Page 30 of Villainous Rise

“You just assaulted a junior Alliance member,” I said, exasperated.

Cipher reached out and I tensed as he brushed his thumb over the exact spot on my shoulder where Valor’s grip had been the tightest.

I had spent months hiding behind Alliance rules, convincing myself I was a highly functional, independent person who didn’t need Cipher at all. One brush of his thumb against my shoulder proved I was just a liar with a severe touch-starvation problem.

A desperate ache opened up within me, consuming every part of me I was trying to protect.

His lips parting slightly as he slowly stroked the spot again. A ruinous craving clawed at me. I wanted nothing more than to lean into his grip and let the monster devour me whole.

He slowly tilted his head. “If he ever grabs you like that again, I’ll kill him.”

I hated how much I liked the dark promise. I hated him even more for making me feel this way after what he did to me. I grabbed onto the rigid safety of rules to try to give me the distance I needed from him.

“You broke the rules of engagement,” I reminded him, hating how breathless I sounded. “The party was neutral territory tonight.”

Cipher shrugged. “Since I’m already damned, let’s do it properly.”

Before I could ask what he meant, he scooped me up.

“Cipher, no!” I struggled against his grip. “Put me down right now!”

His arms tightened around me as he moved toward the terrace’s edge.

“You don’t understand what you’re doing,” I hissed, twisting in his grasp. I knew the rules of the Nemesis contract. The one rule Havoc had insisted on was that I wasn’t to be kidnapped by Cipher. If he did that, then the whole contract was void.

I needed to stop him before he ruined everything, before he crossed a line that would wreck what he’d worked for. I brought my cuff up against his neck and discharged it.

Nothing happened.

Cipher gave me that maddening smirk. “Now’s not really the time for foreplay, Annie.”

“It’s supposed to stun you, you arrogant ass!” I tried again, jabbing my cuff against him harder. Still nothing.

“Unfortunately, I’m immune to your cuff.”

“Cipher, I swear to god, if you don’t put me down right now⁠—“

“Save your threats for when we’re somewhere private.” He stepped onto the terrace ledge, adjusting his grip to hold me more securely against him.

“You stupid, reckless—” My words were cut off as he launched us into the air, the ground dropping away beneath us with sickening speed.

“Son of a bitch!” I screamed into the wind as the city lights blurred below us. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”

A dark shape materialized in the sky ahead of us, black metal gleaming faintly under the stars as some kind of cloaking technology disengaged.

Cipher’s airship.

CHAPTER 7

CIPHER

The airship door sealed behind us with a hiss, cutting off the howling wind. I set Annie down, and she immediately shoved away from me, stumbling back until she hit the opposite wall of the airlock. Strands of her hair had escaped from their careful styling, falling across her flushed face.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” She looked murderous, chest heaving. “You just violated your Nemesis contract.”

“I didn’t violate anything.” Part of me wanted to tell her how fucking gorgeous she looked when she was angry.

“Are you serious? The one clause Havoc insisted on, the one thing that would void the entire contract, was you kidnapping me.” She jabbed a finger in my direction. “And what did you just do? Kidnap me!”