On the Edge Read online

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Over the Edge

  Acknowledgements

  Dad- For encouraging his daughter to live her dream even if meant writing smut and putting a stripper pole in her bedroom!

  Once again, I’m in the club down the street from my house, drunk. Should I be here? NO! At sixteen, I should be at home asleep, but a little over two hours ago, my mother kicked me out of the house.

  Why? Because she came home drunk and immediately started yelling at me. “It’s your fault I’m all alone. If I hadn’t let myself get knocked up with a bitch like you, I would still have the love of my life.”

  As far back as I can remember, my mother has blamed me for her misery, never my older brother, only me. I have received verbal lashings my whole life, and when my brother moved out three years ago, the abuse turned physical because he was no longer there to protect me. I don’t blame Drew for bailing as soon as he turned eighteen. I would leave now if I could.

  He works for Knight’s Construction, and even though he doesn’t live at home anymore, he hasn’t forgotten about me. He sends me texts daily to the cell phone he bought for me. We meet up for a meal of some kind every weekend. He is truly all I have in this world. I don’t say how terrible things are at home, because, for once, he’s happy, and I don’t want to ruin that for him.

  My body slamming into a hard wall of muscles brings my attention back to the guy dancing with me. Damn, he’s hot, and I’m horny. He can be my toy for the night. Looking older than sixteen has its advantages, so by using a fake ID, I’ve been clubbing for a year and, during that time, I’ve discovered drinking, smoking, and sex.

  Sex means two things to me. It helps relieve the stress of living with my mother, and it equals power. That’s right. Pussy is power. My bitch of a mother needs to wake up to that reality. Then maybe she wouldn’t feel the need to beat me down. I will never allow a man to control me the way she does. How many times have I seen the asshole she brought home with her abuse her? Too many to count. I’m never going to be that person. I’m always going to be the one in charge.

  The guy in front of me is demanding my attention, so maybe I should focus here instead of losing myself in my thoughts. My 5’5” frame presses into his larger one and the slight bulge in his pants nudges against me. I grind myself on him, and as his bulge grows against my stomach, his hands freely roam my body. I enjoy the feel of his hands, so I let him lean in to kiss my neck. The music pounds through my body and our dancing is turning me on. It isn’t long before we’re full on making out on the dance floor. I lose myself in the feelings. Just when I start to tell him to take me somewhere, my arms are empty, and he is gone. When I open my eyes, I see that the person who has pulled him away from me is my brother, Drew. Seeing my brother’s 6-foot plus frame in front of me surprises me. A few guys stand around him, but I pay them no attention. My focus is on my furious brother.

  “What the fuck, Kat?” Drew spits out.

  “Well, I was dancing and getting ready to get lucky with that hot guy you just knocked out.” I wobble drunkenly, and my words slur as I scream at him.

  Drew grabs my arm and drags me away from the dance floor. I fight back at him, but it’s no use. He is bigger and stronger, and I’m too drunk. He pulls me out of the club and walks me towards his car in the parking lot.

  “Drew, man, come on. It’s not that big a deal,” I whine.

  “My fucking underage sister, drunk in a club, making out with a guy way too old for her. Not happening!” He gets in my face to yell at me.

  “It wouldn’t be the first time,” I mumble.

  “Fuck, Kat, what’s going on with you? Why are you trying to mess up your life? You have a chance to get out this town one day.”

  “Fuck you! You don’t know what it’s like, living with mom now. The bitch is crazy. The reason I’m out tonight? She kicked me out of the house for ruining her life. Where else am I supposed to go?”

  “What is that bitch doing to you? Don’t fucking lie to me either,” Drew barks out.

  I see anger brewing in his eyes. I also see guilt, but I don’t want him to feel blame for anything that has happened since he left. Since I’m drunk, the words just tumble out.

  “Mom’s verbally and physically abusive. She hates me more than ever before. Every day, I struggle to survive whatever she is going to dish out. I do what I have to do to get by.”

  “Fuck, Kat” Drew rubs his hand through his dark locks, and his green eyes boring back at me look so much like my own. “Why didn’t you tell me it was this bad?”

  “I don’t know. You have your own life now. You’re away from our mother. I didn’t want to drag you back into that mess.”

  “Kat,” he groans out, letting me know he isn’t happy with my answer.

  “Drew, I’m sorry, okay?” Tears slide down my cheeks.

  “Hey.” My brother pulls me into a hug. “I want to help you. I’m making decent money now, so please, let me help you. I can set up a private account for you that mom won’t know about. That way you’ll always have money. But I want you to do something for me in return. I want you to get an education, and then get the fuck out of Belmont.”

  “What do you mean, Drew?”

  “I mean I want you to get the fuck away from our mother. Use your time in high school wisely. Get into college, make something of yourself, and stay the fuck away from this town.”

  Getting the fuck out of Belmont becomes my goal in life from this night on, and I apply myself more in school. I find a small group of people to hang out with so that I’m not alone. No one, not even my mom, will get in my way of leaving this town. On the nights she kicks me out, I use the money in the account Drew set up to pay for a hotel room for the night. Sometimes, I still go to the club, because a girl has needs and I love sex, I won’t lie.

  This is my life now. I’ve taken Drew’s words to heart. I’m determined to get out of Belmont and away from my mother. I’m not going to be stuck in this town. I’m careful about the guys I hook up with. Like my brother, most of the guys around here work for the Knight Family. Besides, I refuse to be some guy’s arm candy. I’m going to make something of myself.

  As I take a sip of coke, my eyes dart around the crappy diner where I wait for Drew. Only my brother would pick a hole-in-the-wall, shit shack. After all, he’s into all kinds of shady things. I’m thankful that when I called him, he dropped everything to come meet me. He could hear in my voice how upset I am. I didn’t want to go into detail over the phone, so I asked him to meet me wherever he wanted.

  I’m pissed off, and our dear mother is of no help in the situation. In fact, she’s part of the damn problem. She always picks the biggest assholes to date, and the latest one has already moved in with us. I’ve tried to keep my distance from him, but Mom left for a weeklong business trip this morning, and of course, Jim, the asshole, decided to start slinking up on me now that she’s gone. Yeah, not happening, buddy. I was out that door as fast as my ass could carry me.

  I’m a senior and set on getting the hell out of this town, one way or another. I want a fresh start where I don’t have to deal wi
th my bitch of a mother who cares more about her boyfriend than her kids, and my brother who is always busy with stuff. I don’t want to know what the stuff is, but I’m not stupid either. I know my brother is involved in the criminal world and the Knight family, even though Knight’s Construction legitimately pays him. I hear what people on the streets say about gunrunning, gambling, and lord only knows what else he’s done.

  The bell above the door rings, and when I look up, Drew is entering the diner. His 6’3” frame makes him look as if he could take you down with one swing of his muscular arm. We share the same hair color, but he keeps his cut short and spikes it up all over. Our brilliant, emerald green eyes leave little doubt that we’re related.

  Drew scans the restaurant and, when he sees me, he heads straight in my direction. Two guys I’ve never seen before flank him on either side. One guy is so humongous that he couldn’t hide if he wanted. I mean Hulk huge. His hard, scary face gives the impression that he would show no mercy if you crossed him. In fact, some of the diners warily look at him as he walks by them. The other guy catches my attention for a whole different reason. I’ve seen some good-looking guys in my eighteen years, but damn, the eyes on this guy just draw me in like a fucking magnet. They are the most striking shade of Mediterranean Sea blue, and I can’t get past them to look at the rest of him. I need to stop staring before I embarrass myself.

  Drew slides in next to me while Pretty Eyes and Hulk sit across from us.

  ”So, what’s going on, Kat?” Drew asks, with no preamble.

  “Well, let’s see. Mom left on a trip today, her new boyfriend is living with us, and when I got home from school today, he tried to put the moves on me.”

  My brother stiffens and, from the looks that cross the other guys’ faces, they don’t much like what I have to say, either, and they don’t even know me.

  “So, what happened?” Drew manages to ask me through clenched teeth.

  “So, I may have punched him in the face, kneed him in the balls, grabbed my keys, and got the fuck in Mom’s car.” I fiddle with the napkin holder on the table while I talk.

  The three guys exchange a shocked look, then Hulk smirks at me, Pretty Eyes’ lips turn up in a faint smile, and my brother full-out laughs. Seems all three of these guys find my actions amusing.

  When he finally pulls himself together, Drew turns towards me. “So, what do you need from me?”

  “I need somewhere to stay until Mom gets home. I’m sure as hell not staying in that house with him, and I don’t want to go to a hotel for a whole week.”

  “Done, but first, I want to pay the asshole a little visit.” This visit won’t be the ‘let’s sit down and have a beer together” kind. “You’re gonna pack your shit and come stay at my place until the bitch gets home.”

  There’s no love lost between my mother and brother. Since she’s always been more concerned about her love life than her children, it’s always been just the two of us. Shit, we aren’t even sure we share the same dad.

  “So, are you going to introduce me to the two guys sitting across from me, or should I just go with the names I’ve made up in my head?” I ask my brother.

  “That’s Pete, right there,” he nods his head towards Hulk, “and this is Cole.”

  I turn towards Pretty Eyes and smile. Then it hits me.

  “Cole Knight?” I question.

  Surprise registers across Cole’s face at my recognition. My brother shakes his head in the affirmative.

  I find myself intrigued. My brother works for this guy's family. I soak in more details about Cole while staring at him. His dark hair sticks up in a sexy messy way that makes a girl swoon, and his small bit of facial hair is just enough to rub me the right way. Tattoos peek out from beneath his shirt, and I wonder just what is hiding under there. I want to lick those tattoos without even knowing what they are.

  I shake my head, trying to clear my dirty thoughts. This guy is 23 and as badass as they come. I can’t go there with someone like him if I want out of this fucking town. I have heard so many stories about Cole. He likes women, weed, and beating the shit out of people, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

  Drew decides that since they walked to the diner from wherever they had been, we will all travel in my mom’s car back to my house. I end up in the back seat with Pretty Eyes, and struggle not to move in closer to him. Something about him draws me in and makes my pussy clench and become dripping wet just from being close to him. I need to get away from this guy before I do something stupid. Images of me straddling him run rampant through my mind, and I don’t even care that my brother is in the driver’s seat.

  When we pull up at my house, the guys get out of the car and follow me up the walkway. I open the front door, and Jim shouts out at me. “Hey, Kitty Kat! You smarten up and change your mind?”

  Tremors travel throughout my body. The man totally creeps me out. At Jim’s words, Drew and his friends growl in anger. Unaware that I have company, Jim walks around the corner, but stops short when he sees the three guys behind me.

  “Who the fuck are these guys?” Jim yells at me.

  Drew steps in front of me as a set of arms wrap around my waist and pull me back. Hulk steps up next to Drew.

  “I'm her fucking brother, shithead, and I take it you're the fucker who tried to put the moves on my little sister?”

  Jim registers the threat in Drew’s voice, and his face pales at my brother’s words.

  “Kat, go upstairs with Cole and pack your shit! Pete and I are gonna have a little chat with Jimmy boy here.”

  Drew doesn’t turn to look at me, and Cole gently guides me towards the stairs. As if floating on a cloud, my brain doesn’t register what is happening around me.

  When we reach the top of the stairs, Cole whispers, “Where’s your room, Kitten?”

  His voice brings me out of my haze. With his body pressed right up against my back, his heat radiates through me and heads straight to my throbbing pussy. I want to turn around, fuse my mouth to his, wrap my legs around his waist, and devour him, but I’m frozen in place. As if sensing what I’m feeling, Cole turns me so that we’re face to face. I look up into those gorgeous blue eyes, and my brain goes fuzzy. I can’t breathe right. His eyes darken, and at that moment, I realize that we’re in a shitload of trouble because he’s just as attracted to me as I am to him. This is so not good.

  I shake my head to clear the fogginess from my brain, turn around, and head towards my room. Cole closes the door behind us. I pull a suitcase out of the closet and start tossing my clothes in it while Cole sits down on my bed to watch me. The desire burning in his eyes distracts me from what I need to be doing.

  “Fucking stop looking at me like that, asshole!” I yell in a low tone so that they don’t hear me downstairs. “I can’t hook up with you, no matter what my body is saying to me. My brother would fucking flip.”

  “Your brother won't say shit. He answers to me, not the other way around. When I want something, I go for it, and Kitten, I want you, so I will have you.”

  “Stop calling me Kitten. My name is Kat. K.A.T. Kat. Got it?”

  “Well, you're Kitten to me, and that’s what I'm going to call you.”

  I go back to packing my bag. Cole checks out my underwear as I toss it in my suitcase. I roll my eyes, but don’t say anything else to him because this sexual tension in the room is getting to me. Since we’re quiet, the elevated voices and sounds of the fight drift upstairs into my room. Something tells me that Drew and Hulk’s fists are talking more than their mouths are. I can’t say that I'm sorry Jim is getting his ass handed to him. I wish I could be the one to do it, but I wouldn’t be able to beat a man twice my size.

  When all the clothes I’ll need are packed, I make my way to the bathroom for my toiletries and cosmetics. I certainly can’t live without that shit for a week.

  My thoughts travel to Cole, the arrogant bastard who’s made himself at home in my room. I can’t even explain what draws me to him. He
is the opposite of everything I’ve ever wanted in a guy. I’ve always said that I would never be with a controlling man like the ones my mother always chooses. I like being in charge of myself, and don’t want to give it up for anyone. With Cole, I have to, but somehow it seems different with him. This bastard is being groomed to run the Knight Family business, so he doesn’t take shit from anyone. If I’m truthful, that is part of what attracts me to him. I think I need him. He can even me out, put up with my attitude, yet keep me in check at the same time.

  The look he gives me is intense, almost as if he knows who I am. At the same time, I feel as if he’s my other half. It sounds crazy because I’m only fucking eighteen. It’s probably nothing more than lust and hormones, but it seems like so much more right now.

  I finish in the bathroom and walk back into my room where the sight of Cole lying comfortably on my bed stops me. He smirks at me. I take in his lean, toned body and, once again, find myself wanting to jump him and scream for him to fuck my brains out.

  I start to grab my bags, but Cole jumps up and takes the suitcase from me.

  “I got it, Kitten.” Jesus, even his smile can stop traffic. “Let’s head out. Things are quiet downstairs for now.”

  When we make our way back downstairs, Jim is laid out on the sofa in the living room while Hulk and my brother sit there watching him. Jim looks as though it may be a few days before he recovers from the beating. Drew looks up when we walk in the room.

  “Got everything you need, Kat?” Drew calmly asks me.

  I nod, not finding any words and too overwhelmed with all the emotions swirling through me.

  Drew turns back to Jim. “Now, don’t forget, Jimmy, you will be gone when my mom comes back next week. And if I find out you’ve come near my mom or sister again? Know that I will kill you.”

  Well, ok, who knew my bro could scare the piss out of people. I think now is a good time to get going.

  “Right, then off we go. Come on, Drew and Hulk,” I squeak out. My erratic emotions are messing with my head, and I just want to get the hell out of here.