by Sam Crescent
I had no idea what piece it was or how he did it. I didn’t even care if what he did was legal or within the rules.
“Now, Ashley, it’s your move.”
Would it be so hard to close the distance between us? To fling the board to one side and have my way with him? I wanted to. My hands itched for me to be forward, to feel him inside me. To have his hands all over me, but at the last minute, I took the cowardly way out.
“I’m going to go make us another drink.” I grabbed my glass.
Earl had settled for scotch. The smell made me feel sick, and there was no way I intended to drink anytime soon.
At the teapot, I filled it with water and placed it on the stove, turning the gas on to heat it. I gripped my neck, tilting my head left and right.
I was fine. I didn’t need him. Sex was just an action. I was completely … fine. I lost count of how many times I thought about how fine I was, especially as I was the furthest thing from fine.
I was horny.
Why didn’t they warn you about this in the science books?
I’d been aroused. A dirty film. Porn. I’d had moments, but nothing like this.
Earl and I had sex all the time. I shouldn’t want it again. Just this morning, he’d woken me up to kisses down the spine. Then he’d turned me over and brought me to an orgasm before taking one of his own.
His cock was always ready to take what he wanted.
Earl cupped my hips, drawing me back. “Is it so hard for you to take what you want?” he asked, brushing his lips across my neck.
My nipples got even more painful. My body betrayed me while I tried to stay in complete control. I attempted to monitor my breaths, nothing.
All I cared about was his rock-hard cock filling me. Fucking me. Taking me.
“I’m not going to give you what you want until you ask me for it.” His teeth bit down into my neck, and I moaned.
One of his hands went to my breast, cupping the mound. His palm skimmed across my breast. Just enough of a press to make me ache for more.
His touch set me on fire, and I was more than willing to burn.
Earl pulled away. His touch left me panting for more, but he refused.
I turned toward him, and he smiled at me. “What’s it going to be, Ashley?”
Ignoring was one of my choices, but it also wasn’t an option. I was tired of being stubborn. Of fighting what I truly wanted.
Even as I felt embarrassed, I closed the distance between us. I cupped his face and just stared. I didn’t press my body against him. I waited. Time seemed to stand still for me, but I knew it was ticking, waiting for me to make a choice.
Did I cross this boundary or leave it to him?
I was tired of waiting.
Without another thought, I slammed my lips down on his, pressing my body flush against him, crying out as I felt his hard length against my stomach. So good.
His hands went to my hips, sliding down to my ass, and the other worked up into my hair.
I went for his shirt, tugging it off and throwing it across the room. Next, I went to the sweatpants he wore.
It was late, and he’d surprised me by wanting to play a game of chess and being in loungewear. At times, the man had the ability to surprise me.
He helped to kick them off but not before taking the negligee I wore.
“You’ve got me naked, Ashley. What are you going to do with me?”
Gripping his shoulders, I marched him back, going toward the sitting room. I pushed him down into his seat and followed him down, straddling his waist. The hard length of his cock pressed against my core, and I moaned as he seemed to bump against my clit.
His hands on my ass rocked me against him. Sinking my fingers into his hair, I kissed him, biting down onto his bottom lip. He opened up, and I plunged my tongue into his mouth. His nails sank into the flesh of my ass, and I relished the bite of pain.
The rush of pleasure took me by surprise.
I let go of his face and reached between us. My hands shook, but passion took over. I moved over him, and with his help, I got him to my entrance, and I sat down, taking him all the way inside me.
Tilting my head back, I released another moan and Earl took one of my nipples into my mouth. His hands moved down my body, then back up. He cupped my tits, pressing them together, his thumbs moving back and forth over the buds.
Rocking up and down his length, I fucked myself on his dick.
Earl grabbed my hips and showed me exactly what to do. He sped up my strokes, making me go harder as I claimed him.
With him deep inside me, I reached between and began to stroke my clit.
“Yeah, that’s it, baby. Make yourself come all over my cock. I want to hear it. Come on.”
I sank my fingers into his shoulder as I worked myself to orgasm. I came, and he didn’t let up, pounding his way inside me, pulling me down one final time to flood my pussy with his cum.
We were both panting by the end of it.
My hair had fallen forward, and Earl pushed it back. He brought me in close and his lips on mine was the best feeling in the world.
The way he touched me made it harder for me to deny my feelings. I hated lying to him. Hated lying to myself.
This wasn’t good.
Sex was amazing, but at no point Earl did promise more than this.
I didn’t see a future for us. He’d never granted me the chance of having one.
“You’re fucking amazing, you know that?” he asked.
“You’re not so bad yourself.”
The words he said. I easily forgot that he’d taken me as payment. All he’d ever wanted was my hymen, my firsts. The way he talked, it was like we were in a relationship, and each time, I kept on falling for it. I had to learn this meant nothing.
We were a business deal.
That was all.
****
Earl
I got a call from my yacht.
A plea for help.
I’d rounded up my men and went to where it was docked.
Blood covered the walls and floor. I’d discovered ten dead bodies. The three women who’d opted to work for me were slashed up.
To many, this sight was disgusting. With the life I lived, this was child’s play. Wrong, but not unexpected.
This was a clear message, and Knight, the piece of shit, had sent it to me.
My men were already in the process of cleaning it up. Bodies would be destroyed and everything cleaned up as if there was no evidence. My cell phone rang, and I saw it was an unknown caller, but I wasn’t a fool.
I ignored the call.
I wasn’t going to give Knight the satisfaction of gloating.
With the mess being cleaned, I left the doc and found my right-hand man, Ford, waiting. He was the one person I trusted. He’d proven himself to me time and time again. I had no reason to doubt his intentions. He got off his cell phone.
“Security footage shows ten men entering the yacht at which point everything goes black. Within twenty minutes, it’s all back on, and the yacht looks untouched,” Ford said. “The clerk had to use the bathroom. It was the only time he wasn’t manning the desk.”
I could leave a trail of bodies up and down the city, but that was how amateurs played.
If I lost my temper now, Knight won. He’d been wanting my spot at the top for a long time.
My cell phone alerted me to an email.
Without a word to Ford, I opened it up. It was from an unknown sender. Most of these went to spam, so I was more than pissed I was being distracted.
However, I clicked on the wrong fucking thing and opened it to find a picture of Ashley in my apartment. It was taken outside of the building, but I saw her clearly. She stood a few feet away from the window, looking out over the city.
She was terrified of heights, and closing the curtains was a real challenge to her.
Who’s watching her?
The words came with the attachment.
I pulled up my caller
ID and started to make a call to the men I left in charge of her safety.
No one was picking up.
“Get me back to my apartment.”
Ford had seen the email and already responded, putting a call out to his men, trying to get one of them to answer.
I ended up calling through to the apartment, but it rang and rang.
The dock was a good thirty minutes away from my apartment.
“Fucking put your foot down,” I yelled at Ford.
I didn’t care how this made me look. The only person who mattered was my woman.
Ashley. She was in danger, and it was all my fault.
I had to get to her. Save her. Protect her.
My heart raced as we made our way through the city. As he drove, Ford was still making calls, trying to find out what the hell was going on, and I was close to losing my mind.
I needed to get to her, to make her safe.
Ever since the accident, I’d put all the necessary precautions in place. More men in the building. I never took her out. I’d even resorted to playing games with her so she didn’t get bored.
Whatever she even suggested, I got her.
I kept her safe.
There was no way Knight should have known about her, unless he had known about her and he’d used this as a distraction to get me out of the fucking house.
Ashley had been safer on my island, but her own mind had been working against her then.
Anger.
Panic.
Fear. I fucking hated the last one. There was no room for it in my life.
It was taking too long for us to get to the apartment. Ford broke every single speeding law known to man to get us as close to the building as possible.
On arrival, the car didn’t even come to a stop before I got out. Charging my way through the building, I spotted the man working the reception desk, passed out, his hand flat on the surface.
I didn’t take the elevator but went the stairs. It was long but my life depended on it.
I heard pants and grunts as I ran up the stairwell.
Not once did I slow down. Ford wasn’t too far behind me. He had men already in the building, and I heard him barking orders. This was why he was my right-hand man, and why I left him in charge while I was on the island. He was the only person I could trust.
Like me, he worked his way from the ground up.
As I got closer to the sound, I held my gun, ready to fight. I passed one of the men who worked for me. He was dead, eyes staring out in shock.
The moment I saw my target, I shot, taking out the attacker. I didn’t linger to see if my man was okay. I broke through the door. I was panting, and it was a struggle to breathe, but I got to my door, which had been broken into.
The moment I entered, I heard her scream, followed by the sound of breaking glass.
Ashley put up a fight. I stepped over broken plates. Furniture was turned over.
The scream came from the bedroom, and I charged forward.
Ashely had been pressed over the bed, and the man was trying to work his pants down. She kept kicking and clawing.
With the gun at his temple, I’d already fired before he could stop me.
He fell to the ground and Ashley scrambled away. The impact sprayed her back and head with blood.
At the top of the bed, her wild eyes looked at me.
“It’s me,” I said.
I was still panting, but fuck me. I didn’t know how it was possible. I got here before they raped her.
From the bruises forming, the cuts, she had taken a beating before they got to the bedroom.
“Ashley, it’s me. It’s Earl.”
“You’re here. You’re really here.” She threw herself into my arms, and I captured her, sitting on the bed, not caring about the mess.
Her entire body shook.
I was sick with it. Anger clawed deep into my pores.
Knight did this.
He wanted to play a game. He thought he could take on a beast, well, he was about to see what happened because he had just woken that beast up.
I held Ashley even as Ford entered the room.
One look was all it took, and he stepped back, giving me and my woman space.
She was stressed. Her body was shaking.
“I was making dinner, and the door, they broke it.” She started to sob. I held her even tighter as she told me. “I threw food at him, and he hit me. I grabbed everything I could. I tried to fight back.”
I kissed the top of her head. “You did good, baby. You did really good.”
“He didn’t … he was going to. He told me he was going to kill me. That his boss wanted me dead.”
I let her cry and just listened to what she had to say. All the while, I plotted.
This was the second time Ashley’s life had been put in danger, but I knew it would be the last time.
Knight wanted to play. I was more than happy to join in.
We were enemies, and until now, he’d been quiet, but I knew things would only escalate. When you sat on the top of a throne, it was only a matter of time before someone felt they had a right to sit here.
It was time to get back in the game, and to do that, Ashley needed to go.
Chapter Sixteen
Ashley
One week later
Something was different.
Earl was different.
He didn’t stay around anymore. Nor did he sleep in my bed. He was distant. Not exactly cold, but close enough.
I couldn’t get through to him no matter what I said.
He moved me from the apartment to a hotel room. There was room service and multiple men at my door and inside it.
I’d been here for a week.
He only came at night.
Always sat in the chair, never coming to bed.
It was like being back at the island, only this was worse. I knew what to expect back there, but here, it was even harder.
The noises were an illusion.
I was scared. Someone had tried to kill me. An enemy of Earl tried to remove me from his life. In doing so, I saw the change in him. He wasn’t the same man.
That night, when he entered the hotel room, I knew something was going to happen before he even opened his mouth.
“Come here, Ashley.”
No hello. No asking how I was.
He’d sat through the doctor pulling out shards of glass that had been embedded in my body, tending to my bruises, and all he’d done was sit stoically as it happened.
No words.
No encouragement.
Just sat silently.
I’d hated every second of it.
Still did.
I had fallen for this man, and yet, I didn’t recognize him. No smirk. No smile. He was dead inside. His eyes gave it all away. There was nothing there.
“Earl, what’s going on?”
“Come here.”
No room to talk. An order. A strict instruction. The desire to deny him was so strong, but I knew he wasn’t ready for that. This was serious.
Getting to my feet, I walked closer to him.
I held myself perfectly still as he stroked his knuckles down my cheek. “This is for your own good.”
The next thing I felt was a sting, and I glanced down to see he held a syringe.
Instantly, my body got heavy. I felt sick. The world began spinning.
He spoke the words again.
“This is for your own good.”
Everything went black.
****
Everything felt heavy. My body wasn’t my own. My arms were full of lead to lift up and wipe at my eyes. Even my eyes felt sore. My lips were numb.
“Ashley,” Earl said.
Opening my eyes, I kept them open.
No blinding light. Darkness. It was night.
I tilted my head up and saw I was in a car, slumped in a seat but with the belt on. Slowly, my body began to work. I could move my arms but not quickly.
Everyth
ing around me seemed to be moving fast.
I reached up and rubbed at my eyes, looking out the car window. I knew this place. We were in the front yard of the Monsters’ main house. This was where we stayed when they were hunting the fathers.
Why were we back here?
“Good. You’re awake. I thought I’d given you too much of the sedative.”
I turned my head to look at Earl. He sat in the back with me. I noticed his driver didn’t turn to look.
“What is going on?” I asked.
“Simple. This is the end of the road. Our time together is finished. Your bags are already inside. Here is your passport and your purse.”
With each word he said, I grew more alert. Panic seized me.
“What?”
“I told you our time would come to an end, and now it has. Your friends are expecting you.”
I looked toward the door to see it open. Emily with her four men, and I turned back to Earl.
“You’re getting rid of me?”
“I told you this day would come. I’ve had my fun. You’re no longer a virgin. You hold no appeal, and to be honest, you’re boring me. You’re more trouble than you are worth.”
His words cut me to the core. Each word tearing a layer of confidence, crushing my heart.
I’d known it all along, but there had always been a shard of hope. A glimmer of promise.
“You don’t mean that.”
“Ashley, please don’t be a stupid woman now. I’ve enjoyed playing the hero and fucking you. You’re nice and tight, but like so many times before, I’m bored. I’ve grown tired of you, and I don’t intend to settle for one cunt. I’m not a one-woman man.”
“Is this because of what happened? None of that is your fault.”
“I knew I should have let you handle this, Ford,” Earl said.
“Would you like me to remove her from the vehicle?”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
“Ashley, you were good while you were what I wanted, but you’re just so…”
“Flawed? Wrong? Irritating? Bad for you?”
“Whichever one you need to pick to help you get through this. I don’t care, but I do need you to leave. I have work to do.” He pulled out his cell phone, and as easily as that, I was dismissed.
He was done with me, no longer wanted me.
I wasn’t surprised. This was a feeling I was so used to.