Page 23 of Hysteria Rises (Dark Falls Hollow #1)

I sit perfectly still while he cleans my arm, then applies a cool ointment before covering the area with a bandage. “Done.”

I blink my eyes open as they undo the restraints. “Can I leave now?”

“Leave?” Hayze’s brow furrows as he studies me. “No. We’re only half done.” He gestures to Cross. “Let’s move her over there.”

My heart thuds heavily in my chest. He’s looking directly behind me—to the massive bed that takes up a large portion of the room. I physically feel my own eyes go wide, become wild.

Fuck. I’ve gotta get out of here. I have the awful feeling the tattoo was the least of my worries.

My brain scrambles, and I throw back my head.

A laugh rips from my throat. It might be the most maniacal, disturbing sound to ever leave my lips.

Because who am I kidding? I’m at their mercy and have been in the worst sort of danger since even before I regained consciousness.

All I’ve managed in the last couple days is to move from one shitty circumstance to the next with no end in sight. Not an ounce of hope resides within me.

Shaking my head as Cross stoops to grasp me by both biceps and bring me to my feet, I strike out, hitting, clawing, scratching at any part of him my hands come in contact with. I’ve never felt more out of control of my own emotions in my entire life.

“Calm the fuck down, fury,” he bites out, holding me at a distance from him.

One labored breath after another gusts from my lungs until finally I stop long enough to stare at him.

The look of bewilderment on his face leads me to huff out, “You must be the worst kind of stupid.” Shaking all over, I continue my tirade.

“You want me to calm down when your buddy’s just fucking branded me?

” With my mind twisting into knots over what’s under the goddamn bandage, an inhuman wail tears from my lips as I fling my entire body weight at him.

It doesn’t do a damn thing except make the hazel-eyed bastard chuckle as he forces me back. “Feel free to keep wearing yourself out. It’ll only help Hayze.”

I stiffen, and both men remain silent for a moment after that, clearly exchanging a look over my shoulder. It sends anxiety creeping down my spine.

“Let’s get to it,” Hayze grunts from behind me. “I want you to show me what you were talking about.”

My eyes crash shut. What the fuck did I miss?

Nervous energy skates along my limbs, and the second they both put their hands on me, I thrash.

I don’t know what the plan is, but they’re fucking insane if they think I won’t fight them every inch of the way.

I try to wrench myself free of the viselike grip they have on me but only succeed in loosening the towel that had been tucked securely around my body. It drops to the floor.

A moment later, they’ve got me on the mattress, and my entire world careens right off a cliff. Maybe it would have been better if I’d died out there on the side of the mountain. But I hadn’t, and now I have to deal with the consequences of my own stupidity.

Blue eyes peer at me from between my feet, as Hayze crawls forward, capturing one of my ankles in each hand.

Meanwhile Cross holds me in a semi-reclined position, my back to his front.

I aim a lethal glare at this Hayze asshole who can’t keep his beautiful eyeballs from wandering my body before craning my neck until I can blast my hatred into Cross’s hazel-hued orbs as well.

“Easy,” Hayze murmurs, but the soothing tone of his voice does nothing for me, considering the pitifully vulnerable position I’m in … and there’s simply no one here who gives a shit.

I thrash against both of them, a despairing sob escaping my lips when it does nothing for me. “Don’t do this.” I turn again, pleading with my eyes. “Your father wouldn’t want this, would he?”

Cross huffs out a laugh. “Who do you think sent us to get you?”

I physically feel my face drain of blood at his admission.

I should have guessed as much based on the tidbits of information I’ve gleaned about these men.

There’s no denying their intentions. No other way I can imagine this going.

Desperation coats my skin and fills my voice.

“Let me go.” I try with all my might to pull free, but they are far too strong …

and I’m far too weakened by lack of food and lack of sleep, not to mention all my physical efforts leading up to this.

“I’m gonna try it.” The grit and gravel in Hayze’s voice has my eyes flicking up to meet his, but he’s not even looking at me.

He’s staring straight between my legs. I swallow hard, my breath hitching as he rakes his teeth over his lip.

His chest heaves as he shifts, putting a knee outside my leg, and locking my ankle down with his own.

My heart is fluttering madly in my chest like a panicked animal looking for a means to escape.

“Calm yourself,” Cross whispers near my ear as he brings one of my arms across my body, securely clamping a big hand around both wrists.

My heart hammers as Cross’s free hand hovers in my periphery, pointing. “There.” Confusion fogs my mind.

Hayze frowns, his brow furrowing, but a moment later his free hand skates up the inside of my thigh. “There?”

“I’ll show you.”

I’m at a loss for words, my face heating as I go into panic mode, shaking my head.

I don’t understand what the fuck is happening here. My breath catches as Cross skims his ink-covered hand down the swell of my stomach, then over my mound until his fingers press against my clit.

My hips buck upward, then I squeeze my eyes shut and turn my head away.

Softly, he whispers, “Just here. See? Then do what I told you.” He pauses a second. “Like this.”

Confusion ripples along my nerves like a live wire, and my heart hammers as his fingers begin to move in swift, unrelenting circles over my clit. What the fuck? I throw my head back on a gasp, and, unable to stop them from doing so, my eyes fly open.

The riot of sensations flooding my body makes me squirm uncomfortably as I try my damnedest to get away …

but I’m being held too securely, so the best I can do is remove myself from what’s happening.

I squeeze my eyes shut. At my back, Cross’s heart rate has accelerated, and his breathing becomes ragged the longer he continues his torment of me.

I clench my jaw against the fire that has begun to race along every nerve ending in my body. Because I don’t want this. Don’t want any fucking part of it. I gasp aloud, thankful when he finally pulls his hand away. Breaths heave from my lips, and I shake my head, my throat dry.

But that relief is short-lived because Hayze slides his hand from my ankle and places it on my inner thigh, widening the space between my legs.

My eyes flicker open. As if he’s in need of a better fucking view, he bends at the waist. His tattooed chest jerks with a hard exhale as he runs a knuckle through the wetness gathering at my entrance.

And I wish it wouldn’t, but his unbidden touch elicits a shiver that raises goose bumps over every inch of skin.

Fuck, it pisses me off that my body reacts.

Clenching my jaw, I glare at him as he continues to touch me, sweeping his fingers along my entrance, eyes fixated at the apex of my thighs, alight with something I can’t quite place.

“Here,” he murmurs, his voice gravelly as he looks over my head toward Cross at the same time the pads of his fingers brush over my clit.

I give a strangled grunt of annoyance, my eyes snapping to his. “Yes. That’s my clit. Get your fucking hands off me.”

But he doesn’t. He simply cocks his head to the side, his brow furrowing as he mimics the earlier tactics that’d been demonstrated by his apparent sex-ed tutor.

He’s locked on me now, studying every subtle movement of my body, every goddamn twitch of my lips, every stuttered inhale of breath.

I can’t fucking escape the blood rushing toward the point of contact or stop the sharp-edged throbs spearing my pussy.

I hate the rugged stubble on his jawline.

Hate the wicked anticipation in those gorgeous-under-any-other-circumstances intense blue eyes.

Hate every rise and fall of his chest as he holds me down.

In this moment, I hate all of him. Soul-deep anger crashes through me with every inch closer that I slide toward oblivion.

I feel the impending orgasm on the horizon … and can’t do a damn thing about it. Pressing my lips together, I grit out, “Do you think this makes what you’re doing okay?”

Hayze looks at me, a curious look sweeping over his features. Gears are turning in this one’s head, though. I don’t think he knows what the fuck he’s doing, but he’s working on it.

A moment later, a gasped moan is torn from me, and Cross quietly whispers over my head. “Look at her breasts. Keep going.”

I damn near draw blood as my teeth clamp down on my lip at his words. My gaze flicks down to my chest where my nipples protrude, aching.

He reaches down to cup my breast, flicking my nipple at the same time Hayze increases his pace.

I squirm, heaving breaths gusting from between my lips.

My face is hot, and I don’t have a chance in hell at suppressing the response coursing through me.

Distraught yet completely awash in sensation, I twist in their hold, fighting back what I know is seconds from sweeping over me in a slow roll.

Swallowing hard, one single word is torn from me.

“Nooo.” I wrench my head to the side, staring at the wall.

“Get ready,” comes Cross’s low voice.

Hayze shifts between my legs, never stopping his deviant ministrations.

The orgasm crashes over me, and much like a wave, it takes me under. I’m tumbling in the sea, choking on a gasp and unable to breathe as my body surrenders. I let loose a garbled, anguished cry. This isn’t happening.

“Now, Hayze. Do it now.”

And a moment later, his cock invades my body. All at once, he’s so deep, thick enough to stretch me to the point where I can’t help but gasp and cry out. My internal muscles continue to spasm, gripping him tightly, even as I squeeze my eyes shut and sob out, “No.”

A muttered “Fuuuck” exits his lips, and he groans as he thrusts hard a few times before spilling inside me.