HARDCORE: Storm MC(114)

Hunter nodded. “Codes. Yeah. Okay. I'll see what I can come up with. Thanks, sis.”



“No problem. I'll head back to Cain's now and let you know when I set something up with Christina for tomorrow.”



Missy turned, walking away from the drain pipe and back to her car. As she got behind the wheel, she thought about what had happened between her and Cain. It had seemed so surreal, she almost had a hard time believing it had actually taken place.



Why the hell had she acquiesced to him like that? She'd never let a man boss her around before, and if any of them had tried to bully her into blowing them, she'd probably have just laughed in their faces. Her own actions seemed completely foreign to her, almost as though it had happened to someone else.



But as she drove back to Cain's house, she knew that it was the very fact that no one had spoken to her like that before which had turned her on. She'd never thought of herself as someone who secretly wanted to be dominated or controlled, but when he'd demanded that of her, the rigid tone in his voice had hardened her nipples and sent shivers down her spine.



His weakness and sullen self-pity hadn't made him desirable to her, but when he'd cast it aside and acted as though he was in control, he'd become a whole new man in her eyes—someone too confident to be denied, someone worthy of commanding her obedience.



Well, that's all very poetic and post-feminist, she thought to herself, but it doesn't change the fact that it shouldn't have happened and can't happen again. We're heading toward a very bloody war. Cain needs to heal without any weirdness or distractions complicating things, and I need...



What? What did she need? “A more active role in the club,” that's what Hunter had said. And that's what she'd insisted on. So what good would it do her to attain that, only to find herself stuck in the role of the VP's fuck-buddy? How could she expect to be taken seriously? For that matter, what would happen once they chose to break it off?



Worse still, what if they didn't break it off? What if it became something serious? Was Cain even capable of such a relationship? Was she?



Missy tried to shake the thoughts from her head as she pulled into Cain's driveway, her headlights briefly illuminating the faces of Keith and his comrades.



From now on, you play it straight around Cain, she told herself. You make sure you're all business. No more stealing glances at his cock. Nothing that could possibly be confused with flirtation, no matter how innocent it may seem. No matter what happens, you play it cool.



And with that, Missy entered the house, switched off the living room light, and settled back onto the warped and flattened cushions on the couch, wondering how the hell Cain could spend so much time on such an uncomfortable piece of furniture.



There were other, less-innocent thoughts of Cain which followed, and Missy didn't get to sleep for a very long time.





Chapter 28



Cain



Cain had been lying on the inflatable mattress stiffly and staring at the ceiling ever since Missy stormed out. Even with the pills quickly bundling up all the pain in his body and enveloping his thoughts in bubble-wrap, he couldn't sleep. He just remained there, alone with his thoughts as the dark room slowly swirled around him like a mobile over a baby's crib.



When he'd told Missy to suck his cock, it was just an angry figure of speech. He hadn't really meant for her to do it.



Had he?



Cain's mind felt muddled, and he was sure it wasn't just the side-effects of the prescriptions. He'd caught Missy staring at him—or, more accurately, he'd noticed how careful she was not to.



And he'd caught himself staring at her here and there, too, but so what? She was a pretty girl. It was natural for guys to look when someone who looked like her was in their field of vision. Hell, it was expected, even.



But had he somehow indicated that he'd wanted to take things further with her? He'd been acting so aggressively unpleasant toward her, he had assumed that would be enough to ensure that she remained uninterested and nothing happened between them. Women weren't supposed to want to be with guys who yelled at them and told them to get lost, right? Maybe some women did, but Missy hadn't given any sign that she was one of those women. If anything, he'd been fairly certain that eventually she'd get the message that he didn't want her around and just take off, Hunter's orders be damned.



When Missy had tried to pull the blanket up to Cain's chin, it had reminded him of his own cow-eyed mother and how she let herself and her children get smacked around by his father night after night. Cain almost never gave any thought to his childhood anymore, and the sudden reminder had sent him into a rage before he'd even realized why.



Okay, so he'd lost his temper with her. No biggie, right? It was only the hundredth time or so that it had happened since she'd moved in to take care of him.