by Malone, Nana
Somebody reached for me and put a hand on my shoulder. I grabbed it and twisted, lifting and popping it right off my shoulder., Then I put both hands back on Robert’s gut, trying to stop the bleeding. “Somebody call an ambulance. We need a doctor.”
It felt like an eternity. I was shouting orders. I was screaming. I knew it was a futile effort, but I had to try. Robert was the only one who could give us real answers.
Someone had stabbed him and just like that, my hands were covered in blood. And the one person who could help us, who could give us the answers we needed, lay dying in my arms.
* * *
Sebastian
From the far corner of the room, I watched my wife sleep. Thankfully, she was just sleeping. It could have been much, much worse. She could have been killed or seriously hurt. Anything could have happened to her.
With a rustle of the sheets, she rolled over and gave me a soft smile. “Sebastian?”
I shook unable to speak.
“You want to talk about it?”
I shook my head.
“You want to make love before we talk? I for one would really like that.”
Fuck, I wanted to. But I still couldn’t form any words that wouldn’t come out with a roar. I was too angry. Too terrified.
She pushed the sheets off, sauntering over in her midriff-baring tank and short shorts. She pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. “Okay, I’m going to grab a shower. Maybe you want to join me.” She continued on to the bathroom, and I heard the shower turn on.
I might have been frozen in my fear, but I still couldn’t help but turn to watch her walk away. Even with makeup smudges under eyes and her hair a wild tangle of curls, I wanted her.
I’d spent those harrowing moments at the courthouse not knowing if she’d be okay or not. I had almost lost her. Almost been doomed to a life of desolation and loneliness. In the blink of an eye, my queen, my Len, could have been gone.
All because she wanted to reclaim part of herself.
If I had trusted her, if she’d been open with me, could I have done more to keep her safe? A need to do some serious violence was still coursing through me. I needed to let the tension out before I could talk to her.
But I was also furious with her. How could she not tell me that she planned to accompany Robert’s transport team to the courthouse? The deal was that she talk to him. Convince him to talk. Not something like this. How could she keep putting herself in harm's way? It was like she had a death wish. Or didn’t care that I'd be shredded if something happened to her.
After all that, she was standing in front of me asking me to fuck her before we talked? Shit. I was so fucked up. But I needed her too. There was no way I was turning her down. I prayed I had the control she needed from me.
I followed her into the shower, ripping off my clothes with jerky stiff movements. When I opened the glass door and stepped inside, she didn’t even look surprised. In fact, she looked like she’d expected me to follow.
"Turn around." My voice still held the gravel of emotions unspoken.
She complied with no resistance, bracing herself against the wall, the shower spray soaking her hair. Water sluiced down her arched back, and her ass canted upward as if on offer from the gods.
With one swift step forward, my cock twitched against her, and I adjusted my hips so that I nudged her cleft.
My name came out of her mouth on a whisper, and she pushed back against me. I didn’t need the lube I kept in the shower. She was wet, slick for me as if she'd been waiting for me.
She moved her hips back a little further and my dick slid into her silken depths easily.
Home. Fuck.
Reaching around her body, my hand sliding down her taught belly, I slid my fingers into her slick folds, seeking her clit. When I found it, I pressed gently and rubbed circles with a slow, well-practiced precision.
"Oh, Sebastian. OhmyGod. OhmyGod. OhmyGod."
Her inner walls milked me tight as the blissful spread of my orgasm started in my toes, and I leaned into the release, desperate for it. Desperate to bond with her as always. But the more I chased the orgasm, the more elusive it became.
Gritting my teeth, I sank into her hard enough to make her gasp, and my fingers dug into her flesh, pinning her in place. I ripped another orgasm from her, never yielding on my motions over her clit.
"Oh God. Please Sebastian, I can’t take any more."
"Yes, you can," I growled through clenched teeth. She’d terrified me, and she was telling me she couldn’t take any more orgasms? Like hell I’d accept that. "Give me another one." But even as I insisted on pulling another one from her, I felt nothing. I knew there was no release waiting for me on the other side. The orgasm I'd been chasing had dissipated into thin air.
You almost lost her.
Closing my eyes tight, I pictured her smiling face as she danced around the living room. I thought about the way she chewed on her bottom lip when she was painting and the way she voraciously attacked food. And the fact that there was still almost always paint on her somewhere.
The problem was that thinking about all the reasons I loved her only made me harder, made me throb more. Made my skin tighter. Fuck. I forced myself to pull out, even as my cock protested.
“Sebastian,” she begged.
I dropped my forehead to her shoulder and kissed her. "Yes, Len?" The endearment slid off my tongue with ease. I reached over and grabbed the lube. It looked like I would be needing it after all. I wanted all of her tonight. Needed all of her. I had to find some way to erase the memory of what happened earlier in the courtroom.
Gently, I pressed a lube-slicked finger between the seam of her ass, rubbing it over the tight pucker and pressing slightly. She gasped at first, then moaned my name as my finger slid past the tight ring of muscle.
I was barely able to tear the words out of my throat. But I would rather die than hurt her. "You okay?"
Penny nodded even as her eyes fluttered closed. Neither of us spoke. Only the sound of the water hitting the tiles and our panting filled the silence. I readied her gently, taking my time, adding one finger, then another, stretching her. I was careful with her, even though I was way past the point of desperation.
“I need all of you tonight. After what happened—” Fuck, I couldn’t even say it to her. I just needed to feel like she was real. Like she was all mine. Lining my cock up to her now-slick asshole, I pressed. She tensed, and I stilled. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her. When she turned her head to face me again, she bit her lip. The look of need in her eyes softened some of the hard edges driving me on, and I kissed her lips.
When she relaxed, her body softened, and the head of my cock slid in easily.
Fuuuck, that was good. Too good.
Reaching around her, I held on to her breast with one hand and stimulated her clit with the other. The tight grip of her ass on my dick hurtled me toward that release that I chased. But the deeper I sank into her, the harder the demons rode my back, taunting me.
She could have died.
I gritted my teeth and held her close. In the distant echo of my mind, I heard her chanting my name over and over and over again as I slowly fucked her ass. My body surged into hers, taking her, claiming her.
Her orgasm slammed through her, and I grunted when her body fisted around me like a vise, spasming around me over and over again as she rode the wave. Penny went limp in my hands. But my hard-on still raged, throbbing and aching and wanting more. With long, measured strokes I fucked her ass, barely keeping hold of the slippery grip I had on my control.
Her voice was soft when she called my name on a moan. "Sebastian. I love you. I love you." She repeated it over and over and over again, bonding me to her with her words until the control slipped right out of my hands.
With a grunt, I fisted one hand in her hair and intertwined the fingers of my other hand with hers on the wall.
She lowered our joined hands to her clit and we stroked together. I followed her
lead happily and reveled in the slickness coating both of our fingers. She came again, her body sagging against the wall. And finally, I followed suit, my cock pulsing and expanding with each shot of my release deep inside her.
25
penny
A week after the incident at the courthouse, I was summoned to Sebastian’s office formally. Normally, he’d just send me an eggplant emoji and wait not so patiently for me to send him dirty pictures back.
But things were different now. We’d been talking, working through his fear and my need to see this craziness through to the end. I’d seen the devastation on his face after losing his father. There was no way I could just sit on the sidelines and paint pretty pictures. The warrior inside me had been woken. I had to fight to protect my family.
I thought we were starting to bridge the only gap we had in our union. In the last week we’d felt more like ourselves. Completely honest and far less tense. We’d at least been talking about the elephant in the room in the last week. But a formal summons spelled trouble.
When I walked in and saw him sitting behind the massive oak desk in the masculine but minimal office, my heart skipped. I still got a kick out of watching him. To me, he would always be Sebastian, my sexy neighbor who I had to convince to become friends with me and the man I eventually fell in love with. He would just always be that guy who taught me how to make drinks, taught me how to bartend, and taught me to follow my dreams.
But now, he was also a king. And you hold the key to his heart.
Others were there when I arrived. Lucas, my dad, Roone, Marcus, Matthias, and Oskar. Oskar kept flashing me that wicked grin. The guy was such a jokester. You wouldn’t think it because he was as tall as a tree and at first looked stern and formidable. But he was hilarious, always making everyone laugh with whatever outrageous thing he could say.
Matthias smiled more genuinely, but I could tell he didn’t laugh often. And when it came to getting down to business, he was all business. Next to me, close to the door, sat Marcus. I turned to him, “You know what’s going on?”
He shook his head. “No. I figured since you’re the queen, you would know better than anyone.”
Queen. That word. It still made me nervous. Didn’t these people know that I had no business being queen? “No, I wish. Sebastian was tight lipped about this. I assumed he called us all in here to tell you guys that I was never to leave the palace again.”
He tsked. “Been sneaking out again have you?”
“I plead the fifth. “
He laughed. “You do realize that’s not allowed here, right?”
“Yeah, whatever,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Sebastian cleared his throat, and everyone quieted immediately. “So, we’ve got the preliminary autopsy report on Robert. Weapons were knives. Matthias has been kind enough to list the possible options here. He was stabbed twice. Once in the carotid, the other in the sternum and then sliced down.”
I winced. God, what a horrible way to die. It had been a week since the stabbing and murder of Robert. Sometimes, I swore I could see it happening in the hallway. Or worse, I could see my hands over his wounds trying to stem the flow of blood.
Sebastian continued. “The autopsy won’t yield much that we don’t already know. Except oddly, there was patch of skin missing on his wrist, right there.” Sebastian indicated his right wrist.
I frowned. “That’s where Robert’s tattoo was.”
Sebastian lifted his gaze to me. “What?”
I nodded. “Check his prison file. He had a tattoo. A dagger of some sort. It had an M on it. I feel like that should mean something. I’ve seen it somewhere before. I know I have. I keep meaning to go through the history books and see if that symbol has any meaning. I just don’t know.”
Sebastian frowned as he stared down at the file. “Yeah, do we know for sure if it was removed during the attack or before he even left lockup?”
My dad spoke up then. “No. I spoke to the medical examiner. She says that the skin was removed quickly. It could have happened at the courthouse, but it could also have happened at the jail. We just don’t know. But whoever stabbed him took a hell of a risk. We were all sitting right there.”
I stared harder. “Guys, I swear, I’ve seen that dagger somewhere before.”
Sebastian frowned. “Okay, when you remember, just let me know.”
I rubbed my temple. God, why couldn’t I remember? Because you keep seeing all the blood on your hands. Breathe. I took several deep inhales. And then it occurred to me. I turned to Marcus. “Don’t you have a dagger tattoo?”
Marcus’s eyes went wide. “Excuse me?”
“You know, your tattoo. The royal crest with a dagger. I’ve seen it.”
Marcus shook his head. “I’m so sorry your majesty. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I frowned. Why was he lying? “It’s right there on your chest. The Winston Isles crest with a dagger dead center.”
Marcus glanced around. “Your Majesty, I assure you—"
I didn’t even see him, he moved so quickly. Before I knew it, he had an arm around my neck and was dragging me to a standing position.
Sebastian was over the desk in a second. But Roone grabbed him, covered him, and tried to pull him back. They were too evenly matched, and Sebastian evaded his grasp.
Turned out Matthias was some kind of ninja because he had my husband covered. He grabbed hold of his arm and had Sebastian gently pressed against the bookshelf while simultaneously putting himself between Sebastian and danger. When I glanced down at his arm, I noticed the blade he’d palmed.
Jesus Christ, who moved that fast?
“You fucker. Let her go.” Lucas came for me too. But Oskar stepped in front of him and dragged him back, which left my father, who was already pulling his service weapon out and aiming at Marcus.
“Son, you don’t want to do this. What has Penny ever done to you?” He was as calm as I’d ever heard him. Flat emotionless.
Marcus, however, sounded stressed the fuck out, his breathing heavy in my ear. “God, you people. You’ve been so clueless and so fucking stupid for years. When you all get together it’s like the Scooby gang. If you’d just locked him up and left him alone, this wouldn’t have to happen.”
I struggled against his hold, remembering to tuck my chin so I could keep breathing. He attempted to tighten his hold around my neck as he pulled me back, but there was no way I was going to let that happen.
“You’re such a prick,” I muttered.
“Yeah, I’m sure you think so, my queen.”
For years, my father had worked with me on my close-combat training. I was pretty decent. I didn’t have any particular special skills. I wasn’t a hacker like Ariel. I didn’t excel in intelligence work like my brother did. But in close combat, I wasn’t bad. I didn’t have Annabelle because Sebastian had insisted that it wouldn’t do for the queen to carry her gun all over the palace. But thankfully, I was also a daddy’s girl. I listened and knew to always bring a backup weapon.
Marcus dragged me back, and I continued to struggle. “Why are you doing this?”
“To put the rightful heir on the throne.”
I sent an elbow backward, and he oofed. But it wasn’t enough. His hold was too strong. My father’s gun remained trained on Marcus. “Take the shot, Dad.”
But for the life of me, he hesitated. The hell? Matthias, looking deadly as hell, was poised and watching for his opening. Marcus was backing the hell up, and I needed out. Under my belt, I reached for the one thing I hadn’t ever thought I would need. The knife that I kept tucked in there. I carefully slid it out and tried to keep him calm. “Look Marcus, whatever it is—"
“Shut up,” he spat.
That only incited more struggling from Sebastian. “You fuckers let me go. She’s my wife.”
Hell no. He’d only get himself killed so I gave a counter command. “You guys keep holding him tight. Marcus, you don’t have to do this.”
; “Yes, I do. I will see the rightful heir put on the throne. There’s no way we’ll allow a bastard on a throne of these islands.”
Lucas scowled. “You’re supposed to be my friend. What the hell? I swear to god I will hunt you down.”
“You’re a spoiled child. And you never take security seriously, so I don’t really think you’re any threat.”
I sighed and inhaled deeply. It was now or never. “No, maybe not, but I am.” I sent the knife back into his thigh. He howled and loosened his grip. I pulled the knife out in seconds and whipped around, palming it like I’d been taught. Then slicing in a wide arc, I jabbed him directly in the neck.
He went down and released me, shoving me backward. I landed flat on my ass, but I used the fall break and at least didn’t hurt myself. Matthias was on him in seconds. He didn’t even look at me as he said, “Nice slice.” My father was on me in seconds checking me over.
Marcus flailed and staggered back, his hands flying to where the knife was. Matthias eased him back. “I wouldn’t touch that blade, if I were you. If you move it, you’ll bleed out. But that would serve you right after what you just tried.”
Roone and Oskar finally let go of Lucas and Sebastian. Sebastian came straight to me, and Lucas went for Marcus. But Weller already had him, and Oskar went back to holding Lucas off of him. Oskar was making a phone call for more guards to take Marcus to the med bay. We might have lost Robert, but at least we had someone else to try and get answers from now.
Sebastian wrapped his arms around me. “Jesus woman. At this rate with the number of years you’ve taken off my life, we only have five good years left.”
“As if this one was my fault. I’m the one he was dragging out of here, remember?”
“But you couldn’t wait until you were say a safe ten feet from him to start prodding him?”
“This is my job. It’s part of who I am.”
He held me tight. “I’ll never get used to it. Please, stop trying to kill yourself in my presence.”