by Jessa Kane
“Ramsey,” she gasps, her fingers threading and tugging in my hair. “I…I only want you to see me now. Hold me.”
She’s in my arms before the request is even half issued. I wrap them around her and shield her from the onlookers, pressing kisses to her hairline. “I goddamn love you, Veda.”
“No matter what?”
“Yes. Always.” For a long time, we lie there, our bodies meshed head to toe, Veda’s heart beating—racing—without slowing. “No matter what.”
How soon until I have to prove it?
Chapter Five
My hand rides on the small of Veda’s back as we enter the restaurant, De Kas, an upscale eatery designed to look like a greenhouse and situated in the center of one of Amsterdam’s largest parks. Although my inclination is always to reserve a private room, I’ve booked a table within the dining room instead, off in the corner but still within the main restaurant. Perhaps it’s wrong of me to feel such animosity toward Veda’s father, but my possessive streak for her knows no bounds. I don’t want to give him an opportunity to be anywhere alone with her should I need to leave the table for any reason. In that vein, I’ve also positioned security throughout the restaurant, posing as diners, but prepared to act if Jack attempts to take Veda away from me.
Am I going too far? Yes. Ask me if I care. I’ve been without her once before, and I don’t intend to live that way again. A deranged man mired in hysteria.
Although, Jack might not even need to take her. She could walk at any time.
I’m maintaining the outward appearance of calm for Veda’s sake, but on the inside I want her home with me in bed. As the hostess leads us to our table and every eye in the room lands on the outrageously beautiful and obviously young blonde on my arm, I am hyper aware that she is now eighteen and can leave me if she chooses. I thought bringing Veda to Amsterdam and showing her my contrition over how she came to be with me would be the ultimate way to earn her trust once and for all, but now I’m wondering if I had an even more recent lapse in sanity. She could very well see her father and realize she misses him more than she loves me.
If she really loves me, that is. No one has ever loved me. Why would this incredible girl be the first? Can I believe her when she says it?
When Jack comes into view at our table in the far back corner, Veda’s hand holds on tighter to mine even as she smiles, confusing me further. What am I missing? I resent there being a single mystery between us, even though I realize I was the deceptive one in the beginning and this is my due.
As we draw closer, I see that Jack looks like shit. He has grown a beard, but his red-rimmed eyes and failure to stand and greet his daughter makes me think he hasn’t shaved out of laziness. Finally, the glare he’s directing at me ticks away and softens, landing on Veda.
“Veda.” He lumbers to his feet and skirts around the large, round table. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in years. You look so pretty.”
My muscles tense as she releases my hand and goes to him slowly, wrapping her arms around his waist, albeit hesitantly. “Hey, Dad.”
There is a definite note of awkwardness between them, very likely stemming from the fact that the man who is fucking her stands in their midst. I have been since he signed the contract making me his daughter’s legal guardian. He knew that would be the case as I never once lied about my urgent need to take her to bed. I know Veda was hurt by her father’s actions, as well as mine, and God, I’m proud as hell of her for attempting to forgive us both. At least, I think she’s making the attempt. There’s a set to her chin I recognize as stubborn as I reach out to shake Jack’s hand.
He stares at my offering in distaste, but Veda murmurs “please,” and he finally accepts the greeting before we all sit down.
Veda takes my hand beneath the table as we order drinks. Sparkling water for me, a glass of champagne for Veda and a double scotch for Jack. His tersely delivered order puts me on guard—and Veda, too. I can practically see her nerves firing as the waitress retreats.
“So, Dad.” She puts on a serene smile that makes me ache to pull her astride my lap and give her a rough French kiss, right here at the table. “How do you like Amsterdam?”
He seems agitated, scanning the restaurant for his drink, and it has become obvious to me that Veda’s father is already halfway to drunk. “It’s as good a place as any, right? I’m making money hand over fist. Right? No debts. No daughter, either. But I guess we can’t have everything in life.” His expression pulls tight. “Unless, of course, you’re Ramsey Beckett.”
“Was it a mistake to bring her here, Jack?” My voice is smooth, but trust me, I’m already verging on violent. The last thing I need is Veda to be upset or hurt by seeing her father in this state of bitterness. And placing the blame on me, right where it belongs. “We don’t have very much time in town. I suggest you use it to visit with your daughter instead of trying to bring me down a peg. I promise you that’s not possible for anyone on their best day.”
His sneer is venomous, but whatever he’s going to say is interrupted by the waitress dropping off our drinks. Veda’s winces as Jack throws back his drink and orders another, telling the girl to put it on my tab. “You’re good for it, right, Beckett? You’re so rich, you can afford to buy actual people.”
“Let’s leave,” Veda says, a tremor in her voice. “Please. I don’t want this.”
When Jack only continues to spew silent hatred at me, Veda sighs and pushes to her feet, which seems to yank Jack out of whatever world he’s been in. “I’m sorry.” He stands as well, laying a hand on Veda, and I bite back a growl. “Don’t leave.”
“I love Ramsey, Dad,” Veda surprises us both by murmuring. “I love him, and I’ll leave with him. So please just try and forget how our relationship started. The point is, we do have a relationship and it’s permanent.”
Oh Christ. How am I supposed to sit here for a full dinner and behave as if my heart isn’t jumping hurdles in my chest? It’s the first time she’s used the word permanent or said she loves me in front of another human being, and I’m struggling to cope, although I’m sure I look like the same cold bastard who walked into the restaurant. “I love her, too.” My voice is firm, the need to reciprocate the words she spoke on my behalf rattling in my blood. “And her happiness means setting aside the past and learning to live in the present. Can you…can we both…do that?”
“Yes,” Jack pushes through stiff lips, sitting back down and drinking half of the freshly arrived scotch. “We can.”
But as Veda sits back down and leans into my side, there’s a glint in Jack’s eyes that keeps my hackles raised. If I didn’t know better, I’d even say he appears…smug. “So, Veda,” Jack says, saluting with his glass. “Tell me about school.”
Chapter Six
By no means is dinner heartwarming. Not at any point. Although, to the untrained eye, Jack appears to be making a concerted effort to have a fatherly conversation with Veda and tolerate me like a saint. But my eyes have been trained in the boardroom and in billion dollar negotiations that would make his head spin, so his resentment isn’t hidden from me. Nor is it all directed at me. Therein lies the reason my jaw is bunched so tight my back teeth are aching with the strain by the time the check is delivered.
Veda has been inching closer to me throughout the evening and is practically on my lap as I slide my credit card into the black leather booklet without removing my scrutiny from Jack. And Veda’s father is tanked. He’s had enough scotch to kill a horse, and I’m reasonably certain we’re not going to get him out of the restaurant without making a scene, but that’s the lesser of my concerns. Veda looks more worried than when we arrived.
Now, she turns to me and runs a hand down the front of my shirt. “I’ve never seen him like this,” she whispers. “I’m afraid if we send him home, he’ll pass out somewhere or fall down the stairs…” She worries her bottom lip. “There are so many guest rooms in the house. We can let him stay in one, can’t we?”
Ved
“Angel.” Jack tosses back the remainder of his drink and sets the glass down with a thunk. “That’s a good one.”
“Watch it,” I enunciate, my hands shaking with the need to hit something.
We rise from the table, and my security melts out of the crowd to assist Jack when he staggers forward. I expect him to take issue with the men keeping him from face planting on the ground, but he’s still got a few brain cells firing, because he allows the help. We make it to the car without incident, and Jack is placed in the front seat with the driver where he promptly falls asleep against the door.
Veda is silent beside me on the ride home, but she’s infinitely more…amorous than usual. I’m usually the initiator when it comes to our physical relationship, but that’s mainly because I can’t keep my goddamn hands off her longer than a few seconds when we’re in the same room. Knowing this about me, Veda plays the seductress. The tease. The flirt. As we glide through the streets of Amsterdam, she’s not being outright suggestive, but she continues to slide her hands up my thighs, trailing agile fingers across my abdomen, laying lingering kisses on the underside of my chin, the side of my neck. By the time we’re a block from the house, my breath is sawing in and out, my legs wide open, just begging for her to jack me off.
Light from the streetlamps filters in through the tinted back window, allowing me to look down the neckline of her dress where it gapes open, showing off tits that were made to be fondled in the backs of town cars by desperate hands, made to accept a man’s release and drip with it. Tits that spend the week pressed against the innocent blouse of a schoolgirl uniform, but that I plan on using for sin tonight.
“Veda.” I catch her wrist before she can drag it over my stomach again and bait my hard-on. “I want to take my time with you for once. After what you said…” I can’t go on. Only recently have I been required to express my emotions, and I’m still not adept at the task.
Veda turns more fully in the back seat and winds her arms around my neck. “You can take as much time with me as you need.” She breathes against my Adam’s apple, licks her tongue out to taste it. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Fuck, she has my mind scrambled. Forget about my body. My cock could be used as a deadly weapon right now and she hasn’t even touched it. “Let my men take your father inside to one of the lower floors.” I noticed today that the ground level of the five-story home, while still connected to the house, has a separate entrance, so I instructed my security via text when we climbed into the car to take Jack there. “We’ll follow after.”
She nods and lounges back against the seat, head lolling with her little champagne buzz, letting me look my fill as the vehicle pulls to a stop outside the house. As were my directions, Jack is taken from the car and guided in a half-unconscious state down to the first floor. I’m grateful Veda’s focus is on me and not the scene outside the car, because I wouldn’t want her to be disturbed by it. I can’t remember a time when my father was anything but stone-cold sober, brisk and unflappable but I imagine as a young man, seeing him incapacitated would have thrown me, at the very least, and I won’t let Veda be upset by anything else this evening.
As soon as the door closes behind Jack and my men send me a thumbs up from the courtyard, I exit the car and circle to Veda’s side, easing her out and into my arms. Climbing up the stairs to a home is exactly what I want out of life, and I pause to savor the moment. She’s gazing up at me like I’m her hero, and I have to breathe through the ache forming in my chest.
When we get inside and through to the living room, however, the mood changes like fingers snapping. I set Veda on her feet, but she doesn’t go far at all. Oh no. The girl is whimpering as she attacks my belt buckle, whipping the leather through my pant loops and falling to her knees to put herself mouth-level with my cock. “Ramsey,” she says reverently, cupping me in her hands. “I need this.”
“Say what you need, like a big girl.”
She looks up at me through her forest of eyelashes. “I need you to fuck my little mouth hard.” I’m still reeling from how hot that made me when she lowers my zipper and pushes down my briefs, allowing my pained length to bob free. “You’re always calling my mouth pretty, but I think that’s just because you want to make it messy. Don’t you?”
“Yes,” I grit out, reaching down to wrap a hank of blonde hair around my fist. “Just like last time. Take what you can and use your hand on the rest.” I bite back a vile curse when she taps her tongue against the head of my cock, the subtle wet slapping noise reaching up and blowtorching my control. “Come on, angel. Every inch we get closer to your throat makes me a very happy man.”
“You don’t understand,” Veda says, her breath coasting over my length. “I want you to…make me.” She wraps both hands around my dick and strokes, strokes, strokes with such a tight grip, I’m practically cross-eyed by the third trip up and down. “Be that man you were today when your hands were around my throat. Look at me. I love that man. I want to be what that man needs.” Her voice is hypnotic as she looks up at me. “I’m the mermaid to your predator.”
There’s a fleeting realization that I’ve been taking it somewhat easier on her since she came back, whereas I took her virginity like a savage. When she came back to me on the roof of my building, I now recall her telling me she craved that animal side of me. Have I been holding back to make her more comfortable? To prove I’m the man she deserves? When what she really needs is the kind of man who would purchase an innocent girl from her father and addict her to pleasure.
A man exactly like me.
“Hold on to the backs of my thighs.” My voice is quiet, but she hears the steel in it, revealed in the timid nod she gives me, her quick compliance. I grip her chin in one hand and guide my cock into her mouth with the other. “You open up now and give me what I bought and paid for.”
With a half gasp, half moan, she slides her lips halfway down my swollen dick. The first time I managed to get Veda on her knees, she was grateful that I’d fished her mother’s locket out of my pool just before the drain could claim it. This time, it’s different. She’s not hesitant or pouting because I’ve asked to come on her pretty, upturned face. Nor will that be happening tonight. God no. I’m too hard up for pussy after spending the entire evening with her taste on my tongue without the privilege of having been inside her body.
Her tongue laps at the underside of my cock head, her lips descending once more on a purr, sending a drilling pleasure to my sack, tightening the hanging flesh. My thigh and stomach muscles are already aching with the strain of holding back my seed, yet I can’t stop myself from cupping the back of her head, holding her steady and rolling my hips, feeling my tip hit the back of her throat.
“Keep your eyes on the man who owns that mouth. Don’t look away from him, or he’ll have to remind you before you’re ready.” My fingers twist in her hair, and I’m pumping like a desperate, mating animal, when I notice a figure move in the back hallway, near the staircase that leads from downstairs. It’s just a shifting in the shadows, more of a feeling than anything, but I trust the sensation of awareness crawling up my spine, twining with lust until I can’t tell the two apart. I know who it is. I know by continuing with no shame, I’m crossing some kind of line, but I keep going. No, I go harder. There’s no choice. The suckle of her mouth is too sweet, her stroking hands too earnest and eager to please, twisting, sliding, squeezing.
And fuck it. I’ll claim her as mine in this final way. Wrong or right.
A growl rips from the pit of my stomach. “I bought a good girl, didn’t I?” One hand on her head, the other on the base of my dick, I jerk myself while she sucks me off, allowing a drop of moisture to coat the tongue making me crazy. It’s a struggle not to let every ounce of my need loose when she moans, her eyelids fluttering as if she loves the taste. “Want to know a secret, angel? I would have given my entire net worth for a ride of that virgin, teenage pussy. Still would. I’d do it just for the memory of seeing blood on the inside of your thighs.”
Possession rages like an inferno in my veins, any measure of sanity I’ve managed to maintain taking a back seat to the obsession with claiming Veda. In every way. And when heat begins to build in my stomach, letting me know the end could come at any time, I know what needs to be done. What Veda is asking for without realizing and what I’ve been fantasizing about for weeks.
Using her hair, I draw her face away from my straining cock, loving the way she looks up at me with a wet mouth, waiting to be given instructions. But I’d rather show instead of tell, so I draw Veda to her feet and turn her around, sliding my hands down her arms and helping her brace against the back of the sofa. The hallway where the shadows shift is to her right, but based on her body language, I can tell she doesn’t know we have an audience.
“Show me what I want to see,” I breathe into her hair. “Show me what I’m finally going to fill up tonight.”
Her legs begin to shake against mine, tension thickening in the air, but my girl does what she’s told. While I lean back and watch, she lifts her skirt, leaving it bunched around her waist, and pushes her panties down, stopping when they reach her knees. Then she clasps her ass cheeks in two hands and spreads them for me, a little whimper escaping to mingle with my growl.
We’ve been preparing for this. Slowly. A finger that turned into two over time, spreading that puckered entrance while I abused her cunt. She’s usually so close to an orgasm by the time I slide in my lubed-up digits and pump them in and out, she’s only half aware, which has made it easier to ready that forbidden place my cock wants to test. To own.
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