Beyond Shame

“I’ve never seen a fight. Is it really that compelling?”

“Depends. I’ll admit, there’s something to be said for sweaty, half-naked guys beating the shit out of each other. A certain…” Rachel’s lips curved in a tiny smile. “Animal appeal?”

Noelle tried to imagine it. Jas, stripped to the waist, fighting. Raw, unchecked violence. Fists against flesh, all of that power realized. “I guess I can see that.”

“I guess you can. Tonight, after closing. Main warehouse over on Sixth.”

“If you want, I could cover the bar for a while so you can do your other job.” She’d probably fumble half the orders, but no one seemed to care once the girls started dancing. “Then we could go over to the warehouse together.”

“Thanks, but it shouldn’t take long.” Rachel finished pouring the liquor and added a dash of bitters. “The generator over at the parlor’s been acting wonky, so I told Ace I’d fix it up.”

The name was naggingly familiar. “Ace… The one with all the tattoos?”

“That’s him. He does good work.” Rachel held up her wrist, where you could barely tell the cuff of ink obscured a city bar code. Then she turned and lifted her shirt, revealing two lotus flowers, one at the small of her back and the other between her shoulder blades, both connected by a tangle of vines.

As tempting as it was to reach out and trace one of the lifelike vines, Noelle kept her hands to herself. “That’s gorgeous. But didn’t it hurt?”

“At first. After a while, I don’t even think I was conscious anymore.”

“It hurt that much?”

Rachel laughed and took another drag from her cigarette. “No wonder Lex has taken to calling you baby girl.”

Heat rose in Noelle’s cheeks, bringing the first rush of humiliation with it. She didn’t know which stung worse—knowing everyone thought she was stupid, or knowing they were right. “I must seem ridiculous to you.”

“No.” The woman slid an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “You’ve got a lot of living to do, that’s all. You want to come to the parlor with me? I’ll be finished before you know it, and we can go watch Jas kick the shit out of someone. He never loses, you know.”

Living. Most emphatically not what she’d been doing in Eden. Noelle reached for the remaining glass and knocked it back. It still burned its way down her throat and kicked in her stomach, but she liked the tingles that followed. She was warm. Loose.

She was living. “I’d like that.”

Ace

“Here’s your problem.” Rachel wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, leaving behind a black smudge. “Your voltage regulator’s shot.”

Ace knew he should be listening to the words coming out of her mouth, but damned if he’d ever been able to. Rachel Riley was a golden angel begging to be debauched, even in a pair of cheap overalls with grease on her face.

Fuck Jasper for sending her over here, anyway. And fuck Jasper for not fucking the new princess already. Noelle had come trailing in behind Rachel like a lost little duckling, and oh, she and Rachel made a picture. He’d carve out a kidney to see all that blonde and brunette hair tangled together—preferably while they fought over who got to suck his dick first.

For a man who’d had a hooker on him less than an hour ago, he was damn hard up for some blighted satisfaction.

Rachel waved a wrench at him. “Are you even listening to me?”

Ace blinked away the image of hot, clumsy blowjobs with a sigh. “Yeah, sweet thing. Something with a regulator is shot. Can you fix it?”

“Probably. I’ll adjust the phase compensation, see if that clears it up.” She grinned. “What’s it worth to you?”

“The whole ten inches?”

“Charming, but I prefer cash. Though I’m not above bartering.” She turned to Noelle and handed her the wrench. “What do you think? Could I use another tattoo?”

Ace’s dick went rock hard, and it had nothing to do with how Jasper’s princess pursed her lush lips as she considered the question. Having Rachel in his chair was torture. She didn’t just get off on the adrenaline of the needles—she went beyond herself. He’d seen women flogged into that blissful state before, but she’d been the first one to drift there while he laid ink.

It was the closest he’d ever come to fucking her. “Princess doesn’t know about tattoos, sweetheart. Jas is bringing her back tomorrow to get her bar code filled.”

“I know that, but she can still help me with aesthetics.”

Noelle was watching him like she was afraid he’d eat her if he opened his mouth, which was pretty damn shy for a girl who’d ridden Jasper’s finger to ear-splitting orgasm only a few feet away from him the previous night.

Maybe Jas was right. Maybe the girl was another Rachel, not another Lex. Bottled up and repressed. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t tease them both the same way. “You saw her flowers, Noelle?”

The brunette nodded. “They’re beautiful.”

“Damn right they are.” A woman lost in a sensual haze in his chair always inspired him to impressive feats of artistry. “I could always extend them. Vines around her waist or down her arms. Flowers just above her cuffs.”

“Around my hips, maybe.” Rachel slid her hands from the small of her back all the way around to her upper thighs.

Christ, he’d have his face practically in her pussy. “What do you think, princess?”

“I think it sounds beautiful.” Noelle narrowed her eyes, her tone stiff and prim. “And I’m not a princess.”

“Oooh, feisty.” Ace poked Rachel in the side. “You teaching her to use her teeth, Rae? And after Lex spent all that time teaching her not to use them.”

“An angel and a devil,” Rachel murmured. “One on each shoulder, huh?”

If he didn’t know better, he’d think Rachel was sneaking a peek at his dick. Let her see how hard he got when he reached out to tangle a lock of her blonde hair around his finger. He tugged, not looking away from her face even as he addressed Noelle. “Rachel here is our good girl. But she’d be wasting her time whispering in your ear, princess. I think you already know you want to be very, very bad.”

Rachel licked her lips. “Maybe every woman does if you can figure out what turns her on.”

Even angels. Even her. “Fix my generator, Rachel, and you can have any tattoo you want.”

She arched an eyebrow and held out her hand. “Deal.”

Ace folded his hand around hers with an easy smile. Jasper and the other lumbering hulks could chase after the baby deer in the woods. There was no challenge in that hunt. No satisfaction.

He knew how to take his time.

Chapter Seven

Dom went down with the second blow, and Jasper supposed it was too much to ask for him to stay there.

He didn’t really want it anyway. His whole body was tight, jittery, and even the run out to Sector Three had provided no satisfaction. Quiet, uneventful, and now he had to sate his appetites on nothing more rewarding than Dom’s face.

Jas had been in worse spots.

Dom spit blood as he staggered back to his feet, uglier for taking the hit. His insults hadn’t gotten any more original, either. “You punch like a pussy.”