Page 225 of Hymns of the Broken

My front slams against a tree, bark biting into my skin, my palms scraping rough wood as I brace myself.

“You thought you could get away?” His grip tightens in my hair, angling my head so I can’t move, can’t look anywhere but forward, feeling the bark rub hard against my forehead.

I squirm, adrenaline mixing with something hotter, darker, making my thighs tremble and my heart pound against the tree.

“Didn’t say you could run.” Riot’s hands are pinning me tight to the trunk. “You want to fight? I like it when you fight.”

I let out a shuddering breath, still straining even as my body gives in, my hips pressing back into him. “You gonna punish me for trying to run?”

“Oh, baby. I’m gonna ruin you for it.” He shoves me to the ground forcefully, and I land in the dirt.

I scramble, nails digging into the dirt. But before I can even breathe, Riot shoves me all the way down, rough hands pinning my hips. I twist, clawing at leaves and earth. I manage to slip free, scrambling backwards on my hands and heels—justas my spine slams into something solid. I whip my head up, heart thundering, and all I see is a dark, featureless mask in the shadows.

Jasper stands there, silent and menacing. Then, in a low, cold voice, he finally speaks. “Youreallythink you can escape us?”

While I’m distracted, Riot’s hands clamp down on my ankles and he yanks hard, dragging me across the rough forest floor. Leaves and sticks scratching up my back as I try to fight, try to grab at anything, but it’s useless. Riot’s laughter fills the clearing, triumphant. “Got you now, Hellcat.”

Jasper just follows, precise, boots crunching in the leaves as he stalks behind, masked and merciless.

They pull me into the center of a clearing; the moonlight turning everything silver and sharp. Riot lets go of my ankles just long enough to flip me over, hands braced on my hips, holding me still as Jasper stands over us.

I don’t even get a second to catch my breath before Riot drops to his knees and swings a leg over, straddling the backs of my thighs, pinning me with his weight. My cheekis pressedinto the cool earth, heart pounding so hard it hurts.

“Stay still,” he growls, voice muffled behind the mask.

I struggle, just to test him, and he laughs—one hand gripping my wrists, dragging them behind my back. I feel the rough scrape of rope across my skin, thick and unforgiving, as he binds me—wrists crossed, arms yanked tight, so snug there’s no hope of slipping free. And fuck, it shouldn’t turn me on this much, but it does—being overpowered and restrained. I whimper and my thighs clench at the ache already building between them.

He checks the knots, then finishes with a final tug that rips a gasp from my throat.

“There. Now you’re not going anywhere.”

Jasper’s boots step into view, inches from my face. He crouches down, but I can’t see passed his knees.

“Mmm, that’s our dirty girl,” he praises, brushing hair from my cheek. “Tied up in the dirt, waiting to be fucked filthy.”

Riot’s weight shifts, his masked face lowering until his breath tickles my skin.

“You ran, Hellcat. But you didn’t really want to get away, did you?” His fingers trace the line where my shirt meets bare skin. “You wanted to know how far we’d go. What we’d do to catch you.”

I’m burning up from the inside out, the heat between my legs pulsing with every word. “I wanted you to chase me. I want you to ruin me.”

Riot flips me over to my back, my arms dig into the ground behind me. It hurts, but I like it. He grips my jaw, tilting my face up until I’m staring straight into Jasper’s mask, his eyes devouring me. I watch him pull a blade from his pocket, the metal gleaming in the moonlight.

“You sure?” he whispers, moving to drag the tip along my neck, making me shiver. “Because once we start… there’s no going back.”

My breath catches, heat pulsing between my legs. And even though my voice shakes, I meet his eyes through the mask and answer, “Then don’t stop.”

Jasper slices my shirt open and the fabric parts with a soft sound, exposing my chest to the night air, my nipples pebbling with cold and anticipation. He drags the blade lower cutting my bra strap, then the other, baring me completely.

Riot rips what’s left away, hands teasing and pinching until I’m writhing under him.

“She’s shaking and we’ve barely touched her,” Riot growls, breath hot on my shoulder as he yanks my shorts down, baring me to the dirt and their greedy hands. “So damn sensitive.”

Jasper stands, pulling Riot up with him. “You’re fucking perfect laying naked in the dirt for us, Sawyer. Stay right there. You don’t get to move—not until we say so.”

They both step in front of me, masks hiding their faces but not the hunger pouring off them. Riot yanks his shirt over his head, revealing his inked chest that flows down his stomach, disappearing into his pants. He shoves his jeans down just enough to free his swollen cock, already leaking for me. Jasper undoes his belt, the sharp snap echoing in the silence, and lets his pants fall, cock flushed and thick, need written in every line of muscle.

Japer fists his cock once, while looking into my eyes. “You want ruin, Little Demon? We’ll give it to you.”