other two watch, releasing with a groan.

Vex takes the stage once Skipper is done, flipping me over onto my stomach and thrusting into me from behind.

It’s the perfect opportunity to watch Carter. His hand disappears into his pants again, stroking something long and hard.

Our night together probably meant different things to each of us. Yes, I’m no stranger to one-night stands, but that night with Carter has always stood out to me, and not just because he gave me my son.

He knew how to move.

To him, I was probably just a number.

That’s never bothered me before until now, as I watch him stroke his dick in front of me. If I wasn’t on the verge of unconsciousness, I’d probably feel a pang of jealousy. How dare he fuck other girls after me?

I’m the only one who’s supposed to experience him.

Vex drives into me with force, spanking me hard. It should hurt, but it’s the kind of pain that transitions into pleasure.

After being in control for three years, it feels good to take a step back and let somebody else take over. I’ve been in charge of my own libido for far too long. Now, I’m getting sent to cloud nine and getting paid.

Vex’s length reaches areas inside of me that haven’t been touched since Carter. Struggling for air, I tilt my head upward and gasp to get some oxygen in.

My pleasure is reaching its peak again. I clutch the bedsheets and hold on for dear life as Vex thrusts inside.

Talk about a good time.

I don’t think it can get any better than this.

Especially when Skipper returns to run his hands all over my body again. “Flip her over,” he demands. “I want her on her back.”

Do I weigh nothing to these men? They handle me with ease, turning me onto my back.

Skipper twists my nipples.

And that’s when I scream.

I lose my vision but also paradoxically gain it at the same time. I see stars, each one a different color. The pleasure moves through me in one long wave. I ride it out, my legs spread wide to allow Vex to come deep inside.

Skipper’s cock is hard again. He brings it between my legs and starts tapping it against my clit.

“Fuck me,” Carter groans from across the room.

I find his eyes. They’re black now. His face says it all, every fine line strained, deeper than normal. Turns out I’m not the only one holding on for dear life.

“I know you want to,” I tell him. “Come on. What’s the big deal? It’s not like you’re gonna see me again.”

He swoops over and takes possession of my mouth to shut me up.

He kisses better than I remember.

But that’s maybe because he looks better than I remember. The motorcyclist makeover was a good decision.

Suits look good on him, but they do on most men. They’re tidy. Reformed.

The suede jacket and leather pants, on the other hand, are messy.

Rough.

Much like his tongue when it brushes against mine.

“Open your legs.”

He didn’t need to say that. His hand is already down there widening my thighs. He sticks a giant finger inside, my walls even more sensitive than before.

Vex and Skipper position themselves either side of me, both focused on my breasts again, squishing and contorting the two mounds between their fingers.

I moan.

Then I scream.

I wasn’t ready for Carter to enter me so fast.

I let him tilt my hips and bend me however he likes. In the bedroom, I’m his. The man can have me however he wants.

Out of the bedroom, things are different. He becomes an asshole again.

In fact, they all do. If they weren’t so talented in bed, I’d be reporting them to the police for attending something so inhumane.

Carter plunges into me fast. If he wasn’t pinning me down, my body would be in outer space. His thrusts have the power to send me that far.

My soul is already there, orbiting around the planet of Venus. It feels like an out-of-body experience. If I didn’t have Otis, I’d want to float in this vacuum of bliss forever.

But I do have Otis, all thanks to Carter. I have a duty, and I need to get back to my role as a mother as soon as this is over.

Even though I’m in no major rush for this to be wrapped up.

I open my eyes and look up at Carter Trescott. His bare shoulders tense every time he thrusts into me, chest contracting, biceps and triceps rippling with muscle he never used to have.

What happened to him?

The thought disintegrates as he continues to slam into me.

Multiple moans fill the room from each man. Vex and Skipper keep playing with my nipples, but their attention is now somewhere else.

Between my legs.

“You’re taking him so well, baby.” Skipper scoots up toward my head and shifts the hair away from my face. “Look down at yourself. See how wet you are.”

He doesn’t have to tell me. I know.

It’d be embarrassing if I wasn’t so fucking turned on.

Vex slides his finger down to where Carter and I are joined, locating my bundle of nerves. One stroke brings me to the brink again.

It looks like Carter isn’t far away either. His blue eyes are focused on only one thing. Climax.

But it doesn’t seem to be his own.

“How would you like us, darling?” he grunts, breathless.

“Keep doing what you’re doing.”

There has to be a catch here. No human male can do what these three have done to me tonight.

Carter slams into me once more, and this time I lose it. The wave of pleasure is back, and this time it’s even greater than before. More of a tsunami, actually.

I let the screams erupt. The noises are probably even more indescribable than the ones I made on stage a hazy few hours ago.

But I don’t care. Carter has sent me higher than outer space, to a place where the concept of time and place ceases to exist.

I don’t want the pleasure to end, but I have enough life experience now to know that good things never last forever.

My soul and body return to planet earth hard, but it doesn’t hurt.

I’m still promised millions of dollars. With that kind of money, I could go to outer space again if I really wanted to.

My vision returns. When it does, I see the men redressing their bottom halves.

Karma is a bitch. I could run out of here and make a point of not saying goodbye.

But I need to get my money first.

“That was…”

“A one-time thing,” I say, finishing Carter’s sentence.

Even though I could quite happily repeat what we just did for the rest of my life.