As I look at myself in the mirror, my fingers drift across the sensitive marks lining my pale neck like a macabre necklace. I thought I would feel horrified at the sight of them. But instead, they make me feel powerful, sensual… changed.
Fuck, maybe I’m as deranged as Arlo.
After splashing water on my face, I use the toilet, wash my hands, and then head back into the bedroom. Arlo is no longer on the bed. In fact, he isn’t in the room at all. I take the opportunity to look around his most private space, which is quite spacious and, like the rest of his house that I’ve seen, is filled with things like art, plants, and books. It’s inviting and not what I expected.
“Your ass has a perfect handprint on it,” he says from behind me. I turn to face him as he lifts an icepack and carefully puts it on my neck. His closeness affects me, and I have to tell myself it’s time to leave. But when he says, “Climb into bed,” I do as I’m told, as if my body is his to command, as if he has me on autopilot.
I take hold of the ice pack and sit on the edge of the bed as he switches the lights off. “Keep it on to reduce the redness and swelling,” he tells me.
The other side of the bed dips while my eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. He reaches for me and then pulls me down next to him. His arm hooks around my waist, and he scoots me backward until I’m in the crook of his body. I feel his hardness pressed against my ass, but he doesn’t move, and neither do I. We simply lie there, perfectly still, as I listen to his breathing.
I didn’t plan on staying the night. I came here to numb myself. I like that when I’m with him, everything else kind of vanishes.
His arm tightens around my waist, and his other hand sneaks up to check that the ice pack is still on my neck. I’m going to have to wear high-necked dresses for a while. I guess that’s the price you pay for pleasure. I didn’t realize I liked a bit of pain during sex until Arlo.
“Stop thinking,” he whispers into my ear.
My eyes flutter closed at the sound of his voice, and tiredness hits me hard.
I’m woken by what sounds like a hushed argument. It feels like I only just fell asleep, but I don’t know what time it is. I go to move, only to realize Arlo’s arm is no longer at my waist. The sun isn’t up yet, and he’s not in bed.
Sitting up, I notice the ice pack has gone warm, and my neck is throbbing just a little. That’s when I tune in to the voices coming from somewhere else in the house.
“Did you or did you not do a hunt without us?” a man questions.
“Keep your fucking voice down,” hisses Arlo.
I stand from the bed, and the ice pack falls to the floor.
“Leave. Now. And if you ever come back here again, I’ll kill you.”
The other man says something, but I can’t quite make out the exact words. I quickly climb back into bed, and as I do, my foot hits something next to the nightstand.
I go to pick it up, thinking it’s the ice pack, but it’s not…
THIRTY
ARLO
Rylas hates to miss out on things. He’s always fucking jealous of everything. And to pull me out of bed while Cora is sleeping is unacceptable. But if she weren’t in my bed right now, I would have killed him and dealt with the consequences later.
Rylas thinks that because he’s been a member for many years, he has a say in things. But he knows there’s a hierarchy to follow, and everything in the Forsaken first goes through the Lord, Soren. Then through Reon and me.
Some members call us his henchmen, but we look at it as we just don’t put up with his shit and call him out on it. The others suck up to him because they want the power that he has. All members, except Reon and me, have to give Soren a piece of their equity. He asked us once, and we both told him to get fucked, and that wasn’t going to work for us.
The equity isn’t always in the form of a business or property. It can also be secrets. The Forsaken holds many secrets that could get each of us locked up or killed.
Soren is a great leader. However, some of the members have been getting a little too bold for his liking lately. Like Rylas here. He thinks he should have had a say in the decision to kill Gage. Soren would have informed the other members of Gage’s betrayal after he was dead. Rylas is acting like a spoiled brat about not being a part of the kill.
Fuckhead.
Maybe we should kill him next.
He is getting on my last fucking nerve, that’s for sure.
After Rylas leaves, I shake my head and walk back to my room. When I step inside, I find her sitting on the edge of the bed, holding my mask.
Fuck.
