Page 35

Arson

D raped across the couch in our room, as soon as I see Ever come out of the bathroom, freshly showered, I pop upright.

“Finally! I’m bored. Want to snoop around?

Bet we can find some hidden passageways in the walls or something.

That creepy butler definitely cuts the eyes out of paintings to watch guests fuck. ”

Her nose scrunches, glancing over at the wall, but relaxes when she sees I already flipped all of the paintings backward to check. And left them that way because they were hideous. “Sure, let me just get my shoes on.”

As soon as she’s done lacing them up, the others return to the room with snacks. Bellamy freezes when he sees her. “What in the actual excuse for clothing is that?”

I nearly stab him when our girl looks down at her outfit self-consciously, but he saves himself by immediately adding, “That thing was made to scramble a man's brains. I'm not an asshole, but I'm not a fucking saint either.”

I mean, he’s not wrong. She’s wearing a pair of black and purple pajama shorts that barely cover her ass, and a matching purple tank top that’s practically painted on, clinging tighter thanks to her damp skin.

Clearly my angel is fucking blind , because she scoffs, “You’re ridiculous. It’s shorts and a tank top, nothing crazy.” She shoots a teasing look at my brother. “Not compared to some of the lingerie Myles bought.”

He’s come a long way, not even blushing at being called out. “Good, now we have something to look forward to when we go home.”

She smiles, shaking her head and walking out the door. Naturally, the others follow without knowing the plan, or you know, being invited, because everybody in this damn family insists on crashing my dates.

If I’d planned one, I’d be really upset right now.

A few minutes in, Ever softly asks, "What are we going to do if people back home don’t cool their tits?”

Ledger fills her in on his pitiful excuse of a torture session, but is dumb enough not to skim over the embarrassing part where he let him go. “Cyrus is only lashing out because of his missing mate, it isn’t actually about you being a mimic, sunshine.”

Myles scratches his jaw. “So if we track down his mate, that could smooth over the worst of the torch and pitchfork crowd.”

We get bored of wandering the empty hallways and end up checking out the backyard. Instantly, I’m mentally slapping myself for not thinking about this sooner. I expected some magazine-perfect garden or maybe a pool. But I’ve never been more ecstatic to be wrong.

It’s a fucking hedge maze.

“I couldn’t imagine how crazed I’d be if I lost you,” Bellamy says, shaking his head and scowling. “I don’t even want to think about it. But I’d definitely set a city on fire. If anything, Cyrus is under reacting.”

Ledger is getting increasingly agitated and twitchy, clenching and unclenching his fist. “Stop talking about it.”

Oh. Oh no. I’ve just had a brilliant idea.

And I’m definitely doing it, with or without his blessing.

“Imagine it wasn’t even someone who tried to take her that you could hunt down and kill. What if she tried to leave us? Thought she could outrun you?”

Not me, of course. She’d never leave me. These other losers though…

She could certainly try.

Ledger’s eyes practically glow as he grits out, “Why on earth would she do that?”

My stomach flips with anticipation. “To make us prove ourselves. Like a mate hunt.”

Those two final words are like a gauntlet being thrown down to a shifter, and I grin.

Tracing my knuckle down Ever’s cheek, I lean in close to whisper in her ear, “Time to run, angel.”

“What happens when you catch me?” she breathes.

A slow smirk curves my lips. “Whatever we want.”

She bites her lip. Then takes off sprinting for the entrance to the maze.

Ledger immediately lunges to follow, but I snap a shadow around his waist, along with Myles and Bellamy, who’ve been silent up until now.

But one glance shows it isn’t because they’re against the idea.

Oh no, between the rough breathing, blown pupils, gazes locked on the spot Ever disappeared, they’re really into it.

And were smart enough not to say a word in case it broke the spell I was weaving.

I give her a five minute head start to give her a fighting chance. Counting down the seconds in my head, when I hit zero, I release the others. The second they feel the pressure restraining them disappear, they don’t hesitate, giving chase.

I give it another thirty seconds; it’s no fun if the chase is over too soon. I’ll even make it more of a challenge and stay out of the shadow realm. Hunt her down the good old fashioned way.

I break into a sprint.

The leafy walls are at least twelve feet above my head, the setting sun sending eerie shadows dancing across my path. Every turn, every dead end, only serves to ratchet up my excitement.

By the fifth dead end, I realize I’m being stupid. The hard way is for suckers. When a prize like my mate is on the line? You stab, cheat, and kill if that’s what it takes to win her.

Scaling the hedge, I land in a crouch on top, using my shadows for balance to keep from losing my footing.

From there, I’m able to walk across the top of the maze without any resistance and find my angel in no time.

Impressively, she’s managed to evade all of us so far.

Ledger’s nose may give him an advantage, but it’ll only get him so far.

He can tell what direction Ever’s in, but not the path to get there.

I slide to a smooth stop when I find her, smirking as I slam a shadow wall in front of her and she squeaks in surprise. Pivoting on her heel, she doubles back, but I cut off her with another dark wall. Much to my utter glee, she doesn’t panic; she fights her way through the hedge wall and escapes.

Benevolently, I let her enjoy her victory for a little longer, sabotaging the others and barring their way instead. But a man can only take so much foreplay before he snaps.

Silently dropping behind her, I purr, “Found you.”

She startles, and I catch the elbow she throws with a dark chuckle, tugging her against me. “That’s my girl.”

“You cheated,” she accuses, chest heaving as she struggles to catch her breath.

“Oh, angel. Haven’t you realized yet? I’m not a good man. I’ll do whatever it takes to get to you because you’re mine . You’ve always been mine.”

Hand around her throat, I keep her captive as I yank down her sexy little shorts and free myself. Running the tip of my cock through her slit, I wait until she’s so wet she’s squirming against me in silent need before I sink into her.

Fuuuuuuuck . She’s everything I didn’t know I was missing. All hot, and tight, and perfect. Strangling my cock like she plans to bring me to my knees with her slick cunt.

And she does. I drag her down with me to kneel on the ground, bucking up into her with a hand clamped tightly around her throat.

My shadows flicker in the distance, losing my hold on the roadblocks to the others as I bury myself so deep, she’ll be able to feel me for days.

I never completely pull out, every roll of my hips and hard thrust drawing a sound from her sweet lips that I itch to swallow.

Unable to reach her lips, I kiss the top of her head as I bottom out in her pussy, electricity shooting down my spine.

“Such a perfect, sweet girl. Far too good for me, but fucking hell ,” I groan, eyes screwing shut as I drop a hand to circle her clit and she squeezes me impossibly tighter.

“Gonna keep you anyway. You can hate me later,” I pant.

“Never.” She grinds back against me and I nearly lose it. Only Bellamy and Myles careening around the corner has me staving off my release, instinct preparing me to fight whatever suicidal idiots might try to take my girl from me. I take a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

Not a threat to anything but my sanity.

“The fuck are you waiting for?” I snap my hips, reveling in Ever’s breathy moan.

They have their clothes stripped off in record time, but are wise enough not to rip her from my arms and hesitate to come any closer, eyeing me warily. Like I might slit their throats for daring to touch my girl while she’s stretched out on my cock.

Assholes. I know how to share. I’m fucking great at sharing. Better than either of them.

In fact…

I use a shadow to shove them both within her reach, then guide my sweet girl’s mouth to Bellamy’s cock.

The air punches out of his lungs, but he recovers quickly, threading his tattooed fingers through her hair and gently thrusting into her mouth.

“Oh fuck, beautiful. A little deeper.” His head is thrown back with a tortured groan.

“You’re trying to embarrass me, aren’t you? Sucking my soul right out my cock.”

Before he can come, I tighten my grip around her throat and wrench her off his dick, sliding her lips down Myles’s. “Don’t want to make him jealous, do you?” I purr. “If I have to fight for your attention, so do they.”

We carry on like that until we’re all half-crazed. Every time one of them is about to come, I pull her off their cock and guide her onto the other. Both are cursing my name and praising the shit out of her, but then she swivels her hips and I don’t stand a chance.

“Oh fuck, angel, yes, just like that.” At the last second, I pull out and work the tip of my cock into her ass before I come harder than I have in my entire life.

No one can ever accuse me of not being a team player. We don’t have any lube out here, and something tells me our girl is going to need it.

Reluctantly releasing her throat, I shove Bellamy onto his ass. “What the fuck, dude- oh. Oh shit, ” he stammers as I lift Ever by the waist and drop her down onto his cock.

“I think you've made the poor guy suffer enough, don’t you, angel? Claim him already. So you have one more reason to stay.”

Ledger arrives as she’s riding Bell in earnest, and my brother is one step ahead of me, seeing how out of control our shifter bondmate is. Without a moment’s hesitation, Myles barks, “ Easy . Take her ass, but fingers first so you don't hurt her.”

When he sees Ledger following orders, Myles goes back to fucking our girls mouth in earnest now that he doesn’t have to share. When Ledger slides into her ass, both Myles and Bellamy start cursing up a storm, tensing before taking her harder. Faster. Like they’re chasing their releases.

“That’s it, love, you can take a little more, can’t you?” Ledger growls, working himself deeper in her ass.

Bellamy’s fingers dig into her hips, yanking her down on him and bucking up to meet her. “Dreamed of this moment,” he pants. “Didn’t come anywhere near close. Love you so fucking much.”

Her response is muffled as she chokes on my brother’s cock, and I can’t help myself.

Wanting, needing to be included in the moment.

As soon as she looks like she’s about to come again, I wrap my hand back around her neck.

My spent cock twitches back to life at the feel of her throat stuffed full as she screams her release, her orgasm triggering the rest of her mates’.

When she eventually comes down from her high, sated and full of our cum, I slide my hand up to her chin and turn her face, capturing her mouth in a filthy kiss. “Good luck getting rid of us now.”