This was not what I wanted. We didn’t have time and couldn’t afford for our uneasy truce to fall to shambles.

  I glared at Zane. “Get the hell out of my way.”

  He came forward until the bag was pressing into my lower stomach. “Is that how you wanna play your hand?”

  “I’m—”

  “Think carefully before you answer, baby. What you say is going to determine how this whole thing goes.”

  My mouth opened and shut a few times before I got a hold of myself. I was baffled by his whole demeanor. One minute he looked at me as if he wanted to fuck my brains out, the next his eyes were burying into me like daggers, full of hatred and spite.

  I felt as if he were pushing me.

  My natural inclination was to push back, because, who the fuck did he think he was? And did he call me baby?

  I didn’t know what thing he was talking about, and I didn’t understand where he got off saying I was his, and that was that. He was starting to piss me off all over again.

  “I am not playing a game with you, baby. I don’t know what your deal is, but you’re delusional and making a fool of yourself.”

  My words were level until the end where a slight growl may have slipped. It was a work in progress to control my temper, and all things considered I was doing a fabulous job right now.

  Zane thumbed his plump lower lip for a minute, silently watching me.

  His smile was slow to appear; when it did slowly creep across his face, it was drenched in devilry and dark intent.

  My heart tripped at the sight of it. I hated the undeniable attraction I felt towards him. This wasn’t right.

  He turned away from me, snatching my bag from my hands in the process. “Let me carry this for you.”

  I blew out a breath and stared after him, following only after he disappeared inside the service station. Maliki whispered something to Nyx and then did the same.

  “I think it’s time me and Zane have a talk,” Cam contemplated the moment I reached his side.

  “Your funeral man,” Trix commented on her way past, carrying a gear bag of her own. “Z is a cool guy, but he isn’t going to let you tell him how to handle his relationship,” she added before pulling open one of the station doors and vanishing within.

  “His relationship?”Nyx spat.

  I stared after her, replaying what she’d just said inside my head. It wasn’t that her words were poetic and worth remembering, it’s what they implied that left a sour taste in my mouth.

  I think I was beginning to understand where this all began, and it wasn’t something I cared to ponder right then.

  I sighed, shifting my full attention to Nyx and Cam. “I love you guys, but please don’t feel the need to get involved in shit like that. I can handle Zane on my own. I don’t want any issues spiraling.” I couldn’t stress this enough.

  Cam could be lethal, but my gut told me Trix hadn’t been blowing steam out her ass when she warned him just now. I didn’t want him to risk getting hurt over me. It wasn’t worth it.

  “I make no promises. You’re my girl if I feel the need to step in again, I will,” Cam replied.

  “Everything he just said I second,” Nyx stated, looping her arm through mine. Cam fell in step behind us, and we finally made our way to the entrance.

  Annie stood on the left side of the building just outside the doors, shotgun in hand, and long brown hair plaited in two braids.

  “You need to rest too,” I gently told her.

  “No. I need to keep watch over you, and that one.” She turned and gave a pointed look in Zane’s direction inside the station.

  “Annie.” I huffed out a breath, trying to hold back my frustration. “You need sleep just as much as any of us, food too.

  “I know you’re supposed to protect me, but it wouldn’t hurt for you to let someone take care of you every once in a blue moon.”

  She still looked as if she were going to protest and I was seconds away from ordering her ass inside the goddamn station, something I never did, but I was tired my damn self.

  “Hey, she’s right. You need rest too. I’ll keep guard. K? I can always catch a nap when we hit the road again,” Ace volunteered. He was standing on the opposite side of the doors, watching everything transpire without comment until now.

  Annie looked at me for what felt like hours, but was mere minutes, her face softening with a small smile.

  “I appreciate that. Thank you. I will rest, for a little.”

  I shot Ace a grateful look and pulled open the station door nearest me.

  I leaned against one of the old freezers, a plaid fleece throw beneath me. Nyx sat right beside me, another under her. A few feet to our right Annie and Cam were fast asleep, sharing a gear bag as a pillow.

  The station wasn’t dirty per se, just in need of a thoroughly good bleaching because who knows what types of things had been inside of it other than us. It was completely ransacked.

  “Braxton is cheating on me.”

  My chewing slowed, and the taste of tart lingered on my tongue. She’d said his actual name, which meant she was ready to talk about it.

  I wished there was a manual or something on how to handle these types of situations so you couldn’t epically fuck up by saying the wrong thing.

  “It happened all those random times he vanished from the compound and then came back with a sorry ass excuse for where he’d been,” she continued.

  “Wait, so this chick isn’t one of us? Or she is and doesn’t live on the compound?”

  “I’m pretty sure she’s some random waif he met on an actual supply run. I’ve known for a while now. I guess I was in denial at first, ya know, wondering who the hell would cheat on me because I’m fucking amazing. Or…I thought I was.”

  I swallowed my last bit of food, envisioning Butcher’s demise in a pool of blood. “Firstly, don’t ever say anything like that again. You are amazing, Nyx. More than amazing, you are incredible, and I’m not just saying that because you’re my friend. He’s still a boy behaving like a man—a shitty man, and honestly, it’s his loss.”

  She stretched her arms out, and then readjusted so she was lying down.

  “The last time we were together, at the warehouse, he thought it was me letting him back in. I just wanted one last hate-fuck.”

  “Oh, okay. I didn’t know that was a thing. It sounded as if it went well though.”

  “I love you, Addy.” She smothered a laugh behind her hand.

  The sound drew the attention of Maliki and Zane from across the room. And as if we couldn’t help ourselves, Zane eyes met mine and held.

  “Are you sure you didn’t know it was a thing? You and snake man seem to have some of your own going on.”

  I flattened my lips and diverted my gaze, completely unimpressed by that comparison. “I take it back. That sounds absolutely terrible.”

  “If you say so,” she stated around a yawn. Her eyes zeroed on empty space as she got lost in whatever she was thinking.

  I couldn’t relate to how she was feeling, but I knew it couldn’t be good. Braxton was her first everything. I also knew she’d never tell me, and she would wear the same face she always did and keep it all inside. That’s who she was. She was just like her father.

  But I had to ask anyway.

  “Are you okay, pretty girl?”

  “I will be,” she quietly replied before closing her eyes.

  I watched her for a few minutes with a frown. Right, when I thought she’d fallen asleep, she spoke again.

  “Do you think they’re hurt?”

  Knowing who she was talking about I replied before thinking it over. “No.”

  The Stags had taken Savage and Venom, but I didn’t think their intention or end goal was to hurt them. They had to want something.

  What that could be was anyone’s’ guess. There were wiser and easier ways of going about it than ensuring their deaths.

  Hearing her breathing even out, I glanced over again and smiled at her sleeping form.

  On the far side of the station where hot food had once been displayed, Trix snoozed away as Maliki and Zane continued to speak quietly. Every few minutes he would look in my direction, and every time our eyes met, I felt the same pull in my chest and heat between my legs.

  I studied his posture and physique. It was easy to hate him for what his family did, harder to remember he didn’t even know who they were. It wasn’t until we’d been in the car together I reminded myself of that.

  That didn’t change who he was as a person, though.

  I’d heard plenty of stories and even more rumors about the mystery that was Zane Belial. The girl’s at the compound whispered about him constantly.

  They seemed to be stuck in a state of perpetual lust with a stranger they’d never laid eyes on other than in a fantasy or few grainy Polaroids.

  I’d never understood the allure.

  Until now.

  Until I was met with whatever this feeling was—more than simple attraction, stronger than insta-lust, but damn sure not love. I couldn’t define it because I’d never felt it before, but whatever this was, I did not like.

  Fortunately, the sudden urge to relieve my bladder hit hard and gave me an excuse to get away from him even for just a few minutes.

  Rising from my small pallet, I grabbed my case of wet-wipes and headed for the bathroom. After shadowing Nyx here a bit ago, I knew how atrocious the restrooms looked inside.

  The women’s room was far worse than the men’s, with a repellent stench of smeared shit and blood on the walls. That meant I was going into the men’s’ room.

  I walked down the small hall, the glow from the battery powered lanterns in the main area giving it a bluish glow.

  I used my shoulder to open the door. Once inside the bathroom, I didn’t touch anything. I squatted, feeling the muscles in my thighs burn as I relieved myself over the nauseating piece of porcelain.

  I used a wet-wipe to clean my lady bits off, pitching it in the hole without glancing down and then exited back into the hall.

  My deep inhalation of somewhat fresh air was cut short by the solid force shoving me right back into the bathroom.

  I hit the grimy wall, wet-wipes falling away as my wrists were pinned above my head.

  Cognizant of everyone sleeping and not wanting to make another scene, I snarled on a whisper, “Get your damn hands off me!”

  He ignored my anger, tightening his grip to the point I grimaced. “You know what the most amusing part about that whole statement you gave a bit ago? Your waste of breath to deliver an almost believable performance?”

  “You’re a freaking psycho! It was no performance! Now get—.”

  “Tell me you’re not mine.” His voice dropped to a near whisper as his lips found their way to my neck, skimming over my sensitive flesh.

  My nerve endings immediately began to stir, warmth flooding through me and went straight to my core.

  I was suddenly aware of how good he smelled. Simply like a strong bar of soap and hint of sweat—masculine. Like the calloused hands holding my wrists in place.

  “Stop it,” I managed to say evenly.

  “Why?”

  Why? His question caught me off guard. Before I could respond, he was placing his lips firmly against my skin, trailing them up towards my jaw. “You smell like Vanilla,” he absentmindedly noted.

  “This is wrong,” I exhaled, inhaling the smell of him and the filthy bathroom we were in.

  Lips left my neck and then were hovering centimeters in front of mine, soft breath fanning over my face.

  “Does this feel wrong?”

  That one simple question was a warning.

  His mouth hit mine, hard, demanding access without waiting for permission. The answer to his question was no. This didn’t feel wrong at all. It couldn’t have because my lips parted and his tongue slipped between them, exploring the roof of my mouth before meeting with mine.

  It wasn’t gentle; it was harsh, nothing less than intensely possessive. Had I not been caught in whatever this was, I would have known that’s exactly what it was. I couldn’t see him in the dark, but I felt him in every way that mattered. His sinewy body molded against mine perfectly.

  He wedged a knee between my legs, forcing them apart. My wrists were released, and one hand went to my neck, the other going for the front of my jeans.

  “Wait.” I tried to say, my protest being stopped by his lips recapturing mine, nipping the lower one.

  His hand slid between denim and lace. Deft fingers found their way inside a place that had never been touched. He caught the gasp that would have expelled from my mouth in his.

  “Fuck,” he softly cursed, forcing my legs apart even further.

  There was resistance at first, tightness as he worked two digits in and out of my pussy. While his kiss was brutal, his touch was surprisingly gentle. He didn’t try to go all the way in, pushing just deep enough to cause a slow burn throughout my body.

  I’d made myself come before, but never from penetration. My chest began to rise and fall in tune with the foreign sounds muffled by the battle between our tongues.

  I grabbed for his shoulder with one hand, gripping the wrist around my throat as if it were an anchor with the other.

  He slightly pulled back, beginning to move faster, delving deeper as I grew wetter. I rose up on my tiptoes as he brought me closer and closer to that satisfying edge.

  This felt so much different than when I’d taken me there myself—so much better.

  “You’re so fucking wet, so tight,” he mused. “I can feel your cunt squeezing my fingers.”

  His words brought forth another small whimper, one he didn’t try to silence this time, and a rush of fluid. The muscles in my legs began to tense up as I teetered right on the brink.

  He pressed the pad of his thumb to my clit, and it was like pressing a detonation button.

  Pleasure washed over my body like a wave. My pussy contracted around his digits, juices drenching his hand.

  “That’s right, princess. Come for me,” he rasped, his voice slightly dipping.

  The moan of pleasure was blocked by the hand squeezing my throat until my breathing was restricted. He leaned in, whispering again, dark and low as he continued to toy with my slit. “You ever tell me how this is wrong again. Tell me you don’t feel anything between us. Or that you’re not mine—and my dick will be inside your pussy making you bleed while my fist is wrapped around your throat, cutting off a minute of your life for every lie you told.”

  His hand dropped, and his fingers left my jeans as he took a step back.

  I coughed, breathing in air as harsh reality set back in.

  My lips were puffy, swollen from his kiss. My pussy was aching and wet, craving more than what he’d just given. And my brain was confused about what the hell just happened.

  He leaned back in.

  “Get out,” I quavered, turning my head away from him this time.

  A feral growl reverberated between us that had my thighs clenching together. “Don’t fuck with me, Addy. You can deny this if you want to. In the end, it won’t matter. Every breath you take will be in my name.” He grabbed my jaw with the same hand that had just been down my pants, fingers still slick and covered in my scent.

  “You’ve been mine since the day you were born, princess. You better get that through your head cuz there’s not shit you can do to change it.”

  He placed one last lingering kiss on my lips, and then he was gone, leaving me alone to deal with what I had just done, his dark promise lingering between us.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tredecim

  A gentle hand shook me awake.

  I popped one open, closing it with a groan when light attacked my cornea. I was not a morning person. Nighttime—yes.

  “Come on you,” Nyx laughed, shaking me again.

  A drop of water hit my cheek next. I swiped it away and abruptly sat up. I glared at her, shoving my fingers through my hair.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t do it,” she defended, pointing to the ceiling.

  My eyes shifted up, seeing the tile above me was browner than before and wet.

  “It’s raining,” I stated the obvious. The soft pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the XL reached my ears before I even opened my mouth.

  “We should get going. Something feels off.” She held a hand out and helped me stand up, nudging me off my blanket so she could refold it.

  I watched her; a tad envious she could look so good this soon after waking up.

  “Where’s everyone?” I questioned, belatedly noticing we were the only two people inside the station.

  “Loading the truck up and getting situated. Your Venomous Prince demanded you be allowed to sleep in,” she explained in a sugary sweet tone.

  “Lots of good that did seeing as you’ve been a complete bitch in the mornings since we were five.” She gave me an affectionate grin when I rolled my eyes.

  “I don’t think five-year-olds can be bitches, Nyx. And my Venomous Prince?” I raised a brow.

  “Yeah, I woke up and dude was watching you sleep with this…look on his face. I can’t explain. It was hot, considering it was coming from that Schlanger.” She shrugged.

  “Zane is not—.”

  “Zane is not what?”

  His husky voice sent heat rushing to my cheeks. A shiver trickled down my spine as I sensed him coming up behind me.

  In a bold move and what I assumed was him further cementing his claim, he slipped an arm around my waist and pulled me back into his chest.

  “What is with you and constantly putting your hands on her?” Nyx groaned.

  “Addy doesn’t have a problem with my hands. Do you, princess?” He murmured the last part in my ear before placing a kiss on my neck.

  I jerked away from him so fast I almost tripped and landed on my ass. I couldn’t believe he just said that. Then again, he didn’t strike me as the type to have a filter.

  Nyx’ brows slammed together in confusion. “What did he do with his hands? Er, please don’t answer that. It’s too early. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” I exasperated. “We’re nothing,” I avowed, staring straight up at him.