The Bedlam Boys: Complete Series

Chapter Three

Legend flipped me over, smooshing me in the pillows. A move like that would break any kiss, but not the rolling-on-the-sheets, tearing-off-our-clothes, moaning make-out session we found ourselves in.

His tongue tangled with mine, as entrenched as his fingers woven in my hair. Our nightly blow job session ended with him saying I was “improving.” I told him he was hooked on my tongue, and I’d start getting choosy if he didn’t show some appreciation.

It’d been a stressful day and I was riding the agitation of being arrested, electrocuted, and interrogated by the person I hated as much as the Letter Man.

Legend said if my tongue was commanding respect, he’d have to see what else it could do. I wasn’t sure who moved first. Next thing I knew, his palm was attached to my ass as he ground between my legs.

“Oh, Legend,” I moaned. “Bet you love having a name like that during times like these.”

His laugh rumbled his chest. “It was a prophecy, love, that I more than lived up to.”

My hands were everywhere. Gliding down his chest, stroking him through the lining, scraping my nails along his back, bringing him down to me. All chatter ceased as his lips became mine again.

It amazed me how their personalities came through in their kiss. Legend was hidden passions and dual personas. He both kissed me sweet and thorough and rutted against my middle to produce a friction that was undoing me. It was not possible that I was about to come from that alone. But if Legend wished it so, I would.

He broke away, drawing a whine from me. “For heaven’s sake, can we drop the Torture Rainey game for another five minutes?”

“I doubt you’re going to find this torture.”

My brows blew up my forehead. Legend draped my legs over his shoulders, flashing me a smirk as he dropped.

The last time one of the guys gave me head was when Cairo caught me in the farmhouse and had his way with me on the floor. Since then, the guys gave me a steady string of orgasms, but still, they were singularly focused on my punishments. Giving head did not fall in that category.

Legend nibbled on my clit.

I gasped—actually scooting back to flee the sudden lightning pulse.

He hooked around my legs, holding me in place as his tongue parted my folds, lazily exploring the secret they failed to defend.

“Fucking fucknuts,” I cried. Arching off the bed, I fisted his hair, driving him and his tongue deeper. “Can we make this a part of the nightly routine?”

“Only when your blow jobs exceed expectations.”

I felt each goose bump rippling over my skin, cresting on the surging pleasure spreading through me. Legend continued down and swirled his tongue around another hole entirely.

“Oh.” This is new.

Gripping the headboard, rocking up to give him better access. My body was unsure of the new sensations, but if anyone was going to lead me on an enjoyable quest of new sexual explorations, it was the Bedlam Boys. There wasn’t a single thing we’d done that I said no to inside, even if I said it out loud.

Legend pushed two fingers inside me, working one hole and teasing the other.

“Yes,” I hissed. “Just like that, baby.”

“Say my name.”

“Legend. Legend.” His name was sex and worship on my lips. “You are a legend.”

He picked up the pace, bringing on what I couldn’t hold back.

I came hard, jerking and flopping so wildly on the bed, I flopped myself off. I just lay there on the carpet, chest heaving.

Legend’s room was smaller than his bedroom at the mansion, but it was no less decadent. The walls were painted black to match the midnight carpet. This should’ve made it cramped and gloomy, instead it felt like stepping into the secret passage behind a bookcase.

A dozen black-and-white framed prints covered his walls. Pops of red added color with his pillows and the single red chest locked at the foot of his bed. He opened it for me and removed all doubt of where he kept his twin set of paddles.

I decided I loved his room and the huge king-size bed that sat in the middle of it. Dragging myself up, I claimed another kiss and had to dance away giggling when he tried to drag me back in bed.

“Bathroom,” I said.

I left Legend lying amid his kingdom and padded to the bathroom. This space had received a makeover from its original frat-house chic as well. The wall shower tiles were black, and the floor black and white. He went with a floating bathroom sink that I leaned over to wash my face and fixed up my hair.

Looking marginally less like a sex-drunk coed, I used the bathroom, then opened the door to leave.

Quickly I swung it closed, leaving a sliver for me to peek through.

Legend carded his fingers through Roan’s hair, gently guiding him to his knees. “I’ve been dying to fuck that mouth.”

“Really?” Roan licked his lips, tugging his zipper down. “Looked like you were getting your fill elsewhere.”

“I’ll never have my fill. You should know me better than that by now.”

Their chuckling was drowned out by the loud ca-thumps banging in my chest. The pressure built between my legs, and they hadn’t done anything yet.

Roan watched, and jacked off, while Legend paddled me, and so far, that was the closest we’d come to a threesome. I couldn’t stop myself imagining what it’d be like to be the cheese between those slices of bread. I didn’t stop myself picturing what they got up to when I wasn’t around.

I low-key suspected it was more teasing and punishment that had them dangling this delicious treat just out of my reach. But I wanted it.

Bad.

Legend traced his lips, parting them as Roan’s tongue darted through, licking his tip.

Heat exploded in my middle, weakening my knees and dropping me to the floor. It was fascinating watching the two of them together. Their open relationship had rules. They could hook up with other people as long as they knew about them, and the hookup was just a hookup. They didn’t sleep with the same person more than twice, unless that person was their girlfriend—as in, me.

I have special privileges, so it’s past time I claimed what I wanted.

“Rainey.”

I jumped like I’d been caught stealing.

“Don’t have to hide in there, love,” said Roan. “This lesson is for you.”

Giving up my failed game of peekaboo, I crawled out.

“Thought I’d give you some tips, bring you up to expert level on sucking our man’s dick.”

Roan swallowed him to the hilt. Hissing, Legend dropped his head back, reaching up to grab the beams of his canopy bed. My pulse picked up speed with each inch that brought me closer to them.

Roan drew back with a “pop” and reached for me. I breathed rough, shallow pants as Roan settled me between his legs. His touch was gentle—gentler than it’d ever been, teasing up my body, skimming my collarbone, brushing my hair over my shoulder. He leaned me against him and bent to drop kisses on my throat.

“Take him slow, baby,” he whispered. “Give yourself time to adjust.”

“Show me.”

Roan did—taking him in inch by glorious inch. I bit my lip, penning in a moan as my hand traveled low. I was so wet, my fingers slicked to the touch, making their merry-go-rounding my clit easy.

Grasping my chin, Roan guided me to his place, parting my lips like Legend did to him. His thick, throbbing cock filled me, and I took Roan’s advice—going slow, letting my gag reflex relax.

“Lots of tongue, beautiful.” His words were heat in my ear. “He likes that. Don’t you, Legend?”

“Fuck, yes,” he bit off.

Roan replaced my fingers with his own, fucking me with two, then three fingers matching my increasing pace with Legend. I bobbed my head, cheeks caving, tongue worshiping him. Legend clung to the bed promising to do things to me I wasn’t sure were all possible.

I came up for air and Roan was there before I spoke, nipping along the underside of his cock and licking his balls.

I spasmed, rocked by the first wave of my oncoming, violent orgasm. This is why they hadn’t let me into their world right away. The inexperienced, newly de-virginized girl I was a few weeks ago would’ve died from the chain orgasms.

“Shit,” Legend breathed. “You two are going to make me come so hard I’ll be out of semen for a month.” He tangled in my hair. “Who told you to stop?”

I didn’t want to stop. Stop watching. Stop making them feel as wild and dangerous as they made me. Or stop to think what I’d do if what Jacques promised me didn’t apply to all of them. Through all the girlfriends and boyfriends, Roan and Legend’s bond remained. What if there wasn’t room for me to stay?

That’s not going to happen. I wouldn’t be here if they didn’t both want more. I was the one who gave them what they needed like Cairo, Arsenio, Jacques, Roan, and Legend each held a piece of what I needed.

I tugged Roan to me, crashing my lips on his. We kissed hungrily, sloppily, moaning to add a soundtrack over the slap, slap, slap sounding between my legs.

They were never getting rid of me.

Breaking apart, I dove between his legs, sucking Legend’s balls the way I learned from my new teacher. Legend grunted and I felt the moment he tightened.

Hot spurts of cum decorated my hair and back.

“Fucking... fucknuts.” Legend collapsed on his bed. “Damn. We’re making some changes to our nightly routine.”

I laughed as Roan peppered my face with kisses. “Fine with me.”

“I believe I said you get a reward when your blow jobs exceed expectations.”

My brows blew up my head. “Yes, I remember that agreement too.”

“Get up here.”

Roan tossed me shrieking on the bed. Giggling, I crawled up the pillows but didn’t make it far. Legend snagged my ankle and flipped me on my ass. I melted into the sheets under his kiss, hissing as he scraped my bottom lip between his teeth.

“Roan,” he said, and my red-haired devil imp was there.

Naked in record time, his hard, tanned body molded to mine. I sensed where this was going and held my breath lest I do or say a thing that’d make these infuriating men deny me. There was a time for punishment, and there was a time to get fucked.

Grinning, Roan swirled his tip around my entrance. “Should I?”

“You get me that knife and I’ll show you what happens if you don’t.”

“Oooh, tempting.”

“Ro—”

He pushed in with one hard, firm thrust. I broke a nail on his back.

“Ah, yes, faster. Roan, please.”

The man took orders even better than I did. He bounced me on the springs, pogoing in and out of my pussy as my cries became unintelligible.

Roan grunted. Dropping his head on my shoulder, he slowed for a moment—hands tightening on my waist. Over his back, Legend rose like the fallen angel himself. His raven locks damp and shining in the low light. Lust darkening his mahogany eyes.

He winked at me as he thrust inside Roan, turning his pants to groans in my ear.

There was no saving me after that. I clenched around him, back bending in honor of my favorite bow, and came so hard I blacked out.

It was only a second. One moment Roan was licking my jaw, then my vision cleared on him towering over me, Legend’s hand gripping his shoulder. I watched every expression of ecstasy cross his face, tracing them as they were stored in my mind forever. But I knew my Roan—

Traveling down, I clamped his nipple and twisted mercilessly.

—and what he really wanted.

“Ah!”

He came, jerking and spasming inside me. Legend followed right on his heels.

They both fell on top of me. I wrapped my arms around them, content to stay like that and never move.

I nuzzled Roan’s forehead. “My treat isn’t over yet, is it?”

“Fucking hell, Roan,” Legend breathed. “We’re definitely keeping this one.”

Our sex games continued for hours. Roan and Legend were very kind to show me the many positions a throuple could bend themselves into.

Afterward, we lay on the tangled mess of sheets, sweat cooling on our bodies. Roan dozed, his arm keeping me safe and secure as he breathed softly on my neck.

Legend lay on his back, wide awake and gazing at the canopy beams, lost in his head. I skimmed the outline of a hummingbird tattoo on his chest.

“Why a hummingbird?” I whispered.

“One saved my life.”

“Really? How?”

He shifted to smile at me, head resting on his arm. “I was playing in the woods one day when I was eight. Found a nice spot between the roots of a tree and sat down to read. Out of nowhere, a hummingbird flies up to me, pulling my head out of my book. A beautiful, tiny, wild thing that decided to visit me.

“I just sat there watching it fly. All of a sudden, it shot up and I bent my head to look, just as the branch snapped. I rolled out of the way in time because of that bird.”

“Wow. Amazing how little things create big moments.”

He nodded.

“Legend.”

“Rainey.”

I laughed. “Why do you live here instead of that big ole mansion twenty minutes away?”

“What grown man wants to live with his parents?”

“Good point, but you’re used to private chefs, basement gyms, five garages, and a ninety-inch television in every room. Why trade that in for this place when you could at least get your own apartment off campus?”

“Trying to get rid of me so there’ll be an extra room, de Souza?”

I flicked his nose. “I’m serious.”

He caught my hand and dropped a kiss on my knuckles. “Roan’s mom lets us all live here rent-free as long as Roan’s here. And if Roan’s here, I’m here.”

“It’s sweet how you two love each other. He’s the only person you’re nice to.”

“Are you saying I’m not nice to you?”

“Yes.”

His laugh rumbled from his chest. “Good thing you’re into that.”

“Do your parents like Roan?”

“Honey, very few people like Roan. Most of them wrestle between their loathing and lusting of him. Some flat-out hate him. One pushed him out and is biologically programmed to love him, but the list of people who like the guy deliberately pushing their buttons is short.”

“Was he his naturally charming self with your folks?”

He smiled just thinking about it. “Roan wouldn’t be any other way. Mom got over it quick, but Dad took some time accepting his only son’s bisexuality. Roan helped the situation by flaunting it. Passionate kisses in front of him. Striding out the house in his clothes from the day before, and shouting bye to the old man’s purpling face.”

I heaved a sigh. “Oh, Roan. Did your dad give you a hard time because of it?”

“The half a dozen times he stopped to notice? Nah.”

His hair fell over his eyes. I brushed it back, lingering, playing with his strands.

“I tell people that I’m not sure if Dad ever came around or if he just forgot. We’re not close. We don’t talk. We don’t spend time together. We go through the routine at the distillery, but that’s it. All those trips he takes out of Bedlam, I’m not invited along for the ride. The guy doesn’t know shit about my life.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“You would be.” The wry smile still hung on his lips. “All you folks with parents and grandparents that wrapped you up in hugs, kisses, and midnight cocoa feel bad for the rest of us. Just imagining your life without breaks you.”

“I am living a life without, Legend, and I’d give anything to go back to the midnight cocoa. Of course it breaks my heart that it was never there for you.” I stroked his cheek. “No wonder you hate sleeping alone.”

Something flashed in his eyes.

“You never will again,” I vowed.

“Are you going to make sure of it?”

“Yes.”

He pulled my hand away and laced our fingers together. Nothing more, but the act said everything.

“There’s still something I want to know,” I spoke up.

“I seem to be in a sharing mood, so go for it.”

“You and Roan could live here on your own. Jacques, Cairo, and Arsenio didn’t have to move in, though I see the appeal of free rent. I guess I’m wondering why you all choose to live together. Some days, you five don’t seem that close, and then others, it’s like you’re one mind split between you. How did you end up together?”

“We weren’t given much of a choice.” Facing me, he wound my strands around his free hand. “Small towns kind of pick your friends for you. No one else got what I was going through. Other boyfriends didn’t want the same relationship that I did. So now, it’s the five of us.” He kissed me. “We all end up where we’re supposed to be, Rainey. The trick is not to fight it.”

I hummed. “You don’t seem like the kind of guy that accepts the cards handed to him.”

“Ah, well.” A smirk split his face. “I’m probably eighteen percent that guy. But that eighteen percent put me in the right circumstances to claim my new toy. Sometimes you gotta be open to the gifts life hands you, baby. Stop reading, watch the hummingbird.”

“Some wisdom buried in there.”

Legend leaned in. His kiss skimmed my lips and caught the tender spot under my ear. “Reprieve is over, darling. You’ve got your own room.”

I gaped at him. “You can’t be serious. After everything, you’re sending me back to the doghouse?”

“We haven’t set an exact date for when your punishment is over, but I can tell you it’s not tonight.” He kissed me again. “We gave you a little treat before bedtime, don’t get greedy.”

“Legend, seriously, after being thoroughly fucked in both holes, you could at least give me one more night.”

“I could...” That smirk widened. “But I won’t. Get going. Close the door when you leave.”

I might’ve argued some more, but the guy wasn’t above picking me up and carrying me down himself. I credited his good mood that he at least sent me off with another kiss instead of the sore bottom I got most nights.

Standing in the silent hallway, I landed on Cairo’s door. Wonder if he’s in there tonight.

I knew he spent most of his nights away. When you slept by the front door, you notice people’s comings and goings. It crossed my mind a few times to ask him where he went, but I let it go each time. I had a feeling he’d tell me on his own one day.

Sighing, I settled in the doghouse.

Legend liked me in his bed. He liked waking up with me sandwiched between him and Roan and his arms around both of us. They were getting as tired of this as me. Soon, he’d give in. Or Cairo would to keep his mate close. Arsenio would let me in to share the mysteries behind his eyes. Jacques would to indulge his time with one of the few people who didn’t see him as someone to gawk and whisper about.

No matter what denials they voice, inside they said something else. Soon, I wouldn’t be the pet. I wouldn’t be another in a carousel of sex partners. I’d be their girlfriend, their love, their mate, their logical choice for the rest of their lives.

“I’ve seen what you’ll do when backed into a corner. If you lose all hope of getting her justice and exposing my father, I suspect you’ll kill him, Rain.”

How could I be without these men? They see me like no one ever has.

CRASH!

I jerked up, banging my head on the roof of the doghouse.

Sticking my neck out, my mind struggled for a moment to make sense of what I was seeing.

Glittery pieces covered the floor, coffee table, couch—

My lips parted, breath stolen from my lungs before they uttered the scream.

Climbing out, my bare feet trod on the glass, stabbing pinpricks of pain that faded from register. Closer the dancing flames brought me—gorgeous in their reflection, deadly in their hunger.

“Ahh!”

“Call 911!”

“Is someone in there?”

I passed out of the living room, picking up the object lying beside the couch on autopilot. Outside, the cooling autumn air raised goose bumps on my exposed flesh. It was something for the spectacle before me that coeds spilling onto Greek Row paid no mind to the woman standing around in a lace bra and panties.

The 1957 Chevrolet Corvette wheezed its death. Metal groaned. Tires blew out in a gust that spat the fire at those who dared get too close.

I didn’t see him first, I sensed him.

A presence spilling out of our home and standing the hairs on the back of my neck. Again, I did not need to see Arsenio Creed to know the expression on his face was terrible to behold.

Pristine leather. Polished surfaces. Not a scratch of chipped paint anywhere to be seen. Most afternoons, I sit at the window watching him in the driveway—shirtless and curls damp with sweat—while he worked on his car.

Arsenio stepped in front of me, veins stark and pulsing running up his back. The crowd parted for him, silence rippling through them like dominoes.

He spun, fixing on me, and I froze to the spot. Wild, blazing fire ten thousand times hotter than the inferno claiming the one thing he loved eroded away all color or emotion. I swear on my life, Arsenio’s eyes bled black.

He flicked down and I realized I was still holding the gift sent hurtling through our window.

I peeled off the rubber band, opened the note, and dropped the rock. My jaw clenched.

“It says... get the fuck out of Bedlam.”

Arsenio straightened. With the bursting of another tire, the blaze in his eyes was doused. The color returned. The handsome, smiling mayor’s son stood before me. If I hadn’t been looking at him, I’d have missed the transformation. I was looking at him and honestly couldn’t say which expression frightened me more.

Something dropped on my shoulders.

Roan draped the blanket around me. “Let’s go,” he said. “I’ll take a look at your feet.”

I didn’t stop him lifting me in his arms or turning to carry me inside.

As Legend, Cairo, and Jacques streamed past, they let the door swing shut and I caught the barest glimpse. Standing in the crowd, watching the flames’ desperate quest for more fuel, was Jeremy.

“THEY DID THIS.”

Arsenio paced the living room, stomping a groove in the floor that stopped me voicing the half dozen comforting statements that floated in my head. I only had to look at him to see nothing I said would make this better. I didn’t know the story behind his car, but if Jeremy wanted to hurt him, he succeeded.

“They did,” I said, snapping that burning gaze to me. “I saw Jeremy in the crowd. Don’t have to guess what brought him away from Bay Avenue in the middle of the night.”

Arsenio spun on his heels, storming to the door. Jacques dropped the tape and moved in his path.

“You can’t do what you’re thinking.”

Snarling, Arsenio got in his face. “You don’t know what I’m thinking.”

Jacques didn’t flinch. “Yes, I do. Ellis will be tucked away in his mansion with the eight security cameras sweeping the property. They’ll have you arriving on video and the sheriff—”

“I don’t care!”

“Your old man would!”

My eyes went round. To hear Arsenio shout was shocking, if understandable in the situation, but Jacques too?

“He wouldn’t want you going to prison for that car, and he sure as hell wouldn’t want you there because of trash like Jeremy Ellis and the Crows.” He gripped his friend’s shoulders. “You know the plan. You know we can get rid of them for good, but we can’t strike back.”

“Jacques’s right,” Cairo said. He stayed at the window, carefully breaking the last of the jagged glass and covering the gaping hole in our home with cardboard. “Micah is telling everyone those photos are faked. He’s dropping a sympathetic tune of trying to make peace with Roan and end the fighting, and then Roan used him and planted those nudes on the phone. This fire looks like victims striking back, and if we come at them, it’ll solidify that martyr image they’re painting.

“These fools came into our town, fucked with us, fucked with our people, and got what they deserved for using Bedlam for their own ends. That has to be the story on everyone’s tongue when this is over, or Foundry and the Crows get exactly what they want, us out of Bedlam.”

Arsenio bore into Jacques. “Get out of my way.”

“I will, if you tell me the outcome of you going over there tonight.” Jacques held out his arms. “You’re a smart guy, Creed. Too smart to not know exactly where we’ll find you in the morning. So, picture that ending, and then picture the one I’ve picked out for Jeremy Ellis and his boys. You tell me which one is more satisfying.”

I held my breath, darting between them. No one clued me in to Jacques’s plan, but I did know what would happen if Arsenio left this house. I’d seen that look in his eye only once before. Axel Verlice did too.

Arsenio sidestepped him and thundered upstairs. His door slam rattled the whole house.

No one spoke for a beat.

“What’s the plan?” I asked.

“You don’t need the details,” Cairo replied.

“You’re not seriously thinking I’ll tell Jeremy, are you? Because if you are, I’ll hit you over the head with another crossbow.”

Cairo blew me a kiss.

“For real, I—” My fists balled. “I’ve never seen Arsenio like that. Tell me what to do.”

“You don’t need to do anything,” Jacques said. “What matters is what you say.”

I SHUFFLED ALONG THEpath, walking a few feet, turning around, then claiming a bench only to get up again. I couldn’t help my anxious energy. It took all the persuasive power I possessed to stop the guys from coming here in my place and beating Jeremy into the ground.

My phone buzzed. I fished it out of my backpack.

New Boy One: Keep walking past the memorial.

Me: What is this? Are we meeting up or not?

New Boy One: Past the memorial. Hurry up.

Blowing out a breath, I took off, leaving the arboretum and making my way to Douglas Herbert’s memorial. I couldn’t stop myself glancing at the kookaburra as I went past, or recalling the memories that would forever be attached to that blasted bird. How did my life become this?

I continued over a knoll and stopped, searching out Jeremy among the students crisscrossing branching paths to get to their different colleges. None of them wore a leather jacket or a crow on their neck.

Another message came through.

New Boy One: D Parking Lot. By the welcome sign.

I finally walked up to Jeremy’s car idling by the back entrance onto campus. I gave him a look as I slid in.

“What’s with the treasure hunt? I look like I got time to waste?”

He grinned. “Why so touchy? Just taking a few precautions.”

I tugged off my heel and flashed him my bandaged foot. “Like you took these precautions? I was in the fucking living room when that rock came through the window. Don’t tell me it wasn’t you.”

“It wasn’t me, it was Micah,” he said, wincing. “But fair enough, you should be pissed. I forgot they make you sleep in the living room like a literal dog.”

“What was that about, Jeremy? Why did you do it?”

“Why do you think?”

He started the car, peeling out of campus and setting a course for who knew where.

“They told the world I was fucking my brother. I’ve got friends in HC giving me shit now, saying they always knew ‘we were too close.’ Fuck that!” He punched the dash. “They deserve everything they’ve got coming to them.”

I grunted something.

“What’s up with you? I thought you’d get off on watching the Bedlam Boys eat it for a change.”

“Maybe I would if you weren’t happy for me to get caught up in the process. You can’t care all that much about what happens to me if you forgot I was sleeping under the window you shattered.”

“Hey, I apologized for that.” His voice softened. “We really weren’t trying to hurt you. We just gotta make sure the message sinks in. A week ago, I was willing to go easy on them. That’s over now. The Bedlam Boys are out. The Crows run this town now, and no one is going to hurt you when they’re gone. I told you, Rainey, the Crows will worship you.”

Jeremy felt up my thigh. My stomach heaved.

I’d do the rounds with a barroom full of unshowered, incontinent, flea-bitten randoms before I got naked with this guy. The Bedlam Boys spanked me, paddled me, fucked me raw and in the dirt, and not even they would disregard my safety as casually as the Crows did.

“Besides, if you think about it, your little cuts work in our favor. Sharpe wasn’t supposed to see us together the other day. We can’t have him thinking we’re friendly, or he’ll look to you when we start knowing things he doesn’t want us to know. From here on, we’ll make it look good. You want nothing to do with us.”

“Fine. I’ve got no problem putting on the show.” None at all.

“It was good though, right?” He laughed. “Creed shat himself when he saw that car.”

I pushed down my nausea. Jeremy believed I hated the guys as much as he did. I couldn’t play the spy if he guessed my allegiance wasn’t with him.

“I’ve never seen Arsenio like that,” I said honestly. “You broke him.”

“Whoo! Nice.”

He held up his hand for a high five. I smacked his palm and vowed to take three baths when I got home.

“I’m surprised you burned Arsenio’s car and not Roan’s.” We passed the turn for Bay Avenue. “I thought he was at the top of your hit list.”

“Banks has money. Not as much as his boyfriend, but enough that a little car fire wouldn’t slow him down. He’ll just get another or, like I said, ride around in one of the six St. James has parked in his driveway. Nah.” An odd note crept into his voice. “I’ve got something special for all of them, and Roan... he’s going to get it worst of all. When I’m through, they’ll beat it out of Bedlam so fast, they’ll leave the phone on the dresser and the shampoo still in their hair.”

I observed him for a moment, saying nothing. “Where are we going?”

“Just driving around. Don’t know how close an eye the Bedlam Boys and their buddies keep on you.”

“I know they’re having too much fun with this pet thing, but I haven’t been chipped, Jeremy,” I said. “But they do expect me home after class. Start driving back. This is a short conversation since all I’ve heard them say is Mayor Creed is planning to address the rumors of the town splitting at the next town hall.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. They’re not talking to me about it, but I get the feeling they don’t take you or the Crows seriously. Not after how easily Roan showed you up at the party.” I admit it, I said that to wheedle him. “If it’s between the devils they know, or the devils that screw their brothers, no one in Bedlam is going with you.”

His white-knuckle grip tightened the wheel.

I shrugged. “Like I said, it’s just a feeling, but they’re not worried about the return of Crystal Canyon.”

“They will be.”

The air-conditioning blew frigid on me. I turned it off and was still cold. The atmosphere around Jeremy unnerved me. I mean, if someone convinced the town I was messing around with my sister, I’d want payback too. But even before Roan did what Roan does, the Crows were off.

They came in too fast and too hot. Jeremy stabbed Cavendish for the mere sake of proving he was big and bad. He organized a mob that put people in the hospital. He whipped out his knife like he was ready and willing anytime—just give him a reason.

It wasn’t so much that I thought he was dangerous. It was that I was starting to think the Crows, Ellis, and Foundry were... desperate.

They wanted this town so badly, they were shelling out hundreds of thousands to buy homes out from under people. They were hiring college girls to spy and resorting to felonies to drive out the main opposition against them.

That’s what made them frightening. There was no one more dangerous than a desperate man.

“If I ask you something,” I began, “will you tell me the truth?”

“Depends on the question.”

“How will driving Cairo and the guys out of Bedlam clear the way for you? Marjorie Creed is the mayor. Eileen Stone is the judge. Jack Sharpe is the one with the cuffs if they link you to the fire. I half expected the contract to say I had to get close to their parents, but no, you’re focusing all your attention on the guys. Why? Whether they’re here or not, it’s not up to them how this goes.”

Jeremy cuffed my chin. “You just keep looking pretty, de Souza.”

“I’m going to punch your teeth in.”

He barked a laugh. “Incredible the Bedwetters ever got you on a leash. What do they have on you?”

“I asked you first.”

“Answer mine and I’ll answer yours,” he shot back.

I pressed my lips together. What they got me on is the burning death of a particularly disturbed accountant, but I’m hardly about to tell you that.

“I’m sure everyone already knows,” I finally said. “I disrespected Jacques for the entire class and all of YouTube to see. They came after me and offered an exchange of services in place of punishment. The Bedlam Boys get unpaid help and a plaything, and my homeless ass gets a roof over her head. Believe it or not, the doghouse beats the motel.”

“You’ll have your farm back soon enough.”

The spires of Bedlam Hall rose above the trees. My rendezvous with Jeremy Ellis was coming to an end.

“The place will need some serious work, but after those guys fuck off, you can stay with us until renovators make it livable. Although, it’ll have to wait till the spot’s not a crime scene. Did you hear about that?”

“Yeah,” I said softly. “I heard.”

“Two murders. This town is fucked.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“Ah.” Jeremy rounded the final corner, pulling up to the curb. “I guess it’s understandable you don’t see the hold those guys have on this town, you spent all your life living on the edge of it. It’s the Bedlam Boys who got people locking their doors at night. It’s the Bedlam Boys rolling up with a bat when Joe Corner Store is short on payments. It’s the Bedlam Boys who’ll carry out retribution against those who side with us.

“No one is afraid of the president, Rainey. They’re afraid of the secret service. No one quakes in their boots thinking of flabby-bottom senators, but the armed forces our government commands have them reconsidering. It’s the muscle behind the power that must be taken out first. Do that, you become the muscle, and watch how quickly they all fall in line.

“The town is scared of the Bedlam Boys. Imagine how they’ll fear the guys who put them down—permanently.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Can’t get into it now, but hey”—he grasped my arm as I made to climb out—“remember whatever happens, it’s not about you. It’s about getting what we all want.”

“I know.” I tried to tug free.

“I gotta make it look good,” he said, holding on. “They can’t suspect you’re on our side.”

“So, I should probably get out of this car before someone notices us together.” I gave the hand on my arm a pointed look. “Now.”

Jeremy released me. “Bring me something I can use next week.”

I followed his headlights around the corner, picturing the steaming hot bubble bath I was due with Cairo or Roan. Whoever was home right now and would wash my hair while I scrubbed every inch of me.

I shuddered. Some kind of fucking bold going on about me living with them after they drove the Bedlam Boys out. Not to mention the fantasy he’s living in, playing like there was anything they could do to get the guys out of this town. There’s a reason Bedlam is their name.

Turning around, I crashed into his chest.

“Fuck!”

“Arsenio?” I grabbed him, realizing immediately what he ran all this way to do. “What are you doing here? We said—”

“Fuck what we said!”

His shouting drew stares.

“I was waiting for him to show up at the arboretum. Smart little shit had you get in his car.” He walked off like he was going to run after the long-gone Jeremy.

“Arsenio.”

Spinning on me, he said, “You’ll set up another meet tomorrow. Tell him it’s important and you can’t say it over the phone. Get him—”

“Easy.” I reached for his temples.

Arsenio snatched my wrists, eyes flashing. “I’m not Cairo.”

I flicked to those watching, lowering my voice. “You’re not Cairo. He’s impulsive, unpredictable, and as likely to shake a stranger’s hand as he is to bite his ear off. But you...” Gently, I pulled free, sliding down his heaving chest. His heart banged wildly against my palm. “You’re calm and patient, and always wait for your moment. The Crows won’t get away with what they did, baby, but we both know this is not the moment.”

The chilling ice in his eyes hadn’t melted, but he was listening.

“We will get him back, I promise. Right now, you have to get your mind off it. I left campus between classes and got something to make you feel better.” I touched my backpack. “Take me somewhere private, so I can give it to you.”

“Unless you’ve got my father’s 1957 Chevrolet Corvette in that bag, you’ve got nothing I want, de Souza.”

I weathered the sting, facing him head-on. “You haven’t seen it yet. Tell me where we’re going.”

We locked in a staredown. Even our audience wanted to know the outcome, which Arsenio finally noticed. Glaring at those watching, he strode off, the grip on my arm leading me behind.

“It’s not far,” he clipped.

I was quiet on our walk off campus. I could ask where we were going, but I’d find out soon enough.

We arrived at a crosswalk and veered left for the square. People were out like they were most days. At this time, it was couples basking in a stolen moment, sharing lunch and quick kisses by the fountain. I could almost imagine myself in that scene with Arsenio, Cairo, Jacques, Roan, or Legend, if a collar was around my neck.

This didn’t stir the sadness some thought it should. That wasn’t the kind of relationship that we were in, and with each day I spent with them, I was glad of it. It wasn’t just anyone who could get Legend to open up like he did the night before. It wasn’t anyone Arsenio would’ve taken with him the night he visited Verlice, and it wasn’t just any girlfriend that put Cairo in a situation where he thought there was a choice between me and his father, and he admitted he couldn’t make it.

What we had between us was twisted, raw, violent, and a little dangerous, but it was real. I’d take that over sushi in the square.

Arsenio took me down Clifton Street. I realized where we were going three houses down.

“The mayor’s house?”

“Also known as my house.”

“Is your mom home?”

“You asked for alone.”

We stepped up the flower-lined drive and let ourselves in. I swept around as Arsenio tugged me along.

A bright, open-floor living room was done up by a tasteful hand. I could see the mayor entertaining guests huddled around the grand piano, or sharing appetizers on the plush white couches.

We turned a corner into the living room and I slowed down. This was where Arsenio Creed grew up. The photos of the chubby, curly-haired baby proved it. In a dozen pictures, he smiled or waved at me. Then, he grew, shedding the plump cheeks and onesies for little suits, bow ties, and the serious expression to match.

Farther down the wall we went, adding a young Roan and Cairo. Quickly the other photos added Legend and Jacques. A pic of the five of them in Bedlam High uniforms, smirking or grinning at the camera, made me glad I was farm-schooled. To have these guys dominating me during my formative years would’ve stolen the little time I had left with my innocence.

“It’s so cute how your mom has a wall of you. Where are the photos of your parents?”

He motioned toward the stairs.

True enough, we climbed the steps and went on another journey through the years. The bottom showed the faces of a sweet young couple, beaming from faded photographs. The higher we climbed, the older they got, till they were married, then expecting their first child.

“You look just like your dad,” I said.

His grip tightened on me, but he didn’t reply.

Marjorie Creed was the mayor, which meant her past became an official backstory instead of her personal business. Everyone knew the daughter of a white mother and Black father left Bedlam to attend college in New York, where she met the Chinese international student who vowed he’d marry her on their second date.

A lot stood in their way. Visa issues, family drama, a forced return to China, and minimum wage jobs fighting to support big dreams. But they made it through all of that to marry and start a family, and one day, Marjorie woke up and her husband was unmoving beside her. He died of an aneurysm in his sleep at thirty-six years old.

Arsenio pushed inside what I assumed was his bedroom. All the family photos and personal touches were outside. This room was a bed, desk, couch, television, and white walls.

I moved to the bay window. “Nice view. I can see over the square and straight to the university from here.”

He grunted. “You said you were packing something worth my time.” Arsenio dropped on the couch—his long, powerful legs spread out as he reclined. “Let’s see it.”

“Any chance we’ll be interrupted?” I drifted away from the window, stopping just in front of him.

“Our illustrious mayor is at the hall all day, then she’s got a dinner with friends in Hunter’s Crest.” His brows rose up his forehead. “You trying to find out what happens if you make me ask again?”

The corner of my lip rose up. This was the Arsenio I knew. His beauty as sharply honed as his coldness.

“You don’t have to ask.” I shrugged my pack on the floor. “Just be patient while I do the prep work.”

Holding his gaze, I tugged the halter strings of that day’s short, slinky dress, and didn’t miss his fingers flexing on the couch as my dress fell around my hips.

Legend told me often that my breasts were perfection. Actually, since I fell into the tender arms of the Bedlam Boys, I’d been assured of my beauty in many naughty ways. I wasn’t sure if I saw myself as the silky-haired vixen they named me, tempting them by walking into a room.

That is until I watched Arsenio’s carefully built walls crumble at the mere sight of me. I hope it didn’t give me a big head to say I felt pretty beautiful then.

I wiggled out of my dress and kicked it over to him. He didn’t react when it landed on his lap. Neither did he move to my thong dropping on top.

Bending over, I slowly unzipped my bag. The guy liked me teasing and seducing him. No matter what he said, this would take his mind off Jeremy and the Crows.

I pulled my latest buy out of my backpack. Credit to his expert control of his emotions, a slight twitch of his brow was all that gave him away.

“Turns out this is a real thing.” I slid my new red butt plug tail between my breasts. Dangling from my fingertips were the matching ears. “Ordered them last night. Gotta love one-day delivery.”

Arsenio could’ve been chipped from stone, he was rock hard, stiff, so nothing stopped me from straddling him. I smoothed my hands down his chest, dropping kisses on his nose, cheek, and lips.

“So,” I purred. “My owner needs cheering up, and as his faithful pet, I’ll do my job till I get it right.” My tongue darted out, licking the tip of his nose. “Do you want to help me get into character? Or you can sit back and watch. The choice is yours... master.”

A low, feral growl leaked through his teeth.

“Do not move.”

I opened my mouth to ask what was wrong and found myself dropped on the couch and staring at his back till it walked out. If this was a good or bad reaction, I couldn’t tell with Arsenio, but he told me to stay, so I’d stay.

My reflection caught my attention in the mirror across from his bed. I eyed the young woman naked and rocking sex gear, waiting for one of the inscrutable delinquents that were currently passing her around, and I tried to imagine her in boots and jeans, mucking around in the chicken coop.

Look at the images, tell me what doesn’t belong.

I couldn’t reconcile those two pictures. Not when I knew the twists, turns, and tragedies that brought that girl to me.

If I hadn’t lost Gran, that seed of hatred wouldn’t have taken root in my soul. If I hadn’t chased Ivy away, bitterness and regret wouldn’t have watered it. If the Letter Man hadn’t crashed into my life, blood wouldn’t have opened its leaves, transforming into a darkness that claimed half my soul, and called out to the Bedlam Boys.

This is who I am now.

I looked away from the mirror.

And I can never go back.

The hinges creaked.

Arsenio filled the entrance, holding a length of cloth in one hand. It looked like a belt for a bathrobe. I couldn’t make out what he had in the other.

“You’re impossible to categorize, Rainey de Souza. In anyone else, this would upset me.” He stretched the belt out. “I’d feel the urge to fix them. Order them. Remind them their chaos would always be second under my command.”

I rose up on my knees, holding my hands out for him. He stepped within them, cupping my cheeks and gifting me a searing kiss. I whimpered.

Arsenio was reserved in every aspect and area of his life, but not when he kissed. He nibbled my bottom lip, drawing a moan that was all the invitation he needed. Plunging inside, his tongue tangled with me, confusing its up and down, and me not giving a shit. I didn’t need to know the right way up when I was with him.

We broke away, breathing hard. This was it: Arsenio losing control.

“But not you.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “You intrigue me, Rainey. A part of me can’t wait to see what you do next.”

I turned around, slowly grinding my ass on his hardening ridge. “You won’t have to wait long.”

“On the floor. Ass up.”

I dutifully did as I was told. Crossing my arms and resting my cheek on them, my butt was up and ready to go. I jumped as something cool squirted on me.

Arsenio steadied my hips, continuing his task. He was surprisingly gentle preparing me. My hole was stretched with one finger, then two, slowly dipping in and out.

My eyes fluttered shut, riding the rising warmth popping beads of sweat on my skin. My lids popped right open as the butt plug went in. The odd sensation took a minute getting used to. Arsenio helped me along by flicking my clit. The zinging, electric pleasure chased everything else away.

“Up. Sit.”

I rocked back on my heels. He grasped my chin between two fingers and kissed me.

“Stay,” he whispered.

Arsenio backed away, and it was my turn to sit mesmerized as his clothes peeled off, unveiling those thick arms, hard chest, defined V leading to a cock well above average.

“You put to shame every guy in the locker room with that thing, didn’t you?” I licked my lips. “You were totally one of those guys strutting around with it all hanging out.”

One half of his mouth quirked up. “Confidence isn’t a character flaw now, is it? ’Cause it doesn’t crack my top ten.”

“I believe it’s only a flaw when it veers into cockiness.”

“And what are your flaws, Rainey?” He placed the ears on my head. “I’m afraid that if I don’t bring you down to earth, make you real again, I’ll do the unthinkable.”

My lids grew heavy as he tortured my nipples, pebbling them under his touch. “What’s that?” My voice was barely audible.

He shrugged. “Fall in love with you.”

I opened my mouth and nothing came out. To be fair, I think the point was to leave me speechless.

“What tricks should I teach my pet first?” Arsenio traced something only he knew on my stomach. “You already know how to suck a cock.”

I quivered under his seeking touch. “I’ve learned some new things since our last go.”

“I’m not interested in Legend’s secondhand sex tricks, baby. You’re going to learn something new today.”

“What’s left for me to learn? You guys have been exhaustive in my education.”

“You’ll see.”

Arsenio scooped me up and carried me out of the room. I was taken across the landing and down the hall to the door on the end.

“So, this is your room.”

A floor-to-ceiling case of medals, awards, and books were first to greet me. Personality bled into these walls. Bled being the right word, seeing as that’s what they were painted—red and gray. As he spun me to shut the door, I landed on the other case filled with dozens of model airplanes. They were beautiful in their differing sizes, designs, and little fine details that put them together.

Arsenio set me on the red cotton sheets—me secretly pleased at guessing his favorite color. I wagged my tail at him. “Why didn’t we come in here first?”

“No one comes in here. That included you until I decided I liked your distraction.” He was a deadly beast stalking toward me. “You’re still going to bring me Ellis tomorrow. Noon. Behind the sports hall where it’s quiet.”

My smile dimmed.

“But I thank you for giving me this delicious hour or two where I’ll think about something else but the things I’m going to do to him. I didn’t know there was anything, or anyone, that could distract me when I get like... this.” He kissed the soft underside of my thigh. “Keep surprising me, Rainey de Souza. I like it.”

“Arsenio—”

“Shh,” he crooned. “I know exactly what I’ll do to my pet. First, I’m going to eat this tight little pussy out till I’ve had my fill. You’ll come twice, not before I say, and no more than two seconds after. Then you will show me those sex tricks.” He nipped that same tender spot. “What the hell, I’m curious. After, I’ll flip you over, and... we’ll see where this mood takes me.”

He dropped flat on his back and drew me on top of him.

I was as helpless to resist as I was to come up with a reason he should sit back and choose pacifism. Jacques was adamant they do nothing and refuse to fuel the fire till the time was right, but Jeremy made a massive error in judgment going after a man like Arsenio Creed, and I didn’t know if a woman like me could stop him.

Arsenio sat me on his face. A moan escaped me as his tongue began its exploration. I’d worry about saving Jeremy’s undeserving ass later. Right then, I needed a distraction too. And Arsenio was just the guy to provide it.

I rocked up and down on him, gripping the pillows as bliss rippled beneath my skin. That’s what I was calling the heady, addictive drug they injected in me with every touch—bliss.

Arsenio got his hands on my tail.

“Ah, the double attack,” I cried.

He worked the plug in and out, double-teaming with his relentless tongue.

“That’s not fair.”

His laugh sent vibrations through my core. I wasn’t allowed to come before he said, and if it wasn’t soon, I was about to find out Arsenio’s method of punishment.

The pressure built, making my knees shake on either side of him. “Now?”

“No.” If anything, he picked up the pace, rolling my eyes up in my head.

“Baby, please... I can’t...”

“Come.”

I exploded on top of him, dropping in a heap against the headboard, and that was only round one.

Arsenio flipped me over and buried his head between my legs, not letting up on the tail for a minute. I finally understood why they were slow on giving me head. That was the next stage of exquisite torture that I had to reach by good, or bad, behavior.

“Come—”

“Ah!” I squeezed on his head, holding him captive as sunbursts exploded in my mind. He got himself free and slid up my body, claiming a kiss as I came down.

Arsenio had me teach him what I learned as promised. His cock plundered my throat, bringing tears to my eyes. I gripped his thighs. Relaxing my throat, I begged for more in unintelligible grunts.

“Fuck!” He broke a piece off his headboard, coming in my mouth.

I said I hadn’t seen the same look I saw that Tuesday night till flames claimed his car. Now I could name the third time.

Arsenio gazed down at me, running his hands over my body like he was committing the touch and heat of me to memory. I finally understood that look wasn’t bloodlust. It was just plain lust. It was the switch inside him that was usually turned off, coming to light and unleashing the pent-up living rage that was him. What did it mean that I brought out that lust?

I cupped his face in both hands, wondering what he saw in mine.

Brows crumpling, his expression changed. “I...”

“I know,” I whispered, smile stretching across my lips. “I know.”

He shook his head, coming to. “On your stomach.”

I flipped over on the sheets and found out what the belt was for.

Arsenio bound my wrists and feet together, bending me like a bow. I shivered as he trailed a finger up my spine.

“Why you?” he asked.

“I think you’re supposed to tell m-me.”

He dipped inside my folds, hitching my breath. “I would if I knew. You’re the first.”

I sobered, burying my face in his pillow. It overwhelmed me his confession. I couldn’t fathom he, the most closed off of all, would be the one to tell me about their parade of girlfriends, and then admit I’d be their last.

“Don’t ask yourself why,” I said. “Just look up, and see the hummingbird.”

I wasn’t certain he understood me. He indulged himself another taste between my legs and I figured we’d get back to the discussion later.

Sweet, gentle lovemaking was not what the Bedlam Boys and I did, and Arsenio was no exception. I kicked a lamp off the nightstand. He bent my head back by the hair as he drilled me. All the pillows ended up on the floor and we did too.

Arsenio tossed the tail over his shoulder. Positioning my hips, I gripped the edge of the mattress for leverage, readying for—

He pushed in my newly used hole. Who was to blame for not going easy on me? Arsenio pounded me, shoulders rocking on the carpet and digging his heels for leverage. But I met thrust for thrust, screams ratcheting higher as I begged for harder, faster, and deeper.

Arsenio didn’t have time to give an order. Our climaxes took hold of us both and dropped us on sparking live wires. The storm set off inside couldn’t be controlled or held back.

I curled up on top of him—both of us huffing and puffing like we ran a three-second mile.

“Will you say it?” I asked, looping his damp curls around my finger.

“Nah. Not today.”

“Well then, I’ll have to keep surprising you.”

“MY MOM LOVES OLD CARS.” Arsenio’s knife skills were quick and sure. He looked at me while his blade flashed on the cutting board. “The guy next door to their old place wanted to sell the Corvette, but he refused to let it go to some kid who’d fill it with cheap gas and have the interior reeking of weed within a month. Mom promised she’d save up to afford that car one day.

“When Dad was forced to go back to China to settle his visa issues, there was so much red tape and hoops to jump through, they almost gave up hope he’d make it back. When he finally got the notice his visa came through, the first thing he did was buy a plane ticket, grabbed a taxi to that old neighbor’s house, and bought it on the spot. Mom walked out of work that afternoon and there they both were.”

“That’s so sweet.”

Arsenio finished making his pineapple star and placed it over my right nipple. The guy said he was hungry. Apparently that meant lying on the kitchen island and playing the bowl to his fruit salad. I didn’t mind. This was not the strangest after-sex activity the guys got me in.

“Grape, please.”

Arsenio plucked one off the bushel placed strategically on my middle. He popped it between his lips and fed it to me.

“I’d fixed up that car with him since I was seven,” he continued. “After Dad died, Mom couldn’t sit in it without crying. She gave it to me when I was sixteen, and I kept it perfect... until yesterday.”

“I understand, Arsenio. Everything of Gran’s they took from me. You know what I’ve done to get even one thing back.”

He arranged the strawberry slices on my belly in a pattern I couldn’t see. His face was an unreadable mask once again.

“What did he say?”

“He said the car was just the beginning.” I rested my hand on his. “He’s got something picked out for all of you, and Roan worst of all.”

He nodded slow. “Then we’ll be ready.”

“You’re going to wait? Serve your revenge up cold?”

Another pineapple graced the left nipple. “You reminded me that’s what I do. Besides, I’ll give the analytical bastard something, Jacques is practical, but he isn’t merciful. The retribution he has picked out for the Pigeons is more satisfying than the beating and jail time I picked out.

“In his version, there’s fire.”