Pendelton Manor (22 page)

“Sophie!” Coming to a stop at the door, control became a distant memory as fear for her took over. Across the door, the wood bar had either fallen down or was deliberately lowered to lock her in, something that could have happened accidently if the wind had been responsible for the door slamming shut with enough jarring force to dislodge it, but still raised his suspicions to a new heightened state.

“Adrian, I can’t get the door open,” she sobbed in relief, the sound of his voice right outside the door working to soothe her fears.

Swearing, Adrian shoved the bar off and tossed it aside before flinging open the door and catching her as she fell into his arms, her body shaking as she flung her arms around his shoulders, clutching him tightly. “I’ve got you, you’re all right,” he whispered to her as he wrapped his arms around her.

Sophie could tell by the rigid feel of his muscles and his tightly controlled rough voice that he was angry, that anger vibrating through his hard body, a threat to his iron clad control. “I didn’t ignore your warning on purpose, Adrian,” she said as she pulled back and looked up into his rigid face. “I saw the door was opened just enough that Sammy could’ve slipped through. I couldn’t just leave without at least looking to see if she was in there, possibly hurt.”

Since Adrian had to take part of the blame for her predicament because he hadn’t told her about Sammy’s death, his anger loosened slightly, leaving what remained of it due to the fear she had had to endure and the possibility this had not been an accident.

“You had no business ignoring my warning about this place, Sophie, not even for that damn cat.”

“I’m sorry; I just had to find out if she could be in there and if she needed help.” Sophie welcomed his anger as well as the safe feel of his hard body against hers because both meant he still wanted her, no matter how much she had screwed up lately. His cock was semi-hard against her mound, and without her permission, her body responded with a force that stunned her. Aching to feel alive and safe again, she pushed her hips against his as she pulled his mouth down to meet hers. Quickly, before she could question whether he would welcome her aggression, she latched onto his lips, softly coaxing them to accept her, and when that didn’t work, nipping at his lower lip until he opened for her.

Surprise held him immobile for all of ten seconds until Sophie’s small teeth bit his lip, the slight sting working to rouse his cock to full staff and his senses to full alert. Clasping her buttocks, he held her tightly against him as he rubbed his rigid, denim covered dick over and over her groin as he took over the kiss and invaded the warm recesses of her mouth as well as her senses.

“Let’s take this home where I can deal with you properly,” he growled above her glistening plump lips.

Sophie’s need bordered on desperation and she knew she couldn’t wait that long to feel him filling her again, stretching her until the pressure rose and the need swelled to the point of no return. As usual, the temperature had lowered with the sun, but she felt anything but cold right now. “No,” she demanded in a voice that was hoarse from yelling as well as desire. “Here, now.” Feeling as wild as the elements blowing around her, she released his shoulders to undo his jeans, the feel of his cock falling into her hands practically making her drool.

Her hair whipped around a face still pale from fright, her eyes filled with desperation and latent fear, and when her hands wrapped around his cock, it was more than he could bear. Backing her towards the building that had recently been her prison, he pinned her to the stone wall with a fierce look that matched hers and took her mouth again, his lips hard, his tongue soft as they both groaned.

Aroused beyond control, Sophie released his cock to undo her own jeans and shoved them down far enough to wriggle one leg free to wrap around his hip, her mouth never leaving his. Pulling his hips closer, she let him feel her bare pussy lips on his bare cock, her damp slit moistening his shaft as she helped prepare him to fuck her. As memories of the past few hours threatened to surface, bringing with them the fear, despair and haunting loss, she whimpered as she pulled away, pleading, “Fuck me, Adrian, please, now.”

He hadn’t seen that look on her face since he had taken her the first time, the look that said she was dealing with an ache so acute, a loss so devastating, that she was desperate for a diversion, a look that also conveyed all the fear of being locked inside that darkening monstrosity with nothing but the wind and her memories for company.

“Remember, Sophie,” he ground out as he plunged between those soft lips and filled her with one deep stroke, “you asked for this.”

“No, I begged for it, and, oh God, Adrian, you feel so good. More, give me more.”

Her breathless pleas were his undoing and grabbing her ass in his hands, he lifted her off of him only to slam her back down with enough force to jar both of them. “Open your shirt or I’ll rip it open.”

By the look on his face, Sophie didn’t doubt him and as he continued to take her with hard, ramming strokes, she raised a shaky hand to the buttons on her top and managed to get them undone to just below her braless breasts before he shoved the material aside and bent down to take one turgid peak into his mouth. The deep, relentless sucking pressure sent added pleasure to her pussy, making her soak his cock even more, heightening her pleasure so fast, so high, she felt the pinnacle of release hovering.

As her pussy started spasming with small grips that heralded her climax, Adrian pulled out of her, flipped her around and forced her hands flat against the wall. Pulling her hips back, he bent over her before thrusting back into her still clenching cunt.

“Now, Sophie,” he grated as he leaned over her, one hand hard on her hip, the other reaching under her and clutching a soft breast as his hips thrust repeatedly against her soft ass. “Come on my cock; squeeze my come out of me until I’m drained dry.”

Sophie screamed as the pleasure spiraled out of control, his hard hands on her ass and breast holding her still as she did as he commanded, clasping his dick with hard grips of her vaginal walls, milking every drop from him as she welcomed every second of the pleasure infusing her own body and senses.

He watched from afar and the longer he stood there, the angrier he became. God damn it, this wasn’t how it was supposed to be, wasn’t the outcome he had been aiming for. Seeing Sophie come on to Adrian after they exited the lighthouse was the last response he had expected or hoped for. The previous things he had done, the generator and the cat, had been done out of anger and frustration, a spur of the moment reaction when he saw how close these two were becoming, but seeing Sophie enter the lighthouse, he had deliberately took advantage and locked her in, all in the hope that it would scare her away from Adrian, not to him.

He had nothing against Sophie. She was nice, attractive and a pleasant addition to their group, but he’d be damned if Adrian found any pleasure from another relationship. As always, it came back to Nicole, the woman he had loved for so long he couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t love her. It had been his fault for not telling her how he felt before she took up with Adrian, so, for the sake of his relationship with not only Adrian, but the rest of them, he had reluctantly let her go. He just hadn’t realized how much he wanted her until he lost her, and when she became unhappy with her marriage and turned to him, he simply couldn’t turn her away. For over two years they had seen each other behind Adrian’s back, making love and plans to be together.

But something had changed the night she came to meet him on the cliffs, the night she was supposed to tell Adrian she wanted a divorce, the night she was supposed to tell Adrian she had never loved him, that he was the one she wanted to be with exclusively. Instead, she had come to him with tears in her brown eyes as she admitted it was Adrian she wanted, the husband she had been cuckolding for over two years, the man she swore she had never loved, she had only craved what he could give her. She had admitted that fateful night that all she had ever wanted was the status of being Mrs. Pendelton, being lady of the manor, married to the head of Pendelton Industries, hostess to parties for the elite of the state, mother of the Pendelton heir. Instead of running off with him, she said she wanted to stay and fight for her marriage, a marriage she hadn’t realized how much she wanted until she was faced with the real threat of losing it and everything that came with it.

He had been so angry, so hurt and disillusioned he had grabbed her arms and shook her before releasing one arm and lifting his hand to strike her. But she had seized that opportunity to twist away from him, neither of them realizing how close they were to the edge of the cliff. He had tried to grab her as she fell backward, tried to stop the momentum of her struggle that had made her topple over, but was too late. Her scream as she went over and was swallowed up by darkness still haunted him as much as the abrupt silence that followed. Standing there on the cliff, he had called and called for what seemed like hours, his only response the sound of the ebb and flow of the waves splashing against the craggy shore and his own sobs as he desperately prayed for an answer.

Watching Adrian fuck Sophie, remembering the look of possession on his face last week, even though he shared her, made him once again see red. It wasn’t fair that Adrian had taken the only woman he had ever wanted and he would be damned if he allowed him to find happiness with someone else while he was left to flounder alone. He saw now where he had gone wrong, that Sophie shouldn’t have been the target of his rage, Adrian should have been. He didn’t want to hurt him, had never wanted to hurt anyone, but he did intend to send him a message that he wasn’t safe to be around. Knowing Adrian, he had no doubt he would put Sophie aside for her own safety if nothing else. And that was all he really wanted, was for Adrian to spend the rest of his life as lonely and as miserable as he was.

It was dark and cold by the time they adjusted their clothing and headed back to the manor. Adrian kept a tight hold of Sophie’s hand as he led her unerringly along the path that led to the back courtyard. His hand engulfing hers was as comforting as the silence between them. Sophie was still shaken up over the time she spent locked in the lighthouse and she didn’t know how long it would take her to get over the sound of the howling wind rattling around that old building as what meager light there was faded to eerie gray. Right now she felt fragile and lost and the last thing she wanted was to be left alone.

Both Adam and Ash were entering the kitchen from the front foyer when they came in the back door, their hair as windblown as Adrian’s and Sophie’s, their faces pink from the evening’s chill.

“You found her!” Adam exclaimed with relief. “When you didn’t come back right away, Ash and I took off to search also. Are you okay, Sophie?”

“Yes, thanks to Adrian. I got stuck in the lighthouse.”

“Correction,” Adrian stated coldly, his gaze direct and accusing on the twins, “the door, somehow, slammed shut and the bar lowered, locking her in.”

“Adrian, I’m sure it was the wind.” Sophie looked up at him with a silent plea not to start something.

The lingering fear and fatigue that showed on her face was enough to make Adrian rein in his temper and suspicions, for now. “Come on, let’s get you warmed up.”

As he passed his cousins, Ash laid a hand on his arm, stopping him and making Adrian look at him. “Surely you don’t suspect one of us of deliberately locking her in there? Damn it, Adrian, that’s going too far.”

“Of course he doesn’t,” Sophie assured him then tugged on her hand. “Excuse me, I think I’ll go soak in a hot bath to chase away this chill.”

“I’ll take you up.” Adrian pinned both men with a steely look. “We’ll discuss this later.”

Instead of going up the stairs to the second floor, Adrian pulled her to the elevator and took her to his suite. Sophie didn’t protest because she really didn’t want to be alone right now and she really wouldn’t mind feeling Adrian’s hard body covering hers as he filled her again, his driving thrusts chasing away the demons that had haunted her all day.

Adrian didn’t release her hand until they were in his bathroom, and then it was to turn on the bathtub faucets before ordering her to strip. “You can soak in here while I go down and bring up some food. As always, you had something prepared for us and it smelled great.”

Sophie smiled up at him as she unbuttoned her top, the warm steam coming from the slowly filling tub more enticing than food. “I think that’s the first compliment you’ve given me. Thank you.”

Surprise had his brows lifting then lowering before he said, “Surely I’ve told you how much we’ve enjoyed the meals you’ve fixed.” He couldn’t believe he had been so intent on keeping himself from getting too close to her that he had neglected such a simple thing.

“No, but you just made up for it.” Tossing her shirt onto the small dressing bench, she quickly stripped off the rest of her clothes under his watchful eye until she stood naked before him, her skin heating under the hot look in his obsidian eyes.

“Mmm, it seems I’ve been neglectful of you in more than one way.” Those dark eyes rose to her flushed face. “I’ll definitely rectify that from here on out. Get in.” With a hand on her ass, he nudged her towards the large sunken tub and helped her down into the steaming water. “Relax, I’ll be right back.”

Sophie didn’t have to be told twice and leaned her head back on the small bath pillow and stretched out, sighing in bliss as the warm water covered her up to her shoulders. She must have dozed for the next thing she knew, Adrian was leaning over the bath, his hand kneading her breast under the water.

Drowsily opening her eyes, she smiled at him, her body warm and lax and slowly arousing as his hand moved languidly down her body to settle between her spread legs, his eyes holding hers with promising intent.

“You’re much warmer, Sophie, and very,” two fingers dipped between her slick folds, “wet.”

“Adrian,” she whispered as she closed her eyes again and lifted into his hand, “please don’t stop.”