Authors: Corinne Davies
Grizz met them at the entrance to the ship. “
Atlantis
has sustained minimal damage that we can tell so far. The stabilizers aren’t working, so we’re floating with the current for now. I don’t think that’s a bad thing as our position has been compromised and we need to move.”
“Why are you telling me this, Grizz?” Miguel’s stomach cramped up, and Kass gripped his hand tighter.
“Where’s Julien?” she asked.
“There was a saboteur on board.” Grizz glanced at Kass. “He said he was part of your crew, so I let him go when I caught him snooping around.”
To his credit Grizz didn’t look as though he blamed Kass for that, but he looked sick with guilt when he admitted to letting the man go. “He’d planned to disable
Atlantis
’s defense system, and he did a good job, too.”
“Grizz, where’s Julien?”
“Walter Miller made it into his office and shot him.”
Chapter Eleven
“And you accuse me of taking chances?” Kass held up the silver tea tray. A small-caliber bullet was lodged into the base of it. “How did he not know you had this under your vest?”
She and Miguel both had rushed to Julien’s side only to find him up and about and not close to death like they both had initially feared. Had they listened to Grizz’s entire story they might have known sooner, but fear had them running for the upper levels before he’d finished telling them what happened. They found him in the office writing behind his desk.
“His attention was distracted as the explosions went off. I shoved it under my vest and my cravat covered the top. He was so sure of himself after he shot me that he didn’t bother to check and make certain I was dead.”
She glanced over at where a carpet used to lie on the floor in front of the desk as Julien spoke. “I returned the favor and he collapsed on the carpet after I shot him in the head. The tea that spilled all over it would’ve stained it, so wrapping Walter’s body in it seemed fitting.”
“What kind of damages are we looking at?”
“Thankfully, nothing too horrendous. I had men inspecting the lower hull when you arrived. There looks to be a couple stressed joints from the explosions, and I’m having them repaired. Submerging as soon as possible seemed to be the logical course of action given the circumstances.”
He was right. Staying underwater lowered the chances of any other ships finding them. “I contacted the
Apollo
and thanked them for their support but told them it was unnecessary. I know that Yzabeau is anxious to be at Viktoria’s side when she gives birth. I didn’t want her to miss an important moment like that.”
Kass nodded. “Yzzi is very protective of her sister, and being married to Liam and Tristan hasn’t diminished that at all.”
Miguel came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing a gentle kiss against her shoulder. “Family is important.”
Julien stepped in front of her, cupping her jaw with one of his hands. “Keeping promises is important.” A shiver of awareness scuttled over her skin. Julien’s violet eyes looked like shards of a precious gem. “I’m as much to blame as well.” His fingers pressed against her lips when she started to ask him what was going on. “I made a promise to care for you, protect you, and see that all your needs are taken care of.”
Kass vividly remembered him pledging those words to her when they were handfasted. She’d been overwhelmed by his presence and the way he swept her away from a living hell and brought her to a place where she’d truly felt safe. “You did all that.”
“Not entirely. I hid a very intrinsic part of my personality from you.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Kass knew where this was headed and didn’t want any part of it. Her heart started racing and her mouth dried out. She tried to move, but Miguel tightened his grip.
“That’s fine, because I don’t plan on talking too much.” Julien dipped his head and kissed her. She expected anger and brutality, but his lips brushed against hers as soft as a feather. He flicked at her lips with his tongue, but she kept them pressed together. Her traitorous body responded to being trapped between two men.
Julien lifted her damn hair up and expertly pinned it on the top of her head. “That’s better, thank you.” Miguel’s words brushed along the back of her neck as he kissed the sensitive skin usually covered by hair.
“Miguel has needs as well, and I promise to take care of him, too.”
“And I’ll take care of both of you.” Miguel nipped the back of her neck, making her jump. Her pussy creamed as he licked the sting away. She needed to get away from them. It was too much for her to take in.
“I can’t be what you need,” Kass blurted out. Her chest felt so tight she was afraid she couldn’t take a deep breath. “I saw you. I can’t do that.”
“What did you see, Kass? What do you think we need?” Julien stood there with his arms crossed over his chest.
Cold fear raced along her limbs. If she told him, then there would be no more pretending. “I saw you with the whip,” she spat out, the anger from that night years before rushing to the surface. It was as if finally saying the words out loud unstopped a well of betrayal and inadequacy. “I saw what you did to that man. He spewed his cum on the ground after being tied down and whipped raw. It was disgusting and a nightmare.”
“Did Julien ever tie you down, Kass?” Miguel’s voice was soft and soothing against her ear.
“No, never.” That was the truth. He never had. She felt the rush of heat in her cheeks.
“Did you fear that he would?” the soothing voice asked, calming her rioting emotions.
“Perhaps, but I wasn’t strong enough for him.” Kass’s throat felt tight. “I could never do that. I wasn’t…”
“Wasn’t what, Kass?”
“Enough, I wasn’t enough.” Right now she hated Miguel for making her admit it. She’d never been good enough for anyone. She was an expendable pawn to her family and the one person she believed in…she hadn’t been enough for him either. “There, okay. Let’s end this charade and get on with our lives.” She shrugged off Miguel’s touch and tried to step away.
“Are you running again,
mi corazón
?”
“What do you want from me?” She looked up at Julien, who’d stepped back from her as she spoke, his face a completely unreadable mask. “Let me go.”
He shook his head. “No. I’ll never let you go, precious. You and Miguel are mine. All this running away ends tonight.” Julien turned on his heel and marched across the room to one of the cabinets
“He ran from me, too, you know.” Miguel gently rocked her in his arms, his accented voice a calming balm to her. “I found him not long after you left. He was in agony over loosing you and feared you misunderstood what you saw that night. I fell in love with him that very moment, much like I fell in love with you the first time I watched you raid a slave den.”
Kass couldn’t see exactly what Julien was doing behind them, but she could hear cabinet doors opening and closing.
“He ran from me because he feared I’d leave him, too. So I did what I could to ease his heart. I stayed out of your way but watched and made certain you never fell into the slavers’ clutches again. Not that it was hard. You’re a strong, capable woman. Watching you evolve into the woman you are today was a gift.”
“I’m still the same inside.” Kass wanted to believe what he was saying, wanted to believe that she could, but her body shook with revulsion every time she thought of that whip. “It won’t be enough.”
“Allowing you to hold onto your fear about an inanimate object was one of my biggest mistakes.” Julien strode across the room. He was bare chested. Black leather pants sat low on his hips and tucked into knee-high boots. From his hip hung an evil, vicious-looking whip. She shuddered and pressed back against Miguel. “The other was waiting so long to claim you again.”
A distressed whimper echoed in the room, and it took a moment to realize that it was her making that noise. “Fear grows if it’s not nipped in the bud,” Julien continued. “It acts like a cancer in your emotions, stripping the strength and leaving great big holes overflowing with more fear.”
Julien stepped closer to her, grabbing her hands and lacing his fingers through them. “I can’t let you cripple your emotions like that.” He lifted her fingers and pressed a kiss against them. She felt Miguel untucking her blouse from her skirt. “I love you, precious.”
“Please don’t do this.” Even she heard the fear in her voice as Julien stepped back and Miguel wrapped his arms around her again. Kass jerked her body and tried to dislodge Miguel, but he held tight.
“Kassandra.” Julien’s voice snapped out like a whip. “Stop that right now or I’ll tie you to the bed myself and have Miguel sit on the other side of the room.”
Miguel slid one hand up under her blouse, stopping at the delicate underside of her breast. “Shhh,
mi corazón
. We’ll keep you safe. I promise you.”
Julien knelt in front of her and lifted the front of her skirt, tucking it into the waistband. “What are you doing?”
She jerked her leg out, but he grabbed her ankle in a firm hold. “Kick me and you’ll regret it, Kassandra.”
Miguel continued to stroke the sensitive skin under her breasts. “He wants to see that beautiful cunt of yours. Wait ’til he sees…”
“Good lord.” Julien’s shocked tone almost made her giggle. The fear that had been eating away at her subsided for a moment. She felt his fingers trace the small heart that was all that remained of the hair normally covering her mons. A shiver danced along her legs as Julien traced the newly bared skin.
“Miguelito, you’re a master.” Julien stood up and grabbed a handful of Miguel’s hair. Miguel leaned over Kass and met Julien’s lips. They kissed like they hadn’t seen each other in years, and it left Kass with a warmth growing deep in her stomach. This was the passionate Julien she knew and loved.
“Thank you.” Julien glanced down at her, and she saw his emotional mask snap back into place, but this time she wasn’t as frightened. The passionate man whom she loved was still there. Only now he was hiding.
He reached for the whip on his hip and Kass watched as it uncoiled to the floor at his feet. It was so long, and she was standing there bared for him. She started shaking her head and wriggled in Miguel’s embrace.
Miguel’s cock was as hard as a steel rod against her back.
Is he excited at the prospect of me being hurt?
He moved his hands. One splayed across her hips while the other reached lower, lightly stroking the bared seam of her pussy.
Julien stretched and flicked out his wrist. The whip cracked, making her jump and press back against Miguel. “Nothing to fear but fear itself,” Miguel crooned in her ear. His fingers continued to stroke her, and she tried to fight the heat that he created.
The whip snapped again, and Miguel traced his finger over the tiny bundle of nerves hidden under its delicate hood. She gasped and her hips shifted restlessly, but Miguel’s touch moved away. He brought his finger up and traced her lower lip with her own juices and then kissed her. “See, you aren’t as unaffected as you try to make us believe.”
“It’s fear.” She looked up at Miguel’s face. He had her angled back against one arm, and she gripped his shirt to keep her balance.
“It’s need,” he countered. Sliding his hand down her shirt, he lightly pinched her nipple through the fabric. “You know deep down that we’d never do anything to hurt you.”
He reached between her legs and stroked her mons and inner thighs, pressing his finger in tight circles around her pussy. The whip snapped out again, and he pressed upward into her cunt. She gasped and the whip snapped again. Miguel pressed two fingers inside of her and stroked deeply. That quickly, she felt herself reaching for a pinnacle, but before she reached it, Miguel removed his fingers, leaving her feeling empty.
“Open your eyes, Kassandra.”
She blinked at Julien’s order, not realizing that she’d closed them. “You’re not blocking this out.”