Chapter 19
Sophia
Lying here in Dean Maddox’s bed is different. It’s like I’m an alien life force, trying to learn something new. Yes, I’ve had sex before, but never like this. Never with someone I’ve had such an insane connection with.
Is it weird that I’d find the one man who likes it rough when I like it rough too? And Dean wasn’t rough with me, actually. He was quite gentle, for the most part. But clawing at his back, fighting him as we fucked, was fun for me. It was hot.
I really want to do it again. And then, again.
“So, tell me about these tattoos,” I say, winding my finger around his arm, tracing along the lines of a wolf on his forearm.
“Well, this one I got when I was younger.” He points to the wolf with gray eyes on his forearm, staring back at me. “Xavier and I were carefree, and we’d just left home and got some shit job at a restaurant. I wanted something to symbolize how I was going to go into my life. I was born a little cub, not really knowing my place in the world. I wanted to remind myself that I only needed my wolf pack, which at the time was just Xavier and I.”
“I like that.” I trace over the number twenty-six on his arm. “What about this one?”
“It’s how many people I’ve killed.”
I widen my eyes at his deadpan tone. “Really?”
He laughs. “No, it was some silly baseball number from high school. It was my first tattoo before I left high school.”
I sit up a little. “I thought you had to be eighteen to get a tattoo.”
He cracks a sexy smirk. “Yeah, I lied.”
“Which one’s your favorite?”
He points to his hand, pointing out the compass on the back of his right hand. “This one.”
“So you never lose your way in the world?”
He stares at me. “Yes, exactly. It’s leading me to where I need to be.”
I love that. “Where’s it leading you to right now?”
He holds up his right hand, over my chest. “Right here.”
My heart swells, and he leans over to claim my lips. “I’ve never met anyone like you before,” I tell him.
“I feel the exact same way.” He spreads my legs, entering me with a powerful thrust.
He moves inside me, making me come alive with each push of his dick. He controls me with his body, making mine pliant to his touch.
There’s no talk about the future. There are no promises made. There’s nothing but right here and right now. I don’t make any grand declarations. He doesn’t say anything more either. We just lie here together, taking pleasure from one another. Making the best out of a fucked up situation.
He isn’t my husband, nor am I his wife. I never see it going that way either. I see myself enjoying his body, taking what I want from him until the moment this whole charade is over. And I’m sure he’s doing the same thing. Getting off. Making love. Fucking. We’re just two people trapped by a common enemy, destined to help each other out and nothing more.
Passion. Lust. Longing. All colliding to make us both believe we could be something more to one another. But that’s not real life. It’s not my reality.
Because I’m from a completely different world.
He’s a good man. And I’m tarnished. I’m broken from the world Bishop Blackstone pushed me into.
“You feel so good,” he groans.
I can’t tell him how he’s better. He feels better. He is better. Better than me. Better than anyone I’ve ever known.
A tear escapes my eye, and I squeeze them shut, turning my face so Dean can’t see. I don’t want him to know this is affecting me more than it should.
I hold Dean closer, not letting him go just yet. My body ignites, taking off, soaring into the unknown, but I’m not afraid of it. Right now, here, Dean and I are one. I feel like I can soar high above it all.
And then, it all comes crashing back into a burst of sunshine and madness. My body detonates, and I scream out my orgasm, trying my best to hold on to Dean as tightly as I can.
He follows me. His orgasm crashing through the ether, exploding into reality.
“Dean, don’t let go of me,” I tell him as my body calms.
“I’ve got you.”
It’s been three days since Dean and I finally had sex. It’s been an eye-opening experience for me. I’d never had anything like that before. Just a few miserable sexual experiences, nothing to write home about. Until Dean. I never knew sex could feel so empowering. I never knew someone could make me feel free. To open my wings and fly.
“Ready?” Dean asks as we enter the club downtown for Humphrey’s big event.
A masquerade party. I’ve never been to anything so fancy, and I’m all decked out in an emerald green gown with a gold and emerald mask.
“Yes.” This is the first time we’ll be attending the club after exploring each other’s bodies.
I’d like to say we have been busily looking for Bishop, exhausting all avenues. But the only avenues we’ve exhausted belong in the bedroom.
Gold chandeliers hang from the ceiling with glass bulbs filled with brilliant lights. Green drapes cover the walls and gold sconces hang on the walls between the luxurious material.
Dean’s hand rests on the small of my back. He pulls me closer as he spots Eddie from across the room. I hope Eddie stays there. Knowing Dean doesn’t like when Eddie touches me, I try to keep him at bay.
My mask is wrapped around my head and I push it up just a bit. Eddie has the type of mask he holds on a stick.
Dean stands next to me in a black-on-black suit with a Phantom Of The Opera white mask. He’s the sexiest man here, and every woman stares in his direction as he walks past.
A woman reaches out her hand, gliding it along Dean’s arm. I tense a little at the action. “I’d love to join you and your wife a little later,” she purrs. She’s in a black dress that reaches the floor, and a kitty cat mask. She pretends to have claws and shows them to Dean as she purrs louder.
I try not to laugh as he pulls me away.
“No, we won’t be playing with the kitty tonight.”
“Aww,” I say, pretending to be hurt.
Dean knows I only want him touching me, that I’m not into the activities at this club. That he can satisfy me just fine, and we’re only here because we’re getting closer to finding Bishop.
“The man you were asking for is here,” Eddie says, stepping up behind me and twisting his arm around my waist.
“Hi, Mr. Gallo.” I keep it formal, so he doesn’t think he has some sort of claim over me just because we got a little carried away the other night at the party.
“Please, call me Eddie.” He smiles at me, and then at Dean. He steps closer to Dean, sticking out his hand for him to shake. “Bishop’s here. Would you like to meet him?”
My eyes widen as I stare at Dean, waiting for his move.
“Where is he?”
Eddie nods toward the front door. “The man with the black mask.”
I study Bishop for a moment. At long last the man I’ve been searching for. Part of me wants to rush over there, put my knife through his skull. Another part of me can’t remember what to do.
It’s finally all happening.
I edge toward Bishop’s direction, but Dean holds me back, keeping it unseen from Eddie’s eyes. Every cell in my body vibrates toward Bishop. The man who ruined me. The man who steals women from their homes and ships them to a new world and sells them into sex slavery. This man doesn’t deserve to live.
Dean knows I’m upset, and he holds onto me, keeping me rooted to the spot. “We’ll have to say hi in a little while.” Dean moves me to his other side. “If you’ll excuse me, my wife’s in need of an orgasm. I have a duty to fulfill.”
Normally I’d stifle a laugh, but not right now. And Dean knows it.
We move through the crowd, further away from Bishop and away from Eddie as well.
“What are we going to do, Dean?” I ask once I know nobody’s around.
“I’m not sure. I need to make a few calls and make sure my men know he’s here.”
“What if it’s a trap? What if Eddie is testing us or something?” I glance over at Eddie who’s talking to a blonde woman. “I just don’t trust him.”
“Me either.”
I spot Humphrey coming in our direction, and I want to ask Dean what Humphrey and he talked about the other day. But I’m too late, and Humphrey shakes Dean’s hand.
“My favorite couple is here. How are you both?”
Dean smiles. “Humphrey, great party.”
Humphrey is decked out in a peacock blue outfit topped off by a feathery purple and sapphire mask with a wide smile on his face. “You look gorgeous,” he says to me. “You’re a lucky man,” he says to Dean.
“Now, go get yourselves into some trouble and don’t behave.” He places his hand on Dean’s shoulder. “We can talk more about… later?”
Dean nods as Humphrey walks away.
“What was that about?” I ask him once Humphrey is out of earshot.
“I told him I wanted to go into business with him. Wanted to invest.”
I smile. “Very smart.”
He shrugs. “Not sure if it’s even needed. We’ve got our target here tonight.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“I’m going to go somewhere quiet and make a few calls, and you’re going to mingle.” He steps closer. “But not too close to Bishop, ok?”
I nod. “Ok.”
I glance over at the man Eddie pointed out as Bishop. I dip into the bathroom to pull myself together.
I stand in front of the mirror, pulling my mask off to blot some water on my cheeks. I can do this.
My eyes are determined. I stare at myself, putting my mask back in place. I’ve got this.
When I step out of the restroom, Bishop’s standing there, waiting. I nearly jump and scream, but handle my shock more calmly than expected.
“You scared me a little. Do you normally stalk girls in the bathroom?”
He smiles, trying to be charming, but to me it only makes my skin crawl. “I saw you from across the room and just had to meet you.” He reaches out his hand to take mine, and I try to keep my hand steady. “You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.”
I blush, or at least I pretend to. “Oh, you’re only saying that.”
He glances at my ring, showing I’m married. “Looks like I’m too late.”
I shrug.
“Good thing you’re here and your husband won’t mind sharing.”
I blink, trying my best not to murder this man right where he stands.
He steps closer, and I try to hide my cringe. “He does like to share, doesn’t he?”
I nod, working myself up to produce a smile. “He does. He loves to watch other men want me.”
He breathes me in, standing a little too close. “Well, lucky for him I do fucking want you.”
I hold my breath, wishing we were back out on the main floor of the club. The hallways and dark corners are empty, and I’m feeling unsafe for a moment. “Well, lucky for you… I might want you.” I hurry away before I try to kill him myself.
When I spot Dean on the main floor, he can already tell I’m panicking by the look I cast his way.
“What’s wrong?”
I jab a thumb over my shoulder, pointing toward Bishop, my heartbeat a complete pitter patter on my ribcage walls. “I think Bishop just came onto me.”
Dean grits his teeth together, cracking his neck from side to side. “Leo and Zack are on the way. We can’t take him down here at the club because we’ll piss a lot of powerful people off. We need to blend until Leo and Zack get here and can trail him. We need Bishop on our turf.”
I nod. “Ok.” And then an idea hits me.
Dean holds me close. “Well, if Bishop sees me, he’ll recognize me. I don’t think there’s a mask in the world that can hide my face well enough.”
“I have an idea.”
Dean cocks a brow. “I can tell by the look on your face I’m not going to like this idea.”