Like downstairs, the dusky pink and white swathes of flowers and silk decorate the space, the cream carpet so fucking thick and plush that my heels sink into it.That’s what she said.A hysterical laugh almost slips past my lips, but I somehow hold it in just as I feel someone come up behind me.
On instinct, I smash my glass against the bar that Knox dragged me to, brandishing it in front of me as I whirl around. To give the eldest Taylor brother credit, he doesn’t even flinch, just pauses and gives me a sardonic look, one dark brow haughtily raised.
“And what do you plan to do with that, Dove?”
“Why is he here?” I seethe, my lips pulled back as I bare my teeth at him. My entire body still trembles, but my hand is steady as I step closer, pressing the glass to his jugular. A bead of red slides down the sharp edge, and I blame these fuckers for the fact that my core clenches.
“I wanted him to see that you belong to us and that he couldn’t touch you now without serious repercussions,” Aeroncalmly says, cool as a motherfucking cucumber. I blink, my arm dropping slightly as the realization hits.
“You’re claiming me?”
He scoffs, taking a step into me. Hurriedly, I move the sharp glass edge away, successfully nicking his neck more and blood drips from the wound.
“I’ll claim you in front of this entire fucked up world if that’s what it takes to keep you safe, Dove.” His voice is fierce, and tears sting my eyes, my chest tightening. No one has ever been in my corner before. Not even Rook. It wasn’t his fault, he’s younger and had a dick so didn’t know how they treated me. What they subjected me to.
“Oh.”
“Yes, oh,” he repeats. “If you don’t stop pointing your guns at her, I will empty them down your throats.”
I frown, my gaze darting past him to see lots of big guys dressed in black hastily tucking weapons away.Oops.
“I hurt you,” I gasp, reaching out to his neck which has a line of blood running down the side.
“I’ve had worse, princess.”
I don’t stop to think, just lean forward and lick the line with a slow swipe of my tongue. His hands are immediately on my waist, tugging me closer as he groans low. The metallic tang of his life force sits on my tongue, and my eyes roll at how delicious it is to have this part of him.
Fixing my lips over the wound, I suck, gently at first, then harder when his grip tightens, and he grinds his hardness into me.
“Fuck, Dove. I’m gonna cream in my pants if you keep that up,” he rasps, and I finally release him with a small giggle. My lips pull up in a smile at the large, red hickey on his neck.
“Now we match,” I tell him, looking into his eyes, entranced by the stormy sea that rages in them.
“Our souls matched long before today, Dove.”
My breath stutters out of me, one hand cupping his cheek, the other resting on his lapel.
“Sorry to break up you two kinky lovebirds,” a gruff voice interrupts. “But the race is starting in five and I need to head down there.”
“Of course, Rick,” Aeron replies, still not taking his eyes off mine. “See you later.” I hear soft footsteps getting quieter, and assume their uncle has left when the door closes a moment later. “Let’s go watch the races, Dove.”
Aeron steps out of my embrace, taking my hand and tugging me towards the glass balcony. As soon as he does, I freeze up again, seeing the hateful way my father stares at me, and my cheeks flush as if they’ve caught me with my hand in the cookie jar. Or my lips on the neck of our enemy, same difference, right?
“Ignore him, Nightingale,” Jude says, slinging an arm around my waist and helping Aeron drag me to the doors. Fucking heels, I’d totally be able to resist them if it wasn’t for these fucking shoes, pretty as they are.
“We won’t let him near you,Azizam,” Tarl adds, placing a hand on my lower back, the warmth of his touch calming me a little, and urging me forward. “Never again.”
They completely fucking overpower me, so I give up, and straightening my shoulders, I take a deep inhale and decide to put my best tit forward and stride out like a badass bitch.
The noise of the crowd hits me like a wave as soon as I step out of the doors, and when we reach the balcony edge, I look down to see that we’re pretty fucking high. I love it, feeling a sense of freedom even with the looming presence of my sperm donor as I look out over the racecourse.
Aeron steps away, only for Knox to replace him at my side, Jude on my other side, and Tarl next to him. I feel a warmth at my back, Aeron’s fresh cotton mixed with amber and vanillascent engulfing me as he steps so close that our bodies touch all the way from my shoulders to hips. I grind back a little into his hard length, just able to reach it, and he chuckles darkly.
“Do you want me to make good on my promise to claim you in front of all these people, Dove?” he murmurs into my ear, and I swallow hard. “Do you want your father to know exactly how much you belong to us?”
Like before, I don’t think.
“Yes.”
