Periculum: Unus (Devil's Playground Book 1)

by Natalie Bennett

  I didn’t want it to get that far, though. It’d destroy years of pacing and calculated self-control.

  I wasn’t sure what it would do to my mental state either. Once, these demons had been my closest friends. Ever since I’d tried to expel them, they’d become my biggest tormentors.

  Releasing a quiet breath, I brushed my hair away from my face and slowly sat up. Sleep was futile at this point. I wasn’t going to bother trying to force it.

  Careful not to wake Gracelyn or Mel, I scooted down the bed between their bodies, weaving my bottom around Selena, who’d stretched out across the foot.

  Stepping over Margo and Abby, who were sleeping on a self-made pallet, I crept into the hall and shut the door. Voices were coming from the main room, quiet and low. I poked my head out to see what was going on.

  Leonard was snoring quietly on one of the sofas. Maverick and Charon were sitting on another.

  Ciaran and Kyrous were in front of the map, conversing with one another. When Ciaran’s head started to turn my direction, I scampered into the bathroom, cracking the door the smallest bit.

  Not bothering to turn on the light, I went to the double basin and turned on the tap, resting my hands one either side of the left sink’s porcelain rim. Closing my eyes, I fought to clear my head—not an easy task when nothing but conflict was brewing within it.

  I cupped my hands and placed them beneath the spicket, opening my eyes when I heard the door being pushed on.

  Ciaran stepped in and shut it behind him, placing his back against the wood. I let the water in my hands escape down the drain and straightened. “What are you doing?”

  “Coming to see why you ran.”

  “Ciaran—” I paused. “If I had run, which I didn’t, that would be a sign not to follow me.”

  “Isn’t that what you wanted me to do? Come after you?”

  “Repeat that question back to yourself and then ask why I would want that.”

  “I don’t think you know what it is you want, puppet.”

  The audacity. “And you do?”

  “I know far more than you’d like me to, little Serpine.”

  I spun on my heel and took two steps away from him. “How do you know my last name?”

  “The same way I know what that necklace around your neck stands for.”

  My hand flew to the pendant as he began to advance towards me. I remained where I was, tilting my head back when he stopped, our bodies mere centimeters apart.

  I didn’t know if I should wrap my arms around him or get ready to throw hands. My body certainly knew which option to choose.

  “What do you want?”

  “The same thing you do.”

  I swallowed, shifting back slightly. “If you really knew as much as you just claimed to, you would have a different answer.”

  He laughed lowly, the dark undertone causing the ache he’d created between my legs to grow. He cupped my chin, prohibiting me from looking away from him.

  “And for you to say that means you haven’t been listening to a word I’ve said.”

  “Ciaran,” I warned. “We can’t do whatever it is you’re trying to do.”

  “If you speak lies without conviction, puppet, how can you expect anyone to believe them?”

  “What does that even mean?”

  “That if I were to decide I wanted inside you right now and not later, you’d do whatever I told you to because you want the same thing.”

  Later? “Your confidence is really something, but you’re wrong.”

  “Bullshit, you’ve been eye fucking me so hard I’m surprised I can even walk straight.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. So much for my being discreet. Unfortunately for him, he had no idea what he was setting himself up for. I didn’t know how he knew the things he claimed to, but that didn’t change anything about who I was or our situation.

  He probably only wanted me because I denied that I wanted him. If not for the ease with which we connected, it wouldn’t even be me he wanted. There was a chance it still wasn’t. I couldn’t be mad about that. I wanted to sit on his dick, and he wanted to feel my cunt wrapped around it.

  We were two people with a blatantly mutual attraction—a visceral one. Plus, I’d dealt with men like this before.

  They loved the thrill that came with staking a claim on a woman who played hard to get.

  It became a game of sorts for me. I let em think they caught me, conquered the unconquerable, so to speak. I allowed them to fuck me hard and fast just so I could turn around and fuck them twice as hard before leaving them even faster.

  I’d only ever been with one man who met the quota for everything I needed, and I’d lost him faster than he’d made me come.

  Under normal circumstances, I’d have let Ciaran give it his try to beat him.

  I was dangerously close to doing it now. I’d slept with guys much faster than this before, and they didn’t have anywhere near the allure he did. They also didn’t spout off my last name without me giving any hint as to what it could be. I wondered what his angle was in letting me know he knew it.

  Power? Blackmail? Fear?

  “Are you trying to scare me, Ciaran?”

  “We talked about this; I don’t care for something as simple or basic as fear. I need terror.”

  “Is there a difference?”

  “You know the answer to that.”

  I attempted to lean away. He released my chin and easily maneuvered us so that I was caught between his solid body and the sink. The heat wafting off him intermingled with the cool drops of water now lightly misting the backs of my arms.

  I could have fought him. Easily. I didn’t necessarily want to. He hadn’t done anything more than slightly surprise me and nourish a few more seeds of curiosity. If he’d been expecting a livelier reaction, he had to be disappointed. Whatever his intention was, he made it hard to resist him.

  “I think you’ve proved your point,” I murmured, breathing him in.

  “I haven’t even gotten started yet.”

  “And you won’t.”

  He grasped my jaw firmly. “Then I suggest you tell me to stop.”

  His mouth claimed mine—roughly. Lips soft as velvet were a stark contrast to the way he took all the control I hadn’t been ready to give. He stole the access he wanted, wasting no time wrapping my tongue with his.

  The hand imprisoning my jaw disappeared beneath my hair and slid to the back of my neck, gripping me so hard I knew I’d be bruised.

  The feel of his fingertips was like acid on my skin. Slight pain had a small whimper of pleasure bubbling in my chest.

  I smothered it, matching the intensity of his kiss. Our bodies seemed to mold together. The impressively large bulge in his jeans pressed exactly where I wanted him.

  His free hand found its way to my ass, grabbing a handful. He nipped me, his mouth curling into a smile when I shuddered.

  “Damn, you’re beautiful,” he implored softly, mouth reclaiming mine before I had the chance to respond. He kissed me deeper, making sure I felt exactly what he could to me with something so innocent as the meeting of our lips.

  I skimmed my arms over his shirt, feeling every solid ridge beneath it as my palms found their way to his shoulders. His teeth sunk into my lower lip, biting until tears filled my eyes and a low mewl slipped out.

  I didn’t tell him to stop—I wouldn’t.

  He pulled away on his own accord.

  “I’ve got your number, puppet. I know exactly what to do with you, how I’m going to do it, and when.”

  Even in the dark, I could see the promise blazing in the blues of his eyes.

  I wasn’t afraid of him. If this was the start of his psycho showing, I wanted to expose every inch of it. I beckoned for it to come out and play, knowing I shouldn’t. This had always been my double-edged affliction. I wished for normal but craved the unstable, wanted the filthy and depraved.

  If he had it in him, I would find a way to tear it out and consume every m
orsel to sate my own carnal desires. As if he could see every sordid thought swimming through my head, the next words that came from his mouth were what finally threw me into a realm of uncertainty.

  “When you said you didn’t know how people could do something like this, I never answered,” he softly expressed, lips hovering in front of mine. “We’re all full of hellish intent, demons wrapped in pretty packages. The more beautiful someone is, the more vicious those demons tend to be.”

  He ran his hands up my back, pressing me further against him. “Show me yours and I’ll show you mine, then I’ll make you come harder than you’ve ever come before.” He kissed me again, nipping me one last time before finally stepping away.

  I dragged air into my lungs, consequently breathing him in once more. “Are you the reason I’m in here?”

  “In case you failed to notice, puppet, I’m stuck in here too.”

  I swallowed, straightening my spine to gain some of my control back. The ache between my legs had my pussy clenching, my skin flushed with heat.

  I ignored it as best I could, watching him walk towards the bathroom door.

  Something about this, about us. About him. It all rang familiar, but my mind refused to recall the memory.

  “Who are you?” I asked before he could pull open the door.

  Pausing for the briefest moment, he answered. “I’m the reason you’re going to make it through this part alive.”

  He stepped into the hall and pulled the door all the way shut behind him. I lifted two fingers to my mouth, probing where he’d made me bleed.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  I shut off the sink and returned to the hall, wiping excess water off my face.

  Purposely not looking out into the main room, I returned to the bedroom, making sure to keep what had just occurred from registering on my face even as my body burned. Mel was waking when I stepped in.

  “Where were ya?” she asked around a yawn.

  “Washing my face…”

  Her eyes narrowed, the glow of a tableside lamp making them appear cat-like. “And getting dicked down, by any chance?”

  “Really? Do I look like that’s what was I doing?” I spread my arms out to the side.

  “You’re right, with the ‘wreck my pussy’ vibes you’ve been giving off, you wouldn’t be walking straight.”

  I covered my mouth to smother a laugh. “I seriously cannot with you sometimes. How do you even know Ciaran was with me?” I crept closer, stepping over Abby.

  “Because I know you… and I can smell his cologne. Also, your lips are swollen.”

  “I need to talk to you and Gracelyn about that.”

  “…Okay?” She gave me a quizzical look.

  “I’m not talking about getting dick,” I hissed. “He knows my last name.”

  That got her full attention, causing her to sit up taller. “How?”

  I climbed up onto the king-sized bed and sat beside her. “I don’t know. He said he knows what this means, too.” I fingered the chain of my necklace.

  “Did he hurt you?” She was already shoving the comforter back.

  I bit back another laugh and grabbed her wrist. “I’d have hurt him more, you know that. All he did was fuck with my head and make me wet.”

  “Oh, he’s absolute trash then.”

  “Who’s trash?” Grace grumbled, rolling over to look at the two of us.

  “Cici knows her last name,” Mel divulged. “And he didn’t make her come.”

  I ignored the last part of that. “What’d you call him?”

  “Cici, why?”

  “Nothing…” I shook my head. “He said he was the reason I’d survive. What do you think that means?”

  “He could be from one of the founding families,” Gracelyn suggested, her voice still groggy. “We know we’re all stuck in here for a reason.”

  “That wouldn’t be all that surprising,” Mel agreed, tucking a violet strand of hair behind her ear.

  “I’d be more surprised if it wasn’t some rando sick fuck our parents pissed off behind all of this.”

  “Yeah, that list is pretty endless,” I mused. I wondered why I hadn’t considered that, him being from a different family. It made a fuck-ton of sense. From the way he spoke to his personality to his overall demented, albeit sexy, demeanor. That didn’t tell me how he knew who I was, though. It only made me equally suspicious and even more curious about him.

  “Did you ask what his name was?”

  “More or less. He wouldn’t say.”

  “Figures,” she sighed. “If he’s from one of the families then they all would be, which means we really can’t trust them. Since he knows your name, I’m sure they know ours.”

  “Yeah, and that could go either way. Not all of the families get along,” Gracelyn pointed out.

  “Even if we are all in here because someone wants to wipe us out, their families could hate ours as well. This will become a giant bloody mess if we have to start offing each other,” she pouted. “I wanted a vacation, not a round-trip ticket to the modern-day Battle Royale.”

  What an understatement all that was—true, too. Some of the families were still waging bloodshed and carnage on one another as we sat trapped in this hellish city. I gnawed the inside of my lower lip, tracing over the sore spot with the tip of my tongue.

  “There’s our link,” I mumbled more to myself than them.

  A soft rasp on the door interrupted our conversation. Charon poked his head in, grinning at three of us. “Hello, sleeping beauties.”

  “Did you need something?” Mel asked.

  “There’s twenty minutes left on the clock. Get them up and come to the map.”

  Once he disappeared, the three of us shared a look. “Twenty minutes,” Grace repeated softly.

  “Are you guys ready for this?”

  “Do we have a choice?” Mel replied.

  I swung my legs over the side of the bed and moved to wake Selena.

  Dressed in our regular clothes, we gathered around the interactive map.

  The moment I’d stepped into the room, I found Ciaran almost immediately, as if our gazes were magnetic. He was standing with Maverick, Kyrous, Charon, and Leonard.

  His eyes briefly went to my lips.

  “Where do we go next?” Margo asked, sounding determined. “The quicker we get through this, the faster I can find Susan.”

  That explained that.

  “It’s numbered now. We have to follow the X’s from one to five,” Ciaran said, pointing to the marked path.

  Each X marked a new location. First up was Beleth Pass. I looked at the timer, watching it get lower and lower.

  “Should we wait closer to the door in case we have to run again?” Abby asked. “My feet have blisters.”

  “I personally think we should stay right here in case someone’s waiting on the other side.”

  “Then they could come right in here and get us,” she argued.

  “Some of us are worse off than others,” Ciaran stated.

  Leonard shook his head, brushing invisible lint off his blazer.

  Abby’s face scrunched up. “You are the biggest asshole I’ve ever met.”

  “I’ve been called worse.” He glanced at me with a gleam in his eye.

  I looked away, choosing to remain focused on the countdown. When it got to three minutes, I began to mentally prepare myself for what might be waiting for us.

  At one, I turned to face the door.

  When the metallic lock fell out of place and we could leave, Ciaran was the first to start walking in that direction. One by one we followed him, keeping a safe distance when he opened the door.

  He stepped outside, motioning for us to follow a second later.

  “Which way do we go?” I asked once I was on the sidewalk. The temperature had gotten a little lower, and it was still dark. On the plus side, there wasn’t any sign of the men in masks. The city had gone quiet again.

  That didn’t mean much, though. I knew they’d be
watching from wherever their hideouts were.

  “Map has us going left, again,” Maverick said, easing behind me to head that direction.

  We all started walking, more cautious than we’d been thus far, moving from the sidewalk to the center of the street. Thinking of all that had occurred in what I now knew was less than twenty-four hours, I slowed so I could be beside Selena. She’d been relatively quiet through all of this, inside her own pretty little head.

  “Who is the guy your moms supposed to marry?” I asked quietly.

  “That’s what has me so out of sorts about this. I have never met this man more than once, and I can tell ya he ain’t no rose. I didn’t know the guy had any kids until the crazy chick showed up at our house to introduce herself.

  “There wasn’t no mention of brothers, either,” she replied quietly, perceptive enough to know I was trying to be discreet.

  “And his name?”

  “Kyle. I don’t know his surname. Ma wouldn’t give it to me. Is there something I need to know?”

  “No…or, maybe. If I figure anything out, I’ll let you know.”

  “Likewise,” she said, offering a smile.

  “What are you two whispering about?” Charon asked, dropping back to walk on Selena’s other side.

  “If that was to be known, they wouldn’t have been whispering,” Mel answered for us.

  “Chill out. You don’t gotta be so hostile, babe,” Maverick laughed.

  She flipped him off without bothering to look his way.

  “Care to share, sis?” Charon wrapped an arm around Selena’s shoulders.

  “Quit it.” She tried to shove him off.

  “You know, I’ve always wanted another sister. I didn’t think she’d look as good as you do, though.”

  “If I’m your sister, you can’t talk like that. It’s wrong and disgusting.”

  “Actually…” he trailed off and leaned in, whispering something in her ear that earned him an elbow to the stomach.

  “Sick fuck,” she growled, marching away from him.

  “Guess you’re my buddy now,” he said, moving closer to me with a friendly smile painted on his pretty face. These guys seriously didn’t let anything phase them.

  “Lucky me,” I replied absentmindedly, making note of how close Gracelyn and Kyrous were walking to one another.