Chapter 29
Zane
Idied forty deaths watching Les collapse on the floor. It happened in slow motion. She sucked in a breath, drawing my attention then all the color drained from her face, and her legs gave out from underneath her.
When I dropped to my knees in front of her, her eyes were completely blank, and she wasn’t seeing what was right in front of her. She was seeing her time with Jay. I don’t know how she knew Steve was one of them, but I believed her completely.
She snaps the capsule open, waving it under his nose with a shaky hand.
I’m so damn proud of her that she pulled herself together to do this, but I was hoping she wouldn’t put herself through this anymore.
But I know she needs to do this, so I’m going to help her, lend her my strength, and together we can hopefully end this for both our sakes.
“Where’s Jay?” Les asks as soon as his eyes flutter open.
“I don’t know,” he croaks. His nose is still pouring blood from where Holden hit him.
“Cut the shit,” Les barks. I can see her spine straighten. “I know you were there, you fucking coward.”
Steve’s eyes snap to hers. “Where?”
Les marches over to her torture table, snatches up the scary curved knife, then marches back, shoving it against Steve’s throat.
Her hand is no longer shaking; it’s steady, her blade pressing right up against his jugular. “Where’s. Jay?”
“I’m not telling you anything,” Steve says, then swallows when he can feel the blood slip down his neck. “You’re going to kill me, anyway.”
“I am.” She shrugs. “But you can either die quickly, or I’m going to torture you within an inch of your fucking life. The choice is yours.” She presses the knife harder.
Something in her eyes must tell him she’s telling the truth because he takes a shuddering breath. “I don’t know where he is. He never told me.”
“Why did you help him?” I ask, stepping beside Les.
“He offered me a hundred grand,” Steve answers, glancing around the room.
I follow his line of sight to see the rest of Les’ guys standing against the wall.
They look intimidating as hell. I have to admit, they used to intimidate me until I saw how soft they were with Les.
It’s laughable now. That doesn’t mean they still won’t gut someone for her.
“You took a hundred grand for what you did to her?!” Ryder yells, stepping forward.
I’ve been waiting on his control to snap.
Holden grabs his arm to stop him, but Ryder jerks it away.
“You almost fucking killed him!” Ryder growls, jabbing a finger at Gage, “You almost took them both from us!” With each word, he’s eating up the steps that bring him right in front of Steve.
Les grabs my arm, pulling me to the side.
She can sense what I already did. Les silently hands Ryder her knife; he looks at her in surprise before taking it carefully from her hand.
“You need this too,” Les says quietly.
Ryder’s eyes are black and wild. Everyone can feel the shift in the air; things are about to get bloody. Quickly.
Ryder turns back to Steve, and even he feels it.
Ryder slashes through Steve’s shirt with one sure diagonal swipe straight across his chest. Steve screams, but it’s cut off by Ryder’s hand wrapped around his throat.
“Shut up,” Ryder growls. “For every fucking scar on their body, I’m going to do it tenfold to you until you start fucking talking. ”
I’ve seen Ryder pissed off through the years, mostly aimed at me.
But I’ve never seen him like this. Even when he’s mad, he has this carefully constructed control that won’t let him dive off the deep end.
Right now, he’s unhinged. That line to his control cut in two.
There isn’t going to be anything we can do to rein him back in.
Looking around the room, none of us want to either.
With one hand wrapped around Steve’s throat to hold him still, Ryder starts slicing into Steve’s chest, one slow drag of the knife at a time. He’s so hyper-focused on his task that it’s like the rest of us disappeared.
“Stop,” Steve blubbers.
“Not until you tell me where that motherfucker is hiding.”
“I don’t know!” When he says it this time, I believe him. Jay didn’t even tell him where he was hiding, so this is wasting our time.
“What’s he up to next?” I ask.
“He just said everyone had to die! So he could have her!”
I look at Les, and she nods; it’s time to end this. “Ryder,” she says softly. When he doesn’t stop, she gently touches his arm. “Ryder.” He jerks back with a growl, making her take a step back.
Shit.
“Ryder,” I say sternly. “Give me the knife.” He turns those crazy eyes on me, and even I have to stop myself from backing away. “Let her end this.”
“He knows something,” Ryder grits out, returning to his task.
“We’re wasting our time here,” I soothe, trying to talk him down.
“He fucking kidnapped her!” Ryder yells. His chest is heaving; his eyes are unfocused.
“I know,” I soothe again. “Let her end it.”
“FUCK!” Ryder yells. It’s so loud it makes me wince. The knife hits the floor with a clang when he roughly jams his hands in his hair, tugging.
Les goes to step up to him, and I gently place my hand in front of her. “I got this,” I tell her. Ryder isn’t himself right now, and it will kill him if he does anything to hurt or scare her.
“Ryder,” I say calmly, “You need to pull yourself back together.” All the other guys are just as shocked as me. Ryder is relentlessly pacing, pulling at his hair. No one knows what the fuck to do; they just know if too many of us come at him at once, he’ll surely snap.
“I can’t,” Ryder says, sounding like a wounded animal. “Fuck! I can’t!” I hear Les choke off a cry, and I know I need to end this. Now, his control makes sense. This is why he never let himself go for this type of thing.
I step in front of him, where he’s pacing. His hands drop from his hair, and he pulls his arm back, nailing me right in the jaw with a right hook, making my head snap to the side. Fuck. That hurt. I hear Les make that noise again, and something in me snaps.
I wrap my hand around his throat, squeezing, and slam his back against the wall. “You’re fucking scaring her,” I growl in his face. “Get it together. Now!”
Ryder lets his head drop against the wall with a thud. “I can’t.” He makes that noise again. “I can’t, Zane.”
I squeeze his throat harder, pushing my face right in his, locking my eyes on his. “Yes. You can.”
I watch as his eyes start to refocus, and his shoulders drop. I feel his hands on my hips and know he’s about to push me away. I relax my hand until his hold on my hips jerks me closer. I adjust my grip to squeeze differently; that’s when he moans, rubbing his hard cock against mine.
“What do you need, Ryder?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” Ryder groans, swiveling his hips.
“I think you do,” I whisper, my lips rubbing against his.
“You need someone to take control of you so that you can get your own back.” Ryder goes to shake his head, so I squeeze tighter, cutting off his air; his mouth drops open on another moan.
Is Ryder a switch? I’ve seen his dominant side with Les, but I’ve also noticed that submissive side poking through with Gage and Leo.
“Tell me,” I demand, and his whole body shudders.
I take a step back, keeping my hand on his throat, pulling my hips from his hold, making him whimper at the loss of contact.
My dick is throbbing behind the zipper at the thought.
I’m not doing it for myself. He needs this.
I look over my shoulder at Les, and she’s standing against her table, still looking a little worried.
I look a little further and notice Steve is dead, and the rest of the guys have slipped out.
I was so focused on Ryder that I didn’t even notice.
I look back at Ryder. “Tell me what you need.” I already know what he needs; I just need him to tell me. “Do you need me to take control?”
His eyes focus on mine again. They’re still black, but that crazy gleam is gone. “Yes,” he breathes reluctantly. I move my hips back to rub against him, soaking in his moan.
“Is that what you want?” I ask, licking across his bottom lip. “You want my cock?”
His eyes start to narrow, so I apply pressure to his throat. I see the moment he stops fighting it. “Yes.” He swallows. “Please.” I shut my eyes at the sound of his begging, trying to gather my own control.
When I open them again, whatever he sees there makes his face relax.
I place my other hand beside his head. “Get my cock out,” I demand, and I can hear Les suck in a breath.
“Do you want her here for this?” I ask just for his ears.
I don’t know how he’ll feel about this in front of her.
He nods in my hold, his hands going to the button and zipper on my jeans, undoing them and shoving my pants and boxers off my hips. “Stroke it.”
His hand wraps around it, stroking hard, twisting his hand around the head.
I’m painfully hard; the head is a deep angry purple, just from being this close to a guy I used to hate.
But after everything that went down upstairs with all the guys, I know that shit was done.
My feet carried me upstairs on their own accord when I heard Holden moaning Ryder’s name.
Curiosity was at the top of the list when I saw them.
The longer I watched, the more I realized it was more than curiosity.
It was desire. The surprise wasn’t Gage sucking my dick or even Holden.
It was the feeling I had toward Holden once it was done.
Even from the first day he walked into my apartment, when I got that call from Jay, there was something I wanted to soak in from him.
I feel Ryder pant against my lips, his eyes focused on them.
“You want to kiss me, Love?” The nickname rolls off my lips with ease, just looking into his dark eyes.
The whole dynamic is twisting, changing into something neither of us expected.
He nods, but something else is lurking in his eyes besides lust and desire.
Shame. I can’t have that. I lean close to his ear so only he can hear.
“This doesn’t make you weak. Don’t hesitate to take what you want or need, and never feel ashamed of that.
Do you understand?” I look back at him, and he nods. “Words, Love. Say the words.”
“I understand,” Ryder says hoarsely. I don’t hesitate; I seal my lips over his, groaning at the contact.
I have to chase his tongue back in his mouth to remind him who’s in control.
I give his throat a gentle squeeze, and he shivers against me.
His hold on my cock tightens, stroking faster.
I pull away and peck his lips again because I can’t help myself.
“Is this still what you need?” He nods. “On your knees.” I let the authority in my voice bleed into that command, and his eyes widen. When he drops to his knees in front of me, I almost come on the fucking spot. “Suck,” I grit out, teetering on edge.
He licks around the head before sliding his mouth down my cock until it bumps against his throat.
Placing both hands on the wall, I work my hips back and forth, fucking his mouth in shallow thrusts.
I push in further, and his hands fly to my thighs.
Rubbing one hand over his head affectionately.
“Relax. You can take it all.” His eyes widen again.
I push harder, making him gag, and his eyes start watering.
“Breathe through your nose, Love.” I feel him relax at the pet name, and I slide in.
My balls are touching his chin, his nose brushing my pubic bone.
His eyes are locked on mine, seeking the acceptance I know he’s looking for.
“Good boy,” I groan. I have no clue where the hell that even came from, but it’s exactly what he needs. And it feels right.
Slipping from his mouth so he can breathe, I touch the side of his face. “Stand up.” He frowns but gets to his feet. I don’t want him on this hard concrete floor on his knees anymore. “We’re not done,” I assure him. “Go to my room. Take your clothes off and wait for me.”
He jerks a nod and slips from the room. Not only am I getting him out of this basement, but I also need to give him a chance to change his mind.
I can feel the tug toward him, and he feels it too.
I need him to be sure this is what he needs from me.
The guy who used to be his enemy. I need him to be sure that’s how he wants to give me his body. I need him to be sure he even needs me.
I turn to look at Les, tucking myself back into my jeans. She doesn’t look worried anymore when she smiles at me softly. I walk over to her and slide my arms around her waist. “How did you know that’s what he needed?” she asks, wrapping her arms around my neck.
“I just knew.” I can’t explain it. As soon as I saw the look on his face, I knew.
She kisses my lips. “Go take care of him.”
I crush her to my chest. “I love you.” I can’t explain how much, not in words anyway. I can’t even explain this feeling of urgency to get back to Ryder.
I just know he needs me.
Now.