“It’s Kade,” he said, his voice dropping into a dangerous growl. He hooked a finger under my chin, forcing me to see the absolute possessiveness in his gaze. “Right now, you’re mine, and mine alone. Do you understand?”
I nodded, breathless, as he turned toward the door, leaving me shivering in the heat of his command.
Sanctuary
The click of the bedroom door locking was the only sound in the room, but it roared like a gunshot. I stood in the center of Dane’s black-walled sanctuary, clutching a towel so thick I was buried in it. Downstairs, the rumble of voices continued—Dane’s low, rhythmic bass and Kade’s rough baritone.
Then Kade laughed.
It was the same manic, wide-eyed sound from the party, and entirely too comfortable in this space. Amos’s friends flickered through my mind—the way they were allowed to walk in, to look at me, to take what they wanted while he watched with boredom.
My lungs constricted, two sizes too small. I couldn’t draw enough air to stop the spots from dancing across my vision. My skin didn’t just crawl; it felt like a thousand stinging insects were waking up beneath the surface, a frantic, vibrating heat made my blood boil.
The heavy tread of boots on the stairs sent a jolt of pure terror through my spine. I didn’t just hear the footsteps; I felt them in my teeth. When the door finally opened, I didn’t see the man who had been tenderly washing my hair. I saw a silhouette. A threat.
I squeezed my eyes shut, my chin dipping low to protect my throat, my entire body winding into a tight, trembling coil.
He cut through the distance, stopping before me. He reached out and gripped the edge of my towel.
“Drop it,” he commanded.
The air in the room turned to ice.
“Is this the part where I… where I have to say hi to your guest?” I whispered, my voice finding that broken edge.
The man’s hand froze. He stepped into my space, his heat a wall against my shivering frame. He hooked a finger under my chin, forcing me to see the absolute certainty/seriousness in his gaze. “I am nothim.”
I blinked. The spell broke. Dane stood before me now. Behind him, Kade leaned against the wall, a glass of amber liquid in his hand. The moment his eyes landed on me, the faint scent of chocolate and cherries flared, cutting through my stagnant fear.
“Hey, Lumberjack.” His gaze pinned me like a physical weight.
I searched for the mockery in the lines of his face, the cruelty I’d learned to expect from Alphas in a group. But it wasn’t there. Kade didn’t look at me like I was a toy; he looked at me like I was a revelation he was granted the gift to witness. The static in my head quieted, replaced by a hum of recognition.
“No one touches you, but me today. Do you understand?” I wanted Kade. For a reason lost to me, I needed him.
I nodded, breathless. He pulled the towel away, leaving me naked as the day I was born. I expected to feel the old, familiar bile of humiliation, but as Dane led me to the wall beside Kade, a different sensation itched at the back of my skull.
Dane didn’t give me time to overthink. He lifted me up on his shoulders, my legs instinctively locking around his neck. He backed me against the wall, his fingers digging into my ass.
“Watch, brother, as I take what’s mine.”
Then, he took me. His tongue speared into me, hot and demanding. I gasped, my head thudded back against the wall as he buried his face between my thighs. Every flick of his tonguewas a calculated strike against my clit. My legs trembled as they tightened around his head. Stroke after stroke, he brought me close. I stared down at him, my fingers tangling in his hair, forcing him closer, deeper. I wanted to see it—I wanted to watch the primal need in his eyes as he devoured me.
“I bet you taste divine,” Kade hummed, the words shoving me closer to the edge.
I felt Kade’s gaze tracking the arch of my back. I faced him, and a hunger that mirrored the pulse between my thighs stared back. He didn’t look away. Every slap of Dane’s tongue, every obscene sound of suction echoed in the small space, and I wanted Kade to hear every bit of it. I wanted him to see the wetness glistening on Dane’s chin as he pulled back for a second, his eyes dark and blown out, before diving back in to finish me off.
His brows pinched as if in pain. My mouth fell open as my orgasm peaked.
“Are you coming, Lumberjack?” he cooed.
“Yes,” I moaned. “Oh, fuck, yes.”
Dane feasted on my slick, his body pulsing against mine. He didn’t pull away just because I came. He kept me pinned against the wall, drinking me like a man starved. I was a mess, my skin sensitized by Kade’s unwavering stare from the shadows.
Dane hooked his arms under my knees and hauled me against his chest. He carried me to his bed, and I caught the blur of Kade moving with us, his shadow stretching long across the black walls. He didn’t stay back; he pulled a heavy leather chair right to the edge of the mattress, sitting backward with his arms folded over the headrest. He wanted a front-row seat.
The mattress dipped under our combined weight as Dane shoved me onto the pillows. He flipped me over so that I was on all fours, facing Kade. He gripped my hips, and I knew what he was about to do.
