3. Kiera
KIERA
As soon as the words left the bouncer's mouth, I knew Dom wasn’t going to accept that answer.
With no interest in watching a sidewalk brawl again, I stepped past my beefy, reluctant bodyguard and batted my lashes at the bouncer. “Hey, sorry about her.”
As I lightly touched the bouncer's forearm, I watched his eyes scan my body. He eased for a moment.
“I just, ugh. My total loser of an ex just dumped me and you know what they say…” I gestured toward the bouncer. “Get under someone else.”
Feigning nerves, I tucked a piece of my blonde wig behind my ear. As I did, a group left the bar, music flooding out onto the concrete. I debated running for it, letting the bouncer try to find me in the crowded, dark dance floor.
Now wasn’t the time to back down. I knew I had him on the hook, despite the hesitant aura I could feel coming from behind me. “But my sweet friends wouldn’t let me come out alone.”
Pursing his lips, the bouncer considered it for a moment. He thought about sending me to the back of the line as he lifted his chin.
“Fine. But they have to stay out here.” He nodded and opened the door.
I had a matter of seconds before Dom would grab my arm and stop me from running inside.
Jolting forward, I felt the tips of her fingers just barely miss my bare arm. “Works for me.” As I moved past the bouncer, he stepped in front of my trio.
I looked over my shoulder at Leo and Spencer and mouthed, sorry .
I’m in. I thought as the door closed behind me, trapping me in a dark club with flaring lights and pounding music. A bouncy DJ stood at the far end of the dance floor, raising his arms to the ceiling as he pretended to spin records.
It was the first time I’d been without my shadows in public. I should’ve run to the nearest bartender and told them what happened to me. Especially after everything that I’d learned today.
All I had to do was ghost them, hide inside until I could find someone big enough, tough enough to get me out of here.
I could find a back door somewhere, run for it.
But one thing was clear, Valemont Violence had its talons in me, and there was no leaving them. Even if I did manage to run, I’d always be looking over my shoulder. They had a network and so did Gabriel.
I would always wish that I’d stayed and gotten the answers I needed.
And I’d never know if Leo and Spencer had pulled the wool over my eyes or if they were victims of Dom’s deception just as much as I’d been.
And I knew I couldn’t walk away from the connection between the three of us.
Despite my better judgement, I knew anyone in here could be a spy for Gabriel. Someone looking for a quick reward. Even then, a part of me wanted to see this through. Especially with Spencer and Leo by my side.
Hungry eyes flicked toward the door, desperate men immediately spotting me and finding new prey. If they were still here, they’d already struck out with all of the women inside. Fresh meat was enticing.
I only had a few minutes before I’d be swarmed by them.
From my pocket, I could feel my phone buzzing out of control. This time I knew it wasn’t my mother, but instead Leo, Spencer, and Dom taking turns dialing.
I shot off one text:
looking for a side door.
It was enough to stop the calls, but a flood of texts replaced it.
Be careful
Spencer
I’ll fucking destroy anyone that touches you
Leo
We could kill them together
Spencer
Shoving my phone away, I wormed my way through the crowd. Everyone here was too shitfaced to move for me, too short to be seen. Instead, I seized the few opportunities I saw to push through.
I scanned the edges of the room, desperate for an exit sign. It wasn’t until I found a small hallway with bathrooms that the bright red sign marked the end of my search.
Pushing open the door, I pulled out my phone to send another text.
But before I could, Dom’s hulking arm slammed into the metal door and threw it all the way open.
She plunged past me and inside the bar, growling in my ear as she passed. “Reckless.”
“Jealous.” I quipped back as Leo and Spencer stepped inside.
Letting the door slam behind them, my three captors took in the crowd.
“Nice work, Princess.” Leo’s chest rumbled as she spoke over the booming music.
“Pretty smart stuff.” Spencer winked, her dark eyes nearly black under the dim bar lighting.
Dom clenched her fists at her side as she moved down the hallway toward the dance floor. “We need to move.”
Rolling my eyes, I followed behind Dom as Leo and Spencer formed a triangle on either side of me. This time, moving through the crowd was easy. Dom’s broad shoulders and towering head made her hard to miss.
And it was clear to the other patrons that she wouldn’t be weaving between anyone. Instead, she would push past them so it was better for them to move before she made them.
I felt my chest ease, the anxiety of being alone amongst predators easing as Leo and Spencer protected me from the crowd. Despite being here for a mission, one where we were supposed to be unseen, the crowd parted around us and drew a direct spotlight on us.
Dom beelined us to a metal staircase at the back of the club. Once we got to the railing, she stepped to the side, watching our backs as I headed up the steps.
It was a strangely gentlemanly thing for her to do.
Shaking it off, I decided she’d done it for the sake of the mission. It was clear she had no allegiance to me, no desire to really protect me. No, all she was here to do was follow The Oracle’s orders. Or worse… Gabe’s.
I was just her tagalong.
At the top of the stairs, we found ourselves alone on a metal balcony. Leo and Spencer sidled up next to me as I looked out on the crowd. “I’d go out more often if moving through a crowd was that easy.”
“It is if you’re with us, Bunny.” Spencer winked, licking her lips as she sucked in a deep breath. Clearly my ripped stockings were doing something for her.
Leaning against the railing, Dom took watch over the crowd. “Perp should already be here.”
A rush of cool air brushed my skin. We were exposed up here, visible to everyone down on the first floor.
“Won’t he see us?” I crossed my arms, suddenly nervous about being spotted. If Gabe was looking for me, and he knew I was with other people, he wouldn’t just be hunting me down. He’d be searching for Leo and Spencer too.
Two hands gripped my waist and pulled me back from the railing.
“Then maybe we should hide you away in our little tower.” Leo’s eyes looked starved for me as she brought me to a pillar a few feet back from the railing. “More out of sight back here.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, excitement raging in my chest and growing between my legs.
Where hesitance and fear should have been, there was only desire.
Besides, if Leo and Spencer had been lying to me too — had been in on all of this with Dom — this would be my last chance to explore the feelings raging inside me.
Leo rested her palm against the cold, metal pillar behind me, pinning me in place without laying a finger on my body.
I wanted her to, wanted to feel her skin on mine. Her brown leather jacket had been tossed on a couch nearby, her tattooed arms and neck visible now. Each piece of art pronounced her muscles even further.
My gaze caught on the hilt of her sword and wings tattoo, the veins in her neck pulsing with anticipation as she searched my eyes.
“Take a look.” She swapped places with me, leaning against the pillar now and facing the bright, flashing lights of the club. Lifting her chin, she stretched the skin of her neck to show me the tattoo.
Like my hand was on a puppet string, I lifted my thumb to the hilt. I let my fingers wrap around the back of her thick, muscular neck, rubbing my thumb along the lings of the jeweled pommel.
From behind me, Spencer’s low voice soothed my nerves. “It’s a bold choice, isn’t it?” Her hands wrapped around my body, gently caressing the skin on my arms as I kept my gaze on Leo’s face. Her jaw tightened as I played with her tattoo, the touch clearly doing something to her.
Nodding, I licked my lips. “I want to taste it.”
“Then why don’t you?” Spencer pressed her body into my back, holding me in place and stopping me from running from this feeling.
I didn’t bother waiting for Leo’s approval, her rapid breathing and tensing hips enough for me to know how badly she wanted it. Leaning forward, I let my tongue reach for the salty skin of Leo’s tattoo.
A moan bubbled in my throat as I tasted her and a deep growl roared from the doctor’s chest.
“Fuck.” Leo’s chin fell, her eyes leveling me. Her chest was heaving with anticipation, her bulging pecs flexing as she tried to keep herself calm.
But I knew Leo Callahan too well by now. Unable to hold back, Leo grabbed my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. She was slow but sloppy, letting her tongue plunge into my mouth without waiting for mine. Leo wasn’t afraid to set the pace for both of us.
Slipping my tongue in with hers, I felt Leo’s strong hand wrap around my back. She pulled me closer, my hips pressing into her center where a hard strap waited for me.
The moan came from my stomach, an eagerness to touch her that I hadn’t felt for anyone before these two. Now I knew just how good those dildos could feel, and I was craving even more.
Despite how gentle Leo was with me, how considered she was in moving my body, I knew getting in her bed would be a different beast. That deep under that soft facade was a caged animal who’d rip me to shreds.
And god if I didn’t want to feel her claws.
It wasn’t long before Spencer’s slender fingers wrapped around my neck — on the opposite side of Leo’s hand — and pulled my face toward hers.
“I need a taste.” Spencer grunted into my mouth as she pressed her lips to mine.
A jolt of electricity shot through my spine as I felt the heat of their bodies surrounding me. There was no escape from them, no where I could run that my two captors wouldn’t find me. But I was starting to think running away from them was the last thing I wanted.
Even if Dom was harboring a secret.
Pulling me from my fantasies, Dom’s annoyed voice shattered my concentration. “Are you guys serious? We have work to do.”
Between fevered breaths, Leo didn’t even bother to look away from me. “We’re blending in.” And then her lips were back on mine.
Without even turning to look behind me, I knew Dom was seething. She’d be desperate to rip the two off of me, toss me onto the couch, and punish me for seducing them.
Is she ever going to stop thinking I’m using them?
Probably not.
Maybe I should have been more afraid, more concerned with the task at hand. That Dom was over by the railing, scouting for a predator on the loose. And I was over here, sandwiched between my two hunks, both of whom couldn’t keep their hands off of me.
After tonight, I’d be one of them. And then there would be nowhere to run.
There was no point worrying about it, not when I was the center of Leo and Spencer’s universe. And they were quickly becoming the center of mine.
Especially not with a crowd below us full of sharks, desperate for a taste of my blood.
Leo’s hand moved from my waist toward my hips, grabbing them and pulling me closer. The authority in her touch made me melt, not so aggressive that a joint would slip out, but just firm enough to tell my body to follow orders.
And it did.
Leo’s fingers felt their way to the hem of my skirt, lifting the fabric just enough to make my center pulse for her.
Spencer took advantage of my exposed ass, gripping it through the torn fishnets that covered the bare skin. “Goddamn, Kiera.” Her words were breathless, her lungs empty of air as she touched me.
“Found him.” Dom called out.
“Shit.” I whimpered as my forehead fell to Leo’s muscular chest.
There was no way I’d be able to focus on whatever stupid nonsense Dom was going to make me do, not with my clit throbbing like it would burst.
Dom snarled. “He’s on the move.”