Wild: Savannah Heirs

by June, CoraLee

  “Judge Palmisano!” my brother yelled. The plump judge went rigid. “Go get me a drink, will you?” he asked.

  Aaron grabbed his throat, his brow furrowing in confusion as he started to wheeze slightly.

  Now it was Palmisano who looked like he wanted to punch Godfrey in the face, but his shoulders slumped. A few seconds of indecision ticked by, but sure enough, the judge relented. “Sure,” he murmured begrudgingly before dragging his feet towards the bar cart.

  Aaron started coughing quietly some more, trying to clear his throat.

  “Hey, Chief?” Luis called out towards the police chief. “Mind moving my car? I think it’s blocking Aaron’s shitty SUV, and he’s going to need to leave soon.”

  We all turned to look at the blushing Police Chief, whose pride was currently leaking out of his chest. “Sure thing, Mr. Salvador,” he replied through gritted teeth before waltzing over to Luis, collecting his keys and disappearing outside.

  One by one, Godfrey and Luis sent every politician and political figure here on an errand, flexing their influence with mediocre tasks until the house was cleared—aside from a swelling Aaron and my family. Mama looked pale and rushed to sit down, biting on her nails as she watched her son. Part of me wondered if this was what she expected when she raised a ruthless Heir. Guess she never expected him to flex that cruel power in front of her. Granddaddy was so angry that he trembled while Aaron Carmichael’s eyes stormed with unspoken revenge, even as he started to rub his throat and work his jaw. Perfect. We’d cut open his pride, and pretty soon he’d suffocate on it, too.

  “Is something wrong, Aaron?” I asked as he moved to sit. His eyes were swelling, his breathing had grown too shallow.

  He frantically clawed at his neck. “I-allergic…” He was turning an ugly shade of red.

  Mama gasped and started fumbling for her cell phone. “We need to call 911!” she shouted.

  Granddaddy whirled around to face me. “Help him, Royal. Something’s obviously wrong.”

  I tilted my head to the side before walking over to Aaron, crouching lower so I could eye him as life fled his face. I knew an ambulance wouldn’t get here in time. “It looks like he’s allergic to something. Are you struggling to breathe, Aaron?” My voice was clinical and cruel.

  “Y-yes,” he choked out on a whisper while fumbling for his phone. I took it from his grasp.

  “Epi… Car.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t understand what you’re saying, Dr. Carmichael.”

  “Can’t br…”

  “You can’t breathe? Yeah, that sounds about right. Kind of like Mrs. Almendarez, huh?” I replied in a whisper, and watched as his eyes widened in realization. “It’s a shame I’m such a terrible nurse. Maybe I would have been able to help you.”

  Rage morphed his face, turning him even redder than before. He reached behind him for the gun, but his eyes widened when he realized it wasn’t there. That surprise turned to volatile violence, and the next thing I knew, his hand shot out, and he wrapped it around my throat, squeezing so tightly that it immediately cut off my air supply. I grew panicked and dizzy but held strong as people rushed around me. Luis tried to yank him back, but Aaron remained firm, adrenaline and revenge giving him the extra strength he needed to suffocate me.

  Aaron’s strangled breathing hissed out, and I stared into his face, watching the villain of my life mottle with impending death. He’d brought so much terror, so much anxiety, so much distress to my life. I loathed him. I looked into his dark, wide eyes as he took his last breath, and I felt no sympathy for him. He stalked me, framed me, threated me, tried to rape me. And he’d done it to at least one other girl, too. The world would be a better place without him.

  It wasn’t until his breathing completely stopped that his grip finally loosened, and Luis tore him away from me. I breathed in glorious oxygen and stared down at him as sirens in the distance filled my ears. We all surrounded him, looking down at his frozen form as time seemed to stand still.

  Finally, Luis broke the silence. “Huh. Did you serve peanuts, Mrs. Taylor? I think you might have killed him,” Luis told Mama casually before taking a drink and tossing the glass on the floor near Aaron’s feet. Shards of glass scattered, brushing against my ankles. I reached up to test Aaron’s pulse.

  Nothing. Dead. Gone.

  My mama covered her mouth and screamed as Luis wrapped his arm around my waist. I probably should have felt something like revulsion at what I’d done, or shock, or guilt, but the only emotion rising to the surface was relief.

  I stepped up to Luis’s side and grabbed his face, searing a kiss on his lips and sealing my fate. Luis melted into me, fisting my hair for good measure. When I pulled away, I turned to face my family. Godfrey nodded, encouraging me to finish this.

  “This is over,” I whispered, though it felt like a shout. The sirens grew louder.

  No one said anything. Granddaddy’s face was pink and purple with rage. In contrast, my mama had lost all color, despite the makeup caked over her cheeks. Gigi was downing more champagne in her seat on her wingback chair. Godfrey had his arm around Rachel, who I noticed was breaking all kinds of rules by wearing tight leather pants and a midriff top. If my dad were still alive, he’d already be throwing punches, forcing my brother to submit.

  Aaron was the life of the party, sitting pretty and dead in his seat.

  I took a deep breath, feeling like a butterfly coming out of the dark confines of her cocoon. I meant what I said. This was over. I was done. The ambulance was just down the street, and it would take Aaron’s body away so I’d never have to see him again.

  We headed for the door, Godfrey following behind us with Rachel tucked under his arm. “Where are you going?” Mama sobbed at her precious son’s back. “There’s a dead man in my formal living room!”

  I snorted at her concerns about her precious reputation.

  “Yeah, the asshole doesn’t do anything for your decor,” Luis quipped.

  Godfrey paused but didn’t bother to turn around and speak to her. “I go wherever Royal goes,” he replied. Appreciation and love swelled inside of me. He might be an asshole, but Godfrey was the best damn brother in the world.

  “Lovely party,” Forty-Four said cheerfully as he came into the room and walked past my mama. “Gotta watch that peanut dish next time though, make sure your guests read the labels carefully. People will put just about anything in their mouths these days.”

  Mama gaped at him. Forty-Four winked at me as he went past, whistling with his waiter coat slung over his shoulder as he walked out the front door.

  Luis and I followed behind him, with the rest of my family at my heels.

  “Godfrey, stay here. I can’t do this alone! People will talk!” Mama called behind us.

  “I’ll pass.”

  “Godfrey, don’t walk out on your mother,” Granddaddy reprimanded.

  I tried not to let it bother me how much they pleaded with my brother, and yet they were quick to exile me.

  “Why? You gonna take away my trust fund too? Oh, wait. You can’t because I already have mine,” Godfrey deadpanned.

  They chose to ignore that.

  “Royal, if you leave now, you’re through, you hear me?” Granddaddy shouted at my back on the front porch. “You can say goodbye to your trust fund.” I kept walking, which only enraged him more. “You’re a disgrace to the Taylor name. You don’t deserve to be a Taylor with the way that you behave. From here on out, you’re no longer a part of this family.”

  His words whipped across my back, making me stiffen, but I laughed humorlessly and looked at him over my shoulder. “This family is fucked up anyway.”

  “Ouch,” Godfrey teased with mock hurt.

  “Except you,” I assured him, as Luis tugged open the front door and led us outside. “You’re a different kind of fucked up.”

  “She’s got you there,” Rachel smirked. Godfrey pinched her on her leather-clad ass.

  The sirens were my battle cry as
I walked out on everyone that had ever hurt me.

  I knew they wanted to break me. Punish me. Bend me to their will until my spine was curled in a kneel of submission. But didn’t they know? Couldn’t they see it in the way my eyes didn’t lower? I was Royal Fucking Taylor, and I was just as much an Heir as my brother. I was a blade. I was my boyfriend’s Majesty, and the only fucking person I would ever get on my knees for was Luis.

  Epilogue

  “I really feel like you’re missing a glorious opportunity, mi amor. Are you sure you don’t want me to strip for this photoshoot?” Luis asked while leaning back in Bonham’s family garden, a rose perched between his white teeth.

  “I don’t think my photography teacher would appreciate that,” I joked.

  “Are you sure? I saw him checking out my ass at the class gallery showing.”

  I snapped another picture as I laughed at the mischievous look on his face. Despite what I’d said, Luis Salvador was the perfect subject, I had more photos of him than of anything else, including nudes.

  I signed up for a semester class at the local community college. It was easy enough, just an introductory course for photography. Turns out, I had a knack for it. Luis told me he wanted me to take all promotional photos for the Salvador bars and restaurants, but I wasn’t quite at that level yet. I was just enjoying feeling passionate about something that I got to do by choice.

  My assignment this time was to get some outdoor shots with a live model, and Bonham’s place had some of the best trees in Savannah. Old, huge, with the perfect amount of shade and sunlight filtering between the leaves.

  “Are you almost done yet?” Bonham huffed.

  He was sitting on a lawn chair behind me, nursing a beer that had to be the temperature of piss by now while glaring at us. I’d practically forced him to come outside, mostly because I was concerned about all the time he was spending in bed. Bonham Brodie was depressed, and none of us knew how to pull him out of it. But we kept trying anyway.

  “Why don’t you go pose with Luis?” I teased, knowing that would shut him up. “Or better yet, stay right there. You look grumpy, and it would be great for my People Feeling Sorry for Themselves series,” I added.

  “Ha. Ha,” Bonham replied dryly while rolling his eyes and taking another drink.

  “Hey, the money maker is over here, Your Majesty,” Luis said pointing at his face, not one for being upstaged. He was leaning against the trunk of the tree, looking ridiculously sexy, with that effortless way about him. I let my camera hang from the strap on my neck and then strolled over to him, throwing a sultry smile in his direction as I walked.

  Once in front of him, I ran my hands through his black hair, smoothing the wayward strands while reaching up to unfasten the top button on his shirt. “God, you look good, Majesty,” Luis said huskily in a low voice as my eyes fluttered up to meet his gaze. “So fucking beautiful. It should be me taking pictures of you right now.”

  I blushed. Luis always managed to make me feel flirty and like this whole thing was still new and exciting, regardless of how close we’d gotten or how long we’d known one another.

  “You have plenty of photos of me, Mr. Salvador,” I teased. Plenty of naughty photos.

  “We going to visit Ma after this?” he asked while I adjusted the settings on my camera, trying to get the shutter speed right.

  “Yep. She said she’s actually cooking too, so we can’t be late.”

  Luis wrinkled his nose, making him look boyish and adorable. “I can’t even remember a time Ma ever cooked. It’s probably going to suck.”

  Despite his words, I could see the warmth in his eyes. Mrs. Salvador was still sober, and she seemed to be changing more and more into the version of a mom that Luis deserved. I desperately hoped that it stuck. According to Luis, it was the longest stint she’d ever been sober.

  I batted him on the arm with a chuckle. “Luis Salvador, be nice! You’re going to eat her meal even if it’s burnt toast and soggy hot dogs.”

  His grimace deepened. “I didn’t say she was as bad a cook as you.”

  This asshole.

  When I tried to smack him playfully again, he caught my wrist and pulled me against him. “You shouldn’t hit your photography subjects.”

  “Photography subjects should be still and quiet,” I retorted.

  He reached around and pinched my ass, making me jump. “Just get the shot,” he purred in my ear, his dark stubble scratching deliciously against my jaw. “Because then I’m going to flip your skirt up and fuck you right here against the Brodies’ two-hundred-year-old oak tree.”

  My face instantly blushed at his words.

  “I can fucking hear you,” Bonham drawled.

  “Then why are you still here?” Luis shot back, his brown eyes still locked on me.

  “Those trees are historic. They’re even registered.”

  Smirking, Luis pushed the camera out of the way to start trailing his hand up my shirt.

  Bonham cursed under his breath before he got up and started walking away. His limp was bad again, and every step had him clenching his teeth. We were all worried about him, but he refused to talk about it.

  I slipped off the camera from around my neck and gently set it on the ground. Once we heard the door slam shut, indicating that Bonham was inside, Luis turned feral. Good thing I had the foresight to take off the ridiculously expensive camera he’d bought me.

  He spun me around, clutching my hips with the pads of his fingers as he whispered in my ear. “I’m going to pound that tight pussy of yours right out here in the open.” He slipped his fingers lower to find the band of my panties, pausing when it wasn’t there.

  “Have you been wearing nothing this whole time?” he rasped, and I had to smile at the shock infused in his words. I liked showing Luis Salvador hints of my wild side. I liked catching him off-guard.

  “Yes,” I replied with a moan as his fingers slipped between my thighs to delve into my folds. He stroked me while kissing my neck, leaving bite marks along my skin between broken words.

  “Fuck. So. Wet.”

  I squirmed at his touch, not at all feeling uncertain about having sex outside while Bonham Brodie brooded in his bedroom. I enjoyed this part of my relationship. There were no chains holding me back or reputations hanging over my head. It was just him and me. Totally ourselves. Completely uninhibited.

  The more he stroked me, the more I wanted from him. “Kiss me, Luis.”

  He spun me around, crashing my chest to his and our mouths collided. I tongue fucked his mouth, swiping angrily at his lips with my teeth as he threaded his fingers through my hair. Lifting my leg up to curl around his waist, my skirt bunched up between us, and he used his hands to hike me up until my core was poised right at his hard cock.

  “Naughty royalty walking around in her short fucking skirt with nothing underneath,” he purred as he lowered the zipper of his jeans and took out a condom from his back pocket.

  “Maybe said royalty wanted to give easy access in case she saw something she liked,” I replied with a lusty smile.

  “Yeah? Well, do you see something you like?”

  His jeans jerked down, and his dick sprung out, already hard and jumping at attention. He tore open the condom packet with his teeth, spitting the corner on the ground before taking it out and rolling it over his length.

  I licked my lips. “Yeah, I do.”

  “Good. Because I’m about to fuck you right here against this tree.”

  He hiked me up even higher, pinning me against the rough bark, and I looked down just as he lined himself up with me and thrust in.

  “Oh shit,” I cried out, watching as his huge cock demanded entry into me. Every time he pulled out, he slammed in even harder than before, and I knew I was going to have marks all over my back from this position, but I didn’t care. He hit those spots deep inside of me that made my eyes roll to the back of my head. I felt completely full, stretched to the max, my pussy clenching around him every time our h
ips moved.

  Luis kept me pinned there, my legs wrapped around him, while he tugged the top of my shirt down, letting my breast pop free. “No fucking bra, either?”

  I smiled, but I couldn’t reply. I was too blissed out, too caught up in every sensation he wracked on my body as his hands started kneading my heavy breasts, and his tongue licked its way up my throat.

  I was so turned on that I could feel my own wetness coat around his wrapped dick. Lewd, wet sounds echoed around the garden, accompanied by our groans.

  “Faster. Harder,” I demanded with moaned neediness. “I want your cock buried so deep inside of me that it’s all I feel.”

  The glint in his eye let me know that my dirty talk was doing things to him. I swear, I felt his dick grow even more.

  He pulled out nearly all the way, and then pounded into me so hard and fast that my head fell back against the tree. I cried out in both pain and pleasure as Luis started destroying me. He pounded into me again and again and again. Every thrust brutal perfection, every touch of his hands possessive pleasure.

  I couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. All that existed was his hot breath at my neck and the feel of him owning me so completely that my body suddenly exploded with an orgasm. “Yes!”

  My pussy clenched around him, gripping him like a fist. “Fuck,” he growled in my ear, and then he thrust one more time, slamming me into the wood as he emptied out inside of me.

  We were both panting and sweaty, a complete mess of limp limbs and satiated faces. When I was finally able to open my eyes again, I found Luis already looking at me, his forehead pressed to mine.

  “That was amazing.”

  He nodded and kissed my lips. “You are amazing, mi amor.”

  I smiled and wriggled out of his hold, so he slipped out of me and then let me slide down to my feet. I was a bit wobbly, so he kept his arm on my waist to steady me. “I fuck you so hard you can’t stand, Majesty?”

  I tossed him a look as I fixed my skirt and shirt, wincing slightly at the scrapes I could feel on my back. But oddly, I was proud of those twinges of pain. I’d wear those marks with lusty pride. Luis tied off the condom and slipped himself back into his jeans before zipping back up.