Beautiful Betrayal (The Ravenhead Corporation Book Two Read online

  We were both consumed by this unexpected lust. Her pussy clenching my cock, keeping me locked in and as I forced myself out I only felt the urge to fuck deeper, burying myself inside of her. In and out. Faster and faster. Her legs tightened around my waist as I leaned over her, capturing those pretty red lips with mine as my hips pounded their way into her depths. Her cries muffled against my mouth and as I reached between us, stroking that tender clit, she came undone for me.

  Her sweet pussy pulsed in bliss, her nails dragged across my shoulders, and those voluptuous tits trembled erotically as my cock gave her what she needed.

  I continued to give her long, deep strokes. My cock hard as steel, my balls swollen and heavy. I was ready to explode, but as I went to pull out, she locked her ankles and her eyes held mine.

  “Don’t leave me.”

  “I’m gonna cum inside this pretty pussy if you don’t let go, Beautiful.”

  “Do it.”

  “What?” I gritted, still trying to keep some sense of control.

  “Do it. I want to feel your hot cum fill me up. Max, please. Fuck it into me.”

  “Fuck!”

  “Please.”

  Her breathless plea drove me over the edge and I braced myself as my body tensed, the pleasure coursing through my veins as I filled this beautiful stranger with my seed.

  1

  MAXWELL

  M y eyes slowly fluttered open and I groaned at the irritating sound of my cell phone ringing. I lifted my arm over my eyes, blocking the rays of sun that were streaming into my bedroom. My hand went to the pillows next to me and found emptiness. I frowned and shifted to my right, my eyes finding the spot where her pretty head had created an imprint. I stared at the empty pillows for a long moment and then stared up at the ceiling.

  With my forearm over my eyes, I finally picked up the phone. "This better be important."

  “You hired someone and didn’t run it by me first!”

  Shit, I sighed. I thought maybe I could bypass his new security background system. “I didn’t hire her, she’s an intern.”

  “She’s a stranger.”

  “She’s a student.”

  “Fuck, Cunningham!”

  “Look. She’s got great references, top in her class at Oxford and I need an assistant. She’s coming to learn, Archer, not steal.”

  “How would you know that?”

  I remained silent staring up at the ceiling and wishing I was staring into a pair of bright amber eyes instead of listening to Drake Archer’s irritating demands.

  “What do you want from me, Archer?”

  “I want your ass in here, now!”

  “Ha! You’re not my boss, get on with yourself.”

  “No, but Lucian is, and he’s also wanting your ass in here,” I could hear the smugness in his voice and I snarled.

  “Went to Daddy, did you?”

  "You want to circumvent the rules, there are consequences. Don't play with me, Cunningham."

  The phone went dead and frustrated I flung it angrily on the mattress. It bounced and landed on the floor with a loud thump at the foot of the bed. Fucker had a way of ruining a perfectly good morning.

  I wandered into the bathroom, turning on the hot water and stepped under it letting it soothe my tight muscles. I let the hot water cascade down my back lifting my head into the stream. Closing my eyes, her body immediately encompassed my thoughts. I recalled the soft curve of her hips, her long legs holding me to her, the way her body gyrated for me, needy, denying me nothing. She was all feminine lightness as she allowed me to consume every inch of her.

  I gave up having feelings a long time ago. Having a different woman in my bed whenever I pleased had become my norm. It was a game, a sensual, pleasure-filled game. They understood that I wasn’t here to stay, that I wasn’t one to cuddle or call the next morning. And for the most part, I was the one to disappear in the early mornings. But today, today I had been schooled at my own game. I had been the one used, and for the first time I got a little glimpse of how shitty I’d been acting and the taste of that medicine was bitter.

  But I never had a woman give herself to me like that before, and in a way, I was upset that I'd never see her again, that I hadn't caught her last name, that I hadn't asked where she was from. And now here I was, cock in hand, wanting her all over again while the taste of her sweet pussy still lingered on my tongue. I grunted as I stroked my rigid shaft, still remembering the feel of her tight heat wrapped around me. The way she moaned my name as the pleasure rippled through those sultry curves.

  “Fuck!” I came hard and fast, my cock spurting its load violently against the white tile of the shower walls. I slammed my hand against the wall, leaning my forehead against my fist waiting for my body to stop thrumming, but that was a lost cause. Even as I got out of the shower, my dick was still aching.

  I stared at myself in the mirror as I ran my hand across the rough bristles of my beard. I took a pair of clippers and trimmed at it, making sure it looked even. I caught my eyes in the mirror and paused for a second, shaking my head.

  “You’re a bloody tool, Cunningham.” I was letting a woman get to me for the first time in a long time.

  I had refused to fall in love again. Love was just pain in disguise. At first, it was all dandy hearts and pretty flowers, but slowly, even a flower's beauty wilts away leaving behind the putrid smell of fermenting stems.

  I finished trimming my beard and washing my teeth and headed back to the bedroom, sighing to myself. I had forced myself not to wallow in the past, but the loneliness was settling in. I never minded it, I actually appreciated it, but now it seemed to be getting to me. I’d spend nights at clubs or bars seeking out the touch of a woman. Not one to keep, just one that would satisfy my needs for the night. I hadn’t felt the urge to have a relationship ever since Grace.

  Grace had been my world, she'd been everything I ever needed. I'd fallen completely in love with her, and we were very happy during the short time we had together. We met when we were young, she was only nineteen and I was twenty-one, young and in love and we had the world at our feet. I had promised to return to her after my tours in the military in the hopes of getting married. I loved her dearly, but I quickly came to realize my love for her was not going to be enough, that love itself wasn't enough to protect someone.

  When I got back from my first reservist training in the SAS there was something different in her demeanor, in her look. The light that had shown brightly before had now dimmed some. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but the bright energetic woman I had fallen in love with was slowly willowing away. After a few days of becoming reacquainted with each other, I finally decided to confront her, but her excuse was that she wasn't feeling well and hadn't been feeling well for months. I was concerned, but since she didn't feel the need to go to the doctor I left it at that. That had to be the bloody worst mistake of my life.

  A few mornings later, I had kissed her goodbye. She had looked a bit pale that day and I remember asking her if she was alright. I was willing to miss work and take her to see her physician, but she’d simply stroked my cheek and smiled weakly.

  “It’s just a little flu. It will go away. Have a good day, honey.”

  I remember that sweet little kiss as if it were yesterday. She'd smelled like strawberries that day and the kiss had lingered just a bit too long. She'd held me tight that morning as if she didn't want to let me go. I'd found it a bit strange how she was acting but thought maybe she was finally falling back into a routine with me.

  I was going to find out that morning if I had gotten recruited into the SAS and it was a meeting I couldn't miss, so I kissed her lightly on the forehead, told her I loved her and ran out. We lived together in a small apartment in Cambridge, so obviously, I was her point of contact in an emergency. I wish I hadn't been though, I wish I hadn't been the one to receive that call from one of her co-workers that morning. It had been right in the middle of my meeting. When the phone rang I immediately shu
t it off, but I sat there staring at the screen. Her work never called me and an eerie feeling swept over me. As I looked down at the phone, it went off again and I quickly picked it up not caring about the men seated in front of me. My scared eyes met theirs as the woman on the other end told me what had happened. Grace had fainted at work and she'd been taken to the hospital.

  I'd hung up the phone and realized the room had gone still. The Coronel who had called me it was staring back at me. "Everything alright, Cunningham?"

  “I have to go. I’m sorry but I have to go.” I never gave them a chance to say a word. I simply ran out leaving in their hands everything I had worked so hard, but I didn’t care. Everything I did was for her and if something happened to her then what the hell did it matter.

  I had never felt so powerless like I had at that moment. The woman I loved was miles away lying in a hospital bed as her man was desperately trying to make it to her side. I'd raced down that highway like a madman praying that she was alright, that it was just a fainting spell. I'd never felt so alarmed in my life as I frantically tried to get to her. But my efforts were in vain and I never did make it.

  By the time I finally got in to see her, her heart had stopped three times. She had a clogged artery that had blocked the blood pumping to her heart which in turn explained her fatigue and paleness. I sat in that waiting room for a long time after the doctor had explained what happened. My sweet, beautiful woman had been alone when she passed away. She had been so happy only hours earlier, making plans for our wedding day that was only a few months away. My everything had slipped through my fingers in a matter of seconds and I had done nothing to help her.

  I’d been trained to fight the most brutal of battles, some of England’s toughest training grounds, but I’d never been trained for this. No one could train you for this type of heartache. A shooting pain that had taken my breath and my life away.

  Eventually, I gained the courage to walk into her room. Her parents had been called, siblings, friends, all crying and showing their support for each other. But there was no support for me. No love. Just reproach. Her Mother yelled at me, banging on my chest and asking why I didn't take care of her. She screamed at how she was my responsibility and I couldn't agree with her more. So I simply stood there and took her punishment as everyone watched the show. No one stopped her screams and cries, nor when she reached out and slapped me, because they all felt the same way, they all needed someone to blame.

  Grace's Father finally removed her from the room and I was able to make my way to her side. She looked peaceful when I knelt down beside her, her long lashes softly touching her high cheekbones. Her heart-shaped lips had lost their color turning into a pale pink. I traced those lips, the thought of never getting another kiss or hearing another I love you tore at my heart.

  “You look as beautiful as ever,” I’d whispered in her ear and lightly kissed those lips. Tracing her cheek, my sorrow had finally consumed me and I wept. I don’t know how long I knelt there by her side, but it was her Mother, of all people, who’d finally come in to remove me.

  She rubbed my back and whispered, “That’s enough now, dear. That’s enough.”

  I'd turned to her, my eyes were swollen and my heart at my throat. "I'm sorry."

  She’d simply nodded and cupped my cheeks. “I’m sorry too, love. I’m sorry too.”

  At twenty-three, I was burying my young fiancée. In the fog I was now immersed in, I managed to help her family with the funeral arrangements. I remember seeing all these people coming to give their condolences and I remembered feeling so alone. See, my parents had passed away when I was younger and I only had my Nan until she passed away in her sleep a few years back. Grace was my family, she was all I ever had. All I ever wanted. In my dark existence, she was my light, and it had been yanked away brutally, unexpectedly.

  I’d snuck out of her wake and took the long dreary walk towards her fresh grave. Looking down at it I felt the anger rush through my veins, and I’d screamed and yelled at her, asking her why she had left me so alone. And after I’d done so, I collapsed to my knees and wept again. At some point, I felt it. A faint breeze, the smell of strawberries that engulfed my senses. I’d taken a deep breath and closed my eyes, almost feeling her touch. A whispered I love you in my ear as the spring breeze swept around me.

  The feeling went as quickly as it had arrived and I searched the grounds finding nothing but stillness and peace. I found peace in the middle of all these graves. I looked down at the grave with her name on it and I understood.

  “Alright, my Grace. I’ll stop now. I love you too.”

  I can't say I was alright after that day, on the contrary, the dreams of her still filled my head. Dreams of having her in my bed late at night, of coming home to her, of hearing her giggles when I said something stupid. It took me years for the dreams to stop, for the pain to become a dull ache. It never did subside, but at thirty-eight, I was now better able to manage it.

  A week after her funeral I'd gotten a call from that Coronel. I had been recruited into the elite British SAS and needed to get ready for selection training. I had put my heart and soul into that training and in a few short months, I'd become Private. My sole focus became the Special Air Service. It was my life for so many years. A dangerous life, but since I didn't really feel my life had much value, it was worth the risk. After ten years of fighting and learning weaponry and engineering skills, I'd finally been promoted to Captain where I managed two squads. It was a tedious, perilous job, but I loved the hype, the adrenaline that came with it.

  While studying military weaponry I came across an article on Lucian Steele and the Ravenhead Corporation. They were stationed in New York but worked with several International governments, allies to the US. They were recruiting engineers and weapons specialists. I was intrigued by the idea of working outside the field. I was thirty-three and wanted to expand my skills. I wasn't going to leave the SAS just yet, but I needed something to keep my mind on while we were grounded.

  I quickly set up a meeting with Lucian Steele and he’d been quite interested in me during our first encounter. A few days later he’d called me in again and I’ll never forget what he’d said to me that day.

  "I need someone who can commit to Ravenhead, Mr. Cunningham. Someone I can count on. Someone who will give me the best service and remain loyal to the company. There exist no boundaries here, we all work as one unit. A family, you can say."

  Family, that was the word that had gotten to me. Sure, my men and I were close and we were unified, but having something outside of that, something important I could live for, that was what made me agree to work at Ravenhead Corporation.

  "I perfectly understand, Mr. Steele. I'm well aware of what you need here and I'm at your disposal."

  Lucian placed his hands down on the desk and hung his head for a long moment. When he spoke, I was taken aback. “I don’t want you as a Weapons Specialist, Mr. Cunningham.”

  “Oh?”

  “I want you as the Head of Defense and Weaponry here at Ravenhead.”

  “I’m sorry what?” I leaned forward, definitely taken by surprise.

  “I have some of the brightest minds working for me, and I need a tactical mind to lead them. With your intelligence skills and your tactical background, Mr. Cunningham you are quite the leader.”

  “I-I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say I’ll see you here Monday first thing.”

  “Y-yes, Sir. Most definitely.” Shaking his head I left without another word.

  Lucian Steele was a puzzle, he had acquired Ravenhead at a young age from his Father and had recently been voted in as CEO. I remember reading that his title of President was just a title before, but he had worked hard at being voted in by his peers to run the company. He was young, but he was smart and innovative and someone I wanted to work with.

  So here I am, five years later, completely devoted to Ravenhead. I'd retired from the SAS a couple years ago, deciding my time there had fi
nally reached its peak. Your body and mind can only handle so much before they start to protest. I made the best decision and in turn, Lucian had allowed me to travel for deals and negotiations all over the world. I knew five languages and was able to communicate freely with business moguls in Europe and South America. We'd gotten quite far in Ravenhead and Lucian was looking into gaining more connections and raising our contracts. Although the decision I made was what I thought was best, the free time if offered was now weighing on me. In the last decade I rarely had time to myself and to be honest, I really didn't know what to do with it. I didn't know how to be alone, even though I always had been. I exercised, I read, I tried to find new things I liked, but it all felt new. Like I was finally getting to know me.

  Women were something different. At first, I didn't know how to handle them, but as I got to know them more, got to talk to them, I realized they just wanted my company. The pleasure I could offer them came as a sort of bonus. So, I gave it to them. I learned what they liked, what they needed and I had a different one in my bed every night for the last two years. I'd never wanted a woman more than once, no matter how good they were at pleasuring me. I didn't want to lead them on, I didn't want to have them think that I was available. My heart was not available to anyone.

  I frowned as I sat down on my King-Sized bed. With the money I had received from the SAS and now Ravenhead’s salary you could say I was more than well off. I didn’t lack for anything and I had gotten a beautiful apartment in Chelsea. Living in New York City had been a dream and I was fucking living it.

  I looked out the window where I could clearly see the top of the Empire State Building. The day was bright and sunny. It was a Sunday, the only day this weekend that I had to sleep and now I had to go in and see Drake Archer's ugly mug once again. I swear the bloke was even more irritating now that we'd uncovered the threat looming over Ravenhead. He had a tight hold on the Security of the company and I, as Head of Defense and Weaponry, had to abide by his every rule and be present at every goddamn meeting he or Lucian Steele dragged me too. They could be pent up in their bloody conference room all day if they could. I couldn't stand it. It had quickly been decided that every little movement, every new personnel, had to be run by Security. I couldn't blame Drake after what happened to his pretty little bird. How he got his hands on that sweet little morsel was beside me but to each his own. He was protecting what was his and I'd probably do the same.