Pan's Salvation (5 page)

You stop to think about that?” He removed his hand.

“Why do you care?”

“I wish I fucking knew. Cause you’ve been nothing but grief.”

“So, let me go. Please just let me go. I can’t leave her here with him—doing God knows

what. I–I just can’t.” Her shoulders heaved. Broken sobs filled the silence in the room.

This shit isn’t even worth it.

“You want to go? I’m not your keeper.” He released her and stepped back. “Go chase them down, deliver yourself on a silver platter and see where it gets you and Robin. My conscious is clear. I fixed the mess the Minion’s made and I tried to keep you safe. If you’re too fucking stubborn to realize that, it’s on you.”

Lark’s lower lip trembled. She rubbed her arms and glanced around. Dark spots were

forming on her chocolate flesh. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“I personally hope you don’t do it. You’re too damn beautiful to wind up playing whore to some drug dealer who’ll never let you go. Within the first week, he’ll have you strung out on some shit that makes you do whatever he asks.”

“How dare you!”

“You think I don’t know how this works?” He scowled. “I live in the darkness, you just

moonlight in it.”

“You don’t know shit about me.”

“I know you’ll do everything possible to avoid men like me. I could see it in your eyes. You got fight. I’ll give you that. But you hate the way I make you feel and you hate your sister for her bad decisions.”

“Don’t judge me.”

“Haven’t you done the same to me?”

“No.”

The indignation on her face made him chuckle. “You lying to yourself or me now, Lark?”

He raked his gaze over her body and paused at her breasts. “You’re reacting to me now. You could cut glaze with those nipples.” He took a step forward. “And I bet if I stick my hand under that poor excuse for a dress you’d be wet. Why? Because you like the way, I deal with you. You want a man who’s in control. You need to be told what to do because you have no sense of self-preservation. You want to make up for your sister’s sins, but we both know when judgment comes, it’ll be her alone standing there.”

She chewed at her bottom lip.

Pan knew he’d gotten through to her.

“So, I give up on her? I walk away and leave my own flesh and blood in a hell I wouldn’t deliver my worst enemy to?”

“Did I say that?”

“You shut me down, right in front of them.”

“Because you weren’t thinking with your head. I’m sure they expected that. It's how they get desperate women to make rash decisions.”

“And you just know everything?” she yelled.

“Lower your volume.” His nostrils flared and his blood rushed through his veins. “I’ve

already let you slide with your disrespect. It stops here and now.” He walked over and brushed his fingertips across her throat. “Do I look like the type of man who lets a woman talk down to him, Lark?”

“N-no.”

“That’s because I’m not.” He palmed her throat. “And you should remember that. I’m not a nice guy. They always finish last and please believe me when I say…I make sure I come out on top.”

Lark nervously licked her lips.

“I think I told you not to lie to me. In the past ten minutes, you’ve hardly spoken the truth.

I’m going to have to teach you a lesson.” He tightened his grip. Her chest heaved, her warm breath caressing his face.

Her face showed fear, but it also showed something else—arousal.

“How should I teach you to keep that pretty little mouth of your shut until you’ve thought things through? I could fill it, but I’ve already done that. No. I think I’ll teach you about patience and obedience.” He released his grip and she took a shaky breath. Trailing his fingers down her side, he learned her curves. He reached the hem of her dress and caressed her skin and the soft material of the dress. “Waiting can be difficult, but the buildup.” He continued his strokes. “Is worth it.” Her eyes dilated. He shoved her dress up to her waist and cupped her pussy. “I can feel your heat through your panties. You might not like the way I do things, but you like me, don’t you.”

She opened her mouth.

“No lies…” He growled.

Her mouth slammed shut.

“Is it so hard to admit?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” He circled her swollen clit through the soft cotton.

“B-Because.”

“That’s not an answer.” He continued his slow circles.

She parted her lips and moved her hips. He pinched her clit. She flinched and cried out. He flicked her nub gently. Her eyes glossed over.

“Tell me.”

She whimpered and he stopped.

“No.”

“Then give me what I asked for, Lark.”

“Because—this isn’t m-m-e.” She jumbled the words together.

“What?”

“Liking—this.” She spat the words out like they were something disgusting.

He rolled her bud between his fingers and she purred like a jungle cat. Fierce, lithe and sexy, she could never be an average house cat. This woman had claws that could kill. “What’s this, Lark?”

“G-giving up—control.”

“Oh, but I think that’s what you need to learn.” He slipped his fingers inside her underwear and her cream coated his fingers. “You are so fucking hot and wet.” He parted her folds and circled her entrance. “I bet you’re tight too.”

Panting, she rocked with the motion of his caresses. Her body tensed.

“But…we’ll have to find out another time.” He removed his fingers. “Because I don’t

reward bad behavior.” Pan stepped back from her, ignoring the screaming protest in his pants. He would never let a woman control him.

Needy, angry and wet
, Lark rested her head against the wall. She’d never felt more alive, or more intrigued by a man.
I’m sick. This is my dysfunction. I’m incapable of being in a healthy
relationship.
She always had the upper hand with the men she’d dated. It was the only way it worked for her. She needed to remain in control and call the shots. It was a personality flaw she accepted…until right now. Pan turned her inside out and challenged everything. It made her want to claw his eyes out and fuck him at the same time. Even now, her core throbbed and her cream continued to flow.
What kind of person am I?
Her arousal disgusted and confused her. She had no clue where Robin was or how she was being treated. The possibilities were endless. Each image that popped into her mind was worse than the one before.

She pushed off from the wall and tried to gather her wits. How do you come back at

someone after they made your panties wet, took you to the brink of orgasm and shut you down all in the same ten minutes? She ran her hands through her hair and breathed deep to bring her galloping heart to a slow canter.

“You calm now?” Pan asked. He was the epitome of cool. Perched on the edge of the bed

with his elbows resting on his knees, he watched her with veiled eyelids. His blue eyes gave away nothing.

“It doesn’t change anything.”

“Pity. Perhaps I was wrong about you?”

“Now, who’s judging?” she huffed.

“I’m going by what you’re showing me. There’s a difference.”

“Cold-blooded.”

“I prefer the term…calculating. You can’t help someone else if your ass is in a sling.”

“I’m calling him.” She stormed across the room to her purse.

“Good, but I suggest you know what you want to bargain for. What do you have to offer that he cares about?” His eyes burned her. “What you are willing to negotiate with? How far would you go for your sister?”

She swallowed. It was a question she asked herself a million times before. She’d risk life and limb, pulling her out of flop houses, paying off Robin’s dealers and sacrificing every chance for normalcy she had. You didn’t have to be an addict to be affected by their harried lifestyle.

You just had to be close enough to get sucked into their gravitational pull. Her lip trembled.
Is
this the moment I decide I’ve had too much?
One last time.
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Pan looked disappointed.

Her stomach dropped. She didn’t want to let him down. It’d been a long time since she felt anything more than responsibility and fear. Every time the phone rang she expected to find out Robin was dead.

“You that eager to fuck a stranger, Lark?” He cupped his crotch. “Cause I have a willing dick right here.”

“Fuck you!”

“We both know it’s going to be cash or ass. Which do you have?” He arched an eyebrow.

“Maybe if you had a sibling, you’d understand.”

Pan snorted. “You know fuck all about me, lady. I have a twin. Only reason I’m still here is because I admire your loyalty.”

“I have money,” she whispered.

“Enough for him? Cause most people’s money is chump change. I bet he could make more

selling your sister’s flesh if she looks half as good as you do.”

Lark thought of the money she’d spent the past twelve years saving. “It’ll be enough.”

“You sure you haven’t been a mule for someone?”

“No, I worked my ass off. Just like everyone else.”

“You double cross me and your body will be the first to hit the floor.”

She stared at him completely disconcerted. One minute, he had her pinned against the wall, manipulating her like a classically trained musician with an instrument. He hit all the right keys and his finger placement was impeccable. The next, he threatens her life? “The fuck?”

“I’m being straight up with you. The way I expect you to be with me. I’m taking a risk with you. We both know it, but I want you to know it’s a calculated one.”

“No one asked you to.” She snapped. Anger made her blood run hot. He came into her life, turned what should’ve been a smooth transaction into a mess and made her seem childish and inept with the few words he did speak.

“Yeah, you did.” He rose and she craned her neck to take him in. “The minute you looked at me with those big ass browns and silently asked me to save you. You’re looking at me like that now.”

She turned away.

“What? You won’t deny it?”

“Why? So, you can call me a liar and accost me?”

“So, I can make you admit the truth and show you exactly what your body needs.” He

stopped closer. “I get the feeling you been dealing with watered down motherfuckers who let you have your way and jump when you say jump. But that’s not what you need.”

He’d hit the nail on the head. The realization made her squirm. “What do you know about me?”

He flashed a wolfish grin that was little more than a quick glimpse of white teeth. “More than you think. Right now, all you want to do is let go and for once, be taken care of. I can do that for you. All you have do is surrender and trust my judgment.”

The offer was tempting. Fighting her sister’s downhill battle single-handed would be more than foolish now. Her desperation shamed her. She bowed her head.

He pinched her chin and brought her head up. “There’s nothing wrong with needing help.”

“I-I don’t even know—you,” she stuttered.

“But you want to and you could. Look at me.”

His voice was hypnotic and persuasive. It preyed on the weakness inside her. She swayed on her feet.

Pan wrapped an arm around her waist. “It’s been a long time since I cared about anything.

Let me do this.”

Water blurred her vision. “Why do you care?”

“Because you stopped a loop I was trapped in and woke me up from a living nightmare. I

owe you for that.” His blue eyes were full of truth and honesty like a man who had nothing to fear or hide.

Her gut told her this man was worthy of her faith.
He already saved your life once when he
had no reason to.
“And if I do this…if I trust you?”

“I’ll take care of this, on one condition.”

She sniffed. “What’s that?”

“You start putting yourself first from this point on. No more jumping in front of your sister to take bullets. I can’t let you torture yourself over the way the cards were laid out. Trust me, that way lies nothing but heartache and self-loathing.” He shook his head. “It’s a bad scene.” His tone rang full of regret.