Page 8 of Incoming Layne Shift
“Look, he can either get on board or not. The guys I signed on to work the daily operations know who is calling the shots. The few who pretended to respect Liam’s authority will go where the money is.” And the money was definitely not in her brother’s hands. Eric Ellis’s inheritance, liquidation of assets, and life insurance payouts were to thank for that.
Out of habit, she went to prop her hand on her hip but hissed as the pressure elicited a sharp burst of pain in her hand despite the brace. She dropped her hand down to her side trying to control her exhale through the discomfort.
It was the sound of her reaction to the pain that shook Joey from his spiraling thoughts. He paused mid-step and turned himself to head back to where she stood. He looked down at her, his brown eyes holding a soft command to them. “Sit.”
His eyes were met with her own delicate green hues. “I don’t need to?—”
“Shush.” His finger trailed across her lips. “Did it sound like I was asking? I will force your ass in that chair if I have to.”
A glimmer of mischief reached her eyes as her mouth formed a small smirk while she thought about him making good on his word. It made other parts of her body ache in such delicious ways.
Joey’s hands dropped to her hips, firmly grasping them, and guiding her back until she was at a chair. His tone dropped to a light rumble. “Layney, sit down.”
It wasn’t difficult to follow his orders, the way he had spoken them had made her legs weak. Her ass found the seat of the chair and now her head was tilted up at a greater angle while she stared up at him.
“Good girl.” His hand brushed over her cheek before he rewarded her with a gentle yet brief kiss. “Stay here while I get us some food.” Before he left, he slid his jacket from the fit shape of his upper body, draping it over the back of his chosen chair. The short sleeves of his shirt allowed all the designs of his tattoos sprawling over his arms to be on display. All the rich shades of red roses stood out against the darker ravens and skulls.
He disappeared for a few minutes to head out to the main area and put in an order for food with John, Sean’s backup when he had the night off. When he returned, she was still where he had left her but nursing her beer as her only option to self-medicate.
“What did you get me?”
Joey grinned and pulled his seat up closer to her. “The same damn thing you always get.”
Layne smiled. “Cowboy burger, medium-rare, extra bacon, and barbeque sauce on the side?”
He rolled his eyes as if he didn’t have her very specific order memorized by now before he nodded. “Yeah, and I told them I didn’t want to hear you bitch about it being overcooked again.”
With her injured hand useless and throbbing with constant pain, she kept it resting on top of her thigh. Joey took notice of how much she was babying it. “What did Dr. Patty give you for the pain?”
She shook her head. “Standard shit that will knock you on your ass for a week. I just tossed it in the trash.”
With a sigh, he leaned over and squeezed her thighs reassuringly. “You can’t just sit here and suffer. I won’t let you go down that dark road again, but there’s no reason for you to constantly hurt.” Watching Layne being in pain was one of the few things that had him feeling like it was worse than death itself.
“I didn’t want to risk it. Besides, with Liam now being on notice that he either is with me or he isn’t, there’s too much to let my brain get all foggy. Then, there’s all the work that’s going on with trying to reestablish power in the city.” Layne did her best to brush it all off as no big deal. All that she had said may have held some truth behind it, but the biggest factor was her prior history of using painkillers to take care of more than just the physical pain.
Before he could try and convince her otherwise, John came over with two plates of food. Layne’s burger, and Joey’s cluster of buffalo wings. Their conversation paused while he delivered the food to their table before he left again.
She felt Joey’s eyes on her still, despite their food having arrived and sitting in front of them. She held half of the messy burger in her left hand while she stared back at him. “What?”
He smiled deviously at her. “Nothing. If you’re not going to take anything, I’m just thinking of all the other ways I can make sure you feel good.” Joey reached over and slid his hand along her inner thigh. “I want your body aching for far better reasons.”
Putting her burger back down on the plate she gave a playful frown. “You know, now that you say something, it really does hurt. A lot.” He was one drug that she didn’t ever want to break the habit on.
“Oh? Well, I can’t have that. I have just what you need.” He rose from his seat and took her uninjured hand, leading her back to the men’s bathroom.
Once inside and ensuring there were no other occupants, he locked the door. His hand settled on the small of her back and pulled her back to him, not allowing her to stray too far.
Joey pressed her back up against the door as his face dropped down closer to hers. His eyes were full of lustful thoughts and intentions. His hand wrapped around her throat just under her jaw. “You remember the last time I had you in a bathroom all to myself?”
Layne whimpered at the memory. How could she forget? She had been out on a date before Joey ambushed her on the way to the ladies’ room. His hand had brutally brought her to the cusp of an orgasm that had threatened to leave her entirely undone, and then he abandoned her there on that ledge. It had left her in an epic state of frustration.
“Mmhmm,” she responded, already breathless just from having his fingers curled around her neck. It drove heat down into the pooling sensation of desire in her core.
His smirk showed off how much he knew his actions were affecting her. “Good. This time, I’m going to show you just what I really wanted to do to you that night.”
A chill of excitement flooded across her body. Her lips parted in speechless awe. Joey took advantage of her open mouth by claiming it with his. Immediately, his tongue dove inside to seek out her own.
He stepped up against her, letting her feel the heat coming off of his body and the way his jeans were failing to conceal his arousal. When she tried to grab onto him, she forgot about the restricted use of her hand. The movement drew a protest from the fresh injury and her gasp of pain got swallowed up by the kiss they shared.