“Use me.” Wildcat’s desperate plea reached me as I stood at London’s study door. “God, I want you to use me.”
My balls tightened as a flicker of dangerous rage rose. Still, underneath that strangling hold came a charge of excitement, a need to see what they were doing.
“You will be pregnant with my baby, Vivienne,” London grunted, his hips rising as he drove into her.
Flames flickered, dancing across London’s back as he thrust. I took a step inside, listening to her breath hitch before she moaned. This wasn’t like watching her with Colt. It wasn’t so familiar.
No.
This was…carnal.
She unleashed a groan, arching her back. Her brow tightened and creased as the man who’d raised me fucked her. Until she sensed me. Her eyes opened, meeting my stare, as London drove his hips down so hard he pushed her head against the armrest.
“Good girl,” he grunted as his hips slammed into her. “You’re taking it so good. You make me so goddamn weak. You know that? So fucking weak.” He dropped his head and his groan was filled with breathless urgency against her ear. “I will have you, pet. I’ll have every goddamn inch of you.”
My cock twitched at the ruthless snarl as I watched London thrust hard, then groan.
He came. Filling her all the way. Just like I had.
Jesus…
Vivienne sucked in hard breaths, holding my stare over London’s shoulder. But there was no surprise in her stare, no fear or desperation. Just pure fucking need. She wanted this…she wanted us.
The thought of that only made me wanted to fuck her again and again.
But I didn’t. Instead, I watched London as he pulled out, fighting the desperate need to fucking look at the mess between her legs. I wanted to see his cum dripping, imagined the look on her face as I ran my fingers through his seed and pushed it back inside.
London wanted a baby in her belly…wanted her big and round.
I wanted that for him.
My cock twitched and grew rock fucking hard. The idea of fucking her when her belly was swollen with a child did things to me I wasn’t prepared for. So, I turned around and headed for the door.
“Carven?” London called.
But I didn’t stop, just headed back to my room and climbed into bed, hating this feeling of isolation. I closed my eyes, still seeing the look of ecstasy on Vivienne’s face. That image stayed with me even as sleep pulled me under.
Dreams plagued me, with screams of terror and pleasure.
Use me.
Colt.
London.
I tossed and turned with Vivienne’s voice resounding in my head, waking at first light with my eyes stinging. I shoved the covers aside and strode to the bathroom, blasting my body with the searing spray as I scrubbed before turning it ice cold.
Cold enough to shock me back into my body.
And my hate.
I dressed, then walked out into the kitchen before the sun rose. It was early. A perfect time for a home visit. I grabbed an energy drink and stopped at the armory on my way out. Guild was there, waiting.
He leaned against the door jamb, his arms crossed over his chest. “Want some company?”
I shook my head as I pushed past him and into the room. “You don’t want to ride along for this, believe me.”
“I don’t like you going out on your own,” he said as I grabbed two Glocks and three fresh clips.
I shoved one into the waistband of my jeans at the small of my back, then palmed the other and the magazines before turning. “Then find my goddamn brother.”
It was as simple as that. Give him back to me and I’d do whatever they wanted. I pushed past, headed outside, and climbed into the Explorer London had driven last night.
You’re shit at roundabouts, you know that? My own words hit hard as I climbed in and started the engine. What I wouldn’t give to hold on for dear life as Colt made one ‘more go around’ at the damned things. Headlights splashed against the side of the house as I backed out of the drive and headed for the first address on my list.
It was a long list.
But I was scraping the bottom of the barrel and I knew that.
Everyone of importance to The Order was long gone, leaving the collateral damage behind. Houses were deserted, offices cleaned out, or they’d simply left, not bothering to give any excuse at all. I pulled into a quiet residential street. Family station wagons and kids’ play areas peppered the front lawns. I glanced at the number on my phone, then pulled up outside a two-story stucco.
Two kids’ bikes sat outside, one on its side as though it’d been cast aside in a hurry. I felt that sense of urgency as I climbed out and eased the driver’s door closed behind me. Nolan Parks, personal assistant to Doctor Harmon Rivers, one of the more ‘silent’ partners in The Order, but certainly not the kindest. I walked along the sidewalk, heading to the back of the house. Harmon Rivers liked them young, the younger the better for the sick fuck. He was the first one there when they brought the Daughters into the orphanage, giving them a thorough examination.
Now the bastard had disappeared, leaving good ol’ Nolan to pick up the pieces. I walked around to the back, making sure he didn’t have some massive fucking hound for me to deal with before I stopped at the back door.
One twist of the pick and I was inside.
My intel said the wife and kids were away.
Fled two days ago, leaving Nolan at home alone.
I clenched my jaw. He wouldn’t be home for long.
I turned the handle and stepped inside, scanning the shadows as I made my way further into the house. Scents still lingered, burned popcorn and something sweet…and citrusy. I glanced toward the right, then upstairs. Following my instinct, I climbed, stepping out onto the landing.
The kids’ bedroom doors were open, leaving only one door closed at the end. I made my way toward it, glancing into the empty rooms. Drawers were open, clothes were strewn on the floor. Whatever happened to Nolan’s family, it happened in a frenzy. I stopped at what had to be their bedroom door, before I turned the handle and stepped inside…finding the bed empty, and still made.
I glanced around the room, then stepped into the closet and stared at the obvious gap in the hanging clothes. The wife was gone, with the kids, it looked like. I spun around, pissed the fuck off.
This was a goddamn waste of time.
I walked out, then back down the stairs, stopping at the bottom. My senses flared as the hairs on my arms stood on end. Instinct pulled me toward the garage at the front of the house. The moment I opened the door, I knew instantly, as the fetid stench of death hit me.
One flick of the lights and I found Nolan swinging. “Goddamn gutless bastard,” I snarled, lowering my gaze to the note on the concrete floor underneath him.
Please forgive me.
“Forgive you?” I muttered, finding his bulging eyes as he hung from the rope. “Not a fucking chance.”
FUCK! I turned around and clenched my fist, desperately holding back the need to drive it through the goddamn wall. But I didn’t. I left that house, climbed back into the Explorer, and went to the next address.
Only I found the same thing there.
Empty cupboards in discarded houses.
All the major players were gone.
Leaving gaping holes behind.
They played it well, setting it up to look like suicides. But it wasn’t. The Order was cleaning house and making sure they didn’t leave a damn crumb behind. By the time I crossed off the last address on the list after not finding a goddamn thing, I was fucking dangerous.
I drove along the darkened city streets, hunting. I needed just one fucking person, someone I could break. I clenched the steering wheel. Fuck, I needed to break them. My brother’s face haunted me as I pulled into the same alleyway I had been in before when I was lured there by the Sons.
I scanned the rear-view mirror, then pulled into the alley. The hairs on the back of my neck rose when I climbed out. I scanned the shadows, sensing nothing but vermin in the trash cans and loitering outside the side entrance of the rave as I neared.
One flick of the same card that was left for me by the Sons the last time, and the security guard stepped aside. Right now, I would’ve stepped into a lion’s den if it obtained me the information I needed. Anything as long as it gave me back my brother.
The throbbing noise filled my ears the moment I stepped inside. I flanked the dancers, keeping to the outer edges of the room, and made my way to the rear of the club where another bouncer stood outside a secret door. I didn’t have to stop, or slow. One savage glare and he stepped aside. Only the moment I stepped through, I knew something was wrong.
The place was…empty.
I stopped just inside the doorway as my phone vibrated in my pocket. With a snarl, I snatched it out, scanning the empty seats around the bar before I looked at the screen.
Beep.
Looking for someone?
I slowly glanced behind me, then left and right as my phone vibrated once more.
Nothing has changed. We want the Daughter. So we propose a trade.
I barely had time to read the message before an image followed the message. Dark, grainy, barely more of an outline of a man tied to a chair with a black hood over his head. “What the fuck?”
Beep.
Still want Rivers?
That same chill I’d had outside swept through me. One that told me I was being watched. Still, I didn’t lift my gaze, nor did I make a move to leave. If they wanted me dead, then they would’ve killed me by now…wouldn’t they?
My gut clenched in warning. Still, I stared at the name. Harmon Rivers? I typed out a message: Where?
Beep.
We’ll be in contact.
“Sonofa—” I started, and typed.
No, we meet now.
And pressed send.
I waited, standing there in the middle of the empty bar and waited…seconds turned into minutes. They weren’t going to fucking respond. I clenched my jaw, glancing at the empty table where the Ares assholes had sat before I turned around.
And I couldn’t take the risk of going there alone. I glanced at the message. “Nothing has changed, my ass. This has retribution all over it.”
I didn’t trust them. That only meant one thing. I needed backup wherever they wanted to meet. That meant I had to talk to London and tell him everything. This entire thing was going to hell…and it was about to get a helluva lot worse.
I PULLED the Explorer into the driveway, found the Raptor parked in the drive, and parked next to it. The lights were on inside. I bet they were waiting. The image of London and Vivienne came rushing back as I climbed out, locked the four-wheel drive and headed inside.
The thought of them together didn’t piss me off like I thought it would. Instead, I felt…weird.
I didn’t like it.
I liked having to go to him about the Sons even less. Doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. Not while Colt is out there. I lifted my gaze, punched in the code for the back door and headed inside.
“We train tomorrow.” London’s careful tone reached me in the hall. “You need to learn to protect yourself. You’re all rage, pet, all fire. You need to learn to control it. To use it. To hone it.”
I stopped outside the study, my pulse booming in my head.
For a second, I didn’t want to move.
Because if I did, if I unleashed this anger and hunger inside me, especially now, things would change.
I closed my eyes. I knew they would.
“Carven?” Vivienne called.
I opened my eyes, sucked in a breath, and stepped inside.
London leaned against his desk, his arms crossed over his chest as he glanced my way. “Anything?”
I shook my head. “You?”
“No.” He pushed off the desk and strode around. “They’re gone. Every single one of them, they’re all gone.”
“Not all.”
He froze, then turned. “Explain.”
I glanced at Wildcat, then turned to him. “The man who attacked Vivienne outside the restaurant wasn’t part of those who shot at us.”
He scowled. “How do you know?”
“Because they were Sons.”
His breath caught as panic flared. “Tell me everything.”
I told him about the orphanage, then the warehouse, and by the time I got to the attack outside the restaurant, London was pacing the room. “You’re not going,” he snapped.
“Not alone, but I will.”
He spun. “No, you won’t.”
“It’s been three fucking days, London!” I roared, stepping closer. “Did you know that? Three fucking days!”
He stopped pacing, looking at me with pure desperation. “I know.”
“Do you?” I snarled, moving closer. “Do you really? Every goddamn minute he’s out there, they’re fucking torturing him! They’re fucking beating him, London. They’re KILLING HIM!”
London flinched as though I’d slapped him.
Vivienne lunged, stepping in between us. Use me…use me…use…me…
I reacted before I knew it, turning on her in an instant. My hands were around her throat, fingers clenching hard enough to shock her…and me. Instinct and pain were in the driver’s seat as I drove her backwards. Still, she never fought me, even when her head hit the wall with a thud.
I stared into her eyes. My breath was a panicked rush.
“Carven!” London roared.
But Wildcat just shook her head, flicking her eyes to London. “It’s okay.” She sucked in panting breaths and turned back to me. “He’s not going to hurt me.”
She never made a move to react. Not even to save herself. That alone triggered something deep inside me. All I saw were those times Colt had taken those beatings meant for me. He’d been just a kid. We’d both been just kids. Still, he’d stepped in front of me time and time again when they came searching for someone in their anger.
He never fought.
Never screamed.
Just stood there until they’d punched him to the ground.
I saw that same look in her eyes now. That same devotion that echoed both in my brother and her. Use me…those words echoed as I lowered my head and kissed her. Her mouth parted, opening wide. Use me…I pushed against her, my hand still gripping her throat.
A moan tore along her throat, raw and primal, as she trembled against my touch. I tore my lips from hers, unable to look her in the eyes. “I want to use you.” The words were out before I realized it. It was too late now. Too late to hold them back. Too late to tether this rage.
“Take her to the room.”
I stilled, then slowly lifted my head.
“Is that what you want, pet?” he asked her.
Those brown eyes were fixed on mine. “Yes.”
“You don’t have to fight us, son,” London urged. “Not here. You need release. Take her to the room. Let her give you what you need.”
My words were husky. “You want that?”
She never looked away. “I’ll let you do whatever you want. My body is yours. Use me.”
Use me.
Those words slammed into me, followed by her look of desire. With a snarl I bent, grabbed her around the thighs, and heaved her over my shoulder. I was heading for the doorway before I stopped. “London…”
“Yes?”
“I want you to come too.”
