Explicit Instruction (Explicit, #1)

by Scarlett Finn

‘Do you always talk so much?’ Flick thought about some of the things she’d said, and heard, of late. ‘Until Rushe tells me to be quiet.’ ‘Now I’m telling you,’ John said. ‘You don’t know the secret password.’

‘Let me guess,’ she said. ‘If I consent to join you in the room next to Rushe and Simone I get out of jail.’ Victor’s lips curled up into what was supposed to be a smile, but it made her ill to see it. ‘I get what Rushe saw in you,’ he said. ‘But I’ve got a dozen girls in this place who’ll lick my lollipop any time I want it. Not sure I could trust a woman with your...’ ‘Fangs,’ she said, ensuring to show her teeth when she smiled.

‘Except word on the street is you’ve got a bit of a God complex, and... not the goods to back it up.’ ‘That what Rushe told you?’ ‘Ah,’ Flick said in comprehension. ‘Pillow talk, you wonder if Rushe has a loose tongue. You want to know what I know.’ ‘Could say that,’

‘Problem is... when a woman’s had a man like Rushe... well, let’s just say sloppy seconds aren’t so appealing.’ ‘He works for me,’ Victor ground out. ‘You’re not very sure about that, are you? What is it with you lowlife scum suckers? Why are you so threatened by Rushe? Is it because you take one look at him, and know you’ll never be the best, because the best is what you’re looking at?’

‘I thought we could be pleasant about this. You give me what I want, and I let you go... I see you’re not very professional.’ ‘I’ve not been in the game long,’ Flick said. ‘But I was instructed by the best.’

‘If I was a cop, I think I’d have called for backup by now.’ ‘Would you?’ he asked. ‘So why hasn’t your buddy upstairs called it in?’ ‘How do you know he hasn’t?’ she asked. ‘One thing I’ve learned about your game is that you’ve gotta have the stomach for it. You gotta be a man who can hold his load... a man with balls.’

‘You’re one smart mouthed puta, aren’t you? You talk to Rushe like that?’ ‘Only when I want him to wash my mouth out.’ ‘I can do that too,’ he sneered. ‘Oh I hope you try it,’ she said. ‘Please.’

‘Got any phobias?’ ‘Yes,’ she said, and he glanced up in surprise. ‘The great outdoors and three course meals.’

‘You’re gonna die here, Felicity. Is he worth that? Worth dying for? You’re gonna die for a man who’s fucking another woman as we speak? Is he worth it?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘He’s up there with Simone; she knows how to do things to a man that will make his eyes roll from their sockets.’ ‘Says the voice of experience,’ Flick said. ‘Did Victor put a gun to your head and make you have sex with her too? What’s wrong with the woman that you men don’t want to get naked with her? You should get her and Skeeve together.’

‘Look at what they did to your beautiful face,’ he said, and stroked over her bruises with such hesitancy her eyes misted again. ‘Am I hurting you?’ ‘No,’ she said, snatching his hand back to her cheek. ‘You’ve got a black eye, and the blood, the—‘ ‘Bruises heal,’ she said. ‘Hearing you admit that you care about me... it’s worth every single one of them.’

Though he was here, he wasn’t with her, and while still bouncing on his penis, she opened her eyes and let their gazes join. The very second she saw the love in his eyes she yelped out at orgasm. The arrangement of his features was foreign, because the love on his face was more than a smile. The torture of that love, and his powerlessness to prevent her pain, made fresh moisture escape from Flick’s eyes, but she didn’t let it deter or impede her.

The words didn’t fully register, but he said them again. If she’d thought she appreciated him talking in bed before, this was the jackpot, and more than she could ever have dreamed of. ‘I love you, Kitten,’ he exhaled into her ear, while still kissing all around the area where he could reach. ‘I’ve never in my life... I love you.’

‘Make love to me,’ Flick said, pushing his hair up from his forehead. ‘Show me how you feel.’ When their eyes met again his confusion cleared, his anger evaporated, and with stiff muscles, his cheek twitched then he relaxed and... smiled at her. His whole face changed, and his eyes lit up when he shone that beautiful joy down on her. Their odds couldn’t get any longer, but while they were here in this room, on this bed, joined together, the world was a beautiful place.

‘No,’ he asserted, and swiped the tears from her cheeks. ‘Stop crying. I can’t think when you cry like that. Since that damn first night... stop it!’

‘What do you expect me to do?’ he asked. ‘There are no weapons in this room.’ Flick took her grip to his wrists and brought his hands up to her throat. The flash of repulsion pulsed through his body. Rushe tried to withdraw from her grasp, but she kept hold and brought his fingers as close as she could. ‘I love you,’ she whispered. ‘I know you can do this for me... please.’

‘I won’t go quietly,’ she whispered. ‘I mean the van, the journey; I can handle that but... I won’t just bend over for them, Rushe.’ ‘You listen to me,’ he said, tightening his hold on her hand. ‘I don’t want you to give up. Don’t goad them into hurting you. You’ve got a mouth on you, Kitten, but it’s mine, and I’m telling you to keep it shut.’

‘I trust you. I’ve trusted you from the start. Even when you told me not to. But they’re going to do things to me... things that might... if I ever got back to you, I might never...’ ‘We’ll deal with it,’ he said. ‘All you have to concentrate on is breathing, ok?’ ‘You won’t want me.’ ‘This isn’t your fault,’ he growled with a ferocity that made her shiver. ‘You are my woman. I don’t care how many fuckers I have to kill to get to you, I’ll do it. Do you believe me?’

‘How did we not see this coming?’ ‘There is precedent, but I had no idea that Victor—‘ ‘Not Victor,’ she said. ‘This.’ Alarm flashed on his face when Flick took his hand to her heart. ‘You’re the best thing I’ve ever had in my life,’ he said, and Flick looked up to see his awe. ‘That’s what you said to me.’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Why would you want anything to do with a guy like me?’ ‘You’re the strongest, most honourable man I’ve met in my life. I love you, Rushe. It’s not a choice. It’s not something I can switch on and off. You protected me, fed me, pleasured me, took care of me. You did whatever was needed to accomplish what was in my best interest. You told me to leave that shack to protect me from Shiv, and from this. You sent me home when I didn’t want to leave your side.

‘Damn, she’s fuckable,’ he said. ‘That’s the first thing I thought when I saw you. I thought you were going to keep going. But when you stopped... I froze up.’ ‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire,’ she said. ‘That’s roughly what I thought when I first saw you in that room in Dell’s.’

‘You keep that guard up, Kitten, but keep your mouth shut. I’ll be pissed if I show up and you’ve stood me up.’

‘Hayden,’ he frowned. ‘You’re dating?’ ‘Lover, I’m about to be bundled into a van and sold to the highest bidder. I think you have more pressing concerns about other men.’ ‘Did he fuck you?’ Rushe demanded with that angry brow crowding his eyes. ‘You found your anger,’ she said. ‘And does it matter?’ ‘Yes. Tell me!’ ‘Are you jealous?’ ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Answer me.’ Rushe was honest to a fault... when it suited him. ‘I never sleep with a guy on a first date,’ Flick said. ‘I’ve never taken you on a date.’ A statement that Flick couldn’t argue with. ‘True... and I won’t sleep with you the first time that you do.’ When his exhale was almost a laugh, Flick saw how his face softened when he looked at her. ‘Suits me. Sex doesn’t have anything to do with sleeping.’

‘I don’t argue with women.’ ‘No,’ she said, crawling into his lap. ‘We can find some other way to settle our differences.’

‘I love you, and I’m going to find you.’ More tears escaped, and Flick clawed his chest. ‘I’ll be good, I promise.’ ‘I know.’ ‘Don’t let them hurt you,’ she said. ‘I’m not worth it.’ His mouth tilted to an almost straight diagonal, forming a smile that she wanted to remember every second from now until she could see it again. ‘Kitten, you’re the only damn thing in the world that is.’

‘Do you think that now was the best time to start following my instructions?’ he asked. ‘What?’ ‘You’re not wearing any underwear.’ ‘How do you know that?’ Flick asked, looking down at her chest. ‘I know how much the girls like me, but they’re not usually so eager. Follows that no bra means no panties.’ ‘We’re breaking you out of the evil lair, and your main concern is my breasts?’ ‘No,’ he said, appearing offended by her question. ‘Don’t complain about chaffing later is all. I’m fucking you senseless when we get out of here. It’s gonna be hard and dirty and constant, so I don’t want to hear any defiance.’ Flick wasn’t sure how serious he was, she knew his humour could be so dry, but on her own smile she wanted to leap back up into his arms. ‘Do I have a choice?’ ‘No.’ ‘Ok,’

‘I know about your high school sweetheart who fucked you over for your best friend, they got six kids now, did you know that? All inferiority issues, it’s why you’re threatened by Skeeve.’ ‘Threatened by shit like that?’ ‘Skeeve, you ain’t never getting respect,’ Rushe said. ‘I don’t respect you, and Victor sure doesn’t, none of the men here do, and all of the women think you’re lower than shit. You want to know how to get a woman like Flick. How guys like us, bottom feeders with nothing to offer, get women like Felicity Hughes, who could have any man in the world she wants? When you’ve got respect like that you don’t need to rape women, Flick begs me to fuck her every minute of the goddamn day. Just now, downstairs, she’s gagging for it, I have to pry the bitch off my cock, and we could get shot in the head by any of you fuckers any second.’

‘No one touches you,’ he said, letting his gaze touch hers. ‘I love you, Kitten, god damn you woman, I love you.’

‘You want to be my girl, then you’ve got to get used to some things.’ ‘Like what?’ ‘Like that I’ll never appear on a database of any kind. You’ll be dating an apparition.’ ‘As long as you’re dick isn’t imaginary, that’s fine by me.’

‘You have to understand. Sometimes I’m on the side of the good guys, and sometimes it’s the bad. But I have to believe in the cause. I would never work in malice. I take only the cases I want to because I like to dedicate time to the mission. I give it my focus. Distractions or bad intelligence in this game can get you killed.’

‘I trust you, Rushe.’ ‘I told you not to do that.’ ‘And how am I at following instructions?’

Flick knew that the journey from snatching her arm to snatching her hand was a long one, but they’d made it, and with his strong grip, she ran along behind him.

‘He likes to take his time, and he can afford it – he pays extra for the bruises... and if there’s blood I get a new pair of Manolo’s. ’ Flick held up her crossed fingers.

But now it was different. Now they had a future. Now there was a part of her in him. A part that lived in his heart, and she knew he’d give his life to protect it.

‘The guy I lost my virginity to when I was twenty, he died in a car crash three years later.’ ‘Were you close?’ Flick shook her head. ‘I hadn’t seen him for years, I read about it in the newspaper... Looking at you now, I think he took the easy way out.’

Rushe had protected her when she didn’t know she needed to be protected. In the big picture of events, as a whole, Flick knew she had cost him. By his own admission, she’d fucked up the job. But those feral eyes that feasted on her body held no regret. Flick had no regrets either. Walking into that bar had given her the most important gift, one that would prove to be the core that the rest of her world rotated on.

‘Get dressed,’ Rushe said, giving her breast a squeeze. ‘I got a call at the front desk. When I’m back, we’re leaving.’ He ducked his head and sucked her nipple into his mouth. Flick laughed and shoved his shoulder. ‘Most men kiss your mouth goodbye.’ ‘I’m not most men, Kitten,’ he said, she welcomed his lips when they grazed hers, but at the same time his finger dipped into her pussy. Flick hit him again, but he backed away sucking his finger into his mouth.

Rushe was as stoic as ever, but his dry playfulness made her grin. A man in love should glow. It might be invisible to others, but to her he was neon.

‘You’re my girl. I’ve been alone... I’d always thought nothing could change that. Getting used to you is gonna take time but I don’t... I’m private.’ ‘I know that but—’ His finger touched her chin. ‘You’re not a separate entity; you’re an extension of me. I wasn’t prepared for this, but I’ll make the appropriate adjustments.’ ‘You don’t want to be in love with me,’ Flick said. ‘Do you?’ ‘No,’ he said. ‘It would be a lot easier if I wasn’t.’

‘You better hope we never split up,’ Rushe said, holding her breasts and grazing his thumbs over her nipples. ‘No man touches this; no one touches what is mine. You’ll never be touched by another man, not for the rest of your life. You are mine, Felicity. You are my woman, and I belong to you now. Once I have committed to something I won’t turn my back on it. We won’t split, because I won’t allow it. If something makes you unhappy we’ll change it.’

‘Please Rushe, fuck me.’ He considered her. After a long silence he got on the floor, holding his weight on his arms when he lay over her. ‘No.’ ‘No?’ ‘One,’ he said, admiring her naked figure, then he kissed her one way and the other. ‘What?’ ‘You asked me about every woman I’ve made love to. There’s only been one. You.’ For a charmless man, Flick found herself charmed.

‘You’re beautiful,’ he said. ‘I wish I could...’ ‘What?’ she asked, sliding her hands from his chest to his neck. ‘You’re a princess, I mean you’re a goddess, and I’m not... it’s like beauty and the beast.’ ‘Rushe, I love that you take what you want from me. I love that there are things that go unsaid between us. Flowers and diamonds, and those things are nonsense, it’s superficial and meaningless. I love you. I love how you’re aware of me at all times. I love that you care for me, and anticipate my needs before I have them. I love you, and I don’t want you to change a thing.’ ‘I’m not what you’ll be used to. All the romance, and they—‘ ‘I left my family to get away from that frivolity. You say what you think. I’ve been on scores of dates in my life. I must have dated a hundred men.’ ‘Point, Kitten?’ ‘There’s a reason I didn’t let them into my bed. But I slept with you from night one.’

‘What about you?’ she asked. ‘Will I have to share you?’ With another kiss he smiled down at her, she liked that it came easier to him, at least when they were alone. ‘I couldn’t sleep with Simone,’ he said. ‘I could’ve fucked her, and maybe things would’ve been better, easier if I had. She was all laid out buck naked, that skinny little ass, and her tits—‘ ‘I don’t want to hear this,’ Flick said, trying to push him away. But Rushe only gave her more of his weight, pinning her in place. ‘She was naked, a hot naked woman lying there primed and ready. I’ve had hundreds of women. Any time a woman was on offer, I took it. On the job, or not, I took sex. I convinced plenty of gangs I was on their side by screwing the right woman at the right time.’ ‘This isn’t turning me on,’ Flick said, trying again to push him up. ‘Please move.’ ‘No.’ ‘I think I’m going to hurl.’ ‘I was limp,’ he said. Flick relaxed and drew her eyes to him. ‘It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to fuck her, I couldn’t. In my life that has never happened. I’ve never been unable to get it up. I looked at her spread out on the bed, and it was nothing. I didn’t give a fuck. Her body was nothing to me.’ Flick’s smile spread slowly. ‘Lover.’ ‘What?’ Rushe really was as clueless as he sounded, but once again he’d romanced her without knowing it. Simultaneously she wrapped her arms and legs around him. ‘He really likes me.’ ‘Who?’ ‘Your dick, he doesn’t want to be in anyone else. He likes his home in me.’ ‘He does,’

‘We have a new life to get to... heel!’ On her order, his eyebrow sloped up. ‘You’re gonna pay for that one,’ he said, but complied. Reaching around her to open the apartment door, Rushe took the suitcase from her grip. ‘You tell me to “stay” like I’m a dog.’ ‘You’re my bitch; I thought we were clear on that.’ ‘Punish me later?’ ‘Count on it,’