SWNOVELS Released: Chapter 23
The next week is finals week and passes by in a blur of frantic revision and nervous, frenetic energy. Apparently—and luckily for me—Highgate holds its exams later in the year than most, some shit to do with giving its bright, young students the best possible start in life. I guess it worked out for me as I didn’t actually miss my finals, so at least I have a chance to pass.
I’ve no idea how well I’ll do, or if I even stand a hope in hell of passing any of them. When I mention this to the guys one evening, Ash just gives me a mildly condescending look and calmly declares that I don’t need to worry about failing, as I won’t. When I jokingly state that he can’t just buy me a high school diploma, his answer, without missing a beat is, “Why not?”
With the week finally over, we spend the weekend lazing around the dorm and just relaxing before the graduation ceremony the following week. It’s Sunday evening now and we are watching Marvel on the huge TV, Ash on one side of me and Kai on the other as we snuggle while eating hot, buttered popcorn, homemade of course.
Ash’s phone dings with a text, and I watch as he picks it up off the arm of the sofa before he frowns as he reads the message, his lips set in a grim line.
“What’s up?” I ask, not able to see the screen but shifting so that I’m sitting up straighter and facing him. Someone pauses the film as Kai keeps a hand on one thigh, Ash still holding the other. His grey eyes lift up to me, and the set of his brow tells me that he’s not happy with the content of the message.
“There’s a Black Knight board meeting on Monday morning, first thing,” he begins, still looking at me intently. I shake my head slightly, holding his gaze.
“And?”
“And my dad requires your presence, Princess. As the majority shareholder.”
My jaw loosens, a hot flush creeping over my skin like ants crawling across my body.
“She’s not fucking going anywhere near him!” Jax growls from across the room, and I look away from Ash to see Jax sat bolt upright, his lips flattened and his huge arm muscles flexing, which in any other situation would have me drooling.
“I know she can’t go. I just don’t know what his game is,” Ash answers, and my gaze swings back to him as he grips my thigh tighter.
“He likely just wants to fuck with us,” Loki adds, and I look over to see him sitting forward. “We can just say that she’s sick or something.”
My spine stiffens, eyes narrowing as they continue to discuss the subject as if I’m not in the room. Warmth coats my back as Kai leans closer to me, sensing my tension.
“Enough!” I yell, all conversation halting, and three sets of eyes swing my way. “For fuck sake, you talk about me as if I’m some weak and feeble female who needs coddling, and I’m fucking done!”
I get up—Kai and Ash letting me go—and begin to pace in front of them, the red of my ire colouring my vision. I pause in my steps, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes as I try to formulate in my mind what it is I want to say.
“I’ve been controlled my entire life, not trusted to make my own decisions, even though I wasn’t given all the facts in order to make sensible ones,” I tell them, my eyes still closed as I unburden my mind. “Even coming here was Adrian pushing me more than my own free choice. The first thing I truly ever decided for myself, was loving you all.” I open my eyes then, looking at them, and my forehead creases as I look into each of their faces. Jax has his fists clenched, his gaze on the floor as his jaw works. Loki looks poised to leap up and wrap me in his warm embrace. Kai gives me a pained smile, an apology in his amber depths, even though he remained quiet before. I look at Ash last, his face an unreadable mask, his shoulders tense as I catch his eye. “Don’t take my control from me too. I couldn’t bear it.”
“Shit, Princess,” he grunts out, standing up and stepping up to me until I have to tilt my head to look at him. Tall fuckwallop. He lowers his head down, pressing his forehead to mine and tangling his fingers in my hair. My lids drift shut once more at his touch. “I’m an asshole, and I swear I will never leave you out like that again.”
My throat goes thick, and I have to swallow hard.
“I know it came from a place of concern, Ash, but I need to be in charge of my own destiny,” I tell him softly, my lips almost brushing his.
“What would you like to do, Lilly?” Kai asks, and I tilt my head to look over at him, giving him a grateful smile.
“I want to go,” I reply in a firm voice, and I feel Ash heave a sigh against me.
“Fine, wife,” he relents, straightening up, and I give him a wide grin as I glance up at him. His own lips twitch. “But you will not leave my fucking side, do you hear?”
“Yes, sir,” I tease, and his fingers tighten in my hair as a low growl escapes him.
“I mean it. One of us is to be with you at all times,” he insists, and I just can’t help myself and roll my eyes. His grip on my tresses becomes punishing, and god if it doesn’t make me wet between my thighs.
“I think my wife needs a lesson in obedience, boys,” he states with a devilish grin that has my knickers dampening to soaking point and my thighs clenching.
JAX
I don’t fucking like this, I think as we all pile into the elevator at Black Knight HQ, a modern glass building as cold and unfeeling as the fucking cunts who run the crooked company. I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the mirrored walls, large arms crossed, forming a barrier as I feel the walls that I have to erect whenever I have anything to do with these bastards slam into place.
I see Lilly move, reaching for my forearm as she goes on tiptoes clearly intending to whisper something in my ear. I lean down, not unfolding my arms so that she can reach, and the warmth of her palm on my bare skin lights a fire under it. God, she’s so fucking tiny, even with the sexy swell of her belly.
“Just imagine how amazing it would be to fuck in this lift, seeing my naked body from all angles as you pound into me from behind,” she whispers in that sweet voice of hers.
Fuck. Me.
Just like that the walls come crashing down under a wave of lust that threatens to buckle my knees. Blowing out a low, steady breath, I straighten back up, ignoring the massive semi-chub I’m now supporting in my slacks. We all have to dress smartly for these bastards. I watch with a single raised brow as she faces the front, holding my stern gaze and giving me a wink and a fucking devastating, secret smile.
Great. I’m now going to walk into that boardroom with a raging hard-on.
“You alright, man?” Loki asks from my other side, and I just nod, not trusting myself not to slam my palm on the emergency stop button if I repeat what our naughty, little pixie just whispered in my ear. Jesus, Loki is just as likely to push that button as I am if he knew.
All too soon, the elevator comes to a stop, the doors opening with a ding to reveal a white, impersonal foyer. God, I hate this fucking place. It’s so cold and sterile, but worse than that, it’s all a fucking lie. The pure, clean look is just a cover up for the dark and depraved nature of the demons that run this company. It’s a veneer covering up all the rot, the sweet, sickly air freshener trying to disguise the stench of decay.
I step out with my brothers in arms, all of us slipping into a formation that surrounds and protects our woman.
“Ah, boys.” A tall, leggy blonde stalks towards us on black stilettos, the look in her blue eyes predatory as she rakes her gaze over each of us before settling on Ash. “How wonderful to see you. It’s been too long,” she purrs, running a hand down Ash’s arm.
“Do you make a habit of touching what doesn’t belong to you?” I hear Lilly ask in a tone that would freeze your balls off, and see Michelle pause and her smile falter.
“Excuse me?” she asks, looking as Lilly steps between us and wraps her hands around Ash’s other arm, tugging him away from the other woman’s grip.
“I asked, do you always touch other women’s husbands and lovers?” Lilly replies, her voice light but sharp, and my cock twitches in my slacks at the possessive note in her tone.
“I–um—” Michelle stutters, her cheeks flushing as she’s called out.
“Sorry, Mrs Vanderbilt. I will never touch what belongs to you again,” Lilly prompts, face expectant, and I have to cover a laugh with a cough, Loki copying me as we gaze upon our queen.
“S–sorry, Mrs. Vanderbilt. It won’t happen again,” Michelle responds, dropping her head and sinking into herself.
“Good,” Lilly states. “Oh, and just so we are crystal fucking clear, all these men belong to me.”
Michelle’s wide eyes fly up for a moment then drops back down.
“Of course,” she says quietly, clearing her throat and nodding her head. “This way, please.”
She takes off down a corridor, and we follow after her, Ash keeping a tight hold on Lilly’s arm which is still wrapped around his.
“That was so fucking hot, wife,” he murmurs, loud enough for us to catch what he says. “I’m so hard for you right now.”
“Welcome to the fucking club,” I grumble, and Loki gives a bark of laughter, coming up on Lilly’s other side and linking arms with her.
“You can piss on me any time, Pretty Girl,” he states, and I see Michelle stumble in front of us as she reaches a pair of grey double doors.
We pause, and Kai steps up behind Lilly, bending down to whisper in her ear, this time just us to hear.
“I like being claimed by you, Lilly Vanderbilt.” I hear her gasp as he presses his hips into her lower back, clearly feeling his hardness too. At least I won’t be the only one walking in there with a stiffy.
Michelle opens the doors, and we step into a light boardroom that has floor-to-ceiling windows on the wall opposite us, giving us a view of the town below and the mountains beyond.
I glance around the huge table, noting my cunt of a father, Julian Vanderbilt, Chad Thorn, and Stephen Matthews all seated and staring at us. It takes a huge effort not to curl my lip or let my fists fly at their smug fucking faces. I know they were the reason Lilly was taken, and have no doubt that they were all involved or at least aware.
Taking a deep inhale, I try to calm the rage that’s threatening to overspill. It’s then that I notice another figure, a man of similar age to our parents, his hair and eyes dark and his tailored suit clearly expensive.
“Boys,” Julian greets, a lying smile on his lips. His grey eyes take us all in, pausing on Lilly, and his grin widens. A pounding starts in my ears, and I can feel my lips pulling back as I step closer to her. “Lilly, darling.”
He doesn’t get up, and it’s a good fucking thing, as I don’t doubt that I wouldn’t be the only one to do him harm if he came near her again. Pictures of having him at my mercy while I take my blowtorch to his eyeballs for daring to even look at her like that flit through my mind, and I know that my snarl turns to a feral grin. He sees it too when he looks back at me, his face paling ever so slightly at the promise in my eyes.
Oh yeah, fucker, I’m coming for you.
Movement interrupts our stare off, and I see the dark stranger get up and move towards us. He stops in front of our group, in front of Lilly, and she lays a hand on my arm when I make a move to step in front of her.
“Mrs Vanderbilt,” he says, and I’m surprised by his cultured British accent. “A pleasure to finally meet you. I knew your mother, and I must say you are the spitting image of her.”
“You knew my mum?” Lilly asks, the hand that is still resting on my forearm frozen.
“Yes, I met her not long after she arrived in London and began working at Grey’s. She was captivating when she danced, even more so when her pregnancy began to show.” He looks down at Lilly’s rounded stomach then, but not in a leering way. More like a fatherly way, his face soft and wistful.
“Mr Black?” Lilly asks with a gasp, and it suddenly clicks into place. This is the man who has the second biggest stakeholder claim in Black Knight Corporation. I look at the other guys to see matching looks of interest on their faces, though Ash still has a hard jaw and a possessive grip around Lilly’s waist.
“Now that that little reunion is done with,” Julian interrupts in an annoyed tone, and again images of committing violence against Ash’s father pop into my head. “Shall we start the meeting?”
Glaring at him and the rest of the scum that sit at the oval table, we take our seats opposite them, Mr Black resuming his chair at what might be considered the head of the table.
“Right, let’s get started, gentleman and lady,” Julian begins, and I really don’t like the way his eyes keep raking over Lilly. It makes my hackles rise, my shoulders vibrating with tension. “Shall we begin with our plans for our heirs to take on more responsibility?”