Tray (A Hell's Harlem Novel Book 2) Read online

  What would she feel like? Would she be tight? Could I make her as wet as I thought I could? Was she a screamer? Or did she like to keep it together and be quiet? I was damn determined to find out either way because it had been far too long since I felt a hot cunt sucking me dry.

  “Who are you?” Zillah asked, her chocolate-brown eyes darkening the longer time wore on.

  “Tray Lister.” I stuck my hand out but kept the other latched on to the waist of her jeans.

  She laughed, the sound shooting straight to the tip of my dick. I found I wanted to make her laugh while my dick was inside her and then I would turn it into a scream as I fucked her very soul.

  “You need to stop this.” She may have said the words, but her eyes told all. She wanted me.

  “You didn’t tell me your name.” I pushed her farther into the room.

  “You already know my name.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You didn’t tell me it.”

  Her breath caught. “Zillah,” she whispered.

  “Hello, Zillah.” God, even her name tasted good.

  “You can’t be in here.” She looked past me at the door, probably thinking someone was going to barge in at any second. But they didn’t.

  “Tell me why there are no cameras in this hallway when they’re everywhere else.” I glanced at the door when she didn’t answer. “Lock it.”

  “What are you going to do to me?” she whispered, splaying her fingers on my chest.

  “Do you think I would hurt you?” I nodded to the door. “Lock it.”

  She let out a sigh and entered in a keycode into the lock panel on the wall. The lock clicked into place, shutting me in with this woman who I’d only just met. This was wrong on so many levels but, at that moment, I didn’t give a shit.

  “Tray?”

  I grabbed her hand, leading her to a couch that sat by the far wall. “What is this room used for?”

  “My dad collects me after he’s done with his meetings.” She shrugged, releasing my hand, and slumped onto the couch. “Why are you in here with me? Are you trying to piss him off? You have a death wish? Are you trying to impress the guys or some shit?”

  “Zillah.” I sat beside her but kept a careful distance between us. As much as I wanted her, I wouldn’t take this any further than she let me.

  “Just tell me what you want.”

  “A date.” Which was odd for me. I never had to beg someone to spend time with me. It was new and kind of exhilarating. I was no longer into easy sex. I wanted the challenge, and I had a feeling Zillah would be exactly what I needed. I just wasn’t sure if she could handle me or not.

  She thought a moment and let out another hard sigh. “No one can get in this room. I’m the only one who has the code. My dad thinks he knows it, but he actually doesn’t.”

  “How?” I turned toward her.

  “I hacked into the system and changed it.” She shrugged like it was no big deal. “Uh … I shouldn’t be telling you this.”

  I chuckled. “Trust me, sweet girl. Your dad has enough shit on me, I’m not saying anything at all.”

  “Really? How do you know him? You don’t seem that old. What are you? Forty?”

  My laugh deepened at her random badgering of questions. “I’m thirty-eight. You?” Please tell me you’re legal.

  “Twenty-four,” she whispered, her cheeks reddening.

  Fourteen years difference. Holy fucking hell. My cock jumped, pushing against the fly of my jeans. She was young. Damn young. But she was fucking flawless.

  “You …” She cleared her throat. “What you said before. You want that? With me?”

  She was shy, and damn if it didn’t make my dick leak even more. “I want to fuck you, Zillah. I just met you and I want you screaming my name. If we were alone and I didn’t have to worry about getting shot or worse, I’d already have you beneath me. Is that what you wanted to know?”

  “I guess.” She stood, looking down at me. “Why do you want me?”

  That was a very good question. Was it because of who her father was?

  “Is it because of who my dad is?”

  Fuck, she was good. “I’m not scared of your dad. Could he kill me and make me disappear? Probably. But that don’t mean shit to me.”

  “Every guy who’s interested in me is scared of him. As soon as they find out who he is, I suddenly become diseased. It’s frustrating.”

  “Is that why you’re interested in me then?” I threw back at her.

  “That’s not … I don’t …” She scowled which was cute as hell.

  I chuckled. “One date, Zillah.”

  “So you can wine and dine me and then fuck me?”

  I stood from the couch and closed the distance between us. “If you don’t want my dick, that’s totally fine with me. I prefer eating pussy anyway.”

  “I’ve never …” Her cheeks reddened even more. Her lips pursed. “Why?”

  I grinned, pinched her chin, and tilting her head back. Leaning down toward her, I brushed my cheek against hers. “Because then I’m in full control.”

  She gulped. She actually fucking gulped. If I didn’t have to worry about her dad barging in, I would have shown her exactly what I meant but that sweet little sound was music straight to the tip of my cock.

  “You’re something else, Zillah. Innocent.” I kissed her cheek. “Pure.” I leaned back. “Untouched. Aren’t you?”

  “I … I …” She let out a frustrated huff, pushing me back. “Just because I’m not experienced like you doesn’t mean you can boss me around. I’m not like the other—” she waved a hand in front of her “—whatever you’re into. Men. Women. Sheep.”

  “Sheep?” I threw my head back, a laugh booming from my chest.

  “You never know anymore.” Her face broke out into a wide grin. “Stop laughing.” She punched me in the stomach.

  “You are too fucking cute.”

  “Oh, yeah. Way to stroke a girl’s ego. We definitely love being called cute.” Her smile faded faster than I could imagine. The mood switched in her.

  “Whoa there, beautiful girl.” I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. “I was just teasing.”

  She struggled against me. “I don’t like being called cute.”

  “I realize that.” I chuckled. Running my fingers through her hair, I pulled her head back. “But sorry, Zillah. I’m going to call you whatever I want.” As much as I wanted to push my lips against hers, I kissed the corner of her mouth instead. I had to rein it in for fear that I would destroy her before I even knew what I was doing. But I was losing control. Every bit of it. The longer time went on, the harder I became.

  “Tray.” She arched her back, pushing her waist up against me. “God, this is fast. Too fast. I can’t … I can’t breathe.”

  “Tell me you’ll go on a date with me.” I kissed her nose. “Say it.”

  “Will you keep your hands off of me?”

  I lifted my head. “Is that what you want?”

  She swallowed hard. “No.”

  I grinned. “Didn’t think so.” Leaning down to her ear, I licked along the shell of it. “I know you want me. I can feel the heat coming off of you. You may not be experienced like you say, but you can’t deny this need for me.”

  “Do you always say what’s on your mind?”

  My thoughts traveled back to Catch and how I could never tell him shit because I didn’t want to hurt him. “Most times yes.”

  “Tray?” She struggled out of my hold but remained close. “One date?”

  “For now.” I pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

  “As much as I want to, I shouldn’t. My dad …” Her mouth snapped shut.

  “You let me deal with your father.” I wasn’t scared of him. Respected the shit out of him but he wouldn’t stop me from getting his daughter. No matter how much he tried, she would be mine. I wasn’t sure why, but I needed to feel her body rippling over me. I needed to hear my name on her lip
s.

  A hard knock sounded on the door, making her jump.

  “Shit.” She rushed to the door, looking back at me over her shoulder.

  “Don’t worry about me, Beauty.” I crossed my arms under my chest, standing my ground.

  She sighed, unlocking the door and opened it.

  But it wasn’t her father who stood on the other side.

  The younger man looked between her and me. “Suddenly feeling like breaking all the rules, sis?” he asked her.

  “What do you want, Kian?” she grumbled.

  “The meeting’s over.” He met my stare. “I thought I’d warn you but I actually never expected to see him in here.”

  “Well …” Zillah narrowed her eyes at me. “Neither did I.”

  “You’ve got ten minutes.” Her brother kissed the top of her head. “You owe me.”

  “I know.” She closed the door, her gaze flicking to mine. “You need to leave.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “Will you leave me alone if I say yes?”

  I laughed. “Unlikely.”

  “Fine.” She huffed. “One date. But I have no idea how I’m going to do that when I’m constantly being watched.”

  “We’ll figure it out.” I closed the distance between us when another knock sounded on the door.

  Zillah opened it, revealing her brother yet again.

  He met my stare head on. “I know who you are now. Tray Lister. You were meeting with our dad.” He pushed past her and came toward me. “What the fuck do you want with my sister?”

  Shit.

  (Zillah)

  As I watched the exchange between my brother and Tray, I couldn’t help but be curious as to who Tray actually was. How did my brother know him? How did Tray know my father? And why the hell was I so damn attracted to him when I’d only just met him?

  “Zillah,” Kian barked, pulling me from my thoughts. “Leave us.”

  “No.” I placed my hands on my hips. “This is my room.”

  “Zillah,” Kian said slowly. “Dad will lose his shit—”

  “I don’t care. I’m not leaving while you stand here and talk about me.”

  The corners of Tray’s mouth twitched but he didn’t say anything.

  “Fine.” Kian took a step toward Tray. “What do you want with my sister?”

  “I asked her out on a date.” Tray shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

  “Why?” Kian frowned. “What’s in it for you?”

  “I get to spend time with her. Why does something have to be in it for me?”

  “Because you’re a man. I happen to know how we work.” Kian looked at me. “Did you say yes?”

  “Yeah,” I said slowly.

  “I don’t know what the hell is going on here but if you take her on a date and I find out that you hurt her in any way, I will unleash my father on you.” Kian stood up straighter. “You got me?”

  Tray rubbed his chin. “Yeah. I got you.”

  Kian pulled me in for a hug. “I hope you know what you’re doing.” He kissed my cheek and left my room, leaving me alone with Tray once again.

  “So.” Tray came up beside me. “About that date?”

  I LEFT THE shop before I got caught with my pants down and my cock deep inside the president’s daughter. We exchanged phone numbers and, as much as I didn’t want to leave, I paid for the work done on my SUV and drove home.

  I hadn’t even known Zillah for twenty-four hours and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. She was young, full of life, and everything I needed in my darkest hours. It didn’t make sense when I never believed in this instant attraction shit but there was something about her that I latched on to. And I knew she felt it just the same.

  Pulling up in front of the large mansion that was home for Hell’s Harlem, I parked my vehicle and let out a slow breath. It had been a few days since I kicked Catch out of my room and he had been avoiding me ever since. The tension was thick between us but I didn’t want it to be weird. Knowing I had to man up and face him, I left the SUV and trudged into the house.

  “Hey, Tray.”

  My gaze landed on Eve, Greyson’s wife.

  “Hey. How’s my favorite nephew?” I asked, nodding toward Jaron who she was bouncing on her knee.

  She laughed, pushing a dark strand of hair behind her ear. “He’s your only nephew.”

  I grinned and placed a kiss on her cheek. Ruffling Jaron’s hair, I then took him from her arms and hugged him to me. The tightness in my chest eased. He was only a year old, but he still had that fresh baby scent and it made that anxiety rushing through me simmer.

  “You seem different.” Eve patted the spot beside her.

  “How so?” I sat beside her.

  “I don’t know. You just do.” She tapped her chin. “Did you meet someone?”

  Yes. “No.”

  She laughed. “You’re lying.”

  “Jaron, women are crazy.” I tickled his belly, earning me giggles.

  “Shut up. We are not. Not all of us anyway.” She pushed me. “Give me back my son and go get us a beer.”

  I saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.” I headed to the bar and grabbed two beers from the fridge. Just when I was about to head back to the booth Eve was sitting at, Catch rounded the corner. He stopped suddenly, his gaze landing on me.

  “Hey,” he muttered, nodding once.

  “Hi.” God, this was awkward. Anyone I ever messed around with, didn’t usually live in the same building as I did. But this was weird. So fucking weird, and I didn’t like it.

  “You’ve been busy,” Catch said, taking a step toward me.

  I rubbed the back of my neck and cleared my throat. “Yeah.” My heart stuttered. “I have to go.” I shoved the beers in his hands and hightailed it to my room, needing to put some distance between us. We had to get our shit back to normal. I couldn’t be friends with Catch if he was going to look at me the way he did. If he was going to feel for me the way I didn’t deserve. Fuck my life.

  As soon as I made it to the second floor, a breath of relief washed over me. I could do this. He could do this. He needed to move on.

  “Tray?”

  I jumped, spinning around, and saw Greyson coming toward me.

  “You good?” he asked, placing Penny, his cat, on the ground in front of him. She hopped off, the fact she only had three legs not slowing her down.

  “Yeah,” I muttered, wishing I was Penny at that moment. Really, Tray? A cat? I wanted to be a cat. Fuck me, I was losing my damn mind.

  “You sure?”

  I nodded. “Listen, I have to …” I glanced at my door. So many memories hid behind it. Some good. Some bad. “Maybe I’ll stay in one of the guest rooms for now.”

  “You know they’re always open, but why?” Greyson frowned. “Did something happen?”

  “Catch. He uh … I …” Fuck. I never had any issues saying what was on my mind but when it came to that fucker, I couldn’t get a proper sentence out.

  “What happened?”

  “How did you deal with him being in love with you when you didn’t feel the same way?” I blurted, the back of my neck heating.

  Greyson chuckled and ran a hand through his shaggy dark blond hair. “Well, as much I love you guys, I’m not into dick so that helped a bit.”

  “I’m not either. Or … I wasn’t.” My cheeks burned even more. Why the hell was this so damn hard to talk about?

  “Listen.” Greyson came toward me and cupped my shoulders. “Whatever you two do is between you. I think you should talk to him first about this shit instead of with me. But if I had to give you advice, I would tell you to follow your gut and stop leading him on.”

  “I’m not leading him on.”

  “No?” Greyson raised an eyebrow. “Then how come for the past few months, I’ve seen him leave your room over and over again. And you’ve become a moodier asshole than me.”

  “Fuck you I have,” I threw back at him.

  “You’re r
uining my rep.”

  I grunted.

  “Listen, man up and stop being a fucking pussy about this shit.”

  “I had nothing better to do.” I shrugged him off. “You never just want a good fucking blow job?”

  “Yeah, man. I have. But not by a best friend. Not by someone who clearly has feelings for me but I didn’t return them. Anyone before my wife knew what they were getting with me. Can I say the same for you?”

  “Fuck you.” I stormed into my room, slamming the door closed behind me. He was right. Didn’t mean I liked it but Greyson was definitely fucking right.

  (Zillah)

  I was bored. I was always bored but since meeting Tray, I became even more … bored. I sighed, rolling onto my back, and waited. It was nearing three in the morning, and I couldn’t sleep. Tray had been on my mind since I met him the day before. When he touched my cheek. When he told me he wanted to fuck me. When he just looked at me. It was like he could see right into my soul. Right into a part of myself that had been dormant for so long. A part no one had ever revealed before, until him. I may have been a virgin but I knew I wanted more. I wanted him. I wanted everything. I was greedy. Hungry. And I didn’t know what for.

  Letting out another sigh, I rolled onto my stomach and grabbed my phone. No messages. No social media updates. Nothing. It was three in the morning and everyone was asleep but me.

  Suddenly, a text came through. My eyes widened, my heart jumping to my throat.

  Tray: You insane like me and can’t sleep?

  Holy. Shitting. Shit.

  Me: I’m awake. So yes. I’m insane too. Lol!

  Tray: Well then, Beauty. Looks like you’re stuck with me.

  My stomach did a flip at the pet name. I liked it. I liked it a lot.

  Me: What are you doing?

  Tray: Pondering the reason of life.