Obsession and Surrender (The Billionaire's Temptation Book 7) (9 page)

Chapter 17

Lilly couldn’t help but shift her ass back against Keane’s hand, desperate for him to make her come, over and over again, to make her come until she could think of no one but him, could think of nothing but what was between them, her demons banished to the hell they came from. And if anyone could make her forget what she’d gone through, it was Keane. He was such an intense force, all-consuming…and it forced her to focus on him, on them, on what he was doing to her—not on the parts of her that still felt broken.

The slap against her ass had her biting back a cry of surprise, even as the searing pain bloomed into pleasure, pulling her from her thoughts and back to the present, while pushing Dylan into the shadows. Her pussy gushed in response to the pleasure and pain, leaving her desperate for anything and everything that Keane could offer her.

“It’s not enough, though, is it?” He pushed two fingers into her slick heat, pulling them out to smear her wetness against the bud of her ass before plunging his fingers deep inside her once more. He slowly finger-fucked her as her hips writhed against him in search of relief, when he pressed his thumb against her ass, forcing it past the tight ring of muscle—and she swore, it was nearly enough to have her coming. Nearly…

“More, Keane.”
She could hear the desperation in her own voice, but didn’t care.

“Sweetness…” He pulled free of her body and leaned over her to access the drawer in his nightstand, even as he bit her earlobe, his words sending a shiver of need straight through to her core so that her clit ached, swollen and heavy. “I decide what you get and when. I decide if you’ll be allowed to come. I decide if I’m going to fuck that sweet cunt of yours or if I’ll fuck your ass—
if
I decide to fuck them at all. Maybe I’ll just leave you teetering on that edge, desperate for me to touch you. Because you’re
mine
, and no one else’s, Lilly—and I’ll be the one to decide.
I’m
the one in control of your pleasure.”

His words nearly did her in—and she knew how screwed up that must seem, given what Dylan had done to her. And yet,
for her
, it was exactly what she needed. She needed to be able to let herself go, and trust that the person she was with only had her best interests in mind. She needed to replace that fear with pleasure, so that she could let go of what happened to her and move past it.

Others may have different ways of coping or overcoming that sort of trauma and violation, but this was what she needed. She needed Keane to push her over the edge, needed him to overwhelm her so there was no room for anything but him and her, and what was between them—
total trust
.

The lube was cold and wet against her ass, making her body tense in anticipation. She knew what was to come, since Keane had gone there before, years earlier: the lure of the forbidden, the pinch of pain, the overwhelming fullness, the heightened sensitivity to each touch as if every nerve was electrified. The anticipation always left her both on edge and excited.

“To start with…” It wasn’t his cock pressing against her ass. The tapered end of a plug—or was it a vibe?—was slowly pushed past her opening until it was seated firmly, the shaft filling her, leaving her feeling overwhelmed so she couldn’t keep her heart from racing. He pressed one kiss after another along the slope of her shoulder, so that a shiver rippled over her skin. “Just relax, love.”

She did as he asked, letting go of the tension in her muscles, allowing her body to adjust to the intrusion. But instead of taking her from behind, he lay back against the pillows, and pulled her to him so she could straddle him, gripping his cock so he could position himself perfectly as she slowly lowered herself onto his thick erection.

“Fuck, Keane…I’m going to come.” She could barely take a breath, overwhelmed by the feeling of fullness, and by the position she was in, her swollen clit brushing against his body. She was teetering on the edge—an edge Keane pushed her over when he sat up and caught her nipple between his teeth and sucked it into his mouth.

Her orgasm crashed over her, leaving her crying out and trembling in his arms as he held her to him, thrusting up into her, to milk every last wave of pleasure from her body. “Babe…that was too quick—especially since I’m nowhere near done with you.”

Cupping her ass in his strong hands, he shifted her along the length of his cock, thrusting up into her, as he left her feeling overwhelmed once more, especially after having just come, her clit too sensitive. She just felt so full, so tight, the plug and his huge cock vying for what little space there was—and it heightened everything, her skin pebbling in waves as one sensation after another electrified her body. He swallowed her gasps and moans with his demanding kisses, so she could think of nothing but holding onto him as he fucked her from one orgasm to the next, the energy inside her already building.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him, needing him more than the air she breathed. How she’d managed all these years without him, she didn’t know, and though he’d fucked up and broken her heart, having him back in her life meant everything.

“You have me on the edge of coming again, Lil…” When he removed the plug, she nearly came again. But before she had the chance, he was slipping her off his cock, and rolling her onto her back. “All of you, baby girl…I want every part of you to know me intimately, to know that you belong to me and no one else.”

Running his hands up her legs, he shifted her knees toward her, so her hips tilted up, opening her up to him as he added more lube. With his eyes locked on hers, he pushed his cock against her slick ass, slowly easing himself into her, little by little, forcing her to take more of him with each thrust, her body stretched tight around his hard cock. The feeling was intense, although the pinch of pain quickly mellowed into a pleasure that had her gushing for him.

Lowering himself to her with his elbows propped on either side of her head, he slowly started to move as he kissed her lips, her cheeks, her forehead, covering her in sweet and gentle kisses as he fucked her ass. The discomfort subsided as her body relaxed and adjusted to the intrusion. But with the base of his cock grinding against her swollen clit, she was on the edge of coming once again.

His pace started to quicken as her legs wrapped around his hips, pulling him deeper into her, his mouth now hard on hers as he swallowed her cries and her orgasm tore through her, her body quivering in his arms as he joined her. He let out a primal grunt as he came, finally slowing with a few punctuated thrusts as his cum filled her and she rode through the tremors of her orgasm, her breathing heavy under the weight of him.

“Fucking hell…I love you, Lil.” He slowly pulled out of her, the feeling once more overwhelming until their bodies were finally unlinked and she was left only with the welcome soreness of the intrusion and his cum spilling out her ass.

And when he gathered her tenderly in his arms and cradled her to him, it left her overwhelmed once more, though this time it was with the feeling that she was finally safe, that she had finally returned to her heart’s home.

“I love you too, Keane.”

***

Lilly couldn’t believe Keane already had them on a plane to Dublin. He’d thought it best they get out of town until Sirius could be found, though she half suspected he’d have her hopping across the globe before long, if it meant staying one step ahead of her stalker. After picking up her passport and dropping Juno off at Marshall’s place, where she’d be spoiled rotten, Keane had made sure they weren’t being followed, and then had them on a private jet, refusing to even think about taking a public flight.

They hadn’t spoken about Dylan since she first confessed what had happened to her, and that suited her just fine, though she was worried about what might happen when they finally met up with Wyatt. She knew Keane was furious with his brother for keeping her secret, but the truth was, she was immensely grateful that he had. Wyatt had been there for her when she was desperate, even if she knew that it hadn’t been easy for him to stand idly by.

They were flying over the western part of Ireland when Keane got a call from Hadley. Something was up. Lilly tried to figure out what was going on by listening to the one-sided conversation, and by the sound of it, they may have finally caught a bit of a break in the case, albeit a small one. Keane hung up the phone and shifted to face her, knotting his fingers with hers. “Turns out Dylan might currently be in prison, though Hadley is looking into the possibility that he may still be behind your stalking, somehow orchestrating it all from his cell.”

“How the hell can they allow him to do that?” The fact that Dylan was still tormenting her after all these years was infuriating, especially when he was doing it from the confines of prison. She didn’t know if he’d somehow managed to finagle special privileges, but it wouldn’t surprise her.

“Hadley’s looking into who he might have regular contact with, and whether or not there’s a way to trace his Internet activity. With some luck, it’ll give her enough information to track down who’s acting on his behalf—if Dylan’s actually the one behind all this.” Keane looked as frustrated as she felt, and just below the surface, she could still see his anger bubbling and brewing, like a poisonous mixture of hate and revenge. For him, her attack and rape had just happened.

“I’m okay, you know. I wasn’t always, but now…I think of it less and less.” She’d had to try to push it out of her mind or it’d end up consuming her, defining her, and she refused to let Dylan make her feel like a victim for the rest of her life.

Keane’s eyes clouded over and he looked away, focusing his attention on their linked hands. “Is that why the guys in your stories are always so protective of the women they’re in love with?”

“I suppose so, although…they
are
romances. It wouldn’t be very romantic if the hero of the story didn’t care enough about the heroine not to want to keep her from harm.” She gave him a bit of a shrug, and nestled herself against his side, so he’d have to wrap his arms around her.

“I should have been there, Lilly. I should have been there to keep you safe. And you have my word, I won’t fail you again. Not ever.”

She hoped he was right
.

Chapter 18

Keane watched as Wyatt pulled Lilly into a hug that lifted her a foot off the ground, so that his anger with his brother was now also stoked by jealousy. He’d always wondered if Wyatt secretly had a crush on Lilly, though he’d at least had the decency not to pursue the matter, even after their breakup. And maybe that was another reason why it pissed Keane off to no end that Lilly had turned to his brother after Dylan’s attack.

Wyatt finally put Lilly down, kissing the top of her head, before turning to him. Keane gave his brother a big hug, since it’d been a good six months since he’d last seen him—and then he took a step back and landed a fist to his brother’s face, even as Lilly tried to pull him away. “You’re a fucking bastard, Wyatt. You should have fucking told me.”

“Bleeding hell.” Wyatt touched his cheek where the punch had landed, though his focus was on Lilly, as if asking for confirmation on the reason behind the punch. All she could do was nod. “I couldn’t tell you—you know that, right?”

Lilly yanked on Keane’s hand and stepped between them. “I already told you, Wyatt had no choice, so if you want to be angry with someone, be angry with me.”

“I’ll fucking be angry with whomever I want—so if you think you’re off the hook, Wy, you can fucking guess again.” Keane had every right to be pissed off.

“Well, if you’re done smashing your fist into my face, how about I get us a whiskey?” Wyatt grabbed Lilly’s bag before Keane had a chance to, and padded barefoot into the loft he’d recently purchased in the heart of Dublin. He set her bag just inside a guest bedroom, and then turned to Lilly, clearly ready to stir up trouble, if his grin was anything to go by. “Here’s your room, love. Keane… You can take the one across the hall.”

“Real fucking funny.” Keane dropped his bag next to Lilly’s, giving his brother a look of triumph, although he knew Wyatt was just busting his chops, like brothers always do. “Where’s that whiskey you promised us?”

“Impatient bastard.” Wyatt gave him a cocky smile while slinging his arm around Lilly, heading toward the living room with her tucked at his side.

Lilly poked Wyatt in the ribs with a shake of her head, and slipped free to go to Keane’s side, letting him pull her into his arms as he sat them down on the sofa. “I’m not getting in the middle of you guys trying to push each other’s buttons. Thanks, but no thanks.”

At least Wyatt’s antics seemed to have alleviated some of the tension in the room, and if Keane knew his brother, he was sure it’d been a calculated move on his brother’s part. Wyatt had always been quick to pick up on a situation and defuse it. And it helped that his humor seemed to have eased Lilly’s tension. Although Wyatt was a good friend of hers, Keane was sure it couldn’t be easy for her to see him again, given that he knew everything she’d gone through. It couldn’t be easy for her, and yet, Wyatt’s humor and good nature seemed to help keep her darkness at bay, and for that, Keane was grateful.

Wyatt handed him a whiskey, and then popped the top off a bottle of cider for Lilly. Looked like his brother hadn’t forgotten what she liked either. Luckily, Keane knew whose bed she’d be sleeping in, and was able to set aside Wyatt’s teasing, knowing it wasn’t anything more serious.

“So, what’s going on? Not that I’m not happy to see you guys. It’s just rather unexpected.” Wyatt sat down in the leather club chair next to them, stretching out his long legs in front of him. He might be younger than Keane by a year, but he was a good two inches taller. And that was saying something, given that Keane himself was several inches over six feet.

“Lilly has a stalker—and we think Dylan West is somehow involved.” Keane told him everything—Lilly being an author, the emails, the escalation, Sirius leaving her flowers on her pillow. “I just figured it might be best if we took off for a bit.”

“That fucking asshole…I’m going to fucking kill him.” Wyatt’s hands clenched into fists, and he looked ready for murder.

“Get in line. That bastard is mine.” Keane pulled Lilly close, worried about her. “Although our first priority is to keep Lilly safe. We keep her safe, find that fucking demented asshole, and put an end to this.”

Lilly sat up out of Keane’s arms, dividing her scolding glare between him and Wyatt. “And who the hell’s going to keep the two of you safe if you go after this guy? We don’t even know who he is—because he’s
not
Dylan—and that means that we don’t know what he’s capable of. I refuse to have the two of you putting yourselves in danger because you want revenge—especially when that revenge is
mine
, not yours. Do you hear me? And it’ll be my decision whether or not to exact it. I won’t have you guys doing something stupid or putting yourselves in danger because of it.”

“Baby girl…” When he went to grab her hand, she slapped it away, making him smile, her feistiness just one of the many things he loved about her.

“No. Don’t you ‘baby girl’ me, Keane.” Lilly shook her head, splitting her glare between Keane and Wyatt. “The two of you are to behave yourselves. It’s bad enough trouble has a way of finding us without you guys going and looking for it.”

Keane had no intention of making promises he couldn’t keep, especially not to Lilly. His lies and betrayal had fucked up their relationship once, and though he had no intention of screwing up again, that didn’t mean he’d stand idly by and let someone harass her, especially if the man who’d assaulted her was involved.

Luckily Wyatt saved him by changing the subject. “So…you write bodice rippers now?”

Keane supposed he was relieved that Wyatt hadn’t known about her career either. Not that he was really jealous. Just crazy about Lilly.

Lilly’s eyebrows perked up and her lips pursed in subdued humor. “Contemporary and paranormal romances—
not
bodice rippers.”

“Now, that’s not terribly accurate. Is it, babe?” Addressing Wyatt, he said, “Try outrageously hot and explicit romances—which you are not to read.”

“Hey…now that’s not fair.” Wyatt leaned back with a teasing smile for Lilly, and took a long sip of his whiskey. “How long are you guys staying in town?”

“As long as it takes to lock up this asshole and eliminate any other threats.” Because if Dylan was the one behind Lilly being stalked, then he needed to be held accountable and it needed to come to a stop. Keane needed to know Lilly would be safe.

“Well, your timing for a visit couldn’t be any more perfect. The club is opening this weekend.” Wyatt was all but vibrating with excitement about his project—something he’d been working on diligently for the last year.

“I’m fucking proud of you, Wyatt. You’ve busted your ass to get this done.” And he’d done it alone, too.

“It hasn’t been without its problems, but it feels good to finally have it completed.” There was more worry in his voice than Keane was expecting to hear, and it left him wondering just what sort of problems Wyatt had encountered. “It looks fucking amazing.”

Lilly gave Wyatt a smile while settling against Keane’s side. “So…what kind of club is this?”

Keane just had to shake his head with a smile. “The sort of club you write about in your books.”

Her jaw dropped open and she spun to face Wyatt with a sly grin. “You dirty dog.”

“Guilty as charged, love.”

***

Keane knew he couldn’t keep Lilly locked up inside until they’d caught Sirius, but being out and about as they walked around Dublin with the bustling crowds of people had him on edge. Sirius could walk right by them—could be following them—and they wouldn’t know it, since they still didn’t have any clue as to who he was or what he looked like.

Without having to say a word to Wyatt, his brother flanked Lilly’s other side, so she was protected as Keane kept her tucked in close. They might be taking up a fair bit of the sidewalk walking three abreast, not to mention looking rather formidable given his and Wyatt’s height and build, but he didn’t care, if it kept her safe. “Where are we heading, Wyatt? Are you taking us to the club for a sneak peek before we grab dinner?”

“Nah…I want you to see it in all its glory when it’s hopping with people this weekend. We’ll just grab a bite and head out for a pint. It
is
Dublin, after all.” Wyatt had lived in the city for a few years now, and he steered them through the streets like a native.

Maybe it was the amount of people zipping past them or the unfamiliarity of his surroundings, but Keane was starting to feel tense, his gaze wandering over the crowds and glancing over his shoulder. He’d feel a hell of a lot less tense if Wyatt would just sit them down somewhere for a bite.

“Everything okay?” Lilly looked up at him, worry darkening her green eyes in the fading light of the setting sun, as the sky behind her streaked in coral and sapphire.

He leaned over and kissed her, not wanting her to worry or ruin her evening. “It’s nothing, love. Just keeping an eye out, is all.”

“This is it—hands down, my favorite place to grab a bite. The food is to die for, though it’s more comfort than gourmet.” Wyatt held the door open for them, allowing Lilly to enter first—which gave him the opportunity to catch Keane’s attention, a questioning and worried look on his face, as if asking if there was an imminent threat.

Keane shrugged in response, because the truth was, he hadn’t a clue if Sirius had somehow managed to follow them to Dublin. The thought of something happening to Lilly again, the thought that he might not be able to keep her safe, was messing with his head. As if understanding exactly what he was going through, Wyatt put a hand on Keane’s shoulder, and then followed behind Lilly as they were seated at a table in the front of the restaurant with a great view of the bustling city as night fell.

Of course, Wyatt was already on a first-name basis with the pretty waitress, turning on the charm and shamelessly flirting with her. Once she had gone to get them their drinks, and they’d been left with menus to browse, Keane couldn’t help but shake his head at his brother. “You’re hopeless.”

Wyatt balked in protest. “What? Maire’s pretty; I’m single. Sexy. Rich. In demand…”

“And you’ll never change.” Keane pulled Lilly close, happy that they were seated in a booth—and even happier that she was his once more. He’d found his one, his true love, and scary as it was to have her be his everything, he knew all too well what life was like without her, and it wasn’t a life worth living.

“I might change—if I find the right girl.” Wyatt gave Lilly his most dazzling smile, though Keane knew he was doing it just to push his buttons.

Maire returned with their drinks, and though she was still smiling at Wyatt, her focus had also shifted to Lilly, looking at her for a moment, and then looking back at her again, practically staring, though it was clear she was trying not to. “
Bleedin’ Nora
… It is you. I can’t believe it.
Piper Skye
…I swear, I’m your biggest fan and I’ve read every single one of your books a dozen times.
Those men of yours
…sweet mother of jeezus.”

While Lilly and the waitress chatted away happily, Wyatt caught Keane’s attention, his eyes wide in disbelief and a grin on his face. All Keane could do was laugh with a shake of his head. “Believe it or not, they’re fantastic reads, and it makes no difference that they’re romances.”

Maire pulled out her phone. “Would you mind if I got a picture of us together? My friends…they won’t believe it. They’re going to be so jealous.”

When Lilly nodded, Wyatt was handed the phone as the two women stood together, and smiled for the camera. Maire then took their order, still beaming with excitement, before leaving them to take care of her other customers.

“So…” Wyatt was still looking shocked with dismay and humor, his brows up and a smile teasing his lips. “You’re not just an author, but a famous author of steamy romances.”

Lilly sat back and gave Wyatt a teasing smile. “Far from famous—and far more than just steamy.”

Wyatt burst out laughing and shot Keane a jealous look. “Damn, girl!”