by Penelope Sky
I tried not to roll my eyes. “But you are a good guy, Crewe. Let’s not pretend otherwise.”
“Maybe I’m a nice guy to you, but that’s it.”
I didn’t believe that. I’d seen his moral compass, and it pointed straighter than most. “You have more money than you know what to do with. Why do you need this business at all?”
“It’s not about money. It’s never been about money.”
“Then what’s it about?”
“Power.” My tears stopped falling, so he wiped his thumb across my cheek, catching the last drop that clung to my skin. “Information is the most powerful weapon you can have. I managed to discover there was going to be an assassination attempt on the queen’s life. If I’d never uncovered that, she could be dead right now. I use information for leverage, but I also use it appropriately.”
“But you’re never going to get any good information out of a man like Bones.”
“Actually, he was the one who told me about the queen.”
Since Crewe had a response to everything I said, my points didn’t come across well. “I still think you should walk away from that life now—not later. I’m sure you make enemies that way.”
“Life is boring without a few enemies.” He smiled in his typically handsome way.
I didn’t appreciate his words, but nothing I said would make a difference.
He dropped his smile when he saw my annoyance. “I used to live a boring and mediocre life, but I lost my family anyway. I treated Josephine like a queen, but that wasn’t enough to make her stay. I treated you well, and I still got shot in the chest. I don’t play it safe because it doesn’t guarantee anything.”
My hand moved up his arm as the pity rose in my heart. “Just because the world turns dark doesn’t mean you have to.”
“Yes, it does. Making everyone fear you is the best way to keep people in line. The second I go soft, bad shit happens. In order for a king to rule over his kingdom, his subjects must fear his wrath. That’s just how it goes.”
That made me feel worse for him. “You know what I think would be nice?”
The only encouragement I got was a stare.
“Living in solitude on Fair Isle. No connection to the outside world, no people. Just the two of us. We don’t need power or wealth, just a roof over our heads and Finley to cook for us. There would be no subjects, no reason for power. It would just be quiet…all the time.”
His hand loosened on mine, but he didn’t pull away. His callused thumb brushed over my soft skin, and his eyes were trained on my face. He glanced at the spot where he wiped a tear away before he looked me in the eye again. “That sounds nice…really nice.”
Now that we were together, I kept blurting out things I shouldn’t. I said things that I didn’t realize I thought about. I talked about a future we could never have together, a future I didn’t even know I wanted. I wanted to practice medicine, to fulfill the dream I’d had since I was a little girl. But the longer I stayed with Crewe, the more I sacrificed the things I wanted. Now I was moving to Scotland to enroll in a medical program I couldn’t apply to America. I was changing everything around for one man.
But I didn’t mind it.
Everything was changing—including me. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
He tilted my face toward him and placed a gentle kiss on the corner of my mouth. The scruff from his jaw was always coarse, but I liked the way it felt when it brushed against my skin. He let his mouth linger there, absorbing my attraction through his lips. When he pulled away, his eyes were lidded with disappointment like he wanted to keep kissing me.
But he didn’t.
Maybe it was because we were on a plane with some of his men lingering about, or maybe it was for a different reason altogether.
“Can I ask you something? I’m not sure if I want to ask it or not…”
“Ask it. But I’m not sure if I’ll want to answer it or not.” The corner of his mouth rose.
“It’s about my brother. What does he do, exactly?”
“For a living?” Crewe asked.
“Yeah. He’s not like Bones, is he?” Joseph had been planning to take Ariel as a prisoner, and I hoped it wasn’t to do horrific things to her. Maybe he’d just wanted to keep her as a hostage for ransom or something…at least, I hoped.
“We’re all like Bones, honestly.”
“No, you aren’t.” Being with Bones was standing in the presence of evil. I never felt that way about Crewe, even when I was locked in a cage in his basement on Fair Isle.
“You really want to know? I’m not sure you’re gonna like it.”
“Just tell me he doesn’t kill people.”
He shook his head. “We all kill people, Lovely.”
“But bad people, right?”
He shrugged. “That’s subjective. Joseph makes his money by hacking bank accounts. He finds out when there’s going to be a large deposit from an Arabian prince or a Chinese CEO. When he figures that out, he intercepts the wire transfer. It’s complicated cyber-robbery. He relies on my intel to know when big deals are going down. But he burned that bridge.”
While my brother’s actions were illegal, I was relieved it wasn’t something worse. In his line of work, there were limited casualties. He didn’t walk into a bank with guns blazing and shoot innocent clerks behind the desk. He was committing an international crime, but at least it wasn’t murder. “I’m so relieved.” My hand moved across my chest as the adrenaline faded away and I was left feeling relaxed.
“You’re relieved your brother is a thief?” he asked with a chuckle.
“I’m relieved he’s not a murderer.”
“At least you have a positive outlook on things.” Now that the plane was cruising at a constant speed and there was no turbulence, Crewe removed his safety belt. “I’m gonna make some calls in my office. Get some sleep.”
“You can call people on the plane?”
“I can do anything on here.” He winked. “Even fuck you in the bedroom.”
It was a twelve-hour flight, so that might happen. “Can I lie down?”
“Of course. Come with me.”
9
Crewe
When the plane landed on the strip, London was noticeably more relaxed. I’d flown with her several times, and her attitude was always the same. She was tense, uncomfortable, and nearly terrified the entire flight.
I found it interesting because she was a strong person in every other regard. When she first became my prisoner, she never showed a single ounce of fear. All of my remarks were met with insults, and even when I grabbed her by the neck, she didn’t cower in fear. If she fell, she got back to her feet even stronger than before.
But a plane was enough to make her uneasy.
Didn’t make any sense.
We got into the car and drove from the airport to the castle at the edge of Edinburgh. London had slept for most of the plane ride, so she was rested. I’d been on the phone or taking care of emails, so I’d been awake most of the time. I’d fucked her when she woke up and took a short nap before we landed.
Now I was about to pull up to my house at three in the morning. Ariel wouldn’t be there, so I had a few hours before I had to tell her the truth about London. She would be insanely pissed, and our heated argument would last for several days before she finally accepted my choice.
Or maybe she would never accept it.
Ariel was one of the few people I trusted in the world, so a part of me felt guilty for doing something she was so strongly against. She’d been right about London to begin with, but I was still bringing her back.
I knew I looked weak in Ariel’s eyes.
When we pulled up to the house, London stared at it like she’d never seen it before. She stepped out of the car and stared at the lights that glowed outside the walls. The fountain in the front splashed with water that echoed in the clearing. A slight breeze moved through her hair, pulling it in front of her face.
&
nbsp; The men grabbed the suitcases and carried them into the house, leaving the two of us alone to admire the stone walls of the ancient structure that had been refurbished ten years ago. When I remodeled the place, I preserved as much as I could while maintaining the integrity of the foundation.
I came to her side and stared at the two enormous front doors. “Feels like home?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, her thin jacket not heavy enough to keep her warm. “Actually, it does…”
I let her admire the castle for another moment before I grabbed her hand and took her inside. Since she’d been gone, I hadn’t changed much. The only difference was the rug and the walls in the hallway where I’d been shot. Everything had to be changed because of the bloodstains. I purposely took her in a different direction so she wouldn’t have to revisit the memory from the past.
We entered the royal chambers, where our suitcases sat inside the walk-in closet. The bedroom was exactly how I’d left it when she left. I hadn’t used the bed or anything else in the room. It turned into a storage facility for my clothes and watches.
“It smells different in here.”
I stripped off my jacket and placed it on the hanger. The left side of the closet was for the maids to pick up for dry cleaning, so I placed it far to the left and shut the door. “I can have the maids clean it again.”
“No, it’s not that. It just…doesn’t smell like you. A hint of your cologne was always in the air. I remember it always smelling like wood and smoke from the fireplace. Something is just off. I can’t explain it.”
I unbuttoned my shirt and tossed it in the hamper. “Well, I haven’t been living in here for a while.”
“I guess that’s true. You have been in America for the past week or so.”
Ever since she’d left me, I hadn’t used the bedroom. I slept in different quarters down the hall. The sheets and bedding had been washed, but she and I were the last people to have enjoyed the bed. Every time I tried to come back, the pain washed over me. Everything reminded me of her, and it was impossible not to think about her when her presence was still heavy in the walls. Sasha and I stayed down the hall because I couldn’t fuck her in the bed I used to make love to London in. Just couldn’t do it. “I haven’t slept in here since you left.” I turned my back and unfastened my watch, an excuse to hide my face. My expression remained stoic, but my eyes always gave me away.
“Then where have you been sleeping?”
“Down the hall.”
Silence followed my words. London didn’t speak again, probably because she didn’t know how to respond. I never told her how devastated I was when she left because I wouldn’t even admit to myself that I was in pain. That was the biggest confession I ever could have made, that I missed her so much I didn’t want to tarnish my last good memory of her.
She came up behind me and rested her face against the area between my shoulder blades. “Why?”
It was a stupid question because she knew the answer. I couldn’t fuck another woman on a bed I considered holy. I couldn’t brush my teeth and not expect to see her reflection in the mirror. I couldn’t open a drawer and be indifferent to her panties and socks sitting on top. But I didn’t say any of that. I gave the simplest response. “Because I loved you just as much when you were gone as I did when you were here.”
She pressed a kiss against my skin, her soft lips sticking to my body like glue. She left her mouth there for a few seconds before she pulled away, keeping her hands on my triceps. “Crewe…” She rested her forehead against my back, her breathing uneven. “I missed you so much. When you told me we were done…I was devastated.”
Initially, her tears had made me happy. I’d wanted to hurt her the way she hurt me. But now I didn’t ever want to cause her pain. “I was just angry.”
“I know that now.” Her arms circled my waist as her face remained against my back. “When I went back to New York, it didn’t feel the same. Nothing had changed. The crowds were the same, the buildings were the same, my morning coffee tasted the same…but everything was different. I tried dating, but I never liked anyone. When I touched myself, I thought about you…”
I closed my eyes at her confession, picturing my woman touching herself and thinking about me. I’d witnessed it before, and it was definitely the hottest thing I’d ever seen. I’d touched that clit a hundred times, but I loved watching her do it herself.
“What do we do now?” she whispered.
“About?”
“My living situation, Ariel…everything.”
We’d just walked in the door, and I certainly didn’t have a plan. “Ariel will know before she gets here tomorrow. The only reason she doesn’t know now is because she’s asleep. I’ll handle her.”
“Would it help if I spoke to her?”
It’d just make it worse. “Unlikely.”
“Is there anything else I can do?”
I turned around, feeling her arms snake around my body as I moved. My hand moved into her hair, my favorite place to grab her. With a slight tug, I arranged her face exactly where I wanted it, her mouth easily accessible. “Fuck me.” One of the things I missed most was waking up to her riding me in the morning. Sometimes I woke up to her mouth around my dick, and that was just as good. She was talented at taking the reins, being in charge of my fantasies. She had a confidence unlike any other.
She held my gaze as her hands moved to my belt and stripped it away. She didn’t kiss me, but this was just as intense. I felt the belt slide out of my loops and hit the floor next to my feet. Her hands undid my fly and buttons next, getting me free from the material.
Her hand wrapped around my length, and she stroked it without blinking.
My hand loosened from her strands, but my eyes didn’t leave her face.
She finally rose on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to my mouth, a light one that lacked tongue. She purposely kept her distance, wanting to keep our eyes focused on each other instead of our mouths.
She pivoted me toward the bed then pushed me, making my body fall back and land on the bed.
The only reason why I moved was because I fell before she even touched me. I wanted that beautiful body on top of mine, to feel her take me as roughly as I took her.
She didn’t give me a chance to remove my shoes and the clothes around my ankles before she shed her jeans and panties and straddled me. She didn’t bother with her top, assuming it would take too much time.
She pointed my cock at her entrance and slid all the way down, her pussy soaking wet. She didn’t need much time to get ready, which made me wonder if she was ready anytime I was in her presence. Her attraction matched mine.
I held myself up on my elbows and watched her move up and down on top of me, taking my length with even strokes. Her hair flowed with her movements, and my feet pushed against the ground when I thrust back. I yanked up her shirt and bra so the bottom half of her tits were visible. They were one of my favorite features, so I needed to see them. I needed to grab them whenever I felt like it.
“How this?” she said through her heavy breathing.
I already wanted to come. She was taking me all the way to the hilt before she rose up again. My dick was smeared with her arousal, and her pussy was tight around me even though she hadn’t come just yet. “Fucking perfect.” I wanted to do this until morning, but when she fucked me this well, I knew I wouldn’t last. It wasn’t the end of the world—I loved coming inside her anyway.
All I could do was move my hips up and down while she did the rest. Of course, she looked absolutely stunning while she did it. Every woman that had ever ridden me looked breathtaking, but there was something different about London. It must have been the look in her eyes—because she loved me.
I closed my eyes every now and then as I suppressed the urge to dump all my seed inside her. I’d fucked her less than twelve hours ago, but it felt like days. I could feel all the come in my balls, all the essence I wanted to give her.
She gripped my sh
oulders as she rode me harder. “Trying not to come?”
“Yeah…”
“I want you to come. I love feeling you inside me.”
Jesus Christ. I used one hand to adjust her body, to tilt her forward so her clit rubbed against my pelvic bone. I didn’t need clit stimulation to make a woman come, just when I was in a hurry.
And I was in a big hurry now.
I sucked two fingers into my mouth then placed them at her back entrance. I’d fucked her in the ass and knew she liked it. My fingers weren’t as thick as my length, but they would do. I pushed inside and fingered her from behind, activating all her nerve endings to make her come hard.
Her breathing sped up, and she dug her hips into me harder, rubbing her clit against my body. She increased her pace and nearly cut my skin with her nails. Once her hips began to jerk on their own, I knew she’d reached her climax. She let out a scream as her movements slowed down, and she took my hard cock slowly. “Oh god…”
My fingers pulsed inside her ass, and my cock felt her tightness. I was in heaven, watching this beautiful woman get off to me. She was my fantasy, and I loved being hers. My cock throbbed until it was nearly painful, and I knew I couldn’t keep my orgasm back. “Here it comes, Lovely…”
She increased her pace again, taking my cock hard.
I fingered her ass harder, moving with her as she bounced on my dick. “Fuck…”
Her hands dragged down my chest and cut into my pecs.
The slight amount of pain pushed me over the edge. I came violently, moaning as I filled her small pussy with all of my seed. I loved claiming her as mine again, giving her so much come it wouldn’t fit inside her.
I was disappointed it was over, but too satisfied to really regret it.
She leaned down and kissed me, a long and sensual embrace that involved a lot of tongue. My fingers pulled away from her ass and gripped her cheek, and I felt aroused by the kiss she just gave me.
She pulled away then lifted herself, pulling my length out of her. My cock slapped against my stomach once he was free, still slightly hard. That’s when the come oozed out of her body, white globs dripping down her thighs.
