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

Chapter Two

Isabella

The hit against my skin never comes.

Instead, Carter wraps the belt around my wrists and then loops the leather around my crossed ankles. I am forced into a tight spot, pinning all my limbs together behind the pole while Carter slips out of the rest of his clothes. He strokes my hair, pulling it off my face and over my shoulders. It gives him the perfect view of my bare chest, leading down to my throbbing, soaking wet sex below.

He takes a short stroll along the nearby wall, glancing up at the options available. When he finds the one fitting his needs, he comes back to where I’m tied, leaning forward and taunting me by pressing his lips into mine. I fight the restraints just to be closer to him, just so maybe my lips can graze his.

He smiles at my desperation. “Easy, dove. All in good time.”

“I want you,” I beg. “Whether we’re in a mansion uptown or a small apartment by the docks—I don’t care, Carter. I just want to be with you.”

His face falls slightly, keeping his toy of choice behind his back in secrecy. “I know you do, but for now, we will focus on the elections. After that’s over tonight, we can see what to do with your desire to have another job, okay? But it’s out in the open now, Bella. This world knows I’m dangerous. The only way to take down a powerful man is to go for the heart.”

I wilt ever so slightly, knowing that ordeal has been proven a few times already. Truthfully, even with the Lacey family taken down and the Phillips family not far behind them, he still feels like there’s a looming threat out there somewhere. I can’t be sure where he’s getting these inclinations, and I don’t care.

All I want is to please Carter in this moment, and he wants the same for me.

The rivals, the election—everything that went down just a handful of months ago. It led us to a very dark place, one that I’m not sure that we’re out of yet.

He finally exposes his hidden hand, reaching down suddenly and flicking his thumb against the cold, hard dildo. It strokes my clit carefully, using my already plentiful juices to slide slowly into my folds, filling me completely. I nearly slam my head back into the metal pole, fighting the urge to scream in pain and pleasure.

Once it’s all the way inside, I begin to notice its vibration. It must have been doing it the whole time, but my senses are so numbed that it didn’t click at first. Carter straightens up, flicking my lower lip with his index finger. He watches me squirm for a long minute, delighted with the sight.

“There you go, dove. Enjoy that for a while,” he hums, bringing his fist to the base of his stiff cock.

He strokes himself slowly at first, increasing his speed while my desire triples before his eyes. The vibration is hard enough and deep enough, to the point that I shiver with my first orgasm not long after he inserted it into my core.

I chew on my lip, leaning forward to push my lips onto the very tip of his erection, but he snarls and steps back, preventing me from letting that happen.

“Not until I say,” he snaps. “I want to watch you come for me, dove.”

It doesn’t take much longer for his wish to be granted. Fire brushes through my chest, settling in the base of my throat. The saturation between my thighs licks my skin with fire. I lean forward, exhausted and weary. I’m unable to make sense of anything while the orgasm overwhelms my naked body.

“Oh, Bella. Tell me something. Are you ready for this?”

I couldn’t nod my head faster if I tried.

He leans in closer, his hips grazing my body as he says, “Are you my submissive dove?”

“Yes,” I pant. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. We don’t stop until I’m finished.”

I rattle with excitement. “I don’t want to stop, either.”

He doesn’t waste another minute, pushing against my lips with the head of his erection. It slowly crawls into my throat, the tightness of my lips around his thick base making his head fall back. He gently thrusts into my mouth, methodically moving his hips like they’re the waves in the ocean. He doesn’t pause, hardly looking at the erotic sight of my mouth stroking his length.

Instead, he grips the pole with his fists, pumping into me while he rests his forehead on the steel bar. I can see the angst pulling at his features, his entire body carved deeper with more muscles than I’ve ever seen before. He doesn’t stop pushing, diving into the depths of my mouth until I have no choice but to choke.

The sound, the feeling of my mouth tightening on his manhood, is enough to send us both spiraling. He doesn’t come until I do, the vibrator between my legs finally dropping to the floor from the sheer slickness of my pussy.

The device rattles on the floor, and his cock jerks against the roof of my mouth.

He strokes the back of my head, gasping for each breath. He didn’t even need to spank me this time, but the fact that I’m still tied up does worry me.

Being at the behest of Carter Blackthorne is a scary place to be at times.

He doesn’t make me wait long to be untied, pulling his belt back through his pants that he hikes up over his hips. I collapse onto the floor, numb and exhausted. The last thing I want to do tonight is go to this election party, but it’s the biggest event of the year.

We will see if Carter will be the next mayor or if his challenger, the same man who took on running against Frances Johnson, will be the new man in charge. The election had to obviously be postponed for a while due to Frances being sent to Sing Sing. Carter leveraged just enough power, and probably a little sprinkle of money, into making sure the mayor got what he deserved, even after his confession and guilty plea.

Meanwhile, my brute lover hasn’t spent a day in jail.

The only thing more fucked up than the ordeal we had with the Lacey family is the dismissive attitude of the city when they found out Carter was the mayor’s hitman for a long, long time.

He pulls me to a sitting position on the floor, forcing my shirt over my head. My arms are like noodles hanging at my sides, his hands brushing my thick, brunette hair back over my shoulders. I dare to yawn, the lasting taste of his ejaculation still coating the back of my throat.

It doesn’t bother him, his lips still teasing my own with a gentle kiss.

“We have to settle this, dove,” he mutters, kneeling on the platform with me. “I am just cautious about letting you out into the world, Bella. After everything that happened, I just need to confirm our enemies have been stifled.”

“Jacob is dead,” I mutter. “So is his father. Why are you so scared that something will happen to me?”

He pauses, his heavy palm raking through my untamed hair. “Because if I let you out into the streets of Manhattan, and anyone was to use you to get to me, it would work. If I didn’t make it in time to stop Jacob and his father, well—”

“I know,” I cut in, not needing him to recap that treacherous event. “He came close, but I was fine. I fought back, too.”

“Yes, you did,” he adds with a gentle smile. “I just need time, okay? Give me time. For now, we have an election party to attend. No matter the outcome, we will be going to Aunt Anita’s tonight to be with the family, okay? Maybe after that, we can talk about your job search.”

I sit up straighter—hopeful he’s actually going to give me a chance to gain back some independence. Granted, I love being with Carter as much as possible, even when we’re just doing nothing. But there’s a certain aspect of my life that still beckons for my attention.

Jacob Lacey was a horrid boss with ill intentions toward me and my body, but that job gave me a sense of purpose. My father’s bills have been paid off and paid ahead of time, so the money isn’t really the issue anymore. I just don’t want to be overly dependent on this remarkable man and force tensions to rise.

I want to appease him as much as possible right now, so I ignore my tumbling thoughts and reach for my pants. He clutches the hem of my jeans before I can pull them up, his hand gripping the vibrating toy from before. He presses it back into my core, my body wilting and shuddering while I grab at his wrist and take the pressure in stride.

He leans into my shoulder, nibbling on my earlobe in a way that makes my skin spark with chills.

“You’re so tight after you come.”

“It’s your fault,” I reply, feeling him release the toy as it’s securely inside of me.

Carter takes over the task of zipping up my jeans and buttoning them up securely.

“It’s always my fault,” he whispers, his palm grabbing at my ass. “But let’s see if this remote still works.”

“Wait, remote?”

He clicks a little device in his two fingers, the pressure in my pussy suddenly starting to vibrate. I nearly fall forward, clinging to his chest while the sensation practically pushes me to the ground. He keeps me upright, though, snickering into my hair while his tongue drags across my exposed shoulder through the collar of my shirt.

“There you go, dove. Keep coming for me tonight, okay?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Good,” he pants, grasping my hand and whisking me out of the club.

I hardly make it back into the SUV before I double over, butterflies releasing through my stomach relentlessly until a slight click comes from his fingertips. The rattling ceases for now, but the looming threat of it is enough for my body to grow tight with anticipation.

He pulls me to his side, and Ernesto veers the SUV into the dense Manhattan traffic.

When I’m nearly passed out with exhaustion, draining away the feeling of being overwhelmed with orgasm, a soft voice catches my attention.

“What were the last polls showing?”

Ernesto clears his throat to reply to Carter in a whisper, “Wasn’t looking good. Behind by eight percent.”

Carter growls, a noise I can feel with my shoulder tucked into his chest. “This is going to be fun. If Killian wins, we’re all doomed.”

“He’s an ex-cop,” Ernesto sighs casually. “He isn’t the end-all to our operation. We still have backup plans in case things go in his favor. We will shut down the docks projects you acquired from auction after the Laceys were obliterated as a family. Nothing is in our names downtown, not even the spot we took from the Lacey family. What was it again? Gambling or—”

“Guns,” Carter cuts in. “They were about to barge into my market with the Laceys desire for exporting guns, but their fearless leaders all caught a bullet.”

“Funny how that happens.” Ernesto’s attempt to soften the taut aura of the car doesn’t work. “Listen, boss. It’s going to be okay. The dust is still settling after the Frances issue. Killian can’t do a thing to you if he wins the election. You made a deal to give up all the information in exchange for Frances going to prison, right?”

“That may be true, but I didn’t tell them everything. I had to shift accounts into different names in the family. Any business, contact, purchase—everything in my name is being tracked right now. I don’t need the heat on me, and…”

He pauses, his fingertips stroking my cheek so my hair is pushed back behind my ear.

“Do you ever just consider leaving everything, Ernesto?” he asks in a hushed tone. “Perhaps it’s just me that they want to take down. If I gave them that, would she finally be safe?”

“She is safe,” he mutters. “I’m confused, Carter. I’ve never heard you so unsure of anything in your life.”

“Walking in on your rival getting ready to ravage the woman you love will do that to you,” he replies. “Let’s just pretend I never said anything about this at all, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Good. I have a fucking election to win.”