Page 187 of Villainous Rise

The place was absolutely crawling with League members and here I was, walking right into the middle of their hidden sanctuary with no panties on.

Cipher led me through the crowds and toward the bar area. The ambient noise of illicit deals and quiet threats rippled around us. Several of the League’s heavy hitters paused their conversations to offer Cipher subtle nods. He returned them with a marginal tilt of his chin. I caught the glare of two masked villains near the bar, their eyes boring into his back with pure, unadulterated hatred. You didn’t climb to his rank without making enemies along the way.

He steered us into a curved, high-backed leather booth that offered a view of the floor while shielding us from the main thoroughfare. Cipher took my hips as he sat and hauled me into his lap.

I shifted, hyper-aware of every gaze that slid over us and my stomach knotted with uncertainty.

Last time I’d been in League territory with him, I’d been playing the role of his willing little toy, paraded around for everyone to see. The memory of those nights, of the way he’d touched me in front of everyone, made my skin flush hot.

“What exactly am I supposed to be here?” I whispered against his ear. “Like before, when I was⁠—”

His hand shot up, fingers wrapping around my throat. Not enough to hurt, just enough to silence me and send a bolt of electricity straight between my legs.

“You’re not my fucking plaything anymore,” Cipher growled. The muscle in his jaw ticked as he tightened his grip just enough to make my pulse hammer against his palm. “You’re not my whore. You’re not my prop. You’re mine in every way that matters. I won’t let anyone, including you, delegate you to some lesser role ever again.”

His free hand slid up my thigh, pushing my dress higher until his fingers could caress my pussy. He stroked once, slowly, his thumb grazing my clit.

“You’re here for my pleasure,” he said, his voice rough as he pressed a finger inside me, making my breath catch. “But I’m here for yours too.”

My body clenched around his finger and I moaned softly before I could stop it. His grip on my throat loosened, and I relaxed against him, nuzzling into the crook of his neck where his pulse thundered against my lips.

“I want them to see exactly what you are to me,” he murmured against my hair. “Not what they think you should be.”

I pressed a kiss to his throat. “And what am I to you, exactly?”

Cipher’s laugh was dark against my ear. “Everything.” His hand left my throat to cup my jaw, tilting my face up to his. “Absolutely everything.”

He kissed me then and I melted into him, my fingers curling against his chest plate as the noise of the club faded into background static.

Cipher tensed and broke the kiss, sighing as he removed his finger from me. “My contact has arrived.”

I shifted to look at the approaching figure. He was a tall villain in a silver mask whose reputation preceded him. Cobalt Crusher. League ranking in the top twenty.

Before Crusher even made it halfway across the room, Cipher stiffened, his head cocking slightly to one side. Someone was speaking to him through comms. His fingers tightened around my waist, the pressure just shy of painful.

“We’re leaving,” he said, his voice deceptively casual as he helped me stand.

Cobalt Crusher reached our table just as we rose, his massive frame blocking the path. “Cipher, good to⁠—”

“Change of plans,” Cipher cut him off, not bothering with explanations. “We’ll reschedule.”

Crusher’s fists clenched at his sides, silver mask gleaming under the blue-white lights. “That’s not how this works. You don’t waste my time⁠—“

“And yet here we are,” Cipher snapped, already guiding me past him without a second glance.

Cobalt’s body tensed like he was considering violence, but Cipher simply kept walking and steered us away from the main entrance, deeper into the club instead of toward the exit.

“Where are we going?” I whispered, leaning into him as though I was eager for privacy. “I thought we were leaving.”

His mouth curved into that familiar smirk that never failed to make my pulse skip. “I need you alone,” he said, loud enough for nearby patrons to hear. But his fingers squeezed mine with an unmistakable warning.

I played along, pressing myself against him as he navigated us through the crowd, slipping through a door marked “Staff Only.”

The door closed behind us, cutting off the thrum of music and voices. We’d entered a narrow service corridor lit by harsh fluorescents. Cipher moved faster now, pulling me along until we reached another door that opened onto a different set of tunnels than the ones we’d used to enter.

“Alliance patrol,” he said the moment we were alone, his voice dropping its performative edge. “Number Eight just alerted me that they’ve swarmed the area in the Neon Maze above us. They’re moving to breach the Obsidian.”

“How did they find this place?”