18. Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Sylvie
I contemplated what Marlowe told me about the exclusive sex club as we walked into the loft that evening. It hadn’t been much, so I decided to have Alexa look into it. Marlowe’s disclosures about Drakos and that club had me more distracted than the drive-by shootings, or even the Titties video surfacing.
Drakos grabbed my hand as I started toward the bedroom to change. “You look very fuckable in your black business suit. That skirt cradles your ass beautifully.” He slid his hands around my hips and gave my butt cheeks a nice, hard squeeze.
“Thank you, and I appreciate your ass in a suit as well.”
He kissed me softly, then lifted his chin to the bedroom. “Go get comfortable, and I’ll start dinner.”
When I walked into the kitchen a while later, the loft smelled fragrant and homey, and Drakos was mixing pizza dough and slicing mushrooms.
He slid a glass of wine to me, and I toasted him before taking a long sip. “Tell me why you sent Milo to babysit me, and to remind you, the House of Spades also has access to bodyguards.”
“Why don’t you already have one then?”
“Because I told Fenn I didn’t want a one,” I retorted without thinking.
Drakos had been stirring a simmering red sauce, and he carefully set the spoon down. “Fenn offered you a bodyguard, and you declined.”
Damn it, I’d walked right into that one. “I’d rather not discuss it.”
His lip quirked mirthlessly. “I’m sure you wouldn’t.” He hooked my waistband and drew me in. “Before we continue arguing, give me your lips.”
Wrapping my arms around him, I gave Drakos a long, slow kiss before he took over and ravaged my mouth. When he drew back, I licked my lips. “Hmm. Now tell me why you sent Milo.”
He kissed my neck and inhaled my scent, then reluctantly let go. “You smell like cherry blossoms. Terrance is trying to persuade the OutKast officers to target the House of Spades. The President and his brother Axel think it’s asinine, but LeBaron is pushing. Axel reminded everyone that The Firm and the House of Spades are somewhat aligned now that Luna and Roman are married, and they voted to postpone action—for now.”
My stomach flipped over. That was exactly what I wanted to avoid when I killed Samuel myself. “How did you find this out?”
“Ivan invited himself into their surveillance equipment and added a few upgrades.”
I shook my head. “Ivan invites himself to a lot of virtual places, doesn’t he?”
We took our drinks and the pizza fixings up to the rooftop. The night closed in around us, and the wood-burning pizza oven gave off a smoky scent.
He deftly shaped a ball of dough into a pizza crust, dusted the pizza round, and added sauce, mozzarella slices, and fresh basil. Then Drakos showed me how to bake a pizza in his wood-fired oven, and we ate while I told him about the Salazar funeral.
“Did Marlowe ask you out again?” Drakos asked.
I picked up a leftover crust and started breaking it apart. “Yes, and I turned him down again. But he warned me about you.”
Drakos sat back and pushed his plate away. “Which means that pretentious bastard not only hit on you but gave you an earful about me. What did he say?”
“That you and some of your partners belong to an exclusive, erotic club, and that I should be careful.”
“That fucker. He belongs to the same club, and he’s got a little dirt under his fingernails too.”
“So you’re not denying it?” I dusted my fingers off.
He leaned over and took my hands, waiting for me to look at him. “No. Not long after we built our organization and started making serious money, we were invited to join a private pleasure club. We observed at first, then joined for a few years. I haven’t been back in a while.”
I wanted to ask how long “a while” had been, but I bit back the question. I didn’t want him to know how much it bothered and intrigued me. “You don’t have to explain,” I murmured.
His lips curled. “Aren’t you curious though, Lollipop? Would you like to know what I learned there?”
“Only if you want to tell me.”
He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb, and tingles slid up my arm. “We signed NDAs, but I can give you a general idea. If you want to know.”
He stopped talking, and I finally prodded his leg under the table. “So?”
His smile was a little wicked. “It’s called The Emporium, and no one knows who the owner is. The headquarters—and most events—are held at a mansion in an exclusive neighborhood. It offers a little of everything, tastefully and luxuriously done in a controlled environment. BDSM, fantasy fulfillment, multiple partners, public scenes, submissive training, overseeing wagers of a questionable nature, you name it.”
I picked up my wine glass and took a healthy sip. His brief description sent all kinds of lurid images flashing through my brain, most of them with Drakos dominating and pleasuring a faceless woman in front of a crowd of well-dressed onlookers. My stomach tightened, and I didn’t know how to respond. Jealousy and lust speared through me, stealing my breath.
“What are you thinking?” he asked quietly.
My eyes slid to the table. “I… don’t know. I need a minute to process.”
He stood and picked up a few dishes. “Let’s clean up and get ready for bed while you process. But I want you to be honest with me.”
Nodding, I followed him inside. After we got ready for bed and cleaned up the dinner mess, he gathered me in his arms and laid me out on his bed. Then he crawled on top of me and braced on his elbows.
“Alright. Talk.”
My stomach fluttered when the weight of his hips settled on me. His hard, bare chest made me itch to trace my fingers down his tight stomach to his hard length currently nestled against my center.
I hesitated, then let out a breath. “What little you’ve told me sounds intriguing and salacious, and I’m not going to lie and say it doesn’t make me curious, but also a little homicidal. I’m going to need longer than fifteen minutes to process.”
Resting his forehead against mine, he relaxed against me. “You haven’t tried to run or shut me out, so tonight I consider it a win. For dessert, I want to suck and lick my way down your body and taste your sweet pussy.”
Softening under his hard body, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he slid his legs between my thighs, opening me to him.
I grinned and arched up to nibble on his lips. “I’ve also never tried the sixty-nine or corkscrew positions before, and I’m curious how they work.” He growled and bit my shoulder.
Sunday morning started out so well that I didn’t see the implosion coming. I lounged like a lazy cat on Drakos's couch as he smirked down at me with a coffee cup in hand.
“My goal for today is to move just enough so you don’t think I’m dead.”
He set his cup down, bent and lifted me up, then sat with me draped across his warm lap.
I hadn’t bothered to put on a bra yet, and he cupped my breast as he picked up his coffee cup again. “There, that’s better.”
Slow need swirled through me as he softly stroked his thumb across my nipple. I snuggled into him and basked in the mid-morning sun filtering through his windows, half listening to the muted city sounds coming up from below us.
“My partners are coming over today to watch a basketball game and hang out, but we have a few hours.”
“‘Kay,” I murmured sleepily.
“Until then, I want to fuck you over the kitchen table again, then in the shower.”
I opened one eye and stared up at him in reluctant wonder. “ How ?”
He grinned. “Well, first I’ll make sure you’re nice and wet, and squirming under me, then I’ll insert my—”
“No, I mean how can you have that much stamina? I woke up with you inside me, and we’ve been at each other all week like horny teenagers. I didn’t know having this much sex was even possible.”
His lips quirked up and he trailed his hand inside my panties, slipping two fingers inside and testing my wetness. My hips instinctively arched to meet his fingers as he slowly worked them inside my tender pussy. We spent the rest of the morning on his kitchen table and then with me on my knees in his shower, choking on his cock as I worked my clit. Hunger finally pried us from the bed again, and Drakos whipped up some crepes for lunch. I pretended not to be impressed.
Lurking in my mind was the fact that today was officially the end of our bet. Drakos hadn’t brought it up, and I didn’t know how to broach the subject, especially with the video surfacing and him unilaterally assigning me a bodyguard. I knew it would be smart to have some space and distance to sort through my chaotic feelings. We’d secretly known each other for months, but things had moved at turbo speed over the last week.
A few minutes before the partners arrived, we dressed and set out drinks and snacks. He’d ordered catering from a local restaurant, and they delivered several succulent platters.
Ivan arrived first, his gray eyes scanning the table with approval. “Looks good. I’m fucking starving.”
Roman walked in next and studied me carefully. “Luna doesn’t know you’ve been here with Drakos all week. It feels like I’m deceiving her, so either you tell her by the end of the day, or I will.” He turned to Drakos. “If you somehow screw things up between Luna and me, I won’t be happy.”
Drakos shook his head. “Sylvie and I are none of your fucking business, and you’re lucky I didn’t tell Luna exactly what you were up to when she first walked into our offices.”
Roman lifted an eyebrow and grinned meanly. “It doesn’t matter now, does it? Luna is my wife, and she’s not going anywhere.” My eyes bounced between them as I avidly listened to their argument.
The loft buzzer went off, and Drakos stalked over to it. “What?”
There was a pause, and Xander’s voice came over the speaker. “It’s Xander, and you’ve got visitors.”
Drakos straightened and stared at the camera on the intercom monitor, then hung his head for a second. “I’ll be right down.” He didn’t buzz Xander up. Instead, he opened the loft door and disappeared downstairs.
Ivan and Roman glanced at each other but studiously avoided looking at me. I grabbed a soda and casually strolled over to the intercom to look at the video feed. Two women stood on the stoop outside with Xander. He didn’t talk to them, and when Drakos opened the exterior door, Xander stepped inside and left Drakos to deal with his visitors.
They were both gorgeous. One had long black hair and smooth dark skin, and she wore a little pink dress that looked more appropriate for a nightclub than a Sunday afternoon get-together. The other woman had large, succulent breasts and light brown hair. She wore white booty shorts and a gold sleeveless halter top—and no bra.
They both lit up and stepped toward Drakos when they saw him, obviously expecting a warm reception. Hugging him, the booty-shorts girl reached around to grab his ass. I let go of the button and stepped back.
My heart raced, and my stomach churned with acid. I vowed that fucker would never know how much it hurt to watch him get sandwiched and eye fucked on the sidewalk outside his loft by those two women. They looked like escorts—sexy, high-class escorts. But still. I turned to see Ivan and Roman watching me carefully. We all turned when Xander walked into the loft without Drakos.
I smiled at him. “Hey, Xander. Does anyone want to wager a little money on the game? It always makes watching Sunday sports more interesting.” I kept my body loose and my face neutral while I bled inside.
Ivan folded his arms and Roman studied me with narrowed eyes, but Xander walked over and carefully put his arm around me. I didn’t know if he was comforting me or just hugging me hello. Maybe both.
His lip tipped up. “I’m in.”
Ivan rubbed his hands together. “Do you want to wager a straight bet on a point spread or on the total score?”
Fifteen minutes later, the game had started, and we were eating and arguing about how much to bet when Drakos walked back in alone. His eyes found me as he shut and locked the door, and I raised an eyebrow and smirked as I bit into a spicy chicken wing.
The fucker would never know how raw I felt inside. “We’re making bets on the game. You want in?” I’d staked out one of the reclining chairs, so there was no chance Drakos could sit next to me. I didn’t think I could keep up my facade if he touched me.
A few hours later, I shook my head and grinned as I sent Xander fifty bucks on my cash app. He’d won, and Ivan was still bitching about it. I stood and stretched, then took my empty soda can to the garbage. Drakos watched me as I walked past him.
Roman checked his phone and stood. “Luna just got home. I’m heading out.”
I nodded, not looking at Drakos. “Me too. Carl probably thinks I’ve abandoned him, and Ezra texted me and said we have a body coming in.”
Ivan shook his head. “That’s the strangest damn job. When you're working on a corpse, do you ever get freaked out alone in that embalming room?”
“Nope. It’s the living who do most the damage.” My eyes flickered to Drakos.
Ivan and Xander left shortly after Roman, and Drakos turned to me when the door closed behind them. “We’ll bring Carl here. I want you to stay.”
When he stepped behind me and slid his hands around my waist, I wanted to either turn around and knee him in the balls or ask him to fuck me one last time. I did neither, but stood there and struggled to keep my feelings locked down.
“I can't,” I murmured. “Carl needs feeding, my laundry is out of control, and Alexa is probably wondering what’s going on.”
“She'll survive. We can send Ivan to go check on her.”
“I knew something was going on with those two,” I murmured.
My mind circled back to the two beautiful women who’d dropped by his loft. Would he have invited them up if I hadn’t been here, and did he send them away for good or just put them off? I shook my head, knowing if I kept thinking like that, I wouldn’t be able to control my temper or my words.
“Tomorrow is a full day, and I’d like to get an early start. I also need to step back from this and catch my breath.” I moved away to put some distance between us.
He didn’t like it, but he let me go. “Alright, but plan to come over for dinner tomorrow night. Before we bring the partners and your cousins together to discuss the situation, let’s devise a viable plan. Milo will also be with you tomorrow.”
I turned away and started gathering my stuff. “He doesn’t need to do that. I can get Fenn and Kilian to send a guard over.”
He leaned against the counter and crossed his ankles. “He’s already planning on it. And before you leave today, we’re going to discuss why you went ice cold on me this afternoon.”
I froze for a split second, then kept walking to the bedroom. I wanted to gather my belongings and get out of here before I blew up or fell apart. Or, God help me, both. How had I let him get under my skin so thoroughly? Before I saw him with those two women today, he’d told me about his past, and I knew he was a womanizer. All the photos online, the club, and the rumors came from somewhere.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. We laughed and joked through the whole game.”
“No. You, Ivan, and Roman talked and joked. Xander was his usual stoic self, and you ignored me and sat in the recliner. Tell me what’s going through your head.”
I didn’t know what the bastard wanted me to say, but I could feel my temper slipping and if I didn’t get out now, I was going to explode all over him. “I need to go. We can talk tomorrow.”
“No, Killer. We can talk right now before you build those walls any higher.”
Looking around, I saw one of my hoodies hanging on the back of a bar stool. I grabbed it and strode toward the bedroom. “Or we can not talk at all, and I can text you about a plan.”
He walked in and stood watching me as I grabbed my bag off the closet floor and put it on the bench at the bottom of his bed.
“What are you afraid of?”
I hung my head and took a deep breath. Most of my clothes were already in the bag, so it didn’t take me long to pack, but I needed my cosmetics. I went to the bathroom and haphazardly gathered my things.
“Did you hear me?” he asked quietly as I walked past him to throw my toiletry bag in.
“Yes, because I’m good at multi-tasking. I can listen, ignore, and then forget what you say all at once.” I stopped short and took a deep breath, reining in my anger, hurt, and frustration, then turned to him. “Our bet was for one week, and I fulfilled those terms.”
When his face went dark, I held my hand up. “This week with you has been good.” I swallowed back the lump in my throat. “Better than good. But I need to process what’s happening and take care of a few things.”
He growled in frustration and grabbed my shoulders. “Quit being a coward and talk to me.”
My composure broke, and I shoved at his chest. “I saw those women this afternoon on your security camera. You can tell me it was nothing, but they seemed pretty damn happy to see you, and it didn’t look like it’d been ‘a while’ since you last hooked up with them. I’m not… I can’t share or be one of your random fuck buddies. If I decide to have a relationship again, it will be with someone who wants only me.” I smacked my palm to my chest. Fuck! I didn’t want to do this.
He ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t invite them here. They aren’t–”
I held up a hand. “Don’t. Just… don’t. Not right now.” To my horror, a lump formed in my throat, and my eyes went misty. Turning away, I blindly grabbed my purse.
Drakos put his hands on his hips and sighed. “Alright. Leave if you need to, but tomorrow night we’re going to talk.” He carefully reached out and cupped the side of my face, then slowly leaned in and kissed me. I should have pulled back or pushed him away again, but his calloused fingers felt so good. This time, his kiss wasn’t frantic or hard, but gentle and lingering. Damn him. A soft sob escaped me, and I stepped back.
He let me go and studied my face. “Go ahead and pull back. Build your defenses again if you need to. But remember, no matter how much you deny the truth, it still exists, and our truth started that night out in the desert.” My heart seemed to crack in half, and I turned away to finish gathering my things so he wouldn’t see the carnage.
Milo drove me home, eyeing my face a few times before wisely leaving me alone. I was grateful for his silence. I didn’t have it in me to make conversation while my heart bled out.