Corrupt Empire Series: A Dark Romance Boxset

by Sarah Bailey

  “So what, you’re going to act like a caveman?”

  He placed me down on the bed when we reached it, pulling down my pyjama shorts and underwear in the process. I hadn’t bothered getting dressed since we weren’t leaving the flat. He ripped off my t-shirt, leaving me naked before crawling over me.

  “No, just a bad boy.”

  I snorted. He really was idiotic sometimes. I liked this side of him. Where he made jokes with me. His grey eyes glinted.

  “Is said bad boy expecting me to just let him take advantage of me?”

  He took my hands, pinning them above my head.

  “Mmm, yes. I intend to take many liberties.”

  I squirmed beneath him. He could take all the liberties with me he liked. I was his to command.

  “Tell me what you want.”

  “Just you. Only you. Forever.”

  Before I could respond, Aiden kissed me like he was drowning in me. And I forgot all about my trust fund and his sudden proposal. When Aiden and I touched it was like fire burning in my chest and heat spread between my thighs.

  “I love you, princess,” he whispered as he kissed down my jaw.

  He pulled away, leaning over towards the bedside table. Opening the drawer, he tugged out two sets of handcuffs. He cuffed me to the headboard, smiling at me with his grey eyes glittering.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

  He spread my legs wide with both hands and stared down at me. His expression was that of a hungry beast ready to devour his prey. That prey just happened to be me. I squirmed again. His gaze heated my entire body, scorching my skin.

  He leant down, giving me no warning when he bit down hard on my nipple. I bucked against the handcuffs and him, moaning. His hands pressed me back down on the bed, fingertips brushing down my stomach.

  “Who do you belong to?” he said, the rich timbre of his voice vibrating through me.

  “You.”

  “That’s right. Mine.”

  He ran his tongue down my stomach, flicking over my bellybutton before continuing his path towards my pussy. I couldn’t breathe.

  “I can’t wait to see your skin covered in art, princess. You’ll be even more stunning. My tattooed beauty.”

  “Does that make you my beast?” I whispered.

  He glanced up at me, a wicked grin on his face.

  “Only if you say yes.”

  He spread me open with his fingers and then his tongue lashed against my clit. I lost all sense of rationality in that moment. Aiden mastered my body. He commanded every inch of it. His tongue was magic. And I was under his spell.

  He pulled away abruptly, trailing kisses up my inner thigh.

  “Say yes, princess. Marry me,” he whispered against my skin.

  “Aiden…”

  His fingers brushed over my entrance, causing me to twitch before he pressed one inside me.

  “Say yes.”

  I moaned as he pressed another inside me. How I fucking wished it was his cock. I needed it. Hell, I really needed him to fuck me hard. His breath fluttered over my clit, rendering me completely at his mercy.

  “Aiden, please.”

  “Marry me.”

  His tongue met my clit again and I swear I almost combusted on the spot. His tongue and fingers worked me until I was dangling precariously over the edge. Only then did he pull back, kissing my thigh again.

  “Please, that’s not fair.”

  “Mmm, what do you want?”

  “I want you to fuck me and let me come, that’s what I want.”

  I stared down at him. He was grinning. I wanted him to let me out of these handcuffs so I could give him a piece of my mind. Also, I wanted to pin him down on the bed and ride his cock, but that was beside the point. He was deliberately driving me crazy. I knew his game.

  “Are you sure you don’t want anything else?”

  I glared at him. I’d already told him I wasn’t giving him an answer. How could I? My mind was a mess of conflicting thoughts and emotions. And it didn’t help that he had me handcuffed to the bed and was driving me to distraction with his tongue and his fingers.

  “Take your clothes off and fuck me.”

  His eyes darkened. He withdrew his fingers from me and rose up on his knees.

  “Did you forget the rules, Avery?”

  The ones about him having my submission in the bedroom? Well no, but he was testing my patience. I wasn’t in the mood for this. Tension radiated throughout my body, desperately seeking a release.

  “No.”

  “I think you have.”

  He slipped off the bed, walking away towards his cupboard. He’d moved the stuff out of the box under his bed so we’d have easier access to it.

  “Aiden—”

  “I suggest you stop talking unless you want me to leave you alone, worked up and unable to touch yourself.”

  I snapped my mouth shut. What the hell had gotten into him? Was this because I wouldn’t give him a straight answer about whether I wanted to get married to him or not? Was he punishing me?

  I shifted, trying to ease the tension inside me, but failing miserably.

  “Stay still, Avery.”

  He brought two lengths of silk rope with him. Kneeling on the bed, he grabbed one of my ankles and tied the rope to it before securing the other ankle. He shifted off the bed and secured the other ends, leaving me spread wide and immobile.

  “Are you punishing me?” I whispered, knowing this would likely get me into even more trouble.

  He stroked a hand down my calf. The touch electrified my skin. I desperately wanted those hands in other places. I didn’t fucking care about being tied up or at his mercy. All I wanted was Aiden. His touch. His tongue. His mouth. His words. His cock.

  “Do you think you deserve pleasure, princess?”

  I knew the answer he wanted me to give.

  “No.”

  He didn’t react, merely trailed his fingers along the top of my foot.

  “Tell me who you belong to.”

  “You.”

  “Do I have your submission?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is it okay for you to tell me what to do?”

  I shivered. His tone was cold, chilling me to the bone.

  “No, it’s not. I’m sorry.”

  His hand went to his jeans as he walked around the bed towards the headboard.

  “I would’ve given you what you wanted, but now… now you’re going to give me what I want.”

  When he slipped out of his clothes and knelt on the bed. I knew exactly what he was going to do. Holy fuck.

  “Open your mouth and do not fucking close it, understood?”

  I nodded. He straddled my chest, gripping my hair in one hand, holding it tight. I opened my mouth for him and he fed me his cock. This angle made it a little difficult for me to take too much of it. He fucked me with slow, shallow thrusts, staring down at my face intently.

  “Do you remember the first time you sucked my cock? You were so innocent, so inexperienced. You wanted to please me. I could feel it in you. That’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it? I made you so reliant on me. You’d do anything for me.”

  The way he said those things made me shiver. He wasn’t wrong. I was aware how fucked up it had all been, but he’d let me walk away and I’d come back. Come back because I loved him and I wanted everything he gave me. Isn’t that the saying? Let someone go and if it’s meant to be, they’ll come back to you?

  There’d been so little choice in the beginning of our relationship, at least for me. The day I’d left changed everything. It had forced Aiden to confront the truth of what he’d done and how he’d felt about me. And it had changed everything between us. Everything but this. When he took control of me in the bedroom. When I chose to submit.

  “You drive me fucking crazy, princess. I want to be nestled between your legs, inside your heat, it’s the sweetest fucking ecstasy
.”

  He pulled out of my mouth and shifted back.

  “I shouldn’t give you this, but I need it. I want to make you scream.”

  Before I had a chance to make a sound, he was wedged between my legs and pressing inside me. His cock stretched me, making me groan.

  “Fuck, so fucking hot and wet.”

  “Aiden…”

  He captured my mouth, sealing away anything I’d wanted to say to him. His thrusts weren’t gentle. He gripped my hips and fucked me, pressing deeper each time.

  “Marry me.”

  Were we going to keep coming back to this? Him asking whilst he was brutally fucking me felt a little more appropriate given the nature of our relationship.

  “I love you, princess,” he whispered against my lips. “I want you forever. Take my name. Be my wife. Marry me.”

  His fingers drove between us, finding my clit as he stroked and fucked me. I cried out, unable to move because of how he’d tied me up and his bulk on top of me.

  What was I really scared of? The fact that it was too soon? The fact that we weren’t safe? Hell, I had to stop thinking like this. I was Aiden’s and he was mine. We’d established that the day I left him. This was just an extension of that. Could I really think of Aiden as my husband?

  “Yes.”

  As soon as the word left my lips, I felt myself fall right off the edge. I bucked against him, explosions going off along every inch of my skin. I didn’t get to see Aiden’s reaction to my answer. He didn’t miss a beat, fucking me whilst I clenched and trembled around him.

  I panted, opening my eyes as I stared up at him. He’d stilled, watching me with an unreadable expression.

  “Say that again.”

  I bit my lip.

  “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

  His eyes softened. He leant down, capturing my mouth as he thrust inside me again. He fucked me hard until he grunted in my mouth, going rigid as he came too. He pulled away, resting his forehead on mine.

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Agreeing to be my wife.”

  I smiled. I still had so many reservations about what we were doing, but there was one overriding factor.

  I loved Aiden.

  He loved me.

  And that was the only reason I needed to say yes.

  Chapter Two

  Aiden

  Present Day

  Chuck stared at me for the longest time, his mouth hanging open.

  “You’re fucking kidding me,” he said, rubbing his hand across his face.

  I shrugged.

  “I’m just fucking with you. I barely know your niece. Do you really think I’d keep that kind of shit from you?”

  He shook his head, rolling his eyes.

  “Fuck, Aiden, you scared the crap out of me for a moment there. Still, she shouldn’t be marrying that little cunt. He’s no good for her.”

  I’d just wanted to see Chuck’s reaction. Avery would probably kill me for almost revealing the truth to him. My eyes flicked over to where she was still talking to the audience with Tristan beside her. I hated that she was holding his hand. The sick fuck looked so fucking smug. Too fucking bad for him. She was already my wife. My fucking wife.

  “Didn’t know you cared that much.”

  “Still my niece even if she does questionable things. We’re getting off topic. You haven’t explained what the fuck happened with you and Robert. Don’t bullshit me.”

  I looked at my fingers, raising an eyebrow.

  “He deserved it.”

  Chuck’s expression darkened.

  “I never said he didn’t. My question is where are my girls?”

  I shrugged again. They were safe with Tina. They were healing from the trauma of being stolen and sex trafficked. Raped. Beaten. Abused. They were being cared for now. No fucking thanks to Chuck and whoever The Collector was.

  “Why would I know?”

  “You fucking took them.”

  “Did I? Are you sure Robert told you the truth?”

  The more I played with Chuck’s paranoia, the better. I wanted him to distrust all his associates. Turn them all against each other. That’s how we’d win. And I would fucking relish the day this was over. I could have a normal life with my wife when it was done. Something I desperately craved.

  “What reason would he have to lie?”

  “He got beaten the shit out of. His pride is bruised. Perhaps he lost them and didn’t want to tell you or he wants to get back at me. Either way, why the fuck would I have touched them? Not my business. You know I don’t want to be around that shit.”

  He stared at me for the longest moment. I could see the cogs turning in his head. Chuck trusted me. Too fucking much. Proving my loyalty to a man like Chuck was never easy, but the past four and a half years had shown him I was more than willing to get my hands dirty.

  He turned from me, scanning the crowd. When his eyes met Robert, they narrowed.

  “That little fuck. Trying to stir up shit.”

  He waved a hand at me.

  “Say I believe he’s lying, it still doesn’t explain why your father is involved in all of this.”

  I’d have to give him something. Perhaps if I did, he’d let this shit go. Keeping Chuck on side was imperative. For now.

  “Rick took your niece and Robert helped him.”

  Chuck turned back to me, his eyes widening.

  “How the fuck do you know that?”

  “Did you ask her what happened?”

  He frowned.

  “No, I didn’t think it was important.”

  And that just proved to me how little he actually cared about Avery. He needed her to be the face of the company. That’s all he cared about. Keeping face so no one would discover what kind of sick shit they did behind closed doors.

  “She told John. You know Rick showed her some pretty disturbing things. Perhaps you should ask her about it.”

  Chuck’s frown deepened.

  “How does she know who he is?”

  “She doesn’t. She said he kept referring to her as ‘darlin’.”

  I hated that fucking word almost as much as I hated the man himself. Even more so now I knew he’d called my fucking woman by it. She wasn’t his darling. She was fucking mine. My wife. The need to have her by my side burnt through me. She’d had to take her ring off. It was sitting on the bedside table at home. Our home. No one would know she was really mine.

  “Well fuck. If he’s involved, the shit really has hit the fan.”

  He rubbed his head.

  “This is a fucking disaster. Avery’s gallivanting off to marry the Shaw cunt, Rick Morgan is in our fucking business all over again and I have two girls missing. What the fuck more can go wrong today?”

  Watching Chuck’s armour crack in front of my eyes gave me a smug sense of satisfaction. Now, all I had to do was use it to our advantage. I’d planted the seeds of doubt whilst proving he could still trust me. Except his biggest mistake was ever trusting me in the first place.

  We were going to burn them down one by one.

  And they’d never see it coming.

  ~~~

  Five Weeks Prior

  “I can’t believe we’re getting married in four weeks. I mean, I get why it has to be so soon, but still, you’re expecting me to get everything sorted so fast,” Avery said as she reached up into a cupboard above the sink.

  The whole thing required careful planning, especially given the fact we had to give 28 days’ notice along with it being fucking displayed in the registry office the entire time. It was just fucking lucky we’d not only got an appointment but a wedding date because they’d had a cancellation. Given London was such a big place, there was every chance they’d never find out. I didn’t think Chuck or Frazier would go so far as to check registry offices on the off chance Avery had given notice she was getting married. They had absolutely no reason to.


  “You’re not exactly inviting the whole world to it.”

  We were literally having six guests, seven if you included Josh. The fewer people who knew, the better. She was adamant we couldn’t just get married with some random people as witnesses. She wanted the people we cared about most there and I agreed with her. Ben would have my head if he wasn’t the best man. And the reason it had to be so soon was because her birthday event was in five weeks. We wanted it sorted before then.

  “You really think Frazier is going to buy it when I tell him I’m okay with marrying Tristan?”

  That was the other reason. Having a fake engagement to Tristan had driven us apart before, but now, she’d made up her mind. The only way we’d take the Shaws down was by getting closer to them. And this time she’d be safe in the knowledge they could never force her to marry him when she’d got what we needed.

  In a few short weeks, she’d be mine completely. It’s not as if she wasn’t already bound to my heart permanently but binding us together legally was the last step. I wanted the world to know I was hers and she was mine.

  “It’s what he wants. I doubt he’ll care if you’re really on board or not.”

  She popped two wine glasses down on the counter.

  “I suppose so. He’s coming in tomorrow, so I guess we’ll see then.”

  I finished uncorking the bottle, coming around and standing behind her. I pressed into her as I poured the wine out, kissing the top of her head. Placing the bottle down, I curled a hand around her waist, turning her around gently. She stared up at me with those doe eyes I loved so much.

  “You’re going to do fine, princess.”

  “I hope so.”

  I cupped her face. Her guard was down, her expression showing her vulnerability, her fear. She needed me to reassure her. She told me once I knew what she needed before she did. Knew she wanted to submit and belong to me before she’d admitted it to herself.

  “Even if I’m not right next to you, I’m always there.”

  I ran my hand down her jaw and neck before brushing my fingers across the A on the chain around her neck. The first gift I’d given her. I didn’t know it at the time, but I really did love this girl back then. She’d dug her way into my soul and reminded me what it was to feel again.