The Skull King

by Penelope Sky

  My brother grinned. “Make him think you’re in two places at once.”

  “Exactly.” I finished my scotch and wiped my mouth with the back of my forearm.

  “Why are you letting this go on for so long?” Brutus asked. “You’ve never taken this long to finish a kill.”

  I stared into my empty glass, only drops of the amber liquid left over. “Because it’s more fun that way.”

  I drove back to my building late in the evening.

  My phone still had no activity from the one person I wanted to hear from. Just before I pulled a stunt, the adrenaline pumped in my veins and I had the urge to fuck hard—harder than usual.

  But she was one stubborn woman.

  Heath looked out the passenger window. “Cassini is pretty sexy.”

  He was lucky I was driving. Otherwise, I would smash my fist into his eye. “Be careful, Heath.”

  “It was a compliment.”

  “Which is why you should be careful.” I turned left and headed toward the compound.

  “It’s hard for me not to notice her charms when you’re fucking her up against a Bugatti.”

  I gripped the steering wheel tightly, pissed that my brother had watched the whole thing. I should have turned Cassini down, but when she pretty much begged me to fuck her, I couldn’t say no. No wasn’t in my vocabulary when it came to her. “I’ll drive this truck straight into a tree, asshole.”

  “Just make sure your dick still works…otherwise, Cassini will be disappointed.”

  I yanked on the steering wheel and drove right up the curb toward a large trunk.

  He chuckled then yanked the steering wheel back so we returned to the main road. There were no cars on the street at this time of night, so we weren’t swerving into traffic. “It’s always been impossible to make you angry…but now you have a weak spot.”

  I did have a weak spot—for a woman.

  “It’s been going on for a while now.”

  About a month.

  “Tell her to leave her husband.”

  She wouldn’t leave him even if I asked her. Her duty bound her, and I had nothing substantial to offer her. I would fuck her until I grew tired of her then dump her. She would have no money or protection, so she wouldn’t survive long. “No.”

  “You actually like this woman.”

  “I like fucking her—there’s a difference.”

  “Yes. But if I made those comments about anyone else, you wouldn’t have tried to crash into a tree. You already laid down your hand, Balto. You’re holding a royal flush, and we both know it.”

  I kept my eyes on the road and ignored the truth of his statement. If she really did mean nothing to me, I wouldn’t have risen to his taunts. He’d outsmarted me and trapped me—and we both knew it.

  “Kill the husband and make her yours.”

  “She doesn’t want me to.”

  “A woman doesn’t get fucked up against a car like that unless she’s a whore—or she really wants you.”

  There was no doubt she really wanted me. I could feel it anytime I was inside her pussy. “Drop it, Heath.”

  “Whatever,” he said as he looked out the window. “Just trying to help.”

  “By pissing me off?”

  “By proving this woman actually means something to you.”

  I showered then got into bed.

  My phone was in my hand, and I stared at the only picture Cassini had ever sent me, the one with her fingers down her panties. With perky tits in perfect view and sexy olive skin, she was every guy’s fantasy.

  I just wished I had new pictures to jerk off to.

  Since it was Friday, her husband was probably gone.

  But she still didn’t call me.

  Maybe this really was over.

  Could I let it be over?

  Should I dig until I uncovered every piece of information about her? Then I could show up at her doorstep, shoot her husband between the eyes, and then fuck her on his bed? I had an impulsive need to claim her as mine, to prove she didn’t belong to that man simply because of a marriage license. She belonged to the man whose dick she came around.

  Before my thoughts could turn too sexual and violent, her name lit up my screen.

  She was calling me.

  An arrogant smile spread across my lips. I knew she would give in eventually, but I was surprised she’d taken so long. If she’d waited only a few more days, I probably would have cracked first. I took the call. “Baby.”

  She was quiet on her end, like she was ashamed for making the call in the first place.

  I loved it when she was ashamed. “I’ve been waiting for those pics.”

  “I’m sure you have.”

  “Then where are they?”

  She turned quiet again.

  My dick got hard as I stared at her picture, but it got noticeably harder when I heard her voice. It possessed such a mesmerizing sound, full of power and authority, but also submission and sex. I didn’t need to know what she looked like to know she was beautiful, that she had full, Italian lips that were made for kissing. This woman’s innate sex appeal drove me crazy, and now I understood why her husband wanted her so badly, even if it was obvious she didn’t want him. She could be as dry as a desert, and I would still fuck her. That was what lube was for. “Does that mean you’re coming over?” Maybe she was too humiliated to really address the situation. Maybe she just wanted to show up and screw—and skip the conversation. It was much later in the evening than she would normally contact me, so I didn’t know how she would slip out without raising suspicion.

  “No. He’s home.”

  Both of my lungs deflated like balloons. “That’s unfortunate.”

  “Very,” she said with a sigh. “He’s taking me out tomorrow…something I’m not looking forward to.”

  I didn’t care about this woman, but I hated listening to the despair in her voice. She was too beautiful to suffer like this, to live a life that was anything less than perfect. She was an exotic bird stuck in a cage, and she could only appreciate the sun through the window. Every summer day was a mockery to her. “Why are you calling me?” It was an asshole thing to say, but all I knew how to be was an asshole.

  “I don’t know…” She paused over the line.

  I wasn’t looking to be her confidant or her friend. I was only looking to be her fuck buddy. But the sadness in her voice continued to pull at me, like she had a tight string around my neck, and she was yanking on it. I considered myself to be a fixer because I fixed lots of problems. That was my job—to destroy enemies and issues. It was my primary role as the Skull King. I found myself wanting to fix her problems for her—even though I got nothing in return. I wasn’t Prince Charming who came to a woman’s rescue. I was a dictator, a monster, and a thief. I would more likely steal a woman than save her.

  She spoke again. “I was sitting in the dark thinking of you…and I missed you.”

  “I could join you in the dark, if you like.”

  A smile wasn’t in her voice, not like usual. “I prefer to keep you alive.”

  “I’m not alive. I’ve never been alive.” I was a man who walked among the living but slept with the dead. My body was a furnace to cremate my enemies, and I only cared about power and blood lust. “So don’t worry about that.”

  “Are you really that brave? Or just stupid?”

  “Neither,” I answered. “Just confident.”

  “Arrogance is the quickest way to the grave.”

  “That’s what they say…but I haven’t seen the cemetery yet.” Now it seemed like we were just talking to stay on the phone. We didn’t discuss anything real, but the continued conversation seemed to ease the pain in her heart. “So…when are you coming over?” I prefer a face-to-face conversation, one where I could be buried deep between her legs with her knees squeezing my hips.

  “Never.”

  I chuckled into the phone. “Baby, come on. You called me tonight because your fingers are in your panties.”

/>   Her breath hitched, like she’d been caught in the act.

  My cock hardened at the thought of her in bed with her hand between her legs. Her husband was in his own bedroom, fast asleep and unaware of his unsatisfied wife. Now she was thinking of me, wanting to get off to the sound of my voice. No matter how hard she tried to resist, her thoughts always came back to me—to the only man she wanted. “You want me.”

  Her breathing deepened as her fingers worked her clit. “I always want you…”

  I stared at my ceiling as my cock pressed against my boxers. I preferred to smell a woman rather than pretend she was there with me, but the sound of her breathing was enough to get my engine revving. “I want to see you.”

  “You know that can’t happen.”

  I hung up the phone then called her again using the camera. It rang a few times before she answered.

  She lay on her side in a red t-shirt with her hair sprawled across the pillow. Her shirt had shifted to her tits so most of her belly was visible. The sheets were kicked down to her thighs, and I could see her cotton panties.

  Right now, they were sexier than any other thong she wore. “This is how you look when you sleep? I really am missing out.” I positioned the phone beside me and pushed my boxers down until my cock was free.

  She stared at my package, her eyes heavy with lust. She didn’t seem to be paying attention to anything I said because she only cared about what the way I looked.

  I pulled out the lube from my nightstand then smeared it across the head of my cock then all the way to my base. My fingers got a good grip on my shaft, and I started to jerk myself, staring at the beautiful woman with her fingers deep inside her panties. The outline of her fingers was obvious through the material as they worked her clit.

  I wanted her to remove her panties, but I also found the image extremely sensual. “Show me how wet your pussy is.” My fingers rubbed the lube across my shaft, pretending I was balls deep inside this woman. I’d never been with her without a condom, and now I could picture it so clearly, how all that slickness would feel around me.

  She dug her fingers farther in, took a deep breath as they sank inside her, and then took them out to display them to me. Shiny and slick with arousal, her fingers reflected the light from the phone. They even dripped because she was so wet.

  “Fuck…” My cock throbbed in my hands.

  She put her fingers back into her panties and kept touching herself, her hips rocking with her movements. Her lips were constantly parted as she breathed through the exquisite pleasure her fingers gave her. Her eyes were locked on to my length, probably picturing that fat cock inside her.

  Her hips started to rock more, and her moans grew in size. Sometimes, she would shut her mouth tightly to stop herself from being too loud.

  If she were with me right now, she could be as loud as she wanted. She could come around my dick with as much enthusiasm as she could produce.

  I was already ready to explode, and I’d barely touched my dick for more than a few minutes. But jerking off to her while she jerked off to me was one of the sexiest experiences of my life. I couldn’t have this woman right then, but I still wanted her so much that jerking off felt amazing. I preferred real pussy to my hand, but my hand was a much better substitute than another woman.

  She came a moment later, her hips rocking in the sexiest way. Her entire body got into the motion, her head rolling back and her lips pressing hard together as she suppressed a volatile moan. “Balto…”

  Hearing my name on her lips made me explode. I cupped my dick and came into my palm like a teenager. My hand still worked my length vigorously as I groaned, picturing every drop of come entering her slick pussy. I didn’t want to fill a condom anymore. I wanted to fill her all the way to the brim, to give her a cream pie so thick that it dripped across my sheets.

  She watched me finish, her idle fingers still resting inside her panties.

  I finished and grabbed a tissue from the nightstand because there was so much come that it was about to drip all over the place. I wiped my hand clean and turned back to the screen.

  Her eyes were closed, and she was comfortable against her pillow. Her fingers remained in her panties because she was too tired to pull them away. She drifted off to sleep without even thinking of me, of hanging up or saying good night. She got what she wanted and had no other use for me.

  I respected that.

  Instead of hanging up, I stared into the phone and watched her sleep. She’d fallen asleep in my bed before, but never for very long. Right now, her body was relaxed because she was deeply at peace. Her lips were slightly parted, and her eyelashes were thick, even without her makeup. Her shirt was bunched around her waist, her fit stomach visible in the darkness.

  If she were my wife, she would never sleep alone.

  She would always be right at my side.

  I’d had a long night so I was ready for bed, but watching her sleep was far too entertaining. I found myself enthralled by her classic beauty, by the sexy shape of her upper lip as it curved like a bow. There were subtle freckles across her body, tiny little stars in a sea of olive skin. I’d never laid eyes on a more perfect woman. If she were a prostitute, she could easily command a million euros a night.

  I’d pay ten times that to be with her.

  I watched her chest rise and fall with her deep breathing. Her wedding ring still sat on her left hand. It seemed like she never took it off. An enormous diamond sparkled in the center, flanked by even more diamonds. The beautiful ring didn’t suit her personality at all. She deserved something more unique, more meaningful.

  I’d grown more curious about her husband as time passed. Whoever he was, he had significant power to keep her in line. He was obviously rich if he could buy her a ring like that and have her drive around in a Bugatti. Did I know him? Was he an ally or an enemy? It would be much easier if he were an enemy. Then I wouldn’t have to burn any alliances by bedding his wife.

  But the mystery had gone on long enough.

  It was time to find out who he was.

  24

  Cassini

  I stood in the teal gown that had been fitted to my measurements exactly. It was so tight and so sheer that it left very little to the imagination. With a plunging front and a long slit up the thigh, it was precisely what Lucian had asked for.

  I was the exact eye candy he wanted, my curled hair pinned up over one side to reveal my neck along with the string of diamonds he’d choked me with. I wore a bracelet with the same flawless diamonds, hundreds of thousands of dollars to add to my collection. My ring was already heavy enough, but Lucian had to make me look even more ridiculous. A man couldn’t wear wealth as well as a woman, so he expected me to shoulder the extra expense.

  I looked at my frame in the mirror with my hand on my hip. I loathed the evening before it even began. His accomplices would eye-fuck me without shame, and Lucian would do nothing because that was exactly what he wanted to happen.

  It was a disgusting power play.

  And I didn’t care to go to the opera. Any free time I had, I would rather spend doing anything else, like being locked up in my room by myself. At least I could call Balto for a good session. I fell asleep last night the second I came. I didn’t even remember getting off the phone with him.

  Whatever.

  Lucian stepped inside my bedroom without knocking. He was in a black tuxedo, wearing an Omega watch and his wedding ring. I didn’t see the skull diamond he wore the other day, unless it was hidden underneath his clothes. He stepped farther into the room and examined my appearance in the mirror. “Beautiful.”

  I felt like a fancy hooker. My heels were four inches high, and the slit went all the way to the top of my thigh. My gown fit every single curve so well, it felt like a second skin. Despite the thinness of the material, the dress was very heavy, definitely heavier than a cocktail sheath.

  He came up behind me and placed each of his hands on my shoulders. His fingers squeezed into me lightl
y, his grip intrusive rather than supportive. Anytime his hands were on me, I felt sick to my stomach. His grip was slimy like a fish, oily like his hair. “You’re stunning.”

  He’d hired had a woman to do my hair and makeup, so my appearance was over the top. My eyes were dark with the heavy eyeshadow and mascara, and my lips were painted a deep red, like the color of blood. He’d molded me into the exotic and lustrous woman that he wanted on his arm. He was proud of my looks, but he didn’t give a damn about anything that came from my mouth. “Thank you.” I forced out the words, being cooperative when all I wanted to do was slap him. Balto could get hard looking at me without any makeup at all. He jerked off to me in my old t-shirt with my hair a mess. Even after we screwed on his bed and my makeup had smeared from all the sweat, he told me I was sexy. He didn’t need me in a ballgown covered in diamonds.

  My naked body was more than enough.

  “We should get going.” Lucian stepped away from me, his wedding ring on his left hand. He almost never wore it, choosing his events wisely. It seemed to be something only necessary for a special event, when his status as a married man helped his image in some way. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  He moved to the door. “Don’t talk tonight. Smile and nod.”

  I wanted to shove my diamond ring in his eyeball and make him permanently blind. Sometimes, he could be good to me, and other times, he treated me like a dog. I was just an object on display, an obedient woman who did as she was told. It wasn’t like I was much of a talker anyway, but to command me to be quiet… It was ridiculous. The woman inside me wanted to stand up for herself, to tell him to go fuck himself. But I swallowed my anger and let it roll off my back because fighting would get me nowhere.

  He turned around when I didn’t respond. “Do you understand?”

  Just when I thought I could let it go, he provoked me even more. I turned to look at him, my eyes pointed like daggers. This man pushed me around subtly all the time, but I couldn’t handle it anymore. It had slowly piled on, weight after weight. Now the burden was too heavy. “Yes, asshole. I understood you. But how about you sit there and be the quiet little bitch?”