The Redeemer (16 page)

‘Perhaps not,’ he growled before the intense warmth of her wet, silky pussy forced the breath from his lungs.

Waking in Xander’s arms the following morning was sheer bliss. He was predictably horny but she was anxious to get back to the hotel after her unexpected and prolonged absence. The thought of facing Dean made her feel sick to her stomach but she knew it was something she had to do. When it came to confessing to Xander, the jury was still out on that one. She’d woken once in the night and had managed to convince herself that it was simply a drunken dream in order to get back to sleep but, as soon as she awoke, it lurked at the back of her consciousness.

She groaned when she realised that her clothes were in her room.

‘Damn it. I have no clothes here. Could you grab them for me, please?’ she asked, standing in front of the mirror and trying to detangle her bed hair with her fingers.

Xander stepped behind her, pressing his morning wood into her back as he grabbed her breasts roughly.

Rolling her eyes, she muttered, ‘That wasn’t what I meant and you know it. Come on, there isn’t time for your games this morning.’

He ground his cock against her. ‘It’s my pussy and if I decide I want it, I’m taking it.’

‘You’re such a sex pest,’ she tutted. ‘Please?’

‘Now you’re begging for my cock? You’re so contrary, Red.’

Huffing, she grabbed her room key and sauntered to the door. ‘It’s up to you whether you want all the male guests to ogle my body in a public place . . . ogling
your
pussy.’

As soon as she saw his devilish grin, she could have kicked herself.

Trust him to get turned on by something like that . . .

He was watching her intently with one eyebrow raised, silently daring her to carry out her threat.

Defiantly, she turned the handle and stepped out into the hall. Then, she shot down the hallway to her own door, slammed the key in the slot and, ignoring Xander’s laughter that echoed behind her, she dashed inside and closed the door.

She shook her head when she saw how pink her cheeks were when she got into the shower.

Damn that man!

In the shower she noticed just how forcefully Xander had reclaimed her. Her body was covered in bruises and bite marks.

Thank God I didn’t bump into anyone as I dashed down the hallway naked. They’d think I’d been in a road traffic accident or something.

Every time her hands brushed one of the marks as she washed, it made her wince. It also triggered delicious memories, making her feel decidedly horny. So much so that she found herself fervently wishing that he were in the shower with her. She’d happily let him make a few more.

She dressed, noticing with some satisfaction how her suit was much less crumpled after hanging in the shower steam and that her outfit covered her bruises. She checked her phone for notifications; there were none.

It’s always nice to know you’ve been missed. God, I hope everything’s okay. I’ll give Belinda a call after breakfast.

With some hastily applied neutral make-up and her hair tied back, she felt just about presentable when she joined him in the dining room.

Munching her way through a full English breakfast, she remembered about his hire car.

‘I’ll leave it here. When I drop the keys off and pick up my car, my
other temporary
car,’ he corrected, ‘I’ll arrange for someone to come and pick it up.’

‘They might charge you a small fortune,’ she cried. ‘There’s no need for that. I promise I’ll drive
my
Holden safely back to Rouge Passion.’

He fixed her with
that
stare. ‘My darling Red, there is no way on this planet that I’m letting you out of my sight. They can charge me whatever they like. I can afford it.’

‘But can you? With a divorce settlement hanging over your head now, your finances will surely be under intense scrutiny in the near future. It might be wise to be prudent.’

He nodded. ‘Oh I am. By the way, Rouge Passion is about to get busy. Very busy. It seemed an appropriate time to close my other hotel for refurbishment. I’ve been declining bookings for the next month and all the pre-booked guests are being given the choice of being booked into Rouge Passion at
very
preferential rates.’

Isla gasped. ‘You’re closing it? Won’t her legal team think that’s suspicious?’

He shrugged. ‘I’ve been dropping it into conversation for weeks now. If she listened to even one of those conversations, it shouldn’t seem like a malevolent action. On the plus side, I’m eating into my liquid assets to refurbish the hotel so my bank balance will be considerably less if I have to share it. And, if the hotel has to be sold, it should be worth more after the refurb. Although, I have given instructions to upgrade significant areas with a generous budget so it may take quite some time to sell it, if I’m to get my outgoings back and make a profit. Janine may not be willing to wait for that.’

Grinning, Isla muttered, ‘I like your style. But what about Rouge Passion? It sounds like she’s on to you.’

His expression turned stony. ‘Well, we’ll just have to put her off, won’t we? I haven’t had time to give it much thought but, by the time we arrive in Kensington, I’ll have a plan. If I had empty balls, I’d have one by Swindon. I always think better with empty balls.’

‘Shush,’ she hissed as a middle-aged couple turned to look in their direction.

‘Relax, Red. It’s not as if I’m asking you to drop to your knees right now and milk my aching balls to improve my thought process. Although, now I think about it, that’s not a bad idea.’ He pushed his chair back from the table a little and unfastened his belt.

Isla gave him an exasperated look as she sipped her orange juice but she didn’t rise to it. She knew there was no point; it would just invite further inappropriate remarks.

‘Chicken,’ he teased.

‘Pervert,’ she admonished.

‘Guilty as charged.’ He gave her a cheeky wink that almost made her choke on a piece of bacon.

*

Xander spent a good five minutes adjusting the seat, steering wheel and mirrors to suit his driving position, punctuating each action with mutterings about others driving his beloved car. Then finally they were on their way, leaving the picturesque town of Kington behind them. Xander asked whether they should buy the hotel, since it was the venue for their reunion, and turn it into a luxury countryside getaway. Isla shook her head stating that running two was enough, although she did mention that she’d love to return to the area and investigate it properly one day.

As they neared Hereford, Isla’s phone began to chirrup and vibrate constantly. It was really freaking out. She picked it up, noticing that its battery was almost flat and that she had masses of notifications. She complained to Xander who pointed to the glove box, informing her that there was a charger inside. She duly plugged it in and began to scroll through the mammoth list of missed calls, voicemails, texts and emails.

‘Holy crap,’ she exclaimed. ‘It looks like I was missed after all. I bet I had no reception at the hotel and that’s why I had no notifications . . . and why I have hundreds coming in now.’

‘I’ll bet it’s just the gossips wanting to know where you are. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.’

Half an hour of reading and listening to messages soon determined that he was wrong. It seemed that anyone vaguely connected to the hotel had been after her. The security detail had contacted practically everyone she knew – she even had a message from her father asking her to check in to let him know she was okay. She didn’t even want to think what they’d told him.

‘Oh fuck,’ she muttered.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘If I don’t return or make contact with the security staff before 2:00 p.m. this afternoon, they’re officially reporting me to the police as a missing person. It seems that a massive hunt has already begun and, since you couldn’t be located either, you’re implicated in my disappearance.’

He laughed making her round on him. ‘Why is that funny exactly? They’ve called my parents for fuck’s sake. God only knows what they’ve told them but I’ll bet they’re worried out of their minds.’

‘Shit! That’s a little over the top. What are they, Secret Service agents?’ he quipped.

‘No, former Royal Marines,’ she deadpanned.

‘You’re joking! No wonder they almost broke my fucking arm. And that devil dog . . . what the fuck possessed you to get an attack dog?’

‘I was pissed with you,’ she said dismissively, as she continued to read through her backlog of messages.

‘I’ll give you this, you play fucking hardball,’ he muttered. ‘But next time you’re pissed with me, please talk to me before you call in the SAS.’

‘Next time, tell me you’re married before you fuck me.’

‘Touché,’ he muttered as he steered the car on to the M5 and flattened Isla into her seat.

Christ, I thought I’d driven like a bat out of hell but Xander’s freaking flying.

She called her parents and reassured them that she was fine. Her parents said a friend of hers had called to see whether they’d heard from her after she wasn’t home or replying to their calls so she told them that she simply didn’t want to see that so-called friend. Her mum scolded her for being uncharitable but her dad just laughed. She had a quick catch up before promising to visit them soon.

‘Bloody hell,’ she muttered. ‘Between us, we’ve managed to create quite a drama.’

‘You’d better call soldier boy and tell him not to set that fucking dog on me the minute we pull into the car park.’

‘I might,’ she teased, staring out of the window and across the other two lanes of traffic to see the scenery passing by in a blur. They were already on the M4. Xander was obviously in a rush to get back. ‘What the fucking hell do I tell the staff?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I . . . um . . . I may have told them a few porkies, let’s just say that they’re under the impression that you’re a criminal under investigation by the police and that they all probably think you’re a dangerous lowlife scumbag right now.’

His head whipped round to face her, his expression one of incredulity. ‘You’d better be kidding me.’

She shook her head. ‘For God’s sake, Xander, watch the fucking road! I had to give some explanation for the security guards manhandling you off the premises. I hadn’t said a word until that was witnessed. I was put on the spot. Plus, you weren’t exactly my favourite person at the time.’

‘Jesus Christ, woman, I take it back. You don’t play hardball, you rewrite the fucking rulebook. I don’t think I’ll bother hiring the finest legal counsel that money can buy to deal with my divorce, I’ll just send you. Janine will end up giving me everything and more, just to get you out of there.’

She pulled a face. ‘Ah come on, you know I’m a tough cookie, that’s one of the things that you’re attracted to about me. I’m no pushover.’

‘True. That and your amazing body, and how it reacts to me. Fancy a quickie in the services?’

She didn’t get to find out whether he was joking; her phone rang. She glanced at the display and groaned when she saw it was the hotel.

‘Good morning, Isla Hamilton,’ she answered pleasantly.

‘Oh thank fuck for that. I mean . . . good morning, Isla. It’s Belinda. Where on God’s earth are you?’

‘I’m on the M4 on my way back to the hotel. I’ll be with you soon. Is Jones around? I need to have a word.’

‘God knows where he is, there’s like hundreds of them crawling around here.’

‘There’s what?’ Isla shrieked.

‘Well, like ten of them. They think that Xander’s abducted you or something. Do I take it you’re safe then?’

‘Yes Belinda, I can assure you I’m completely safe and well.’

She looked across to Xander who was shaking his head.

‘Good, because you’re not going to believe this, Isla. Some woman just turned up and asked if she could check in early or leave her luggage in the left luggage room. Anyway, one of our regular guests, Mr Damrosch, you know – the one who does something for one of the museums, dead boring, looks like a mad scientist – you know the one I mean.’

‘Yeah, I think so. What about him?’

‘Well, he was on his way out when she came in but he kind of lingered in the lobby. As soon as Derek had taken her bags to her room, Mr Damrosch came over and told me that she’s a hotel inspector. He was staying somewhere the other week and heard her ask for the manager when she handed her business card over. When the receptionist came back to see to him, she was stressing out big time. She told him it was because the woman had stayed there overnight and had done a secret inspection for reassessing the hotel’s grading. Isla, he’s 100 per cent positive it’s her. She’s booked in for one night in a superior room and hasn’t stayed here before. What do I do?’

‘Stay calm, Belinda. I won’t be long. Make sure you inform Bobbi, Dean, Derek and Nadine . . . oh, and find Jones as soon as possible, or any one of them and have them exit the hotel and call me right away. And for God’s sake make sure that nobody let’s on to her that she’s been rumbled. Have you got that?’

‘Yes, except that Dean hasn’t come into work again. We’ve still not heard a word, have you?’