26. Chapter 21
The most important lessons are always the hardest to learn.
That is what Fallon said, as he locked the door and left us. Or when the belt cracked over our skin for the fifth time that week. Learning anything from Fallon hurt. I don’t know if lessons are supposed to, but they always did.
It’s amazing what can be learned when you crave affection. Touch. Even if the person teaching you is not worthy of yours.
Whenever we were punished, it was earned. There was always a reason behind Father’s cruelty, even if we didn’t understand it at the time. We learned eventually. Locking us in isolation gave us time to think, reflect, he’d say, so that when we emerged, we’d be different. Stronger for it, both mentally and physically. We knew we could survive three days with only water and our own thoughts. We knew we could handle the belt. The beatings. By the time we were faced with the final test, we knew, too, that we could survive the wilderness.
In order for Delilah to let go of all the false things she’s learned in her life, she needs to be broken apart and reconstructed. She now knows that if she stays inside, she’ll be safe. I told her as much. She knows if she clears her plate, or doesn’t protest, she’ll not get the same knuckle cracking lessons we got as children. Delilah knows as long as she follows orders, things will turn out well for her.
And when she can take the consequences of her actions, she’ll be rewarded.
She learned a harsh lesson last night. One I was surprised to find she took rather well. Surprised she responded by letting her own darkness seep out. But then Reaper knows what he’s doing.
That’s why we follow him.
She’s so much like him. Maybe that’s why he’s being so hard on her. He knows what it takes to empty a person. Carve off the misshaped bits. That’s what he’s doing with our Princess. Carving out the places she keeps hidden until they’re empty and we can fill them with the truth about her father. That’s the only way she’ll be able to handle it. Because when she finds out what her father is really like, she’s going to need us to guide her. And we need her trust, her acceptance, before she’ll be willing to help us.
I just hope when Reaper tries to crack her open a little more, he doesn’t go too far. She’s already accepting us, listening. We just need a little longer, but I fear that if he slips off the ledge he’s leaning over with her she’ll close herself back up and we won’t ever be able to reach her. I worry that his hatred for Rune is bleeding all over her. A little too much. So much so that she may drown in it before we can accomplish our mission.
I fear too that maybe I’m forgetting too often that I’m supposed to hate her. Just a little, so that what we’re doing is justified.
But some days…
Some days it’s easy to forget she’s here for one reason and it isn’t to fill that blank space in our hearts.
It’s solely to pay Rune Gavin back, and using his daughter is the only way.
The loud slam of the front door cracks through the room. I spin away from the window and look across the library to the entry.
Viper looks up from his book, slipping his mask down over his face. “Is she crazy?”
I catch Breaker’s grin before his mask slips down. “Maybe she wants another pussy spanking.”
I do the same, adjusting my mask over my eyes as I stalk toward the foyer, but before I can reach the other side of the room, Delilah comes into view. When she sees me, she freezes, and her face flushes pink.
We’ve been waiting for her to venture out of her room. She never came down for breakfast and we never retrieved her. But we all know her pride will not allow her to hide from us. She just needed time to work up the courage to face us after last night.
“Which one of you assholes left the door open?” she asks, pressing her fingers to the hollow of her neck. Her pulse flutters wildly and I want to lean down and press my mouth to the skin and feel it move against my lips. “Resorting to more taunts?”
“Reaper,” Viper says, “he never remembers to shut the door.”
Her brows knit as she looks at each of us. “He just forgets?”
I shrug and back away before I lose my loose grip on my sanity and do something foolish. Like throw her over my knee and spank that sass out of her. Then shove two fingers deep into her until I hear that greedy moan again.
It’s obvious after last night, we’re too close to the edge. I don’t know how long we’ll last before we all do what Viper did. Hold them down and force them to take our cocks.
“He was in a hurry,” Breaker adds, looking strangely at me. My brows knit, worried he can see my thoughts on my face. After a few heartbeats, he says, “The door was open last night, wasn’t it?”
She bites her bottom lip, tongue gliding over the tiny cut. “I heard screaming. I thought it was Cora and the open door…” her voice trails off, and she shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Foxes,” Viper says. She gives him a blank look. “The screams. You heard foxes. It’s a mating call.”
“You’ve never heard a fox scream?” Breaker asks, glancing at each of us when her brows raise.
“I’m a city girl, remember?” she says. “I’ve never even see a wild animal that wasn’t in a zoo.”
“You never visited your father’s lodge?” I ask, keeping my tone even.
“His boy’s club?” She laughs. “God no. I’d rather stay here with you four than be surrounded by those old men and their dusty wives.”
Breaker’s gaze flicks over to me. I can picture his scowl. Just as we suspected, she knows nothing.
She had screamed that she hadn’t run last night. It’s clear now she was looking for Cora. Not that it matters. She still left the house, and on top of it put herself in danger by running into the woods. Delilah’s been talking to us via the cameras for days. She could have just….
Fuck.I refuse to feel bad. She still has to learn to listen to us. It’s for her own good, but she was out there because she must have thought we were hurting Cora.
That thought sends anger snapping down my spine.
I step forward and weave my fingers into her hair, pulling her to me. God. She smells like that shampoo she uses. Woodsy and dark. Like sin.
“You thought we were hurting her.” It’s not a question. Her hands land on my chest and fuck me if my cock doesn’t get instantly hard. My gaze dips to her pink mouth. “After last night, do you really believe she’d scream in pain if we touched her?”
Her entire face turns red, her eyes falling and focusing on the center of my chest.
“Those aren’t the screams we want to hear, Princess,” I tell her. “So next time you think you hear screaming, it’ll only be when Cora comes.”
She shoves against my chest and I let her go, watching as she stumbles back and grips the chair Breaker’s sitting in. She’s so flustered that I smile. I can’t wait until we have her. Fully.
She has no idea what she’s in for when we do.
She turns her back to me, resting her hands on her hips as she looks at Breaker. “I’m hungry.”
Viper chuckles. “Me too, Sweetheart. You going to spread your legs for me to feast?”
“I thought you preferred dick.”
His head twitches in that way that tells me to be on alert.
“Wait. I forgot, you only like pussy after it’s filled with Breaker’s cum.”
He shoots up so fast even I can’t move quick enough to stop him before he fists her hair and shoves her to her knees. She falls gracefully, like she knew what he’d do before even he did. “You’ve got a mouth on you,” he snarls.
She smirks, daring him to… I’m not even sure she knows what she wants. She’s figured out we will not hurt her and that may be a dangerous realization because now she’s going to test our limits.
God. Reaper’s in for it now. I think we all are.
“You sure liked my mouth that night in the club,” Delilah says so innocently that Viper’s grip tightens even more, making her wince. “Liked it so much you groaned like a fucking pig.”
“Jesus,” Breaker says, shaking his head as he pulls himself up from the chair. He glances at me, then grabs Delilah from Viper, yanking her up roughly by her arm. She flattens her palm to his chest and looks up at him with a defiant, possibly even a little satisfied, smirk. “You like pushing buttons, but Viper has a hair-trigger temper.”
“What’s he going to do?” she says. “Fuck my mouth again? Spank me? Give me an orgasm?”
Breaker’s gaze darts to me. Yeah. We’re fucked.
She spins and marches toward the doorway. When we don’t all follow immediately, she turns around, brows going up. “Hungry, remember?” she says, crossing her arms. “You’re the freaks who insist on feeding me, so let’s go.”
“Don’t act like you don’t like it,” Viper says. “You love feeling Breaker’s cock against your ass.”
“I guess that’s one thing we have in common.”
My laugh is so loud Viper turns to glare at me.
Shaking his head, Breaker saunters over to her. He hooks a finger under her chin, tilting her head back to look up at him. She’s so small next to him, it’s almost comical that she has the guts to sass him. “You’re going to like it even more when my cock is deep inside your pussy,” he says, “and you’re swallowing Viper’s cum.”
Her eyes dart to me. “Where’s Striker going to be?” she snarks. “And Reaper? In your ass?”
She spins on her heel as I call after her. “Watch out, Princess, or you’ll have your privilege of leaving the house revoked.”
I really, really, hope she doesn’t try this shit with Reap. He’s on the edge, barely hanging on as it is.
She’ll regret it if she pushes him too far.