Page 174 of Their Wicked Secrets: Untouched, Vol 5 of 6

We enter the lower level of Caden’s house. I sink onto the couch and drag in a ragged breath. Fuck this.

I want to cry. I want to scream. I want to rage. Part of me wants to run. To escape before Zach can sink his claws into my skin. Luke walks over to the bar and takes a bottle from the liquor cabinet.

Nico lowers into a chair and rests his head back with his leg elevated. Caden looks ready to tear something apart, pacing while clenching and unclenching his fists. Eli is quiet and lost in his thoughts, cold and calculating as always.

Jack isn’t here yet. His car wasn’t outside. A piece of me is missing and I feel it deep inside. I need him here. I need them all here with me. Fuck, that sounds so greedy, but they made me this way.

They gave me all of their attention and time, until I crave it. Until I need it to breathe.

I was happy alone before them. Now all I can think about is when I’ll see them next.

Luke sits in front of me on the ottoman, startling me out of my thoughts. I lift my empty eyes to his, which are cold and piercing. I want to draw on his strength. He uncaps the bottle, tips it up to his mouth, and takes a drag right from it.

He hands me the bottle as I watch his throat work to swallow the liquor. I turn it in my hand to see the label. Vodka. He arches an eyebrow as if daring me to take a drink. That little pull of defiance digs at me almost as much as the need to give in to him.

Fuck it. I’m done thinking for tonight. Forget what I’ve heard. Forget what tomorrow will bring.

Holding his gaze, I take a swig and let it burn down my throat. Eli takes the bottle from me. His dark eyes hold mine captive as he takes a drink before handing it off to Nico.

Nico and I lock gazes. He takes a long drink before Caden comes over to claim the bottle. His green eyes sear into mine before he tips the bottle back and swallows.

I want to ask them what we’re going to do. What the plan is? Because we need a plan. How are we going to avoid this? But if we don’t show up at Homecoming, Zach will find another time to take me. Maybe at school. Or some night when I’m on my own.

When my guys are occupied and can’t help me. What if he sends me so far away they never find me? I twist the ring on my finger. It’s my lifeline to them, but will it be taken from me?

The bottle is in front of me again. Luke shakes it slightly, and I take it.

Again, I hold his gaze as I drink. The alcohol warms my insides, even though I’m cold and numb. I pass the bottle.

Everything is spiraling out of control. Except this. What the six of us have. This is solid. We’re solid. I just need Jack here, and we’re complete.

I belong here. I belong to them. All of me.

Standing, I take off Luke’s jersey and the t-shirt I have on underneath, leaving me in my bra. I long to be stripped bare before them. To be raw. To show them what they mean to me. Show them how terrified I am that what Zach has planned will take this from us.

Luke leans back on his hands, watching me with hooded eyes. It’s quiet and dark in here. No one bothered to turn on the lights. It suits our moods. The swish and swallow of alcohol are the only constants as they continue to pass the vodka, but I feel all their eyes on me even though I focus on Luke.

I undo my jeans and toe off my shoes. No one touches me. No one speaks.

After tossing my jeans with the jersey, I undo my bra, adding it to the pile, along with my panties. I’m naked before them, stripped of everything.

My world is crumbling at the edges. What I’ve always known to be true isn’t.

My father left us, but not of his own free will.

My home was my safe haven, but now it’s not. I can’t even go back there.

My mother would never leave me, but she had to, at least for a little while.

These boys are dangerous and uncontrollable, but they’re mine and they love me so fiercely.

I drag a breath into my starved lungs and climb onto Luke’s lap, straddling him. His denim scrapes the delicate skin inside my thighs, but I like the feel of it. The roughness. I settle against him and study him.

His gaze searches mine... for what? I don’t know. Maybe strength. Maybe will. Maybe an answer, but I don’t have one.

Because they claimed me, I love them.

Because they claimed me, I’m in danger.