Scarred Empire: An Enemies to Lovers Dark Billionaire Romance (Broken Cross Book 2)

by Bri Blackwood

  “I was waiting for you,” she said, answering my question before I could ask it. That was just before her lips landed on mine. The words caused my cock to harden and there was no way she couldn’t feel it on her abdomen. I flipped her onto her back, hovering over her like a predator that had caught its prey.

  “You know you’re going to have to tone down the volume on your moans tonight, right? Unless you want your parents to know what I’m doing to you.”

  All she did was nod, and I wondered if she didn’t trust herself to let out a groan right then and there.

  Our kissing soon turned into a make-out session. Feeling her nipples become small pebbles against my skin forced a low growl to leave my lips during a slight break in our kissing before my mouth attacked hers again.

  Instead of worshipping her breasts before I made my way down to her pussy, I moved my fingers down to her treasure trove, not surprised in the slightest by what I found.

  “You’re that wet for me, baby? Already?”

  “Mm-hmm. What are you going to do about it?”

  “I can think of quite a few things.”

  I laid a hard kiss on her mouth before a finger made it past her other lips and into her warm and wet center. She released a breath she had been holding in appreciation as my finger moved in and out of her.

  “You know what I think?”

  “What?” Her question was a breathless whisper.

  “I think you can handle another.”

  She responded with a whimper when another finger joined in on the fun. Watching her eyes close in ecstasy as I played with her cunt would never get old.

  The sounds leaving her lips increased in frequency and intensity the faster my fingers worked her up into a frenzy. Her hands clenched the sheets as her head swung back and forth before her eyes met mine in the soft moonlight. This was what I wanted. I wanted this forever.

  My fingers had a mind of their own and I groaned when I felt her becoming wetter. Until she reached the end of her rope.

  Her pussy convulsed around my fingers, causing her entire body to tremble. I didn’t stop my motions until I milked every bit of her orgasm.

  When I was sure I had, I put my tongue on her nipples as my fingers played with her now sensitive clitoris. I wanted to make sure she was ready to go when I was ready to put my dick inside of her.

  “Be careful with how loud you’re moaning,” I said. The volume of groans had once again increased. Although she looked like she didn’t give a damn who heard right now, I knew she would be mortified if her parents heard us.

  I stopped licking her tits. “I want to give your tits more attention, and my cock needs to be in you. Put your fingers on that pussy for me.”

  She did as she was told, and I got up and found a condom in the bedside drawer. I quickly sheathed my dick before I turned to face her. Her eyes were closed, and she was biting her lip with her hair splayed all over her pillow. The moon cast a soft glow over the perfect picture her body painted as she was pleasuring herself.

  I sat down on the corner of the bed and looked over. “Anais, come here.”

  She slowly opened her eyes and swung her legs off of the edge of the bed. She took the couple of steps before she climbed into my lap and sunk her wet pussy on top of my dick. There was a mutual groan as she adjusted herself. “Ride me, Spitfire.”

  And ride me she did. The view this gave me was spectacular. I could see her moving up and down on my cock. My hands landed on her waist to give me something to hang onto. She was setting the pace as I was letting her run the show.

  Her head flew back, causing her long dark strands to form somewhat of a cape behind her. Watching her bring herself back up to another peak was mesmerizing. I caught one of her nipples in my mouth and she let out a gasp. It sent even more blood to my groin.

  “I’m getting close.” Her words came out rushed and I knew I was getting close too.

  She careened over the brink and I soon followed. I held onto her for a moment, embracing the connection that we just had.

  “Wait up for me anytime you want if that’s the welcome I get.”

  Anais tried to push her hair out of her face and stared back at me. “Did you just make a joke?”

  “I guess I did.”

  26

  Anais

  Another evening, another event that I had to go to with Damien. A few days ago, we had returned to New York City and I felt recharged after spending time with my parents. They hoped to return home soon, and Dad could still continue any treatments that he needed here. I would be grateful to have them closer to me again, so that I could help when necessary instead of having to travel to get to them or talk over a video call.

  “You still hate these things, don’t you?” Damien asked as we walked further into the hotel where a fundraiser for a local politician was being held.

  “Yeah, how did you know?” I could talk about social media and marketing until my cheeks got tired but going to events with people who had more money than I could imagine made me want to shrink and hide.

  “I watch you. I noticed when your eyes darted toward the entrance, trying to make sure that you had an escape route. You seemed breathless when we walked up the stairs and we both know you’re in excellent shape.” The heat in his eyes and his expression told me he wasn’t talking about my cardio routine. Not shocking. “You also looked as if you were giving yourself a pep talk to convince yourself everything’s fine.”

  His perception of me was a little unnerving, but not unexpected. After all, keen perception was probably how Damien figured out the best way to outmaneuver his competitors and his enemies. Was that how he still felt about me? Was I still something that needed to be conquered? I refused to ask because I was afraid of the answer. Before we could move further into the building, Damien pulled me aside.

  “I don’t know what makes you doubt that you belong in this room but fuck that and whoever has made you feel this way will have to answer to me.” The venom in his voice told me he was ready to kill whoever had caused me to doubt myself. “You have every right to be here.”

  “Because I’m on your arm?”

  “No, because you have shown and proven tirelessly how much you work to support your job, your family, and the others around you. That is worth more than any money in the world. Don’t let anyone ever tell you any differently.”

  His words moved me more than I could say. Of course, I knew he spoke the truth in regard to my own feelings deep down, but to have someone else acknowledge those things about me, to know they understood everything that I did, was immeasurable. It touched me in a way that no one else ever had. The only response I could give was to nod because I didn’t trust my voice not to crack if I spoke.

  He ran the back of his hand across my cheek, his gaze boring into mine with a tenderness that I didn’t expect. The gesture caused my heart to flip and the feelings I had for him to take an even stronger hold on me. As much as I denied wanting to fall for him, wanting to be with him, this dangerous man was very close to owning not only my body, but also my heart and soul.

  A throat cleared from off to our left. “Mr. Cross?” someone murmured, attempting to draw our attention their way.

  Damien gave me a regretful look, as if he hadn’t wanted the interruption, but knew now wasn’t the time. We turned to face the speaker.

  The woman looked sorry she’d disturbed us, but she was just doing her job. “Right this way.” She gestured for us to follow her.

  Damien placed my hand on his arm, and we followed the woman into the event. She left us at the door and my gaze took in the room. Fancily dressed people chatted in various groups around the large ballroom.

  Our first stop was to get a drink—a glass of wine for me, a bottle of beer for him. Once that mission was accomplished, the small talk with other people began. For the most part, it was just networking. Damien moved his hand to the small of my back. That simple move gave me a sense of security that I hadn’t felt when I first walked into the r
oom, despite the fact that I’d had my hand on his arm as we entered. His hand on my back made me feel protected, like he was paying attention and would step in if I needed him to, but that he was willing to let me shine as well.

  We strolled around the room and he introduced me to some people he knew, some of whom I exchanged business cards with. I hoped this would lead to an increase in clientele for Monroe Media Agency.

  An older woman in a brown dress approached us and Damien smiled as his hand moved to my waist. “Gretchen, it’s good to see you.”

  “Damien, it’s been a while, you look good.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek, then her eyes strayed over to me.

  “Gretchen Jones, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Anais Monroe. Anais, Gretchen is a friend of the family. She’s the CEO of Savory Perfumes.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand and trying to keep my stomach from hopping out of my body. Savory Perfumes was a huge company and owned many of the biggest perfume brands in the world.

  “Anais is the social media director for Monroe Media Agency, maybe you’ve heard of it?” There was an uplifting note in his voice, like he was proud of me and what I did, and it warmed my heart again.

  “I have, you do good work over there.”

  I spoke to her about the company and some of the things we were working on, feeling assured about my ability to convert her to a client.

  “Do you have a card? I would love to see what you can pitch to my board of directors.”

  “I do,” I replied, pulling a new card from my purse with a smile and handing it over.

  “We’ll definitely be in touch. It was lovely meeting you, Anais, and congratulations again.” She gestured to my left hand with a grin. Her reaction was one that we had been getting for most of the night because the ring was a showstopper.

  “Thank you, it has been wonderful meeting you as well. I’ll be looking forward to your call. I already have some great ideas to pitch to your board.” Anais smiled confidently as she shook Gretchen’s hand.

  “It was great seeing you again, Damien. I need to catch up with Selena.”

  “I’m sure she’d enjoy that.”

  Gretchen gave us a little smile and finger wave as she left us to join another group, and I expelled a heavy breath as my shoulders sagged in relief. I was confident in my abilities but being on and attempting to not appear nervous took its toll on me. However, having just the possibility of gaining a new client made me ecstatic.

  What took me by surprise was that when Damien introduced me to someone who might be interested in Monroe Media Agency, he took a step back and let me drive the conversation. It allowed me to show off my skills and talents and to increase my clientele.

  I leaned into Damien’s side, smiling. His fingers on my waist tightened a little in a pleasant way as his gaze met mine. “Can we take a small break from meeting people? I love getting to talk about the agency but it’s a little overwhelming and I’m getting tired.”

  “And hungry. You haven’t eaten in a while. Lucy’s meal is waiting for us when we get back home.”

  His hand on my back guided me over to the table filled with the typical high-end fare. He filled a plate with caviar and lobster stuffed mushrooms for me, and then filled another for himself. As I took a bite, he said, “We’ll leave in a few minutes.”

  I looked up at him, seeing the heat in his gaze as his focus was on my lips. “Why?” I asked, but secretly I was thankful as I had been ready to leave about twenty minutes earlier.

  “Because you need to eat more than just this, and I have a few ideas about dessert.”

  His intense gaze told me that while dinner might be about eating food, dessert was probably about eating me, and I felt my cheeks heat at his implication.

  “Mr. Cross.”

  I heard a familiar voice just as I was wiping the crumbs from my lips and attempting to keep a lid on the blush threatening to creep up on my cheeks. It wasn’t from embarrassment, however; it was because I couldn’t wait for him to take me home as well.

  Home.

  Now this person was potentially standing in the way of our quick exit. I turned and saw Jon from the “working dinner” that Damien had brought me to weeks ago. Damien placed his hand on my waist, his grip firm but not painful. It was easy for me to tell that his cool demeanor on the surface was anything but on the inside. I had to wonder about it. I knew Jon was an asshole, but Damien’s reaction to his appearance seemed to be more than mere annoyance at his presence.

  “Jon.” His tone was full of hostility.

  “It’s wonderful to see you again,” he said holding out his hand to Damien.

  Damien glanced at it for a moment, and just as Jon’s smile was about to slip, he went ahead and gripped his hand, shaking it.

  Jon turned to me, like he was going to offer me his hand as well, but I just smiled tightly. I saw him give me a once-over, clearly not having learned his lesson from the last time we met. I shifted my eyes to Damien and watched his face harden. There was a storm brewing in his blue gaze as a muscle twitched in his jaw. Jon’s confidence was laughable.

  “Is there anything I can do for you, Jon?” Warning was laced through Damien’s words and I knew he was a ticking bomb ready to explode. It was only a matter of time.

  “I was just coming over to say hello and wondered where we stood in our negotiations. I’ve been trying to reach you, but you’ve been avoiding me.”

  A smirk popped up on Damien’s face that looked lethal as his grip on my waist tightened slightly. If he hadn’t been holding me, I might have been tempted to take a step away from him myself.

  Damien’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, I thought Will might have told you. There is no deal.”

  Jon slowly turned red, embarrassed by the change in events. I didn’t blame him because even I was taken back by Damien’s tone, and he wasn’t talking to me.

  “Ah, excuse me.” A light cough stopped him from speaking for a beat. “I wasn’t informed. May I ask why? I was under the impression that our dinner went well.”

  This man must have a death wish because there’s no way he was questioning anything that Damien said or did. No one did that—well, except me.

  “When you disrespected my fiancée, the negotiations were over,” he growled in a low voice, stepping a bit closer to Jon. If there was any questioning about what he meant, his frightening tone made everything crystal clear. “Even now, you continue to undress her with your eyes with no shame, so fuck you. You need me, but I don’t need you.”

  “So, you’re willing to hurt business relations all for a piece of ass?”

  My eyes widened at his words. This man clearly didn’t value his life. Damien shifted so that I was slightly behind him and his fingers curled into fists. I knew I needed to do something to keep him from hurting Jon and causing a scene in front of all these high society people. I calmly took a step and turned my body to face his and placed my hand on his shirt, just above his heart and gazed up at him, reminding him of where we were. I was worried he was going to strangle the clueless man in front of us, and no one could afford to have that on the front page of a tabloid.

  The only clues I had that he understood my actions was a slight twitch of his eye and a nod. His hands returned to my waist when I turned around and was safely back at his side, but his stormy gaze moved back to Jon.

  “You have forty-eight hours to leave New York City. I suggest that if you ever want to do business or hold a job again, that you apologize to Anais, but you’ll never work in this town again. The only reason you aren’t picking your teeth off the ground right now is because Anais is right here. If I don’t hear that you’ve left town in forty-eight hours, I’ll make sure to haunt you for the rest of your life here. You can tell Will I said that. He’ll see you as the worthless associate that you’ve become.”

  Jon was visibly shaking. It could have been from anger or fear. Or maybe it was both. He turned to me and I could see that he was biting back a
sneer. “I apologize. I shouldn’t have said what I said.” That told me his shaking was more from anger than anything.

  “Damien, we should leave.” My words were calm and even, but inside I was shaking, terrified that he was going to act on the feelings I could see lurking in his eyes.

  “You’re right, we should.” His harsh tone told me that he was beyond livid.

  Damien looked at him once more before reaching over to grab my hand and together we walked away from Jon and toward coat check. Damien said nothing as he reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. When he was done typing, he looked up at me and asked, “Are you okay with us taking a pit stop before we head home?”

  “Sure. Why?”

  “I promise it won’t take more than half an hour.” It wasn’t lost on me that he hadn’t answered my question.

  We drove around the city and before I knew it, the large buildings that made it easy to recognize my hometown were in the distance as we came across a more secluded area.

  “Damien, you said it wouldn’t take longer than thirty minutes. I’m starving.”

  “We’re almost there.” There was an edge to his tone, like he wasn't himself. Or maybe he was, but harder and harsher.

  True to his word, the SUV came to a stop a few minutes later in front of a rundown warehouse that looked to have been abandoned a long time ago. There was barely even any lighting in the area, giving it an almost haunted look with the one flickering street light. It went without saying that I couldn’t wait to leave.

  Damien caught my gaze, he looked determined, but his words were gentle as he spoke to me. “Anais, I want you to stay here with Rob okay?”

  Questions popped into my head but none of them made it to my lips as I nodded. Damien's gaze intensified for a moment as he stroked my cheek with his thumb before he kissed me. I could still taste him on my lips as I watched Damien leave the vehicle. When I heard the locks engage, I looked in the rearview mirror and found Rob looking at me before he turned to look straight ahead. Why did he lock me in here? What is going on?