Chapter 18 Wylder
WYLDER
I pace the office, waiting for Harley and Neo to return. I went through the information in the first ten minutes. Turns out there’s not as much to go on as I’d hoped. No names. No addresses.
Just a fuck-load of incriminating evidence on The Firm and our activities.
It leaves me too much time to panic and pace. I should’ve insisted on accompanying them. I know that Harley is with Neo, so he should be fine.
But Neo has a special talent for getting into trouble.
That’s what has me sending several guards after them, as well as telling the head guard, Brennan, that I need regular updates. He stares at me for a moment too long at my request, but I don’t back down.
It’s not unreasonable to want to be briefed about this. It’s what I pay him to do.
He agrees. Of course he does. No one disagrees with me.
Except Neo, obviously.
While sex with Neo appears to have cleared my mind, it also seems to have made Neo more of a brat.
I don’t deny how much I love it.
How much my monster craves this side of him.
My phone rings, Brennan’s number appearing on the screen. I rush to answer it. “Yes?”
“You seriously asked for updates? We’ll be gone an hour.” Neo’s voice is full of disbelief.
My hand clenches tightly. “Neo, hand Brennan the phone.”
“No. You’ll get updates from me and my ass.”
He hangs up, and then a moment later, a message appears on the screen. It’s Neo’s bare ass and a blurry image of Brennan in the background, looking horrified.
I bite back a laugh before forcing my face into a scowl.
God, what am I going to do with him?
Keep him. Keep. Him.
Another message comes through from Brennan, apologizing for losing control of the situation and saying he’s already deleted the picture.
I’m glad he has, but the two of us are going to have a discussion about Neo and how best to handle him.
Apparently, Brennan’s going to have to hide his phone during tasks where he is present.
My phone pings again, and I see a blurry picture of Neo, the frame slightly skewed. It looks like Brennan was reaching for his phone mid-frame.
It makes my chest ache, how much trouble Neo gets into. How much trouble he causes. I used to hate it, but now I just feel…something else.
My phone pings, and I see a message from Candace asking to meet. It makes my face screw up and my stomach drop. How I ever liked her or even contemplated being with her is something I can’t quite comprehend. She was a means to an end, someone to easily fulfill a role when necessary.
Neo would never be like that.
He fights me at every turn. He makes me work for it.
Candace never did that. She was an afterthought, someone I put on my arm for parties and for the cameras.
Neo is…more. I think.
Yes, he is more. More than I thought he’d be.
I reply that I’m not interested and then block her, relief filtering through me at the thought of never having to speak to her again.
Brennan updates me several times—short, clipped texts that assuage my growing panic the longer Neo is away from me.
I pace until they arrive back, Harley and Neo both chattering happily, as if their lives were not in danger out there.
“Why are you smiling?” I bite out, making Neo and Harley stop, their eyes meeting mine. I see that telltale arch of Neo’s eyebrow, wanting to contradict me, to push.
I want him to push.
“We can’t smile now?” Neo snaps.
“Yeah, we can’t smile?” Harley gives me an odd look. “What the fuck?”
“We can smile,” Neo says, his teeth showing, his eyes wide. He looks ridiculous. He looks like mine.
“No, you can’t. Not with anyone else,” I grumble. Neo gives me his typical greeting of an eye roll, followed by flipping me off.
I stalk toward him, pulling him into me. His back hits my chest, and I inhale him.
Yours. Take it. Yours.
I hold him tighter.
“Honestly, Wylder. What the hell?” Neo asks. The protest is weak, destroyed completely by the undertone of fondness.
I hold him a little tighter, loving how he relaxes into me. I love the push and pull. The fight he gives.
But he’ll always submit. Because he loves it as much as I do.
Something soft hits my side and falls to the floor. A pillow. I glare at Harley, who’s smirking. “Let him go. We were going to go watch a horror flick.”
Growling, I hold Neo tighter. No.
Harley’s lips twitch. “You constipated again? Or is this you asserting your dominance?”
Neo lets out a laugh. “He’s trying to stake his claim as someone who has no territorial right.”
“I have the right,” I say, nipping at his earlobe.
He gives a breathy sigh before seeming to remember he’s meant to be protesting. “Do you?”
I bite the other lobe. “I do. I’m the eldest Buckingham. I have all the rights.”
He elbows me and twists in my arms. “Yeah, that doesn’t work with me. I couldn’t care less about that. Fuck off, dude.”
I hate that he calls me that, that I’m nothing more than a man to discard. But I also know that he enjoys what we have, the way he screamed for me and came on the muddy earthen floor.
He likes me more than he cares to admit.
I like him more than I care to admit.
Somehow, I doubt even that’ll stop Neo’s bratting. Or that I’ll learn to hate it.
He goes loose in my arms and flops to the floor like a limp doll, wriggling out of my grasp with far too much ease. I reach for him, but he’s rushing away, making my eye twitch and my heart flutter.
Get him.
“Bet you can’t find me, loser!” he calls over his shoulder. There’s that gleam in his eyes again. The one that’s inviting me to chase.
To hunt.
Goose bumps rise over my arms as my monster rises. I can already feel the stress of the meeting slipping away as something raw moves into its place.
Something primal.
Distantly, I hear Harley laughing. Snapping my head around, I level him with a glare.
“Go get him. Or I may.” There’s a lilt to his voice. “He’s fun.”
“He is not fun,” I lie before stalking off after him. My pulse is pounding in my ears as I begin my search. I have no idea where he went, but I plan on finding him.
I’ll always find him.
I round a corner and find Ansel pressed up against the wall, Cade grinding against him, their lips fused together.
Usually, I’d be repulsed by seeing one of my siblings in such a way, but there’s something that has me pausing.
It’s the wet sounds their mouths make. The small, desperate groans Ansel is making.
I haven’t kissed Neo yet.
I wonder what he would taste like.
My monster growls in agreement. He’s just as curious.
I call out, “Have you seen Neo?”
Ansel attempts to answer, but Cade just bites down on his lip, making him moan. Useless men.
Striding past, I realize it was a waste to even ask. The two of them are far too enamored with one another. They can barely stand to be apart.
I’m not like that with Neo. Not at all.
We should be.
I pick up my pace, jogging through the house, twisting through the hallways, cursing my father for building something so ridiculously huge. There’s no need for half of it. Most of the unused rooms are closed up, forcing me to open each one and check under the neatly made beds.
This is going to take all day, I think as my phone pings in my pocket.
I pull it out and see a text from Neo. I click on the short video and see he’s slowly pulling his shirt off and tossing it aside, right onto a lamp on a small table.
It ends abruptly, and my nostrils flare. I play it again, my cock twitching in my pants as I stare at his smooth chest, those pebbled nipples, the small trail of hair leading to his cock.
I ignore the shirt dangling from a place it’s not meant to be. It’s easier to do with Neo’s naked form also in the frame.
My eyes scan the background, and my mind clicks as I take off, moving up to the third floor and opening the door to the expansive space with various art pieces lining the wall. My father’s collection.
I fucking hate this place.
But even so, if Neo’s here, I’ll stay. I’ll make sure I catch him. My eyes rove over the room, looking behind the curtains and under the desk pushed up against the wall, but he’s not here. His damn shirt is though.
I clench my fists as my monster starts to slip out from behind those already bent bars.
My phone pings once more, and I see another video from Neo. This time, his pants are stripped off, leaving him in a cute pair of gray underwear and black socks.
I fist my phone so hard it shuts off.
“Fuck,” I murmur as I tap it back on and stare at that slight bulge between his legs before looking at the surroundings.
He’s in the basement. How did he get there so fast? Has he found a way around that even I don’t know about?
I rush out of the room and take the stairs two at a time. By the time I’m in the basement theater, I see nothing but his discarded pants on the floor. He’s not here.
I fist the pants in my hand, unable to stop myself from bringing them to my face and breathing him in.
Mine. More.
Frustration simmers alongside the building lust. I let it. It’s dissolving the weight I usually carry, making me feel…
Free.
“Where are you, brat?” Like he hears me, my phone pings again.
It’s a video of him in my room, kicking off his underwear, leaving him only in those black ankle socks. He strokes his dick for a moment, his eyelids fluttering as he gives a small moan. My breath catches in my throat as I wait for him to continue, to give me what I want. What I need.
But then the video cuts off.
I don’t even think as I take off for my bedroom, my monster slipping from his confines, roaring loudly.
I shove the door to my bedroom open so quickly that it slams against the wall. I half expect to find Neo missing and hiding somewhere else, but no. He’s here.
He’s at the window, naked, trying to open it. Trying to escape.
Absolutely not.
I slam the door shut and lock it.
Then I stalk toward him, my hands pulling him toward me as soon as I’m able. He kicks his feet out, but I’m stronger. I throw him onto the bed, making him bounce and scramble toward the edge, but I’m stronger. Faster.