The Prince and the Pawn

by Reid, B. B.

  Twenty minutes passed before I felt someone standing over me. Heart in my throat, I looked up, expecting to see my son’s father. Maybe my old job hadn’t been the best place to hide. I felt relief when I looked into the eyes of a stranger instead. The first words I thought of when I described her in my head was tall and lithe. She reminded me of Bee except for the dark hair cropped short and the extra years this woman had on her.

  “I’m sorry to disturb you, but is this seat taken? All of the other tables were full.” I checked on River, who was sound asleep, before waving my hand toward the empty seat. “Thanks,” she whispered as she sat across from me. I watched her gaze drift to River, and then her smile brightened. “Cute kid.”

  “Appreciate it.” I then went back to staring at the job applications.

  “I just had one myself,” she announced even though I didn’t ask. “Well…if you consider two years ago recent. They grow up so fast. She’ll be three this November.”

  I nodded because it seemed like the polite thing to do. Unfortunately, she was one of those people who couldn’t take a hint.

  “You must have just had him. How old is your little guy?”

  I felt my stomach dip. This had been the question I’d been dreading. I debated not responding, but I didn’t want to be a bitch to someone just making conversation. As unwanted as it may be. “Three months.” I looked up from the applications in time to see her surprise. I could read the indecision of whether to remark on his size or not in her eyes and decided to put her out of her misery. “He was born prematurely.”

  “Oh…” She grappled for an appropriate response. “Well then, I’m happy for you both.”

  “Thanks. It was all him,” I admitted despite her being a stranger. “He’s a fighter.”

  “So, what’s his name if you don’t mind me asking?”

  I mind, but it hasn’t stopped you before. I forced myself to respond. “River.”

  “Oh, how cute! How did you come up with that?”

  My stomach twisted again. “I think I saw it in a baby book,” I lied.

  “Well, it’s a great choice. He’s going to be a lady killer, I can tell. Maybe River and my daughter can have a playdate sometime. Her name is Alison.”

  I laughed at that, but it wasn’t forced. “I think River is a long way from making dates.”

  “Well, you never know.” She reached into her purse and quickly pulled out a pad and pen. “Here’s my number if you change your mind.” She wrote down her number and then her name, and I snorted when I saw that it was Charlie. It was obviously short for something, but I didn’t ask. When she slid the paper over, I politely took it and stuck it inside of River’s diaper bag. It had his name on it and everything, a gift from his uncle Ever.

  Charlie then peered at the applications in front of me. “You’re looking for a job?” She then gave me a frustrated look—one that said she found it impossible to pry without being rude. “You barely look older than sixteen. I-I thought you might be in college or something.”

  “I was, but it’s not really an option anymore.”

  “Oh.” She flashed me a look of pity that made me want to stick my pen in her eye. “Is his father not around?”

  “He is.” I once again decided to put her out of her misery when she simply stared at me, waiting to hear what was stopping me from going back to school. “Let’s just say Harvard is expensive and leave it at that.”

  She sat back in her chair, her lips round in awe. “Harvard…wow. That’s pretty impressive. So what were you studying?”

  “Well, I haven’t declared a major yet, but I plan to study medicine.” I looked at River. “I can always give nursing a try later.”

  “Sweetie, I have nothing against nursing. My mother was one, and no one worked harder, but this is Harvard we’re talking about. You have to go back.”

  “I can’t go back,” I snapped, forgetting all about being polite. Then again, it wasn’t polite for a stranger to judge my decisions. With or without the facts. “Even if I worked sixteen jobs this summer, there’s no way I can make that much money in time.”

  She pursed her red-painted lips, and then I froze when her gaze slowly raked my form. I had already grabbed the handle of River’s car seat and was about to leave when she spoke. “What if I told you I had a job that could guarantee you’ll make the money in time?”

  I felt my ass touching the seat again despite my reservations. “I’d ask you what kind of job could possibly pay that much.”

  Her expression was curious as she seemed to contemplate something. “Do me a favor…promise not to freak out when I ask you this next thing.”

  I kept my expression impassive, not willing to give an inch. “That depends on what you ask.”

  Charlie’s smile was nonthreatening, but I was still on edge, especially when she spoke. “It’s just one little thing. Stand up and slowly turn for me.”

  I DIDN’T CHASE AFTER TYRA as she probably expected, mostly because she’d left me without a car and a note.

  Seems to me like we both need some time alone to think.

  The joke, she’d find, was on her. The only thing I could think about was getting my hands around her throat and how much time I’d spend in prison if I choked the life out of River’s mother. He was what kept me from pouncing on her when she waltzed through the door hours later. Neither of us spoke as I followed her upstairs and into the bathroom. I silently sat on the toilet as she carefully washed the day from River in his tiny bathtub.

  The moment she closed the door to his room after he was dry, fed, and asleep, I had her hair in my hands and was pushing her against the wall.

  “Don’t you ever do that again.”

  “Do what?” she challenged, pretending to be unfazed. Fortunately, I knew her better than she knew herself. I also knew that she was terrified, and her pussy was probably wet, too. “Take my child with me when I leave the house?”

  “You know what the fuck I mean. You should have told me where you were taking him.”

  “Were you really concerned about him, or were you just pissed that I left?”

  “I’d say it was fifty-fifty.”

  Actually, it was ninety-ten. Ninety percent pissed and ten percent concerned for them both. Jeremy had ensured that no one would retaliate over my father’s death, but Fox was still a big question mark. He had a son and daughter, Royal and Scarlett—twins, who were only a year or two younger. Wren, who had delivered the news to Royal about Fox’s death himself, had assured me that it was no love lost, but that didn’t help me sleep better at night. It didn’t stop me from wanting to keep River and Tyra close. Sometimes all that mattered was the principle.

  “Well, we’re back now.” Tyra’s flippant tone and that twinkle in her gaze boiled my blood. She knew it would piss me the fuck off. “Have you used the time to think?”

  “I thought about a lot of things,” I said as I trapped her more firmly against the wall. I pressed my hips against hers, leaving no space at all between us. “Mostly, I thought about what I might do if you continue to test me.”

  “I’m not—”

  God, help me. I kissed her before she could finish that sentence. Tyra had no idea how much my father had changed me. I’d do everything in my power not to give her a demonstration. Secretly, I admitted that I was scared shitless of losing her for good. The way she moaned as she kissed me back told me I hadn’t just yet despite what she claimed.

  I tore my lips from hers, eager to devour every inch as they moved down her neck. I wanted to sink my teeth into her as I licked the spot where her pulse pounded. Somehow, after corrupting her so completely, she still tasted ripe for picking. Lifting her up before she could come to her senses, I dove my hands inside her leggings, kneading that perky ass she loved to torture me with. Tyra lived inside of her head and touching her was one of the few ways I could get her out of it.

  Unlike Tyra, her T-shirt was a fragile thing. With a snip of my knife and barely a tug, it tore right off her to
rso. I barely noticed the weird bra she was wearing before I removed it. As quickly as I chucked it, it was a distant memory. I nearly swallowed my tongue, seeing how swollen her nipples were. This was some next level shit. I had my lips around one of her puckered nips before I could even form another thought. Tyra made a sound that was drowned out by my own groan the moment I tasted something sweet and creamy on my tongue. I suckled eagerly, only vaguely realizing that it must have been her breast milk. Before I knew what was happening, I began gorging myself.

  “Vaughn…” I gripped her hips in warning when I felt her hands in my hair, tugging. I couldn’t stop. Not until she was drained of every drop. “Vaughn, baby, the other one,” she damn near begged.

  I lifted my head enough to see that the other was now leaking too as if I’d tapped an endless well. With a growl that sounded savage to my own ears, I drew that neglected nipple between my lips and drank.

  “Yes!” I heard her cry. She moved her hips, grinding her pussy against my stomach, and I could feel the damp evidence of her arousal through her leggings.

  Fuck me.

  This was not something I ever thought I’d do, but I was too far gone to question it. I suckled at her breasts until she tapped out, claiming she was sore. Stepping away from the wall, I hurried down the hall. I might have been dumb as shit last night, putting her in my bed to sleep, but this time, with so much at stake, I was thinking as clearly as I could with her tongue down my throat.

  I burst into the spare bedroom, nearly tripping over my own feet before wisely deciding to set her down. As we fought to catch our breath, Tyra gazed up at me as if she might pounce at any moment. With the sternest expression I could muster with my dick this hard, I broke the lust-filled silence.

  “Don’t you dare look at me like your pussy is on a platter unless you’re ready to sit on my dick.”

  My tone might have been harsh, but I didn’t give a fuck. I’d had months of Tyra teasing me. Enough to last a lifetime.

  She planted her hands on her hips as she closed the distance between us. “You’re the one who brought me in here.”

  I knew what she was doing. She was provoking me into making the first move so that in the morning, she could blame me for her mistakes. Not going to happen. “To fuck, not cuddle, so what will it be?”

  She shook her head though I wasn’t sure why she was surprised. “You’re an asshole.”

  “Yet, your horny ass is still standing here.” Reaching behind my neck, I grabbed my T-shirt, pulling it over my head. My sweatpants were next to go while she just stood there watching me. I knew she wanted to say yes, but her pride wasn’t making it easy. Neither would I. When she woke up in the morning, well fucked, I wanted her to know that it was because she’d chosen not to resist. “You can always go back to hating me in the morning.”

  I dropped my boxers before stepping around her and climbing onto the bed. Pretending my balls weren’t damn near blue, I watched her with my arm tucked underneath my head as casually as if she were a show on TV. A moment later, she huffed and stormed from my room, and I released a quiet laugh before closing my eyes. If she thought I’d chase after her, she was dead wrong.

  I had only just dozed off when I shot up in surprise.

  My head wildly turned back and forth as I choked and sputtered. It felt like someone had dunked me headfirst in the ocean outside. Shivering, I blinked, desperately trying to clear the salt water dripping from my eyelashes. Meanwhile, Tyra was standing at the foot of the bed, clutching an empty bucket she’d found.

  She placed her finger to her lips. “I wouldn’t scream if I were you. You’ll wake the baby.”

  “Why the fuck would I scream?”

  Eyes wide, she nodded at the bed. I looked down and found a pair of black, beady eyes staring at me from the peak of a hard shell surrounded by ten legs. The sharp claws at the front clicked in warning just before the fucking crab shot forward.

  “What the fuck!” Jumping from the bed, I barely escaped getting my dick trapped between those pincers. I stared in disbelief seeing two more of those things crawling around in the sheets. “Are you out of your mind!”

  It wasn’t really a question, but the faint cry down the hall kept her from giving me an answer. The crazy bitch turned on her heel and left to see to our son while I hurriedly pulled on the sweats I’d discarded. I then tried and failed to grab those mean fuckers. I ended up using the soaked sheets as a sack to carry the crabs downstairs and out to the beach, where they reburied themselves under the sand and tide.

  For a long while after, I simply stood under the moonlight, watching the waves crash as I tried to figure out how the hell Tyra and I had gotten to this place and whether we were too far gone to ever turn back. I wouldn’t be surprised if next time it were poisonous snakes that she slipped in my bed. I knew I deserved every ounce of her wrath, but it made me no less pissed the hell off.

  The only sound when I returned to the house was the shower running in the master bedroom, but I headed to River’s room anyway despite Tyra not being there. After confirming for myself that River was fast asleep, I made my way down the hall.

  For some reason, Tyra had felt secure enough not to lock the door behind her, but I ignored my surprise as I pushed inside the master bedroom. She hadn’t been in long enough for the steam to hide my view of her through the glass walls of the shower. Leaning against the jamb of the bathroom door, I licked my lips at the tempting contrast of the soap against her brown skin before stepping inside and closing the door behind me. For what I had planned, I couldn’t chance River waking up again. Since my sweats were all I wore, I was naked in no time. By the time Tyra became aware of my presence, it was already too late. Her eyes were wide as she watched me step into the shower, her hands frozen around the loofah.

  “Let me guess. You thought I’d let you get away with your little stunt.” Closing my hand around her wrist, I brought the hand clutching the loofah to my chest. “Clean up your mess.” Every second I felt the sand between my toes and smelled the salt on my skin, I grew more irritated.

  Tyra blinked at me before forcing her expression into an impassive one. “It was only crabs. I’m sure you’ve had them before.”

  Ignoring her dig, I forced her closer to me. “Wash it off.”

  Lips pursed, her hand began to travel up and down and across my chest until my skin was covered in suds. She used some kind of apricot shit for body wash, but the fruity smell was the last thing I cared about right now. I didn’t let my gaze stray as she washed my abs and smirked when she took her time. Her movements were almost reverent.

  “Turn around so I can wash your back,” she whispered.

  My eyebrows rose. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  “No…” Her gaze quickly darted to the side before returning to me. “What?”

  “My dick. The one you almost got sliced in half.”

  Scoffing, she rolled her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, Rees.”

  “Dramatic was going out into the middle of the night and digging up crabs because I wouldn’t give you what you wanted. My dick, Tyra.”

  Her lips were parted, her gaze unsure. She wanted to talk herself out of this but had a hard time finding the words. A moment later, she dropped the loofah. Her soapy hands wrapped around my dick as she used them instead to clean me off. “Is this what you wanted?” she whispered, her tone husky as she stroked me. Her whiskey eyes had glazed over, a visual sign of her surrender.

  My breathing turned heavy when I felt her thumb toying with my piercing. I almost begged her right then. For what, I didn’t know. It sure as shit didn’t matter. I needed everything she had to give. I was very close to exploding, so I knocked her hand away. “What I want is you on your knees.”

  “I’m not begging you to fuck me, Vaughn.”

  “Coy doesn’t suit you.” I leaned down enough to skim my lips over her ear. “I want you to clean me off, and I want you to use your lips.” My hands were already on her shoulders, and it didn’t
take much pressure to get her on her knees.

  “You’re an asshole.”

  “Is that why you look so eager?” Gripping my dick, I skimmed my piercing across her bottom lip. “It’s time you put that mouth of yours to good use.”

  As predicted, Tyra opened said mouth to flay me alive.

  She barely uttered a syllable before I slipped between her lips. Her eyes, once they cleared of shock, promised death—but that sharp tongue of hers… I braced my hand against the shower wall, feeling my legs turn to jelly. After a while, she was no longer content to toy with the silver barbell. Half my dick was down her throat. And the hungry sounds she made…

  I watched, my jaw dropping with each second, as her head bobbed, and the delicate hand she used to jerk me kept me from going too deep. It was a smart move. If I had my way, my balls would be tickling her tonsils by now. Soon, Tyra’s chin became wet with more than just the water streaming down as, what started as her cleaning me, turned messy.

  And when her free hand sneakily slipped between her legs, my resolve broke.

  Tyra whimpered, clearly not done playing with me, before I lifted her. If she was coming anywhere, it was going to be on my dick. She happily wrapped her legs around my waist, and I found her entrance. She was so fucking ready, and I couldn’t wait. Before either of us could come to our senses, I slid into her unprotected pussy and swallowed her cry so that it didn’t wake our son. “You know exactly what I want,” I whispered as I pushed every inch inside of her. She was tight, but she took me. She had no fucking choice. “But for now, this will do.”

  Bracing Tyra against the wall, I pumped my hips, giving her what she’d been willing to maim me for.

  Nothing else mattered.

  The water turned cold, but neither of us noticed as we kept on fucking. Her nails in my back, digging deeper, and each thrust of my cock growing more desperate. Soon after, I felt her pussy gripping me as she came with a curse. “Fuck!”

  I knew it was for more than just her climax. She did indeed make one epic mistake because no way was I letting her go now.