by Nana Malone
Either way, I bolted up the stairs toward Phillip Winchester’s office, fury coursing through my veins, thinking about all the ways I was going to make her pay for this. But when I found her, she was sitting in the middle of Winchester’s upturned office, and she was shaking.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
She looked up at me. “He’s… he’s not here. I—"
Oh, I wasn’t letting her finish. I advanced on her, and that snapped her out of her shock. Fire lit her eyes, and she backed up. “You had one rule. You do not slip your security detail. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Stop yelling at me.”
“I’ll stop yelling when you stop acting like a five-year-old.”
“I had to see him. I did not understand some of the things that he told me about. I just wanted to clarify, and I knew if I asked you—"
“Shut up. So you came on your own?”
“You don’t tell me to shut up.”
“I will tell you to shut up, especially when it involves keeping you safe, protected.”
“I feel like I already told you that I don’t handle assholes very well, so you’re going to have to check your current behavior.”
“You, princess, are the one who’s going to have to check your behavior. Do you recognize that Sebastian could have ordered you to stay in the Winston Isles?”
“The hell he could have. I’m not one of his subjects.”
“If he’d wanted you to stay, you wouldn’t have left.” I injected just a hint of menace into my voice. In truth, there was no way Sebastian would have stopped her. He could have sequestered her, confined her to quarters, but he would never do that. The thing was she didn’t know that.
Her mouth fell open. “I wasn’t a prisoner. Just who do you think you are?”
“I am your guard, and it’s your job to listen to me.”
“I am done listening to you. I never should have agreed this. I cannot stand you.”
She was backed up against the wall now, and I was still in her space. Amidst the upturned bookshelves and the papers scattered on the floor, our breaths came out in harsh pants and co-mingled. “Let me be really clear with you, princess, you will do as you’re told, and you will follow directions. You will not ditch your guard ever again. Have I made myself clear? Or should I talk more slowly so you’ll understand? You’re a smart girl. But you shouldn’t think you’re smarter than all of us. I just wish you’d use your brain.”
That did it. Her hand twitched, and she let lose. She had to guess that I was going to catch and block her slap, but she was probably hoping this was one of those moments that caught me by surprise.
It wasn’t. I caught her on the wrist. I nearly growled at her, my fury was so close to the surface. Her other hand flew out. I caught her and bracketed both her arms above her head against the wall and then leaned forward. “I thought we’d already covered this princess. Tsk, tsk. That is not the way to solve your problems.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
And then, like the idiot I was, I kissed her. It was less kiss, and more clash of teeth and tongues and lips. I sucked on her bottom lip, gently nipping as I let it go. Her body quivered against mine.
A part of me did a mental calculation. We don’t have time for this. Like a moron, I hadn’t even cleared the room. Anyone could be coming up behind me. As I’d been taking those stairs two at a time, I’d had two guards behind me who had more than likely posted at the door, so we were protected. Which meant I had a minute.
A minute to indulge, a minute to remind her just how good it was with us. A minute to enjoy because I hadn’t touched her in over a week. I was desperate. Hungry. And she was fighting me at every turn. I pressed my hips into her, just so she could feel the length of me, feel how much I wanted her.
I was going to let her go. I was. And then she made that sound at the back of her throat, a mewling one. The one she always made when she wanted me to do more of something.
Shit. If we kept this up, I was going to end up fucking her right here.
Dick: I am so down for that.
Brain: Yeah, so am I.
I switched my hold, so that I held her wrists in one hand. And then I slid my other hand into her hair and angled her head so I could lick into her mouth. I could try and taste my fill, get my fill, because for over a week, I had been willing her to be mine, willing her to forgive me, even if I didn’t feel like I was good enough. And she’d been refusing to give in. Which was fine, that was her prerogative. But she couldn’t just stand here now and fucking pretend with me.
She slid her tongue over mine, and when mine slid back in, she sucked on it. I groaned low and hitched my hips. She arched her back, angling her hips toward me in slow pumping motion.
Yeah, that’s it. Show me that you want it. Still restraining her hands, I slid my free hand out of her hair and down her torso. I tucked my hand under her shirt, and her inhale was sharp. Pointed. I immediately stilled, waiting for her response, and she stayed tight and frozen. I’d stop. I’d walk away. It would kill me, but I had to leave her alone.
That was not how I wanted her. I wanted her yielding and so soft she was practically melting. I wanted her on the verge of begging so that I could remind her how good it was with us. So that I could say I was sorry properly. So that I could ask for her complete forgiveness. So that I could hear my name on her tongue again. That’s what I wanted. That’s what I dreamed of. Those lonely nights in Winston Isles, all I wanted to do was stand on the balcony and point out all the parts of the island that we could see, how each part had become my favorite sites. I wanted to show her how sometimes the Winston Isles felt more like home than London ever did. I wanted to show her all of it. Instead, I’d been by myself on my own balcony wondering what she was doing.
When she whimpered, I knew her answer. I slid my hand up her torso, until it dusted over her nipple.
She shook in my arms. And then I dragged down the cap of her bra, all lace and satin. It tore just a little, but I didn’t care. I wanted access and I wanted it now. As long as she wanted it too, I was going to take it.
She tore her lips from mine. “Yes. Oh my God, yes.”
I palmed her rougher than I’d planned to. My control was just on the edge. I wasn’t going to make it if I kept this up. Holding her firmly, I squeezed. She sucked in a shivering breath and arched into my palm. I rubbed my thumb over her nipple and then gently pinched with my forefinger. And then she was practically begging.
“Please, please just—I just—I want it.”
My nose tucked in the hollow of her throat, I whispered against her skin. “You want what?”
“You. I just… I need it.”
“If you need something, you’re going to have to tell me exactly what you want, princess.”
I was torturing us both. I wanted the words she couldn’t give me yet. I knew it. But it was fun asking her to say it. She wasn’t ready. We needed more time. But if this was what I could have right now, I was going to take it.
“Roone.”
“Princess.” I pinched her nipple again, and she fought my hold on her wrists, but I gently kept her arms where I wanted them. So she angled her hips up and gently rolled over the length of me.
Holy shit. At this point, I didn’t care who the fuck came in the room. I was ready to cum. I could cum.
“You’re playing with fire, princess.”
“Good.”
“Oh, is it?”
I released her nipple, and her whimper was audible.
“Oh, I have something else I think you’ll like better.”
I slid my hand down her petal soft skin to the button of her jeans and snapped quickly, then unzipped. She threw her head back, giving me better access to her neck, and she whispered, “Yes, God. Oh my God.”
I tipped the hem of her panties and slid my hand inside. Down the front, over her clit to the wet center—oh fuck. She was soaking. So, so wet. Had she
ever been this wet before? Had I ever felt her like this before?
No. This was different. This was raw. I slid a finger inside then retreated slowly, and she dragged her head back and forth. “Yes. Go on.”
I sank two fingers deep, but at that angle I couldn’t quite work my thumb over her clit. I knew what she wanted. I knew what she needed. She moaned in my arms. And then I kissed her again to muffle her cries. Against her lips I said, “It feels like you’ve been missing me, princess.”
“Shut up. Keep doing that.”
“Not unless you ask nicely.”
“Oh God, just please, okay? I’m begging. Why isn’t it good enough for you?”
“Because I want more than this. It has to be more than this.” And even though both my dick and my brain were threatening me, I gently eased out of her and pulled my hand back. Against her lips I whispered, “We could do this. It would be easy. I turn you around, shove your jeans down, slid my dick inside you, and have you scream my name in seconds.”
“I vote yes to that plan.”
“Yeah, so does my dick. But that’s not the plan I want. We’re not doing this until you actually want me again.”
“You’re here. I’m here. Clearly, I want you.”
“No, you’re just looking for me to get the job done. We’re not doing this until you’ve reconciled what happened before and what you know now. When you do, we can do this. But until then, let’s get your clothes back on.”
Gently, I released her arms, wary of her hands striking out at me again, but they didn’t.
“You’re serious?”
“Yeah, dead serious. We’ve been here before, remember?”
Her gaze narrowed. “Yes, I remember.”
“It’s not a habit. I’m not trying to make you insane. I just know that if we do this now, you’ll still hate me. That’s not what I want.”
“Why does it have to be so complicated?”
“Because whether you acknowledge it or not, I was trying to do the right thing. You just can’t see that.”
“Sure, I finally see it.”
I chuckled low. “I know, right now, you’ll say just about anything to get off, but it’s not happening. And if you do really see it, figure out if you could actually start to care about me again. Otherwise, there is no point. We’re just going to set each other on fire and watch the whole house burn.”
“What’s wrong with that?’
“That’s not what I want. Not from you. For the first time in my life, I was personally invested in someone. So, I’m not selling myself short. Come on princess, let’s get you out of here and then figure out what the hell happened to Phillip Winchester.”
“I don’t think I like you.”
I shrugged. “That’s fine. You’ll come around.”
She glowered at me, adjusted her clothing and then stomped ahead of me. As I thought, the others were outside the door, silently waiting.
She shifted her glance toward them and then back over her shoulder at me. “You guys knew?”
I laughed. “Princess, you’re good. But you’re not that good.”
12
Ariel
I wasn’t sure I’d ever been more scared in my life.
Where the hell was Dad? I had looked everywhere and so had Matthias, but he was gone. I couldn’t sit back and wait with everything that was happening. I’d taken two extra days in the islands to look for him to no avail. Once I was back in London, I knew it was going to be more difficult to trace him from there.
But he wasn’t my only problem. Jessa’s contact, Winchester, was gone too. Just up and gone missing. No plane ticket, no bus ticket, no train ticket we could find. Nothing on cameras. Nothing on CCTV. Just gone. Given the state of his office, Jessa was worried.
As he was the only one who seemed to have any information on her father or the Heirs of Angelus, we needed to find him. Preferably alive so we could question him.
It was do or die time. And I was going to do… or die. I wiped my hands on my jeans and made the call.
I was one of the few people in the Royal Guard with a direct line to the King of the Winston Isles. As a matter of fact, that circle was small. It was team Winston Isles, basically. Every time he changed his phone number, we all got a new text, saying, ‘This is Sebastian.’
Same with Penny. But Penny was my best friend, and if she didn’t tell me her new number, I would hunt her down and kill her. Sebastian and Penny changed their numbers about once every six months to a year or so, just in case someone overzealous got a hold of it.
I made the call with my hands shaking. Sebastian answered right away. His voice was wary. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
He sighed. “You only ever call me Your Majesty when something is wrong. What’s up, Ariel?”
I started pacing around my flat. I opened my fridge, willing myself to find something in there that was edible, but I knew better. That was why I spent so much time at Roone’s place. “Um, I don’t know how to say this, but I have reason to believe that it was my father who accessed to Princess Jessa’s files.”
There was a beat of silence. “Explain.”
Even knowing that I had profusely fucked up, Sebastian’s voice was still low, still kind, and there was no anger in it. “Okay, right at the start of this mission with Jessa, I got a call that he needed a place to stay for a couple of days. I know it’s against protocol, and I’m sorry. But I didn’t think that there would be any harm. I should have said no right away, or I should have called Ethan and cleared it. I didn’t think. There was a lot going on.”
Sebastian’s voice was ever patient. “Okay, calm down. Fine, your father said he wanted to come and stay. Not a big deal. He has a visitor’s pass. He’d been cleared for visits in the past.”
“I know, which is why I didn’t worry. He said something had happened to his flat and he just needed to stay a couple of days. And I gave him the rules. No going to the palace. You know, head right and straight to the parking lot for his transportation to work.”
“Okay, what happened after that?”
“Well, what happened after that is, I couldn’t reach him. I called and called and checked my security footage, and instead of going right every day that I checked, he went left. I asked Penny to look in on him just to make sure he was behaving. She said that there was evidence that he’d been there, but not that he was really staying there. And by the time she checked, he wasn’t there anymore.”
“Okay, still really not damning evidence that he has accessed Jessa’s files. Besides, from my understanding, we went over all security protocols and risks, and your father is not exactly like you. He doesn’t have the skill set to do what you do.”
“I know. And the way we set up the firewall, he would need to be some A-grade hacker. And he’s not, but I’m still concerned. Once I found out that it looked like I was the one who accessed the server, I knew there was trouble because we set it up so that it can’t be accessed off site. And I was here, so someone made it look like I did it. I could only imagine that would be him. He wouldn’t have access to any of my codes, but if someone spent a little time in my place getting to know me better, they might be able to figure it out.”
“Okay, that’s a bigger problem, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t him for two reasons. First, how would he get access to our server which is inside the palace? Second, he didn’t have the skill set. So, you might be over reacting. We’ve already had our guards infiltrated once, so it’s entirely possible we have another mole.”
“Yes, it is entirely possible. But the things that make me nervous are my security protocols being used, and my father pulling a vanishing act.” I cleared my throat. “Unfortunately, you know my father. I think I need to step down... at least for the mission, if not from the Royal Guard entirely.”
That earned an immediate response. “What the fuck? Think it through. We’ll find your father. But you quitting? That’s not going to happen. So if you would lik
e to temporarily put Roone in charge while you track your old man down, fair enough. But you’re not quitting. You’re a member of this team. Until you tell me that you no longer want to be, you’re stuck, do you hear me?”
Relief poured through me so instant and swift that I almost choked. Tears stung my eyes, and I blinked them back rapidly. I willed myself not to cry over this. “I – I am so sorry. I know it’s impossible to trust anyone right now, and I’ve broken that trust and I—"
“Shut up. I don’t want to hear this nonsense. Find your father.”
“I will. And Sebastian, I know what it means if I can’t find him. If he’s involved…”
“I feel like I told you to shut up already. I have zero interest in hearing this particular line of thought. You’re a member of the team.”
Why was he being so stubborn? “Listen, I know. But I do have to be candid. I am a member of Intelligence after all. And once I’m done speaking with you, I’m going to call Ethan. But since we’re practically family, I wanted you to know first.”
He chuckled on a breath. Penny and I had been saying that he was inadvertently in a thrupple, he just didn’t know it. And he’d consistently asked what a thrupple was until he finally found out. Then, like an idiot, he wanted to know why he didn’t get the full benefits of being in a thrupple and just got the negative elements. But somehow along the way, he’d become family to me, even though he was His Royal Majesty.
“One step at a time, Ariel. If you need to go find your father, temporarily put Roone in charge. You will stay on the team, so do what you need to do and come back.”
“Sebastian… I mean, Your Majesty—"
“Seriously, if you call me Your Majesty one more time, I swear to God…”
“Sorry… I’m just trying to be as formal as possible since this is bad news. But if I can’t find him, you’ll be the first to know, and I am sorry.”
“Never apologize about choosing to help your family. That’s not how this works. So, do what you need to do and keep me posted.”