Chapter 13
13
A s soon as I got back into my room, I put my headphones in and pulled up the video feed from the tiny camera I’d left in Reaper’s office. It started with me planting the camera, so I scrolled until Reaper returned to his office moments after I left.
He put his hands on his head and stood still looking out the window for so long that I checked to make sure the video hadn’t frozen.
He suddenly cursed and started pacing, raking his hands through his hair. I’d wondered what it would take to break his cool, and apparently whatever I’d discovered for him in Kevin’s books was the answer. Who could Kevin be bribing that would make Reaper this agitated?
He picked up his phone, started to type, then threw it across the room with another curse.
Grim came charging in. “The fuck was that?”
Reaper threw his hands in the air. “The fuck do you care?”
“We’re business partners, asshole. We had a fucking plan. First, you decided you were gonna be balls deep in Bryson’s daughter when he walked in with King. Now you bring her here without so much as a heads-up?”
I stopped breathing, and I wasn’t sure I could take in air without puking. If he’d stuck to his plan, my father and Kevin would’ve walked in to find us having sex. I’d known it had been a close call, but he’d intended for it to happen, had planned it with his business partner. Had Grim been watching the whole thing? It was all too vile to even wrap my head around.
Reaper sat on the couch, back to being completely at ease. “I made the call to leave the daughter in play. It would’ve been instant gratification, but she’d be useless after that. If we really want to destroy Bryson, it’s gonna take the long game.”
My father had said Reaper was dangerous, but did he know Reaper and his club were actively plotting against him? The issues with his business, the unrest in his territory…my brother’s murder? Had all of it been orchestrated by Reaper? If that was the case, not only had he taken my brother from me, but he was the reason I was being forced to marry King.
Grim poured himself a drink. “Did she find anything?”
“Fuck yeah, she did. Grab my phone, and I’ll show you.”
“Get your own phone, you lazy shit.”
Reaper rose and disappeared off camera to pick it up.
When he spoke again, his tone had changed. “Send Katya up. And Damian.”
Grim looked up in surprise. “Reaper, we haven’t?—”
“ Now .”
Grim left, and Reaper crossed the room again slowly. He unbuckled his belt and dropped his leather pants so fast, my jaw actually dropped. I was so flustered, I almost slammed my laptop shut, but as he took his cock in his hands and started to stroke it, I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
Good god, he’s beautiful.
From behind the safety of the screen, I could stare as much as I wanted. He was so lean that when he was naked, it was easy to see the carved shape of muscle on every part of his body. The dip that always caught my eye when he wore low-slung pants drew my eye straight to his cock when he wasn’t wearing them. His intriguing thick cock that I couldn’t quite imagine having inside me…and yet I couldn’t stop trying to imagine it as I stared at the screen. Every part of his appearance made me want to know more. His scars and his tattoos all had stories I was desperate to hear. I wanted to know what his hair looked like when he first woke up and what his lip ring felt like on every part of me. I wanted to know if the effortlessly sexy way he moved and sat and breathed was a practiced art or just how he was made.
No one should be allowed to have that much sex appeal.
The two people he’d sent for entered the room, and he commanded them to strip and crawl to him.
I should stop watching right now. These people didn’t consent to me watching them.
But as they became a tangled, writhing mass of pleasure, my self-control—and my morals—fled in a haze of lust. I’d been on the receiving end of Reaper’s ministrations, but to watch the way he so carefully and masterfully doled out pleasure while remaining in control was mind-numbingly sexy. I was breathing hard, clenching my fists against the urge to touch myself while watching the scene play out before me.
My phone vibrated, yanking me from the filthy, traitorous, unbelievably inappropriate fantasies I was lost in.
Reaper
You’re still watching, aren’t you, Juliet?
I fast-forwarded from the recorded feed back to the live feed only to find that the two people were no longer in the room with him, and he’d put his pants back on. He’d moved the camera to the desk in front of him, so I had a closeup as he lounged in his desk chair, staring at the screen with a teasing smirk on his face.
In a fit of rage, I called him and watched on camera as he picked it up with a grin. I snapped, “You set me up! You were going to let my father and King walk in and find us—like that!”
There wasn’t a hint of remorse in his honeyed tone. “I’m getting hard again just thinking about it.”
I gasped. “What kind of sick son of a bitch does that to someone?”
He huffed a laugh. “From the mouth of a Bryson no less…”
“Leave my family out of this. You didn’t even know me! What had I ever done to you to deserve that?”
He sighed into the phone. “If you’re waiting for an apology from me, darling, you’re going to be disappointed. I’m not sorry. Hell, if you must know, I’ve been eaten alive by regret that I stopped. I should’ve ruined you and taken you home and fucked you until we both forgot you were a Bryson. We could still be in bed right now.”
My cheeks flushed because, despite his betrayal, my body still responded to the silken invitation in his tone. It was like he really was some kind of mystical being and could control my mind with his voice. It was enraging that I was still wildly attracted to such a prick.
I made an incoherent scoffing sound, too outraged to get words out at first. “You don’t seem to be having any trouble finding willing bed partners.”
Why would he even want someone with no experience? He’s still playing games and manipulating me.
I could hear the smug smile in his tone just as plainly as I could see it on his face. “Thank you for noticing. Now stop worrying about things that didn’t even happen and come back to me…before you do something foolish like following Daddy’s orders to marry Kevin King.”
“King hasn’t lied to me or tricked me or tried to ruin me.”
He was silent for the span of four of my rapidly pounding heartbeats. “They will extinguish you, Juliet. Because they don’t really see you.”
I gritted my teeth. He hated my father enough to have been plotting to make me collateral damage in his vendetta. He was toying with my feelings, convincing me my father and King were the enemy. How much pleasure would it bring Reaper to turn Nathaniel Bryson’s daughter against him? I might’ve resented my father, but I’d remain loyal to him no matter what this man said.
My whole body was trembling with indignant rage. “You’re a monster.”
I could practically hear the shrug in his cool tone. “Better a monster than a silly little lamb led to slaughter.”