Beyond Control

chapter Six



Rachel was the only woman Dallas knew who could chastise with food. The stack of grilled cheese sandwiches at his elbow was stingy on the cheese and generous with the grilling, resulting in charred edges that tasted like crap. I ain't your woman, and I've got actual shit to do was the message, reinforced by the lack of fries and the absence of any of Rachel's homebrew. She wouldn't turn down a direct order, but she had no trouble letting Dallas feel the bite of her irritation.

As Jasper sat, Dallas shoved the plate across the table. "Good thing I'm leaving. Give me another day and I'll have all the girls pissed at me."

Jasper held up his hand with a shake of his head. "I'll eat later, thanks."

"Good call." Sweeping the whole mess off the side of the desk and into the garbage was worth the hell he'd get for breaking a plate. "I'll just lay this out. You're not coming to Two with us, not this time."

"Guess you're gonna have a full house with Lex along."

"That's not why." Dallas offered Jas a cigarette before pulling out one of his own. "Shit's a mess, man. We've got enemies on all sides. Gareth Woods in the city, the usual scum trying to bite bits of the sector off when we're not looking. Whoever supplied Wilson Trent with those explosives. Hell, even Dom's getting to be more trouble than he's worth. I can't leave for a couple days and trust the place to be standing when I get back. Not without help."

Jasper seemed to consider that. "I can hold it together. Depends, some, on how long you plan to be gone."

A usual meeting between sector leaders dragged through at least two days. One evening for them to indulge in whatever vices Cerys had arranged to put them all in an agreeable frame of mind, and one wasted morning with everyone poking and prodding, feeling out weaknesses and strengths. Only then could they get down to business--and that was under usual circumstances, not with a sector leader dead and his territory dissolving into anarchy.

Dallas lit his cigarette and inhaled deeply before shaking his head. "Figure three nights, at the least. Maybe a week, if nothing goes sideways. They won't want to leave until they've figured out what to do about Three."

"You mean besides burn it to the ground?" Jasper groused.

"Tempting, isn't it?" Not that their own sector had much in the way of elegance. Not like Two or Five or even the nicer parts of Eight. Four took its style from the O'Kanes as much as it took its temper--rough around the edges but solid. Three was straight up broken, just like its leader had been.

But the potential was there.

"There are things we could salvage," Jasper admitted, "but I'm not sure it'd be worth thumbing our noses at everyone else to do it--unless they want you to. It wouldn't be stupid. You clear the place, divide the spoils, and take a finder's fee."

"It'd take a lot of work to enforce some f*cking order over there. And probably a fair bit of blood." Perfectly reasonable words, but work and blood had never stopped him before. And staring at all that unclaimed territory on the map stirred the sort of excitement he hadn't felt in too long. "But if we had the manpower...the money could be nice."

"We'd need more people." Jasper leaned forward and braced his elbows on the desk. "I'm talking serious membership drive."

Just the thought splintered pain behind his eyeballs, a headache begging to split open. "Only if you're willing to break them in and weed them out. I don't have the patience for that shit."

"Just let me know. I can start with the fights, the guys who've been around on the fringes for a while."

"Might as well start while I'm gone." Dallas blew smoke at the ceiling as a scowl twisted his lips. "Doesn't really matter who ends up in charge of Three, does it? We need to be stronger."

Jasper grunted.

Dallas glanced at him and got a speculative, curious look back. Jasper didn't sit around and gossip like the women--or Ace--but that didn't make him any less nosy. "You looking for the stab wounds?"

"Dunno." He shrugged. "Figured Lex might take a chunk out of you after the other night."

"We worked it out." Dallas quirked an eyebrow. "Did you and Noelle?"

"We're all right."

Not exactly the words of a man with a newly marked woman bouncing excitedly on his dick. "Sorry for pissing off your girl on your night."

He just shrugged again and, for a moment, Dallas missed the Jasper who'd been utterly his man. As loyal as Jas still was, Noelle had his heart in her perfectly manicured little hands now. She was the one he protected, even if it was just with silence.

Dallas sighed and stared at the ceiling. "I'll make it up to both of you when I get back. Lex is wearing my collar. We've still got shit to figure out, but I'm not enough of an a*shole to try to keep her away from Noelle."

Jasper finally chuckled. "I don't think you could, man, even if you wanted to. With a thousand collars. Not even with ink."

That was the truth, and it pinched. "Then I guess it's a good thing I don't mind your ugly face."

"Would you rather have a woman who didn't give a shit about anyone?"

He'd had plenty of those. Cold women, hard women, even broken ones. At times, Lex could seem to be all three, but she wasn't really, and he was glad. He'd never want to strip away that caring core.

Not even if he couldn't own all of it.

Straightening, Dallas snuffed out his cigarette. "Since we're stuck together for the time being, I'll make an effort to play nice with your kitten. Unless you like getting scratched up when I piss her off."

Something clouded Jasper's eyes, but he blinked it away. "I'd threaten to kick your ass if you upset her, but I don't think it'd do any good. You always do whatever the hell you want anyway."

"That's pretty much how this works." But it wouldn't hurt to ask Lex to talk Noelle down. The girl would have to learn sooner or later that courtship in the sectors sometimes came with bumps and bruises. For now, the best thing Dallas could do was change the subject. "Go stick your head out--"

A knock interrupted his words, and Mad slipped through the door. Bren followed, rubbing his hands together. "All the deliveries and collection runs are set up. Should flow smoothly in our absence."

"Good." He waited for them to drag up chairs before looking to Mad. "Have you talked to your cousin yet?"

"I sent a message," he answered, dropping into the chair. "Gideon will probably reply by carrier pigeon or some bullshit. Depends on how much he's buying into the grandson-of-the-Prophet mystique this month."

Mad's grandfather had been the first leader of Sector One, a spiritual man elevated to legend by followers who wanted a religion to replace the stifling edicts of Eden. "Either way, you'll see him tomorrow. You'll be Lex's bodyguard while we're in Two. I don't want you leaving her side unless I'm stuck to it."

"Got it," was all Mad said, though the man was smart enough to know Lex wouldn't appreciate having no say in the matter. Too f*cking bad for both of them. Lex wouldn't be allowed to participate in the daily negotiations, and Dallas wouldn't be able to concentrate on them with her flitting around her old sector unprotected.

Jasper grinned at Bren. "Bring Dallas back in one piece, huh? I'm not ready to be king."

Bren rescued the cigarette languishing in Jasper's hand and finished it off in one long draw. "He's too stubborn to die."

It was Dallas's place to grin, to give them their cocky leader, even if he wasn't feeling it. "Yeah, I am. So get comfortable in my chair, Jas, but not too comfortable."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

The fact that he really wouldn't made Jasper the rarest of things--a truly trustworthy second. "Things should be quiet. Cruz seems to be settling in okay."

Bren tipped his head. "He is. Getting some shit in the cage, but that's to be expected. As far as most people are concerned, he's still got to make his bones."

Cruz hadn't taken ink yet, but he'd lost his place in Eden while bringing Dallas the man who'd pulled the trigger on Lex. For that, and with Bren's word, Dallas would have given him cuffs on the spot, tradition be damned.

But it was smart of the man to wait. Normal recruits had plenty of time to find their place in the pecking order and earn respect by tolerating a little friendly hazing, and most of them hadn't started out as elite members of Eden's military police.

Speaking of which... "That was quite a show he put on in the cage the other night. He makes you look clumsy, Bren."

The man's brows slashed down in a frown. "The f*ck he does."

Jasper chuckled. "Now don't get your little feelings hurt--"

Bren punched him on the shoulder. "Cruz is good, and maybe he is smoother in a fight. A clean fight. He's gonna have to learn how to fight dirty."

"He's gonna have to learn a lot more than that," Mad said, shaking his head. "He's wound tighter than Bren was. It doesn't matter how many fights he wins, no one will accept him if he can't drink a few shots and relax."

"Or a few beers," Jasper muttered.

That momentarily distracted Dallas from his mental checklist. The O'Kanes didn't make beer, and they didn't drink alcohol produced by anyone else--with one exception. The same exception who hadn't given him anything to drink with his lunch. "So that's actually happening? Rachel and the city boy?"

"Loudly and frequently," Jas confirmed. "If the rumors are to be believed."

Some rumors were easier to believe than others, and Dallas would wager this one held more salacious curiosity than truth. "I'll believe that when I see it. Even Ace couldn't score any alone time with Rachel, and all the women love him. God knows why."

Bren and Jasper both turned to look at Mad, who snorted. "I should let you all wonder if it's true. If you want answers, listen to what people are saying when you haven't asked them a question."

"Pithy," Dallas grumbled. "Is that some wisdom of the Prophet?"

Mad tapped the side of his head. "That's advice from a spy. And the answer to your question is...it's none of your damn business."

Figured. Mad knew everything because people trusted him, and people trusted him because he didn't spill secrets. "Fine. We gonna discuss anyone else's love life before we get back to actual business?"

Bren regarded him with a bland look. "Is yours on the table? 'Cause I had to stand outside your door for a good ten minutes this afternoon before I f*cking dared to knock."

Dallas had f*cked women in front of Bren before. Hell, he'd f*cked women with him and had never felt the slightest bit possessive or self-conscious.

But that moment of Lex melting beneath him--that tiny crack in her impenetrable f*cking façade--that should have belonged to him alone. Bad enough that he'd been dragged away before he could savor it, but knowing Bren had been witness to it infuriated him.

F*cking irrational, but damned if he cared. "That's what an orgasm sounds like when you do it right, a*shole," he snapped, anger turning his tone ugly. "Jas can show you."

He wasn't playing, and they all knew it. Jasper and Mad exchanged an uncomfortable look, but Bren only lowered his gaze. "Message received. Not on the table at all."

Dallas got the message, too. Too far. There was a line between strength and abuse, and he'd been walking the wrong side of it more often than not lately. It was one thing if he needed to be vicious for their safety, but not when it was all about his own stupid pride.

Grinding his teeth, he forced himself to take a breath. "I don't like this. I don't like dragging her into Sector Two, and I don't like having to go there now, when I'd rather be figuring out how to put an end to Gareth Woods. I'm pissy."

"Then you get through it," Jasper said evenly. "As quick and easy as possible. Then you can get on to more important things."

Unless the whole meeting exploded in his face, or they ended up at war with whoever had backed Wilson Trent's attack. Both seemed equally probable, at this point.

What a grim f*cking future for him and his newly collared queen. "Recruitment drive," he told Jasper. At least with that rolling, he'd feel like he was preparing for whatever came next. "Make it a priority. When we get back, we'll all sit down and figure out the quickest way to bring up our numbers without taking on any dead weight."

"Yes, sir."

Mad and Bren were still silent and stone-faced. Dallas tried to lighten the mood with a crooked smile. "Cheer up, boys. You're headed to one of Cerys's parties. Expensive p-ssy and someone might try to stab you. Can't get more exciting than that."

"It's not a party until someone pulls a blade." But there was a rough edge to Bren's voice, with no trace of his usual quirky humor.

Mad stepped into the awkward silence with his easy smile, but Dallas had the distinct impression that Mad was rescuing Bren, not him. "Bren will handle the knives, and I'll take care of the hookers. It'll be a regular shindig. Is that all you needed, boss?"

It was a question, but it also wasn't. Mad had a look in his eyes, a set to his jaw and brow, one that told Dallas that it had better be enough. "Yeah, you two go pack."

They filed out, but Jasper stayed behind, rubbing at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Jesus, Dallas."

The bottom drawer of his desk held rum, whiskey and two glasses. Dallas dropped all of it on his desk and poured himself a triple. "I know, I know. But I thought the bastard would laugh. We've all watched him get off how many chicks in the damn cage alone? What's got him so defensive?"

"Maybe he can take some good-natured ribbing, but doesn't like having his head bitten off."

"Is that what I did?"

Jasper arched an eyebrow. "What would you call it?"

He didn't have an answer for that--not an honest one he wanted to give. Dallas drained his drink and slammed it down. "F*ck, Jas. She's got me turned inside out, and I can't afford that right now. None of us can."

"That's not Bren's fault. It's not mine, or even hers." Jasper rose and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Get it as right as you can before you leave, because if you lose your shit in Two, you make Lex a bigger target than she already is. Truth."

"I hear you." But hearing wasn't enough. Somehow, he had to get a chokehold on his own base reactions, along with the f*cking temper that ran too close to the surface where Lex was concerned. "I'll make things right, too. With Bren, with you and your girl."

Jas shook his head. "First order of business--stay alive. Everything else can wait."

Dallas almost laughed. "That's the one thing you don't have to tell me, man. I always stay alive."

"You've never done this before. Watch your back."

"I'll do you one better. I'll let Lex watch it." Dallas smiled wryly. "You don't think she'd let anyone else sink a knife in it, do you?"

But Jasper didn't smile. "No, I don't. I wonder if you do, though."

No, that was one thing Dallas had always been certain of, whether Jasper believed it or not. Lex was fully capable of trying to tear out his heart with her bare hands if she thought he deserved it, but she reserved that right for herself.

And if he didn't get his temper under control, she'd be trying sooner rather than later. "I'll see you after dinner. We can walk the warehouse and check the next shipment."

"I'll take care of it." Jasper turned the knob with a grin. "Bren and Mad aren't the only ones who have to pack." He slipped out and closed the door behind him.

No, they weren't, and they had the easier task. Bodyguards faded into the background. Dallas would be front and center, and he had to look the part. Deadly and uncivilized, the living embodiment of why no one should f*ck with Sector Four. Truth in advertising--the only political game he actually liked to play.

He'd done it before, always with Lex's advice. Now he'd have more than that. He'd have her at his side, his dangerous, beautiful queen, and together they could present a united front of strength that should keep anyone from stepping so much as a toe in Sector Four.



Lex juggled the bags in her hands as she opened the door to Dallas's suite. He usually asked for her help with his wardrobe when he had to visit another sector, and this time was no different. It was damn hard to walk the fine line between dangerous criminal and civilized businessman--especially when, by his very nature, he tended to veer toward the rough-and-tumble side of the equation. So he relied on her to put the finer touches on his image, little things that screamed money and class without also screaming, I give two shits what you think.

A noise drew Lex's gaze, and she stopped short just inside the room. The bags slipped from her fingers and hit the floor with a thump.

He usually had her help him pack. What he didn't usually have was a naked woman in his bed.

Six rolled from between the sheets before the door clicked shut, the wide, wild look in her eyes betraying her panic. Her gaze darted from her clothes to Lex and back as she shifted self-consciously, like she was trying to figure out if she could reach the tangle of fabric before Lex reached her.

She looked tensed for a fight. A beatdown.

The spot right behind Lex's eyes had already started to ache, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Put your panties on, honey. We've got to have a little talk."

Six lunged for her clothes and held them against her chest as she straightened, her gaze locked on Lex. "Is that code for sticking a knife between my ribs?"

"I don't speak in code. If I wanted you to hurt, you'd know it."

After a moment, Six nodded and wiggled into her underwear and pants. She pulled the shirt over her head last, tugging it down to hide her scarred torso. "You've always been pretty upfront about what you'll do to me if I betray Dallas. Guess you wouldn't bother lying now."

"No reason to. Especially since this whole thing?" Lex gestured to the girl's rumpled clothes. "It's not a threat to me."

She stiffened, and the emotion that finally broke through her desperate attempt at a stoic mask wasn't offense or anger, but a dark amusement. "That was going to be my argument. I'm not much competition for someone like you."

The words irritated Lex, and she spun away and stalked to the bar. "It's not funny. O'Kane women don't sell out like that. Lesson number one."

Silence greeted the words, stretching long enough for Lex to pour a drink before Six whispered, "I don't have anything else to sell."

"You look able enough." Lex poured a second drink and held it out. "You saying you can't work?"

"I wasn't--" The girl grabbed the glass and drained a double of Dallas's oldest and best whiskey. "I wasn't expecting to stay in his bed. I just needed something to offer now. I needed a trade."

To a man she'd already assumed didn't really want her. "A trade for what?"

She rubbed her thumb over the inside of her wrist, over unmarked skin, as if she could feel the lack of ink there. "Bren said he's leaving tomorrow."

"He is. We're going to Sector Two."

"I wanna go."

It was Lex's turn to smile in dark amusement. "No, you don't. I grew up in Two. You want to stay your ass right here."

Six stared into her empty glass. "I'm not an O'Kane. I'm not saying that to be a smartass, like I don't have to try'n follow your rules. It's just the truth. You might be safer here, but I don't know if I am. Not without..."

"Without Dallas around." Lex plucked the glass from Six's hand and refilled it. "Or is it Bren?"

That put her on the defensive. She muttered a curse and glared at the floor. "He's the one vouching for me, isn't he?"

"Don't be so touchy. I have a right to ask, especially if you think Bren's the one protecting you."

"Isn't he? None of the other guys have f*cked around with me."

It made sense for the girl to assume that was Bren's influence instead of standard operating procedure on the O'Kane compound. "Is that what things were like with Trent in Three?"

This time Six sipped the whiskey slowly. "If you weren't his piece of ass, you were anyone's toy," she said finally. "Bren's not the leader, but I see how the guys watch him."

Reassurances were just words, and words meant jack shit. Lex drained her own glass. "Jasper'll be handling things while Dallas is gone. If you're not comfortable going to him and Noelle if you have any problems, then stick close to Rachel. Anyone tries to mess with you, she'll bite his dick off. Good enough?"

Six looked up. "When Dallas brought you in to talk to me after I first got here, I thought he was running some sort of stupid game. That he was an idiot, or took me for one. But he really f*cking expected it to work, didn't he? He thought I'd trust you, because all the women trust you."

Lex gave her a slow grin. "Sometimes it takes a while, but yeah."

A flicker of amusement crinkled the corners of Six's eyes before she schooled her features. "You really don't fight over the men? Ever?"

"I didn't say that. People want what they want, even if other people have it." Lex paused to consider her next words. "But we don't lower ourselves. It's beneath you to chase after a man who belongs to someone else."

Six's gaze fixed on Lex's, and she swallowed. "I wasn't chasing him. I just figured--I mean, he's the leader of Four. Even when Trent had a woman, he still took his..." Her lips twisted. "His tax."

"Dallas gets enough ass. He doesn't need to coerce women who don't really want to f*ck him."

The younger woman flinched, but didn't try to deny it. She didn't say anything until she'd finished her second drink and offered the glass back to Lex. "I don't get the rules here, and I don't think Bren can teach me the ones I need to know. Can Rachel?"

The truth was stark and uncomfortable. "You'll probably have to pick them up as you go along. But Rachel can get you started."

"All right." She hesitated. "What about Bren? Do you think--?"

Before she could finish her question, the doorknob rattled and Six's teeth clacked together. Dallas pushed open the door, his frown melting into confusion as he took in both women. After a moment of tense silence, he quirked a brow at Lex. "Everything all right in here?"

"Fine." Lex didn't bother with a smile he would see through anyway. "Six was a little worried about Bren leaving. I told her Rachel'll take care of her."

That cleared Dallas's expression. He patted Six on the shoulder like she was a puppy who needed encouragement before moving to pour himself a drink. "That'll be good. Rachel can put you to work in the bar."

Six glanced from Dallas to Lex and back and barely managed to stammer out her agreement before flying out the door. It swung shut smartly behind her, and Dallas sighed and doubled the amount of liquor in his glass. "Do I want to know?"

"Only if a little useless, impotent rage would make your day complete."

"You okay?"

The covers on one side of the bed were still drawn back and rumpled. Lex busied herself with straightening them. "I'm good. Everything arranged for the trip?"

"Just about." He unzipped his jacket and edged a hand inside. "I got you something."

It made her smile, but she had to ask. "Gift or weapon? With you, I never know."

"Gift." He returned her smile and pulled out a black velvet bag embroidered with a familiar logo.

"Stuart's sister." Lex took the bag and rubbed her thumb over the velvet. Stuart made exquisite leather goods, while his sister worked mainly with metal and jewelry, but sometimes they combined their efforts. "Another collar?"

He grunted as he shrugged out of his jacket, his movements too forcibly casual to be entirely at ease. He seemed nervous, and even more so when he spoke. "Whenever the leaders meet in Two, Cerys makes us all suffer through some fancy f*cking dinner party with the wives and escorts. Stuart said this'll match that fancy corset he made you a few months ago."

She offered him a smile as she undid the strings on the pouch. "I know the one. Don't worry, we'll both look damn good."

Dallas didn't answer, all of his attention fixed on her face as she slipped the choker free of the velvet. It was breathtaking--a wide strip of supple leather edged with lace and set not only with another pendant like the one she already wore, but also with jeweled chains.

"It's beautiful." And it would have taken weeks to craft, if not months. She met his gaze, unable to keep the question out of her eyes. "Dallas?"

"It'll look good on you," he replied as he sprawled out on the bed. Not exactly an answer, but not an invitation to keep asking, either. "Fit for a queen. Isn't that what they used to say?"

"Yes." She glanced at the couch. It had been on the tip of her tongue to mention that afternoon, to open discussion about the things that had changed between them, but he obviously preferred avoidance. "I know how to handle myself at one of Cerys's gatherings."

"I guess you do." His brow furrowed. "You don't expect trouble, do you? I thought you told me you'd made your peace with her."

Paid her off was more like it. Lex had left Sector Two without earning a dime for Orchid House, which meant she owed them for feeding and clothing her for years. But that money could only be collected if you could be found, and Lex had managed to stay off the radar for years.

Until the leader of the O'Kane gang had plucked her off the street and taken her under his wing. It hadn't taken Cerys long to come knocking, looking for payment, a fact that Lex had managed to keep from Dallas. If he'd known, he'd have ponied up the cash, and her pride never would have recovered. She would have become something else then, another bauble he'd bought and paid for, not a woman standing on her own feet.

Dallas had both hands tucked behind his head, but his easy, relaxed posture was a lie. The look in his eyes had turned dangerous. "Lex?"

"Relax." She laid the bag and collar on the bar and crawled onto the bed. "I've got no problems with Cerys."

"Uh-huh." He extended one arm in commanding invitation. "Cerys will just have to get right with the fact that you're an O'Kane. For life."

Lex curled up beside him, her head on his shoulder and her hand clenched in his shirt. "I don't think she's in danger of forgetting."

His arm folded around her, tucking her close. He'd never had any trouble with the physical displays of affection, and she knew what would come next. Sure enough, his fingers drifted through her hair a moment later, absently stroking the strands.

"I know you don't like this," he said, quiet but firm. "I don't, either. But I'll be stronger with you there, and you can read Cerys in ways I can't. It could make a difference this time, especially since one of those bastards may have been working with Trent--"

"You're preaching to the choir, Declan." She closed her eyes. "Just...shh."

His chest rumbled with his amused noise, but he went silent. He fondled her hair as his chest rose and fell in slow, even breaths.

They still needed to pack. They still needed to talk. But, for now, the quiet suited her just fine.