Broken Bonds (Club Imperial Series) (8 page)

Miller gestured to the deputy who was holding a megaphone. He held it up and pressed his walkie down at the same time. “Fire in the hole, fire in the hole, fire in the hole!” he yelled, and Nathaniel suspected it had been a long time since those words had been yelled in Pittsburgh proper.

About ten seconds later, the explosion rocked the ground they were all standing on. Small bits of dirt and rock flew at them, and the dust cloud which boiled up was more than impressive. The whole yard would be covered in debris from the explosion for weeks to come, and the gaping hole in the quarry scrap pile was going to be a scar until they could fill it in.

But no one was hurt. Nothing but some rock was destroyed and a part of a building could be patched and repaired within hours.

He looked over at Victor who was surrounded by Gwen, Cecelia, Tank and Henry. Victor was looking over at him. There was a grim determination in Victor’s eyes, and he knew the same look was in his own. “They’re dead. I want them taken down and utterly decimated. I want that company chopped into tuna and thrown to the sharks.”

“Smile, you son of a bitch,” Victor answered, the smile cruel and calculating on his face.

Miller looked between them. “You think you know who did this?”

“Of course,” Victor said. “But I don’t think we’re going to be able to prove it. Not yet anyway. We don’t want to taint the investigation. If it’s them, I want them to go down with clear cut evidence.” Nathaniel nodded.

Gwen looked at them all, clapping her hands. “Ladies and gentlemen, I think we’ve had more than enough excitement for one day. Let’s call it a workday and go home. Because I know where I want to be right now, and it’s not standing here in front of a police investigation.”

No one argued with her. Everyone had brought their own cars, so, much to his dislike, Nathaniel was going to have some alone time while they all drove back to North Hills. He didn’t want the alone time. He wanted both Emmy and his brother in the truck with him; he’d almost lost his brother today. If Dayton had caused the death of his brother, there was no way he would ever really recover from that. What would have happened to him? To the company? To the little girl who was probably napping in her nursery? It seemed more and more likely that the state was going to let Victor adopt her. Could he take over if something happened? How would he ever run the company alone?

He shook the thought out of his head. He and Victor were long overdue for this discussion. They had to take the baby into consideration and how things should work if either or both of them were killed. Or died. After all, their mother had died in a car accident and their father had died from a heart attack. No one knew when their time would be up.

First, Emmy, as he was only getting to know her. Now Victor, before he had a chance to really start rebuilding himself. And then the potential to lose a gorgeous baby he wanted as his niece. Two business associates he deemed irreplaceable.
This sucks
.

Joanne had drinks lined up for them when they walked in. Gin and tonic for Victor, a Manhattan on the rocks for him, and Emmy’s cosmo. She nodded at them, not smiling as they each took their drink. “I thought you might like those when Quinn told me what was going on down there. Victor?”

Victor slammed the drink back on the counter. “Fine. I’m fine. I’m alive, I’m pissed, I’m tired and I need another one of those.” He sat on the high stool next to the island. “Jesus, I almost died today.”

Nathaniel didn’t say anything. He just took a huge swallow of the drink and enjoyed the hot fire of the alcohol warming every part of his body. Joanne always used the good whiskey for this. She mixed up another gin and tonic for Victor, and put it down in front of him. “Slower, please, Victor. The first one I’ll forgive you.”

He threw it back anyway. But instead of slamming the glass back on the counter, he kept going back and crumpled to the ground.

“Victor!” Joanne screamed.

Emmy and Nathaniel dropped to their knees when they heard his head hit the floor after he hit the ground. His legs were curled under him and the glass rolled away. Emmy felt for a pulse at his neck while Nathaniel straightened his brother’s legs.

“I think he just passed out.” Emmy put her hand to Victor’s head. “Joanne, do you have any ammonia?”

“Yes, in the laundry room,” she answered with concern on her face.

“Could you get it?”

Joanne nodded and took off for the laundry. Nathaniel felt around the back of Victor’s head, for lumps or bumps or blood, but drew his hand away clean and without finding either. Joanne came running back in with the container of ammonia.

“Just put a little bit in a glass,” Emmy instructed. “Maybe two tablespoons. Not much. Nathaniel, can you sit him up a little bit?”

He nodded and pushed himself behind Victor so he could lift his head. Joanne handed Emmy the glass of ammonia. The smell was pungent, even from where he was. Emmy passed the glass directly under Victor’s nose, and then again. He coughed and pushed the glass away and opened his eyes. He looked at Emmy and Nathaniel and Joanne, his face a mask of confusion.

“How did I get here?”

“You fainted,” Emmy admonished him.

“I, what?”

Nathaniel laughed. “You fainted, dude. Two gin and tonics and a brush with death. You went down. Can you sit up?”

Victor worked himself up into a sitting position. “Oh, damn. Everything is spinning.”

“You hit your head.” Joanne walked back over with a cold compress. “Put this on the back of your head, where you’re rubbing right now.”

“Do you want to go to the hospital?” Nathaniel asked.

“No, no.” Victor was insistent. “I think...I think I’m just completely exhausted and overwhelmed and need some sleep.” He looked at Nathaniel. “I will take down Tyndale-Dayton. I will buy it out, I will dismantle it and I will put Gerald and his miserable son in the poor house. I don’t even want to leave them the shirts on their backs.”

“I would prefer Lance kept his shirt.” Emmy folded her arms. “He’s not a handsome nude.”

Victor laughed. “You should stick around. Your comedic timing is perfect.”

Emmy rolled her eyes and laughed. “I don’t know if it’s very smart for you take a nap right off the bat here. You just hit your head and you should stay up for a while.”

“I didn’t hit that hard. I was dizzy from the fall and the booze.” Victor climbed to his feet.

“All right, but I’m going to send Dixon in to check on you when he gets here,” Nathaniel promised.

“Yeah, I need sleep. I’m going to check on my little girl and tuck myself in.” He looked at Joanne. “Don’t hold dinner.”

“I never do,” Joanne said.

Chapter Eight

Emmy was standing on the balcony overlooking the verandah by the ballroom. The gardens were starting to come to life with thousands of flowers, and the fragrance drifting up was heady. She heard Nathaniel walk out to join her. “How’s Victor?” she asked.

“He’s okay,” he answered. “He just smacked his head. Seems like he caught most of it on his back. He’s not dizzy anymore and he was busy putting the baby down.”

“How did your talk go?”

“Fine.” Nathaniel leaned on the railing. “We’re going to get the lawyers to come up and walk us through all the plans and make sure they’ll work.”

“I’ll make a note of it, Mr. Walsh.” Emmy smiled.

He moved to wrap his arms around her from behind and looked out at the garden, resting his chin on her shoulder. “I almost lost my brother today.” Sadness laced his voice.

“I know. But you didn’t and everything has worked out for the better.” Emmy had wanted to throw up when she arrived at the yard with Gwen and Tank. It had felt like forever before her boss had appeared at that gate. It had scared her; she really loved Victor. She couldn’t imagine a better boss, or a more fun person to work for. She couldn’t imagine his brother losing him.

They stood watching the sun go down behind the trees and she felt Nathaniel start to nibble on her neck, lightly. A smile slid on to her face and Emmy turned her head so he could have better access. She didn’t say anything, she just let him nibble slowly. His hands moved to her breasts and he lightly brushed over her nipples through her shirt and bra.

“Would you like to go inside?” Emmy asked.

“Mmm, yes.” He continued his nibbling.

Emmy took his hand and stepped away from him. “Come on.”

He looked at her, and there was something in his eyes she’d never seen before. Something that touched the most base level of her Domme mindset, and sent her from merely turned on, to on fire with lust. She raised an eyebrow, leading him back into the house to his room.

She had barely closed the door before he wrapped his arms around her again. “I need you so much right now,” he said in her ear, sending a chill down her spine. He turned her in his arms and looked into her eyes. “So much.”

“I know.”

“I…” He hesitated.

“You need the Domme, don’t you?”

“Yes.” He pressed his mouth down on hers. His tongue was indelicate, demanding, quick and his lips were not their usual sweet softness. He was already hard against her thigh. She kissed him back the same way. She knew he needed the Domme because he wanted her to be rough. He didn’t need to surrender—he just needed raw.

“I want you to undress and wait on the couch,” she ordered, her breath already coming hard. “I’ll be back in two minutes.”

“Faster if you can.” His cock was rock-hard. She nodded and skittered out the door.

She’d asked Nathaniel what had happened to her Imperial clothes when she realized they had cleaned the apartment out. He had packed everything he could into a single suitcase and shoved it in the closet at North Hills, and now she pulled it out from its hiding place and opened it. She dressed quickly, pink lace this time with the peek-a-boo bustier he had given her. She dug through and found two of her favorite, well-worn toys, and threw a long, conservative robe over the whole thing. She hurried back through the hall, happy there was no one else around.

She walked in and found him just as she’d told him, but in the wrong spot. Instead of sitting on the couch, he was kneeling next to it in a submissive position. She went to him, putting her hand under his chin. “No, no. Stand up. That’s not what you want tonight.” Her voice was sure.

He looked confused, but stood. “Isn’t that—”

“No.” She shook her head. “I want you to tell me what you’re feeling right now. Inside.”

“Anger, emptiness, hate, distrust,” he admitted.

“Those are not feelings you want to submit to,” she explained. “You want to be in control of yourself. You want to take back that control which was taken away. Subbing will not do that. What will is playing rough.” She leaned in. “And I can play rough.”

His eyes flared wide for just a moment, and he yanked her in close. “You’re right, mistress. As usual.” He pressed his lips against hers, again demanding and hard. He pulled the robe off her shoulders and shoved it off her to the floor.

“Listen to me.” Emmy pulled back, just enough to get his attention. “You want rough, I can do rough. But you damn well better remember the safe word.”

“Of course,” Nathaniel whispered, his nips at her neck traveling down.

“What is it?”

“Imperial.”

“Good.” She grabbed his arm and spun him around to face the couch. She pushed him, more than willingly and compliant, over the back of it and leaned down to his ear. “We’re not going to do any tying up. But you’d better hang on.” She stood and raked her nails down his back to his ass, making him arch up against the couch. Emmy slapped him hard, and heard a throaty gasp. She took her nails again, and ran them down his sides, scraping him hard. He arched again, moaning. At the end of the run, she rewarded him with another hard slap.

“Oh, shit yes,” he panted.

Emmy pulled the crop out of the tangled mess of the robe on the floor. Slapping him lightly between the shoulder blades, she pulled the soft leather down his spine. She flicked the crop on each firm globe of his ass, but lightly. “Know what this is?”

“No,” he said.

“This is what you saw me carrying that first night.” She slapped him hard on one side, following it quickly with another one to the other side, both made him gasp loudly.

“The crop,” he moaned, breathless.

She drew back and the handle whistled through the air as she brought it down again. Bright red bloomed on his ass, and she saw him straining to hold on to the couch. She alternated between hard stinging hits soft slaps which caressed more than anything else. He never knew what was coming. She massaged each side between the smacks. His ass was soft, with downy fuzz and she loved the feel of the heat which blossomed from the hits. Twice more, she brought the crop down hard, once for each side, and she watched with lust as he twitched from the strikes. 

“Harder.”

Oh. Really. She leaned around him, looking at him. “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” he was emphatic. “Harder.”

Emmy set her feet and swung the crop. He jerked hard and gasped, then let out a low moan. The sound of him enjoying her smacks was turning her on more than his lips on her neck earlier. She swung again, and the same thing happened. His moans were low and throaty and he was holding on to the couch with all he had. “Please, again.”

Emmy felt the hot desire roll through her with the request. Hitting him again and again, she watched the bright red marks growing under her crop. She found herself breathing hard and wanting. He asked again. She swung again, as hard as she could with the crop. He dropped his head into the leather of the couch and muffled his own yelp. Once more on the other cheek, and another muffled yelp. She held the crop up for another set, but he lifted his head and looked at her.

“I want you,” he told her. “Now.”

“Come and get me,” Emmy whispered, lowering the crop.

Nathaniel stood and turned in the same motion, grabbing her to him. She dropped the crop as he pulled her in close and wrapped her arms around him as he engulfed her mouth with his. His tongue was hot, and he consumed her with the raw want that possessed him. 

His hands moved to her ass, grabbing roughly, kneading her, still possessing her mouth. He slid his hand under the lace of her panties and she knew they were lost. He ripped them off, shredding them as he dragged both of their bodies to the ground, a tangle of tongues and limbs. He knelt over her, and shoved two fingers in her pussy, swirling them.

Emmy arched up from the rough entrance of his fingers. It had been a very long time since someone had taken her like this, rough and demanding. She’d liked it, but this time, there was something deeper, more lustful, more needy, more real about this. His eyes burned with desire, all for her. Only for her.

Nathaniel dipped his head down and bit her exposed nipple. She gasped and felt the ecstasy unfurl and a rush of her satin liquid covered his hand. He pinched and twisted the other nipple and in the heat of their desire, she couldn’t stop her lightly pained gasp and delirious moan. His fingers twisted and she arched up again. She pulled him off her breast and moved him to look at her. “Nathaniel, fuck me.”

He pulled his fingers out of her, leaving her with an empty feeling for only a moment. She pulled herself further apart, welcoming him, and he moved into the cradle of her legs. Nathaniel put a hand on either side of her and she felt his cock press at her entrance. Without warning, he shoved in, plunging all the way to his root. Emmy sucked in a shaky, delighted breath. “Yes, oh shit, yes,” she hissed between her teeth.

Nathaniel pulled out slowly and plunged in hard again. Emmy bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out. He tormented her only a few more times before he claimed her faster and even harder. He was fucking her so hard she not only felt him moving them along the floor, but he was making her body send out her favorite little tightening sensations—almost cramps but without the pain as his cock hit the top of her channel. He grunted with each thrust into her, and he caught her eyes.

Nathaniel’s eyes told her he was going to come soon. She wanted to feel him come as she did; she moved her hands to her breasts and pinched her nipples, lightly at first, but his movements were too much, too demanding and the feeling was lost. Instead, she grabbed them and fisted them in palm and finger, pulling and twisting herself. She felt his cock pummeling her, and he changed his motion just a bit to scrape along her g-spot. He couldn’t take his eyes off her hands grabbing at her breasts.

Another deep plunge from his hard cock, and the feeling changed. He was thrusting to come now. Hard and straining inside her, she felt his heat and his shaft jerked. He leaned down on one arm and reached down to rub her clit. “Come, Emmy. Come.”

He pushed against her with his cock and his fingers in a rhythm she couldn’t resist. She shot to nearly the edge of climax. He kept brushing against her g-spot, and she moved from her breasts to his ass. She spanked him, hard, as he shoved his cock in her pussy. First one side, then the other, without mercy, and he grunted with each thrust and slap.

He paid homage to her clitoris—a press, a circle, a flick, a pull, then all of them again. It was like some secret orgasm code. Her whole body shook, and she exploded in climax. Emmy arched up one more time and clenched her teeth so she didn’t scream in delight. She was surprised she had that much control at that moment.

Nathaniel kept up his assault on her g-spot and clit, keeping her climax going. She almost felt as if she would never stop coming. Nathaniel gave a few staccato gasps with his thrusts and he came hard, jetting his come inside her. He thrust with each convulsion of his cock, four, five, six times and finally started to slow his assault on her. He pulled his hand away from her clit and gently pushed inside a few more times as they both settled back down.

Emmy was panting in time with Nathaniel, lost in his eyes. They were still full of want and lust. He leaned up and grabbed something just behind her head, and held it up. It was the crop. He stared at it for a moment, then looked at her.

“Can I...” he started. “Can I use this on you?”

Oh my.
It had been a long time since she could trust someone to spank her, but amazingly she found the idea of Nathaniel doing it, sent waves of desire through her, clenching her sex. “If you follow my direction, I think I’d like that.”

His eyes lit up, and Emmy felt herself getting wet again. She nudged him gently, leading him to stand. He did, and she followed him to her feet. She crooked her finger at him, and led him into his own bedroom.

Going to the foot board, near the bedpost, shed pulled him close behind her. Emmy took his hand and put it on her backside. “Always a warm up. I want you to use your hand, first. You know how to handle a riding crop, but you’ve never used a crop this way before.” She moved his hand over her skin. “Cup your hand just a little bit around. Like you were making a mold.” She felt his whole hand on her, covering her, and Nathaniel rubbed it on her gently. She shivered in delight. His hand was warm and she could feel the light callouses which roughened his hand. “Keep that shape, make your hand remember it.” Emmy moved his hand to the most round part of her ass. “You need to aim here.” She bent over and grabbed the foot board with one hand and the bed post with the other. She looked over her shoulder. “Spank me.”

He ran his hand over her backside for a moment, then drew away and slapped her. She gasped; it had been a very long time since she’d been on the receiving end and she had forgotten she
liked
this. He slapped her ass again, on the other side, and she gasped once more. It was a sweet sting and went straight to her clenching sex. He did it again, and she moaned this time. His hand was large and covered most of her ass when he hit it; she could feel the warmth growing. He did it two more times in quick succession, making her gasp. She closed her eyes so she could really feel his hand, moaning lightly with each hit.

Emmy let him spank her five times on each side, and then wiggled against his hand. “Switch to the crop,” she breathed, her voice husky to her own ears. “You know how to hold it.”

“Quite well.” She could hear the lust in his voice. It went straight to her sex, and she pressed her thighs together, savoring the feeling. 

“Aim the broad leather for where your hand was falling,” she instructed. “Start light so you get the real feel for this.”

Nathaniel slapped it against her ass. She yelped, loudly. He slapped the other side and she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. She knew he wasn’t swinging hard, but it had been so long since she felt the sting, it surprised her and delighted her. Two quick hits with the crop, then two more. He caressed her ass between each of the hits. Her skin was getting more and more sensitive, so even his finger stung lightly. It clenched her insides, and she could feel her wetness start to leak down her sex and onto her leg. 

Hitting her twice more, his caress wandered down to the juncture of her thigh and ass. He slid his hand along and she felt him run a single finger up her leg back to her vagina. “Holy shit, Emmy. You’re dripping wet.”

She looked back at him. “That’s your fault,” she said, with a smirk in her voice.

Nathaniel withdrew his finger and slapped her again with crop. These two were sharper and harder than the last ones, and she yelled this time. “Oh! Again, like that one,” she directed. He obliged with four quick hits in succession, the second set harder than the first. “Yes,” she hissed. Nathaniel caressed and smacked again. Emmy was breathless, nodding her delight, then dropped her head down, holding on to the bed. He treated her to another six strokes, each two harder than the last two.

Until finally she didn’t want anymore. She wiggled her ass at him. “Enough,” she said. “I want you in me now.” She heard the crop hit the floor and once again he was at her entrance with his stiff cock. He put a hand on each of her hips and pulled her backward onto him. She stepped her legs apart and moved back against him, still holding onto the bed.

He didn’t start slow—he pulled her back onto himself quickly, but not nearly as deep as before. Twisting his hips, he drew himself in and out of her silk-coated vagina. It created a very curious sensation in her, and she liked it. He teased her g-spot intensely.