With a laugh, I scooped my hands down from her hips to her ass, grabbed hold, and dove in as I lapped and teased and licked at her delicate folds and tugged her sweet center. Emma thrashed, screaming my name, holding on to me, her legs clamping around my head. And I swear to God, I thought I might die. But was I going to stop? Fuck, no. Because what a way to go. I could imagine the coroner's report now. Dying in heaven. It seemed like an oxymoron, but God, there we were.
When I focused my attention on her clit and sucked, Emma threw her head back and screamed my name. "Bridge, oh my God, Bridge. Bridge. Jesus. Bridge."
I was even more glad now that I had double locked that door. I didn't want security being a little overzealous and wondering if I was killing her in bed.
Aren't you slowly killing her? Little does she know that everything around you turns to dust, that nothing good comes from being near you.
I shoved away the familiar aching demon that liked to rear its head whenever I was happy.
Instead, I focused on her. That crest of pleasure and the trembling in her legs telling me she was close. I doubled my efforts and fully focused on her folds in front of me. I sucked and licked. I slid a finger inside, and then two. When her legs locked around me and she lifted her hips, jamming her sex right even more firmly to my mouth, I said, "Yeah, that's it. That's a good girl."
And then Emma was thrashing. Her legs so tight, that honestly, I thought I was going to die today.
And then there was heavy panting. The muscles in her legs loosened as she flopped back down and dropped her hips to the bed. "Oh my God, Bridge, what in the world?"
"Let's just say I woke up with something on my mind."
She laughed as I slid back up her body, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand as I went before kissing her soundly. "All right, my queen, now that you are satisfied and I am moderately full, let's get you fed, shall we?"
"Uh-huh. I'm just going to lie here for a minute. This is starting to feel like a no-bones day, and I should get up. Like I said, I have some nonprofit work to do for Amelia and Nyla's friend."
I smiled down at her. "That's good. But again, you can work at London Lords."
"You don't need crisis management, honestly. Your lawyers are very good at that. Let me do this. Besides, it kind of feels like I need to figure out how to stand on my own two feet, you know?"
I nodded, but I still didn't like it. On my nightstand, my phone started to ring, and I groaned. “Christ, it’s only seven. Who could that be?” Yet still, I rolled over and grabbed the phone, not even looking at the caller ID, and answered with, "This had better be fucking good."
There was a sharp gasp from the line, and then a woman's voice said, "Mr. Edgerton, I presume? After all, who else would have that kind of a potty mouth?"
“Sister Mary Luce?”
"Yes. I'm calling because I'm concerned. Our records show that you checked out Darcy last night at eleven p.m., but you didn't return with her. So we're just wondering when you were planning to bring her back because she didn't have an extended pass."
The bottom fell out of my gut. "I did what now?"
"You signed her out. Your signature is here. And I checked security cams. There was a dark-haired gentleman and your usual car."
No, this was not happening. Not today. Not to Darcy. "Tell me exactly what you saw." I launched myself out of bed, swinging my legs down, and then grabbed my pajama bottoms. "What exactly is going on?"
"I checked the security cams when the guard said that you, Bridge Edgerton, walked in and signed her out last night. Darcy was dead asleep. She had to be woken. I can see you on the camera. You were half carrying, half dragging her."
Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Emma quickly donned her T-shirt that I tossed away in the middle of the night and a pair of shorts. Then she came to my side, phone at the ready to call whomever I needed to help fix this.
"The guard, did he see the guy’s face or anything? Because it sure as hell wasn’t me."
"No, sir, and he’s a new hire. He just said that you presented identification and then you accompanied him to go and collect her. She was still half asleep, but you told her she could sleep in the car. Then you left, half carrying her out of there. It’s all on the security cameras.”
Middleton had told me I would pay for taking Emma away. And now he was making me pay by taking my sister. Fuck.
"I'm on my way."
Sister Mary Luce was still saying something else, but I'd already hung up.
As soon as the phone was off, Emma was at my side. "What has happened to Darcy?"
"Middleton has taken her. He's taken my bloody sister."
Forty-Four
Emma
"My fucking sister. He's fucking taken Darcy. What the fuck am I going to do?"
I could only watch as Bridge paced back and forth.
The lads were trying to figure out the best course of action.
We'd taken the helicopter to Belgravia because we were concerned that if everyone came to us then Middleton would know exactly where I was, which was such bullshit. He'd actually taken Darcy. This was the proof we needed. The problem was, Bridge's sister was now in the crosshairs. That sweet girl.
"Look, let's just give him what he wants."
Bridge halted his pacing across Livy and Ben's office and glowered at me. "Give him what he wants? That's you, Ems."
"Yeah, let's do a trade."
He stared at me. "Are you insane? I would never. The lengths that we've gone to protect you. He won't hurt her. It's just a tactic to get to me. He's not going to hurt her, see?"
"I hope to God he doesn't, but this is the best way to get her back."
He shook his head. "No. You're insane."
Belinda took my hand and squeezed it. "Thank you for offering sweetheart, but Bridge is right. We're not going to sacrifice you to save her." She inclined her head toward Bridge, who had begun pacing again. "Do you think he would survive without you? Do you really think that he could?"
I shook my head. "No. But we have to find a way because Darcy is only twelve years old. She's just a kid. Whatever he's going to do to her is going to be far worse than what he can do to me."
She shook her head. "I know you love him and you want to do this for him, but please, don’t do anything drastic. Think it over with the others. Don’t try to solve this problem alone, dear.”
"Let me be really clear. I don't want to die. Middleton is terrifying. I just… I can’t just do nothing."
Drew came over and patted my shoulder. "Look, this isn't the way. I give no guarantee that he'll let her go. That's the kind of person he is. So let's do what we always do. Come up with a plan. Figure it out."
I scrubbed my hand over my face and through my hair, gripping it tight. I needed to do something. I kept glancing over at Bridge, the firm line of his lip. He was terrified. Ben and East kept darting their gazes between Drew and Bridge, and Drew just shrugged and shook his head. They didn't have any idea what to say or do either.
“Ben, you are the Director Prime. There has to be a brotherhood thing that you can do about this."