Piece by Piece: A Modern Retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk Read online

  “No.” The prospect had never appealed to her before, but now, with Jax, she would practically beg him to take her in that darkest of places.

  “Good. It will be just mine then.” Jax sucked his lower lip into his mouth, running his tongue over it while he looked down to watch Harper hump his leg. “I’ll have to work you up to it. Slip just my pinky in at first while I eat that pink pussy. Then, eventually, I’ll make you come so many times with my hands, mouth, and cock you’ll barely be able to hold up your own head, your muscles will be so relaxed. That’s when I’ll flip you over, spread you wide, and sink so far inside you’ll always feel me there. I’ll fuck your pussy with my fingers and your ass with my cock until you feel so full you won’t stop coming.”

  His dirty words brought her to the edge, and she collapsed onto him, rubbing her straining nipples against his covered chest, and rocking back and forth on his thigh. Everything else in the world disappeared as Jax covered her mouth with his, preventing the keening wail of her climax from being heard by anyone else. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, then sucked her tongue into his. His thigh thrust up, increasing the pressure against her clit as she detonated.

  Harper’s mind went blank. All that existed in her world at that moment was the pounding of her orgasm through her limbs. Years of pent up, denied pleasure swelled and crashed over her, weakening her body. The crazy notion that this was only the beginning struck her. If simply riding his leg could make her explode like never before, she didn’t know what actually having his cock inside her would do.

  Finally, as the last bit of her climax left her, he picked her up and carried her to a chair in the corner. Setting her down, he kneeled before her and spread her legs wide. Harper whimpered as he cleaned every drop of cum off her thighs and lower lips, never bringing his sinful tongue close enough to her clit or opening.

  Once he had cleaned her to his satisfaction, he looked up from between her knees. “Next time you’ll come on my tongue.”

  Without another word, he stood and strode back out the door separating them from the rest of the club, leaving her panting in an effort to catch her breath.

  As she watched him walk away from her, she knew one thing for certain. She was totally fucked.

  Chapter 5

  Jax

  What the fuck had he just done?

  Jax’s mind reeled after the best five minutes of his life. And he hadn’t even gotten off. He didn’t need to, just watching as Harper came undone on his leg had been enough. Her face in that moment showed complete surrender. Jax rubbed at his bulging jeans, remembering how her delicate fingers squeezed his cock slightly when he placed her hand there.

  Part of him knew he should feel some regret for being so forceful with her, like a caged beast finally let loose. But regret was the furthest thing on his mind. And she certainly hadn’t seemed to mind in the least.

  He swung the door open to find Kandy standing on the other side, leaning against the edge of the bar, a slight smirk on her face.

  “Hey there, lover boy.” She winked at him and took the two steps that brought her right before him. “I made sure no one interrupted you guys, but be careful next time. If George had seen that, you both would’ve been in a level of deep shit you don’t want to know about.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jax made sure to keep his face stony, not showing her anything.

  Kandy just laughed and shook her head. “Harper is different; I get the feeling you know that already. You hurt her and I’ll shove my stiletto so far up your ass you’ll need a colostomy bag for the rest of your life.”

  It took all the strength he had not to crack a smile. As much as he hated the little display the two women had put on just a little while ago, he had to admit it made him feel better knowing Harper had someone like Kandy in her corner. Someone to watch over her while he completed his investigation.

  “You’re right. I do know she’s different. And I’ll try my best to not hurt her, but it might be out of my control.” Jax let a little of his mask fall, a little of the man he was outside the confines of the mission show through. “But she’s strong. She’ll survive me.”

  He just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

  ****

  Two hours later Jax stood outside, leaning against the peeling wall, a half burnt cigarette between his fingers. He only took a drag if someone wandered past him, keeping up the pretense. The fucking things made him want to gag, but it was a good excuse to get out of the club and take a look around. And to make sure Harper got to her car safely at the end of her shift.

  Right on cue, the woman who’d taken over most of his brain walked through the door. She paused just past him and looked his way, an apprehensive smile on her face. “I’m off the next two days, so I guess I’ll see you next week.”

  “Yes. You will.” He held himself back from going to her and running his hand through her ponytail. Telling her how much he admired her, wanted to know her, craved any touch she’d give him. Because that wasn’t Jax. That was the man he had left behind in his cabin talking. She’d meet him soon enough. For now, he could only give her the man he pretended to be.

  Harper nodded, and with a final glance at him, made her way back to her car. Jax waited until she pulled out of the parking lot before he dropped the cancer stick to the ground and stomped it out with his boot.

  Just as he pulled the door open to finish out the rest of his shift, a dirty white box truck bumped its way into the parking lot before pulling around to the back of the club. Still holding the door ajar, he leaned back in an effort to see where the truck went.

  “Dude, what are you doing? Break’s over. Get your ass behind the bar.” Rick punched Jax in the arm, giving him an annoyed look.

  “What’s the matter, late for your nightly five dollar blow job?” Each night at the same time the lead bartender disappeared for an hour while one of the dancers sucked him off. He didn’t even try to hide the fact that was what he did on his breaks.

  “That’s right, and if I don’t bust a load right fucking now, you’ll have to put up with my wrath for the rest of the night.” Rick grabbed his junk in one hand, shifting it up and down to make his point.

  Jax rolled his eyes, but walked back into the club behind Rick.

  “Hey man, are we getting a liquor shipment tonight?” Jax kept his voice nonchalant, and his eyes cast toward the stage where three women were currently dancing, if that’s what you could call it.

  “Nah, the shipments come during the day. Why?” Rick picked a rag off the bar top and began wiping down the stained wood.

  “I just saw a big truck pull around back. Wasn’t sure if we needed to off-load or something.” Jax returned to his spot a few feet away and began pouring drinks for one of the waitresses.

  Rick stopped his pointless polishing and looked at Jax. “Don’t worry about that, man.”

  Jax shrugged, trying to look like it didn’t matter to him in the least what was in those trucks, when in reality his instincts told him they held the answers. “Whatever. Just wanted to make sure I’m not missing something that’ll get me fired.”

  Rick nodded, slapping Jax on the back as he passed him to head to the backroom for his nightly blow job. “Let’s just say George has a side business he doesn’t like to talk about. You see those trucks again, just steer clear.”

  Everything buzzed inside Jax. Years of experience at hiding his emotions served him well. He simply nodded and got back to work while Rick went to get his rocks off. It only took one small piece of information for a case to progress. After days of getting nowhere, this little tidbit felt like a leap in the right direction. The fact that Rick readily admitted a side business meant that things weren’t quite as secretive as George might have wanted them to be. The giant of a man might like to believe no one in his employ would open their mouths, but Jax knew it wouldn’t take much to get someone talking. He just had to find the right someone.

  He turned back to his task, pouring
drinks, keeping an eye on the floor. The urge to find out what had been in the truck, to poke around more, consumed him, but acting too quickly often meant being sloppy. And the last thing he wanted was to raise suspicions when he had only been around a week.

  Still, it weighed on him that there could be innocent girls and womcen being victimized nearby at that very second. He knew running in half-cocked would do no good. Evidence needed to be gathered first. A case built. They had to make sure to not only take down George’s operation, but others that might be connected as well. Human trafficking rings were often much more complicated than a few men tossing around girls to be used. No, they were more like webs than rings, with threads connecting other organizations in other areas, spreading so far it began to feel futile that they would ever be able to bring the whole system down. Still, Jax had to do his part, and that meant dismantling the chain, piece by piece.

  The waitress across the bar from him winked as she picked up the tray he had just finished loading, and she turned to deliver them around the room. Movement in the corner of his eye drew Jax’s attention. George and a man he didn’t recognize entered from a door just beyond the stage. A door Jax had been told didn’t lead to anywhere other than an unused storage room. He had checked it out, of course, but only found some dust covered chairs and tables.

  Obviously he would have to take another look.

  The new man set off alarm bells in Jax’s min d. He looked like the kind of man who’d be found on Wall Street, not consorting with a thug like George. The stranger’s suit was expensive, tailored to fit his short, stocky frame, his hair cut neatly and slicked back, and he had a walk that spoke of confidence and bravado. But as the man glanced around the club floor, his eyes devoured the women, with a sneer on his face that Jax thought might permanently be etched there.

  Wall Street pointed to one of the younger looking dancers across the room, though Jax knew from her file the woman was about twenty-two years old, and whispered in George’s ear. George nodded and headed to talk to the dancer while the man disappeared into the office.

  Jax couldn’t hear what George said to the woman, but she obviously wasn’t happy about whatever it was.

  “Shit. That sucks.” Sasha sat on one of the stools, watching the drama unfold between George and the dancer.

  Jax nodded his head toward the two. “What’s that all about?”

  “Royce likes things a little rough; not all the girls can take it. He prefers the ones that can’t.” Sasha stole two shots of tequila off the tray Jax had been filling and downed them in quick succession.

  “What do you mean, rough? Like rape?” He poured two more shots and placed them on the tray.

  “Awww, you’re cute.” Sasha let out a laugh with absolutely no humor behind it. “No one in this place is raped, sweetie pie. We all know the score. I mean he likes to smack you around a little. Maybe cut off your airway for a couple of seconds. I was with him once; it wasn’t that bad. But I’ve been around the block more than a few times. But apparently I wasn’t Royce’s style. I took what he gave me and never flinched. Hell, I even came. He didn’t like that.” She downed another shot, rubbing absently at her neck as she did. Jax quickly replaced the amber liquid. “Some of these girls think George is bad. He’s a pussy cat.” The weathered stripper stood from her seat and replaced the girl now being led across the floor to George’s office.

  It killed Jax to stand his ground behind the bar. All he wanted to do was kick down the door to George’s office and drag that girl out. Shame flooded him that he couldn’t even remember her real name. Just her stage name. Peaches.

  Jax had to stand by and watch things happen all the time while working undercover. He’d done things he wasn’t proud of, all in the name of a case. But this, standing by while a girl was essentially raped was the worst. By far. Because no matter what Sasha thought, if the girl didn’t want whatever happened behind that door, it was rape.

  For the next hour Jax filled orders, ignored the girls on stage and the men returning from the private rooms still tucking themselves into their pants. He half-listened to Rick go on about how Sasha could suck dick like a Hoover. But every few minutes he glanced at the door to George’s office, a sick feeling settling the pit of his stomach. Hoping to get a glimpse of the girl as she left, to know that she was okay.

  When she finally emerged, it made him hate everything about his job. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, bruises had already cropped up on her pale skin, and her eyes looked glassy. George shoved a wad of bills in her hand and whispered something in her ear.

  Jax tracked her movements as she turned from the club owner and headed behind the bar to the dressing room. The whole time her eyes stayed glued to the floor. A little while later Kandy came in from the parking lot with her phone pressed to her face, and headed back to the dressing room. Jax continued to fill drinks and keep his eye on the customers in the hour that Kandy and Peaches stayed holed up together. The time dragged on while he waited to see if the girl was okay. Finally, Peaches came out, cleaned up and in a too-short dress. Kandy held the frail looking woman around the shoulders, walking her to front door and speaking in low tones as they went, with Peaches nodding every few seconds in response.

  A few minutes later, Kandy returned and plopped down on a stool at the end of the bar, throwing off a “don’t mess with me” vibe. “Pretty boy, whiskey, on the rocks. The good stuff, not the crap Rick likes to serve the customers.”

  With a somber nod, Jax grabbed the bottle of Crown Royal Black that Rick hid under the bar. He filled a glass with two fingers of the brown liquid, but paused before putting the bottle away when Kandy cleared her throat.

  “You can do better than that.”

  Jax just chuckled and splashed another inch of liquid into the glass. He walked it down to her. “Is Peaches going to be okay?”

  Kandy picked up the glass and took a long pull from it as she evaluated Jax over the rim. She took her time replacing it on the bar before responding. “What do you know about what just happened?”

  “Just what I heard from the other dancers. That Royce guy likes it rough. Maybe a little too rough.” Jax had to fight not to glare at Kandy. None of this was her doing. But she obviously knew something. And every instinct is his body told him to interrogate her.

  “That is one way to put it, yes.” Kandy took another swig from her glass and put it down on the bar. “Another would be that he is a sadistic pig. But he’s George’s business partner, so what can you do? Thankfully he only comes around about once a month.”

  In all the research they had done for this case, the team had never come across any evidence of a partner in the club. Or in any other of George’s alleged dealings. The need to push further, get more information chafed under Jax’s skin. But he contained it, pushed it down and adopted his laid-back persona.

  “So, George isn’t the only one that gets fucked in his club, after all.” The smirk he plastered on his face made him want to punch his own nuts. But he committed to it, not letting his revulsion at the man and his club show through.

  Kandy scoffed, her breath fogging the inside of the glass as she lifted it to her lips for a final sip. “No, definitely not. That is just a lame line he uses to intimidate the new guys. Royce actually likes to make George watch. I think he gets off on the power of it, more than anything.”

  “You ever had to be with him?”

  “No.” The word fell from her mouth like a hard chunk of ice. She lifted her cold gaze to Jax’s. “Neither has Harper. Let’s just say the two of us are exempt from a great many of the activities that go on in this place.”

  Jax simply nodded, not betraying his overwhelming curiosity of how two of the most attractive dancers in George’s employ escaped some of the more unpleasant activities.

  “But to answer your question, Peaches will be fine.” Kandy stood from the stool, sliding the now empty glass across the bar to Jax. “George gave her enough money and drugs to dull the memory. She�
��ll sit out until her bruises heal and be back on the stage before you know it.”

  Without another word, she left through the door, apparently not bothering with the rest of the shift Jax knew she had been in the middle of.

  Chapter 6

  Harper

  The smile on Harper’s face deepened as she sat curled behind Rose on the grass in the park where they had gone to hang out. She ran her fingers through Rose’s hair, listening to the little girl chatter on about what she’d learned in school that day.

  “Mars is the red planet, it’s very dusty, and if you lived there you would sneeze. All. The. Time.” Rose flipped the page of her book, which Harper had picked up on her way over the night before.

  It was their little ritual. Harper got all the emails from the preschool Rose attended, and each week she’d look to see what the lessons had focused on. Then she’d pick up a new book for the two to read together. Though more often than not, Rose already knew more information than the book contained. Harper only got out to see her niece a couple of days a month, but it would have to do since that was all George was willing to give. While separated from the girl, for the rest of the time they stayed connected through nightly phone calls before Harper headed into work and Rose to bed. But Harper missed her niece so much between visits it often made her breathless.