“Yeah, but it’s alright. I’ll bunk with Zeke while you’re staying with us.”
Quinn opens his mouth to retort but stops himself and I quickly track that there’s something I’m missing. I tuck the information away for later use as I step forward. Sterling’s attention is all over me. I feel the way the T-shirt he lent me rides dangerously high against my thighs as I move.
“Thank you,” I say, but it comes out too softy, too sultry. I don’t know what I’m doing, why I have such a strong desire to prove myself to them. Perhaps it’s just a need to feel in control after everything that has happened, perhaps it's that I can’t help but be drawn in by their alluring interest in me. Regardless of the reason, I seem to be chasing it with reckless abandon.
I know I should be terrified, being in enemy territory, within the walls of the Blood Order’s residence. Under the same roof as Andras. And part of me is. I have no idea what will happen from here, if I will still be accepted here tomorrow. For all I know, they'll throw me back out on the streets of the ungoverned district for the ghouls to have once more.
But what my father did to me has altered something within me. I don’t know what I believe anymore, who I even am. Where I belong now. All I know is the hue of Sterling’s cheeks before me, the way I can feel Quinn’s eyes pretending not to track me as I move through the bedroom. These men want me. And my body, with or without reason, desires them back.
I stop just short of him, leaning in and reaching out a hand to the dresser behind him to push the still open drawer shut. The sound echoes through the room, cutting the tension like a knife.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Angel,” Quinn calls from behind me. But when I look back to retort, he’s no longer on the bed. He’s right on my ass and getting closer with each step. “You’re playing with a fire you cannot control.”
“Is that right?” I ask innocently, turning to look up at him from beneath my lashes. My breath hitches, my confidence briefly wavering when I see the intensity in his gaze. But I realize for the first time in ages my body feels almost light.My bones free of ache. And I want to chase the reprieve, no matter how reckless.
He pushes forward, forcing me to back right into Sterling—whose hands close around my shoulders, fingers dancing over my skin and sending a chill down my spine. Soft but firm as they hold me in place. Gone is any hint of bashfulness that I’d seen from him just moments earlier. Suddenly I’m trapped between two lethal hunters, bloodthirsty vampires with no interest in keeping me whole.
“I, uh—” My words fumble, my composure slipping.
“Oh, don’t tell me you’re giving up so easily,” Quinn chides, tsking. “I told you, all talk and no game.” He leans in, pressing against my front as my ass presses into Sterling behind me. I gasp as I feel how hard he already is. Quinn stops just a whisper away from my lips, his eyes flicking down to them as my tongue darts out to wet them.
He waits a moment. Two. Then he snickers, shaking his head as he backs up.
I don’t know what possesses me. Maybe the hint of disappointment I clock in his eyes just as he drops his gaze. Maybe the feel of Sterling behind me, a desire like my own, unrealized. Maybe I’ve well and truly cracked after everything that has happened. But no matter the reason, my hand darts out, clamping down on Quinn’s arm before he can fully back away.
It’s only a second, a singular shared look at the connection between my hand and his arm, before Quinn is on me.His lips press against mine, hard and fast. He’s anything but gentle as he pushes both me and Sterling back into the dresser. There’s no doubt in my mind that the racket can be heard from the hallway and beyond. But the thought only lasts a moment, drowned out by the heat pooling in my core as Quinn’s tongue greedily chases mine.
Another pair of lips presses against me. Sterling is at my neck, kissing and sucking, and for a terrifying moment I fear he may actually bite. Feed. The thought dizzies me with a fear and desire that fades as I get lost in the feel of them both.
Their hands are on me too, and I can’t tell what belongs to whom. But I know someone is bunching up the T-shirt I’m wearing, exploring the planes of my stomach underneath. Another trails over the skin of my thigh, reaching for my ass. When someone reaches my chest, pinching at the peak of my breast, my lips break away from Quinn as my head falls back against Sterling’s collarbone. A moan escapes my lips.
“That’s right, Evangeline. Let us take care of you.” Sterling leans in, his breath tickling the shell of my ear. “Let us take away the pain.”
I don’t know how he knows. Whatever Laurel gave me was fast-acting, and even the soreness I’d felt in the shower has melted away at this point. But there’s no denying the ache that is deep inside me. Not in my bones, but in my soul. In the darkest recesses of my being that I refuse to show anybody, even myself.
And somehow, he can sense it.
I nod against him, squeezing my eyes shut to try and keep the tears from falling.
Quinn reaches around, grabbing onto the back of my thighs, lifting me. I suppress the urge to squeal as I cling to him while he spins me toward the bed. His lips find mine again. I chase the high he's giving me without a second thought.
When he sets me down on the bed, Sterling is already there, guiding me back against him towards the headboard. The momentary lack of connection has me second-guessing what I’m doing. This isn’t a good idea. I know it’s not. But the feel of Sterling behind me, once again nibbling on the hollow of my neck, and Quinn before me, shrugging off his leather cut and pulling his T-shirt over his head—it’s too sweet a promise to resist.
I let my eyes roam over the wide expanse of his chest, tracing the swirls of ebony ink as they dance from one design to the next. My eyes snag on the tattooed blood drops on either side of his collarbone, a stark reminder of just what kind of monster I’m offering myself up to.
Quinn settles himself between my legs. Sterling’s hands explore beneath the T-shirt. I try to control my breathing as the reality of what we're about to do sets in.
Sterling’s voice in my ear settles me instantly. “We can stop at any point, okay? You say theword and this ends.” I nod, but he growls in disapproval. “Use your words. We need to know you want this.”
“Yes,” I breathe. “Please.”
“Good girl,” he hums, rewarding me with a deliciously sharp twinge of pain at my nipple. “Now spread those knees for Quinn here, Angel.” I hear Quinn snicker at their little nickname for me, but I can’t find the energy to care, and I obey anyways.
“So eager to please,” Quinn hums, trailing his hand up my left leg. He plants a kiss at the inside of my knee. Then my thigh, stopping only when he’s hovering right above my center.
“Waiting for an open invitation?” I ask breathlessly, frustrated that he’s suddenly slowed things down. Quinn glares at me from between my legs. I yelp when he brings his hand down hard against my clit.
“That’s for being a brat,” he says. Then he plunges his middle and ring fingers inside of me. I gasp at the sudden sensation, eyes wide as I watch him work. “I don’t fuck around with consent, Angel. You get that?” His fingers pump in and out of me in a slow, punishing rhythm. I can barely breathe, barely think. But suddenly they are gone. I sigh in protest, but he comes down hard on my clit again, turning the sigh into a full blown whimper.
