The Last Good Knight (Mills & Boon Spice) (The Original Sinners: The Red Years - short story): Scars and Stripes / Sore Spots / The Games Destiny Plays / Fit to Be Tied / The Last Good Night

by Reisz, Tiffany

  Lance smoothed the lubricant onto her inner lips but that wasn’t the only part of her that got his attention. He pressed two fingers of one hand into her anally and then three fingers of his other hand into her vagina. Working in tandem, both hands massaged inside her as she panted and moaned into the sheets. She felt split open and violated and loved every second of it.

  Lance pressed down and pushed up inside her and Nora flinched from the pleasure. Working his fingers in wide spirals, he scraped her inner walls with just enough pressure to send her to the edge of ecstasy again. A fourth finger pushing into her sent her right over. She dug her hands into the sheets and came hard and loud.

  Carefully Lance pulled out of her as she crumbled onto the bed, spent and laughing.

  “Oh, my God...” she breathed, rolling onto her back. “I think you killed me. Am I dead? You can talk again.”

  “You’re not dead.”

  “That’s a relief. I have stuff to do.”

  “I don’t want to go prison for killing you with orgasms. I’d really never get to see my kid again.”

  Nora laughed, low and tired. “All you would have to do is give the women of the jury orgasms like that and you’d get a life sentence chained to their bed.”

  “I’d rather spend my life chained to your bed.”

  Lance crawled over Nora’s spent body and kissed her long and deep. He pulled back and she looked up at him.

  “I gotta get some damn chains.”

  They napped again and when Nora woke up she found the bed empty. She didn’t worry. Lance could be in the bathroom, in the kitchen. She hadn’t given him permission to leave so she knew she would find him somewhere in the house.

  She dragged herself from her bed and picked her gray robe off the floor.

  A pleasant sort of soreness suffused her hips and lower back. Sex with both Søren and Lance in less than twenty-four hours? She knew some people might disapprove but she couldn’t care less. In fact, she decided she deserved a medal for her distinguished sexual service to mankind. At least a Purple Something to match her purple bruises.

  Quietly and on bare feet, she padded down the stairs following the sound of Lance’s voice. He seemed to be on the phone somewhere so she didn’t want to interrupt. She’d much rather eavesdrop.

  She found him in her kitchen sitting at the table wearing nothing but his jeans again. He had his cell phone to his ear and his back to the door.

  “How’s school going?” he asked. “Do you like your teacher?”

  He paused and Nora smiled, knowing his daughter was on the other end of the line.

  “That’s good. She sounds nice. Whose birthday was it?”

  Again a pause.

  “That sounds like so much fun,” he agreed, his voice going so soft and tender Nora’s heart tightened as if someone had wrapped a fist around it. “I’m jealous. I want to play in a bouncy house, too.”

  Lance listened again for a moment.

  “No, Daddy can’t come to your school party. I know, baby. I know. Daddy’s so sorry he can’t make it...No, don’t be mad at Mommy, this isn’t her fault. She wants you to be happy, too.”

  Nora covered her mouth with her hand to silence her tears. She saw Lance’s back heaving as he raised a hand to his face. She couldn’t stand seeing men cry—not unless it was in her dungeon. Her own father hadn’t give two shits about her. Oh, he’d put on a good act, an act she’d believe for sixteen years until he finally showed his true colors. But she knew in her heart he’d never cared enough about her to shed a single tear over her. He hadn’t even tried for joint custody when her parents divorced. That should have been her first sign that her dad hadn’t wanted her. If he’d once sat at a kitchen table on the phone in the dark weeping because he couldn’t see her, she would have forgiven him everything.

  “I’ll send you a present,” Lance promised his daughter. “Anything you want. As long as it’s not a pony. Or a puppy.”

  He laughed softly at whatever she answered.

  “Okay, not a kitten, either,” he said. “Do you want anything that isn’t alive and walks around on four legs? Maybe I’ll just surprise you.”

  Lance fell silent again as Lance’s daughter apparently took control of the conversation, likely listing everything she wanted for her birthday.

  “Be a good girl for Daddy,” he whispered. “I’ll see you as soon as I can, I promise...I love you, too, my Maya.”

  Lance ended the call and put the phone on the table in front of him. Nora took a deep breath, one deep enough he heard it and spun around.

  “Get dressed,” Nora ordered. “We’re going to the city.”

  “What are we doing?” he asked, standing up and coming to her.

  “We’re doing what I’m always doing—breaking the rules.”

  She was the Dominant in this relationship so she didn’t have to explain anything. She gave the orders. Lance followed them. Life was simpler in a D/s relationship.

  Wait...Nora stopped in the middle of shoving her feet into shoes. Had she really just used the word “relationship”? Yes. Yes, she had. But only in her mind, she comforted herself. Didn’t count until she said it out loud. And a “relationship” wasn’t that scary, was it? She had a working relationship with her hair stylist. She had an adversarial relationship with her dentist. Relationship wasn’t a dirty word. Nothing to be afraid of. Not like it was monogamy.

  Still, she kept her guard up as she and Lance drove into New York. She refused to tell him where they were going, knowing Lance would probably try to talk her out of it.

  “Are you going to at least tell me what rule we’re breaking this evening?” Lance asked as they made their way through Manhattan traffic.

  “Kingsley has a rule,” she said as she turned onto the street she’d been seeking. “More of a guideline. No...it’s definitely a rule. He runs the show, he’s the king. We, his lovely employees, are his ambassadors to his kingdom. And often we’re his bait. My clients are very wealthy, very powerful, very influential and important. Kingsley says that these people honor us with a sacred trust. We provide them a valuable service that the rest of the world doesn’t quite understand and in return they pay us exorbitant sums of money. And sometimes they pay us with more than money.”

  “Like what?”

  “Information, assistance...the usual. But Kingsley wants to handle that sort of stuff. We ambassadors just put on a good face for the empire. But I’m cutting Kingsley out. I need to ask a favor of a client.”

  “Two questions—what client? And will you get in trouble for this?”

  “Two answers—Judge Bollingen,” she said as they pulled into the side street near his house and parked. “And yes, big trouble.”

  * * * * *

  The Last Good Knight

  Part V: The Last Good Night

  Tiffany Reisz

  An Original Sinners Story

  Told in Five Parts

  The Last Good Knight: An Original Sinners novella told in five parts.

  Part V: The Last Good Night

  Now that the perpetrator has been apprehended, Nora sadly acknowledges she doesn’t need a bodyguard anymore. She adores Lance and wants to keep him but is faced with a dilemma—if she uses her connections to help Lance, she’ll have to give him up forever....

  Contents

  The Last Good Night

  Acknowledgments

  Nora marched right up to the judge’s front door and rang the bell.

  “Nora, I don’t want you getting into trouble for me.” Lance took her hand. “Let’s go. I can figure my own problems out.”

  “You can go if you want, but I’m staying. I’m not happy unless I’m getting in trouble. Don’t you want me to be happy?” She gave him her most ingratiating, innocent, and utterly
fake smile.

  “You’re evil.”

  “Well...obviously.” She patted him on the cheek as patronizingly as she could. Mrs. B. opened the door and gave Nora a look of surprise.

  “Hello there, dear. I didn’t think you had an appointment tonight.” Mrs. B. ushered Nora and Lance inside.

  “No appointment. Is the judge home? I need to talk to him about a legal issue.”

  “Did you get arrested again?” Mrs. B looked like a worried mother hen.

  “No, I promise. Not this week. Not yet, anyway.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Mrs. B said. “The judge is in his office. Go on in.”

  Nora thanked the woman, and she and Lance headed back down the hall. Nora found Judge B at his desk, his nose buried in a massive legal tome. He gave her a beatific smile as she walked in.

  “Miss Nora, what brings you here?” He came around his desk, and kissed Nora on the cheek.

  “I need a favor, Judge. Or maybe just legal advice.”

  “Did you get arrested again?” he asked, giving her a stern look.

  “Why does everyone always ask me that? Don’t answer that,” she said. “Judge B., this is Lance. He’s my bodyguard, and he’s got a problem. Tell him your problem, Sailor.”

  “I’m all ears,” Judge B said, motioning Nora and Lance to sit. They moved books off the chairs and sat down while the judge sat on the edge of the desk and gave them his full attention.

  Lance told the judge the same story he’d told Nora—the quick marriage, the deployment, the daughter, the wound in his back and the surgeries, the wife who’d withheld sex, the pornography and the custody fight, the only fight Lance had ever lost.

  The judge nodded as he listened, asked a few questions here and there. At the end they all sat in silence waiting for the judge’s verdict.

  “Son...” the judge finally said, “you got screwed.”

  Lance laughed and shook his head. “I did and it was the worst sex I ever had.”

  “All this over some porn?” Judge B. sounded disgusted. “Who doesn’t watch porn?”

  “Blind people?” Nora offered her best and only guess. “And Lance wasn’t even watching the really good porn.”

  “Subspace.com?” the judge asked, sound disappointed. Personal experience, no doubt.

  “That. Can’t stand that tame shit,” Nora said. “The good stuff’s on Kinkster.com.”

  “It’s pay-per-view, though,” Judge B. said.

  “But it’s worth every penny. They’ve got the best group sex vid on there. Lots of feet action.”

  “Can you send me the link?”

  “Excuse me,” Lance interjected. “Are we talking about my legal situation or where to find the best kinky porn?”

  “Why can’t we talk about both?” Nora asked Lance who replied with only a glare. “Fine, back on subject. So Lance got screwed. What can he do about it?”

  The judge adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

  “I can help. Definitely. If everything you’ve told me is true—”

  “It is,” Lance said.

  “Then there is some hope. I know the judge you had—Hawkins? Hate that self-righteous bastard. He sides with the mothers in 95 percent of his cases no matter what the circumstances. I can suggest a good attorney, and we’ll get your case moved to another judge. We’ll have to petition the court for a new hearing based on new circumstances—”

  “What new circumstances?” Lance asked. “Nothing’s really changed.”

  “Considering your fitness as a parent was called into question, you’ll probably need a psychiatric evaluation, a thorough one. Once the psych eval clears you of being an unfit parent, then you’ll have plenty of ammunition in your fight.”

  “I can do that, definitely. You think it’ll work?”

  The judge nodded. “Yes. Once we get you in a new courtroom, which I can handle, and your attorney presents your psych eval and any other new evidence...should at least get you joint custody.”

  “That’s all I want. I don’t want to take Maya from her mom.”

  “That attitude is the right one to have. This battle is for your daughter, not against your ex-wife. A bad attitude can doom a case. But speaking of dooming a case...”

  Judge B. turned his gaze from Lance and onto Nora.

  “What?” Nora asked. “What did I do this time?”

  “You exist,” Judge B. said.

  “That’s not my fault,” Nora said. “I didn’t ask to be born. Which is good because my mother probably would have said no.”

  The judge gave a tired, nervous laugh.

  “My dear...I could not be more grateful that you exist,” he said. “But am I correct in assuming this young man is slightly more than just a bodyguard?”

  “We did have sex today. A lot of it,” she admitted without shame.

  “That’s going to be an issue.” The judge looked from Nora to Lance. Nora felt her stomach starting to tighten with fear.

  “How much of an issue?” Lance reached out and took Nora’s hand. The touch comforted her, but her stomach remained taut with worry.

  “A big one. This beautiful young lady lives and works on the outskirts of legality. She assaults people for money and is paid in cash, probably under the table.”

  “I take the Fifth.” Nora’s stomach knot twisted tighter.

  “Does he know the rest?” the judge asked her and Nora winced.

  “No. Not yet.”

  “There’s a rest?” Lance looked at her with a gaze that said “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” “You mean more than you being a professional Dominatrix?”

  “Sort of,” she said.

  “More than sort of.” The judge walked over to his bookcase and ran his hands along the spines. He pulled out a rather battered-looked paperback novel. Nora held her breath. “Here you go, son. Ever read the books by this lovely lady?”

  Lance stared at the cover. “The Runaway by...Nora Sutherlin. Nora, you write books?”

  “I am exercising my right to remain silent.”

  “Guilty on all charges. And I might throw the book at you.” Judge B. tossed her book at her. “Even if no one in the courtroom knew about Miss Nora’s moonlighting as a Dominatrix, it’s public record that she’s an erotica writer.”

  “I had no idea you were famous,” Lance said, looking both impressed and concerned.

  “I’m a writer. I’m the opposite of famous.”

  “Infamous,” the judge supplied. “Shall I tell him what the book’s about or will you?”

  “I write my own copy all the time. I’ll do it. It’s loosely based on the story of Daphne and Apollo, except in this case Daphne is a sixteen-year-old girl who lives in a group home and is being pursued by the handsome older off-duty cop who accidentally killed her violent twin brother while restraining him during a fight. It’s actually a sweet love story. You know, apart from all the statutory rape.”

  Lance buried his face in his hands.

  “In a child custody case, everything is evidence including the works of fiction written by the father’s new girlfriend.”

  “You’re not helping my case here, Judge B.” Nora pointed her finger at him. He raised his hands in surrender.

  “You wanted the truth and my help. I’m simply telling it like it is.” The judge sighed heavily. “Of course, it does get worse.”

  “Worse?” Lance’s eyes widened in horror. “What’s worse?”

  “The lovely Miss Nora works for Kingsley Edge who I assume you also work for, yes?”

  “Yes,” Lance said, his lips tightening into a thin line of worry.

  “Kingsley Edge is the last person in this city you want to be involved with when fighting for custody of a child. No matter his virtues as an individual, h
is enterprise is slightly... What’s the word I’m looking for?”

  “Illegal,” Nora said, swallowing a hard knot in the throat.

  “More than that,” the judge continued, “it’s dangerous. With that much money involved, that many important people who have a lot to lose are involved...let’s just say it’s not going reflect well on you to be on his payroll.”

  “So I quit the job?” Lance asked. Nora could hear the disappointment in his words, the reluctance.

  “You’ll have to if you want your daughter back. You’re no longer in the Navy?”

  “No. Medical discharge. Honorable discharge,” he said.

  “Were you awarded any medals?”

  “Maybe,” he said and left it at that.

  “That’s good. I can make sure we get you a new judge, a judge who has a military background. As a veteran, a wounded and decorated veteran, you should have a very good chance for equal custody. Have you considered rejoining the Navy?”

  “Not really an option. I was offered a job in defense contracting from a company that works with the Navy in Rhode Island.”

  “With SPECWAR?” Nora asked.

  Lance narrowed his eyes at her. “How do you know about that?”

  Nora mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key.

  “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” She had a rather important client there she would hate to piss off. Damn good tipper.

  “How’s the pay?” the judge asked Lance.

  “Stellar. But it’s a desk job. I like to be active. That’s why I wanted to work for Kingsley running security at his clubs, helping people in a hands-on way. Sitting in front of a computer isn’t my idea of serving people.”

  “It might be worth swallowing your pride over. Getting your paycheck from a legitimate employer will reflect much better on you than a paycheck from Kingsley Edge. There’s no bones about it, young man. I can get you in front of a sympathetic judge, I can help you find a good lawyer, I can tell you which psychologist to call for your psych eval, but the rest is up to you. If you want your daughter back, you’re going to have to say goodbye to this world, goodbye to your job with Kingsley and goodbye to Mistress Nora.”