Inside the Maelstrom

by Grace McGinty

  Maybe she just wanted to find this guy, this Nemo, and get away from us as fast as possible.

  That kind of hurt but I didn’t blame her.

  Hendrick was tapping his finger on the glass dining table that seated twelve. Jonathan the Butler had left for the moment to get our evening meal organized. It was just me and Hendrick left in this big, empty penthouse, and the silence was going to kill me.

  “We should talk about what we’re going to do after this. It's obvious that these grand shows of wealth are making her uncomfortable.”

  “I don’t want to sleep in a bed bug-infested shithole either.”

  I gave him a droll look. “Drix, there’s a huge leap between six thousand pounds a night and a charge-by-the-hour brothel.” Hendrick just shrugged, his mind obviously elsewhere. I’d known him long enough to know what was at the end of this spiral. “Take your meds, Drix.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me, but stood up and went to the bathroom. I heard the rattle of a pill bottle and the running of the tap. Hendrick might be stubborn as fuck about a lot of things, but he knew the meds made him better. Returning, he stared down at me, and I knew that wild energy in his eyes. It meant we were about to fight or fuck. Sometimes, if we didn’t do either, shit went bad. It wasn’t a hardship; my dick was already hard at the thought of that crazy fucking.

  He continued to stare down at me. “Why doesn’t she like me? Most girls would be crawling all over my dick by now.”

  “Because you’re an asshole and she has more brain cells than your usual conquests,” I quipped back, and laughed as he launched himself at me. The couch gave an ominous creak but held. He threw a soft punch at my ribs, and I wiggled out from underneath him.

  However, Hendrick was quick, and he had his thighs locked tight around my hips and his forearm across my throat before we could make it to the ground. I tapped his arm and he pressed a little tighter, making my dick harder, before releasing pressure.

  “Seriously, Otto? Why?”

  “You’re everything that nice, middle class girls are trained to resent. You're rich. You're entitled—”

  “My father has beaten me within an inch of my life several times over the years.”

  I shrug. “She doesn’t know that. She just sees you drop a small fortune on a hotel room, basically confirming all the shit drummed into her by the media since she could walk.” I paused. “Do you want her to like you? I mean, like you for more than your dick?”

  This was new. Hendrick had been obsessed with girls before, but they were always just a game to him. He didn’t really care about their feelings. Once the challenge was over, he moved on. It was what I assumed he’d do with Aviva too.

  He shrugged again and gripped my chin. Then he launched himself at me, kissing me hard and wild. It was always like this, right before he crashed. It might be in a month, or days, or even hours. Sampson had taunted me once, said I was acting as a bandaid for all the gaping, festering damage that was hiding away inside Hendrick. As a way for him to fuck out his demons before he self-destructed.

  I was surprisingly okay with that.

  He was still straddling my hips, but as he leaned forward to kiss me, I could feel the hard line of his cock pressing against my stomach.

  “What, are you topping me today?” I teased. I mean, it did happen, but most of the time I was top. He liked to be out of control, liked to feel punished, and while logically I knew that was a little fucked up given his childhood, we were all a little fucked up. So who was I to judge?

  He ground his dick into me and grinned. “I think I might. You have a problem with that?”

  As an answer to his question, I grabbed the back of his head and dragged him down for another kiss. No, a kiss made it sound like something sweet and soft. In reality, Hendrick fucked my mouth with his, and I loved it.

  I moved my hands down to his waist, unbuckling and unbuttoning his jeans quickly so I could pull them out of the way. Hendrick was fucking beautiful, and he knew it. He worked out a lot, running every morning in the gym until he was exhausted. Maybe tomorrow we could run on the streets of London, since he wouldn’t have to worry about his security detail for now.

  All thoughts of running fled my brain when I circled my hand around his cock and he thrust into it, his mouth not relenting for a minute. It was like he didn’t need to breathe, but I definitely did. I broke off the kiss so I could peel his shirt up over his head.

  And then he was naked, and I could only stare at the beauty of him. It was like this every time, really. I knew I loved him, and it was hard to deny when I held his cock in my hand. When he’d taken my virginity, I’d taken his too. I knew just as much about what pleased him as I did about myself.

  Drix moved his lips down my throat, scrunching my shirt up around my neck so he could suck at the skin of my chest, stopping to bite the flat of my nipple.

  “Motherfucker,” I growled, thrusting up against him as I shuddered with pleasure. “We should take this to the bedroom in case Sampson and Aviva come back.”

  He paused to look back up at me from beneath thick brown lashes, a grin on his face. “So what? Wouldn’t be the first time Sampson has caught an eyeful.”

  “And Aviva?”

  “She’d like it,” he grunted, as he struggled with my belt and jeans. I lifted my ass so he could pull them down, underwear and all. He crumpled the back pocket of my jeans and grinned. “Fuck me, Otto. Is there a condom and lube back here? You really are a boy scout.”

  “Shut the fuck up and put it on already,” I growled, and he laughed. He slid the condom onto my cock, making me raise an eyebrow. “If you’re topping, Drix, it’s meant to go on you.”

  He shook his head. “I want you to fuck me against these stupidly expensive windows.” Oh yeah.

  I curled up, capturing his mouth again so I could kiss him softly. Hendrick might kiss like he fucked, but I tried to tell him I loved him with my lips.

  He climbed off my lap and I stood up, still kissing him as I walked him backwards toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. He reached out and stroked my cock, and I groaned. I was already fucking hard as a rock.

  “Keep that up and it’s going to be a short fuck,” I muttered, and his laugh made my own lips curl.

  He tossed me one of the tiny lube packets I usually kept with me. I always liked to be prepared because Hendrick was unpredictable. Maybe even more so, now that Aviva was around. She made me feel wild too, but I had more care for consequences than Hendrick.

  Which was why we still used condoms when we had sex, because I didn’t trust that Drix wouldn’t stick his dick in some diseased gold digger, causing us both to end up with antibiotic-resistant super gonorrhea. He swore he was always safe though, because the quickest way to get pinned down was a paternity suit, especially when you were a senator's son.

  I lubed up my dick and his ass, and pressed two fingers inside the hard ring of muscle. His head fell forward onto the glass. “Quit with the foreplay, Otto. Fuck me already,” he ordered, and while most people would think that meant he was desperate for me, I knew it was because Hendrick wanted it to hurt.

  I hated when he was like this. Still, he pressed his body against the tinted glass, and I hoped it was nice and dark, or the lovely people walking their dogs in Hyde Park were going to get a good eyeful of Hendrick’s cock. I curled one hand in his hair and held his hip with the other, and slammed my cock inside him. He clenched tight around the base of me, and we both grunted loudly. I drew back gently, not pulling all the way out, and then slammed home again.

  I tilted his head to the side so I could suck at his throat, snapping my hips into his. “Stroke your cock. I want you to come all over the glass.” I paused, nipping at his ear. “We’ll leave the cleaning staff a huge tip.”

  He laughed, but it turned into a moan as I fucked him harder, his hand on his dick moving at the same speed as my thrusts. Fuck, he felt so goddamn good. I’d missed him more during this stint in rehab, and not just the sex. I turned his head
to the side so I could kiss him, fucking him with my tongue, wrapped around each other so tightly that our sweat-coated bodies were sticking together.

  Hendrick tore his mouth away. “Fuck, I’m gonna come,” he groaned, before his body clamped around mine and thick ropes of cum painted the glass. A few more strokes and I couldn’t hold off any longer, tugging on his hips so I was pressed so tightly to him as I blew that we could’ve been one person.

  A soft squeak from behind us and Hendrick’s silent chuckle vibrating against my chest let me know that he’d gotten exactly what he wanted. I glanced over my shoulder at a stunned Aviva and an unimpressed-looking Sampson.

  “Seriously? Three goddamn bedrooms and you guys have to fuck in the living room?” He rolled his eyes, dragging Aviva back out of the door and slamming it shut. Hendrick’s laughter bubbled from his lips, until it was echoing around the room.

  I kissed between his shoulder blades, and shook my head. “You are one crazy fucker, Hendrick Kenley. Go shower and I’ll clean up this mess, at least a little.”

  He spun in my arms and pressed his lips to mine, hard. “Leave the handprints,” he murmured, before cupping his dick and swaggering away to the bathroom like I hadn’t just fucked him stupid.

  God, I loved that man. I was so screwed.

  Chapter 19

  Aviva

  The ride to the Iron Nautilus in St. Giles had been silent as I contemplated Sampson’s words. Evan, Sampson’s bodyguard, had organised a hire car that had blacked out windows, and if I wasn’t mistaken, it was also shielded by bulletproof glass.

  My heart didn’t start to pound until we pulled up outside the bookstore. The lights were all off, and a closing down sale sign was stuck to the window.

  No.

  “It can’t be over already,” I whispered, and Sampson scoffed.

  “Relax, Good Girl. Stay here.” He slid from the car, while Evan watched him and the surrounding area like a hawk.

  “What's the chance of me accidentally getting caught in the crossfire of someone trying to take him out?” I asked the guy. I wondered if he even spoke.

  “Unlikely,” he grunted back. His voice was deeper than I’d imagined, low and rumbly like distant thunder.

  “But not impossible?”

  Evan just gave me a dead-eyed stare and went back to scouring the surrounding streets, as Sampson came over and slid back into the car. He was typing something into his phone, and waved his fingers to Evan, indicating we should go.

  “So?” Jesus, way to draw out the suspense. “Enough with the cliffhanger already.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “It closed three months ago. I’ll have my assistant track down the owner to get us in there. Stop stressing. Let’s go back to the hotel, get the guys up to speed on everything, and then sleep off this fucking jet lag.”

  He went back to his phone and I tried not to pout. He was such an asshole, but I trusted him when he said he’d take care of it. And I was kind of tired, despite the fact I’d slept nearly the whole flight. The last couple of days had been a lot, physically and emotionally.

  The traffic was unusually light on the way back to the hotel, so in barely any time at all, Sampson was guiding me to the private elevator that led to the penthouse, his hand resting possessively on the curve of my spine.

  “You seem like an honest kind of guy, Sampson. Do you think what I’m doing is crazy?”

  He looked down at me, and snared me in his irises. His dark eyes were actually hazel, the outer rim of his iris dark brown and the inner rim vibrant green. They were mesmerizing, and I tried to avoid meeting his gaze for that very reason.

  “Yes.”

  My body sagged. He was only confirming the little nagging voice in the back of my mind, but Hendrick hadn’t cared, and Otto was a classic enabler. Sampson wasn’t the kind of person to sugar-coat things—I’d only known him for days and I knew that with absolute certainty.

  “I don’t think it matters though. I think going back to college and pretending the last three months had just been a phase would also be crazy. At least you have a purpose, something to inspire passion. People have done shit for stupider reasons.”

  We stepped out of the elevator and Sampson opened the penthouse door. I stepped through and my feet immediately locked like I was stuck in quicksand.

  Otto was fucking Hendrick against the windows.

  My brain scrambled to comprehend what I should do as I watched the snap of Otto’s hips and Hendrick’s low moan as he came all over the glass.

  Sampson plowed into my back and cursed. “Seriously? Three goddamn bedrooms and you guys have to fuck in the living room?”

  Otto looked over at me, his eyes flared in panic, while Hendrick laughed. Sampson grabbed my hand, dragging me out of the suite and back toward the elevator, slamming the door with an unnecessary bang. He stabbed the ground floor button, while I blinked dazedly.

  Sampson frowned at me. “What? You knew they fucked.”

  I did. I did know that. I just don’t think I was prepared for how I’d feel if I saw it.

  Sampson went rigid beside me, and I realized I’d spoken out loud. “How do you feel?”

  His tone was short and terse, like he was waiting for me to say disgusted or appalled. But I felt neither of those things. I felt…

  I looked up at him, and his face morphed. A smirk curled his lips. “Oh.” He ran a hand down my spine, and I shivered. “It made you feel… hot?” He leaned closer. “Did it make you feel wet and needy, Good Girl, watching Otto fuck Hendrick?” He hit the stop button on the elevator. “If I reach under this skirt, will your panties be soaked from seeing them fuck?”

  “Yes.” The answer was yes. I was soaked, my gut was churning with lust, and I wanted Sampson to find out for himself if I was wet.

  He slid his hand further down my spine and over my ass. His other hand bent me over a little so he could stroke his fingertips over my core to see for himself.

  “Mmm, yes you are.”

  Then he pressed the emergency stop button again and the elevator jolted back to life, the doors opening all too soon onto a busy lobby. “Want to do some touristy shit?”

  No. I wanted to find a dark corner and get him to fuck me into next week. I wanted to climb back into that elevator, walk back into that suite, and insist Otto and Hendrick go for round two.

  Instead, I said, “I’d like to see Buckingham Palace.”

  We waited for Evan in the lobby, and he looked a little pissed to be back on the job so soon, but if he was, he kept it to himself. He got the hire car and we pulled away from the curb. Really, all I wanted was a long shower and a nap, but if I couldn’t do that, I was happy to see London too. I was in London! I still couldn’t believe it.

  “Hendrick arranged us a table at Nobu for tonight, so we won’t be able to do much sightseeing,” Sampson said, not looking up from his phone. You wouldn’t know that those same fingers tapping his phone had been between my thighs ten minutes ago. My face flushed at the memory, and once again, I tried to get my head back in the game.

  Nemo was the endgame. Not these guys. Though, would there be any harm in tasting them?

  I internally snorted at myself. I was such a fucking idiot. It would be like voluntarily putting my heart in a blender.

  Finally, Evan parked, and we all climbed out. It was a short walk to Buckingham Palace, but it wasn’t a bad day. A little cool and gray, but not raining. I pulled my coat tighter around me as we walked toward the giant gates.

  It was packed with tourists, each trying to take a selfie while getting the giant building in the picture. I thought I’d feel something being here, seeing a place that I’d only ever seen on television, but I wasn’t overly enthused. I was living someone’s dream right now, but it just wasn’t mine apparently.

  “Underwhelmed?”

  I looked at Sampson, and tried to find a way to say yes without seeming ungrateful. “No, it's wonderful.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve seen bigger.”


  I grinned at him. “Hear that a lot?”

  He gave me a heated look, and I listened to my hindbrain and scuttled away before he whipped it out to show me. I wandered over to one of the iconic guards in their red livery. Sampson was a step behind me, finally off his phone. When a tourist trying to somehow get the whole building in his viewfinder stepped back into me, I tried to move backwards, tripping over my feet. Only Sampson’s reflexes kept me from falling on my ass.

  “Watch where the fuck you’re going,” he growled at the old man, who honestly must have been eighty, and the old guy sneered at us both. Sampson went to step toward him, but I grabbed his hand and dragged him away before Evan had to put down an old man.

  “Come on, Sam. Leave the geriatrics alone,” I mock-whispered, side-stepping around more people. Too many people. The feeling of them around me was like ants on my skin until I just wanted to flee.

  I looked over at Evan. He seemed bored by the whole experience, but I watched the way his eyes roamed the crowd and he held his body tight. “Do you run?”

  The answer was obviously yes, because the guy was fit as hell, probably had to be to keep up with Sampson. He just gave a grunt and a nod, and I smiled brightly at him, enjoying the slight widening of his eyes. When my ex was drunk, he used to say I was as interesting as bran flakes, except when I smiled.

  I turned back to Sampson. “What about you, rich boy? Do you run?” I’d felt Sampson’s body against mine, so I knew he was fit too. But that didn’t mean he could run. You could lift weights every day, and then drop dead if you had to run more than twenty feet.

  “I’ve been known to jog.”

  I looked down at my Converse. This was why they were the superior footwear—they were always ready for anything.

  “Let’s run then, Bad Boy,” I said, a play on his nickname for me.

  “Why… Hey, wait!”

  I took off, dodging around the people snapping photos, turning my head and throwing up bunny ears when I got in their shots. I just ran. I ran down alongside the high fence that enclosed the palace gardens, pushing myself harder and faster until my lungs felt like they were on fire. I could hear Sampson and Evan’s heavy footfalls behind me.