Chapter 32 Chapter Thirty-one
ARA
As Claudia styled my hair, my head kept flashing one word over and over: fool. I was a fool for thinking Thayne would ever feel anything for me.
He was calculative, and every single thing he did was executed first in his head before he ever carried them out.
“Mr. Slade has never courted anyone this long before. Miss Irvington, you must be patient with him.” Claudia's voice nearly startled me.
I'd even forgotten she was behind me, her deft fingers working on my hair.
"Patient? Pft.” I said, laughing dryly.
Her fingers in my hair stilled.
"I have worked here for over a decade, and I've watched his interactions with the other ladies I've seen him with. I understand that you two have an arrangement, but in his eyes, it is more than that.”
Claudia was either blind or delusional, but I didn't say this aloud. She'd been kind and motherly since I'd known her, and she didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of my anger.
“In his eyes, I'm a convenient game piece, a smart last card he can play at his father's table.” I told her calmly.
In the mirror opposite us, her lips were set in a taut line.
“What about Nina?" I asked her.
“The age long nanny Mr. Slade Senior imposed on his son? Thayne fired her. Nearly had her arrested for conspiring with Madison and sabotaging you on your first dinner night." She spoke so casually, as though it were old news.
If it were, why was I only just hearing it? More importantly, Thayne had known Nina was involved?
And, he'd fired her without telling me?
“You seem shocked to hear that." Claudia noted, tugging at a strand until I nearly felt my hairline tearing away from my forehead.
I winced in pain, and when it happened again, I couldn't help the scream that tore from my throat.
The door slid open immediately, and Nina dropped her hand from my hair.
Thayne was already in the middle of the room before I could register he was really there.
“What happened? Ara? Are you okay?" Genuine concern dripped from his voice, and Nina began to tremble behind me.
“Mr. Slade," Claudia gasped, as if she was going to have a fit of heart attack.
“I'm fine," I said quickly.
“I need to see and confirm you are." He said, his shadow falling over Claudia who was still trembling like a leaf in the wind.
Slowly, I rose from the chair in front of the vanity and turned to face him.
He was already dressed, but the front buttons of his shirt were undone. His hair looked like he'd been running his fingers through it for hours.
“I'm fine, see?"
He looked like he'd just seen a goddess, and it wasn't until Claudia finally regained composure and told him we still needed a few minutes to round up that he finally left the room.
"Like I told you, Miss Irvington, Mr. Slade cares madly about you. As it is, he would jump right through the gates of hell if you were there.” Her voice was full of adoration and respect for Thayne.
I rolled my eyes. Thayne would jump over the gates of hell for me only if his father still posed a threat. As long as Slade Senior was still a threat, Thayne needed me.
It was why he'd stormed Darius' hideout the way he did. Godforbid somebody smeared their DNA all over his property.
Twenty minutes later, Thayne and I were being ushered to a black Limousine by his escorts, Munroe ahead of the group like a chief commander.
As we climbed into the Limousine, he stretched out a hand to help me get in.
I ignored it. I didn't need his fucking help. I was perfectly capable of climbing in on my own.
But instead of settling in the backseat, I ended up falling into his lap.
Thayne's hand immediately went around my waist, and when I tried to get off him, he held me tighter.
“Stubborn today, hun?” He teased, his other hand flat on my exposed thigh.
“Let. Me. Go." I bit out.
“Never." He said without missing a beat.
I embraced my fate, but decided I could as well torture him while at it.
I bounced on his lap.
He went rigid underneath me, and I smiled in satisfaction to myself.
I did it again, and as the Limo drove away, it only caused me to come down on his lap harder than I'd actually intended.
“Ara, what are you doing?" He growled, the hand on my lap curling to a fist.
“Nothing." I answered sweetly.
I waited a heartbeat, then did it again.
This time, my ass was directly on his cock, and I felt it rise like a rod being summoned upwards.
Thayne groaned, in pain, I hoped.
I wanted to torture him until he lost control.
“If you do that again, I'll fuck you right here and now." He threatened.
“And I'm supposed to be scared of that threat?" I asked, rubbing myself over him, daring the beast inside him to come out and play.
“Ara," Thayne warned, his grip on my waist tightening.
I wanted him to break. I wanted to show him that he was not in control as he thought.
I leaned forward, widened my legs, and grinded my core on his cock.
I'd never been more thankful for the demarcation between the backseat and the front than I was right now.
It was the last straw. Thayne's hand fell away from my lap, but only because he was yanking my dress up and trying to find the waistband of my panties so he could rip it.
His fingers stilled when he realized there was nothing to rip.
He growled in my ear, low and full of dark intents.
“You're not wearing underwear."
“It's uncomfortable sometimes." I told him, rotating my hips again.
He didn't say anything else. He pressed me into himself, widened my legs and slid two fingers inside me.
“Aaaaaaggghgh.” I cried out.
"I'll teach you never to push me.” He punctuated his words with five thrusts of his fingers that stole the air from my lungs.
He added two fingers, making it four digits inside me.
I gasped, gripping his knee to support myself.
Thayne wasn't merciful with his fingers, he was very determined to make a point.
I rode his fingers hard, drunk on the pleasure.
Suddenly, he withdrew his fingers and turned me around in one quick motion that left me feeling lightheaded.
There was nothing careful or gentle about the way he lifted me by the waist and brought me down on his cock.
My pussy swallowed his long, hard length, and I stared deep into his eyes as I lifted my hips and came down on his cock again.
It turned into a challenge, a game of who would torture the other harder.
So I took it. I rode him furiously, and he didn't stop thrusting underneath me.
“You want to be fucked hard like a slut, don't you?” He asked when I screamed God's name as he increased his speed.
I felt like I was going to shatter into a million pieces on his lap.
The straps of my dress slid down, and my breasts spilled into Thayne's waiting mouth.
With a loud cry, I came.
Thayne didn't, and it was when the Limo went into park mode I understood why.
We'd arrived at State Yard, an expensive private asylum where Thayne had moved his mother to after she was kidnapped.
Thayne gazed into my eyes searchingly, as if there was something he wanted to tell me but couldn't bring himself to say it.
My legs had turned to jelly, and I was unable to get off his lap. He rearranged my dress and helped me settle beside him as if he hadn't just fucked my brains out.
We were escorted out of the Limo, down the parkway and into the building complex.
People watched us as we stepped into the building, some even waved, hoping to get Thayne's attention. But Thayne's focus was straight ahead.
By now, I was used to the flash and click of cameras as we were escorted by security into the building.
A dark-skinned nurse materialized like a ghost in the hallway to meet us.
“Mr. Slade, welcome. If you'll just follow me, your mother has been expecting you.” She spoke with an accent, fluttering her lashes as if I weren't standing right next to Thayne.
Thayne looked at me, then drew me close to his side.
“Lead the way." He told the nurse.
She glanced at me briefly, her eyes narrowing for a second before she turned around.
We were led further down the hallway, and she stopped in front of a door slightly ajar.
There was no noise in the building, probably because this place was a private facility and only billionaires like Thayne could afford it. Which meant there were few patients in the building.
Thayne nodded to the nurse who pushed the door wider, and Liliana's willowy frame came into view.
She turned, then broke into a bright smile. At first, we all thought she was smiling at Thayne, her son.
But the moment we reached her, she flung her thin frame at me and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“My heroine!" She exclaimed.
She let go of me to step back a little, peering into my face.
Then, she gasped, her hand flying to her chest.
“Lola? You have finally come to see me!" She laughed and wrapped her arms around my neck again.
I froze, shocked to my bones.
Lola was my mother's name. She'd known my mother?