“I need you to wake up.”
I opened my eyes instantly, to see him at the side of the bed, staring down at me. Heat bloomed, stirring something in the pit of my soul. That reaction alone terrified me, until my gaze sharpened and I saw the gun in his hand.
“What time is it?” I asked, carefully meeting his stare, my mind racing.
“Almost morning.”
He was dressed in black slacks and a black open-collared shirt. His hair glistened as though still damp. Had he showered? I inhaled the rich scent of soap on his skin. He had, and I hadn’t heard a damn thing. My body hummed as goosebumps raced. Even now I was ready for him, craving his cruel caresses and his devastating devotion. One look in his eyes and I felt the burn of his hunger.
“You need to shower and get dressed.”
“Now?” I pushed up, realizing my hand was free.
There was no sign of the cuffs anywhere.
“Yes, now,” he answered. “Your clothes are in the bathroom. We need to leave.”
“Leave?”
He scowled for a second, anger flaring with his clenched jaw. “Yes, Helene, we’re leaving.”
I wanted to demand where…but he wasn’t in the mood for more questions, and right now, I needed time to think. I gave a slow nod and slipped from the bed, padding into the bathroom, expecting him to follow. But he didn’t, leaving me to peel the still come-stained bodysuit free and toss it to the floor.
I smelled of him.
My own scent was smothered by his desire.
I scowled, wrestled the flushed heat of desire that followed, and hit the faucet.
The hot water steamed up the shower as I stepped inside. Black on black shifted in the bedroom as he paced. I grabbed the soap and lathered. Something had changed in the last few hours while I’d been asleep. Something I needed to understand.
Harmon.
It had to be.
Was the new shipment of Daughters finally at The Order? Is that where he was taking me? If that was the case, then Hale could also be there. My thoughts raced, finally shaking off the fog. If only I could get a message to London. I stilled, my hand cupping my tender breast. I looked down, to see the peak reddened from the graze of his teeth. No, London wouldn’t wait. He’d descend, all guns and rage, driving every tiny scrap of information we might find underground.
No.
I needed to be careful. I needed to wait. I swallowed hard, quickly washed the rest of my body, and turned off the water, then stepped out. Jeans, underwear, a t-shirt, and a black sweater sat neatly folded on the vanity. I dried and dressed, and stepped into the bedroom.
Socks. Boots…and Riven.
He nodded to the rest of my things. “We need to leave.”
I pulled them on, watching him from the corner of my eye. The gun still in his hand made me cautious. I tugged the laces around my boots and rose, meeting his stare. If he was going to kill me, then he wouldn’t have cared if I’d showered or not.
Either way, his DNA was all over me.
Teeth marks on my breasts.
The trace of his come, still deep inside.
He wasn’t disposing of evidence, that I was sure of.
One motion of his hand and I headed out of the bedroom, past the kitchen and into the garage. The almost black sky waited outside. He hit the button behind me and the lights to the Range Rover flashed and the doors unlocked.
Silence followed as I climbed inside.
I should be fighting.
At least pretending to.
But I didn’t.
I climbed in, closed the door behind me, and reached for the seatbelt as he slid in behind the wheel.
“Want to tell me where we’re headed?”
He started the engine, then pressed the button for the garage door. “A place I’d hoped you’d never see. But it’s this…it’s this or…” he wrestled with the words.
I swallowed hard, glancing at the gun still in his hand. It was this or a bullet to the brain. “Then I guess we’d better get going.”
His dark eyes barely glinted. There was no excitement now, no desire, no fight even. Just a stony stillness. One I didn’t like at all. He put the car into reverse and backed out of the drive, leaving the garage door to close behind us.
It felt strange leaving what should have been my prison, only it hadn’t felt like a prison. It’d felt like a battleground, one where I’d held my own. Blood had been spilled there, rage and desire living, throbbing things we’d created. It was us—I glanced toward him as he accelerated, leaving the house behind—it was us.
Still, my mind raced as we headed out of the city. What the hell did Riven think he was going to achieve by keeping me locked in a place like that? My pulse raced. I knew those cells, and I’d seen firsthand what they’d done to the Daughters there.
Daughters like Ryth and Vivienne.
But this…this felt different. He felt different.
He wasn’t the monster I’d been expecting. No, he was a different breed. One cloaked in secrets.
His problems were not my problem.
I needed to remember that.
His hands were clenched around the wheel. His focus was fixed on the road, but still, I could see he was lost in the panicked, racing thoughts inside his head.
I turned back, staring into the faint spill of sunlight in the distance as we came closer to the compound on the outskirts of the city. All I cared about was getting to Hale and anyone who stood in my way of that was dead.
“I’m going to lock you in this place.”
I flinched at the sudden sound of his voice.
He glanced my way. “But I need you to know it’s not what you think.”
“Not what I think,” I repeated as we turned the last bend in the road and the steel fence glinted in the distance. “And what is that, exactly?”
The four-wheel drive slowed.
Goosebumps raced over me as I stared at the shrouded outline of hell.
Because that’s what this place was…hell.
He never answered, just turned the wheel and braked hard. A guard stepped out of nowhere, hidden by the hut at the front of the gates. Gates that’d been rammed by Ryth’s stepbrothers to rescue her. I could still see the gouges in the steel.
The window rolled down, and the guard advanced. “There’s only me here.” Riven met the guard’s stare. “Isn’t that right, Connor?”
The guard never even looked my way, just gave a careful nod. “Absolutely, Mr. Cruz.”
The gates rolled open, letting us take the long drive to this place of nightmares. The closer we came, the colder the car felt. Only no one had touched the temperature. It was all me…and him.
“There are things I need to do here, people I need to take care of. But you won’t be part of that. Still, I need you to be quiet and not make a scene.” Headlights spilled against the brick as he pulled around to the rear of the building. “Can you do that, Helene? Can you stay quiet, stay safe, until I can deal with these people?”
The structure was perfect and sound…until it wasn’t. The glaring lights cut over the blown-out brick wall at the far side, the one closest to the towering trees of the forest. I glanced into the dark gloom, remembering the moment I’d followed Vivienne and the others into that hell.
I was alone.
Alone, stepping into the stench of blood and terror.
Fear chattered my teeth, chilling me to the bone. I turned away from the forest to the blown out far wall of the building as we parked. My pulse was thundering, the boom…boom…boom almost smothering his words.
“I just need…” he killed the engine, leaving us staring at the shattered bricks. The remnant from a bomb. My bomb.
But it was Riven I focused on as he dragged his fingers through his hair. “I just need to keep you safe. There are others coming. Others who aren’t as nice.”
I met his stare. “So, you’re protecting me?”
How could he…when he was the monster?
There was a twitch at the corner of his mouth. His breaths deepened as I stared at those hard lips, those cruel, smothering lips. “Protecting, controlling, call it what you want.”
I jerked my gaze to his. At least he called it what it was. “Maybe I’ll take my chances. Maybe I might just scream and beg and plead when these other men come.”
He leaned closer, that menacing glare detonating with sparks. “Try it and I’ll kill every last one of them…right before I drag you from this place and keep you chained for the rest of your goddamn life.”
I swallowed hard. He would. I could see that now. “Why?” I whispered. “Why me?”
“Because you, Helene…found me.”
He waited for a second before he shoved open the door and climbed out. The headlights stayed on, illuminating the damage I’d caused. I sat there for a second with his words ringing in my ears. You found me. You…found me.
My pulse skipped, then raced to catch up. I had no choice but to follow as he turned, waiting for me. The headlights died with the thud of the door. The sunrise cut through the trees, spilling all across the newly installed side door as we stepped inside The Order and closed out the rest of the world.
Our footsteps thudded, echoing in the hallway. Riven’s cell vibrated as I glanced at the locked double doors. His deep voice resounded as he answered. “Now is not a good time.”
I glanced at him, hurrying to catch up to his long strides.
“No…I’m at The Order. Yes, you could say that.”
A chill raced through me as he spoke.
“We have a new shipment coming. No…no, I don’t want you here,” he said in a rush, finding me in the corner of his eye. “I need to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
He pulled a small keyring from his pocket, pressed a card that hung from it against the scanner for the doors, and pushed through. My steps slowed. My gaze moved to his. I was putting a lot of trust in him right now. The kind he didn’t deserve. But there was something pleading about his careful stare, something that entwined with that desperate need to protect those I loved…
And I stepped through.
Thud.
I flinched as the door closed behind me. He headed along the hallway that looked just like the one we’d left. I glanced over my shoulder, swallowed, then followed as he came to a door at the end of a row, pushed a key into the lock, and bore down on the handle.
But I couldn’t force myself to walk through.
Flashbacks detonated like bombs inside my head. Riven unleashing his rage, hunting me as I’d rigged the explosion in the south side of the building…and hauled my father out of this place. I needed to remember the kind of man I was dealing with. The monster…who was now back in his lair.
It was all I could do to stop from fleeing this place as fast as I could.
He fought hard not to meet my gaze, but in the end he lost. “This entire wing isn’t used anymore. You’ll be safe here. You’ll be…”
Controlled. Isn’t that the term he’d used before?
The air suddenly turned heavy, so heavy I could barely breathe. I looked at that cell, from the heavy lock on the door to the single cot inside.
“You can trust me on this,” he said carefully.
Those were words I never thought I’d hear from his lips. But these were dangerous times, and I had nieces to protect.
“I doubt that very fucking much,” I answered bleakly and stepped into the cell.
The door closed instantly. I watched him through the glass section of the door and for a second, I swore I saw panic in his dark eyes. I hoped it was, anyway. He only held my life in the palm of his hand. I’d felt the cruelty of that hand…and also…tenderness.
Still, I fucking hated that desperate feeling as the door closed and he turned away. “You’d better come back for me, motherfucker,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around myself. “You’d better come back.”
