Page 89 of Hymns of the Broken

She looks over her shoulder, back toward the spot where Riot disappeared into the dark. Her lips are swollen from his kiss, her cheeks flushed, pupils wide. I know that look. I’ve seen it in the mirror after shows. It’s adrenaline. Hunger. Need.

And it’s not just for him.

It’s for me, too. Mine.

I close the space between us in two strides, grabbing her wrist before she can say a word. She lets me, like she always fucking does. Like part of her craves being taken.

“You knew where you’d end up tonight,” I growl, low and close to her ear. “So let’s go. I’m done sharing you.”

She breathes in sharply—surprised, maybe. But she doesn’t fight it. She never really does with me.

She wants this. Wants to be claimed, even if she doesn’t know how to ask for it. Wants someone to burn for her, and I’m already on fire.

I thread my fingers through hers, tugging her behind me as we cut through the thick pulse of the carnival, leaving Riot and whatever the hell that was in the haunted house behind us. My pace is punishing, but she keeps up with me. Like always.

Deep down, even after that kiss, even if part of her is curious… she knows exactly who she belongs to.

SAWYER

I barely get a breath in once we’re in his room on the bus before Jasper’s hand closes around my jaw, yanking me to him, mouth crushing mine—nothing soft, nothing sweet. Just teeth, tongue, and heat, like he’s trying to erase every trace of Riot from my lips. The kiss is punishing. Claiming.

He breaksaway, eyes black and wild, and spins me. My chest hits the mattress, my breath knocked out, and a second later—crack—a sharp sting explodes across my ass.

I gasp, vision blurring, as my skirt’s shoved up, fishnets and panties ripped down in one brutal motion.

“You want to play with fire, Wicked Thing?” he growls behind me, voice dark silk over broken glass. Another slap lands—harder, hotter—my hips jerk forward, a moan torn from my throat. “You want both of us?” His words burn a hole straight through me.

I nod frantically, cheek pressed to the mattress, body trembling.

“Say it, I need to hear you say the words,” he demands, squeezing the back of my neck.

“Y-yes,” I whisper, shame and need tangling inside me.

He grabs the back of my neck, forcing my face into the pillow, his weight holding me down as his fingers slam into me. Hard. Deep. Unrelenting. The world narrows to slick heat and the sharp bite of pleasure and pain. I claw at the sheets, desperate for air.

He jerks my head up by my hair, and I suck in a breath. “Are you thinking about him right now? About how he touched you in the dark?” His fingers curl just right, and I cry out, hips twitching.

He yanks his fingers free, grabs my hips, and shoves inside with one brutal, punishing thrust.

He pushes my head back down, and I scream into the pillow, muffled and breathless, every inch of me stretched and filled.Hedoesn’t give me time to adjust. He pounds into me, fucking me rough, possessive, likehe’strying to carvehisname inside my body.

My head’s yanked back suddenly—his fist twisted in my hair, lips at my ear, voice guttural.

“Still want both of us, Trouble?” he snarls. “Still wish he was in front of you? So you could choke on his cock while I ruin this pretty pussy for it?”

I can’tanswer—my voice is gone, wrecked, just whimpers and gasps and broken sounds from deep in my throat. But my body gives me away. I clench aroundhim, squeezing so hard I feelhimtwitch.

His breath is hot against my cheek. “That’s what I thought. You’re such a greedy little thing, aren’t you? Bet you’d let him watch while I fuck you stupid. Bet you love knowing we both want to own you.”

Every thrust knocks the air from my lungs, each stroke harder, deeper, the mattress shuddering under us. Jasper keeps my head yanked back, his breath ragged and hot against my ear as he pounds into me, unrelenting, like he’s trying to mark me from the inside out.

“This is what happens,” he snarls, voice dark with control and jealousy, “when you makemeshare. When you tease us both, let him touch what belongs to me.”

My fingers twist in the sheets, knuckles white, body shaking. I try to hold on toanything—but I can’t. I’m unraveling, every thrust dragging me closer to that edge.

He growls when he feels me tighten. “You gonna cum all over my cock while you’re thinkin’ abouthim?” He taunts, voice raw, hips snapping. “Or is it me, baby? Who owns you?”

“No—no, it’s you,” I sob into the pillow as my hips buck against his.