Page 13 of Taken By the Kingpin
That’s an arrow to my heart. How many new places has she been, alone, since I saw her five years ago? Too many. How many nights has she been unable to sleep? One would be more than I would accept.
I imagined getting her out was enough. It never occurred to me that the posh boarding school would leave her as lonely as I’ve been all these years. Guilt sticks in my throat.
“I thought I’d get something to drink,” she adds.
“Of course.” I’m up in a second. This is easy to fix. “I have hot chocolate.”
That’s the right thing to suggest, as she gives me a shy smile of thanks.
She looks slight and vulnerable in the oversized shirt, and a little rumpled from tossing and turning in bed. She fiddles with the turned cuffs—still too long—as we stand in the kitchen, waiting for the kettle.
I should tell her about the clothes I’ve acquired for her, but I kid myself that it’s the middle of the night and it would be better to do that in the morning. In actual fact, the reason is I love seeing her in my shirt too much to suggest she change.
“Are you going to bed now?” she asks when the mug is in her hands. She takes a cautious sip and those massive violet eyes pin me.
I promised her the truth, but I nod. Ishouldgo to bed. Any more of her this evening will cement her in my heart so firmly I’ll be chiselling her out until the end of time after she leaves tomorrow. But if we stay up all night together I’ll be tempted to take her, and so I can’t let her think it’s an option to sit with me.
She grips the mug harder.
“Can I sleep in your room?” she asks with a rush.
My chest tightens like I’ve been punched.
“Why?”
Her white upper teeth capture her pink lower lip and she looks at her hot chocolate as though the answer is there. “I sleep better with someone else.”
My expression must darken to thunder as she hastens to add, “Not like that. Just I always shared a room at school. I have my own place now, but only for a few months and I’m not used to it yet. I usually leave the television on so I don’t feel… But there isn’t one in that bedroom here. And I’m… I… I don’t want to be alone tonight. The first of my adult life.”
Will this ache in my chest ever cease? I suspect not.
“I only have one bed.”
“Then can I…” She looks at me from under those excessively long dark lashes. “Sleep in your bed?”
This is going to kill me. But I will never deny Jeanette anything.
“Yes.”
Her face brightens.
It’s not like I’ll sleep anyway. One of us might as well.
“Where’s your bedroom?”
Wordlessly, I lead her there.
“Oh! It’s gorgeous!”
It’s painted a deep violet blue, the colour of her eyes, and lined with bookshelves. I suppose it is beautiful, if you like books and blue.
“Get in, I’ll join you,” I direct.
She obeys and well, there goes my cock again, pulsing as she pulls back the covers and slips under the duvet of my bed. I am the worst. Lusting after a girl half my age. Yes, one who came on my fingers earlier, but seriously? I need to get a grip. And not a grip around my cock, which is what I’m tempted to go to the shower and do. Take the edge off.
Instead I strip down to my boxers, throw on a T-shirt so there’s another layer of buffer between us, and flick out the light. But not before I’ve seen her watching me, taking in my momentarily bare chest with wide eyes.
She shifts as soon as I’ve laid down, and yep, she snuggles into me. I’m a scary mafia kingpin and she’s unafraid. I cautiously wrap my arms around her, and she sighs with contentment and I swear within a minute her breathing has evened out and she’s asleep.
