32. CHAPTER 27
SAYLOR
“Show it to me again.” Kynlee reaches for the neck of my shirt while we walk through the corridor toward the common rooms. We raided the kitchen earlier while the guys were working and have been looking for Veronica since she escaped Kynlee and Justin’s suite.
I pull my neckline down to show her the black lettering of Axl’s name. The skin is still swollen and red around the ink, and it stings every time my shirt rubs against it.
“I can’t believe he did that.” She stares at it wide-eyed, practically drooling. “How hot is that?”
I fix my shirt and take the chip bag from her hands. “The sex afterward was even hotter. The tattooing part fucking hurt.”
“My throat hurts from getting fucked.” She shoves her hands in the pockets of her shorts. “He did warn me I’d spend a lot of time sucking his dick, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“I’m sorry, Kyns.” I don’t know what else to say. “It’s still better than going to auction.” And I really don’t want to think about my brother’s dick in her mouth.
“I would spend every day on my knees for your brother before going to auction.” She bumps my shoulder. “Seriously, Sayl. I’m jealous as fuck that you’ve found Axl. You seem almost happy. Like you’re in a committed relationship kind of happy.”
I’m far from miserable. That’s what scares me. Because I’m not supposed to care this much. Axl was always supposed to be short term. That’s the deal. I serve, and then I’ll be married off to a man my father selects. How much commitment can there really be?
But Axl treats me like it’s more. He tattooed his name over my heart.
His words last night made it feel like he’s never going to let me go.
And the fucked-up thing is, even though it’s only been a few weeks, I don’t want him to.
My father and his are friends, so if a match has to be arranged, why couldn’t it be to Axl?
Kynlee looks under a table as we pass through one of the empty common rooms. “I can’t believe we haven’t found her yet.”
“She’s somewhere around here. The mansion is huge.”
“If someone touches my cat, I swear to God.” She gets on her knees and checks under a leather couch. “Veronica! Here, kitty, kitty.”
I hear Tracy before I see her. Her voice carries from the next room, loud enough that she’s either not aware we’re here or doesn’t give a shit. I still fucking hate her. I’ve been able to avoid her for the most part. When Axl is working, I spend all of my time with Kynlee.
“I want a fall wedding. His family has a place on the coast that would be perfect.” She laughs, and whoever she’s with says something I can’t make out. “I know, right? I just need to get through this year, and then it’s official.”
Kynlee stands up and brushes her knees off, looking at me. “Is she seriously talking about marrying Crew?”
I lean against the doorframe and pop a chip in my mouth. We can see Tracy on the couch from here. She’s sitting cross-legged, talking to a brunette—another Dove named Cassie. I haven’t spoken to her much since she’s usually with Tracy.
Tracy’s playing with the ends of her hair and smiling wide, practically glowing. Then she notices me and narrows her eyes on mine. “Eavesdropping, Saylor? I can see why you’d be jealous.”
Kynlee and I both start laughing. “Jealous? Of what? You and Crew? I hate to break it to you, but we know him well enough to know he’s never going to marry you.”
Tracy and Cassie both glance at each other, their lips curled into smirks, like they’re both in on some secret and debating if they’re going to let us in on it.
“I’m not talking about Crew.” She uncrosses her legs and leans back against the couch, running her fingers through her blonde hair. “I’m talking about Axl.”
Kynlee and I both burst out laughing now. The bitch has lost it. “Nice try.”
“It’s true. I’m going to be Mrs. Axl Hollister.
” Tracy says his name like she’s won some kind of victory over me.
I’m the one he tied up and fucked this morning.
And then we fucked again in the shower. “His father and mine have been working on the arrangement for months.” She shrugs, acting like it’s common knowledge. “I thought he’d have told you.”
I don’t move. I don’t blink. My hand tightens around the chip bag, and I wish it were something heavier that I could throw at her face.
“You’re full of shit.” Axl hasn’t so much as looked at Tracy or even spoken to her. At least not that I know of.
“Am I?” She looks at Cassie and then back at me. “I assure you, I’m telling you the truth, pathetic girl. You knew what this was.” She laughs into her hand and then shakes her head at me. “You’re just a toy for him to play with until he becomes my husband and I give him his children.”
Kynlee grips my wrist. She squeezes once. She’s trying to pull me back from pouncing on this bitch and ripping her hair out of her fucking head. My chest throbs where he branded me, and I replay his words in my head.
I’ll always hold back a piece for myself so I’m the one you will always fucking need to feel whole again.
Tracy gives me a sympathetic look that almost feels genuine. “You know how things work in our world. You’re the fun he gets to have before he settles down.” Then her stare hardens, and I know she doesn’t give a fuck about how any of this makes me feel. “And then he’s mine.”
I want to cross this room and beat her face into the arm of that couch until her jaw is so broken she’ll never fucking speak again. But I don’t, because if I react, she wins. And I won’t give her that satisfaction.
“Good luck with that.” I toss the chip bag on the nearest table, because I’m not hungry anymore. “Axl hates you.”
“He’ll learn to love me.” She says it with so much confidence that my stomach turns. “Or he won’t. Either way, he’ll still be mine.”
Kynlee steps forward. “You need to shut the fuck up, Tracy.”
“Why? Because it hurts the silly girl’s feelings?” Tracy fake pouts at me and then grins again. “I’m doing her a favor. Better that she knows now what she is so if she wants to enjoy some other dick before her father marries her off too, she has that chance.”
I’m done. I turn and walk out of the room. If I stay here another second, Kynlee won’t be able to hold me back. My hands are shaking, and my throat is tight. But I refuse to cry in front of that bitch. I won’t give her that.
Kynlee is right behind me. She grabs my arm in the hallway and pulls me to a stop. “Sayl. Hey. She’s lying. She has to be lying.”
“She’s not.” My voice cracks and I hate it. “And even if it isn’t her, it’s going to be someone else.”
Kynlee goes quiet. She knows I’m right. Our mothers didn’t marry men of their choosing or for love, or even for lust. And we’re going to suffer the same fate. I was stupid to forget that and let him put his name on my body like I could ever mean something different to him.
“I just want to go back to the suite.” I refuse to refer to it as “our” suite. That’s just adding insult to injury. Nothing is ours. Nothing ever will be ours.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No.” I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand before the tears can fall. “I hope you find Veronica. I want to lie down for a bit.”
I make it to the end of the corridor before I see him.
Axl is coming from the opposite direction with his phone in his hand and his jaw tight, reading something on his screen that’s pissing him off.
I can’t help but wonder if it’s his bitch Tracy messaging him to let him know that I’m in on the fucking secret.
He looks up when he hears my footsteps, and he flashes me that sexy grin of his that makes me want to sink to my knees in front of him like the stupid slut I am.
I glare at him and try to move around to the other side. But he grabs my wrist and pulls me back to him. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I try to pull away from him, but his grip is firm, and he doesn’t let go.
“Don’t lie to me, Saylor.” He holds me in front of him and tips my chin up. “Did someone fucking touch you?”
I yank my chin out of his grip. “When were you going to tell me about Tracy?”
His hand drops. “Tracy? What the fuck about Tracy?”
“That you’re going to marry her, Axl. That your father arranged the whole thing.
She’s sitting down there planning your fucking wedding, while I have your name tattooed on my chest.” My voice is louder than I want it to be, and I don’t care.
“Were you ever going to mention that I’m living in the same house as your future wife? ”
His jaw tightens, and he lowers his face to mine so we’re almost nose to nose. “Who told you that?”
“Does it matter?” I shove his chest, but he hardly moves. “You weren’t even man enough to tell me yourself.” I pound my fists into his chest. “Fucking asshole.”
He takes every hit without flinching. I keep hitting him and shoving him, and he just stands there and lets me, which makes me angrier because I want him to fight back. I want him to give me even more reason to hate him.
“Are you fucking done?” His voice is a growl. It pisses me off more than anything he’s ever said to me. “Keep hitting me as long as you need, and then your ass is mine.”
“Fuck you, Axl.”
He grabs both of my wrists in one hand and shoves me back, pinning them above my head against the wall. His body presses into mine, and I can feel how hard he is against my stomach. He grips my throat with his other hand. I fucking hate how wet I already am.
“So it’s my turn, then.” He positions his face right in front of mine, and I fight the tears welling in the corners of my eyes. “I don’t know what that bitch told you, but there’s no arrangement. Not with Tracy. Not with anyone.”
“Why should I believe that?” My eyes are burning, and I still refuse to cry.
“Who knows what the fuck you do at all hours of the day and night. You’re probably fucking her.
Does she have your name tattooed on her body too?
Are you working your way through the house, lining up everyone you’ve branded? ”
His grip tightens on my throat. “Accuse me of that shit again. I fucking dare you, Saylor.”
“Get the fuck off me, Axl.” I kick at him, but it does nothing. He still has me pinned against the wall. I’m just waiting for someone to find us like this.
He presses into me harder, and his eyes are darker than I’ve ever seen them.
“I’m not fucking Tracy. And I have never once lied to you.
So this little attitude of yours ends right fucking now.
” He squeezes my throat tighter and grinds his dick against me.
“And if you ever accuse me of fucking someone else again, I’ll put my mask on you and fuck you in front of the entire goddamn house. ”
My pussy clenches, and I hate him for it. I hate that his threats turn me on. I hate that his hand on my throat makes me want to spread my legs for him, when I should be kneeing him in the dick. It’s hard to breathe from how tight he holds me, and it only makes me wetter.
A tear slips down my cheek, and I hate that he can see it.
He leans forward and presses his lips to the tear, wiping it with his tongue.
“Would you like that, little heathen?” He rubs his cheek along mine, and then his lips are at my ear.
“I don’t want any of them to see me fuck you, but is that what you need?
Do you need me to let them watch, just to prove to you that I only want to fuck you?
Do you want me to tattoo my name all over your body so they know you’re mine? ”
I glare at him and shake my head as best as I can in his grip.
“Is my pussy wet?” He asks, lowering his lips to mine. He kisses me and presses his forehead to mine. “Do you need to be fucked by your king?”
“Please,” I whisper against his lips. I know I’m a dumb whore, but I want him. I want him to do whatever he wants to me. If he’s with me, he’s not with anyone else.
He almost completely cuts off my air. “Beg me again.”
“Ple-ase.” It comes out choked, but I manage to make the sounds.
He groans. “My favorite fucking word.” He releases my hands and throat, then picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder. He spanks my ass hard, making me moan. “If you didn’t think I owned you before, you’re about to know for fucking certain.”
Fuck.