Midnight Danger (Midnight Dynasty Book 2)

by CR Robertson

  The team of discreet photographers had followed us everywhere the whole day except into the vestry where we signed the marriage certificate. Xavier had two drawn up. One in my birth name, and one in the name I’d been given the day my parents died. None of us knew if it had been done legally, but tears trailed down my face when I saw the name I was born with on the certificate. He promised that he’d tie me to him every way he could find, and this was yet another ribbon that bound me to him.

  The look in Xavier’s eyes as he watched me signing my name beside his made my panties feel too tight. Molten desire ignited through my veins, drawing me to him with a magnetism that I couldn’t resist. I dragged him down by the tie until our lips met.

  “Love you,” I muttered against his lips.

  “Love you, too, baby,” Xavier whispered.

  His hand found my stomach as if to include Bubble into our day.

  Hugs and camera flashes erupted when we walked out as man and wife. From the moment he discovered I was pregnant, Xavier was determined this day would happen, and his persistent smile said more than any words could.

  Back in the house, I popped up to the bedroom to take a moment to myself. I blamed my turbulent emotions on hormones, but in my bag, I always kept a photograph of my family from so long ago. It sounded strange, but I wanted Mum to see me in my dress just once, even if it was through her eyes in a photograph.

  Xavier found me sitting in the window seat staring over the garden with sightless eyes, the photograph in my hand. “I was wondering where you escaped to.”

  I held my hand out to him. “Just needed a moment to take a breath.”

  He tugged me up to pull me against him. “You look stunning.”

  “You chose the dress,” I teased him.

  His lips twitched and eyes burned with an intensity that could set my soul on fire. “It would look better pooled around your feet on the floor.”

  My hand fluttered to my throat in mock outrage. “I’m a respectable married woman.”

  “Married, yes, but hopefully never respectably.” His hands skimmed down my back to cup my ass.

  “With you as my husband, I doubt I’ll ever achieve that.”

  His smirk made my tummy flip.

  Xavier’s gaze bored into me, and he walked me backward one step at a time until he pinned me against the wall. His hands grasped my hips while his body became a wall of flesh imprisoning me.

  “I’ll always love and protect you,” he said, and those words meant more than the vows said in the church, written by someone long ago.

  “And I’ll always love and shelter you.” We were two lost souls who’d found each other in the storm of life.

  His hand cupped my cheek and lifted my head. My eyes closed before his lips found mine because there were moments in this life that could only be fully experienced in the dark when all other stimuli were removed. I could live and die in his kiss, his lips and tongue creating an intricate dance with mine. My hands gripped his waist to anchor myself before I fell off this side of the world.

  Xavier had given me more than love; he’d shown me how to hope again.

  It was only when I saw my real name beside his that I felt the impact of living a lie for so long. For years, I’d pretended to be someone I wasn’t, hiding the woman my parents wanted me to be. She existed again in Xavier’s arms.

  His love empowered me to be the woman I’d been born—Cassandra Jenkins.

  My lips twitched and a grin formed. “Does this mean we have to have boring married sex now?”

  Xavier’s head lifted, his eyes blazing. “I’ve never been accused of boring sex in my life. Although I’ve never tried sex when married.”

  My teeth bit into my bottom lip as my hands slipped from his waist to his ass. “I’ve never tried it myself. Know anyone who’s married I can experiment with?”

  His head dipped until his lips skimmed my ear. “I might be able to find someone to help you out with that.”

  In a heartbeat, Xavier lifted me and threw me over his shoulder.

  “Don’t you dare ruin my dress or make-up,” I warned him.

  “Fuck me, married an hour and already nagging,” Xavier teased, depositing me on the bed. “On your knees, baby, if you want to save that dress. Other than that, I don’t care who knows I claimed my conjugal rights.”

  I pouted and fluttered my eyelashes. “Oh no! Please, husband, don’t claim your rights…” Maintaining eye contact with Xavier, I slipped off the bed and slowly turned and gathered my dress. I climbed onto the four-poster bed on my hands and knees, my dress around my waist.

  Xavier’s finger traced along the edge of my red lace panties. “Did you like your shoes?”

  A pair of red Jimmy Choo strappy sandals had been left for me this morning. I’d squealed when I found them. “I’m not taking them off.”

  His chuckle made my stomach tighten. “I guess it is tradition that I consummate the marriage.”

  “You need to make sure I’m a virgin,” I agreed.

  “You’re a virgin alright. Verging on the ridiculous,” he muttered, his hands scanning my ass to make me arch my back and present myself to him. “I don’t know who was smiling on me when you walked into my life, but I am one fucking lucky man.”

  Xavier widened my legs and pulled my panties down to my knees. I gasped when he teased me with his tongue, my legs trembling. My husband had the most talented tongue in the world and knew exactly how to use it.

  “Zee,” I gasped, my fingers tightening in the bedspread.

  He leant over me, his cheek rubbing mine. “Yeah, baby?”

  “I think you’re trying to kill me.”

  “I’m saving that for tonight, make sure you eat plenty of calories.”

  “Then you better hurry up so I can get some cake…” My mouth fell open in a silent scream when he buried himself to the hilt in me with one thrust. I never even heard his belt opening.

  There was something definitely naughty about being on my hands and knees in my wedding dress with my panties down, and my husband inside me with our guests sipping champagne downstairs. “Our guests…” I tried to protest.

  “Can wait,” Xavier finished.

  His hips thrust against mine at a punishing pace, pushing me forward. The delicious friction of his piercing made me moan and point my toes, my spine stretching to ensure I felt all of him.

  “You better not crease my dress.” I knew I was baiting him, but I couldn’t help myself, smiling when he leaned over me again, pressing me into the mattress.

  “Keep this up, Mrs. Bartholomew, and I’m finally going to take this ass. Technically, I own it now.”

  I deliberately dipped my lower back so my ass was more pronounced, and he groaned in my ear. “You’re fucking killing me.”

  “Welcome to my world,” I managed to whimper as he ground his pelvis against mine, rubbing all the right spots with that magical piercing, and making my eyes cross.

  Xavier reared back, his hands grasping my hips, before he pounded into me.

  Claiming me.

  Dominating me.

  Possessing me.

  My fingers gripped the bedding, eyes closed, mouth open. Nothing compared to the sensation of Xavier so deep in me that our bodies became one. He pushed us both over the edge until we were lying on the bed panting.

  “Definitely no annulment now,” he muttered into the crook of my neck.

  I bumped my ass back against him. “There goes my escape plan.”

  His deep chuckle coaxed a smile to my lips, our hands joined together on my stomach.

  The private chefs had prepared a beautiful meal that reminded me of the Christmases from so long ago when we all sat around a table as a family. Xavier had taken today and created something special and intimate. His Uncle Lucas smiled like a benevolent father and told stories of Xavier when he was young and wild on his estate in Tuscany. It put a different twist on his childhood. He may look like his father, but his personality echoed his uncle who seemed
to have a parenting role in his life.

  Our cake was three layers and decorated in flocks of ivory butterflies. Every layer was different and equally as delicious, the red velvet being my favourite. Xavier’s eyebrow quirked when I took another slice and I knew we were both thinking of him telling me to eat plenty of calories earlier.

  I had no idea how Xavier had managed every small detail in such a short time, even the wedding organiser had said he’d been the mastermind behind everything. It was as if he looked into my soul and found everything I needed for today.

  There was no band, but we’d spent enough time together to know each other’s taste in music. Xavier swirled me around the huge living room, humming the tune as music played in the background. I imagined the ghosts of my family watching from wherever they resided, sharing in this special day.

  Some little girls planned their wedding day, but I’d never known what I wanted until Xavier gave it to me. There were no huge displays of flowers or excess pomp, merely a gathering of family to celebrate the love two people had for each other.

  My wedding day was perfect.

  Jordan danced with Megan, and I knew watching her that she was still in love with him. He was the first man she seemed comfortable with. Megan proclaimed she’d loved Mark when she put that white dress on and arrived at the church, but she never looked at him the way she did Jordan. It was a blessing in disguise that her ex-fiancé was a cheating asshole.

  Ash and Lucrezia were chatting beside the picture window, their heads close together, before he held his hand out to her and tugged her into a dance. Their body language was stiff for the first song before they started to melt together.

  Lucas sat beside the open fire with a glass of scotch in his hand watching everything with predator precision. Hugh Bartholomew was the head of his household, but there was no doubt in my mind after meeting him that Lucas was the beating heart of this family. He possessed the same fierce determination to protect everyone that Xavier did.

  “How are you feeling, Mrs. Bartholomew?” Xavier’s deep voice growled against my ear, sending delicious shivers down my spine.

  My arms tightened around him, dragging him impossibly closer to me. “Right now?” I queried. “I’m in love with my husband. He’s the tall guy with black hair and the bluest eyes. If you see him, you’ll have to run because he can be scary when provoked.”

  His laugh vibrated along my throat. “I’ll keep a lookout for him. Surely he couldn’t blame me for wanting to dance with the most beautiful woman in the room?”

  “Hmmm.” I snuggled closer, never wanting today to end. Being here with family made the horrors of the past few weeks fade away.

  There were times I wanted to be angry at Xavier, but then I remembered the look in his eyes when he found and saved me. The raw emotion, the terror and pain made everything else fade away. I’d already been missing him, needing to hear his voice that night had saved my life. The small bruise and needle mark on my ankle a few days later told me he’d put the tracker in me that he threatened.

  The old Cassandra would have been horrified at the possessiveness of his actions. I was beginning to realise there was strength in vulnerability, and safety in his love. Xavier gave me something I never knew was missing from my life, an element that made me complete.

  I lost track of time, dancing in the living room in my bare feet, my beautiful shoes sitting on a chair.

  “I guess this is when we say goodnight,” Xavier said, stopping to draw me beside him. “Cas is trying to fall asleep on me, so I’m going to put her to bed.”

  Jordan rolled his eyes and grinned. “You’re only worried you won’t be able to consummate the wedding and she’ll be able to escape your evil clutches.”

  Xavier’s lips skimmed my forehead. “This woman is going nowhere without me beside her.” His tone screamed ownership, his hand at my waist biting into it with possession. There was nowhere in this world I would ever be able to run and hide from Xavier. I should be terrified, but all I felt inside was gratitude that the intensity of his emotions matched mine.

  “Sod off, Jay,” I snapped. “Zee made sure he took care of the consummation hours ago.”

  A salacious smile curved Jordan’s mouth as he laughed. “I should have known he would never be able to wait. You dirty bas—”

  “Stop!” Xavier cut him off and covered my tummy with his hands. “No cursing in front of the baby.”

  Lucas laughed and lifted his glass. “I knew I would be a grandpapa very soon.”

  “That’s my role,” Hugh snarked.

  “You will be a grandfather, but I will be the grandpapa,” Lucas retaliated, standing to hold his arms out. “I knew she was the one when you spoke of her in Tuscany.”

  Xavier rolled his eyes at me but allowed his uncle to hug him. That image was the moment I decided that I wanted our children to be showered in love and affection. It was the difference between being a genetic parent or Mum and Dad. I wanted our children to have the childhood I experienced. Even now I felt the warmth of my mother’s love.

  We waved as Xavier led me from the room, my shoes dangling from my hand. There was no way I was leaving these pretties; Megan would steal them when I wasn’t looking.

  On the landing, Xavier swept me up in his arms. “We may as well adhere to one tradition,” he whispered in my ear.

  My husband had many faces he showed the world, but his eyes blazed when he kicked the door shut and threw me giggling on the bed. No one saw this face of Xavier but me. I alone was granted access to the man who stood staring down at me with passion in his bright blue gaze.

  That look clearly said that tonight would be a night I would never forget. Excitement pulsed deep in my core and tendrils of anticipation rippled down my spine as Xavier stepped closer.

  ***

  Chapter Twenty

  Cassandra

  Months ago, when we met in The Midnight Rooms, I confessed a secret fantasy to Xavier as we’d lain together for hours chatting. I’d always adored Greek and Roman mythology and read every book I could find on it growing up. The part of the story when the heroine was tied to an altar or post beside the sea and left as a sacrifice to the gods always sparked my imagination.

  I’d wanted to be that woman tied and abandoned to be ravished by the sea monster or god who came to collect her. My overactive imagination had played out the scenario of the twisted faerytale in my head countless times.

  Did I ever anticipate that the man I met in the dark and whispered my deepest fantasises to would become my husband? No. Nor did it ever occur to me that he would remember what I told a stranger in the dark who I never planned to meet in the light.

  Xavier unlaced the delicate bodice and let it slip to the floor, followed by the skirt of my dress. I was left in nothing more than red lace panties and stockings. He handed me my beloved red high-heeled shoes.

  “Put them on,” he coaxed.

  I knew he loved them dug into his back during rough sex, so I anticipated lying on my back with my legs wrapped around his powerful body.

  Xavier moved behind me, his fingers trailing over my goosebump-covered flesh. Silk covered my eyes and tied behind my head. Xavier’s strong hands circled my wrists and slid them into a rope that was hoisted over my head, my back against a post of the bed.

  “Zee?” I gasped.

  “You wanted to be bound and tied and left for the monster to ravish. I am a monster, but I swear to you my claws will always be sheathed in velvet when I’m with you.”

  I shivered, lust unfurling deep in my stomach.

  He secured my arms above my head, my tiptoes on the floor. Leather slid across my flesh as he tempted me with whatever he’d planned for tonight. The leather belt wrapped around my breasts and he secured it at the front. A second belt held my hips in place, and a third stopped my legs wiggling.

  Trapped.

  I was securely strapped to the bedpost like the virgins chained to a post beside the sea so long ago.

  “Do yo
u have any idea what you look like?” Xavier whispered against my ear. “My very own prize to be claimed and ravished. How did the monsters satisfy you in your fantasy?”

  My mouth opened and closed several times. He was no longer the faceless man with whom I shared my dark fantasy. He was my husband and I’d have to look him in the eye and admit I fantasised about being captured by the monster and kept in his cave as he violated me. My character never wanted it but writhed as he forced himself on her.

  Xavier lowered the belt around my breasts. “Rape fantasy is one of the most popular bookings we have in the fantasy rooms. No one wants a stranger to drag them off the street, but under controlled circumstances and pre-signed consent, it would amaze you what turns people on.”

  His lips teased one nipple while his fingers stimulated the other until I was struggling against my restraints.

  “It comes down to lack of control. People profess to want control, but only under certain circumstances. Then they want someone to control them.” His teeth scrapped my sensitive nipple, my fingers digging into the rope that held my wrists securely. “If I was the monster, I’d want to take you where all those who tied you to that post as a sacrifice could watch. Every one of them would be hard as they stared at the monster fucking their virginal sacrifice, her screams of pleasure accosting their ears.”

  “Oh fuck,” I mumbled as he bit down on me, his tongue flicking wildly.

  “Then I would cut you down and lie you on their precious altar to show them what it should really be used for.” My mouth fell open as his hovered over mine, his breath fanning me. “A sacrifice of flesh and blood but as an offering of sex and debauchery. Skin sliding on skin, flesh accepting the thrust and pull of flesh.”

  He always knew how to talk dirty, but tonight he’d put me in darkness again and all I could visualise was his words. The area between my thighs became hot and needy, desperately wanting everything he was saying and so much more.