Author: Tiffany Reisz

“Right. Of course you know.... So you and Father Stearns…you’re related.”

“By a long-gone marriage only. But we’ve remained friends all these years. I daresay I know him better than anyone.”

“Better than Nora Sutherlin?”

Kingsley raised his eyebrow and took the box from her hand. Carefully he arranged the two wedding bands back on the velvet before closing and locking the lid once more.

“He said she knows him better than anyone.”

Something in Kingsley’s eyes went cold and deadly at her words, and Suzanne immediately regretted them.

“What he says and what is the truth are not always the same thing. He may seem omniscient but where she is concerned…well, have you ever heard the phrase willful ignorance?”

“They’re lovers, aren’t they?” Suzanne asked, hoping to shock him into answering.

Kingsley only laughed.

“Ah…Pandora never learns. Does it matter if they are? Really?”

“Of course it matters,” Suzanne said, rage welling up inside her. “He’s her priest. Has been her priest since she was fifteen. If he’s been sleeping with her, or was when she was a kid? Hell yes, it matters. Only a monster would do that. A sexual predator. A—”

Kingsley raised his hand and shook his head.

“You have no idea who he is, Suzanne. If you judge him by his actions, you will never know him.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“That makes no sense. There’s no way to judge any man except by his actions.”

“You see only a sliver of the truth. And a lie can tell you more than a partial truth.”

Suzanne took a deep breath.

“Then tell me all. You say you know him better than anyone. I want to know him too.”

Kingsley set the box back down on the bedside table and stepped toward her until he stood so close a whisper couldn’t even slip between them.

“You don’t know what you’re asking.” He raised his hand to her face and caressed the arch of her cheekbone with his fingertips. “Trying to know him is like wrestling with God. You remember what happened to Jacob, no? He grappled with God and limped away the next morning.”

Suzanne nodded slowly.

“I’ve been limping since the day Adam died. Please…I know you can help me.”

Gently Kingsley pressed a kiss on her face right by her ear.

“I can help you. But I give nothing away. If you want to cross the river Styx, you must pay your coin to Charon.”

“I don’t have a lot of money. Just a reporter.”

“I have more money than I know what to do with. It isn’t your money I desire.” Kingsley’s hand dropped to her neck. He pressed his thumb lightly into the hollow of her throat. “But if you are willing to pay, I am willing to answer.”

Suzanne swallowed and felt the pressure of his thumb on her neck.

Was she willing to pay? She had no doubt in her mind what form of currency he traded in. Apart from Father Stearns, from Søren, she’d never seen a more alluring man in her life. Everything about him…his clothes, his sensual mouth, his voice and that accent…in truth, it wasn’t such a terrible price to pay. Even without the promise of answers, she would be tempted....

“I wanted to believe there was one good priest in this world,” she whispered. “But if he—”

“He is a good priest. And a good man. And I can supply the proof you need of it. If that is what you wish.”

Finally Suzanne nodded.

“Yes, it is.”

“Then come with me.”

Kingsley held out his hand and Suzanne took it with more fear than she’d ever felt on a battlefield. He started off and took her out of the bedroom and down the hall.

“Where are we going?” She’d thought he’d take her in Father Stearns’s bed or even on the floor, but they seemed to be leaving the house.

“Manhattan. I have something to give you…if you earn it.”

They left the house and he guided her around the back where a Rolls Royce waited. A beautiful young woman in a chauffeur’s uniform hopped out of the car and with a sprightly step opened the back door for them. Kingsley entered first and Suzanne followed, already regretting it.

“But I’ve got my car. Well, Patrick’s car.”

“I’ll have it returned to Patrick. He’s still in the Village,  oui?”

“Jesus, you do know everything about me.”

Kingsley smiled again as the car started and pulled out onto the road.

“Not quite.” He cupped the side of her face and brushed her lips with his thumb. “I don’t know what sounds you make when you come. Let’s find that out, shall we?”

Before she could answer, Kingsley leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers. He did nothing at first, merely waited on her. Suzanne told herself she was doing this for Adam…before slowly parting her lips. Closing her eyes, she let Kingsley take over the kiss. His hand twined in her hair. He held her neck firmly as if to remind her she belonged to him now and could not escape. As his tongue touched the tip of hers, her desire to escape died and the need to surrender was born. And she wasn’t doing this for Adam or Father Stearns. She wanted Kingsley. She would do this for her.

“Tell me, Suzanne, have you ever had sex in the back of a Rolls Royce?”

Kingsley didn’t wait for her to answer. He pushed her onto her back as he pulled her legs apart and rested his hips hard against hers. Oh, God, she thought, this is  really happening. With deft fingers, he unbuttoned her blouse and opened it. He kissed his way from her neck to her navel and up again.

She closed her eyes and let the sensation of a stranger’s hands on her body wash over her. Not just any stranger, she reminded herself. This was Kingsley Edge, the bogeyman who kept even the most hardened of investigative reporters up at night. And now she was one of them. One of the reporters Kingsley Edge kept up all night.

“Don’t pretend you aren’t enjoying this,” Kingsley whispered in her ear. “I know you’re trying not to enjoy this.”

“I’m doing this for information, not pleasure.”

“Liar.”

Suzanne blushed at the truth in his accusation.

Kingsley nipped at her ear, her shoulder. His teeth on her skin sent shock waves of pleasure into her stomach.

“Even when I’m bending my secretary over my desk, I make sure she enjoys it. I’ll see that you enjoy it too, whether you want to or not.”

Before Suzanne could make another protest, Kingsley pulled up and away from her. She started to ask what he was doing but then she saw. He left the luxurious leather of the bench seat in the Rolls Royce and knelt on the floorboard. He snapped his fingers and gestured her to sit in front of him.

Suzanne slid to the center of the seat. Kingsley reached under her skirt, grasped her panties and dragged them roughly down her legs. She wanted to tell him to stop but the promise of so much information about Father Stearns kept her quiet even as Kingsley opened his pants.

He pushed her legs wide and shoved two fingers into her. Wincing, she fought the urge to close her legs.

“Breathe, chérie. I promise you will like this if you let yourself.” He took his fingers out of her and gazed up at her. In the dark of the night, she could barely see him except when the car passed a streetlamp.

With one pull he brought her hips to the very edge of the seat. Again with his fingers he parted her outer and inner lips. He brought his mouth down on her and sucked lightly on her clitoris. Suzanne dug her fingers into the supple leather of the seat as her head fell back.

Up and down the length of her vagina he licked her, teased her with his tongue and lips. Suzanne quickly found herself opening her legs a little wider and pushing her hips forward. His tongue delved deeper until she felt he sought the very core of her. His hands gripped her thighs and Suzanne twined her hand into his hair. Underneath her the car vibrated from the roar of the heavy engine. Her entire body vibrated from what Kingsley was doing to her. The pressure built in her lower back. She leaned back into the seat, grabbed the headrest behind her and came with a low, almost pained grunt.

Before she could even catch her breath, she heard the unmistakable sound of a condom wrapper opening.

“Wait,” she panted but Kingsley only pulled her down off the seat and onto him, impaling her. He’d made her so wet that she took every inch of him inside her in one stroke.

“God—” she gasped as her body strained to accept all of him.

“I said you could call me Kingsley,” he whispered into her ear.

Suzanne couldn’t help but laugh.

“You must be the most arrogant man alive.” She wrapped her arms around his back for stability as he grasped her by the hips and started slowly thrusting up and into her.

“Only the second. You’ve met the first.”

She shook her head and started to speak. But Kingsley found her clitoris with the tips of his fingers and rendered her momentarily speechless.

As he nibbled at her lips, her neck and shoulders, Suzanne could only hold one thought in her addled mind. She was being fucked by Kingsley Edge. The one and only Kingsley Edge.

And she was enjoying the hell out of it.

Kneeling on his lap, she moved her hips forward and back in time with his precision movements. Everything he did sent currents of heat and electricity surging through her whole body. She came close to another climax but Kingsley stopped her with a kiss.

“Turn around,” he said into her ear as his left hand did marvelous things to her right nipple.

Nodding, Suzanne lifted herself up and turned her back to him. He pressed in close to her back and bit her shoulder hard enough she winced.

“How much do you want to know about le  prêtre?” He pushed three fingers into her from behind and Suzanne inhaled sharply at the sudden shock of pleasure.

“Everything.” She parted her thighs even more and pushed back into his hand. A fourth finger joined the others. She’d never felt so open before. God, the man knew what he was doing.

“You will never know everything about him. Not if you searched the world until the end of time.” He pulled his hand out and slowly penetrated her again. He sunk in deep and Suzanne moaned audibly from the incredible sensation of him filling her so completely. “But I can only tell you what I know if you tell me one thing, ma chérie…”

He started to thrust again, hard this time, viciously hard. Suzanne grabbed the door, the seat, anything to hold her steady as he used her body so thoroughly. She couldn’t believe how much she loved this, loved being taken like this.... Kingsley found her clitoris again and as he pushed into her she came again with a loud cry as pain-sharp pleasure exploded in her back and hips. Kingsley thrust a few more times before coming with a shudder that shook them both.

Kingsley lingered inside her a moment as they both caught their breath.

“What?” she panted. “What do I have to tell you before you’ll tell me about him?”

Kingsley kissed her hair, the tip of her ear as he continued to pulse inside her. She could get used to erotic attention like this.

“Tell me—” he pushed into her once more “—why you want to know.”

“I…” Why did she want to know? Was it still about Adam? Would Adam be happy she was doing this? Proud? For one moment she was glad he was gone so he couldn’t see what kind of person she’d become, what she’d do in pursuit of a story. “I don’t know,” she confessed. “I just have to know. I have to. If he’s hurting children—”

Kingsley pulled out of her so quickly she winced. He straightened his clothes and threw himself across the length of the bench seat and crossed his feet at the ankles. Suzanne felt suddenly embarrassed and ashamed of her half-naked state. In the dark she found her panties, buttoned her blouse and sat gingerly on the seat across from him.