Page 26 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)

Chapter 25

Stroke. Swipe. Circle. Twist.

Maverick

M averick pulsated and vibrated with unused energy. He was drowning in his own demons, and he needed a distraction. Ivan was one of the darkest parts of Maverick’s life, second only to watching George die.

Maverick watched as Jayce and Levi circled Raven, comforting her. She melted into their embrace. Maverick wanted nothing more than to join them, but he knew he couldn’t.

How dare Maverick want her? It was the highest form of hypocrisy. Maverick wouldn’t put himself in a position where he might falter in choosing his brother. Raven was getting under his skin. He wanted to hate her for it, but instead? He was disgusted with himself.

Maverick unconsciously stroked his wrists; he would have had the same marks as her. But he’d only been tied down on that table a few times before Ivan found his special bird . She was on it for five months. Five months of Ivan’s tools, of his depravity, of his torture.

Maverick realized, with clarity, Raven was exactly who she seemed to be. His mistrust was misplaced and once again he made a miscalculation.

The thought pierced his racing mind. He was making mistakes. Mistakes that would get them all killed.

Maverick jerked his focus back to Raven. She was too much of everything. She was a conundrum. A beautifully fragile, indestructible, catastrophe. An unsolvable puzzle.

Levi’s lips met Raven’s.

Maverick was blinded with rage, even as his cock hardened at the sight of Raven surrendering herself to Levi. Maverick wrenched his gaze away and stamped down the jealousy that swelled. He spun and walked briskly out of the bathroom, ignoring Enzo’s worried gaze. Enzo wouldn’t understand.

The empty space in Maverick’s heart was especially noticeable. Maverick deeply felt George’s absence. George understood Maverick in a way that not even Enzo could.

Maverick didn’t stop his feet until he was in his bathroom. He locked the door and ripped his clothes and mask off. He stepped into the shower’s cold stream, allowing it to warm around him.

It did nothing to qualm the desire that coursed through him.

He gripped his hard shaft in one hand and used the other to lean against the wall.

Raven’s tear-soaked face. Stroke.

Raven’s trembling, warm hands. Swipe.

Raven’s soft, supple skin. Circle.

Raven’s lyrically emotional voice. Twist.

Raven. Raven. Raven. Stroke. Stroke. Stroke .

He thrust his cock to her name, to every piece of the puzzle that made up the quandary that was Raven.

He imagined himself holding her down and using her for his own pleasure. Forcing his way into her soft lips.

Maverick imagined her surrendering herself to him, body and soul.

The thought undid him. He came with a growl.

“Fuck!” he expelled the word angrily.

It was too late. Raven had poisoned him. Enzo was right. She was his kryptonite. Maverick no longer trusted himself to make the right decision with her. And with the information that he was saved from breaking because of her?

“Fuck!” The word echoed around the bathroom. He would do anything to keep his brother alive, but in that moment, he realized he couldn’t bear to lose her either.