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Then he licks me once, from asshole to nub. And there he remains, concentrating his efforts on my clitoris. Sucking on it. Drawing small circles around it that way that drives me mad with need.
As I approach my climax, I hold his head to me with my bandaged hands, the pain completely forgotten. Because that’s what this type of kiss is meant to do. It’s meant to make me forget pain and anger and any sense of who I am.
I come, convulsing, crying out his name as I press my thighs hard around his ears. When I’m done, I fall back onto the counter, heaving. Maybe even dying a little. But I don’t care.
Sweet Jesus, I’m doomed.
14
ARRAN
In the very heart of Philadelphia on a block full of shops and eateries, you’ll find the upscale French bistro where famed Chef Guillaume serves his creations to very discerning patrons. He’s even won a prestigious Michelin Star.
It’s near impossible to get a reservation at the bistro with the gold awning that simply reads 1923. Only those with certain tastes and sizable incomes are allowed a seat. And of those, even fewer are taken through the small dining room and beyond the busy kitchen to the steel door in the back.
Innocuous though it may seem, it is a highly guarded door, for every cook in the kitchen is armed and ready. Lethal weapons to be used should anyone who’s not authorized try to go beyond it.
On the other side of that steel barricade, the real security begins. A long hall with facial recognition cameras directs guests to the entrance of the most prestigious underground club in the country.
The Maxton Pierce Auction House, so named by my father and his then partner and friend, Miles Pierce, is home to millions of dollars’ worth of stolen and/or illegally acquired artifacts, jewelry, museum pieces, etc.
Skye glances at the men formally dressed in black tuxedoes as they flank us menacingly. There’s a hint of resentment in her stare, possibly at being searched for weapons, but no one is above our laws here. Not even me.
“Don’t you get to come in a back way?” she asks as one of the security guys runs his palms up and down her sides.
I clench my jaw as I watch him touch her, wanting to hack his limbs off. “Not when I have a guest,” I say through gritted teeth.
It was a measure put in place when Miles brought in a woman who tried to kill my father. Of course, the guards were on her before she could do anything, but the fact that she’d come in through the back entrance meant she wasn’t searched for a weapon. It could have ended in catastrophe.
After Skye is cleared, I press my Maxton House ring to the magnetic scanner. It reads the chip located behind the ruby and unlocks the door.
“Welcome, Arran Maxton,” a computerized voice says.
“It’s a key,” Skye whispers, peering at the ring.
“Every member of the auction house receives one,” I tell her.
The door opens and I tug her inside the darkened interior of the lavish club.
“I…” she trails off as she takes it all in. “It’s huge. I didn’t know it would be so big.”
Of course it’s big. It takes up the entire block. All of the shops on the exterior are nothing but a façade. Though few of them are operating businesses, they are allmybusinesses. Some make me money, others provide a means of escape should the need ever present itself. Alternate exits.
Skye gawks around in obvious awe, her lips slightly parted. “I’m not sure what I imagined it would be like in here, but this wasn’t it.” She laughs. “Though I suppose I should have expected it.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“It reminds me of your place.”
“Ah.” I look around too. I’ve never thought about it before, but it does resemble my home, with dark tones, leather tufted chairs, and amber sconces. Even the stage at the far end of the room has deep-blue velvet curtains and an ornate mahogany wood podium and pedestal. “That would be because my father designed the place, just like he did my house.”
“Oh? So it’s not your taste?”
“I don’t have an opinion on décor,” I admit. “You don’t like it?”
She sighs. “I love it, actually. It’s very old world classic. It’s amazing, Arran.”
“You’re impressed, then?” The question that comes out my mouth surprises me.
