Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy #3)

Any pain from earlier, including the headache that hounded me all day, has disappeared completely. I don’t know if it’s the man, the painkillers, or the sensations already flooding my body, but I’m ready for everything he has to give.

His palm slides up until his fingers wrap around the waistband of my thong, snapping it just like he did before. But this time it’s so much better, because I know exactly what’s coming.

Lachlan’s hands close over mine on the railing, squeezing them tight, as if reminding me not to move them. I push my ass into the hard bulge at his crotch as my assent. And as a way to urge him on.

His hands are gone as quickly as they appeared, and then one finger spears inside me, stealing another moan.

The hiss of his zipper follows before the head of his cock nudges against my opening. He presses inside just an inch, and stills. I’m not sure what he’s waiting for, but I turn my head just enough to meet his eyes, lit by the brilliant colors in a way I’ve never seen them before.

Maybe it’s fate that I’m seeing him in a completely new light.

His gaze flares with heat as his lips cover mine. I’m still captivated by his stare when he pushes inside me, one inch at a time. Slowly. Carefully. But still filling me so full, there’s no doubt to whom I belong.

Lachlan Mount owns me—body, heart, and soul.





Mount





Unlike on that night that changed both our lives, I take her slowly, in absolutely no hurry, and with more care than ever before. Not only because of the injuries we both sustained, but because tonight is different, no matter how similarly it started. Everything has changed.

As her muscles clamp down, I finally let her push me over the edge.

When I pull my cock free from her body, I turn her around, letting the skirt of her dress fall as I fix my pants and lift my gaze to her flushed face. Her mask is askew, but that no longer matters. I reach behind her head and untie the silk ribbon to let the mask fall to the floor. I didn’t wear a mask tonight, and hers was only symbolic.

I straighten the tiara on her head, and even with her mussed hair, courtesy of me, she’s absolutely regal.

“Thank you,” she says.

“For what?”

“For always giving me exactly what I need, even when I don’t realize I need it.”

I take her hand, threading her smaller fingers through mine, and lift it to my lips to press a kiss to the back of it. “We’re not done yet. Not even close.”

I pull her closer, taking her lips, something I’ll never get tired of doing. I’ve never kissed another woman before her, and she’s the only one I ever will.

No other man will ever kiss her. Touch her. Taste her. Feel her as she comes.

She’s mine. And after tonight, she won’t have any doubt.

When I release her and her eyes flutter open again, I lead her toward the curtain. There, I pause and ask her the most important question of my life.





Keira





“Do you trust me?” Lachlan’s gaze takes on a new intensity as he asks me.

How can he question it anymore?

“Of course.”

He presses a kiss to my fingers before he draws them away. “I come from the darkness. I’ll never be able to live with you out in the open. Being with me will never be normal, never be what you planned for your future. Ever.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want normal. I just want you.”

“I don’t know why you have faith in me.”

I reach out and grip the lapel of his jacket. He doesn’t get it, but someday he will. “You don’t hide who you are.”

“I’m the devil in a suit.”

I shake my head. He’s so wrong. “That’s what you think, but I can look beyond the surface to what you’re hiding beneath. There’s a beauty in you that you’ll never see until you look through my eyes.”

“Don’t try to make me into some kind of white knight, Keira. I’m not even close.”

“No. You’re not. But you’re also not the devil. You’re more like Michael the archangel. He defeated Satan. You’ve defended those who didn’t have the ability to save themselves. You swept in and took vengeance. You keep the balance. You can think you’re evil all you want, but I think you’ve driven out more evil than you’ve ever caused.”

His dark gaze widens for a moment before he tames the surprise in it and sweeps open the curtain.



Lachlan leads me through the hidden hallways, his hand never leaving mine, until we stop in front of a fancy-looking security device that matches the one V showed me on the door to the suite. He presses his fingers against it, and the panel slides open to reveal the closet of our suite.

“Someday, I’m going to learn these hallways.”

He smiles down at me, his face gentle. “Someday, you’ll learn it all, hellion.”

The door closes behind us, and he turns to face me.

“I told you I’d protect you, and I will. With my life and everything I have. This is the best way I know how. I have one more box for you tonight, Keira.” His hand tightens on mine as he leads me through the bathroom and into the bedroom.

My heart rate picks up as his hand closes over the knob, and I repeat his words in my head.

Does he mean . . .

Before I can finish forming the question in my mind, Lachlan opens the bedroom door to reveal two men waiting inside the living room. Both are dressed in black, with the exception of one very distinctive white collar.

“Father. Your Honor. We’re ready.”





Keira





Two days later

“We continue our coverage as the body count of known cartel members rises in New Orleans. The statement we’ve received from the police doesn’t give us much to go on, except for the warning they want to share with our viewers.

“Stay inside. Venture out only as necessary.

“Collateral damage has been minimal up to this point, and authorities want it to stay that way. Here at the network, we’re not sure what to make of this, but somehow, even though the streets are running with blood, residents of certain neighborhoods claim that they feel a new sense of safety rather than fear.”



The streets are running with blood, and I feel no guilt over it. It’s a simple matter of cause and effect. Actions and consequences. Restoring the balance.

Before all of this happened, I would have been one more scared citizen wondering what was happening to my city, but now I see it all from a different—and in my opinion, clearer—perspective.

Lachlan Mount isn’t terrorizing this city. He’s making it safer.

He hasn’t contacted me. For days, V has stood guard outside my door during the day, and has slept inside the living area, probably with one eye open, while I’m in the bedroom at night.

I’m in the safest place I could possibly be, under the watchful eye of a devoted protector.

Now I just need Lachlan to come home.

In the meantime, I try to distract myself with work.

My phone rings at the prescribed time.

Temperance.

“Hey. Everyone still good?”