by Angel Payne
“What exactly is going on here?” she bit out. “Killian…dear?”
I glanced to Killian, hopeful he’d smooth Margaux out with one flawlessly worded sentence.
Regrettably, the Stone men were not ones for perfect words tonight. Or for that matter, actions.
Without hesitation, Killian grabbed my hand. He swung back to my future stepsister in blatant declaration—and challenge. Though I tried to pry my hand free, he twisted his hold tighter. Margaux’s eyes went wide with silent shock before narrowing in abject fury.
Ohhhh, hell.
Trey stumbled forward, rubbing at his swelling cheek and eye socket. “Killy! That’s totally gonna leave a mark, ass brain!”
Thank God for Trey once again. Killian dropped my hand to spin on his brother, his don’t-fuck-with-me glare now locked in place. “Shut the hell up, before you draw a crowd again. And go clean up, too. You look and smell like a drowned hobo.”
“Psssshhh. So I can’t have a little fun anymore?”
“Your fun is over, ass brain. Alfred will take you back to Keystone in the town car. You’ll leave from the basement, where all the garbage departs the hotel.”
Trey clambered to his feet like a toddler learning to walk, using anything he could for purchase since his banquet server friends had deserted the scene. Margaux huffed, shaking her head with a scowl that imparted disgust, disappointment, and determination all at once, before stomping off in the direction of the bar.
For one moment, I considered going after her, but what good would it have accomplished? No matter what I did now, it was clear she’d start prying into Killian’s motivation for stealing a secret cuddle in the middle of the Lincoln Zoo’s gala—as well as his aggressive stances with her afterward. Damn it. The man had poked the beast right between the eyes without even knowing it.
The best I could do now was pray that Margaux had already consumed half a vineyard of Cabernet already, and wouldn’t remember this in the morning. Second on that supplication list was a fast resolution for Trey’s exit, followed closely by the chance to get out of here and climb into bed, preferably alone. My libido—and my heart—had already gotten me in enough potential trouble for the night.
Chapter Fifteen
Killian
I’d had worse weeks at the office. It was simply impossible to remember any of them right now. Of course, nailing down a sane brain cell was also unthinkable at the moment. When Viola Exeter wanted to screech about something, she scratched that itch until the damn thing bled, along with the ears of everyone else in the room.
Regrettably, “everyone else” was currently comprised of me.
“These expenses only cover the human damage from the stunt,” the woman shrieked, brandishing the binder that held every detail pertaining to the zoo gala, “though at least your brother chose a legal-aged floozy to cavort with this time. We’d be ruined if Penny Treacle were a day under eighteen.”
“Viola.” It took every ounce of self-control to keep from growling it. “I assured you that Stone Global would provide restitution for all damages caused by Trey’s…adventure. Submit the bills to Britta, and she’ll take care of them for you.” My mind snagged on a piece of what she’d said. “What do you mean, only the ‘human’ damage?”
Viola winced. “Adara’s handler insists that she’s been traumatized by the event and needs to have professional help as soon as possible. The behavioral specialist they want to bring in is from Greece, and—”
“Wait.” I flashed a confused frown. “Adara. You mean the tiger?”
“Why, yes. The poor thing hasn’t been the same for three days. She hasn’t been eating right, and her bowel movements have been completely—”
“So she needs therapy? From Greece?” One glance at Viola told me the argument wasn’t to be won. “Make it happen,” I muttered, waving a hand. “Whatever she needs.” Just because I was miserable didn’t mean all the caged animals in the city had to be.
Viola rose and smoothed her linen skirt. On a day like today, everybody had worn linen. And written sonnets about spring. And adopted lambs and puppies. And of course, journeyed to the Stone Global penthouse to make sure that the bill for the tiger’s shrink was approved by the ogre fooling everyone in his nobleman’s disguise.
Thoughts like that had attacked me more and more lately. The ticking clock on my time with Claire only made it worse. All good things must come to an end. And my reckoning was so fucking overdue.
“Oh, Killian!” Viola’s embrace was my penalty for letting my mind wander. “You’re an angel. Thank you so much, dear. I told them all that you’d understand.”
I laughed. “We’re all screwed up in one way or another, Vi. Why should Adara be denied the chance to reconcile her id and ego?”
She let out a genuine laugh and hugged me again. Though the woman was thin to the point of scary, she had the grip of an arm wrestling champion, thanks to the energy she lavished on her brood of grandchildren. “You are an amazing man,” she gushed before pulling away to let an appraising scowl take over her face. “At the risk of sounding scandalous, are you certain you’re a card-carrying Stone boy?”
Ice clutched my gut. Her teasing tone didn’t reveal that she was using the comment as a fishing expedition. But was my instinct about reckoning that accurate? “As long as I can remember,” I jibed back. “Why do you ask?”
Her lips pinched. “Isn’t it obvious? No offense intended against those older siblings of yours, but the good Lord saved the best genes for last, didn’t he?”
Relief boosted my answering chuckle.
I escorted Viola back to the elevators, risking that another intrepid reporter would be waiting somewhere along the way, despite the fact that happy hour had started twenty minutes ago. Last week, one of the leeches had paid off a pizza delivery boy to let him make the run up here in his place. Yesterday, one of them had climbed all sixty-seven floors via the stairs, having learned the door code to enter from the stairwell. The asshole dropped and crawled his way through the halls after that, caught only after Brett from the mail room tripped over him in a spectacular crash.
The gamble was still worth it.
It always was when I had the chance of finding Claire nearby.
Luck smiled large at last. I would’ve thanked the beautiful lady, but she fucking owed me one by now. I grabbed the chance without taking time for formalities, striding directly to the open doorway of the conference room.
Andrea and her team were packing up, preparing to move on to Keystone, our family estate, for their evening “fun”— training Trey not to fuck up next week’s segment with Oprah. We’d all thought the timing on the interview couldn’t be better, but now it couldn’t be worse. The stunt at the gala had brought Gerard Wooten back out of the woodwork with a vengeance, along with some strange woman from Paris who claimed Trey had sixty kinds of kinky sex with her, involving him in her lingerie and resulting in the birth of his love child last year. Nobody was amused, especially not the hardworking people in this room. They all appeared stressed, strung-out, and tired—
Except the redhead my gaze was glued to now.
She was by far the most beautiful thing in this building. This city. My world.
“Mr. Stone.”
Andrea’s clipped greeting belied her exhaustion. Nevertheless, the woman crossed toward me with confidence on her platform pumps, which made strong thuds on the carpet as the rest of the team froze in their duties.
“Don’t mind me,” I said, addressing all of them. “I’m just checking on the troops. How goes the battle?”
Andrea smiled, but its brightness was as forced as her feet were into those shoes. “One day at a time,” she assured me. “The days are simply a little longer right now.”
“I understand.” I rotated my stare around the room, able to keep my mien neutral—until I arrived at Claire. Once my gaze met the golden brilliance of her face, I was lost. Her pastel pink sweater set, complete with the schoolmarm bun, didn’t assu
age the instant fantasy I developed.
“We’re on our way to get some dinner before heading to Keystone.” Margaux stepped forward as she supplied the information. “We’ve got a reservation at six, at Cicchetti. I’m sure they’ll make room for one more if it’s you.”
I returned her all-innocent smile with a narrowed scrutiny. Was this the same woman who’d all but Tasered her glare into Claire and me three nights ago? Unlike her mother, who was simply an ambition-straight-up-with-a-chaser-of-bitch woman, figuring out Margaux Asher was like trying to balance an ice cube on one’s nose. Her sexual designs on me had been plain from the day we met, but her tactic—a mix of coy, desperate, and undercutting—was unnerving at best and creepy at all other times.
This moment fell into the “all other times” column.
“Tempting,” I answered with a cool smile, “but work presses. I’ve been delayed by an hour due to Ms. Exeter’s visit, and I’ve yet to review the media demographics from last night.” I flashed my gaze to Andrea. “I’ll be at the manor on time to keep Trey in line for you, but I’ll need to borrow Miss Montgomery to get me up to speed faster. I’ll be happy to drive her to the estate when we’re finished.”
“Of course,” Andrea replied, while enduring her daughter’s fuming glance. I almost didn’t give a shit about the whole thing, but if I valued Claire, I had to care about Margaux’s gloating acrimony toward her, as well as the subtle-as-a-heart attack approach to me. I wondered if all this had anything to do with the secrets Claire kept alluding to. Was Margaux involved in the mysteries Claire still hadn’t shared with me—the details of her own “enigma”? A link like that would logically explain why Claire continued to act like getting within an inch of me was akin to contracting an Ebola virus.
And why she grabbed at one of her forearms with the intensity of a kid who’d just been assigned detention. But that I could fix—just as soon as everyone got out of here.
She didn’t move during the minute it took for them all to board the elevator and depart. Neither did I.
When silence descended, she still didn’t shift.
I did.
“Mr. Stone.” A tiny protest bled into her voice as she watched me close and lock the door, then turn back toward her. “Th-that’s not necessary. The demo review won’t take long and then we can—”
I sliced her short by yanking her into my arms and filling my mouth with hers. Inside seconds, I meshed our tongues, too. Goddamn. She felt perfect and tasted even better. Curves and softness against me. Coffee and cookies on her breath. And desire…everywhere. Fuck, yes. I soaked up the heated musk of it on her tongue. I groaned from the heady force of it in her ravenous hands, pulling at my coat and tangling in my hair.
A sound edged in anguish burst off her lips when I ended the kiss and plunged my mouth to her neck. “We—we can’t. If anyone forgot something and comes back to get it, or—”
“Ssshhh.” I walked her to the edge of the table and laid her down over it. Hell. In this position, she was even more my wanton school mistress. My cock already wanted out of my pants. Badly.
“Killian—”
“It’s all your fault,” I interrupted, pulling her earlobe between my teeth and making her whole frame shiver. “After a day like this one, you think you can wear this outfit and not expect me to dream of fucking you like my naughty little school teacher?”
She giggled, spreading warmth along my neck. “Exactly what subject did we misbehave in?”
“All of them.” I kissed her hard again, using her distraction to shove her skirt up over her waist. I scooped a finger in beneath her panties, joining my satisfied growl to her high, sweet gasp when I found her pussy soaked, its intimate lips engorged with arousal. “All of them, every day, through every minute. Thinking of this keeps me sane, baby. Thinking of you keeps me going.”
Her face softened as she gazed up at me, bringing her hand along the plane of my jaw. “I’m glad I had to climb up here for my charging cord.”
“The second I saw you that night, I dreamed of doing this with you.” I twisted my hand in order to join a second finger to my first. Together, I slid both of them deep inside her. Instantly, her channel pulled me in, squeezing me hard. “I’ve been hot for teacher since day one.”
She ran her tongue in a provocative path between her lips. “And she’s been crazy about you.” She joined her moan with mine as we kissed again. When we parted, her lips were curled more seductively. “I think I need some detention, Killian. Some hard disciplinary time.”
I chuckled, leaning down again. I didn’t just kiss her this time. The two of us sucked major face, biting and licking and pawing at each other like teenagers with hormones to spare. No, worse. I had never let myself get this crazy at sixteen. Claire Montgomery had given me permission to make up for lost time, and I adored her for every crazy, frenzied, lusting moment of it, especially as I succeeded in unclasping her bra and pushing it away enough to feel her erect nipples through that deceptively innocent sweater.
“Good Christ. You’re so damn hot, and I’m so damn hard.” I gritted it against her lips, dry humping her with heavy demand. “Claire, if I don’t—fuck!”
The loud groan fell out of me as her fingers somehow found their way to my fly, wrenching open the fabric then yanking down my briefs. My cock and balls spilled into her needy grasp, swelling instantly against her hold. I repeated the oath as she guided me to her core, not flinching an inch when I reached down and broke her panties away with the resolve of Conan on a rampage.
Without another word, I plunged into her. With a beautiful scream, she welcomed me. Bracing my thighs against the table’s edge, I sheathed my cock over and over again in the hot grip of her beautiful sex, locking her stare to mine by framing her head in my hands. The sighs on her lips became songs in my heart. The need on her face was a prayer in my soul. At the same time, my mind couldn’t piece together what the hell was happening. Though my body took hers with primal violence, my senses couldn’t cherish her with enough reverence. I never wanted this moment to end, while every logical thought I still had rendered me a ball of bellowing terror.
It wasn’t too long before her lips parted on a needy croak. “Oh, God. Teacher needs to come.”
I smiled and tenderly kissed her. “Then let’s make sure I score an A plus.”
She swallowed as I began rolling my hips, hitting her clit with the pressure she liked. At the same time, I drove my shaft in at a new angle, estimating that if I was lucky, that special spot in her core would be stimulated as well.
“Killian!” she cried. “Ohhhh, Killian.”
I bit at her chin, her jaw, her lips. “You’re such a good student, too, Miss Montgomery. You know what that does to me…hearing you call for me like that.”
“Yes,” she rasped. “Ohhhh, yes.”
“Say it again.”
“Killian.” She sighed.
“Now beg me with it.”
“Please, Killian.” She shuddered.
“Now tell me you’re coming with it.”
“I am. Oh, hell. I’m coming, Killian. I’m coming for you!”
She shattered.
In the next moment, I splintered apart with her. My ass squeezed, my sack constricted, and my cock filled with a thousand shards of perfect, blinding release. I pumped her body full of my essence, wishing we could do it again before all my seed was gone…already hating myself for having to leave her sweet body. Loathing the pretense of a life that awaited my return.
After waiting for both our pulses to approach normal again, I dragged myself out of her, reaching for a nearby box of tissues to help us both clean up. Though Claire let out an adorable whine with my departure, she righted herself faster than I could get myself back together, scooting off the table with brisk efficiency.
Her demeanor was unnerving.
I scowled. It felt fucking criminal to shove aside our intimacy that fast. “Come here.” I pulled her back into my arms, cradling her head with a hand. �
�I don’t want to let you go yet.”
She softened against me. But only for a moment. “Regrettably, letting go is our story.”
I drew in a careful breath. “Maybe it doesn’t have to be.”
Claire slanted a wry smirk. “Yes, Killian. It has to be.”
The limb of my instinct stretched larger and longer in front of me. I embraced the temptation and crawled out onto it. “What the hell are you so afraid of, baby?”
“And what the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s Margaux, isn’t it?” Though her averted gaze confirmed the words, making my follow-up a moot point, I pressed, “What’s she holding over you, Claire? Tell me so I can help, dammit.”
She pushed away. “It doesn’t have a thing to do with Margaux, okay?” She folded her arms, her fingers forming claws around her elbows. “Not anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
I glowered. “Nothing?”
“This isn’t the time to be talking about this. I still have to brief you on the demographics, and everyone’s waiting for us—”
I made her stop by confiscating the computer cord from her hand. In another decisive move, I pulled up her chin with my free hand. “All right. Now’s not the time. But it will be time soon, fairy. I’ll make it happen if you don’t. Are we clear?”
She exhaled hard through her nose. “Fine. Yes. We’re clear. Can we go now?”
I called down to Walter with instructions to have my car brought to the private valet in the building’s basement. I hated subjecting Claire to my roundabout departure but until the next wayward starlet or reality star became the media’s newest distraction, this was my life.
I reluctantly released her hand as soon as we entered the elevator. Though the building’s security camera feeds had been safe so far, any minute could bring a breech, as we’d warned all the SGC employees of, even before “Treygate.” Thank fuck the conference room was one of the camera-free sanctums in the building.
As we left the lift, a familiar engine purr made me smile a little. Until this moment, I’d never known the paradise of a great orgasm followed by the anticipation of a luxury car drive. Thanks to the sated woman by my side and the high performance lady in the driveway, I hoped this wouldn’t be the first checkmark on my experience list for this one.