Page 17
I hear Kai yelling for Sable and Silas.
My head’s a goddamn drumline, pounding hard enough to split my skull open. I blink, trying to clear the static in my vision, but it’s like I’m seeing through a haze. The only things coming through clearly are them: Sable and Kai—figures barely more than shadows as they pull me over the threshold. Each step is agony, my body throbbing like a lit fuse ready to blow.
As soon as they set me down on the couch, the soft give of it catches me off guard. My body almost protests, too used to the cold, damp concrete pressing into my bones. I swear to god, I’ll never complain about Kai’s rock of a bed again. Hell, it might as well be a five-star suite compared to what I just lived through.
I hiss as I shift my weight, my skin tearing as the scabs on my chest break open again, pulling at raw, aching nerves.
“Careful, baby.” Kai’s voice is the first thing I hear clearly, and for once, I don’t even have it in me to roll my eyes at the nickname
My hair is in my face, and I try blowing it out of the way, only for it to fall right back. Perfect.
A delicate hand sweeps it back, and I catch a glimpse of her face. Sable. I reach out instinctively like I can anchor myself by touching her, but my whole body feels like it’s been through a meat grinder. My hearing goes in and out, a faint ringing filling my head, drowning out the low murmurs from the others.
“We’re here, Levi. You’re pretty banged up, but we’ve got you,” Sable says softly, threading her fingers through my hair and pulling it back out of my face. Her hand is warm, soft, steady—she’s everything I’ve been starved for.
Dayton gives Silas the rundown in that quick, clipped way he does when he’s nervous. “Yeah. Kai and I were at the dean’s office when we had to bolt through these tunnels beneath the campus to avoid being caught.”
“Tunnels?” Silas asks, his voice gruff.
“Doesn’t matter, I’ll tell you later,” Dayton replies. “Anyway, we found him slumped on the porch when we got back. That’s when I started pounding on the door.”
I try to focus, catching snippets of the conversation as Kai’s flashlight pierces through the haze, aimed directly at my face. I squint, barely able to make out his face in the light. “He’s got a concussion, no doubt about that, and some nasty contusions,” he says, checking over my cuts and bruises.
“Just great,” I mutter, feeling the exhaustion seep into my bones even as I try to stay present.
“Are we sure he doesn’t need stitches?” Dayton asks.
“He should be fine.” Sable’s voice comes in. “But we can at least get him cleaned up. There’s a bathroom down here. Let’s get him to the tub and see how he does.”
The idea of moving makes my whole body scream in protest, but hell, I’d rather die in a bathtub than lie here like some broken marionette. I manage a weak smirk, catching Kai’s eye. “Just make sure the bubbles are mint-scented, yeah?”
“Umm… actually, we only have island margarita liquid bubble bath,” Dayton says.
I look at him with disgust. “Island margarita? Bubbles?”
He shrugs. “It’s the best scent.”
My eyes meet with Kai’s. “Actually, just let me drown.”
“Not happening, grumpy,” Sable says as she and Kai help me sit up, each one of them supporting me under an arm as they practically drag me to the bathroom. My legs threaten to give out with every step, but I grit my teeth, refusing to look any weaker than I already do.
Once inside, Kai turns on the faucet, the sound of running water filling the silence. Sable helps me remove what little clothes I have on. When it’s filled with suds, the two of them help me inside of the tub and I allow my body to soak into the steamy water.
Sable watches me. Her gaze is soft, steady, and just like that, she moves forward, slipping off her shoes. Kai raises an eyebrow but doesn’t say anything, just watches as she sheds her clothes and discards them alongside my tattered ones. Then she slowly dips herself into the bath opposite of me.
She lets out a quiet sigh, and the warmth of the water wraps around us both. Kai shifts, sitting on the edge of the tub, one hand resting on my shoulder while his other lightly grazes her knee.
The water sloshes gently around us, steam rising, filling the air with a quiet calm, but beneath it, I feel every nerve buzzing. Sable leans forward slightly, her knees brushing mine under the water. Her hands reach out, and she takes the washcloth, squeezing it out before running it over my shoulder, careful around a particularly ugly bruise. I bite back a hiss, but she doesn’t pull back.
“You don’t have to play Florence Nightingale,” I mutter, a pathetic attempt to inject some of my usual attitude. But my voice comes out weak, and the words fall flat, almost like I’m trying to convince myself more than them.
She doesn’t answer, just dabs the washcloth gently along a scrape on my cheek. Each press of the cloth stings, but I’d be lying if I said the pain didn’t ground me a little.
I’m alive.
The Syndicate let me go.
Kai watches me with a mixture of worry and irritation. He’s never been great at handling vulnerability—especially not mine. And I know, beneath the steady gaze he’s trying to hold, he’s just as rattled as Sable.
Sable’s hand stills, her eyes meeting mine. “Where did they take you?”
I sink lower into the water, the heat doing little to ease the ache in my body. “A few hours out. Some kind of fortress. Solitary confinement, for the most part. They only let me see who they wanted me to see.”
“They made sure we wouldn’t find you.”
“They’re the Syndicate,” I say, shrugging, though the movement sends a ripple of pain through my shoulder. “You don’t just stumble across one of their hideouts. They own the shadows.”
“And what did they want, Levi? Why take you?” Kai demands.
I hesitate, my gaze sliding to Sable as she lowers herself into the water further, her damp hair fanning out across the bubbles. “Levi,” she says softly, her voice a gentle pull. “What aren’t you telling us?”
I exhale sharply. “I met the leader.”
Kai freezes. “And?”
“It’s Victoria’s father. He’s the one running the Syndicate.”
Sable’s breath hitches, her hand gripping the side of the tub, eyes going wide. “Oh shit.”
“Yeah, oh shit.”
She shifts against me, her brow furrowing. “Levi…”
I close my eyes briefly before forcing the words out. “They gave me a month. A month to find out who really killed her. Or else.”
Kai’s eyes narrow. “Or else what?”
“My existence gets erased,” I say. “Every record, every connection to you, Sable, and everyone else… gone.”
“They can do that?” Sable asks, horror clouding her voice.
I meet her gaze, a bitter smile tugging at my lips. “The Syndicate can do anything, trouble. They’ve been doing it for decades.”
“Why do you sound so calm about this?”
I shrug, feeling a grim acceptance settle over me. “No point panicking. We all die eventually.”
“Levi—” Kai protests, and Sable continues to wash me.
I reach out, letting my hand rest against Kai’s jawline, feeling the tension there, the struggle he’s trying to keep contained. “Baby,” I say softly, “you’ve fought just as hard to survive in this world. Don’t pretend like you don’t get it.”
He hesitates, his gaze flicking to the floor for a second before coming back to me, doubt in his eyes. “I’m grabbing towels.” His voice holds the slightest edge, masking the worry swimming beneath it. He heads for the door, casting one last glance at us before slipping out of the room, and I watch him leave.
Once he’s out of sight, Sable shifts closer, her hands reaching up to gently smooth my hair away from my forehead. Her touch is soft, her fingertips grazing my skin, tracing lines over the bruises and cuts like she’s committing each one to memory. The faintest smile touches her lips, but there’s a sadness in her eyes that twists in my chest.
“Whatever the Syndicate thinks it can do… they don’t get to decide your life, Levi.”
I lean into her touch, my hand reaching up to cover hers, the warmth of her skin grounding me, holding me in place. “You say that like it’s simple. Like I could snap my fingers and make them vanish. It was his daughter, Sable. Whoever did this… they must not have known. They could have killed any other college kid, and the Syndicate wouldn’t have cared. But now? Now, it’s personal.”
She lets out a shaky breath, her forehead resting against mine, the warmth of her skin so close, her words a promise. “I will not let them take you from me again.”
The water laps around us, quiet and steady, cocooning us, and I lift a hand, slipping it around her back, pulling her into my lap.
“I missed you, trouble.”
She looks up, her eyes meeting mine, and a soft smile tugs at the corner of her lips. “I missed you too,” she murmurs, her gaze softening.
Her lips brush against mine, feather-light at first, her hand threading through my hair as she presses closer. I deepen the kiss, my fingers curling around her waist as if holding her like this might somehow keep her safe from the shadows lurking around us. I want to memorize the feeling of her against me, the warmth of her skin, the way she sighs softly into my mouth.
My hand slides up to cradle the back of her neck, my fingers tangling in her hair as I deepen the kiss, my teeth grazing her bottom lip, claiming every soft gasp and moan as mine. She rocks against me, each slow movement pulling a shudder from my chest, her lips brushing over my jaw, leaving a trail of heat that winds its way through me, unraveling every last thread of control. All of the years that I spent telling myself I wasn’t worthy of her touch was all wasted time. Time I could have spent proving to her why I deserve her love.
My hand trails down her back, settling at the curve of her waist. I pull her even closer against me, her pussy grazing my hard cock under the water, her tits pressing against my chest, eyes half-lidded. She doesn’t pull away, though, she only presses closer, her folds parting, inviting me in, deepening the kiss until all I can taste, all I can feel, is her.
“Sable,” I moan, her name slipping rough and unbidden from my lips, carrying everything I can’t say aloud. Her hands slide below the water, her fingers finding me, wrapping around my pierced cock. One at the tip and one at the bottom, just for them. Slowly, she lowers herself, the heat of her cunt surrounding me, pulling me deeper into her.
She rolls her hips slowly, allowing both of us friction, and it coaxes soft, breathless sounds from her lips.
Her hands trail down my chest as she presses against it to prop herself up, leaving heat in their wake, marking me in ways I can’t describe. She’s here, she’s with me, and I’m terrified of ever letting her go.
My hands framing her face, my thumbs brushing along her cheekbones as I look into her eyes—dark and dilated, holding a spark I was willing to die to protect. “You don’t know what you do to me, Sable. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”
“You’re not losing me. Not now, not ever.”
My forehead rests against hers as she rides my cock, my fingers still tangled in her hair, my chest heaving.
“They could take everything, but they’re never taking you.”
I press my lips to her throat, tasting the wet salt of her skin, letting her pulse beat against my mouth. Her moans become higher, softer, spilling out as her hips meet mine in a frantic, desperate rhythm. My hand slips down to her ass, using a firm grip, I guide her movements, urging her deeper, until I feel her body tense, her muscles clenching as she tips over the edge.
“Fuck, I’m coming—” Water splashes out of the tub as she comes so beautifully on my dick.
“Let it out. Come on my cock, trouble.”
She throws her head back, her breaths spilling out in shuddered gasps.
The sight of her, the feel of her falling apart around me, shatters whatever control I had left. With a groan, I follow, holding her tightly as I lose myself, letting my cum shoot inside of her.
Where it belongs.
Just as the world narrows down to only Sable and me, a slow clap echoes through the sound of our breathing, pulling us abruptly back to reality. I glance over my shoulder, and there’s Kai, leaning casually against the doorframe with a smirk plastered across his face, his eyes glinting with unmistakable mischief.
“Guess you’re feeling better,” he teases, crossing his arms and giving Sable an exaggerated once-over. “So, this means it’s fair game to get you in bed, Mahal?”
Sable slips out of the bathtub, wrapping herself in a towel as she rolls her eyes. “You boys are ridiculous.”
“So he gets you first? Gonna hold out on me, Mahal?” Kai quips, and Sable giggles, swatting at him playfully. I lean my head back against the porcelain edge of the tub, enjoying the post nut bliss. Or at least trying to, until Dayton bursts into the bathroom, eyes wide with excitement like he’s just heard the best news of his life.
“Levi’s half-dead, and you’re in here taking advantage of my brother, Sable?” He looks appalled when I open one of my eyes, but then he quickly laughs it off as a joke.
Silas peeks his head in the door with a raised brow. “Wait—who’s fucking?”
I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose as I glance down, covering my softening dick. “Everyone, get the hell out of the goddamn bathroom.”
But Dayton is already on the move, his hands around Sable’s waist as he pulls her to him with a wicked grin. “Actually, I’m the one fucking my babygirl next.” Without waiting for a response, he lifts her up over his shoulders, making her yelp as her towel starts to unravel.
Sable laughs, her entire bare ass showing as she slaps at his back. “Dayton, put me down!”
He just chuckles, spinning around to face the others, showing her off. “Why would I do that? It’s my turn, right?” Dayton grins, looking at each of us, then back to Sable’s ass. “Come on, let’s get you out of here before these guys try to cut in line.” With that, he carries her out of the bathroom, leaving the others watching after them.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17 (Reading here)
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54