Indulging in Irene (16 page)

T-bone put his huge hand on my shoulder and squeezed, bringing me out of my sad reverie.

I looked back, acknowledging him. Smoothing my dress, I watched as he walked to the door and tried the handle.

When the handle refused to budge, I searched in my handbag and retrieved the keys, again, hoping that Marcus hasn’t changed the locks. Knowing that asshole now had control of a place so dear to me made me want to howl in anger and pain. But I did neither. I didn’t want these men to see me fall apart. Instead, I silently found the keys and handed them to T-bone.

“We’ll go inside first,” he said, nodding at his men. “If it’s safe, I'll come out and let you know. Don’t touch anything. We’ve interfered with their streaming video and alarm system so they won’t see live feed of us in here. I’d say we have less than ten minutes before we need to bust ass out of here.”

I nervously bit at the side of my thumbnail as Zolt and I watched T-bone and his men disappear into the house. What seemed an eternity later, they emerged, shaking their heads.

“Be prepared. Marcus has outfitted this house for purposes of the sex club. It’s a BDSM lover’s wet dream. Irelyn, you’ll see things I'm assuming you've never seen before.”

Zolt stopped and stood in front of me. “Are you sure, baby?” he asked for the trillionth time, gently running his hand over my cheek. “We can take care of this. I’ll think none the lesser of you if you stay here and wait with Sloan.”

“I'm going in there to see this shit for myself. I appreciate all the concern, but I’m not made of glass, and I don’t want to be coddled. I can handle this. Can we just get it over with?”

“All right,” Zolt softly kissed my lips. Then, he took my hand and led me into the ranch house. I sucked in a breath as I looked around. My stomach fell to the floor, and I forced down the bile rising in my throat. Nothing was the way I’d left it the last time I was here. My grandfather’s lovely home had been turned into a den of iniquity. Tall nightclub style chairs and tables were arranged into a sitting area, and a large walnut bar lined the far wall. My grandfather grew up with an alcoholic father, and he didn’t allow drinking in his house. To see the endless rows of bottles—all top shelf brands—made me want to take a baseball bat and bust the shit out of them.

The once whitewashed walls were now painted a deep red with a black trim. Black velvet couches broke up the great room into an intimate seating area. I gritted down on my teeth to keep the screams from bursting free.

With trembling legs, I continued forward into the house, afraid of the next assault on my childhood memories.

Zolt kept a tight grip on my hand as we moved forward toward the bedrooms. He stopped me in the hall in front of the first bedroom and went inside. His dilated pupils said he was surprised but he also seemed a little excited. I swear his breath had sped up.

I narrowed my eyes and took him in, wondering what the hell would be in there that would excite him?

Gathering courage I didn’t possess, I pushed him aside and walked into the bedroom that used to be mine. The bedroom where my grandma tucked me in when I was a little girl, and the same room where I cried my eyes out after grandpa died.

“Holy shit!” I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand. If I didn't know better, I'd swear I just walked into the red room of pain. BDMS implements of all flavors and uses lined the walls. Ropes, whips, canes, and other instruments I didn’t even want to know the uses for, taunted me in my childhood bedroom. The main attraction was the cross bolted to the wall with restraining devices hanging from each end. I’d read BDSM romances, I had a vague idea what I was looking at, and I could admit to being curious. But to see them lying so casually about in the room where I’d spent long summers of my childhood flayed me.

Zolt didn’t leave my side, and the heat coming from his hand on my back forced my eyes to him. When I turned and looked at him, the heat from his gaze sent shivers throughout me.

What the fuck? Is Zolt into this? How long would it be before he got bored with our vanilla sex and wanted to move to this? Could I do this?

I crouched down and closed my eyes, searching for control. My hair fell forward, curtaining my face from view. A drink of anything right now would be welcome since my mouth had gone suddenly dry. If I lost it in front of these men, they’d assume I couldn’t handle what was going on. I didn’t want them thinking I was too delicate.

On a deep inhale and subsequent exhalation, I stood and brushed my hair from my face. I let the anger and hatred for Marcus flood me. Then, I squared my shoulders and kicked up my chin.

“Marcus is a fucking dead man,” I said with cold, calculated words. Then, I turned and calmly left the room and the house, knowing that if it were the last thing I did, Marcus Xavier would pay dearly.

When we slid into the town car, Irelyn immediately shut the privacy window between Sloan and us. I knew what she was going to ask, knew that she’d seen my lustful gaze take her in while we stood in the bedroom.

I couldn’t help myself. Irelyn was fucking hot, and the thought of her tied to my bed made my blood boil and my cock stiffen.

“Are you a Dom?” she asked with a quaver in her voice.

“A Dom, no. But I like to play.”

She sucked in the edge of her plump, gorgeous lip as she considered my answer. “You want to play with me, don’t you?”

It was my turn to suck on my own lip as I thought about her sprawled on my bed. Oh, what I could do to that luscious body of her.

“Yes,” I said huskily.

“Oh.” Her eyes narrowed in worry. “So you want to hurt me?”

“No, Irelyn, absolutely not. I’d never hurt you.” I took her hand and brought it to my lips. “I want to introduce you to pleasures beyond your imaginings. There’s a fine line between pain and pleasure. When your body is in a heightened sexual state, it reacts to pain differently. Just a little pain can increase your pleasure tenfold.”

“This is what you like? So, is what we’ve done not enough for you?” The sadness in her tone made me cringe.

“No, baby! Are you kidding me? Sex with you is fucking amazing—the best I’ve ever had.”

“But you want more?”

“Only because I know it will make what we already have out of this fucking world. But only if you trust me and believe that I’d never hurt you. Do you, Irelyn? Do you trust me?”

“Yes, without a doubt.” She smiled at me and her sable-browns glittered. Though I could sense the apprehension, I could also see excitement.

I moved her closer to me, then glided my hand up the soft skin of her neck, and cupped the back of her head.

With my lips at her ear, I kept my voice low and sultry. “I can make you come so hard you’ll forget your fucking name. You want that, don’t you, baby?”

“Yes,” she growled. Her hooded gaze captured mine, and I could tell she was half way there already.

“Good. So do I.” I kissed her behind her ear and watched as she turned into taffy in my hands, soft and malleable. I brought both of her legs up and rested them on my lap. With soft caresses, I worked my hands along her flawless skin to the sweet junction between her thighs.

Irelyn’s eyes darted to the front of the car where Sloan drove.

“Relax,” I whispered. “He won’t hear you.”

“Okay,” she whispered, and leaned back against the seat. She closed her eyes, letting her legs fall open to me.

I took in her beautiful face, now relaxed while she waited for me to do as I would to her. Today had been rough on her, and I wanted to relegate the events to a dark part of her mind.

At her panties, my fingers pushed aside the lacy material, giving my fingers room to dip into her.

I thrust two fingers inside and palmed her clit.

Irelyn moaned and bit her hand.

Fuck, I almost moaned, too. She was so hot and tight, and she was mine. Mine to do with as I pleased. She’d given me permission, and I planned to take advantage of it. I thought about not taking her all the way. I could push her to the edge of release and stop so that her subsequent orgasm would be momentous. But I couldn’t do that to her now, not after everything. Irelyn needed this release so she’d be relaxed when we got home.

By her fast pants and blushing skin, I knew she was close. I picked up the pace as I continued to fuck her with my fingers while my palm caressed her clit. When her muscles tightened around my fingers, I leaned over her and took her mouth with mine, capturing her cries as she unraveled. Her hands worked their way into my hair, pulling it as she came.

Fuck, my cock was rock hard, and I wanted her—wanted to fuck her hard and fast. But I also wanted to get her home and continue this in my bedroom on my bed. This was just foreplay. Later, I would take her to a place that would leave her senseless.

When the last of her cries faded away, I leaned back and sucked on the fingers that had been in her. God, she was sweet. Honey sweet.

Irelyn’s eyes widened as she watched me suck on my fingers. Though she'd seen me do this before she still seemed surprised. Or maybe she was surprised I'd get her off when Sloan could have easily caught us. Whatever surprised her, I wanted her to get used to me doing things to her that might be on the more wild side. It was so rare these days to find someone like her, a beautiful woman with almost no experience that I could completely make mine in every way. A woman to mold exactly the way I wanted her; to teach her things about pleasure that would blow her mind. To think I’d be the only recipient of that made me ecstatic.

I was one lucky bastard!

“That was unexpected.” Irelyn gave me a wicked smile as she righted her dress. Her eyes dropped to my groin and her smile grew. “Did getting me off make you hot, Zolt?”

“Yeah,” I said, half groaning.

Her hand ran up my thigh, and she grasped my hardness through my jeans, and the tip of her pink tongue licked her lips.

I hissed as she rubbed my hard on. For a moment, I thought about letting her do whatever she had in mind, but I wanted to come inside her after we played.

Gently, I covered her hand with mine and shook my head.

“But—” she tried to protest.

“This was just foreplay, baby. I’m more than happy to endure being uncomfortable since I know what’s coming.”

“And what is that?” she asked breathlessly.

I ran my thumb over her bottom lip, and then I pulled her to me and kissed her. Our tongues collided in a needy, demanding kiss.

“Patience, baby.” I released her, and she settled into her seat, her head resting on my shoulder.

“I need to stop at my house,” Irelyn said as she stroked my hand. “I didn’t bring enough clothes, and I want to grab Chris’s laptop. And, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to bring Rufus to your house. I miss my dog and I’m sure he misses me.”

“I’d love to have Rufus come. Brody will be here tomorrow, and I’m sure Ben will love having another dog to play with. Why don’t you call your housekeeper and have her get what you need together. Sloan can go get it and bring it to my house in a few hours.”

“A few hours?” She glanced up at me again, excitement and hesitation danced in her eyes.

“A few hours,” I reaffirmed before giving into the need to kiss those sexy red lips of hers.

Irelyn called Anna and directed her to gather the things she needed, telling her that Sloan would be by to pick them up.

“You haven’t touched Chris’s laptop since he died, have you?”

“No. But knowing what we know now, I have to wonder if there’s something there that might be helpful. Chris was meticulous about his business dealings. I know he used to keep a daily journal on his laptop, and I used to kid with him that I was going to steal his computer so I could read it. Of course, I had no intentions of that. To be honest, just thinking about reading it makes me feel as if I’m betraying him, but I have to do this.”

“I’m sure he’d understand. Try not to fret over it.”

She leaned her head back on my shoulder. “I won’t. It’s just that I might find out things about my brother I’d rather not know.”

“You mean like what porn he watched?” I joked, trying to lighten her mood.

“Yeah.” She laughed a little, but it was more nervous than jovial.

I couldn’t blame her. Irelyn had known her brother in a certain way. Given what we were finding out about Marcus, I was fairly certain Chris knew way more than he ever let on and that we’d find valuable information on his laptop.

The car stopped, and I climbed out, offering my hand to Irelyn as she exited. I pulled her in close and whispered in her ear.

“Go to my bedroom. Strip off your clothes, sit on the side of the bed, and wait for me. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

She fidgeted with her hair, and I watched her lovely neck move as she swallowed.

“Okay,” she murmured.

I handed her the front door keys and watched her disappear into the house. My cock jumped at the thought of her sitting naked waiting for me.

Sloan stood there watching with a frown on his face. I knew before he said anything that a lecture was forthcoming.

“Sloan, something on your mind?”

“I like you, Zolt,” he said, folding his arms over his chests, his gunmetal gray eyes hardening in my direction. If he was trying to intimidate me, he’d have to work harder than that. You don’t play in the NFL without learning how to deal with menacing men wanting to break you in two. While his demeanor didn’t rise to that level, there was a definite warning in his stature.

“Go ahead and say whatever you need to say, Sloan.” I closed the door and leaned against the car with my own arms crossed over my chest.

“Irelyn may come off strong and confident, but she’s young. Marcus didn’t do any favors by her. I was there the night he took her virginity,” his Irish accent drawled.

“You were there?” The thought of him watching made my stomach churn, and I felt myself tensing, wanting to bust him the face.

“For the aftermath. I was there for the aftermath. I had to listen to her cry all the way home. Though she didn’t come out and tell me directly, I’m smart enough to put two and two together. It took everything inside of me to not beat the holy hell out of Marcus. I have come across many assholes in my time. Men who take what they want and make no apologies. Marcus Xavier is one of them. He's a psychotic narcissist, and I'm thrilled to see Irelyn finally away from him. Now, I can, and will, fuck him up.”

I relaxed finally seeing the meaning behind Sloan’s words. I took off my sunglasses and stared him in the eyes. “I care about Irelyn. A lot. I'd never purposefully hurt her.”

“And I believe that, but I saw the way you reacted at the ranch today. I’ve heard the stories about your escapades.” He stepped forward and stood in front of me with his arms at his sides. “Don’t bring her along too fast. Be gentle with her. Marcus has been her only lover. I’ve heard her conversations with Rachel, so I know how he was with her. Irelyn trusts you. Don’t fuck that up. She’s had enough to deal with, and I don’t want to see her hurt again.”

I nodded. Sloan wasn’t saying anything to me I hadn’t already told myself.

“She’s not just another fuck,” I said, feeling the need to defend myself. “We have a history, one that I respect immensely. I’m not about to fuck that up.”

“Fine.” Seemingly satisfied, he walked back to the driver’s side of the car and got in. He started the car, and then rolled the window down, sticking his head out. “I’ll hold you to that. Expect me back in three hours with Rufus, and Irelyn’s things.”

I thought about Sloan’s words as I watched the town car drive away. Was I moving too fast with Irelyn? I closed my eyes and inhaled. We’d been together a few times now, and I felt I had a sense of her sexually. She wasn’t a timid lover; hell, she wasn’t a timid woman. I could tell her interest had been piqued by her body’s response as we discussed how I liked to play.

From all my previous experiences, I knew how far to take women, and I had a good sense how far I could take Irelyn. She’d enjoy what I had in mind. As soon as I smoked a few bowls to alleviate the ache in my leg, I’d introduce her to pleasure that would blow her mind.