Unconditional (14 page)

His cock was already straining against her flesh. Keith might be patient, but his cock seemed to be seeking a way in. She rolled her hips, letting it run along the seam of her labia, jutting up to hit her clit. The promise of pleasure sparked through her and she did it again and again, letting his cockhead rub her clit.

“You’re going to kill me,” Keith said, his jaw a tight line.

She flexed up slightly and his dick was suddenly at her entrance. So big. He was big and thick. His hands gripped her hips, helping her to lower herself down.

Inch by delicious inch, she took him inside. He stretched her, but she was so wet there was no pain, just an amazingly full feeling. She slid down and then back up, her pussy devouring his cock.

He watched, his head turned down. “It’s so fucking hot.”

She couldn’t see, but she loved the fact that his eyes were on her, on the place where their bodies were made into one.

She couldn’t take the heat a second longer. She had to move. Gravity did its work and she slid down, taking his whole cock to the base.

“That’s right, love. Take all of me. Fuck me hard. I want it.”

So did she. Power and arousal swamped her as she rode him. Awkward at first, but his hands helped her find the rhythm.

Instinct took over, all her insecurities and worries fleeing in the face of raw desire. His hands came up to cup her breasts, tugging at her nipples and adding a layer of sensation. She moved her hips, rocking on him until she found the perfect spot and went flying.

She called out his name. Pleasure swamped her, making her forget every bit of good sense she had. “Keith. Oh, god, Keith, I love you.”

He bucked beneath her, his gorgeous face grimacing as he held her tight and poured his orgasm out.

She fell on top of him, blood thrumming through her as the last of the orgasm faded and reality settled in.

Maybe she hadn’t said it out loud. Maybe he hadn’t noticed. Maybe they could just go on like she hadn’t said anything at all.

He was still underneath her, only his chest moving up and down with the force of his breaths.

She rolled off him, feeling every bit as awkward as she had the first time she’d had sex. That first time had been painful for her body, but she got the feeling her heart might get torn up this time around.

Smile. She could smile her way through it. If she acted like it didn’t mean anything, it would free him to do the same. She took a long breath and turned on her side, placing her hand on his chest. “Well, that made up for all the bad sex from before, Sir.”

His whole face tightened. “Ashley…”

She was saved by a hard knock to the door and her sister’s voice. “Ashley? I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to you now.”

Her heart nearly stopped. “Is something wrong with Emily?”

It was the only reason her sister would disrupt her night. She rolled out of bed. There were two robes hanging on the wall near the bathroom, and she quickly shrugged into one of them. All thoughts about her awful scene were shoved aside as she opened the door.

She could hear Keith moving in the background, but all she could see was her sister’s pale face. Her heart dropped. “What happened?”

Jill held out a hand. “Emily’s safe for now.”

“What do you mean ‘for now’?” She didn’t like the sound of that.

“Karina needs to talk to you. Keith, you should come, too.” Jill nodded to the man who walked up behind Ashley.

“I don’t want to interfere with family business,” Keith said, keeping a noticeable distance.

Ashley couldn’t think about that now. Karina had found out something. Something that affected Emily. Keith never even wanted to talk about her daughter. He wouldn’t want to get involved in whatever was going on with Emily. “You don’t have to come. I’ll see you when I see you.”

“He’s your Dom,” Jill argued. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. “Is this what being a Dom means to you, Keith? You fuck her and then walk away and leave her to deal with everything else? Well, I guess you’re not much better than her last boyfriend then. Come on. They’re set up in the conference room, but you need to change into street clothes.”

“Why?” She didn’t want to take the time to get dressed. Karina wouldn’t care if she was naked.

“Because they caught your stalker and he’s talking up a storm,” Jill explained.

“Stalker?” Keith asked, his voice going dark. “What the hell is she talking about?”

“She didn’t tell you?” Jill softened a bit. “I should have known. She’s had someone following her for days.”

“No. She didn’t bother to mention that to me,” Keith replied. “Does Taggart have him?” He walked out of the room and started down the hall, obviously expecting them to follow.

“Yeah, the boss caught him taking pictures of the club from his truck. He was parked across the street, but Ian owns that building, too.” Jill paused, going a little white. “He was unhappy about that.”

“You don’t have to come with me.” She couldn’t get that look on his face out of her head. He didn’t want to be here. Anything he did now was because he didn’t want to look bad in front of her sister. She’d been right to keep the information from him. He didn’t want to take care of her in that way. He didn’t want the burden of her problems. He just wanted a sub, not the real woman.

He turned and there was nothing blank about his face now. “I suggest you keep your mouth shut, Ashley. We have to get through this and then we’ll have a real discussion about the meaning of the word submission. You should have told me what was going on. I’ll be in the conference room after I change. I expect you to talk then.”

He stalked off, leaving her with Jill.

Her sister took her hand. “That was one mad Dom. I’m glad he’s going to be there though. This looks complicated. Honey, I have to tell you something and I want you to hear it from me and no one else.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “What?”

“There’s a reason the child support payments stopped.”

“Because Trevor is an asshole who can’t remember to send me a check from his trust fund?” She had to hold it together. She had to get through this night because whatever Keith had been about to say wasn’t going to go away, and she knew she wouldn’t like it.

“Trevor’s dead.”

The world stopped as she tried to process the words. Trevor couldn’t be dead because he was twenty-five years old. He was Emily’s father and though she’d given up on loving him a long time before, she’d always hoped that someday he would grow up and get to know his daughter. They’d been friends. Sometimes he’d been her only friend in the world it had seemed. He’d been selfish and childish but they’d shared years together.

“Honey, are you all right?”

“How?” She couldn’t imagine it.

Jill took her hand and started to lead her down the hall. “Let’s go sit down and I’ll tell you what I know.”

She followed her sister, thinking about the fact that she might manage to lose two men in one night.

Chapter Nine

Keith stared at the man across the table from him and finally realized what it meant to see red.

“You’re working for Trevor Reid’s father?” Karina had changed clothes and now looked perfectly vanilla and brutally competent in slacks and a tailored blouse. She sat at the conference table, a laptop in front of her.

The man who had apparently been stalking Ashley nodded briefly. He was a greasy looking middle-aged asswipe with a bad comb-over. He’d introduced himself as Ron Harper. Karina had explained that Harper was based in Houston, and she’d discovered he did dirty work for corporations in the south Texas area. “Yeah, but he ain’t paying me enough to deal with this shit. Do you know what that man threatened to do to me?”

Ian Taggart grinned, showing off perfectly predatory teeth. “I offered to show you around. You seemed so interested in what happens here.”

“He put a gun to my head.” Harper frowned. “The other fucker nearly tore my arm off when I was going for my ID.”

Damon Knight was in the room as well. The Brit simply shrugged. “How was I to know you weren’t going for a gun?”

“Because I told you what I was doing,” Harper shot back.

“I’ve been lied to before. It makes a man think. It also makes me want to rip arms off, but Tag wouldn’t let me,” Knight explained in that perfectly aristocratic accent of his.

“No blood on the concrete.” Taggart slapped at the table. “Charlie doesn’t like blood all over the place. You know what they say, happy wife, happy life or some shit. So if we have to kill him, let’s do it clean, boys.”

Karina shook her head. “You’re not helping things. He’s going to pee himself if you don’t stop, and I doubt Charlotte wants to deal with that stain, either.”

“Could someone explain why this guy is here?” Keith was sick of waiting for answers. It was obvious his sub had been keeping serious secrets from him.

I love you, Keith.
She’d been so fucking beautiful while she rode him, rocking them both to pleasure. It had been right there.
I love you, too, Ashley.
The instinct had almost overcome him.

Almost. And then he remembered he was wearing a condom he didn’t need.

“I thought we’d wait on Ashley,” Karina replied. “I also want Adam to verify my findings about him. Some information can be faked and he has a better eye for that than I do.”

Keith felt his fists clench. What the hell was he doing? He couldn’t stay. He damn well couldn’t walk away. He needed to talk to her, to explain. If they could sit down and just talk it out, maybe everything would be okay. How was he going to explain to her that he couldn’t see her outside of the club because she had a kid and he couldn’t handle that? How did he explain that he would never be able to handle it? That even thinking about kids made him remember holding his own right before he died.

He’d killed his own kid, and he couldn’t take another chance. He’d gone so far as to make sure he never made another mistake again. He didn’t need to wear a condom because he’d had a vasectomy at the age of twenty-three and couldn’t give her more kids.

She would want more, and he couldn’t be a part of that.

Yeah, how the fuck did he tell her all of those things? She was a woman working toward a future and he lived in the moment.

He thought he’d have more time with her.

The door opened and Ashley walked in with her sister. It was odd to see her in street clothes. He selected her fet wear and left it in her locker. He didn’t see her until she came out to play.

He’d compartmentalized her, just like Ryan had said. He’d put her in a place and tried not to think of her outside of it.

She didn’t even look his way. She took a seat at the conference table.

No matter what happened after this, he wasn’t going to sit here and watch her crumble. He stood up and moved in on one side of her before Ryan could take the seat beside her, crowding him out. Until she tossed him on his ass, he was still her Dom. She was still wearing his collar.

Her eyes came up, a little confused.

He put his hand over hers, grateful when she didn’t pull away. “What’s going on?”

“Emily’s father died in a car accident three months ago,” she said somberly.

His heart did a weird flip. Was she mourning him? She could say she didn’t love him all she liked, but death had a way of changing the past.

She gave him the soberest of smiles. “I’m fine, Keith. I’m sad that Emily won’t ever get a chance to know him. He could have changed his mind about her somewhere down the line. I hurt for her. I feel bad because we were friends before we were lovers. It’s just sad.”

Her fingers tangled in his, squeezing lightly.

“Come here.” She needed comfort, and it was his job to give it to her. They were in the club. It was still safe. The fact that they were talking about the outside world made him nervous, but he would do it for her. This whole night was still salvageable. If he gave her the attention she needed, perhaps she could forget the rest. They could go on for a while. He would take whatever time she would give him. He pulled on her hand, tugging her into his lap.

He sighed when her arms went around his neck.

Ryan put a hand on his back, an obvious show of support. “That’s not all the bad news, man. Just wait for it.”

She hugged him again and then slipped back into her chair, her hand still in his.

There was more? Something Karina said finally penetrated his brain. “The private investigator is working for the family? Why are they following my…Ashley? They didn’t bother to even tell Ashley her ex was dead so I’m not sure why they would be following her now. How did he die?”

Did they think she had something to do with his death?

“It was a car accident. He wasn’t wearing his seat belt,” Ashley said in a monotone. “You have to understand. The Reids were the wealthiest people in town. They were very concerned with their image as a family, with their bloodline. Trevor was an only child.”

“Sounds very British,” Taggart said.

“Don’t look at me,” Knight shot back. “I’m an orphan. Blood doesn’t mean a thing to me. Talk to Weston. He’s the one in line for the crown. So the Reids consider themselves above everyone else? Is that why he didn’t marry you when you discovered you were pregnant?”