Page 81 of Desert Loyalties
That one word makes my restraint snap. I plunge into her with a snarl, my fingers digging into her hips hard enough to bruise. She cries out, the sound muffled against her forearms. Her pussy is molten around me, so hot I fear I'll burn alive.
"Take it," I hiss, pounding into her relentlessly. "You wanted to be fucked? Let me show you what that means."
She arches beneath me, taking everything, I give her. Her walls are velvet fire, sucking me in deeper and deeper until I feel her start to shudder around me. I lean forward, sliding a hand beneath her.
"Come for me," I whisper in her ear, rubbing her clit in quick circles. "Let go, darlin’."
Skye shatters beneath me with a sob, her orgasm tearing through her with the force of a hurricane. Her body grips me like a vice, sending me hurtling into oblivion with her.
I'm dimly aware of my roar as I come, pumping hot and heavy into her as my vision goes white. Pleasure explodes in every cell, burning away every coherent thought in my mind. All that's left is sensation… and her.
The sound of her ragged breathing. The feeling of her tight, slick heat pulsing around me. The sight of her perfect body bent before me.
I can't even remember my own name. All I know is this woman.
“You okay?” I whisper, my lips barely brushing the nape of her neck.
“Yeah,” she breathes, voice low, warm. “I’m hungry.”
I smile, pressing my face into her shoulder, skin damp and sweet with sweat. My heart finally begins to slow.
“Now I’mreallyhungry,” she mumbles, almost to herself.
That draws a soft laugh from me. I ease out of her, careful, watching as our mess slips from between her thighs. I tug her underwear, still hooked around one ankle, back up and kiss the curve of her hip.
I shrug off my unbuttoned shirt and offer it to Skye. She takes it without a word, slips it on, and doesn’t even bother to button it. That small, effortless defiance, bare skin peeking through the open fabric, makes me want her all over again. I zip up my jeans, still catching my breath. Food first.
We don’t say much after that. Just wander into the kitchen half-dressed, still slick with sweat, and smelling like sex. Her legs wobble a little, my cum probably still dripping down her thigh, but she doesn’t complain. Just flashes me a crooked smile like she knows exactly what she’s done to me.
I lean against the counter, watch her move around in nothing but my open shirt. She’s marked up with my handprints, teeth. Skye doesn’t hide any of it. Doesn’t need to.
Because she’ll always be mine.
Chapter 34
MANDRAKE
There’s a weight to District Courtroom that Magistrate Courtroom never had. It’s in the marble floors, the federal seal glaring down from behind the bench. I’m sitting beside Christina LaGuerta, my lawyer, at the defence table. She looks calm, composed, tailored navy suit, sleek ponytail, hands folded neatly over a legal pad. Me? I'm dressed like I give a damn, but it’s surface-deep. Inside, I’m coiled tight, half-ready to bolt and half-ready to grin like the devil.
The bailiff stands; voice flat but loud: “All rise. The United States District Court for the District of Nevada is now in session, the Honourable Judge Marianne Keller presiding.”
Everyone scrapes their chairs back as Judge Keller enters, her robe flowing behind her like a dark shadow. She’s a Black woman, sharp-featured, with smooth black hair pulled tightlyinto a neat knot at the nape of her neck. Her eyes cut through the room, before landing on me.
We sit again when she does.
The clerk reads it off, voice clipped and clinical:
“Case number CR-25978. United States vs. Drake Lloyd. Counts Two and Four: Witness Tampering and Obstruction of Justice.”
My name sounds like someone else’s when it’s said like that. Just a case file, a problem to solve or dispose of.
Judge Keller glances at both sides. “Counsel, state your appearances.”
Henry Cheng stands. Government dog with a leash hidden somewhere. “Henry Cheng for the United States, Your Honor.”
Christina rises beside me. “Christina LaGuerta for the defence, on behalf of Mr. Lloyd.”
I give a nod. Slight. Measured. Don’t show too much. Don’t show too little. That’s the trick when you’re in federal court: look just human enough to be worth saving, not so human they think you're faking it.
