Xavier O’Brien

by Ingro, Jessica

  My tongue teased him as it explored the veins that stood out in relief. And when my head bobbed and my mouth sucked, he growled like the animal he was. I loved that I could do this to him. Almost as much as how salty and delicious he was. I never wanted to stop tasting him.

  His eyes blazed as the red lipstick I wore that day rimmed his cock. His hands fisted in my hair, guiding me to the pace he needed. His ass muscles clenched under my hands as I gripped them in order to pull him further in my throat.

  He groaned when his hands pulled my head back, leaving me no choice but to release him. He ran a thumb over my lip and smiled down at me. My heart stammered.

  “Where do you want it?” He asked in a lust filled voice.

  “Wherever you want to give it to me.”

  He helped me up from the floor and proceeded to pull my dress up over my head. Standing in front of him in nothing but a pair of heels, that throb became a deep-rooted ache as his eyes raked over me.

  “You’re beautiful.” He traced my nipples with the tip of his finger. “Never thought I’d have your beauty let alone have you taking my name. Building a future with me.”

  “Sweetie,” I whispered.

  “I’ll do whatever it takes to make this work,” he vowed. And I believed him. Right down to my very core, I knew that Xavier O’Brien would stop at nothing to make sure we had a future together.

  “Old and gray,” I added. “Holding hands while our grandbabies play around us, Xavier. That’s what I wish for us.”

  He grabbed me then and dragged me over to the sofa. I straddled his lap and wasted no time sinking down over him.

  “Slow,” he instructed me when I rose up and his hands on my hips controlled my glide down. I moaned when he was fully inside me. Stretching me.

  Following his lead, I moved over him. My hips grinding on each downward movement. With my arms around his head, I brought his lips to mine. Lightly brushing them over and over as our breaths mingled with one another.

  The sensations were too much. When the pressure building in my core was threatening to consume me, my forehead rested against his. The gold flecks in his blue irises so close I could count them. That was when I let go. Like a tidal wave taking me under, I undulated as each spasm washed over me.

  Xavier followed me over the edge. His cock twitching and his seed filling me. His lips claiming mine.

  When the high subsided, I rested my cheek on his shoulder as his hands ran along the skin of my back. His fingertips stopping to trace the butterfly tattoo there.

  “That was amazing,” I told him unnecessarily. He knew exactly what I meant. He was right there in that moment with me.

  “Mmmm,” he hummed in agreement.

  We stayed like that for several moments before I sat up and looked at him with sated eyes. All I could do was smile for I wasn’t sure it was possible to be any happier than I was right then. I wasn’t used to the feeling, it was as if I was going to burst with it. I hoped that kind of euphoria never died when it came to us, but rather grew and morphed over time.

  He kissed me then. Lightly. Teasingly. We were two lovers basking in the glow of not only really great sex but a really great partnership. I was convinced that the connection we had was one in a million. I had never felt that way about anyone. I wasn’t even sure it would ever be possible to find it again.

  When his teeth tugged on my lower lip, I couldn’t help the small moan that crawled up my throat. It was so hot when he did that. Practically barbaric when he staked his claiming.

  “What am I going to do with you?” He asked as his eyes roamed my face taking in my contentedness and the underlying hunger I always had for him. The fingers of his right hand toyed with the ring on my left.

  “Love me,” I suggested then yelped when he unexpectedly rolled me over onto the couch and came down over me. His teeth nipped my nipple before his lips glided up and across my collarbone.

  “I think I can handle that,” he whispered seductively into my ear.

  And he did.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Hey Jake,” I called out as I made my way from my office toward the main room of The Den. Not wanting to be waylaid by anyone, I gave him a quick wave and then put my head down to haul ass out of there.

  I needed to get home. We had a family night planned and I was supposed to meet Xavier at the house once I picked Sophie up from school. From there we were going for pizza and then to the movies, followed by ice cream. Sophie was over the moon excited about our plans, as was I.

  Life had finally fell into place for us and I couldn’t be any happier. An overwhelming feeling of contentment lived within me almost every moment of every day. I was full to bursting with the amount of love, respect and happiness I had in my life. And if the amount of smiles and extra downtime Xavier had lately said anything at all, it was that he felt the same way.

  It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off our shoulders now that all of our demons had been dealt with and we could just sit back and reap the benefits of having a really kick ass family.

  “X wants you to wait in his office,” Jake said in his deep, resonant tone.

  Stopping, I turned to study the Mountain Man, as I liked to call him. He was a tough nut to crack—so taciturn and unemotional. I often wondered what his story was, but knew better than to ask Xavier. Maybe I should ask Candy. I’d seen the way she watched Jake, plus she always seemed to know the dirt around The Den.

  “I thought I was meeting him at home,” I replied.

  “Change in plans,” he said with a shake of his head.

  “Okay,” I replied with a shrug of my shoulders. Xavier changing plans at the last minute was nothing new, so I altered my course and walked down the opposite hall. I glanced over my shoulder when I heard footsteps behind me to see Jake was following me.

  “I don’t need an escort,” I semi-joked.

  “I was heading to Ghost’s office,” he replied. Instead of leaving me there and proceeding two doors down, he stopped in the doorway of Xavier’s office after I entered it.

  “Is there something I can help you with, Jake?” He was giving me the creeps. Every hair on the back of my neck was standing at attention. Something felt off. Very off. And now that I thought about it, Ghost wasn’t in today so there was no reason for Jake to be headed this way at all.

  “Just want to make sure you’re all set.”

  “I’m fine so I think you better leave now.” I squared my shoulders and tried not to appear shaken by his brazenness. Too much bad shit had happened recently for me to let my guard down easily. I had experienced firsthand that rats existed in Xavier’s circle. I wasn’t going to let that happen again.

  Instead of leaving, the giant man just stared at me as he lounged in the doorway. Uneasiness crawled along my body like a second skin the longer he did so.

  Where is Xavier?

  This end of the bowels of The Den didn’t have much foot traffic and I doubted anyone would hear me scream if Jake attacked me—the office was soundproof, after all.

  Effectively blocked into the room, I reached into my purse, looking for my cellphone to hopefully call Xavier or even Ghost.

  Noticing my movement as I pulled the phone from my bag, Jake retreated a few steps. His eyes continually darted between me and the wall behind me several times. Afraid to turn my back to him, I wasn’t about to look to see what he was glancing at. I opened my mouth to warn him off again, but before I could, he disappeared back down the hall the way he came.

  Taking a deep breath, I relaxed a bit before shutting the door and turning the lock. Shaking off the foreboding feeling, I went to sit on Xavier’s couch. My leggings were trembling so hard that I didn’t trust them to keep me standing while I called him to find out where he was. He needed to know I thought Jake was up to something and possibly shouldn’t be trusted. Plus, there was no way I was leaving this office if Jake was still lurking around.

  On the trek to the couch, my eyes landed on what I presumed Jake had
been looking at. Confused at how something so important could be overlooked—especially knowing Xavier’s control issues—I changed direction to his desk and the open wall safe behind it. Beginning to shut its door, I stopped when I saw an envelope addressed to me.

  Picking up the envelope, I gasped when I saw Kevin’s name and a prison address as the return address. Without hesitation, I tore it open and felt a tidal wave of tears stream down my face as I took in my late husband’s words of love and devotion. It was dated two days before his death, which made a sob escape my lips. I covered my hand with my mouth as disbelief suffused every cell in my body.

  What the hell was this doing in Xavier’s safe when it belonged to me? And how come I’d never seen it before?

  Going back into the safe, I pulled out a stack of dozens upon dozens of letters all addressed to me. Each one more desperate than the last. Desperate for me to understand where Kevin went wrong. To believe that he was clean and looking forward to a fresh start with me and Sophie when he hopefully got out early for good behavior.

  Oh my God!

  How Xavier got those letters, I didn’t know. But he blatantly hid them from me, effectively taking the choice of reconciling with Kevin out of my hands.

  I choked on another sob when I realized I had been betrayed by the man I loved. The pain sliced so deep it was a wonder I was still standing. On its heels was anger. It quickly blanketed me and soothed the pain that twisted and turned in my gut, leaving me struggling to breathe.

  This shit was going to stop and it was going to stop now. I was not a puppet in my own life. Xavier O’Brien did not pull my strings.

  Stuffing the envelopes in my bag, I stormed out of Xavier’s office and out of The Den—completely forgetting my earlier tiff with Jake. Peeling out of the underground parking garage, I activated my Bluetooth and called Candy. I drummed my fingers a little harder than necessary on the steering wheel as I waited for her to answer. It was either that or scream at the top of my lungs.

  “Hey girl,” she said after the third ring. Her tone was peppy if not a bit hesitant. I didn’t have time to worry about that.

  “I need you to pick up Sophie from school.”

  “Sure, want me to bring her home?”

  “No,” I bit out.

  “Everything okay?” Candy honed in on my tone. She knew me far too well.

  “Oh, just peachy,” I said acerbically. “I’ll let you know when I can pick her up. I have a few things to tend to and I’m not sure what the rest of the day will bring.” I loved Candy, but I wasn’t about to discuss this with her. Not yet anyway. I needed to get to the bottom of this shit first. And I was starting with my pigheaded, dictatorial, narcissistic ass of a fiancé first.

  “Sophie is going to be upset if you guys don’t go to the movies tonight,” she warned me. “What’s going on, A?”

  “I can’t talk about it right now,” I shouted in exasperation. “Just keep her preoccupied. I don’t know, maybe take her to that mini-golf place she loves so much.”

  My poor daughter was going to be disappointed, but it couldn’t be helped. Just the idea of pretending to be a happy family tonight had my lunch threatening to come up.

  That thought made me pause.

  The whole foundation we built our relationship on was crumbling. Xavier had lied to me and tried to manage me from the beginning—not letting me take johns, forcing me to move, not telling me about the dangers surrounding us, keeping Kevin’s letters from me.

  We weren’t anything—certainly not a happy family.

  I didn’t know whether I was more saddened about the fact that everything was a lie, or more maddened about it. Right then, anger was definitely edging out. I pictured myself strangling the shit out of him as I cursed him out for being such an asshole.

  “Are you even listening to me, A?” Candy’s words filtered into my ears and pulled me from my dark inner thoughts.

  “What? Sorry. Look, I’ve got to go. Are you cool with picking her up?” I knew I sounded impatient and annoyed. Even though it wasn’t her fault, she still caught the brunt of it.

  “Yeah. Whatever you’re doing, be careful. Okay?”

  “Always.” I disconnected and tried not to read too much into her statement.

  * * *

  Tom Petty was crooning about something good coming for a couple in love when I stormed into Xavier’s house and slammed the door so hard the glass rattled in its frame. I stomped through the house until I found him standing in our room.

  His head was down and his hands were in the process of unbuttoning his dress shirt. Jeans and a polo shirt laid next to him on the bed. I chose not to let the sadness take over at the reminder that there would be no family outing that day or any day in the future for that matter.

  He glanced up when he heard me come in and smiled. That smile promptly fell when he discovered I was mad enough to spit nails.

  “How dare you?” My voice was hoarse as I snapped at Xavier. My arm extended and my finger jabbing angrily in his direction.

  “How dare I what?” He asked in a careful and measured tone. It was then I wondered what else he had hidden from me. What else I could possibly be this upset over. The thought had me queasy all over again.

  “How dare you play God with mine and Sophie’s life,” I screamed. Digging the stack of envelopes from my purse, I threw them in his face. They flew all around him, a few even hitting his chest, but his eyes never left me. They didn’t need to. He knew exactly what they were.

  “Where’d you get those?” He said in an ominous, almost threatening, tone.

  “Oh no, you don’t. You don’t get to play the aggrieved role in this sick, twisted play.”

  Indecision warred on his beautiful face. It cost him, I could tell, but in the end he kept his mouth shut. Even as I saw the anger brewing in his eyes, his fists clenching and his beast rising.

  I wasn’t scared though. As far as I was concerned, there was nothing Xavier O’Brien could do to hurt me any more than he already had.

  “Tell me why,” I demanded.

  He stood silent.

  “Tell me,” I shouted.

  When he continued to be a vault, I launched myself at him. My fists connecting with muscle. My nails tearing at skin.

  My attack went on for several minutes as I screamed and yelled like a banshee. Hurtful words spewed from my lips—I told him I hated him; that he wasn’t the man I thought I loved; that we had no future.

  To his credit, he barely tried to subdue me. Taking his beating like he deserved.

  Suddenly spent, I retreated from him. My shoulders dropping and tears flowing in earnest. From where I stood staring at the floor, trying to compose myself, I saw his bare feet come into my line of vision. I recoiled when he reached out to touch me, causing his hand to drop to his side.

  “Tell me why,” I all but whimpered. “Why you would do this to me. To us.”

  “You’re mine.” The thread of steel lacing those words made my head snap up. “I don’t give a fuck what that sorry prick wanted. There was no way he was going to have you and I wasn’t about to share Sophie with him. You’re mine.” He pounded on his chest to emphasize his point.

  “This isn’t a dictatorship. You don’t get to decide the lives of everyone around you. You aren’t even sorry, are you? You don’t even care that I’m upset.”

  His hard and unashamed eyes said it all. This was the deepest betrayal I had ever experienced. Looking at his unrepentant face, I realized I had no idea who the monster in front of me really was. The last several months had been nothing but a lie. A fantasy I never should have allowed myself to experience. Because living without it was going to hurt like hell.

  Decision made to take back control of my life, I spun on my heel and bolted into the closet. Grabbing a suitcase from the shelf, I hastily began stuffing clothes into it. That is, until Xavier picked it up and flung it against the wall. Clothes flew and the drywall dented under the weight of the bag.

  “What do y
ou think you’re doing,” he growled.

  “What does it look like? I’m getting the fuck out of here.”

  “No.”

  “No? Are you insane? Have you not been listening to a word I’ve said?” I shouted in his face.

  “Oh, I heard you and it’s bullshit.”

  “Bullshit?” I parroted.

  “Bullshit,” he confirmed.

  “Bullshit?” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “What’s bullshit is you deciding what’s best for me and my daughter! I thought we were partners. I thought I meant something to you. I can’t believe how fooled I was. All I am is a piece of property that you can use and abuse at will. Someone you think you can control. Well guess what? I’m not your puppet and I sure as hell am not your whore anymore!”

  “Watch what you say,” he warned. His patience slipping. I could see that caged beast inside him looking for a way out. He wanted to put me in my place. Show me who was boss. Who had all the control in this relationship.

  As if I would ever let that happen again.

  “Fuck you,” I seethed. “Don’t you even care about the fact that you completely annihilated my trust?”

  “I’m not sorry for keeping those damn letters from you. That piece of shit wasn’t worthy of you or fucking Sophie. If he was, he wouldn’t have stuck that damn needle in his vein.”

  I froze at his declaration. Something about it didn’t set right with me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Setting that aside for the time being, I forged on.

  “Don’t you think I’m smart enough to come to my own conclusions about Kevin and his role in our lives? I fell in love with you, you asshole. Kevin could have kissed my ass for the rest of his life and I still wouldn’t have taken him back, but at least Sophie would have still had her father in her life.”

  “I’m her father.” He beat on his chest again. His nostrils flaring and a red flush creeping up his neck.

  I staggered back at his words and the intensity behind them. And my heart broke all over again because neither he nor Sophie were going to get to experience the love of a father and daughter. Xavier had effectively ruined any chance of that happening.