I trailed my fingers along the shelving as I continued deeper into the room. Everything seemed to be organized by category, and I made my way past enough lube to outfit a drugstore, an assortment of restraints (handcuffs, ropes like the one Jagger had used on me when we were alone in his room, leather beltswith thick buckles), and a series of floggers and whips, including several rods with feather ticklers, which I recognized as one of the toys Jagger and Vigo had already used on me.
There were clamps and rings, bars with cuffs on either end, and a handful of toys stored in their own acrylic containers, like they were special.
My pussy throbbed as my mind spun.
I’d known the Hawks liked toys (anal plug anyone?) but this was like a warehouse store for sexual pleasure, and I realized that the toys they’d used on me so far were just the beginning.
I didn’t know what even half the stuff did or how it was used.
But my entire body tingled with the desire to find out.
45
HAWK
I watchedCassie through the windshield of my Hellcat, trying to reconcile the woman chatting with customers and pouring coffee with the one I’d come to know in the three weeks she’d been living with us.
Coffee Shop Cassie was always cheerful, always friendly, always pleasing.
She smiled at the right times and nodded amenably and rushed to fill the napkin holders or creamer pitchers when someone brought it to her attention.
Coffee Shop Cassie was playing her part and playing it well.
But there was another side to her: our scrappy little mouse, the woman who was just beginning to learn all the ways her body — and ours — could give her pleasure.
That was the Cassie who wasn’t playing a role, who cried out when she came, who folded her arms over her chest when she was mad, who smacked things out of Vigo’s hands when he touched stuff that was supposed to be off limits.
That Cassie — our Cassie — was sharp as a blade, persistent as a mule, angry when she had a right to be, sad when she thought no one was looking.
I recognized the deception because I’d lived it. I’d pretended to be someone else too, before I got tired of acting out the play for everyone else’s enjoyment.
“I see you,” I murmured, watching Cassie smile up at a middle-aged guy who came a little too close to leering for my liking.
I tightened my hands around the steering wheel, reminding myself of why I was there (not to beat the shit out of some rando undressing Cassie with his eyes) and took another minute to drink her in before grabbing my laptop and getting out of the car.
I skipped the coffee shop door and went to the door leading to her apartment instead, then punched in the key code.
1228. Bram’s birthday.
I cursed when the door opened even though it was what I wanted. She should have changed the fucking code after Vigo spotted it over her shoulder.
I stepped into the vestibule and started up the stairs.
I hadn’t been here since the morning after the Hunt when we’d brought Cassie to get her shit, but I wasn’t worried about anyone finding me inside the vestibule. There were no other apartments here and Cassie was working.
I got to her apartment on the second floor and punched in the same code.
The door opened.
“Fucking unbelievable,” I muttered, stepping into the living room.
I closed the door behind me and looked around, getting my bearings all over again: small but cozy living room open to an equally small, equally cozy dining area and kitchen, hallway leading to two bedrooms and a bathroom.
I scanned the living room, found what I was looking for in the router near the TV, and set up shop with my laptop at her dining room table.
I wasn’t even close to a tech expert, but Marcus, my buddy from the Bureau, had given me clear instructions, and while I didn’t love following someone else’s instructions, I wasn’t so far down the rabbit hole of my own recklessness that I couldn’t do it when necessary.
I opened up my phone for the instructions from Marcus and worked my way through the steps, starting with checking Cassie’s network permissions and settings to see if they’d been changed recently and moving on to any new devices (besides my laptop) that had recently connected to her network.
