The one that will haunt us both forever.
Chapter 9
Bastian
Haven follows me into my bedroom like an obedient little lamb. Nervous, yes—hands outstretched. Cautious, yes—her feet shuffling over the carpet.
A good girl who’s willing to follow wherever darkness leads.
When I coax her onto the bed with little tugs on her collar’s chain, she doesn’t resist.
Kai stares at her like she just appeared out of an interplanetary vortex. He rushes to his feet, hands clenched at his sides, and if I hadn’t put my finger against his lips, he would have spoken, shattering the illusion.
He grabs my wrist, pulling me away from his mouth, then the bed. Still fighting the inevitable, pretending he has a choice in what happens next. Haven’s chain clinks where it pools on the bed, and she’s on all fours, pawing the sheets like a cat, oblivious.
“I’m not doing this,” he hisses as soon as we’re out of earshot. “Get us an Uber. We’re leaving.”
His impudence is charming, but every act of defiance will just make breaking him that much sweeter.
“Are you sure?”
He glances over where Haven’s gone and slid onto her stomach, her hoodie barely covering her ass. “Fuck.” Then he shakes his head. “Yes.”
“She thinks she hallucinated you.” I step closer, Kai’s body going rigid as the fabric on our sweatpants brush against each other. I turn my head, putting my mouth by his ear.
When I chuckle, Kai shivers.
“Whatever you do to her, she’ll blame on her own twisted mind…or me,” I whisper. “That kind of anonymity rarely comes around more than once in a lifetime. The chance to touch her without consequences. To have her,hurther, like you’ve always wanted.”
I put my hand on the small of his back, and he slips out of reach in a rush, twisting to knock away my arm.
Eyes downcast. Chest heaving.
Fighting a war between his conscience and his cock, and we both know which one’s going to win.
He looks over at the bed again.
Haven rolls onto her back, her hands sliding under my pillows.
Stretches. Sighs. Twines her legs together.
I leave him standing there, watching her, as I fetch an armchair from the living room. He’s still there, still staring, as I carefully set it down at the foot of the bed.
Then I pour myself a measure of bourbon, pick up the bottle, and take a seat in the chair.
As if she can feel my eyes on her, Haven’s legs tighten…and then slowly spread. Even drugged and blindfolded, her body knows what it wants. What it’s been craving. Her hoodie casts dark shadows between her legs, but I keep my eyes there anyway, if only for Kai’s benefit.
Sipping bourbon.
Waiting.
It doesn’t take long for him to fight through whatever mental blockade he’d put up. He stalks over to me, snatches my wrist.
I tilt my head back and smile. Put my finger on my lips, hushing him.
He jerks the glass out of my hand and swallows the liquor down, grimacing before shoving it back into my fingers. Then he turns to the bed and slowly climbs on, tossing his head, long hair whipping out of his face before he drops to hands and knees.
I refill my bourbon, taking another sip as I watch Kai prowl toward Haven.
