by J. S. Cooper
“So that’s it, then? After everything, that’s it?”
“What do you want me to say?” He grabbed my hand. “You don’t belong in this world.”
“Because I’m a poor American?”
“No.” His fingers gripped my hand tighter. “That has nothing to do with it.”
“Then why?”
“Why do you even want to stay, after what just happened?”
“Because I like you,” I said softly. What was so hard for him to understand? Didn’t he get that I had come with him because I thought he was cute? That everything had been exciting for me because I liked him? I’d been attracted to him the first time I saw him in the museum. He’d been my sex god, and the fact that he had been attracted to me as well had ignited a feeling inside of me that I hadn’t been able to quell.
“I’m not a good guy to like.” He frowned.
“You could become a good guy to like.”
“You think it’s that easy?” He cocked his head and surveyed my face, then smirked. “You’re so young and naive, Lola. I will never become a good guy.”
“Maybe I don’t want a good guy.” I shrugged, my eyes never leaving his. “Maybe I want a guy that can take me on an adventure and never let me go.”
“Do you really think you can handle that, Lola?” His green eyes looked at me skeptically. “Do you really think you’re prepared for an adventure that has no guarantee of a happy ending?”
“When does anything have a guarantee of a happy ending?” I answered him honestly as I thought back to my past relationships and heartbreaks. I liked Xavier, and even though I didn’t know what game he was playing, I still wanted to get to know him better. He intrigued me and infuriated me, but I couldn’t walk away from him. Not now and not yet. Not after everything we'd been through.
“Very true.” He gazed at me and then turned away. “We can talk again tomorrow. Tonight has been too much drama. You’re overwhelmed and don’t know what you’re saying. Tomorrow we can decide where we want to go from here.”
“Okay,” I whispered, feeling worried. His words sounded ominous, and I was scared that he was going to tell me that I was going to have to leave. But that wasn’t what scared me the most. What scared me was that as much as I didn’t want to leave, another part of me really wanted to go. I wanted to leave and go back to London and pretend that I’d never met Xavier Van Romerius before in my life. And that was something that saddened me more than anything.
Chapter Two
Xavier
I didn’t realize how easy it was to be a murderer. I didn’t know how easy it was to have murderous thoughts. That was until tonight. Tonight I knew how easy it could be to kill someone. I knew that because I’d wanted to kill Casper and Tarquin when I’d seen them in the room with Lola. My gentle, sweet, unassuming Lola. She’d so nearly been taken advantage of by my two cousins, and I would have done anything to make them pay for what they’d done. I was so angry with them and with myself. I wondered what I’d been thinking to expose her to this world of depravity and sin. She was too young, too inexperienced, too naive and willing. I’d made a mistake in bringing her to Romerius. I’d made a mistake trying to have her be a part of my world. It was too dark, too sinister, too full of debauchery for her. She wasn’t ready for the life that I lived. And I knew that I couldn’t allow her to become even more entrenched in the games that we played.
Casper and Tarquin had known exactly what they were doing. I felt sorry for Tarquin. He was too young, and too easily influenced by his brother. He was a boy, trying to be a man, and he’d gotten caught up. It wasn’t his fault, though I didn’t consider that to be an excuse. I wouldn’t be able to forgive him. And I’d have to speak to Sebastian about Tarquin’s behavior. They’d have to cut ties. I was not going to allow anyone in my immediate circle be influenced by Casper and Violeta. Not at all. Not when I had so much to lose. And I knew that I couldn’t lose Lola. Not now. Not when everything inside of me was telling me that she was the one. The only problem was that I didn’t know if I wanted to have a ‘one’. What did that mean for my life? What did that mean for my plans? What good could I bring to Lola’s life? Maybe I’d brought enough trouble as it was. Maybe the best thing I could do would be to let her go. But everything in me rebelled at that thought. I unclenched my fists as I walked into my study, locked the door shut, and walked over to my desk. I stared at the invitation sitting on my planner and sat down in my leather chair. I picked it up and closed my eyes. I had a decision to make and I had no idea what to do. I opened my eyes and stared at the words, printed in black on the ivory linen paper. There was a gold line around the edge of the paper that I knew to be real gold. I had two days to make a decision. Two days that would change my life forever. Two days that would not only decide my fate, but Lola’s as well.
Chapter Three
Lola
My heart felt heavy as I sat in the bathtub full of salts and oils. I played with the bubbles and watched as my fingers swished the water back and forth. The movement was slightly comforting and it helped me to forget the situation I found myself in. Xavier was right, he was not the Prince Charming I had always dreamed of. He was not a man who could take me away from my mundane world and make everything in my life perfect. If anything, he needed someone to take him away from his world. It was so dark and unbelievable, so coarse and uncaring. And most of all, it was lonely. I always thought that rich people and royalty had to be worried about gold diggers and people using them for their money. I always thought that their biggest worries came from not knowing who they could trust among their poorer and non-noble friends. Now I knew differently. Now I knew that their other rich friends were even worse. The games they played with each other and others were almost inhumane. I thought back to Casper and Tarquin and their proposition for a threesome. How could they have done that, knowing or at least thinking I was engaged to their cousin? Didn't they have any shame? I could still see the desire in Casper's eyes and the challenge. He hadn't been embarrassed at all. He had no hesitation, either. If he could have taken me to his bed and had his way with me, he would have. He wouldn't have cared. I would have been his conquest and he wouldn't have cared if he'd hurt his cousin. Tarquin, I knew, had more hesitation. He'd looked unsure and also slightly guilty, but that was probably because he was younger.
"You swimming in there?" Xavier opened the door and peeked into the bathroom.
"Obviously not," I said haughtily as I looked up at him from the tub, trying not to devour his face as I gazed at him.
"You're taking a long time," he said, walking into the bathroom completely.
"Is that a problem?" I slid down in the bath as he attempted to look at my breasts.
"No," he said simply with a wry smile as he sat on the toilet seat and gazed at me. "I was just making sure you hadn't fallen asleep."
"I'm not asleep." I smiled at him sweetly, my heart racing fast as he continued to stare at me. He was unnerving me with the warm look of concern on his face. He was no longer the angry and stone-faced Xavier of earlier.
"Good." He winked at me. "That would have made it awkward."
"Made what awkward?" I asked, confused.
"My making love to you."
"Oh." My face reddened.
“I do like waking my women up with sex, but only once I know they enjoy that.” He grinned. “And I prefer it to be in the bed,” he continued with a smirk as he licked his lips deliberately.
“I see.” I blushed at his words. I kind of liked the idea of waking up with Xavier making love to me, but there was no way in hell I was going to tell him that.
"It's best if we're both alert." He grinned, stood up, and walked over to the bathtub and sat at the edge. He reached his fingers into the tub and splashed the water around slightly.
"What are you doing?" I asked him, my voice stammering as I watched him unbutton his shirt. His chest was playing peekaboo and I couldn’t stop myself from staring at the expanse of skin on show, so tan and musc
ular. Xavier truly was a sex god. I just had to hand it to him. No matter what he was wearing, or where we were, he always had the ability to turn me on.
"I need to get clean as well." He licked his lips and threw his shirt onto the ground.
"There's not enough room in the tub for both of us." I gulped.
"There's always enough room for the two of us, Lola." He grinned and stood up, pulling his belt out of his pants and throwing it to the ground next to his shirt. Then he stretched his arms up and I watched the rippling of his abs as I sat there. My fingers moved up to touch his stomach, but I stopped myself right at the last moment.
Xavier grinned down at me and started to unzip his pants. I moaned slightly as he pulled his pants down and I stared at his manhood, stiff and hard, and pointing directly toward me from his tight white briefs. I looked away so that I wasn’t staring directly at his cock, and splashed myself with some water to cool off. Xavier was making this very difficult for me. Very, very difficult. How could I extricate myself from this situation when I still wanted to be with him so badly?
“What are you doing?” I gasped as he grabbed my hand and placed it on his manhood. His fingers squeezed mine as he stood there grinning down at me, our hands moving up and down his length.
“Getting ready for my bath.”
“Get ready by yourself, please.” I tried to move my hand away, but his grip tightened. “What are you doing?” I said again as I glared up at him.
“Letting you feel how hard you make me.” He let go of my hand abruptly. “I want you to remember what you do to me, every single time you think of me.”
“Ooh, wow, I'm so flattered,” I said sarcastically. “What an honor it is to get you hard.”
“Is that all you think this is?” His voice dropped as he stepped into the bathtub.
“Do I think my holding your cock is about making you horny and hard?” I asked and rolled my eyes. “What else should I think it’s about? The cure to cancer?”
“Do you think it is so easy to make me hard?” His voice was a whisper as he reached down and pulled me up.
“What are you doing?” I gasped as his fingers slid down my arms to my hands as he lifted me. “Xavier,” I protested as he pulled me towards him, my breasts rubbing bubbles all over his chest.
“Lola,” he mocked me as his voice dropped to a sultry whisper and his hand rubbed bubbles down my back and to my ass.
“I didn’t invite you to take a bath with me.”
“And I don’t need your invitation.”
“You’re such a pig.”
“I know, I know. You’ve told me that about a million times.” He squeezed my butt cheeks and pulled me against him harder. “And I haven’t forgotten any of the other times you said it, either.”
“Then why do you keep acting so insufferable?”
“You think I’m insufferable?” He frowned. “Or are you just saying that?”
“Why would I just say that?” I rolled my eyes. “I don’t say things I don’t mean.”
“So you mean to tell me that I’m insufferable?”
“Yeah.”
“You know who I am?”
“Yeah.”
“I should spank you for being impertinent.”
“You think I’d let you get away with that?” I breathed out as I felt his hardness against my stomach.
“No.” He smiled slyly. “And that’s why it will be so good.”
“Huh?” I said, confused. “Why will what be so good?”
“It will be fantastic.” He breathed heavily. “Because you will try and slide away from me.” His fingers gripped into the small of my back at the sides of my waist. “And when you slide away from me, you’ll be squirming and wriggling like you are now.” He bent down and whispered into my ear. “And that wiggling back and forth is very much turning me on.” I paused as I realized my breasts were rubbing back and forth on his chest in an attempt to back away from him. And all that was succeeding in doing was making my nipples hard.
“I’m still mad at you.” I glared at him. “What happened tonight, it’s not okay. I don’t know what sort of sick world you’re a part of, but I don’t appreciate being brought into it. I don’t want to be part of some sick game you’re playing with Violeta.”
“Forget Violeta.” His eyes narrowed and his face was full of distaste. “She means nothing to me. She is nothing. Casper and Tarquin will be dealt with as well.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked softly, my heart thudding as I stared into his eyes. My body shivered slightly from being naked in the cool air above him, and he pulled me closer to him.
“Don’t you worry your sweet head about it.” His voice was dark. “I will take care of it.”
“Are you still mad at me?” I asked, annoyed at myself for caring what he thought about me. This wasn’t my fault and I shouldn’t need his reassurance.
“I couldn’t be mad at you, Lola. Mad at myself, yes. You? Never.” He kissed the top of my head. “You did nothing wrong. It was you that was wronged. And I will make sure that Casper and Tarquin pay for what they did, even if it costs me everything.”
“What are you talking about, Xavier?” I breathed out, suddenly feeling scared. What was he talking about? What would it cost him?
“Nothing right now.” He lifted me out of the tub. “I’m done with talking. Right now all I want to be doing is making you scream.”
“What are you doing?” I gasped as he bent me forward over the tub.
“What I wanted to do as soon as I walked into the bathroom.” He grunted as he slipped some fingers in between my legs. “Taking what is mine.”
“I’m not yours.” I groaned as he rubbed my clit roughly.
“You will always be mine, Lola Franklin. You were mine from the first day that I saw you.”
“The first day you saw me?” I moaned, and my body shuddered as I felt his cock entering me swiftly. “Xavier!” I screamed out his name as he grabbed me around my waist and shifted my butt back into him as he slammed into me. I felt his cock deep inside of me and I felt my body quaking as he filled me up so that I could feel every inch of him while he slid in and out of me. His fingers reached up and pinched my nipples and I writhed back against him, unable to stop myself from moving my body in rhythm with his. And then his right hand reached down and rubbed my clit gently as he fucked me. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the pleasure invading my body. I heard myself crying out as I came hard and fast. Yet, Xavier didn’t stop moving inside of me or rubbing my clit. Instead he continued and within thirty seconds, I felt another orgasm building up again. This time, his hardness moved in and out of me slowly. Until suddenly he grunted and grabbed my hips and moved back and forth quickly, until he stopped abruptly and I felt his body shaking against mine as he exploded inside of me. He pulled out and then turned me towards him and kissed me hard.
“I told you you’re mine.” He kissed me on the lips again as his eyes bore down into mine. “Never forget that, Lola.”
Chapter Four
Xavier
I watched as Lola slept, and I marveled at how easily I’d come to my decision. She loved me. I’d seen it in her eyes when I’d gone into the bathroom. She loved me and I loved her. She was mine and I was going to risk everything to get my revenge. I was going to risk my heart for power. I’d seen the love that she had for me in her eyes. I knew that she wanted me. I knew that she was intrigued by me. I’d known it from the first time I’d seen her in the gallery. This wasn’t what I’d planned on happening when I’d gone to London, but it felt like poetic justice. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I was going to accept the invitation to the grand ball. I was going to accept it, and I was going to enter the challenge. I was going to become the most powerful man in Europe. I just had to make sure that I didn’t sacrifice Lola’s heart, or my own, for my second chance at power.
Chapter Five
Lola
I arose before the sun and quickly packed up my thi
ngs. My heart felt heavy as I gazed at a still sleeping Xavier. I was going to leave. I knew that I wasn’t right for his world. I couldn’t keep playing these games with him. I didn’t want to feel used and unappreciated. I didn’t want to be the woman who started accepting unacceptable behavior because I was so consumed by the feelings that exploded in my heart every time he smiled at me or said my name. I was Lola Franklin, for heaven’s sake. I was the girl who had vowed never to let a man change who I was or what I would accept in a relationship. I wanted it all, or nothing at all. I wanted to be loved like nobody had been loved before. I wanted Xavier’s sun to rise and fall with my smile. I wanted to be his world. I wanted him to look at me and feel like he couldn’t go on without me by his side. I wanted to be his everything. The yin to his yang. The light to his darkness. I wanted to be the one. My heart ached for the want that struggled to remain silent in my heart. I crept toward the door softly, my brain not thinking about how I would leave the palace. I just needed to leave this room first. My heart raced as I edged closer and closer to the door. My hand reached for the doorknob, and I was about to turn it when I felt a hand on my back.
“Arrgh!” I screamed and turned around, my heart racing. “What are you doing?” I asked him, annoyed that he’d crept up on me. “I didn’t even hear you behind me.”
“I guess I can be quiet as a mouse as well,” he said in a low growl, his eyes narrowed as he stared at me.
“What does that mean?” I squeaked out, my head dropping down his body and staring at him in all his naked glory. I swallowed hard as I took in his tan muscles and manhood. How glorious and perfect his body was. It wasn’t fair. Not only was he handsome and sexy, but he also knew how to use every inch of what he had to make me feel like I was the only woman in the world when he made love to me. “Am I the Tom to your Jerry, or are you the Jerry to my Tom?” I spoke again, feeling nervous as I waited for a response.
“You think this is a game?” There was a lilt to his voice that I hadn’t heard before and I shook my head slowly.
