Roman's Gold (Underground Heat, Book 1) (3 page)

She sashayed over to him, hips swinging. Her sarong gave him a fair view of the tops of her high, firm breasts. “It’s been pretty slow today. You’re quite a cutie. I’d be willing to give you a deal.”

He quirked a brow, heart still pounding from his run. “What kind of deal?”

“Depends what you want.” She tugged the low neck of her dragon patterned red and black dress aside, giving him a quick peek at a brown nipple.

Devon looked hard at her face. She was young. Past eighteen, but not by much. Part of him felt sad. He wanted to ask why she’d ended up selling her body, but didn’t. He already knew the answer. It was more money than she could make at a minimum wage job.
Better me than the next stranger she flashes. At least I’ll be kind—and generous.
His cock twitched. It was still lost in Kate’s allure.

“Well?” She dropped her gaze. “If you don’t want to, I’ll go back inside.”

He gestured toward a flashing neon sign a few doors down. “Should we get a motel?”

“If you want to. It would save me some laundry.”

“Sure. What’s your name?” He held out a hand.

She took it, her grip firm. “Huong.”

“Vietnamese?”

She nodded. “Yes, how’d you—”

He traced an index finger along her cheek. “Bone structure. And your name. Do you need to lock up?”

“No. My sister’s inside.”

Yes, and likely her mother and father and a few assorted uncles, aunts, and grandparents.
Huong was probably supporting all of them. He wondered if her sister turned tricks too. He opened his mouth to ask, and then shut it with a clack. None of his business.

“Come on.” He linked an arm through hers. “Let’s go.”

They walked to the nearby motel. Devon unlocked the door of room seventeen and stood aside for her to enter. Though the motel was well past its prime, the room was clean. He turned the deadbolt and dropped the night lock into its slot, then turned to Huong. “You asked what I wanted. Just straight sex is fine. If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to shower first. I’m sweaty from running.” He kicked off his shoes.

“Would you like me to join you?” The corners of her eyes crinkled when she grinned. She tossed a small shoulder bag next to the freestanding computer screen. It had hookups—hard and wireless—to accommodate all types of computers.

“Sure.”

‘I won’t charge any extra.” She drew the window curtain closed, turned on a lamp, then came to his side and tugged his vest off. She unbuttoned his shirt and reached around to unhook the clasp of the leather pouch he wore at his waist. He grabbed it from her and laid it on a table. Huong dropped her gaze. “I do not steal from my johns.”

“Didn’t think you did.” He took a deep breath. “Look, you probably should know I’m a cop—”

She gasped and spun away from him, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door.

“Huong. I’m off-duty. I’m not here to bust you. I just thought I should tell you. You’ll see the tattoos once you get my clothes off.”

She stopped, one hand on the night latch chain. “Please don’t arrest me. My family…” Her voice broke.

“Come sit. I promise I won’t arrest you. For one thing, my jurisdiction ended at the city limits. For another, prostitution is legal here.”

She turned slowly and faced him, but made no move to sit. “That’s not what the last city cop said.”

He waited, but she didn’t elaborate. His jaw tensed with anger. He was pretty sure he knew what one of his fellow officers had done. “I’m betting he told you that you had to service him or he’d arrest you.”

Long hair fell over her face as she nodded.

“Well, if that ever happens again, you can tell him to go fuck himself.”

She giggled, tossed her hair back, and looked at him. “You know something, cop, I like you.”

“Good. Want to keep undressing me?” He winked.

Fingers busy again, she murmured, “It’s a hundred fifty credits for an hour. I’ll give you two for that.”

“Do you have a way to transfer credits?” He’d always assumed hookers dealt strictly in cash, all of which was black market. The government had outlawed anything but credits about the time they forced shifters underground.

“Sure.” She pulled his shirt out of his jeans and pushed it up his chest. She leaned close and licked his nipple. An electric shock radiated through his belly to his groin. “You need to pull your shirt off. I’m not tall enough.”

He whipped his shirt over his head and dropped it on a chair.

Huong whistled, and then ran her hands down his chest. “Nice muscles,” she breathed, fingering the tattoos on his upper torso. “This is the cop one. What’s this?”

“It’s from my tribe. I’m half Paiute. The stag is my family symbol.”

She arched a brow. “Indian. Interesting.”

“How so?”

She grinned. “Means you’re a brown-skinned foreigner just like me.”

He laughed. “I suppose that’s one way to look at it. Just remember, my people were here before any of the rest of you.” He started unbuttoning his jeans. She shoved his hands aside and pushed the well-worn fabric down his legs with practiced ease. He stepped out of them.

“No underwear?” She ran her tongue over her full lips. “Sure you weren’t cruising for a woman?”

“Never wear any.” He considered explaining about Native traditions, but decided not to. Men from his tribe who lived on the reservation avoided things they considered white man’s inventions.

“I can see why. Probably don’t fit so well over this.” She reached for his cock, already half-erect, but he shook his head. “Shower first.”

She untied a knot at her shoulder; her sarong slid to the floor. His eyes widened. She was lovely. Her breasts, tipped by brown nipples, rode high on her ribcage. A flat stomach, flared hips, and a smooth shaven pussy nestled between long shapely legs took his breath away.

His cock sprang to life. It had been months since he’d hired a woman to satisfy him. Devon wanted to toss her onto the bed, spread her legs, and plunge inside. Instead, he strode to the bathroom and flipped the taps. He felt the heat of her body right behind him.

Needle jets from a shower obviously sporting a low-flow showerhead pummeled his body. She pumped the wall-mounted soap holder a few times, rubbed her hands together, and lathered his body, lingering over his erection.

His heart thudded against his chest. He sucked in steamy air and backed her against one of the plastic-paneled walls. Her arms went around him and she tilted her face upward. He kissed her. She opened her mouth to him. Her tongue sparred with his. Either she was a consummate actress, or she wanted him as badly as he wanted her. He felt her nipples harden where they pressed against him.

She broke away from the kiss. “Clean enough, cop?”

He realized he’d never told her his name, but there was no reason to. “Yeah, probably.” Lust thickened his words. He turned off the jets. By the time he stepped out onto cracked linoleum, she was there with a towel. He didn’t care about being dry. His cock curved along his belly, as hard as it ever got. He wouldn’t last beyond a few strokes.

She knelt in front of him, but he pulled her upright. “I want to be inside you. Condoms?”

Huong scampered into the bedroom and pulled a foil packet from her bag. He grabbed it from her, ripped it open and rolled it over himself. “Been a long time, huh?” She eyed him. One of her hands toyed with her nipples, the other hand dipped between her legs.

Devon couldn’t talk. Her wantonness definitely turned up the heat factor. He tugged the faded bedspread off the bed. She understood and lay down, holding her arms out to him. He sank into them. It felt so good to have a woman close her arms around him. It didn’t matter she was a hooker. For the next few minutes, he could pretend whatever he wanted.

He took her in his arms, pressed his body against her, and kissed her. Huong reached down to guide him home. He sank his full length inside her. Her legs came up and tightened around his lower back.

He groaned at the feel of her, hot and tight around him. She thrust her hips upward. Her mouth opened wider under his. He tried to be still, but his cock had other ideas. It wanted to move, hard and fast, until it emptied inside the woman around it. Her fingers tightened on his back, nails digging in. She tore her mouth away from his. “Move, goddamn it,” she urged, voice raspy with passion. “You got me going the second I saw you run past my door.”

He didn’t need more of an invitation. He drew back until only the tip of him was within her, and then slammed himself home again and again. Her muscles clenched around him; she cried out. If she were faking it, she was damned good. Devon stopped thinking. If he got any harder, he’d burst into a million pieces. Heat poured through him, electrifying his nerve endings.

A vision of Kate, naked with all that wonderful hair falling down her full breasts, danced behind his closed eyes. He was holding her, fucking her. She loved it. Loved him, couldn’t get enough… His climax pounded through him. His cock jerked and came and jerked some more. He barely recognized the grunts filling the room as his. They sounded so primal.

He’d been supporting his upper body on his arms. They folded and he collapsed atop her, panting. Huong murmured wordlessly and stroked his back. “If I could have a man in my life, I’d want him to be just like you.”

He grinned and pulled out of her, careful to keep hold of himself so the condom wouldn’t leak. On his feet, he rolled it up his shaft and chucked it. “Bet you say that to all the boys.”

“No.” She gazed at him, dark eyes serious. “I don’t. It doesn’t matter, though, cop. You have your life and I have mine.”

He reached for his discarded clothes and dressed. She was right. He had buddies who’d been dumb enough to fall in love with hookers. Occasionally, it worked. More often, jealousy tore the couple apart. He picked up his wrist computer. “Money?”

She unfolded her body from the bed, gathered her sarong, and tied it in place. “Code?” She pulled a wrist computer out of her small bag. “Hold on a sec. I’ll get the voice recognition software up.”

He punched a few buttons and rattled off the string of numbers which flashed across his display. It would authorize a credit transfer into her account. She tapped keys on her computer. “All set.” She smiled at him. He thought he saw sadness behind it.

“Do you want me to walk you home?”

Huong shook her head. “No.”

“Now I know where you are, maybe we could—”

“You don’t really mean that. Goodbye, cop. Thanks. It was fun.”

Devon undid the deadbolt and night latch. He walked toward Berkeley and his small, almost unfurnished flat. Huong was right to tell him not to come back. Women had ways of knowing when the man between their legs imagined he was fucking someone else.

He settled into an easy lope. Kate filled his mind. He had to find a way to get close to her. By the time he ran up his steps an hour later, he had an idea.

Chapter 3

Kate cracked her door. Her gaze swept the street. She scented the air and blew out a sigh of relief. Whoever had been after her that morning hadn’t stuck around. She didn’t really expect they would. After all, it was a good five hours since she’d started her work day. She’d bundled Todd out the door half an hour ago. Another shower and change of sheets later, she’d dressed in her street clothes and gathered her things. Normally, she would have sprinted out the door, but given this morning, it paid to be cautious.

She checked the time and frowned. Only twenty minutes before she was supposed to meet the hovercraft with her groceries. She could have hunted to feed herself, but not all four of them. Her underground contact had chastised her for not bringing her car. Kate hated to drive in Berkeley traffic. Rush hour extended through practically the entire twenty-four hour time spectrum. She took the bus whenever she could.

Electronics whirred as the door locked behind her. Kate hurried down the steps and set off on the shortest route which would get her outside the city limits. The day was gray and cloudy. A fine mist dripped from everything. The pilot would be taking a risk picking her up outside an approved landing zone, never mind dropping her at her house which was inside the city limits. Barely inside, but rules were rules.

She thought about the handsome man she’d seen in the street. Heat warmed her cheeks. She’d thought about him many times over the course of the day. She’d even pretended he was the one between her thighs when Todd—who’d finally managed a credible erection—was discovering what sex was all about. She grinned. The look on his face when he’d sunk full length inside her was priceless. He’d even managed to last a couple of minutes.

She hurried past the city limit sign. Berkeley was surrounded by dreary, concrete walls with gates. When civil unrest escalated, city cops secured the gates until things settled down. It worked because no one wanted to be locked inside their town. Suppliers complained, too, when they couldn’t deliver their goods. All in all, it had proven an effective means of crowd control.

She focused on her wrist computer, called the agreed upon number, and activated the app which would ping her location to the hovercraft. Kate scanned the skies. Hovercraft were nearly silent unless you were right next to them. They ran on electricity supplied by well-muffled onboard generators. In moments, the craft came into view over her head. A harness dropped from its belly. She buckled in and tried to relax as the auto winch brought her aboard. It wasn’t easy. She was totally vulnerable to sniper pot shots as well as mechanical failures in the persnickety winch system.

Her head spun; she realized she wasn’t breathing.
Come on,
she urged herself.
It’s not like I haven’t done this before.

Yeah, well, I didn’t like it then, either,
another inner voice answered testily.

The upper part of her body was inside the craft. She placed a hand on either side of the opening and levered herself the rest of the way in. The door slid into its slot; she undid the harness buckles with unsteady hands and dropped it over the winch.

“Stay down,” the pilot called over a shoulder.

Kate looked longingly at the soft copilot’s seat, then slithered against a curved wall and tried to get comfortable. “Are we good?”