19. Tit For Tat
Chapter 19
Tit For Tat
Raven
Present Day
G roaning, I sat up, a dull throbbing pulsating in my temple. A stinging on my throat where Quinn had dug the shears in.
Shortly after the last round, after Maverick had met my eyes, the world had turned dark. The familiar feeling of being pulled under. And now I was back in our prison . In my own bed. Alone.
Gathering my wits, I realized the medical equipment was gone now, too. Shifting out of the bed, I stumbled to the ground unsteadily.
My body was weak again, forced into an endless cycle of healing only to be gravely injured. Over and over.
But why am I even alive at all ?
Wobbling to my feet, I used the bed for stability.
Oh god. Quinn.
Hopelessness attempted to plunge its way into my gut.
He was one of the last remaining bright parts of my childhood. Someone here knew that. Knew more about me than anyone ought to.
It has to be my sister. My sister has to be my fucking Sponsor. She is here pulling the strings.
The more I thought about it, the more it made the most sense.
My door banging open drew my attention.
“Maverick?” He was the last man I expected to see. “What’s wrong? Where are Jayce and Levi?”
The door swung shut, and he locked it.
Turning back to me, Maverick didn’t pause.
He didn’t answer.
He marched towards me. His face was determined. His eyebrows furrowed, his jaw clenched, his lips pinched. I was still using the bed to hold most of my weight, but then his large hands found their way to my hips, supporting me instead.
“Enzo was right. An unsolvable puzzle.”
That was the only explanation I received before Maverick forced his lips to mine.
They were cold , full, harsh.
“Mmm!” The noise came from my mouth but was caught by his.
Part of me wanted to struggle, to fight this.
But a darker, deeper, more powerful piece wanted to be consumed by Maverick.
By whatever this was.
The last game had broken us apart but in different ways .
He had seen his long dead brother. I had been nearly killed by my long-lost friend.
Opening for Maverick, I allowed him to take control. Giving him the space to do what he needed.
But instead of pushing further, he tore his lips apart from mine, panting a few times as he looked fixedly into my eyes. Searching for something.
“Why are you okay with this? How could you possibly want this? Want me ? I’m a coward! The weakest link of our group!” His fingers found their way under my shirt, digging into the skin of my hips, just below my stitches.
“I’m used to not having a choice. But I do now. I know you would stop this.” I stared up at him through my eyelashes. I expected him to run, to flee this interaction entirely.
Maverick had never appeared this unhinged. His mask was absent, his hair in disarray, his eyes bright and wild, the hazel irises practically glowing.
“You know nothing. ” He shoved me down.
The scratchy carpet bit into my bare knees, but I didn’t care.
“Open your fucking mouth.”
Ignoring him, I tilted my head in thought.
Levi and Jayce had already permitted me to do what I wanted. That there weren’t any restrictions on who I pursued.
But what will this do? How will this change our dynamic?
Maverick dropped his pants, his cock bobbing free.
My lips parted in surprise, and he took that as an invitation to push the velvety tip in.
“Raven,” Maverick groaned.
The reverie in his voice sent shockwaves of desire directly to my cunt and I opened my mouth further .
“So good. All the way back.” Passion saturated his tone as he pumped further into my mouth.
One of his hands found their way to my hair tangling into it. His long fingers stretching and holding me exactly how he wanted to.
“You’re handling it all so well. This feels better than I imagined.”
Better than he imagined?
I didn’t have time to dive deep on the implication of his words before his rough fingers curled into my hair tugging me further onto his cock. For a moment I struggled to breathe, but then I swallowed around him in the back of my throat.
“Too fucking good,” Maverick grunted.
Fueled by his approval, I swirled my tongue as best as I could around him as he continued to choke me.
When black spots marred my vision, he pulled his length all the way out, allowing me one deep breath before he thrust back in, a trail of saliva smearing down my chin. He was making this messier than it needed to be. Almost intentionally.
“Raven, who are you? A broken woman?”
I growled around his cock, vocalizing my displeasure as best I could.
“No, you’re not. You’re a capable woman that has and will continue to bring men to their knees. But will you be our undoing? Will you be what finally unravels our minds?” He was beating a chaotic rhythm into my mouth now.
It was heady, vitriol. The way he was using me for his pleasure only intensified the need for my own release. I tried to shift on my knees for the friction I so desperately needed, but his continued barrage made it difficult.
Unable to catch my breath, let alone answer, he continued. His hips rolling and snapping as he used my mouth for his pleasure. But even still, I knew at any point I could end it. I wasn’t afraid of Maverick. He was a curiosity. Stoic and analytical. A man that gave nothing to anyone. And yet here he was pressing and pushing and thrusting all of his emotions into me.
Before this instance I was almost positive Maverick hated me. But now I was beginning to think it might be the opposite. He might like me… too much. And knowing him. Knowing the history of his dead brother, I imagined he didn’t want to care for me at all.
In a game like this, that would be dangerous. A strategic disadvantage.
“Or will you be our salvation?” He spoke so softly I barely caught the words. But the tone was evident.
Adoration .
His cock pulsating in my mouth distracted me from the tumultuous thoughts that poured through my mind.
“Swallow it.”
Warmth filled the back of my throat, and I attempted to not let any escape as he withdrew carefully from my lips.
I expected him to turn tail and run, to realize what he had done and no longer want any part of it, but to my surprise, he bent down and gently tugged me off the ground.
He pushed me back onto the bed and stared down at me.
“Tit for tat,” he stated.
I didn’t have a chance to question his motives before he was tugging my shorts off and dropping to his knees between my thighs.
He remained still, his hot breath fanning against my sensitive skin. But then he leaned forward, his tongue lashing out, finding my clit. He brought a hand up, one finger plunging into my core. A wave of uncertainty circulated through me but then he was lowering his mouth to my cunt. Consuming my thoughts and sparking electricity across my nerves.
“Maverick. ”
I arched off the bed, my hands digging into the sheet below me.
This wasn’t sensual in any way, it was clinical. As if I was an experiment he was trying to test. A transaction he wanted more than anything to fulfill. A project he needed to complete.
But it made it better .
Tit for tat.
Shutting down my brain, I emptied all the thoughts and chaos and pain of everything that had transpired in the last day. In the last month.
In the last five years.
I blocked out how much I still loved Jayce. How much Levi had burrowed his way into my soul. How much I missed Sparrow.
I just allowed myself to feel . To be consumed by the pleasure he was providing. In this room, there was no space for emotions .
For a breakdown.
He pushed another finger into me, curling it just inside and I let out an uninhibited mewl.
“Ah, I see. Like that.” The words were a garbled mess as Maverick continued to push into me while simultaneously swirling my clit with his tongue.
“Please,” I begged for something, but I didn’t even know what it was. I just needed more. For him to light every nerve ending of mine and fully blanket every other feeling I had.
Maverick always knew how to figure out a puzzle and it was no different now as he worked me over. His fingers plunging in and out, his teeth brushing my clit.
A wanton whimper escaped my lips as his teeth latched down harder.
Maverick huffed a laugh that vibrated throughout me. A delicious feeling that shoved me closer to the peak.
He bit down harder on my clit and added a third finger .
Shockwaves shot through me, across my skin, a scorchingly delicious feeling. My muscles clenched, and I spasmed around his fingers.
“Maverick!” I didn’t mean to scream his name.
He plunged his fingers into me a few more times, as I rode the last waves of pleasure, before withdrawing entirely.
Standing to his feet, Maverick met my gaze and kept it as he wiped me off of his face with the back of his hand.
He spun, and this time, I was sure he was going to leave, now that the transaction was complete, but instead he walked to my bathroom, turning the shower on.
“Can you walk?” he asked when he returned, shirtless. His broad shoulders and scarred chest on full display. His voice was back to its typical monotone, but I could almost detect just a hint of something.
Emotion .
I tried to push myself up off the bed but fell back down, my side throbbing in pain.
I had used most of my energy reserves in the last game and then Maverick had taken the last of it.
He didn’t wait for an answer, he helped me sit up on the bed, carefully removing my mask, and then my shirt. His eyes lingered on my chest for a bit too long before he continued to assist me.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked. I was genuinely confused by why he was still here.
I expected the encounter to be similar to that with Enzo. Where we would use each other and then would carry on as if nothing had happened.
“Because I made you dirty, so I am going to help to fix it.” Maverick was matter-of-fact, stern. He left no space for argument.
“I— ”
He gathered me into his arms. I was used to being manhandled, but this was different…
Maverick wasn’t like Levi. Or Jayce. Or even his brother, Enzo.
“Are you okay?”
He cradled me further into his chest, his bulky arms tightening around me as he carried me to the shower.
“My mind is unravelling,” Maverick admitted, not looking at me. “Raven.”
I startled against him as he stepped into the shower. This time when he spoke my name, it was a plea. A broken, hollowed noise coming from an injured creature.
“There is something I haven’t told the others yet, but you need to know.” He set me down in the shower, my back to his chest. He was careful to angle my stitches away from the spray as his hands made their way to my shoulders.
They were both for his support and my own.
“What is it?” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know. Enzo’s secret had nearly broken me.
“I have run every scenario. I have gone over every past game. They are going to separate us. Turn us against each other as best they can.”
“What do you mean?” Dread clamped a hand around my throat, constricting my airway.
“These teams that we have? It may not be the next round, but soon enough, we won’t be on the same side anymore. Our lives won’t be tied together anymore. How can they be when there are five winners? Why would they?”
We won’t be on the same side anymore.
It made sense. Why would they keep us together if every round they wanted to show how easy it was to turn on each other ?
“When?” I whispered, carefully twisting around.
Maverick’s hands dropped from my shoulders as I spun, but he surprised me by wrapping them carefully around my body. Pulling me into a hug.
His chin rested on the top of my head as I buried my face in his chest. We stood like that for several minutes in silence.
The only sound coming from our beating hearts and the patter of water as it hit the tile below.
Maverick squeezed me tighter before finally answering. “ Soon .”