Chapter Thirteen
Ashlynn
His kiss was packed with so much passion that even my toes curled, and my eyes rolled back into my head. I kept them closed, feeling his lips brush roughly against mine. His hands moved from my hair to my waist, pulling me flush against him, his hand gently cupping my backside as his mouth explored mine. I let the passion settle, his desire covering me like the softest of silk. Steele maneuvered me until my knees hit the bed, and I fell backwards onto the pure white sheets. He ignored the soaked carpet around him as he pulled his shirt off, and my eyes eagerly drank in the plane of his chest. Every inch was perfect, as if he was carved out of marble by masterful hands.
His pants came off next, and I watched with bated breath as he pushed his sweats down, letting his cock free. I’d felt it against me, so I knew he was playing with a full deck of cards, but seeing it in person was enough to make me do a double-take.
He was long and thick, and well-manicured. He was so manly that I’d expected him to be a hairy mess, but he was tidy and clean, just like he kept his house. I didn’t know why I was surprised.
He watched me stare at his package, his eyes boring into mine as my breathing hitched in my throat. He snapped his fingers, nodding at my shirt.
I glared, not about to obey him like a dog. If he wanted that kind of response or obedience, he could go buy himself a hooker. From the looks of his residence, I knew he could afford it.
“Continue to disobey, Ashlynn,” he said, his voice husky. “I enjoy your refusal as much as your compliance.” His fingers grabbed the hem of the borrowed shirt, and he found a breast underneath. He massaged it, slow and leisurely, like he had all night to feel me up.
I pulled the shirt over my head, and he dipped his head down, pulling my nipple into his mouth and rolling it around. I groaned, and he murmured his approval against my chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck, then moved them along his back, feeling the same scar patterns I felt before.
“What are these?”
Instead of answering, he lifted me in his arms and rearranged me on the bed. I lay back, shivering with both anticipation and nervousness. I wanted this to happen, but I was also fearful of the can of worms I’d be opening. Something told me that after I’d had Steele once, it wouldn’t satisfy me, and that I’d want him again and again.
He removed my pants, pulling them down slowly, and he stared at me. I squirmed, uncomfortable in my skin. I had a little bit of a tummy and wide hips, which I was self-conscious about. But Steele was drinking in every inch of me with lust in his eyes. He lowered his chin and then kissed my belly, dipping his tongue into my navel as I moaned his name. His lips were like fire against my skin, electricity burning from every point of contact.
“Again,” he commanded, licking a trail up my abdomen. “My name. On your tongue. Now.”
“Steele,” I moaned, and then he spread my legs wide, settling his hips between them and placing his length at my opening. He gave me another passionate kiss, and then pushed inside.
This was happening. This was real. My mind bargained with me, analyzing whether or not this was really the right move, but desire won out.
My body resisted at first, not for lack of trying, but just because of the size difference between us. It had also been a while since I’d slept with a man, and the sensation was a bit foreign. Steele noticed, and withdrew instantly, and instead, settled his head between my thighs. I tried to close my legs and push him away, embarrassed.
“No, Ashlynn. I’ll taste you. I’ll have you. I’ll ruin you for all other men. Now stay still and let me hear you moan my name long into the night.” His voice was deep and carnal.
He circled my entrance with his tongue, and I cried out, the sensation new for me. I’d never had a man touch me there with his mouth, and it seemed like Steele knew exactly what he was doing. He kissed me everywhere, lapping and tasting, until I was on the brink of ultimate pleasure.
“My fierce one, should I make you come this way? Or do you want me inside?” He moved his lips away from my trembling flesh and then positioned the head of his cock back to my entrance.
I couldn’t speak, I was too far gone. Instead, I closed my eyes and pulled his hips forward, and this time he slid easily inside. My eyes opened wide as I felt him so intimately.
He grunted, and stopped for a moment, closing his eyes against the sensation. He moved from his hands to his elbows, getting closer to me, my breasts rubbing against his chest as he began to thrust inside of me quickly.
I suddenly pushed him away, forcing him out. “Put on a condom,” I said, my insides clenching around nothing, wanting him back inside but also needing to protect myself.
“I’m not putting on a damn thing,” he said, leaning down to kiss me. “I’m clean.”
“I’m not on birth control,” I said, lying through my teeth. I wasn’t going to take a criminal’s word on his STI status. Besides, at this point, I’d missed so many pills that it was probably the truth.
“I don’t give a fuck. You’re going to take all of me, consequences be damned.”
He started to push back in, but I rolled my hips away, and he groaned, his head swimming in lust. He finally moved off of me and disappeared into the bathroom, and then came back out, his cock sheathed in a condom.
Steele wasted no time picking up where we left off, and soon a trickle of sweat ran down my brow as he pushed me hard, showing me just how intense sex could be. It was always nice and pleasant with my other partners, even if sometimes I had to finish myself off later, but I knew without a doubt that Steele would deliver. He ground against my clit, sucking my lip back into his mouth all while running his hands along my breasts. It was fast and dirty, a hurricane of bad decisions that I’d regret in the morning.
I seized up, the pleasure pulsating through me, stars dancing behind my vision as the most intense orgasm I’d ever experienced ripped through my body. My toes curled and I practically howled, coming undone in the arms of my enemy.
Steele followed a few seconds later with a loud groan, collapsing on top of me. He rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. He panted, but no words came, and I knew he was just as confused about this situation as I was.
I woke up, light creeping in from the lace curtains. The sheets were twisted around my body, still slightly damp with our sweat, combined with the rising humidity in the room from the moist carpets. I was lying on my stomach, my legs tangled against…Steele’s. I knew I should feel shame, but after the pleasure he’d given me, I was so conflicted. He was a monster, and a criminal, but at times he seemed like a normal man. It was hard to reconcile the two different versions of him.
Sitting up, I clutched the sheets to my chest, searching for the clothes I’d discarded in my rush to let Steele have his way with me. I spotted them on the floor, cursing inwardly as I saw they were damp from the wet carpet. I shifted my weight, trying to get out of the bed without him noticing. My feet barely hit the floor before I felt his hand grab my upper arm.
His eyes were closed, but he tightened his grip.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said, his voice a bit gruff from sleep. He pulled me back towards him. “Not until I have you again. Preferably twice.”
I blushed, taken aback by his frankness. He spoke of sex so casually. I wasn’t a prude by any means, but I’d never had a man speak so freely of his desires.
Steele tugged me closer, and I could feel the heat radiating from his body. He seemed to run much hotter than I did, like a furnace with no off switch. As he dragged me against him, I could feel his cock, hard and ready. He finally opened his eyes, and I looked away the second he focused on me. Redness crept up my cheeks and my neck warmed. I couldn’t believe the things I’d let him do to me. And not only that, but I’d enjoyed them.
And he knew it.
“Don’t look away.” His fingers found the messy curls of my hair, and he twisted a lock around his finger. “You shouldn’t be ashamed.”
I cleared my throat, finally meeting those dark eyes. “I’m not ashamed of what I did, just who I did it with.”
He frowned, looking at the stern expression I gave him, before his lips turned up in a sly grin.
“Love, if I was anyone else, you wouldn’t have come as hard or as many times.”
I pulled back my arm from his embrace and struck. Unlike before, he was ready for me this time, and grabbed my fist in his hand before it could make contact with his face.
“As much as I enjoy it when you hit me, I have a meeting with an important client today, and it wouldn’t bode well if I looked like I’d been in a bitch fight.”
I simmered, like a pot about to boil. I was over his arrogance. I drew back my free hand, planning to smack him again, but he rolled, and instead I ended up underneath him. He held me in place with his hips, his cock jutting against my thigh.
“Tsk tsk tsk,” he teased, raising an eyebrow. “I must say, I’ve never been so turned on by someone who hates me so much.”
Before I could retort, or supply an even nastier insult in his direction, he spread my thighs with his and raised my hands above my head, effectively pinning me to the mattress. I could feel him against my thigh, feel his arousal wet my skin.
“Let me go—”
His lips met mine, and he crushed my words, rendering them meaningless as he explored my mouth. He kissed my lips softly, much gentler than he did the night before, and then licked a path down to the hollow of my throat.
“I don’t want you,” I spat, trying to buck him off of me.
He snorted, and then glanced at my naked body possessively. “Shall we make a bet, Ashlynn?” He practically purred when he said my name, and I tried hard to ignore the crazy things his voice did to my insides. “If you’re not soaked for me, I’ll roll off of you right now and grant you your freedom. But if you’re wet…” he trailed off, snaking his hands down to my warm center.
“You’ll do what? Force me again?”
He dropped his hands and rolled off of me instantly, fury in his eyes. He stood at the side of the bed, towering over me.
“Force you? You threw yourself at me. You practically begged me to fuck you.” His entire body shook as he tried to hold back his anger.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m your prisoner. It’s not like I actually have any rights here.” I stood up, pulling the sheet up to cover myself. His eyes followed, and I could see his pupils dilate at the sight.
“You had every right to say no. I’m not a good guy, I’m a criminal who cheats, lies, murders and steals. But I’m not a rapist.”
He grabbed his pants and stormed out of the room, his footsteps like thunder against the hardwood floor.
I got dressed in my soaked, borrowed clothing. As the sun came up, the room became stuffy. Quincy finally came along and moved me to a room on the ground level, which was precisely my aim when I flooded the bathroom. Just as I’d hoped, my new room was closer to the street, and there was a window in the bathroom. It was small and above the toilet, but I knew I could manage it. I rummaged through the drawers next to the bed and found nothing to aid me, but the closet had several heavy hangers, a few with metal attached to them. Perfect. I’d just have to wait until the evening hours and then I could escape.
I’d never needed to escape more than I did tonight. I’d made the worst mistake of my life, sleeping with the enemy. And even worse, I’d enjoyed it. My entire body turned hot just thinking about it. Where had things gone so wrong? I usually made smart decisions, thought with my head and rarely gave into impulses. But last night…I let Steele have his way with me, and a part of me ached for him to do it again. And again. I shook my head, trying to clear the thoughts of him between my legs and focus on my escape plan.
I didn’t have shoes, but it didn’t matter. I would run barefoot all the way to Derbyshire if I had to. I also needed to find a way to remove the implant Steele had the doctor insert, because I had a strong suspicion that it was some kind of tracking device. I’d just have to make it to the police before he could find me.
I spent the next few hours trying to fine-tune my plan, to run through every scenario I could. Steele underestimated me, and I was hoping that our night together had helped increase his confidence that I wouldn’t run. I knew there was a chance that if I was careful, I’d be able to get help before he caught up to me.
At two o’clock in the morning, I decided to act. I hadn’t heard any noises for at least two hours, and I would still have plenty of darkness to hide in. I’d plotted out the route I was going to take once I crawled out of the window. There were several trees staggered alongside the house, and I planned to skirt among them, undetectable. Once I hit the far side of the fence, I’d shimmy up the tree, and then hop over. There was a possibility I’d injure myself in the fall, but it was a chance I was willing to take. Odds were, I’d find someone in the city who would help me. Even if I had to crawl.
Grasping the hanger, I pounded on the glass window, quietly at first, but then more urgently when it wouldn’t budge. I was trying to be as quiet as possible, because the only way I could make this happen was to get a large enough head start. When the hanger wasn’t enough to get through the thick glass, I looked around the guest room. A large lamp was on the nightstand, and I unplugged it, then decided I could use the cord as well. I couldn’t find scissors, but I frayed the edges on the metal part of the hanger until it broke. It could come in handy to make the fall from the edge of the fence smaller.
I counted to three, trying to give myself a little pep talk. The second the glass was broken, I would have no choice but to act. I’d have minutes to get off of the property, and that was if I was lucky. I stood on the toilet and heaved the lamp towards the window.
It didn’t break completely, but it did crack. I took one of the monogrammed towels from the bathroom and wrapped it around my hand as I used the hanger to fully break the glass and clean the edges.
I placed the towel along the ledge of the broken window, hoisting myself up. I gasped as a shard of glass poked through the towel and punctured my hand. I didn’t have time to stop though, and continued to pull myself up and through the tiny window. The drop to the ground was nothing, and I was practically giddy at how easy it was. I was outside.
I dodged between the trees, my heart hammering in my chest. My bare feet stung as I ran across the gravel at the edge of the house, but I didn’t want to risk running in the lawn where there was no cover. I kept moving silently towards the iron fence. It was only two hundred feet away. I was almost there.
Suddenly, flood lights came on, illuminating the perimeter of the house. Damn it. I moved even faster, knowing I had a few seconds to get over the fence before I was spotted. I scrambled up the tree, my hands aching as I climbed the branches, the cut on my palm bleeding freely. But it didn’t matter. I was almost there. Throwing the lamp cord over the topmost bar of the fence, I pushed myself over on to the other side, hovering about four feet off the ground before I let go, landing on my stomach. I didn’t have time to nurse the ache, and I pushed off the concrete, running for dear life down the streets of London, sprinting towards the first alleyway I saw.
I’d barely gotten ten yards before I heard the engine of a car gaining speed on me. I went down an alleyway, trying to hide in the shadows. Steele—or his security crew—were out in full force looking for me. The alley that I had snuck into was actually a narrow street, with tiny gardens on each side. I ducked behind a garbage can, just as I saw a car approach. Steele threw open the door, his face contorted in anger. I continued down the alley, my feet getting cut on the cobblestones, but I didn’t care. Ahead of me, another car pulled up, and a crew of men stepped out of the vehicle.
Shit. I was trapped. I looked above me, but there was absolutely nowhere to go. The men on the opposite side of the alley called to me. They were decked out in full military gear and oozed with competence.
“Miss Phillips! Your father sent us!” Their accent was Irish, but it didn’t matter. I was sure they were contracted to rescue me. My father had come through, after all. I wanted to cry in relief as I ran toward the men, eager to get myself to safety. Maybe my father was even inside the SUV. He’d get us to the airport and fly me wherever I wanted to go. I was three seconds away from safety.
“Ashlynn, NO!” Steele yelled, and the panic in his voice was enough to make me stop in my tracks.
But it was too late. A dark hood was thrown over my head, and all I could hear was Steele’s angry roar before I was dragged into the waiting SUV.