The Gamble

by Alice Ward

  The beautiful expression on his face combined with the deep, needy groans that left him caused every part of me to pulse with need. I didn’t need another turn with his mouth pressed to my center, but wanted to do anything that might keep him lost to the ecstasy he was experiencing.

  He pulled out a few minutes later and pressed his hands to my shoulders as he leaned down and panted softly. “Fuck. I’m dizzy. That’s so damn good. You have no clue, do you, baby?”

  I reached out and touched the side of his face. “Then don’t stop. Come for me.”

  He groaned again and moved back. “No. I want to be inside you. I need to feel you come when I do.”

  He worked to get a condom on as I stood up and tugged my bra and panties off. The look on his face when he glanced up at me was mesmerizing. It forced me to freeze in place and wait for him to whisper what he wanted against my sensitive skin.

  “You’re so beautiful. I’m an idiot for trying to do anything but seduce you into being mine forever.” He slid his hands over my hips and up my side, over my breasts and stopped as his fingers wrapped around the base of my throat. “I’m going to make love to you in ten different ways. Tell me which is your favorite and we’ll start there.”

  I whimpered softly, never having felt like a helpless woman as much as I did in front of him. I ran every part of my life, but in the bedroom with my man, he was in charge. Nothing could be more exhilarating.

  “Grip my hips hard, okay?” I spoke against his mouth just before I pulled from him and turned to crawl up on the bed. I stopped about halfway and remained on my hands and knees as he crawled up behind me and ran his hands over my ass.

  “Absolutely. You just scream out anything else you want from me.” He locked his fingers around my waist and pulled hard, impaling me fully.

  I screamed in pleasure and pressed my forehead to my hands as a million emotions raced through me. “So good.”

  “I love you so much.” He moved one hand up to grip my shoulder as he rocked himself against me, filling me up completely, opening me by force. “Hold onto the bed so you don’t get forced up too much.”

  I gripped the sheets as he started to fuck me in fast, hard thrusts. He would slow down eventually, but I wasn’t going to ask for anything other than what he was giving. My body welcomed his aggression and begged for his assault.

  Realizing that I’d moved up toward the headboard, I reached up and grasped it, pulling myself up and crying out as he moved in tighter, using his hold on my breasts to continue to thrust deep inside of me.

  His lips brushed over my neck before the tight press of his teeth cause me to explode. I undulated my hips and rocked back on him as he whispered naughtiness into my ear. I’d never been spoken to in such a way, and yet every dark promise that left him seemed to drive me closer and closer into orgasm.

  “More,” I groaned as he chuckled and slid his hand between my thighs, pinching my clit between two fingers as he rammed into me.

  “There’s lots more. Just stay with me, baby. Remind me how much you deserve, and I’ll keep on giving it.”

  That’s all I needed to hear.

  I exploded again.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Zek

  I made love to my woman all night until neither of us could move. The sex was bliss, but holding her in my arms as she passed out was what sealed the deal for me. I wasn’t going anywhere, and the poor thing would have to physically eject me from her life if she thought otherwise. She fell asleep quickly, but I laid awake for most of the night watching her. I couldn’t stop myself from kissing the side of her neck or brushing the hair from her face no matter how hard I tried. I think just having a chance at a woman like her left me wanting to preserve it should something happen.

  I must have fallen asleep some time during the night, because when I woke the next morning, she wasn’t in the bed next to me. I lamented for a few minutes over the fact that I couldn’t pull her in for a long good morning kiss, but finally got over it and got up. Someone was in the kitchen cooking something, and I prayed like hell that it was her, but honestly expected it to be Ronald.

  “Well, well... look what the cat drug in.” Ronald glanced over his shoulder at me with a smirk on his mouth. “You’re usually on your third cup of coffee by the time I get up. You slept until almost ten.”

  “I guess I was worn out.” I lifted my arms toward the ceiling and let out a loud groan. “Where’s Alisa? Did you see her leave?”

  “Yeah. We had coffee around seven and she left. Not all of us get to lie around the house and enjoy the spoils of our indiscretions.” He smirked and turned back to the stove. “You like bacon or sausage?”

  “Bacon, but let me cook. You do too much around here already. I thought you were going to come with a ball and chain, but I’m pleasantly surprised.” I moved up and pulled the spatula from his hand.

  I was surprised and exceedingly blessed by the situation, though I didn’t deserve to be either of those things.

  “You missed the morning news, but I recorded it because they mentioned you in it.” Ronald walked toward the TV I’d mounted by the back door and turned it on. “Something about the girl who accused you of rape.”

  That got my attention.

  “Melissa Mills?” I turned and lifted my head a little to watch the screen as the newscaster came on, standing outside of the largest mental hospital in the state.

  “Good Morning. I’m Sarah Bennet from Channel Two news. I’m here outside of Darktum Mental hospital this morning. It happens to be the scene of their very first escape ever. In all the years of Darktum’s existence, this has yet to occur, but we’re here live this morning to capture exactly what happened.” The young reporter walked up toward an older man in a suit. “I’m here now with David Cotter, the executive manager and head physician for the hospital. Mr. Cotter, can you tell us what happened exactly?”

  “Of course. Thank you, Sarah.” He turned his attention to the camera as my heart skipped a beat. “This morning we went to check on all of our patients in solitary confinement and noticed that Mrs. Melissa Mills wasn’t present.”

  The reporter pulled the microphone back and glanced over at the camera. “Just to remind our viewers, Miss Mills was recently involved in a rather nasty court case where she accused billionaire playboy Zek Kellington of the former Kellington Investments of not only one count of rape, but two.”

  “Pause it.” I turned to Ronald and shook my head. “Wow. Billionaire playboy? I’m moving up in the world.”

  “I’d say that’s a pretty awesome title, but the rest of the story sucks tremendously. I assume with the court finding you not guilty that you actually didn’t rape the girl, right?”

  I should have been surprised by him asking me, but I wasn’t. Just because the jury hadn’t convicted me didn’t mean much of anything, other than I got freedom for something that I did or didn’t do.

  “No. We had sex twice, but I’d never hurt a woman. Ever.” I turned back to the stove. “Turn it back on. I’ll just listen as I fry some eggs. You good with fried?”

  “Naw, man. Scramble mine, please. That runny yellow stuff is nasty.” He chuckled and flipped the TV back on.

  The man’s voice filled up the room around me. “As I was saying, we went to check on Miss Mills and she wasn’t to be found. We searched the facility and of course contacted her closest friends and family members. If you know Miss Mills or you see her, please make sure you call us. Her next rounds of assessments were in full swing, and I’m not sure how stable the young girl is. Don’t try to talk to her, or reason with her, just call us.”

  The woman’s voice took over again. “So you would say with some certainty that she’s volatile and quite dangerous?”

  “No. I’d say that if you see her, call us please.”

  I turned to find Ronald gone, but the TV remote sitting beside the coffee pot. I clicked the button to turn it off and jogged back to the bedroom to get my phone. There weren’t any missed calls, wh
ich surprised me a little. I needed to make sure that Alisa was aware of the situation, though I felt like everyone might overreact. Melissa was a little off her rocker, and had shown up at Alisa’s house and mine too, but she wasn’t carrying a gun, and her knife had done little more than scratch my face.

  I reached up and brushed my fingers over the scar, not minding it too much now that it had healed and grown almost untraceable.

  After dialing Lizzy’s number, I put the phone on speaker and laid it beside the stove.

  “Ronald. Your eggs are done, man.” I plated them up as Lizzy answered the phone.

  “Elizabeth Kellington.”

  “Lizzy. It’s me. I should have called your cell. Guess I hit the office number instead.”

  “It’s no problem. What’s going on?”

  “Now a good time to chat?” I cracked my eggs into the pan and nodded as Ronald took his plate and patted my back twice.

  “Anytime is a good time. You’re family.”

  “Did you see the news this morning?” I walked over and poured a cup of coffee.

  “No, we have a murder case we’re preparing for. I got here at four this morning because I couldn’t sleep anymore. It just kept playing over and over in my head. I’m not ready for the trial, and yet it’s coming whether I want it to or not.” She let out a weary sigh, and I wondered if I should just let the news about Melissa go. It’s not like any of us were truly in danger. Jon would get a hold of his daughter and take her back. It was that simple.

  “It’s nothing. I’m probably overreacting.” I moved back to the stove and finished up my eggs.

  “Tell me anyway. Let me make the call on whether it’s important to me or not.”

  “Sure. Melissa Mills broke out of Darktum last night or early this morning. I feel like I might be overreacting about it though.” I walked to the table as Lizzy gasped.

  “What? That’s horrible. Do they have her back in custody yet?” My overreacting was nothing compared to the quick spike in Lizzy’s tone. She was talking a million miles an hour. “Have you called Jon? Is he looking for her? This isn’t good at all.”

  “Hey. Calm down. I’m sure it’s fine, and I have no doubt that they’ll look for her and find her. I just needed to make sure Alisa knew about it, but I thought I would start with you first.” I pulled out a chair beside Ronald and sat down. “Is she at the office already?”

  “She was here earlier, but she’s in a hearing now. There is no way to get a hold of her until she’s done. Maybe I should send someone over there to wait on her until she gets out.” Lizzy almost sounded out of breath, which wasn’t at all her persona.

  “Lizzy. What aren’t you telling me? I thought I was overreacting and I was just mildly concerned. You sound like you’re close to having a stroke over this. Did something happen while I was in jail?” I picked up a piece of bacon, but couldn’t stomach the idea of eating just yet. I needed to make sure I hadn’t missed some huge piece of the puzzle in all of the madness swirling around me.

  “No, but when Melissa went to visit Alisa the first time, she was borderline violent. She charged the door and hit it multiple times until security took her away. Then she cut you at your fucking house. Don’t tell me you’ve somehow forgotten all this. I wouldn’t believe you if you said you did.”

  “No, I didn’t forget, but no one told me that she was violent with Alisa. You guys made it sound like the girl brought cookies over for a long cry session. Shit.” I let out a long sigh and shook my head as Ronald gave me a quizzical look. “Well, you know I’m stuck here at the house. Just send someone to wait on her and tell her what’s up. I don’t think Ronald will care if she stays out here with us until they find Melissa. I would assume the crazy bitch would come after me if anyone, but who knows. I’ve not predicted any of this madness very well thus far.”

  “I’ll tell her to stay with you or me and Mark. I’ll call later. One of my partners needs to see me.” She dropped the call, and I set the phone on the table beside my coffee.

  “Shit. I’m glad you showed me that clip. Melissa is a sick girl, and she can twist reality with the best of them.” I rubbed my chest and started to work on my bacon.

  “That’s scary as hell.” He pushed his empty plate away and leaned back in his chair. “Alisa can stay over here with you. I’m fine with that. We might just need to have her stay with someone else for a few days here and there. Family maybe?”

  “Yeah. Her older brother is one of my best friends and doesn’t live too far from here. I’ll text Alisa to come here tonight, and I’ll give her brother, Clark, a call in a few minutes. I’m sure everything is fine, but I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

  “I hear that.” He stood up and took his plate. “Does this girl, Melissa, have a history of being violent in the past?”

  “No clue. She was stable at first, although a little bitchy the few times I really dealt with her. I considered moving into something more like dating with her, but she’s got a million masks that she wears. She came out to the house before I was hauled off to jail and pulled a knife on me. I guess you could call that pretty damn violent.”

  “Damn, dude. Your life is like a sitcom. We should write it up, send it in and make some money off that alone.” He chuckled and walked to the kitchen as I gave him a wry smile.

  After finishing my breakfast, I texted Alisa to come back to the house as soon as she was done, but didn’t mention Melissa. The last thing I wanted was for her to be worried and overly sensitive about being alone. No one deserved to look over their shoulder every minute of every day. Things would work out and we would all be fine.

  I called her brother next, just to check in and give him a heads up. He reacted about as badly as Lizzy did.

  “What? Where is she?”

  “Melissa or your sister?” I asked Clark as I got up and walked toward the back door. I needed some air, and wanted to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin.

  “My sister, numbnuts. I know you don’t know where this crazy bitch is. Where is Alisa? Does she know about Melissa escaping?”

  “No, I don’t think she does, but I didn’t want to scare her either. She’ll be home in a few hours at most, and then I’ll talk to her. It will be fine, but I wanted to update you guys so that you could help me fight her when she refused to stay with us for the next little bit. I just want her with me or you at night until Melissa is put back into the hospital. The girl’s manic.”

  “So I’ve heard.” He grunted. “I don’t like it. I think we should text her now.”

  “You do what you want, but I know Alisa, and she’s not going to appreciate us getting her all worked up over nothing. You know she’s tougher than the two of us put together.” A smile lifted my lips as I closed my eyes and lifted my face toward the sky.

  “Right, but if this bitch hurts my sister, I’m not only coming after her, but you too.”

  “Get in line, brother. She’s my woman, and nothing is going to happen to her. Mark my words, Clark. Nothing is going to happen.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Alisa

  I’d rushed around that morning thanks to the traffic from Zek’s house into downtown. Now, I realized why in the world I continued to pump money into my shitty apartment instead of buying another house in the suburbs. Traffic.

  After getting to the office and grabbing a cup of coffee, I stopped by to talk to Lizzy for a few minutes and to gather my things. I had a long day in divorce court, which wasn’t my forte, but my co-worker Seth was out with something serious and needed me to fill in. I read over the files and called his client that morning to reassure her that I would be there, and that everything would be great.

  I made sure to stop by the cafeteria in the bottom floor of the building and grab a muffin as I headed for the door. I’d almost made it out as someone called my name. Dillon.

  Great.

  “Hey there. How are you?” I lifted my muffin and took a deep bite of it, hoping to gross him out a little, but it almost se
emed to do the opposite. It was disturbing. So much so that I thought about mentioning to Zek that the creep was getting on my nerves. It wouldn’t go over well with my handsome male companion, and I had no doubt that he’d either visit the office and make it painfully obvious that we were together, or he’d pay Dillon a private visit. Both sounded good as I stifled a shiver.

  “Better now. You want me to take you down to the cafe by Berkley’s and we can grab a real breakfast?” He smiled and reached over, wiping crumbs from the side of my cheek before I could move back.

  I needed to get away from him, but maybe I was overreacting. He would be at the firm for a while from what I could tell, and all of his transcripts and job history had been vetted and found quite attractive. I just needed to make him understand that I wasn’t interested, and telling him about Zek would most likely help with that.

  “No thanks. I’m actually rushing out for a hearing. Seth is still out with whatever bug he has and I’m filling in. Lucky me.” I forced a fake smile and took another bite of the muffin. “I’ll see you later.”

  He grabbed my arm as I started to leave, his expression moving from welcoming to serious. “Alisa. Please have dinner with me then. I really do think that a friendship between us would be incredibly beneficial. Not just to me, but to you as well. I’m a good guy, and you’re edging toward thirty, right?”

  “Edging toward thirty?” I was over thirty, but the way he let his eyes move down my body left my calmness obliterated.

  “Yeah. It’s a good thing, but I’m simply saying that women don’t age as well as men. You need to find someone who will enjoy the last few years of your youth with you and then settle into a comfortable relationship after that.” He released me and smiled, as if he were proud of himself for helping me out.

  “You’re kidding right now, right? Please tell me that you’re kidding so I don’t have to look for a hot beverage to toss into your face.” I gritted my teeth as red moved before my vision. Zek wouldn’t have to do anything. I was going to kill the asshole right there. How dare he insult me simply because I wouldn’t go to lunch with him. He wasn’t at all my kind of guy, and even if he were… “I’m in a relationship, so back the fuck off. I’m over thirty as well, so find someone else to badger. This old lady is already wrapped around a much older man. Young men don’t do it for me. Especially cocky ones... like yourself.”