SHIVER BOOK ONE Read online

  He half laughed when he saw where my eyes had drifted. “You going to sit on top of that, baby?” He patted his lap suggestively and leaned further back on the sofa.

  I silently wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole.

  What I got instead was a firm hand on my wrist and a strong yank backward. My body shivered slightly and I closed my eyes, slowly inhaling Pierce’s aroma before I forced my body to snap back into reality. “Stop it,” I hissed, opening my eyes again.

  “What the hell?” I heard the guy on the couch spit out.

  “Let’s go, princess,” Pierce said darkly. “You’re coming with me.”

  “Pierce!” I hissed. “Get out of here!”

  “I’m not going anywhere without you.” He held my gaze.

  “The only place that slut is going is onto my lap,” the man on the sofa snapped up at us. “Now get the fuck out of here before I drag you out.” His sexual frustration could have cut my body in half.

  Pierce’s whole body tensed at his words and I felt a sense of fear wash over me. I shook my head and pushed my free hand into his chest, trying to move backward with him. “Pierce, don’t.”

  He looked over my head as if he hadn’t heard me. A lost glaze had slipped over any brightness in his eyes. I was hissing calming words into his ears, trying to make him understand how important it was that he didn’t cause any kind of trouble for me here.

  It was no use, though, because a second later Pierce was pushing me to back of his body and crossing the distance between him and the man who had just called me a slut. I was screaming before the first punch was thrown. It wasn’t even a fight, Pierce had the man on the ground within seconds, punching him in the face over and over again while he screamed out in pain, begging for mercy.

  “PIERCE! NO!” I was screaming, throwing my body onto the back of Pierce, trying to yank him away from the quickly growing bloody scene with all the strength my body could muster but it was no use, I was no match for Pierce’s strength.

  I was still screaming when I felt myself being pulled away from the two men. I swung around; ready to throw a punch of my own but it was only the bodyguard from earlier trying to break it up. Even he had a hard time getting Pierce free, though, and once he did I took the opportunity to slip in front of Pierce’s vision, forcing his black eyes downward.

  “Hey,” I said loudly, grabbing his chin between my fingers. “Stop it. Don’t look at him, look at me. You hear me? Look at me!” I slipped my other hand around his waist and pressed my body tightly against his broad chest so that I could feel every single one of his perfect muscles against me. “Pierce,” I said, feeling every enhanced heartbeat coming out of his chest. “Concentrate right here, it’s just me and you, okay? Just me and you.”

  Pierce glanced downward at me, his breathing picking up the pace when his eyes fully met mine. I knew he wanted nothing more than to tear off the guy’s head, teach him the kind of lesson he would never forget. “Pierce,” I whispered. “He already learned his lesson.” I clawed my nails into his skin, desperate to hold his attention.

  “It’s not good enough.” His jaw tightened.

  My heart wouldn’t calm down; my adrenaline was pumping just as hard as his. It always amazed me how much it scared me when he lost his temper, but also how much it fascinated me. Pierce was a loose cannon, it should have made me hate him even more than I already did and yet every time he went to that dark place my pussy throbbed even harder for him than normal.

  “It’s enough,” I assured him, wrapping my hand around his and pushing him toward the door. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” I ignored the moaning man behind us, trying to push him out of my mind. “I’ll come with you, okay? I’ll leave with you if we go right now.”

  I would worry about my job later, think about how screwed I was or how mad everyone was going to be at me. Especially my mother. The only thing I could think about at that moment was getting Pierce out of there before the police showed up or he beat the guy to death.

  Pierce let out a small sigh, holding onto my eyes for what felt like forever. I wasn’t sure I would be able to get through to him; I had seen him mad before but never like this. I’d never been in charge of keeping him calm before, one of his brothers had always been around to make sure things never crossed a line. I felt like I was begging him this time, pleading with him. I wanted to be mad at him, I wanted to hate him so bad at that moment, but all I could think about was how bad I wanted him to leave with me.

  Finally, Pierce sighed and clutched onto my body tighter before glancing back at the man who was still in agony on the ground and narrowing his dark eyes. “You’re lucky,” he said in an astonishingly calm voice.

  And then I was being dragged out of the club and into the cold darkness.

  Brace yourself, Morgan, you’re in uncharted territory.

  Chapter Five

  “Bitch, you see me standing here, right?”

  MORGAN

  “Remind me why we had to get a hotel when I already have one again?” I asked Pierce for about the ninth time since we left the club. I groaned when he ignored me, keeping his eyes on the women checking us into our fresh hotel room instead.

  The hotel attendant made me want to smack the blonde right off of her head. She puttered her lips fiercely as she handed Pierce the key to our room and fluttered her long eyelashes up at him. “If you need anything at all,” she said slowly, “don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “That’s awful kind of you,” Pierce told her, glancing at me.

  Funny he had no trouble talking to this bimbo yet he hadn’t said two words to me since we had left the club. The fact that I knew he was still furious yet he had no problem putting up a front for this bleach blonde Barbie with huge boobs instantly pissed me off.

  “What can I say?” she slithered softly. “I aim to please.”

  “Bitch,” I snapped. “You see me standing here, right?”

  Pierce tried to shuffle in a satisfied laugh and the girl looked shocked; as if a bee or something had just stung her but I didn’t give a fuck. I was extremely temperamental after the night I had and the fact that she thought she could hit on Pierce right in front of me pissed me off. I could have been his fucking wife for all she knew.

  “Oh, my bad,” she stuttered, suddenly looking shy.

  “Yeah, you’re right, it is,” I snipped back.

  “I just assumed when he said two beds…”

  My heart skipped a beat as I shot daggers at the side of Pierce’s head. I had been so lost in my own thoughts that I had completely missed him telling her that. Of course, he would ask for two beds, what the hell had I thought he would do? “Forget it,” I told her sharply as I grabbed the key cards out of Pierce’s hand and turned around on my heels. “You can have him.” I took off down the hall, hugging Pierce’s jacket closer to my body.

  I didn’t have to hear his footsteps behind me to know he was following me, I could feel it all over my body. How could he just flirt with someone right in front of me after the night we had just had? He could be so infuriating sometimes, actually, most of the time.

  He didn’t say anything as I pushed the door open roughly, letting it smack into the back of the wall with a loud bang. I dropped my body down onto one of the beds and shot daggers in his direction. “I guess this one will be my bed.” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back onto the pillow, deciding to be a brat until he decided to speak.

  After moments of silence that seemed to last forever, I opened my eyes again, more annoyed than ever. “Well, you got your way like usual, Pierce.” I let my eyes linger on his broad chest; he was leaning against the wall across from me, studying me intently.

  “That’s ironic coming from you.”

  “Are you saying I always get what I want?” I snapped. “Because I’m here, aren’t I? I left with you, right?” I sat up on the bed again. “I want to know how the hell you found me.”

  “And I want to know why the hell you ran in the
first place,” he said slowly, pausing to wait for my answer, and when I didn’t respond he nodded in a way that told me he knew that I wouldn’t. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Looks like we’re both screwed.”

  I broke eye contact with him, looking down at my hands instead. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to tell Pierce about the mess my family had gotten themselves into, I just couldn’t. It was too much of a risk, for Pierce and his brothers but for my family and me, too. I couldn’t depend on Pierce to protect me from the hell I had gotten dragged into. Protect me? Hell, most of the time he didn’t even like me.

  “I don’t owe you anything,” I told him bitterly. Now that we were gone from the club how worried I had been about him and the situation we were in had faded away and I was back to being furious with him. “Why I left is none of your damn business. You have some nerve,” I kept ranting. “You show up here out of nowhere, start a brawl at my job…”

  “Your job,” he huffed sarcastically.

  “Force me to leave with you,” I continued loudly. “Try to fuck some bitch right in front of me and to top it all off you can’t even tell me what the hell you’re doing here!” I jumped up from the bed and closed in on him, pushing my hands hard into his chest. “What do you want? Huh?”

  He grabbed my hands. “I want you to do what I say.”

  I rolled my eyes. How stubborn could he get? “You can’t have that.”

  “I can have anything I want,” he said forcefully.

  “You should call that girl from the front desk,” I informed him. “She seems like she’s in the mood for a good mind fuck,” I paused thoughtfully. “In fact, she would probably give you another kind of fuck, too.” I smiled brightly. “I’m more than satisfied in both departments, thanks.”

  “Enough,” Pierce roared, grabbing my body and swinging me around until my back was pressed into the wall. I gasped when he pushed his fingers into my chin, and puckered up my lips. “I’m getting sick and tired of that smart ass mouth of yours, Morgan.”

  I groaned and tried to bite down on his hand but he had too tight of a grip. I hated having to be so still under his touch, it made the fact that my pussy was throbbing and filling with wetness that was threatening to flow to the center impossible to ignore.

  Why did he have to be so fucking sexy?

  Why did he have to have such a strong effect on me?

  Pierce leaned into my neck, opening his mouth and letting his teeth graze back and forth over my skin. “You better just have been trying to get a rise out of me, Morgan,” he whispered, taking a piece of my long auburn hair and linking it back and forth between his fingers. “Because if I find out that you fucked anybody while you’ve been here, out of my sight, I swear on everything I have that I’ll slit his throat.”

  His words sent shivers up and down every single part of my body and I started to shake under his touch. I forced myself to still right away, the last thing I wanted to do was give him the satisfaction of knowing that I believed he would really do something like that. Or that his words made me so hot that my body wanted to explode.

  He grinned into my skin at my reaction before opening his mouth and letting his tongue linger on the tender spot just above my collarbone. “Now tell me that no one’s been inside of you, princess.”

  His normally annoying nickname for me sounded different on his lips at that moment, richer and captivating. God, I didn’t want him to move away from me. “No,” I whispered, not wanting to give into this hold he had over my body. “I won’t do it.”

  Pierce opened his mouth and started sucking fiercely on my neck, sending my body into another dimension. He made his way up my neck and across my face, kissing every inch of my skin except for my lips. “All you have to do is tell me the truth and I’ll kiss those lips, Morgan,” he whispered, leaning in even closer. “I’m so close.” He pushed his nose against mine and let out a small exhale. “Just tell me the truth and you can finally taste me.” He stuck his tongue out and licked my bottom lip. “Tell me you didn’t let anyone fuck you, princess, say it.”

  I wanted to push him away, wanted to refuse to give him the satisfaction of the truth but my body felt like it was in a trance, lost and only willing to follow orders that Pierce gave me. “I didn’t let anyone fuck me,” I whispered, feeling mortified but not enough to stop.

  “And why not?” he pressed.

  My body trembled and I closed my eyes.

  “Why not, Morgan?” he said with authority.

  “B-Because,” I said, hating the tremble in my voice.

  “Because?” He ran his hand up my thigh.

  “Because I knew you wouldn’t like it,” I finally admitted.

  “Good girl,” he breathed and I could just feel the smug look on his face.

  Before I had a chance to catch my breath and take it back his lips were on top of mine and I was drowning. He tasted just as good as I’d always imagined, felt so enchanting that I felt like I could live inside of his arms forever. My lips parted instantly and he growled, slipping his tongue inside of my mouth and starting to swirl it around possessively; as if he had been craving me just as long as I had been craving him.

  Then he was yanking away from me too soon, resting his forehead on top of mine as his hand drifted inside of his jacket and tore it off my body, letting it fall to the ground so that I was standing under him in only my bra and panty set. He kept his eyes closed for a few seconds, steading his heartbeat before letting them flutter open again and smirking. “You’re welcome,” he told me coldly.

  My eyes narrowed and I shoved his hand off my stomach. “I hate you.”

  He grabbed my hand and pinned it over my head roughly. “Is that so?” He pushed his hand up and down my stomach, lingering over my breasts. “What if I told you that you aren’t allowed to hate me?” He pushed his mouth into my hair and then inhaled deeply, smelling me. “You smell like fear,” he smirked, clearly enjoying the situation.

  I hated how well he could read me.

  Of course, I was scared.

  Not because of how far things were going between us.

  But because of how much I liked it.

  Pierce pulled his face back up, letting his perfectly shaped eyes burn into me as he titled his model face to the side and studied me intently. “Princess,” he whispered before slipping his entire hand inside of my bra and finding my nipple easily. “You’re only allowed to do the things that I say you are allowed to do.” He bit down on his lip hard. “You belong to me, you’ve belonged to me since the second I laid eyes on you. You might deny it but we both know what it is deep down.”

  My body was shaking and I wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. How could I hate someone so much and want them so much at the same time? I had told myself I would never be one of those girls, I would never submit to Pierce’s control. And yet…

  Pierce pushed his hands into my shoulders and guided me down onto the ground. “Get on your knees, princess.” He didn’t let go of me until I had obeyed and he could look down at me with approval. “You have no idea how good it feels to see you this way.” He shook his head and leaned down to kiss me hard and fast on the lips. “Now stay.”

  I watched him back away from me and sit down on the bed and like the helpless fool I was, I found myself staying put. Why was I obeying him? What was this hold he had over me? I had spent years fighting him, disobeying every command he gave me but here in the darkness of the hotel room, finally just the two of us…

  I found myself unable to fight anymore.

  I wanted him.

  My body wanted him.

  So much that it ached.

  “Fuck, you’re so sweet when you’re actually listening, Morgan,” he groaned and let his eyes linger on the spot between my legs. “I want you to crawl to me.”

  “No,” I said, my stubbornness coming out. “Fuck you.”

  “Morgan,” he said sharply, his eyes narrowed. “Crawl to me right now or I swear to God I’ll go back to that club and finish w
hat I started.” He shook his head. “You’re trying to fight it because I’m not near you but just stop. Don’t fight what you like.” He leaned forward, his teeth grinding against one another in anticipation. “I’m not going to ask you again.”

  And damn me if I didn’t start to slowly slither across the floor just like he wanted me to. I didn’t know why I was so willing to play along with him this time, didn’t understand why I was so quick to react without thinking about it. My burning pussy probably had a lot to do with it. But it was more than that. The truth was that I had wanted Pierce to look at me the way he was looking at me in that moment for as long as I could remember. I had never felt sexy to him, never thought he wanted me the way I had secretly always wanted him. I knew I couldn’t fully give myself to him; I was too damaged for that. But right there, at that moment, I really didn’t care.

  I was tired of over thinking. I just wanted to act.

  So I crawled to him just like a good girl would and then I inhaled, waiting patiently when I reached his lap and he reached down, smoothing my dark locks over my head. “Come here,” he whispered, slipping his hands under my arms and pulling me toward him. He shook his hand when I tried to startle him. “No, princess, bend over my knee.”

  “Wait. W-What?” I felt a nervous flutter sink into my stomach.

  “You don’t listen,” he whispered huskily. “In fact, you never listen and you always talk back.” He pulled me toward him and pushed my body down onto his muscular thighs so that my ass was sticking straight up into the air and my stomach was against his skin. “I think it’s time for you to be punished for your behavior.”

  “P-Punished?” I gasped, still in shock that this was happening. Pierce Lucas had me bent over his knee while he talked about punishing me. Was he? There was no way he was going to spank me! My heart was racing in anxiety and I could feel juices starting to drip out of my center.

  Please don’t let him look down and see.

  His fingertips traced up the back of my thighs and lingered just under my butt cheeks. “That’s what’s going to happen from now on when you don’t listen to me, princess, there’s going to be consequences.” He pushed his fingers into my panties and tore them down so that my bare ass was revealed. “Fuck,” he mumbled at the sight, his breathing picking up. “I want you to count them off as I go, Morgan.”