Chapter 16
CALLIE
Reid smirks as he lifts me onto my feet, and I think I’m in shock. He came all over me. My knickers—which were already soaked from my own wetness, are sticky. And the dress is too. Only the underskirt lining, I see that the liquid hasn’t made it through to the upper layers of fabric, but oh my.
“The dress. We can’t just put it back now!” I glance at the cheaper dress, but Reid shrugs.
“You’ll have to have that one. All night. With my come dripping down your legs. Do you think people will be able to smell me on you? They’ll know what we were doing, and that you’re mine.”
My cheeks burn. There’s wet all over my upper thighs.
It’s obscene, and the way Reid regards me arrogantly, daring me to protest, turns this from weird and gross to…
Hot. Embarrassing, but such a turn-on to have this secret that he covered me with his seed like some kind of primal claiming.
I’ll be on his arm, but if anyone saw that white mess between my legs and on my knickers, they’d know.
They’d see that Reid and I were… I’m not sure what the name for what we’ve just been doing is.
Acting like feral animals in a semi-public space. The recollection of where we are shudders down my spine warmly.
This is naughty. Dirty. The whole thing, from him arranging it so I’m practically his kept woman, to making me come with his fingers in my mouth in this dressing room where the shop assistants could hear, to his semen on my underwear is deliciously wrong.
And I like it.
Far too much.
Reid takes my hand in his and interlocks our fingers, then sweeps away the curtain, towing me with him to where the assistants are sitting behind their desk.
“Did you find everything you required, Mr Maddox?” The blonde one who let us in doesn’t know where to put her eyes. She totally heard.
My blush intensifies.
“We’ll take that dress, please remove the tags, as Callie will be wearing it now. And the shoes. Arrange for her clothes to be taken from the changing room back to my address along with the other dress.” He places a black credit card on the counter.
“Of course, Mr Maddox.” The older of the two women has recovered. Not enough to look me in the eye, but to take money where it’s offered.
“My phone, in my jeans…” I protest weakly.
“Yes. That too. You’ll need a bag. A purse?” Reid scans down my body.
“An evening clutch,” the younger assistant says eagerly.
He shrugs. “Whatever you call it. And will you want your hair done and that sort of thing?”
I shrink back with something like horror. “I’m alright.” I can’t think of anything worse than sitting being stabbed with hairpins while Reid watches. “I can go home and get—”
“Anything you need, they’ll provide.” Reid’s gaze lingers just below my waist, and I suddenly wonder if his come has seeped through the dress?
A panicked glance down reveals, no, I’m alright.
But as I shift, I think I get a hint of the scent of him.
That distinctive smell that I can’t define. It’s just… Sex. And Reid.
I press my legs together, and I think even my hair blushes.
“What about a bit of mascara?” One of the assistants is saying. I nod to whatever they suggest, because honestly, I am entirely out of my depth.
Reid watches on as the women do their job, and I have to admit, by the time they’ve finished, I do look pretty put together. It’s a borrowed persona, but it’s surprisingly pleasant when Reid has that approving expression in his eyes.
“What exactly is this event?” I ask as we get back into the car.
“We’re going to find out. I need to meet some men I know, and Lambeth suggested tonight. He said it was a fae ball.” He pronounces the words with some distaste. “Apparently some of their partners arranged it in aid of charity.”
“A fae ball?” I repeat. “As in fairies?”
He nods. “As in, we can’t be certain someone won’t be wearing glitter and pointy ears, yes.”
Okay, but some tiny fairies are having a party in my stomach. Because London fae balls are a thing. They’re exclusive, but I’ve seen photographs when the other nurses are reading gossip magazines during their breaks.
“There’s something else you need to know about tonight’s event,” Reid adds.
“Apart from literally anything and everything?” All the preparation I have is a dress that’s stained with Reid’s come.
“Don’t be surprised if you hear jokes about it being a maths event.”
“Too late. I’m already surprised?”
“Yes, it’s not obvious why a group of mafias would call themselves a maths club.”
“It doesn’t add up,” I giggle.
“Do not start with that,” he says darkly.
I give him an innocent look. “What?”
“Callie.” It’s a warning.
“So why are these mafias known as the maths club?” I ask, curious.
He shakes his head tiredly. “Something about needing a front for not being a mafia? I wasn’t listening, to be honest.”
“Why maths, though?” I persist.
“Who knows? Why not literally anything else is a continued mystery to me. They could have gone for the matinee club—an afternoon performance at a theatre—but no, they want to sound like nerds. They even lean into it. There are mental arithmetic challenges to decide who gets to kill people.”
“Really?” That’s hilariously silly for something serious. “Who wins?”
“Angel. He ignores the maths, and just shoots the prisoner.”
I can’t help but laugh.
Reid gives me a half smile in return, and his hand brushes mine. It makes my heart pound.
We stop outside a swish London hotel, and as we get out, I see that the entrance has been draped with ivy and those big pink flowers—peonies—and I don’t think I can do this.
But Reid has no time for any of my nerves or doubts about my dress—or its contents.
He ushers me into the hotel, and when we enter through another flowered archway, I have to hold back a gasp.
The room is decorated to look like a fairy grotto, with ferns, and flowers, and tiny lights strung around.
There’s a band—I’m not sure if that’s what it’s called—with violins and stuff, playing classical music, but…
I recognise the tune. It’s a pop song, but played on musical instruments you’d see in an orchestra.
It’s clever, and fun, and the people dancing are having a great time.
They’re as stunning as the attention to detail on the plants and lights.
There are dozens of people dressed like us, or far fancier.
A couple of women have wings, and I spot one set of pointy ears, though mostly they’re just wearing amazing dresses that make mine look right at home.
“See, this is why that other boring dress wouldn’t do,” Reid tells me, blue eyes twinkling.
“Yeah,” I say faintly. I’m glad he made me accept this dress, even if I’m still a bit worried it might reveal me for being the little tart I am with him since his semen is all over it. He makes me reckless.
Reid puts an arm around my shoulders and drops a kiss on the top of my head.
It’s a casual sign of affection, and my stupid heart reads far too much into it. The dress, the sexy times, the way he’s been determined to have me care for his wound despite not needing it. Those things all have been nice, but that possessive arm and light kiss…
But on the other hand, he did say this arrangement was only for as long as it took him to heal.
Perhaps he does this all the time? Indulges and seduces a woman for a couple of weeks or so. That thought is unbearable.
“I can’t see any of the men I want to talk to. Would you like a drink, or to dance?” Reid murmurs in my ear.
My mouth drops open and I snap my head around to look up at him. “You’d dance with me?”
The corners of his eyes crease with mirth. “I don’t promise not to step on your toes.”
But he’s already guiding me towards the dance floor, and drawing me into his arms, old-school style, with his hand in mine and he’s put my other hand on his shoulder.
Not his bad arm, I notice, and the reason for that becomes obvious when after only a few steps, he dips me down, holding onto my waist.
A giggle bursts out of me, and when he brings me back up, my captor is grinning as much as I am. His eyes are shining.
“You cheat,” I mutter. “I thought you wouldn’t be able to dance.”
“I picked up a couple of things along the way,” he admits dryly, then spins me under his arm.
And when he pulls me into him again, I realise I’m having the best time.
Not because I’ve always secretly wanted to come to one of these really beautiful events and wear a dress like this that makes me feel like a princess who has finally been found.
No. I’m so happy because I have my gorgeous, handsome, grumpy kidnapper with me.
And then a snarling man in black leather taps Reid on the shoulder and glares at him.
Oh. No.