shoot my way which said he thought he fucking owned me. The one that made me want to flip the fuck out and show him my worst as I painted his expensive walls with his blood.
I lifted the cigarette to my lips again so that I could concentrate on that and hide the flash of anger that tore through me, but the moment I tried to inhale, Tatum squeezed my fucking balls so hard my breath caught.
My grip on her thigh tightened in warning but her grasp on my balls just did the fucking same.
"Who'd like some chocolate cake?" Martha's voice saved me from Liam's scrutiny as she pranced into the room, carrying a large tray with coffee and cake laid out on it.
"You spoil this one, Martha," Liam said as he stood and took a coffee from the tray before heading towards the door. "I'll see you both at lunch."
Martha started muttering about us being love's young dream as she set the tray down on the table and bustled about the room while Tatum and I glared at each other.
Her grip on my fucking balls was unwavering and I grunted a curse as I slowly reached over and stubbed the cigarette out. She instantly released my balls, giving me a saccharine sweet smile as we fell into conversation with Martha over coffee and cake and I was gifted the treat of her showing photos of me as a kid with chocolate all over my face too.
I played along, mostly because Martha was the only person in this entire household who I actually gave a shit about and I watched Tatum as she let the stories and newness of this place steal her grief away for a little while.
I was glad she was distracted from the pain, but she'd ignited a heat in my veins with that little stunt which was only growing hotter and burning fiercer with every passing moment. No one got to hold me by the balls and get away with it. Figuratively or literally. So as soon as I could, I was going to make her realise exactly what kind of monster she'd been baiting with that little game of hers.
***
By the time we'd finished up with Martha and I'd given Tatum a tour of the house and grounds, I could hear more members of the family arriving and my gut was beginning to churn with the thought of spending the rest of the day in their company. I wasn't afraid of them as such, though I guessed I probably should have been. But I was mostly just so fucking sick of being forced to play to their tune all the damn time that I was worried about what I might do in their company. And I couldn't afford to lose my shit with them today. Tatum would be the one who paid for that. Her presence here was designed with that purpose in mind.
We’d been given a room in the east wing of the house and I'd taken a shower while Tatum got changed into whatever the hell Saint had decided was 'proper Christmas attire'. As I headed back through to the lavish room from the en-suite, my heart leapt at the sight of her.
She was wearing a full length navy dress with slits up both legs so that delicious skin of hers poked through as she moved. The front was panelled with white lace which was just transparent enough for me to see her cleavage through it in the mirror as she leaned forward to finish applying her makeup, painting her lips blood red.
I moved to stand behind her with the towel around my waist, my dick tenting it as I breathed in that sweet honey blossom scent of hers. I didn't stop until I was right up in her personal space, standing at her back as she straightened and looked over her shoulder at me in the mirror.
"You look fucking edible, baby," I growled, my hand snaking around her waist before sliding up over the silky material until I was teasing her breast through it and she gasped as I tugged on her nipple.
I continued to tease her until her pupils dilated and her back arched against me before suddenly shifting my grip to encircle her throat.
Tatum's big blues widened in surprise as my dick drove into her ass and the friction between us knocked my towel free so that it fell to the floor and I was left standing there naked.
"Did you