Cathedral (Cradle of Darkness 1)

I came from penetration alone. Hard. Far too hard for so little effort on his end. My sleek, styled hair was set in disarray when he pulled out and spun me about. Jerking his fist up and down an ivory white cock that spilled pearls all over my breasts.

Belly.

My hairless mound.

I gaped when open palms rubbed it into my skin like lotion.

“Lick me clean.” The statement was not a command. It was a test of the waters.

I wasn’t ready for whatever it was he sought. So I shook my head no. Not even a hint of disappointment took the glow from his eyes when he praised me anyway, Malcom pumping his fist from base to tip, gathering the last drops of his cum and smearing them over the flesh of my hip.

Bodily turned around, sat back upon my vanity's seat, Malcom went back to brushing my hair, leaning down, that smile intact as he whispered, “You were wet.”

Chapter Twenty

I was dressed in white lace… the gown almost bridal. And certainly not one that came from my wardrobe. The man had shopped for me. Everything new, including the underpinnings—my preferred Agent Provocateur encasing breasts and whispering over my pussy. The shoes were blood red, glinting with stones that set off the ruby collar he’d locked around my throat. With the skirt long and clinging, there was only the vaguest flash of a glittering crimson toe when I moved, subtle and considered. This was something Malcom had spent endless hours preparing.

Bearing in mind he nightly wore the same thing in various shades of black and dark gray, I would not have expected he had it in him to adorn a woman in more than cum.

My thoughts were crude. I was crude. Malcom was collected to an unnatural level. None of this made sense.

“Remember, do as you will, but always where I can see you. If you cast a gate, I’ll have to hurt you.” He took my chin before the mirrored elevator taking us to the rooftop restaurant of the prestigious Rothschild building dinged our floor. “And I don’t want to do that.”

“Your threats, Malcom, are as old as you are.” Eyes to my lips, a strange shiver leaving my flesh to bump, I muttered, “If there is a bridal arch and a priest on the other side of those doors, I’ll set this whole building on fire.”

“Very funny, Jade.” His hand went to the small of my back, possessive and just a touch too low to state anything but ownership.

Doors parted, a scene so common I was already bored waiting on the other side. Humans, my humans I’d sheep-dogged over the decades having their boring political conversations, scrounging up millions, begging for scraps while wearing Armani. And into an apparent fundraiser for Senator Parker we strolled.

Noticed.

Immediately noticed.

For I had been away for over a week, no Ethan on my arm, arriving with a stranger far more beautiful than any living creature. One who made it very clear that he was not there with me, but that I was there with him.

He might as well have pissed all over me the way he glared around the room. Mine. Do not touch.

It didn’t move the humans as it should have. Already the senator descended down upon me, frown fixed above his sagging chin. “You’ll arrange a private chat between me and your father. Technicalities are to be ironed out.”

I’m not sure why it came over me then, but I was so utterly weary of all of this—these people, their politics, the human idea of wealth. “Let me guess, no check arrived. Short of funds?”

Never had I spoken with such rudeness to this man. I’d always groveled, and bantered, and submitted to grotesque jokes and a woman’s place.

The senator’s face went purple, his voice dropping low as if to prevent a further scene. “If this is due to my nephew’s liaison, I can assure you she’ll be kept out of sight.”

Not removed from the equation, but tucked away so as to save me further embarrassment. “And the baby?”

I don’t know why I said it, why I dug that dagger in specifically to cause Ethan harm. Because there was no way either the senator or Ethan’s illustrious father knew of the fetus. A child I had just done harm by making it real with words.

Calculations, considerations of the most unconservative kind worked the wheels in the old republican’s skull. Was it too late for abortion? Could the baby be given away? How much was this going to cost to hide from the tabloids? “Will be sent abroad to school, of course.”

I really was evil… “Of course.”

Before the strangest wave of self-reproach might mingle with the unhealed ache in my heart, I heard my name called. With joy. As if the world once again turned because I’d been found. “Jade!”