All The Queen's Men (Fantasy Heights) (7 page)

So she wasn’t the only one Thomas misled and outright lied to on a regular basis. Even angrier by then, Amanda took it out on Jerod. “Well then, prove him right, or prove him wrong. Either way, keep away from me until I’ve figured out how to feel about all this.”

Yet another heat-of-the-moment statement better left unsaid.

Amanda looked across the table at Jerod’s father, wishing there was something she could say to reassure him. But he had not asked for reassurance. He has asked about her police and FBI interviews, and she told him all that she could without mentioning anything to do with her mystery client.

Now that she’d finished talking, the DA referred once more to his list of names. He let his pen hover for a moment or two before crossing off Ridley.

Nicole got different treatment. Beside her name, he wrote
DRO#2?

Steph was next on his list. Amanda felt every muscle in her body begin to tense up, every nerve begin to clench like a billion little fists.

Hughes twiddled his pen again, still staring at the list.

He caught her off guard by deviating away from Steph. “Okay. I was a little fuzzy on your timeline for the rest of that day. You had your blood drawn at some point. When was that?”

Oh, God. She did not want to talk about that. But what choice did she have? “It was after the interviews. Three o’clock or so.”

“And? Who took your blood sample?”

“Neil. A friend of Thomas’s.”

Mr. Hughes actually smiled. “Of course. I’ve known Neil a long time.”

He glanced back down at the list, lost in thought again.

Amanda nearly died of relief that Hughes had let the subject drop. That afternoon had been a little on the wild side, even for her. She had been half a second away from calling Thomas to yell at him about Jerod when Neil had appeared out of nowhere. “There you are, pretty girl.”

She must have lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of him. It had been a long time since she’d seen him. Neil had hooked an arm around her shoulders and propelled her to the parking lot and into a silver coupe. Easy, companionable small talk carried them all the way to the gatehouse, where she finally overcame her initial delight to ask why he’d taken her home.

“Because only staff can use cellphones on the resort,” Neil said.

“Okay, and why do you need your cellphone?”

Neil almost melted her with the lift of one dark, domineering brow. “You’ll see. Take me to your room.”

She led him upstairs to the room Josh had declared as hers. Once inside, she asked, “What’s going on?”

“Thomas wanted me to deliver a message. I insisted he deliver the boring part himself. Hold on.” Neil backed her toward the bed, thumbing a number into his keypad behind her back.

He put the phone to his ear while lowering her down. When his call was answered, he said, “Got her. You back in your room yet?”

Waiting for a response, Neil flattened one hand on her tummy, holding her in place.

What in the world was going on? She watched Neil capture the phone between his ear and shoulder, then reach into a pocket. He came out with a small red plastic bag and tossed it onto the bed beside her. A small tube of gel lube tumbled out of the bag, and she could see the rounded edge of something else peeking out.

From his other pocket he produced a folded, padded envelope. There appeared to be a bunch of things inside it, but she couldn’t begin to guess what.

Neil said, “Okay. He can talk now. Here.”

She took the phone from him, still having no clue what was happening. “Thomas?”

“Hey,” Thomas answered. “How’s your day?”

“I… Thomas, what’s going on?”

She gasped as Neil grabbed her behind the knees and lifted, pulling her legs apart. Almost immediately, a blast of heat rolled through her belly at the thought of Neil let loose between her legs. But surely he could wait until she was off the phone.

She sat up enough to frown at him, telling Thomas, “Hold on a second. Your friend’s a little on the impatient side.”

“No, he’s not. He’s doing exactly what I asked him to do.”

She let out a sound of protest when Neil reached up beneath her skirt. She gave him an ‘are you serious’ look while she asked Thomas, “You asked him to take my panties off?”

“Among other things. Relax. Let him have his fun.”

Beginning to catch on, now, that blast of heat turned into an inferno. “You’re seriously going to listen on the phone while he eats my pussy?”

“You’re damn right, I am. I wanted to apologize for some of the prevaricating I’ve been doing. I thought about sending flowers. But Neil seemed less boring.”

She whimpered, though she would have liked to challenge him on the ‘prevaricating.’ He didn’t know yet that she’d found out about Jerod, and she could hardly bring it up with Neil in the room. Much less with Neil forcing her knees up so he could lower his head to run his tongue the entire length of her slit.

She let her head fall back against the mattress and breathed out a helpless sound of pleasure.

On the line, she heard Thomas hum, as though the sound she’d made assured him she would enjoy his apology. Neil flattened his tongue and teased at her clit, coaxing up an instant, intense heat and swelling.

“Oh, God,” she breathed. “Thomas…”

“Yeah? Does that feel good?”

She whimpered, then squealed when Neil pressed the tip of the lube-tube against her anus and squeezed cold gel there.

“Lube?” Thomas asked.

“Yes. Why… Wha…”

“See, I owe Josh an apology, too, for that sparring match before I left, and I could only think of one thing good enough to stand in for that apology. Which would be you, of course. I thought it might be nice to have a surprise waiting for him when he gets home.”

She might have had something to say about that if Neil hadn’t silenced her with the sudden pressure of a butt plug.

Thomas asked, “Is he putting the plug inside you?”

Her “Yes” was breathless.

“Good. It’ll make you come harder when he eats you. And don’t worry. He’s only using a small plug. You’re safe to leave it in until Josh gets home.”

She whimpered again. Leave it in? “But he won’t be home for more than an hour.”

“I know. You’re gonna be horny as hell again by the time he gets there. Which is exactly what I want.”

She had to draw in a deep breath, her mouth wide open, as Neil exercised absolutely no caution, pressing the plug home. Thomas was right. The plug was the small kind, but she could definitely feel it. The sweet ache of pleasure the plug ignited inside was ferocious. Outside, too, she could feel the rim of the jeweled plug resting against those sensitive muscles.

And then Neil lowered his head once more to suck her clit into his mouth.

Her high-pitched response made Thomas laugh out loud. “I can’t wait to get home.”

Neil reached one long arm up to catch her hand, reminding her to keep the phone to her ear while he began to stroke her with his tongue, lapping at her, dipping the tip into her vagina, then sliding it up and over her clit.

She would have dropped the phone if Neil weren’t hanging onto it. “Oh, yeah. That’s… Oh, God, that feels so good.”

“Tell me what he’s doing.”

“He’s dipping his tongue into my cunt, then running it up to my clit. And every time he hits that spot, it makes my whole body light up.”

“Do you want him to fuck you?”

“No. No. I don’t want him to stop eating me.”

“Good girl.”

She cried out as Neil shifted sideways so that he could introduce two fingers into the equation, sinking his ring and middle finger inside of her. Reaching down, she set her hand on his head. Here he was, doing all the work, and she was ignoring him. “He’s… banging me.”

“Do you like it?”

Neil closed his teeth over her clit, biting gently, and then sucking hard.

All she could manage then was a long, high note of sensual rapture.

Thomas laughed again, a low, smug sound. “Tell him I want him to bang you hard and fast.”

“Can’t you tell him?”

“No. I want to hear you tell him what I said.”

Lord have mercy. “Neil, Thomas says to bang me hard and fast.”

Neil hummed against her clit. And obeyed fervently enough to make her gasp, desperate and silent, for air. She didn’t want to come yet. It felt so good, and she was so turned on knowing Thomas could hear everything, she didn’t want it to end. But how could she fight it? Especially when Neil began to deliberately hit his knuckles against the end of the butt plug, multiplying the stimulation.

She let out a few ragged, breathless complaints about how he should slow down, stop hitting the plug, stop setting her spine on fire with that tongue.

In the end, it wasn’t Neil who made her come. It was Thomas, by saying, “God, I miss you.”

She slipped into orgasm, pulsing hard and long. Chemical elation spread outward through nerves and muscle until the pleasure had sapped every cell. Just when she started to wind down a bit, Neil pushed on the butt plug to keep it from slipping out, and she was reeling all over again.

When she was coherent enough, Thomas told her, “Now, tell him thank you. But don’t let him talk you into anything else. He’s been well compensated with a harem fantasy.”

She managed a breathy laugh. “Got it.”

“And when Josh gets home,” Thomas continued, “wear a skirt, but no panties. Show him the plug. Tell him you’re my apology, and enjoy the rest.”

“I will. And Thomas, I miss you, too. You know that, right?”

“I know that. We’ll talk once I get home tomorrow. Tonight, have fun with Josh.”

They rang off, and she handed Neil his phone.

He muttered, “Lucky bastard.”

And then she felt guilty. She liked Neil, but he was completely eclipsed by Josh and Thomas.

“Oh, stop looking like someone just shot a kitten,” he said. “I know when I’m beat, and I’ve got more than enough ego to cushion the blow.”

Still winded and bleary, she gave him a weak smile that faltered once he reached for the envelope he’d dumped on the bed, earlier. From it, he pulled a pair of latex gloves, a tourniquet, and the various bits and pieces needed to draw blood.

“Hold still a minute,” Neil said. “We gotta test everyone for the chemicals we’re identifying from Nic and Ridley. Phillip and Mercury, too.”

He explained then that Phillip and Mercury had both collapsed due to the DriveRate drugs. Phillip had all the symptoms of a catastrophic withdrawal. Mercury had an allergic reaction to an ingested version.

Alarmed, Amanda tensed up as he slipped the tourniquet around her biceps. “I hate these people. How dare they?”

“I know. It makes me furious to think these… whoever they are, have no compunction against overriding people’s free will. And they’re fuckin’ smart about it. They’re not using the same shit on every victim, which makes it way harder to identify.”

She watched him, seeing the sparkle of rage harden his features while he rubbed the inside of her elbow with an alcohol swab. He then stroked her skin with gloved fingers, looking for a viable vein.

“Note to self. Do not be angry while trying to draw blood,” he said. “I might turn you into a voodoo doll, here. Sorry.”

She murmured reassurance and tried not to think too hard about what had prompted this new round of blood tests. She wouldn’t test positive, so it was a waste of time on her, but she supposed they needed to know if anyone else was under the influence.

He did have to stick her twice before he finally hit the vein, but then it was over. He taped a cotton ball over the site. “Forgive the eat and run, but I gotta haul this over to the lab right away. And then it’s harem time.”

He winked at her, and she wrinkled her nose at him, hoping he’d have fun. He’d definitely earned it.

And then began a very long hour. Never mind the satisfying orgasm Neil had given her—showering and getting dressed, and walking around with the butt plug still inside was driving her mad. Her pussy was swollen, and she was so wet and so worked up by the time Josh finally walked in that she couldn’t even stand still.

Josh dropped the car keys onto the rent table and raised his eyebrows at her. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m supposed to deliver something for Thomas. An apology for the fight before he left.”

Josh waved a hand at her. “I’m over it.”

“But… But I’m the apology.”

“So he wants you to do something to me as an apology. Not happening. Not that I don’t want to, but if you’re not a library book, you’re not an apology, either. And you know, I think we should try something different later tonight. Stay home. Make dinner together. Talk. Get to know each other. And
not
have sex, for once.”

She covered her eyes for a moment, and then lowered her hand again. Her body was absolutely on fire for him. Even if she took out the plug, this appetite wouldn’t go away instantly. “You know, under normal circumstances I would think that was a fantastic, sensible, awesome idea. Except circumstances aren’t exactly normal at the moment.”

“What? Why not?”

“Sit down,” she told him, waving toward the couch.

“Why?”

“Please?”

He relented, one eyebrow quirked up into a dubious, suspicious arch.

Once he was seated, she turned her back to him, leaned forward, and lifted her skirt.

Silence for a moment, and then a low, sighed, “Oh, my God. That it so unfair.”

“Right? Please, Josh. I’ve been wearing this thing for more than an hour now, and I’m so horny I could cry.”

Things did not progress the way she thought they might. Josh had gotten right down to business, of course, but not in the expected way. He got up, turned her around, and hauled her over his shoulder into a fireman’s carry. Straight up the stairs and into his room he carried her. They fair stripped each other, hands shaking, before Josh pushed her onto the bed, face down.

He did not remove the plug. He made her keep her legs together and thrust into her pussy from behind. She had always liked penetration in this position, but she’d never done it with a plug inside her before. She quickly lost all focus and control, feeling Josh’s powerful body intent on driving into her, his muscles taut, his movements jerky and urgent.