Free Ten (My Brothers Best Friend) by Ker Dukey Page A

causing a shiver of anticipation to tingle up my spine. I traced my hand down her face and continued to her neck where I could feel her pulse pounding, making my heart stammer in return. I have to fight the overwhelming need to be with her completely so I don’t rush one of the most important parts of both our lives. She didn’t know how or whom I lost my virginity to, and it was something I’d never tell her, but I couldn’t let hers be anything like mine. I needed to make sure she was ready, and felt loved and cherished. Because she was. She was everything to me. I slipped my hands down her arms, taking the straps of her dress with me until it puddled at her feet. Every day my love for her deepened, and in that moment, the intensity of what I felt for her couldn’t be measured by anything because nothing compared to the emotion stirring inside me. Her nimble fingers once again found the buttons to my jeans, and this time I let her undo them. I wanted us both naked, bare before each other so we could explore everything we had withheld from for so long. I memorized every inch of her by heart. My soul lit with happiness when I finally entered her and she gasped and then smiled up at me. This was life. This was everything. She was everything.
    “Do you want me to come back?”
    My eyes open to see Six standing at the end of the bar, completely unfazed by the sex act playing out in front of him. I should have remembered to lock the door. I pull my dick from Lisa’s mouth and fasten my jeans. “No. Come upstairs. We can leave Jude to finish this up.”
    “Ten?” Lisa gasps, but I ignore her. She doesn’t have to stay if she doesn’t want to, but I’ve lost interest.
    “How was Louisa?” I ask as I sit down at my desk.
    Six grins at me and slouches down on the couch in the corner. “A screamer.” He nods with a wink.
    Louisa was a girl who’d been batting her lashes at me for months, but Lisa kept warning her off. As soon as she saw Six last night, he gained her attention and he ended up taking her home with him.
    “I really appreciate the place to crash.”
    “Don’t mention it. Now, you want to talk about work?”
    He sits forward, leaning his hands on his knees. “I want to open my own tattoo place. I know that’s going to be a problem with licenses and money, but it’s something I’ve always been good at and I just want to do something I enjoy, you know?”
    “I can help you with that.” And I can. I’m always looking for investments, and I know how talented Six is with a needle.
    “Are you serious?” he asks, shaking his head in disbelief.
    “It won’t be expensive to set up, and I have a function room outback that I don’t use. It has its own entrance, and with a little money, it could easily be transformed into a studio for you.” I lean back in my chair. “It’d be good for business.”
    There’s a knock at the door. I call out for them to come in. Cole and RJ, who work for my uncle, come in. They offer a chin lift to Six and then stand there staring at me. “What?” I ask, annoyed. They look over at Six again like he’s an intruder. “He’s good. Just say what you have to say.”
    “Your uncle said he knows a way to get Jonah to come here.”
    The hairs on the back of my neck prickle and lift. “And that is?”
    They look between each other. “Oh, we don’t know. He just wants to know if that’s what you want.”
    Fucking idiots. Why didn’t he come see me himself, or pick up the goddamn phone? “He knows it’s what I want. Do what you have to do.”
    “Okay.” They leave as quickly as they came, and I pull out the bottle of Jack I keep in the top drawer. “You want?” I ask Six, who’s staring at me.
    “As in the Jonah?” he asks.
    I pour a shot and shoot it back. “One in the same.”
    “I’m glad I’ll be around.” He grins but I can’t return it. The whisky is fueling the fire inside my gut. If they get him here, do I have what it takes to kill him? If I