Broken Princess: Ruthless Rulers Book 3

by Hart, Stella

  I couldn’t finish. Couldn’t find the words. I had no idea what was going on. None of this made any sense at all.

  Jamie rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake, Willow, use your brain. He’s not here to save you. He’s here because I offered him one last chance to have a go at you. With me, obviously.”

  Hurt arrowed through my chest as my eyes widened. “Is that true?” I asked, looking back at Logan again. My voice was close to cracking.

  “Of course it’s true.”

  My chin began to tremble, and my knees felt like they were about to buckle at any second. “But I thought… I thought you loved me,” I choked out.

  “Seriously?” he said in an incredulous tone, shaking his head. “Christ, Willow… when are you going to learn that you’re only good for one thing? The only thing I love about you is between your legs.”

  “I don’t believe you,” I said, shrinking back even farther. “I know you love me.”

  He sneered. “Tell me, princess. Did I ever say those words to you? That I love you?”

  “No,” I said, voice barely above a whisper. “But you—”

  Jamie laughed and cut me off. “Here’s a life lesson for you, Willow. If a man doesn’t specifically say something to you, then he isn’t thinking it or feeling it.”

  Hot tears stung my eyes. I kept looking up at Logan, silently willing him to tell me that this was some sort of cruel joke, but his expression remained impassive, and he didn’t utter a word in my defense.

  My heartbeat seemed to stop, and my whole body felt as if it were about to crumble. All I wanted to do was scream and cry my eyes out.

  How could I be so stupid? How could I convince myself Logan that loved me when he was a heartless monster all along? Was I really that naïve?

  No, a little voice whispered in the back of my mind. He’s obviously a very good actor. A good liar. He would’ve fooled anyone.

  My shoulders drooped with defeat, and I turned toward the bed. “No,” Jamie said, wrenching me back around. “Not here. Follow me.”

  He led me down the hall and upstairs to a new room. It had to be the one he was preparing earlier. An entire wall was mirrored from floor to ceiling, and the rest were painted dark crimson. There was an X-frame to my right and an enormous bed with black and silver covers directly ahead of me. On the other side, there was a table strewn with chains, ropes, whips, and toys.

  “I want her pussy first,” Jamie said, slapping me on the ass.

  I dared a glance at Logan out of the corner of my eye. He nodded in Jamie’s direction. “That works for me,” he said before turning to address me. “Here’s how it’s gonna go, princess. You’re going to get on that bed on all fours. Then you’re going to suck my cock while Jamie fucks you. We’re going to switch halfway through, and while I fuck you, you’ll clean off his cock and show him that trick with your tongue that I taught you. Got it?”

  “Okay,” I muttered.

  He wrapped his fingers around my throat. “Sir,” he hissed.

  “Okay, sir,” I choked out.

  He drew his hand back. “I’m willing to be generous, if Jamie is too,” he went on. “But only on my terms. You can’t just come whenever you want. When I’m fucking you, you’re going to take everything I throw at you, and you aren’t going to let go until I say so. Do you understand?”

  I frowned. Something about his manner of speaking was different than usual. The cadence was slightly off, and even the choice of words seemed strange. It wasn’t him.

  I shrugged it off, putting it down to my imagination.

  “Yes, sir,” I said meekly, hanging my head.

  Logan roughly grabbed my chin, forcing me to look up at him again. “I know you’re not very bright, so I want to make sure you understand me,” he growled. “You’re going to take everything I throw down today, and you won’t let go until I tell you. Got it, slut?”

  Confusion spiked in my guts again. ‘You’re going to take everything I throw down today’ sounded like something a try-hard teenage boy would say, not someone smart and eloquent like Logan. He’d never referred to my orgasms as ‘letting go’, either.

  Then I saw the knife in his hand, and I understood.

  “Yes, sir,” I said, voice clearer and bolder this time.

  Logan stared down at me as I spoke. There was a hint of a smile in the curve of his lip and the faintest of glimmers in his eyes. I could tell exactly what he was thinking. Good girl.

  He glanced over at Jamie and waved the knife. “Sorry, man,” he said. “Probably should’ve told you I had this on me.”

  Jamie smiled thinly and lifted one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. I could see a gun sticking out of one of his pockets. He had the upper hand, and he knew it. “It’s fine, depending on what you intend to do with it,” he said, cocking one brow.

  Logan turned his gaze back to me. “I intend to do this,” he said, holding the knife to my chest. I gulped as he leaned down and sliced open the front of my bustier. “She doesn’t deserve to wear nice, expensive stuff like this. You should keep her naked all the time.”

  I stayed stock-still as he moved the knife down to my panties and the matching garter. A few more careful slits and the lacy fabric fell away, leaving me naked aside from the thigh-high stockings and heels.

  “That’s better,” Logan said, eyes darkening with lust. He casually tossed the knife aside, and it landed on one side of the bed. “Now get on all fours.”

  He put one hand on my lower back as I climbed onto the mattress, and I gasped as his skin met mine. I’d missed this so much; the way his touch made goosebumps break out all over me despite the ardent heat coursing through my system.

  I crawled to the center of the bed and stayed there, hand only inches away from the knife. Logan smirked and got on the bed too, balancing on his knees in front of my face. “Come on, Jamie,” he said.

  I felt Jamie’s weight on the mattress as he moved behind me. He unzipped at the same time as Logan, and I steeled my jaw as I felt his cock pressing against my pussy, wetting me with pre-cum.

  This was really happening.

  With wide eyes, I looked up at Logan. He stared down at me, a mixture of fury and sadness flickering in his eyes. I swallowed hard and nodded to let him know that it was okay. I understood that it had to be this way. Jamie would never let his guard down otherwise. Not even for a second.

  I twitched as Jamie rested one hand on my ass before shoving his cock inside me. “Oh, fuck,” he grunted. “So fucking tight.”

  He began to pump back and forth, getting faster and more furious with each thrust. At the same time, I let Logan slip his cock into my mouth. I swirled my tongue around the head, doing my best to please him as I took every inch of Jamie’s cock in my pussy.

  As Jamie fucked me, I kept my muscles as slack and relaxed as possible, hoping that would slow his pleasure. If he came inside me like this, it would all be over, and I might not get another chance to escape.

  He let out a deep groan as his thrusts grew even harder, like he was punishing me, and my pussy made embarrassingly wet sounds when he bottomed out inside me. I gripped the blanket under me so tightly that my knuckles began to cramp, and my eyes began to water from all the strain as he continued slamming into me like a jackhammer. Logan noticed my pained expression and pulled out of my mouth with a loud pop.

  “That’s enough,” he growled. “I want to fuck her now.”

  Jamie kept pumping behind me. “Can’t stop,” he grunted. “She’s so fucking hot.”

  “You can put it in her ass later,” Logan said. “It’s even hotter, trust me. But right now it’s my turn.”

  “Fine.” With another groan, Jamie finally pulled out and swapped positions with Logan. He slapped me across one cheek with his stiff, glistening cock before rubbing it over my lips. “Do as your old master said,” he commanded. “Clean me up and show me these tricks of yours. No more holding back like you did last time you sucked me off.”

  I dutifully sucked his
cock, making sure to swirl my tongue around the tip before licking at the frenulum until his eyes nearly rolled back into his head.

  As I worked away at him, my fingers inched closer and closer to the knife on the bed. Jamie didn’t notice. He was too caught up in the overwhelming pleasure. “Oh, fuck…” he muttered. “Keep going. Keep fucking going.”

  Logan was behind me now, cock slipping in and out of my dripping pussy. “Nearly there,” he grunted. “You can let go soon, princess.”

  I felt Jamie’s cock begin to pulse in my mouth, and I knew he was close. He shuddered and let out a long, deep groan before entwining his fingers in my hair and thrusting deeper in my mouth.

  “Now,” Logan commanded. “Let go now.”

  I tightened my grip on the knife and said a quick silent prayer. As Jamie roared out his orgasm a second later, filling my throat with spurts of cum, I ripped my mouth away, jerked my body straight up, and plunged the blade into the side of his neck. He let out a guttural roar mixed with an agonized whimper, eyes bulging.

  I twisted the knife as much as I could, sinking it deeper and deeper until the shiny metal had almost disappeared inside his throat. Then I ripped it out with a victorious cry.

  Jamie collapsed onto one side, trying and failing to stem the blood spurting freely from the hole in his neck. “Logan…” he choked out. “Help me… stop her…”

  Logan grabbed the knife from me, leaned down, and drew it across Jamie’s throat. He convulsed like a rabid animal as blood gushed out in all directions, and I watched with a cold, stony gaze as the shock finally faded from his eyes, replaced by a blank expression.

  He was dead.

  Logan pulled me into his arms, squeezing me so hard I could barely breathe. “I do love you,” he muttered against the shell of my ear. “Of course I fucking love you. I love you so much it hurts.”

  “You were so convincing,” I said, tears stinging my eyes again. “I really thought—”

  “I know,” he cut in. “I’m sorry. I had to be like that. Had to say those things. I needed Jamie to think I was on his side.”

  I nodded and took a deep breath, taking in his heavenly scent. “I get it,” I murmured. “I just can’t believe you found me.”

  He drew back and stared down at me, brows gathering together. “Of course I found you,” he replied. “You’re mine. I wasn’t going to let you go.”

  A giddy rush passed through me, and I smiled faintly. “I just realized I didn’t say it back,” I said. “I mean… when you said you love me.”

  Logan shook his head. “You don’t have to. I don’t expect you to love me after all the shit I’ve done.”

  “But I do. I love you,” I said. I swallowed thickly. “I think… I think part of me always has.”

  He returned my smile, eyes glimmering with pride and adoration. “Good,” he said, voice gruff with emotion. “Now go and get dressed. I’m taking you home.”

  18

  Logan

  Willow snuggled against my chest, letting my warmth seep into her as I held her. “How long is the flight?” she asked before smothering a yawn.

  I stroked her hair as I replied. “It’s twenty minutes to the mainland, and then an hour and a half to D.C. Two if the shitty weather keeps up, because the pilot will have to go slower.”

  After disposing of Jamie’s pallid corpse yesterday afternoon, Willow and I stayed the night in the house—the seas were too rough to make it off his island on the boat—and returned to Fire Island first thing this morning when there was a brief break in the bad weather. The pilot I’d used to get to the island in the first place was still there, staying at the Order mansion, and I’d given him orders to fly Willow and me to a small, rarely-used airfield on the outskirts of D.C. before driving us to a nondescript motel, where we planned to meet up with Rowan.

  The pilot didn’t actually know it was Willow with me, because I’d given him a fake name for the manifest and put her in big sunglasses and a hoodie to cover her thick auburn hair. Not the best disguise, but good enough for now. Even though the pilot was just a guy my father had contracted to fly our family around when necessary—with zero ties to my mother’s family, as far as I knew—I didn’t want to risk him inadvertently passing on information about Willow’s return to the city before we were ready. We wanted it to come as a shock to my mother.

  Willow gave me a faint smile. “I might have a nap while we fly, if that’s okay.”

  “Of course it’s okay.”

  She let out a yawn and shifted on the seat so that her head was leaning against my shoulder. Her eyes closed, and I kept stroking her hair as I stared down at her.

  I still couldn’t quite believe it. After all the shit I’d put her through, she’d forgiven me without reservation. She’d given me another chance; a chance I didn’t even deserve. A chance to be a real man instead of a monster. A chance to feel something other than blind hatred and wrath.

  A chance to fall in love.

  Before she came into my life and flipped everything around, my heart was like a black hole where light went to die. Not anymore. With Willow, I knew what it was like to feel again. Knew what it was like to be truly alive.

  I turned and looked out the window as our plane glided off the runway at Fire Island, soaring into the gray skies. We were leaving at a good time. Trees and shrubs were bending under the battering winds as the churning ocean spat foam halfway up the island’s granite cliffs, and farther out, a squall was stirring the waves to great heights. If we’d stayed just an hour longer, we might’ve been trapped on the island for several days until the weather cleared up.

  As much as I loved being alone out here with Willow, I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to get the fuck back to the city and deal with my mother as soon as possible. She didn’t deserve to get away with any of her bullshit for even a second longer, let alone a week.

  Willow stirred and let out a loud yawn about halfway into the flight. “I can’t sleep properly,” she mumbled, eyes fluttering open.

  “It’s bumpy, I know.”

  She sat up straight and stretched her arms. “It’s not that. I’m just worried about what’s going to happen.”

  I rubbed her back. “You know I’ll protect you no matter what.”

  She smiled weakly. “Yes. But I didn’t mean I’m worried about me or our plan. It’s you.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, furrowing my brows. “Why would you be worried about me?”

  “Because we need to deal with your mom,” she said, eyes widening slightly as she turned to look at me properly. “She was always the good one when you were a kid, wasn’t she? Compared to your dad, I mean.”

  “Yes.” I flattened my lips. “You know she’s fucked up when we start thinking of my dad as the decent parent in the family, right?”

  Willow nodded slowly. “Yeah. That’s kind of my point. Your mom was the one you turned to and trusted for years before now, and you have a lot of good memories of her. I’m just worried it’s going to mess with your head to deal with her now that you know the truth.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I replied. “She has to go.”

  “I know. But I thought you might need some space to mourn all the good that’s going to be lost. Do you know what I mean?”

  I smiled thinly and ruffled her hair. “I do, and you’re sweet for even thinking of it. But it’s fine. All that ‘good’ stuff mom did when I was a kid was pure manipulation. It was never real. She’s only ever seen me and everyone else as puppets.”

  “Yeah, I guess so. I just want to know that you’ll be okay, that’s all.”

  My smile grew wider, and I pulled Willow closer to me. “As long as you’re with me, I’m more than okay. I’m fucking great.”

  * * *

  “Are you ready?”

  I looked down at Willow, my brows knitted with concern.

  She gave me a shaky smile. “I think so. Has Rowan done his part?”

  I checked my phone. “Yes. He says it’s read
y to go.”

  “Good.” Willow set her jaw and threw her shoulders back. “How do I look?”

  “Like a different person. Don’t worry, she won’t notice.”

  Willow was wearing thick-rimmed glasses, a blonde wig cropped into a bob, dark plum-colored lipstick, and a Wonderland maid’s uniform. Up close, most people who knew her would probably be able to tell it was her, but they’d have to actively stare for quite a while to figure it out.

  I knew my mother wouldn’t do that at all, because she was a typical rich person when it came to maids. The second they put that blue and white outfit on, they became invisible. Just nameless, featureless drones my mother would never look at twice.

  “You sure you’re ready for this?” I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder.

  “Uh-huh.” She leaned down to pick up the heavy silver serving tray I’d nabbed from the kitchens earlier. It was stacked with empty plates.

  I leaned in to kiss her forehead. “You’ll do great.”

  “I hope so. When do we go?”

  “As soon as Rowan spots my mom on the CCTV feed. He said he’ll text us when that happens.”

  “She’s due back any minute, right?”

  “Yup. I texted her saying I want to have lunch with her.”

  A moment later, my phone vibrated in my hand. I glanced down at it. “Okay, she’s back. Rowan says she’s heading to the elevator now. We should go.”

  “I’ll hang back for about ten seconds.”

  “Sure.” I nodded and gave Willow one more kiss before stepping out of the empty room we’d been hiding out in. Then I strode down the main hall of Wonderland’s top floor, heading toward the elevator.

  I glanced over my shoulder a moment later to see Willow following me, shoulders hunched and head down as she carried the serving tray. I gave her a half-smile and turned back around when I heard the elevator doors opening.

  Mom stepped out into the hall and headed toward me, high-heeled boots clattering on the marble tiles. “There you are!” she said in a saccharine tone, pink lips curved into a wide smile. As she spoke, she set her purse down on a nearby accent table. “I missed you last night.”