Counsellor (Acquisition 1)

I urged her on. The cottage had to be nearby. I hoped I hadn’t missed it in the murky woods. We went a little farther, but there was still no sign of the cottage. We must have just passed it. I turned Gloria around to double back.

The rain seemed to let up a little bit, a brief respite. Maybe the storm was passing and we could head back to the stables instead of trying to ride it out? Then, a strange sensation shot through my body, like a tingling. Oh, no.

“Gloria, go!” I cried.

Too late. Lightning struck so near us that Gloria reared back and threw me. I hit a tree trunk. The deafening boom of thunder was the last thing I heard.

Chapter Eighteen

Sinclair

I made it to the front porch before a heavy rain began to fall. Then came the hail. Good thing I’d parked in the garage. Once inside, I pulled my coat off and handed it to Farns before loosening my tie.

“She in the library?” I asked.

“No, Mr. Sinclair. I believe she and Teddy went out for a ride.”

“Not smart.” Teddy would take care of her, at least. An image of Stella in a wet t-shirt floated through my mind. The thought of her with Teddy was no longer so palatable. “I guess I’ll go see if they made it out of the rain.”

“Very good, sir.” Farns smiled.

I climbed the stairs two at a time to my room. I stripped out of my suit and dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. I was ripping a raincoat from its hanger when a rhythmic banging wafted to my ears.

Lucius was still at the plant. I’d spoken to him on the phone, so no one else should have been in our wing of the house. I yanked on some boots and headed down the hall, creeping along the runner so my steps were silent.

The closer I got to Teddy’s room, the louder the sound grew, and it was interspersed with grunts and feminine moans. My hands clenched. Fire laced around my heart, squeezing like a lasso of flames, drawing me inexorably closer to his door. The image of Stella was back, but this time she was beneath Teddy, writhing in pleasure as he fucked her. I had to lean a hand on the wall as my sight grew hazy, rage coloring everything a shade darker.

No. Well, Farns did say they’d gone for a ride. I would have laughed if anything were funny. Nothing was. Murder might be entertaining, but definitely not amusing. I gripped the door handle, steeling myself for what I was about to see. The cries grew louder and beneath them was the sound of skin slapping on skin.

I flung the door open. Teddy was on top of the maid from the kitchen, Laura. He rolled off her when he saw me.

“Sin!” Teddy threw his blanket across her naked body.

I let out a pent up breath. Relief washed through me, replacing the bitter taste of hate and rage.

“Don’t you fucking knock anymore?”

“Fuck, Teddy. I thought you were…” I shook my head.

“With Stella?” Teddy asked.

“I should go.” Laura’s voice quavered.

“No, stay.” Teddy smoothed a hand over her knee.

Her face looked pinched as she stared up at me.

I sighed. “I’m not going to fire you, Laura.” Though I should.

I should have ordered her to pack up and leave then and there. Instead, my mind was whirring away with where Stella was, what she was doing. Teddy’s discipline could wait.

She let out a pent up breath, the blood returning to her face with a vengeance.

“Of course he’s not going to fire you.” Teddy glared at me.

“Teddy. We’ve talked about this. You can’t fuck the help.”

“Just like you can’t fuck the Acquisition?”

I returned his glare. “Stella is none of your business. I told you to stay out of it.”

“It’s kind of hard for me to stay out of it when you force her to stand naked on the table or whip her so badly—”

“Teddy!” I barked. I glanced to Laura. She looked away, pretending to be deaf.

He shrugged and dropped his gaze. “You know what I mean.”

“Teddy, please believe me when I tell you that you don’t know shit about any of it. Not the Acquisition, and definitely not Stella.” I regretted the words as soon as they were out. Teddy looked stung. Lucius was fair game, but Teddy—he wasn’t like us. He had a good heart.

I balled my anger up and pushed it down before resuming in an even tone. “I’m sorry, Teddy. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I’d know more about it if you’d tell me. Maybe I could help.” He stood and ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t seem to notice his half-mast dick was waving around.

“You don’t need to know. It’s only for the firstborn.” I’d had this conversation about six times with him ever since Stella arrived.