“Don’t you even care that—”
“Don’t doubt how deeply I care for something because I don’t go to pieces over it, little bird,” Tobias said, the brittle shards of his words burrowing deep under her skin. “There is something far more important going on here. She is getting exactly what she deserves.”
“But you’re hurting her. No one deserves that.” Quinn looked at the tablet again, features pinched as her thoughts turned to the inky darkness of disquiet. She wanted her mother gone, made him promise not to kill Marina, but this was too much. Quinn flinched as if the backhanded blow catching Marina’s cheek was aimed at her.
“If she’s had a hand in what’s happened to you, I will end her.”
Quinn knew the whimper came from her throat, watching as Marina’s slack body was tossed into the back of a van. Battered, the dark smudges seemed too stark against the eerie pale gray of her skin.
Tobias growled at the man who charged into the study, interrupting Quinn’s personal horror. Dark clothing, the dull gleam of a weapon at his hip, one of the guards lacking all of Curtis’ quiet consideration and sense of timing. The knife twisted within Quinn’s heart as the large male refused to transform into the Beta come back to life to taunt her with his derision. Shoved into the back of the couch, Quinn grunted as Tobias’ arm connected with her middle, holding her behind his bulk as he faced off with the perceived threat.
“Sorry, sir.” Having the good sense to look chagrined, the lesser Alpha bowed his head. A glance tipped in Quinn’s direction, his gaze skimming over the hint of her behind Tobias as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Out with it, Simon.”
“Sir, Ross would like to know if you want the other files.”
“Not just now,” Tobias said, catching Quinn’s troubled gray eyes for a moment before swinging back to face the guard. “You can bring Meghan here.”
“Meghan?” That caught Simon’s attention, wide brown eyes swinging up to meet Tobias’ for a breath of a heartbeat before hammering into the floor at his feet.
“Yes. The nanny. Tell her I need to speak with her.”
Tobias’ fingers clamped over Quinn’s hip, keeping her still and quiet while Simon left the room. As the door swung shut, he began manhandling her into position beside him. Forcing her body into the relaxed repose he would expect of her, the twilit darkness of his gaze dared her to resist.
Of course she did.
Shoving at his arm, teeth bared in a feral snarl, she tried to get away from him. Each attempt Quinn made to rise, to kick, met a swift end. Grip painful in its cautious gentleness, he kept her by his side. Even when Meghan came into the room, stilted and more than a little afraid, he kept his attention on Quinn. Working her body back into place, ignoring the Beta standing worried on the sidelines until Quinn shrieked and fell back into the couch. Finally still with his face close and his mountainous weight crushing her into the cushions, she gave up the physical fight.
“Mind the children,” Tobias said, the reverberation of his growl slamming into both women though he spoke to Meghan. “Rebecca remains with you until Quinn or I come to fetch them.”
“Of course, sir.” Unable to get out of the study fast enough, Meghan turned and bolted. Stumbling as her shoulder caught the doorjamb, her quiet hiss was cut off by the door shutting just shy of being slammed.
“You can’t do this, little bird,” Tobias said through a sound somehow even darker than his usual growling demands. Fingers driving into her hair, tight against her scalp, he brought their faces closer. Lips near touching as he continued to warn, the confusing jumble of signals did nothing to calm. “You cannot defy me in front of others.”
“I’m not your powerless bitch anymore,” Quinn whined as her neck was stretched taut, his fist angling her head back ever further.
“You never were, sweetness.”
The press of his lips stung as Quinn remained closed to the kiss so that he ground tender flesh against teeth. His quiet roar a relentless weight against her chest drove the air from her lungs in a fluttering rush. Thumb at her jaw, prying her mouth open to his invasion, he assaulted one sense after the other. The screeching rattle of the bond at war with the dulcet hum of his gratified sounds, Tobias gave no mercy as he systematically destroyed her.
Stubble a rough rasp against her skin, it tingled and burned. Distracting her as the slick slide of his tongue probed deep between her lips. Fist clenched tight in her curls, he held her still for the violent caresses, all the while groaning needy epithets he forced Quinn to breathe in with every gasp.
Resistance fading with each tormented clash, Quinn could only groan when he hooked his free hand in the waist of her pants. Tearing the soft fabric with a single twist to wrench it over her hips. Frayed cloth pulled taut at her knees, the hand shoved between her thighs to cup her. Pausing to stroke his fingers over the glistening seam of her sex, his bone shattering rumble made her shiver.
“You’ve always been mine, but never powerless, little bird,” Tobias husked between flicks of his tongue against Quinn’s flushed lips. “Never that.”
“Get off of me,” Quinn panted out, struggling against the rising heat and the divine slide of his hand moving against her. Fingers curling into the lapels of his jacket, she shoved while refusing to let go. Bond discordant as ever, the piercing shrillness of its song rattled through her thoughts and bones. Shattered under the devastating force of it, she whined. Twisted the splintering mass in her hands, thrusting it away, wanting nothing to do with the sweet words and promises coating it in sticky foulness.
“Don’t, Quinn,” he said against her neck, low growl calling to her, urging more slick to coat his hand as thick fingers slipped inside. “Don’t fight me. Let me give you this.”
“You had my mother raped and beaten and you want to fuck me,” Quinn screamed, dredging up the frozen tendrils of her will. Using it against all those honeyed declarations and the languid warmth they held.
“She isnothingto you,” Tobias roared against her breasts, forehead crushing her chest. Hands that once sought to draw out her responses now grabbed and clutched, possessive as he moved to catch her gaze, forcing her to look at him. “She has hurt you in ways I can never fix, things you cling to even now. You’re so ready to distrust when I’ve given you everything. Easy to call me the villain just because I’m the only one willing to do something about it.”
Tobias stood, grabbing Quinn’s arm as he did. Hauled into his embrace, she screamed when he lifted her, arms and legs pinned in the iron bands of his clutches as he stormed out of the study. The hall flew by with his long strides, stairs appearing and gone before she could do more than register the shocked faces of the many black clothed guards milling around.
Back slamming into the mattress, Quinn snarled as she bounced across the bed. The stale landscape of her nest cast into ruins, she grabbed fistfuls of the blankets to pull her body away as Tobias followed.
