Hayes
twenty-nine
It took all night, but we managed to use Rex’s information to stop another accident.
Now we wait to see if there are any surprises he didn’t know about that could still fuck us over.
We shut down the mines, pulled all personnel, and created a buffer zone just to be on the safe side.
Zander and Payton brought in the SVPs while I was making sure Paige was comfortable, and then we went to work.
We contacted the FBI and the police in the areas where our mines are located, shared all we knew, and pulled every trusted Olympus employee out of bed in the middle of the night to work on our own housekeeping.
We’ll be dealing with this situation for a long time but having the ball rolling to ensure we don’t have rats within our organization, chewing holes in our holdings and making trouble, is a good start.
Payton and Zander only left a few minutes ago.
Now, as I watch through the windows at the top of my club as the city comes to life in the cold sunshine of a new winter day, I’m exhausted yet exhilarated.
Knowing a tragedy was stopped goes a long way in getting you through a sleepless night.
If only that same adrenaline could propel me through the force that is at work thanks to Hurricane Caroline, I’d be much obliged.
“You look like you need a shower and about eight cups of coffee.” I turn toward the feminine voice full of sharpness at the entrance to the garden.
“Good morning to you, too, Caroline.” The acerbic note in my voice should be routine for her by now.
“Where is my daughter? You kept her out all night on purpose because I said you shouldn’t see each other and now I’m going to have to invest in every spa service The Mansion offers to get her looking her best for the wedding.”
“Paige is still sleeping in our flat. I made sure she went to bed at a reasonable hour, even if I didn’t.”
“You still defied my requests,” she grumbles, stalking closer and holding out a paper cup of coffee.
It must be a peace offering since she’s never willingly done anything remotely nice for me before. I take it anyway, hoping it means she’s playing nice today.
“What all happened here last night? The cleaning crew downstairs looks haggard and there are feathers everywhere. It better all be set back to rights before the ceremony. I don’t want our guests having to traipse through a filthy club just to get up here.
Why Paige had to insist on a ceremony here is a mystery,” she finishes under her breath, looking around the Elysium Garden.
I take a sip of the coffee and realize just how badly I need it after a night of adrenaline and bourbon. “I’m sure it will be fine. My brothers may have let things get a bit crazy here last night, but they take things seriously when needed.”
If all she saw were feathers, it means the crew has removed the most offensive of the decorations and accouterments that transformed the club below into a racy hellscape. Who knows what kind of mood she would be in now if she had seen the St. Andrews crosses and the lingerie everywhere.
Caroline turns and levels a glare at me that makes me choke on my sip of coffee. Maybe she did see the crosses after all. This must be where the coffee peace offering ends and she returns to hating me.
“Why did you single her out, really?” she asks, her tone accusing. “I’m sure you could have found any other girl out there to seduce but you picked my little girl. Why?”
“I didn’t single her out, I can promise you that.” As for seducing her, well, that was an inevitability that both of us wanted to see happen, but I won’t address it with Caroline.
“You couldn’t just settle with taking our hotels. You had to be greedy and set your sights on taking our daughter away, too.”
“I assure you, I had no plans for your daughter before we met. When she asked for my help, I figured I could do that much. I didn’t expect to fall in love with her and have my entire world changed. Now, I can’t imagine my life any other way. Paige is the best part of it.”
“I don’t believe you. You’re too calculating. You probably factored in what it would cost us to lose her right along with our business so you could inflict the most damage. That’s the kind of devil you are.”
She’s right about me, I am calculating, and I do take into consideration every available opportunity that could turn a situation in my favor, but she’s all wrong about this one. Before I can reply, a voice cuts in.
“Mama, please stop.”
We both turn at Paige’s pleading tone. She’s standing barefoot on the path leading from the hidden door, wearing one of my button-down white shirts that falls to her thighs, hands fisted in the overlong sleeves and clutched at her chest. Her hair is sleep-mussed, but she looks stunning.
Any other morning seeing her like this would lead to very bad things, but I’m dealing with a furious mother-in-law who insists on fighting me every chance she gets. I would much prefer the first option.
“Young lady, you have defied me once again. You should have come home at a decent time last night,” Caroline says, sounding defensive while trying to spin the narrative.
Paige sighs and walks the last few steps to us. “I get to call the shots for my own life, Mama, even if you don’t agree with them. I wanted to stay with my husband last night, so I did.”
“Well, we’re running late. Go get dressed so we can get back on schedule.”
Paige reaches out and catches Caroline’s shoulder as she whirls to leave, keeping her in place. “Before you go, we need to settle this once and for all.”
She lets her mother’s arm go and laces her fingers in mine, giving me a small smile that radiates strength before turning back to Caroline.
I can feel the slight tremor in her hand that belies her confidence and tells me she’s quite worried about this bit of confrontation. I squeeze her hand in reassurance.
“I was the one who went after Hayes. I asked him to take me away from Savannah because I was running from your plans for my life.
“ She gives her mother a pointed look before she continues. “He didn’t abduct me or take me away from you in any way. In fact, I was probably the one with the bad intentions rather than the other way around, so if you want to stay mad at either of us, it should be me.”
Caroline shakes her head, her face pinched. “He forced you to marry him when you barely knew each other. That was most definitely him taking advantage of your naivety and I can’t stand it. He’s a monster.”
“That’s completely untrue. Hayes is wonderful and I married him of my own free will because I wanted to.
I will choose Hayes, today, and every day ahead.
You won’t be able to cajole me into denouncing him, and I won’t stand for your mean remarks about him or our relationship going forward.
So either get on board or hold your peace if you can’t. ”
Caroline gasps and takes a step back as if Paige has slapped her.
I would understand if Paige had told her to shut up about it, but she was much kinder than I would have been, and it didn’t warrant that in response.
“Now, let’s put this all behind us and focus on the day at hand. We’re getting married again today, thanks to your insistence. Give me a few minutes and I’ll go shower and change so we can get started. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
Caroline looks taken aback, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, which is exactly what she is, having seen Paige stand up for herself and drive the conversation as well as issue the commands.
I'm so fucking proud of her and the work she's done to take less shit from her mother.
Finally, Caroline closes her mouth into a tight-lipped smile, fighting for composure.
“Very well. If that’s how this is going to be, so be it. I’ll be downstairs.” She spins on her heel and stalks out of the garden. When the elevator doors have closed, I turn to Paige and stare in wonder.
“That was hot.”
She blushes prettily and ducks her head.
“Seriously. I want to march you right back into the flat and fuck you while you tell me what to do next.”
Paige looks around the garden, finally looking up at me from under her eyelashes and giving me a demure smile. “What’s wrong with fucking me right here, Sir?”
Fuck. The combination of her innate innocence with the dirty word and adding on a Sir for good measure? It’s my undoing. I don’t have it in me to hold back and be civil. I drop to my knees in front of her, my big hands gripping her thighs right where the shirt ends.
“Not one fucking thing, angel. Spread your legs for me so I can taste that sweet pussy.” I love it when she swears, and I love that she’s not wearing any panties when she widens her stance to give me access.
I grab handfuls of her ass and pull her against my mouth, tasting her sweet-tart tang, and feel my cock grow uncomfortably hard in my pants.
It’s not a position I can fully explore, so I hook one of her legs over my shoulder to spread her wider.
She holds onto my shoulders for balance, her fingers brushing my nape and digging in as I get to work.
I lick and suck at her center, teasing her clit and taking in as much of her as I can.
Her juices are coating my chin already and I want more.
Her fingers slide into my hair, nails gently scratching my scalp and keeping me right where I want to be.
“Oh, Hayes… that’s just… wow,” she says, voice breathy. Her legs are already starting to tremble against my shoulders.
I plunge two fingers into her slick heat and feel her body tighten around me.
“Just like that,” she gasps as I beckon against her.
I roll my tongue around her clit and press harder against her interior walls until she comes apart in my hands.
“Hayes,” she hisses, her fingers clenching in my hair as she comes, her pussy tightening on my fingers over and over.
I slide my fingers out of her delicious pussy with a feeling of regret, but it’s quickly replaced by my eagerness to fuck her properly. I stare hard at her as I put the fingers that were just inside of her into my mouth and suck them clean of her juices.
She maintains eye contact, but her lashes flutter and she lets out a moan that has me desperate to be deep inside of her again.
I stand, lifting her into my arms and carrying her back to the rock wall that borders the waterfall.
I set her down long enough to push my pants and boxers down to free my cock, then I’m lifting her up my body and directing the head into her hot center with a groan.
She wraps her legs around my hips and I pin her to the wall with my forceful thrusts.
We’re a tangle of limbs and noises, and I kiss her lips as I fuck her hard so she’ll know I love her even if it doesn’t feel that way with my rough actions. It’s a punishing rhythm, and she’s jostled into the wall with each hard thrust.
She bites my lip and tugs once before releasing and leaning her head back with a moan. I take the access she provides and nibble along her jaw, my tongue and lips kissing down her neck until I can bite the spot where her neck and shoulder meet.
“Hayes,” she hisses my name again.
“Come for me, angel, I want to hear you scream,” I demand, feeling my own release on the horizon and needing her to explode around me.
“So close,” she pants, her eyes closed tightly, her arms bracing around my shoulders as her nails dig into my back.
I roll my hips into her body, changing my angle of entry and grazing her clit with each rough thrust. Her eyes fly open and a moment later she is gasping, her body clenching and trembling in my arms and she cries out.
As her core spasms, I fight my own release for several hard thrusts, my head dropping next to hers against the wall as I pump raggedly into her tightening pussy.
Her name is a roar from my lips as I come with her.
I hold her to me tightly as our ragged breathing slows.
When I finally set her on her feet, we’re both a mess.
I can feel the sharp sting along my back where her nails scratched, my pants are at my ankles, and I’m entirely fucking lost to my amazing wife.
She looks fucked hard, her hair a tangle of snarls around her face, the white shirt she’s wearing missing buttons and falling off her shoulders, and my cum dripping down her thighs. It’s fucking perfect.
“We just desecrated our ceremony spot.” Her voice is a low whisper but there is humor underlying the serious words.
“That just makes it better. This garden is made for sin.” I kiss her hair and tuck a stray strand behind her ear.
“That can’t be true. It’s such a beautiful place.”
“I wanted to fuck you like that the first time you entered this garden,” I admit, dipping my head into her neck and breathing the words against her skin. “I thought of your red lipstick leaving a print around my cock, too. I was already imagining all the ways I could corrupt you, even then.”
The blush that blooms across her cheeks is gorgeous, and I kiss her face on each pink spot. I pull back and turn her toward the door.
“You told your mom you only needed a few minutes and I’m pretty sure we’ve already surpassed that. Time to get you dressed and send you back to her.”
Paige pouts her kiss-reddened lips but obliges, pulling the door open and heading down the hall to the flat.
“Will you at least shower with me, first?” she calls over her shoulder at me.
I follow her through the door, my long strides quickly overtaking hers.
“As you wish.”
I scoop her up into my arms and enter the flat, dead set on making sure she’s squeaky clean and ready for her wedding day. And I might as well throw in a little more fucking while I’m at it.