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“Ellie, truth or dare?”
I’m pulled out of my thoughts by the baritone voice. Liam, I think his name is.
Maybe.
The redhead’s grin widens when I blurt, “Dare,” instinctively, and all of my guys tense.
“I dare you to take off your bathing suit for one minute.” A hungry look paves its way across his face as he studies me from head to toe, focusing on my legs, which peek out from underneath my dark cover-up.
I choke on air. “Excuse me?”
“Get naked or jump in the tub, bitch,” Charlie snaps. “It’s as simple as that.”
“I’m going to slap your face in, Charlie,” Piper snaps. “Don’t test me.”
She already tried a few times, but Alexa kept a firm grip on her arm, prohibiting her from taking more than a few steps.
Charlie gives Piper an annoyed look before turning toward me. “What’s it going to be? A cold dip in the pool or a little nakedness?” As she speaks, she lazily trails a finger down her cleavage.
Obviously, I’m going to jump into the pool, but I hate the way all of them are staring at me—as if I’m a coward, a wussy, a wimp undeserving of the guys. I can see the disgust and revulsion on their faces, along with the disbelief that clearly says, “Why would guys like that be interested in a girl like her?”
A twisted part of me wants to rise to the challenge, whip my clothes off, and stand tall and proud in front of the group of them.
But self-preservation wins out, as does self-respect.
Apparently, I’ve taken too long to decide. Before I can even make a move, Zane’s lifting me over his shoulder and dragging me toward the pool.
“Zane? What the heck?” I ask, but the final word transitions into a screech as he jumps into the pool—me still hanging over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Zane cradles my body against his as we hit the water. Almost immediately, we’re rising back to the surface, his strong legs kicking us higher, higher, higher. We breach the surface, and I suck in a sharp breath.
“What the heck?” I repeat, wiping wet hair away from my face. My gaze snags on my wrist, and I’m grateful to see Jane’s foundation still intact. Apparently, I haven’t been in the water long enough to remove it.
Zane’s arms tightening around me force my attention back to his face.
His eyes have gone completely black—the sort of black you get during the dead of night in the middle of the forest, when no light is able to penetrate the thick canopy of trees. Anger shrouds his beautiful face as he grips my hips underneath the water and drags me against him.
And then he speaks, his voice a low and deadly growl I feel right in the center of my being.
“No one gets to see you naked, Ellie. No one but us.” His penetrating eyes ensnare my own as he leans in even closer. “Do. Not. Test. Me.”
Oh…fuck.
8
ZANE
There’s a darkness inside of me that can’t be tempered.
I’ve always known it existed, even when I was a young boy. I thought there was something inherently wrong with me before realizing that this…beast prowls beneath my skin for a reason.
I wasn’t lying to Ellie before when I said my insanity centered around her.
The monster inside of me would bite, scratch, and kill anyone who dared to even place a finger on her.
And apparently, it’ll also claw its way to the surface at just the prospect of Ellie being with another man.
Hearing that dickhead’s dare—“take off your bathing suit”—had the beast inside of me peeling open one eye and slowly lifting its head. And when Ellie didn’t immediately refuse, her gaze almost contemplative, I snapped, and the darkness submerged me from every direction.
