Broken: Round One (Broken #1) Read online

  I shake my head. Screw washing later. I need to be clean now. I need it more than I need air, more than I need anything. A gross grease covers the surface of my skin, my hair is oily and I’ve worn the same panties two, or is it three, days in a row. I will kill anyone who gets in my way.

  “Where’s the bar?” I ask, deciding to skip pointing out the unrealistic notion of there being a bar down here.

  He outstretches his arm, the ropes of muscle lengthening with it, at the tunnel directly in front of us. Out of all the nooks and crannies Jai chose, he had to choose the one down the end with the toilet. Just my luck. I’d be much happier down here.

  “You go, I’ll meet you there.”

  He gives me a once-over before he exhales. He knows it’s a lost cause, so he leaves. When he’s gone, excitement bubbles inside me like nothing else. I’m smiling widely, stupidly, as I inch towards the falling water. I pause a few feet out from a woman washing her long, auburn hair. At her feet sit all of her products, from body wash to shampoo, and it smells divine.

  Her body is in perfect shape. When I say perfect, I’m talking slim hips, flat stomach, big natural boobs and long legs. Yeah, there’s no way I’m getting naked in front of her.

  I slip my hands under the water and let the warm liquid run over the skin on my hands. It feels … indescribable. I close my eyes and let a lazy smile curve my lips only to open them again a second later when the woman next to me toys with a loud plastic. I try not to stare as she bends over to free a baby wipe from its packet, but I fail. To my surprise, when she straightens her posture, she extends the clean wipe to me.

  “Forget your stuff, did you?” She assumes in a thick, Russian accent.

  I start to shake my head and explain my situation, but then I change my mind. “Yes, wow, thank you.”

  The woman beams at me, and sadly, her smile doesn’t match the rest of her physique. Missing teeth isn’t a feature I was expecting on someone so perfect in every other way. I run the cloth under the water, then press it to my face. I hold it there, allowing my pores to soak up as much moisture as they can before I scrub them clean.

  “You’re not getting undressed?” she asks, lathering her chest with soap.

  “No. Not in front of all these people.” I glance around.

  Men and women line the walls, watching and enjoying the crowd of naked people. The last thing I want is attention of the wrong kind. I want to avoid another situation like the one I just had with Spiderface.

  “Your man doesn’t stay to protect you? If he stayed you could get naked.”

  My man? Oh, she means Jai. I snort. “No. He’s waiting at the bar.”

  The woman points across the room to a tall, broad-shouldered bald man. “You see him? He is my guy.”

  Her guy watches her, his stare not once leaving her body. I don’t blame him. I find it hard to keep my eyes away too. She’s flawless. I run the wipe down the back of my neck.

  “How long have you two been together?”

  “A day and a half.”

  I pause, confused. Did I hear her correctly? Did she say a day and a half? “You met here?”

  She nods. “It took me a long time to realize it, but it’s best move to find lover and protector down here.”

  I frown. “Why?”

  Her bright, green eyes brighten with laughter and she swats at me.

  “For safety and to secure position. It’s not safe for women down here. We must survive.”

  She retrieves her bottle of shampoo and holds it out. I don’t hesitate holding out my hand, and she squeezes a generous amount inside my palm. With a warm smile, she gathers the rest of her stuff and trots across the room to her ‘lover’. He swats her on the ass the second she gets within arm’s reach and I frown. Ew. Imagine being touched so intimately by someone you barely know. I catch on to my train of thought just as it finishes. I can’t talk. I’ve known Jai a few days and he’s already touched my most intimate place.

  I tip my head back and let the water dampen my hair, then, I run the shampoo through the strands and let it soak for a few minutes. While that’s doing its thing, I gather rogue shampoo bubbles from the top of my hair onto my wipe and scrub the rest of my body with it. When I close my eyes, I imagine I’m alone and in my apartment, enjoying a nice warm shower.

  After I wash out my hair, I make an attempt to get my panties off without taking off my shorts. Somehow, I manage it. I even manage to borrow a squirt of body wash from the girl to my left to clean them with. I don’t know what’s more disturbing, the fact I’m cleaning my underwear with body wash or that I’m excited I get to wear the unappealing cotton fabric again in a few hours’ time. Who knew it’d take getting trapped underground with no toiletries for me to love my cotton underwear.

  I contemplate stuffing my panties into the pocket of my shorts, but decide against it. Instead, I head back in the direction of our little space so I can lay them out on my bed. I want them aired out and I want to change my clothes while I’m at it too. Now my skin is clean, the fabric that grazes it feels … soiled. I’ll change into something else, then meet Jai in the bar for a drink.

  I cross my fingers hoping the drinks are alcoholic because booze is the only thing that will help me keep a straight face when I sit before Jai, panty-less and clean.

  Words

  Warm air blows around my exposed calves. Oh God, it feels good to be clean. Is there a feeling better than cool, damp hair on your warm back when you’re struggling to breathe through the hot air?

  I brush my fingertips along my bare stomach. I’ve never dressed like this before. I’ve never shown my belly button or exposed my hips. Still, I keep my head high and walk with confidence as I make my way back into the washroom. More people are showering now than they were before. They look happy, completely relaxed, and it makes me want to take off my clothes and do it all over again. I watch the quick succession of droplets that fall from the pipe. It’s amazing how such little allowance feels like a torrential downpour when you need it most. I, for one, will never complain about the pressure of my shower at home ever again.

  I keep walking and head into the tunnel Jai pointed out earlier. A mile down, I pop out the end and right into a bar area. Of course, it doesn’t actually look anything like a bar, but I get the point. It’s a place you come to buy drinks. I scan the large area, looking over people that crowd around crates and shake their tin cups as they tell epic stories. There is no music, only the sound of cheerful conversation. My favorite kind.

  On the other side of the room, I see a hand go up and it leads me directly to Jai. On the crate he leans on, two tin cups sit, filled with synthetic confidence in liquid form. I peer into them as I approach.

  “Whiskey,” he announces, nudging my cup as his eyes flit to my bare stomach.

  His analyzing gaze makes me feel self-conscious as well as overheated. A few seconds in and his presence is already forcing my pulse to hit overdrive and my skin to prickle all over. I expected to feel less heat between my legs now I’ve experienced a small piece of Jai, but if anything, it’s multiplied tenfold. I want to lick his chest and kiss his lips. I want to feel his rough hands all over my body and between my legs once more. Trying my best not to squeeze my thighs together, I lower myself onto the little stool across from him, thankful the crate hides the majority of my naked stomach.

  “I thought the black halter wasn’t your style?”

  “It’s not,” I say, reaching for my cup. “But it’s the only thing that matches these leggings.”

  Jai draws his cup to his lips. “They’re nice leggings.”

  I have to agree. Not only do they fit and are comfortable, they also had the price tag still attached. Whoever owned these before paid a pretty penny for them. If I lost them, I’d be pissed. I sip at the whiskey and wince as it burns its way down my throat. I cough and cover my mouth.

  “It tastes like gasoline.”

  Crinkles surface around his eyes as he smiles while swallowing a mouthful of
his own whiskey. “Just as expensive, too.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “An interesting statement from someone who catches the train.”

  “I have a car, but I enjoy catching the train. I like the grittiness of it all.”

  I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who enjoys catching the train. I hate it with a passion—the smells, the people, the stops—ugh.

  “When you’re not riding the subway and smashing innocent women’s tablets, what do you drive?”

  His eyes flare and I can tell I’ve stumbled on a topic he’s passionate about. “A Ford Mustang, Shelby, GT500.”

  I stare at him. All I heard were words. Words I don’t understand the meaning of. When I ask someone what they drive, I expect a color or a one-name brand. ‘A blue one’ is a good answer or ‘a Nissan’ works too. I can understand those. When more than one name comes out of their mouth, followed by a bunch of numbers, I’m lost. Jai catches on, too.

  “A red one with black stripes up the middle.”

  I smile. “Fast?”

  A stupid question. It’s red; of course it goes fast. Jai tips his head to the side a little. It’s endearing—cute, even.

  “She does all right. What’s with the questions?”

  I shrug. “We sleep in the same room. It makes sense we should get to know each other a little more.”

  Jai leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. I drop my stare from his and watch as he trails his index finger along the rim of his tin cup. At any moment I expect blood to roll down the dull metal, but he keeps his touch light and careful.

  “You really think knowing me a little more will make you feel any better about what you let me do last night?”

  His tone confuses me. It’s half amused, half serious. I wondered who was going to address last night’s situation first. I would have done it in a roundabout way, but I guess Jai’s style is more … straight to the point.

  “This has nothing to do with last night. I don’t need to make myself feel better. I own my actions.” I frown. “Wait. Are you implying I should think less of myself because of what happened?”

  “Not at all.”

  I grip my tin cup in my hand. “Then what are you saying?”

  Jai’s full lips fight a smile. It seems almost everything I say is amusing to him. He’s not taking this conversation as seriously as I am, and it bugs me.

  “What I’m saying is, what’s done is done. Even if I tell you my whole life story, we’ll always share that moment as strangers.”

  His stare flickers over my burning cheeks and watering eyes. I don’t think I’ve been in a more embarrassing conversation. This is the first time I’ve ever had a conversation with a guy that has given me an orgasm, after the fact.

  I cover my face with my hands. “This is humiliating.”

  Jai laughs once. “Don’t be embarrassed. You were perfect.”

  Perfect? I peer through my fingers. There’s no humor to his look. Whatever is happening in the depths of his ocean-like eyes makes me feel sixteen all over again.

  Virginal.

  Curious.

  Shameless.

  It’s an art, saying the right words to make a girl feel like a puddle of jelly, an art I suspect Jai has mastered.

  Dropping my hands from my face, I sigh. “Can we talk about something else?”

  He studies me while I rake my teeth over my bottom lip. “We could, but I think I prefer making you blush.”

  I roll my eyes. Of course he does. “Please? I find this topic of conversation uncomfortable—even in normal circumstances.”

  He exhales and slumps into his chair. “Fine. We can change the topic, but I’m revisiting it once you’ve had a few drinks. I want to know where your panties have disappeared to.”

  It takes me a few long seconds to process what he’s said. When I do, my cheeks burn unlike anything I’ve experienced before. How can he tell? He’s looking at me, his eyes dancing while his mouth taunts me with a lopsided smirk.

  “I’m wearing them,” I tell him, but the certainty I hoped for doesn’t reach my voice.

  He leans closer and I focus on his lip as he drags his tongue along the bottom one. To tease me or moisten it, I have no idea.

  “I know you’re not.” His voice is unbearably intimate and I squeeze my thighs together. “And it’s making it really hard for me to stay on this side of the table.”

  I swallow hard, my attention flicking to his lips. “This isn’t the place.”

  My attempt at protesting is lame. My drama teacher always said that if you can’t convince yourself, you’re not going to convince anybody, and it’s true. Jai doesn’t look the sold, not in the slightest.

  His irises dance with indecent excitement as he taps the side of his cup. “There’s never a good place, Kitten, but you’re right. After last night. I’ve decided I don’t like the idea of someone else hearing your husky voice as I make you come.”

  I inhale and hold until my lungs burn. How does he say those things? How do they just tumble from his mouth and make my pussy swell? I pull my cup to my mouth and take one large mouthful, then another. I swallow it and grit my teeth before pushing my cup across the crate. He gets the hint and with a sexy half-smile, he grabs the cup, pushes out of his seat and saunters across the room.

  Fucking hell.

  I bunch my hair up in one hand to expose my neck while I fan my face with the other. How am I going to make it through the rest of the day without having Jai take me against a tunnel wall? Using only his words, he has all of my nerves heightened. If we were elsewhere, and alone, I’d have made him tear my leggings with his teeth already. I can tell he wants to.

  I want it too.

  More than anything.

  * * * *

  When Jai returns with full cups, conversation lightens up. I’m grateful. My nipples were beginning to sting they were rubbing that hard against the fabric of my halter.

  “I really am sorry for breaking your tablet,” he admits after I tell him about my studies and how long I’ve been doing them for.

  His eyes are no longer wide and alert. The whiskey has slackened them, turning them into tired slits. My eyes feel the same—tired and heavy with impure thoughts. I stopped at three cups, deciding here wasn’t the place I should completely lose my mind.

  “Thank you. Although, if you had come clean in the first place, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  Jai shuffles his small crate chair closer to me and when he rests his arms on the makeshift table, his arm brushes against mine. Hyperawareness of his warm skin sizzles through me.

  “If you can tell me with absolute honesty that you actually enjoyed your life before you came here, I’ll apologize for that too.”

  My brows furrow. I certainly didn’t hate my previous life, but it did lack the excitement every other twenty-five-year-old was having. I haven’t really thought about it. In a way, I’m kind of unbothered by the thought of losing my place in my studies and not completing the course. I don’t own much and I’m late to pay rent on my apartment, also. My landlord told me she wouldn’t wait for me again, so it’s safe to say I’m officially homeless. And … I don’t care.

  “I don’t want this to be my life, if that’s what you mean.”

  He shakes his head. “That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

  “Then what are you saying?”

  He inches closer, his face unbearably close to mine. “I see the way you react to the fights. I feel your body tighten and relax. Your pupils dilate. Your breath becomes heavy. You hate being down here, but you love the darkness of it all—the dirtiness.”

  I swallow the pool of moisture in my mouth. Every word he says is true. I need this. I needed to be pulled from my old life and forced into a new one. I don’t ever want to go back. I can’t do plain now I’ve experienced the flavors of another life. My heart is set on Italy. If I don’t get Italy, I’ll die.

  “You’re observant,” I say, involuntarily tilting my face towards his.

>   Jai’s eyes darken, filling with desire. “It’s important. It drives me crazy, you know.”

  “What does?”

  “Standing so close to you when you’re watching a fight and knowing your thoughts and your attention isn’t on me.”

  My lips part as I expel a heady breath of air. There’s something animalistic about this man. There’s something he has that I want to be a part of, but as turned on as I am, I refuse to slip under his thumb so easily. “You’re fishing for something. I’m not as naïve as you think, Mr. Stone.”

  His lips pull on one side. “I don’t need to trick you, Emily. You’re a big girl. You know what you want.”

  Why? Why is he trying to get under my skin all of a sudden? Why is he talking to me as if he wants my legs around him more than anything else in the world? Fucking wasn’t a priority yesterday.

  “And what do I want?”

  “Me,” he states, simply. “And I want you.”

  My throat dries. Word by word, he’s killing me, winding me tighter than ever before. I’m about to implode. Every sense is heightened. Even the rogue drop of sweat rolling between my breasts feels erotic as it teases my pores.

  “What’s changed?” I ask, curiously. “You’re so certain this is what you want. What’s made you so adamant?”

  “Something happened.”

  Hooked, I raise my brows. “What happened?”

  “You. You came so tightly and so perfectly around my fingers, agreeing to everything I said. Your hot breath blew across my face again and again as your body rocked beneath mine.”

  He pauses to glance at my chest as it quickens in pace. Satisfied, his irises come back to mine, and a flash of something beautiful and raw sparks in them. It rushes through my body like lightning, relentlessly striking every nerve.

  “My cock is jealous. It wants to accomplish the same feat.”

  Holy.

  Fuck.

  Shameless

  With a gasp I stumble forward but catch myself against the wall, my hands shoulder width apart. Jai’s body covers mine, pushing me harder against the dirty tunnel wall, his hard cock pressing fiercely into my ass cheek. I don’t know what happened between our conversation in the bar and our tiny nook, but somewhere between there and here, we decided we were going to fuck.