He grabbed my jaw. “Yes, you do.”

  “Just let me go,” I sobbed as a tear rolled down my right cheek, then my left.

  King’s nostrils flared as he stared down at me. “I’m not letting you go. I’m keeping you safe. I swear to God, the only ones who will get hurt are the ones trying to get to you. Trust me, sweets. You gotta trust me.”

  I laid my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. I felt so helpless. This was a disaster that I had created. I should have never run. I should have stayed.

  “I did this,” I whispered.

  “The fuck you did,” he said angrily. “That bastard you were married to did it.”

  I opened my eyes and stared up at him. “Were? I’m not divorced.”

  His jaw flexed, and there was something there in his eyes. He knew something. Did he know where Hill was? Was Hill dead? Had I missed that on the news?

  “Is he dead?” I whispered, almost afraid to hope. Ashamed to hope.

  King nodded his head once, and I let out a sob as my knees buckled. He was gone. Dead. He’d never find me. I’d never have to see him again. I was the target of the Mafia right now, it seemed, but Hill was no longer a nightmare I had to face.

  “Rumor,” King said, almost like a warning.

  I wiped at my face. “He’s dead.” Just saying the words gave me the strength to live. I could survive this. Whoever it was after me. I had survived Hill.

  “Yeah, he is. Why the fuck are you crying?”

  I let out a long sigh. “Because I’m a bad person. I’m glad. Relieved.”

  King ran a knuckle over my cheek to catch a tear. “So, these are happy tears?”

  “Yeah,” I admitted.

  “Thank fuck,” he muttered, then lowered his mouth until it covered mine.

  There were moments in life when you made a decision. Accepted who you were. What you had become. This was one of those times. I wasn’t good. Living with Hill had twisted me inside. I hadn’t realized it until now.

  Running my hands up King’s arms, I held on to his biceps and went up onto my toes to press closer to him. Take more of what he was giving.

  My feet left the floor as he lifted me up until I wrapped my legs around his waist. Then, we were walking. Through the house. His lips never left mine. The minty taste of his mouth continued to take more and give at the same time. I buried my hands in his hair as I moaned, aching for what I knew he could make me feel.

  When we reached the bedroom, his lips left mine as he laid me down onto the bed, then jerked my shorts down, along with my panties. My breaths came in short, quick, anxious gasps as he tossed them down, then unzipped his jeans. His eyes felt hot as he stared down at me hungrily. As if I was all he wanted. It was a powerful feeling.

  “Fuck,” he swore, pausing from getting his jeans out of the way. “No condom,” he said, letting out a heavy breath as his eyes met mine.

  There were two choices that could be made here. One was responsible, and the other was the inevitable.

  “When were you tested last?” I asked, already knowing I didn’t care. I should, but with King standing there over me, I couldn’t bring myself to.

  “A month ago. I’ve not…I always use a condom,” he replied, then ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated scowl.

  “Okay,” I replied hesitantly.

  He stared at me, as if waiting for me to say more. “You trust me? With this?”

  “Yes, and everything else,” I admitted.

  The pained look that crossed his face wasn’t what I’d expected. What had I said wrong? When he didn’t move, I started to sit up, but he cursed and shoved his boxer briefs down with his jeans and climbed over me, forcing me back onto the bed again.

  “I need this, sweets,” he said huskily before thrusting inside of me, then stilled once he was as deep as he could go.

  The sting from the way he stretched me had become something I craved. Lifting my hips, I urged him on. I was ready for more. His jaw was clenched tight as he held himself over me. I stared up at him and things stirred inside my chest that I knew were dangerous. What we were doing wasn’t going to end well. I was already feeling it. The heartbreak of when I would leave. When this would be over.

  King pulled out slowly, then rocked back into me. He hissed through his teeth as he closed his eyes. “Fuuuck, that’s incredible.”

  I wanted to reach up and caress his beautiful face, but that would make this…more. I was afraid it would scare him off. That we wouldn’t get to do this again. Instead, I moved under him, pressing for more. His eyes opened, and the dark, fierce gleam in them caused an excited shiver to run over me.

  He stood up, then grabbed my hips, pulling me with him. He began to drive into me. I watched as the muscles on his arms flexed with each movement. The veins on his neck stood out while he stared down at where our bodies met.

  “So fucking wet, hot,” he growled as he began to pump faster, his breathing heavy.

  I lifted my legs up and over his hip bones and arched my back off the mattress as the delicious tingle began to build. “AHHH!”

  “So goddamn beautiful,” he said with a grunt and sank into me with more force than before. “I love this fucking pussy.”

  The array of emotions already stirring inside me, mixed with the way he played my body, like an instrument he controlled, sent me crying out just before the wave of release hit me. My body shook as the wet gush came from deep inside me. Words fell from my lips, but I wasn’t sure what they were. I was being tossed into a spiral again of supreme blissfulness.

  “FUCK! FUCK! That’s it! Coat my cock with that sweet juice. FUUUCK!” He ended with a shout as his body shook, then jerked. His fingers clutched my hips, tightly holding me against him. “GAH!”

  I could feel it. His release filling me. Each hot jet, deep inside. I tried to get closer even if it wasn’t possible. He trembled slightly, and his grip on me eased as he opened his eyes and stared down at me. The slow smile that curled his lips was one I wanted to burn into my brain. Never to forget. It was hedonistic, sated, and I’d put it there.

  “I want to see it.” His voice was hoarse from the shouting.

  “See it?” I asked, still trying to catch my breath.

  He pulled out of me, then took my ankles and bent my knees, placing my feet flat on the bed. Holding my legs wide open, he stood there and stared at my completely exposed vagina. I opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing when his gaze darkened.

  “Damn, that’s pretty.”

  I covered my face with both hands, embarrassed. “Are you done?” I asked.

  “Just let me watch a little more trickle out, sweets.”

  Sucking in a sharp breath, I realized what he was doing. He’d said he wanted to see it, but that had been in the moment. I hadn’t really thought…oh my God.

  “King…” I trailed off, not sure what to say.

  “Yeah, sweets?” His tone was soft.

  Just the sound of it made me feel warm and tingly all over again. My eyes flew back open, and I moved my hands from my face when I felt his finger slide over my opening. His complete focus was between my legs. The fascination in his gaze silenced anything I was about to say.

  “Just let me play,” he whispered, not looking up at me while he ran his finger inside of me, then all around my sensitive flesh. “Damn, that’s nice.”

  Snapping out of whatever this was, I closed my legs with his arm still between them. His eyes swung up to my face with a confused look. As if I had taken something away from him and he didn’t understand why.

  “Stop it,” I told him.

  A crooked grin touched his face. “But I was enjoying myself.”

  I reached up and pushed his hand out of my legs. “I saw that, but I was the one lying there, exposed.”

  “You’re not cleaning it up,” he said. “I want my cum in your panties.”

  I laughed then as he took my hands and pulled me up to stand in front of him. “You have a dirty mouth,” I told him.

  “And you like my dirty mouth. Especially between your legs.”

  Before I could respond, King’s phone started ringing. He let out a heavy sigh and reached down to get his jeans and take it out.

  “Yeah,” he said into the phone, putting it to his ear, then pointing at my panties on the floor and nodding for me to get them.

  “We’re finishing up now,” he said, watching me as I put my panties back on.

  “I know,” he all but growled into the phone, then ended the call.

  “We have to make this quick,” he told me as he went to get my shorts. “Get dressed, sweets.”

  • thirty-three •

  “He’s got some feral shit in his eyes.”

  King

  “If you want to go back to your place, she can move into the house,” Sebastian said from the sofa in the lounge room in the stables.

  He’d been back from Vegas for two hours, and he was already pissing me off.

  “Yeah, King. You want to go home? I’m sure Rumor would love the guest room across from Sebastian’s,” Thatcher added as he poured himself another drink.

  “Rumor and I will be staying upstairs,” I bit out.

  Thatcher was trying to be an ass, but I knew Sebastian was serious. He meant well, but it still made me livid. She wasn’t available.

  “So, you’re doing it then?” Sebastian asked me.

  I glared at him, wondering why I had come down here. Oh yeah, because I’d told Rumor to take a bubble bath, and if I’d stayed up there, I’d have ended up fucking her again. It was starting to become harder and harder to keep my hands and dick off her. Fucking her raw earlier had been the most phenomenal mistake I had ever made in my life. I was going to want that. A lot. More than she could handle. Seeing my cum dripping out of her had fucked me up.

  “Look at him, brother. Yes, he’s doing it,” Thatcher said, pointing his glass at me. “He’s got some feral shit in his eyes.”

  “Stop,” I warned him. “This is off-limits.”

  Sebastian frowned. “Are you…are you feeling things for her?”

  Why was off-limits such a hard concept for these two? I didn’t know what I was feeling. I wanted to sink my dick in her over and over. I wanted to see her pussy full of my cum. I wanted to hear her make those noises she did when she was getting off. I cared about her. I didn’t want her hurt. But feelings like Sebastian was talking about? No. I didn’t feel that kind of thing. That kind of thing wasn’t something that was long-term. Sure, I believed people fell in love, but I also knew that time always stole that away. It never lasted.

  I cared about Rumor enough not to ever put her through that. One day, she would find out I’d lied to her from the beginning, and she’d never forgive me. Anything more than fucking her would only lead her down a road of heartbreak. She’d had enough of that. I wanted her happy.

  “I want her safe. That’s it. There are no feelings beyond that,” I told him.

  “Except a hard dick,” Thatcher said.

  The door swung open, and for a moment, my chest tightened as fear gripped me that it was Rumor. That she had heard me. Heard us. The sight of Storm and Wells had never been the massive relief that it was now. I let out a breath as they walked into the room with guests. Ruby, Fall, Moira, and Sedona. Fuck. I didn’t need this shit right now.

  “I brought friends,” Wells announced, holding out his arms as if he were the freaking Lord and Savior come to save our souls.

  “Not the time to be bringing people here,” I snapped angrily.

  He held up his hands. “What? You’re the only one who gets to fuck? Don’t think so.”

  Ruby made her way over to Thatcher. She was one of his favorites, if he even had those. She seemed to thrive from his cruelty. It was twisted. Fall had fucked us all, but she went straight to Sebastian, cooing over him being back. I ignored the others. Thatcher’s gaze locked on mine, and he raised one of his eyebrows. I knew that look. There was more going on here than just fucking.

  I needed another drink. Turning, I went back to the bar and found the bottle of Maker’s Mark and poured two shots into my glass. I’d give Rumor another thirty minutes, and then I was going back up there.

  “If you want to share, I’m game,” Storm said. “I like watching you chain them up and whip them.”

  I turned to glare at him, lifting my drink to my mouth, only for my eyes to lock on Rumor standing in the doorway. Fucking hell. Her eyes flashed with shit I didn’t want to put a name to. It would mess this up.

  “Hey, sweets,” I called out to her. “You done with your bath already?” I started toward her, not sure what I was going to need to do to make her stop looking…hurt. I didn’t want her hurt.

  “I, uh…” she stammered, her eyes scanning the room nervously. “I should have stayed up there.”

  “And deprive me of that pretty face?” I said as I reached her and took her hand, pulling her inside. I didn’t want her down here, but I also didn’t want her thinking she was a prisoner in my room.

  “Hey, Rumor,” Sebastian called out to her.

  She smiled shyly and lifted her hand in a small wave.

  “I still owe you a visit to the library up at the house. I’m home for a few weeks. Just tell me when you want to go, and I’m here.”

  Like fuck he was. He needed to back up. I’d take her to the damn library.

  “Thanks,” she said, looking anywhere but at me.

  “Same girl twice in a week,” Moira said tartly. “So unlike you, King.”

  “Easy, don’t wake the bear,” Storm told her, placing a hand on her back.

  “I like the bear,” Moira replied.

  Ignoring her, I slid my hand over Rumor’s hip and pulled her closer to me. “You want a drink?” I asked her. “Hungry?”

  She was tense. I didn’t like it. I had gotten used to her leaning into me. Cuddling close. Not this reaction. When she tilted her head back to look up at me, I saw the accusations in her eyes. That wasn’t fair. Yes, we had fucked three times in less than twenty-four hours, and I’d taken her without protection, but there were no promises between us. No commitment. So, what if she had heard what Storm said about Moira? She didn’t have to get uptight about it.

  “I think I’ll take a water and go back upstairs,” she said softly.

  Dammit. I didn’t want her going up there alone.

  “Okay. If that’s what you want,” I replied, finding myself annoyed, but not sure who at. Me or her. Or this entire situation.

  I wanted to see what it was that Storm planned on doing with the four women they’d brought here. I had a feeling I already knew the answer though.

  I left her to go get a bottle of water from the fridge, then took it back to her, still debating what my next move was. Did I go with her? Did I stay down here? If I went up there, I was almost positive I’d fuck her. If I stayed down here, I would be worrying about her.

  “Thanks,” she said, giving me a tight smile, then turned and headed for the door.

  “Don’t leave,” Sebastian called out.

  She gave him a real smile when she glanced back. “Long day,” she replied, then continued to the exit.

  I stood there, watching her until the door closed behind her.

  “You really gonna let her go? What if she runs?” Storm asked.

  “Security is everywhere,” I replied.

  “She’s had a lot to deal with today. If you don’t go after her, I will,” Sebastian told me, moving Fall off his lap as he stood up.

  “Sit,” I snarled.

  His brows drew together. “You’re not my fucking boss.”

  No. I wasn’t. But right now, he needed to step down.

  “We both know I will have you on your ass in seconds.”

  “I would have done this right,” he snapped and started for the door.

  I moved then. Fast. My decision was made, thanks to Sebastian and his fucking annoying ways. “If you walk out that door, I’m going to break your goddamn face.”

  He stopped and turned, glowering at me. “Are you going?” he asked.

  “Yes!” I shouted, stalking past him and jerking the door open, ready to get the fuck away from all of them.

  The last thing I heard before I slammed the door was Thatcher’s cackle of laughter.

  • thirty-four •

  “It was deeper than blood. Stronger than a bond of family.”

  Rumor

  I was overreacting. I had acted jealous. Did I have that right? No. I knew that. We had been friends this time yesterday. Having sex didn’t make us more. We were adults. King had sex with a lot of women. Seemed they all did.

  I pulled my feet up onto the sofa and crossed my legs, staring at the television even though I hadn’t turned it on. I shouldn’t have had sex without a condom. That was stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I should probably get tested again.

  The door opened, and King came inside. His gaze swung over the room until it landed on me. He closed the door behind him, and I watched as his shoulders seemed to drop with a sigh. He’d come to check on me. Great. Not only had I acted jealous, but I’d made him feel as if he’d done something wrong. I was really bad at this.

  “What are you doing up here?” I asked, wanting to get this over with.

  I tried to ignore his distractingly sexy saunter as he made his way over to me. He was a chick magnet, and I had been one of his chicks. Who could blame me? The man oozed sex appeal.

  “You seemed upset and left me. I was going to come up after your bath anyway,” he said as he took the seat beside me. “You good?”

  “I’m fine. You can go back to your friends. I was just about to find a movie to watch.”

  He leaned forward and picked up the remote control from the coffee table. “Sounds good. What do you want to watch?”

  I turned my head to look at him. “You don’t have to stay up here. I’m fine. Just tired.”