Page 37 of Dangerous Men

“Can you swallow?” I ask her, letting my touch linger on her skin, my voice deliberately neutral.

Now that gets me a reaction. Her face flushes with color, and the pulse under my thumb jumps. “Excuse me?”

My, my, what a filthy mind you have.I fight back a smile, years of practice making it easy to keep a perfectly straight face as I say, feigning complete innocence, “The pills. Can you swallow them dry, or do you need some water?”

She snaps her mouth shut, but the color in her cheeks doesn’t fade. If anything, her blush grows, like she’s embarrassed for where her mind went.

“No, I… it’s fine.” When I let her wrist go, she raises her hand to her mouth, tipping the pills inside.

Watching the bob of her delicate throat as she swallows feels a little too intimate. I look away, glancing back over my shoulder at the party. It won’t be long now until my brothers come looking for her…

And there he is. Almost immediately, I spot Alec through the crowd, moving frantically through the ballroom as he searches for his little pet. His eyes catch mine through the open doors, and he practically bolts toward us.

“What the hell happened?” he demands.

This close to her, I can feel it when she tenses, pulling away from his anger. That won’t do.

“She needs ice for her ankle,” I tell Alec, snapping my fingers. “Now.”

Mason Alexander Sterling is not a man used to taking orders, and it shows. But after staring at me in stunned shock for a handful of seconds, he swallows his pride and nods. He gives the girl one last lingering look, from the top of her head to her bare feet, like he’s convincing himself she’s all right, before heading back inside.

“I want to check your vitals, to make sure you’re okay,” I say after he leaves. I’m kneeling between her open legs right now, and acutely aware of how close I am to her. My cock, already slightly erect from just the sight of her bare leg and the memory of her writhing between my brothers, twitches at the thought of touching her more.

I wait for her nod of consent before I shift forward, pressing my fingers to her neck to take her pulse. My other hand rests lightly against her hip.

She is pretty, I’ll give her that. Soft. Sweet and innocent.

My brothers have the worst fucking taste sometimes.

After a few seconds of feeling the beat of her pulse beneathmy fingers, I shift my hand to grip her chin. “Look at me. I need to check your pupils.”

I don’t need to check anything. She’s fine, blood pressure and pulse seemingly normal. But I hold her face for a few more seconds, staring into her eyes. I wonder what they see in her that has them so fucking obsessed. Her lips part under my gaze, and her breathing quickens. A lingering remnant of arousal from her time with Alec and Ashton, no doubt.

Speak of the fucking devil…

“Here,” Alec says, appearing at her side and sitting down on the bench next to her. He hands me a bag of ice wrapped in a bar towel and then turns his full attention to her, his voice softening as he brushes her hair away from her face. “What happened?”

I stare at the bag of ice in my hands. I guess it’s my job to tend to her then?Theirfucking toy?

Biting back the choice words I have for Alec, I shift back and set her foot in my lap, laying the ice over her ankle. This time, she doesn’t flinch. She barely seems to notice.

“I’m fine,” she tells Alec. So much for the “woe is me, my ankle is broken” bit. “I just…”

Shame steals the words from her.

“She twisted her ankle,” I inform Alec. I adjust the ice on her leg to get a better look at it, but there’s no visible swelling. I’d bet money the injury was minor, an overstretched tendon at the most, but no actual tearing. “Maybe if herdateshadn’t left her on her own with only scotch…”

“What does she need?” Alec asks, ignoring the barb. His arm wraps around her middle protectively, pulling her close to his side. Fuck, he’s got it bad for her, hasn’t he? He’s already in overprotective alpha mode, like he could somehow keep her safe from the world. Fromourworld.

He can’t even keep her safe from her own clumsy self.

I sit back on my ankles and reach up to straighten my glasses.

“Rest,” I advise him, standing. I brush my hands against my slacks, subtly rearranging myself to hide my erection. “You should take her somewhere with fewer people. Somewhere quiet. Let her rest a little. She should be fine once the pain medication kicks in.”

I give Alec a significant look. I just gave him and Ashton the perfect excuse to get her all alone. You’re fucking welcome.

And Alec, proving he might not be a complete imbecile after all, jumps at the opportunity to take it.