Enticed by Ecstasy (Wicked Treasures) (7 page)

Abigail grinned.
 
“Now you understand.
 
My father thinks he has all of Mum’s money, but he forgot a clause in their marriage agreement that states if he has an affair and my mother can prove it, all her money goes to me.”

“You father has no idea?”

“None.
 
I’ve been formulating my plan for years.
 
After my mother’s death, I began to research where I wanted to go.
 
It wasn’t until my cat died that I had no reason not to put my plan into motion.
 
That’s when I sent the letter to you, or Mr. Rye, actually.”

Channing rose from the bed and walked to the opened double doors.
 
“It’s not Huntington’s money.”
 
He said it more to himself than to her.

“No,” she said from behind him.

He hadn’t heard her rise from the bed.
 
His mind was in a whirlwind of how he could extract his revenge now.
 
“So, you staged your kidnapping why?”

“To prove that he doesn’t care,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed his shoulder.
 
“I know he won’t respond to the letter, but he’ll learn quickly that he no longer has access to any of my funds.
 
And he’ll be kicked out of my house that I’ve allowed him to stay in.
 
I’m finally taking what’s mine.”

Abby watched Channing closely.
 
The news that the money wasn’t her father’s had obviously been a huge blow.
 
The stunned expression on his face had made her gut twist.
 
Whatever her father had done to him must have been horrendous.
 
Everything her father touched, he ruined.

She found herself more than curious about Channing’s story now.
 
Since he had teased her body into giving him what he wanted, there was no reason she couldn’t do the same.
 
Besides, she’d wanted to touch his arousal since she had looked upon it last night.

She moved to stand in front of him, uncaring that anyone could pass by and see them standing naked in his room.
 
His gaze moved to her face.
 
She saw the compassion in his eyes and knew she would help him hurt her father like he had been hurt.

Abby reached down and took his flaccid cock in her hand.
 
His gaze flared and his lips parted.
 
A grin pulled at her lips at his reaction.
 
She loved shocking him as much as she loved pushing the limits to what she would normally do.

She ran her hand up and down his length. She rolled his balls in her hand before she lightly squeezed him.
 
The more she touched him, the more he thickened in her hand.
 
A muscle moved in his cheek as he clenched his jaw.
 
Her hand moved down his hard length, the heat of him branding her skin.
 
She was amazed at how hot and hard and smooth he was.

“You’re playing with fire,” he murmured.

Abby smiled.
 
“I’m enjoying it.
 
I feel as if I’m a different person here, as if Africa has freed me.”

He cupped her face and took her lips in a passionate kiss, his tongue stroking hers with all the desire and longing within him.
 
She melted against him, loving the way he claimed her with his mouth and his body.

Before she gave into the growing desire of his kiss, Abby pulled away and dropped to her knees.
 
She had seen one of her maids put her mouth on a footman’s cock once, so she knew men liked it.

She licked her lips and brought his shaft to her mouth.
 
Her tongue gave him a little lick.
 
Channing plunged his hands into her hair and moaned.
 
She slowly licked and kissed down his length until she reached his sac.

Her hand came up and cupped him before gently rolling his sac in her hand.
 
His breathing quickened, and his eyes closed.
 
Abby smiled inwardly and proceeded to kiss and lick back up to the head of his cock.
 
Only then did she take him into her mouth and swirl her tongue around his tip.

“Abigail,” he said between clenched teeth.

She pulled him slowly from her mouth.
 
“It’s your turn, Channing.
 
Tell me why you want revenge on my father?”

He shook his head.
 
“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does.”
 
She moved her hand up and down his length until he groaned.
 
“You got your answers.
 
I want mine.”

“Finish it, and I’ll tell you.”

Abby didn’t totally believe him, but if he lied all she had to do was put her mouth on him again until he told her everything she wanted to know.

She wrapped her lips around him and took him deep inside her mouth.
 
He began to move his hips, sliding his shaft in and out of her mouth.
 
Her hand moved to his sac once more.
 
As soon as she touched him, he groaned.

His pace quickened as he pushed deeper into her mouth.
 
Abby took all of him, eager to give him the pleasure he had shown her.

When she thought he would climax, he pulled out of her and tossed her on her stomach onto the bed.
 
He covered her instantly, raising her onto her hands and knees.

“My God you bring a fire in me,” he whispered in her ear.

Abby forgot to answer as he entered her from behind.
 
His hands gripped her hips as he plunged into her hard and fast.
 
Breathing became difficult as her body swam with pleasure, and when he reached around and gently tugged on her clit, her climax washed over her instantly.

While her body pulsed with the orgasm, Channing continued to thrust until he gave a shout and one final push before his seed spilled inside her.

They collapsed as one on their sides.
 
She was just drifting off to sleep when she felt his arm tighten around her to draw her snugly against him.

“You’re not going to like my story.”

Sleep forgotten, she turned her head to look over her shoulder at him.
 
“I want to know what he’s done.”

Channing sighed.
 
Only one other person knew his living nightmare, and Rye had taken it to the grave.
 
Channing had never thought he would repeat the tale again.

“I was in love once,” he began softly.
 
“I knew as soon as I saw Rebecca I wanted her for my wife.
 
My family had made a decent living, and though I wasn’t wealthy, neither was I poor.
 
I thought I gave her everything she wanted. Until one day she went shopping for her trousseau for our wedding.
 
When she returned, she wasn’t the same woman.”

“What happened?”

“She met Huntington.
 
She said he was charming and handsome and could give her jewels and silk.
 
Everything I couldn’t.”

“Channing, I’m so sorry.”
 
Her fingers entwined with his, and she gave him a little squeeze.

He took a deep breath before continuing.
 
“As expected, I was jealous, but I foolishly thought Huntington was merely trifling with her.
 
It wasn’t until he set her up with her own townhome that I realized what he’d done.”

“He made her his mistress.”

“She would rather have lived as his mistress than as my wife.
 
I was devastated, but if that’s what Rebecca truly wanted, I wasn’t going to stand in her way.”

Abby turned then and until they were face to face.
 
“She didn’t deserve you.
 
All she cared about was the money.”

“I know that now.
 
At the time I didn’t.”

“There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“I kept in contact with Rebecca in the hopes that Huntington would grow tired of her.
 
I’d done some investigating, and I knew he had three other mistresses.
 
She didn’t believe me when I told her.
 
She thought she could get him to marry her.
 
She had no idea he was already married.”

Abby eyes widened.
 
“Oh.
 
Channing.”

“Rebecca confronted Huntington thinking to prove me wrong, to prove me the jealous ex-fiancé that I was.
 
Only, she discovered truths she couldn’t grasp.
 
With her eyes opened to reality, she demanded that he divorce his wife, remove his mistresses and marry her since he had ruined her.
 
Huntington laughed then gave her two days to vacate the townhome.”

“As callous as usual,” she said softly.
 
“Did Rebecca’s parents allow her to return?”

“She sent me a message after Huntington left.
 
I immediately went to her.
 
That’s how I learned everything.
 
I told her none of it mattered, and I’d still marry her.
 
She agreed, and asked me to return for her in the morning.”

Channing stopped, unable to go on as all the old wounds and hurts threatened to swallow him.
 
Then Abigail’s hand touched his face.

“Tell me,” she urged.

He swallowed painfully and met her gaze. “When I arrived the next morning it was to find that she’d hung herself. She left a note telling me that none of it was my fault, that she couldn’t allow me to live out my life with someone like her. She had shamed me and her family, and she needed to be punished for it.”

Abigail silently wrapped her arms around him.
 
Channing closed his eyes and reveled in her embrace.
 
There was nothing she could have said that would ease the ache inside of him, but holding him had been just what he needed.

After a moment, he lifted his head.
 
“That’s not the whole story.
 
I went to your father and told him what he’d done.
 
He didn’t even blink when he learned Rebecca was dead.
 
I was out of my mind with grief and anger, and I punched him.
 
I never saw the men come at me.
 
There were four of them. He ordered them to beat me until I couldn’t move for daring to hit him.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t kill you,” she whispered in astonishment.
 

He lifted a shoulder.
 
“They nearly did.
 
I was thrown on the first boat out of London, which happened to be on its way to Africa. I don’t know how I survived, but I did.
 
Tom Rye was there when the boat docked.
 
He took one look at me and brought me to his house.”

“He healed you.”
 
She smiled sadly.
 
“I wish I could thank him for that.”

“He healed my body, but my mind was set on revenge.”

She sighed.
 
“My letters to Mr. Rye gave you the opportunity you were looking for, didn’t they?”

“They did,” he agreed.
 
“I’d been wracking my brain to come up with some way I could hurt Huntington.
 
You supplied me with that.”

“Is that all I’ve supplied you with?” she asked, her eyes darkening with desire.

Chapter Seven

Abby was appalled at what her father had done, but she wasn’t shocked.
 
He had no remorse, nor did he think there should be consequences for his actions.
 
She wanted to help Channing, but his pain ran too deep.
 
He had to do this on his own.

“I’ll stay here for as long as you need me to,” she said.
 
“My father needs to pay for what he’s done.
 
I’d like to see him in prison, but that won’t happen without evidence.”

Channing’s dark eyes narrowed slightly.
 
“You’ll help me get my revenge on your father?”

“Gladly,” she answered with a smile.
 
“He destroyed my mother.”

Her heart skipped a beat when Channing leaned over and claimed her lips.
 
She sighed and opened her mouth for him.
 

When he finally pulled away, Abby found that the kiss had awoken her body once more.
 
She was becoming a shameless wanton, and she loved it.

Many men looked at her, but none had ever seen her, not like Channing did.
 
His gaze made her blood sizzle and her sex clench.
 
Just a small tilt of his lips made her stomach quiver.
 

He was a man that could destroy her much as her father had destroyed her mother.
 
The only difference was Abby wouldn’t allow herself to crumble as her mother had done.
 
She would be stronger.