James yanked her into a corner. "You must. Be. Quiet. NOW." His hands gripped her upper arms, mouth a tight line of frustration. "Do you understand?"
Snorting with the effort of keeping the hysterical giggles in, she nodded gravely, making the motion of locking her mouth with a key and throwing it away. He looked down at her sparkling eyes, the color of the sea glass he used to find on the beach. And he kissed her, savoring the feel of her full lips and enjoying the trills of laughter that seemed to bubble up as their mouths and tongues moved together.
***
Maura sighed softly. The feel of his mouth over hers was almost unbearable with her zinging nerves and overly sensitive skin. Some frantic little part of her brain was trying to remind her that she would regret this, regret letting this monster make her feel this way, but… Maura grabbed his large hand and put it on her breast, arching hopefully against him. She could feel the sensation of his hopeless groan against her mouth, vibrating clear down to her pelvis.
"Pet," he enunciated. "Pay attention. We will dance, and entertain our guests. Then, I will take you home and fuck you right out of this insane energy. Can you do this?"
Suddenly, the bubbles evaporated for Maura. Pulling back to look him in the eye, she sadly shook her head. "No, you won't," she disagreed flatly. "You'll take me back to that hotel and drug me again. Over and over. Like some sick flesh doll." Pulling free, she walked into the nightclub, pushing away the grief choking her and attempting to become invisible in the music.
Fortunately, James gave her some room, but he’d assigned a loosely structured "fence" of security men around her and some of the female companionship for the evening. Her eyes closed, and she moved with the other girls like a flutter of exotic butterflies.
Maura danced for hours, smiling and laughing as she swirled from corner to corner. Increasingly flustered security men continued to push hopeful interlopers away until James spotted General Nezzar moving purposefully to the dance floor. Abandoning his group mid-sentence, he headed there first, neatly cutting Maura from the herd. Her eyes opened and she gasped to see him towering over her.
Putting one arm around her waist, James slid a knee between hers and began to sway with the music. "Oh, damnit," she sighed. "Is there nothing you don't do well, James?" He laughed, spinning her around and away from the others into a more secluded corner of the floor.
"I don't dance, Pet," he confessed, "it must be your dangerous influence."
"Hmmm," she said matter-of-factly, "I knew you would be an incredible dancer."
His brow rose. "And how would you know that?"
"Because of how good you are in bed," she said without thinking, cringing as James laughed uproariously.
***
Watching the couple with a frown marring her features, Kingston was unsettled. She'd never seen Pine dance. Nor smile, nor laugh, nor move the way he was with that troublesome little whore. Watching as they slipped out, Kingston resolved that MacLaren needed to be disposed of, that hasty marriage to Pine meant nothing.
***
James ushered Maura into the SUV and was on her the moment the car began to move, taking them back to the hotel. She moaned as he assaulted her mouth, big hands roaming restlessly over her breasts in the pretty black dress. A finger slid under her choker and yanked her head forward. "Kiss me," he ordered, voice low and cool. Maura could feel the first stirrings of her sanity returning, but she pushed them down for the moment to kiss him freely. Ushering her urgently through the lobby, James slammed her against the lift wall as they headed up to their floor, sliding his hand up her thigh to run under the skirt of her dress.
"Mmmmm..." she sighed, "kiss me some more, James."
Groaning, he did as she asked until the lift doors opened to see two elderly Arabic couples, deeply offended by the display."Aedhurani,"James said, nodding respectfully to the group as he dragged Maura down the hallway. Once they were back in the bedroom, he pulled her dress off, still kissing her greedily on every bit of her he could reach.
It felt less like sex and more like James was devouring her, his hands hot on her skin, squeezing and stroking her and whispering in her ear, about how beautiful she was, how slick and tight around him. Maura’s eyes rolled back, trying to focus and sliding her fingers in his hair to yank his head back- to get a look at this man who was plowing through her. The flash of light from her left hand caught her attention.
The wedding ring James put on her hand.
The bubbly, frenetic energy from before seemed to drain from her, and Maura’s eyes narrowed. But it was too late, he was smiling down at her devilishly, then hoisting her up as he knelt back on his heels, long legs spread wide and lifting her up, then sliding her down on his shaft again. “Beautiful,” James approved, his cultured, sonorous tone hoarse, darker tonight. His hands slid down over her ass, squeezing gently as he hoisted her up and down again. “Time to come, Pet. Soak my cock.” Some part of her seemed to answer him, because with a shuddering gasp, she did.
Still blinded from her helpless climax, Maura saw the glint of silver in the corner of her eye and stiffened. "No! Please, please James! Don't drug me again! I can't stand it! Please!" Her next sob was cut in half into a moan as she felt the sting again. "Why don't you just kill me..." she whispered as everything went black.
So faint that the tunnel she fell through almost carried it away, came the answer. "Because I'm not a good man."
Chapter 20: Why does she have to be so damned stubborn?
In which James ponders his past, Maura's present, and the future of the Corporation.
James leaned against the open door of their hotel terrace, watching the waves roll in on the shore. His family used to have a cottage in Brighton, where they'd spend much of the summer- until his parent's "responsibilities" became too demanding. Then, it was just him and his nanny until he grew old enough to leave the cottage behind. But the smell of salt in the wind always brought the feeling back.
The moaning behind him made him turn back to his bride. Maura was having another nightmare, the third in as many nights. "Jim- Jimmy, oh A stór... I'm so- sweet boy... oh!" Sweat glistened on her face, grief twisting her mouth.
Her brother this time,he thought, leaning over her thrashing body. "Shh, sweetheart. Hush now, it's all right. Your family is safe, you've kept them safe. Sleep now... shh... there's a good girl..." James stroked her cheek, holding her hand as Maura quieted. Letting out the breath she'd been holding in her terror and grief, she sank into a deeper sleep. Laying down beside her, he was surprised to see her move, curling up to him and putting her head in his lap.
The nightmares are getting worse, he thought as he laid the long ribbon of her hair across the pillow next to him, running his fingers through it. The blue-black highlights shimmered in the moonlight, James idly twisting a lock this way and that. He was suddenly furious with himself.
