“I can see that,” I say carefully. “How is your case progressing?”
“Slowly,” she admits and I let out a little breath. Not for the progress or lack thereof on the case, but because this is territory I am familiar with and can handle. “We have suspects,” she adds.
And that just raised the bar, didn’t it?
“Narrowing it down?” I query, not letting her see she’s hit the mark.
“Making some headway, but I could use your advice.”
“Of course,” I say automatically, the conversation falling into old tried and tested patterns lacking any emotional depth.
“Do you have a moment now?” she asks, looking around for somewhere for us to go.
I don’t want to leave Haydee. I don’t want to have this conversation in front of the woman I love.
“I’m not sure now would be appropriate,” I say, knowing Lara won’t back off, but hoping against hope that something will finally go my way.
It doesn’t.
“Just a few minutes,” Lara insists. “I’m sure Damon could take Haydee for a drink.”
Not what I expected and not welcome one little bit. I stare down Michaels, but reluctantly have to admit defeat. Lara will not let this go. And she’s in danger. If Marcroft is who I think he is, she needs to know.
“Very well,” I say and turn to Haydee. “You know what to do.”
She smiles and my heart soars. I want to kiss her. I want to sink myself under her skin.
I watch them walk away, a part of me leaving with her. But she wears my chain. She’s a good pet. She won’t say a word and she’ll come back to me.
I turn to Lara and follow her lead, walking over to a two seater sofa that is a little too close to the curtained area she and Michaels just came out from. I stare down at my daughter and wonder if she inherited any of her mother’s traits. Or if she is more like my Haydee.
I quash that line of thought immediately.
“So, how can I help?” I ask, settling into the settee.
“You can tell me if you signed an NDA with Sweet Hell.”
I want to laugh out loud. Lara has run out of patience. I should think the gag order all Irreverent Inferno members must sign is causing her no end of blocked doorways.
“A non-disclosure agreement would make it impossible to confirm or deny that,” I try.
“No, it wouldn’t. It would prohibit you from speaking about the subject of the agreement, not whether you had signed one.” Good girl.
I sigh as I stare off after Haydee. I want her back by my side. But this has to be said. Has to be done.
“I never wanted you to be aware of my lifestyle,” I say with feeling. I don’t look at her. I can’t look my daughter in the eye.
“Excuse me?” she says, shocked.
Shocked at my words or that I’ve finally admitted them?
“Your assumptions are correct,” I say, but can’t find the will to add more.
“You’re a full member of the Irreverent Inferno,” she concludes. Then, “Why tell me now?”
This is perhaps one of the most uncomfortable conversations of my life.
I shrug my shoulders, trying to ease the tension across my upper back. It doesn’t work.
“It will come out if this reaches court. You need to be prepared,” I offer.
Silence, but unlike Haydee’s silence, this one leaves me empty.
“That woman,” Lara says softly. “What’s with the silence?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I snap back; a knee jerk reaction I immediately regret having.
I regret so much where Lara is concerned. I can’t do this anymore. I’m a coward. But it was only ever meant to be for her protection.
“OK,” she says, an edge having entered her voice. When she speaks again, she has it under control. “When did you last see Samantha Hayes?”
But I’m not nearly in control enough to discuss that with my daughter.
I stand up, straighten my shirt sleeves, my cuff links, and walk away. It’s what I’m good at doing with Lara. I walked away from her childhood because it was too painful to see my wife in her eyes, in her hair, in everything that my daughter was. It damn near killed me.
I think it might have done the same to Lara.
I need Haydee. Dear fucking God, I need Haydee or I’m going to run screaming from this room.
She’s there. Before me. Immediately attuned to my desires. She smiles softly, her head tilted in understanding, and I’m in front of her in three quick strides.
“Did he hurt you?” I demand. She shakes her head, her eyes sad. Sad for me. Sad for my daughter. “I need you,” I admit, looking up and over her shoulder, spotting the perfect location for us to be. “See those velvet curtains over there, Haydee,” I say.
She turns her head and looks toward where I indicate. She nods gracefully when she looks back up at my face, a small smile already curving those fuckable lips.
“I’m going to walk through them and I want you to wait just on this side,” I instruct. I lean forward and whisper in her ear, “When I’m ready, you’re going to make your body available to me. You’re going to let me fuck you in this public place, just out of sight. You’re going to let me take my pleasure in your beautiful body, seek my release wherever I choose. And you’ll not deny me a thing, will you, sweet?”
She bites her bottom lip and nods her head.
“Are you ready, pet?”
Another nod. I walk away, towards the curtains, knowing she’s trailing behind. Knowing she’s already wet and wanting. Knowing I’m about to use her and she’ll love every second of it.
I take a surreptitious glance around the banquet hall and then slip through the curtains to the other side.
The alcove is small, a curved plaster wall that houses nothing. Maybe it should have had a statue in it, or an overlarge pot plant, but whatever it was designed for is now gone. Just parquet flooring, smooth white walls and dark, thick curtains at my back. I glance up at the ceiling as I turn back around and smile.
Then peer out between the curtains.
She’s there. Head tipped down, eyes to the floor, hands loosely held in front of her. That smile is tickling the edges of her lush lips. I reach through the gap, grasp the length of chain as it hangs down between her breasts, and pull my pet inside.
The curtains swish shut behind her. I visually check to make sure they’ve sealed us in adequately. I can hear the dinner guests, the clink of glasses, the titter of laughter. I can smell the floral arrangements from in the centre of the tables mixed in with the lamb and chicken and fish we’d all consumed for the third course.
I look down at my goddess, who stands patiently, but expectantly, and reach up to tip her face towards mine, finger under her delicately pointed chin.
“You are stunning,” I say softly. She smiles.
I take her by her chain and move her so her back is to the curved wall, right in the centre. She’ll be able to see the curtains over my shoulder. Know who and what is just the other side of them. She’ll watch them, aware that someone could peer through them, pull them back, at any time. She’ll be unable to look away.
Already she’s breathing too quickly.
I grip her chain and say, “Hands behind your back.”
She obliges.
I reach around, brushing my lips across her cheek, unable to stop myself, and wrap the chain securely around her wrists at the base of her spine. It tips her head up, so far that all she can see is the ceiling. She gasps.
“Do you like it, sweet Haydee?” I ask, knowing what she is seeing. “They’re not real stars, but they’ll do nicely, don’t you think?”
She blinks back tears as she gazes at the myriad of tiny LED lights dotted all across the ceiling like a blanket of stars.
“You’re tied up,” I say. “I’m not going to undo the binds,” I add. “You’re under the stars,” I whisper, “waiting for me to touch you. You can hear the voices of people nearby. You know they’
re there. You just can’t see them. So,” I say, voice nothing more than a deep rumble. “Now I’m going to fuck you, Haydee Elizabeth Armstrong. I’m going to fuck your body for my pleasure and in the process set you free.”
She whimpers. My beautiful girl.
“Are you ready, pet?” I ask. She gives a minute nod of her head.
I undo my trousers, watching her face as she listens to the zipper slide down. She’s panting. I thrust them and my underwear down my legs, letting my cock spring free and slap against my stomach. She moans. I reach forward and then slide my hands down over her sides, over her hips. She shivers. And continue down each thigh, then walk forward until my chest hits hers, forcing her to lean back against the curved wall.
In a smooth, lightning quick move I lift her up and wrap her legs around my waist.
Her head is pressed against the wall, her shoulders are back as far as they’ll go with her hands tied behind her, she’s looking at the stars but very much aware of the curtains and the low hum of conversation coming from behind them. I reach between her legs and snap the crotch on her teddy open, then thrust deep inside.
She makes a sound, it would have been drowned out by the banquet, but my hand comes up and slaps over her mouth in any case.
“Shh,” I say, as I rock into her welcoming heat. “That’s it,” I encourage. “Take all of me, little pet. Every inch of my hard cock as I take what I want.”
The noises she makes behind my hand make me dizzy. I start to fuck her harder. The chain rattles noisily at her back with each hard thrust forward. Air is pushed from her lips as I rut against her body, ensuring each rock stimulates her clit as my cock slides past it.
“Ohhh,” she groans, muffled behind my hand. “Ahhhh,” she moans as she spasms around me.
Beautiful.
Stunning.
Free.
I fuck her with long strokes and everything I have for a few more seconds. I claim her, own her, consume her every thought and sensation, then empty myself deep inside. I’m shuddering as I slip out of her centre and lower her to her feet. She’s shaking as I release the chain and check her neck and wrists. A tear slowly rolls down her cheek. I kiss it.
“Are you all right, little pet?” I whisper against her lips.
She nods.
“I think I’m in love with you,” I say and kiss her because I might have just said too much.
I have to pull back several blissful moments later, as it’s getting hard to breathe for both of us. I rest my forehead against hers and catch my breath.
“Did you like your stars, Haydee?”
“I loved them,” she whispers back.
“Stay here and recover, and then slip down the wall behind the curtains and come out by the coat stand. I’m taking you home to fuck again.”
She smiles. It’s blinding. My heart damn near bursts out of my chest.
“Good girl,” I say, and straighten my clothing and then turn away. My mind is on what part of her body I’ll be fucking when I get her home to Redoubt Road, as I slip through the curtains and come face to face with my worst nightmare.
It takes everything in me not to look over my shoulder to check that Haydee is safe.
Chapter 11
“I am now.”
“Well, this is cosy. A Redoubt Road reunion,” Nathaniel Marcroft says as my eyes scan those surrounding him.
Dear fucking God, really?
Lara and her HEAT Investigator boyfriend stand there. She looks pale. He looks amused. Kyan, Nathaniel’s son, is trying valiantly to get his father to behave. And Nathaniel? Nathaniel is the cat that just got the cream.
I’m so fucking furious I have to work not to clench my fists and punch a hole in the wall behind me. How could I have been such a fool as to walk into this?
Haydee. Thank the stars that Haydee is behind that curtain and about to make her escape. I have to delay matters. Entertain this vile creature while my goddess makes it to safety. I do not want Nathaniel Marcroft anywhere near my woman.
“Dad,” Kyan urges, moving closer and laying a hand on his father’s arm. “I think it’s time we should go.”
“Nonsense,” Nathaniel counters. “We’ve only just all arrived.”
Oh, yes. He’s in his element. Can Lara see it? Is she already aware of what this man is capable of?
I watch it all play out with a sense of desperation that thunders through my pulse. Desperate for Haydee to be safe from the likes of this man. Desperate for my daughter to survive this case and catch Marcroft before he can do what he did to Samantha to someone else.
I’m sure it’s him now. I just hope Lara is as sure, as well.
“We have a late afternoon meeting, Dad,” Kyan is saying. “I’m sorry,” he adds, looking at everyone at once. “But we’re expected and must leave.”
“Not a problem,” Lara says, cheerfully. The act is brilliant and I realise I’m getting my wish: Watching Lara at work. “The day is still young, after all.”
“Indeed,” Marcroft says, drawn into Lara’s expert trap. She knows. My daughter knows, even if she hasn’t quite worked it all out yet. She knows what type of man Marcroft actually is. “You never know what the night will bring,” he says lasciviously.
She smiles at him with a blank look that has never been one of Lara’s. She really is quite brilliant at this.
“You two make a fine couple,” Marcroft offers, ignoring the continued efforts of his son to get him to move. His eyes rake over Lara and Michaels as he adds, “We should have an official reunion, Ethan.” Oh, so I’m to be used in this confrontation as well? “Lara-Marie brings her Damon,” Marcroft says and then turns piercing eyes towards me. “And you bring your latest pet.”
Everything narrows down to just him and me and I let him see the challenge I issue. One more word, and I’ll cut him in two. I am so sure of my ability to end this man’s life as he knows it. I’m so sure, that I let everyone present see it.
Lara glances at me and I force myself to meet her eyes, dreading what I’ll see there. But she’s in her role as detective, playing it to perfection, a million miles out of Nathaniel Marcroft’s stratosphere.
She gives me a nervous look. Lara is never nervous. And then says, “I’m sure Mr Marcroft doesn’t mean that.”
Brilliant.
“Of course he doesn’t,” Marcroft’s son immediately offers, grasping his father’s wrist and starting to haul him away. “Too many glasses of champagne,” he adds, as his grip tightens.
“We’re all family here,” Nathaniel declares merrily. The man is completely insane.
“Come on, Dad,” Kyan says encouragingly, and finally his father agrees to be ushered away.
The son looks up and meets Lara’s eyes. There’s a challenge there my daughter meets beautifully. “It doesn’t help,” he says, “that we spend our nights surrounded by every manner of vices.” I remain very still and wait for the axe to drop. “Sometimes I think my father wishes the rest of the world were as open as those who frequent Sweet Hell.”
Yes, it’s as bad as I’d feared it would be.
“Open about their sexuality, Kyan?” Lara asks without batting an eyelash. I stare at her, a part of me wanting her non-reaction to be true.
Another part aware that my predilections are an entirely different thing than a semi-stranger’s.
“Any vice, Lara,” Marcroft junior offers. “We’re a gambling establishment which caters to the many sins known to man.”
“Those would be what exactly?” Lara presses, immediately. Going in for the kill, but even I am surprised by her next words. “Lust? Gluttony? Greed?”
Oh, she is very good. Lust, greed and gluttony, three of Dante’s nine circles of Hell. Lara’s cracked the Irreverent Inferno. I’m so fucking proud even as I’m appalled she is now much too aware of my lifestyle.
“Come now,” he says jovially. “Surely you’re not entirely unfamiliar with any of those. You do see some interesting things in your line of work, I should think.�
��
“Yes,” Lara agrees, keeping eye contact. “It makes it easier to see the truth amongst the treachery.”
Brilliant.
“Well,” he replies softly. “A worthy trait for a police detective to have.”
He nods his head towards me. I don’t return the favour. Then does the same to Michaels. But Kyan Marcroft can’t look Lara in the eye. He’s involved, I realise, as I watch him walk away toward his waiting father. He’s as much involved as his old man.
Interesting.
“Are you aware of any illness, mental or otherwise, that Nathaniel Marcroft might have?” Lara says into the stunned silence, her eyes on both Marcrofts, but the question undoubtedly for me.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Lara-Marie,” I say softly
“One you think I’m not adept at,” she counters, feathers ruffled already. I want to sigh.
Instead I murmur, “On the contrary.” She is brilliant my daughter. “I think you play it better than me.”
I nod towards Michaels and then walk away. Lara will have this crime solved before breakfast, I have every faith in our daughter.
Anna, I think as I move towards where Haydee is waiting. She did all right without us, my love. So much like her mother.
Anna doesn’t answer, but then I don’t wait to hear her imagined voice. My eyes have found Haydee. Hers have found me. I walk up to her, seeing my future, seeing it flowing out in front of me and shining under the stars. I wrap a hand around the nape of her neck and pull her in for a soul searing kiss.
“I’m in love with you,” I say against her cheek. I bury my face into the crook of her neck. I can smell her scent here. I can feel the chain press against my chin.
“Me too,” she whispers, lifting a hand up to stroke my hair.
I pull back and look down at her.
“Excuse me? What was that, little one?”
She smiles up at me, mischief and something heated flaring in her dark eyes.
“I’m in love with you too, master.”
“Oh,” I say, chuckling. “I’m going to have you repeating that when my cock is deep, deep inside.”
A Twist Of Heat (H.E.A.T. Book 2.5) Page 12
