Suddenly His

“You’re asking me to pull out? Fuck.” He blows out a breath, his fingers flexing on my hips. “Yeah…I can do that.”

“Promise?”

He nods, starts to say something else—

“Showtime,” Winston calls, dropping into the chair directly to my right.

And the music starts.

4

Jack

I wasn’t exaggerating when I told Maisy that I’m a pure asshole.

This room, this world, is where men like me belong. Where we end up after we’ve squeezed blood from our enemies and padded our bank accounts using ruthless practices. This is where finance gods come for thrills. There is even part of me that wants to belong here, because it validates my belief that I’m irredeemable. Not worth loving or sticking around for.

But I look at her…

I study her perfection and I ache like hell to be better.

A good man. A moral one.

These are the urges I’ve been wrestling with for six months. Her innate goodness makes me hope for things I know are fucking useless. That she could love me? There is a better chance of balloons and ticker tape raining down from the ceiling.

How am I so sure?

My past, yes. Of course there is that. But there’s more.

As much as I hate Maisy losing her virginity in front of these men…there is a twisted part of me I can’t totally subdue. A part that is beginning to relish having witnesses when I claim her. I’m going to do it better and longer and with more skill than anyone else can. They’re all about to know it. About to hate me for it. And when it’s over, there will be no doubt that she’s mine.

It’s animal instinct I was unaware I possessed until this second, when the vultures are circling the bed and ogling what’s mine. Lusting for her. Their coveting of Maisy has tickled my need for domination. To leave no doubt who wears the crown.

If I could reach inside my chest and rip out this sick itch, I would do it in a heartbeat. She deserves better and I hate myself for the excited throb in my gut.

It clashes with my outrage. I’m one man with two halves.

One sick. One decent.

Which side is going to win?

The music is definitely calling to the corrupt side of me, with all its heavy, rounded bass notes and lightly tapped cymbals. Maisy still sits on the side of the bed in front of me. I’m doing my best to block her view of the men entering the room for this wicked ritual, but the pulse at the base of her neck is fluttering like crazy. From our kiss?

Again, hope is dangerous when it comes to anything good. Like her. But I allow myself to wonder if she’s as affected as me. If that kiss blanked her mind and backhanded her senses, the way it did for me. Her mouth. Her tongue. The way breath saws in and out of her throat when I change angles. It’s a decadent trifecta that I need more of immediately. Her little nipples are still hard against the silk of her dress, her lips swollen. If she’s this responsive when I fuck her, these men are going to be driven into a frenzy.

Don’t let that excite you.

Don’t you dare feel pride over her dazed expression.

Be better for her.

I cradle the back of her head in my right hand, pressing her forehead to mine. Syncing our breaths until I’m back with Maisy. Until it’s just her and me. “Scoot back into the center of the bed, angel. Okay? I’m coming with you.” She starts to inch backward and I follow, prowling over her, never breaking eye contact. “Stay with me.” I nip at her lips, requesting without words they open for me. They do and I suction our mouths together. Watch her lids flutter at the wet contact. In my mind’s eye, I know what the men around us are seeing. A devil dragging a sacrifice to the center of the altar. That’s how it feels, so why is my cock so hard?

Goddamn you, Jack.

We reach the middle of the bed and I turn her with a sweep of my forearm, angling her toward the headboard, and our kiss continues. It keeps going, because I can’t stop. We’re essentially making out, me and this innocent angel, my hard body wedged between her pale, lithe thighs, her fingers exploring in my hair. So sweet. So perfect. So unlike me.

That thought propels my hips forward and she gasps, her knees jerking around me.

“Don’t be scared,” I say thickly, capturing her knee in my hand, trailing my palm slowly, all the way up to her hip. Then around to her ass, cupping her right cheek in my hand and fondling it with ownership. “I’m going to make sure you’re ready to take it.”

Her sides heave, but she seems to like how I’m touching her, those white teeth sinking into her full bottom lip, a mewling sound escaping her throat. “H-how?”