Page 90 of Devour

“Yes.” I suck some of the water from his neck, needing to taste him, then give him a light kiss in the same spot. “I feel better.”

But somewhere underneath the calm, there’s something I can’t reach. A feeling I can’t explain, but I push it down. I’m exhausted, but I’m in the arms of the only man I trust in this world, and I don’t want to think about anything else right now.

“Will you stay with me today?” I ask into his neck.

“I’m not going anywhere.” His hand moves from my head to my lower back, holding me against him. “But we’re going to rest, and when you’re ready, you’re going to tell me about these nightmares of yours. I want to know what’s scaring you, baby.”

I nod against his chest. There isn’t a thing in the world that I wouldn’t tell him, but I don’t even know what it is.

I should be able to explain it, but it’s nothing more than pieces of moments and feelings that I can’t shake.

“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll try.”

His arms tighten around me, and I let my eyes close. I wish they’d just go away. Why the fuck is this happening to me?

CHAPTER 37

AXL

My father is playing the part of a stupid fuck if he thinks I’m going to let him fuck with what I have with Saylor. And I know he’s not fucking stupid.

I don’t stop to talk to the guard at my family’s estate. If he hadn’t seen me coming and opened the gate, I might have plowed my G-Wagon right through it. My father had better fucking be here.

I’ve done a lot of shit because it’s what I was told to do. It’s the cost of being in a secret society with all of our rules and rituals. I think most of them are fucking useless and just a way for the Council to maintain their control over the empire they’ve built—all of us ants in the ant farm ready to do their bidding.

And I can accept that. I’ve even learned how to live and thrive within it. But what I won’t accept is being told that I can’t have the girl I want for the rest of my goddamn life. If someone thinks they’re going to take her from me, they’d better put a bullet in my head. Because the amount of destruction I will rain down on every fucking person in my path will ensure not a fucking soul survives. My obsession runs that deep, and I don’t give a fuck how insane that makes me sound.

So if Adam Hollister thinks he has the power to make me do something as trivial as agreeing to an arranged marriage, we’re going to put an end to that bullshit today.

I enter through the garage and continue straight to his office. If he’s home, that’s where he’ll be. I storm through the door without knocking.

What I find there makes me stop in my tracks. My father is behind his desk with his reading glasses on, a stack of files in front of him, and there’s a naked woman on her knees at his feet.

She’s gagged with her wrists behind her back. Her head is down, and she doesn’t look up when the door opens. She doesn’t even flinch.

My father does look up and narrows his focus on me. He pulls his glasses off and sets them on the desk. The only hint of emotion in his expression is a tinge of annoyance.

“It’s about fucking time you come and see me. I’ve only been trying to talk to you about this for weeks.”

He doesn’t acknowledge the woman at his feet. He doesn’t dismiss her or cover her or make any move to suggest that it should bother either of us.

“Where’s Mom?” I motion toward the woman on the floor with her head still down. I don’t give a shit who my father fucks. But if he does something to hurt my mother, that’s just another thing that I’ll kick his ass for.

“Mind your own goddamn business son. Once you’re married to Tracy, you can do what you want too. Just as long as you knock her up until you have your heir.”

“I’m not going to fucking marry Tracy.” I step into the office and close the door behind me because I don’t need the staff hearing what I’m about to say to him. “I don’t know what part of my words aren’t fucking clear to you, but you need to hear me. I don’t care what you’ve arranged with her family. I don’t care what deal you’ve made. It’s not fucking happening.”

My father stands from his desk and buttons his jacket, and I watch the woman on the floor tense. Her shoulders pull tight, and her fingers curl behind her back. She still doesn’t look up.

“Just look at my badass son. You think you know how this works?” He comes around the desk and snaps his fingers at his side. “Come here, pet.”

She crawls to him and repositions herself at his feet, keeping her head down. He pets her head while glaring at me. “This is how it’s done. You know the importance of our family making connections through marriage.”

“The Carters are a fine connection for you.” Given what I think of David and Justin Carter, that isn’t true at all. But I also don’t give a fuck. “I’m only going to say this once. Saylor is mine. I’ll never give her up. So you’d better get on board with that really fucking fast.”

My father’s jaw tightens, and his hand stills on the woman’s head. He stares at me for a long time, and he’s deciding how this is going to go.

“You don’t get to tell me what I’d better do.” He says the words through gritted teeth. “I have arrangements in place with Tracy’s stepfather that go beyond anything your little obsession with the Carter girl is worth to this family. Connections that ensure we increase our power and influence, and I’m not going to let my son’s dick ruin what I’ve spent years building.”