Page 34 of Brutal Reign (Shadowed Heirs #5)

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“ E at my dust, Walker!” River snickers, mashing the buttons of the controller in her hands as her car speeds ahead of mine on the screen. We’re on the last lap of our current race; the finish line is just beyond the next turn.

“Careful, Jacobsen,” I warn, gritting my teeth against the urge to gun it and retake my lead. “You’re going awfully fast into that curve…”

She hisses a breath in through her teeth, the tires of her car on screen skidding against the asphalt as she frantically tries to brake when entering the turn. It’s too late, though. Her car starts fishtailing, the front end clipping the side wall before she can correct her trajectory. I narrowly avoid colliding with her car as it spins on the track, whooping in victory as I manage to pass her unscathed and speed toward the finish line. The checkered flag waves, a banner scrolling across the screen to announce me as the winner.

“Damn it!” River huffs in frustration, flopping back against the couch cushions behind her. Still scowling at the TV screen, she holds her controller out to Ace seated on her other side, muttering, “I hate that track.”

“You say that every time you lose,” he chuckles as he takes it from her hand.

“I hate losing,” she grumbles.

“Then play against Ace, he’ll let you win,” I tease, turning a grin on her as I toss an arm up over the back of the cushions.

She swings her head my way, narrowing her eyes. “I’d better not catch either of you letting me win.”

I shrug noncommittally, knowing it’ll push her buttons. Because she’s just as competitive as I am, and the only thing worse than losing is a false victory.

Her scowl deepens in response, fury burning behind her hazel eyes.

“Come here,” I laugh, tossing my controller down and lunging for her. Bickering with River is a whole lot more fun now that the two of us are fucking. All that frustration finally has somewhere to go, and damnit if winding her up beforehand doesn’t make the sex even better. Grabbing her around the middle, I yank her over from her seat on the couch between me and Ace, pulling her up onto my lap.

“What are you doing?” River squeaks as I twist her around to straddle my waist, her eyes widening in alarm as she darts her gaze around the lounge.

Unfortunately, we’re not alone up here. Our fellow recruits are also enjoying their lazy Sunday, lounging on the couches positioned around the room or engaged in friendly matches on the foosball and air hockey tables. Privacy is difficult to come by at the squad complex, and I’m sick of keeping my hands to myself just for the sake of everyone else hanging around.

“I was just fucking with you,” I chuckle, banding an arm tightly around her waist to keep her anchored against me. “Clearly, I don’t let you win, or you wouldn’t be pouting about losing right now. And since I beat you fair and square, I want a victory kiss.”

River’s brow furrows as she shakes her head, eyes still darting around nervously. “I made out with Ace in front of everybody last night,” she mumbles in a low voice. “People are gonna talk shit if I’m making out with you less than twenty-four hours later.”

“Let them talk shit,” I scoff, pulling her tighter against me and sinking the fingers of my other hand into her hair at the nape of her neck. I draw her face in closer, blocking out her view of the rest of the lounge until she’s forced to meet my eyes. “We’re just making all those fuckers jealous.”

Her lips part on a soft whine of protest, but if she really wants to stop me, she’ll have to do better than that. She offers no resistance as I lean in to capture those pillowy lips with my own, my fingers tightening their grip in her hair to hold her in place as I claim her mouth in a filthy hot kiss.

Damnit, I wish this lounge wasn’t full of people right now. I’m rock hard, the heat of her center riding the ridge of my dick as she rocks her hips over my lap, her tongue lashing against mine. She gives me just enough to satisfy my craving before pushing back against my chest and breaking the kiss, but the sight of her flushed face and puffy lips only has me aching for more.

From the look in her eyes, I’m not the only one. The heat in them is unmistakable as she stares back at me in a momentary daze, then lifts her gaze to glance around the room again apprehensively.

“Hey, where are you going?” I growl, clamping my hands down on her thighs as she starts shuffling backwards to get off my lap.

“Hayden’s summoning me,” she breathes, nodding toward the couches in the corner of the lounge.

I follow her gaze, frowning at the sight of her purple-haired friend beckoning her over with a frantic wave.

“Fine,” I grunt, loosening my grip and allowing her to climb off.

River rises to stand in front of me, still blushing as she reaches up to smooth her mussed hair. “I’ll be back,” she quips, winking. She slides Ace a coy smile, then turns on a heel, starting across the lounge toward her friends.

I heave a sigh as I reach over to pick up my controller again. “You can pick the track,” I tell Ace, hitting a button to go back to the main menu of the racing game.

“Nah, you pick,” he replies nonchalantly, adjusting his grip on his own controller.

I start mindlessly scrolling through our options, skimming the titles. “You like Virgin Beach, right?” I ask, hovering over the track listing.

“Sure,” he agrees, snorting a laugh of amusement. “Seems fitting, after last night.”

Ace’s mood has done a complete 180 since this time yesterday, so obviously he and River finally sealed the deal after I left them to their own devices. Not that I wanted to leave. I had to force myself to walk out that door, knowing Ace needed his own moment with her like I got mine.

“Hate to break it to you, but that was far from her first time,” I say with a low chuckle, hitting the button to select the track.

He rolls his eyes, leaning over to punch me in the arm. “I know that, dickhead. I was talking about me.”

“Yeah right,” I laugh, brushing him off and sitting up straighter in preparation for the race to begin.

“Seriously, bro,” Ace murmurs quietly as we both watch the countdown start up on the screen. “She was my first.”

“Dude,” I scoff disbelievingly. “We’ve hooked up with other girls together.”

“Well yeah, but I never went all the way,” he points out.

I whip my head sideways to look at him, brow furrowing and mouth dropping open. “Are you fucking with me right now?” I question, combing through my memories of our prior shared trysts. The more I think about it, though, the more it dawns on me that I’ve never actually seen him fuck anyone. Blowjobs, sure, but beyond that…

“How did I not know this?” I demand, still blinking at him in bewilderment.

He shrugs a shoulder, turning to meet my stare. “You never asked. It’s not like I did anything to stop people from assuming, either.”

I shake my head, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Well fuck,” I grumble. “Does she know?”

“Yeah, I told her,” he replies, lips curving in a smug smile.

A stab of jealousy twists in my gut. “How the hell am I supposed to compete with that?”

“It’s not a competition, remember?” he tuts, rolling his eyes again as he turns to look at the screen.

“Touché,” I murmur, glancing back to the screen right as the checkered flag waves to signal the start of the race. “Shit!” I blurt, mashing the buttons on my controller to speed away from the starting line.

My head isn’t really in the game, though. I’m still reeling over what Ace just told me, wondering how the hell I didn’t put it together before now. Does that make me a shitty friend?

He knows everything about me. I thought I knew everything about him, too, but this whole virgin thing is a total blindside. Sure, I fucked River first, but he saved himself for her. No wonder she’s been looking at him all day with stars in her eyes.

I cringe at the sound of Chandler’s annoyingly high-pitched laughter, flickering a glance toward the doorway of the lounge as she steps inside. Fucking great . I can’t stand when that girl’s around, and looking away from the screen just cost me precious seconds in this race. I don’t have enough time to slow down for the turn, so I take it too wide, Ace’s car slipping past mine on the inside of the track to snag the lead.

“Damnit,” I grumble under my breath, gnawing on my lower lip as I focus back in on the race and try to catch him.

Despite my best efforts, he winds up pulling out the win, grinning triumphantly as the announcement scrolls across the screen. I heave a resigned sigh, flopping back against the couch cushions. Glancing over toward River and her friends, I hold up the controller, calling out to get her attention.

“Riv, you want next?”

“Nah, you two go ahead,” she calls back, waving a hand dismissively.

I lower the controller, turning to Ace. “Rematch?”

“Sure,” he agrees.

Looking back to the screen, I hit the button to pull up the main menu again.

“You know she’s fucking both of them, right?” Chandler comments loudly, my posture stiffening as I swing my gaze back to Ace, the two of us exchanging a tense glance. “And they call me a slut.”

“Would you shut the fuck up?” Hayden snaps shrilly.

I whip my head around just in time to see River’s friend shoot to her feet, glaring daggers at Chandler and her band of mean girls.

“What the hell has River ever done to you, other than land the guy you were throwing yourself at?” Hayden spits venomously. “Get the fuck over it, bitch.”

“Who are you calling a bitch?” Chandler fires back, pushing up from her own seat. “The only bitch here is your friend letting herself get passed back and forth like a whore.”

In the next blink, everyone’s on their feet yelling at one another. River and Hayden are charging toward Chandler with Gus and Kendrick on their heels; Chandler’s own friends are fanning out around her. Ace and I leap right over the back of the fucking couch, bolting for our girl. Before we can reach her, she’s aiming a punch right at Chandler’s stupid face, her knuckles connecting with a loud crack.

Not gonna lie, pride surges through me when she lands that hit.

Chandler stumbles back from the force of the blow, but her friends catch her, allowing her to launch herself right back at Riv. The two of them collide in a flurry of flailing limbs, kicking and punching and pulling at one another’s hair, a feral growl emanating from River as the air around her body starts to shimmer.

Getting into a fistfight is one thing, but if this turns into a wolf battle, someone could get seriously injured. Not to mention it’s strictly forbidden in the rules for squad recruits. I know she wants me to let her fight her own battles, but surely this calls for an exception.

“River!” I bark out as I dive right into the fray, grabbing for her. I circle an arm around her waist, yanking her backwards as Ace shoves in between her and Chandler to break them up. River’s skin is burning hot, practically vibrating beneath my touch as her wolf fights to push through. She twists around in my grip, her bright, metallic eyes wide with fear as they lock on mine.

“Get me out of here, Seb,” she chokes, her fingernails digging into my arm so hard that they break the skin.

Fuck , I’ve never seen her look as scared as she does right now. My own wolf surges forward in response, primed and ready to defend her, but letting him out will only escalate this situation. I dart a glance toward Ace, his own eyes swimming with silver as he growls, “Go!”

Without another thought, I scoop River up into my arms, turning around and making a mad dash for the door. She buries her face in the crook of my neck, arms clinging tightly around me like she’s holding on for dear life. I descend the stairs two at a time, diverting to my cubby to grab the keys to my bike before charging out the door, racing around the side of the building to the parking lot.

River doesn’t argue about getting on the back of my bike. She doesn’t say anything at all, which scares the crap out of me. Her hazel eyes are hauntingly vacant as I plonk my helmet down over her head, settling onto the seat in front of her and starting up my bike, the engine rumbling to life beneath us.

I can’t even enjoy the feeling of her body wrapped around mine as I pull away from the squad complex. The only thing on my mind is getting River far away from here; from whatever has her so shaken up. Damage control is Ace’s forte, so I have no doubt he’ll smooth things over in our absence, but fuck, I wish he was with us right now. He always knows what to do.

The ride up to the peak of Pine Mountain somehow feels both short and tortuously long. Gravel kicks up beneath my tires as I pull off at the top, knocking down the kickstand of my motorcycle and climbing off the seat. I immediately pivot around and tug the helmet off River’s head, dropping it onto the ground and taking her face in both my hands as I step in close.

“What happened back there?” I demand, staring into her eyes intently.

She bites her lip to stifle a whimper, averting her gaze.

“ River ,” I press.

“I can’t,” she whispers.

I clench my jaw against the frustration of her non-answer, drawing a deep breath and exhaling slowly. I need to stay calm. Calm is what she needs right now.

“Is it your wolf?” I question gently.

Still, she doesn’t bite. She won’t even fucking look at me.

“Riv, talk to me,” I plead, leaning my forehead against hers. “How can I help you if you won’t tell me what’s going on?”

I scent the salt of her tears before I see one slip down her cheek, my chest tightening as my inner wolf howls. Seeing her so distraught fucking guts me, and I have no idea how to make it better.

“Please, Riv…”

“Okay,” she whispers defeatedly, sniffling as she pulls back and finally meets my eyes. “I’ll tell you, but… Ace needs to hear it, too.”

“Yeah, okay,” I rush out, head bobbing up and down as I stuff a hand into my pocket to pull out my phone. “I’ll tell him to meet us.”

River frowns, a little crease forming between her brows. “He can’t get up here without a bike.”

“Not here,” I say, firing off a text message to Ace before stooping down to grab the helmet off the ground. Leaning in, I press a kiss to her lips, then lower the helmet over her head. “We’re going for another ride.”