“Tell me you want this,” he demands, holding my neck in his unyielding grip as his other runs up my spine, flicking open the clasp of my bra. “Tell me you want to stay.”
The rustle of fabric as he undoes his jeans has a soft whimper escaping my throat as much as Everett driving deeper inside of me. Glancing over my shoulder, I give him the answer that he actually wants to hear.
“I want you.”
Banding an arm around my stomach, he lifts me off of Ev. Rubbing my thighs together to combat the hollow ache, I grind my ass against him.
“Scoot back.” His command is for Everett, and my breath hitches in my chest, internally cringing at the fight that’s about to erupt. There’s a heavy beat of weighted silence before he curses, pivoting so his head is on the pillow and he can fully stretch out on the bed.
Grave releases his hold on my neck to drop me to my knees on the mattress, pressing a hand on my shoulder to bend me over. “Hands and knees, angel.”
Gathering my hair into a ponytail, one of his knees causes the mattress to dip as he gently forces my head lower. Bracing one hand on Everett’s thigh to keep my balance, I take the head of his cock into my mouth, dipping my head to swallow him down as deeply as I’m able.
“Oh fuck,” he murmurs, one of his hands coming up to tangle into my hair and steal control away from Grave.
Swirling my tongue around him, he tightens his grip on my hair, cursing when the small moan that escapes me vibrates over his cock. I’m choking on him a moment later, Grave slamming into me from behind and forcing Everett further down my throat than I’m prepared for. I come up to suck down air, though my breaths quickly turn into a strangled gasp as Grave snaps his hips again, harder this time.
“What do you want, Elysium?” Grave asks and my mind blanks, not used to him being so serious, not expecting him to be this rational after destroying the room. “To claw your way to the top?” Another hard thrust and Everett guides me back to him, fucking my mouth with shallow thrusts. “You work your way into Julian’s bed, you can have everything. Money-“ another thrust “-power-“ he slips a finger into my ass “-everything you could ever want will fall at your feet.”
I’m left merely able to hold on for the ride, the two of them using my body as they see fit. Heat pools as I coil tighter, so damn close to the edge that I’m desperate to fall from.
When Ev lets me up long enough to breathe, I gasp out between panting breaths, “I want the three of us to be able to leave if we want to without being hunted down.”
As much as I want to stay here with them, I wantoptions.I want more from life beyond running, or fearing the person that controls my fate. I want to stay, but I want it to be because I chose to, not because it’s between that or death.
With a feral sound, Grave presses down between my shoulder blades and fucks me relentlessly. I’m barely able to catch a breath before sucking down Everett once more, soft whimpers around his cock making him tense. Fingers tightening on my hair, he comes down my throat. I’m forced to swallow down every drop, clenching around Grave with every thrust, growing increasingly desperate.
Gasping down air, Grave pulls me up and flips me onto my back. Arms tucked beneath my knees, he drags me closer, dropping one to pin against the bed and keeping the other slung over his arm as he leans closer. Pushing into me slowly, my eyes close with my quiet moan as I dig my nails into his side, urging him impossibly closer, deeper.
When Grave wraps a hand around my throat, I tighten around him, forcing myself to look him in the eye as I start to come, chest heaving, unintelligible pleas slipping from my lips.
He leans down to whisper in my ear as heat starts to flood my core. “When he breaks you, I’ll keep your old name a secret too.”
Maverick’s knuckles are white against the steering wheel, the numerous scars prominently on display. The drive’s been silent thus far, like we’re on our way to a funeral and there aren’t any words that will make the situation better. The only problem is, it’smyfuneral, and I don’t want to go down without a fight.
“Why’s everyone so scared of this place?”
He doesn’t answer at first, and I’m stuck leaning against the door, watching the change of scenery. It isn’t too far of a drive from the house the others live in, but it’s on the opposite side of Sinhaven. The slums fade away and the houses grow increasingly obnoxious the closer we get to Julian’s place.
With a sigh, he relents, “No one’s been inside, ‘cept for G. He grew up there with the man, and if that isn’t enough proof that some fucked up shit happens within those walls, I don’t know what is. Only saving grace is apparently even Julian has his limits. Murdering people is all well and good, so long as it isn’t inside his house and puts him at risk. And with the police watching all of us closely right now, especially him, you’ll probably be fine.”
Probably be fine. Super comforting.
“Elyse,” he hesitantly starts and I turn to face him. Pulling over, he throws the car in park. “What you’ve been doing-“ he scrubs a hand over his jaw before sighing “-it’s got to stop. Neither of them can protect you; you get that, right? Everett and Grave are a couple of the most brutal bastards in town, and even they can’t save you from Julian. You run, he’s going to find you; sooner rather than later. You think your pathetic jackass of a dad was bad? He’s a joke, Elyse. You came to us for protection and damned yourself in the process. G may be deranged, but he’s not going to lift a hand to stop Julian. Everett isn’t going to throw his life away to rot in a cell for you, even if he doesn’t like what’s going on. Julian has enough to use against all of us to keep us in line; we kill him, we go down too, and we won’t be seeing the light of day again with as much shit as we’ve done.”
All of the anger he usually lobs in my direction fades away as he pins me with a pleading look, begging me in earnest. “He’s interested in you enough to invite you into his home; he’s never brought a girlfriend there before. If you value your life at all, just… roll with it, El. You’re already stuck in this life, might as well make the best of it. He’s a son of a bitch, and I hate that bastard more than I can explain, but it’ll keep you alive. He won’t put you on as dangerous of jobs, you’ll have anything you could want. And if nothing else, he’ll protect you simply to piss off his enemies, to flaunt a weakness in front of them and then prove they can’t touch you.”
My mouth is dry as the truth of his words hit their mark, twisting my insides. I backed myself into a corner thinking that things couldn’t get any worse than they already were, but I knew nothing back then. My moral compass has long since been broken, so it isn’t working with these people that makes me balk. It’s the fact that I deluded myself into thinking that I could workwiththem, when really all I’m good for is whoring myself out for self-preservation.
I’ve done some terrible things in my life, but nothing that makes me feel like I’m not even a person. I’ve slept with assholes in a failed hope that it might save me before, so it shouldn’t be anything I can’t stomach. But Ichoseto attempt that route, and look how miserably it failed.
Third fucking time’s the charm though, right?
Yet as much as Maverick thinks that I’m just passing the time with Grave and Everett, that’s not it at all. They were the first people to look at me like I was worth something, actually gave a damn about me. I might have tried to keep some emotional distance between us in case I had to abandon ship and try to run, but I’ve known for a while now that it was a fool’s dream. I just struggled to admit it to myself, to accept the fact and know that it meant I’d never actually run like I was telling myself I could.
And the thought of throwing all of that away for a chance at power and money makes me want to vomit.
“I’ll think about it,” I croak, the only thing that I’m able to manage at this point.
