by Maya Hughes
His fingers slid into my hair and a shiver traveled down my spine. I glanced up at him, and my glasses slid down the tip of my nose. I reached up to take them off.
“Leave them on,” he said, pushing my glasses back up my nose. “Now, start,” he growled. It sent a tremor down my spine and without thinking, I leaned into him and his grip in my hair tightened as I put my first tentative touches on his shaft. His cock pulsed in my hand and I jumped. “I don’t have all day, sweetheart,” he said. I breathed him in. It was an undeniably heady masculine scent. Without a second thought I wrapped my lips around his cock and took him in as far as I could go. It was a heady feeling having my lips wrapped around him, trying to give him pleasure like he’d given me.
“Fuck,” he spat out as I hollowed my lips to suck him in deeper. His hand tightened in my hair, a little too much and my teeth nipped him. He cried out and I glanced up at him.
“Fuck,” he roared, his eyes wide, as he came in my mouth. I don’t know who was more shocked, him or me. Rope after rope shot in my mouth and I swallowed his salty essence as his knees dipped. I felt a heady sense of power having unmanned Killian Thorne, and I hadn’t even used my hands. I hadn’t given head very often, and most of the times I had were a pain in the ass, well the jaw. But with Killian, I wanted to do this every day. I wanted to stand up, pumping my arms overhead, and do a dick-tory dance.
He slowly pulled my head away from him, shuddering as his cock popped out of my mouth. I stared up at him and he stared down at me. I couldn’t read whatever the hell was going through his mind, but he almost looked pissed. I shrank back a little bit when he reached for me, pulling me from my knees.
“Up. Up. Get up. Let’s go,” he said, grabbing my clothes from the chair and shoving them into my arms. He tucked himself back into his pants, and I hastily threw my clothes back on as he stood impatiently at the door waiting. Was he kicking me out again? This wasn’t how I thought the evening would go. My triumph at how things went no longer felt so triumphant. Maybe he was embarrassed that he came so quickly? That wasn’t my fault. I barely knew what I was doing.
“What? Why? I thought we were going to—” I said, stumbling to keep up. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I’d been looking forward to sleeping with him. Everything about him screamed it would be the ride of my life.
“Not here,” he growled, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me out of the room. Moments later, we burst out into the parking garage and he maneuvered us over to his car, quickly opening the door, and tucking me inside before going around to the other side. His hands gripped the steering wheel as we pulled out into night traffic. Oncoming headlights flashed over his face, his jaw ticking as we drove to wherever he was taking me. It was another test. I prayed he wasn’t going to try to fuck me in a public park or something like that. Or maybe… I squeezed my thighs together as I ran that scenario through my mind. The breeze on my bare skin as he ran his hands over me, anyone able to walk by.
He caught my eye and held my gaze, splitting his attention between me and the road.
“What naughty thing are you thinking about, sweetheart? Wondering where I’m going to take you to fuck you?” My pussy throbbed and I could feel my wetness soaking through my panties. There would definitely be a wet spot left on his seat when I got up. My face heated as I thought about how to hide it.
“And now you’re turning all red. Just what is going on in that filthy little mind of yours?”
12
KILLIAN
I shouldn’t have watched her strip. The cameras in the private rooms were only turned on remotely through an app controlled by the person who owned that room. I sat in my car in the alley and told myself I was just watching to see if she’d go through with it, but then it turned into something more.
Watching her fret and flitter back and forth trying to please me made me rock hard before I even made it to the room. As I climbed the stairs, my cock pressed uncomfortably against the zipper of my pants. And when I walked in and saw her there with her glasses perched on her nose, hands clasped in front of her, ready for me. Ready to please me, I nearly lost it again. I worked hard to keep myself under control.
The whole way to my apartment I kept trying to figure out what the hell I was doing. Why did I take her out of the club? It was the perfect place to fuck her and forget her, and tell her I wasn’t going to play her little game, but I didn’t want to do it there. I couldn’t do it there, especially after she made me come in under a minute with that delectably dirty mouth of hers. I didn’t know if I was more impressed or embarrassed at what she’d done.
And she didn’t even seem to know how she’d done it. I could tell she wasn’t the most experienced, but something about the way she was looking up at me and the enthusiasm of her giving me head set me off like never before. She sucked my dick like she wanted to, like she couldn’t wait to get in another lick, not like someone who only did it because I wanted it. I usually didn’t care what a woman wanted in bed, but I knew I needed to take my time with her. I wanted to take my time with her. I wanted to ignite whatever little fire she had going inside her, and discover all the dirty thoughts running through her mind.
Every time I looked over at her, it was like she was planning something new. Something else she’d like to try and somehow, she’d decided I was the man to be her teacher. I was okay with that. More than okay with it. I just had to make sure that she didn’t get in the way of the plans I had. I wasn’t going to let her derail me. I wasn’t going to fall into the trap she was trying to lay and knowing it was set was the first step in not falling prey to it.
When we pulled into the parking garage of my apartment, she glanced over at me, the questions remaining in her eyes. I opened the door for her. I guided her with my hand on the small of her back, sliding it under her coat and rubbing circles on her skin, as we got into the elevator. Her heated stare made me hard. It seemed to be a chronic condition whenever she was around. When the elevator doors opened and we got off on my floor, she almost looked disappointed. It took everything in me not to push her back in and give her everything she wanted, and more.
“What’s the matter? Were you hoping for something a bit more adventurous?” I said, opening the door to my apartment. She stepped inside, peeking around cautiously. As I closed the door, she jumped. Apparently, her skittishness wasn’t completely gone and I smiled. Tonight, she was all mine and we were going to play. She turned around as I stalked toward her. “Don’t worry, nothing in here bites, except me.”
RACHEL
The drive to the apartment was torture. I couldn’t stop my thoughts about what he had in store for me. I was almost disappointed when he hadn’t pushed the stop button on the elevator and taken me there. It seemed that my mind was primed and ready to go for whatever he wanted to dish out. But the minute the door shut behind me, I jumped and the old feelings of nervousness were back in full force.
I chewed on my lip and tucked my hair behind my ear. The apartment was exactly what I would have expected for Killian. Impersonal, impeccable, and masculine. There were deep, rich colors in everything from the paint on the walls to the pillows on the couch. Navy, moss, and cream ran throughout the room. I figured someone else designed it all. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would head to a furniture store to pick out the perfect moss bowl for his entry way table.
Everything in the room worked to frame the expansive windows that stretched the length of the space. Where the windows in my apartment overlooked the bodega across the street and the other apartments across the street, his view was breathtaking. The city lights twinkled and danced like lights on a Christmas tree.
He dropped his keys into the moss bowl and stalked toward me. I took a step back, retreating with each of his advances until my back hit against the heavy wooden bookcase against the wall. My eyes darted back and forth as he got closer until he was all I could see. His face, his chest. And then he was pressed against me, his lips turned up at one side.
&nbs
p; “What happened to the bold little vixen who couldn’t wait to blow me back at Ace’s?” he asked, running his finger along my cheek. Tingling sensations radiated throughout my body from his touch and I drew in a choppy breath. Nervous about what he had in store for me, now that my boldness ebbed away. “Maybe I’ll have to help you find her.”
He slid his hand under my skirt and palmed my ass, squeezing it, before sliding his hand down my thigh and hooking it along the back of his leg. I hitched it higher and tightened it, bringing him harder against me. I hadn’t bothered putting my panties back on. My naked pussy rubbed against his crotch. The bulge of his cock rubbed against me, making me tighten my leg even more and lift the other off the ground. I was suspended between the bookcase and his body. I knew he had me. He’d caught me. He brought his other hand up to my ass and massaged both my cheeks, grinding himself against me.
“There she is,” he chuckled as I swiveled my hips to get more contact, more pressure, more of him. He nipped my neck, before lathing it with his tongue, and pushed me harder against the bookcase. It shook and some of the things on the shelves fell over. My breathing sped up and he kept grinding. Each thrust made my legs tremble.
I moaned, burying my head in his neck. He wasn’t even inside me yet and I was losing it. I was going to come and as abruptly as it started, it stopped. He pulled back, taking me with him, and carried me through the apartment.
I locked my legs around his back as we flew through the apartment, passing closed door after closed door before we came to the bedroom. His bedroom. He threw me down on the bed. I bounced and shucked myself out of my skirt and reached down between my legs and help relieve some of the pressure that built up. The edge he kept me on felt so good, but I needed to come. And maybe I knew that this would be like waving a red flag in front of a bull, if he saw me trying to take care of things myself. A challenge to him.
He ripped his clothes off in record speed, before standing between my legs and giving my hand a smack. “Did I say you could touch yourself? That’s for me,” he growled. I snatched my hand back.
The bed dipped as he knelt between my legs, his hands running up and down them, tickling me as he massaged and kneaded them. His thick cock rubbed against my naked pussy, my juices coating him. That contact brought a moment of clarity to my mind.
“Condom. Do you have any?” I said, in between a moan as he tapped his cock against my clit. How could I have forgotten?
He reached up overhead, opened the bedside drawer, and pulled out a strip of condoms, laying them on the bed beside me.
“Think you can make it through that many?” I said, ready to see how far he could go. How high he could take me.
“I don’t know if you’re ready for everything I’m about to do to you, sweetheart,” he said, unwrapping one and sliding it on. My response died in my throat as he pushed himself into me in one long thrust.
“So good,” he said, as his stomach rested against my clit. I clawed at the sheets with how full I felt, so impossibly full that I cried out and started panting. His thrusts were long and hard, each one drawing a cry from me that turned into moans. As my moans got louder his thrusts got harder and faster until he was hammering into me so hard I had to hold onto him.
My nails dug into his back and he cried out. My pussy throbbed and tightened as I screamed his name, locking my legs around his waist. He kept going, drawing my orgasm out long and longer until he finally came. Expanding even thicker inside of me, triggering another mini-orgasm.
He dropped down on top of me, bracing his arms on either side of my head, and our eyes locked. I stared into his eyes, and brought my hand to his jaw, rubbing against the stubble there. He seemed frozen, almost in a trance, and I slid my hand to the back of his head, drawing him closer to me. Closer to my lips. He let me pull him down until our lips met. Soft and hard, easy and demanding. He took over the kiss, his hand on the side of my head, back in my hair.
Each drag of his lips against mine, every breath shared between us as he delved deeper into my mouth made me forget more of myself. Our tongues danced together like our bodies had, only a few minutes ago, but this was different. This was hungry in a way the sex hadn’t been. It was almost needy, like he hadn’t been kissed in a long time. Like he wanted this just as much as I did. Like it wasn’t a game we were playing. And then it was over.
He broke the connection and hopped from the bed, disposing of the condom and staring back at me like I had two heads.
“You can ask your questions now,” he said, standing in front of me in all his naked glory, but that wall was back now. Like a window slammed shut in my face. Whatever I’d seen before had been pushed aside. Game back on.
13
KILLIAN
I don’t kiss. I wouldn’t say never, but it wasn’t something I did after sex. In the heat of the moment, I have no problems with it, but I’m not an after-sex kisser or cuddler. As she pulled me closer to her lips, after I came so hard I felt like I’d been turned inside out, I couldn’t help myself. Her lips looked so pink and soft and full, I needed to sample them. When our lips met, nothing else existed. The world centered on her mouth. On her taste. On the way we fit together perfectly. And I wanted more. I wanted her so badly it shook me out of my trance.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She was using me. Needed something from me. That was the only reason she was here. Maybe I’d underestimated her. I thought she was a naive woman who didn’t know what she was doing, but maybe that was what she counted on. Catching me off guard. Letting me fall into the trap she laid for me.
My rules saved me. The reason for them was to let her know I was in control. I needed to remind her and myself what this was all about.
“You can ask your questions now,” I said, standing in front of her. Her eyes got as wide as saucers and she tugged at the sheet, freeing it and wrapping it around herself. Maybe she wouldn’t ask. Maybe she didn’t want to play that game. Wasn’t using me. She cleared her throat and I willed her not to ask one.
“Why?” she said, her voice still husky. I closed my eyes. There it was. The sadness poured over me, threatening to drown me. It wasn’t real, I reminded myself. Her question scraped at the edges of the veneer we’d put on what we were doing. I welcomed the distance that followed. It kept me safe from getting too invested.
“Why?” I echoed, leveling my eyes at her. She shrank back, bringing her knees up to her chest. “Why is Rhys Thayer in my crosshairs?” She nodded. “Because your boss is a fraud. He’s a complete and total fraud, and everything about him, from his smile to his charities, are a lie. A lie built on the legacy of destruction his parents left to him. Everyone thinks Rhys Thayer is a great guy. What did Time magazine call him? ‘The man we don’t deserve’,” I scoffed. “Your boss has more dirty secrets than the mob and I intend to find out every single one.”
I wasn’t going to tell her everything. I wasn’t going to tell her about Beth. If I told her what I knew, she’d run right back to him and expose everything I was looking for, and that would give him time to cover it up. The things I gave her, those were misdeeds long past that he couldn’t cover up, no matter how hard he tried. I had the letters. The contracts that showed how his parents destroyed my father’s company, imploded it from within to get what they wanted.
Because of them, my dad was in jail, my mother was dead, and Beth was dead. If I had to live with my guilt over what happened, he didn’t get to escape either.
RACHEL
It was like a bucket of cold water thrown in my face when Killian said those words You can ask your questions now. For a little while I’d pretended all this was happening because of his desire for me or our attraction to one another. Sure, that was part of it, but it was more about his need to control things. His ability to manipulate the situation to suit his needs. I took a deep breath and asked the question I’d wanted answered from the beginning.
“His parents used people to do their dirty work. They were never held accountable for th
eir crimes. The world never got to see who they truly were and Rhys is following right along in their footsteps. Some of us suffer for our sins. He should have to as well,” he said, his eyes so cold it sent a shiver down my spine.
As Killian gave me a glimpse into what happened between his father and Rhys’s parents, I couldn’t help but try to figure out why this translated to a vendetta against Rhys.
I didn’t understand. I’d never even seen Rhys yell at anyone. What kinds of secrets could he be hiding? Part of me was afraid to find out. Or was it all some obsession in Killian’s mind? The sins of the father shouldn’t pass to his son. Rhys hadn’t done any of this. He may have benefited from it, but that didn’t seem like a reason to implode his life.
There had to be more and I didn’t even know where to start. Killian left the room to get a drink, not even asking me if I wanted one. Shame crawled in my stomach. You’ve got to put your big girl pants on, if you want to do this. Just suck it up. I searched for my clothes on the floor, sliding my skirt up my legs. I grabbed my phone and checked the new emails. He came back into the room with a crystal tumbler filled with amber liquid and a glass of white wine.
“Where are you going?” he asked, setting the wine glass down on the nightstand.
“I was going to go. I…I figured we were done,” I said, stammering.
Killian walked over to me holding my gaze. “You go when I say you go,” he said, pushing the skirt back down over my hips. “What’s Rule No. 1 and No. 4?”
I wracked my brain trying to remember them. I’d been pretty much solely focused on the not coming one, the others were just outside my grasp.