The Skull King Read online

  “How’s business?” I asked, looking at the paperwork in front of Dirk.

  He set his fork down. “Good—like usual.”

  “When you do bookkeeping on Saturday, it usually means something really good or something really bad happened.” I remembered Father used to do the exact same thing. He either reflected on having a strong week, or he panicked for having a lousy one.

  “Good,” Dirk answered. “Only good.”

  Case looked up from his plate for a moment to hold eye contact with my brother. As if a silent conversation had just passed between them, he looked away again.

  I grew up with these guys. I picked up on all their subtleties, the way they casually lied to protect me from the truth. Most of the time, they were trying to keep me out of trouble. But now we were all adults—and had been adults for a long time. “What’s going on, guys?”

  “Nothing,” Dirk answered. “You’re just paranoid.”

  “No. I just know you that well.” I took a bite of my brother’s cooking, loving the homemade marinara sauce and the noodles. My brothers stayed in shape because they skipped the carbs, which was incredible since they worked with pasta all day. “I know when you’re hiding something.”

  Case kept eating, his eyes downcast.

  Dirk ignored me too.

  I guess I’d have to pull it out of them. “I’m gonna get it out of you sooner or later. You may as well tell me.”

  “This is how it works,” Dirk said as he turned to me. “We do all the work, and you get your cut. You don’t need to worry about it.”

  “I don’t care about my cut.” Lucian gave me access to his money, so I could buy anything I wanted. If there was an expensive dress in the store window, all I had to do was run his credit card and it would be mine. He never put me on an allowance. He just told me to get whatever I wanted. “I care about my family’s legacy.”

  Dirk lifted his gaze and looked at Case.

  Case still ignored him. “Everything is fine, Cassini. We’ve just got more business than we can handle right now. Without enough workers to fill demands, it’s stressful. We have to wait until our payments come in before we can hire more workers. Just a bunch of bullshit you don’t need to worry about.”

  I detected the annoyance in my brother’s voice, so I backed off. He was a grumpy man like Father, rarely cracking a smile and being anything but serious. I’d never seen him with a woman, and I couldn’t imagine him being delicate or kind.

  “Yeah,” Dirk added. “So don’t worry about it.”

  After lunch, we watched the game in the living room.

  One of my phones lit up with a text message. Where are you?

  I glanced at it and put it away, not wanting Case to see it. He was right beside me.

  Case drank his scotch and kept his eyes on the TV. “How are things…at home?” He asked questions without wanting to know the answers, but he felt obligated because he cared about me. Even if there was nothing he could do to help me, he wanted me to know he was there.

  “Good.” They’d been much better since Balto came into my life. I had something to look forward to, something that got my blood pumping, something that made me smile…made me shake. It wasn’t just the fact that I was sneaking around that got the adrenaline going. It was the fact that I was taking a big risk for an even bigger reward. But at this point, I was addicted. I was addicted to that man and all the things he could do to me. “He’s in Turkey right now. He asked me to come along, but I didn’t want to.”

  “Turkey is a wasteland.” He kept his green eyes on the TV. “You wouldn’t have liked it.”

  I wouldn’t have liked it because Lucian was there. I preferred living in his mansion when he wasn’t there, when I could pretend he didn’t exist at all. I could eat whatever I wanted and keep my legs closed. “Probably.”

  “When will he be back?”

  “Tuesday.”

  “That’s a nice vacation.”

  Every time he was gone, it was definitely a vacation.

  “Is he gone on the weekends a lot?”

  “Almost always.”

  He nodded. “That’s good.”

  My phone started to vibrate again, but this time it was Lucian calling my phone.

  He almost never called, and I hoped this wasn’t a new tradition. “Speak of the devil…” I rose from the couch and took the call, knowing I had to drop everything I was doing and give him the attention he wanted. He wasn’t just my husband, but the man who owned me. Sometimes I still ground my teeth at the knowledge, but I’d learned to accept it. “How are you?”

  Even his voice was oily. “I’ve been better. I miss you.”

  I stopped at the window and looked over the quiet countryside. There were no neighbors on this side, so I could only see Florence in the near distance. My throat went dry as the acid built in my stomach. My teeth ground together because I didn’t want to repeat the words back to him. There was no way he could possibly think I meant them, but he probably got off on controlling me like a puppet. “Miss you too…” I cringed once the words were out of my mouth, and my self-respect disappeared. When I said those words to Balto, I meant them. He was someone I thought about randomly throughout the day. But I never thought about Lucian unless I had to.

  “The weather here is nice.”

  He really called to make small talk? “The end of summer is always a beautiful time of year.”

  He turned quiet, like he didn’t have anything else to say.

  Why did he call in the first place? Was he really so dumb to think I actually liked him? That I’d just flipped a switch and suddenly found him desirable? My pussy went from sandpaper to lubed because he somehow changed my mind?

  “Where are you?”

  My pulse quickened in my wrists and behind my ears. It was the kind of question he’d never asked before. He never concerned himself with my daily activities. Thankfully, I wasn’t with Balto because I would have struggled to conjure a believable lie. “I’m with my brothers. Case made lunch, and we’re watching the game.”

  Lucian didn’t seem suspicious. Maybe he was just asking to start a conversation.

  Or maybe he was onto me.

  He responded smoothly. “The four of us should get together for dinner. I haven’t seen your family in a while.”

  My brothers couldn’t stand Lucian. They hadn’t come to the wedding, and they never made an effort to have any kind of relationship with him. Case couldn’t hide his loathing, and Dirk could quickly turn violent when he was pissed. Lucian was dead to them, for all intents and purposes. I never mixed them all together. “Yeah…we’ll see.”

  He lingered on the phone even though there was clearly nothing to say. Sometimes I wondered if suicide was preferable to being his wife, but when I remembered how much my brothers loved me, I knew that wasn’t an option. My death would haunt them for the rest of their lives, and they would blame themselves for not saving me.

  I kept going in these circles, trying to find a solution when there didn’t seem to be one.

  Balto had made a surprising offer, but since I really didn’t know him, I couldn’t agree to something like that.

  Sometimes I wondered if I should kill Lucian in his sleep. But if I made a run for it, his men would just follow me. They would execute my brothers and then me. That was a dead end.

  So I was stuck in this hopeless situation…forever. “The game is still on, so I should go.”

  Lucian didn’t express his frustration. “Maria picked up something for you. I want you to wear it when I get home—and be on my bed waiting for me.”

  No doubt it was lingerie.

  I kept the vomit in the back of my throat.

  Did that mean he wasn’t screwing whores like usual?

  If he was directing all of his attention on me, that only made my situation worse.

  I’d have to force myself to stop thinking about Balto when we were together. It was the best way to make sex bearable, but if it made Lucian more obsessed
with me, I would just have more problems. He would become more attentive, more obsessive. And then he might want to spend more time with me, which meant less time with Balto. “Alright.”

  “Yes.”

  “Sorry?” I asked, not following his response.

  “Don’t say alright. Say yes.”

  The number one thing I hated was being told what to do. I never responded well to being bossed around. When my brothers tried to make me do what they wanted, I slapped them until their cheeks turned bright red. But I forced out the statement so the conversation would end. “Yes.”

  “Yes, Husband.”

  My tongue suddenly felt large in my mouth, like it was so big it stopped me from talking. My blood pumped with ferocity, and I wanted to throw the phone out the window. Submitting to a man I hated was torture. Submitting to a man I adored was a turn-on. Lucian was the first of the two. “Yes…Husband.”

  20

  Cassini

  I told my brothers everything because they were family, but I didn’t mention Balto. If I told them I was having an affair, they probably would disapprove. It was a bad idea and getting caught could have dire consequences for me.

  I knew I should stop seeing Balto right away, especially when Lucian asked what I was doing that afternoon.

  But now I was too addicted.

  Every time I finished a hit, I needed another.

  Balto showed me how good sex could be, and I wasn’t ready to give that up.

  I would never be able to give it up.

  So I ended up in his compound, my panties soaked before I even made it inside the building.

  We went straight to bed, and as if he’d been plotting exactly how he would fuck me when I walked in the door, he pushed me onto my hands and knees and peeled my clothes away. He didn’t even kiss me like he usually did.

  He pulled my panties over my ass and to my knees.

  I was facing the headboard, so I could only hear the deep intake of breath through his nostrils. He was probably staring at the inside of my panties, spotting the arousal that had started since he’d popped into my mind. I kept oozing all afternoon, picturing that thick cock inside me. I closed my eyes as I listened to the foil packet rip between his fingers.

  Then he got behind me and shoved himself deep inside.

  I arched my back and gripped the sheets underneath me, forgetting about Lucian and all the reasons why this needed to end. Secrets never stayed secrets, especially when it came to men like Lucian. He would figure out my dirty secret eventually, and I would be punished ruthlessly.

  But for now, I was too full of Balto’s cock to care.

  He stood at the edge of the bed and gripped both of my shoulders so he could slam his fat cock inside me. My panties moved around my ankles just above my heels so he could continue to stare at my arousal all he wanted. “I love fucking this pussy.” One hand wrapped around my hair and tugged it back so my chin faced the ceiling.

  I closed my eyes as I listened to his deep voice, listened to the baritone that made me even wetter. His dick slid in and out of me without friction, my slickness smooth enough to keep the condom lubricated. His massive size stretched me so wide apart. My nails kept clawing the bed because it felt so good. I felt like a bitch in heat, needing that dick to fulfill my life’s purpose. I couldn’t see him, but I could picture him so clearly in my mind. Six foot three of muscle, masculinity, and power.

  He pulled his hand away from my shoulder, did something that I couldn’t see, and then pressed his wet thumb against my asshole. “I’m fucking this asshole next. It’s begging me to.” He kept pounding into me, his big dick hitting me so deep and hard.

  Lucian had fucked me in the ass before, and I’d hated every second of it. It was painful and awkward. Taking it in the cunt was hard enough, but in the rear was just an excruciating experience. But when Balto wanted it, I didn’t object. I wanted him to fuck me however he wanted because he would make it feel so damn good.

  He pressed his thumb inside my now-wet asshole and gently fingered me while his dick kept hitting me deep.

  I arched my back in response, all the nerves firing off because his touch was exquisite. I’d never been fingered like that, but I liked it. My back arched deeper, and I thrust back into him as my hips started to tighten. “Balto…” I loved feeling his name on my lips. I loved screaming it into his bedroom, like I was giving a confession to a priest. I loved allowing myself to be free, to experience my sexual desires and to truly enjoy them. I slammed back into his cock. “Yes…fuck yes.” My head jerked back as he tugged on my hair. His thumb pressed deeper into me. I came around his dick harder than ever before, falling into such a state of bliss, I momentarily lost my sight.

  He came with me, shoving every inch of his fat dick inside me as he filled the condom. His deep moan was quiet, but it was so sexy in its minimalist way. His thumb stayed inside me as he finished, his dick still pumping inside me slowly.

  I kept my eyes closed as I enjoyed the everlasting pleasure between my legs. It was so good, so carnal, and I’d never felt more like a woman. I wished this was my life, coming to this man whenever I needed a fix. But I had to sneak around and pretend to be something I wasn’t. I had to hide in the shadows, sneak off whenever my husband was gone. This was not how I’d pictured my life.

  He pulled out and disposed of the condom.

  I stayed where I was, combating the pleasure as well as the depression. My panties stayed around my ankles, and my pussy continued to drip with arousal because I still wanted him—even though I was satisfied.

  He returned, his feet thudding heavily against the hardwood floor. “If you keep that ass in the air, I’m going to fuck you again.” He came up behind me and smacked his large palm against my right cheek. He hit me hard enough to make me jerk forward, hard enough to leave a red print.

  But I liked it. I liked having a man treat me like a hot piece of ass. “You’d better.”

  His gripped both of my cheeks with his large hands and gave them a squeeze. Then he lowered himself to his knees at the foot of the bed and kissed my soaked pussy, licking and tasting the area.

  My body tightened, and goose bumps grew up and down my arms. My fingers gripped the sheets, and I closed my eyes as I felt that warm tongue touch me the way I loved. My breathing picked up all over again, as if he hadn’t just fucked me good and hard. “Balto…”

  Then his lips migrated upward to my asshole.

  I tensed when I felt his tongue force me open, getting me wet on the inside.

  A man had never kissed me like that before. “God…” It was strange but good at the same time. Only a man like Balto could pull it off. This man’s tongue was deep inside my asshole, and I actually liked it, something I’d never thought was possible.

  He pulled his mouth away. “Ever been fucked in the ass?”

  “Yes…” But I didn’t enjoy it.

  He opened his nightstand and grabbed the bottle of lube, his enormous dick hanging out and ready to go. He’d just screwed me, but he was ready to fuck all over again. Just like me, he could never get enough. He was always turned on, even the second he finished an orgasm.

  He came up behind me, pulled my panties off all the way, and then rolled me onto my back. He grabbed my hips and pulled me to the edge of the bed before he rolled on another condom. He squirted the lube onto his fingers then pushed them inside me, being just as aggressive with my back entrance as he was with as my front.

  I moaned when I felt him, just as I did when his tongue was back there.

  His fingers scissored inside me, forcing me to stretch apart. His blue eyes were glued to my face, his sharp cheekbones tense as he clenched his jaw. “You’re relaxed.” He pressed one hand against the sheets and leaned over me so he could get closer to my face as his fingers probed me.

  “Because I want you…in every hole you can fit that fat cock into.” That was a line I would never say in a million years. I didn’t even sound like me. But Balto turned me into a deranged s
exual person, someone who needed him so deeply I was delirious. This relationship made my existence more bearable, but it also tortured me. It was the worst and best thing to ever happen to me.

  His fingers froze inside me as his eyes turned territorial. He pushed those fingers deeper inside me, forcing me to take a deep breath as he penetrated me deeper. Then he leaned over and kissed me, kissed me with the tongue that had been in my pussy and asshole just minutes ago.

  My hands snaked up his naked chest, and I kept my legs wide apart, my high heels still strapped to my ankles. I almost never took them off when I was over here. There was never enough time to unfasten before he was deep inside me.

  He kissed me hard as he fingered my asshole, getting the globs of lube everywhere so he could fuck me good and hard. His fingers kept pushing farther inside me, making me drip back onto the floor between his feet.

  He pulled his fingers away and positioned the head of his cock against my small entrance. His kiss ended, and he held his face above mine so he could watch my reaction. Slowly, he inched inside me, getting his thick crown past the entrance so he could slide deeper.

  It hurt in the beginning, the way he stretched me as he crept deeper inside. The lube was necessary since I couldn’t produce my own lubrication there. It’d been a while since I’d had a cock in my ass, so it hurt, but it also felt good—because of him. I dug my nails into his chest and took a deep breath once he was completely inside me.

  He straightened and gripped the backs of my thighs while every inch of his cock was buried inside me. “Your pussy doesn’t get special treatment, so your ass shouldn’t expect it either.” He slammed into me right away, pounding into my ass like it could handle all that dick.

  I clutched his wrists and felt that enormous cock hit me so deep and hard. It hurt in the beginning, but once I saw all the muscles of his chest and torso working together so he could fuck me like that, the arousal came flooding in. My asshole loosened up so I could take all of him.