Voice rasping, he murmurs, “I kept saying your number to myself. ‘Twenty-Three. Twenty-Three. Twenty-Three. Twenty-Three.’ It was in my head like a chant, impossible to ignore. And yet, when I brought the tattoo gun to your skin, I almost inked the three first. I-I could have fixed it if I hadn’t caught myself in time, but it’d have been off-center. Obvious that I’d made a mistake.”
I tilt my head to the side, peering at him curiously. “Really?”
He slowly nods. “Look.” Bringing my arm down, he shifts so I can see what he’s referring to. “Right here.”
My nose scrunches as I try to puzzle out what he’s talking about. “What? That?” I point to an odd curve on the upper portion of the two.
“Yeah.” He hesitates a few beats beforefinishing. “There’s something wrong with me. I get mixed up sometimes.” He heaves out a sigh. “It happened again today, but there was no hiding it. I somehow mismeasured.”
“The bridge.”
“Yeah,” he whispers, utter defeat filling his voice.
Catching the corner of my lower lip between my teeth, I study him for a moment. Something inside me loosens, allowing me to look at him as a man who is clearly hurting instead of as my captor. The way he aches practically vibrates. I wish there were a way to make him feel better about what—to me—is obvious must be some sort of disability. My brows furrow in thought. Dyslexia, perhaps? That fucker Nolan probably isn’t well-versed in anything of the sort, especially if his field of study had nothing to do with it. I have serious doubts as to whether he ever had a license to practice medicine at all. Did Hayze ever tell anyone he was having trouble? Or would he have hidden it out of fear?
“Well, is what you did fixable?”
Impatient pale eyes lock on me, a storm gathering within them. “That’s not the point. It made more work for us. It was?—”
I nod. “I get it.” And I do. He was embarrassed in front of other members of their commune, and most especially the Collective. What he perceives as a weakness caused the future leader to look incapable in full view of everyone.
“Hayze!”
That shout from somewhere nearby sends him into motion, quickly peeking out the door before gesturing that I need to leave. Blowing out a breath, I slip through the opening and frantically grab the mop and continue my work as the footfalls reach the top of the stairs.
As Finneas appears, I pause. His eyes flick from me to the door of the room he can’t possibly know I’ve just exited. In a rush, I drop to my knees. “I follow. I honor. I nourish. I kneel.” And because it’s appropriate, I keep my head bowed and my eyes focused on his feet.
“Get up. Get back to work.”
I rise, nodding carefully as I move away from him, my grip so tight on the mop handle I’m half afraid it’ll snap under the pressure.
A moment later, he barges into his sons’ quarters. All I can do is hold my breath. And when Finneas’s voice rises… my heart cracks wide open, bleeding for the man on the other side of the door.
TWENTY-THREE
ARROW
I’m so fuckin’lost. It’s becoming clear to me that with every day that passes, my perspective skews a bit more. The methods by which the Collective achieves their goals hasn’t sat right for quite some time, but now? Their recent treatment of Delilah has thrown my world into unending turmoil. I ache to break free of this place.
Swallowing hard, I blink into the dark as one disturbing thought after another tumbles through my head. I’ve been in denial for a very long time. I’m enraged and disgusted with the Collective, but also with myself for being so complacent and willing to simply let things happen right before my eyes for so long.
I sink to my knees at Delilah’s bedside and lower my head, clutching it with both hands. Guilt over what I couldn’t stop from happening to her pounds insidemy head and threatens to crack my skull from the inside out.
How could I have thought it was okay to blindly follow the way I have all this time? A ragged exhale tears from my chest as I seek out the plump swell of her cheek and watch the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she slumbers. “Forgive me, Delilah,” I rasp into the dark. “Forgiveme.”
How many nights will go by with her completely unaware of my visits? I’ve never been able to help myself when it comes to my siren. Am I scared I’ll be caught?Yes.I am, but I’m also irreversibly bound to her. I think I have been since that very first sucker punch.
There’s only one thing that quiets the chaos within me, and that’s being with her. Just like this. Heat rushes through my veins as I reach out to feel her curves under my hands, and my cock stiffens in anticipation. Peeling back the blanket, I take a quick second to unfasten my pants and lower them, allowing my erection to spring free. I grip it with a firm hand, releasing a quiet groan as I give in and shuttle my fist from root to tip. I ache to be one with Delilah again, and my dick twitches violently as if to askWhat the fuck are you waiting for?
When my ears begin to buzz and the rough touch of my own hand is no longer enough, I reach behind me and haul my shirt off, then kick free of my pants. There’s a wild thumping in my chest as I crawl onto the mattress behind her and pull the blanket over us.
Fuck, she’s perfect. So perfectly mine.I bury my nose in her hair and inhale deeply, stemming the groan that almost erupts from my throat. My chest jerks as hands unerringly find the hem of her gown and bare the lower half of Delilah’s body to my touch. I like her like this. She’s soft and sleepy, and I don’t have to worry so much about what she’s thinking. I squeeze my eyes shut, wincing. Would she want this? Uncertainty rains down on me, my head a mess, the overwhelming drive to claim her body with mine close to crippling.
I’m one part heady lust, one part undeniable need. She’s under my skin now; I’m hers to own. Pressing my lips to her temple, I run my hand across the lush curve of her hip, then over her backside before letting my fingers wander along her blood-infused, swollen sex.
The more I explore, the wetter she becomes until the scent of her fills the air. It wraps around me, dragging me further into the wild with her.
I can’t wait any longer. Gritting my teeth, I nudge my cock between her legs. Her body has readied itself for me without even being aware. Itknowsme by now. I guide the head of my weeping, straining cock to her opening, and brush it back and forth along the slit. Panting, I push just inside her and still, my thoughts twisting angrily, yet helplessly.
