Page 74 of Sinister Games

CHAPTER23

LIZZIE

There was something extraordinary about walking into an event on the arm of a powerful man. It was intoxicating.

Heads turned the moment we walked into the large private house in Mayfair. There were the respectful looks with just a touch of fear from the men and the piercing jealous glares at me from the women.

When Richard entered a room, it was as if he drew all the energy toward him like a magnetic force. It wasn’t as if he was the life of the party where everyone was happy to see him, actually quite the opposite. It was the way he radiated calm authority. Servers rushed to offer us drinks and canapés as men gathered their courage to approach Richard with one business proposal or another.

I was certain the women would have slithered up to him as well if it weren’t for the possessive way he kept me at his side. There wasn’t a moment his hand wasn’t protectively on my lower back.

No matter who he was talking to, and I was certain there were some very important politicians, aristocrats, and celebrities, he never forgot that I was by his side, offering me bites to eat, giving me the occasional wink when we were forced to show polite smiles as one person or another droned on about one project or another.

If I wasn’t already hopelessly in love with the man, I certainly would have been after tonight. The way he owned the room and commanded everyone’s attention was hot as hell. All that power on display was, well… arousing.

He was the king of the jungle and I was his mate. It was hard keeping my hands off him, especially with all these other females circling. Like him, I made a point of keeping close to his side, occasionally brushing his upper arm with my breasts. He was looking particularly handsome tonight in a tuxedo with tails, his extreme wealth subtly on display through black diamond studs in his evening shirt.

If I wasn’t so nervous about being alone with him, I would beg him to take me home and fuck me right this minute.

He hadn’t mentioned anything more about my day in the car ride over here. Although I wasn’t foolish enough to think he had forgotten. Seizing a champagne flute off a passing tray, I took a long sip, ignoring the way the bubbles tickled the back of my throat and nose. We had barely been here a half hour and it was already my second glass. I’d drunk the first one practically in one inelegant gulp.

Richard raised an eyebrow, then pointedly looked at the drink in my hand.

Chastised, I realized the chances of me finding the open bar and being allowed to order a Cosmo martini were probably dramatically reduced.

As yet another overweight man in a tuxedo with its cummerbund stretched to the absolute limit started his approach, Richard casually cut him off by turning to me.

Running the backs of his knuckles down my cheek, he leaned in to huskily murmur, “Do you have any idea how badly I want to push you up against that wall and fuck you senseless in front of all these people right now?”

Oh, God.

I gripped the stem of the champagne flute so hard I feared it would shatter as I failed to stifle a moan. The sexual threat of his words made all the more potent by the fact I knew he was capable of doing just that, and not giving one hot damn what any of these people thought about it.

Richard liked his games.

And one of his favorites was putting me on display while making me come in public. He liked the illicit thrill of watching me struggle between embarrassment and desire.

The fucked-up thing was, I was fast learning I liked that game too. There was something so deliciously erotic about putting your kink out there for the world to see. It was strangely empowering.

Of course, it helped when you were one of the world’s richest men. Society had a way of looking the other way when you were rich enough. What would be considered a crime for an ordinary man was simply an eccentricity if you were wealthy enough.

It was one of the things that made him so sexy… and terrifying.

Nothing was off-limits for Richard. Nothing.

“I’m sorry this party is a bore. We’ll leave soon.”

“It’s fine. I’m having fun.”

“So, tell me, how was your first day back at class?”

Playing with the feathers on my hip, I answered casually, “Uneventful.”

“Did any of the professors give you any trouble?”

“No. Not at all. Thank you for arranging that.” My attention was now fully on the empty champagne flute in my hands as I avoided looking straight at him.

I wasn’t sure how it all worked out, all I knew was that Richard had made some calls to smooth over my sudden absence and then return to class. Richard was very good at arranging things to his satisfaction.

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