Feathers and Thorne Series Books 1 - 3: The Complete Collection

Chapter Forty

Isabella

I tilt my head back, fighting the urge to spread my legs and release a wave of shameful moans right here at the dinner table. It’s not fair that Carter has this kind of power over me, especially when I want to be left out of this discussion, but that’s not possible now.

I’m far too deep in ecstasy.

Carter finds my cheek, kissing it lightly, but I can’t help but notice how he keeps his eyes pinned on Donovan as though to taunt his new business partner or make him jealous.

Both options seem childish but also a little enticing. I bite my lower lip, threatening to pierce my skin just with my teeth, all in an effort not to moan alive right now in orgasmic relief.

“Please excuse my personal assistant,” Carter beams through a charming, typical Blackthorne grin. “She gets a little carried away when she’s angry, but somehow I’m always able to change her mind.”

Donovan downs his drink in a single, sweeping motion. “You certainly have a way with persuasion. But if we could get back on track, I think it’s safe to say you would like Jacob Lacey taken care of.”

“No, I don’t think that’s what I want at all,” Carter mutters.

“You don’t want me to kill Lacey after what he did to betray you? You’re the head of your family. At least the repercussions could have been worse,” Donovan points out. “Killing Jacob would really just be a public service.”

Carter nods at the offer, but ultimately, he denies it. “As much as I would love to have a bullet in his back, I would also like to toy with him a little longer. First, his receptionist, then his deal with the mayor and the money he could earn with me… I want to dangle it all in front of his face for a while longer.”

Carter runs his knuckles between my thighs, and I hiss, the feeling of my vibrating core only exemplified in unison with his crawling fingers, taunting my sex. If he even dares to toy with my clit, under the fabric of my dress, I think I may faint.

The idea of it even being a possibility lights me on fire, and I rest my head back on Carter’s shoulder, needing to pant and moan and be naked with him right this minute.

“Oh, look at this, dove,” Carter teases. “Looks like the food is coming out. Are you going to get off my lap, or am I going to keep you here until dessert?”

My mouth falls open, and my eyes almost cross, unable to say anything that doesn’t sound like I’m having an orgasm. Carter snickers a chuckle and dismisses my silence, his palm brushing around my ass, squeezing it a little tight while I try to steady myself on his leg.

“Carter, please,” I pant, feeling the sweat form on the tip of my spine, just behind my long, wavy hair. “Can you please just… just…”

He catches me when I dare to fall backward, the remote clicking off in his pocket when he reaches for it for a second, just long enough for me to have a bit of mercy.

I slide back into the booth and exhale, my heart slamming in every labored pulse after releasing one of the most humiliating orgasms of my life.

The waiter sets down various plates of food, but I can’t focus on any of them.

Neither can the two men at the table with me. They both look through me, very sure of what just occurred. Although one of them wasn’t aware of the device Carter planted into my sex earlier in the night, there’s no doubt by his facial features now that he knew what happened.

I hide my face in my hands, feeling overwhelmed and humiliated.

“Here, dove,” Carter purrs, handing me my wine glass. I take it in a shaky, unsure grasp and sip on the cool, citrus flavor of the wine. “There you go. All better.”

I stammer to sit up straight, looking through my hazy, clouded eyes until I blink into clarity once again. The device is slick in my sex, drenched with the aftermath of my orgasm, and I feel it dampening my inner thighs as well.

I eye the plates set all around the table, and Carter pokes part of something to eat onto a fork and brings it to my lips. I lean away from the notion, uninterested in eating, because I know he isn’t done toying with that vibrator tonight.

Besides, having him taunt Jacob Lacey hardly seems like a good idea after the shooting at the mayor’s office and Tristan’s bullet wound.

I know Donovan said his family wouldn’t hurt an innocent, but it’s impossible to know who Carter is really working with. What if he just made a deal with the devil?

What if the devil is exactly who I’m working for now?

Too many variables, including the desire that ripples through me, have my head spinning.

“I’m not hungry, Carter.”

He replaces his hand on my knee and slides closer to me in the seat. “You haven’t eaten in a long time, Bella. You’re going to try something.”

I look away from him as though to not be tempted by those beautiful, cerulean eyes. They could convince me of anything and everything.

His lips pull against the lobe of my ear, and I shiver, flinching ever so slightly as the warmth in my sex is desperate for more pleasure, for more domain over my body from Carter Blackthorne.

“Here, try some of—”

I jerk away from his touch, from his suggestion, too distracted by the need to focus on my pangs of hunger. He’s not happy with my defiance, even more so in front of someone like Donovan Phillips.

I know better than to challenge Carter, but I do it anyway because if not, he would have me rippling with orgasm after orgasm right here at this table until I pass out.

“Excuse us for a minute,” Carter grumbles, practically shoving me out of the booth.

I find my footing in my heels, but he swipes my hand into his, dragging me closely behind his every lengthy step until we’re at the bathrooms in the back of the restaurant. He practically kicks the men’s room door open and leads me to the furthest stall.

When the door is locked, I try to breathe a little, finding that hard to do with Carter pinning me to the wall with his chest pressed directly against mine.

“You’re going to get over this disobedience streak you have in you, dove, or we’re going to have a problem tonight,” he whispers, speaking right against my lips. He leans down to come eye-to-eye with me. “Do you know what that means?”

I swallow, pinching my legs together and feeling my sex grow tighter around the toy. “Y-yes, Carter.”

“Good,” he groans through gritted teeth. “Now, I’m going to do a few things. I’m going to turn on that vibrator, I’m going to stick my dick in your tight little ass, and then I’m going to make you sit out at that table, and you’re going to have something to eat because you haven’t had anything all day. Got it?”

I only nod, watching his hand reach into the pit of his pocket. “Wait, please.”

He raises his brow like I’ve insulted him. “What is it, dove?”

“What you said about Jacob, about using me to piss him off,” I pant. “Is that true?”

His harsher edges relax. “Is that why you’re being difficult?” He closes the space between our lips, and I melt into his kiss. “I can see why you would be upset, but let’s face it, Jacob Lacey has a lot of reasons to hate me, and after tonight, he’s going to have a few more. It’s not specific to you.”

“I don’t want anyone to die or get hurt, like Tristan,” I whisper. “I don’t trust Donovan. He was going to kill us both at the hospital, and now we’re having dinner with him… I don’t want to be here.”

He looks thoughtfully over me at once, and I can see the spark of understanding spread through his posture. He relaxes, the veins in his throat settling, and his hands that were once tight in fists are now more relaxed and lazier on my hips.

“Do you feel unsafe with me?”

I try to hide the bafflement on my face from his question, but I know I fail at it. “Of course not, Carter.”

“Do you think I would bring you to a business dinner if I thought you wouldn’t be safe on it?”

I only shake my head, his fingertips coming to my face, where he smoothly tucks my hair behind my ears. I can’t help but blush at his gentle strokes against my cheek. He is calmer now, a bit more charismatic, and it only makes me want him between my thighs even more.

“It’s been a long day for us both,” he grumbles at last, obviously exhausted. “I say we take our fun out of here tonight, and we go somewhere a little more exciting—and private.”

My brows knit in confusion. “We can’t go to your penthouse. Not with Tristan in the condition he is in.”

“Of course not, dove,” he hums. “And don’t worry, I don’t plan on ravishing you at your apartment. It wouldn’t be fair to the neighbors. Not with what I want to do to you tonight.”

The mass in my throat only weighs heavier now.

“What exactly are you going to do to me tonight, then?”

Carter rests one hand in his pocket, the other bringing my dress up over my bare ass. He flicks the vibrator on, and it forms a hard, strobing rhythm in the deepest curve of my core.

“Ah,” I pant, breathlessly lost in the sensation.

Carter brings his teeth to my hardened nipple, biting through the fabric of my dress and rolling it between his taunting, greedy lips. I shudder, my ass pressing to the cold tile wall behind me, the wetness warm and dripping from my pussy.

“Carter, please,” I breathe.

He bites harder, his fingertips circling the flesh of my clit, pulling and pressing against my most sensitive button. I release a shiver, flinging my arms around his shoulders just to ensure I stay upright in this tight bathroom.

Everything tingles with an intoxicating sensation, and I couldn’t beg for more if I tried—I don’t think there’s any more pleasure I could accrue without sending me to my knees right here.

In fact, the idea of such a thing turns me on more.

I slide down Carter’s chest, kneeling slightly to where my lips brush the exterior of his zipper, seeing and feeling his hardness jump inside of his slacks.

He smiles, tangling his fingers into my hair. “You’re getting naughty, dove. I fucking love that.”

His fingers squeeze into my scalp, and he pulls me back up to my feet by my scalp. My back is shoved hard into the wall, the pressure of his body pinning me in place almost too hard, too tight, for me to breathe.

I tremble in slight fear, his fist in my hair unkind in strength.

He speaks through a warning of a growl, our fun and sensual moment in here coming to a very hard, a very abrupt, stop. “But you don’t make the decisions, dove. I’m in charge. If I want you on your knees, then I’ll put you on your knees.”

I swallow hard but nod, having this attractive, dominant man pin me to the wall while the vibrator relentlessly tears down another wall keeping me from an orgasm.

“Okay, Carter.”

His eyes go dark like I’ve unleashed a beast that no longer belongs to Carter Blackthorne. “No. You’re going to learn that I’m in charge tonight. You will call me sir.”

Stammering through my hitched breath, I reply in the best way possible, the way that I know will tame him best—if it’s even possible to tame a wild lion in the middle of Manhattan.

“Yes, sir.”