Chapter 34 – Ava Jade
AVA JADE
I tucked myself into the tight cupboard at the base of an old converted hutch in the grand bathroom upstairs, kicking towels aside to fit. My heart raced in the dark with the words of Primal Ethos’ Gravedigger whispering of violence in my ears.
I regretted my choice of hiding place as soon as I closed the door, but it was too late. I could hear footfalls I recognized as distinctively Rook’s thundering up the steps.
My breaths came heavy and ragged, and I closed my mouth, forcing the air to enter and exit silently through my nose. The others had gone down the other end of the hall, but Rook sounded like he was headed right for me. Like he knew exactly where I was.
I clasped my palms over my mouth, a thrill going through me as his dark shadow crossed the threshold of the bathroom, passing it by.
Even if I wanted him to find me, a part of me—the part that willingly decided I was the prey—instinctively wanted to run. Knowing this predator wasn’t just a threat. He was apex. And if he found me, I didn’t think even he would be able to control what he would do.
I’d seen a glimpse of it that night after he fought Conor Jones in the ring at Sanctum and he came after me in the streets afterwards. The thrill in his black eyes. The way he stalked around me, turning us in circles. A dance of villains and thieves.
Of primal desire and the need to dominate .
I pushed further back into the cupboard as the song switched, changing to the quicker tempo at the opening of Run, Bitch, Run .
Fitting.
A cold sweat coated my chest and slicked over my forehead as I heard Rook crashing through the rooms down the hall, growing closer by the second.
As though on cue, my ass knocked something solid hidden at the back of the cupboard. Something glass. A bottle. It tapped against the wood. Such a quiet sound, but I could feel the change in the air.
Like it was thicker to breathe.
“ Shit, ” I cursed with a manic laugh, kicking out of the cupboard to scramble over the slippery tile, sloppily as I unfurled, finding my feet. I raced from the bathroom, conditioned air rushing over my bare stomach, whipping my hair back from my face.
At the end of the hall, Grey and Corvus tripped over each other exiting a bedroom. Behind me, I could feel Rook’s presence like a heavy shadow.
“ Got you ,” he snarled, far too close, and I gripped the banister, launching myself over it, my stomach soaring as I tumbled through the air, landing on the balls of my feet in the foyer, rolling to lessen the impact. The roll turning right back into a full sprint.
The floor beneath my feet trembled as Rook jumped down behind me with a loud grunt.
Oh god.
Oh fuck.
I crossed the living room in a split second, rushing through the dining room as Run, Bitch, Run hit its first base drop. I could hear him behind me. In the living room. He’d be on top of me in seconds. The others not far behind.
Glass shattered in the living room, and I sucked in a breath, spying the dark space beneath an oversized ottoman in the sitting room. I slid across the hardwood floor, disappearing into that darkness an instant before Rook crashed into the room.
A clatter sounded above me. The bottle I’d knocked against the back of the cupboard in the bathroom must’ve fallen.
“She’s back upstairs,” Grey shouted, and I was sure if they came any closer, they’d be able to hear my heart thudding as loudly as I could hear it in my own ears.
Two sets of racing footfalls departed, but there was still one set lingering. Even with the slightly heavier right foot from his injuries. I know the sound of him anywhere. Rook knew I didn’t go back upstairs.
Run, Bitch, Run slowed, coming to an end, giving me the opportunity to hear him take a long breath in through his nose. Was he… trying to scent me?
Wetness slicked my thighs beneath my leather skirt and I bit down hard on my lip, wanting to run but also aching to be found. I pressed my thighs together as the next song started, gasping as the leather hugging my thighs creaked.
Fuck.
Strong hands gripped my ankles, and I let out a squeal that was stolen away by the raucous beat of the next song as Rook dragged me out from beneath the ottoman.
I twisted out of his grip, clawing the carpet to escape, but he had me again a second later, his hard body crushing mine into submission, face down on the floor. “Where do you think you’re going, Ghost? You’re mine now.”
A feral sound escaped my lips as I reflexively struggled to find a way out, my heart racing like a trapped animal.
His knee slipped from my spine, and I took the opportunity to flip onto my back, launching a bare foot into his chest. An oof left his mouth as he fell back, and I scrambled to my feet, hurtling over the couch.
He was up in an instant, and I stood there like a deer mesmerized by bright headlights as I watched his shoulders expand.
Rook gauged the distance to me. The height of the couch between us.
He stepped to his left, and I jerked to the right, the bulky couch the only thing stopping him from getting to me.
“Ghost…” he warned, his tone dripping delicious venom.
I licked my lips, trying to taste it, and then bolted.
The thud of the couch being tossed from his path made shivers of fear and anticipation electrify every step.
I didn’t even get back to the main living room before making the critical mistake of turning to see how far behind he was.
My foot caught on the arched leg of a side-table in the entry, and I went crashing back to the floor.
I flipped to my back right as he descended on me. I raised an arm to strike, but he already had my wrists and pinned them high above my head, making me struggle and writhe beneath him.
“ Mine .” His guttural declaration vibrated through his chest.
I cried out as he bent over my chest, biting the mound of my right tit, nearly breaking skin, making me see stars.
I got an arm free and raked my claws over his neck but that only excited him more.
He fought to regain control, twisting my arm, my body, until I was facedown and entirely unable to move.
I felt the press of cold steel against the base of my spine and shivered.
But it was the press of his warm, hard cock through his jeans against my ass cheek that had me panting for him. Salivating.
Wanting.
Needing.
Begging.
“ Please .”
He flipped up the hem of my skirt and sliced the thin string of my thong in one quick movement, exposing me to him. He pawed my left cheek before squeezing it so hard a yelp tore from my throat. His hand came down on the same spot an instant later, making goosebumps race along my body.
I arched, trying to move, that instinct to run still persistent in my blood, but he leaned over my body, and I felt the sharp edge of a blade under my chin, making my pulse skip a beat. “You aren’t going anywhere, Ghost,” his warm breath fanned over my cheek. “I won . Now I get to claim my prize.”
“You found her,” Grey’s excited voice came from somewhere to my right and Rook’s answering snarl made his steps falter, shuffle back a foot.
The sting of the blade nicking my skin made me suck in a breath as a droplet of warmth slid down my throat, finding a home between my breasts. I closed my eyes against the wave of endorphins, bristling beneath my dark prince.
“I found her,” Rook roared and the possession in his voice made my toes curl. “I get to claim her first.”
“Fair is fair,” Grey replied cautiously, and the remaining struggle leached from my coiled muscles.
Rook scraped the blade down my throat just as Anthem of the Broken began to play, raising gooseflesh in its wake. “Now be a good Ghost and don’t fucking move.”
He released my arm, and I let it drop to the floor, wincing as the overextended muscle returned to its natural state.
My breasts pressed against the floor with each rise of my chest. The blade withdrew from my throat and without warning, Rook impaled me with his cock, tearing a scream from my throat as my fingernails dug for purchase on the hardwood. “That’s right, Ghost, scream for your Rook.”
I didn’t catch my breath before he was rearing back to slam into my dripping cunt again, hitting something so deep I was sure the echo of him inside me would repeat forever.
Rook set a brutal, bruising pace, fucking me so hard I knew I’d feel him there for days after. But the pain shifted swiftly to a pleasure so intense I howled, his animalistic sounds, my moans, and the slapping of our bodies creating a song all our own.
I sucked in a breath, my chest lifting from the floor when he snatched my hair, pulling hard, making me have no choice but to hold myself up on my hands, pressing back into my knees as he drove into me with a feral possession, claiming me like he promised he would.
He came hard, the blade forgotten, dropped to the floor.
His rough fingers grasped my hips tight as he arched his back and poured into me with a ragged cry.
The sound of his climax brought on my own and I ground my cunt against his base, trembling against the floor, my core tightening around him, squeezing out every last drop.
Rook eased out and I fell onto my side, still riding the wave of my orgasm, drawing my knees in with a soft moan. He smiled devilishly at me, bending to press a kiss to my ankle. “So, hide and seek?” he asked, breathless, his pupils slowly returning to normal.
“My new favorite game,” I admitted with a dopey smile, craning my neck to find Grey and Corvus hovering in the entry, their eyes burning with lust.
“It’s not over yet,” Corvus said dangerously, making my pussy tighten again.
He crossed the room, mindful of Rook as he wrenched me to my feet, and shoved me back onto the couch.
Mine and Rook’s combined release smeared over the luxurious fabric, and I opened my legs, helping it along.
A wicked thought forming in my mind. I wanted to trash this place. I wanted to fuck on every surface.