Chapter 13
Kian
I barely let her say goodbye to Jordyn or Quinn before I guide her out of the bar toward the valet. Taking her hand in mine, I lead her through the casino floor, nodding at staff who recognize me.
As soon as we step outside, a valet jogs over and greets us, his gaze lingering too long on Ace. Something in me snaps, a feeling I’m not at all familiar with.
Mine.
“Do you have a death wish, Marcus?”
Marcus snaps his attention to me, straightening even more than he already had when he approached. “No, sir. Sorry. I’m sorry, Mr. Savage. I have a car coming for you right now.”
The kid visibly shakes as he waves a driver toward us.
Ace elbows me in the ribs. “Kian, that was mean. He was being nice.”
Glaring down at her, I take a deep breath. “He was staring at your tits. He’s lucky all I did was say something.”
Because I considered gouging out his eyeballs and leaving them right here on the pavement as a statement to the rest of the men in the area who might think about staring at Ace. I’ll keep that to myself, though.
Ace rolls her eyes, but she’s fighting a smile as she climbs into the back seat of the SUV, while Marcus holds the door open for us. As I step toward the car, closer to him, he holds his breath, avoiding eye contact.
Pausing, I hold out a pile of hundreds to him. “Sorry for scaring you. Word of advice, though.” I wait for the kid to meet my gaze before I continue, “Don’t ever stare at another man’s woman like that. Not everyone is as nice as me.”
Then I push the money into his hands and slide into the car, pulling the door closed behind me.
When I turn and look at Ace, she’s gaping at me like I’m an alien. “What?”
“Did you just threaten to kill him and then give him a stack of money and tell him I’m your woman?” She shakes her head, like she’s unable to comprehend any of it, even though I think it’s pretty fucking obvious.
“Yeah, angel. I did. Put your seatbelt on.”
She blinks several times, her sparkly cheeks glittering with every movement. The car takes off, but she still hasn’t put her seatbelt on, so I pull the seatbelt over her chest, my gaze lingering over her lush cleavage as I click the metal into place.
“Anytime you’re with me, you’re mine, angel.” I sit back and rest my head against the plush leather while the driver drives through the city.
We’re silent during the ride, but at one point, when I reach over and slip my fingers into her thick hair, she leans into it and sighs as I start massaging her scalp. My cock aches for her. Just like it has ever since the morning I woke up to find her gone.
I don’t have time for a relationship. Our empire takes up too much of my life.
Cash and Xander sure as fuck aren’t putting out fires every day, and Beckett’s been overseeing the expansions into the new buildings we recently took possession of.
Honestly, until the other night, I hadn’t even cared about having sex on a regular basis, but then Ace appeared, and my dick hasn’t been soft since.
As my driver pulls in through the gates of my neighborhood, Lacey sits up a little straighter. “I thought we were going to your house?”
“We are.”
She turns toward me, her eyebrows pinched as she points toward a house as we pass it. “That’s where I live.”
My fingers go still in her hair as I stare out the window at the house that was built by the same contractors as mine.
It’s a bit smaller, but this entire neighborhood was designed by a team of highly sought-after architects.
There’s nothing cookie-cutter about these houses or the price tags that come with them.
I assumed Ace did fine for herself, especially once she told me she’s a choreographer, but there’s no fucking way she makes enough money doing that to afford something here.
“I live here,” I tell her as the driver pulls down the long driveway that leads to a circular parking area.
She scans my house, her eyes sparkling almost as bright as the glitter she is covered with. Thank fuck she doesn’t have as much on as the other night. I still haven’t gotten rid of it all.
“It’s… wow. So beautiful.”
I climb out of the SUV and wait to help her, taking her hand in mine. “Thanks. You seem surprised that I live here.”
Ace smiles and looks up at me with that mischievous look in her eye. “I guess I didn’t picture a guy like you living in a house that looks like this. I think I expected everything to be black and modern.”
My chest expands, and I let out a soft chuckle. There’s something about her that’s so easy to be around.
“How long have you lived here?” I ask, sliding my thumb over the fingerprint reader and listening for the lock to disengage.
When we step in, she looks around, taking in the large, open foyer that connects to several different parts of the house.
“About a month.” She moves clumsily and sways as she turns to look at me, her eyes glassy. “What about you?”
“I bought this house five years ago when they were first built.” I move toward her and take her hand to lead her into the kitchen.
For the life of me, I can’t remember seeing moving trucks recently, but I also come and go at strange hours.
Still, my housekeeper is nosy as fuck and usually tells me about people moving in or out, but she hasn’t brought anything or anyone new up lately.
My palm twitches as I nudge her ahead of me into the kitchen, and her ass jiggles under her dress.
Fuck.
This one is hotter than the last.
The spaghetti straps and low neckline show off the swell of her perky tits, yet the pink silk runs down her body almost to her knees in a wrap with the waist cinched. As I watch her walk, I realize she’s limping again.
“Do your feet hurt, baby girl?” I ask, pausing to lift her onto the kitchen island.
Ace yelps and grabs my shoulders, giggling as I set her down. As soon as I push my hips between her knees, her smile becomes a soft pout while she studies my face. Then she hiccups and laughs again. “Oops. Sorry.”
“How many drinks did you have tonight, angel?”
She shrugs, holding up her hands, making all her bracelets jingle in the otherwise-silent room. “Only three. I’m fine.”
Leaving her where she is, I go to the fridge and grab a bottle of water and hand it to her, opening the cap before I pull my hand away. “Drink that. As much as you can.”
She’s watching me move around the kitchen, opening cabinets and finding what I need for a quick snack.
“You’re really bossy,” she murmurs.
After crossing the room, I take my place between her knees again and slide my hand up her chest, my cock throbbing as I wrap my fingers around the sides of her throat. The letters of her name on my knuckles are like a personalized necklace just for her. Maybe it is.
“You have no idea how bossy I am, but you’re going to find out tonight. Do you remember your safeword?”
Her brilliant green eyes sparkle as she nods, her breaths coming out in shallow bursts. “Red.”
“Good girl for remembering.” I pull open a drawer and take out a wide wooden spoon.
Ace follows my movement with her eyes as I set the spoon on the counter next to her hip and then rest my palms on either side of her, blocking her in.
“You apologized earlier for leaving without saying goodbye, which tells me you knew it was a naughty thing to do.”
Ace swallows, the pulse in her neck racing as she parts her lips. “I didn’t think it through.”
Leaning toward her, my mouth hovers just over hers. “Then we’re going to make sure that never happens again.”
I kiss her, dipping my tongue into her mouth. She moans and arches into me, her hands sliding up my chest as we pick up where we left off the other night.
When I step back, I grab her hips and pull her off the counter, then spin her around and push her chest down, onto the cool granite. Ace whimpers as she struggles against my hold.
Raising my hand, I spank her ass, my dick hardening as I watch it jiggle before I do the same thing to the other cheek.
“Ouch!” she hisses and squeezes her eyes shut. “I’m sorry!”
She tries to push her upper body off the counter, as if she thinks this is over, but I keep her pinned, peppering her ass again with swats while she yelps and struggles, trying to reach back to block my hand.
“We had a great night together, and then I woke up to find you gone. Not even a note. Just a poker card,” I tell her, finding immense pleasure in how hard she’s breathing as she rubs her thighs together. It might sting, but she doesn’t hate it.
“It was only supposed to be one night. I didn’t think it would matter to you.”
My heart beats harder, and I pause for a second at those words before I spank her several more times. “You also lied to me earlier about where you were going.”
I pause but keep my hand on her lower back so she can’t get away. She turns her face to look at me as I stand by her left side. Our eyes meet, and I consider pulling my cock out and shoving it between those pouty lips, but my girl isn’t done learning her lesson.
“You’re such a fucking little tease,” I mutter and the corners of her lips curl up into a playful grin.
“And a fucking brat,” I add, swatting her ass several more times. She yelps every so often when I give her a sharp one. Reaching down, I grab the hem of her dress and yank it up.
“No, wait!” she cries out as she twists to try to stop me, but the silk is already up and over her hips, giving me a glance of a scar on her thigh.
Not just a little one. It’s huge. Long and thick and angry. And it looks somewhat new.
The muscles in my neck tense, and I release her, taking a step back to get another look at it before she quickly pushes her dress down. That isn’t a regular type of scar. It’s long. Almost the length of her entire thigh and up to her hip.
I move back to her and capture her chin in my fingers. “Tell me. Is that why you’re limping? Did you fucking lie to me about that, too?”