Chapter 51
CHAPTER 51
NORTH CAROLINA
A dria was in uncharted territory.
Her heart thundered in her chest, and she tried to ignore the shiver tracing her spine. Fear filled the air, mingling with the sharp tang of something else, something dangerous. Something electric..
Anger simmered beneath her skin, molten and volatile, ready to explode. And when Bryson let go of her, she was sure— absolutely certain —she would kill him.
He thought she was his prey.
But he didn’t understand.
She didn’t run from predators.
She invited them. Lured them in. Let them believe they were the ones with teeth—until the moment she sank hers in deeper.
A dark thrill surged through her, watching him try to control her. It stirred something primal. Something she hated to admit she liked.
But the pleasure wasn’t in being caught.
It was in knowing she'd let herself be caught.
And that soon, when the moment was right, she would turn the tables.
“Now, Kaydon,” Bryson growled .
His voice hit her low and hard, vibrating through her core. He sounded feral. Gone.
Her body betrayed her with a flush.
Fuck.
Fuck him.
And whatever this thing was they were doing.
His arousal pressed against her, unmistakable. And even though her mind screamed danger, her body hummed with awareness.
“I got her,” Kaydon said behind her.
Kaydon’s fingers wrapped around her wrists, and she felt Bryson’s weight lift.
For a moment she felt freedom.
And then, a flash of metal.
Suddenly Adria was aware of Kaydon’s breathing behind her. The salty, sweet sweat from Seth’s hand and the space between her and the door. Bryson’s body was hot as he pressed the knife into her throat.
She bit down hard on Seth’s hand. Whatever game they were playing, they were crossing a line.
Seth hissed, but his hand didn’t move.
Bryson looked concerned for a moment, as his eyes locked onto hers. There was a knowing in them. Adria didn’t want anyone to know her in that way. She tried to shrink from the contact. Hating the intimacy of it.
“You can let her go, Seth.”
Seth’s hand moved away, and instantly Adria started to scream, but when Bryson increased pressure on the blade, and the sound died in her throat. She felt her limbs getting heavy. The light in the room dimmed at the edges.
No, no, this can’t be happening.
“Yellow, bro, high yellow.” Kaydon’s words made little sense. She felt a cold sensation growing from her feet. The world flickered in and out of existence. She was close. Soon she wouldn’t be here.
Sweet release .
“Don’t leave.”
It was Bryson’s voice.
“Don’t let him win. You can trust us.”
“Please, Adria…Goddess…Mistress…Stay with us.”
Was that Seth? Why did he sound hurt?
The darkness surrounded her, but there was something new. Adria could feel the gentle thrum of a heart and the sounds of the ocean.
After a moment, she realized it wasn’t the water, but breathing. Soft inhales and exhales moved past her ear. A heaviness on her chest pulled her out from the recesses of her mind.
Radiating warmth spread into her limbs, and the darkness moved away. The room swam back into focus.
Bryson’s face was inches from hers, and his body pressing on top of her. He said something, but she couldn’t make it out. The pressure on her wrists was released, and she absentmindedly rotated her hands.
A warm object was pressed into her palm, and Adria gripped it. It was smooth and contoured, and her hand gripped it easily.
She knew this object. It was hers.
“I’ve never begged anyone for anything, ever.”
Bryson’s voice pierced through the silence, filled with a mixture of concern and pain. “I thought these last few months were going to be hell. The worst of our lives. I never even considered an alternative.”
His hand wrapped around her forearm, sending a wave of warmth through her body, raising her hand towards him. “We—I—have never felt so safe and secure. You did that for us.”
“For me.”
Bringing her hand closer to him, she saw the dagger. She was holding it. Her fingers were white from gripping the hilt. Bringing her hand closer, he pressed the blade into his own neck .
The room held its breath, as if acknowledging the gravity of the connection forged in darkness.
“I wanted to hate you. But no matter how much I tried I just couldn’t. Adria, we want to help you, to repay you.”
Her hand trembled on the blade’s hilt. She believed his words, believed that he wanted to help, but what he didn’t understand. What he couldn’t understand. Was that the three of them had already done enough. They had touched places in her that she didn’t even know existed.
“Send us to your buyer and know that no matter what happens tomorrow or the next day, we will always be there for you,” Bryson said, finishing his declaration by bringing his hand up and kissing his ring.
Adria saw Kaydon and Seth nod.
Letting her go, Bryson raised both his hands in surrender. Her hand and knife still at his throat. Both Seth and Kaydon sinking to their knees, eyes down.
Her grip shook against the hilt of the knife. An anger growing inside her. She hated that she had let herself be vulnerable with them.
But, they hadn’t hurt her. They could have, but they didn’t.
“You three are fucking idiots,” she said, not recognizing her own voice.
“Right now, we are your idiots,” Bryson said, staring back at her.
He had given her the knife, so why did she feel like he had all the power?
“We are yours, Dri, accept it, use us. Let us help you,” Kaydon said.
“So, if I tell the three of you to leave my sight, you will?”
Hurt crossed their faces, but all three nodded.
“We will do whatever you want,” Bryson said .
Except they wouldn’t.
She knew that.
The three of them were doing what they felt was best for her. Deciding her actions, like she wasn’t capable of choosing on her own. Like she didn’t know what she needed or wanted, and instead needed three irresponsible hot heads to decide for her.
Adria sat up, pushing the blade into Bryson’s neck. She enjoyed the flash of fear in his eyes as he backed up, following her pressure.
“Undress and kneel at the foot of the bed.”
His pupils dilated, and he did as he was told. She moved off the bed, giving Kaydon and Seth a small pet on the head as she walked by. Grabbing a few things from her closet, she went behind Bryson.
“Hands behind your back.”
Adria made quick work of tying Bryson’s wrists together with some rough hemp rope, and then she secured them to his ankles. Enjoying the sight of his body being forced to bow unnaturally. Adria dropped a belt and a crop down next to him, and he flinched at the sound. She watched his breathing increase.
Adria had grown up surrounded by men.
Their eyes always on her, watching, weighing, waiting. Men who claimed to know what was best, who insisted she follow in their footsteps. Men who cast long shadows, ones she was expected to walk within. Obedience was their lesson. Invisibility, the goal.
And then there were these three.
It was hard to admit but their presence had provided a flicker of hope in her dimly lit world. Adria wanted to believe that they were different. That they saw her as more than just a pawn in their game.
Sometimes she felt like they were more than just a pawn in hers as well.
But after this ridiculous declaration, after they broke into her room and forced their trust on her, she realized they didn’t want to share her heart; they wanted to repay their debt.
Adria didn’t rise from that freezing black pool to be beholden to anyone. That night, dripping and bloodied, she had climbed from the cavern’s water and met every watching eye with fire in her own. She didn’t just survive.
She dared them to see her.
And she would do the same now.
Bending low, she leaned into Bryson’s ear, her voice like silk over steel. “The thing about masochists,” she murmured, “is punishments get complicated. Because if I spend the next half hour belting your ass raw... would that be pain or pleasure, hmm?”
She gave his hair a sharp pull, yanking his head back to bare his throat.
He hissed, but gave no answer.
Good .
She stepped in front of him, her expression unreadable, then slowly, deliberately, began unbuttoning her blouse. One by one, each item slipped free. The fabric fell away, followed by her skirt.
Until she stood before him—bare, save for boots and stockings—her cunt inches from his mouth.
She didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink. Just owned the space.
And then she sat, wide-legged on the bed, her body a throne.
Men thought they could control her. That she was a prize to win or a storm to weather. But what they never understood, what Bryson and his brothers were just starting to learn, was that she always had their number. Every move. Every tell. Every twitch of desire.
She could destroy them if she wanted.
And they’d thank her for it.
If they thought they could come in here and tell her what to do, they were sorely mistaken .
“Kaydon, Seth, would you take my boots off?”
The two jumped as if she had struck them. Tumbling over each other. Bryson was shouldered out of the way while the pair went to work.
Adria laid back and felt their fingers undoing each lace. Seth was meticulous, and Kaydon was deft but clunky. Adria didn’t see any harm in teaching them a lesson before the auction tomorrow. She had an itch she had wanted to scratch since their arrival.
Two birds with one stone.
“Kaydon, Seth, show your Mistress how happy you are to be in her presence,” she said, sinking back into the bed.
Kaydon was the first to move, gliding up from her feet, his fingertips whispering up her thigh. Every touch leaving a trail of heat. Every puff of his breath stoked the fire simmering just beneath her skin.
Seth wasn’t far behind. His soft lips pressed into the inside of her thigh, and sparks danced across her vision. Powerful hands explored her body, making her feel dizzy with sensation.
How many times had she imagined this? Dreamt of their faces between her legs, their mouths on her skin, worshipping her. In those fantasies, Bryson had been there too. Licking up her wetness, then turning to share the taste with his brothers.
The thought of Bryson nearly shattered her resolve.
But if she let him loose, Adria knew she’d lose herself in the three of them.
Kaydon’s tongue teased her with devilish precision, dancing around her most sensitive parts. Seth surprised her, rougher than she expected, nipping at her earlobe, biting softly at her neck. The dual sensations, sharp and sweet, pulled her under.
Kaydon’s breath hit her center, and she arched up into him, tangling her fingers into his hair. She gasped when he pressed his face into her, tongue exploring her slick folds as Seth’s mouth closed over her breasts, his teeth grazing her nipple while his hand wrapped around her throat.
It was hotter than she had ever imagined.
Adria arched into Kaydon, grinding into his face as her climax approached fast and hard.
But Kaydon pulled away, his growl low and dark. “Not yet, Wild Cat.”
The pain of denial vanished as Seth took his place, spreading her wide.
Adria watched through hazy eyes as Seth and Kaydon, shoulder-to-shoulder, devoured her in tandem. Her body bucking wildly. Kaydon’s large hand pressing against her center, anchoring her as their tongues worked together in sinfully perfect rhythm.
Adria threw her head back, hands fisting the comforter, legs wrapped around their shoulders as they dragged her higher and higher.
Kaydon’s fingers found her nipple, tracing before squeezing just enough to make her cry out.
“Fuck,” a voice moaned.
Adria’s eyes flew open.
Bryson.
Still restrained.
He stared at her, lust painted across every sharp edge of his face. Watching. Wanting. The heat in his eyes almost undid her.
She longed to reach for him. To drag him into this beautiful chaos. To fall with him.
But she couldn’t.
Bryson was too powerful. Too consuming. He was fire—and if she played with him, she would get burned.
Kaydon shifted behind her, pulling her back into his chest. His erection pressed hard against her ass, and his lips claimed hers. She tasted herself on his tongue and melted into him.
Seth slid two fingers inside her, curling just right.
She moaned into Kaydon’s mouth, every part of her lighting up.
Opening her eyes, she saw the hunger in Kaydon’s. Pure, primal hunger.
“Fuck, Adria, please,” Bryson begged.
His voice cracked something inside her.
She looked at him.
And for a moment.
Just one heartbeat.
She believed that he cared. That all three of them did.
But then she remembered the cold spoon. The empty kitchen.
She answered his plea not with words—but with action.
Pulling Seth up by the hair, she kissed him, savoring the difference. Where Kaydon was heat and pressure, Seth was soft edges and slow burn. He tasted like mint and cinnamon. His hands worked her breasts expertly, rolling her nipples in-between fingers, and Adria felt herself melting again.
Reaching back, she found Kaydon’s head and guided him lower.
She moaned with pleasure as he slid his tongue through her folds once more.
And Adria, overwhelmed by the feel of them and the sight of Bryson, restrained and aching—surrendered to the storm she had created.
“You’re so wet, Goddess,” Kaydon said, before pressing his tongue deep inside her.
Her body lit up as his tongue fucked her. Adria’s breath hitched as she felt wetness dripping down her legs. Part of that was Kaydon’s expert attention, but what was really getting her going were the sounds of distress at her feet.
Hearing Bryson suffer, was sweet music to her ears.
“Adria, this is torture.”
Ignoring him, she pressed Kaydon’s face into her harder, and brought Seth down to take her breast into his mouth.
“Fuck, yes, yes, yes,”she shouted, holding Kaydon in place. Pushing into the back of his head so hard, she doubted he could breathe.
“Just like that, keep going.”
Adria felt her arousal rise, cresting to a point of no return. Glancing down, she watched Bryson straining against the ropes, his wrists red. Adria imagined him breaking out of them, pushing Seth and Kaydon out of the way and devouring her body and soul.
She came.
It wasn’t a quiet one either. Letting herself go, she screamed into the room. Adria hoped Eric really was listening to music. Riding the orgasm, she smothered Seth and Kaydon, pushing them into her body. When she was done, she lay there, letting the feeling of release wash over her.
Bryson was still there.
Hovering in the corner, his expression carved with pain.
He didn’t want this.
Sure, he had said the words. Claimed he wanted to be there for her, but actions spoke louder. And she could read him too well. That wasn’t desire in his eyes. It was doubt. It was hurt. It was conflict.
Because the truth was, they were both Dominant.
They were both heads of powerful families, raised to never kneel. Never bend. Never yield.
Bryson had said it himself: he didn’t submit to anyone .
And Adria? She had sworn long ago that she bent to no man.
They were forged from the same steel, and no matter how much they wanted each other, they were at an impasse. A fire that couldn’t burn without consuming them both.
He’d remembered that in the kitchen—when he fled from her and that stupid bowl of ice cream.
And now, she needed to remind him again. Cut through the fantasy. Get this foolish, dangerous notion out of his head.
The four of them couldn’t work.
Not the way he wanted.
Not without one of them breaking.
And Adria had already broken enough.