The dead man in front of me jerked and trembled, staring at me with wide, glazed eyes. His chest was bare, the once white shirt now bloody and wrapped around the stump that was once a hand. I lowered my gaze to the text message on my phone, the one I’d received bare seconds ago.
Hale:
Do this and I’ll ruin you.
Ruin.
I lifted my gaze to Daniels. It was such a subjective word. How much could one carve out until they were considered ruined? Did it matter which part they took? A hand…a heart…maybe a tongue? I gripped the knife in my hand and stepped forward—I guess I was about to find out.
“I gave you everything you asked for!” Daniels screamed.
I widened my legs, straddled the chair he was bound to, and grabbed his jaw. I was beyond redemption now, my rage debased and cruel, stoked by the image of her beaten face as I growled. “Not anywhere near what I wanted. Now open.”
I drove my fingers into the sides of his jaw, grinding flesh against teeth until he had no choice but to yield. The moment he opened, I drove the blade into his mouth and through that foul fucking thing lying there.
The thing that had given orders.
The thing he didn’t deserve, not after what he’d done.
I hacked and yanked the blade down. Daniels bucked wildly and his screams turned to thick, wet gurgles until I reached in, grabbed the muscle, and yanked it free.
The pink flesh turned ashen almost immediately. It twitched in my hand as I released my hold on his jaw and stepped backward. Daniels howled, only now it wasn’t much more than a sickening hiss of air.
“I promised her you’d die screaming,” I informed him as I reached into my pocket and pulled out my perfect, white embroidered handkerchief and wrapped the tongue inside it. “Let’s see how you’ll scream with no tongue.”
Daniels’s head rolled back and his mouth gaped as he gasped and fought to survive. But he didn’t look at me, just closed his eyes and slumped low against the hard-backed chair.
It was strange how the body still fought to survive…until the spirit broke.
We were getting close to that.
Real goddamn close.
But not yet.
I turned and found Marcus leaning against the wall as he watched the entire thing. But there was no disgust in his eyes, just that same hard glint I saw in my own.
“Send it.” I held out the tongue. “Make sure the bastard has to sign, as well.”
A nod and the former Navy Seal pushed forward to take the wrapped item. “Will do.”
He left me there as I watched the man who had been seconds away from raping the only woman I’d every loved. I walked over to the bolted-down table near the small kitchen that held no water and no food—not for him, at least—and picked up a rag and wiped my hands and the knife before I pushed the blade back into position.
You could show me you at least care a little bit, can’t you?
Those words rose out of nowhere.
They were the words she’d screamed at me the night they’d taken her.
Christ, I was a callous bastard.
I turned around to find Daniels’s eyes open, his chest heaving as he sucked in air. “You will never touch her again.” I closed the distance to stare into his eyes. “Do you hear me? She doesn’t belong to you…she is, and always will be, mine.”
There was no panic in his stare, no fear. Maybe I’d already broken him? I hoped not…he had a lot of body parts left for me to send. And I couldn’t fucking wait for Hale to receive them. I stepped away and glanced down at the rag. “I’ll take this with me, can’t have you choking on it now, can we?” His chest stuttered. “No, I still have plans for you. Be seeing you real soon, Daniels.”
I left then, locked the door to the storage room behind me, and made my way back along the hall, then slowed near the room where Jack waited. A twitch came at the corner of my eye. I didn’t want to see him, especially not after the Vault.
He…unnerved me.
But I found myself outside the door and punched in the code before I slipped inside. He stood near the wall, arms by his sides, and stared at me as I stepped through the doorway. His gaze moved to the knife in my hand as I slipped it into my pocket.
“I take it he’s still alive?”
I didn’t answer, not yet. Instead, I closed the door and made my way through the space, taking in the bed and the neat pile of clean clothes. “For now.” But idle chatter wasn’t what I wanted. “Are you ready to tell me everything you know about King?”
“I’ve told you all I can,” he responded. “As I’ve said every time you’ve asked.”
“Ryth—”
“Is safe,” he interrupted, not moving a muscle. “You won’t hurt her. I know that now.”
“Oh, do you?”
He nodded as his focus shifted to the blood still visible on my hands. “Any man who loves her sister like you do wouldn’t allow that to happen.”
An ache bloomed in my chest as I crossed the room to stand in front of him. “Don’t think I owe you a goddamn thing,” I warned. “Nor should you believe any preconceived notions you might have, especially about where my heart lies.”
There was a twitch at the corner of his lips. “I won’t.”
“Good.”
“Good,” he repeated as he held my stare. “I wonder if you’ve found the third yet?”
“Third?” I questioned as my gaze narrowed in on him.
“There was a third sister, older, if I remember correctly.”
I shook my head, my mind racing through all the DNA tests I’d conducted over the years on every founding member. “No, there isn’t.”
“Hmm,” the smug bastard murmured. “Maybe she wasn’t a daughter of The Order?”
Not a daughter?
I shifted my gaze to the wall. Not a daughter, not a…daughter. If that was the case, then—
I turned around and left Jack Castlemaine behind. Sonofabitch. If King had another daughter, then she could be the entire key to all of this. There had to be someone keeping him safe. Someone who could get in and out of The Order…someone who was there with Vivienne and Ryth.
I closed and locked the door to the room behind me and made my way out. By the time I climbed into my car, I was furious at all the possibilities. Was that the person at Killion’s house on the night of the killing? They could’ve been…leaving me to ask myself was King even alive at all?
I ground my teeth and pulled my phone out. It didn’t matter what bombshell I’d just had dropped on me, there were far more important things I was dealing with.
Number one was my son who wasn’t answering any of my messages…
And a missing goddamn chip.
I swiped my thumb across the screen and typed out a message, praying to God he answered this time:
I need to know you’re okay, Colt. Nothing else matters to me. Please call.
Then I hit send.
It wasn’t a lie. I needed to know the son was okay, more importantly, I needed to know if he’d looked at what was on that chip. My hands clenched around the wheel, drawing my focus to my fingers. Please God, don’t let him know.
I shoved the car into reverse, backed out of the parking spot, and headed for home.
The city streets blurred as I waited for my phone to vibrate. But it remained silent all the way home…
This wasn’t like him.
This wasn’t like any of us.
Caged. Separated. Exposed.
That’s how we were right now and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.
Desperation stayed with me as I drove home, turned into the driveway of the gothic mansion, and pulled up near the garage.
Armed guards patrolled the grounds and gave me respectful nods as I climbed out and passed them. I responded, but my focus was on Vivienne as I punched in the code and stepped inside, my words still ringing in my ears.
You will never touch her again. Do you hear me? She doesn’t belong to you…she is, and always will be, mine.
Hunger ached inside me as I made my way past my study and the kitchen and turned toward the east wing hallway. I was already unbuttoning my shirt by the time I hit the entrance to the wing. I couldn’t get to my bathroom fast enough, desperate to wash his vile fucking blood from my skin.
“London?” Vivienne called as I opened the door to my bedroom.
I stepped inside as I yanked the bloodsplattered shirt off. “Not now, pet.”
“Not now?” she repeated carefully as she came down the hall.
I should’ve known she wouldn’t listen. The woman was a pain in my ass…and the object of my desire. I kicked off my shoes as she pushed the bedroom door open behind me. But I had already yanked down the zipper of my trousers and was headed for the shower. She wouldn’t want to touch me, nor would she want to look at me, not like this.
“What’s going on?” she asked as I stepped into the shower.
“Nothing,” I forced out the word under the freezing spray.
But she wasn’t going to let it go, just stepped into the water with me, still fully dressed. “You’re lying. You’re fucking lying to me, London, and I don’t like it. No, not ‘I don’t like it’. I won’t have it.”
She won’t have it?
Her gaze shifted from my eyes and trailed down my body. I saw the doubt, saw it like she was the one with the knife carving out pieces of me…starting with my heart.
She thought I’d been with Ophelia…
The thought rocked me. I saw the tenseness of her jaw and the pain in those big brown eyes. Pain because of me.
“I haven’t…” I started, and then stopped.
The water warmed and ran down my back and over my chest. She lifted her hand and spread her fingers over my muscles.
“You don’t want me anymore, do you?” she asked, her brow pinched. “After the attack.”
I stiffened. “What?”
“You barely touch me. You haven’t…fucked me.” She licked a bead of water from her lips. “You’re always distracted when I’m around. I don’t think you’ve come to terms with that night. You avoid it, just like you avoid me.”
I held her beautiful, soul-destroying stare. “You seriously think that?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “I seriously think that.”
Water ran down my arms and washed the blood away. It wasn’t enough, but it had to be…for now. I turned around, hit the faucets, and ended the spray. “Then allow me to prove you fucking wrong.”
Her eyes widened as I surged forward, picked her up, and gripped her ass against me. “You want to be fucked, pet? Then I’ll fuck you until you forget everything else but the feel of my cock and the strength of my goddamn desire. How about that?”
I didn’t wait for her to answer, just carried her from the bathroom and out into the hall. It was too early, two, maybe three days too early. But this moment wasn’t meant to tame that savage need inside me. It was for her. Like everything was for her.
Water dripped from our bodies as I strode to that room and pushed open the door.
It wasn’t the basement…it was better.
The black studded bench was perfect height for the machine sitting at the end, its twin arms gleaming steel. I carried her inside and kicked the door closed.
“London?” she murmured.
Those brown eyes widened as she turned her head and took in the room.
I carried her to the bench and laid her down. “You remember what to do?” My voice was harsh and raw.
Her wet hair dripped and rivulets ran down the leather to plop on the floor.
But she gave a nod even as I leaned down, slid my fingers through her wet hair, and softly fisted the strands. “I’m not soft right now, pet. Not kind. I won’t hurt you, I’d…never hurt you. So I need you to tell me if this isn’t what you want.”
I didn’t need to ask, I saw it in her eyes as she whispered, “I want everything.”
She did…especially from me.
All my desperation…all my pent-up rage.
All my hunger. I lowered my gaze and spread my hand low over her belly. Mine…that desperation rose. They will all know who she belongs to. I closed my fist around her shirt and yanked, safely tearing the buttons free.
Her body jerked at the assault. A cry ripped from her. No…no, this isn’t going to—
“Green,” she whispered. “Green…green…green.”
Those words unleashed that darkness inside me. I straightened and looked down at her. In my head, she was splayed out on the dining table, defiance and seething anger in her eyes. I fucking wanted her as much now as I had then…maybe even more.
No, not wanted.
Needed.
I yanked her shirt upwards and she responded by lifting her arms until the sodden garment pulled free. The pink lace cups of her bra were almost see-through and glimpses of dusky rose nipples peeked through. Jesus…
“It’s okay,” she murmured. “I want this.”
I jerked my gaze to hers, then gripped the straps of her bra and wrenched it down as I watched her breasts spring free. I was on her in an instant and lowered my head to take her cold, peaked nipple into my mouth.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
My cock hardened instantly as I dropped my hand to the button of her slacks and tugged it open. I shoved them down as I gave her nipple a lick and rose. The same aching need burned in her eyes. Christ, as if I needed to be enticed. I tugged her slacks down while I held that stare.
Think about the goddamn complications! The damn doctor’s nagging voice rose as I tossed her wet slacks aside and moved to her panties.
This was about more than complications. Still, the doctor was too goddamn forward. I gripped the sides of the pink lace G-string and dragged it down her thighs. He didn’t know a goddamn thing when it came to me, or her.
I turned to the machine, lifted the steel piston, and bent to pull a black steel case from underneath.
Snap.
She flinched at the locks as I pulled a thick, flesh-colored dildo out and snapped it in place. I’d never hurt her. Fuck her until she was senseless, maybe…but I’d never take a chance with her body or her fucking heart.
Those I’d fight to the death to protect.
“Do you want the handcuffs, pet? Or do you think you can restrain yourself?”
She licked her lips and parted her thighs. “Try me.”
My lips curled as I picked up the remote. “Oh, I will…believe me.”
I pressed the button and leaned forward, grabbed the thick cock, and aimed it at her entrance, then stopped as plastic kissed flesh. “Wider,” I commanded.
She obeyed…her thighs gaping until the tendons were taught.
“Wider. I want to see all the way inside.”
Her chest rose with a deep breath before she slowly reached down and spread herself wide.
“That’s my good girl, look how wet you are.” I licked my lips and looked down, that perfect fucking slit just ached to be filled. I reached out, ran my fingers along her opening, and pressed the button, slowly driving the thick plastic cock all the way inside. “Don’t move, Vivienne, not even a twitch. Do you understand?”
I met her gaze and caught the small nod.
“Good girl.”
My pet was learning.
Her eyes closed and her breath escaped as the dildo slid free, then pushed deeper this time.
“You think I don’t want to fuck you?” I murmured as I slid my hand over her abdomen and gently pushed down. “All I think about is fucking you. Owning you. Making you mine.”
Her fingers still spread her cunt wide, but I caught the pressure as she pushed down, rubbing herself against the dildo as it slid inside.
“That’s it, pet. Look how good you take it.”
“Oh God,” she whimpered, and bit her lower lip.
My cock thickened. The pulse throbbed as I watched her before I leaned down low and pressed the button to slip the dildo all the way out, until the piston rested against the machine.
“Now do you understand?” I murmured, and licked her fingers before driving my tongue deep into her core. “Now do you see I can’t get enough of you?”
She unleashed a primal sound and lifted her leg for me to gain better access. I slid my hand underneath and grabbed her thigh as I pushed my face against her quivering core.
I will have you, the words echoed in my head. I’ll have you so much I’ll fill you with me.
I licked her and sucked her clit until she cried out. “London, please.”
My cock kicked with her plea. “Fuck, I love it when you beg.”
She lifted her head as I raised my head, swiped the back of my hand across my mouth, and climbed onto the bench big enough for two. “Next time, pet.” I gripped her thigh, positioned my cock at her entrance, and growled. “I’m going to both fuck you and use that dildo to stretch your ass.”
With a savage buck, I drove my cock all the way inside her.
I swear to Christ, it was like coming home.
The warmth of her.
The scent of her.
The way she moaned. “I love you.”
I love you.
I rammed my hips forward, the words stuck in my throat as I lowered my head and lost myself in the feel of her.
“I…” I grunted and thrust before I lifted my head to find her stare. “Love…you…”
She reached for me and clawed my arms until I lay forward against her. Still my hips thrust and drove all the way inside until, with a groan, I succumbed to her.
My body spilled and filled her pussy. “You look so good beneath me.” I lifted my hands and caged her in. “So fucking good.”
I closed my eyes.
You’ll look even better when you’re round with my baby.
