The Other World_A Reverse Harem Series

by Jessica Sorensen

  West stares at me with an impassive expression. Then he slowly shakes his head. “You think I’m going to sell you to someone? That that’s my job?”

  I lift my shoulders, shrugging. “I really don’t know what to think at this point.”

  He pats the cushion again. “Then sit down, and I’ll explain everything to you.”

  My gaze flicks in the direction of the front door, which isn’t too far away. “I’d rather stay here for now.”

  “You need to be sitting for what I’m about to tell you.”

  “Why? How bad is it?”

  “Well, I’d say pretty damn bad, but considering that theory you just told me … it might not seem so bad to you.”

  I fidget nervously, casting another quick glance at the front door. “So, it’s not as bad as what I’m thinking?”

  He dithers. “Well, I’m not as bad as what you’re thinking.”

  “But the situation is bad?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  The truth of his words hits me square in the chest, making breathing complicated.

  “Does this have anything to do with my car getting stolen?” I ask with a shaky voice.

  “It does, but that’s just a tiny part of it.” He rakes his fingers through his hair. “Look, I get you have trust issues and, considering everything that’s happened over the last twenty-four hours, you should. But I need you to trust me right now, because I’m the good guy, and I’m hoping you already know this.” His eyes plead for me to believe him.

  While I haven’t always gotten along with West—well, minus the time we spent in his car when we seemed to get along a little too well—I’ve never thought of him as a bad guy. And he was there for me when Masie and Blaine stabbed me in the back with a jagged, rusty, agonizingly sharp knife.

  Still, I don’t have a damn clue how I got to West’s apartment or why I’m even here. And since the last thing I recall is being tranquilized, I’m having a difficult time deciphering who’s bad and who’s good.

  “You promise no one in this house is the person who doped me up?” I ask, cupping my hand over the bruise on my arm.

  When West hesitates, I spin around and run for the door.

  Screw this. I’m so out of here.

  I make it a whole three steps before he circles his arms my waist. Then he yanks me back and pins me against his solid chest. The scent of his cologne overloads my senses, and I become even dizzier. Still, through the confusion and craziness and the heat blazing through my body, frustration rumbles in my chest. This is the second time in ten minutes that I’ve found myself trapped against a guy. I don’t like being controlled. At all.

  “Calm down,” West whispers in my ear while holding me tightly against him.

  “Calm down?” A hollow, wounded laugh slips from my lips. I hate how hurt I sound. Hate that he knows he has the power to hurt me. “You pretty much just told me the person who doped me up is in your house, which means it was either you or one of those two guys who work with you. Neither option is calm down worthy.”

  “There’s a fourth person in the house,” he explains. “And the fourth person is the one who doped you up.”

  I don’t know whether to cry, scream, or be relieved. “Why the hell is he in your house?”

  “Because he’s locked up in the cage room while we interrogate him.”

  I blink. What?

  “Come again?”

  He hugs me tighter and rests his head against the back of mine, breathing in deeply. “I know it sounds crazy, but this will all make more sense after I explain everything.” He traces a finger back and forth along the hem of my shirt, and it takes all my willpower not to shiver. “But in order to explain everything, I need you to calm down and listen. And I need you to promise you won’t run out of the house. Until we get some answers and find out more about what’s going on, it’s too dangerous for you to go anywhere.”

  I tense. “Wait. I’m in danger?”

  “Relax.” He brushes his lips along my earlobe. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, baby.”

  Baby? What the hell?

  I’m about to ask him when we started giving each other sweet, little, vomit-inducing nicknames when he kisses my earlobe again while drifting his fingers back and forth along the bottom of my shirt. He’s not even really touching me, yet my skin tingles everywhere.

  What the heck is wrong with me? One minute I think Blaine is the love of my life, and then suddenly West’s touch nearly makes me have an orgasm. No, scratch that. Not nearly. He already gave me two orgasms.

  I mentally shake my head at myself. That doesn’t even matter right now. The truth does.

  “Okay, I won’t try to leave again.” Unless I find out you’re bad, I mentally add.

  “Good.” He kisses my earlobe again, which blows my mind.

  It’s the third time he’s done that in the last minute. I know we messed around in the car, but considering West and I have never gotten along …

  I’m so lost.

  With his kisses.

  His touches.

  Him calling me baby.

  Lost. Lost. Lost.

  So lost.

  About everything.

  It’s not normal. Then again, nothing about today has been normal.

  I’m about to ask him what’s going on with the whole kissing thing when he steps away and lets his arms fall to his sides. His expression is guarded as I turn toward him, making me wonder what he’s trying to keep hidden.

  Can I even trust him?

  As I study him, the heat in my body intensifying to a simmering hot temperature. I wonder if I’m nervous or if the drugs in my system are fucking with my body temperature.

  “So, do you work as an undercover cop or something?” I decide to focus on the bigger problem right now. “Because that’s what it sounds like.”

  “No, but we do help the police sometimes. And I kind of do work undercover.” When he notes the confusion on my face, he sighs. “All right, I’m going to give you a brief summarization, and then let you ask questions because I’m sure you’re going to have a lot of them.” He laces his fingers through mine and sinks down onto the sofa, pulling me down with him. “Me, Steel, and Ellis—those two guys you just met—work for a secret undercover agency called The HR Guardian Agency. We’re each assigned teams to work with, and Steel and Ellis are on my team. We usually work on jobs together, although we have done some jobs solo.”

  “What sort of jobs?” I’m completely confounded. Undercover agencies? Those things actually exist? And West—West—is part of one?

  WTF?

  “There’s a lot of different jobs.” He twists to face me, still holding my hand. “But very recently we were assigned a job to watch over a girl who needs protection.”

  Wait. What?

  “You mean, me?” I ask, and he nods. My head spins even more. “But, why do I need protection?”

  He summons a deep breath. “You remember how your car was stolen, and then you found that card?” He waits for me to nod before continuing. “Well, the person who stole your car and left you the card works for an organization called Hacker Hearts Anonymous, one of the most infamous”—he takes a deep breath—“assassin organizations in the country.” He traces the folds of my fingers with his fingertip. “He’s also the same person who jumped us in the car and tranquilized you, which more than likely means HHA gave him an order to go after you. Although, we can’t be sure until we can get the guy to talk.”

  My heart pounds like a lunatic, and my skin begins to dampen from the heat scorching through my veins. This can’t be real. It just can’t be.

  Then, why does it feel so real?

  “Assassins were after me?” I ask with a shaky voice. “Why? I’ve never done anything wrong. Well, anything major.”

  “We don’t know yet why they’ve targeted you, but we’ll find out, no matter what it takes.” He stares down at my hand as he continues to sketch the folds between my fingers. “I don’t want
to scare you, but I don’t want to lie to you either, so I’m going to tell you the truth. Just … try not to freak out.” He releases an exhale. “They weren’t going after you. They are going after you. At least, according to the guy in there.” He nods his head in the direction of the doorway. “The whole tranquilizing thing was just the start of something bigger. We don’t know what yet.” He lifts his gaze to mine and the intensity pouring from his eyes freaks the crap out of me. “I’m going to find out what they’re planning. And nothing is going to happen to you; I can fucking promise you that.” He lightly brushes his fingers over the bruise on my arm. “I fucked up when I let this happen. I should’ve noticed the watermark on the card you received, but I was too distracted by … other stuff. That won’t happen again. You’re safe with me, Steel, and Ellis.”

  My heart thrashes in my chest. “Wait … Are you trying to say I can’t go home?”

  “You can’t,” he says with a hint of remorse. “I’m sorry, but until we know more about what’s going on, you need to stay here.”

  I shake my head. “No. There’s no way I’m going to just sit around in an apartment all day and wait for something to happen. I’ll go crazy.”

  “Alexis, if you leave, you’ll either end up getting tranquilized again or something worse,” he says in a firm tone. “I’m not going to let that happen.”

  My lips twitch in annoyance. “Since when did you become so alpha male? Because, FYI, it’s kind of a turn off.”

  His lips quirk. “Just kind of, huh?”

  I glare at him. “Nope, completely.”

  “So, you’re saying I turn you off? Because what happened in my car”—he smirks—“twice suggests otherwise.”

  My cheeks warm, but I refuse to back down. “That was just because of you biting me. Anyone could’ve done it, and I probably would’ve gotten off.”

  “No, you wouldn’t have.” The smug look on his face makes me want to slap him. “You want to know why?”

  I grind my teeth. “Nope, not really.”

  He ignores me. “Because you’re attracted to me.”

  I want to say I’m not, but West is hot and he knows it—everyone knows it.

  I give a nonchalant shrug. “Yeah, so? Almost everyone we know is attracted to you, both guys and girls.”

  His smirk grows. “Which includes you.”

  My fingers curl into fists. “Why does it even matter? So I’m attracted to you? So what? I was also attracted to Blaine and look where that got me. Attraction doesn’t mean anything.”

  My chest simmers with anger and hurt as I remember everything Masie told me.

  “Hey.” West cups my cheek, forcing me to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

  I restlessly tap my foot, feeling way too vulnerable. “Why? You didn’t do anything.” Other than make me have two orgasms. But they felt good, so I really can’t be upset with him about that.

  “I know.” He traces his finger back and forth below my eye. “But I’m best friends with the asshole who hurt you. Or, well, I used to be.”

  “Used to be?”

  He shrugs. “Blaine and I have kind of grown apart over the last couple of years. Ever since …” He trails off.

  “Ever since what?” I press, noting his squirminess.

  He smashes his lips together. “I’m not sure if I can tell you yet.”

  “West …” I warn. “You told me you’d tell me the truth, so fess up, dude.”

  His lips part to say God knows what, when Ellis jogs into the room, worry potently flowing off him.

  This is getting really weird.

  “West, you need to come back here now,” Ellis says, a little out of breath. His gaze flicks to me before landing back on West. “And you might want to leave her out here.”

  West rises to his feet, pulling me up with him. “What’s going on?”

  Ellis casts another quick glance at me before telling West, “The guy started talking, and he’s saying some stuff that’s really bad if it’s true.” He gives an insinuating glance in my direction.

  “No way,” I interrupt their little nonverbal conversation that I’m fairly certain is about me. “If this guy is saying something about me, I want to hear it.”

  “Alexis,” West starts, “I don’t think—”

  “Nope,” I cut him off. “You’re not going to talk me out of this. And if you know me at all, you’d realize that.”

  West stares me down intimidatingly with his arms crossed. “I know you’re stubborn—I don’t need to be reminded of that—but I don’t want you going anywhere near this guy.”

  I put a hand on my hip. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re not the boss of me, huh?”

  He grins haughtily. “Actually, I am.”

  I throw him a sassy smirk, but my confidence is faltering. “Oh yeah, how do you figure?”

  “Because I’ve been assigned to take care of you and keep an eye on you.” His lips spread into a smirk. “Which means I’m the boss of you.”

  “If that’s the case, then doesn’t that mean your friend over there is the boss of me, too?” I point a finger at Ellis. “And that Steel guy, too?”

  West’s eyes narrow into slits. “No. No one is the boss of you except me.”

  “Doesn’t sound like it to me.” I don’t even know why I’m arguing about this. I don’t want anyone to be the boss of me. But, like I’ve said before, West and I are known for our little banters.

  West stares me down hard, silently daring me to back down.

  I carry his gaze firmly. Nope. Not going to happen.

  Ellis’s gaze bounces back and forth between West and me. “I don’t think she’s going to back down, man. Maybe we should just let her come back. We’re going to have to tell her what he said anyway.”

  West tears his gaze off me and looks at Ellis. “Why?”

  Ellis chews on his bottom lip uneasily. “Because it’s bad, and she’s going to find out, even if we don’t tell her.”

  West blows out a breath. “He’s chained up, right?”

  Ellis nods. “Of course.”

  I blink stupidly. “You have someone chained up?”

  West gives me a sidelong glance. “After everything I just told you, are you really that surprised?”

  I wipe my damp palm on the side of my leg. “Okay, you might have a point.”

  “Not might. Do.” When he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, my eyelashes flutter. A soft, knowing smile graces his lips, and then he turns toward Ellis. “Just so we’re prepared, on a scale of one to ten, just how bad is this?”

  Ellis’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he swallows hard, his gaze straying to me. “An eleven.”

  My heart misses a beat. Or maybe my heart stops altogether.

  I’m not really sure.

  I’m not sure about anything anymore.

  Alexis

  As Ellis, West, and I head down the hallway, West decides to officially introduce me to Ellis.

  “Oh yeah, Alexis, this is Ellis,” West says as we reach a shut door at the end of the hallway.

  “It’s nice to officially meet you,” he says, offering me his hand.

  The formal scene feels a bit odd after everything that’s happened, but I shake his hand anyway.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too.” I look back and forth between the two of them. “How long have you guys known each other?”

  “Probably about three or four years,” Ellis answers.

  I gape at West. “How have I never met him before? I’ve known you for, like, a decade.”

  “I had to keep this part of my life a secret.” He lets go of my hand.

  “The only reason you get to find out now is because you’re part of the agency now,” West adds. “Or, well, you’re being protected by them.”

  “But, why are they protecting me?” I ask. “I’m nobody to them.”

  “You’re not nobody to me,” he stresses. “And the agency protects people. In fact, it’s their—our—number one mission.” />
  “You sound like a bunch of people with a superhero complex,” I say, only half joking.

  West trades an amused look with Ellis.

  “What do you think, Ellis?” he asks. “Do we secretly want to be superheroes, and this is as close as we can get?”

  Ellis deliberates with a twinkle in his eyes. “I always did kind of think it’d be cool to wear a costume and go around saving the city.”

  “Do you guys wear costumes?” I tease. “Like tight, spandex ones? I bet you do, and I bet you like it.”

  They both stare at me, unimpressed. I fight back a smile.

  No, I don’t really believe they do, but messing with their heads is kind of entertaining.

  “Yeah, we do, actually.” West throws me a smirk. “Mine’s pink and glittery, and Ellis’s is purple and blue and has lace.”

  “Hey, how come mine doesn’t have glitter?” Ellis gripes, on the verge of grinning. “I hate lace.”

  “You’re just not a sparkly sort of guy.” West shrugs. “Sorry, man.”

  The two of them grin like dorks. It’s kind of adorable. And sort of strange. I mean, West has always had a funny sense of humor, but him and Blaine never joked with each other like this. I think back to what West said, how he and Blaine haven’t been close for a while. I don’t know why I didn’t notice it before, but now I can sort of see it. What caused the change? Was it because West got this job and had to start lying to Blaine?

  Why does it even matter? Stop thinking about Blaine!

  “Thanks for the weird mental picture, guys,” I joke. “It’s going to haunt my nightmares forever.”

  “Yeah right, it probably turns you on.” West winks at me.

  I flip him off with my free hand and stick out my tongue.

  West grins. “Well, if that’s the way you want to play …” He leans forward and licks my tongue.