King's Treasure (Oil Kings Book 3) Read online

  A laugh erupted, but it choked off as she brushed her hands down to my waistband. “Manufactured. Manscaped.”

  When she fumbled with the button and zipper, I groaned. The touch of innocence in the move was erotic. I didn’t care if she’d done this a couple hundred times or once, I was enough to make her stumble. “You’re killing me, woman.”

  Her gaze jerked up. “I feel like I should be insulted when you refer to me as ‘woman,’ but it’s sexy as hell.”

  I cupped her cheek. “Because you are. I’ll say woman a thousand times if it makes you feel good.”

  Her eyes were luminous in the transient light. She didn’t look at what she was doing, but she lowered my zipper and pushed my pants down, my boxer briefs with them. My dick bounced free. That got her attention.

  “Oh. That’s . . . that’s big.”

  “Thanks.”

  She didn’t even know how well I could use it. I might be a failure at a lot, but pleasing a woman had never been on the list.

  “You must hear that all the time.” Her question wasn’t sarcastic. Real curiosity laced her voice. She wanted to know how experienced I was. I’d been sexually active since I was sixteen and Jenna Baker had let me trade her virginity for my own in the back forty after homecoming. I’d had dry spells and I’d had periods where I was with someone new every weekend. If Savvy asked for details, I wouldn’t be able to tell her much. Size didn’t matter. Frequency didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was how it was between my wife and me.

  So all I said was, “I only care about you saying it.” That was the truth.

  A sultry smile curved her lips and she wrapped her hand around my erection. My moan couldn’t be helped. She was the perfect mix of firm and unsure.

  She pumped once, twice, her expression full of desire and curiosity, but I couldn’t wait. I lifted her top off and she had to release me so I could get it off. Pale blue lace cupped creamy, full breasts. I thumbed the dusky pink nipples poking through and a shiver wracked her body. Somehow, I got her bra unhooked without fumbling. I watched her as I worked her jeans open, waiting for any sign of hesitation. We’d met hours ago, but this was no one-night stand.

  I pushed all of the material down her hips as far as they’d go with the way she kneeled on the bed. Unlike me, she was neatly trimmed but I wouldn’t care if she didn’t do a damn thing or waxed herself bare. She was beautiful. I palmed her, her slickness coating my fingers.

  “Xander,” she breathed.

  My resistance was shot. I wanted to see every part of her, but I needed to feel her now. I needed to be buried inside her.

  Claiming her mouth, I wrapped one arm around her and used my other hand to pleasure her, to get her ready for me. I slid a finger through her soaked seam, then reversed the move until I hit her clit. Her whole body jerked in my arms and she let out a ragged moan, as if only my touch could get her off.

  I circled her nub until she undulated against my hand, urging me to go faster and harder. I inserted a finger, using my thumb on her clit. When her walls clenched around my finger and she arched, I released her mouth to watch her climax spill over her. She dropped her head back, her mouth open, moaning my name. My real name spilling out of those pretty lips was the best start to this marriage.

  I removed my hand and instantly missed her heat. I laid her back and finished removing her pants. Multitasking, I stepped out of my shoes and kicked out of my pants as I tore open the condom and rolled it on. Savvy was boneless on the bed, gloriously naked. A rare jewel.

  I kissed my way up her body, and she twined her limbs around me. Since I knew nothing about her sexual history, I placed myself at her entrance but didn’t shove inside. I went slow, letting her body tell me how fast and how hard. She was tight but accommodated my size, thanks to her recent orgasm. It wasn’t long before she was demanding all of me, thrusting up, needing more.

  Seated fully inside, I had to pause, overwhelmed. The way her body gripped mine, how she stroked my back, her legs hooked around my hips, it was all I could do to hold my orgasm back.

  “You feel so fucking good.” I nibbled along her chin, holding myself in place over her with my elbows.

  She rocked her hips up, but I had to revel in everything her for a little longer. “Xander.” Her hands swept across my shoulders. “I can’t believe . . .” Her smile was soft, shy. “I can’t believe you’re real.”

  I withdrew and thrust back in. Her eyelids fluttered. “I’ll show you how real I am. And that I’m all yours.”

  I claimed her with hard, powerful strokes. I didn’t think I had enough patience to get her off again, but I forced myself to see to her pleasure as I took my own.

  She tightened around me, her back coming off the bed, her round, perfect breasts shoved in my face. “Xander. Oh God, more.”

  In. Grunt. Out. I was reduced to the most basic form of myself, but this was still about more than me getting off.

  Heat exploded around my dick as her cry echoed off the walls. Finally, I let myself go, filling the condom, buried as deep as I could go.

  Gritting my teeth, I grunted like a fucking caveman through my orgasm and collapsed on top of her. My face pressed to the mattress next to her head. “I’m crushing you.” But I was too drained to move.

  “No,” she murmured. “I like it. I . . . like you.”

  My lips twitched. She liked me and the sex was explosive. This marriage could’ve started off worse. “I like you a whole damn lot too.”

  I pulled out and rolled next to her. She curled into my arms. This was only the beginning.

  Chapter 3

  Savvy

  I blinked my eyes open and my gaze landed on a broad back. I held up my hand. The diamond sparkled in the light creeping through the blinds.

  Married.

  I sat up. Daylight spilled through the curtains and I saw the room for the first time. Really saw it. I mean, I’d seen enough when we’d first had sex on the bed. Then we’d had sex in the shower. And when dawn had approached, he’d woken me to do it again. So, yeah. I hadn’t seen much detail beyond the off-white ceiling, the white blankets, and the tiled walls of the bathroom.

  The curtains were a thick brown and matched the chair that held a backpack. A beat-up suitcase and a camera bag rested on the desk. Did he really travel that light?

  My husband.

  We hadn’t gotten any pictures of our wedding. We didn’t have any pictures together. I only had a ring as proof that I’d done the most impulsive thing of my life mere hours ago.

  Xander rolled over. My heart clambered into my throat. I’d met him when it was dark out. The bar lighting hadn’t been the brightest, and the wedding chapel had been suspiciously dim as well. Ah, Vegas.

  But in the harsh, unforgiving light of day, Xander was even better looking. His skin was bronzed—all over. He barely had tan lines around his waist. Did he just wander outside naked?

  Dark hair flopped over his forehead and brushed his nape. Eyes the color of dark rum pinned me in place and I struggled to draw in air. He was so—so—much.

  God, I was married. To this guy.

  “What’s wrong?” His low rumble cut through me, reminding my body of how good he could make me feel. I’d never orgasmed that hard before. Never that often. And it happened with a damn stranger.

  I clutched the pristine sheet to my chest. My hair had to look like an eagle’s nest and I didn’t have a lick of makeup on. Not after water had sprayed down on me while he’d licked me until I’d sobbed his name. He’d asked what was wrong. I started with the most obvious. The most important—that I’d married a stranger to piss Chief off—would have to wait. “I don’t have any clothes.”

  He lifted a dark brow, and his gaze dipped to where I’d plastered the sheet against my chest. “I don’t mind.”

  If he kept looking at me like that, I wouldn’t either. But I’d made a whopper of a decision last night and I had to endure the consequences. This would all be for nothing if I didn’t follow
through. “I’m supposed to meet Chief and I’m sure the place is no less than business casual. My clothes from yesterday are . . .” I looked at where they were crumpled on the floor. “No longer viable.”

  “We can go back to your hotel so you can change.”

  I glanced at the clock on the end table. Horror propelled me off the bed. The sheet stayed in place and I was standing naked in the middle of the room. He propped himself on his shoulder, a ridiculous set of washboard abs flexing in the morning light, and with that scattering of chest hair— I dragged my gaze to his face only to find desire darkening his eyes.

  No one looked at me like he did. I was grateful the harsh light of day and my hungover panic didn’t diminish it.

  “We’re going to be late.” On time was late in Chief’s world.

  Xander rolled off the bed. My breath whooshed out of me. His heavy manhood was half erect and he really was as tall and broad as I’d remembered. “Then I’ll wear what I wore yesterday. We’ll be a united wrinkled front.”

  The restaurant Chief chose for the meeting wasn’t a jeans and hoodie type of place. I gulped. I could do this. It was present Xander as my husband, or get set up with Lex in front of an oil CEO I respected.

  Xander lifted his pants off the ground. I watched every ripple and flex of his muscles, enjoying the distraction. Digging his phone out, he frowned at the screen.

  “Is everything okay?” I forced myself to quit staring at him and grab my clothes.

  “No, it’s all working out. My dad had to cancel lunch today. He ended up having a business meeting. So I’m not missing anything.”

  I got my bra on and stepped into my organic cotton underwear. We were going to show up like we’d never slept last night and I’d tell Chief that I was married. Butterflies exploded in my stomach. Chief was going to lose his ever-loving shit.

  His reaction would be worse than when I’d told him I didn’t want to go to Georgetown. He’d withheld my college fund, and now I lived with my own debt and was stuck under their roof so I could make my monthly student loan payments.

  So, yeah. Maybe I’d enjoy today and think about what the rest of being married meant later.

  I yanked my silk shirt over my shoulders and scurried to the bathroom. I cleaned up the best I could. Xander’s toiletry bag was on the counter. He took the minimalist approach. Toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, razor, shaving cream, deodorant, and not much else. I used the toothpaste and did what I could with the comb, eventually giving up and twisting my long hair into a messy bun secured by my own hair.

  I rushed out of the bathroom and dove for my pants. Xander had a half smile when he disappeared into the bathroom. Less than five minutes later, he was out. I doubted it ever took him longer than that in the morning.

  “Ready?” he asked. His hair was combed off his face, but it was already falling over his forehead. I wanted to run my hand through it. I loved the way it slid through my fingers. I also loved that it was exactly the style that annoyed the crap out of my father.

  “Let me see where we’re going.” When I pulled up the place in Chief’s message on my phone, I was dismayed to see it wasn’t far. “We can walk.”

  My poor feet. I’m never wearing heels again.

  We could catch a cab, but I tried to walk whenever possible, which in DC wasn’t always a valid option. Then there was my mother’s insistence on having me use our driver. Public transportation wasn’t something I’d grown up with and had yet to learn to navigate. I was free to walk here, so that was what I’d do.

  Xander faced me, looking like an urban cowboy, utterly relaxed and unconcerned. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  My stomach fluttered and I pressed my hand to my belly. This was going to be ugly, but I could get through it. That didn’t stop the impending conflict from dominating my thoughts.

  Xander attempted small talk on the way to the restaurant, about the weather, how many people were on the Strip, and how hungry he was, but eventually he grasped my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “It’s going to be fine.”

  My smile was hesitant. It wasn’t going to be fine. At best, it’d be tense. At worst, explosive.

  How would Xander’s family take the news? He’d said he wasn’t as close to them as he used to be. There was the brother in Montana. Then another whose anniversary he was in town celebrating, but I couldn’t remember where that brother lived, or why they’d been in Vegas for the anniversary. And he had another successful brother who worked for a large company.

  I knew a lot about Xander, but I came up short on specifics. The butterflies in my belly gained in momentum.

  How bad of an idea was this?

  As we approached the place, my body vibrated with tension. On top of my major announcement was the fact that we were late. Chief abhorred tardiness—and I was perpetually time challenged.

  Xander ushered me into the casino first. A sign pointed us to the restaurant. Chief roamed outside the entrance. Tight shoulders, a scowl that could clear a room, and ruddy skin growing more red. He was livid.

  Then he glanced up and his hard gaze jumped from me to Xander and then to our linked hands.

  “Sapphire Jewel Abbot. What do you have to say for yourself?”

  Xander gripped my hand tighter as humiliation crashed over me. Chief spoke to me as if I were fifteen, not twenty-five.

  Did fifteen-year-olds get married whenever the hell they wanted?

  “Chief,” I said lightly. “Sorry I’m late.”

  Irritation flashed across his face. “For once, I’d like for that not to be your greeting.” He spared Xander a glance. “What’s this?”

  “I, um . . .”

  “For God’s sake, Sapphire,” he hissed and leaned closer, acting like Xander didn’t exist. “This is an important business meeting, and you show up looking like you haven’t been to bed yet.”

  Oh, I’d been to bed. I’d been to bed hard. “Actually, Chief. I want to introduce you to Xander. My husband.”

  The silence that fell between us was glacial. I was surprised the ground and walls didn’t crystallize with frost.

  “What?” His voice was barely loud enough to reach me. My late arrival had made him angry, but this announcement morphed him into a nuclear warhead. No doubt his mind was working on all the ways to mitigate the damage.

  “Xander and I got married last night. Xander. This is my dad. Walter Abbot.”

  Xander released my hand to hold his out. “Nice to meet you.” He was so steady, not at all intimidated.

  Chief continued to pretend Xander didn’t exist. “I would’ve thought you were smarter than being taken by a guy who’s after your money.”

  “Like you often tell me, I have no money, and I never told him that my family is wealthy.” I chanced a glance at Xander. His brows were only slightly lifted. He was surprised, but the news otherwise had no bearing on his demeanor. But he didn’t know how wealthy my family was.

  “People like him know. Just like you should know better. If it’s not the money, it’s the . . .” He waved his hand, his face deepening from red to purple.

  Xander stepped in. “Savvy has a lot more to offer than her wallet or her looks.” He took my hand again and it was all I could do not to hide behind him. His words probably made things worse, but I appreciated the effort. It was already more than any previous date had done.

  Chief zeroed in on Xander, like my new husband was an enemy sniper hiding in the backyard. “And what is it, exactly, that you do?”

  One of the men hanging out in the entry of the restaurant wandered out, his gaze drifting over me.

  Gentry King. The man I’d worked so hard to impress yesterday was about to witness Chief humiliating me. I hoped he was too busy and disengaged from the daily details of his work to realize the professional Sapphire Abbot he was supposed to have met with yesterday had shown up today married to a guy her dad hated.

  Mr. King wasn’t any different than his pictures, but his presence packed a punch. He was almost as tal
l as Xander, his shoulders just as broad, but his expression was much less hostile than Chief’s. No doubt he was putting two and two together and figuring out I was Chief’s daughter. I wouldn’t have believed the power he held over Chief if my father didn’t visibly calm down the instant Mr. King stepped closer to us. This account was extremely important to Chief. My mini-crisis was averted. He’d hold himself together through the meal, but I’d get another berating afterward.

  Mr. King’s gaze left me and landed on Xander. His brows rose, his eyes filling with curiosity, but also brightening, like he was happy to see my husband. “Xander? What are you doing here?”

  Before I could muddle through how Gentry King knew my new husband, Xander said, “Hi, Dad.”

  Xander

  What the hell was Dad doing with this trumped-up jackass?

  But as I answered Dad, Savvy’s hand went limp. I let it fall away—it was either that or tighten my grip and crush her bones to hold on to her—but when I glanced at her, I froze.

  Her eyes were full of dismay when she turned to me. “You’re a King?”

  “And you’re my treasure,” I said automatically. Hadn’t she caught my play on words earlier?

  Did she not know my last name? I struggled to recall when we’d each shared that detail. The ceremony wasn’t as clear as it should have been. We’d both had a lot to drink but we hadn’t been stupid drunk.

  “You . . .” Walter Abbot blinked back and forth between me and his daughter. The next time his gaze landed on me, it was like he saw a whole new person. He was seeing Xander King now, a kid from a family that owned an oil empire. He switched his lighter blue gaze to Savvy, a smile playing over his lips, his eyes shining. “You married a King?”

  “Married?” Dad echoed.

  Fuck.

  I didn’t want to break the news to my family like this. “I haven’t had a chance to call you yet. To call any of you.” Dammit. Were all my brothers still in town? I was torn between triumph that I wasn’t the one to fuck up the trust fund, and desperation to show them that I was serious about this girl. She wasn’t a means to an end. I wasn’t using her.