Page 25 of Rugged and Filthy

Yuck.

Why did it matter to me in the least?

The next several smacks were just about all I could take. And I’ll be damned if the son of a bitch didn’t crack the ruler across my upper thighs at least six times. I would soon tell him what I planned on doing with the stupid plastic piece of crap.

The boys certainly had no clue they’d captured a tiger by its tail, but I was no demure creature. I would fight back when possible. I continued telling the girl inside I only had myself to blame for getting in the middle of this… this… I wasn’t certain what to call it, but I knew the embarrassment of acting like a lovesick puppy dog would eventually come back to bite me like a rabid guard dog.

Even if crackle after crackle of electricity continued to trigger filthy thoughts.

“I think that’s enough, boys,” Foxx said, the husky sound of his voice only adding to the horrid longing that lingered in me like festering pus. The thought brought a smile to my face. That’s what I could do to remove the unsavory desire still coursing through me. I’d think of them in terms of being an infection.

What if there was no cure?

I was going to crush my inner voice with delight in my eyes.

“You’re right,” Jack said in an equally barbaric voice. “Time for more delicious treats.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, although I wasn’t certain I wanted to know the answer.

When the boys didn’t say anything at first, I finally had to break the silence by easing onto my aching butt, studying each one of them intently. I’d be damned if the three of them didn’t appear like the Cheshire cat who ate the canary.

As usual, the big man on campus, the one who intrigued me more than the others stepped closer, placing his massive palms on the bed on either side of me and leaning in. Damn if his aftershave wasn’t intoxicating. Foxx licked his lips before answering, giving me the kind of look that was meant for predators prepared for their upcoming feast as he untied my hands.

And his words were ones I expected yet said in such a way I couldn’t avoid trembling all the way to my toes.

“Now, the three of us fuck you. Long. And. Hard.”

CHAPTER 8

Jack

Women.

They were fascinating diversions, often far too much so. However, my experience with them hadn’t been the best of situations, including the woman who’d left me after my conviction for assault.

She’d supposedly been the one.

Hog-fucking-wash.

There wasn’t a woman on this fucking planet who could tolerate a rough and tumble guy like me. Or as my ex had called me, a dangerous menace to society that should be punished. Well, her wish had come true. Not that I gave a shit.

Josie hadn’t cared I’d protected a girl from being beaten to death, preferring to listen to the horrific things said about me in a small town full of gossipers. Her parting words would forever burn in my mind.

“You’re a worthless piece of scum, Jack. I don’t have any idea what I saw in you in the first place.”

I’d wallowed in self-pity for months, which had turned into anger behind the prison walls. I’d beaten two men nearly to death because they’d looked at me funny, which had landed my ass in solitary confinement for almost the first six months of my period of incarceration.

If it hadn’t been for the prison shrink, my guess is I would have killed a man or five, remaining behind bars for the rest of my life.

Or worse, having a needle shoved into my vein.

Josie’s words had certainly turned me off any possibility of having a relationship in the future.

But a delicious taste of a stunning woman with a voluptuous body was something else indeed. I was amused how Foxx had suddenly slipped back into his youthful element from years ago, something both Hudson and I’d become certain we’d never see again. However, Foxx was a survivor, whereas often I felt as if I was doing nothing more than existing.

The three of us had worked long hours, often nineteen plus a day for up to five months straight at a time. Being a rigger was honest and dirty, and originally it had felt good to get oil under my fingernails. But the brutal work was tough on a man’s body and we weren’t getting any younger.

My two buddies were all the family I had. I’d lost my mom and dad years before, both deaths unexpected and within a couple of months of each other. Some people had said my father passed because he’d been ashamed of his son. I didn’t want to believe that since they’d scraped together the money for the useless attorney I’d had. Sadly, both my parents had died while I was stuck behind prison bars. The last time I’d seen them had been the day of my sentencing because I’d been sent four fucking states away. It was the kind of guilt that hung around my neck like a noose. Maybe that’s why I valued the friendship with the other two men more than most.

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