54. Chapter 49
The red flowers in the cracked pottery gleam in the early morning light, the dew slightly frozen on the petals glistening like drops of blood. Winter sunlight creates deep shadows and brilliant highlights in the garden below. The entire world looks overly saturated this morning, last night”s rainstorm washing away the dirt and dry leaves, leaving the world brighter. Crisp with a frigid chill that makes the air taste clean.
Fitting after last night. It’s like the sun rose on this day, knowing we needed a fresh canvas. Knowing that after all the dark days and uncertainty about what we set out to do would work, after all the terrible things revealed, we needed this brilliant morning to remind us that the years we planned this were worth it.
Last night proved it was.
“No!” Cora’s shriek of laughter brings me back to center, and I lean over the balcony peering down to where she’s standing with Delilah and Striker in the center of the back garden. He grips her arm, pulling her to his chest, his mouth descending on her like he’s done this a million times. Like it’s the most natural thing in the world to kiss her. Like we didn’t keep them locked away for weeks, forcing them to bond with us.
“Do you think they wanted this?” Viper asks from behind me. I grip the railing as he steps up next to me, my chest constricting. It always does when he’s close. It tightens, making it hard to breathe. “Do you think it actually worked and we Jedi mind-fucked them into wanting us?”
I asked myself that same question over and over last night after I carried Cora and Striker carried Delilah upstairs. In the darkness of my room, I laid in my empty bed, wondering if they gave themselves over to us so easily because they had wanted us all along or if we really succeeded with our mission and molded Delilah, and Cora too, into wanting us, believing us, needing us.
“I don’t know,” I tell him. I don’t admit I’m not sure I care. We have them both, and that’s all that matters.
He steps up close, letting his arm brush mine. He always does this, touches me, and I’ve learned over the years he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. It’s like some unconscious thing where his body wants to be connected to mine in any way possible.
Viper pulls at his mask, adjusting it around his neck, then crosses his arms as his hip hits the railing. My eyes fall to his hands clasped over his massive biceps.
Fuck. He’s so fucking sexy and he has no idea.
“I would like to think that they made this choice of their own free will and not because we did that captive syndrome thing with them,” he says. “Last night sure felt real.”
Last night was amazing. It would have only have been better if we didn’t have to wear these masks anymore, but I don’t know if we’re ready just yet. Striker may trust that the girls will remain loyal to us, but I’m unsure. Even after last night.
“Stockholm,” I say, my eyes gravitating back to the garden below. “It’s called Stockholm Syndrome after that bank heist in Sweden.”
“Whatever it’s called, do you think that’s what it is?” Viper asks, clearly distressed at the idea we coerced the girls. What he doesn’t realize is that all we did is show them the truth. What he cannot see is that we saved Cora from Rune without even knowing it, and when Delilah discovered we would rather break orders to keep her best friend turned lover safe, we earned her trust.
“No,” I say. “I think what happened is exactly what Reaper had planned. We showed them the truth, and they made a choice.”
What I don’t say is that I had seriously doubted Reaper in the beginning. That I had thought his hatred for Rune was clouding his judgment and he was determined to make someone, anyone, pay, even if it was a small woman with red hair who had nothing to do with Hunter’s death. Or that he was so hellbent on revenge he was blinded, unable to see his own lust for Delilah, that it turned into something dark and depraved.
What I don’t say is that I should have trusted him, like we’ve all trusted Reaper our entire lives, because he knew what he was doing. He was freeing Cora and convincing Delilah.
The asshole knew too that if he let Cora sit in her fear for a tad too long, I’d snap, break his order for him so he didn’t have to admit he hated seeing her scared as much as the rest of us, and I’d do what I wanted.
Because I always, always do, consequences be damned.
He knows us all a little too well.
But that’s how Reap works. He takes charge, forms a plan, and enacts it. He doesn’t care who he walks over in the process as long as the job is done.
He didn’t use to be like this. Reap used to be a little nicer.
“I hope so,” Viper says, making me turn to look at him.
I almost laugh at how his voice turns gentle. He’s erratic, driven by his emotions, and fucking nuts sometimes, but his heart is soft. The little knife he gave Delilah in secret showed everyone what he only ever lets me see.
Viper glances my way, and I avert my gaze back to Striker with the girls in the garden below. Cora laughs again as he pulls Delilah to him and gives her a light kiss. I envy him. Striker’s ability to trust after all he’s been through. I want to trust them. That they will be true to their word and remain with us after this short a time. I’m envious he’s no longer wearing his mask and doesn’t feel like he needs to hide anymore.
I wish I could feel that secure. But Fallon fucked us all up so much I don’t think we know how to trust completely. Trust each other, yes. Trust outsiders? No.
Delilah is loyal to Cora. Cora is loyal to Delilah. But are they loyal to us? We’ll see once things are set into motion.
Viper scoots a little closer, turning to face me. I keep my hands on the rail, my focus on Striker. His boots hit mine and awareness jolts straight to my dick.
Fuck.
Last night, I was surprised when he didn’t come to me after we fucked the girls. He usually does, but maybe he was feeling as out of sorts as I was. We’d fucked them to the point we were mindless, instead of the other way around. If only these women knew what they’d done to us.
Maybe it’s good they don’t.
Stupid things like feelings can be used against us, and I know for a fact this constricting feeling, like a wire wrapped around my lungs, cutting through me every time they”re this close, is the dreaded feelings we all avoid. The only people we have ever let close are one another, and even that was nearly broken after Hunter.
God. Hunter.
What would he think of this? Of them? Of Striker down in the gardens with them now, kissing their pretty pink mouths and smiling at their light laughter.
He’d love it. He’d fucking love to see Striker’s smile and how just looking at them eases the tightness in his shoulders. Lightens the darkness behind his eyes.
He’d tell us to cherish Cora. Because it’s rare to find someone who can see your darkness and match it with their own, all while showing you the light that lies beyond. Hunter would love that Striker had someone who knew about the darkness he carried because she had lived with it, too.
I wasn’t supposed to hear, but I did. That day, he sat with Cora in her room and she told him about her mother. I had come back in, unable to stay away, and found the camera room empty. Then I noticed Striker in the room with her. Of course, I sat and watched, wondering what the fuck he was up to. To say their conversation was shocking is an understatement.
We researched her past, discovered so much. And we watched them for long, knew so much about them before we set out on this mission, but that part never, never came to light.
Cora’s mother was truly an evil person.
She got what she deserved.
“Are you jealous?” Viper asks.
My eyes snap to his. It takes a minute for the meaning behind his words to sink in.
Not jealous of Striker with the girls…
Of Striker with him.
Something flashes behind the sea green color, telling me he’d like it a little if I was.
Am I jealous? I don’t know exactly what happened between him and Striker, but it’s about time. I think Striker is the only one who didn’t see what he wanted for years. But am I jealous Striker obviously fucked the mouth of the man I’ve coveted for most of my life?
No. I like the idea of Striker using Viper the way he likes. Just as I enjoy watching Viper lick and suck and fuck our girls. So no, not jealous. Turned on? Fuck yes.
“That you sucked him off?” I ask, shifting so we’re standing face to face. “Should I be?”
His beautiful eyes narrow.
Yeah. He wants me to be jealous. Okay. I can’t deny this man anything. If he wants me jealous that he wants Striker’s cock as bad as he wants mine, then that’s what he’ll get. I wonder, though, what he’ll do if I let Striker face fuck me. Or if I fuck him. The thought sends blood rushing to my cock, making it press against my zipper painfully.
Damn. I glance back down at the girls. My blood heats.
Viper didn’t get jealous when I fucked Cora and now Delilah, but more than likely will if I do Striker. Because Viper will get jealous if I touch Striker.
I shouldn’t like that thought so much.
The only man I’ve ever fucked was Viper, and that was just once. When he was overcome with so much darkness that he let me bend him over and take what I needed. What we both did. I know Reaper and Striker think we have often, but after that first time, it’s only ever been Viper’s warm mouth after a night with a woman, and my hand on his dick.
That one time in his room only happened after that first night we all shared a cunt. We were both so aroused, driven nearly mad by too many emotions we didn’t know how to express and too much sadness we couldn’t let go of.
It wasn’t like I didn’t notice him before then. If anything, I noticed him too much as we grew up. He did too, but I don’t think he knew how to name what it was we shared. I didn’t either until I felt it for the first time with that girl from the village.
Viper moves closer, invading my space. He’s built like a fucking tank, stocky and tall, muscles and thick thighs that make me want to sink my teeth into them. Fuck. I’ve held on to this secret attraction to him for so long, it’s spilling over. It doesn’t help that Cora and Delilah love to see him sucking my dick. That they got so turned on that night with them, and seem to crave us even though we don’t fit into conventional molds that little girls are taught to want.
I lean down, inhaling his clean scent. My mouth waters, remembering the night in my room just weeks ago when he nearly had me on my knees, ready to let him fuck my throat. Then his fucking mouth got in the way and we ended up arguing as usual. I’ve never taken him in my mouth, but the thought of sucking him until he explodes makes my balls tighten.
He widens his stance, ready for a fight.
“I think next time you want to be used like a slutty boy, then you should come to me.” I lower my voice, trailing my finger along his shoulder to his thick neck, loving how heat sparks in his eyes. “That pretty mouth of yours belongs to me.”
“Maybe it belongs to Striker too,” he says, stepping even closer, challenging me.
This fucking man. He’s never going to learn. Then again, I think he likes the lesson as much as he likes defying a command.
Before he can react, I grip his throat, pulling him on his tiptoes. His eyes drop to where my mouth hides behind my mask. I’d give anything right now to see his lips. Have him sink to his knees, sucking me into his warm mouth, and feel his greedy groan around my cock.
His breath rattles out of him, and I press my cock to his stomach. A promise and a threat. “Be a good boy, Vipe, and don’t test me. You know I’d love the chance to fuck your tight ass again.”
His eyes brighten.
I knew it. Crazy, sexy man. He loves when I get dominant with him. Maybe, with this new day, this shift in the air, we can all embrace what we’ve wanted. We have the girls now, their presence giving us the courage to express what we’ve wanted. I know being this close to them for weeks has made us all crazy with desire, but if last night proved anything, our girls are more than willing to please. More than willing and ready to let us do whatever we want, whether it be Viper sucking my dick, or Striker, and gladly join in.
“Are you two finished rubbing your dicks together?” Reaper’s voice breaks through the chaos in my head and I step back, my hands falling away like we’re caught doing something illegal. My eyes shift from Viper to Reaper and find him standing just inside the doorway, his mask in his hand.
Pain clutches at my heart like it always does when I see his face.
“I take it neither of you have your phone?” he asks, pulling his mask over his head as he steps onto the balcony.
Viper casts me a strange look as I back away further and says to Reap, “No, we don’t. What’s going on?”
Reaper braces his hands on the balcony, leaning over to watch Striker loop an arm around each woman’s shoulders as he guides them back into the house.
Yeah. I am jealous.
I want that too. That freedom to kiss them whenever I want. For them to look up into my face with their gorgeous smiles. Maybe it’s really that simple. Remove the mask and simply trust.
After the front door shuts behind them, Reaper pushes off the balcony railing and stalks past us, back into the hall.
“What’s the fucking message, Reap,” Viper calls after him. His gaze darts to me and I see the same nervous tension stiffening his shoulder’s that’s settling in my gut.
Looking back over his shoulder, he says, “We defied his order. And he’s on his way to teach us a lesson.”