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“You.” Beau snapped his fingers at Devin, fixing her with an icy glare. “Tanya on the list tomorrow?”
“N-no. I… I don’t think so,” Devin mumbled, making herself smaller as Beau continued to peel her flesh from the bone with his stare. “I’m not sure.”
She managed to stifle her shriek to a pathetic croak when Rey snatched her chin up, tipping her head back so far Devin swore she felt the small bones of her neck grinding together.
“You learn the shifts, you remember them. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
The response was automatic. A knee jerk reaction to anyone of power over her, which was almost everyone. Something taught in a time and place she could scarce remember anymore in the torrid filth of this city. That didn’t matter to Rey though, not judging by the flare of heat sparking deep in the rich umber of his eyes. He enjoyed it.
Rey released her just as fast as he’d grabbed her, Devin’s balance upended. Head knocking against the heavy wood of the desk, she ignored the strobe of multicolored lights at the edges of her vision as she kept the two males in sight. She wouldn’t be caught out again. Devin would need to be even more vigilant than she had been all these years.
“Go on, Beau,” Rey said, making his way around the desk to his seat. He remained standing, giving off a lackadaisical air as he began shuffling papers. “We’ll talk tomorrow and sort something out. For now, go get Tanya. I think she’s been undercutting her tips again, anyhow.”
Beau grunted, tearing his gaze from Devin long enough to jerk the door open so fast, its hinges squealed in protest. Glancing back once, he strode out into the hall, steps heavy as he shouted for Chrissy.
“Close the door and sit down.” Rey gave the command without looking up, tilting his head to one side until a vicious crack exploded into the sudden quiet of Beau’s departure. His head tipped to the other side, repeating the process before he sorted through his papers once more.
Ignored and feeling blessed for it, Devin hurried to comply. She managed to get the door closed in utter silence, but when she looked around for a place to remain out of Rey’s immediate notice, Devin faltered. There were the chairs before the desk and nowhere else for her go.
“I said sit,” Rey snarled, the side of one fist coming down on the glossy wood as Devin continued to sway in uncertainty.
The growling command of an Alpha rumbling through the room shoved Devin into the nearest chair. Huddled into the uncomfortable seat, she kept her eyes on the narrow square of floor between her graying tennis shoes, wishing it would open up and swallow her whole as she heard the floorboards creak under his shifting weight.
Now he would do what Beau had. She’d be violated in this disgusting place for the second time, and not in the lushness of what Chrissy had dubbed the party rooms. No, it’d be in this worn office and anyone still remaining would hear her.
Except Rey sat instead. The large chair cracked and groaned, threatening to give way as he threw his weight back into it. The shuffle of papers sighed through the ensuing quiet, the grinding of a pen pushed too hard underlining the tension. He gave no more commands, paid her no attention as the seconds ticked by into minutes.
What felt like hours later, Devin’s body could no longer maintain its threatened posture. The shivering tension began to leak away, leaving her cold and exhausted as she wrapped her arms tight around her middle for what little warmth and comfort it could provide. Rey still continued to ignore her.
Closing her eyes for just a moment, she took a deep breath. She let it out and promised herself it would be over as soon as she could manage it.
Devin mumbled a string of smeared expletives, snuggling into the warmth along her side as she was jostled. She didn’t know when she’d fallen asleep, but by the Gods, she deserved a reprieve from reality for just a few more moments. It couldn’t be Rey, not with the lack of a shouted demand that she rouse and service him. Whoever tried to disturb her could wait.
“One hell of a mouth on you, girl,” Rey said on a dry chuckle.
Adrenaline dumping into her bloodstream, Devin’s eyes snapped open. The first huge inhale pumped oxygen into tensing muscle, readying her for flight as the faint rumble resonated into her body. He was carrying her, holding her tight to his chest as he made his way across the dark, chill parking lot. The sleek black sedan caught the barest hint of the sodium light above the club’s side door before it winked out as the first rays of the dawning sun lightened the horizon.
“Be still,” Rey said, keeping his voice pitched low as if he knew Devin’s instincts couldn’t handle anything more in the moment.
The taillights flashed once as Rey unlocked it, maneuvering her around with ease to open the passenger door and deposit Devin inside. Rich leather interior, fancy controls all alight, it was something a rich man would be comfortable in.
It made Devin feel small and dirty.
The car rocked as Rey eased into the driver’s seat. The initial rumble and hum of the engine startled Devin, no real key in sight as Rey reached over her to grasp the seatbelt and fastened it around her. He did the same with his, then put the car in drive. It purred as he pulled out of the lot and onto the dead streets.
Trembling and on high alert though her thoughts remained foggy and disoriented, Devin took far longer to realize where they were going. It was the massive warehouses bunched together at the water’s edge peeking through the scattered buildings that clued her in. Mere moments from her apartment, more than the seeming endless drive. She blinked hard as the rundown complex came into view, a frown marring her brow as she wondered what this meant. Did Rey plan to use her in her own apartment? The scent of slick and Alpha pheromones would seep through the entire building. There would be no way she could live there without doing something drastic to mute the smells. She was already counting through the many issues and obstacles, calculating costs for cleansers and laundry soap. Of course, Hart would have to be dealt with when she emerged to purchase all of that. That was, if she had enough money left over from the clinic and the extravagance of multiple taxi rides the day before.
Perhaps she could ask Rey for another advance.
“No.”
Devin grunted as Rey’s hand slapped against her stomach, shoving her back into the seat when she leaned forward and reached for the latch of her seatbelt. The growled monosyllable hung in the air as his dark gaze slid over the crumbling building, finding the sinister shadows lurking at the far-right corner. The fiery glow of a cigarette illuminated a ghastly set of features and dancing black eyes before the light snuffed out with a plume of blue smoke.
“They won’t bother you.” Devin cringed against the broken whisper of her voice. The shadows that slithered around the building at all hours of the night would never dare approach even as a group. Not against him, the mighty Alpha. If she’d dared to enter that door without the safety of Rey at her back, things would be much different.
“No.”
