Was he serious? I searched his face. He absolutely was. “No, thank you.”
Excitement flared in his eyes. “It wasn’t a request. Get on your knees.”
My lips went numb. “No.”
He rubbed his hands together as if my refusal pleased him. “Shields don’t tell members of the guard no.”
“This one does.”
He circled the table until he loomed above me.
The girls in the room seemed to shrink into themselves, as if they hoped they could make themselves small enough to escape his notice.
“Last chance, Shield.”
The man reeked of bacon grease and sweat, and I couldn’t keep my disgust off my features. “No.”
His open palm flew toward my face.
I bent backward, and his hand passed above me.
The sudden burst of men’s laughter from the guards’ dining room had his cheeks flaming a deep crimson.
He made a grab for my arm, and I easily evaded him, leaping from the stool and taking a defensive stance.
“Bitch. You’ll pay.”
I’d rather die fighting than let his cock anywhere near me.
He fisted his hand and pulled his arm back, telegraphing his intended target—my throat.
I ducked his punch.
Sara and Alina had promised Grayson would protect me, but when I chanced a glance at the dining room, the four men who’d taken me from my home seemed unconcerned with theman attacking me. If anything, they seemed suddenly fascinated by their breakfasts. Pierce and Grayson sipped their coffee. Teal salted his eggs. Flynn nibbled on a strip of bacon.
The attacker swung at my temple.
I leaned away from his fist, then hit him with a roundhouse kick to the groin.
He crashed to the floor, curling into a fetal position and moaning.
I shifted my gaze to the dining room a second time.
Twenty-five men now glared at me. Four of them stood. Their faces were angrier than the rest. They crossed their arms over their broad chests.
“Princess,” Flynn tsked. “What the fuck did you just do?”
“Is this how you treat the girls you’ve brought here to protect you?” Yes, I was challenging them. Yes, it was probably a terrible idea. But I was too upset to care. I blinked back the image of that guard’s leering face and his determination to take me against my will. There would be time to fall apart later. Right now, I needed to survive this moment, then the next, then the one after that. “You expect us to shield you? Why should we?”
“Enough talking,” Grayson barked. “Everyone, out.”
The guards and the shields practically stampeded toward the exit.
When they were gone, my gaze traveled between them. Grayson. Pierce. Flynn. Teal. “Would you have sat there sipping coffee as he forced his tiny cock into my mouth?”
Grayson didn’t answer, but a flush climbed his neck, and his gaze shifted away from mine. “This is how you learn to protect yourself,” he muttered, as if trying to convince himself as much as me.
“You’re despicable. All of you.”
