A Jade's Trick (Lilly Black's Jaded Series Book 1) (39 page)

 

The royal ball wasn't all it should have been, but after my Cinderella moment in the hallway outside the ladies' room, nothing could bring me down.  When we get to the valet station, it gets better as Rain sees her drunk grandfather being helped into his Bentley by his chauffeur and decides to ride with him instead of us.  She gives me her business card, suggesting I call her for lunch sometime, and finally I have Cain all to myself.

When the Maybach pulls up, he throws his tie, vest, and jacket into the backseat before driving us away, looking unbelievably hot in his untucked shirt.  Wanting to tell him that I need him now, that I can't wait for him to drive all the way back downtown, I grab his cock, and he whips the car off the road half way down the country club drive and throws it in park.  He pulls me to him, kissing me with my face in his hands, his fingers twisting into my hair, fucking up Marcel's hard work just like he wanted.

His eyes wild, he holds up a finger.  One minute, and we're back on the move.  The tires screech as Cain takes the turns on the winding back roads of La Jolla, and though it took a little longer than a minute, our destination is worth it - a dark, private spot overlooking the ocean with a series of large rocks on one side, giving us the illusion of privacy and blocking out the lights of the houses in the distance as the cliff curves to the north of us.  It's not the kind of spot that would be easily found by someone who didn't grow up here, and I recognize it for what it is.

"I'll bet I'm not the first girl you've brought here," I tease as Cain pulls me into his lap, the driver's seat pushed as far back as it will go.

"You'll be the last," he promises, kissing my ear, his hands at work taking down his pants as I balance on my knees to give him room.  When they're half way down, I feel something unexpected against my thighs.

"You didn't!" I giggle, remembering my order that he wear my panties tonight as I look down to find that of all the panties he has bought for me, this is the pair I wore the first night we fucked.  He notices everything!

"Just showing you what a good sub I could be if properly motivated, Domina," he says with a grin.  "But they're really cutting into me..."

"Then let's get them off," I say, reaching down, but now that he's hard, I find that I can't get them to move.  "How the hell did you squeeze into these?"

"It wasn't easy, and the elastic is fucked.  Sorry."

"Totally worth it," I laugh.

I ask if he has a pair of scissors, and he says there's a utility knife in the glove box.  I take it out and slice them as carefully as possible on both sides, but when I pull the fabric away, I find that I've still managed to nick him.

"Sorry!" I cry out as a trickle of blood runs down his thigh.

"I didn't feel a thing," he says, but I ignore him, sliding across the console, leaning in, and licking the blood away.

"It's just a scratch," he says, kissing me, then he orders me to get in the back seat. He may have called me Domina a minute ago, but now I see that I am not in charge here as he continues his commands.  "On your knees, facing the back window."

"Yes, Master Cain," I whisper as I obey, and he positions me at an angle so he can kneel on his reclined seat.

"The only thing I've been able to think about all night is fucking you from behind with nothing but your sapphires hanging down your back." When he guides himself inside me, I'm so ready for him.  His hands on my hips, he pulls me crashing into him over and over until I scream his name, writhing against him as the first orgasm overtakes me.

He pulls away from me, turning me over and kissing his way down my body, hesitating at my navel, probably to contemplate pulling the bandage off of my new piercing, but he resists, moving lower.

Yes...oh, God...yes
, my mind urges him, but he stops just shy of the target, a lascivious grin on his face as he grabs my pumps from the passenger seat.  It makes me giggle when he slips them on my feet before I realize it isn't just his fetish that motivates him.

"Come with me," he says, opening the car door and stepping out.

"Uh-uh," I protest.

"No one is going to see us," he assures me, and though I can't believe I'm doing it, I take his hand.

"Careful," he says, and as I look down in the light from the open car door, I see that he's standing there barefoot on gravel.  I walk slowly as he guides me, and once the door is closed, though we only have the light of the waning moon above, I can feel that there is more sand than rock on the ground in front of the car.  It's a good thing considering what Cain has in mind.

He stops me, twisting my necklace around so it cascades over my tits before lifting me onto the hood where he removes my shoes and pushes me to lie on my back with my head against the windshield.  The engine is still hot and feels good against my cold skin as the chilly night wind blows over the cliffs, and though I have never felt so exposed, Cain chases it away with his warm hands pushing my legs apart as he leans over the car hood.  Then I feel his glorious tongue upon me, reading me so well, knowing exactly what I need, and tonight he doesn't tease from the first delicate touch to making sure the people in the houses in the distance know his name.  Not even the sound of the ocean below can overshadow my cries as my legs involuntarily lift me, shoving me into his face. He holds me there until I can't take the slightest touch before pulling me to the edge of the hood and sliding his magnificent cock into me.

He fucks me hard and fast, making me come again so quickly it's almost more pleasure than I can process as I buck against him, my back arching as he leans into me, biting my nipple.  Waves of euphoria rippling outward, I bolt upright, grabbing a handful of his hair as I thrust my tongue into his mouth, insatiable for his kiss.  Locked together, he lifts me, my legs around his waist, turning and carrying me until I feel the smoothness of a large rock against my back.  He pins me there, fucking me, his relentless cock forcing me to another climax, and I scream my pleasure into him, his mouth covering mine, silencing me as his tongue traps the words inside.

When Cain finally withdraws, my legs slide down his calves to find their footing, and I feel so weak and intoxicated, urged on solely by my rapacious need to make him come.  I turn us around, pushing him against the rock now, and I go to my knees, relieved to find only sand at the base of the boulder.  Slowly I begin, looking up at him as he watches me, his hands in my hair, and I can see in his eyes that he is no mood for teasing.  I take his shaft in one hand and his balls in the other and begin my onslaught, his rock-hard cock and I of a single mind as I guide him swiftly and forcefully to his end, and when he comes, I take him deep into my throat, pulling his body into me by the flesh of his hips.

"Oh, God, Evan!  Fuck!" Cain growls the words as he fills my mouth, and I push him until he can't take any more, sliding down the rock to kneel beside me.

"You're so good," he breathes.  "God, you're so fucking good."

 

It's after 1:00 am when I wake to find myself wearing only Cain's tuxedo jacket, having drifted off in as I lay his arms in the car.  It isn't like me to fall asleep like this, but it's been a long day and after the stress of the country club and the intense sex, I'm not too surprised.

We get dressed, and I twist my hair into bun, trying to hide what we've just been doing because Cain wants to stop for breakfast before we go home.  It feels weird as I walk into a Denny's wearing only a thin, satin dress, but seeing Cain in his tux pants and shirt, his hair a mess from fucking, most of the waitress' eyes aren't on me anyway.

We get back to his place at almost 3:00 am, and after a shower, I slip a satin nightgown over my head, braiding my wet hair on the way to the bedroom so it won't be a tangled mess in the morning.  Half asleep already, I almost sit down on the bed in the dark without noticing that something isn't right, but I catch a stream of pale light coming in from the hallway, reflecting off of...plastic?  I flip the light switch to find a brand new mattress with a big, gold bow where my pillow should be.

"Does that meet with your approval?" Cain asks, suddenly appearing in the doorway.

"Why?"

"Something you said yesterday."  It's all Cain offers as an explanation, but I'm pretty sure it was when I said I didn't want to go through the subfolders there because I didn't want all those other women in his bed. It's a good thing I didn't voice my thought about him fucking other women in the shower, or we might have come home to contractors in the master bath.

"You're spoiling me," I warn as I approach him.

"Anything for my Domina," he whispers without even a hint of that sarcastic tone, and I melt into him.  Sometimes loving him is bittersweet.  I don't know how he always knows just what I need without realizing how I came to be the way I am.  It's like he knows my darkest secrets, the ones that make me feel so used inside.

Please, God, never let Cain see how unworthy I am.

Sunday Cain and I wake to a loud banging on the front door.  I look at the clock.  It's 7:05 am.  We have only been asleep for a few hours.

"What the fuck?" Cain growls, grabbing his robe from the floor by the bed, but I stay under the covers listening as he makes his way down the hallway and opens the door.

"Cain Tolbert Ballantyne?" 

"Yeah," Cain answers, audibly groggy.

"I'm detective Calderón, homicide.  This is Detective Vega.  May we come in?"

Homicide?  What the fuck, indeed!

"Sure," Cain says, and I hear the door close.

"We just have a few questions for you."

"Yeah, okay...wait.  What?" 

"There's been a murder, Mr. Ballantyne.  Miss Elizabeth Chadwick."

"Oh, God!  What happened?"  He's suddenly alert.  So am I.

"That's what we're trying to find out," the detective says.  "You were Miss Chadwick's former fiancé, right?"

"Something like that," Cain says.

"What does that mean?"

"Can we sit down?  Can I get you something to drink?"  I hear Cain open the fridge.

"No, thank you."  I hear the clinking of glass as Cain pours something, but when they go into the living room, I have trouble hearing. Grabbing my robe, I creep down the hallway, staying just out of view.

"And how long has it been since you and Miss Chadwick were lovers?" the detective asks.

"I broke it off over a month ago."

"And then you started seeing Evan Lucien.  Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"I understand that she and Miss Chadwick had an altercation last night at the Torrey Crest..." 

"I wouldn't call it an altercation.  Liz and several of her friends cornered Evan in the ladies' room, trying to...I don't know what the fuck they were trying to do, but Evan handled them elegantly.  These are petty, spoiled, little rich girls, Detective Calderón.  Evan is not."

"Not?" the detective asks.

"Not any of those things," I say as I appear from the hallway.  I extend my hand as I walk toward where Detective Calderón and Cain are sitting.  The other cop with him, a brown-haired woman, is taking notes as she lingers by the breakfast bar while Calderón, a stocky man of Hispanic heritage whose lack of an accent betrays that his family has lived in the States for at least a couple of generations, shakes my hand.

"Evan Lucien," I introduce myself.

"Detective Calderón," he says.  "Miss Lucien, could you tell me more about the exchange with Miss Chadwick last night?" 

"A group of women Cain used to date, led by Sunny Meriwether..." I hear a stifled snort of a laugh from the other detective by the door.  "...wanted me to know that I was unwelcome on their turf as far as I can tell, though I'm not entirely sure if that turf was the country club or Mr. Ballantyne."  It makes the detective chuckle.  Good.  I want him to like me.  I am very sorry that Elizabeth is dead, but I don't want my name dragged into this shit.

"I see, and how did that end?"

"I..."

"She set them straight and walked away.  Sunny followed her into the hall shouting, I shut her down, and we left."  I nod in agreement with Cain's version of the story.  It's vague but true.

"And how exactly did you shut her down, Mr. Ballantyne?" Calderón asks.

"I dated Sunny ten years ago, and I told her I had been fucking her sister the whole time."  He's so aloof and relaxed as he says it, it makes me want to laugh, so tired I have to keep reminding myself that Elizabeth was murdered.  Cain seems to keep forgetting that, too.

"According to the valet, the two of you left around 10:45.  Is that correct?"  Calderón moves on, unaffected.

"I have no idea," Cain says.

"I'll get my phone," I say.  "I texted Cain about fifteen minutes before we left."  I grab my phone from the charger and show the detective the message.  It was sent at 10:17.

"So probably more like 10:30?" he asks.

"I'd say so," Cain replies.

"Why were you texting each other at the same event?" the detective asks.

"Cain was onstage accepting an award," I say, then I realize that I never saw the plaque after Aldous Meriwether handed it to him at the podium.  "What happened to the plaque?" I ask Cain.

"I must have laid it down somewhere when I went looking for you.  I'll call about it later."

"The text, Miss Lucien?"

"Right.  When Cain was called to the stage..."

"Unexpectedly," Cain adds.

"...
unexpectedly
called to the stage, I got nervous being there alone, so I left the ballroom.  I sent the text because I didn't want him to worry if he looked out into the crowd and didn't see me." 

"And Lorraine Meriwether was with you when you left the ballroom.  Is that correct?"

"Yes.  She warned me about her sister."

"And she stayed with you until you left the country club?"

"Yes."

"And where did you and Mr. Ballantyne go after you left?"

"Umm..." I hesitate.

"Evan, would you mind getting my wallet?  I want to see the time on the receipt from breakfast," Cain says, rescuing me from having to admit what we did after we left.  As soon as my back is turned, I hear Cain speaking low to the detective.

"I couldn't wait to get her home, so I took her to a parking spot I used to go to in high school..."  While I'm in the office, I can't hear him until I come back out into the hallway.  "...ate breakfast and got home sometime after 3:00 am," Cain says.

Yes, that's what time we got home this morning, and by the time we both showered and made the bed, it was almost 4:00 am - just three damn hours ago, Detective Calderón! - before we got to sleep.

"So you were having sex in a car for almost four hours?" Calderón asks, skeptical.  I've about had it with this guy.

"The five women who came at me last night had all dated Cain.  There's a very good reason his exes can't seem to let go, Detective," I say, raising my voice as I saunter into the room and hand Cain his wallet.  I see him smile as he watches me, and there's nothing sheepish about it.  It's pride on his face, and though I thoroughly enjoy it, I realize that we're probably not coming off well to these cops at all.  Angrily, Detective Vega finally joins the conversation.

"Mr.  Ballantyne, you don't seem very choked up about the murder of a woman you were intimate with just a few weeks ago."  She's pissed.

"I've had three hours sleep.  If you want emotion, get out and come back later."

"I don't think that will make a difference, Mr. Ballantyne.  I don't think you have it in you," Vega taunts him.

"Probably not."

"What about anger?  Maybe directed at Miss Chadwick for cornering your new girlfriend?  Maybe for the holes in the condoms?"

Holes in the condoms?
  I don't remember Cain mentioning that.

"We're you angry, Mr. Ballantyne?  Angry enough to..."

"That's enough," Calderón reins her in.

"It's okay," Cain says.  "I'll answer her questions.  What Liz did last night was Sunny's doing.  I'm more angry with you for waking me up than I was at Liz for last night.  I'm very sorry she's gone, but you expect too much of me.  I just wasn't that attached." 

"You slept with this woman for ten years and were engaged to marry her, for God's sake!" Vega clearly does not like Cain, and now Calderón is just sitting back watching it play out.

"Who gave you that information?  My mother?" Cain asks, but neither detective answers him.  He goes on.  "I see.  Liz and I had an arrangement that could have ended in marriage, but that didn't mean I loved her."

"Then why were you going to marry her?" Calderón asks.

"Because of all the women I had dated up to that point, I found her most tolerable," Cain says coldly.

"Why get married at all?" he asks.

"Casual dating and one night stands were starting to bore me."

"You've slept with all seven women who were in that ladies' room last night.  That hardly sounds like someone who is bored with casual dating," Vega quips.

"Detective Vega, since you are so interested, you may as well know that there were far more than seven women I've fucked at that country club last night, and they're not dead, so how is harassing me about my sex life helping solve Liz' murder?" 

"I'm trying to eliminate suspects."

"Am I a suspect?"

"You're a person of interest at the moment, but since I'm having trouble making sense of what you're telling me..."  She trails off as if to imply that Cain's status could easily upgrade to suspect.  "So how is it that, with all of the women at your disposal, the one you caught trying to facilitate an accidental pregnancy is the one you chose to marry?"  Curious choice of words, disposal.

"Most of those women were at my
disposal
because of who I am and what I own.  They're predators - the pretty, little, blonde daughters of my mother's country club asshole friends hunting me for sport..."

"Yet you dated them anyway?" Vega asks, her disdain for him clear.

"They were convenient, and I always knew what I was getting."

"And what is that, Mr. Ballantyne?" Calderón asks, leaning forward in his chair.

"Someone safe to fuck until I got bored." 

Seriously, Cain! 

"You said these women were safe
,
yet you used condoms with Miss Chadwick?" Calderón asks.

"That's not what I meant by safe, but yes, I always used condoms with her.  She insisted." 

"Yet even after you found out that she was trying to get pregnant, you stayed with her?"

"It worked for me at the time." 

"And you broke up with Miss Chadwick when you started seeing Miss Lucien?" he asks.

"Yes," Cain says.  "I broke it off with Liz the day after I met Evan, even though Evan wanted nothing to do with me."  He looks at me and smiles.

"I can't imagine why," Vega grumbles as she glares at us.  I think she's the first woman I've ever seen who wasn't mesmerized by Cain.

"I just have a couple more questions, and I'll let you get back to sleep," Calderón says.  "Have you seen Lorraine Meriwether since last night?"

"No," Cain and I both say.

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" he asks.

"She went home with her grandfather.  That's the last we saw of her," I say.  "Do you need her contact information?  I have her card."

"Her grandfather gave us everything we needed."

"If we speak with her, we'll ask her to call you," Cain says, and Calderón pulls out his card and lays it on the coffee table.

"Thanks.  Now if I could just get the address of the spot that you and Miss Lucien were parked for four hours?"  The way he says it reiterates that he does not think it is reasonable that we were having sex for that long, but since Cain doesn't mention falling asleep, neither do I.

"I don't know the names of all of the roads, but I can give you directions."  Cain does his best to give directions with landmarks instead of street names.

"Very good," Calderón says.  "And I understand that you were in a hurry, but why exactly did you go there instead of getting a room at one of the nearby hotels?"

"Evan has just the tiniest streak of jealousy, and since I have such a history in San Diego, I have decided to take her everywhere I've been with women in the past so my memories of these places are of her."

Awww...
I look at him with a warm smile.  I didn't know he was doing that.  It's sweet.

"Then that about does it for me," Calderón says.

"I have one more question," Vega says.  "Why was your chauffeur replacing your mattress after midnight last night?"  She comes off like she thinks it's her Sherlock Holmes moment, but Cain can't be rattled.

"For that same reason.  When Evan and I got home, there was a big, gold bow on the new mattress for her."