“I want you.” I breathed heavily against her collarbone and slid my fingers out of her. “Christ, I want you.”
Her clit trembled under my touch, pulsing harder as I dragged my fingers over the tiny nub. She let out a whimper as she grabbed my wrist and clamped her legs shut.
So swollen…and so goddamn sensitive.
My cock twitched. The urge to fuck her was overwhelming.
“Open your legs, Helene.” I demanded.
She jerked her gaze to mine. Panic and desire ignited in her stare before those perfect thighs parted. It was just the programming, I tried to tell myself. Just the drugs and the conditioning. But the longer I held that stare, the more I knew this was more.
Her mind was strong. Probably one of the strongest I’d ever seen…she could fight this if she wanted. She could buck against the voice I’d put inside her head, the one that told her to obey. She could defy me easily, but she didn’t.
Those dark eyes looked black in the wash of the tiny red blinking light as they fixed on mine. She scowled just slightly before that carnal hunger pushed through, and I knew instantly this was more than the techniques I’d used on her and the others.
This was real.
Fuck.
My pulse thundered, booming in my goddamn skull. I lowered my head and grazed her neck with my lips. I wanted to kiss her…more than that…I wanted all of her…and it wasn’t just sex, either. I lifted my gaze to hers and could almost feel the rush of air as I fell into oblivion.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
I jerked my gaze to the blinking red light on the camera and inhaled, drawing in the seductive scent of her come. I was moving before I knew, pushing up from the floor, her once warm desire cooling on the tips of my fingers.
She sat naked on the floor, her knees bent, cunt on display. I reached up and hit the switch on the camera, ending the view. They’d seen enough…and there was no goddamn way they were going to watch what was about to happen.
“Kane.” She whispered, her tone etched with fear.
“It’s okay.” I reached out, heading to the opposite side of the pitch-black room. “Just stay where you are.”
The special insulation swallowed my footsteps in the room, one designed to absorb every sound, to leave the space completely silent. One designed to strangle the senses, leaving you disoriented and vulnerable.
It worked, even on me. I reached out, tentatively searching the air until I touched the edge of my desk. The flick of the light came, spilling soft light through the room. For a second, I didn’t want to turn around to see her. I didn’t want to meet those eyes.
Because if I did, she might see the battle that raged inside me.
I was falling for her.
For the same woman my brother was infatuated with.
The woman who held our fragile existence in the palm of her hand.
One wrong word, one wrong move, and we’d all be kneeling with a gun pointed at our heads.
There was too much at stake.
Cool air reached through my unbuttoned shirt as I took a step, making my way slowly toward her. She sat on the floor, craning toward me as I neared. I reached out and caressed the side of her face.
“This…wasn’t supposed to happen.” I said.
She closed her eyes, almost purring, as she rubbed her cheek against my palm. “Maybe…it was.”
Maybe it was?
I thought about that, and all the times I’d barricaded myself away from her and all my patients on the other side of my massive desk. I’d seen her as a therapist for the last few months, and even though the desire to fuck her had been there, it’d been a surface feeling. An act of possession and nothing more.
But this…
This was something else.
“I feel something for you.” She whispered and opened her eyes. “And it scares me.”
She lifted her head, and our gazes collided. My heart clenched as panic raced through me. I’d felt more when I was with her than I had for a very long time. Memories came flooding back, all the times I’d proposed evening sessions at my apartment, ending with the moment I’d fantasized fucking her throat until she almost passed out.
My cock moved, thickening at the image of that. She shifted her gaze, then reached upwards and cupped the bulge. I moaned and closed my eyes. The warmth of her hand wrapping around the length almost made me fucking come.
She pulled away, eased the zipper lower, then reached inside. I opened my eyes at the heat of her hand and looked down as she eased my length out. The shimmering head twitched as she pushed up onto her knees, opened her mouth, and looked up at me.
My breath stopped. I wanted to see it all, every fucking second of this woman. I moved her hair aside as she closed her lips around me and sank all the way down.
“Fuck me.” I moaned, mesmerized by the stretch of her mouth.
But I’d already had this…and I wanted more.
No.
I wanted everything.
I reached down, cupped her jaw, and eased out.
She waited, then slowly pushed backwards as I knelt. There was no stopping this. Her and me…it was fate. She parted her thighs, letting me crawl between them. A twist of my button and the rest of my trousers opened.
“You sure?” My voice was husky.
“Yes.” She grabbed my arm, pulling me against her.
I looked down at the raised pink scars on her side, and her own words came flooding back. I was the one who bombed The Order. She wasn’t just ruthless…she was also a survivor. “Never trust a survivor.” I whispered and leaned over, brushing her lips with mine. “Until you find out what they did to stay alive.”
She leaned back, leading me forward until I pushed in. Heavy breaths stilled as the energy crackled between us. My pulse skipped, fluttering and panicked.
“Oh, Christ.” I moaned, thrusting with a brutal jolt.
She whimpered, gripping my arm and splayed her knees wider. “Fuck me hard.”
A twitch came at the corner of my mouth. I pulled out, then with all my strength, drove all the way inside.
Her ass skidded on the floor and it was like a switch flipped inside me. I grabbed her hips, pulling her back as I rammed in again.
“Yes…Oh, God…yes.”
Her cries were all the encouragement I needed. I set my jaw and went to work, driving my cock inside her. My hand went around her throat. She stared at me, her eyes wide with desperation.
“Good girl.” I groaned. “Fuck, you’re taking this so good. Look at us. Look how well you’re taking your punishment.”
Because that’s what this was.
You should’ve let me fuck you.
You shouldn’t have fallen for my brother.
I tried to push the thoughts away, concentrating on the warmth of her cunt as I pushed in. The scent of sex was so bold in the air. I sucked it down, desperate for more.
“You even fuck like him.” She said, her voice vibrating against my hand. “Raw and savage.”
The words only made me feel even more dangerous.
I gripped her throat, hard enough to let her know who was in charge. “You like that?” I grunted. “You like being fucked by my brother and me?”
She arched her back, never once fighting my hold as I slammed into her once more. “Yes.”
I pressed my thumb against her throat as the image of that rose.
Riven.
Her.
Me.
Both using her. Both tasting her. I unleashed a groan, captured by the memory. My hunger was ignited and there was no turning back. She bit her lip and her body clenched around me. Just like that, I was done. I groaned and stilled, buried in her heat as my cock spasmed, releasing warmth deep inside.
“That’s it, Teacher.” She whispered. “Fill me.”
I moaned, my cock jerking hard with the words. I wanted to fill her. I wanted to fill her so fucking bad. I gripped her throat and wrenched her forward. Panic filled me as I lost myself in her stare. Then, without warning, I yanked her forward and kissed her.
I was gone, falling headlong into the pit of darkness.
I closed my eyes and kissed her harder, holding her in place. She gave a moan, the sound wounded and desperate. That was exactly how I felt. I broke away, transfixed by her power. “This…changes everything.”
“I agree.” She answered. “Now, we both have something at stake.”
What did that mean?
Did it mean…she…
Her stare never wavered…and in those deep brown eyes, I saw the truth.
Shit…
I released my hold and pulled away, looking down before I pushed against the floor and rose. Her thighs were damp, with come glistening around her core. The sight stopped me cold.
“I trust you.” She whispered, pushing upwards. “With my body and now my heart.”
Was she playing us?
A pang tore across my chest. Christ, it felt like I was going to have a heart attack.
“Get dressed.” I urged, my tone a little harsh. “I want to escort you to your cell…to make sure you’re…safe.”
The truth was, I needed to get away from her, away from those eyes and the temptation to drop to my knees and fill her with my cock once more. Because the truth was…I didn’t want to let her go.
She flinched, then moved slowly, pushing up off the floor to stand.
I felt like a bastard, hating how cold I was. But there was nothing I could say, nothing that could change what we were…and where we were. This wasn’t a place of love. No matter how much that aching throb in my chest wanted it to be.
She pulled on her red lingerie and turned around. There was an emptiness in her eyes. One that hit me like a punch to the balls. You fucking asshole. I looked away, tucked in my cock, and headed for the door.
Coulter had wanted a show, and he’d gotten one.
We’d played pretend and now it came down to getting Helene to Hale. Everything hinged on that, regardless of my heart.
Movement drew my gaze as Helene stepped toward the door and waited. She didn’t look at me anymore. Not that I blamed her. I grabbed my card and headed for the door, leaving the light on. I’d return later and check the results from the other Daughters for today.
“Let’s get you back to your room.” I reached out, unlocked the door, and waited for her to walk out.
She never said a word, nor did she look my way, just headed through the viewing room and out into the hallway. But she didn’t need to, because my head was already spinning.
We reached the hallway to her room and turned the corner. Walker’s man looked our way, armed with a sniper rifle as he stood guard. I stepped forward, unlocked her door, and waited until she stepped in before closing it.
She turned at the last minute, finding me in the glass panel of the door. Pain and confusion raged in her expression before she turned away.
“Do not leave this room.” I murmured, then slowly glanced at Walker’s guard. “For any reason. Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal.” He glanced toward the room. “Don’t worry, my instructions are every clear.”
One look my way and I knew. He was well aware of the battle that raged…and more than that, how important Helene was. That ache filled my chest, rippling out like poison, one I gladly swallowed.
“Good.” My voice was husky. “Call me instantly if there’s a problem.”
“Will do.” He answered as I turned. “Right after I call The Principal.”
My step faltered before I forced myself to move. Of course, they’d call Riven first. It was always Riven. Not once had I ever cared about that—I clenched my jaw and slammed the card against the scanner—until now.
Now I cared a great deal.
That ache in my chest grew talons, puncturing all the way into my heart. I winced and slammed my fist against the crushing agony, but it wouldn’t stop. If anything, it grew bolder. The lights overhead turned neon white, buzzing and brightening.
Fuck. I winced, scanning the hallway, to see movement from Coulter’s guards in the distance. I needed to get out of here, I needed to get out.
I stumbled toward the external door and thrust my card against the scanner before I lurched out. Cold night air washed over me, plunging in deep with every gasping breath.
I headed for the safety of the trees, my boots crunching on the gravel until I met the grass. What the fuck was happening to me? What…the…fuck—
“I need you to keep this quiet.”
The words reached me through the trees. I lifted my head, scanning the darkness as I waited for my eyes to adjust to the gloom.
“They don’t know we found Marks. So we do what Coulter said and keep it quiet.”
Marks?
The name resounded…until the icy grip of fear clenched tight.
The body.
They’d found it.
The ground seemed to fall out from under my feet.
“And whatever we do…we keep those Cruz bastards in our sights.”
The shadowy figures shifted. One turned his head, scanning the trees near where I stood. My heart lunged as I waited for him to see me, but he didn’t. Instead, he turned back to the other, said something else I couldn’t quite catch before they walked away.
They’d found the body?
No fucking way.
There was no way.
I’d taken everything off the bastard who’d almost killed Helene and my brother. His clothes, his weapons…everything.
I turned my head, scanning the dark. I had to make sure the body was right where I’d left it…then I had to find Riven. The night grew cold…too cold. An eeriness washed through me. My gut clenched as panic rose. This was going to be bad…I just knew it.
Boots crunched on gravel, drawing my gaze. I stood in the darkness, hidden by the trees, and watched Coulter’s men disappear into the building. Desperation filled me, forcing me to swivel around…find my bearings, and lunge.
