King of Spades (Wonderland 1)

With a start of the engine, it rumbling beneath us, he takes off—the sudden motion causing me to squeal.

Nick shouts over his shoulder at me, “Relax. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’re perfectly safe.”

His soothing voice sends shivers down my spine but does little to calm my anxiety. I look down at the speeding street below. I feel so out of control and far from safe, but when his hand reaches back and pats my thigh reassuringly, I swallow my fear and lean forward solidly into Nick’s back. His warmth comforts me, his rock hard back going a long way toward reassuring me I can trust his word.

“See, this isn’t so bad,” he says when he stops at a light. He runs his palm up and down my leg.

“Piece of cake.” My voice trembles a bit, his touch fanning the embers in a fire I should be resisting.

“I can go faster if you like,” Nick challenges.

“No! I like this pace just fine, thank you.”

Nick laughs while taking off once the light turns green.

The motorcycle purrs over the streets smoothly, and after a while, I begin to ease the muscles in my body. My breathing calms, and my heart seems to beat in its regular rhythm again. Every time I adjust my body, Nick would slow down, look over his shoulder at me in concern, and with the warmth in his eyes, envelop me in security and safety. The feeling of being protected, guarded, and well… wanted, replace any remnant of uneasiness.

“Maybe a little faster,” I say a few minutes later as we zoom by the mansions and perfectly groomed landscaping of Bishop’s Landing.

He chuckles, increases the speed, and I squeal as the bike slices through the air around us. I haven’t even been paying close attention to where we’re going, but as we crest a hill and he slows the bike when we begin to climb yet another rise, I begin to see why all the wealthy want to live in Bishop’s Landing.

“Over there,” he says, pointing to the right as he turns, “is a house belonging to an old and dear friend of mine. She has a hot tub that sits on a cliff overlooking the sea. It’s the best view I’ve ever seen in my life. She’s out of town right now, but she won’t mind us using it.”

He pulls before a gate, types in an access code, and once the beautiful iron work opens, drives us up a circular driveway very similar to the one at Nick’s.

Nick stops, turns off the bike, and holds it steady so I can get off. I turn my head so I can look into his smoldering brown eyes. “You don’t think she’ll mind us just showing up uninvited? I don’t want us to get into trouble.”

“She won’t mind,” he says, hopping off the bike, and removing his helmet. I remove mine as well, feeling uneasy with this trip of ours. “Her hot tub has been used by many.”

“I didn’t pack a swimsuit.”

His laughter is loud enough that I have no doubt he doesn’t feel like we are sneaking in or doing anything wrong. “You truly fascinate me, Lyriope. For someone who got into bed with killers like the Sidorovs and have become one of the most wanted women in the underground right now, you really are so… inexperienced. You haven’t taken risks in life at all. So virginal.” He gives a wicked smile. “But we can change that. I hope to open your eyes to all sorts of experiences.”

Heat instantly surges through me as memories of us in his study flash across my mind in full force. The contract signing, the consequences afterward, the feel of Nick’s fingers between my thighs, his amusement and pleasure at finding me so wet. His demands for me to come and my body betraying my sanity by exploding when he pushed his pen into my ass… and the indescribable sensation when a few hours later he’d pushed his cock into a place I’d never even imagined being used for pleasure. And while it had hurt, burned, I couldn’t deny that the pain had morphed into pleasure beyond any I’d ever experienced before.

What has Nick done to me?

I’ve never been one to fantasize about sex in any way. My life was just too busy, unexciting, and frankly… lonely to do so before meeting Nick. Being a virgin wasn’t a moral choice, but simply I’ve never been presented the opportunity. But now that this man has touched me multiple times, my body is craving more. It’s like an addiction I’m battling and can’t win.

We enter a grove of trees in the back of the mansion, and I can see the tendrils of steam seeping from between cracks in a wall of huge boulders that surround the hot tub sitting on the edge of a cliff.