by B. B. Reid
I was weak and breathless as he unfolded my legs and gently flipped me on my stomach. “Angel?”
“Shh… it’s my turn.” I looked back to see him rising from the bed and sliding his sweatpants the rest of the way down his legs. “Have you ever had your ass taken?”
“You know I haven’t.”
“I just needed to hear you say I’m the first.” I was distracted by the curve of his muscular ass when he turned and opened the top drawer of the nightstand.
“You are?” I asked absently. My hips pressed into the bed.
“Yeah.” He pulled out a clear bottle and tossed it on the bed beside me. I read the label and bit down on my lip at the implication. Sensing my unease, he ran his hand down my spine. “We’ll go as slow as you like.” His hand then skimmed over my ass, curved over my thigh, and spread my legs.
“I—I trust you.”
“I know you do.” He covered my body with his and slid inside me.
My body tensed as he filled me since I still wasn’t used to his size. He shoved his fingers in my hair and turned my head before seizing my lips and sliding deeper. When he ended the kiss, I weakly fell to the bed.
“Relax.” After tilting my hips, and arching my back, he then reached out to grip the headboard. “I belong to you. You don’t need to be afraid of me.” I wasn’t able to suppress my cry when he pulled back and slid inside me again. “Quiet, Sprite. You’ll wake our son.”
My whimper spurred him until he thrust into me deeply, over and over. I was reduced to biting the sheets to bury my cries as his body overpowered mine.
I was tipping over the edge of the world when I felt his finger, gentle and wet from the lube, entering my ass. “You’re going to come, aren’t you?” His voice was husky and teasing. He never stopped moving inside me.
I cried out when words weren’t possible. He pressed another finger inside me and growled, “Come on my dick, Sprite. I need to feel it.”
“Oh, God!” I screamed as I came, momentarily forgetting my baby sleeping five feet away. The sensation of his fingers in my ass while he fucked me had me coming harder than ever.
I heard his grunt as he slid from my body. I was still breathing hard when I felt the head of his cock, slick from my release, pressing against my ass. “Stay relaxed, and I promise to make you come again.” He punctuated his words by gripping my hip and guiding his cock head inside me.
I couldn’t hide the fact that it hurt like hell the deeper he pressed. I clawed at the sheets while he whispered sweet nothings. I was near to begging him to stop when he finally bottomed out. He didn’t move as he praised what a good girl I was and how good I felt.
“You’re so tight, Sprite. I’m not going to last.”
“You fill me so full.”
He pulled back and then gently reentered me. “No one will ever fill you like I do.”
He slid in and out easily until I was panting and pressing against him for more. I could feel his control slipping when his fingers found my clit and mercilessly forced me to come again. He dragged my limp body down the mattress by my ankle and bent me over the foot of the bed.
“Grab onto the bed and don’t let go. If you let go, I’ll stop. If you want me to stop, let go. Understand?”
I nodded, and the moment my fingers touched the sheets, he entered me again without the gentleness from before. My cry mingled with his grunt as his chest pressed against my back, and his strong hand gripped my nape. Holding me in place, he used me for his pleasure. I strained to breathe as he pushed my nose and opened mouth deeper into the bedding, strained to get him deeper inside as he moved with practiced grace, strained to come as I moved my hips back all the while struggling for the air he denied me.
I could feel consciousness drifting out of reach. My fingers itched to let go of the bed and make him stop, but the need to make him lose control had me gripping the sheets tighter. Just as I had begun to fall under, he lifted my head, gifting me air, and came with a grunt, so savage it pushed me over again.
* * *
“I WANT TO do it,” I announced after our shower. I was still feeling weak and sore in all the right places as I watched from the bed as he dressed. Given the dark, casual clothing and granite set of his jaw, I knew where he was going and why. “I want to be the one to end him.”
“No.” He stepped into black jeans similar to the pair he wore last night. “I don’t want you anywhere near him.”
I climbed from the bed, taking the sheet with me. This was not a fight I relished having naked, but by the time I found my clothes, he’d be gone. “That’s not your decision. It’s mine, and I’ve made it.”
“You went through enough last night.”
“And I never want to feel that vulnerable again. It will never be over for me unless I end it myself. My son almost died because of him. If you don’t let me end him, then I want to be there when you do. I need to see him die for myself.”
He paused from pulling on a clean black hoodie and fixed me with his troubled gaze. I felt kicked in the stomach.
He looked ready to deny me what was mine, and I was more than ready to fight for it, but then he said, “Dress warm and meet me in the library in thirty minutes.”
“Thank you.” He didn’t respond as he pulled me into him and ripped away the sheet. I was fully naked against his clothed body, but I could still feel his heat.
“I’d give you my life if you asked for it.” He looked ready to kiss me, so for once, I beat him to the punch. As I played with his tongue, I considered pulling him back into bed with me. That was until he lifted me and carried me back to the bed. I was disappointed, however, when he backed away looking hungry as he bit his lip.
“Thirty minutes,” he warned, and then he was gone.
I quickly dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a blue and gray flannel. When I was ready to leave, I crossed the room to Caylen’s crib and stared down at him. I almost lost him last night, and I realized there would never be a moment when I didn’t fear it happening again.
I forced myself to leave him and knocked on Anna’s door moments later. She opened almost immediately as if she had been waiting for me.
“I’d ask if you’re okay, but…the wall.” Her greeting was glacial, but it didn’t keep heat from spreading through my body and ending at my cheeks. “All morning.”
“God,” I groaned. “Tell me you didn’t hear.”
“Oh, I heard.” She blushed, despite her feelings toward Angel. “He seems… thorough.”
You have no idea.
“I came to talk to you about last night.” I desperately needed to change the subject. She opened the door wider to allow me inside.
“I wanted to talk to you about that too. Lucas, Z, and Angel’s extremely hot cousin were particularly tight-lipped at breakfast, though they did notice your and Angel’s absence.”
Her jaw dropped. “The senator came last night to trade the book for me and Caylen.”
“Angel tried to give you up to that creep?”
“No, but he used us to set a trap and Caylen—” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. “He almost died, Anna. Aaron tried to kill him.”
“Oh, Mian.” Her embrace held my tears at bay though her calm reaction was surprising.
“I thought you’d be ready to storm out that door and call out Angel.”
“After yesterday, I kind of understand what’s at stake.” She squeezed me before letting go. “I still want to kick Angel in the ball sack though.”
We burst out laughing even though the look in Anna’s eyes promised she most certainly would if given a chance. “I’m glad you’re all okay. Even Angel. I thought I heard gunfire, but it sounded so far away I couldn’t be sure. When I tried to leave and warn Angel, I found my bedroom door locked. I couldn’t get out.” She lifted her hands to show me the bruises on her fist. “I yelled and pounded on the door, but no one came.” She scoffed and muttered, “Angel must pay the servants a fortune.”
“I don’t have
much time,” I said, switching lanes. “I came to see if you could keep an eye on Caylen for a few hours.”
“Of course, but where are you going?”
I shook my head, not wanting to get into it. I knew Anna would try to talk me out of it, and for now, I didn’t want to give her anything to worry about. “I’ll tell you later. I have to go. He should be waking up soon, and he’ll be hungry.” I didn’t stick around for her to argue and hurried down to the first floor.
When I made it to the library, however, I found it empty. I checked the bronze antique clock on the wall and saw I was on time, which meant Angel should have been here. Had he changed his mind and left without me?
Rather than to succumb to paranoia, I decided to wait him out. Angel was the head of a criminal empire and only just last night murdered several people including a senator’s son. Maybe he’d been pulled away to deal with something urgent.
My gaze caught something familiar resting at the furthest end of the table and my heart sped up. I couldn’t stop my feet from pulling me closer until I was lifting the leather bound book from the glossy hardwood.
Holding the book felt like holding Pandora’s Box and opening it would unleash all the evil in the world. I didn’t remember sinking into the chair. My fingers caressed the leather nervously.
Did I dare?
With a deep breath, I flipped to the first page. The harshly scripted ink was faded and hard to translate, so I flipped through two hundred years until a date caught my eye.
April 4th 2007.
The day my mother died.
The Parties:
Arturo Knight
Cecily Ross
Victor Castro
The Order:
On this day, April 4th 2007, Arturo Knight orders the death of Cecily Ross as a permanent end to the affair. Such order was executed by Victor Castro.
The Debt:
$20,000 paid to Victor Castro.
The Bandit:
Arturo
The Fifth Knight
I hadn’t realized I was crying until the first tear dropped onto the paper, smudging the ink.
Hurt. Betrayal. Confusion.
Each emotion fought for the right to shred my heart until there was nothing left to ruin.
My mom hadn’t died of cancer. It had all been a lie.
She’d been murdered by a man who thought his secrets were worth more than her life. A man she loved until he took her last breath. And then he callously recorded the end of her life as if she never meant anything to him or to my father… or me.
I turned the page to see if there was more and there was. So much murder, scandal, and lies, but none of it was about my mother. She was merely a blip in this family’s legacy.
The Parties:
Arturo Knight
Theodore Ross
The Order:
On this day, June 24th 2013, Theodore Ross orders the marriage of his daughter. Such order will be executed by the heir apparent, Angeles Knight. Father John Adams and County Clerk Michael Kelley will bear witness to this legal union.
The Debt:
Mian Ross
Angeles Knight
The Bandit:
Arturo
The Fifth Knight
June 24th…
It must have been the day Angel and I had been married without our knowledge. My desire to be Angel’s had come true, and my right to be a part of it had been stolen by my father. I flipped the page, no longer able to stand seeing my fate so coldly decided for me with the stroke of a pen. I flipped until I recognized another date.
The Parties:
Angeles Knight
Alon Knight
The Order:
On this day, November 1st 2013, Alon Knight orders Angeles Knight to assume his rightful place as The Knight. As his duty, he will inherit Alexander’s legacy, and become the sixth Bandit. Only by death or succession of a male heir will this Knight’s duty end.
The Debt:
His first-born son.
The Bandit:
Alon
The Fourth Knight
His reign began when my life ended.
The day after Arturo was murdered, I was feeling my world turn upside down while Angel had inherited his precious legacy. The Knights tore apart my family so they could continue to feather their nest.
It was time they learned how high the price for losing everything could get. The fireplace beckoned as I pushed away from the table and rose from my seat.
Angel may never forgive me, his family may hunt me, but they started this war.
And now I was ending it.
Turning on the gas, I watched the fire flicker to life and then held the book over the fire. The flames licked at the leather and burned my fingers. I just needed to let go.
The library doors burst open just as I began to let the book slip. Clutching the book at the last minute, I hid it behind my back and faced the intruder.
It was Lucas and Z, and they looked ready to kill.
“I was just—”
“No time, princess.” Z slammed the library doors with more force than I’d ever seen from him. Lucas lifted the nearest chair and flung it at the wall. It splintered into pieces before crumbling to the floor.
“What’s going on?”
“They took him.”
“Caylen?” I didn’t wait for them to answer. I was already racing for the door, afraid for my baby, and promising retribution to anyone who harmed him. I never should have left him.
Z blocked the door and wrapped his arms around me to keep me from leaving. “It’s not Caylen, princess.”
Then why did he still look ready to vomit?
“Then who?” As soon as I demanded the answer, however, I knew. “Someone took Angel?”
“Reginald returned here almost an hour ago with the other presumptive heirs and called him out.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He said he suspected Angel no longer had the book.”
“But he does.” I quickly pulled the book from behind my back. “It’s right here.”
“It wasn’t enough to show them. Reginald insisted on inspecting it too.”
“The torn pages,” I gasped. “They found them.”
“If you ask me, Reginald knew exactly what to look for.”
“Do you think Augustine—” He was the only one with something to gain from Angel’s death who would know about the missing pages.
“He’s hiding something,” Z agreed, “but he’s made it clear he doesn’t want Alexander’s legacy.”
“And you believe him?”
“He doesn’t exactly stay around long enough for anyone to question him.”
“Where is he now?”
“He went with them, but he didn’t look too happy about it. He could be our only ally, but right now, I don’t trust anyone outside this room.”
“Are they really going to kill him?”
“Yes. Reginald has been looking for an excuse for years. This isn’t the first time he’s challenged him, but this is the first time he’s won.”
“Won? Are you saying you’ll just sit here and let them butcher him?”
“He only has two options, princess.”
“Which are?”
“After they execute him, Reginald will turn his wrath on you, and there will be no one to challenge him. We either get you and Caylen to safety now or risk dying as we try to save him.”
“And he made his choice very clear, princess.”
When I told Angel he’d have to choose, I didn’t mean this. “Well, guess what? I’m tired of living my life based on his choices. Where is he?”
“Do you think this is easy for us to stand by and let him die?” Z roared. “It’s fucking tearing us apart.” He wrecked me when his eyes glistened with unshed tears. “We have our orders, Mian.”
Mian.
Not princess.
“He’s not your leader right now,” I pleaded brokenly as I balled his shirt in my fists. �
��He’s your friend, your brother, and he needs you right now.” I couldn’t just accept that he was going to die. Not after everything I gave him this morning.
“The crypt,” Lucas cursed as he pulled me out of Z’s arms. “They took him to the crypt.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Z argued. “We’ll never get in without the key,”
I didn’t stop to think about a plan or even if I should rescue Angel with all I had just learned.
I just knew I could never stop my heart from wanting to try.
“It just so happens I know a way in.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
ANGEL
WE WERE UNDERGROUND the mausoleum where each Bandit before me, including my father and grandfather, were buried. The main chamber was circular with an altar in the center. The floor was made of black and white tiled marble. Surrounding the altar were six crypts, one of them belonging to me.
“I’m almost disappointed you didn’t see this coming,” Andrew whispered as he tied me to the pillar. The rope bit into my skin, cutting off the blood flow. “Our family thinks you’re a legend yet it was so easy to orchestrate your downfall.” He patted my arm once he had finished tying me up. “We’ve orchestrated a lot of downfalls,” he confessed. “It all started with your mother. Your poor, broken mother. Beatrice gave Victor the code to the safe and the tip about the silent alarm. The paranoia Victor implanted in her head made her think she was saving you from yourself.” I kept my gaze forward and didn’t react. My chances of getting out of this alive were slim, but if I did, I needed to know who deserved my wrath. “Then there was Victor who was so eager to prove his potential. My father promised him power if he helped us set you up by stealing the book. When he succeeded, we couldn’t leave loose ends, so we asked him to take your sweet little wife and then you killed him for us. Just as we wanted.”