Page 41 of Royal
“I’m yours, Royal.” I am his. I always have been. After all, I wanted him first. This possessiveness he’s displaying only makes me surer.
“That’s my good girl.” He continues to circle my clit in the way we’ve discovered brings me right to the brink in no time flat, and this time is no different.
I cry out when the orgasm overtakes me. “I’m yours.Yours,Royal.”
He grinds against my ass for a moment, letting me come down before he eases back. His arm belts around my waist, bringing me upright with him. It’s a good thing he has a hold on me, because my legs are like jelly.
A moment later, he grits into my ear, “Run,” as his hand comes down hard on my ass.
And despite the loose feeling in my limbs, I take off like a shot. Blood pounds in my head as well as between my legs, and I’m filled with the thrill of knowing this guy will chase me to the ends of the earth. He’ll never let me go.
I’m his. And he’s mine.
My eyes blink open. At first, I don’t understand where I am. I suck in a breath. Then another. The sun shines down on me, and somehow I’d managed to tune out the chatter of other students around me. I swipe at tears that have formed at the corners of my eyes, desperate to keep them from falling.Don’t you dare let him do this to you all these years later. Don’t.I let out a ragged exhale, and look around, trying to get my emotions under control.
The chase was always Royal’s favorite because he knew when I finally stopped running, he took what he wanted. And like a silly little girl drunk on the rush, I let him. I gave Royal more than my heart on that trail. I gave him something I can never get back.
TWENTY
ROYAL
After much thoughtabout the Sin Keeper card I’d received, I figured it won’t hurt to head back to the last place I’d called home and see if I can get access to the computer. I assume there’s something on that hard drive I’m supposed to see. A file of some sort. Something.
Confusion wars within me. The Franks had been kind to me. I liked them a lot. But there must be something the Sin Keeper wants me to see. What that would be, I have no fucking clue.
I’d purposely taken a route for my run that would bring me past their house. They don’t live that far from campus. I slow as I approach, taking in the fact that the neighborhood hasn’t changed nor has the house. Nope. It’s only me that’s different now. The homes in this area are relatively spread out, each on a decent amount of acreage… and I force myself not to look at the house next door. Too many motherfucking memories.
I haven’t been back at all, because let’s face it, the minute things went south, the Franks decided I wasn’t worth trying to save. Never mind that they had the money to cover my bail. They hadn’t done it. I’d never felt quite so abandoned in the days and weeks following the accident and my arrest. No one was on my side. Not a soul was there to help me.
It makes my gut churn, wondering why the Sin Keeper feels this is necessary. I blow out a hard breath, grabbing the back of my neck as I look around while I attempt to appear inconspicuous. There was a time I wasn’t out of place here. But now? If I get caught, I’m screwed. But that’s also why I chose to come in the middle of the afternoon. It’s too early for most people on this street to be returning from work, so it’s quiet.
Jesus, am I really going to break into their house? I bend, reaching for my toes while I pretend to stretch at the side of the road. Never once has a single member of SIN said that they’d been led astray by something they were told to do. Fuck it. I’m in.
There’s a prickle of apprehension as to what I might find, but I force that thought down. As I approach, the only question remaining in my head is whether the spare key is kept in the same place it was when I lived here… and if the security cameras are still glitchy as hell, only capturing footage half the time. No matter. I’ve brought something to take care of that, too.
I untie my hoodie from my waist, pull it on, then tug the hood over my head to conceal as much of my face as I can. Extracting a pair of thin gloves from my pocket, I put those on, too. I don’t want to leave any traces behind that I was here.
I eye the spot where I know there’s a security camera. Did they upgrade at some point? The newer ones trigger notifications to smartphones. I can’t risk it. I pull out the small can of black spray paint and shake it, then remove the cap. Hopefully, if an alert pops up on their phone, all they’ll see is a black screen once I’ve taken care of things.
With a final glance around, I dart up to the front porch, being careful to come in from the side to spray the camera with black paint. With that done, I turn around and squat down to pick up the ceramic turtle sitting on the corner of the porch. Jackpot. I snatch up the key and replace the piece of pottery before dashing around the house to the back entrance. At the corner of the house, I ease around, spraying the second camera next to the back door.
My heart thunders as I slip the key into the lock and turn. It opens noiselessly, but I stand in the mud room for several seconds anyway, taking care to listen for any sign of trouble. There doesn’t seem to be a new alarm system. No panel on the wall. Nothing. Brave of them to assume they’re above having a criminal target them.
And that’s me, right? The fucking criminal they never saw coming. My mind twists in on itself at the thought. That’s what they think of me or who I am to them, I guess.
Once I’m inside, I glance around, frowning. I don’t know what I expected, but the place looks the same. Almost as if I never left, which is unnerving. My head gets bogged down in the memories. Eating breakfast before school at the table off the kitchen. Throwing a baseball with Rich. Doing homework while Katrina supervised. Holidays where I felt safe and loved.Finally.But they hadn’t wanted me enough to fucking fight for me. With my jaw clenched so hard I’ll probably break molars, I shove all those memories aside to focus on the task at hand.
Keeping my head down, I hurry through the house, heading directly for the office on the main floor past the living area. Katrina is a physics professor at KU, and I’ve done my best to avoid any classes in her department since my arrival. Not too difficult. I have no interest in her courses. She’ll be teaching for another couple hours—it was easy to check her class schedule and office hours—so I don’t have to worry about her coming home and surprising me.
Rich works from home sometimes, but I remember distinctly that it’s usually Mondays and Fridays, and he heads in to work the rest of the week—something about having to show his face as the CEO despite being able to do most things remotely. Really, he owns the company, so he can do whatever the fuck he wants, but I never argued with his logic. In any case, he’s not here either, making this whole mission easier for me to handle.
I slip into the home office, finding what I think is probably the same Mac desktop I remember from when I lived here. It beckons to me. I know enough about computers to handle this like a pro—so long as Rich hasn’t changed his password. What are the odds he hasn’t in the years I’ve been gone?
I bend over the desk and grasp the mouse in one hand, bringing the computer to life. The screen requiring a password pops up. I tap in RichKatrina2!, then hit enter.
Bingo.
What can I say? Apparently, my former foster parents should protect their property a little better all the way around. I set about my work, plugging in the portable hard drive I’d brought with me to the USB-C port. It’s the size of a stick of gum, yet I’m going to be able to grab every bit of information there is off the computer. I have no idea what I’m looking for, so fuck it. I’ll take all the documents and sort through them later. With a few keystrokes, I’ve set things in motion.
