Page 99 of Villainous Intent

I shrieked at the sound and scrambled to cover myself despite the fact that there was no one in the room with us.

“Incoming transmission,” the voice continued. “It’s flagged priority by the League. It’s Baron Ash.”

For a heartbeat, Cipher didn’t move. His breath was still hot against me. Then a low, vibrating growl started deep in his chest. Cipher stood and towered over me, his chest heaving.

I scrambled to grab the waistband of my leggings, desperate to pull them up, to cover the slick mess he’d made of me.

Cipher stopped me. “Don’t fucking touch them.” He grabbed me by the waist, and hauled me up.

“Cipher, what⁠—”

“Quiet.”

He sat down at the desk and pulled me onto his lap. My leggings were still bunched around my knees and my pussy was exposed.

He grabbed his mask and slid it into place, his silver eyes disappearing behind it. Then he grabbed mine and placed it on my face.

“You are going to sit there,” he commanded. “You aren’t going to move. You aren’t going to make a sound. Do you understand?”

I stared at the black void of his mask and tried to understand what was going on but my brain was misfiring. I was sitting on his lap, half-naked, trembling, and about to be part of a conference call.

“Cipher, I can’t⁠—”

His fingers dug into my hip, a sharp warning. “Do you understand, Bishop?”

“Yes.” I didn’t understand anything.

He tapped the console and my stomach dropped as the holographic display came on. The screen revealed Baron Ash’s face, or what passed for it beneath his signature molten-rock mask. There was a smaller screen in the corner showing what Ash could see on his end. At least the desk hid everything below my waist.

“Cipher,” Ash growled.

“Baron,” Cipher replied, his tone so casually bored it bordered on insulting.

His hand slid up my thigh and I fought to keep my breathing steady as his fingers traced slow patterns against my inner thigh.

“I see you’ve still got your little pet,” Baron Ash sneered. “Enjoy her while you can. In a week, you’ll be nothing but ash yourself.”

Cipher sighed theatrically, but under the desk, his thumb brushed against my clit. I stiffened as I realized why he’d told me to keep my pants down.

“What do you want?” Cipher asked. His other hand cupped my ass and squeezed. “I have more important matters to attend to than listening to your recycled threats.”

Baron Ash’s mask glowed brighter, the cracks widening with his fury. “This isn’t a threat. It’s a promise. I’m going to kill you, Cipher. The League may have their rules, but accidents happen. Especially to those who forget their place.”

Cipher’s fingers stroked my pussy once and I did nothing to stop him. I told myself it was shock, that I simply couldn’t believe he was going to play with my pussy while on a call. But a part of me knew that deep down, I wanted him to finish what he had started, the call be damned.

“My place?” Cipher chuckled, the sound low and dangerous. His middle finger slid through my slick folds and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from gasping. “Perhaps you should worry about yours. After all, you’re the one who’s been... what was it? Ah yes, ‘slipping in the rankings.’”

Baron Ash slammed his fist down and flames licked at the edges of the frame. I barely registered it, too focused on trying to stay calm as Cipher’s thumb circled my clit. My hips bucked involuntarily and he dug his fingers into me to keep me still.

“You think you’re untouchable?” Ash snarled. “The crowds love you. The Syndicate favors you. But I know what you are.” He leaned into the camera. “You’re a fraud hiding behind a pretty mask. You think your little toys and gadgets will save you? I control fire itself. What do you control? Glorified calculators?”

“Are we done with the posturing portion of this call?” Cipher asked. He shoved two fingers inside me and it took everything I had not to cry out. “I have actual work to do,” he finished.

Actual work apparently being how quickly he could make me come. Cipher’s thumb pressed harder against my clit, circling faster. I knew with horrifying certainty that I was seconds away from embarrassing myself spectacularly. I prayed for the call to end or for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.

Don’t let me come like this, I silently pleaded. Not in front of Baron Ash. Not while discussing murder and League rankings.

But I was right there. The pressure built. Every circle of his thumb was a promise. Every curl of his fingers inside me was a command. Just a few more seconds.