Owned (Blood Ties Book 4)

Darkness claimed me. I sank and rose with the ebb and flow. Hard breaths echoed in my ears and warmth pressed against my back, lulling me into the deepest slumber I’d ever had in my entire life. One where I was safe…and protected.

Kitten…

I rose with the murmur. Soft, deep snores pulled me to the surface. A hard breath and I inhaled the familiar scent of male. One that made me turn toward it. Strong arms were wrapped tightly, pulling me in close. I cracked open my eyes, to see a murky silhouette beside me. Dark eyes looked back at me, illuminated by the spill of silver moonlight.

I knew him instantly.

His name resounded in my soul.

London…

He pushed up to kiss the top of my shoulder. “Sleep, pet,” he murmured, his voice husky with exhaustion. “Your body needs it.”

I obeyed him, closed my eyes, and sank once more, to fall headfirst into a place I’d never been before, a place where I was no longer alone. Only, when I surfaced again, clarity came with it.

Before I’d had a chance to steel myself, it hit me all at once.

The drug.

The Order.

I opened my eyes and found him watching me…and caught my breath.

The slap.

Something else hovered on the horizon of my mind, something fueled by rage.

“Easy now,” he murmured.

My pulse spiked as I jerked fully back to the present, and one memory drowned out all the rest. Heat rose in my cheeks as an empty feeling bloomed in the pit of my stomach. The basement…oh god, the—my body tightened—the machine.

My body clenched and an ache followed. But it was a good ache, a throbbing ache. My attention was drawn to the sensation and an acute surge of desire followed. My body knew what it wanted, and it wanted him.

His brow furrowed. “Are you sore?”

I swallowed and shook my head.

Instantly, the corners of his mouth curled and the sight of that did unholy things to me. My chest fluttered and heat rose in my cheeks, but I forced annoyance. “I say something funny to you?”

There was something erotically dangerous in his eyes as the smile faded. “No, kitten, not at all.” An awkwardness took its place as he searched my gaze and murmured, “Can I…can I kiss you?”

My pulse stuttered, then surged. He’d fucked me, tasted me, had me naked with my legs spread open on the dining room table in front of him, and yet the thought of him kissing me made me feel so very…vulnerable as it danced around an emotion I wasn’t ready to handle.

Still, I found myself nodding, and I watched as a spark of excitement erupted in that dominating stare when he lifted his hand. The back of his curled fingers grazed my jaw before he leaned closer. His hard lips brushed mine before they slowly opened. Slowly, so achingly slowly, he took my mouth. Softly at first, he kissed the corners of my mouth, then he gently bit my lower lip until, with a cup of my cheek, he took more.

A low moan rumbled in his chest and spilled into my mouth. I groaned at the vibration and my body instantly responded, until I grabbed his strong shoulders and pulled him against me.

I should be angry with him.

The words rose in my mind just before he pushed me backwards and his weight pressed me into the plush bedding. He broke the kiss and his breaths were heavy as he looked down at me. “We can’t go any further. You understand that, right, kitten? Not until that damn contract is signed.”

I licked my lips, hating him and needing him all at the same time, and slowly nodded.

That soft smile came again. “But I can look after you. How about a shower and some food? You must be starving, because I know I am.”

My belly tensed and snarled as he rolled off me. He chuckled softly as he stood from the bed. My gaze moved down his body, to his firm, hard chest, where on one side a small mass of silver scars in an ugly rose bloomed. I knew what it was, the aftereffect of a gunshot. Who the hell are you? My eyes drifted lower. I felt the heaviness of his stare, but he didn’t move, just let my gaze wander until I found the tented front of his dark blue boxers and looked away.

“You want to look, kitten, then look.” He turned to me, then his fingers slid under the waistband and pushed them low enough to let his thick cock spring upwards. The head was blushed, and his balls were tight. I swallowed hard and stared as that ache between my thighs grew hotter.

“I know you’ve been in here before,” he commented. “You messed up my bed and rifled through my things. Did you touch yourself here, on my sheets?”

I jerked my gaze to his, scowled, and shook my head.

He took a step toward me and his hand dropped to his length. “Will you do it now?” He licked his lips. “Will you show me what you like?”

Show him what I like?

My mind went to the night I’d refused to wear his clothes and, instead, had pushed him to distraction, the kind of distraction he wanted now. I didn’t nod, just slid my hand down my bare body and under the sheet. He swallowed as he watched the movement, then reached out and tugged the sheet from my body to expose my lower half.

“Open your legs, wildcat. Let me see.”

Desire moved through me as I parted my thighs.

His fingers sank into the ache. I bit my lip and closed my eyes.

“You are sore, aren’t you?”

I opened my eyes to look at him. “Yes.”

He shifted his hand around his cock. “Show me.”

The sting was beautiful as I parted my lips and ran a finger around my tender clit.

“Fuck,” he moaned, his breaths heavy as he released his cock and rounded the bed to stand over me. “So red, so swollen. Will you let me lick it better?”

I trembled as I sank my fingers in deep. Yes, my body whimpered. God, yes. But with the words came another memory from yesterday…the memory of my anger…and the sight of that fucking bitch.

I can see why you want to get your dick wet, London…

The words echoed through me as I stared at his engorged cock. His fist closed around the girth and drew the smooth skin all the way to the head before he stroked it back down to the base. He wanted to get it wet, alright, deep in my pussy…before he left me to ram it into hers.

Jealousy carved through the illusion and reminded me of the kind of man I was dealing with. One that couldn’t be trusted, especially not with my emotions. “No,” I forced the word as anger flashed inside me. “You can’t.”

Anger flared in his gaze, cutting me. In his anger, I found myself once more. I wasn’t going to fall for this man. I wasn’t going to yield, not for that beautiful mouth or those deft fingers. Not even when he took me downstairs and spread my legs wide.

He’d get his money’s worth from my body, of that, I was sure.

But there was no fucking way he was getting my heart.

Instead of giving in to him, I gave in to myself and slid my fingers through the swollen ache. “I can still feel it,” I whispered. “Still feel your mouth, your fingers.”

“Careful, kitten,” he warned as he licked his lips. “My resolve only goes so far.”

“I know exactly how far it goes,” I whispered as I widened my legs and pushed two fingers in deep. “All the fucking way, right, London? All the fucking way inside…me. Oh, that’s right. That’s the machine you use to fuck me, because you can’t do it yourself.”

Hard breaths came as he lowered his hand to that rigid cock again. My eyes darted down with the movement, to watch the tiny eye at the head weep with a single tear. “You want it in my mouth, don’t you?” I moaned, as I slid a finger around my inflamed clit. “You want me to choke on your cock, isn’t that what you said to me? That I’ll choke on your cock and like it?”

Hard breaths.

A curl of his lips.

Rage burned.

There you go. That’s the monster I know.

That’s the good…little…monster…I worked my clit, then slipped my fingers into my pussy before pulling away, my fingers wet and sticky, then I rolled from the bed and winced as my feet hit the floor.

“Where the fuck are you going?” he snarled as I headed for the bedroom door, naked.

I grabbed the handle, and turned as I opened the door. “Going to find someone for the job. I’m sure you won’t care, either way. Don’t you have a date with Ophelia to get ready for? Maybe you can get your dick wet with her?”

A terrifying snarl ripped from him and darkness shifted in the room. He was a blur of menace as he tore the door from my grasp and slammed it closed with a BANG!

I didn’t dare lift my gaze, didn’t dare meet that stare. But I felt the rage roll off him in terrifying waves as he leaned close. “You want to watch yourself, kitten. Jealousy isn’t becoming on you.”

“Then maybe I need to find something else to come on me?” I murmured as I slowly lifted my gaze to his. “I think Colt would be only too happy to help me out with that.”

He went utterly still…

And dark.

Darker than I’d ever seen anyone enraged before.

And I’d seen plenty at The Order.

I grasped the door handle again. This time, he didn’t try to stop me. Instead, he slowly lowered his hand and let me open the door and walk out of his bedroom.

Hard, frantic breaths consumed me as white sparks ignited behind my eyes. It took all my willpower not to run up the stairs, but I managed it by climbing the stairs one by one until I headed for my bedroom.

The moment I was inside, I closed the door and leaned back against it. My knees trembled so hard, they finally gave out and I slid all the way down until my ass hit the floor.

Oh fuck…oh fuck…oh fuck…

I rocked forward and closed my eyes.

Because the truth was, I was already falling for the monster.

And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it.

“I fucking hate you,” I whispered as I opened my eyes and lifted my gaze. “I fucking hate you.”