Risking the Crown

by Violet Paige

  Without hesitation, he slid between my legs, hooking the panties with his thumb and exposing me to the night air. His dark eyes were molten with lust. The kind that looked as if he could eat me alive. I knew he was about to.

  His head dipped low between my thighs. His palms shoved my knees out of his way as he plunged the scruff of his face against the most sensitive part of my legs. I whimpered, but he pursued my pleasure, tracing a line between my slit with his finger before sinking it deep inside me.

  He pumped in and out, added another finger and then lashed his tongue wildly over my clit.

  “Oh God,” I cried, grabbing a fistful of his hair. I pushed his head toward my body just as my body ricocheted with ecstasy.

  He sucked as the spiral of darkness canvassed my body. I couldn’t see or hear. Only feel. As the last remnants rippled through me Vaughn kissed the inside of my thigh and looked at me. His gaze lusty and wicked.

  I exhaled and let my head fall back onto the chaise.

  I bounced gently as he eased himself off the chair. I opened my eyes. His hand was outstretched.

  “Let’s go inside.”

  Chapter 9

  We walked through the apartment in silence. Vaughn paused on the other side of the couch and I led him to my room. I didn’t worry about the boxes or the piles of clothes. I locked the door in place.

  I swiveled on my heels at the foot of the bed as his hand wrapped around my neck, dragging my lips to his. I surrendered to the kiss as he stripped the tank top over my head. I reached for the buttons on his crisp shirt, but he pushed my hands out of the way, discarding his clothes faster than I could have.

  Our bodies aligned. Skin touching skin. Hands groping and mouths sucking and licking.

  My back fell on the bed as he crawled toward me. I could taste my arousal on his lips and it was erotic. I kissed him harder.

  I didn’t have sex with men like Vaughn. Men who were confident and sexy with just a smile or a look. Men who knew how to use their hands to draw pleasure from my body. Men who kissed me like they owned me.

  His hands tangled in my hair as he breathed over my lips. I searched the darkness for his mouth. His body rubbed against mine. His chest pressing into my breasts until my nipples were peaked and tender.

  I groaned when I felt his erection slide between my legs. There was no question what we both wanted. What we needed.

  I tilted my hips upward and I felt the thick ridge of his cock planted at my entrance.

  My heart beat rapidly. My chest tingled. I burned with a kind of want between my legs that made me whimper before he even pushed inside me.

  His mouth left mine and made a trail to my breast. I inhaled sharply as he tugged and toyed with my nipple.

  “Ohh,” I cried.

  He moved to the other side, pinching and twisting the nub until I bucked from the intensity. All the while, his cock was stretching and burning my entrance with pressure. I tried to rock forward and back, desperate to suck him deep inside me, but he demonstrated how strong he was. How much he controlled me. How the timing was all his.

  He pulled my nipple between his teeth in a slow tugging torture. Just before he released the tip from his teeth he thrust the rest of his length inside me, searing our bodies together.

  “Fuck,” he growled into my ear as he began to find a rhythm.

  “Oh God.” I clawed his back, blinded by his fullness. Lost in how good it felt when he pushed inside me. How empty I felt when he pulled out.

  It was as if he had turned on some kind of switch that was planted in my core. My body moved in ways it never had. I wanted him to know I enjoyed it. I wanted him to hear me. To feel me. To see me.

  The first time with a man, I was always shy and reserved. I held back. I made just enough noise or pretended to come at least once. I didn’t let him see my body move the way it wanted to, in pleasure, in response.

  Those reservations didn’t exist tonight. Vaughn brought out a hunger in me that I’d wanted to feed. I squeezed his cock with vise-like pressure as he slid in and out of me. My hips rocked. My hands trailed from his body to mine. My mouth caressed him in kisses. It was as if an explosion of sensation was passing back and forth between us.

  I gasped for breath when I felt his fingers thread through mine and the wild thrusts slowed. I looked into his eyes.

  He pressed his lips to mine, pumping with a slow hard thrust until my lips parted with a sigh.

  “You feel so fucking good,” he whispered.

  I didn’t have words. I didn’t have a way to say to him that something was happening as our sweat dripped between us and the friction of our skin created heat. That I let him in faster than I had any other man. That I never slept with someone so quickly. That in this moment I thought I was connected to him more than any person.

  He hilted himself inside me and I whimpered, tilting my lips toward him.

  It was pleasure mixed with douses of pain. Wickedness sewn with gratification. Sex and sin. Lust and want I wanted to be love.

  My breaths quickened. I was about to come again. Harder and slower than my body had every experienced.

  “Fuck me,” I whispered as the pulses detonated in my core.

  Vaughn pushed inside me, pinning me to the bed. I writhed and jerked.

  “Oh God,” I cried.

  He kissed my neck and throat. “Feel it,” he demanded. “How fucking good it feels like this.”

  Locked under his body I had nowhere to go but through the pleasure. To let my body absorb what he could do to me. The bliss coursed through me and I sighed with complete satisfaction.

  I’d never let an orgasm’s impact soak through me before. I’d always wiggled and shaken it off as if it had to happen quickly. But not this time. I reveled in it. Each wave. Each jolt.

  My body felt warm and soothed, yet alive with energy.

  Maybe Vaughn sensed what he had awakened in me. Or maybe he wanted to see how far he could push me. He rolled to his back, bringing me on top of him.

  His hands traced the outline of my breasts, stopping to squeeze my nipples. My hands met his and I covered his hands with my palms. I felt him thrust inside me and the rocking took over. My clit needed the friction. Every time my hips moved, it brought me closer to another orgasm.

  His hands fell away, gripping my waist with authority as he roughly moved me up and down over his cock.

  I bounced wildly and passionately, rubbing my nipples, leaning backward toward the ceiling.

  “Don’t stop fucking me like this,” he ordered. His voice ragged and deep.

  The farther I leaned back, the deeper he hit my walls, until I was convulsing and vibrating in an uncontrollable way.

  I slammed forward on his chest.

  “Shit,” he hissed. His hands splayed firmly on my back and I felt his body seize with tension and then he growled quietly against my neck.

  His head collapsed onto the mattress and he exhaled.

  “Fuck.”

  I tried to catch my breath while he drew lazy circles on my back. I extended one leg and then the other as he slid out of me. There was a sudden stickiness between my thighs.

  I didn’t want to move. I didn’t want what we experienced to be over. Somehow moving might change it. The moment would pass, or we would get distracted by everything outside of our sex bubble. Because that’s what it was—a bubble of sex. Where nothing else mattered but what we did to each other.

  I was afraid to talk. I wanted the moment to last—at least until the sun came up.

  Chapter 10

  My hand moved across the sheet to the other side of the bed. I heard the paper rustle before my fingers touched it. I sat up, yanking the note into my hand. The sheet fell from my shoulders, exposing my naked chest.

  I didn’t care. Vaughn was gone.

  I scanned the page.

  Early morning meeting. I didn’t want to wake you.

  -V

  That was it.

  I blinked. I didn’t know what I expected
. I curled under the covers. I read the two sentences again trying to squeeze something personal out of them. But I didn’t have much time to dwell. I had to get ready for work.

  I searched for a robe and padded off to the kitchen to make coffee.

  I stopped in front of the coffee pot. It was full with a hot pot of coffee. There was another note curled inside a mug on the counter. I reached for it.

  You’re sexy and beautiful. See you tonight.

  -V

  I bit my lip and felt the blush creep along my neck. That was the note I was looking for. I poured the coffee into the mug Vaughn left out for me.

  I heard the key rattle in the lock and jumped when Greer walked through the door.

  “Hey, what are you doing here so early?”

  She threw her work bag over the chair. “I need another suit for a second meeting this afternoon. I came home to grab it.”

  “Oh.” I touched the cup to my lips. “Want some coffee?”

  “Sure.” She wandered over. “I have a few minutes.”

  I poured a cup for her and handed her the sugar and creamer.

  “So, what’s been going on? I don’t think I’ve slept here all week.”

  “Work,” I answered.

  I felt a protectiveness about last night with Vaughn. I wasn’t ready to share. The note was tucked in the pocket of my robe.

  Her eyebrows rose.

  “And my client list is building up quickly,” I added. “It’s more demanding than I expected.”

  “I know that feeling. I knew my job was going to be hard, but no one told me I wouldn’t have my own life anymore.”

  “What’s going on with the senators?” I asked.

  We sat together at the small bistro table in the corner. It was covered in mail neither one of us had opened.

  She rolled her eyes. “Squabbling over contracts.”

  “Oh?”

  Greer nodded. “Weapons contracts. They have narrowed it down from five companies to three. But that’s all I can say. You know, my confidential oath and everything.”

  “I understand. You don’t have to say anything else.”

  “Sometimes I think it would be easier if I hadn’t taken a job with clearance requirements. I can’t even tell Preston half the stuff I’m upset about. It’s like I have half a conversation and have to leave all these blanks. He listens, but he doesn’t get it because I can’t tell him everything. That’s not normal is it?”

  “I think maybe in this town it’s kind of normal.”

  I felt as if I were doing the same thing, but not because I had sworn an oath.

  “I guess you’re right.”

  The sunlight dappled the hardwood floors. I looked at the clock.

  “Shit. I have to get in the shower.” I pulled out my chair. “I don’t want to be late or my oh-so-pleasant officemate will make passive aggressive comments about it all day.” I turned to leave.

  “Not going well?”

  “She’s not the worst, I guess. Have a good day. I’ll see you…”

  Greer sat at the table, holding her mug. “I’m not sure. The contract issue has me working non-stop. Maybe tomorrow night.”

  I smiled. “Sounds good.”

  I walked in my room and started my morning ritual.

  Addie beat me to the office. She was on the phone when I walked in. I set up my laptop and scrolled through my schedule for today. I had a meeting with Max Harrison. It was the first of several mentor check-ins for the year.

  The entire process was one giant interview. I knew when I made it to the end I could interview at other places. I didn’t have to stay at American. I didn’t have to put in for one of the teaching positions. I was trying to get my footing. I didn’t want to think about what happened ten months from now.

  The reason I moved to D.C. was to give myself options. To explore something new. I didn’t like that somewhere in the back of my head I had the idea that staying at American would be better if I wanted some kind of future with Vaughn.

  It was still too early to try to call Garrett. He hadn’t texted or called last night. I felt guilt worm through me. I hadn’t thought about him until now. The desperation I had felt vanished when Vaughn came over.

  Did that make me a terrible sister? Did it make me heartless and cold? Was I so used to Garrett’s threats and wild ideas that I could ignore them for a night when he may have needed me most? Who was more selfish?

  I twisted my hands together. I no longer saw the images on my screen. I was lost. I needed more coffee—or air. I needed space away from the incessant clicking that came from Addie’s tongue when she spoke.

  I mouthed to her that I’d be back in a few minutes. I pushed through the lobby, ignoring the long faces of the women already lined up for the morning. Meg looked confused.

  “Be right back,” I explained.

  There was a small campus store a few minutes from our building. I headed that direction. At least if I returned with a fresh cup it will have looked like I accomplished something.

  I stood in line to fill a cardboard cup, reading the headlines of the newspapers and magazines while I waited. Students talked about classes. I overheard someone mention plans for fall break. That was next month.

  I paid for my coffee and stepped into the sunlight. D.C. had already said goodbye to the sweltering summer. There was a new coolness in the air.

  My phone vibrated and I awkwardly reached in my bag to grab it without spilling my coffee.

  “Good morning,” Vaughn spoke before I could say hi.

  “Good morning.” I stopped by a tree, holding the cup close to my chest.

  “Get my notes?”

  “I did. I liked the second one.”

  “Both of them are true. I just got out of my first meeting.”

  Students walked past me. “I’m headed into one now. I stopped to get more coffee.”

  “Tired?”

  I pinched my lips together. “Maybe. You’re not?”

  “Exhausted.” His voice almost made me tremble.

  I smiled. I liked knowing I was the reason he was tired. That every time he yawned or his eyes burned today it would be because we had spent the night together. He felt everything I felt.

  I leaned against the bark. “Thanks for coming over last night.”

  “Sounded like you needed a friend.”

  “I did.” I hadn’t told Vaughn anything about Garrett. In fact, we never talked about why he showed up. I had greedily soaked up an excuse to focus on something else.

  “And tonight? Does dinner work for you?”

  This was the part where I could have played hard-to-get. I could have told him I needed a few nights before I was free.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “There’s this Italian place in Georgetown where the women roll the pasta by hand. You’ll like it.”

  “How do you know I like Italian?” I teased, stalling to keep him on the phone. I liked the sound of his voice too much.

  “See you then.”

  “Bye.”

  I let my eyes close for only a second. But it was a beautiful second.

  I straightened my back and walked toward the building.

  Max Harrison’s office smelled like the back of the collections section of the library. Books were piled on every surface. There were leather-bound law volumes from every state. Some appeared to never have been opened.

  I sat in a chair facing Max’s desk, while he searched for his evaluation form with my name on it.

  “Found it!” he held it up.

  I smiled.

  “So tell me, Emily, how would you describe your first weeks at American?”

  “Good. It’s been great. Everyone has been fantastic to work with.” I pinned on another grin.

  “And your classes? How are those going?”

  I nodded. “My students are great. I have no complaints.”

  “And clin
ic? You’re in women’s issues. How is that going?”

  Before I spit out “great” again, I paused. “Challenging,” I answered.

  Max looked up. “Explain. What do you mean?”

  “I don’t want this to sound like a complaint, but the clinic is severely understaffed. We can’t help everyone who needs it.”

  “I see. And?” He pulled the tip of his goatee.

  “Some days are more frustrating than others,” I admitted. “I might see five new clients, only to leave the office with ten who are waiting when we lock the office. Sometimes I don’t think I can make a dent. We need more help. More people are needed to help at the women’s clinic.”

  “Have you visited any of the other clinics we run?” he asked.

  “No. I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t made the time.”

  “Don’t be embarrassed. I was asking out of curiosity.” He leaned forward. “They’re all like that. All of them.”

  “All?”

  He nodded. “We’re offering free legal services. All our clinics have record numbers of clients. And yes, we offer something special to a population of people who wouldn’t have help otherwise, but we’re overrun with a lot of cases that take up our time that maybe shouldn’t.”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t found that to be true. All the women I’ve seen have needed help.”

  He smiled. “I’m glad to hear that, Emily. Truly.” He scribbled something on my form and I wondered if it was “sucker.” “Do you have any questions for me? Need anything other than more attorneys at your disposal?” He made a jab at my expense.

  “No. I’m fine. Thank you.”

  “All right. I’ll see you for our next meeting.”

  I stood to leave. I didn’t feel as if I had impressed Max Harrison or learned anything valuable for the program. I should have said something about how much I loved what I did. That I loved my class and the mentees. That working in the clinic was the most rewarding experience of my life. That I was preparing a huge case because of Lana Foley and what she had been through. But instead, I waited for Max to dismiss me.

  “Bye.” I waved and closed the door behind me.