Page 33 of Tangled Lies

His finger faltered over a scar that this dress couldn’t quite hide.

I squeezed my eyes closed in between loving the feel of his touch and trying to calm myself. What the hell was wrong with me?

Men were not something to want. They were meant to be used to get what you wanted.

Yet my body seemed to think otherwise. Starved for affection, that touch was a siren call to my soul.

I needed to breathe.

I couldn’t go from prude little virgin to mega slut in a matter of hours, probably. Was it all simply because my body had been deprived of the freedom to choose anything? Up until yesterday I didn’t even think I had a type or a sex drive.

The type in question though? Apparently all this. I squeezed my eyes shut just to peek through one eye. All eyes were on me. All but Ronan’s.

Yeah. I was attracted to all this. The scowl of Knox had me wondering what his repressed touch would be like. Jett’s playfulness? Something told me if he was unleashed in bed, he’d do anything to please a woman, and Talon?

“Fuck,” I said without meaning to.

“What, princess? Are you asking for or offering?” Talon asked.

All logic could go to hell. I looked up at him under my lashes using the practiced smile that got me the attention I never wanted until now.

“If I were asking, would you tell me no?”

I watched his throat as he swallowed. I stopped denying myself the need to touch and ran my fingers over his throat and down to his chest.

Maybe if I could just get rid of my v card I might be able to control my libido and focus on my future. Maybe.

The second Talon shifted away, I felt like I could breathe again, but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to.

“Come on, Talon, don’t frighten our little Margaux. Tonight we get to go play, and Margaux is our little heartbreaker,” Jett said.

I stilled. “Heartbreaker? I don’t, I mean I haven't exactly had a lot of practice.” I stopped talking when Knox laughed. He was so quiet that if he didn’t have a presence about him, I could have almost forgotten he was there. Almost.

“Angel, the heartbreaker is the card in Texas Hold’em that could make or break the hand,” Knox said, moving away from the wall.

My eyes followed him around the room as he got closer. He was so close I could see the droplets of sweat that must have been from a workout.

“So, angel. Are you going to make or break our hand tonight?” he asked.

Jett pushed through the two of them, not letting me get too caught up in the moment.

“Why do you always gotta steal my toys? Go shower and get dressed. I’m picking out her dress. Not my problem you idiots prioritized working out instead of our pretty girl here.”

Jett’s hands were on my hips, and lord help me, I didn’t push him away. I just let him. I’d always thought my parents' deathruined my need for touch. In fact, the idea of being touched made me want to crawl out of my own skin, like escaping this body would help.

But right now? I liked the heat of his hands seeping through the dress.

Two days ago when I’d offered up my virginity as a prize, the most shocking part about it had been the idea that none of them would been a loss. I would have gladly lost to any of them. No logic could explain this, but now? Something inside me trusted this group of whatever they were. I’d read somewhere, that there was no logic in love. I tried to pull away from all of their touches. I wanted to run outside and find air. Love wasn’t real. Even my dad had wanted to use me for his own games, even if he treated me like I mattered at times.

Love couldn’t exist.

“Think about it, angel. We won’t force you to go up against your uncle,” Knox said in a whisper against my ear as he backed away, pulling Talon with him.

The room quieted and cleared out. My heart didn’t seem to know how to stop thundering away though.

Without the others here it felt different, just Jett and me. Suddenly I didn’t care about what was right, wrong, real, or fake.

I lifted my arms and ran my fingers through his soft blond hair that fell just above his eyebrows, in a way that was intentional.