Hard Limits (Queen of Hearts #1)

by Suki Williams

His secrecy didn’t mean I knew nothing about him; in fact, his secrecy said more about him than he probably would like me to know. He had things worth hiding. Sexual preferences weren’t necessarily influenced by things we did outside the bedroom, but high-stress jobs led men and women to do things many didn’t think about. The more money and power they had outside the bedroom, the more ego they brought into the bed. Of course, some liked that power and wanted more unusual requests fulfilled. But others, they wanted to not be in charge anymore. They wanted someone who could come in and finally make the decisions for them, pushing them to relax until they submitted even though their mind was telling them to fight it.

I groaned as I wrapped a hand around my throbbing dick and started to jerk off, remembering the flare of anger on her face at my shitty comments. The pain in her eyes after I smacked her in the alleyway before storming off. The hint of blood that had collected at the corner of her mouth as she glared at me had made my cock twitch, and it had taken everything in me to storm away and not fuck her right there where anyone could have seen us. Not to mention Sacha had been watching us from the shadows.

We’d get this job done, and that would be it. I’d already let one woman past my barriers, and she had done a top notch job of wrecking me. It wasn’t going to happen again. Not even with the raven-haired goddess that made me want to be more than the rough brute everyone saw when they looked at me. Once upon a time, I was sure she’d seen beyond that exterior. Too bad I’d just ensured that was all she would ever see when she looked at me from now on.

“I’m just as dangerous as the brothers,” he whispered, turning his face to make eye contact. “I do like killing people.”

He tightened his grip enough that I moaned at the rougher treatment. Sacha wasn’t actually trying to hurt me; this almost felt gentle compared to his brother Vas. But I could feel the strength in his hold and knew that if he wanted to hurt me, he could, and that was a huge turn on for me. “Most people wouldn't be turned on by this, being with someone like me, after what I did to you.” “I’m not most people,” I replied, my voice breathless. “But I think we are similar in the ways that matter.”

“Everyone loves to play with those of us that are broken.” I reached up and gripped the sleeves of his shirt, not letting him back away from me as I finished. “Until they find all our sharp edges. But you and I, we rejoice at every cut. Every scratch makes us feel, proving to us that we’re alive. I can see that we’re the same in that way, just by looking at you. You want to break me just as much as I want to break you, so we can play along those edges.”

Sometimes I felt so numb to everything, but it seemed being placed between two men who hated being attracted to me almost as much as they wanted to dominate me was exactly what I needed to feel something. Sharp edges indeed.

I didn’t bother to hide my interest when she walked away, my eyes locked on her retreating body. She was curvy in all the right places, thick thighs, luscious breasts, and a wide smile that reached her green eyes. I instantly gave the club more points for having a waitress like her; I’d have to come back here at a later date, and maybe I would try to pick her up, forget the dance floor.

“Holy shit,” Oli muttered. “Oh god, my life flashed before my eyes, thinking you were younger. At least you can legally drink.” “That somehow makes it better?” I tilted my head. “I mean, you’re standing there covered in brain and blood, but you’re worried about me being unable to legally buy a drink. Maybe you should think about your priorities?” “At least I won’t go to jail for fucking you,” Vas muttered, and Sacha ran a hand over his face.

I could see laughter in his hazel eyes as he looked down at me. I didn’t realize how muscular Oli was under his loose-fitting clothes, was my first thought. My second was even less helpful. How did I miss the piercings? He didn’t have that many, but there were enough to pique my interest.

“Did the others tell you that we used to share?” My eyes widened at his revelation, surprised despite it also making a strange sort of sense. “We’re busy men, and work can be… consuming. We like sharing, and it can be convenient for everyone.” “Is that so?” I asked, searching his expression. Whereas he was usually pretty open despite all the secrets he’d apparently been keeping, now he was more careful, guarded. “Why are you telling me this?” “You’ve fucked Vas and Sacha,” he reasoned evenly. “Bodhi and I are both attracted to you. Just something to think over.”

“You don’t even know me. I mean, we’re roommates, but we didn’t spend time together. Not really.” “Sweetheart, the same could be said about you with all of us,” he retorted immediately, maintaining that inch of space between us, hazel eyes filled with a hypnotic desire. “We aren’t good people. Hell, most of the time we aren’t even nice, but I don’t think you want someone nice.”

Not letting myself overthink things, I closed the distance between us in a rush, kissing him hard. He kissed me back with the same fervor, each stroke of my tongue against his making me almost moan at the taste of him. He pressed his body against mine, so I could feel the power in his muscles as he pinned me there, completely at his mercy.

“The first time you fuck me, I want us covered in blood and celebrating, because you were right. I’m not a good person. At all. I’d much rather party in the darkness.”

“And you can fuck me, be in control of me however you want to, but before the end, I’ll be fucking you here.” I pushed just the tip in, and he eagerly grunted, lines of cum covering my stomach as he came. “I’m going to own you, completely.” Frantically, he slammed his lips on mine, forcing my mouth open. I slipped my finger out of his ass, instead focusing on returning his kiss and pumping every last drop of cum from his body.

“Smell it.” He nodded at the bottle, my honest acceptance clearing some of his unease and bringing back some of his usual self-assurance. “It reminded me of you.” I sent him a teasing look and pulled my hand from his to open it. “If this smells like grease and oil because that’s what you smell like—” He let out a booming laugh. “If I want you to smell like me, then I’ll just fuck you, Delilah.” “Such a sweet talker.”

“It was one of the only things not destroyed in my bathroom.” He swallowed hard as he walked over and stopped in front of me, his thick cock standing at attention. “I didn’t realize you still had it.” A genuine smile filled my face. “It was my first birthday gift in five years. Of course I kept it.” Some strong emotion flickered across his face, maybe some weird mix of pleasure and surprise and even a hint of anger, before he gently pushed me down onto the bed.

“Hold the rails of the headboard and don’t let go,” he ordered. I had just grabbed a hold of them when he thrust two fingers inside of me, making me arch my back. He chuckled roughly before leaning down to take a nipple in his mouth. Vas slowly swirled his tongue around the hard peak as he used his thumb to lightly tease my clit. I began whimpering, my hands clenching around the railings. Then he bit me hard enough to make me gasp, my body suspended between the pain of my breast and the pleasure he was bringing my pussy.

“Vas!” I called out his name as he thrust into me, balls deep, not letting my body get used to his size. Instead, he pounded into me. It was as if he was possessed, every nearly painful thrust into my body was teaching me a lesson and claiming me at the same time. “Such the perfect fucking pain slut.” My pussy clenched with his words, turned on by his crude praise. “Fuck yes. You’re always so hot and needy. Your pussy begging for it even when you try to deny it.”

“I’m going to come inside of you, Nic. You and I are going to know that out of all of us, I was first. That when it comes down to it, I can control you in the bedroom like no one else can. Your pain, your pleasure— it will be all of ours, but when you’re with me, it’s wholly mine.”

We had always used a condom during our meet-ups, which made this moment stand out even more in my mind. The feel of him pumping inside of me and filling me with his cum was something I knew I wouldn’t forget no matter how many more times we were together. It was like he was claiming me, marking me beyond all shadow of a doubt.

“We’re going to have to take care of this,” Oli said in an uncharacteristically hard voice. I looked over to find Bodhi nodding in agreement. “Yes, we are,” Sacha and Vas echoed. Another kind of woman would have questioned why they cared or just how they were going to figure out who the person was. But other questions came to mind. The warmth of Vas and Oli on either side of me made me think of my time with Maeve, when things were good and I hadn’t started to ask for more. Will they be like her and never really let me get close? Or will they actually be people I can depend on to be there for me?

“That’s it?” he asked blandly. “What else is there? In my line of business, I don’t have any use for feelings and emotional entanglements. They’ll just get in the way because I don’t have a backup plan to replace being a call girl. This is it for now, and I’ve accepted that. Hell, it’s not like I hate my job. Sure, some of the clients are assholes, some are weird as fuck, and others are probably plain dangerous, but there are more than enough of them who want just a simple thing that I can provide: some temporary company and a distinct lack of judgment for whatever kinks they’re too ashamed to show the world.”

“Would some of us be enough to interest you in at least… a temporary arrangement?” “Some or all of you?” He grabbed the side of my face with a firm grip to keep me from retreating. Holding my gaze, he leaned forward, maintaining a slight distance between us as he searched my face. “Is that so? You’re interested in all of us?”

“Well, we’re complicated men, Nic.” He leaned forward just enough to brush his lips gently against mine in a barely there kiss. “We all have needs… I can’t make any guarantees about feelings and all that shit, as you say, but we can all keep each other company until things end.” “An amazingly unromantic proposal.” I smiled as I met his lips in a hard, brief kiss. “I like it when others speak my language.”

“Hello,” I purred, a smirk curling my lips when a laugh met my greeting. “If that’s how you answer the phone, I can’t wait to see how you sound gasping around my cock,” Oli replied, the heat in his voice far outweighing any laughter.

Vas’ deep rumbling voice cut through the building tension in the room. I glanced over to find him sitting on one of the couches, his eyes locked on us and his dick tenting his pants. The sight of him sitting there, watching us, made me lick my lips, my mouth watering with the need to get a taste of him.

Instead of tossing the knife aside like Sacha had, Vas traced the underside of my breasts with the tip of the knife, making me bite my lip to keep myself from panting. “You are perfection.” His deep voice was rough in a way I’d only heard when the two of us were together. He reached forward to pull my lip from between my teeth. “But we want to hear you sing for us, Nic.”

I had fallen asleep between the two brothers not long after we finished. This morning, I had woken up to find them gone, but a hot thermos of coffee was waiting on the bedside table, and that more than made up for their absence. My client rates might be high, but in my off-time, I was apparently cheap as fuck.

Nic shifted slightly, turning over so her face was tucked under my chin, her lips against my neck. She pulled a hand out and placed it on my chest, right over my heart. “I’m not letting you go without a fight, Nic. Even if the person I’m fighting is you.” I placed a soft kiss on the top of her head, hoping that she’d fight—it would be half the fun in making her stay.

A slight pressure on my thigh caught my attention, and I looked down to where Sacha still had a possessive hand on my thigh. He was gently rubbing his thumb along the inside of my leg, the gesture feeling strangely intimate. Unlike the tight grip that he must’ve known would turn me on, there was something softer about this touch, which wasn’t something I would’ve expected.

These guys were doing a mindfuck on me, and I needed to get a grip on myself before I found myself tripping into the same bullshit Maeve had given me—just enough affection to string me along and keep me coming back but never enough to make our connection feel truly two-sided. Part of me argued that they were different, but past experience won out, reminding me that no one stayed.

He cut off my question by pushing me into my room and kicking the door shut behind him. I looked up at him in confusion, but he didn’t let me say anything. Grabbing one of my hands, he pulled me close and kissed me. It wasn’t a gentle kiss, his teeth nipping at my bottom lip before his tongue flicked over it to soothe the sting. Moaning into it, I let him take the lead, tilting my head and grabbing his hips to press myself against him as I fell into the kiss. He tasted like coffee and syrup from breakfast.

Bodhi licked his lips and gave me a slight nod before opening his door, and I waited until he couldn’t see me anymore before I let out a sigh. I wished I could see more of him, have him open up to me, so I knew what was going on in that mind of his. I had a feeling that there was a lot more than met the eye. Still waters run deep, and I wanted to know what swam in those depths. I wanted to be part of it.

But with Nic, we didn't run that risk, and that scared me almost as much. It would be dangerous to let her in, because when she left, it would hurt so much more. I had a feeling that she could, and would, take all of us as we were, and to have that acceptance and then lose it… Well, that wasn’t something I was really sure I’d be able to survive.

“May I kiss you?” Her tone was still gentle, almost like she was afraid she would scare me off. And maybe she would. I had no idea how this would all work out, but I did know that my gut was nudging me toward only one choice. My throat was so thick I was afraid I would fuck up trying to answer her with words, so I gave a sharp nod, the only signal she needed. Moving slowly, she held my gaze as she leaned forward and brushed her lips against mine, once, twice, three times. These barely perceptible butterfly kisses shook me to my core.

It was going to be a fun night for all of us. Who needed sleep when we could run on blood, sex, and caffeine?

“Come play with me, Oli. Show me just how much of a sadist you think you are—“ “That’s it,” he snarled. Before I knew what was happening, Oli rushed me, slamming my back against the floor of the shower. I gasped, the wind knocked out of me at the impact. Hard hands grabbed my own, wrestling the knife away from me. My hips surged up, trying to knock him off of me, but he acted like it was nothing. After a few minutes, he managed to pin both hands above my head with one of his. My heart raced along with the cadence of his breath on my cheek. “You’re going to eat those words, princess,” he promised in a tone so gentle I shuddered against him. “I’m going to make you scream for me.”

“I’m going to come inside of you, Nic. I will own every fucking inch of you in this moment.” Oli yanked my head harshly as he started to thrust into me even faster. The only sounds in the showers were of skin slapping skin, moans, and gagging. Blood dripped down the sides of my chest, my bruised breasts swinging as they both used me for their own pleasure.

Bodhi and Oli leaned over me at the same time, making out above me, and I moaned around the cock in my mouth.

I was glad the three of us got to have a moment to be together. I saw a side of them I’d just had small glimpses of before and Bodhi was a little bit less of a mystery after last night. Now, if I could figure out how not to get attached, that’d be fucking great.

“I don’t see how the boyfriend would matter, boss. This is a job too,” I reminded him gently. “Does it still feel like just a job to you?” he asked softly. I stiffened in his arms and tried to lean back, but his hold prevented even that much movement away from him. “You can say it does, but I don’t want to play cat and mouse with you—well, not about this.” I chuckled despite myself, and Sacha reached up, grabbing my jaw and forcing me to face him.

I stared at the hand he held out, my eyes swinging up to his face for a moment before I cautiously placed my hand in his. He guided me to stand right between his legs, and I took the opportunity to really study the man I’d known for the past year. Despite being the one I’d known the longest, I somehow felt the most distant from him, especially lately. His long beard had been trimmed recently, some of the shagginess gone, and his neck had been cleaned up, I assumed for the meeting tonight. Unable to help myself, I brought a hand up and ran it through his short hair while he kept those serious brown eyes locked on my face.

He shook his head at me, heat flaring in his eyes. “I can’t wait to come up with all the ways to get your bratty side back for comments like that.” “Not trying to keep me in check?” “Why would I do that when I love seeing your ass in bright shades of red?”

“Did you know Oliver first?” He looked down at me, a hint of warmth in his brown eyes that made me snuggle closer. Fuck, snuggling? He’s turning me into a snuggler! My brow furrowed as I thought it over dates. “No… I met you first, actually. By two days. We had our first meet up, and a few days later, I met Oli. Small world.” He gave a noncommittal grunt, but I heard the hint of satisfaction in his voice even though he tried to hide it. Possessive asshole.

There was no way I needed to add any more complications into my life, even if it was all just in my head, but he filled my senses and chased away my demons until all that was left was calm. Sacha deepened the kiss when my lips parted, tasting me as if he was trying to memorize every inch of my mouth. What the fuck? He pulled away a few moments later and watched me with careful eyes, licking his lips before releasing his hold on me.

Sacha laughed, his own voice just as rough, before he adjusted himself and stood up. He liked it. He liked kissing me. Me? When did completely alpha Sacha fucking Morozov start liking guys? I mean, I hated fucking stereotypes as much as the next person, but I’d known him for years and had zero inkling his interests lied anywhere other than between a woman’s legs.

Sacha made his way to my bedside, his face full of concern as he studied me. He didn’t look anything like himself; his usually perfectly styled hair was a mess, and it didn’t look like he had trimmed his beard in days. However long he’d slept hadn’t taken away any of the dark circles under his eyes. “Nic?” His voice was rough. “Sacha.” I breathed his name like a promise, and he closed his eyes, but not before I saw the hint of tears. I reached out slowly, my bruised body throbbing with the movement, to brush his hand. He turned it over and held mine carefully, as if it were fragile, and brought his eyes back to my face.