by S. E. Rose
“Yes,” I answer. “I haven’t come this far to turn back.” And I mean it. This may be the only opportunity I have to try to find my mother’s crown, to try to bring back a small part of her.
“Then, I’ll stay here. You aren’t going alone.”
I place my hand on her arm and look down at her. “You can’t come with me. It’s too dangerous.”
“Then why are you going?” she counters, raising an eyebrow.
“Because…” I trail off because the truth is, I’m expendable.
Her hand on my cheek pulls my attention back to her.
“Auggie…don’t do anything crazy, OK?” she says quietly as she searches my eyes.
I place my hand over hers and then pull it to my lips to kiss her palm. “I can’t promise that.”
Her eyes close for a moment and then open. “I can’t change your mind, can I?”
I shake my head. “No, you can’t.”
“I should go, then,” she says, and I realize then that she doesn’t think she matters to me.
I grab her arm and move us so that I’m caging her against the half-wall of the balcony overlooking the pool. “You are not going anywhere. Your safety is all I care about right now and I want you here with me, where I know you are safe.”
“Auggie, what are we doing?”
“What do you mean?”
She sighs. “I mean this,” she says as she motions between us.
“We are enjoying each other’s company,” I say as though it’s obvious. Part of me wants to say more, to say the truth, but I stop short of declaring my affection for her.
“That’s what I thought,” she mumbles, looking down at her feet. “I…we should probably just end this now before one of us gets hurt. I’ll find a guest room. Thanks for letting me stay tonight.” She pushes out of my hold and walks back inside, leaving me in stunned silence. For one, no woman has ever turned me down or broken up with me or told me they don’t want to have a relationship with me. This is unchartered territory, but what hurts the most is that it’s Kate telling me this, not just some woman.
Fuck. I love her. How can I already love her? I stand there for a long time watching the last rays of sun disappear beyond the horizon. Trying to figure out when exactly I fell in love with the woman who just left me here. And then trying to figure out how in the hell I can win her back.
Kathryn
“Kate, did your dad…” Jackie starts to speak to me as I walk down a random hallway in search of a bedroom.
She stops when she sees my tear-stained face.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, her tone softening. “Are you alright?”
I wipe the tears from my face, feeling embarrassed. Why am I letting this get to me? I knew he would be like this. I knew this was just a fling. I knew this was going to end this way, so why do I care?
“I’m fine, really. I’m fine. Just overwhelmed by everything today,” I say because it’s not a lie and Jackie would know if I was lying.
She pats my arm. “There’s a guest room there on the right that looks empty. Why don’t you just take that? I’ll be next door if you need anything.”
I nod. “Thanks,” I manage as I open a door. The room is large and beautifully decorated with views of the sea. I shut the door and toss myself on the bed. I let myself cry. I cry for everything that I’ve ever given up. I cry for my life that isn’t my own. I cry for the future I dreamed of as a little girl that can’t be. At some point, the tears dry up, and I fall asleep.
I’m dreaming of riding at the stables by my childhood home. Trixie, my favorite horse, is galloping across the meadow. I laugh and toss my head back as the wind blows around us. Then she comes to a stop. It’s dark and I can’t see where we are. She stomps her hooves. I tell her to stop but she keeps stomping.
I wake with a start to knocking on my door. I rub my eyes which are still swollen from crying. It’s dark out. I look around the room and see that a clock with red lights reads three twenty in the morning.
“Yes?” I whisper.
“Kate?” I hear Auggie’s voice on the other side of the door.
“Auggie?” I respond, trying to clear the disorientation from my head.
“Can I…come in?”
“Uh, yeah,” I respond as I stand, brushing off my clothes and wiping my eyes.
The door opens and Auggie peeks around it before stepping in and shutting the door. His hair looks like he’s run his hand through it about a million times. It sticks up in a million directions. His shirt is unbuttoned halfway down, and I can see part of his chest. I involuntarily lick my lips because he looks sexy as fuck. Why, oh, why does he have to look like that? Is that some sort of punishment? I can look but I can’t touch. I clench my fists at my sides and look up to meet his gaze.
“I…” He starts but trails off as he looks at me. He doesn’t continue, he just takes the last three steps to reach me. His hands slide up my body and cup my face as he leans down and kisses me. I don’t move because I think I might be dreaming and I’m afraid I’ll wake up if I even blink. But when his tongue traces my lips, I moan because I can’t stop myself. He deepens the kiss and his tongue caresses mine.
“Auggie,” I murmur against his lips.
“Kate, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry,” he says, his voice laced with emotion. I’m confused. I don’t understand.
I pull back and look up at him.
“Why?” I ask.
His thumb runs along my jaw. “I…don’t want to lose you,” he says. “I…have never done a relationship. I don’t know if I can. But you walking back inside, you saying this is over…you make me want to try.” He looks like a lost puppy, and for the first time since I’ve met him, I know that there is so much more to August Alexander than anyone can guess. But I’m also scared to death, scared that he’ll crush my fragile heart.
I shake my head. “I don’t know if I can do this,” I admit.
“Try with me, Kate. Please.”
His eyes search mine; they are wide with honesty and I know that at this moment, he’s letting me inside. I’m seeing the inner Auggie who no one else gets to see. The Auggie who is vulnerable. The Auggie who can be hurt. My mind wanders to the memories of watching his mother’s funeral on television. Even then, my heart broke for him. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know he’s covered up that fragile young man with layers of extravagance and parties on yachts.
I suck in a breath and close my eyes for a moment. I’m afraid, but he is too. Maybe…this can work. I want it to work so badly. Am I being foolish? Probably. But, deep down, I know I can’t stay away from him. He’s healing my broken heart, the one I thought could never love again after Jared crushed it. I know I’m being overly sensitive and probably overreading everything Auggie says and does, but I’m in unchartered territory. My feelings for Auggie seem so much more intense than any feelings I ever had for Jared.
“Just, don’t crush my heart, OK?” I say as I open my eyes to meet his.
He brushes a slow kiss against my forehead before looking back into my eyes. “I won’t if you won’t.”
I go to respond, but he kisses me with a fierceness, a possession and I’m lost. He strips my clothes as his mouth leaves wet, hot trails along my skin.
“Auggie,” I breathe.
He growls in response and tugs a nipple between his teeth. I moan softly, aware that my security is in the next room. I must tense because he stops.
“What’s wrong?” he asks me, his voice laced with concern.
“Jackie,” I whisper.
He grins, and before I know what he’s doing, he’s wrapped me in a sheet and swept me into his arms. He carries me down a back hall and kicks open a door before setting me down on a giant bed. I look toward the wall of windows that opens onto a balcony. The fragrance of flowers fills the air and I can see in the moonlight that the balcony overlooks a garden.
I look back and Auggie has just finished stripping off his clothes. I take in the beauty of his bo
dy. I don’t think I can ever get enough of it. He crawls onto the bed beside me. This time, I don’t feel like he’s a predator and I’m the prey. I feel like…we’re equals…we’re both predators.
He pushes up onto his elbow and looks down at me, using a single finger to trace my neck, my clavicle, my breast, and then lower.
“You’re perfect,” he murmurs as his fingers continue to trace everywhere but where I need them.
“Auggie,” I whimper as I flex my hips, seeking his touch.
“I got you, sweetheart,” he says. And I feel like his words are a double entendre.
I melt into the bed as his fingers slowly spread me open and circle my entrance. I buck against him, but he pulls back until I settle, then he continues his exploration of my most private flesh. He’s seen a whole hell of a lot of it recently, but the way he touches me now, it’s as if he hasn’t seen me at all before this very moment.
I finally give in to his slow, torturous movements, letting him open me and circle me, and then when I don’t think I can take another minute of it, he plunges a finger inside me. It only takes a few precise movements of his finger against my G-spot for me to orgasm.
I cry out his name. I realize then, that aside from his finger, he wasn’t touching me at all. He had brought me to the precipice with just a single finger. The man was a sex god.
“I need to taste you, now,” he says with some urgency, but I have other plans.
“OK,” I say, sitting up. He looks at me confused until I push him down and kneel over his face, so I’m facing his cock. Then, my intentions become very, very clear. He smirks as I lower myself down until I feel the swipe of his tongue against my clit. I shudder at the sensation on my oversensitive flesh. His cock bobs against his perfectly sculpted abs and I lean forward to swirl my tongue over the tip.
His groan vibrates against my sensitive bud and I tremble as he licks at me. His torso is too long for me to take him all the way in my mouth, but his moans tell me that he’s enjoying each lick and suck along his long, veiny member. Auggie’s uncircumcised penis had been a new experience for me. I had thanked my bestie, Emma, for forcing me to watch European porn online one night, otherwise, I wouldn’t have had a clue as to what to do.
I’m so engrossed in my task that I almost miss his mouth moving along my slit and up my backside, to a hole that hasn’t been licked before. Is that even sanitary? I jump at first, but he growls and pushes my ass against his mouth as I feel his finger plunge inside me. The combination is too much, and I cry out as I come, my inner walls clenching down on his finger.
He wastes no time in pulling out a condom from the bedside table and handing it to me. I sheathe him and slowly sink down, letting him spread me open as my body weight forces me to be impaled on his cock.
“Fuck, you’re so tight,” he moans as his hands grab my hips. He arches up and I swear he pushes inside me to a part no other man has touched. It’s almost painful, but I want more.
“Lean forward,” he urges me as he places a hand on my back. I do and we start to find a pace. His hand reaches around me, and he circles my clit as I ride him. The combination lights another fire inside me and I lose track of time and everything. The only things existing in the world right now, are Auggie and me. And the only feeling I have is the sensation of his massive erection as it pushes inside me over and over.
His thrusts become faster and I feel myself climbing again. “So close,” I murmur.
He doesn’t respond but his fingers circling my clit, speed up and that’s when the orgasm hits. It’s an orgasm to end all orgasms. My whole body convulses, my muscles spasming; I come so hard I can’t even vocalize anything, my mouth falls open in a silent cry as I feel Auggie’s enormous dick pulse inside me. My name on his voice is the only sound I hear above the blood whooshing in my ears. He pulls me back and I fall onto his chest as I stare up at the ceiling in awe of the power this man has over my body.
After a few minutes of learning to breathe again, I giggle.
“What’s so funny?” he asks.
“I don’t think I can ever move again,” I say as the need for sleep slowly starts to overpower me.
“Good because I don’t want you to move, ever,” he confirms.
Chapter Sixteen
August
I roll off the bed and hold out my hand to Kate. She gives me a curious look but follows me through the bathroom, where I dispose of the condom. I open the door to the shower and her mouth drops open.
“There’s a glass window in the shower,” she states looking at it. I grin. I love this shower and the glass is one-way, so no one can see us. I decide to test her. I’m curious if she will come in here if she doesn’t know that she can’t be seen by the security staff roaming the grounds.
“Afraid of being seen?”
She bites her lips. I can see her warring with herself before she shakes her head and steps inside. She’s braver than I gave her credit for.
She peers out the window at the gardens surrounding the house. I walk in and wrap my arms around her. She sighs as I caress her.
My hand travels down her belly and cups her sex. I need her to know how I feel without flat out telling her that I’m falling for her. “This is mine,” I whisper into her ear right before I bite her earlobe. She moans and grinds against my hand.
“Yours,” she repeats.
I don’t say all my other thoughts because I’m still processing them. I want her, shit, I need her. I push away all my scattered thoughts as I push a single finger inside her. I feel my cock spring to life as her wetness drips down my finger.
“Fuck, you are so ready for me,” I groan as I pull my finger out and push her against the window. Her hands fly out and she looks like every man’s wet dream, naked, wet from the shower water running down her body, her hands flattened against the window, her breasts pushed flat and plumped against the glass.
I take a moment to admire her as I stroke my cock, before I line myself up with her entrance and push inside. I hear her intake of breath along with my own as I place my hands next to hers. My mouth presses a single kiss to her neck as she leans her head back onto my shoulder, her eyes closed, and lips parted.
“Do you have any idea how fucking gorgeous you are?” I ask her as I pull out and thrust back inside.
She shakes her head. She doesn’t answer me verbally, but her face pinkens. I thrust harder.
“You. Are. Fucking. Gorgeous,” I grunt out with each thrust.
“Auggie!” she cries out as her body clenches around my cock. I bite into her shoulder as I come hard, losing myself in her heat.
“Fuck,” I manage as I lean my forehead against the back of her head and try to keep us both standing. I’m so fucked. This woman has no idea the power she holds over me.
Afterward, we lie in bed staring at one another.
“You’re really going to go to this auction tomorrow?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say adamantly.
“Won’t people…talk?”
“No one going this auction is going to speak about anything that happens there,” I assure her. While I haven’t been to one before, Anna has debriefed me enough to know that the same rules apply to it as to anywhere the rich and famous hangout. You don’t see anything; you don’t hear anything; and you certainly don’t speak of anything. Plus, there’s always the fact that if you do speak about it, your odds of disappearing under shady circumstances are exponentially increased.
“Then, let me come with you,” she pleads. “I can help you.”
I reach out and touch her face, tracing her cheek bone. Her skin is soft under my touch. I can’t have her in danger, and I have no idea who will be there. I’ve always protected the people closest to me, and now she is one of them.
“You can help me, but you aren’t coming with me,” I say to her.
She sighs. “You are so stubborn,” she says on a huff.
“I’ve been called worse.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m su
re you have.”
“Get some sleep, sweetheart. I’ll need your expertise to help me prep tomorrow,” I say as I pull her close, tucking her head beneath mine. I stroke her back absentmindedly until I hear her soft breathing slow.
“I’m going to need you safe, if I’m going to be able to pull this off tomorrow,” I say to a sleeping Kate before I let sleep overtake me.
Kate
“This guy,” I say as I point to the screen. I’ve been going over people Anna says are frequent patrons of the auction.
Auggie pinches the bridge of his nose. It’s a telltale sign that he can’t remember something. He needs a better poker face, but we don’t have much time to work on that. “Patrick…Reynolds.”
“Yes. Stop pinching the bridge of your nose,” I scold.
“Kate, why does it matter if I know all their names and who they are and why they might be there? I’m new. It’s not like they are going to expect me to know all of the people attending.”
I groan. “Because you need to be like five steps ahead of everyone. What if the crown isn’t there, but one of these guys already has it? You need to know them so you can ask questions, gauge their responses.”
“I…” He trails off and I know he’s thinking about the fact that he doesn’t know how far he’s willing to go on this mission.
I turn to him. “Is this a wham-bam, thank you, ma’am?”
He chuckles. “A what?”
“You know…a one-time deal?”
He looks at me in confusion.
“Are we seeing this thing through or are you just going to go to this one auction and see if they have it or not?”
He looks at the screen and then does something I don’t expect. He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a pocket watch. He opens it and pushes back the inside cover to reveal a photograph of his mother, wearing the crown.
“I don’t think that I’ll stop looking if I’m being honest with myself, I’ll never stop looking.”
“OK, then, trust me, you need to know this stuff.” I give him a pointed look.
