Page 12 of The Hacker (Dominion Hall #5)

VIVIENNE

T he gates of Dominion Hall loomed like the whole place was holding its breath.

I didn’t hold mine.

When Elias turned into the drive, I let my window down, allowing the warm night air to spill in over my bare legs. The SUV rolled slow up the winding path, past live oaks strung with moss and shadows thick enough to hide bodies in.

It was beautiful. And menacing.

Like him.

He said nothing. Just gripped the wheel like it might misbehave, jaw set like he was already regretting letting me in.

Too late, Cipher. I’m here now.

Dominion Hall revealed itself in pieces: first the outer buildings, low and sharp-edged with glass walls and stone. Then the central structure—a brutalist masterpiece that looked like a fortress.

The SUV eased to a stop in front of the main entrance. Elias cut the engine.

I didn’t move.

He looked over at me, expectant. “Let’s go.”

I blinked slowly. “You think I’m just going to follow you inside like some obedient little ballerina?”

A muscle twitched in his cheek. “Yes.”

I smiled. Sweet. Lethal. “Then you don’t know me at all.”

I popped my door and stepped out, barefoot on the driveway, the wind catching the hem of my ruined tank top. I hadn’t asked for a new one. I liked the way this one looked on me—torn, stretched, like a trophy from the alley wall.

Elias sighed and came around the front of the car, but I was already moving.

I turned in a slow circle, taking in the property like it belonged to me. “So this is where the Dane brothers plot world domination? Very Architectural Digest meets Black Ops.”

He didn’t answer. Which was fine. I wasn’t looking for answers. I was looking for reactions.

I strolled toward the side path, lit faintly by embedded lights in the concrete. Somewhere beyond the trees, I heard the low burble of water.

“Where are you going?” Elias asked behind me.

“Exploring,” I called over my shoulder. “You dragged me into the villain’s lair. Least you can do is give me a tour.”

He cursed under his breath, but I knew he’d follow.

He always did.

I wandered past a series of outbuildings, catching movement inside one of them. A man stood at a workbench, sleeves rolled up, sanding something with a blade in his hand. Another leaned in the doorway, arms crossed, watching me like he wasn’t sure whether to flirt or frisk me.

“Evening,” I said sweetly.

The one in the doorway—tall, dark, movie-star jawline—gave me a grin. “You must be the ballerina.”

“You must be trouble,” I shot back.

Elias appeared at my side, one hand sliding to the small of my back in a gesture that said she’s mine even if his face didn’t. He didn’t introduce me. Didn’t need to. His body was screaming the message.

The guys nodded, exchanged some silent understanding with Elias, then went back to whatever Dane-level nonsense they’d been doing.

We kept walking.

“You going to tell me which one that was?” I asked.

“No.”

“Rude.”

We passed another building—this one low-slung and glass-walled. Inside, a woman with blonde hair did pull-ups on a steel rig. She dropped down and met my gaze through the glass.

I smiled.

Elias exhaled through his nose like he was already exhausted. “Do you have to antagonize everyone?”

“Only the ones who look like they could kill me,” I chirped. “It’s a kink.”

We rounded a hedge and stopped short at the edge of a shallow courtyard.

And there it was.

The pool.

Lit from beneath like the glow of some hidden galaxy, it stretched long and narrow between two wings of the main house, framed by tile and low, smoldering fire features that flickered in the breeze. The surface was so smooth it looked solid—like if you stepped onto it, it might hold you.

I took a step forward anyway, barefoot and bold.

“Is this where you waterboard your enemies?” I asked, half-teasing, half-mesmerized.

Elias didn’t answer. But I felt the shift in him—his body tense at my side, his eyes fixed on me instead of the pool.

I dipped a toe into the water, then stepped back and gave him a look. “No blood? No bodies? Disappointing.”

He let out a low breath. “It’s just a pool, Vivi.”

I grinned slowly. “Then you won’t mind if I take a swim.”

He moved like he might object—might order me inside like I was some wayward charge who needed corralling—but then another voice cut through the evening air.

“You’ll want to be careful,” someone drawled from the far side of the pool. “She likes to watch.”

I turned toward the sound, spotting a muscular man lounging on a stone bench with a half-empty bottle of something dark in one hand and a smirk on his face. His eyes glittered with mischief. “The snake, I mean.”

I lit up. “Really?”

“That’s right,” he said. “Obsidian. She’s got a glass enclosure in the main living area. But she could get out.”

I looked at Elias.

He was glaring at the guy.

“You’re not funny,” Elias muttered.

“I’m hilarious,” the guy said, unbothered, then raised the bottle to me. “Welcome to Dominion Hall.”

I tilted my head, stepping forward just enough to accept the unspoken toast. “And you are?”

“Noah,” he said, flashing a grin that had probably gotten him out of a hundred bad situations. “The charming one. Occasionally the shirtless one, but that’s mostly after tequila.”

“I like you already,” I said, smiling. “Do all the Dane brothers come with warning labels, or just this one?”

Noah laughed, full and low. “If Elias had a label, it’d be Do Not Engage Without Supervision .”

Elias took a slow step forward, towering, silent, very much done with this conversation. I could feel the shift in the air—possession prickling beneath his skin like a live wire.

Noah just winked at me. “Word of advice? Don’t get too close to the snake. She’s gorgeous, but she bites.”

“I’ve been warned,” I said, keeping my eyes on Elias. “But that’s half the fun, isn’t it?”

Elias reached for my hand, his grip firm. “We’re leaving.”

“Aww,” Noah called. “Play nice, brother. She’s got fire.”

“She is fire,” Elias muttered under his breath, tugging at me.

I gave Noah a lazy salute, then looked back at Elias, unmoving. I wasn’t going anywhere. Not until I was good and ready.

“You have a snake and didn’t think to mention it?” I asked.

“She’s not exactly a secret,” he said, his voice low.

I tilted my head, grinning. “No, but sounds like she is a whole vibe. Dangerous, sleek, impossible to ignore …”

My smile widened.

“Sound familiar?”

And then, without another word, I peeled off the remains of my tank top and shorts, baring skin still kissed by sweat and adrenaline. I wore only a black thong now, and nothing else, and I didn’t miss the way Elias’s jaw clenched at the sight.

I stepped to the edge of the pool and looked over my shoulder.

“You coming?” I asked. “Or are you going to let me swim alone while a deadly serpent watches from the windows? Not to mention, your brother?”

Elias didn’t move.

Which made it better.

I dove in.

The water was cool silk, folding around me as I sliced through it, then surfaced with a flip of my hair and a smile sharp enough to bleed. Noah gave a low whistle, then disappeared into the shadows, muttering something about needing to find his fiancé.

I swam to the edge nearest Elias and rested my arms on the tile, chin tilted, tits just barely under the surface.

“Still standing there like a statue, Cipher?” I purred. “Or do I have to dare you again?”

He didn’t speak.

But his shoes hit the stone with two soft thuds.

Then his shirt.

Then his belt.

Then the rest of his clothes, all the way down to a sexy pair of black boxer briefs.

And when he stepped into the pool—stalking toward me with water slicking up his thighs like a threat—I bit my bottom lip and whispered, “I dare you to let the snake join us in bed.”

He stopped.

Dead still.

The night cracked open between us.

And then his voice—low, brutal, delicious—split the silence.

“You’d be safer with the snake,” he said, his voice dark silk stretched over steel.

I licked a droplet from my bottom lip, heart hammering in my chest. “So let her in. Let her slither between the sheets and see which of you bites harder.”

He moved fast.

Water surged as he reached me, both hands gripping the edge of the pool on either side of my body. Caging me in. The heat coming off him, even submerged, made my breath hitch.

“Careful what you ask for,” he growled. “I’m not the one who waits in the shadows. I’m the one who sinks his teeth in and doesn’t let go.”

My thighs clenched under the water. He was too close and still not close enough. Every nerve ending in my body screamed for friction. For impact. For him.

“I don’t want you to wait,” I whispered. “I want you to fuck me.”

His hand slid beneath the water, fingers curling around my thigh, dragging me against him. I gasped at the contact—bare skin, heat meeting heat. My breath stuttered. My fingers gripped the edge of the tile.

A door creaked in the distance.

Laughter drifted out into the night.

Two more men—presumably, his brothers—stepped into the courtyard, one shirtless, one in tactical pants and boots, carrying what looked like a training dummy over his shoulder.

They both saw us.

Saw me.

Bare-assed in the pool. Black thong. Wet hair. Eyes glazed with want.

They didn’t leer. Didn’t catcall. Just nodded once—almost in respect—and kept walking.

Me? I didn’t flinch. I didn’t cover up.

I leaned closer to Elias and murmured, “Think they’d let us borrow the snake … just for a night?”

He looked like he was going to combust.

“Vivi,” he warned, voice a growl so thick with restraint it bordered on dangerous.

I smiled sweetly, tilting my head. “What? I like things with bite.”

His jaw ticked. His arms locked around me under the water, and in one sharp, brutal movement, he lifted me from the pool.

“Elias—”

I shrieked as he tossed me over his shoulder, my soaked body pressed to the hard muscle of his back, water dripping from my legs, his hand gripping my bare thigh with unmistakable ownership.

“Put me down!”

“No.”

“You’re kidnapping me again.”

He walked across the stone, up the steps, into the house like he didn’t care who saw.

I wriggled, half-laughing, half-burning. “You’re not even going to let me towel off?”

“I’ll dry you myself.”

The front door shut behind us.

And the snake?

I could’ve sworn I heard something shift in the glass enclosure off the main hall. A flicker of black scales. A flash of tongue.

Obsidian watched us go.

I twisted just enough to look back at her.

“Don’t worry, girl,” I whispered, glancing over Elias’s shoulder toward the glass tank. “I’ll come back for you later.”

The snake didn’t blink. Didn’t move. Just stared—dark eyes gleaming like she knew secrets I hadn’t earned yet.

But I wasn’t scared of her.

Bringing a black viper to bed wouldn’t even crack my top ten worst ideas. Hell, it might not even make the list. Because the real danger? The one with teeth sharper than fangs and control tighter than coils?

Was already carrying me up the stairs like I was weightless and his to keep.

And me?

I wanted to test the locks. Tap the glass. Find every button he didn’t want pushed and press it until it broke.

Because if he thought the snake was dangerous, he hadn’t seen what I could do when I decided someone was worth the bite.