Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

DANE

When I saw Chloe sitting with Ryker, I wanted to grab the back of his head and smash his face into the top of the table.

If he hadn't run off so quickly, I might have given in to the temptation. Lucky for both of us, he did. I didn't like the way he was looking at my woman. If he did it again, he might not be around long enough to regret it.

Not that I thought for a minute she'd be interested in him. That much was obvious from the look on her face, and her body language. To her, this was nothing more than a business transaction. I got the impression she wasn't interested in studying business, but she was better at it than she gave herself credit for. I'd help her work on that.

Something she didn't need to work on, however, was her blowjob skills. Those were perfection. When I told her to suck me off, I half expected her to tell me no. I hadn't expected her to get under the table so quickly, or be so eager.

Just thinking about how fast she moved made me hard as hell again.

Did I regret not telling her to bend over the table so I could fuck her pussy? Only slightly. We had plenty of time for that.

"It must have been good."

I looked up to see Ryker standing in my office doorway, arms crossed like he had the other day. He looked just as smug, but slightly more anxious. I could almost see him thinking, wondering if Chloe told me about their deal.

"It was," I said blandly. "Very good. What could be better than a woman who likes to be on her knees?"

He shrugged. "I can't think of anything. Although, on all fours in front of me is just as good. As long as they're willing, I'll take them any way they come."

"I thought you might," I said. He didn't seem too fussy. As long as he got off, he wouldn't care how it happened. "Did you want something?" I moved around, tidying up my office, stacking approximately seven coffee cups to be taken away for washing.

Correction, eight.

"Chloe told you about our conversation," he stated.

"Did she?" I shrugged. "She might have mentioned something before she slipped under the table."

His Adam's apple bobbed. I could almost see him picturing her doing just that. Let him picture it. As long as he didn't try to re-enact that moment with her, I didn't give a shit.

"I made a deal with her." He was clearly getting frustrated, and not about picturing her sucking my cock. "She was going to speak to you about?—"

"I know what you wanted her to say," I interrupted. "Promising a future favour without knowing what it might be is a massive risk. Are you sure it's one you want to take?"

"I'm sure," he said definitely. "If I need to make a deal with you too…"

Now there was an idea I could get behind. He could owe Chloe a favour and owe me one as well. Who knew what we might need some day?

"If we make a deal, this doesn't negate the one you made with Chloe," I said slowly. "She talked to me about sponsoring you, and she did. I'll sponsor you and I'll go one step further by offering my personal recommendation to the Brotherhood. In return, I get a favour to call upon whenever I need it."

That was as good as saying he was guaranteed membership. We only had a couple of recommendations we could use in our lifetime, and I'd be using up one of those for this. That was a risk I was willing to take. My younger brother would never be interested in joining, he was too busy touring the world with his rock band. Anyone else I knew who was even slightly worthy was already a member, or was standing right in front of me now. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Ryker's eyes widened. "You'd do that for me?"

I snorted. "Fuck no. I'd do it because, between Chloe and me, we'd basically own your ass. You could be very useful to us one day in the future. Think of this as me tucking you into my pocket."

He didn't look like he cared for that analogy very much, but he couldn't argue either. If he wanted this so badly, this was the price he'd have to pay.

"Any favour, any time?" he asked.

"Exactly," I agreed. "But I might go light on you if you can recruit some other brothers. Some who could work under you. In a couple of years, you'll be able to sponsor other men. Use that sponsorship as leverage, just like I have. That might be all the favour I need."

He nodded, all of his bravado back in place. "I can do that. There's a couple of promising students I have some level of influence over already. Expanding that should be easy."

"I'm sure it would be." This man gave a new meaning to the term cocky professor.

People called me that, but he was worse. Not that I'd use that as an insult in any way. Being arrogant had its advantages. Like ordering women to get on their knees and suck you off. And having them actually do it.

"Do I need to sign anything?" Ryker asked.

I waved off the idea. "Call it a gentlemen's agreement. However ironic that term might be."

"We can agree on that." He grinned. "I don't think either of us would pass for gentlemen."

I leaned my hip against my desk. "Who would want to?" Gentlemen probably didn't have their cocks sucked in an Academy library, where anyone could have watched.

In fact, several people had. Including one of the Brantley twins, I have no idea which one. They were identical smug pricks, and I had no desire to learn to tell them apart.

Whichever it was, he seemed to enjoy the show. Probably getting inspiration for what he could do with Lila. Or maybe hoping he could get Lila and Chloe to fuck him at the same time. I suspected we both knew that wasn't going to happen. I certainly did. There didn't seem to be much love lost between Chloe and the Brantley brothers.

That was exactly how I wanted it.

"Not me," Ryker agreed. "Unless it's advantageous in some way. Since I can't see how, then I'm not going to lose any sleep over it." He held out his hand and I shook it.

"The next meeting is in a few night's time, in Tokyo," I said. "I'll be watching it virtually. I'll put forward my recommendation then."

I hesitated.

"But?" he prompted.

"The Brotherhood isn't obligated to listen to me," I said. "They might disregard any recommendation I make."

"Is that likely?" He looked anxious again.

"It's hard to tell," I said. "Specifically, if someone decides to speak against you, anything I have to say may be ignored. It doesn't happen often, but on occasion it does."

"You seem to be speaking from experience," he said.

"Not exactly," I said. "I thought there was a chance that might happen with me, but that's another story. Ultimately, it didn't happen."

My father pissed off the Brantley family. One of them might have retaliated by denying my membership. But then, the head of the Brantley family at the time conveniently died right before the meeting. Crisis averted.

Not my doing.

Officially.

"I'm sure everything will go smoothly," I said. If not, no skin off my back. I'd only promised to try, not to succeed.

"I trust it will," he said. "The Brotherhood should know I'd be an asset. It was only a matter of time before they came to invite me to join."

"Possibly." I didn't bother to tell him that hadn't happened for over fifty years. If he wanted to believe that, then he was welcome to. It made no difference to me.

"Definitely," he said. "Before too long, I'll be a member of the inner circle. Then I can help to guide the direction humanity goes."

I couldn't help remembering the expression about absolute power corrupting people.

The inner circle was a good example of that. If this man ended up there, things would be interesting, to say the least.

"Unless you're older than you look, then it will be a while," I said dryly. "The inner circle is rumoured to be made up of men over the age of fifty." Ryker was about half that age.

He frowned. "You don't know who's in the inner circle?"

"No one does," I said. "Except for them. It's one of those, 'if you find out, you'll be dead shortly after,' things. They don't even know who's a part of it with them. They don't communicate directly. They never meet in person, as far as anyone knows. They just issue orders and we follow them."

Ryker nodded. "I still want to be one of them. Don't you?"

He managed to tap right into a nerve I'd pushed aside for years. The yearning for power like that was strong, but I didn't have the connections to be chosen as a member of the inner circle. Not yet. With Chloe's help, I might be.

The irony that if she helped me get there, I couldn't tell her about it, wasn't lost on me. That was something I'd never be able to share with anyone. But I'd know and that would be enough.

"I've learned to take things one day at a time," I said evenly. "If that's in my future, and that'll happen when and if it happens. And if it's not, then I'll be privileged to be a part of the Brotherhood of Kings, either way."

Ryker looked sceptical, maybe even a little derisive. As if he thought I wasn't ambitious enough. He'd learn soon enough that ambition only got you so far. The old saying that 'it's not what you know, but who you know,' will always stand true.

That was exactly why I worked so hard to make the connections I did. I wanted, needed to know people. I needed them to see me. To understand what I was capable of. To see my loyalty if they let me show it.

All my life, I'd practised at making the right friends, and associating with the right people. All so I could manoeuvre myself into the right position. Including on top of Chloe Bell. She was the pretty little cherry on top of my cake. My balls ached just to think of her, and what she and her body could do for me.

If I was honest with myself, I could fall for her. Why not? She was smart, sexy and beautiful. She understood and saw me in a way no one else had. I suspected I did the same for her. Ours was as perfect a match as one could be. And it could only get stronger with time.

"I should get to class," Ryker said.

I glanced at the clock. "Me too." How much longer was I going to have to keep up with this charade?

Some days were more frustrating and boring than others. Fortunately, the afternoon class was one of my favourites; ancient Egypt. It must have been nice to be a pharaoh, with people willing to make pyramids for you. Monuments that would help people to remember you a few thousand years later. I didn't want literal immortality, but to be remembered by history would be enough. To have spent all this time living and know it wasn't all for nothing.

There was nothing wrong with being ambitious. We all wanted to leave a legacy behind, didn't we?