10. Devon

Chapter ten

Devon

F or a moment there, I wasn’t sure Mabel would be honest, even though I’ve never before questioned her loyalty. But having Jaxcen here is new. Different. And she’s extremely likeable, a fact that has been bothering me because I have no doubt she has the ability to befriend my soldiers and get under their skin to coax them into letting her leave.

Not to mention, that women, especially the ones in my town, tend to band together, which I don’t hate, but it can lead to some tense moments at times. So really, Jaxcen already getting Mabel on her side was highly likely, but it appears not.

Mabel is still only loyal to me, it seems.

“Is that so?” I ask, keeping my expression neutral as I stand with only a towel wrapped around me, my gaze locked onto the mortified expression contorting Jaxcen’s face. “Were you eavesdropping on me in the shower, little mouse?”

She gives me the slightest head shake before my brow shoots high, daring her to continue lying, which is when her shoulders slump and she drops her head in defeat.

“Thank you, Mabel. That will be all.”

At my dismissal, Mabel nods and leaves the suite, closing me in with my guest. Or prisoner. It depends who you ask, I suppose.

“Sit. I’ll be right out.” I order, and notice how quickly she obeys.

There’s a part of me, and it’s a pretty big part, that enjoys this power play between us. I know I have a dominant personality, but I don’t consider myself a Dom, or partake in any such roles. I just demand, and expect obedience.

But there’s something about Jaxcen’s obedience that doesn’t sit well with me.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying her submission, but it’s where it comes from that is the troubling factor.

After dressing, I join Jaxcen at the table, noticing that she hasn’t touched the food. She’s just sitting and waiting as instructed.

“Eat,” I bark, and I expect her to jump from the bite in my tone, but instead, she glares at me.

Fucking hell. I can’t help but grin.

“Why are you glaring at me? I’m not the one in trouble here.” I remind her, and her eyes fall to her lap. “Eat, Jaxcen.”

Reluctantly, she takes an apple and starts slicing it thinly on her plate.

Note to fucking self. Tomorrow, ask Mabel for a big greasy serving of bacon and eggs for Jaxcen. She’s too fucking thin and needs some meat on her bones.

“So you were eaves—”

“I wasn’t. I swear. I heard a sound and thought you might have fallen. That’s all.”

Not only did she interrupt me while I was speaking, but she still has the audacity to lie.

Taking a sip of my juice, I place the glass back on the table and slowly sit back in my chair, regarding her with a smirk.

“You’re certainly wracking up the sins here, Miss Summers. Confession will be a long one tonight,” I point out and she frowns. “Lying to me seems to be one of your favourite sins.”

Her cheeks flare to life at my observation, and I chuckle, picking up my fork and pointing it at her.

“We both know you were eavesdropping, little mouse. Tell me, did you hear me finish?”

This time, her blush engulfs her whole face and tracks down her neck, giving herself away .

“Going by that blush, I’d say yes.” I tease, dropping my eyes to the avocado on my plate.

“I’m sorry I…” Her words trail off, and I glance back up to see her biting her lip.

Fuck, that’s sexy.

It seems she’s lost for words.

I could press the matter. Really rub it in her face, but I think I’ll leave that to her confessions.

“I’ll take you to the chapel tonight. You can repent there, love.”

At my words, she nods, like that’s the most acceptable outcome.

I wonder if she’ll find her penance acceptable.

I grin down at my plate, and focus on my meal as ideas come at me from every direction while we eat in silence, until I order her to shower.

While she’s in the shower, I don’t eavesdrop, but instead, welcome Finn into the suite and take the bag he hands me with Jaxcen’s personal items.

“Any sign yet of Mr fucking V?” I snap, and Finn shakes his head.

“Cameras haven’t picked up any activity yet.”

I sent him and a team to Jaxcen’s home last night after I left with her to come here. I asked him to gather a bag of clothes and essentials for her, and install some hidden cameras so we can keep an eye on the place in case Mr V turns up.

I also asked him to gather intel on Jaxcen, so I’m hoping he was successful.

“Okay. What did you learn about my guest?” I ask, making sure my bathroom door remains in my view so I can see the moment it cracks open.

“Well, she has an old school answering machine on a landline phone, and there are already a ton of messages left by a guy called Eddie.”

I nod. “Her fiancé.”

“Her space is simple. Nothing extravagant until you open her wardrobe.” Finn reveals and my brows shoot up.

“How so?”

Finn smirks. “That woman has hundreds of shoes, all kept in clear boxes. There are stacks of them, and Miles seems to think they are the expensive kind.” He shrugs. “I don’t know about that, but the interesting thing was what was behind all the boxes of shoes.”

“What was behind them?” I ask, my mind racing with the possibilities.

“A laptop.”

My brows shoot up.

“A laptop?” I ask to confirm, and Finn nods.

Fuck. Why would she hide her laptop?

“Did you look to see what was on it?” I snap, like he might have found something that I don’t want him looking at.

“Nah, man. Not my expertise.”

Why the fuck am I jumping the gun?

“Sorry man,” I mutter, shaking my head at my own fucking behaviour.

“All good.” Finn chuckles. “She’s already gotten under your skin. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything is fine.” I blow out a frustrated breath and glance back up at my best mate. “Did you find anything else?”

Finn studies me a moment, and I know he can see my lie, but he doesn’t call me out on it. “Nah, just her laptop. It’s with Dom. I told him just to get into it and see if there’s anything unusual.”

“Okay, thanks,” I mutter and gesture my head to her suitcase. “You pack any of her fancy shoes?”

He nods. “A couple of pairs, and some strappy sandals and a pair of the fanciest runners I’ve ever seen.”

“Are they those ones on a bit of a platform, with fucking bling on them?”

He grins. “Yeah, exactly like that.”

“Hmmm, she really does like her shoes,” I mutter more to myself than anything, and Finn laughs .

“No shit, take a look.” He holds up his phone screen and I see what he was talking about inside Jaxcen’s wardrobe. There are so many fucking shoes, that it looks more like an obsession than anything, and I fucking smirk.

Another sin, Miss Summers.

Greed.

“Send me those pictures,” I order Finn, and he nods, doing so immediately before leaving.

I take Jaxcen’s large suitcase, heft it onto my bed and unzip it, revealing some very haphazardly packed clothes, shoes and toiletries. The panties, which are tucked into the sides of the case, are all lacy, and I spot a few bras that match, so I pick a mauve set and lay it out on the bed before moving to my bedside and taking out my notepad to write her a note.

Here are some of your things, little mouse. Wear whatever you want, but my only stipulation is you must wear the purple panties and bra. And don’t think about disobeying me, because I’ll be checking. Come downstairs when you’re ready. I’ll be in the Cliff Top Bar. x D

Folding the paper in half, I drop it on top of the mauve panties and bra before leaving.

The Palace is bustling with staff and patrons, but the bar itself isn’t as busy.

Most are likely out in the beer garden, given the warm December sun shining today, with the few still inside simply getting drinks for outside, or the couple of usual day drinkers, who perch themselves at the end of the bar from opening until closing.

They are husband and wife and have experienced unbelievable loss. They barely talk to anyone, let alone each other, yet every day, they walk in hand in hand, and stumble out hand in hand, and I often wonder if things will ever get easier for them, or if this is where they will die, living the same day over and over.

“Hey Dev.” Ronnie nods, wiping over the bar as he gestures his Santa hat wearing head to the far corner as I approach. “Melissa is here to see you.”

My gaze shifts to the corner to see the young woman, probably close in age to Jaxcen, her arms wrapped over her chest as she curls in on herself almost like she’s cold.

It’s not cold.

“How long has she been waiting?” I ask Ronnie, and he shrugs.

“She was here waiting at the door when I came in to open up, and hasn’t left since. Just asked for an audience with the devil.”

The devil. I can’t believe the stupid nickname has stuck.

I can thank my cousins for that, the pricks.

Not that it doesn’t work in my favour most of the time.

When people think you’re the devil, they tend to tread carefully.

“Thanks, Ronnie. I’ll take her into my office. If a skinny blonde that looks like she has no idea if she’s in the right place comes in, tell her to take a seat and offer her a drink. Her name is Jaxcen.”

Ronnie smirks. “You got it.”

I roll my fucking eyes at his grin. I know what he’s thinking. I don’t bring chicks back here to fuck, so in his eyes, it must mean more.

Whatever. It’s nearly fucking Christmas and I wanted a fucking treat.

Approaching Melissa, her eyes widen when she sees me nearing, her spine straightening.

“You’ve been waiting to see me?” I ask, and she nods.

“Yes, Mr Marx. I…” Her lower lip starts trembling and her eyes turn glassy, so I gesture to my office door off to the side.

“Let’s go into my office.”

She nods quickly, sliding off the bar stool as she swipes at the tears escaping her eyes.

Leading her to my office door, I grit my teeth at the fucking garland framing the fucking thing, having to brush some of it aside to get to the key pad and type in my code to unlock the door.

As I step inside and hold the door open for Melissa to enter, my gaze travels back out over the bar and I frown.

Garland, tinsel, ornaments, lights. You name it, my bar has got it, thanks to a sassy teenager that has absolutely added more decorations after I told her she’d already over done it.

“Ronnie,” I call, and his head snaps in my direction from behind the bar. “Get Allegra in here. I need to have a discussion with her about following instructions.”

Ronnie’s lips spread wide, his moustache quirking up at the corners as he nods.

“Will do.”

Fucking teenage girls and their over the top decorating ideas.

As I turn to close the door of my office, I still at what I see hanging over my fucking desk.

She has to be fucking kidding me.

Mistletoe.

Fucking mistletoe is dangling from a red ribbon tied to the fucking light shade over my desk.

How the fuck did Allegra get inside my fucking office? I told her it was a no decoration zone, yet there hangs a fucking mistletoe.

I want to rant, but Melissa’s sobs remind me that she’s here needing my help, so I close the door, ignore the fucking mistletoe, and take a seat behind my desk.

“What’s happened?” I ask Melissa who fiercely tries to slap away her tears, only to have more fall in their place, the ones on the left side of her face run down the thick scar that runs through her left eye and down to her jawline.

“I’ve done everything you said. I don’t use my old social media account. My new one has a fake name and picture. I don’t mention anything about my past, but…” Her face contorts like she’s in pain, and by the way she clutches at her chest, I suppose she might be. “You told me he was dead.”

My brows hitch. “He is dead. I killed him myself,” I snap, feeling a little fucking insulted.

Her ex boyfriend was a piece of shit gangbanger in the city. There was no method to his madness, only that he was completely fucking nuts, and somehow, Melissa got swept up in his chaos. Fit Nick is what they called him. A gym junkie and pumped up on so many fucking steroids, I bet the fucker couldn’t find his dick. But his real name was Nicholas Ballen, and his brain painted the street by the time I was finished with him.

“But he messaged me. On messenger on my new secret profile. It leads back to his profile.”

Fucking social media.

“Show me,” I bark, and she hurries to stand, sliding her phone over my desk towards me.

Taking it, I read the message.

You little slut. Did you really think you could hide from me? Keep looking over your shoulder, because I’m coming for you.

Shit. Someone is harassing her. It’s not her ex, but someone that has access to his account, or has made a new dummy account using his identity.

Taking out my phone, I snap a picture of the message, and then go to the profile and snap another picture before handing back her phone.

“Don’t respond and send me screenshots of anything else you get,” I order and she nods. “I’ll have Dom rescan your device to make sure there’s no tracker as well. ”

“Thank you.” She nods, standing quickly and offering me a shy smile even though tears are still falling.

“You’re safe here, Melissa. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.” I remind her, and she nods quickly, moving towards the door.

“Thank you, Mr Marx.”

I roll my eyes, following her. “How many times do I have to remind you to call me Devon?”

She shrugs. “Miss Barber says it’s disrespectful to use your first name, and that even if you insist we call you by that, we should still refer to you as Mr Marx.”

“Well isn’t Miss Barber a pain in my arse?” I tease, and Melissa’s smile grows wider as she giggles.

Reaching around her, I open the door, and we step out only to come face to face with my blonde goddess whose gaze is dancing between the two of us before it narrows.

Huh.

I know that look.

My little mouse is jealous.

She shouldn’t be, and not just because I’m not attracted to Melissa or the fact there is absolutely nothing going on between us, but because Jaxcen and I aren’t a thing, so whether or not she notices, she’s just shown me her cards.

Try to deny it all you want, little mouse, but you like me.

The thought makes me smirk, and I relax against the door frame as Melissa brushes past Jaxcen and scurries out of the bar.

“Who was that?” She has the nerve to ask.

“None of your business.” My gaze drops down the length of her body and back up, taking in the strappy dress she chose to wear with the strappy sandals, and my eyes narrow at the fact I cannot see a mauve bra strap which should be noticeable, given the straps of the dress. “I see you’ve already disobeyed me.”

She frowns. “What do you mean? No, I haven’t.”

Pushing off the door frame I take a step back inside my office and gesture my head for her to follow. She only hesitates a moment before stepping inside, her curious gaze travelling over everything in sight.

I watch as she approaches my desk and runs the pad of her finger over the rich oak wood before spinning to face me.

“So this is where you—” she gasps at my nearness, even as I press myself up against her front and lift her to place her arse on my desk. “What are you doing?”

I don’t answer, keeping my eyes locked with hers as I glide my hand up her side before cupping her breast to feel her nipple pebble under my touch.

Fuuuck. Just that simple touch has my cock waking up.

“Where’s the bra?” I snap, and she stiffens.

“I… well if I wore it you’d see the straps,” she explains, “so I decided to go braless.”

I growl, “For all my men to see these?” I pinch her nipple and she cries out, arching her back so her tits press harder against my touch.

“No… that’s not why,” she breathes, clearly affected by the sensation of having her nipple stimulated, and I want to protest, but all I can think about is the tight peak of her nipple, and having it in my mouth.

Giving in, I lean down and take the hard bud into my mouth, dress fabric and all, and a whimper escapes her.

As I scrape my teeth over her nipple, her nails dig into my shoulders and her legs part wider to allow me closer as I stand between them. Releasing her nipple, I drop to my knees while hitching the fabric of her dress up to reveal the mauve lacy panties I chose for her.

I’m fucking starved, just the sight of the wet patch darkening the satin crotch of her panties has me surging forward and pressing my nose to her core to breathe her in.

“I… what… oh…” She’s lost for words, and I wonder if she’s ever had a man’s face between her legs before.

Just the thought that I could be the first has me shifting away to hook her panties in my fingers and tug them off her legs.

“What are you doing?” she breathes, panic in her tone .

“What does it look like, little mouse?” I ease her legs wider, my gaze dropping to the pink satin flesh, already swollen and wet with arousal, a small neatly groomed arrow of hair pointing towards her clit like it’s saying, ‘press here.’

Fuuuck. I love a well groomed woman, and I don’t mind some hair. It seems unnatural and childlike when women have bare cunts, and it fucking deflates my cock.

But not Jaxcen.

She may be only twenty-four, but she’s all fucking woman.

When all she can do is stare wide-eyed at me, I point above us, and watch her head tip back as she spots the mistletoe above us.

“What?” She frowns, her gaze returning to mine. “You’re meant to kiss under a mistletoe.”

I grin wickedly and nod before closing the distance and flicking my tongue over her needy clit.

“Oh!” she cries out before slapping her hand over her mouth, her wide eyes shooting to the door, clearly worried someone will overhear.

Like I give a fuck.

“Stop, Devon. That’s not a kiss.”

When she tries to shove my head away, I snag her wrist and growl.

“Isn’t it? Your wet cunt seems to like the way I kiss.”