Chapter 6 Delilah
SIX
DELILAH
Somehow, even though my mind is still foggy with sleep, I instinctively know where I am. Right. I remember now. I’m in the cell again. I’ve been abused … again. Fuck.
My eyelashes flutter as I finally come to a fully conscious state.
Swallowing hard, I remember every bit of the fuckery of what these creepy psychos refer to as the Hunting.
The damage to my body is the result of running barefoot through the woods, then being attacked—manhandled, shoved up against a tree, and, finally, choked until I blacked out.
Fuck. Surely it was all a goddamn nightmare.
But no. It wasn’t. All those things really did happen to me.
And that wasn’t even the end of it. My mind turns in on itself, and it’s all I can do not to let the warped blackness I’m feeling take me under.
Kiefer raped me. And there’s nothing to be done but move on.
I drag in a shuddering breath. Why am I— My chest jerks at the sudden realization that I’m lying on top of someone.
My mind races. It doesn’t take me long to register that the last thing I recall is that Arrow was here with me.
The finely hewn body beneath me has to be his.
Smooth skin warms my cheek, and then, the owner of the hard, muscular body shifts ever so slightly before a possessive arm belts around my middle.
And despite all the darkness that’d been clouding my mind a few seconds ago, in his hold, I’m able to relax.
He— He came back for me. But I didn’t think he’d stay. My brows draw together. Just being here in this cell with me is fucking dangerous. Why the hell would he risk it? I’m adrift in confusion, unable to understand his motives. Except … I asked him not to leave me.
I remember every bit of what he said, the concern for what’d happened out in the woods, what Kiefer had done.
And then … an apology. It’d almost been as if he were angry with himself for not being able to do more.
But he’s one of the firstborn sons. Why would he care at all what happens to me?
I’m just their property. There’s no forgetting that he’s part of the band of hoodlums who’d been chasing me and the other women out there in the woods.
The intent behind the ritual is to catch us and fuck us. Impregnate us.
But also … he called me Delilah. I exhale hard, frustrated.
And now, I’m grasping at straws. Last night, after having Kiefer’s fingers and cock inside me, the temptation of the comfort Arrow had offered was too great.
And when he looked at me with those pleading eyes and asked me to sit with him, I couldn’t say no.
Didn’t want to, honestly. But for the first time since I landed in this mess, a sliver of hope has emerged.
My game plan hasn’t changed. I know that to have a fighting chance, these men need to look at me differently.
No matter what my feelings are where they’re concerned, getting close to them in a physical sense might be the only shot at getting them to see me as something other than just the next incubator for one of the commune’s children.
I have to make them see me as a person with emotions and thoughts and dreams, as more than just a thing they own.
The fact that the firstborn sons have begun to use my name—it’s a start.
Not wanting to alert Arrow that I’m awake, I pick through my brain. Everything comes down to trust and motives. I can’t say that I know for sure what makes any of these assholes tick, and at this moment in time, I’d probably be better off trusting no one, no matter what they say or do.
Beneath me, Arrow stirs, but I still don’t let on that I’m no longer sleeping.
He grunts a bit, shifting his big body. He has to be uncomfortable lying flat on this stone floor with my weight pressing down on him.
A moment later, his chest rises with a quick intake of air, then he releases what sounds like a groan.
I blink into the dark, waiting to see if he’s just making noise in his sleep or if he’s stirring.
His hands land on my back, then skim lower.
Is he awake? Does he know he’s touching me?
He adjusts himself again, and this time, his pelvis tilts.
The hard ridge of his cock burns its imprint into my skin right through the sheer gown I wear.
With each heavy thud of my heart, I know what my next move has to be, and it’s got me all twisted up on the inside, but I’ve only been left with so many choices.
I could rail against every one of these men and what they stand for.
Or I can take what I can from the ones I’m able to, use the instincts that drive them to my advantage.
Hayze? He’s fucking smart, and as the leader’s son, is an important figure in this compound.
That’s why I let him touch me the way I did.
Having him on my side will be important if I can manage it.
I squeeze my eyes shut. He could have been playing me, and the promises he made might have been a line of bullshit that I bit at, hook, line, and sinker.
I could have sworn he was trying to help me, but the more I think about it, the more it seems like he was leading me on a merry chase.
The wolf mask he told me to watch for—had he set some sort of fucking trap?
Both Finneas and Hayze had been wearing one.
I don’t like that I’m unsure of what happened.
Am I losing my mind? Maybe that’s their plan. He’ll be tricky to deal with.
Some of the other firstborn sons, I’m not certain of either, but Cross and Malakai haven’t shown their hands yet.
Not entirely. Even though they tried to warn me about what would happen during the Hunting the night they came down to my room, there’s a lot I don’t know about those two.
It’s possible they could be potentially useful to me if I’m able to convince them that I’m … theirs.
Arrow, though? He’s an easy mark, so I’ll block out everything else and do what I have to do.
Uncertain how far to take things, I go with my gut.
Turning my face toward him, I let the heat of his skin sink into my lips as I brush them over his chest. He twitches, and I can’t help but think I have his number.
He’s impulsive. Obsessive, even. And based on our past interactions I know he likes me. Wants me.
Decision made, I let a whimpering noise roll up from my throat, then ever so slowly bring my hands to his rib cage.
Touching him like this, I can’t help but notice he’s solidly built, and in sleep, my legs had fallen to either side of his hips.
Every part of my body that is in contact with him leads to a heightened awareness of what I’m doing.
After taking several steadying breaths, I shift, pretending to be asleep and unaware of what I’m doing.
I nudge at his cock with my pelvic bone, and he lets out a sleepy, raspy moan, then immediately stiffens, his breath catching.
Each shuddering exhalation from his lips tickles at the tendril of hair at my temple.
I do believe he meant what he said last night—he doesn’t mean me any harm.
Perhaps living here, secluded from society has him unaware of how wrong some of what they consider normal is.
He’s proclaimed more than once that he can’t help himself when he’s near me.
If the plan is to use my feminine wiles on him and the others to gain their trust, then the trick will be to not get caught by the Collective while in the act of doing it.
My goal has to be to make these men want me more than they want life itself and then use their desire for me as a barricade against the rest of these psychos.
But how do I even know it will work? The answer is I don’t. And I won’t know it hasn’t until it’s too late. It’s scary as fuck, and the only way forward is to hope like hell my instincts are correct.
Scraping my teeth over my bottom lip, I worry it for several seconds before letting it pop free.
This plan is complex. It’ll be more difficult than just allowing them to use my body.
I need to get under their skin, live inside their minds and twist them up until they can’t see straight.
When I’m done with them, they won’t even have a clue how I got into their blood, how I dug myself inside their bones and slid right past their defenses.
The bottom line is this—I’ll do whatever I have to do to set this entire place on fire, then I’ll relish the view as it fucking burns to the ground.
There’s no time like the present to get started.
Like a lazy cat, I let out a sexy groan as I stretch my body over Arrow’s and give a quiet little sigh.
Subtly at first, but then with more purpose, I grind my pussy along the length of his morning wood.
Men. They’re all alike. Predictable. I close my eyes as I continue to squirm naughtily against him.
The next little moan that bubbles up from me, I don’t even have to force.
The friction between us has begun to heat my blood, and much to my dismay, it’s all I can do to hold onto my sanity …
because it feels good. I bite down hard on my lip in an effort to keep my head in this wicked game. Control yourself, Delilah.
Warm hands find my lower back, fingers gripping through thin cotton.
His touch slides until he’s got a firm grasp of both my ass cheeks.
He does it so fucking slowly that if I were actually asleep, I don’t know if I’d realize what was happening.
Steadily, though, he’s begun to ease my body back and forth over his rapidly hardening dick.
He’d been aroused before, that much had been obvious, but now it’s as if there’s a thick steel pipe between my thighs.
Before long, he adds a thrust of his hips.
Once. Twice. And on the third, my lips part on a gasp.
I release another heady moan with his name on my lips. “Arrow.”