7. 7 MCKENNA
7 MCKENNA
Iclose the door to the bathroom and lean against it, trying to stop shaking.
My body is not shivering from the cold, but from the quick release of adrenaline. The debasement that Adrian did left me in a puddle of raw need.
I curse my body for being so responsive to him.
The way he led me into blissful humiliation was done so smoothly that I barely registered I was there until his toe touched my clit. I close my eyes at the memory, shame swirling through me, making my pussy clench.
Stepping into the shower, I turn the faucet on as hot as possible and luxuriate under the warm spray. He wants me clean after every single scene, and that’s fine by me. I’m toweling my hair off when Adrian steps into the bathroom.
He takes the towel from me, grabs my hand, and pushes something silky into my palm.
The smell of his clean, masculine-scented body wash wafts through my nostrils, and I wonder where he showered. He’s changed into a Henley and gray sweatpants.
He leans against the door frame, and his eyes roam over me, filled with heat.
I lick my lips and lean toward him, wanting his touch.
“Put on that robe and come down to the dining room. We have to talk, Mckenna. I want you fully prepared for tomorrow.”
Before I can reply, he turns on his heel and leaves.
Fine, I can do this.
I slip on the robe, belt the sash, and, with a shaking breath, make my way down the glass stairs.
I try to calculate what time it is and give up. The house is silent. The light from the curtainless windows is soft and gray, not quite pink.
Adrian is lighting candles on the dining room table. A glass of red wine, the delicious dinner from earlier, is on a plate.
“Sit, Mckenna, eat. You need to recover from the scene.”
I warily take a couple of steps into the dining room, feeling the effects of his touch on my body.
He gestures to the chair next to him.
My ass smarts as I sit down. My skin is sensitive and burns from the plug.
“Drink,” he waves his hand at me, encouraging me, and the food in front of me smells so good.
I pick up the wineglass and sip. “Aftercare?”
Adrian shrugs. “I told you, I’m not a monster.”
The wine is tart and mellow, waking up my taste buds.
Adrian settles into the chair across from me and folds his hands in front of him. “We still have a couple of hours before sunrise, but I need to make sure you have some strength. How are you feeling?”
“A little sore.”
“Good. I want you to be sore,” he smirks, and leans forward, grasping my hand. “Are you craving my touch?”
I glance away from him, steadying the plate and picking up the heavy silver fork. I take a bite of meat, trying not to react to how much I want to eat every bite of food on the plate. I want to maintain some dignity.
“No.”
“Are you lying?” Adrian tilts his head to the side. A faint memory of Adrian as a teenager, standing in front of one of his first cars, a Bentley, and opening the door for me when he saw me come out of the school library.
“I don’t want you to touch me. I don’t want to have anything to do with you, even if my body is betraying me.”
“Are you aroused right now?”
I squirm on the chair, not being able to help it. I hate that he asked that question and how I feel compelled to answer it.
“Mckenna, I will find out. Tell me.” His ankle comes around mine in a teasing dance.
“A little, yes.” I try to keep my tone low but it came out raspy.
“Good. Keep eating.”
Adrian watches me as I take each bite until my plate is clean.
He takes away the plate and then comes back and refills my wine glass.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Mckenna.” He traces my chin with his finger. His touch feels so good—too good. I close my eyes against it.
“Maybe we can be civil, at least for a bit.”
“A bit?”
Adrian pulls out the chair beside me and sits. “Call it a break. Before I go over what is going to happen tomorrow, I want to take us into the past. I want to talk about the day we informed the board of MM Industries that they were fired. The day all of Davis’s assets were seized. What were you doing at the office that day?”
My hands shake as I bring the wine glass to my lips.
I don’t want to remember that horrible day. Chills creep up my spine.
That day is so vivid in my memory, and as much as I want to block it out, I can’t. The memory plagues me and wakes me up in a cold sweat.
It was a Friday. The NVALE was on Monday, but I never made it.
My parents convinced me to take a break from studying and go out to breakfast with them before I went to the stables to give a private lesson to one of Grace’s students. She had called me the night before and asked if I could, as her husband had a rare day off and they wanted to spend it together.
I remember thinking that it was the perfect start to the weekend and the break I needed before taking the exam that would cinch my dream.
We finished breakfast, my dad kissed me goodbye, and my mom visited friends.
I was halfway to the stables when Ben Growler, our business advisor, called me to say that my dad hadn’t shown up. They couldn’t reach my mother, and they needed me to come in to represent the family because my dad’s team needed someone.
This wasn’t that unusual. I had done this a couple of times since I became an adult. I loved hearing what worked for the business, what needed improvement, and what companies were interested in acquiring my father’s technology. My father’s team was separate from the business side, so only my father’s staff was there.
I blink back tears, missing my dad so much.
“Mckenna?”
Adrian stands, drags my chair to face him, and then sits back down, his hands on the tops of my legs.
“It’s hard for me to talk about.” I bite my lip. That day was the start of our downfall. Seeing the police come into our house and tear the place up, never telling us what they were looking for, a search for my father and everyone my mother knew, all the friends she had, turning their backs on her once the news got out.
“I can appreciate it’s not easy, but answer my question, Mckenna or safeword.” His tone is soft but steely.
He slides his hands in between my legs, pushing my legs open to him.
I gasp as his thumbs sweep over my clit. My mouth goes bone dry as he explores my outer pussy lips. The desire sparks again and my pussy clenches for a touch that is just out of reach.
“It was a board meeting. Mr. Growler called me in because my mother was visiting friends, and they couldn’t reach my father. You know that wasn’t unusual.”
Adrian’s lip quirks up slightly. “He loved his lab.”
“Yeah,” I swallow as a new wave of regret washes over me. I wish I had seen his lab one last time before it was destroyed.
The memory of Adrian, his hands in his pockets, standing there in front of men and women he’d known for years as he coolly fired them, flashes through my mind again. He fired them and then told them that the lab was being destroyed as he spoke.
“Did you see your parents before you came into the office?”
“Yes, we had breakfast together.”
“Was there anything unusual?” Adrian leans forward.
“Why are you asking me?” I tilt forward, wanting his insistent touching to stop. It’s too much. His touch makes me ache and burn and I can’t have this conversation while he’s intent on making me come undone.
“Shh, Mckenna. I want to know.” He dips a finger into my slit.
He works his finger back and forth. I squirm, pursing my lips together, wanting to hold back the sounds, but I can’t. His touch is electric. It sets goosebumps off along my skin. I moan as his touch becomes firmer. He smiles and presses hard against my clit. I feel the start of an orgasm, and the pressure makes me close my eyes.
“Answer me.” He pulls his fingers back slightly, lightly drawing a circle around my clit. That move is slightly more tortuous, but I force myself to exhale and meet his glare.
“No, my father wouldn’t make plans with my mother, and it started to annoy her. She wanted to go out for dinner, and my father said he would be working late at the lab. My mother went to visit her friends, my father left, and I was driving to the stables,” I frown.
“What is it?” Adrian asks.
“You know that my mother usually didn’t want to leave my dad’s side. Now that I think about it, it’s weird that she went to visit friends instead of staying with him.”
“Anything else unusual?”
“Other than you ruining my life that day? No.”
His eyes flash with anger, and before I can react, his palm comes across my pussy with a hard slap.
I rock forward, the sting catching me off guard.
“I did not ruin your life, Mckenna, and I’m tired of that narrative. Your father did that to you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Believe me or not, but it’s true. That’s why we took over what was left of MM Industries and re-branded it to Colossus Corp.”
“Trying to be a superhero? It sounds like it belongs in a film.”
He glares at me but can’t quite hide his lips twitching.
“We own your father’s patents and his technology, Mckenna. I could call it anything I want.”
Fury rolls through me, red and hot, and I push up from my chair.
“We’re not done yet. Sit down.”
“I thought you were trying to be civil.”
“I am. Sit. Down.”
He stares at me coolly, and all memories of our past, of when we were friendly to each other, vanish.
Because all I can think of at this moment is the cold precision with which he marched into my father’s company that day and told us that MM Industries was no more. Oh, and the Feds were investigating us for fraud and organized crime.
But I don’t have any choice other than to do what he says because I am his for this weekend.
I sit down and stare above his head, refusing to meet his gaze.
“Better. Why did Ben call you?”
“He tried calling my mother. You know this.”
He slaps my thigh so hard that the sound echoes in the room, and I bring my leg up. “Ouch.”
“Mckenna, you’re going to spread your legs. I want to see your pussy. If you answer my questions, I will reward you. If not, I will punish you. Clear?”
He flicks a finger against my clit, and I jerk but manage to grit out, “Yes, Sir. So much for being civil.”
“This is very civil. I’m going to continue. Where was your mother when the police interviewed her?”
“At her friends’ house—I can’t remember which one—Dianna Anderson’s house, I think? She called me in tears after you stormed into the office. They were trying to find my father.”
“And your father didn’t call you?”
“No,” I shake my head. “He didn’t.”
“Interesting. You’re the apple of his eye. He loves you, and yet he didn’t call you when he made his escape?”
“No.” I swallow over the bitterness in my voice, my throat dry. “He hasn’t called me. He probably doesn’t know what to say to me. He has pride, too.”
“Maybe he should have thought of that before he met with the mob.”
“There was no proof of any criminal wrongdoing, you know this!”
Adrian shrugs a shoulder. “Just because they can’t find the proof doesn’t mean it’s not there. He was seen in that restaurant. Talking.”
“My father talked to a lot of people.” And I don’t want to have this conversation. “They didn’t keep him for long, though, because he left the country the next day.”
“Mckenna, even you don’t believe your father is innocent.” Adrian massages little circles on my legs.
“I do. So does my mother.”
Not that she’s said anything. I’m the one who took the calls from the investigators, informing me they were not going to go forward with criminal charges. But my mother had to be sedated because her life was blowing up around her too much.
“Did he leave the country so quickly to sell formulas to the highest bidder?”
“He wouldn’t do that, Adrian! You know how much he loved your father. My dad didn’t destroy their business. You chose to pull the trigger.”
“I had to before all our assets were tied up being investigated. You wouldn’t want to go through that,” he flings the words out sarcastically.
Anger flashes along my skin, making my pulse race.
Adrian grabs my hair and wraps it around his fist. “Do you know anything, Mckenna? Do you know where he is?”
“Fuck you, Adrian. I don’t!”
He pulls my hair so hard I feel tears in my eyes. My nipples are hard pebbles and I squirm, trying to get some relief.
Adrian presses his thumb against my clit. “I don’t understand why your father didn’t rush back to you and your mother. He must have an offer from someone else. I keep trying to get the authorities to pursue it.”
“Why?” The cry is strangled from my lips.
“Because I believe that video.”
Liquid rage rolls through my veins. I’m so angry I can’t think. “Why do you want to believe my father is this awful person? You know him! You know he’s not like that. Isn’t it enough that he lost everything?”
My mother and I were out on the streets. We came to Detroit because she had a college friend who helped her for a bit. My mind whizzes, and I can’t focus.
“Do you know any of his calculations?”
“I’m not a scientist,” I try to keep my voice as steady as I can, but there are a few formulas I know by heart that my father made sure I knew and that I have hidden in an email.
“But we are the son and daughter of the men who revolutionized the biotech industry. I have all the numbers from the business in my head. What’s in yours, Mckenna?” Adrian works his thumb against my clit, until I am rocking forward, wanting more of his tongue, hating myself for wanting it. But the rage mixes with the pleasure and the heat from both of those emotions collide, making me so needy and desperate for Adrian to keep his touch on my pussy.
“Dread and fear. I can’t believe your father turned his back on him.”
His parents were like family to me. That they just discarded my mother, and I like old shoes, hurts me.
My parents and his spent so much time together. I don’t know if I can ever forgive Jackie and Fredrick McIntyre for not intervening.
“He didn’t have a choice. Good old Davis was in debt to the mob.”
“How can you say that? That’s what they thought, but it’s not true!”
“You can’t be that na?ve, Mckenna. You know your father liked to gamble. You know he never could keep money.”
“And all your father did was use him.”
Adrian flicks my clit hard with his index finger, then he rubs it hard and fast, so much that it hurts, but it adds to my need. My nipples are so tight, I want to rub them against the table’s edge.
He makes a tsking sound, mocking me. “You’re better than that, Mckenna. Your father sold out to the highest bidder, almost destroying what my family had built up for years.”
The investigators’ theory was that my father owed a debt to the mob. But if that was true, why wouldn’t he sell stock in his company? Why wouldn’t he have gone to Adrian’s father for help?
But they didn’t have enough evidence, so it’s not true.
If my father was in trouble, there were lots of things he could have done, like tell us, but instead, Adrian came in and wrecked everything by taking over my father’s company.
“My forensic accountants are still working on it. Millions of dollars went missing. Only two people had access to those accounts. You know your father liked to bet.”
I swallow, my eyes cloud with tears. “I’m tired. I don’t know anything else.”
“I don’t believe you. I am not done asking questions. Do you want to come, Mckenna?” His tone is as smooth as the red wine I drank, and I shake my head.
“I don’t care.”
“We’ll see,” Adrian smiles wolfishly and I shudder, wondering what else is in store for me.
“One more question before we are done here. Why did you talk to that journalist?”
“We needed the money. Everything I told her was true.”
His eyes flash so dark that I can almost taste his fury. For a moment, I think he’s going to slap me, but he works his fingers deeper, driving me closer to the edge.
“Tomorrow, I am taking you shopping for a dress.”
“Fine.”
Adrian smiles. “I knew you’d like it. Do you want to know the occasion?”
“Is it going to make any difference?”
“Oh, it might.”
I hate that sly grin on his face; I steel myself for the worst.
“You’re going to be my date for Ava’s engagement party.”
It is worse than I expected.
The only good thing about my exile from my old life is not having to see Ava.
“How did she trick someone into marrying her?” I bite out.
His hand is on my neck so fast, but I don’t care. I smile because I see in his eyes that he agrees with me. He squeezes my neck, then lets go.
Adrian might think of me as being the chilly snob, but Ava? She was born to be an elitist bitch queen.
“He’s a software developer. I have never seen them not fight.”
“You can’t bring me there. She hates me.”
“I know. And this is even sweeter. We will have photos together, and I can restore my reputation once and for all.”
I shake my head. This nightmare keeps getting worse. “You can’t force me to talk to the press.”
“Can’t I?” Adrian drags his finger along my slit. I moan low and breathy, rocking my hips toward his finger, asking for more.
“Isn’t it worse for your reputation to show up with me?”
“I’m thinking about how best to spin it, but what do you think, Mckenna? Maybe it’s a certain kind of justice. My father saved yours from a lifetime of struggle, and I saved you with my love from a lifetime of being tarnished. It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
I can’t believe this nightmare keeps getting worse.
“It’s time for bed. I am taking you shopping bright and early so I can make sure you are ready. You better not embarrass me, Mckenna. You’ll show up, and you’ll be polite, or things will go even worse for you.”
“You can’t.”
“Oh yes, I can,” Adrian rubs a finger along my clit, then slips his fingers deeper again. I’m going to come apart from this pressure, from the rough handling. “Try me.”
“This is not fair!” I scream, trying to keep the orgasm from pulling me under.
“This is what you signed up for. You’re such a needy slut that even when I talk about the crimes of your father, you want to come.”
“Damn you!” The burn and the friction are too much, all of it forcing me to tailspin into pleasure.
I struggle, trying to keep my body tight, trying to resist what his fingers are doing to me. He leans even closer, so our foreheads are almost touching.
“You’re going to come for me right now, hellion.”
I bite my lip and shake my head. “No.”
He pulls down my lip and grabs my jaw firmly. Sweat breaks out across my brow. Raw need and desire climb, burning me from the inside out. It’s been forever since I’ve felt desire like this, maybe never. I cry as a fresh wave of sensations lights across my skin, and I can’t help it. The orgasm breaks, pulling me under and shattering my resolve. My legs quiver with the force of syrupy waves of bliss. I let out a scream, panting.
This is so unfair, and there’s not a thing I can do about it. My body shudders, finally getting the release it so desperately needed.
“That’s what I wanted. Clean these for me.” He sticks his fingers in my mouth.
I gag.
“Relax, Mckenna.” He strokes my hair.
A shiver of shame, fiery red and hot, makes me mewl as I lap his digits with my tongue.
“Now we both need our beauty sleep. Come on.” He lifts my arm from the chair, and I walk beside him, feeling out of control of my body.
Upstairs, in his bedroom, he pushes me to the floor on a thin mattress.
“I’m a very light sleeper, Mckenna. I’ll hear you if you wake up. You’re not going to go anywhere either, are you?” He takes a soft ankle cuff and snaps it around my ankle.
It’s not uncomfortable. The satin rope gives me lots of stretch.
The mattress is surprisingly comfortable. I yawn.
“Get your sleep. You’re going to need it.”
Adrian throws a blanket around me. “Sweet dreams, Mckenna.”
He leaves me there on the floor as he walks out of the room.
My stomach lurches, and I feel sick.
I can’t believe I am in the hands of my enemy, and there is no escape.