21. Feminism, Who?
21
Feminism, Who?
ALICE
“ Fuck !”
Heart heavy, I stepped into the bathroom, where I found Grey bare, leaning his forehead on his fists where they clenched against the shower wall. I couldn’t even fathom what must be going through his head right now. Not that either of us were shocked that Reggie made shit choices, but this seemed… extreme , even for his Royal Dickness.
Grey’s shoulders rose and fell in labored breaths as the water sluiced down his magnificent body. He truly was an unfairly gorgeous specimen. Equal parts honed muscle and just enough give to make him cuddleable. But that ass just never quit—a pert bubble butt, if I’d ever seen one. Watching streams of water pour over those tight glutes had me salivating . If he didn't look so distraught, I’d get on my knees and sink my teeth into it.
Maybe getting on my knees was a good idea, regardless. Distract him from the hell inside his head.
It was the rustle of fabric as I slowly unzipped my dress, which had tortured hazels flicking to me, my chest still heaving. Grey’s mouth opened and closed twice, and I slowly slipped free, the gown hissing as it hit the floor. He looked me up and down, tracking my movement as I unclipped my strapless bra and let it follow suit, all too pleased with his sudden, intense focus on my peaked, desperate nipples.
While I still assert there’s no graceful way to slink out of underwear, I did my best before standing at my full height, waiting for a cue.
Tonight had my blood roaring in my ears, and there had never been a sweeter sound than his voice when he came through that door. It was safety and comfort, and surety that we would find a way out, all at once. Our playful promises exchanged on the phone kept my head on straight until he had me in his arms.
I needed them again. Those capable muscles wrapped around my body. His strong hands on my skin. Maybe it was bolder than I had a right to be, but I needed Greyson like the air in my lungs. Needed him to pull my mind into the moment and away from the idea that I’d shared air with a man who sold humans for profit. Away from the idea that the troubled creature before me would have to destroy his own uncle. Monster though he may be.
Lifting my chin, I let my hands settle by my side as his hungry gaze scraped over my body.
My ego purred as he gave me a curt nod, but something in me broke when he stretched a hand toward me, as though he’d wait for mine to fill his palm. As though he was as desperate to touch me as I was to be touched. When I reached up to take off the gaudy, amethyst-jeweled necklace our stylists paired with my gown, he shook his head.
“Leave it. You look royal.”
“But won’t it?—”
“Leave it,” he repeated over my concern, a bit out of breath. Right . Because thousands of dollars in jewels were disposable in this world. Nodding, I closed the gap, stepping over the tile divide and into water so jarringly cold it yanked my breath away. “Breathe,” he ordered, snaking an icy hand around my middle and pulling my ass to his groin. Shakily, I fought to comply. “Own your fear. You’re not dying. Tell your body that.”
“E-easier to do when you-re n-not at risk of h-hypother-mia,” I chattered as tears burned in my eyes.
He was torturing himself like he should be punished for Reginald’s transgressions.
“Breathe,” he repeated. “Control your mind. Learning control will keep you alive, baby. You never should’ve bolted into a situation without knowing it inside and out.”
Fighting to comply, I jammed my eyes closed as every inch of my body screamed for relief. How in the fuck was he talking right now?
“My back seizes in this kind of cold,” he explained. “I’ve been working to master it for years. I assure you, you can breathe through it.” I wanted to argue that I wasn’t capable of that. Greyson had always been motivated by control. It didn’t surprise me that it extended to his own body. But…then his hands were sliding over my skin, rough and desperate.
He slipped them up to my breasts, kneading them urgently before giving my nipples a demanding tweak that sent desperate need blooming across my body.
A ravenous caress warred with the cold as one palm slid down my body until his fingers found my clit, where he began a steady circle of pressure.
“I need you,” he admitted with a jagged exhale. Somehow, it was all the more vulnerable. My own oxygen now came in broken inhales as pleasure and cold warred for my focus. “Need to feel you. Know you’re safe.”
Nodding . Nodding, I could still do.
His responding chuckle was a desperately needed warmth, although I wished it could spread as my body shook against his, mind fighting to control the response. “You’re crazy,” I mumbled, finally about to call it quits when he increased the pressure on my clit, drawing my focus to the waves of pleasure his fingertips delivered.
Cold-pleasure-cold-pleasure.
My brain was short-firing, unsure of what the hell to focus on.
“That adrenaline rush heightens your awareness, doesn’t it?” Greyson whispered coyly in my ear, fingers working so deftly my legs were shaking from something other than the frigid temperature. I nodded and a pleased growl rumbled in his chest as he dipped his fingers into my entrance, pleasure sending my head flying back to land on his shoulder as he pinned my body against his with the opposite arm. “I’m not sure I can be gentle,” he warned as he leaned into my back, his pecs flexing against my shoulder blades.
With my eyes still jammed closed and my breath coming in desperate pants, I gasped, “So don’t try.”
His palm flattened against my low belly as he yanked me back into him. “You scared me today.”
“I’m s-sorry.”
“Are you?” he scoffed. “I don’t think you understand what I would do to keep you safe, my Belle.”
Those words wrapped me up just as much as his arms did, as he traded his forearm across the necklace on my chest for a palm wrapped around my throat, keeping my chin tipped up where I rested on his shoulder.
“I won’t be s-so reckless.”
“You’re freezing, princess,” he noted with some trace of amusement.
“Y- yeah ,” I said with all the tact of a ‘duh.’
Greyson’s opposite hand reached for the shower handle, flicking it to the left. By the time his fingers were back on my clit, the water was warming up, my entire body sighing with relief.
“You’re my wife . My world , Alessandra Hart. Don’t forget that.”
Nodding, I managed to catch my breath as he gently worked his hands over my body. It was only the involuntary burning at the bridge of my nose that made me process what he’d just declared. Why was I always crying around this man? Did he mean that? In some small part? Or was that just lust steering his words?
“Did you mean what you said at the manor or was that the adrenaline talking?”
“Which part?” I asked, still trying to wade through his prior declarations.
“That you want to be punished ?” he asked playfully, giving my clit a tap. What little air I’d managed to gather rushed out of my lungs in one blow, heat coursing through my entire body like he’d dropped a match into gasoline.
“Yes,” I admitted, not hiding any ounce of the desperate need consuming my body.
Maybe I was fucked in the head, but I needed this man to use me for his pleasure. To possess every inch of me like he owned it. After years of fighting for his respect, I wanted nothing more than for him to fill me, to make this body serve his need to fuck and rut and cum. Some equally primal part of me wanted it to be him . Just us.
I’d never wanted a man like I needed every inch of Greyson Hart.
“Don’t be such a gentleman, for once in your life. Sometimes I just need you to disrespect me a little.”
“You like being my little whore?” Just those words, paired with his fingers working against my sex with unforgiving circles, and that pleased smile in his voice had my knees buckling. His chuckle as he supported my weight brought me more pleasure than it should’ve, but it wasn’t enough. I needed more. “You will always be my princess, Alice. But just for tonight, you get to see what happens when little sluts think they can put themselves in danger.” With no other explanation, he turned off the water, and held his hand up to steady me as he ordered, “Walk over to the counter, Alice.”
Stomach in my throat, I nodded, accepting his steadying hand. Water still sliding down every inch of my body, I elatedly complied. Unwilling to think about the part of me rebelling against his demand, I followed the fire of lust over to his counter, watching as all six-foot-two-inches of my husband prowled up behind me in his naked, soaked glory. Eyes dark with need, a sly smile slanted his mouth as he came up behind me, gently running his fingers over my hips.
My god, the man was a deity. A carnal sex god made flesh, and I was the mortal maiden somehow blessed by his desire. My pussy gave a desperate pulse, needing him to fill me. Needing to feel him against all my walls.
Holding my eyes in our reflection, he ordered, “Lay over the counter.” Swallowing my mouthful of butterflies, I did as he said, both loving and loathing the way his demands set my veins on fire.
Feminism, who?
The solid expanse of his still-chilled thighs met my backside as he closed the gap, broad hands digging into each cheek. “That’s my good girl.” The following slap against my ass made me yip in surprise, his smile sending an anticipatory shiver down my spine. “Mmmm,” he purred before giving me another firm slap and then soothing the skin with a caress. “Pick a safe word, Alice.”
Studying the face of the avenging warrior in the mirror above me, I whispered, “ Thunderstrike .”
Smack .
Oh, fuck me—could you climax from being spanked?! Was that a thing? Because my god , my walls were trembling with as much need as the rest of me.
“Good. Does my girl want to be punished for scaring me today?”
That part of my brain in charge of the wording was entirely offline, so, lips parted as I panted for air, I nodded. Frantically. Pathetically. Begging for the sweet sting of his skin on mine. His smirk was roguish and delicious and made my pussy clench a beat before he slapped my ass again. The sound was as startling as that impact, then he soothed it away with his warm palm as we dripped shower water all over the floor.
“Spread your legs, baby,” he demanded, nudging my thighs wider with his knee. In the next heartbeat, he sheathed what had to be at least two fingers inside me, based on that incredible aching stretch.
Bending over my body so he could reach around and rub my clit, he whispered, “You need to come, baby?” Another frantic nod. “Then hang onto the counter.”
I did. God, I did. Evidently pleased, Greyson took up an unforgiving pace as he fucked me with his hands. Hard and relentless, he fingered me with expert precision, rubbing at my clit until the pleasure had me writhing beneath him.
“This is mine,” he growled. “This pussy, your pleasure, that beautiful body. Mine .” A whimper escaped me, but evidently, that wasn’t the response he was looking for because he stopped, sliding his fingers out as I panted against the cold stone of his sleek counter. Smack . “I want to hear you say it, baby, because my wife doesn’t get to put herself at risk. Certainly not on my behalf.”
“Y-yours,” I stammered, rising on shaky legs.
“Mmmm, good,” he growled, wrapping me up and peppering my neck in kisses. With his cheek against mine, one hand straightening my neck, he said, “Look how beautiful you are, Alice.”
My eyes flew to our reflection. To his half-hooded eyes, dark with desire, to the way his broad hands spanned over my belly and bracketed my neck…to me .
Hair a mess of dark, wet tendrils dripping water down my naked body, soft with curves. The necklace he insisted I leave on shimmered even in low light. Some combination of his princess and his plaything.
That devilish smirk curving his mouth said Greyson saw it, too. Saw it and relished in it.
Voice low enough to smatter goosebumps over my skin, he breathed, “Mine should get on the bed so I can finish her,” before nipping at that sensitive spot where my neck met my shoulder.
Rushing to comply, I made a beeline for the enormous, modern bed, ignoring the fact that I dripped water all over the floor on the way. When we got there, I turned to face him, smirking as I waited for instructions. Much to my pleasure, he bent to kiss me. Urgent. Needy. Bruising. I loved every moment of it. Then he was scooping me up, tossing me onto my back as he prowled onto the plush mattress after me. One hand pinned my chest to the mattress as he spread my legs with his own. The other lowered to my pussy, resuming his rotation on my clit before— smack —slapping right across my pulsing center. My breath hitched out of surprise, but his smile accompanied another soothing rotation before another gentle slap sent a jolt of shock through the ecstasy.
“Touch yourself, Alice, keep that pussy wet for me,” he ordered after another rotation of pain and pleasure.
“What?” I breathed, surprised when he grabbed my hand and guided my fingers to my clit.
“Rub your clit while I grab a condom.”
Nodding, I took over. The smile he showered over me was so beautiful it was nearly blinding. Proud and ravenous.
I’d earned that. Couldn’t help but notice I’d certainly never seen an expression so radiant on his face before.
He snagged a condom and turned off the light in the next motion before coming back to join me on the bed. A low chuckle warmed the space over the crinkle of foil, making me grin a beat before he said, “Well, now they’re sexy.”
“What?” I breathed.
“Your nail lady wasn’t entirely wrong.”
“ Oh ,” I gasped in surprise, glancing down my body to where my nails glowed, my fingers still working in a tight circle over my clit. Shit, that was fun. “Oh!” A little thrill ran through me at the idea of him enjoying watching me, and in one breath, I dipped my fingers into my soaked entrance, splayed the opposite hand over my belly, and slid it up to massage a breast.
Greyson growled .
That one sound was possessively demanding, and if I hadn’t already been dripping for him, that certainly would have done it.
In the next breath, he knocked my hand aside and sheathed himself inside me in three shallow thrusts before he met bottom. Head thrown back, I gasped for air, but it was his name on my lips. My body had just adapted when he hooked a hand under my thigh, rolling me onto my side as he pinned my leg up to my chest, those shallow thrusts growing deeper with each movement until he robbed me of breath.
Ecstasy. Mind spinning, body tingling, unspeakable fullness that consumed every single last brain cell I’d come in here with. My hands grappled for purchase—his shoulders, his biceps, his hands, the sheets. Whatever they could reach. Like I could stay on the planet if I held on tight enough.
“Your cock… incredible …So big,” I panted as he thrust in relentlessly.
“Damn straight,” he snarled, sliding into the hilt, pinning my leg back so he could get deeper. Every muscle in his body rippled in the low light, a dark silhouette on a mission to destroy me.
It was working. With every rock of his hips, every flex of those gorgeous glutes and shift of those shoulders, he shoved me toward the edge. But he knocked me clean over when he growled, “Come for me, Alice.”
I detonated , my channel clamping down around him. Greyson’s body went rigid, and with a muttered curse, he stiffly slid out, fingers reaching down to grip his cock, giving it one yank before he poured himself into the condom.
Greyson
The golden blade of morning light slicing across our bed woke me the following morning. But it was the heat of my wife’s decadent body curved against mine that nearly lulled me back to sleep. There had never been a peace like this woman safe in my bed. In my arms.
“You’re exquisite,” I breathed against her skin, groggily pressing a kiss to the back of her neck as she hummed her approval. Every time she gave me her body, I felt this tie between us strengthen. My need for her deepened. It was indescribable. Like an addict, I’d do about anything to get my fix. Beyond the sex, I craved her laugh and her sage words when we were apart. Her sarcasm when things got tense. “You sleep well, baby?”
“Mmmm,” she purred contentedly. One joint at a time, she straightened, popping her back and neck, followed by her ankles. “Like the dead.”
“Good. I did my job, then.”
“Is a vagina strain a thing?” She winced before giggling softly. “I think it’s a thing.”
Chuckling, I noted, “My dick feels bruised.”
“That third round was one too many.”
“Is there such a thing?” I argued, pulling her tighter against my body, taking way too much pleasure in the way she melted back into me.
“If I can walk without looking like John Wayne, you’ll win, but prospects aren’t high.” A deeply satisfied yawn cut off her joke. Rubbing languid palms against her eyes, Alice rotated in my grasp until we were face to face. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, earning another contented sigh. “Gotta get up.”
“Mmmm— no .”
She giggled before saying, “It’s Sunday.”
“And for the first time in weeks, I have no meetings to drag my carcass to.” I buried myself in her mess of wavy hair. Hell, I hadn’t even realized her hair was wavy until this morning. Had she never let it dry on its own before? “Bed. Stay .”
“I would if we could,” she assured. “But it’s family breakfast today.”
“Fuck,” I sighed.
“No, we already did that. Bruised dick, remember?”
“Very funny.”
“Come on, sleepy.”
“Don’t leave,” I protested, fingers grappling for purchase as she slipped away. Some part of my brain heard the pathetic lovesick puppy I’d become, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care. I needed this woman. Needed to soak her up today. Looking more than a little amused, she bent down to press kisses across my chest. Never in my life had productivity been as unappealing as it was with the heat of her against my skin. Still wearing only the jewels from last night, her pert pink nipples peaked with cold or arousal; Alice was a vision. There was something like adoration in her gaze as she stroked her fingers through my chest hair with a soft smile on her lips.
“You are so damn beautiful, Grey. Like a sculpture.” She traced the lines of my pecs, my abs. Every inch of my existence zeroed in on the feel of her against me. Would it ever be enough? “I want to memorize you.”
“That sounds much more appealing than breakfast with my brother.”
“And your niece and nephew.’
With a sigh, I righted myself, tossing the sheets off our laps. Dammit . I promised Mattie we’d finish that insane puzzle she’d ordered ages ago. “Yeah, okay, I’m up.”
“Yeah, you are,” she teased with a brow wiggle as her eyes dropped to my dick, where it stood at attention.
“What happened to the vagina sprain?”
She shrugged playfully. “She’ll be fine,” she reached for me, my cock straining under her focus. “Come on, big guy. One quickie. But then we gotta get ready.”
Alice wasn’t kidding when she said the Rhodes knew how to do family time . There wasn’t anything formal or practiced about our weekly breakfasts. They made it seem like this was a perfectly regular occurrence—as though they were entirely at home in my house.
Waltzing right in, Leighton and Paxton unceremoniously plopped down at the counter for coffee like her space was their space.
Like my space was their space.
It was somehow simultaneously irritating and endearing. But the three of them played with Mattie and Beau after meals like they were their own. And for that, I was eternally grateful.
“You two seem to have…settled,” Ollie noted playfully as he emptied his third cup of coffee.
“Is that really shocking?”
“Well… yeah ,” he snorted, rising to stand and belatedly clear his place. Sundays had always been our days, on the rare occasion we were both free of meetings. No staff. Just us and the kids on the beach. Beau’s giggles told me he’d likely lost their most recent hide-and-seek round and was now being tickled by one of the girls. If you’d told me my brother would trade America’s best quarterback, and a few months later he’d be hiding behind my curtains like a six-foot-three Big Bird , I would’ve declared your idiocy for the world to hear. But that was the position that kept Beau and Alice hunting the longest. Ollie’s voice brought my mind back into the kitchen. “My money was on her murdering you in your sleep.”
“You underestimate me.” My nonchalance did not beget the fact that the fear had certainly crossed my mind.
“Apparently.”
“How’s the feral one?”
The glare he leveled me with had me smirking into my Americano as he bit out, “ Leighton seems to be doing great. She picks up a lot of shifts down at the restaurant. Seems to enjoy it.”
“Good. That’s good,” I assured as I downed the last of my espresso.
“Asshole,” he grumbled, rounding the corner of the island to put his dishes in the sink.
“Who’s an asshole?” Paxton asked as he came into the kitchen, finding his way over to the barstool beside mine.
“My brother,” Ollie groused.
“Certainly had us fooled for a while there—no offense,” Pax said with a shrug. “But we only had Alice’s spin on those stories, and nobody can hold a grudge quite like my sister. I still don’t think she’s forgiven me for an unfortunate Barbie beheading incident.”
I winced before saying, “Maybe a bit more time on that one.”
“What’s your secret?” he quipped playfully.
Oh, my friend, if you only knew.
“Mind-blowing orgasms seem to work well for me,” I responded with a smirk.
He groaned before shooting a look at Ollie like he could somehow help him. “That’s my sister, man. Happy for you guys, but gross .” When I just grinned, he shook his head, adding, “I think what means the most to Alice is you didn’t try to use your money to catch her attention, you know?” Ouch . “Taking care of her. Getting the supplies for her headaches, meeting up with our insane family—that’s what matters to her, you know?”
“So I’ve learned,” I said, smiling. But our lightheartedness was cut off by Alice’s shaking voice. One word, and my heart dropped, fear slicing through my chest.
“ Grey !?”
Ollie and I exchanged concerned glances as Paxton’s brow furrowed at her tone, and in the next beat, all three of us were moving for the living room. My wife stood in her loose-fitting tank, tucked into casual shorts, but the ease stopped there. Her skin had gone terrifyingly pale, eyes rimmed in silver as a shaking hand rubbed at her mouth.
“Grey,” she repeated, more a broken cry than my name. Rushing for her, I pulled her against me, terrified I couldn’t make whatever this was go away. “It’s her ,” she breathed.
“What happened, baby? It’s who?”
Trembling, she rotated for the television, pointing a shaky hand. My heart dropped. I didn’t have to unmute the local news in order to see the headline about the body dredged out of the river. Or for me to scour the flat brown eyes, fair skin, and dark, kinky hair of the victim.
I knew her. Had seen her only last night, fumbling to fix our table?—
“Our server. The one who…” She gulped, hard.
The one who’d spilled wine over her dress and then escorted her past the perfectly functional guest bathroom to the staff facility.
The staff restroom connected to the men’s room, where Alice believed she heard a man talking about me . Us. The man that led her to an office, where Max could access a buried code about Obsidian .
With her family surrounding us with worried faces, all I could do was wrap her tighter in my arms, pressing my lips to her hair.
They knew.