Chapter 18

Damon

I opened my laptop and scrolled on an image of a woman wearing a corset, bending over without panties. While searching the net, I found a girl in a corset with long dark hair. I’d saved that sexy image and now, tugging at my cock, I imagined that was Vivianna, who had a starring role in my wet dreams.

The woman on the screen had her back to me. Her long dark hair undulated down the curve of her spine.

She bent over so I could see her slit. Pumping away, I couldn’t get that image of Vivianna bending over out of my mind. No panties.

No fucking panties.

What was a man meant to do? Helpless to do anything but perv.

It wasn’t just her curvy body that made my pulse race, but also those deep, beautiful eyes. I itched to keep talking to her.

After dropping her off, I returned home, and feeling tense, I opened my laptop seeking relief.

It didn’t take long. I nearly burst a vein, I came so hard, groaning like a man fucking for the first time, and this was just my hand. My maid had triggered an insatiable hunger that I needed to do something about. Like soon.

My mother loved hosting dinner parties. Any excuse and she’d have Merivale filled with chatter and laughter. Both my parents were social animals, but my father was unsurprisingly absent.

The only reason why I was even there was because of Vivianne, who’d steadily become an obsession.

By now, had she not been a virgin, I would have propositioned her.

The pain in her eyes when she opened up about her ugly past had twisted a knot in my heart. If ever I wanted to fucking hurt someone it was after hearing about her stepfather. I wanted his head on a platter.

Pushing that violent thought aside, I focused instead on offering her friendship and support.

How the hell could I try to take her to bed? Wouldn’t it seem I was taking advantage of her, given that she worked for me?

Theadora gracing my presence was far more satisfying than ordinary sex, which pretty much described all the sex I normally had.

I sensed that my heart needed to be involved for stars to explode.

Like with all family functions, the guests mingled in the red room, situated at the front of the hall, housing the modern European art collection that my father had spent his life procuring.

The regular guests included: politicians, dignitaries, eminent businessmen, society folk and their entitled children.

Taking a drink from a tray, I joined my brother, who was chatting to a couple who’d just set up a hobby farm.

Ethan turned to acknowledge me. “Ah. We were just talking about you.”

“Nothing too nasty, I hope,” I said, nodding at Allen Olsen, an old family friend, and Kelvin, his partner.

“We’re fascinated by your latest venture. You might recall that Kelvin worked in law enforcement for years before becoming the lord of the manor.” Allen chuckled.

“Mm… More like the slave of the manor,” Kelvin quipped, rolling his eyes.

Allen nodded. “That land will kill us. We’re trying to clean it up so that we can get organic status to grow produce, but hell, it’s got all kinds of nasty chemicals. They might as well have drenched the grounds with DDT.”

“I’m expecting to find a whole lot of rotting corpses next,” Kelvin added.

Allen giggled. “You wish.” He turned to me. “He’s a CSI tragic. Anything to do with remains and he goes all Sherlock on me. We found a goat’s remains. What looked like leg bones and he was agog. All night on the net, studying for clues.”

Kelvin smiled sadly. “I was devastated to learn it was only a goat’s remains.”

Evan and I shared a grin. Allen and Kelvin were the earthier, if not more eccentric, of those who visited Merivale.

“We really like the idea of the boot camp, though. If there’s anything we can do, we’d love to volunteer,” Kelvin said.

“I’m hoping to set up a garden,” I said.

“What a marvellous idea. Get troubled youth working with nature. Veggies or flowers?”

“Maybe both,” I said. “I’ve had the land assessed, and I can obtain an organic farming licence, apparently.”

Allen glanced at Kelvin. “We’re jealous. But please do involve us in anyway.”

“Are you part of it?” Allen asked my brother.

“I haven’t been asked.”

I turned to him. “You’re always invited to help. You know that.”

“Will there be any pretty girls?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes. “He’s beyond rehabilitation.”

Kelvin and Allen laughed.

“But seriously,” Kelvin added. “You might want to organise a charity event or two. You know, to raise some funds for the initiative.”

“That thought has crossed my mind.” I rubbed my neck.

“I know,” Evan said. “A masked ball. I’ll arrange it.”

Sarah joined us. “Did I hear ‘masked ball’?” She turned to Kelvin and Allen and waved a greeting.

“I was just suggesting we host a charity event here at Merivale,” Evan said.

“Oh, that would be fun,” Sarah said. “We’ve never hosted a masked ball before.”

“We’re talking about raising funds for the boot camp,” I said.

Her mouth turned down. “Mummy will hate that idea.” She thought about it for a moment. “But we don’t have to tell her.”

“I think we do. She lives here most of the time.”

“She’s off to Antibes next month. She always goes for a two-week holiday in June.”

Evan nodded. “Let’s arrange it then. Leave it to me.”

I shrugged. “Sure. It’s a great idea.” I turned to Kelvin. “Thanks for suggesting it.”

“We’ll help in any way. Just call out. And we do expect an invite,” Allen said.

“Of course. You’ll be the first on the list,” I said.

“Will you invite Tedd?” Sarah asked.

“Maybe. He’s not really into this scene though.”

“No. He’s kind of feral.” She pulled a face as though she’d touched something dirty.

“Who’s this?” Evan asked.

“He’s a former army mate in charge of running the boot camp.”