13. Margaux
MARGAUX
“ W hat the hell are you doing, Jett?” Talon asked before anyone had even gotten into the limo. I was half in and half out pausing to figure out why they were made.
“These things are so boring and we got what we wanted. Nothing is finalized until tomorrow, correct?” Jett asked.
Jett nuzzled my neck as he leaned into me to get into the limo and I had a hard time remembering why it would bother me that they would want my money, or anything else for that matter.
I fell onto the seat of the limo the second Jett was yanked from my side.
“Casanova, chill the fuck out,” Knox said.
I blinked up at Knox as I shifted to get up and onto the seat. Ronan pushed Jett aside and climbed in next to me.
“You are throwing a wrench in our plans, little bird. If you aren’t careful, I’ll toss you back into your cage.”
Jett got in and rubbed at his arm.
“And I’ll just break her out again, Ronnie. Come on. She wants to play. Don’t you, Margaux?”
Play? What did that really mean? I didn’t actually know what Jett meant, but I knew what I wanted to play at.
I smiled at Jett as I moved to straddle Ronan, his hands going straight to my hips.
“Tell me, Ronan. Why would my father arrange a marriage with you? What did you get out of it? Money? Cars? Legal services? A virgin?” I paused and studied his face, not completely able to ignore the moisture that started to dampen my panties.
“Because out of all those things, two are gone, one is tied to my marriage, and the third? Well I think Jett’s the most promising for fucking me, don’t you?”
The car was dead silent. No one laughed. No one joked. No one punched anyone. I wasn’t even sure that anyone was breathing.
Time ticked away. The lights of downtown passed by without much notice.
“Funny you should think that, because when we were betting, Jett lost. Talon lost. Even Knox lost. You shouldn’t play games that you can’t win, little bird. And we’re going to start a new one right now, except this time you're not playing, you're the prize.”
He slammed his lips to mine, pulling my head toward him and keeping me from moving away.
I let him kiss me. I was signing up to be a part of this game, whatever it was, because I had nothing to lose.
I pressed my hips against his as I straddled him, the slit in the dress riding even higher so that everyone in the car would be getting a show soon.
I kissed him harder, craving the feeling of being wanted, even if it was an illusion.
Ronan’s hand grabbed my wrists, holding them behind my back, but I still pressed forward as much as he would let me.
He broke the kiss first. I wouldn’t let myself feel sadness or loss. I let the desire that had been burning since the moment Jett had started something take over.
“So tell me, Ronan. What is the game?”
My words came out breathier than I intended.
I tried to control every breath, but the feel of lips on my shoulder as someone shifted near us seemed to just fan the desperation I wanted to ignore.
Or maybe I wanted to give in. Use them. Use them to break free.
What power did I have? Sex. Wasn’t that what smart women did?
Traded their bodies for what they wanted?
It was Vegas, and sheltered as I was, I wasn’t stupid.
I’d walked through casinos with my uncle a time or two and watched cheap women draped over men.
I’d seen how that woman had wrapped Carrow around her finger.
He’d seemed oblivious to anything but money and the way she rubbed herself all over him.
I leaned into the mouth at my neck, letting him get closer.
“Pretty girl, you smell so sweet.”
Jett. Of course. He reached between my thighs and I moaned without meaning to. I moaned at the way the simple touch ignited nerves along my skin, but he stopped just short of my throbbing pussy. I watched as his hand came back up with the knife on my thigh.
“You won’t be needing this, not tonight. Seeing how well you can use a knife, I don’t want anyone getting stabbed, not without asking at least,” Jett whispered.
Control, I needed to control my reactions.
“How about this, boys? Whatever the game is, let me play too. Except whoever wins is my prize?”
Someone in the car let a long whistle out, and Jett’s fingers tightened around my waist. The ride here hadn’t taken long so I assumed we would be back to their brick fortress in a few minutes. But right now? I wanted to use this car to my advantage.
I turned my head, looking over my shoulder, and met Talon’s hungry gaze.
“Something tells me you’re good at cheating the cheaters; you get to keep them honest, dark prince.” If he wanted to keep calling me princess, then I could call him whatever the hell I wanted.
I watched him look at the three others.
“Not a chance, princess. Not a fucking chance.” He shifted closer to me, though, so much closer that I could practically feel the heat of his arm against mine.
What the hell was I doing?
A little part of me wondered if I could use them against each other, but that idea seemed questionable.
Still, I’d push that boundary for now. What would a woman trying to seduce a man do?
What had I seen? I shifted my weight, and without meaning to I rubbed up against something long and hard on Ronan. I bit back a smirk..
I looked at Ronan, meeting the storm that was all him. For a man who was so controlled, this seemed like quite the response. Was he jealous of the attention I gave to the others? Was he angry?
I grabbed his tie, letting instinct drive me.
He didn’t move, so I pulled myself closer inch by inch along the fabric.
I stopped before my nose could touch his.
“Hey, Knox. You’ve been quiet. What do you think about a new game?” I asked.
I heard the click of metal and the telltale sound of a lighter being lit. I’d seen him holding one earlier, but it had been quiet for a moment, until now. He’d heard me.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
I’d called to Knox with my lips inches from Ronan’s. I could feel the way Ronan’s breathing shifted when he blew out a breath. It felt a lot like he was losing patience, and the way one of his hands slid from my hip closer to my ass, the same biting grip still there?
What did I have to lose? I ran my fingers down the back of his neck and leaned into the touch around my waist.
“When we get back to the house, we can play cards the way you want, but I get to play too. What do you say, Ronan? Best out of five?” I asked.
Ronan didn’t speak, but when I shifted to move from his lap, his hands held me tight to him.
“Tell me, Ronan. If you don’t want me as your wife, who in this car does? I’m willing to?—”
I didn’t finish my sentence because his teeth tugged at my lip and he bit down just hard enough that I could taste the metallic tang of blood. I licked at my lip when he sat back watching me.
I wasn’t sure who was in charge right now. My body was on fire and the pain from the bite should have been ice to the uncontrolled burn within me, but it wasn’t.
“Shit, Ronan. Looks like princess here doesn’t mind a little pain with a side of you.” I saw Talon move closer, his finger tangling with the curls of my hair.
The thing was, I didn’t think he was wrong.
“Is it just Ronan though?” I asked.
I didn’t mean to say the words. I was just going through an internal battle of why I liked their touches and why I felt like any of them would soothe something inside me, but not in the trade for each other kind of way.
I didn’t like the ache that settled in my chest at the idea of any of them leaving me.
This game was confusing because I didn’t know the rules going into it. I didn’t know how to use them against each other, not when the idea of them together was far more satisfying.
I couldn’t turn away from Ronan, but it didn’t make me any less aware of the men around me. In fact, the way he seemed to see everything around us and the way he watched each of them made it impossible to forget we weren’t alone.
Why did something in my mind tell me I was about to make a bad decision and I was losing the battle on caring?
The car stopped and the click of the door being opened broke the strange silence that had been the last few minutes.
“Come with me, pretty girl.”
Jett’s hands wrapped around me and pulled against Ronan’s grip. My feet struggled to find their balance, but Jett was so sure in his strength that getting out of the car was less of a concern.
My plan was blurred. The line between desiring and plotting with emotions twisted.
“Ready to play, Margaux?” Jett held my hand, guiding me down the brick path to the back of the house.
“I said I was, didn’t I?”
I was an expert at pretending and this was no different. I could lock down the things that were real to create a false reality I could survive. Something seemed to be cracking though, and it was almost like a new reality I wanted was easier to see. I’d never seen a future for myself before.
What would it be like to be protected and loved?
What would it be like to have four people looking out for me, caring for me? Even more though, what would it be like to have four people to care for? Would they want that from me?
I couldn’t think more because between the world in my head and the reality in front of me, I missed the uneven stone. My heels were already precarious enough that it didn’t take much for me to roll my ankle.
A scream caught in my throat. Jett’s hand tugged against mine, and instead of taking him down with me, he caught me and spun me into his body.
“Pretty girl, I already know you fell for me. No reason to hurt yourself over it.”
It took me a moment to catch onto his words, and as mature as I didn’t want to fucking be, I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Careful there, Margaux, or some of us might take that as an invitation.”
I pushed at him, unable to ignore how solid his muscles were. They all were solid. Solid, sturdy, reliable in a murder your enemy kind of way.
“What do you guys do all day? Just work out? Who has muscles like this?”
Knox was the one to answer.
“Angel, when you have nothing but anger and violence to fuel you, you rage fight. Or maybe we rage fuck?”
His eyes followed me. I couldn’t not look at him in astonishment, even as he walked by and until he turned away he kept that strange gaze on me.
“Promise or threat?” I asked.
There was no answer.
Alright, so plan A was to figure out which one of them was more than capable to be by my side.
Plan B was to figure out how to use their strength to avenge my parents.
Plan C was to get back my inheritance and figure out if I could disappear or not.
Plan D was to rewrite plans A through C as needed.
I finally got myself on my own two feet, no thanks to Jett’s hands. Too bad I didn’t want to leave those hands.
The night flashed before my eyes.
Would I regret seeing them pull knives on my uncle when he tried to hurt me? My heart stuttered. They had already shown more concern over me than anyone else that I could remember.
Everyone except maybe my parents. Whether my dad was trying to protect me or something else by arranging a marriage with an angry and slightly scary man.
Memories of how Ronan kissed me in the hotel before Carrow interrupted flooded my brain.
I could use my body to get what I wanted and at the same time make sure my uncle had a more undesirable option.
Something in my mind should have been sending off alarm bells. I shouldn’t trust any of them.
That was not what was happening.