Page 8 of Claimed

“She didn’t break the skin,” Hunter says, studying the same spot as me.

I turn my worried eyes to him. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

Hunter gives me a soft smile as he reaches his free hand up to cup my cheek. “It’s okay, baby girl. Nobody’s upset.”

“I-I tried to mark him without his consent. I don’t know why I did that.” Even as my voice wobbles, I cling to Maddox, desperate for him not to be angry and let me go.

“And if you had, I wouldn’t have been upset,” Maddox tells me, his hand running up and down my back. “But since you didn’t, we should try to save that for another time. If you do mark me, it might make me unable to resist marking you back. And completing the bond can be a very intimate act, and in some ways, we’ve just met.”

I pull back so I can see his face as I rest my hands on his shoulders. “You still want me?”

He smiles and leans forward, planting a soft kiss on my lips so quickly that I barely feel it. I reach up to touch my lips as I stare at him with wide eyes. “I will always want you, Cherry. You’re my mate.”

I lick my lips and swallow the lump in my throat, suddenly feeling very warm all over.

“Is it hot in here?” I ask, glancing at Bain and Hunter, who are in eyesight.

“Maybe now is a good time to get some answers?” Gage suggests after a moment of silence.

“I want to hold her,” Hunter demands with a frown, and I smile at him, loving the way they all seem to want to be closer to me, the way I do to them.

“Switch spots with Chase,” Maddox tells him.

“Time to play musical Cherry!” Chase teases as they have to weave around Gage, making sure nobody loses contact with me. I miss seeing Hunter strip, while never losing contact with me, leaving him on the couch in just his boxers as his hands find their way to my waist and he slowly starts to pull me backward into his lap.

“I don’t think you needed to take your shirt off,” Gage says as he watches me get settled in his lap. I tilt my head back and take a deep inhale of Hunter’s intoxicating pine and citrus scent.

“I think I did,” Hunter says in amusement. I glance up at him over my shoulder, and he winks at me, then leans down and kisses my cheek, making me blush. That only causes him to smile even bigger.

“Cherry?” Maddox says, getting my attention. He’s still sitting right in front of me, his hands on my knees, leaning toward me.

“When we found you, where did you come from?”

His question surprises me, and I push back against Hunter as I feel my pulse start to race.

“I don’t want to go back there,” I tell him as I start to curl in on myself, forcing them to move a little closer or risk losing the connection.

“Cherry, we would never ever send you back there, or anywhere you don’t want to go,” Maddox tells me firmly.

“We need to know so we can protect you from them,” Hunter explains before placing a soft kiss behind my ear, making my body shudder.

“And so we can slaughter every last one of them,” Chase adds.

“Chase!” Maddox yells, turning his angry eyes on him.

“What? She needs to know we’ll rip the world apart to keep her safe.”

“Really?” I ask, turning my wide eyes to Chase, who’s now sitting beside me.

“Of course, pretty girl. I’d burn the whole damn world down if you asked me to.”

“Not the world,” I say, reaching up with a free hand to cup his cheek. “Just the facility where I was kept.”

“Facility?” Gage asks, grasping onto that one word. “What facility? Where?”

“I don’t know,” I say, shaking my head. “I don’t even know what state it’s in. What state are we in?” I ask, turning to him.

“Nebraska,” Chase answers for me.