The Fool Ch. 07

"You don't even know what my problem was!" she mewled.

"My point exactly!" he said triumphantly, and kissed her again, ceasing the conversation.

Carrie lifted her hands to his chest and tried to push him off her so she could argue that point, but where he lay, half on top of her, controlling her head and shoulders, he seemed immovable.

Sinclair slid his hand over her pussy again, pushing his fingers between her lips and rubbing over her swelling clit. He slid two fingers down on either side of her clit and began flicking it with his middle finger, swallowing her sounds of pleasure as her hands left his chest and wrapped around his shoulders, holding onto him tightly as the sensations spread through her body.

Carrie could feel the two outer fingers massage her clit as the middle finger flicked at the protruding nub of flesh deliciously. She bucked her hips as the feeling of him and what he was doing to her assailed her senses. She climbed higher and higher, and, as her thighs began to shake with her impending orgasm, it all stopped. His fingers froze in place over her clit, and the fingers of the hand in her hair curled again, becoming even tighter, pulling her head backwards as the kiss broke.

"What you did was cruel and unusual punishment. Like it or not we are a couple, and have been for some time. A real couple who care about each other, and you can kid yourself as much as you like that it's a business arrangement, but we both know that's no longer true. You need to start telling me what's going on with you or you aren't going to like the consequences!" Sinclair growled, and, once again not letting her answer, he forced her lips to his and curled his fingers further down to enter her hot wet tunnel, leaving his thumb on her clit.

Carrie's brain was twisting in on itself. She heard his words, but they made little impact on her, and she couldn't form any words to respond as she teetered on the edge of her climax. Her body undulated, pressing her pussy up against his frozen hand as she internally acknowledged that what he said was true, but all that came out of her mouth were mewling sounds of need and desire. She gasped as his hand began to move again, and kissed him, rolling her tongue around his as her body immediately began to rise again even more rapidly than before until she exploded in an orgasm that left her trembling in his arms.

Sinclair gave her barely a minute to recover before pushing her down his body and rolling to his back. It had been too long since he had taken her, and he felt ready to explode and gritted his teeth feeling the first tentative and breathy touch of her lips on his cock. He groaned as she took him into her mouth, and propped himself up to watch the fall of her hair as her stretched lips moved up and down the shaft of his cock. She was so fucking sexy, and his hands twined in her hair once more, pulling it from her face to see her sucking without looking through the veil of hair. Savouring the sight and feel of her, he began using his grip on her hair to guide her depth and tempo until she held him balls deep within her mouth and the portal to her throat. The small gagging noise she made only turned him on all the more as he continued to force his will on her movements.

Carrie was surprised by the complete control he took of her cock sucking. He usually allowed her some leeway in setting the pace to ensure her breathing and comfort when she took him all the way down to the base, but as she gagged and choked it only seemed to drive him on further, as if he needed to possess and control her completely. Her brain vaguely registered his words about being a real couple and the consequences of not talking to him, but she pushed the words aside at a deep groan from him and one of his hands coming free from her hair to wrap around her throat. It wasn't tight enough to choke her, but she felt his power in the grip.

Sinclair watched avidly as he pulled her off his cock and she scrambled up his body as he pulled her by the hair and throat. He kissed her deeply as she straddled his hips eagerly. He considered letting her take the initiative and be on top for a while, but thought better of it. This was his fuck, and she was going to know just who she belonged to now.

"As eager as ever," he smirked, holding her face above his for a moment before wrapping a leg around hers and rolling her to her back. "You don't seem to understand what's happening here," he said in harsh tones, taking his hand from her hair but keeping a tight grip around her throat. "You're mine, Carrie, ring or no ring, we belong together. I know you feel it too!" he growled as he wedged himself between her legs. "I know what you want and need, and I am the one who can give it to you." He thrust into her hard and deep, making her cry out.

Carrie clung to him as he fucked her as if he were possessed. She lifted her legs up over his hips and rocked her pelvis to every thrust. She felt the trembling tingles begin to spread over her body again as he dominated her, pinning her to the mattress and using her for his pleasure, yet allowing her to take her own in his actions.

Her orgasm seemed to go on forever in bullet like hits that made her jerk and spasm. Sinclair stared into her unfocused eyes as his climax overtook him, and he wrung every last drop from it, filling her with the evidence of his need for her. He rolled over, breathing heavily, but grabbed her hand, needing to keep physical contact with her.

Carrie looked down at his hand and felt the confusion and emotional turmoil of the last few weeks wash over her. The one person in the world she thought she could trust had been lying to her while she had kept this man at arm's length. This man, who seemed to prove how much he cared about her time and time again. She didn't know what was real anymore, or if she could trust herself to know what was right and what was wrong.

"Now I definitely need a shower," she said quietly, feeling tears prick at her eyes. She was an emotional mess, and she felt out of control as she tried and failed to harden her heart and look at everything she had learned through a clinical lens.

*****

"This house isn't big enough for so many people," Carrie said, manoeuvring around the kitchen the following morning after making the big men go into the dining room with their breakfast.

"Jordan made a good case for getting rid of the bodyguards last night. There was only that one incident, and nothing's happened since," Sinclair said, easily thinking that he could and would protect her just as well as any bodyguard.

"I was talking more about my guys. I wasn't the one shot at, she was," Jordan back peddled, and Carrie knew he'd been told of her meeting with her grandmother and knew that wasn't the case. He had been avoiding looking directly at her, even as he joked and acted as if everything was normal.

"Jordan, we both know I am far more capable of looking after myself than you," she laughed. "Just because you're a man doesn't mean you get to treat me like some weak and defenceless woman!" Her voice rose and her eyes flashed angrily.

"Whoa, where did that come from?" Jordan held up his hands in surrender, making her feel foolish and angering her even more.

"It doesn't matter what either of you think, I hired these guys, and whether they stay or go is up to me," she smiled prettily, even though her words carried the trace of anger she felt. "It may have escaped your attention that I can kick both of your asses when called upon, and I don't need nor want all the macho caveman bullshit of keeping the little woman safe."

"I'll take that as a challenge if I kick your ass, however, I get to act as much like a caveman as I want where you're concerned," Sinclair chuckled, looking at Carrie. He hadn't missed the look of uncertainty on Jordan's face and wondered what had happened to cause this rift between the two of them. Had Jordan been overbearing about her return home from the islands?

"Sinclair, could you find time today to book a couple of rooms at a nice hotel for my guys, at least?" she asked. "We can't all stay in this house, it's overwhelming just trying to get some breakfast."

"I can do that for you," he smiled, and again caught the expression on Jordan's face. Something was definitely going on there, and he needed to find out what.

"Thank you, it's nice to know I can rely on someone," she went to kiss him. "I'll see you after work," she said, walking toward the front of the house.

"Carrie, wait!" Jordan went after her.

"Jordan, you lied to me. It may have been a lie of omission, but you still lied to me. You need to let me deal with the fact that the one person I trusted in this godforsaken farcical world broke that trust before talking to me, or else you are liable to get hurt." She said sadly, and turned her back on him, leaving for work.

Carrie felt the misery of those words all the way to work. She had lain awake all of last night thinking and realised that the only person she could truly rely on now was herself. She needed to come up with her own plan. She was done being a puppet of her family. Just another part of the greater plan that they were obviously willing to sacrifice her freedom to, only she wasn't about to let that happen. She wasn't about to install Jordan as the puppet of 'God knows who' into the Bonnet place in the association of Hats. She certainly wasn't about to marry him and have lots of little Bonnets while pretending to be the perfect wife and mother. No, she needed a plan and a team of her own, and she needed to keep it secret from both Sinclair and Jordan.

The end game was always going to be dangerous. Robyn had always warned her that it would be perilous. Now that she knew at least part of the bigger picture, she just had to make it work for her. She would go along as if nothing was amiss. She would pretend to forgive Jordan after a couple of days, but her anger would be expected, and she had no doubt that they would have something in place to push her back onto the path they wanted and needed. She didn't plan to disappoint them by showing her hand too soon.

'They!' she thought bitterly. She didn't even know who 'they' were. This had always been Robyn's plan that Edith endorsed and helped with. Now she knew there was a greater plan, and while Edith was possibly one of the main players, she certainly wasn't alone. Carrie needed to know who Jordan's information was coming from. He had a date last night, and this morning he couldn't look her in the eye. That narrowed down the possibilities a bit for her investigations.

Carrie walked through the museum smiling. She was enjoying the job she had curating the vast Mansvelt collection, and, although she was early, hoping to spend some time going through everything her team had put together before their arrival, two of the assistant curators were already there.

"We're getting a delivery from Panama this morning; The real pirate treasure stuff," Jett said gleefully.

"An armoured truck and extra security should be arriving shortly, so you're just in time," Jayne said with less emotion in her voice, but her eyes sparkled and crinkled in the corners showing how excited she was. "Mr. Mansvelt isn't with you? I thought he might want to see the pieces safely installed in the vault."

"No, but I am sure he plans to join us. I didn't choose these pieces myself, I think he planned to surprise me, and he has," she made a fake little laugh that sounded more like the clearing of her throat. "Mr. Mansvelt did mention he was going to choose some pieces from the Panama collection for the exhibition and send them to us," she added so she didn't sound so inept. "So much for me coming in early to get up to speed, but we probably have a little time if you want to run me through everything here."

"The daily updates aren't enough?" Jett chuckled.

"I like to be where the action is, plus, there's something about putting on the cotton gloves and handling objects that daily reports just can't give," she laughed genuinely then.

They worked together for just over an hour, and she realised that Sinclair was right again. She had surrounded herself with wonderful, talented and enthusiastic people who were doing everything she'd asked of them, and more. They had alternative suggestions for a variety of displays, including interactive reassure hunts for children and computer generated graphics and displays. She was impressed.

They got the call from the docks, and Jett went down to lead the way to the vault and get them through all the security doors that led to their small, but valuable, collection. She smiled as Sinclair entered, followed by several large men wheeling dollies with stacked boxes.

"I told you I would pick out some of the better artefacts. I just forgot to tell you they would be here this morning. I forgot a lot of things last night," he chuckled, bending to kiss her. "I wouldn't lie to you on purpose though," he murmured. He grinned as she blushed knowing he had heard her harsh words to Jordan this morning.

"Would you like to do the honours and introduce each piece to us?" she asked.

"I think I'd like to watch you do it and comment from the sidelines," he smirked.

"He commands, and we obey," she said to her team dramatically. She barely had to say a word to her team, they immediately organised themselves to take notes for further research on the provenance of the artefacts and for storing them in the vault. The pieces of the first box were feasting implements, gold plates and goblets, jewel encrusted cutlery and wine jugs. The second chest held coins and purses, the third, weapons. The fourth, jewellery of every description, but not the box of rings she had seen him looking into the day he proposed. The image tugged at her memory, and she checked her watch.

"Oh gosh, I was so caught up I didn't realise what time it was!" she exclaimed. "I have an appointment. Jayne, you finish the unpacking and I'll be back in an hour or so to look over the rest of the pirate treasure."

"A break for lunch sounds good to me," Sinclair shrugged.

"I have an appointment, sorry, but if you can stay I am sure the team would love to pepper you with questions while you break for lunch," she grinned and picked up her purse and phone. "We can have dinner someplace nice, just the two of us. I'll organise it," she kissed Sinclair lightly and hurried out of the room, leaving him shaking his head.

"So, what would we like to eat? I'll have it brought over," Sinclair asked the men and women who now looked at him to see if he would stay. "Just put the other boxes in the vault for now, gentlemen. Do you guys have a preference for lunch?" Sinclair asked the security guards, turning on his most charming self in front of these people, hoping that Carrie's friendships with them might shed some light on what was going on with her.

Carrie hurried down the stairs and into the waiting car. "I'm so sorry, I totally lost track of time," she apologised to the two men who guarded her body.

"The traffic's pretty bad, this may take a while," Daley said.

"See if you can work a way around it, I'm on a time clock," she grimaced. "Bloody Sinclair and his surprises," she grumbled and heard a small chuckle from one of the men in the front.

"Where did you come from? I mean, before Blake brought you to collect me from Panama. Who did you work for?" Carrie asked curiously. Her grandmother had said it was better to have some men loyal to her cause than someone Sinclair put in place, but she had said it in such a way that she wasn't sure if they were loyal to her or if they had been planted by her family.

"Hotel security, when O'Leary came down to the break room and asked who wanted a job guarding a beautiful young heiress for a few weeks my arm shot up so fast I pulled my shoulder," Daley, said with a chuckle. "Max and I were looking for a change of scenery, and we sure got it."

"Had you been working for Blake long? Does he need you to go back soon?" she asked, trying to work out where their loyalties lay.

"I'd been there about five years. Max only started; what? Eighteen months ago?" Daley answered for the two men again. "O'Leary probably has us replaced by now, but I guess he's still paying us, so maybe not."

"Damn, I never thought of that," she took a deep breath as her brain worked on the problems she should have been thinking about this morning. "If I offered you jobs as, say, my personal drivers and general gophers, would you take them or go back to Charleston?" she asked.

"Beats hotel security. The most interesting person to ever walk through those doors was me," Daley laughed, and she thought she saw the stoic Max crack a smile.

"Max?" she asked, "What do you think?"

"I dunno, this all seems a bit too much like James Bond shit to me. Flying down and rescuing you from a man you clearly are still involved with, and a week on a boat with a group of super nerds and their computers, then your weird brother quizzing us about where you were and what you did, despite you calling him every day. I didn't tell that jerk shit," he shook his head. "We decided we stay as long as O'Leary told us to and kept paying us, but, lady, I think you need better-trained security than us."

"No, what I need right now is loyalty. People I can trust to have my back, no matter what," she said in a controlled voice, wanting to clap for joy that Jordan held no sway over these two men. "It won't be a tough gig, driving cars, carrying bags and following me all over the world, mostly. I'll even give you tourist time wherever we go and stay put until you return."

"I wanna raise if we're getting into dangerous stuff here. Something tells me shits gonna go down sooner rather than later, and I want a nice little nest egg to fall back on if we survive it," Max added.

"We'll get a service agreement drawn up by a lawyer so you can be sure you get everything you want," she agreed readily. She explained her job and that she was curating Sinclair's family collection, which was housed in various mansions around the world. When they pulled up in front of the store where she had an appointment, she knew she had at least two men loyal to her, not her family or Sinclair.

"I'm so sorry, traffic was dreadful," she apologised as she walked into the small store. "I'm Carrington Wordsworth Word, I had an appointment," she said in her haughtiest voice.

"Ah, the Jolie Laide enthusiast," a woman smiled as she came around the counter. "I have a wonderful collection for you to look at."

Beautiful-ugly or Jolie Laide in French was the right name for this collection. The uneven, rough surface of the eighteen-carat gold had been oxidised to make it seem even older and uncared for, and the raw diamonds and gems set in amongst the grotesquely shaped rings were stunning in their simplicity. She tried to imagine them on the beautiful long finger of the always well-groomed Sinclair Mansvelt, and had a little giggle to herself. It would be a blemish in his perfection, just as she was to his perfect life.

"Carrie?" A female voice asked. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Gosh, Brandie, I'm so glad to see you," she hugged the girl and looked at her friend. "And you're Lee," she smiled. "Are you staying in London for the month's holiday?"

"Yeah, we had a feeling something might come up for us here," Lee said in his American drawl. "What about you? Anything exciting on the horizon?"

"Me? No. I live such a boring life. My boyfriend and brother are so over-protective I practically have to run away to have any fun," she laughed, but her meaning was clear. "I'm glad you're staying, I'm in a bit of a rush today, but I'll give you a call tomorrow and set up a dinner or something?"

"That'd be great. We'll look forward to it," Brandie bubbled. "I can't believe we ran into you out here. Do you live around these parts?"