Chapter 7
JACK
Ifinish seeing off the last of my guests, and now that we’re alone, the girl is standing by the staircase, not really sure what to do with herself.
It’s obvious she’s a flight risk. I won’t be able to let her out of my sight.
Especially considering that she has exactly what she came here for, draped around her dainty little neck.
“Is that the last of them?” she asks as I start slowly making my way towards her from the door I’ve just closed.
“It is. I think Cecelia’s gone to bed; the revelations of the evening must have been too much for her.
” We both laugh; strangely, that seems to have happened a lot over the past couple of hours.
I’ll give the girl her due; she’s slipped into playing her role seamlessly, which gives me even more reason to be cautious of her.
“Come with me.” I untie the ridiculous mask I’m wearing from the back of my head and reach out to take her hand. She takes it without hesitation, and I lead her down the hall towards the games room.
It may have been a long-assed night, but I'm anything but tired, and I’d like to learn more about this intriguing woman before the night is over.
“I think you had fun tonight,” I accuse her, opening the fridge under the bar and grabbing us both a beer.
“Isn’t being held hostage every girl's idea of a good time?” She smiles sarcastically as I twist the top off her bottle and hand it over.
“Are you always so stubborn?” I shake my head and start racking up the pool table, while she takes a casual sip of her beer and looks around the room…
no doubt trying to locate an escape route.
I step towards her, taking her lace mask between my thumb and finger, then slowly raising it to sit in her hair.
“You have no need for this anymore,” I remind her, studying her face and taking in how pretty she is.
What's most attractive of all is that I don’t think she sees it herself.
Her eyes drop to my lips like she’s wondering what they’d taste like, and when she gets the sense I’ve noticed, she quickly looks away.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I point out as I reach past her and take a cue from the bracket on the wall.
“Are you always so self-assured?” She waits for me to break before stepping forward to take a shot of her own. She proves she’s committed by crouching low, and when her tits press against the edge of the table, they get my full attention.
She acts humble when she manages to pot a red, but I can see this girl thrives on victory.
“I don’t see myself as self-assured at all, quite the opposite in fact.” I decide to be honest as I take another strike at the table and luckily pot a ball of my own. “So, explain. Why the necklace and why tonight of all nights?” I can’t hold off any longer. I need answers.
“This necklace is worth eight million pounds.” She strokes her fingers over it before taking another shot that hits just right. “And we figured the party was not only a good way to get in, but would also be a distraction.”
“And who exactly is 'we’?”
“That’s not important.” Shaking her head, she suddenly goes rigid.
“You know, I could have that call that you made on my phone earlier traced and find out for myself.”
“Good luck.” She laughs confidently as she takes another sip of her beer.
“I’m guessing it’s those people who depend on you that you're protecting?” I refer her back to the conversation we had in the bedroom.
“I’m not prepared to talk about them. Now, are you gonna take your shot or keep me waiting?” She tilts her head and makes me want to snap the cue in my hand in two.
“I want to know more about you,” I admit, placing it calmly on the table and making my way around so I’m standing right in front of her.
“Like what?” She laughs.
“Like how you became a criminal?”
“Believe me, it wasn't by choice.” She smiles as if she’s shielding me, and herself, from the answer.
“Why are you on parole? And why were you prepared to risk all that for a necklace that would be impossible to sell, even on the black market?” None of it makes sense to me.
“Nothing’s impossible, Jack. I’m not a petty thief; I’ve been doing this a long time.
Do you really think I would have risked all this if I didn’t already have a buyer?
” Her answer surprises as much as it intrigues.
It’s obvious this girl is no amateur; her plan was well-orchestrated.
I’m sure, had I not entered the bedroom when I did, she and the necklace would have been long gone by now.
“Earlier, you said you were desperate; what did you mean by that?” I ask, feeling a little desperate myself. Desperate to rip that tight dress off her body and see what she’s concealing beneath it.
“I…I never said I was desperate. I said desperate people do—”
“You didn’t have to say it. I could see it; you had fear in your eyes up there, and you have it right now. You know, if you tell me what it is, I might be able to help.”
It frustrates the hell out of me when she shakes her head and laughs at my offer of kindness.
“I appreciate your heroics, but you can’t help me.”
“I can’t if you won’t tell me what it is. Who are these people that you feel so responsible for? Are they really worth the risk of going to jai–”
“They’re girls like me,” she snaps, looking angry and wounded all at the same time.
“Girls who the world has treated wrongly; who never had any guidance and have to somehow make their way past the shit they’ve been handed and survive the best they can.
” There's a passion in her eyes as they fill with tears that I can see she’s trying really hard not to release.
“I’m their guidance. I ensure that they are safe, and that they never endure the things they’ve had to go through again. ”
“Hey.” I reach my hand out to touch her shoulder, trying to offer her some comfort, but she forces it away.
“I don’t want your pity. I just want to get through whatever this is that you want me to do.” Composing herself, she lifts her head up and coldly stares at me.
“Is there any negotiation on the time frame?” she eventually asks, unable to hide how vulnerable she is.
“What are you so scared of?” I can’t explain the overwhelming urge I feel to help this woman that I barely know, especially since she came here to steal from me.
“I’ve told you enough. All you need to know is that I want to get as far away from here as possible.
This necklace was going to be a new start for me and the girls; clean slates somewhere where our pasts won’t catch up with us, and every day that I’m here playing lord and lady of the fucking manor is another day of them being at risk. ”
“Duke and duchess,” I correct her, hoping it might trigger even the tiniest of smiles out of her, but it doesn’t, instead it feeds her curiosity.
“Who are you, Jack Ravenshaw?” She looks me so deeply in the eyes that I feel her searching through my soul and looking for all the broken pieces.
“I’m just a bastard who has no idea what he’s fucking doing.” This time it’s my turn to laugh.
“Well, you look like a duke.” Her hand presses against my jacket. “You talk like a duke.”
“And all my life I convinced myself that I’d be anything but a fucking duke.” I look down at her fingers, realising that I like her touching me far too much.
“I’m sure you’ll do the job just fine.” She taps me reassuringly and offers me that smile I’ve been waiting for.
“So, what are your thoughts on children?” I quickly clear my throat and start approaching what's important. Seeing how accomplished her acting skills are has given me an idea.
“Kids?” She huffs a laugh. “Can’t stand ‘em.” Her answer throws me off the shot I take, and the ball bounces from the pocket.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I have to be maternal.”
I guess the girl has a fair point.
“I just figured that since you cared so much about these girls you protect that you’d–”
“My girls are women; they can fend for themselves. Like I said, I just offer them guidance.”
“So you never see yourself having a family?” I check.
“The girls are my family, and you're keeping me from them, so if we could hurry up and iron out the formalities of this agreement–”
“What are you running from?” I ask her again, desperate to know what’s scaring this woman who comes across so strong.
“Hell,” she tells me sadly, before taking her shot and, of course, nailing it.
I want to tell her that whatever it is, I can protect her. She thinks I’m just a jumped-up little rich boy, but she couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Gracie–” I step into her space again.
“I told you not to call me that,” she growls, turning her head away from mine defiantly, so I reach around her head, grip her nape, and force her to look back at me.
“Let us not forget that right now, you belong to me. I get to call you whatever I like,” I remind her. It appears I’m going to have to use the time I have, not just for my own benefit, but to save this girl from herself.
“I don’t belong to anyone,” she scowls. Deciding I’m going to prove her wrong, I slam my lips over hers and kiss her.
Engulfing her mouth with my tongue and holding her firm against me so she can’t get away.
I expect resistance, but it doesn't come; instead, she growls into my mouth, grips my hair, and kisses me back twice as hard.
I waste no more time, ripping the ribbon on the back of her corset open as I back her ass up to hit the edge of the pool table.
Sliding my hand under her dress, I fist the fabric as I raise it up her thigh, and when I hook my fingers into her panties, she smiles.
“This doesn’t mean I like you, Ravenshaw,” she warns, spreading her legs to allow me better access, and when I slide two of my fingers into her already-soaked pussy, she lets out a loud gasp that tells me that could easily change.
She rolls her hips against my hand, soaking my fingers more and more with each stroke I give her, but it isn’t enough.
I have to taste her.
I drop to my knees, scrunch the fabric up around her midriff, and drag the panties off her hips so I can kiss between her legs.
I’m going to prove that I own her there too, and it doesn't take long for her to realise it.
Her thighs tremble, her fingers claw at my scalp, and I feast on her pussy like a starved animal until she spills all over my tongue.
Sliding back up her body, I start unbuckling my trousers. All her attention is fixed between my legs; her eyes are wild and hungry even though she just came all over my tongue, and when I take out my cock and pull it through my fist, she blinks and swallows thickly.
“It appears you really do have it all.” She laughs, but her expression soon changes when I wrap my cum-drenched fingers around her throat again.
I’ve never fucked a girl without going in protected, but that's not how heirs are made. I’m going to prove to this girl that she belongs to me.
I'll prove it to everyone by fucking my cum as deep into her cervix as I can get it.
I want her so full of my seed that not even the birth control she might be on could protect her.
“We should probably–" I cut her off, filling her mouth with my tongue again, and once I’ve lined my cock flush with her soaking wet entrance, I push all the way inside her.
“Fuck!” she whimpers, her body turning stiff and her hands gripping my shoulders for support.
I pull my mouth from hers so I can observe the way she takes me.
Her pussy is so tight, it’s no wonder her eyes are wide and glistening.
I knew it would feel good, but being inside her without any barrier between us far surpasses my expectations.
I start to move inside her, thrusting hard and fast and knowing this isn't going to last nearly as long as I’d like it to.
All the tension she’s put inside me is going right back into her.
She keeps looking between us, almost like she can’t believe this is happening, and when she starts to moan, and her grip on me gets tighter, I brace myself for what comes next.
I know that the second she starts to come on my cock, it’ll be my finisher, and she’s close…
so fucking close. She’s still trying to be stubborn and hold out on me, and sensing it’s what she needs to push her over the edge, I lean forward, and I kiss her again.
Something about kissing her feels so different; it’s fucking addictive, and I can’t help resenting her for it.
Smashing my hips harder into hers, the moans she makes into my mouth get more and more desperate.
“Jack…Jack.” She pushes at my chest as her walls start to pulse around me. “I’m…I’m not…Fuck!” She tenses as she comes for me, her eyes softening despite all the tension in her body.
“That’s right. You come all over that cock,” I encourage, feeling as if the room is spinning as she coaxes that seed I want so desperately inside her to start brimming.
“I’m not on anything, I’m unpro—”
“Perfect.” I smile, slamming my mouth back over hers so she can’t protest. I grab both her hips firmly and hold her tight to my body as I release.
She muffles something against my lips as she tries to force me away, but I’m too strong and far too determined.
“Jack, what the fuck?” Her nails claw the side of my face, and the sharp scratch sends a shiver down my spine as I fill her perfect little cunt.
“You belong to me,” I tell her, gripping her wrist and holding it to my chest.
“What have you done?” She shakes her head, breathing heavy and looking furious with her legs wrapped around my waist and my cock still buried inside her. “WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?” she yells again.
“I’m ensuring we both get a solution to our problems.” Pulling her hand up to my lips, I kiss her fingers and watch all her anger melt into confusion.