Ruthless Heir, page 3
“Jayna is smart and knows business,” Arun added to the conversation. “It’s a family trait. Wouldn’t you agree?”
I’d leave this all to Neil. Complimenting Shah was where I drew the line.
On cue, Neil jumped in. “You’re absolutely right. You and Auntie Monica did a fine job with her education.”
Shah’s jaw hardened for a second at the mention of his ex-wife, then eased. “Yes, my daughter is brilliant. Too bad I couldn’t influence her to make a better match when it came to marriage.” He shook his head as if he had failed. “I guess I can’t win all the fights. If only the Father above had given me more children. Perhaps a son. Then my legacy would live on.”
Everything inside me heated, rapidly growing to a raging boil.
He had a son. A son he’d thrown away.
Arun patted Shah on the back. “Neil will carry on our legacy, my friend. He is as much your son as he is mine. And once these two make it official, I’m sure they will produce more than enough children for both of us to spoil.”
I shot Neil a mock glare, but his eyes took on a hard edge I hadn’t expected. I’d always known he hated his father, but the venom he flashed toward Shah surprised me.
I laughed, giving him a joking jab. “I have to get him to propose first. I think we still have some time yet.”
“On that note, I think we should get a drink.” Neil steered me toward a server with a tray of champagne flutes.
“Want to tell me what that look was all about?” I asked under my breath in English.
Neil grabbed two flutes, handing one to me. “Nothing, really. These evenings are becoming mundane. It’s the same old song and dance every few days.”
I wanted to call him out on sidestepping my question but decided to let it go. “All they care about is us shagging and making babies.”
He smirked. “I saw your face when Shah made his son comment. The flames in your eyes looked lethal. You may want to keep that under wraps.”
“You only know my tells because we trained together. No one else can figure out shit about me. Cold as the diamonds in my mines, remember?”
“Why do you play that up so much? You’d have a hell of a lot more friends if you thawed a little.”
“I have friends. I’m selective, that’s all.”
“Yes. Yes. Separation of church and state. Where do I fall into this?”
“Besides my replacement?”
“Yes.”
“Family. The one I picked. Although, it sucks that we have to pretend we are hopelessly into each other.” I gave him a flirty smile. “This is seriously bordering on ince—”
My thoughts drifted away as my eyes connected with rich amber ones. Everything inside me clenched, and my heartbeat accelerated.
Fuck.
The man I couldn’t have. The man I couldn’t let go.
The pain, the need, the longing of the last few weeks roared to life.
God. He took my breath away.
Where his brothers gave the edge of danger when they polished up, telling the world they were outsiders among them, Samir King was the actual dangerous one, the most ruthless, the one who seamlessly blended in. His chiseled good looks and tailored clothing gave him an aura of refined elegance. Then, when someone looked deeper into those mesmerizing eyes, there was no mistaking the intelligence taking in every detail of every situation.
The desperate need to touch him pulled at every fiber of my being. The ache, almost visceral and unexplainable, burned in my chest. It had been like this from the beginning with us.
No matter where we were in a room, the draw made us seek each other out.
Sam continued to stare at me. The pulse of energy between us charged deep into my soul. Logic screamed for me to look away. Too much teetered on the edge.
As sense finally penetrated my mind, I refocused on Neil. “What was I saying?”
“You were about to call what we are doing incest.”
I released a deep breath as I realized everything that had passed between Sam and me had happened within mere seconds.
“You have to admit it’s a bit messed up.”
“Yeah, well, we shouldn’t have joined the circus if we didn’t want to have weird shit happen to us.”
My phone beeped, saving me from responding and giving me the cue to move to the hotel lounge to pick up some microchips from my favorite hacker.
“Time to go powder my nose and grab a new shade of lipstick.”
I walked into the private lounge I’d received as the meeting location for the rendezvous with the Little Rabbit, aka Danika King. Who also happened to be my closest friend. In the last year and a half, though, I’d taken a more cautious approach to our friendship for both our sakes.
She’d married into the King family, and as far as the world knew, Danika and I were socialite enemies. A rivalry due to some made-up bullshit from our teens that never happened, as far as we could recall.
Sometimes I wished things were simple again between us. When Danika pretended to be the poor Shah relation by day and hacker extraordinaire for hire by night. And I was the ambitious Solon agent trying to climb the Solon leadership ladder.
Long before I knew she was the Little Rabbit, a legendary underground hacker wanted on six continents for her vigilante ways. Though most people thought she belonged to the male persuasion. Because, of course, only people with penises had the brains to hack and be badasses.
I could admit that when I’d learned she’d kept her secret identity as the Little Rabbit from me, I’d wanted to punch her in the nose.
I was her ride-or-die, the person who taught her how to protect herself, and she’d kept that shit from me. Finally, after I’d calmed the fuck down, I understood her reasoning.
We all had our demons and secrets.
I was definitely no saint when it came to mine.
I could admit that I had gotten an IOU out of her for the incident. One I had yet to collect. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever collect.
She was the best in her field. To describe her skills as dangerous when given a laptop was an understatement. But she wasn’t an agent, no matter how much time I’d spent making sure she could take care of herself. Plus, she had a baby on the way, and I couldn’t risk her safety.
She’d given up her revenge against Shah for the new life she had today, for Nik.
Never would I bring her into the thick of it.
I scanned the room, taking in every inch of the space. Then, listening to airflow in the area, I gauged for changes in sound aside from the air-conditioning system. A slight whistle in the corner told me a hidden panel or door sat somewhere in that space.
Cheeky girl.
She should know by now that I could find every secret passage in a place. Hell, they were my specialty. Tiny spaces allowed me to discover all the secrets the big fuckers could never learn.
People loved to underestimate my five-foot-two height, thinking my size made me less than or weak. Fools, all of them.
More times than not, my petite stature allowed me to slide in and out of places without leaving a footprint or detection. Something paramount in the spy game.
Plus, it helped I had no issues with claustrophobia or moving about in dark spaces.
I waited another minute in the middle of the room, locked the lounge door from the inside, and then made my way to the corner.
I traced along the wall and found a small groove concealing a lever. Just as I tugged the handle and the panel shifted, a hand grabbed hold of my wrist, pulling me into darkness and pinning me to the wall.
Instinct fired to life, and I shifted my hips, readying to nail the fucker in the balls as I reached for the gun strapped to my thigh. Stilling just as fast, I reined in my need to fight, closed my eyes, and dropped my head against the wall.
“Sam, you shouldn’t be here.”
“Yes, or no?” Sam asked in that deep rasp that made my body instantly react.
He planned to do to me exactly what I’d done to him time and time again throughout the last few years. He’d never know where I’d pop up to have my way with him. We’d end up fucking in stairwells, closets, pantries, and my favorite—hidden rooms. Then we’d return to whatever event we were attending as if nothing had happened between us.
My breath grew unsteady as my nipples pebbled and arousal pooled between my legs. I shouldn’t want him like this, ache for him like this.
A few words, a look, the scent of him, his sheer presence.
“You’re with someone else.”
“That’s not what I asked you.” He glided his hand over my throat, down my neck, and skimmed over my breast, moving lower until he cupped the mound of my sex through my dress. “Does he make you come, Highness?”
Only Sam had ever called me by that name. It was his way of reminding me of our different stations in life and the fact he believed I was lowering myself with him.
If only he’d known I was the one tainted. He’d forged himself out of fire and hardship. While I had more blood on my hands than anyone would believe.
And I planned to add to it without any guilt.
“Nothing to say?” Sam pressed down, then stroked two fingers over my clit, causing the ache deep in my pussy to grow more needy and painful.
Without thought, I lifted against his questing palm, needing the friction I craved, and whispered, “He doesn’t touch me at all.”
“Am I supposed to believe that you left me for a man who doesn’t please you?”
He lowered to his knees and slowly gathered the silken material of my gown up until he had it bunched at my thighs just above where my gun sat strapped against me. Goose bumps prickled over me as cool air glided over my heated skin.
“Never leave home without it, do you?”
“A girl can never be too careful.”
“Do you think you’re safe now?” His lips brushed the area just shy of my underwear. “I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“You don’t scare me.”
He pushed my dress farther up and blew against the silk covering my arousal-soaked clit.
Oh God, I needed more.
Next, his tongue stroked the swollen bundle of nerves, dampening the material further and rocketing my desire higher.
A whimper escaped my lips as I gripped Sam’s shoulders, desperate to hold on to something. The complete darkness in the room drove every sensation to an even more intense level.
“I didn’t give you permission to touch me. Put your hands back on the wall.”
An ache burned deep and hot inside me. Only he knew this side of me. But I couldn’t go there, or I wouldn’t survive my plans. I’d created this void between us, and this was the price.
My fingers dug into the jacket of his tuxedo. “I don’t need permission. I do what I like.”
“Wrong.” He stood, grasping my wrists and pressing them above my head.
He brought his mouth a hairsbreadth from mine.
“You lost that right when you chose someone else.” Anger radiated through his words. “When you chose an easier life. Now you get what I give you.”
I couldn’t defend myself. I’d broken our hearts.
“And what is it you plan to give me?”
“First, you answer yes or no.”
“You know what I’ll say.”
“Do I, Highness?”
“Sam, you know me better than anyone else.”
“I thought I did. I was wrong. Now answer, yes or no.”
“Yes. Dammit. Yes.”
He shifted my wrists to one of his hands. Then, using the other, he cupped my throat, applying enough pressure to make it deliciously uncomfortable and arousing without restricting my airflow.
I couldn’t help but moan, loving the feel of him so close to me. All my senses ran on hyperdrive, my body begging for more, needing more, oh so much more.
As if hearing my thoughts, Sam rubbed the stubble along his jaw against my cheek a second before he bit my lower lip, making me gasp.
“Do you ache, Highness? Do you need me to push you? Force you to release that control?”
My core clenched as my pulse jumped. “I took care of myself before you. I am capable of doing it now.”
“Don’t even pretend for a moment that you don’t want more from me.” Now he nipped my earlobe. “For three years, I’ve fucked you in every way possible. I’ve heard every one of your moans and pleas. I know exactly how to make you beg.”
He was too damn cocky for his own good.
To hell with this guilt bogging me down. Right now, I would get laid the way I liked.
Turning my head and lifting up on tiptoes, I took hold of his bottom lip with my teeth and bit down hard enough to draw blood, then licked it.
A growl erupted from his throat a second before he released my wrist, grasped the back of my head, and covered my mouth with his.
The taste of him exploded over my senses, intoxicating and consuming.
I wanted more, so much more. His tongue dueled against mine in a game of dominance. One we’d played so many times. My breasts swelled, and my nipples strained against the confines of my gown, desperate for his palms to mold, tease, and pinch.
I scored my nails along the back of his neck, knowing he’d have my marks on his skin, and then dug my fingers into his thick hair.
“Naked. Now.” In a frenzy, I pushed at his jacket, needing to get to his skin.
I fucking loved the body he hid under his custom-tailored suits. Not only was he beautiful to look at with his tattooed, sculpted physique, but he moved like a honed weapon.
For someone like me, a man who trained in the muck with his men and could take care of himself was a greater turn-on than any supermodel or movie star.
“Next time,” he murmured as he lifted me and then repositioned me onto a ledge. One I never would have known was there in the dark.
“I have to be inside you. It’s been too fucking long.”
“Hurry.” I clutched at his shoulders, unable to hide the desperation in my voice.
The sound of his zipper sliding sent a shiver down my spine.
God, I wanted this. Needed this.
With my dress pushed up far enough for him to step between my legs, he gripped my hip with one hand and shifted my thong to the side with the other. The heat from his straining, thick, hard cock teased my aching pussy.
I squirmed as the urge to pull him closer drove at me.
Fuck. This driving desperation had me on the edge of losing my mind.
When his velvety, bulbous head brushed against my dripping opening, it took everything inside me not to beg him to just put me out of my misery.
He’d been my only lover for nearly three years, and going without him for all these weeks seemed like a lifetime.
“God, I missed how wet you get for me.” He slid in a fraction and then pulled out, eliciting a whimper from my lips.
That was it. I was taking things into my own hands.
However, before I could do anything, he plunged to the hilt inside me.
“Fuck, Sam,” I cried out, not expecting the exquisite sting of discomfort.
I closed my eyes and reveled in the onslaught of sensations cascading through my body. It was almost too much, too overwhelming.
And I never wanted it to stop.
I’d only ever felt this way with him.
He shouldn’t have this kind of hold on me. Not someone like me.
I commanded and called the shots. With him, I surrendered too much control.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I wrapped my arms around Sam’s neck and drew him to me. Using that as a cue, he adjusted his hold on my hips, pulled out, and then slammed back in, setting the hard, brutal pace he knew I loved.
My pussy responded, spasming with each plunge of his cock.
He kneaded and massaged my ass, tugging me back and forth into every wicked thrust. I’d undoubtedly have bruises on my hips and back from this vicious pounding. And I’d take all he gave because every inch of me loved it.
“More. I need more.”
“I know.”
He rolled his hips in that perfect way, hitting all the right spots inside me with each pummeling thrust. My body answered his demands by quickening first with tiny tremors and then clenching around his pistoning shaft.
Heat pooled deep in my core, building higher and higher. My skin burned, and sweat tinged every part of me.
If only I could see his face. I loved watching him. His intensity drove my desire higher.
This was part of the punishment for leaving him.
I had no doubt.
Sex in the dark, where no one could see. To remind me what a horrible woman I was to have kept us in the shadows.
He grabbed my jaw, pulled me out of my thoughts, and brought his lips to mine. “I’m still here.”
“Sam,” I whispered as my mind clouded with arousal and emotion. “I need you.”
“I know. Now come for me.” He released my face and slid his finger between our bodies.
It took the barest brush against my clit, and my body erupted, flexing and clamping down on his cock. I rode the torrential waves of euphoria and exhilaration only this man could harvest out of me.
“One more,” he ordered before I’d barely come down, catapulting me back up to the crest again.
He grew harder and thicker inside me, the hand on my hip digging in as if he never wanted to let me go.
“Devani,” he cried out as he came, bucking his hips into me, riding out his release.
Neither of us spoke as we let our breaths calm, only holding each other. The scent of us lingered in the air, as well as the weight of what we’d just done. I needed him so much and wanted him on a level I shouldn’t.
What was I thinking? There were too many consequences for acting irrationally. This man was my weakness, and no one could know this. The problem was that more people than I wanted knew about us.
Sam braced his arms on the ledge on either side of my hips, his semi-hard cock continuing to throb inside me. The need for him still burned deep in my core. It was as if the visceral desire between us hadn’t even cooled a minute amount.
