Page 26 of Brutal Reign (Shadowed Heirs #5)

26

A ll I know is burning, oppressive, heat .

The heat emanating from my motorcycle’s engine and exhaust pipe.

The heat of the sun beating down on me through the trees, even as it slips lower in the sky.

The pulsing heat of my own frustration, the lingering heat of desire still sweltering in my core…

All combined, it’s a raging inferno that feels like it’s singeing me from the inside out, endeavoring to consume me until there’s nothing left but ash and bone. Part of me wants to let it. Then I could just blow away on the breeze, free of Alpha challenges and mate bonds and dangerous secrets.

I need a shower– preferably a cold one. Anything to relieve this overwhelming heat .

The moment I get back to the squad complex, I practically sprint inside, hooking a left to enter the recruit barracks. The place is deserted since it’s dinner time. My heavy footsteps echo through the large space as I make my way straight to the locker room, slapping my hands against the door and pushing through it.

Of course, I can’t be lucky enough for the locker room to be empty, too. One of the showers is occupied, and the sight of Ace soaping up his cut body beneath the spray has me stumbling a step, my heart tripping over its valves. Hot. Damn .

He turns at the waist to glance my way, his toned muscles rippling beneath his tattooed skin. His bicep bunches as he raises an arm to wick the water away from his face with a palm, and we lock eyes as the door swings closed behind me. If I wasn’t burning up before…

Yeah, a cold shower is a must.

“Hey,” he greets, his turquoise eyes half-lidded and an easy grin curving his lips.

I lift my chin in acknowledgement, forcing a tight-lipped smile as I advance into the room. Stopping short when I reach the end of the bench that spans the length of the shower area, I try my best to ignore the fact that Ace’s naked body is on full display mere yards from where I’m standing. Try being the operative word, since he’s impossible to ignore.

I’ve always been attracted to both Seb and Ace, but this damn mate bond has increased my magnetism to them tenfold. I blame the bond for my lapse of judgment up on Pine Mountain, letting Seb get in my pants when he should be groveling for forgiveness after freezing me out for the past three years. I mean technically , he was on his knees when he started…

Shit, just the thought of it has me feeling like I could catch fire on the spot. If he hadn’t opened his big mouth, I probably would’ve fucked him, too, and then I’d be spiraling even harder right now. Because if the way Seb fucks is anything like he fights, it would’ve been good. I know it’d be good.

I can feel the weight of Ace’s stare still fixed on me as I kick off my boots and nudge them beneath the bench, flickering him a glance as I twist back around. From the way his brows pinch together, he’s clearly picked up on my vibe being off.

“Are you…?” he starts to ask, but the rest of his question dies on his lips when I whip my shirt off over my head. His eyes turn molten before he politely averts them, swiveling to face the wall as I strip off the rest of my clothes and pile them up on the bench.

I’ll be better once I douse this fire roaring inside me. My bare feet slap against the tile as I quickly step across to the closest shower head, twisting the handle to turn it on and setting it to cold. Diving right beneath the stream, I suck in a sharp gasp as the frigid water shocks my system, muscles locking up and heart stuttering in my chest.

It definitely works as a mental reset. It’s impossible to form a single coherent thought while I’m being pelted with the icy spray, struggling to breathe as the air is punched from my lungs.

“What the fuck?” Ace snarls furiously.

I whip my head in his direction to see him stomping across the shower area toward me, gaze fixed below my waist and the silver of his wolf swirling in his irises. Wrinkling my nose in confusion, I glance down at my body, realizing my upper thighs are dotted with deep purple fingerprint bruises. Guess Seb left his mark.

Ace invades my space, reaching out like he’s going to touch the bruises on my legs, but I brush his hands away before he can make contact, insisting, “It’s fine.”

His eyes ping back up to meet mine, still glimmering with the silver of his wolf. Ace rarely loses his cool, but his jaw is locked tight, brow furrowed angrily. He’s pissed .

“It was just Seb,” I rush out. “We, uh… kinda hooked up.” A flush crawls up my neck, spreading across my cheeks as I demurely peek up at him through my eyelashes.

His chest heaves with his ragged breathing, fists clenching at his sides as he drops his gaze again to glare at the bruises coloring my skin. “Did he hurt you?” he growls, practically vibrating with rage.

I reach out instinctively, setting a hand on his inked forearm. It’s a move I’ve seen my mom pull with my dad many times in an effort to calm him, and I can only hope it’ll have the same effect on my own mate. “Only in a good way,” I insist, gazing into his eyes earnestly.

Ace blinks back at me, some of the silver swirls ebbing from his irises as his breathing steadies. He screws his eyes shut, inhaling deeply and slowly exhaling before opening them again. “He wasn’t too rough?” he questions, a sharp edge still lingering in his tone.

I shake my head quickly. “No. I honestly didn’t even notice that he left a mark.”

He nods, Adams apple bobbing with his thick swallow as he digests the information.

“Are you mad that we hooked up?” I ask tentatively.

Ace looks away, reaching over to crank the shower knob as if he’s just realized how cold the water hitting us is. It immediately warms, and he slowly turns his head back around to face me, the muscle in his jaw feathering.

“I’m not mad,” he states calmly. “You’re just as much his as you are mine. But if he hurts you…”

“You and I both know that if he does, it won’t be physical,” I grumble, some of the tension draining from my muscles as the warm water sluices over my skin. “There’s only one way he could truly hurt me, and it wouldn’t leave a mark you could see.” Holding his eye contact, I press a palm to the center of my chest, right over my pounding heart.

His gaze drops to my hand, then trails lower, a little crease forming between his brows. “Why haven’t they healed?” he growls, eyes narrowing in confusion as he stares at the marks on my skin.

“They will,” I breathe, pulse kicking up a notch as I grab ahold of his hands in an effort to distract him. I know Ace, and the last thing I need is for him to fixate on this. If he gets suspicious about my inability to rapidly heal, it’s only a matter of time before he finds out the truth about me.

“I’m not breakable, you know,” I purr, guiding his hands to my dripping body. A shudder runs through him as his palms meet the skin of my belly, sparks blooming beneath them as I urge him to slide them higher. “Sometimes I like it a little rough, in the right context,” I admit as I move his hands up over my breasts, tightening my own in a prompt for him to squeeze. I hold his gaze as he does, cocking my head. “Ya know?”

My distraction works like a charm. I let go of Ace’s hands, but they linger where I placed them, a low groan vibrating in his throat as he sweeps his thumbs over my hardened nipples. “You’re playing a dangerous game here, babygirl,” he murmurs, pinching the stiffened peaks between his fingers.

I hiss in a breath through my teeth, arching into his touch as a zip of pleasure shoots straight to my core. He groans again, dropping his forehead against mine as his hands begin to roam, languidly touring my slick body like he’s trying to commit every inch of my skin to memory. I slide my own up his chest, his muscles flexing beneath my fingertips as our panted breaths mingle in the tight space between us.

We could easily get caught right now. All it’d take is one person wandering through those doors for this whole thing to blow up in our faces, and yet suddenly, the consequences of that happening are the furthest thing from my mind. I want him so much I can hardly stand it.

He wants me, too. I can feel it in the hard press of his cock against my hip, in the way his lips brush over the curve of my jaw before landing on my neck, sucking his own marks into my skin. He trails his fingers up my inner thigh, a shiver running through me as they near the apex.

Am I a slut for wanting to fuck him right after I came on his best friend’s tongue? Probably. Do I care right now? Not even a little. If I’m a slut, then fate is, too. How the hell is a girl supposed to exercise self-control when she’s bonded to the two sexiest men in existence?

“I want you, Ace,” I whisper, the words leaving my lips unbidden as I reach down between us, curling a palm around his stiff cock. His body tenses, shaft thickening beneath my touch as he releases the skin of my neck with a loud pop and lifts his head to gaze into my eyes.

He covers my hand with his own, pulling it off his dick as the other trails up between my breasts to circle my throat. “Not yet,” Ace murmurs, extending his thumb to push up my chin. Pressing a gentle kiss against my lips, his hands fall away and he takes a step backwards, leaving me craving more.

“Once I truly make you mine, babygirl, that’s it. There’s no going back,” he says, eyes darkening as they rake over my trembling form before rising to lock with my own. “So you need to be sure you want this.”

My heart’s pounding so hard that it feels like it’s about to leap from my chest, my lungs starved for oxygen. He’s got me so worked up that I can’t even think straight, and when the corner of his mouth kicks up in a smirk, all I want to do is dive forward and lick it.

“The best things in life are worth waiting for,” he adds, winking at me as he turns away to head for the towel rack.

My mouth falls open in disbelief, but no words come out. It’s like I’m caught in a trance as I watch him walk away, my teeth sinking into the cushion of my lower lip at the sight of his bare ass. Damn, that’s a nice ass. I couldn’t form a coherent sentence right now if I tried, a pathetic whine slipping from my throat as Ace nonchalantly pulls a towel off the rack and starts drying off. He darts me a teasing grin before wrapping it around his waist and heading for the locker room door, but I’m still at a loss for words, staring dumbly after him as he pulls it open and steps through.

I don’t snap back to reality until the door swings closed again. Blinking at it, I try to piece together what the hell just happened.

Despite the needy ache between my thighs, I know it’s probably for the best. There are way too many variables at play here, and sleeping with Ace– or Seb– or both– will only complicate things further. I suppose I should be thankful it was my rational mate that I almost lost control with, because at least Ace had enough restraint to walk away. Seb wouldn’t have.

Swiveling around, I crank the shower tap back to cold, gasping at the shock when the temperature changes. Not even the jolt of the freezing water is enough to douse the lingering flames of desire deep within me, though, and I know it’s only a matter of time before we all burn up together.