His To Break

by Dani Wyatt

  “Yes,” she murmurs, her tongue slipping out to taste what I’ve left on her lips, and I see a visible shudder shake her shoulders.

  “Good girl.”

  With that, I pinch her other nipple, then bring my hand up to rest on the crown of her head.

  “Open those sweet lips and take care of this. It’s yours to care for from now on, do you understand that? This hard-on is your responsibility.”

  Her lips open without a verbal answer, instead responding by drawing tiny circles on the head of my cock with her tongue. Her hands come up to replace mine on the lower shaft, and the eagerness in her eyes sends my heart into a frenzy.

  She’s wrapping her mouth around my cock, but it’s her grip on my heart that tightens.

  “Jesus,” I groan as she draws the head into her hot mouth. Working her tongue along the edge of the ridge, she drives me to the brink in a heartbeat.

  My hips come alive, all control lost as she trades one hand from the base to the back of my leg, urging me forward.

  I take her cue and take control. Both hands grasp at the sides of her head as I work myself in and out of her mouth, watching her sit there helpless. Spit runs down her chin, and tears gather in her eyes as I cut off her breath and ruthlessly slam myself into her throat.

  “So good.” I throw my head back, and when I look back down...fuck, if she hasn’t dropped a hand between her legs, her arm moving slightly back and forth as she pleasures herself.

  That’s it. I’m done. My balls ache and twitch as I roar and hold her face, still emptying myself down her throat as I watch her eyes roll back.

  Her body shudders, and the vibrations of her orgasmic moans around my cock only prolong the intensity of my orgasm until I’m afraid I may lose my fucking balance, stars and comets exploding inside my brain and through every nerve in my broken body.

  We both come on the breeze blowing through my cabin. The first and only woman who will ever grace this part of my home will be Everly.

  When we come down, I draw my cock out. Looking down, I see it slick and shiny with spit and then watch as her swollen lips move into a shy grin.

  “That was yummy,” she whispers, and my cock jerks again.

  “There’s going to be a lot more where that came from, and it all belongs to you.”

  I kneel down, scooping my hands under her arms, and gently lift her to her feet, guiding us to my bed.

  I throw the covers down and center her on the bed, admiring her for a long moment before joining her.

  My hand traces down the flat of her stomach, feeling the softness and slight quivering of her skin.

  I curl her in tight to me. Needing this closeness now. Wanting her to know I will take care of her always. The hard and the soft. All of it for her.

  “I love you.” The words come out easily now. “I don’t know how, or why, but I think I knew that very first moment when I saw you in Dockers Bar.” My teeth find the softest part of her neck and slowly close, feeling her skin with the tip of my tongue as she draws a deep breath, waiting.

  Her body arches, and her ass presses into my cock on a sigh.

  “I don’t understand it either,” she says, bringing one hand back and over her head to mine. “But I love you, too.”

  “I’ll never let you get hurt. I’ll live my life to be sure you are protected from now on. I’ll never lose you. Never.”

  Everly tries and fails to stifle a giggle as I brush a finger along her bare slit beneath the short skirt. It comes away damp, and I wish I could spend more time with her, but I have things to do myself, and they won’t wait.

  I took her three more times during the night. Twice hard, with orders and rope. The third time, with tears on her cheeks, I made love to her. Long and slow, until we both fell headlong into each other’s eyes and came on a breath that was long and low, orgasming together as one.

  After that, with so little sleep, I took her into the shower and enjoyed cleaning her. Soaping her body and her hair. Showing her the protective, obsessive part of me and whispering into her ear words that told her in no uncertain terms whom she belonged to from now on.

  “Go away,” she says playfully. “I need to call my head of department and tell him what I’ve found. This is huge.”

  “So is this,” I say, guiding her hand to the front of my pants, letting her feel the hard-on growing there yet again. If I had more time, I’d stay and fuck her here in the bed-and-breakfast as well. “But I have to go, too.”

  “Go,” she says, waving her hand. “Shoo, get out of here. I’ll come see you later and let you know what’s going on.”

  I steal a final kiss from her before she can close the door, leaving me outside, still grinning as I bring out my phone and check for missed calls.

  As I walk toward the harbor, I dial Bill Hendy’s number.

  “James, glad I’m finally able to speak to you.”

  “Did you sort out all of the details with the purchase?”

  “Signed, sealed, and delivered. Buy yourself a bottle of bubbly. Or soda water, I guess. Anyway, the answer is yes.” He pauses, and I sense the hesitation.

  “What is it, Bill?”

  “It’s about that other thing you asked me to look into. Trenton Investments.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “Some seriously shady shit, James. I’m surprised they have any investors left. My advice, steer well clear.”

  “Bad enough that the cops would be interested?”

  “Maybe. Probably not. Just discrepancies in their profits from year to year. My guess is their stock should be trading at a significantly lower price than it is. Someone’s protecting them, though.” He takes a breath. “And there’s something else.”

  “Go on.” I’m not liking the sound of Trenton Investments at all. If Hendy’s nervous, then that means there’s reason to believe they’re willing to get nasty if they need to. I can handle myself, but Everly might not know what she’s dealing with.

  “There’s a dickhead lawyer from Texas, a real scumbag. The feds have him connected to the mob some years ago, but it seems he’s gone freelance since his former employers got hauled in on a RICO charge that apparently missed him altogether.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Yeah, real slippery character. Goes by the name of Eugene Carter. A month ago, his services were retained by Trenton Investments for ‘Preparatory case work pertaining to the acquisition and development of land in and surrounding Port Hope, including environmental protection and community investment schemes.’ And get this, he called me.”

  “What the fuck?”

  “Whoever is protecting Trenton Investments must have friends in high places because there’s no other way they could have found out I was looking into them. I had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Carter. He’s in Port Hope, by the way. He knows that I work for you, and he’s warned us off. Let’s just say, he made our options quite clear, and they’re very limited.”

  I take a moment to think. Although this isn’t what I was expecting to find, it might actually turn my way. A corrupt lawyer who isn’t afraid to intimidate his opponents is a bad thing, unless he’s on your side. “How soon can you set up a meeting?”

  “No, James, that’s a bad idea. My suggestion is, you let me call him back and make a deal. Trenton leaves your businesses alone, and they won’t have any more trouble. Not from us, anyway. This might actually be a good thing, bring in a bit more local trade—”

  “I want to meet with Eugene Carter, Bill. Set it up. Call me back when you have a time and place.”

  I end the call without another word, and I hesitate before heading back to my place. Maybe I should hang around near Everly for the day? If what Hendy says is true, then she’s in very real danger until I can get this sorted out. I wanted to meet with Old Man Pollack, make sure he knows this is just business, finalize the details, but some things are more important.

  Before I can take a step, my phone rings, and I glance down at the screen. Hendy.<
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  “Just do it,” I say, annoyed. “I can take care of myself.”

  “It’s done, James. I already called him. Turns out Eugene Carter is every bit as eager to meet face-to-face as you are. Your place, thirty minutes. But please take care, this guy means business.”

  So do I, I think to myself. So do I.

  Chapter 18 – Everly

  “That’s fucking awesome!” Terri’s squeal of delight nearly bursts my eardrum, and I have to hold the phone away from my ear while she whoops and shouts. “So what, are you on the plane now or something?”

  “The plane?”

  “On your way back to big ole Texas, dummy!”

  “What? No. I’m still in Port Hope.”

  I look around at the room I’ve been renting in the Merryfield Bed and Breakfast, wardrobe door open, some of my clothes packed into my bag before the penny dropped and I had to speak to Terri.

  “Okay, so let me just get this straight... You find the exact evidence that you’re looking for, something oh-so-mysterious that’s so earth-shattering that you can’t even tell your best friend.” She emphasizes the words as an accusation but carries on without taking a breath. “Your head of department tells you you’re awesome, says jump on the next plane out of that God-knows-where backwater town, all but hands you a fellowship right there and then and tells you he wants to have your fucking babies. All this, and you’re still in Port Hope? Why?”

  “Alec doesn’t want to have my babies.”

  “He so does.”

  I draw in a breath through my teeth, starting to think this phone call was a mistake. “He’s married. Anyway, that’s not the point.”

  “Well, what is the point?”

  “It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I’ve met someone.”

  “Yes, so you said. Well, you can write, can’t you? Leave him a note, let him know that you’ll call when you get back to Texas.” Terri laughs. “Fucking hell, Ev, I’m sure he’ll understand. This is massive.”

  “No, you don’t understand.” I say. “I love him.”

  Silence greets my words. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard Terri lost for words before. “Now do you understand?”

  “Fuck,” she says, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard so much expression put into that one curse word. “What are you going to do?”

  “That’s just it, I don’t know.”

  “Is it serious?”

  My mind casts back to what happened aboard The Signet, yesterday. Last night. This morning. “Yes, I think it is.”

  “Do you love him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Could he come with you?”

  At first, I laugh at the suggestion, thinking she’s joking, but then I consider it for a moment. Could he come with me? It wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility. Would he leave his home? His fishing business? Would he do that just for me? “Maybe,” I say out loud, even though it was meant to be inside my head.

  “When do you have to leave?”

  “I told Alec it would take me a day to get my equipment together.”

  “And I assume that was a lie.”

  “What?” I’m distracted by the thought of James coming to Texas with me. It would be exciting, to return with a new man. A gorgeous new man. “Yes, it was a lie. I can have the equipment parceled up and call a courier in an hour.”

  “Then get around to your new boyfriend and talk to him, for Christ’s sake. Find out whether this is as real for him as it is for you.”

  She’s right. I have to go to James’s place. I have to find out exactly how far he’s willing to go for me.

  Chapter 19 – James

  “Mr. Morelock? James Morelock?” He holds out a pudgy hand, and I shake it firmly. “Eugene Carter. I hope this isn’t inconvenient timing.”

  Eugene Carter is a large man in a dark gray tailored suit. He smells of a heavy cologne that’s clearly designed to overpower an opponent before he has to get physical. A little peppering of gray hair forms a ring around his bald head, and he wears a beard and moustache combination that frames heavy-set jaws.

  There’s an air of a predator around him, and although he’s here without any backup, I have a feeling there’s muscle nearby if he should need them.

  “It’s good to meet you, Mr. Carter. My agent told me you called him. Please, come in.”

  “I must admit, I was surprised to hear the name Bill Hendy again,” he says, following me through to the living room. “I thought he was disbarred years ago.”

  My cabin isn’t huge, but it’s large and comfortable. I had it built for me on a seventy-acre plot nestled in the valley beyond Port Hope’s limits. A brook runs down from the hills, meandering its way across my land until it meets the sea near Edgar’s Point.

  “He was,” I say, smiling politely. This is a dance, and I’m not about to drop a step. “He no longer practices law. But I retain his services to look after my business interests.”

  “Ah,” Carter says, nodding, as if he didn’t already know.

  “Can I offer you a drink, Mr. Carter? I don’t have any alcohol in the house, but I can get you a mineral water, or a lime and soda. Otherwise, I have tea and coffee?”

  “Eugene, please. Mineral water would be fine. Thank you.”

  “Please, take a seat, Eugene, I’ll be right back.”

  I turn my back on him, deliberately projecting confidence while I go to the kitchen and take a mineral water from my refrigerator. When I return, he’s picked up a photograph of my mom from my desk.

  “Your mother?” He makes a show of thinking for a moment. “Agnes, isn’t it?”

  I don’t like the direction this is heading, but I know I need to play the game. There’s an end to all this, and I intend to get there. “Yes.”

  “Is she the reason you don’t have any alcohol in the house?”

  “Eugene, we’re not here to talk about my mother.”

  “No, indeed not, James. You don’t mind if I call you James?” I shake my head. “Why are we having a conversation? I made my point of view very clear to Hendy. I would have thought that would be the end of it. Unless—” He holds up a finger, as if he’s just thought of something. “Unless you want to discuss a certain Miss Mantel, and how we might go about ensuring that she isn’t drawn into any of this...unpleasantness.”

  Every instinct in my body is telling me to warn him off, to threaten his life, the lives of his family members, fuck, even the life of his pet hamster if I have to. But I know that’s not how this conversation is going to go. I shake my head, gritting my teeth.

  “Everly has nothing to do with this either.” I take the photograph from his hands and put it back on my desk, before taking a seat opposite him. “Eugene, let’s talk about Trenton Investments. Specifically, I want to discuss their overinflated share price.”

  “Are you sure you want to have this conversation, James?”

  “Yes, I am. And I think you’ll be interested too.”

  I start to outline a proposal for him, and he settles back into the seat as the details become clear. Eugene Carter is a dirty lawyer, a mobster, and a thoroughly nasty piece of work, but like all scumbags, he also knows a good deal when he hears one. And this is a real zinger.

  Chapter 20 – Everly

  This is beginning to confuse me now.

  I followed the directions James gave me to get to his place: head east out of town, down the dirt road, second left turn. But I thought I was there already. Now I’m wishing I had called a cab, because this road seems to go on forever.

  Surely this can’t all be his land? There seems to be an entire forest growing here, and I still can’t actually see a house. Didn’t he tell me that he lived in a little wooden shack or cabin or something? None of this is making any sense.

  What feels like several miles ago—but is probably just my mind playing tricks on me—I passed through a gate that looked like it might have been put there to mark the end of a long driveway. I was impressed, I have to admit
. The gate looked old, maybe Victorian, but it had to have been taken from somewhere else because the pillars to either side and the wall that led off in each direction looked almost brand new. The sign on the gate said “No Trespassing,” but now I’m starting to wonder if I took a wrong turn and I really am trespassing. Nothing else would make any sense.

  The woodland to either side of the road looks well maintained, as if someone keeps it tended all year round, but there’s still a natural feel to it. On the left of the road it sweeps up steeply on the side of the valley, but on the right, it appears to run flat. The silence here is so peaceful, just the occasional hum of insects or crack of a branch somewhere deep among the trees.

  I run through what I have to say again in my head while I walk, imagining the possible reactions I might get from James. They want me to return to Texas right away... Will you come with me? He could laugh in my face at the very suggestion. What if the attitude I saw in him that first night really was the true James Morelock? What if he thinks that a woman should be a meek and mild thing, looking after the home, bringing up the children, dutiful and pretty?

  No, surely that couldn’t be true. The way he’s been with me since, the respect he’s shown toward me... He’s encouraged my research, hasn’t he?

  But then again, I know that he likes to dominate, to be in control. Isn’t a part of domination keeping the other person dependent on you?

  No. I shake my head. The idea is preposterous. I know him better than that. I enjoyed the submissive role when we had sex, but it doesn’t follow that I’m submissive in everyday life. Far from it. That was a kind of release, and boy did I need it.

  Okay, so what if he just says no? What if he simply can’t bear to leave his business? And isn’t his mom around here? He might decide that this—whatever this is—isn’t as important to his life as his home, his family, his friends. If that happens, I’ll have to respect that decision. But where does that leave us? Do I just go on home to Texas on my own? I guess that would be the only choice I’d have. We could try to keep things going, a long-distance relationship, but they’re notoriously difficult to maintain. Sooner or later, one of us is going to decide that it’s too much effort and break it off.