“Like what?” I replied in a breathy gasp. The tip of his cock was nudging my g-spot and I was tense all over in anticipation of my orgasm.

“Have you ever been fucked in the ass?” he asked with an edge of raw desire. His thumb brushed over that rather taboo area, and I squeaked with panic. A dark chuckle came from Beck as his thumb circled my ass once more before returning safely to my hip. “I take that as a no.”

“No,” I confirmed, feeling my face flaming red but also knowing my pussy was clenched tight and my whole body was flooded with an arousal I’d never experienced before.

Beck hummed a contented sound as he resumed his motions, but didn’t try and push the issue any further. “Not yet, anyway,” he murmured. His hand snaked around underneath me and played my clit like his damn guitar, sending me over the edge into a screaming climax that was loud enough to wake the dead.

24

The next time I woke, the room was washed in dull light, and it was too warm. I kicked the blanket off, and pulled myself out of bed, desperate to pee. When I was done, I looked around the huge room, and a wave of loneliness tugged at my center. I already missed waking up with Beck.

Deciding that I needed a little exercise, I left his room and strolled along the hall to go downstairs.

I heard them before I saw them, laughter and the clinking of plates. When that snort-laugh of Jasper’s registered, my feet picked up the pace, and I all but burst into the kitchen.

Four sets of eyes turned to me, and I didn’t even care that I was only dressed in Beck’s shirt, with a sports bra and panties underneath. The Henley was long enough to cover me to mid-thigh anyway. I barely caught Beck’s resigned glare before Evan jumped to his feet.

“Spare!” he shouted.

He swept me into his arms, and I relaxed against him, relieved to see all of the guys together in one room. Mostly uninjured. “Been worried about you,” he murmured close to my ear.

I gave him an extra squeeze, and then wiggled to get down. Jasper was next, and while he moved a little gingerly, he didn’t hesitate to lift me as well, his strong arms solid around my back. “I saw your race,” he said when he dropped me to the ground. “You drive like a fucking wet dream, baby girl.”

I rolled my eyes at him before giving him a gentle shove.

“Your car is a wet dream, I just got to go along for the ride.”

He groaned and closed his eyes. “Don’t say wet dream, now all I can think about is—”

“Jasper,” Beck said, sounding calm, but there was a warning underneath that one word.

Jasper just winked at me, and led me to the table. Dylan pulled a chair out for me, and dropped a kiss on my cheek when I sat. “You’re looking much better,” he said, relief in his voice. “You got to stop scaring us like that. I haven’t slept for days.”

Before I could reply to Dylan, a hand landed on my thigh, and I found Beck’s warm eyes. “You okay, Butterfly?” he asked softly, and for a second I wondered if I was actually going to burst into flames.

My entire body felt warm, including my chest—which was from more than just Beck.

These four made me feel… too much. And Beck made me feel everything.

“I’m fine, just sorry that I worried you all,” I said, turning to include everyone. “I honestly didn’t plan on getting myself almost kidnapped and knocked out.”

Expressions hardened, and some of the calm bled from the room. Now I was seeing the guys from the forest, the ones who were trained to survive, who could kill without remorse.

Didn’t make me feel any different.

Wanting to change the mood, I looked at the food on their plates, and Jasper laughed. “Hungry?” he drawled.

I all but drooled at the pancakes, bacon, and toast.

“Yes! Feed me,” I begged.

Beck lifted his hand from my leg, and I tried not to feel bereft. He moved to the warming plate in his impressive kitchen and started fixing me a plate. Dylan was up then too, and he placed the largest mug I’d ever seen in front of me before filling it with coffee.

“We picked that one out especially for you,” he said with a wink.

Don’t cry. I seriously wanted to bawl my fucking eyes out at how sweet they could be. Sweet psychos.

“A mug of my very own,” I said, noticing that all of the other guys had specific coffee mugs for them.

Jasper’s was yellow, like his Lambo, and it said “Pussy Magnet” on it. Evan’s was smaller, because he preferred a single shot of espresso, and it said “I like it hot.” Dylan had a plain black cup, and Beck had a dark blue one. His said “King can Checkmate” and I wondered if that was in reference to our chess discussion, or if he’d always thought the king ruled the board.

And now I had my own. One with no words, but a white chess piece… a queen.

“You’re one of us now, Riles,” Dylan told me. “You get your own mug.”

Don’t cry.

“Aw, you assholes are sentimental,” I tried to joke, but my cracked voice gave away my emotions.

Beck placed a full plate in front of me, and then leaned over the bench, resting on his forearms so our eyeline was level.

“We have everything in the world that money can buy,” he said softly. “But this…” He gestured to the four of us. “This is what money can’t touch. This is the only important thing we have.”

And I was crying.

Only a few tears escaped, sliding down my cheeks, and I didn’t bother to brush them away. Beck returned to his seat at my side, Dylan on my other side, and then all of us ate our food and there was no tension between us.

When we were done, the five of us cleaned up.

“I gotta get back home and rest,” Jasper said. “Fucking doctor’s orders.”

I hugged him. “Give Eddy my love,” I said as I pulled back. “Tell her I’ll text her whenever I get my phone back.”

Jasper had filled me in over breakfast, and I was glad that Eddy was all but recovered from her ordeal. Except she now had a full time bodyguard, which I knew would piss her right off.

He nodded. “You got it, baby girl.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “You need to work on your nickname game.”

He shrugged. “What? All the girls love my names for them.”

“And I’ll bet it helps that you don’t have to remember their actual names while making them think they’re special.”

He dramatically grabbed his chest. “You wound me, Riley Jameson.”

I laughed loudly. “There you go.”

He left with Evan, who was driving him home. Dylan lingered in the doorway. “You should get some more rest too,” he told me.

I was feeling somewhat fatigued again, and it frustrated me how weak I was. “Yeah, probably a good idea.”

He brushed my hair back, and I wondered about the serious expression he now wore. “No matter what happens, you need to remember this day,” he said to me, his voice low. “Our world … it’s filled with secrets.”

“And we all have to play the game,” Beck finished his best friend’s sentence.

It had been such a fun, lighthearted morning, but now they were back to secrets and bullshit.

“What does that mean? Is something happening that I should know about?”

Don’t fucking lie to me, was how I wanted to finish that sentence.

The pair exchanged a look. It was such a fast glance that I barely even caught it, but I was immediately uneasy.

“Nothing you need to worry about, Butterfly,” Beck said. “We’ll keep you safe.”

I snorted. “If I wasn’t so out of my league in this world, I’d kick your ass for saying that. I’m not a damsel in distress, this is not the Wild, Wild West. I don’t need you all to come to my rescue.”

Some of the tension lifted. “Better hide her gun,” Dylan joked. “She’s dangerous when pissed off.” He winked, and then with a salute to us both, left the house.

Beck wasted no time after that ushering me back to his room and stripping me of my clothes. Any questions I’d wanted to ask were lost in his hands and tongue and body on mine, and I figured that the next time we weren’t naked, I would not let him get away with any more evasiveness. Because something was up, and I was determined to find out what it was.

*

I woke slowly squinting an eye open to look across the bed, surprised by the expanse of emptiness. Where was Beck now? As I lifted myself to look over his bedroom, a scream ripped from me. Two men, dressed in black, stood at the end of the bed. Yanking the sheet up to cover my nudity, I scrambled back to put some distance between them and me. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how Huntley got into Beck’s house, but I had absolutely no doubt this was who faced me.

“Riley Jameson,” one of them said in a voice devoid of inflection. “You have two minutes to get dressed, and then we have to leave.”

“I’m going nowhere with you,” I said, my voice trembling, which pissed me off, but the fear was real. “Beck is going to kill you when he finds you in his room.”

I probably needed a new threat, but he was just such an effective one, that I couldn’t help but use him. Especially when I was naked, vulnerable, and once again without my goddamn gun.