Chapter 9 Silas
SILAS
The smell of sweat and expensive cologne fills the club as the bass vibrates through the floors.
Bodies writhe, inhibitions loosened thanks to the mixture of alcohol and colorful pills circulating.
Every one of them wants to forget something—bills, the interest on their loans, the unlikeliness of finding a job, of ever owning a house or car.
But most of all, they want to forget themselves.
To avoid the picture in their minds of who they thought they would be compared to the pathetic reality.
So they drink. And fuck. And try to forget. The daily drama, the petty fights and insecurities, the mundane gossip—all of it. Here, in this club, at this moment, with drugs pumping through their veins and strangers’ hands touching their bodies, they are free.
How I wish oblivion were that simple for me.
People leap out of my way as I stalk forward, a perk of being one of the Seven. Men dip their heads in respect. Women eye us hungrily. With a snap of my fingers, I could have any one of them on their knees, legs spread and waiting for my cock.
But there’s only one person I want to punish. One pair of full lips I want to use and fuck until they’re swollen, until her jaw aches and tears coat her fair cheeks. Fuck, this is a bad idea.
It’s just a passing interest. Never mind that last night was the first time I picked up a brush and painted beyond my usual shades of grey—with embers the color of her eyes and reds the same shade as her hair.
Evie is too young, too na?ve, too fucking good for someone like me.
But fuck if that doesn’t make me crave her all the more.
And right now, there’s another man with his hands all over her.
“Silas…” Erik warns, having caught up to the three of us.
His jeans are unbuttoned, cheeks flushed—but he’s here.
He’s here, and he’s warning me away. Erik’s the type of man who can go for hours when he fucks, priding himself on his ability to wring orgasm after orgasm from his partners, but he left.
For me. To stop me from doing something I’ll regret.
“Let them go,” Erik says, and I wish he’d said it with arrogance or malice or any fucking thing other than understanding.
“She doesn’t realize what she’s doing,” I snap, fists clenching and eyes narrowing as I watch the four of them weave through the crowd. Tempest is unknowingly leading them in our direction, toward the back door she likes to use when leaving for the night.
“I think she does,” Erik replies, following my line of sight. “You saw her at the foot of the steps. Evie thought we were going to murder her, and she still fought.”
He claps me on the back with a sigh. “No one fucks the new girl, Sie. You said so yourself. Tempest deserves to have a friend…”
His voice trails off as he realizes where they’re headed. Tempest pauses, arching her back as the man behind her licks up the side of her neck. His hands wrap around her, gripping the curve of her breasts from behind as she tilts her head and claims his lips with hers.
“On second thought,” Erik mutters, stalking forward. They’re only a few paces away, poised in the shadows, away from the gyrating bodies and rumble of music.
“I don’t know, brothers,” Noctis muses, the teasing tone of his voice telling me he knows exactly which buttons he’s about to push. “Looks like the ladies are primed for an enjoyable evening. Would be a shame to cock-block them when both parties are willing.”
My nostrils flare as I watch Evie glance between Tempest and the man beside her. She stares up at him, her gaze a mixture of tentative want and burning curiosity. Like she’s realizing for the first time that she can do whatever she wants—with whoever she wants.
Her eyes dip to his lips, and all I see is green.
A violent emerald haze of jealously erupts in my chest at that one glance.
Fuck, not only is she practically shouting she’s a virgin, but I’d bet the broken pieces of my soul she’s never been kissed before.
At least not like this. Not with want and hunger and sinister desire.
A low rumble starts in my chest as the fucker tilts Evie’s chin up, her pretty lips parting for him.
“You did say Evie is off-limits,” Mavros adds, nudging my shoulder.
“That was before I knew how quickly she’d throw herself at the first prick she met,” I seethe, already moving. Noctis laughs as Mavros curses, but Erik is right at my side, matching my furious pace.
“We can’t kill them here,” Erik says, just as I grab the guy’s collar, dragging him away from Evie before the fucker gets the chance to taste her. Erik’s already at the door, holding it open as I toss the bastard through without a backward glance.
“Hey!” Tempest shrieks, her heels echoing in the dimly lit alleyway. “What the actual fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Sorry, little storm,” Erik answers—not sounding sorry in the least—as he dodges a swing from the guy she’d been with moments ago.
I catch the glint of Erik’s smug grin, his fist splitting the skin over the guy’s eye before he picks him up and tosses him into his friend.
The two steady each other, squaring their shoulders as if they mean to fight us.
Erik cracks his neck, the crazed glint in his eyes igniting as a wicked smirk tilts his lips. “You’ll thank me in the morning, Tempest.”
“Like hell I will,” Tempest snaps. “Jameson wasn’t doing anything I didn’t want him to do. Neither was Mark. Was he, Evie?”
My little fox shakes her head, but stops when I narrow my eyes. “You plan on fucking this guy, little fox?”
Evie pales, eyes widening as her attention bounces between us.
“You’re not needed here, bro,” Mark sneers, flexing his chemically enhanced arms as the sound of Mavros and Noctis’s boots echo behind us. “And you’re sure as fuck not wanted. Why don’t you run along before I give security something to do.”
His threat washes over me and the world goes still. The sound of the club fades, replaced with a dull ringing, drowning out everything except the smug piece of shit’s flexing fingers and Evie’s wide eyes.
“Fuck,” Tempest grumbles, throwing her head back as she loops her arm through Evie’s.
She’s pissed at me, and I’m fully anticipating a lecture in the morning about how she’s a grown woman and capable of making her own decisions—albeit bad ones—but they’re hers to make.
But, she’d never side with some one-night-stand asshole over me.
Though, to his credit, Jameson looks a little worried, sensing the energy shift. While Mark… well, some of us don’t get looks or brains.
I tilt my head, keenly aware of each shifting muscle in his body as I direct my command to where Mavros and Noctis are hovering. “No interfering.”