by Brynn Paulin
Needing to touch him, I washed him everywhere I could reach, too. When I got to his stiff cock, I wrapped my hand around him and slowly jacked my fingers up and down the length. Booker suddenly turned me around.
“Rest your hands on the seat.” His palm pressed to the middle of my back. I barely gotten into position when his cock drove into me from behind.
“Oh God! Booker!” I screamed, feeling him so much deeper this way, feeling so much fuller. I went to my toes to better accommodate him, needing every inch.
“Yes. Fuck, yes,” he growled. He drove hard, an arm around my middle to keep me from falling. “Who owns this pussy? Who do you belong to?”
“You,” I promised.
“Who?” His hand smacked on my ass, and I bucked, pleasure spiking through me.
“Do that again,” I begged.
His thrusts grew even harder. “Who?” he repeated, accompanying it with another spank.
“You,” I wailed.
“Who?”
“You, your highness,” I cried as my climax crashed over me, dragging us both under in its ferocity. I shook as wave after wave came while Booker kept thrusting, driving his cum deep.
“That’s right. That’s fucking right. You’re mine.” His guttural cry echoed mine as he drove deep one final time.
I sagged, my head falling against my hands.
“You okay?” he asked. He pulled me up then turned me to face him.
“Mm-hmm,” I hummed, leaning on his chest. We finished up—more like Booker finished cleaning us, because I was barely keeping upright at this point. It was his fault so I let him take care of me. He claimed to enjoy it anyway.
“Why are you home early?” I asked.
“Adler called me and told me about Rod. He went to confront him, but he’d already disappeared. Then Adler went to Rod’s apartment. Super says he moved out. The place is empty.”
“Weird. Booker?” I asked, once we were tucked into bed. My eyes were closed. His heart beat steadily beneath my ear, lulling me closer to sleep, but I’d promised myself I’d ask. “What was going on last night? You were… It was like you were trying to escape a demon, and the only way was making love.”
“I think in some ways you might be my salvation,” he confessed. “Before you, I was just existing, doing the motions. I can’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy life. I traveled; I did things. But nothing had the vivid colors I see now with you beside me. Everything was surface and I wasn’t experiencing the fullness I have in my life just by having you beside me.”
“That’s what set you off last night?”
“No. It was fear. You hated it at the gala—”
“I didn’t hate it. I was just uncomfortable because I was out of my element. Everything was new, and I was worried about failing you.”
“Precious, that could never happen.”
“It probably could, but I appreciate your enthusiasm.” I yawned then rubbed my face against him, snuggling closer.
“It came down to fear. You’re dealing with my mother’s tricks, I’m thrusting you into the spotlight, you have to deal with news stories and paparazzi in your face, having a bodyguard all the time… All I could think last night was, that you’d get fed up with it all, with me, and leave. I can’t… I don’t know what would happen if you leave me. You’ve brought me to life. I can’t go back.”
His confession brought me fully awake. “Booker…” I leaned up, crossing my arms on his chest and resting my chin on them. “I’ve had to trust you with a lot since coming into your life.”
“I know—”
I pressed my fingers over his lips. He kissed them, and I couldn’t help smiling. “I’ve had to trust you with a lot,” I repeated. “You’ve given me a lot, too. But if I have to trust you, then you need to trust me. Know that I will never willingly leave you. If I’m having trouble with something—or someone, like your mother—I’ll talk it through with you. I’m committed.” I looked at my ring, noticing all the smaller diamonds around the large solitaire. “I said yes, so I’m pretty committed. If you’d asked last night, when we came home, I would have said yes. If you’d asked during the gala, or after the news article or when I was so mad at you after Rod tried to grab me, I would have said yes. I’m all in.”
He rolled, and I ended up with him over me. His cock slid smoothly into my pussy, pushing a groan from me. “Now, I’m all in,” he said.
“You’re terrible,” I complained. “Terrible, but you feel so good.”
“Stay awake for one more time?”
I shifted my hips. “I think I might have it in me.”
And I did.
Chapter Fourteen
~ Marigold ~
Being engaged to Booker was amazing. Over the past couple weeks, we’d worked side-by-side on the daycare plans. He’d taken me out to amazing restaurants and awe-inspiring events. This was truly the city that didn’t sleep, and there was always something going on. But my favorite times were lowkey. Quiet nights together. Walks through the park. Down-to-earth dinners at family restaurants where the menu was in English, and there was probably a family with small children a few booths away.
He spoiled me, and I kept him grounded to normal life, reminding him I didn’t need a bunch of things or fancy places. I just needed to be with him.
Linzey was still missing and when I thought about how long it had been with no trace of her, my chest got tight and full-on panic threatened. Booker had learned to recognize the signs and managed to bring me away from the edge. I think it was why he kept me so busy.
I loved him so much. He made me deliriously happy. But every day, no matter how hard I tried, there was always that shadow waiting to close in and remind me my sister was missing. Booker had a full-time team working to find her, but I worried that maybe I wasn’t doing enough. He asked me what I thought I could do that a team of detectives couldn’t. He was right. Maybe I just had that threatening guilt because I was living my life, and I just didn’t know if Linzey was, too.
Mostly though, everything was as close to perfect as we could get it. I should have known things were too good to be true.
Today, rather than head to Booker’s office, Adler had brought me home. I hadn’t been feeling well, and I just wanted to lie down—after I took the test Cricket had gotten for me. I didn’t want to go to the pharmacy myself. I knew Adler would narc on me.
When I arrived home, he delivered me safely to the door, and I went inside. Now that I was safely in Booker’s fortress, my protection officer was attending to some matter for my prince. I didn’t question it. I was never safer than when I was in the penthouse.
Once inside, I stopped short, my mouth hanging open. A royal circus had invaded our home.
“Who are you?” I demanded of the two men in dark suits who stood at the entry of each hallway. With their dark suits, closed expressions and their earpieces, they looked like the secret service.
“They’re my royal guard,” an imperious voice informed me. I could just barely hear the lingering trace of an American accent, but it was nearly overrun by the woman’s haughty tone. I’d never seen Booker’s mother, but I knew exactly who this was. This was Queen Alexia. Her eyes were identical in shape and color to my fiancé’s, but that appeared to be the only thing he’d inherited from the petite woman.
My arms crossed over my chest. Though she’d become my mother-in-law someday, she was not my queen, and I didn’t need to bow to her or do any of the kotowing someone from her country might.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. And how the hell had she gotten in? One needed to have their palm scanned to enter.
“This is my son’s home. Of course, I have entry. The question is, what are you doing here?”
“This is my home. I live here.”
“Hardly. You’re just a gold-digging whore, who’s trying to lead my son astray. You need to leave. And know this. You’re not getting a cent from him or this family.”
What the actual fuck? Was this woman
for real? Booker was going to flip his shit.
Drawing myself up to my full height, a few inches taller than this evil queen, I stared her down. “I’m not leaving. I live here. Your son and I are getting married, and you’re uninvited in our home.”
“I don’t think so.” The queen looked to one of the guards. “Lars… Remove her.”
For the first time, I saw a hint of emotion from one of the two. Her order surprised him. He quickly hid it.
“You can’t! I live here,” I yelled.
As he moved toward me, I hurled my backpack at him and darted toward the second hallway. Since the lower level of the penthouse was lain out in a circular fashion, I could go that way to the stairs, lock myself in the bedroom and call Booker. Hell, I could lock myself in any of the rooms down here.
I just knew I should have gone into Booker’s office today. But since I hadn’t been feeling well, he’d told me to come home rather than risk getting more germs from sick kids.
As I dodged, I realized more people had followed the queen into the foyer. How many freaking people did she have with her? I ducked around and almost made it to the entry to the hallway when an arm closed around my waist, and I was hauled backward. I screamed, kicking and flailing as I was carried toward the front door. No one stopped him as he lugged me into the elevator. Booker and Cricket weren’t home to hear my bellows and Adler had already left.
I calmed slightly in the lift, saving my energy, though I still tried to free myself from him. None of my tricks worked. Apparently, he knew the same stuff Adler had taught me.
I renewed my screaming and flailing in the lobby, but none of those bastards stopped Lars as he carried me out to the street. What was wrong with people? They didn’t help me, but several of the jerks were recording with their cell phones.
With no interference from even the building staff—who I was sure Booker would see fired—Lars deposited me on the sidewalk. Then he took up position before the door, barring my way back in.
I stared at him, sizing him up and weighing my options. My purse was upstairs, but my phone was in my pocket. I’d call Booker then wait in the park for him to come get me. Then I’d watch with immense glee as he started handing people their asses.
Walking down the street, I dialed him then brought the phone to my ear.
“Marigold,” Booker said, answering as I rounded the corner toward the park. “Hello, love.”
“Book—”
The phone was yanked from my hand and whipped into the side of the building as someone grabbed me. Before I could even struggle, we were in the narrow alley. Something covered my mouth as I screamed then the world grayed then went black.
* * * *
~ Booker ~
“Marigold!” I yelled as the phone suddenly went dead. I was already running for the door, telling Emma I had an emergency as I dashed past. Something was wrong. I felt it deep into my bones. The line could have just lost signal, but deep down, I just knew that wasn’t what had happened. Just in case, I tried back but went straight to voicemail. Immediately, I dialed Adler.
“Yeah, boss.”
“Is Marigold with you?”
“No, I dropped her at the penthouse, and I’m on my way to you.”
“Go back. Something’s wrong. She just called me. She sounded upset, then the line went dead in the middle of her speaking. I could tell from the traffic noise, she was outside.”
“Fuck,” Adler growled. I heard wind as he apparently started running. “I’m headed there. I’m only ten minutes out. I’ll call you when I get to the building.”
Fuck. My thoughts echoed Adler’s words. Ten minutes out was thirteen minutes too far away. If something happened to my Marigold, I didn’t know what I’d do. I couldn’t handle the thought of her in danger, of her getting hurt. I’d kill anyone who touched her.
“I’m on my way there.”
“Sir, I’ll handle it.”
“I need to be there.”
Not waiting for my driver, I hailed a cab. Traffic was thick, and my distress grew with each minute. If something happened to Marigold… Why had she been outside alone? She knew it wasn’t safe.
“Sir,” Adler said, his voice grave when he called back.
“Tell me,” I growled.
“Your mother’s here. I haven’t gotten to the penthouse, but one of her royal guards is posted outside the building. Security in the lobby told me the man forcibly dragged Marigold from the premises and deposited her on the sidewalk. And wouldn’t let her back in. The queen is in your penthouse. She coerced the doorman into letting her inside.”
Fury as I’d never experienced darkened my vision. This was the final straw. Heads were going to roll.
But first I had to find Marigold. If anything happened to her, my vengeance wouldn’t be quenched.
“See if you can find which way she went,” I grated.
“On it.”
I heard him talking to someone then the sound of traffic then, “Fuck! Fucking hell!”
“What?” I yelled, startling my cabbie. “Tell me!”
We were stuck in traffic, a couple blocks away. I handed him a fistful of cash—far more than the fare—and leapt from the vehicle. I ran down the sidewalk toward my home while Adler reported finding Marigold’s smashed mobile phone and no sign of her.
“Someone took her.” It was the only thing I could think of. Even if she’d dropped her mobile, she wouldn’t have left the pieces there.
And fuck, that made the tracker on her phone useless.
“Sir, where are you?” Adler asked.
“Coming up on the building.”
“Meet me in front. We’ll find her.” He sounded far calmer than I thought he should. Was he trying to keep me from flipping out? Too late.
Still, I trusted the man at his word; I just hoped we’d find my woman unharmed.
Chapter Fifteen
~ Marigold ~
My head throbbed as I came awake, and my shoulders screamed. My hands were tied behind my back, pulling my arms into an awkward position. I squinted as I opened my eyes. The room was surprisingly bright considering I’d obviously been kidnapped. I would have expected a dank sub-basement or something.
Frantically, I looked around trying to figure out where I was, who’d taken me and how to get the fuck out of here. I pushed aside how useless I’d been fighting Lars not so long ago—God! How long ago had that been? The sun was still bright through the windows, so I hoped it was still the same day.
I didn’t see who’d taken me, but I realized some things very quickly. This chair was the only thing in this decrepit room. And the room was less of a room and more of a space. The walls were bare to steel beams in many places. Others had huge holes punched through them, showing me I was in an equally deserted area. A gutted floor of some building.
I appeared to be several floors up, so screaming wouldn’t help me. It would only draw out whoever had taken me.
And I already knew who it was. I’d recognized that cologne before he’d covered my mouth and nose with that cloth, and I’d passed out. Rod.
The second thing I realized was, I wasn’t actually alone. A girl was chained to the wall in the corner. She was curled up in a ball and dirty. Very dirty. I could tell she was small, and I wondered how old the poor thing was and how long she’d been here.
“Hey,” I whisper-yelled. “Wake up.”
How long did that chain go? Could I get my chair close enough to her that she could untie me so we could get free?
Whoever had grabbed me was nowhere to be seen, so I started jerking, trying to scooch toward her without falling over. The noise must have roused the girl, and she woke. Immediately, she cringed into the wall as if trying to climb into it.
“Hey,” I whisper-yelled again. I needed her to talk to me so we could work together here.
She tensed, and I heard her intake of breath before she looked at me.
“Linz!” I gasped.
She looked around, panicked. As sh
e moved, I saw the collar around her neck, a padlock locking it. Rage clenched over me. I would kill that man. I would destroy him. What the fuck had he done to my sister? I was getting free, then I’d hunt him to the end of the earth if I had to. He wasn’t surviving this.
“How close can you get to me?” I asked.
She got unsteadily to her feet then walked away from the wall. She could move maybe five feet, which was still a couple yards from me.
“Just stay right there. I’m going to get over there, and you can untie me,” I said. “Then we’ll figure that out.” I nodded to the chain. That fucking fucker. She was only a kid!
She nodded, looking terrified.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She shrugged, looking around, her terror clear.
“Did he touch you?” I growled. I’d more than kill him if he did. I didn’t care if it didn’t make sense.
“No,” she whispered. Actually, that shocked me, but I refused to question a miracle. Then she added, “He said he was saving me for someone.”
Okay, still, destroying him. Somehow. “Tell me if you see him, okay?”
“Okay.”
“What happened?”
“After we moved—I’m so sorry, Sissy. I didn’t know what she planned. She took my phone so I couldn’t call you.”
“It’s okay,” I soothed, needing to keep her calm. “She was your mom. What could you do?”
“Rod helped us move to the new place. It was really gross, Mari.”
That bastard. He’d told me he had no idea where they’d gone. But why would I ever expect him to tell the truth? Of course, in retrospect, lying to me was obviously part of his bigger plan.
“He and mom… They went into the bedroom, and I think she slept with him. Something about a thank you. Was she dating him?”
Something like that… Linzey was way too young for any of this.
“I don’t know.”
“W-when… When he came out…she didn’t. He grabbed me; brought m-m-me h-h-here. I think he did something to her.”
