Monster by Jessica Gadziala Read Free Book Online Page B

Richard Lyon would have forced me into
some kind of trade. And I didn't want to owe anyone.
    And Hailstorm, well,
survivalists were weird. I half worried I'd walk in there to make a
deal and never walk out because they like... brainwashed me or
something.
    So, in the end, the
Mallicks were the safest bet. I went to the gym, asked for Shane, and
asked if he could give me access to a private locker. After about ten
minutes of his shameless brand of suggestive flirting, he finally
agreed to let me use a locker in the staff room in back for fifty
bucks a month.
    It was safe even if it
was a little steep... so I agreed.
    “You're smarter
than I was giving you credit for,” he said, slipping the chain
into his pocket.
    “Gee thanks,”
I said, rolling my eyes. “You'll have to bring me.”
    “Why?”
    “Because Shane
and I have an arrangement.”
    “ You ,”
he said, his head ducking, making it clear he wasn't quite buying it,
“have a deal with Shane fuckin' Mallick?”
    I felt my shoulders
push backward. Was this another 'because I have tits' thing? Just
because I was a chick meant I couldn't have strong connections with
some of the local bad guys?
    “Does this deal
involve you fuckin' him?”
    I jerked back like he
had slapped me. Surprised, sure. Offended? Definitely.
    “Excuse me?”
    “You met him. You
know what he's like.”
    “So the only way
he would help me would be by extorting sex from me?” I asked,
my voice getting snippy. “Just because you're a pig doesn't
mean everyone else is.” There was that weird crinkling by his
eyes again and I felt myself suck in a deep, steadying breath, before
just... exploding, “Don't you dare eye-smile at me!”
    At this, I got a
surprised chuckle. “Eye-smile?”
    “Yes, eye-smile.
Like when your eyes go all crinkly but your lips don't turn up.”
    “Been paying a
lot of attention to me, huh, doll?”
    Oh my god.
    Seriously.
    He was the most
obnoxious person I had ever met.
    And arrogant.
    Even more than Shane
Mallick.
    Which was really saying
something.
    “I have nothing
else to stare at but your ugly mug,” I spat, hoping it sounded
convincing, knowing damn well it was as far from the truth as you
could get.
    “Ugly mug,”
he mused, his lips pressing together. “Got a problem with how I
look, Alex?” he asked and I felt a shiver run through my body
at the sound of my name on his lips. All I could hope was the shiver
was an internal one and he couldn't see.
    That hope lasted about
one-tenth of a second when a satisfied smirk toyed at his lips and I
knew it had been a body shiver.
    Damn it.
    But I didn't have to
suffer long in my humiliation.
    Because one second, I
was just standing there, arms crossed over my chest, trying to focus
on not blushing.
    The next I was slammed
up against the wall where he had just been standing. His body crushed
against mine, both his hands cradling my jaw. And before I could draw
in breath to object, his lips crashed down hard on mine.
    My entire body jolted
in surprise, a stab of desire meeting at the contact and shooting in
a straight line down my stomach to between my thighs.
    I had the barest of
seconds to realize that his beard tickled before my brain registered
his lips on mine. Hard. Demanding a response. And mine were all too
happy to acquiesce.
    The second they started
responding, his hands tightened on the sides of my face as his teeth
dug into my lower lip. A whimper escaped me, my hands moving out to
grab at the shirt covering his sides, digging into the muscles of his
obliques. Because I needed to hold on. If I didn't hold on, I was
pretty sure I was going to fall. My legs (and everywhere else for
that matter) went liquid.
    Breaker tilted my head
slightly, his tongue pressing into the crease of my mouth and snaking
inside. Not teasing mine. Not toying with it. Claiming it.
    That was how I felt.
    Claimed.
    One of his hands
slipped from my jaw, moved back into the hair at the base of my neck,
curling into it, and