Hard Limits (Queen of Hearts #1)

by Suki Williams

Vas Morozov, had been a client of mine for over a year now, so I trusted him enough to not hurt me any more than we’d agreed upon before our actual meetings.

I had darker needs too, which my boss knew, so I got most of our more extreme clients.

He was a client, nothing more, but sometimes my traitorous heart forgot that important detail. He was the only one who’d ever made my head, or dare I say it, my heart, begin to tiptoe over that professional line. I needed to stop that shit.

Especially Oliver’s. He didn’t have a subtle bone in his body and was completely honest about what he was looking for when it came to his free time. Sex or murder, sometimes both. His taste for knife and blood play didn’t surprise me in the least.

“I found someone who could handle the rough sex that I like.” Vas looked me in the eye, a clear challenge in his gaze. “I didn’t realize that was team information.”

“Maybe not for some,” I allowed, tilting my head to study him. “But with our history… we’ve always shared as a team. Or we have, you and I, in the past. Is there something about her I need to know?”

Maeve had been married numerous times, that much I knew, and each of her husbands had mysteriously vanished or died. A black widow after my own heart.

“I should think so,” I answered for the speechless man, laughter infusing my voice as I sat back in my chair. “Oli is my roommate.”

“You’re going to seduce Warren, whatever it takes. Do you think you can handle whatever he’ll dish out?”

“A very expensive whore, who she trained and set up connections for. I’m the person Warren has been wanting to play with for over a year, but the answer was always no, so you have exactly what he wants—me.”

“No, it shouldn’t be an issue. I’ve been with plenty of men who are into some pretty off the wall kinks. My other clients tend to be bumbling oafs who have no choice but to pay my fees since other girls won’t give them a second look.”

“I’m sure those others are really just paying for you to leave at the end since no one would want to keep you around afterward. Nobody likes sloppy seconds, much less whatever serving you’re on.”

“I handle you well enough, Vas, and I get to leave with a few grand for putting up with you. Anyway, you know where to find me.”

“It’s funny, but I think you’re the one who wants to wear the collar. The man who has to be in control of everything else yet you want that freedom of surrender.” I sauntered over to where he stood still, every muscle tensing the closer I got. “Your breath caught when you mentioned it, longing for it. Lucky for you, I know just the cage to put on you, so you can focus on what really matters. I don’t bother with getting back. I just get even. Remember that.”

“Do you understand topping from the bottom? Because that is exactly what you are trying to do.”

“You’re his type.” His voice was so soft I had to strain to hear him.

“That’s it? You’ll just… do whatever to make me not feel insecure?”

“Sacha is an opinionated, controlling asshole, and Vas is a fucking jerk. So, I’m giving them what they give me.”

“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.”

“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.”

“You’ve fucked Vas and Sacha,” he reasoned evenly. “Bodhi and I are both attracted to you. Just something to think over.”

“Both of them are always complicated,” he said softly, slowly closing the distance between our lips but stopping just short of touching me. “Bodhi and I, we aren’t complicated like they are. We’re together. We both like women, and although Bodhi typically prefers men, he likes you. Whatever you guys talked about when I was gone earlier sparked his interest. Not many people do.”

“We aren’t good people. Hell, most of the time we aren’t even nice, but I don’t think you want someone nice.”

“Sex, with the possibility of more. I can’t say more than that.”

“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.”

“You took my control from me, Nic. That was my decision, not yours, and you didn’t respect me enough to let me make that call. Then you taunted me with that smartass mouth of yours. My privacy, my business, is mine. Not anyone else’s unless I choose to share it. Me, not you.”

“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.”

“I only share with my brother,” he answered after being silent for so long I thought he wouldn’t answer me at all. “Oliver and Bodhi are… their own brand of crazy.”

“Sacha can play with them more than I can,” he admitted with a slight shake of his head. “I have my kinks, but theirs can run a bit more extreme than even mine.”

“But for now, it’s you and me. And we are going to shower. After that, I’m going to rub that oil all over you just so you know your place.”

“If that’s how you answer the phone, I can’t wait to see how you sound gasping around my cock,”

“I’m the one in charge tonight, not you, my little whore,”

“You’re going to spend the whole date sitting there, full, and wish it was my cock inside of you instead. Every time you clench down on these, you can think of riding my cock in the nightclub.”

“I want to break you too, boss. I want to run myself all along your edges until the only things left are the pieces of us in the room.” Delicately, I ran my tongue along the edge of his ear and chuckled when he shuddered. Whether the reaction was to the touch or my words, I wasn’t sure. My control over him in that moment was heady, making me feel untouchable, powerful. “I could show you your place after another man uses me, forcing you to see just where you belong, underneath me. Or… I could make you prove that you’re man enough to claim me, remind me who I belong to after one of my clients fucks me? Do you like that?”

“Good dick is good dick... even when it’s attached to an asshole.”

“No emotions, Vas. First rule of the business,” she reminded gently, but her cool tone made me freeze. Her rejection was not something I saw coming. “Besides, no one wants to be with a woman like me. Not for long anyway... The novelty tends to wear off.”

“I’m not letting you go without a fight, Nic. Even if the person I’m fighting is you.”

“You want me to top you?” I purred. “Or did you want to ride the adrenaline and top me tonight?”

“Oli told me you’re not usually comfortable around women. No details or anything, but I just want to remind you that if I ever make you feel uncomfortable, for any reason, just let me know, okay? Those aren’t just words to me. SSC. Safe, sane, and consensual doesn’t just apply in the bedroom. I respect your boundaries, regardless of what they are.”

“My mom was a drug addict, so I was mostly raised by my sister. Protected by her, really. She was always so much stronger than me.”

“She died while protecting me from our mom. Mom was horribly violent when she was high or looking for her next fix. I think she would have been even worse than anything I ever witnessed, but my sister protected me as much as she could, so I never had to find out. One day, I heard her screaming for me to run, and I didn’t hesitate to hide. But unlike all the other times, she never came back to tell me it was safe to come home.”

“No. Police found me and put me with my aunt. She was just as bad or worse than my mom, in different ways.”

“My dad knocked me around, and I always made sure to draw his attention, so he didn’t hurt my little brother,” Nic offered after processing what I had told her. “My mom knew it was happening and never intervened. At first, I thought he was hitting her, but it was just me. What still stings is the thought that she let my pain buy her own safety. I think she knew that if she stepped in, he’d hurt her too, but she didn’t think saving me was worth it.”

“Nothing permanent, no fisting, no enemas, no watersports, and no needles.”

My brother will get jealous of your job, but that’s something you two can work through. The rest of us don’t care who you’re with as long as it’s a job and you’re open with us. No secrets.”

“I can share you with our group just fine,” he rumbled. “But I don’t want to hear about your dates unless it has to do with a job. I don’t want to think about the people you’re with outside of us because it will take everything in me to not go beat the shit out of them. I’d kill them all and not give one damn about it.”

“Do you remember what I told you in the shower? That I wanted us to fuck, covered in our victim’s blood, and then I’d fuck your ass. It’s all I’ve been thinking about since you started working him over with your fists.”

“Bodhi, I want you to listen to me. Are you listening?” I urged him to answer me, and he nodded, the gesture softly rubbing his nose against my neck. “I’m not leaving you. Me living somewhere else doesn’t mean you wouldn’t see me or that I’m not with you anymore. Besides, this is all hypothetical because I don’t even know where I’m living. This room was offered to me temporarily, so I’ll have to figure something out eventually.”

“I don’t like depending on other people,” I replied softly, laying down beside him so we were almost nose to nose. His dark brown eyes had a sheen of tears to them, making my heart twist and break just a little bit. “I learned really early on that I couldn’t depend on anyone. That includes staying somewhere I’m not paying rent. And no… dating or fucking doesn’t count. I use my body as part of my job; if I’m going to be on even footing in a relationship, there needs to be something besides an exchange of my body for something else. I need to have some kind of control beyond whether or not I open my legs.”