48. Chapter 43
“I’m not fucking hungry!”
With my hand hovering on the railing, foot on the first step, I pause and look toward the library. I glance up the stairs, knowing I need to talk to Delilah after I left her and Cora last night, after Reaper showed her the truth about her father, but Reaper’s muffled response to Cora’s scream sends a shiver down my spine. I don’t have to see him to know he’s furious. That deadly, low voice tells me maybe I should intervene.
God, it’s only been twenty-four hours since we sent the driver away and Reap may already regret it.
I backtrack, spotting Viper and Breaker coming from the direction of the dining room.
“What’s going on?” I ask as they approach, ignoring the way my cock thickens as Viper stalks forward. Ignoring how his large muscles ripple under his tight shirt and how his fatigues tug at his dick, his thick thighs pulling the material tightly around him. I rub my temple, averting my gaze and look at Breaker.
It doesn’t help. If anything, it makes it worse. He’s just as breathtaking.
I need to get a grip on myself.
“She’s refusing to eat,” Breaker says, stalking past me. He must have heard Reap’s tone too.
When we enter the library, my eyes immediately land on Cora’s smaller frame, caged in by Reaper’s massive body. I’m struck by how small she is next to him. Her head doesn’t even reach his shoulder, but that’s not deterring her. She glares up at him with such defiance, I can’t help but wonder how this woman was ever so submissive that night in the club. She looks prepared to scratch his eyes out.
Reaper points toward the doorway we’re all occupying and says with a low growl, “Go back and eat your food.”
She crosses her arms, unaffected by his deadly tone, his proximity, his clear anger, and shakes her head. “No.”
“Don’t make me put you over my knee,” Reaper grates, pointed finger curling into a fist. Fuck, he’s so tense, so riled. She has no idea how much he’s restraining himself right now.
“Go for it,” she says, narrowing her green eyes. “Rune did far worse.”
His arm drops and I swear he melts back like her words slapped him across the face.
“But what do you care?” she snaps. “You were going to send me back to him, knowing what he’s like. Knowing—” her voice cracks and she angrily wipes at her eyes before looking at the three of us in the doorway. My insides twist when she juts her chin out as she returns her glare to him and says, “You didn’t care. You know what he’s like, know what he would do to me, and you didn’t care. ”
A knife in my heart would be better than this slicing pain shooting through my chest. She’s right. We suspected he was hurting her and were prepared to send her right back into hell.
I can’t even defend our actions by saying we didn’t know the extent, but we know everything he’s capable of. We have a box full of evidence that paints a perfect picture of Rune’s sickness. It took us years to compile enough evidence and, thanks to our source, we gained enough to help convince not only Delilah but a handful of others to help us stop him.
A part of me is glad Delilah decided to keep Rune’s secret hunts to herself for now. I couldn’t imagine what Cora would feel like knowing the hands that killed those people so brutally, touched her too.
And we were going to send her to him.
To fucking Zane Devin, who may very well be worse than Rune. We haven’t even told Delilah about Zane yet. I think we all worry about how she’ll react after we do.
Reaper’s growl of fury snaps me from my thoughts. He glares down at Cora, who shoves his chest again.
“Oh fuck,” Breaker whispers as Viper lets out a low whistle.
My brows raise, glancing over at Breaker. He shakes his head.
Yeah, Little Flower is going to regret that. No one shoves Reaper around.
To my surprise, instead of reacting to her, his fingers flex at his sides, shoulders going stiff. Reaper is a man of pure control until, like me, he loses the battle.
“You know we had order—” he starts, but is cut off when she shoves him again.
“Fuck you and your fucking orders,” Cora snarls back, her entire body vibrating with anger. Getting up on her tiptoes, she points at his mask. “That’s just a coward’s excuse to avoid using your own judgement and—”
Reaper’s hand slams over her mouth, and her eyes grow wide. Gripping her arm, he tugs her toward the couch. She stumbles, grabbing the front of his shirt and the hand over her mouth as he sits and tugs her forward. She lands at an awkward angle over his lap.
An enraged cry breaks the silence when he releases her mouth and yanks her further up his thighs. Using one hand to hold her in place, he takes the other and hikes up her dress, revealing thin pink panties.
I have to admit that Viper’s fetish is rubbing off on me.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she screams, trying to push herself upright, but he grips her by her hair and shoves her face to the couch cushion.
“Adjusting your attitude,” Reaper growls, struggling to keep her still.
Her indignant snarl makes me smile. She’s like a feral cat, squirming, reaching around to slap at his hand, her other clawing at the one pinning her cheek to the cushion, legs flailing wildly.
“Hold still, Little Red,” Breaker says, and I can hear the grin in his voice. “Reaper only gets more excited when you try to escape.”
“Fucking freak!” she screams.
Next to me, Viper crosses his arms, but when she manages to break free from Reaper’s grasp, he darts forward snatching her wrists, dragging her back over Reap’s lap, stretching her arms out so he can pin them to the couch.
“Not even tiny Delilah was this hard to hold still.” Breaker says, shaking his head as he steps forward and grips Cora’s ankle before she can kick Reaper in the face.
Once she’s secured, Reaper adjusts her on his lap, and tugs her underwear down to reveal her creamy, round ass. My cock thickens at the sight. My hunger for them may have been sated briefly last night, but I can’t wait to get my hands on our Little Flower.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she seethes when she realizes what Reaper intends, but her next few words are cut off with the sharp slap of flesh meeting flesh. It’s so loud that she sucks in a breath and goes completely rigid. He lands five more in rapid fire succession and she holds her breath, not moving an inch.
I expect her to curse and struggle again, but she remains completely still. My jaw tenses, worry flooding my chest. Scared she’s having some sort of trauma response and Reaper never should have put her over his knee, but then she laughs and his hand pauses mid air.
“Your kinky ass can do better than that,” she says, still defiant with her cheek squished to the cushion. “If you’re trying to make a point, you have to make it burn.”
My brows knit. Viper’s eyes meet mine. Breaker shakes his head but chuckles. I hope they’re prepared to grab her before Reaper loses control and really lets them land hard, but the hand hovering over her ass darts to her shoulder and he tugs her upright, shifting her to her knees. She scrambles to pull her underwear back up. He rises from the seat, adjusting his grip until his long fingers weave into the hair at the top of her head, snapping her head back.
She makes a small, angry little sound in her throat, one hand shooting up to grip his in her hair, the other landing on his thigh, but she pulls it away quickly.
Then I see why.
The long, thick outline of his cock trapped in his fatigues makes my heart stutter. Fuck. I know his frustration. I’d love to fuck her into submission. Into believing we didn’t want to send her away. The very last thing any of us want is for her to be hurt. She’s even snuck under Reaper’s skin, and he’ll never say it, but he’d rather endure punishment than have her hurt again.
And we’re definitely going to pay for keeping her.
“You think we wanted to send you away?” he says, his tone edged with violence. Reaper’s anger and frustration leak out of him, turning his grip hard. “You’re mistaken, Baby Girl if you think we ever wanted to let you go.”
Furious emerald eyes glare up at him, her hands falling to her sides, fisting into little balls. Anger radiates from her, making her shoulders tense, her jaw set hard. I wonder if this is the first time she’s really let herself feel anger. Real true rage for the shit life she’s endured. Maybe she’s never felt safe enough before to do so.
Her chin quivers, making me want to gather her up and kiss away her sadness.
Reaper must feel it too because he crouches down in front of her, releasing his grip on her hair, letting his hand trail over the curls down to her shoulder.
“Baby Girl,” Reaper whispers so gently, my chest tightens. “You’re ours, do you understand? I don’t let go of anything once I claim it as mine. Even if I had to send you away, I’d always come to get you.” Reaper grips her chin, forcing her to look at him. Even crouched, he’s still so much bigger than her. “If you ran, we’d hunt you down and drag you back to us. You have no say in the matter.”
She uses the sleeve of her sweater to wipe her cheek, but I see her jaw pop and her eyes glitter with defiance. “Maybe I don’t want to belong to all you freaks. You kidnapped me, remember?”
“We just took what was already ours,” Reaper says.
What was already ours.
Maybe Reaper isn’t such a liar after all.
These two women have been ours longer than they realize. Maybe even longer than we realize.
“You’ve wanted to be ours since the night we fucked you on that leather couch,” Viper says. He steps forward, glancing at me, then down to Reaper and Cora before him. “And you certainly wanted to be ours when you were coming all over my hand last night, pretty Vixen.”
Reaper chuckles, slipping back on to the couch behind him.
“I’m not some toy that can be claimed.” She attempts to stand, but Viper keeps her on her knees by placing a hand on her shoulder. A fiery spark ignites behind her eyes. “I won’t be owned. I’m so sick of men thinking they can fucking own me and use me.”
“You can use my cock whenever you want, Little Red.” Breaker leans down, hooking a finger under her chin to tilt her head back. “I’d love to have you spread open for us again.”
Her chest rises on a shaky inhale. He drops his hand, standing upright.
“I’m thinking our girl forgot how your cock felt,” I say, adjusting my stance to lean against the doorframe, crossing my arms. Breaker looks my way. “Maybe she needs a reminder of how good we can make her feel until she’s begging to be ours.”
I can practically see Reaper’s smirk forming. His gaze shifts to me and that familiar, dark gleam in his eyes tells me this night’s about to get interesting.
Reaper removes a hand from the couch back and turns his palm up. It’s then I notice his black eyes are focused on the doorway behind me. He crooks one finger in a beckoning motion and says, “Come here, Kitten, and play with us.”