Master of Revenge, page 7
“Suck.”
I opened my mouth, following his instructions. My flavor burst over my taste buds, spice and sweetness mixed together.
He pulled his fingers free and then rubbed his thumb down my throat. “Do you like?”
Was it okay to say I enjoyed the taste of my own arousal?
I nodded, feeling my face grow hot with a tinge of embarrassment.
“Now do you see why you’ve haunted me for the last month?”
“Why do you make me admit things like that?”
He sucked my lower lip into his mouth and released it with a pop. “Because under the always poised Henna Sara Anthony, there’s a hedonist who needs someone to make her come out and play.”
He was right. My few past experiences had been pleasurable but never like what happened with Zack.
It was as if he’d ruined me for any other man with one intense night of pleasure.
Don’t go there, Henna.
“Now that you have her, what do you plan to do?”
His fingers slipped to the back of my dress. “I plan to fuck you all night long.”
My stomach jumped with excitement. “Ambitious, aren’t you?”
Zack slid the zipper of my dress slowly down, taking his time and letting the material part at a snail’s pace. “It’s not ambition if it’s true. And I’ve proven that I can go all night long. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes,” I said through an unsteady breath.
“However, right now, I plan to take you fast. You’ve kept me hard for the last month and I need to take the edge off.”
“You went without sex for a month?” I couldn’t hide the surprise from my voice.
His hand cupped my throat, irritation etched on his face. “Despite what the public believes, I do not have a parade of women in my bed. The number is grossly inaccurate. Besides, the only woman I’ve wanted to fuck for a while is you.”
I felt a squeeze around my heart. This was sex, attraction, physical need. If I let myself believe anything more, I was destined for pain.
Stifling my train of thought, I said, “Then what are you waiting for?”
“Absolutely nothing.” He covered my lips, drowning me in his intoxicating kisses.
For the next few minutes, we were like two frenzied animals, wanting nothing more than to get each other naked.
I’d never wanted a man this way.
I reached for Zack’s belt, but he stayed my fingers. “Tell me you have a condom.”
Why did the thought he wasn’t prepared for sex at all times make me feel a sense of happiness?
He bit my lower lip, bringing my attention back to his words. “In my purse.”
He reached behind him to the table, grabbing my clutch. He rummaged for a second, found the condom, and had himself sheathed the second I freed his beautiful cock.
He lifted me up, pressing my naked back against the window. I wrapped my legs around his waist and gripped his shoulders with my fingers.
“You ready?” he asked, positioning the crown of his giant cock against my soaked opening.
“Of course, I’m ready. Fuck me, Zack.”
He drove in hard, making me gasp. “Oh God.”
There was no slowly working himself into me as he’d done the first time we’d been together. He was so much larger than any man I’d been with before, and the blaze in his eyes said he wanted it to hurt, especially since he knew I liked it.
“Christ. You’re so tight.” He pulled out and slammed back in. “You feel so fucking good.”
My pussy stretched around his thick girth with each thrust. He was going slow on purpose, to make me crazy, to make me demand what I needed, to make me beg for the orgasm he controlled.
I pulled at his hair. “Harder. Please, harder.”
He changed his pace, driving deep and with the force I needed. I detonated, clamping down on his pistoning cock. My nails dug into his shoulder as I cried out.
“Zack. Oh God. Zack.”
“That’s it, baby. Keep coming.” He pushed his palm between our bodies and found my swollen clit.
He strummed and tormented, keeping me suspended in pleasure, rolling me from one orgasm to another while he pounded my pussy.
Only with this man had I come like this. Just when I was ready for the pleasure to stop, he covered my lips and came hard, his cock growing incredibly thick and long and spasming.
He broke the kiss and stared into my eyes as he worked the last of his orgasm out of him. Then he rested his forehead against mine.
“God, I needed that.” He sounded lust-drunk, making me smile.
Zack’s cock was still thick inside me, even after coming as hard as he had.
“You’re not the only one.”
“We’re good together.”
“Well, when we’re naked anyway.” I released a breath, trying to get my heartbeat to calm.
“Come home with me.”
I closed my eyes for a brief second. If only it were as simple as that. If only there were no consequences to this attraction.
“No. Nothing has changed. You’re still the enemy. I won’t let you use me to hurt Collin.”
Zack stiffened, lifting his head and pulling free of my body. Immediately, I missed the feel of him.
“This has nothing to do with the old man and you know it.” Zack jerked off the condom, tying it before throwing it in the nearby trashcan. “When I fuck you, it is about us and no one else.”
“There’s no way to prove otherwise.” I sagged against the steam-covered glass, feeling the sweat on my body cool.
“Dammit, Henna. What do I gain by fucking you?” He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
He stood before me all pissed off and gloriously naked. He was gorgeous.
“Maybe you thought to learn something about Collin by seducing me.”
“For fuck’s sake, Henna. There was no seduction needed. We’re hot for each other. Always have been.” Zack moved to the pile of clothes on the floor, picking up my dress and then handing it to me before shrugging on his clothes. “Let me repeat, this has nothing to do with that bastard.”
My temper flared. “Don’t ever disrespect Collin in front of me again. You have no idea why he made the choices he did or how he had to pay the price for them.”
I stepped into my dress and reached behind me to zip it up, not caring that I had no underwear.
“Is that man always going to be the bone between us?”
“Why does it matter so much? I’m just another girl in the long line of your exploits. Were you looking at me and thinking white picket fences and happily ever after?”
“Henna,” he warned, as his tone grew more irritated.
“I didn’t think so.”
He grasped my upper arms, hauling me closer. “Even if I wanted more, would you pick me over him?”
I glared up at him. “No.”
Abruptly, he released me, and I stumbled back.
“There you go. You love Collin so much that you’re blind to the fact he’s a sadistic asshole. His giving you the love he should have given his sons doesn’t absolve him from what he did to me and my brothers.”
“He isn’t the monster you want to believe he is. The real monsters are in front of your eyes and you’re completely blind to them.”
“I know exactly the monsters I do business with. Hell, I’m one of them.”
Zack turned and walked out the door.
Chapter Nine
Henna
* * *
“Mummy, I need to talk to you about something before Ana gets up here.”
My mother, Lena Anthony, looked up from the mirror where she was applying the last of her makeup before we went to help Penny finish getting ready for her wedding. My mother was beyond youthful for a woman nearing sixty. Her hair was still a glossy black without the aid of hair color and her skin unmarred by wrinkles. She looked more like my sister than my mother. I only hoped I’d inherited her ability to grow older gracefully.
Mama had flown in from Arizona the day before, and with all of the wedding madness, we hadn’t had a moment alone to talk. And I knew it was now or never.
She wasn’t going to like it, but it was time. I had no doubt Mama would do the right thing, even if it meant sacrificing her pride. Well I hoped, anyway.
“Is it about Anaya’s new job? I know she loved it, but she looks so tired. Plus, I don’t think I want her moving to Washington DC. It’s such a long way from us.”
Earlier in the day Ana had received an official offer to work for the company she’d interned with in Europe after graduation. Her salary would be in the high six figures with an expense account. It almost seemed too good to be true, but then again, Anaya never did anything half-assed. She would have to spend every long break from school with the company in an unpaid capacity going through additional training, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make.
“No, it’s about the past.” I felt the weight of dread settle on my shoulders as I moved to the vanity where Mummy stood.
“I’ve told you this before. The answer is no. I don’t want to discuss it again.” Her tone was no-nonsense and sharp.
I released a sigh. “Mummy, it’s time. Too many people know. If we don’t say something to Ana, someone else will.”
“What do you mean, people know? Collin wouldn’t tell a soul, especially after all he did to protect us.”
“There were other people involved. Plus, she looks like her brothers and her birth—”
“You stop right there.” Pain was etched across Mama’s face as she cut me off. “Don’t you dare mention her.”
“Mummy, I’m not excusing Rhea, but she was a victim too. Papa took advantage of her.”
“I don’t want to hear you defend her. She was married and slept with a married man. Her loneliness isn’t a just cause to cheat. To save face, Rhea gave up her child. She went back to her perfect world-traveling lifestyle while I had to pick up the pieces of the mess your father left us.”
Tears streamed down Mummy’s face. I couldn’t imagine the pain of all she’d endured at Papa’s, the media’s, and the government’s hands. She’d made a life for us in a state and city where she knew no one, using a name that wasn’t hers.
“I’m so sorry, Mummy. I wasn’t thinking before I spoke. You’re the strongest woman I know. No matter what was thrown at you, you moved forward and lived your life.”
She took my hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. “You and I are more alike than you believe.”
“If only that was true.” I stared into my mother’s chocolate eyes. “It’s time to free yourself from the burden of all the secrets. You don’t need to protect us anymore. Ana can handle it.”
“Anaya is about to start a new life. I will not hurt her. I know her brothers will love her but she doesn’t deserve to have this burden to carry. There is no good that can come out of her knowing the truth.”
“I know. I’ve known for years.”
Mummy and I froze as Ana came into the room.
“Do you think I didn’t question where I got my fairer skin or hazel eyes? I don’t look like you or Papa.” Sadness shadowed her normally bright eyes as tears streamed down her face. “How could you love me knowing what I was? What I represented? He cheated on you and I’m the shame that came from it.”
Mama dropped my hand, rushed to Ana, and engulfed her in her arms.
“You are my baby. You were mine from the second they placed you in my arms. If he hadn’t done what he had, you wouldn’t be here. I’d live through it all over again, if it meant you were mine.”
Anaya sobbed. “When will he stop hurting us?”
“He doesn’t have the power to hurt us anymore. Don’t give it to him.” Mummy smoothed Ana’s hair and kissed her forehead. “No matter who gave birth to you, you are my child and Henna is your sister. Nothing will ever change this.”
I swallowed as my throat burned and I cried silently.
“Her brothers are good men, Mummy.” I moved to where my mom and Anaya held each other. “They’ll want to get to know Ana. Not just as Penny’s cousin, but as a sister.”
Ana stared at me. “How do you know this?”
“Penny and Amelia told me the night Ame married Pierce.”
“But how do they know? Why wouldn’t anyone say anything?” Ana wiped at her cheeks with the back of her hand.
“It doesn’t matter how any of them found out,” Mama said. “I always knew it would eventually come out. I just hoped it would take longer.”
There was a resignation around her that made me realize it wasn’t the fear of the public knowing the truth but that she would lose her child, a child not of her blood but heart.
I set a hand on her shoulder. “Mummy, this isn’t something to fear. They know what you mean to Anaya. I overheard Hagen say how much he wished his mother was as strong as you were. They respect you.”
“Let’s take it one step at a time. They don’t even know that you told me. Today is about Penny and Hagen.” Anaya straightened, releasing her hold on our mother.
The emotions completely disappeared from her whole demeanor. It was as if nothing disturbing had happened. Anaya had always been the sensitive one out of the two of us, but now it seemed like her internship had taught her a new skill.
Before I could make a comment on her dramatic shift, Adrian Kipos, Penny’s twenty-two-year-old brother, walked in.
He was such a contrast to his sister. Penny had inherited the Indian skin tone and model features from Karina Masi, my mother’s older sister who passed away when Penny was born. Whereas Adrian had the sharp features of his mother’s Nordic heritage. The one feature both siblings shared were their piercing green eyes. It came from my deceased uncle Jacob’s Greek side.
The siblings loved each other in the same way Anaya and I did. They would protect and fight for the other through thick or thin.
“Are you ladies ready?” He asked the question to all of us, but his gaze was on Anaya.
He walked up to her and then whispered something in her ear, not caring that Mummy and I watched him.
Anaya frowned. “Nothing.”
“I know something’s wrong,” he said a little louder.
Ana pushed him away and said through clenched teeth, “Would it matter? Don’t pretend to care on my account. You made it clear where we stand.”
I glanced at my mother, asking silently if she knew what was going on. Mummy lifted her brows and shrugged.
“Dammit, Ana.” He grabbed her arm, and in a split second, Ana made some crazy ninja move and had Adrian’s hand twisted behind his back.
How the hell had she done that? He was probably double her weight and a good eight inches taller than her.
“Don’t touch me. You don’t ever get to touch me. You lost the chance. You live your life and I’ll do the same with mine.”
Adrian gasped out a breath, and I could tell he was letting Anaya keep him in that position. Adrian practiced mixed martial arts every day with a coach from Amelia’s training facility.
“Ana, I don’t have a choice.”
“Bullshit. You’re just too scared of the consequences, and I’m done waiting.”
Anaya released Adrian and walked past me. “Let’s go. We have a bride waiting for her wedding party.”
Well, this was getting more twisted by the minute. I was in some weird sex thing with Zack, who happened to be my half sister’s half brother, and my half sister was in some unsaid thing with my cousin’s half brother.
There was no doubt we were a very tangled family. The Greek Gods would be proud.
Zack
* * *
I walked into my weekly poker game located in the middle of a group of warehouses on the outskirts of Vegas, a bit exhausted and suffering from a mild hangover. It had been less than twenty-four hours since Penny and Hagen had said their vows on Henna’s fancy estate.
Fancy was an understatement for her house. I’d heard about the estate Henna had built for herself but never expected what we’d driven up to. Now I understood why it had taken two years to build. The place looked quaint, nothing grand from a distance, then when one drove up, they were hit with a sprawling estate that camouflaged into the surrounding desert and canyons.
Whoever Henna had hired to design the house knew her well. It was a homage to her understated elegance. Until someone got to know the woman, they wouldn’t see how spectacular she was as a person.
God, I sounded like a lovesick wimp.
But then again, seeing the woman host a wedding for three hundred people and manage to look unfazed by the chaos of the day was beyond impressive.
I hoped to God she felt as run over as I did. I hadn’t left until close to three in the morning and her house had still been bustling with people.
I took my usual seat at the table, ordered a drink from the attendant, and then gestured to the banker for my normal buy-in.
Rolling my neck side to side, I tried to shake some of the stiffness from my shoulders.
“You look tired, boy,” said Dwight Jones. He was a professional in the poker world, who’d wisely invested his winnings in real estate, turning him into a multimillionaire ten times over. Mr. D, as everyone called Dwight, was probably the crotchetiest no-bullshit man that I’d ever played with. I wasn’t even sure I’d ever seen him smile.
On nights when he was at the table, most of the talkative regulars were scarce to be seen. It was a standing rule no chitchat after the cards were dealt. Mr. D had a tendency to punch people who wouldn’t shut up.
I’d felt like doing this a time or two but had managed to restrain myself.
“That was an understatement. I’m still trying to recover. Sucks to go back to work after an eventful night.”
“I heard your brother got married. Tell him D said good luck.”
“Will do.”
“How’d it go, seeing the old man in attendance?”
During the day, Collin had tried multiple times to engage in conversation. I hadn’t been a dick and outright ignored him but kept our discussions short and impersonal.
“Not bad. My interaction with Collin was minimal. Most of my time was spent trying to keep the groom from wishing he’d eloped. Hagen isn’t one for attention, and the fact he had a wedding with three hundred guests is a testament to his love for Penny.”
