“Shh,” he whispers. “Later. You can wait for your orgasm—I’ll give it to you before bed.”
My lips part, and fury twists my stomach. “Did you just—”
“Deny you an orgasm?” He grins. “Yep. Had lots of fun doing it, too.” He winks at me, seeming awfully chipper and far too fuckingamusedfor his own wellbeing. “Like I said, you’ll get one before bed.”
“I don’t have a bedtime, motherfucker. In case you’ve forgotten, my sleep cycle isn’t normal.”
“We’ll see about that, Flame.” He bites into my hipbone again, and I momentarily forget about how pissed I am at him. “Now, in the meantime, I’m going to get you another laptop. Not because you deserve it, but because I can’t really blame you for hitting Toby earlier—I wanted to hit him, too. On that laptop, you are going to look atfurnitureanddecorations.” He pauses for a moment, frowning. “You can also look at entertainment stuff. Y’know; books, movies, sex toys—”
“Stop.”
He grins. “You’re right, I should focus on the toys, since I have the experience.” He grins at me. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll ensure you love every second of every filthy, depraved thing I do to you.”
Max examines my features for a few moments, eyes running over my face, searching for something. I don’t know if he finds what he’s looking for, but after a beat, he says, “Let’s go to dinner.”
“You’re taking me to the dining hall again?” I arch an eyebrow. “I thought you were going to hold off on that, considering how it went last time.”
“If you step out of line, I’ll punish you,” Max says simply. “You know that. I know that. Every time I have to punish you for repeat transgressions, the punishments will become more severe. If you act out, you’re literally only hurting yourself. You might be impressively shut off from the world, but you’re not stupid, Ember. Behave yourself accordingly, and everything will be fine.”
The dining hall is packed with people yet again. I’m still irritated from Max denying me an orgasm and in absolutely no mood to deal with any bullshit, but Idon’twant a repeat performance of what happened when I upset Scarlett. I still don’t like the fact that Max seems hung up on her, but frankly, if he saves my sister, he can fuck whoever he wants. I’ve tolerated far worse disrespect and humiliation for far less.
He grabs us two plates of food before steering me to his usual table again. Scarlett is sitting beside Greyson this time, but when he sees us coming, he picks her up and places her in his lap, arching a challenging eyebrow at me. I raise my eyebrows in return and yawn. I’m not interested in his little power game; he can do whatever the hell he wants to Scarlett. They aren’t my business.
Toby is likewise seated at the table, and he’s typing away at a laptop in front of him. I catch a glimpse of a thin brace on his knee and hide a grin. I really did a number on him with minimal effort expended.
“Gentlemen,” Max says as we take our seats.
“New girl,” a guy tatted up to the gills says. “We didn’t actually get to introduce ourselves last time—I’m Elijah.”
I give him a two-finger salute. “Ember.”
The one sitting next to him, a guy with tan skin, pitch-black hair, and midnight-blue eyes introduces himself as Bryan. Tobias requires no introduction and makes no attempt to engage me in conversation.
“You already know Tobias, Greyson, and Scarlett,” Max says, cutting into a baked potato.
I focus in on the steak on my plate. Protein and iron will always be my first choices when it comes to food—a luxury I didn’t get very often when bound to Dagon.
Technically, I’mstillbound to Dagon. I won’t consider my servitude or loyalties changed until I get concrete evidence that Alina’s safe and permanently away from Dagon’s reach. I’m counting down the hours I gave Max; if she isn’t out of harm’s way by tomorrow night, I’m going to get out of here. I don’t give a shit if I need to find an automatic rifle somewhere and fire up this entire place, killing anyone who gets in my way; I have no limits or morality when it comes to protecting Alina.
“Hey,” Scarlett pipes up with a smile.
I wave at her in response, giving her a careful up and down. She’s very pretty, but also very interested inGreyson. She leans into him comfortably, practically melting over his body. When he starts cutting up food and feeding it to her in small bites, she accepts each one docilely. No, notdocilely, but without issue.
“So, Viper,” Elijah says. “Heard you’re the reason Toby had to take a trip down to medical earlier.”
I chew and swallow a piece of steak before responding. “He shouldn’t have provoked me.” I stare at Tobias while I speak, but hedoesn’t take the bait. He continues typing on his laptop, though I catch his nostrils flaring with irritation.
“How’d you do it?” Elijah asks.
“He came at me with a knife; I dislocated his knee with a laptop, then broke it over his head.” I’m still staring at Toby, waiting to see if he rises to the taunt. He knows Alina, or knowsofAlina—I want to find out exactly how and why thefuckhe recognized her name.
Bryan releases a low,“Oh, shit.”
Elijah grins. “Nice.”
Greyson cocks his head to the side, eyes narrowing. “How many years of combat experience do you have?”
“I never went to war; I wouldn’t say I have formal combat experience.” I eat another piece of steak. “I just gotreally goodat killing people.”
