I swallow thickly. I’ve never been so turned on in my life. My head is dizzy with the fog of lust, but I can’t let him win that easily.
“If I’m yours, then prove it,” I whisper before biting his lip. “Or is a kiss all you’re good for?”
A dangerous, predatory rumble leaves him and he plunges his hand into the waistband of my jeans, yanking. My stomach bottoms out at the rough feel of his fingers mere inches from where my pussy is aching for him to touch me. I’m so close to the edge he could send me over with barely any pressure.
“A kiss is only the beginning, kitten. I would’ve taken it from you whether you wanted me to or not. Just like I’ll take everything else. I’ve staked my claim on you now, and I’m a greedy bastard.” He grazes my cheek with his teeth. “There’s no turning back.”
With that promise, he pops the button on my jeans and shoves them down to mid-thigh. His mouth curves and he snaps the bikini strap of my thong before bending to toss me over his shoulder. I yelp, gripping the material of his shirt. His palm comes down on my ass, the clap of his skin on mine ringing out. I squirm at the excited arousal that rushes through me as he grabs a handful of one cheek.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” he says in a smoky tone that gets me hot.
“What are you—?” I don’t finish my question before my back hits the leather couch cushions where he deposits me.
Wren admires me spread out for a moment before he braces over me, stealing another swift kiss. It’s over before I want it to be, but his lips feel so good dragging down my neck, over the tops of my breasts. He pauses to bite my nipple through my top and thin bra and I cry out, wrapping my arms around his head.
A quick smack to my throbbing pussy through my panties almost makes me sit upright, startling me and ripping a moan from me.
“Fuck!”
He pinches my clit and I hiss, back arching. His voice is deep and sinful. “Better be quiet. Or don’t. Let them hear me ruin you.”
When he rubs my pussy firmly with the entire heel of his hand, I scrape my nails against the leather and whisper, “Oh my god.”
“So responsive,” he mutters while he plays with my folds and teases my clit through my underwear. I bite my lip to muffle my cries while I rock against his fingers for more, wishing he’d rip off my thong already. “I like you like this. My needy little kitten. Fuck, you’re sexy.”
The sharpness of his teeth high on my thigh near where I’m growing desperate from him is a shock of pain that makes me moan again. I’m so close to coming and he’s barely touched me.
“Like it like that?” Wren chuckles and sucks at the sting his teeth left behind while petting my pussy through the thong. “Your panties are drenched. Yeah, I’m going to take great pleasure in marking your body as mine.”
I slam my eyes shut as the arousal intensifies and a relieved noise flies free when he finally peels my panties down. He doesn’t touch me right away and I squirm in the hope he’ll give me what I want. When I open my eyes, I find him staring at me with the hungry look of a predator.
“All fucking mine,” he growls.
The possessiveness twists my insides up.
Wren maneuvers my legs so they’re spread as far as they can be while trapped by my jeans, but he’s too impatient to take them off. He buries his face between my legs and the first stroke of his tongue on my clit tears my breath from me.
“Oh shit, shit,” I whimper. “I’m going to come. Use your fingers, I want to feel them in me.”
The vibration of his laughter against my swollen folds is almost too much stimulation. A couple of tears leak from the corners of my eyes. His mouth is perfect, tormenting my pussy with his skilled tongue. He obliges my pleading request, gliding two fingers through my slick folds and sinking them in me with little resistance from how wet I am.
Jesus. He doesn’t wait for me to adjust, pumping his thick fingers insistently. If that’s the size of his fingers, my brain goes hazy with want at the thought of how big his cock will feel. The heat builds with intensity, my stomach tightening when he sucks hard on my clit.
“You taste so goddamn divine.”
The sensation of him speaking against me has my hips bucking up. He curls his fingers deep inside me and I grab his head for something to hold on to as I tip over the edge into ecstasy.
Wren groans against my pussy. He keeps devouring me with his tongue and fingers, allowing me to grind on his face while I ride out the shocks of my orgasm. I’m trembling all over by the time I nudge him away from my oversensitive body.
“Holy shit,” I mumble deliriously.
The clink of a belt and a grunt from him draws me out of the haze settling over me from coming so hard. His cock is out and my eyes widen.
Okay. The big dick energy is warranted.
I lick my lips and his eyes gleam as he looms over me stroking himself. Reaching down, he thumbs my lip.
“Open up for me, Rowan.” He watches intently when I open my mouth and lick his thumb. “Fuck, little kitten. Fuck.”
His cock bumps against my lips and I suck on the tip while his fist pumps. A tortured sound punches out of him and his come fills my mouth. He pushes deeper into my mouth, grasping my face. I hold his hooded gaze and swallow.
“Take it,” Wren rasps. “Take it all, baby.”
Warmth spreads over my chest and up my neck. I suck his dick until he nearly tips over the couch, catching himself at the last minute by bracing a hand on the armrest above my head. After he catches his breath, he straightens and tucks himself back in his pants.
Sitting up, I wriggle my panties and jeans back on and run my fingers through the tangles in my hair. It’s probably a hot mess after he had me writhing around. My limbs are languid, relaxed in a way I haven’t been in months. Part of me can’t believe that just happened. Another part of me is blissed out on the catharsis of submitting to him.
“Come here,” he demands, tugging me to him.
Wren sinks his fingers into my hair and his lips collide with mine. I hold on to his strong arms and press closer. The taste of both of us mingles together on our tongues. It’s sensual and slow, but no less ravenous than the first time.
He kisses as he approaches everything else—with power and control, expecting no resistance.
When we part, my eyes flutter open and find myself pinned by his arctic blue eyes. The slow, devilish smile he gives me promises to drive me wild. A thrill shoots through me at the thought.
For the first time since the car accident that sealed my dad’s fate, I don’t shove away the darkest part of my heart. With Wren, I feel like I could embrace it.
Sixteen
Wren
Taking Rowan to her apartment after I made her mine was an irritating necessity so I didn’t drown myself in her distracting body. And so I didn’t take her home. Not to the penthouse, but where I actually live. Only three other people know where my place is—my best friends. I might covet Rowan’s body and want to keep her safe, but I still don’t trust her.
I haven’t wanted a woman in my bed more than once ever in my life, but with her all I can think of is the next time. We almost made it to round two parked in front of her shithole apartment building with her grinding on my lap and my hand buried down the back of her jeans to grab her divine ass as we kissed. The thought of it alone makes my dick hard.
It’s been two days. I’ve forced myself to stay away, unsettled by how many rules I’m willing to break for her. How much I might let her in if I’m not careful. In that time at least one person has kept watch over her round the clock. We’re protecting her, though she doesn’t know it yet.
While I’ve managed to keep away, I haven’t been out of contact with her. My knees spread wider as I sink deeper into the cushions of the couch at the Nest, scrolling through our message history. She texts like she talks—a million individual messages for each thought as they occur to her instead of taking the time to type it all out at once. Three more messages come through back to bac
k and the corner of my mouth tugs up as my heart does a funny little squeeze.
It’s strange that she can cause this reaction. The damn thing’s been dead in the water since my sister died. There’s something about her my heart recognizes, something that makes her impossible to ignore.
“Son of a bitch—got me again, you elusive temptress,” Colt grumbles at his computer. Another online poker game is up on one of the monitors. “Someday I’ll get you, my queen.”
We’re sitting around waiting for Fox to arrive. Doing nothing is making me restless, but Levi barred me from hitting the gym again today so I don’t injure myself.
“That Q chick kick your ass again?” Jude smirks from the couch across from me. “How much money did she swindle you out of this time? You’re off your game if you can’t distract her from winning by flirting. It’s like I’ve taught you nothing.”
Colton groans and slumps over the desk. “Queen_Q doesn’t accept DMs, ever. Trust me, bro, I’ve tried everything. I can’t trace her IP, either—she masks it.” He glares at the screen. “I can’t believe she evades me. I can’t recruit her to my network and I can’t get the message to her that I’m ready to lock it down and Wifey her ass because I’m half in love with her.”
“Only half?” I mutter wryly.
“Shut up.” Colt sighs, stroking the bank of screens mounted on the wall lovingly. “Someday I’ll find you, sweetness. Then it’s game over because I’m making you mine.”
Levi’s head jerks with his snort. “You’re a twisted little fuck, you know that?”
Colt spins around in his gamer chair to grant us with a psychotic grin. “Coming from the notorious and terrifying Leviathan, that’s saying a lot.”
Levi growls. “I told you not to call me that.”
“Why not?” Colt’s mouth stretches wider as he tips forward. “It’s your real name. That’s why it’s hilarious you picked it as your nightmare fuel alias. Man, I wish I could’ve told Ro and Isla that day they were talking about sea creatures. The truth is so much funnier.”
“Fuck you,” Levi seethes. “My name is Levi, not that shit my parents decided.”
“Enough,” I bark.
Colt’s expression shifts from deviant to downright unhinged as he turns to me. “What’s wrong, big guy, not getting your dick wet yet? You’re so uptight.”
The growl I release doesn’t warn him off. I explode to my feet, swiping the knife in Levi’s hands, and grab Colt by the collar of his Henley shirt as I pin him to the same wall where I first kissed Rowan two nights ago. The blade presses into the column of his throat just shy of nicking the skin.
“You want to repeat that?” My words come out low and threatening.
We might all be brothers, but sometimes we butt heads when the joking crosses a line. It’s what happens when a bunch of insane bastards who feel everything so intensely spend all our time together. We’d die for each other, but we’re also willing to fight each other.
If you can’t hold your friends at knifepoint from time to time when they piss you off, are you even friends?
Unrepentant mischief flashes in Colton’s green eyes and he holds his hands up. “Easy, man. I’m just messing around.”
My jaw clenches. “When aren’t you?”
Blowing out a breath, I pull away, tossing Levi the knife. He catches it deftly, arching a brow at me.
The pissing contest ends when a sensor pings on Colton’s computer. Unbothered by my actions, he plants a hand on the desk and presses a sequence of keys to bring up the security feed. A chuckle rolls through him.
“Foxy’s home.”
Fox Wilder and the girl with him take the entrance from the terrace that leads to our secret doorway. Minutes later, they arrive in the main room. Fox cuts an imposing figure in a leather jacket, rugged and brawny with scars on his knuckles. He swipes tousled brown hair out of stormy blue eyes that soften when he meets Maisy’s kind hazel ones. She’s his opposite in every way—light brown hair pulled into a ponytail, bundled in a bright multicolored knit poncho over workout leggings, and exuding a languidness like she’s found a secret zen in life.
Colton drags Fox into a hug first, then Maisy. Out of all of us, he’s closest with his foster brother and his girl, keeping in regular contact after Fox left. The rest of us have only met Maisy a handful of times over the phone. When Colt allows her room to breathe, he snatches her left hand and examines the ring on her finger from all angles. Twisted pieces of gold and silver metal are shaped like a daisy holding a purple crystal and polished sea glass.
“Look at you, Foxy, being all perfect for your flower girl making this,” Colt says warmly. “Has my mom seen this yet? She’ll die and think it’s your best creation yet.”
Fox grunts, peeling out of his leather jacket. He bumps his fist against Levi’s and nods to Jude. It’s the first time he’s been back in Thorne Point since he left to enact his revenge plan two years ago. Maisy and Fox went to live in California last year to make a new home rather than returning to the darkness of Thorne Point. He’s grown up in that time, his savage anger easing.
“I think it is, too.” Maisy holds up the ring and wiggles her fingers. “By the way, thanks for interrupting the moment, dick.” She fake punches Colt’s arm. “You owe me big time. And I’m not doing any yoga sessions with you.”
Colton pouts. “But I'm still trying to get my crow pose down. What kind of hot yoga instructor refuses to teach her student? Porn has lied to me.” A clever look crosses his face. “Make me your Man of Honor, I’ll make it up to you.”
“Quit flirting, asshole,” Fox grumbles, wrapping an arm around Maisy’s waist and tugging her back against his chest.
“Can you guys believe the baby of the family is getting married first before all his big brothers?” Colton acts like he’s wiping a tear. “He’s all grown up and leaving the nest.”
Laughing, Maisy absently strokes Fox’s wrist. “You can’t anyway. You know Thea’s my Maid of Honor. We decided in seventh grade.”
Colt hums, eyes hooding. “Bishop’s little cutie. The redhead.”
When we were hunting for my sister’s predator and found him in Colorado, Colt tracked his movements through a cocky computer genius with a penchant for blackmail who was suspicious his teacher wasn’t who he said he was. He was right. With his help, we were able to get the bastard. Colton has stayed in touch with the guy and his group of friends.
“Connor’s wife,” Maisy corrects with a sly smirk, pulling out her phone. “I’m totally telling him you said that. Devlin, Lucas, and I had a bet. Thanks for the fifty bucks you just won me. Expect a cyber attack in the near future.”
“Tell him he can bring it, but he’ll never beat me.” Colton laces his fingers together and cracks them as he stretches his arms overhead. “I love pissing that guy off with clickjacking attacks when he least expects it. Especially since he keeps refusing my offers of recruitment.”
I clear my throat and everyone grows serious, remembering the real reason we called Fox here.
Without missing a beat, Colt pats Fox on the shoulder on his way back to the computer. “You’re both staying with me while you’re here—no arguments. We’ll get drunk later to celebrate the good news.” He collapses into his chair and pulls up feeds from the CCTV at the shipyard. “Nelson rolled up after the morning rush at the docks died down, just like usual. See how he looks around and puts his hat on that hook? It’s like he thought he was meeting one of us. Someone could have spoofed my encrypted signature or masked it so it seemed it was coming from one of the numbers we use to contact him.”
“Shit,” I grit out, blood running cold. We’ve met Nelson at that exact spot before. “They’ve been watching close. Too closely to know how to call him there and make him believe it was to see someone for Crow business.”
“Right?” Colt grimaces and waves at the screen. “And they’d have to be really fucking good to do it. I think he figured that out about the time this dude rolls up and gets in his f
ace.”
The man is bulky, stomping across the frame in heavy boots. He flicks a cigarette butt aside and grabs Nelson by the front of his hoodie. The aggression increases when Nelson shakes his head, keeping his mouth shut.
“Why don’t you go check out the gym?” Fox runs a hand down Maisy’s arm. “You can call everyone and let them know we got in okay.”
She squints at him. “What did I say? Together, or not at all. You’re not hiding this part of yourself from me.”
He sighs and kisses her temple. It’s a marked difference in the angry punk who first arrived in Thorne Point when he was fifteen.
“I don’t want you to trigger any bad memories about when you were taken,” he murmurs to her.
She smiles and cups the back of his head, tugging him to lean down for a tender kiss. “Me and you.”
“Yeah,” he says gruffly.
We all watch the rest of the CCTV feed play out, ending with our informant’s demise. Emptiness expands in my chest as we watch the man shove Nelson away. He draws a gun and shoots him point blank, then carves up his throat. He hardly waits for our guy to take his last breath before he strides off. Colt switches up the footage, showing another angle where the bulky man gets in an SUV with a phone pressed to his ear and drives off.
Fox goes closer to Colton to watch the footage loop from the beginning. “Traceable?”
“Yeah, after some tricky traffic camera hopping on my part.”
“Pippa will love that if she finds out,” Jude says.
Colt waves him off. “I covered my tracks.” He clicks to another window. “This is where it led to.”
A dilapidated warehouse on the other side of the city fills the screen. We never go to that area because the prime real estate that’s useful to us is closer to the docks rather than up by the cliffs.
“Holy shit, seriously?” Maisy nudges Fox aside, eyes wide. “It’s the same. I’ll never forget that logo.”
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