22. Traveled, Traversed, and Conquered
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
TRAVELED, TRAVERSED, AND CONQUERED
Ruby
Iblink my eyes open only to see the dark shadows cast across the room. The sun isn’t up yet. I have no idea what time it is. I could sleep for another week and not be fully rested.
I don’t see him, but I feel him.
I never went to the sofa. He wouldn’t allow it. Instead, he ripped off his T-shirt, held me tight, and warmed every chilled bone in my body. I took it all and sank into him. I couldn’t get close enough and cried myself to sleep in his arms.
It was like the last twelve years never happened.
Only it did. And even more has happened in the past week.
You know when people say they wake up and it takes a moment for reality to sink in? I wish that were the case.
The moment I open my eyes, everything from last night flooded back. The fire. Grandma trapped inside.
It was all because of me.
“You’re awake.” Lips press against my bare shoulder followed by the sensitive skin below my ear.
I pull in a shaky breath. I don’t know if Payne is the distraction I want or don’t need to deal with, but I do nothing to stop him. “Good morning.”
His hand found its way beneath the hem of my tank during the night. He presses in on my stomach at the same time he presses his long, hard cock into the crack of my ass.
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to change the subject. “I’m sorry about last night. You have clients to woo. The last thing you need is my drama.”
He buries his nose in my hair, inhales deeply, and the tips of his fingers dip below the band of my sleep shorts. “My clients are wooed just by being here for a free weekend. They’re the last thing you need to worry about.”
“I’m not worried, per se. It’s the guilt that gets me.” He works his way farther south, and I do nothing to stop him. In fact, I do the opposite and shift my legs. “The guilt is heavy this morning for all kinds of things.”
The way he’s working my body into a sexual frenzy while talking me off a ledge is a true talent. “Let the guilt go, Ruby. You didn’t set the fire. You didn’t ask me to be here instead of being somewhere else. Let it all go.”
“Easier said than done,” I echo and tip my head back to his shoulder. “There’s too much going on, and it all points back to me. I can’t let anything go.”
His fingers move below the panties that aren’t even mine. They inch closer and closer to my clit with every word uttered between us. He’s not asking permission, and I’m not pushing him away.
This is not uncharted territory.
Quite the opposite.
This territory has been charted. Studied. The land has been thoroughly traveled, traversed, and conquered by him during another era. Payne is taking back what’s his.
And he doesn’t do it gently or methodically. He does it with an intensity I feel in my soul. There’s no stroke. No circle. And there’s definitely no caress.
He claims my sex in a firm hold like a warrior reclaiming his homeland. His fingertips tease my sex as he palms me firmly between my legs. The heel of his hand presses into my clit, causing my heart to skip a beat or three. I fight to breathe.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you.” The tone of his voice is as eager as I feel. “It’s like a piece that was carved out of me years ago has been returned and healed.”
I shift my legs farther apart for him.
In return, his other hand slides up my body, claims my breast, and gives my nipple a firm pinch.
I gasp.
The sensation shoots straight between my legs.
He gives me a squeeze and gives my clit pressure with the heel of his hand. “So wet. Do you know how many times I dreamed of being right here again? Every fucking day, baby. Every fucking day.”
“Every day.” I’m barely able to put together two words.
The truth bleeds from both of us as we bare our souls. He continues to pump two thick fingers deep inside me. I arch my back to get more of him. Payne gives me what I want and moves his hand with vigor, fucking me with his fingers and working my clit.
“I want your orgasm—this one and every one after it. I don’t care what happened in the past or what will happen in the next hour. This is mine, Ruby. I’m taking you back, and I’ll never let go again. Do you understand what that means?”
This time I can’t utter a word to agree, explain, or beg his forgiveness for hurting him. It doesn’t matter how young or scared I was. I had no choice. He deserves the truth, but the very orgasm he demands with his heart and soul is imminent.
He sucks the skin at the nape of my neck between his teeth. They sink into me as he twists my nipple again—a reminder that he’s here. He’s everywhere.
“Give it to me, baby. Give me you and your body and your life. I won’t stop until they’re all mine. Let go.”
I arch my back as the very orgasm he demands washes over me. It racks my body, my heart, my soul. My teeth sink into my bottom lip. It’s all I can do not to cry out for the world—or worse, my brother across the suite—to hear.
This orgasm is unlike any other I’ve ever experienced, even the best ones of my life until this point—the ones given to me by Payne.
A younger Payne. An innocent Payne. A Payne who wasn’t slain by someone who promised to love him forever.
Me.
“Yes, baby.” He doesn’t let up. My orgasm stretches on and on until I can’t take it any longer. “Fuck, you’re more magnificent than my memories.”
I slump in his strong arms that hold me tight to his rock-hard chest. He doesn’t let go—his hand still cups me between my legs like he’s afraid I’ll slip through his fingers.
If only we could ignore the world and stay like this for the rest of time.
He doesn’t roll me over and thrust into me like I thought he might. He stays like this—his hand and my sex impossibly wet from my need and want only for him.
Instead, he holds me and continues to talk. “I meant every word, baby. I need you to tell me that you understand what this means. You’re here, and you’re not going anywhere. This is not an overly emotional hookup for old times’ sake. I will not let you go again.”
My breath and heart rate finally even. I push away enough to roll to my back so I can look up at him. He’s forced to let go of my breast, but his hold on my sex stays possessive and firm.
As firm as the expression on his face.
My words come out in a whisper. “That’s a big demand when there’s so much unsaid between us.”
“I told you, it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters but this.” He leans down and claims my mouth as fiercely as he just claimed my body. His lips are bruising in the best way possible. His tongue explores and tastes me in a way he could nourish his body with mine until the end of time.
I bring my hands to his face and break the kiss but hold him close. I stare intently into his eyes. “Everything matters, Payne. I need you to know things. I need to explain—”
But I don’t have a chance to say anything else. I’m interrupted by his cell that vibrates on the nightstand.
We both freeze, not wanting to move away from each other.
The vibration stops but starts again immediately.
I finally let go of his face. “You should get that. I don’t know what time it is, but I need to get to the hospital and check on Grandma.”
He leans down to claim my mouth one more time before he finally releases me in all ways. When he rolls to his back, I get a beautiful view of his chest, abs, and erect cock strained against the gym shorts he wore to bed last night.
He grabs his phone and looks at the screen before he answers. “Yeah?”
I can’t hear who’s on the other end, but I do glance at the clock on his nightstand. It’s almost six o’clock.
“No shit?” Payne drags a hand through his messy hair. “Okay. Keep me updated. Yes, I want him to stay one more day. Let’s make sure the fucker stays put. And I want to know where the hell Reid is. I feel the need to do a deep dive into my clients’ pasts to know who I’m really working with.”
I start to roll to get out of bed, but a hand grabs my arm and pulls me back.
Payne pushes up to an elbow and keeps talking. “Let me know if Caruso takes one step outside of the city. If only we could tap into his phone.” Another pause. “I know you can’t, but I might have another resource willing to go there. I’ll let you know.”
And with that, I can only assume this was a bro-conversation, because there was barely a greeting and most definitely no farewell. Payne disconnects the call and tosses his cell to the end of the bed.
“Who was that?”
Payne grabs my hip and pulls me to him. “My private investigator, Eli Pettit. Enzo Caruso is still in New York, thank fuck, but they have no idea where Ansel Reid is. He hasn’t gotten on a commercial flight or been registered to a private one. He’s disappeared.”
“I can’t believe anyone would be willing to kill an old woman to get back at me for not marrying them. But then again, Enzo did kill his brother.”
“There’s no other explanation. The fact Reid is MIA is telling after the way he treated you in The Speakeasy.
That alone would make him a suspect if he didn’t work for Enzo Caruso.
And since you’re the only witness to his brother’s murder, who else would want to take you out or try to hurt you by hurting your family? ”
I settle into the pillow. “He’s a monster.”
Payne brushes the hair from my face. “He’ll never hurt you or your family again. I’ll make sure of it.”
Last night rushes back to me. “Grandma and Blake lost their home. That’s because of me.”
“It was your home too.”
“I haven’t had a home for a long time.”
His expression goes hard. “You do have a home. You’re back, and you’re not going anywhere.”
I hear banging around in the kitchen. Blake must be up. The penthouse might be spacious, but I’m not about to have sex with Payne for the first time in over a decade with my brother on the other side of the door.
I prop myself on an elbow. We’re so close I feel his warmth. It comforts me as much as it did last night. “I want to stay here all day, but I need to check on Grandma. And we’re not exactly alone.”
He sucks in a deep breath and looks like he wants to build a brick wall around us so we can have rowdy make-up sex, even though he has no idea what we’re making up from since I haven’t told him.
That will have to happen soon, and I’m not looking forward to it.
“I’ll take Blake to get his truck and then we’ll go to the hospital. I need to get back here for the last luncheon of the weekend with my clients before they check out. After that, I’m yours for the rest of the day. I’ll get the three of you settled at home.”
He turns to get up, but this time, I’m the one to stop him. “You’re sure about us moving in with you? Your mother...”
“If you and I know anything about life, it’s that we can’t pick our parents. My mother is my problem, and mine alone. I’ll take care of her. She barely comes out of her room since Sadie brings her most of her meals.”
I smile, but not at the thought of Tallie Deacon. I’ve never once smiled because of that woman. “Sadie still works for your mother?”
Payne shrugs. “Sort of. She works for me now. She lives at the house. It’s me, Mom, and Sadie. And later today.” He pauses to tap the tip of my nose with his index finger. “Alice, Blake, and you. A full house like it’s never been before.”
I pull in a deep breath. “Tallie is going to have a fit.”
“If she even knows. I’ll explain more about her later. There’s a reason everyone in Winslet wonders what happened to her. We don’t have time for that right now, and it’s something I don’t want to explain more than once. It’ll be a family discussion.”
“Tallie and Grandma...” I mutter. “Your full house might not last as long as you think it will.”
Payne leans in to kiss me. “Then Tallie will answer to me. And it won’t be fucking pretty.”