Chapter 12
12
E lodie
I dream of touching myself but wake up whimpering, Jaeger stroking the tops of my thighs. My skin is coated with my dripping essence. “Jaeger, please.” I shudder, needing release. “Please let me. . .”
“Later.” He kisses my cheek. “Not yet.”
I groan but don’t make a move to touch myself when he pulls away.
“I have to go somewhere again today. If I don’t tie you up, will you be a good girl?”
I nod vigorously. Anything to escape another long day straining against the vibrator.
He narrows his eyes, but whatever he sees in me convinces him I’m telling the truth. “You’re being so good for me, bunny.” He nuzzles my cheek, and I turn my head away. The feel of his stubble against my skin is too much.
I don’t know what he’s planning, but he’s up to something, and I’m afraid to know. Whatever it is, it’s big.
He pulls away, and we go through our morning routine. He helps me dress in wide-leg jeans and a fitted white top.
It’s not until he’s set me on the couch with my ankle propped up that he tells me, “I invited your friends to visit.”
“Friends? What friends?”
He leans down to light the cluster of candles on the coffee table and straightens. “The girls from Inferno.”
“Honey and Daria? You invited them? You’re letting them come here?”
“It’s your home, too.”
I press my lips together. Sure, I’m living here, but it’s not really my place.
“They’ll be here soon. I ordered food. The doorman will let them in.”
I clutch a cashmere throw to my chest, watching him move around the room, making the place as cozy as the rom-com set of my dreams.
He answers the door for the food delivery and kisses me before he leaves. “Remember, no touching. Or there’ll be consequences.”
My friends arrive in time for a late brunch. We’ve never hung out outside of work like this, so I’m nervous about how it will go. At least Jaeger’s penthouse will be a nicer place to hang out than my old apartment.
Daria enters slowly, craning her head to look all around. She greets me with a nod, keeping her hands stuffed into her black leather jacket.
The next to enter is Angel, one of the dancers at Inferno. “Hey, girl,” she grins at me. “Okay if I crash this party?”
“Of course,” I say. I don’t know Angel very well, but she seems sweet. On stage, she mostly wears wigs, but her hair is long, straight, and dyed black.
Honey bounces in, all smiles in a taupe bodycon dress, with her hair in ringlet curls. “Elodie! You look amazing! Who did your hair?”
“Hey, Honey. You look great, too.” I don’t tell her Jaeger did my hair. He doesn’t look like he’s capable of it, but he’s better at doing my hair than I ever was. He seems to enjoy taking the time to pamper me. The shelf in the shower is filled with hair masks and special conditioners for my curls, and the results have been fabulous. My skin glows, and my shining curls are behaving better than I’ve been able to achieve.
Honey’s already moved on. “Omigosh,” she cries when she sees the brunch spread Jaeger ordered. Angel joins her, grabbing a strawberry from a bowl of cut fruit.
“So this is his place, huh?” Daria lingers in the entryway, leaning to look through the open door to our bedroom.
“This is it,” I wave her in. “Feel free to snoop.”
Honey laughs, and Daria’s shoulders drift down an inch.
“C’mon,” Angel beckons. Her plate is already filled with bacon and pancakes. The food tempts Daria enough to join the other two.
“You look good,” Honey says.
“Thanks.” I accept her offer for more coffee and caramel creamer.
“Girl, this place…” Angel says.
“I know,” I say.
Daria’s still in the kitchen area, opening cabinets and checking them out. I wouldn’t be surprised if she figured out the location of Jaeger’s safe.
“I like it,” Honey announces. Angel gives her a fond look, and Daria rolls her eyes. It’s obvious any member of Fraternitas has Honey’s stamp of approval. I worry about her lack of self-preservation.
“Has he said anything more about… you know?” Honey waves a piece of bacon at me.
“Look at her ring,” Daria points out. Honey drops everything to ooh and ahh over it. Even Angel looks impressed. I fight the urge to tuck my hand away.
“He’s made it clear that I’m his woman,” I admit.
Honey claps her hands. “What about the claiming ceremony? Has he said anything about that?”
I shake my head.
“It’s supposed to be secret.” Honey has a faraway look.
“Which means you know all about it,” Daria snarks.
Honey sticks out her tongue at her. “There are conflicting reports. Some say it’s in a BDSM club downtown.”
“Not at Inferno?” Daria asks.
“No, another place. Club Empire.”
Daria nods.
Angel’s gone quiet. She’s in long sleeves, but she’s rubbing her upper arm, where I know she has a snake tattoo. She usually hides the ink with makeup, but I’ve seen it in the dressing room.
There’s a rap on the door.
“I’ll get it.” Honey hops to her feet. Daria launches out of her chair and dashes to catch up with her.
“Not so fast.” She pushes past Honey and calls, “Who is it?”
The familiar voice of the delivery man announces, “I have a delivery for Bunny.”
“Bunny?” Honey asks.
“It’s okay,” I call. “Let him in.”
They both open the door and accept the package.
It’s a rectangular gift box. Angel helps clear away the candles and knickknacks to make space for it on the coffee table in front of me.
“Open it,” Honey squeals.
Inside the box, a thick cream tissue paper holds the scent of lavender and sandalwood. I draw out a short, white dress—a lacy sheath lined with silk.
“Oh gods,” Angel murmurs.
Honey half shrieks and covers her mouth. She’s thinking this is a wedding dress.
For a second, my heart stops beating.
A cream-colored piece of paper flutters to the floor. Angel catches it and hands it to me.
“For tonight,” it reads. It has to be from Jaeger.
I show them the note.
“Tonight? What’s tonight?” Daria asks.
“Oh,” Honey shrieks again. “I know what it is.”
“What?” we all demand.
“He’s going to take you to Pandemonium.”
Pandemonium . I mouth the word. I’ve heard it before, at Inferno.
“Where’s that?” Daria asks.
“It’s an event, not a place,” Honey explains. She glances at Angel as if for confirmation, but the dancer is conspicuously silent. “This year, it’s at Club Empire. It’s a big private party. Typically a masquerade for the kinkiest elite of New Rome. Rumor has it Senator Nero attends. And Rex Roy.”
“Who’s Rex Roy?” I ask. The name sounds familiar, but I can’t remember where I’ve heard it.
“You don’t know who Rex Roy is?” Honey turns wide eyes to me. “The billionaire?
“Oh, right.” Now I remember. He’s one of the richest men in the nation. I’ve seen him in the newspapers and on TV. “Of course, I know him. He and I had tea with the queen just last Thursday.”
“Stop.” Honey throws a pillow at me and rises with dignity. “I need to powder my nose.”
I point her to the nearest bathroom, but she waves me off and heads for my and Jaeger’s bedroom so she can use that. She’s taking advantage of my offer to snoop.
The second the door closes behind Honey, Daria leans in. “Listen, Elodie, you need to be careful.”
Her hushed tone makes me frown. “What?”
“Honey thinks this is a fantasy world. Intrigue, danger… she has stars in her eyes. She’s young.”
“You’re young,” I point out, even as I note that the shadows under her eyes look deeper. I look up at Angel, who still hasn’t said a word. “We’re all young.”
“She doesn’t understand,” Daria says. “This shit is real. Just… be careful.”
I bite my lip. If Daria could see the contents of my thoughts, she’d know I’m worried.
Jaeger’s been careful to show me a fantasy world consisting of long days in his penthouse watching rom-coms along with expensive clothes and a sexy car. But I know there’s another side to his life, a dark side, that pays for all this luxury. He’s shown me some of that too—Inferno, his errand to the church, Father Francis, Kaiser. And he’s shared his past.
I’ve tried to ignore Jaeger’s mafia side, but it’s becoming impossible. I feel like a frog in a pot, slowly being boiled. I’m afraid I’ll wake up one day and know everything. Jaeger will pull me into his dark underworld, and I won’t be strong enough to survive the monsters that lurk there.
I might be paranoid, but I have a growing premonition that the dreaded moment is soon. I’m running out of time to figure out how to escape.
The way I’m out-of-my-mind horny from his edging doesn’t help.
I cross my legs, ignoring the way my clit cries out for more contact and nod. “I will,” I promise her quietly, just before Honey returns from the bathroom to sit back down.
Daria gives me a troubled look but changes the subject. Her warning stays with me. I do need to be careful if I’m stepping into Jaeger’s world.
The trouble is, I’m not the one in control.
As if on cue, there’s a knock on the front door before it swings open. Jaeger steps in, nodding to us.
“Ladies,” he greets us. “Having a good time?”
My friends reply, Honey more enthusiastically than Angel or Daria.
“Excellent.” He turns his wolfish grin on me, and I freeze in the middle of reaching for my coffee mug. “Please excuse me and Elodie for a moment.” He swings me into his arms and heads toward the bedroom.
“Um, be right back,” I call to my friends.
Honey looks delighted. Angel hides a smile.
The bedroom door shuts, and Jaeger lays me on the bed.
“What’s this about?” I prop myself to my hands. Jaeger gets down on his knees at the foot of the bed and reaches up to unzip my jeans. He drags them off along with my panties and draws me closer so my legs dangle over his shoulder.
“I’ll be quick,” he tells me and seals his mouth to my sex.
My hips rise up, and I’m shuddering in no time. He flattens his tongue and batters my clit. I writhe, already hurtling toward an orgasm.
And then he stops. No!
“Jaeger?” I struggle up so I can grab onto him, but he’s already pulled away. I’m soaking wet, and he uses my panties to mop up my juices, being careful not to touch me too much.
“Don’t cum. Not yet.” He keeps re-dressing me, first sliding my legs back into another pair of panties and then my jeans. I whimper, the mere brush of a fresh pair of underwear enough to make my pussy throb.
“Why not?”
“Because I said so.” Jaeger cups the back of my neck and kisses me, his face wet. I surrender to him if only to show how much I need him. I’m grasping his shoulders and trying to pull him on top of me when he lifts his head and fixes me with a stern, sexy glare. “If you cum, I’ll know. And you will be punished.”
I gape at him but can’t suppress a flare of excitement at his threat of punishment. “Why?” I ask, too overwhelmed by horniness to be wary. “What’s going on?”
He strokes my cheek. “There’s a party tonight.”
My brain is filled with pink fog, but a light flares in the distance as I make the connection. “Is that why you sent the dress?”
“Yes. You’ll come to the party as mine.” He’s still cupping my cheek, looking supremely satisfied.
I remember what Honey said about Pandemonium being held at a BDSM club. “You mean… your submissive?”
He sets his hand lightly around my throat. “Mmhmm.”
The fog clears. The ache in my pussy is enough to make me cranky. “And I’m just supposed to go along with this?” I demand.
Jaeger sticks his face close to mine. “Do you want to cum?”
I growl at him.
He just kisses me again and buttons up my jeans. He gathers me in his arms, and I bury my face in his neck.
“You okay?” he whispers.
I groan in answer. I want to cum. I want answers about tonight’s outing, but more than that, I want to cum!
“Love you, bunny,” he murmurs and strokes my curls. I rear back to search his face, but there’s nothing but calm assurance in his expression.
He loves me?
“And you love me.” He sounds sure.
My heart trips over itself. To hide my unsteady breathing, I cross my arms over my chest and narrow my eyes at him. “I do?”
“Yes. You do.” He gazes at me with such satisfied assurance I can’t meet his eyes.
“I think you’re being an asshole.” I sound cranky as hell.
“You like that most of all.”
I growl, and he chuckles. Another kiss, and he carries me back to my friends.
“Thank you, ladies. Enjoy your visit,” he tosses over his shoulder as he leaves.
I sit rigid on the couch, pressing my knees together. For a moment, I’m dizzy. My clit is throbbing, screaming for release. If my friends weren’t here, I’d be tempted to risk punishment and squirm out of my jeans to rub one out.
“You okay?” Daria asks.
I press my hands to my cheeks. My skin is burning hot.
I nod slowly.
“Are you sure?” Angel asks. She’s rubbing her tattoo, a knowing look on her face.
Love you. And you love me.
I shake my head.
“Did you ask him about tonight?” Honey asks, breathless. “Is it the ceremony?”
The ceremony… the dress. You’ll come to the party as mine. “I don’t know. He didn’t mention a ceremony, not exactly. We discussed… other things.”
Honey giggles. Even Daria has a smile on her face. They know exactly what went on behind closed doors, and I can’t bring myself to care.
I stare at the front door, wishing Jaeger would return.
He wants to make you his elita.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I tell them.
“Are you in love with him?” Honey asks.
I put my hands on my cheeks. I’m burning up. “He’s Fraternitas.”
“So?” Honey snorts. She starts to say more, and Angel holds out her hand to stop her.
“If he wasn’t in the mafia, would you want him?” Angel is sitting up straight, studying me.
I gnaw on my lower lip. “It doesn’t matter. He won’t let me leave.”
Honey’s eyes go wide, and Daria shakes her head, but Angel doesn’t seem fazed. “Do you want to leave?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you afraid to stay?” Angel keeps digging. Honey looks from her to me, drinking in the interrogation.
“Gods, Angel.” I blow out a breath. “Maybe.”
“Well then, there’s only one question you need to ask yourself. What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
I glare at her and then Daria, who’s silent, biting her lip. Be careful.
And all the while, my sex pulses with need. Because deep down, I’m turned on by danger.
Stupid bunny, hopping right up to the wolf.
But it’s more than that. Jaeger is my safe place. Everything he’s done to care for me has lured me in a little bit more.
I need him. I crave him. I want him and want to take care of him. He’s had so little, and yet he’s given me so much.
I want to give him my everything.
And that scares me most of all.
I sink back into the couch, wanting to pull the cashmere throw over my head.
Honey waves as if clearing the air. “Enough of all this. You have a date tonight. I have two hours before my shift. So we’re going to get you ready. Hair, makeup, nails. The works.”
“Okay,” I agree weakly. I may as well do something to take my mind off my aching pussy.
Jaeger shows up right as my friends are leaving. By then, I’m desperate and holding myself together with fraying threads. The sun is sinking, filling the penthouse with golden light.
I hear Angel and Honey greet him at the door and his rumbling reply. Then it shuts, and there’s only the sound of him heading my way. Finally.
I’m on the bed, already dolled up. I put on the dress so they could do my makeup and hair. Honey did something called an “airbrush” effect. Angel even put makeup on my arms, because apparently that’s something people do when their dress is sleeveless. I’m afraid to move in case I mess up all their hard work.
He stops in the doorway, cast in shadow.
My breath comes faster at the sight of him. My pussy is dripping, soaking the gusset of my panties, and my nipples are swollen, ripe berries begging to be plucked.
He’s got me trained. I’m on a hair-trigger, ready for him to fuck me. I need him. Sitting all day, waiting for him to come back and finish what he started, was torture.
I hold out my arms as if to say, “Well?” I’m primped and polished, all for him. I’d give anything to throw this dress off and put my hands between my legs. Even the satiny lining of the dress is too much stimulation.
Then he walks into the room, into the light, and I almost cum from the sight. He’s in a tuxedo, all white, the exact color of my dress. The pristine color draws attention to the perfect symmetry of his face and the dark ink peeking out from under his cuffs and collar.
“You look beautiful, bunny,” he says gruffly. Then he takes in my stunned reaction. “Do you like what you see?”
I’m still speechless, so I nod. There’s something about the sophisticated trappings of a suit that enhances the feral quality of his long hair and tattoos. He looks elegant and dangerous. More dangerous because of the refined pretense.
Jaeger can be gentle, but he’s not a gentleman. An appeal to chivalry won’t save me.
He says he loves me, but I can’t underestimate him.
“So beautiful.” He extends a finger and brushes a curl from the side of my face. “Hmmm.” His eyes narrow as he takes in my heavy makeup. Honey was going to repaint my face with fake freckles after she coated the real ones with concealer, but I wouldn’t let her.
“You’re only missing one thing.” Planting a hand on my chest, he presses me back to the bed. I lie down, watching him warily. The last time he did this to me, he left me on edge and wanting.
What is he going to do now? My heart is rioting in my chest, but I lie still because I want to know what happens next.
He pulls something from his pocket and slides the silk folds of the dress up to my waist. I make a noise of protest, and he shushes me.
“These are for you.” He shows me two silver balls. They’re the size of large marbles, and they knock together in his palm with a clunking sound.
My question of what I’ll do with them dies when he eases aside my thong and sets one of them at my entrance. He holds my gaze, the dark of his pupil swallowing the blue as he inserts the balls inside me. As wet as I am, they side in easily. They’re heavier than they look and rub against my sensitive inner walls with their delicious weight.
“You must clench around them to keep them in.” He runs a thumb up my seam, and I clench down, only to moan when the movement makes the balls move inside me. “If you drop one…” He leaves the threat hanging.
“Why?” I gasp as the balls roll forward, stimulating me deeply.
“I want you like this. Wet and needy for me.”
I’m shaking my head. The balls stimulate but don’t satisfy me. They’re not large enough. They’re only enough to tease me. “I can’t do this.”
“You can. You will.” Jaeger helps me sit up on the edge of the bed and straightens my lovely dress. He touches my chin, tipping my head back. “You must.”
I pant, overcome.
He turns my head this way and that, studying my face. “Hmm,” he peers at my cheeks. “There is one more thing I require.”
He runs a thumb over my cheek, and I pull away.
“Careful.” I’m half-crazed with arousal, but my friends worked hard to get me all dolled up. “You’ll smear my makeup.”
He stands and lifts me, not picking me up but lowering me to my knees. “Your ankle okay?” he asks.
“Yes?” I stare up at him.
He looms over me, his head haloed in light but his face shrouded in darkness. His white slacks are tented.
I shift on my knees. “What?—”
He opens his pants and offers his cock to me.
“Open your mouth.” He pinches my nose, but it’s unnecessary. I’ve already tilted my head back and opened for him. I’m hungry for any sort of sexual stimulation. I keep my eyes on him, wondering what he’s up to. His cock is thick and meaty, filling my mouth.
He transfers both of his hands to either side of my head and forces me down. I choke, but his hips tilt, driving his length deeper. The head of his cock hits the back of my throat, and I gag. I slap at his waist, pushing so I can breathe.
Finally, he lets me up. I gasp, panting for air. My eyes are streaming.
“Again.” He grips my face, guiding me down again. I take a deep breath this time so I’m braced for when he presses in, gagging me. His cock swells, cutting off my air. I work my tongue, trying to stimulate him to cum faster. But he keeps pushing until he’s knocking on the back of my throat.
I dig my fingers into his white pants. Am I pulling him closer or pushing him away? I have no idea. All I know is I can’t breathe. My body is overheating, and the pressure in my sex grows.
This is going to end, one way or another.
He pulls out, and I sag forward. I would fall, but he’s holding me up as I cough and hack. Drool drips from my lips. I wipe it away. There goes my lipstick. Tears stream out of my eyes.
“There,” he murmurs. He strokes my face, smearing the foundation and concealer further. He swipes his thumbs across the apples of my cheeks, and they come away black. My mascara must be bleeding down my face.
My makeup is ruined. All those layers of foundation and concealer, gone.
He pulls out a handkerchief and wipes the rest of my tears away.
“I can see your freckles again,” he says. With his blond hair haloed in the dying light, he’s as beautiful as an angel.
“What?” I croak. My throat is raw from the throat-fucking.
“I wanted to see your freckles.” His touch is reverent. He caresses the skin that’s been washed clean from my tears. “Now we can leave.”