Page 66 of Pretty Ruthless Monsters: Complete Series

QUINN

Killian hands the other two masks to Nico and Atlas, and they pull them on without question. If they think this is strange, they don’t show it, probably too intrigued by the prospect of whatever is about to happen to really care one way or another.

There’s something about the sight of all three of them like this that makes fear and arousal bloom even higher in me. At the club, things are more controlled. There are people on hand to make sure nothing gets too dangerous, and safe words in place to protect people.

I do believe that Killian would respect my safe word if I said it, but dealing with just one of him was always a lot back at the club. Now there are three of them to contend with, and my heart pounds even harder in my chest.

I’m shaken out of my thoughts by Killian striding closer to me. He looms over me like he usually does, but there’s definitely something different about it now. He uses strong fingers to tip my chin up, his eyes boring into mine.

“You remember your safe word?” he asks.

I nod, swallowing hard.

“Good. Use it if you need to.”

There’s a feeling of relief that comes from hearing those familiar words. It’s a different location, and there are new players, but this is the same game we’ve always played with each other.

I nod again.

His eyes track over my face, like he’s trying to memorize it, even though I know he probably already has.

“That day we went to scope out the drop location,” he says, his voice low. “You touched my arm. It was the first time you had touched me like that, knowing it was me. Not thinking I was your ‘Phantom.’ I almost couldn’t take it. It felt so fucking good.”

My heart skips a beat at his confession. I remember that day—that moment—vividly. The way he loomed over me, staring down into my eyes… I can’t believe I didn’t realize right then who he was.

Or maybe part of me did know and just wasn’t ready to face it.

He looks at me with that same intensity now, sliding one hand up my face so he can cup my cheek. His thumb strokes over my cheekbone for a second, and I let my eyes flutter closed, soaking up this moment of surprising gentleness.

He’s never done anything quite like this before, but I guess that’s because as much as things are the same… it’s all different too, knowing each other the way we do now.

It lasts for several long seconds, the two of us staring into each other’s eyes with nothing held back for once.

And then I watch the shift as it happens. Any gentleness in Killian’s gaze is shuttered, leaving only pure, molten desire. He steps back, putting some distance between us, the parts of his face that I can see going impassive and blank.

“Run,” he commands.

The order is so familiar that it jolts through me like an electric shock, making my nipples harden.

I lick my lips, glancing around the room. It’s a big enough house, but…

“Where?” I whisper.

Killian grins darkly behind the mask. “It doesn’t matter, siren. Run anywhere you like, because no matter where you go, I’ll always catch you. I’ll always find you.”

It’s a threat and a promise all in one, and it sends my adrenaline skyrocketing.

The truth in his words is clear, and it terrifies me to know that he truly would never let me go.

Killian is intense enough to mean it, and the connection between us is starting to feel just as intense.

He’d find me anywhere and wouldn’t give up until he did.

Maybe that thought should send panic racing through me, but it doesn’t. And I don’t say my safe word.

Instead, I get to my feet and bolt, running flat out. I hear Killian moving behind me, still so impressively quiet for someone so fucking big.

I have speed on my side, and knowing the house well enough to use that to my advantage. I duck around the couch and then sprint for the door, barely evading him as he chases after me.

I wrench the door open and flee into the night, my feet pounding on the ground. My adrenaline is so high right now that it takes me a second to realize that it’s raining. The cold drops pelt my body as I run, but I don’t let them slow me down.

In the distance, I hear one of the men call my name, but I don’t turn around to see who or why.

There’s a flash off to my left, and I turn my head just enough to catch sight of someone in my periphery. Too small to be Killian, so it must be either Atlas or Nico.

Holy shit, they’re working together.

That thought rockets through me, making me almost stumble as my heart skips a beat. The three of them are essentially hunting me down as a team.

There’s something sick and twisted about that, but at the same time, it makes arousal pool low in my gut.

My heart pounds hard and fast, beating a furious rhythm as I keep running.

I’m soaked as I slip and slide my way through the grass of the empty lot at the edge of the neighborhood.

There’s not much in the way of cover here, but there’s a cemetery at the end of the lane that’s dark and heavy with willow trees.

I fix my eyes on the gate that leads into the cemetery, not looking back to gauge where the Princes are.

I’m soaked when I reach it, my clothes sticking wetly to my skin. The gate creaks open as I throw myself against it, and shove it shut behind me before racing along the gravel lanes between the sections of graves.

I weave in between gravestones in the near pitch black, my hands out to try to feel any obstacles before they can trip me up.

My shoes squelch in the muddy ground, and I curse when my foot catches on something, taking a second to shake it free before setting my gaze on one of the willow trees up ahead.

Maybe I could climb into it and use that to get a vantage on where the Princes are. Or maybe that would just turn me into a sitting duck.

I could?—

Before that thought is fully formed, someone grabs me.

The hands are unyielding, yanking me back hard against a strong chest.

“Fuck!” I gasp out, my chest heaving from exertion and adrenaline. I fight against the hold, and I can tell from the strength in it that it’s Killian who’s caught me.

Of course it’s Killian.

I try to wrench away from him, jabbing with my elbows and kicking back with my heels, trying to catch something sensitive in my thrashing.

But his arms just tighten more tightly around me, making it harder to move and a little hard to breathe.

We’re both soaked through enough that I manage to wriggle downward in his grip and slip away for a split second, but he’s on me again even faster, pinning me against his massive body.

I’m caught, my back pressed hard against his chest.

“Caught you, siren,” he murmurs roughly, and he doesn’t even sound that out of breath. He’s in his element, predator that he is. “Now it’s time for me to claim my prize.”

With one hand, he rips my shirt open down the middle, leaving it hanging in tatters. I gasp as cool air hits my skin, my nipples peaking even more beneath the soaked fabric of my bra, and Killian slides one hand up to grip my throat as the other stays looped tightly around my waist.

A flash of white catches my eye in the darkness from a short distance away, and I turn my head a little, blinking away the water droplets that cling to my eyelashes.

Nico and Atlas have caught up to us. They’re still wearing their masks, standing by a grave and watching as Killian holds me in place like a doll. I can’t make out much about them in the dark, but when my gaze meets theirs, a current of awareness arcs between us through the air.

As if to make it easier for them to watch all of this, Killian turns us so we’re facing his friends, giving them a perfect view of my bra and my tattooed skin through the ruins of my shirt.

I struggle a little, moving like I’m going to cover myself up, but Killian releases his grip on my throat and wrenches my wrists back with one large hand.

“No,” he grunts. “No hiding. Not tonight.”

I whimper softly, my thighs squeezing together as my pussy clenches.

“What do you want them to see?” I whisper, my voice barely audible over the relentless patter of the rain.

Killian drops his head, his lips brushing my ear. His breath is warm against my chilled skin as he murmurs a single word.

“ Everything .”

The hand that’s not holding my wrists roams over my chest, groping me through my bra, squeezing the mounds of my breasts until I gasp at the pain and pleasure of it.

There’s nothing gentle about the way he touches me, but I can’t help but arch into it, wanting more. Needing more.

“Show them, siren,” Killian murmurs hoarsely. “Show them how perfect and filthy you are.”

In one smooth move, he yanks my bra up, sending my tits spilling out of it. Nico and Atlas make low noises in response, and although they don’t step closer, I can read the tension in their bodies even in the darkness as they watch what Killian is doing to me.

The massive man behind me kneads my breasts in one hand, squeezing them even harder until I yelp in pain. He tweaks my nipples, which are stiff and aching from the cold of the rain and the sheer arousal coursing through me right now.

His fingers dig into the sensitive flesh, then pinch and twist one nipple sharply enough that I cry out. The sound echoes around us, and Killian chuckles lowly. His voice is pure gravel when he speaks again.

“I think they’re starting to understand why I watched you for so long. Because you’re fucking beautiful. In everything you do. Every breath. Every expression. Every moan. Every whimper.”

The words are almost tender, but his tone definitely isn’t.

The reminder of him stalking me turns me on at the same time it pisses me off.

I have no way of knowing what all Killian has seen, and it makes me angry and impossibly aroused—and then even angrier because I don’t want it to make me feel that way.

Don’t want my body to burn with need as I think of all the private, intimate things he might have watched me do.