Chapter Twelve
Caius
A s entertaining as this awkward dinner is, I’m eager for the break when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I catch Romy eyeing me with barely concealed curiosity from across the table.
Unknown Number: You’re not as tough and uncaring as you lead everyone to believe. I know the real you.
My gut tightens.
Me: S?
Unknown Number: I’m flattered you remember.
I don’t bother adding S to my contacts because this person will just disconnect the number like last time. They don’t want to be found. That much is apparent.
Me: What do you want?
Unknown Number: For you to admit there’s a heart inside that cavernous, frigid chest of yours.
Me: Again with the games.
Unknown Number: I don’t play games. That’s simply for entertainment. I do work. Real work. What you see is what you get with me.
Me: As you hide behind this S persona…
Unknown Number: You’re so testy in text. It’s a delicious glimpse into the real you that you hide from everyone.
Me: If you know where she is, why not tell me? What’s the point of this?
As I wait for S to respond, I glance up again to see Romy helping Kaitlyn cut up her meat. Anger burns inside me like a growing inferno. Not at Romy. At my father. I’m still unable to wrap my head around how he chose Vivienne to be Kaitlyn’s nanny. Did he know her past and that she previously worked for the Langstons?
Of course he did.
Dad misses nothing. He never has. It’s why I have kept my desire to find Calista under wraps. He knows I want to find my sister, but in my gut, I know his help will come with strings. Dad kept his promise to teach me everything he knows, but it hasn’t helped me find her yet. Now that I’m deeply entrenched in this dark world he adopted me into, I certainly don’t want his help. Who the hell knows what kind of mind-fuckery he’d use once she was back in my life.
We’d have to run away, change our names, and hide for the rest of our lives.
It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make once I find her.
Until that day, I’ll continue to do everything I can on my own so that when I do get ahold of her and leave, Dad will be blindsided. We can disappear safely.
Unknown Number: Are you sure you want those answers?
Me: Lose my number. You’re useless.
Unknown Number: We’re just getting started, Caius. You’ll see.
Just like last time when S texted me, Theo and Dad are in the same room as me. This time, so is Romy. Whoever is doing this isn’t someone in my immediate circle. That means it’s a stranger to me, or at the very least, an acquaintance. But how does an acquaintance know my darkest secret?
I go to respond and the number is no longer in service. This shit is annoying. I’m used to being the one in control and steps ahead of everyone. Right now, I feel like that lost fifteen-year-old boy a dozen years ago.
To keep my mind from unraveling trying to figure this all out, I message the concierge at the hotel to make some changes. With what happened with Vivienne, I’d feel better if I was in the same hotel suite as Kaitlyn. Her current situation means I’d have to sleep on the couch with Romy. Not happening. It takes a little bribing, but the concierge is able to accommodate my requests. An extra few hundred dollars for a tip ensures my requests will be completed by the time we get back.
I busy myself with my phone, searching for clues about S, to no avail. As soon as the cake has been eaten, Romy gives me a pleading look with her eyes. Can we get the hell out of here?
She doesn’t have to ask me twice.
“This isn’t our room,” Romy says, side-eyeing me.
“It is now.” I ignore her irritation as I open the door with the keycard. “You’re with me, love.”
She shoots me a sour look as she walks into the suite. As promised by the concierge, we’ve been upgraded to a spacious two-room suite with a kitchenette and living room area.
“Kaitlyn’s in there,” I tell her, pointing to the smaller of the two rooms. “Get her ready for bed. Her stuff should be inside.”
While they disappear into the bedroom, I stride into the master. There’s a desk in the room. Beside it is my laptop bag. After pulling off my coat and shoes, I sit at the desk and continue my research. At least an hour passes before Romy finally joins me. She ignores me as she digs through her bag for something to sleep in. I get lost in my work once more. When she emerges from the bathroom, her blond hair is pulled into a messy bun and she wears one of her worn T-shirts and sleep shorts.
My cock twitches when I get a glimpse of her ass cheeks hanging out of the bottom of the shorts. I’ve always known what she looks like naked, since the very first week of having her in my possession, but only since today do I know what it feels like to be inside her with her naked body beneath me.
I slam my laptop shut and escape into the bathroom, needing a cold shower. I’m unable to stand the frigid water for very long, but it does wonders for settling my cock. The last thing I need is to sleep with her again. I’d lost my head and I fucking hated it.
If I have hope in finding Calista, I need to stay focused.
I brush my teeth and quickly shave, hoping to spend enough time away from her that she’ll fall asleep so I don’t have to be tempted by her.
The room is dark when I reenter, which is fine by me. The less I see of her sexy curves and pouty mouth, the better. Quietly, I slip into bed beside her. I stare up at the ceiling in the dark, not at all tired.
“Are we going to discuss what happened this morning?” she asks, voice sharp like a blade. “Or will you ignore it forever?”
I sigh heavily. “What’s there to discuss?”
The bed shifts and I imagine she’s rolling to face me. Her scent envelops me, making my cock twitch to life again. Fuck.
“You were my first,” she whispers sadly. “It was everything I’d hoped for. Until you made me feel like a cheap whore after.”
Guilt sluices through me. She’d been abused as a child and then recently raped. I could have been gentle with her or made her feel wanted. Instead, I fucked and ran.
But I’m an asshole.
We’ve established this.
Why is she expecting anything otherwise?
“I don’t know where all this is heading,” she says softly, “but if you want my help, I expect you to treat me like a partner.”
I snort at her words. “Help? You’re not the new nanny, little girl.”
I know she hates when I call her that. Maybe it’ll remind her how she got here. That she’s not really my girlfriend, but instead a prisoner until I decide to release her.
Keep lying to yourself, Cai…
“I don’t understand how you can be so passionate and adoring one minute, and then a complete dick the next.” She huffs and shifts beside me. “I want to leave.”
My adrenaline spikes. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“I can leave if I want.”
A dark laugh barks out of me. “No, love, you can’t.”
Whap!
I grunt in pain. It takes a second to realize she hit me in the stomach. She starts to roll away like she might actually think she can leave. I’m too quick, grabbing in the dark for anything I can. My fingers find the material of what feels like her shorts. I yank her back toward me and then pounce, pinning her facedown beneath me.
“Let go,” she hisses. “Now.”
So brave this one.
I let her think I might let her go by lifting up enough that I can flip her onto her back. Her breath comes out in ragged pants. She smacks at me until I manage to grab hold of her arms, pinning those as well.
“Stop,” I warn.
Blood rushes to my cock. It hardens between us. She squirms in response.
“You disgust me,” she lies. “Get off me.”
I can’t help but ease the ache in my dick by bucking my hips against her. She sucks in a sharp breath. More wriggling ensues until her legs have found their way around my waist. We’re both quiet, staring at each other, though we can’t see a thing. Her hot breath tickles my face. My hips move again of their own accord. Pleasure zings up my spine. Romy shudders in response, failing to suppress a whine of pleasure.
“Caius,” she murmurs. “You confuse me with your mood swings.”
I confuse myself, dammit.
Before I can stop myself, I find my lips seeking hers. Her kiss is hesitant at first and then she greedily licks and nips at my tongue. Every move of her teasing mouth sends a frenzy of pleasure-filled pulses through my body. I devour her mouth, biting her sweet bottom lip and then sucking away any pain I’ve caused.
Somehow, I’ve let her arms go. Instead of smacking me, her fingers thread into my hair as she moves in tandem with the way I dry fuck her. I roam my hand over her shirt and then back up beneath the material. She moans into my mouth the second my fingers toy with her nipple.
More.
I need more.
She groans when I pull away from our kiss. I shove her shirt up and eagerly put my mouth on her naked flesh. A needy moan escapes her as her back arches, her body begging for more.
I find her pebbled nipple and suck it into my mouth. It’s just tender skin, but it tastes so fucking sweet. I suck and nibble and even bite until I’m sure she’s raw from the attention. The idea of leaving purple marks all over her breasts to admire later is an image I can’t get out of my head.
Her toes somehow hook into my boxers and she desperately shoves them down. Then she tugs at my hair, pulling me back to her mouth for a kiss. My dick is free now, rubbing against her pussy through her thin sleep shorts. Is she even wearing panties underneath?
Fuck, I need her again.
She reaches between us, tugging her shorts to the side. The second my dick rubs against her bare pussy, we both groan. I easily glide along her slit since she’s soaked as fuck right now.
I could push inside her and claim her like I did this morning.
It would be so easy.
The tip of my cock presses against her hole. However, the material of her shorts has slid back in the way. I’m seconds from ripping them off completely.
My cock begs for my brain to shut off, but my mind clears.
We can’t do this.
Not without rules and parameters.
This loss of control and getting lost in this woman—my captive—is only going to complicate things between us.
If I ever have hope of staying focused, I need boundaries with Romy. Fucking her is too messy. I want it too badly. It changes everything.
With infinite self-control, I pull away from her, sitting up on my haunches. She whimpers, reaching for me, fingertips ghosting over my abs.
“Caius,” she breathes, the desire in her voice almost my undoing. “Please.”
“No,” I growl.
This time, I’m the one who says it, and I fucking mean it.
I ignore the curses coming from her on my hasty escape to the bathroom. I also shamelessly conjure up memories of what just happened as I stroke myself to release in the sink.
This electric connection between us stops now.