Page 93 of Vengeance and Vipers

When he turns back, he spies me and can’t cover his surprise for a second.

‘What are you doing hiding over there?’

I shrug, sort of not wanting to get up to show him what I’m wearing after his comments earlier, but he comes closer, and his eyes flick over me, lingering on the heels.

‘Iron said this was normal to wear to where we’re going,’ I whisper, getting to my feet awkwardly to get it over with.

My eyes stay on his patent leather shoes, and I hear him grunt a ‘you’ll do’.

‘Good,’ I murmur, looking at the door as I hear it open again.

All five of the others stalk in, all wearing the same kinds of expensive and tailored dark suits. All five pairs of eyes stray to me, taking me in and locking on.

I clear my throat, trying to pretend my body isn’t coming alive under their lustful stares. ‘I think we need to get to where we’re going,’ I murmur, trying to make light of it, but even Daemon and Iron are practically salivating.

Maddox takes my arm, and I start, waiting for that inescapable heat that unfurls whenever he touches me, but nothing happens, and I realize he’s wearing gloves.

‘You’re to stay with Iron at all times,’ he orders quietly, ‘and if you put one foot wrong, the things he did to you in the Mountain will feel like a walk in the park compared to how I’ve told him he’s allowed to punish you. We can’t afford any of your nonsense tonight.’

I snort at his words. ‘Noted.’

But I notice the faces of Jayce, Krase, and Axel in my periphery, and I curse this thing between us because all three of them felt my spike of fear, how afraid I am of Iron turning his power on me. I can mask it like a pro on the outside, but it doesn’t matter because I can’t hide it from them.

I need to start trying harder to keep my emotions under wraps, muting the connections.

Axel takes a small step towards me, but Krase stops him with a surreptitious tug of his sleeve just as I’m thrust towards my keeper for the night.

Iron takes hold of my upper arm, and I shrug him off, giving him a dirty look that makes him smirk.

Maddox takes the link key out of his breast pocket and fits it on the door. I take a deep breath as I prepare to travel by portal. It always makes my stomach do flip-flops. Iron takes my arm again, and I glance at him.

‘You’re going where we go,’ he says as if I’m going to somehow hijack Maddox’s portal and come out at a different destination.

I watch them all disappear through, and an unwelcome thought crosses my mind as I reach the precipice. What if whatever’s keeping me hidden here on the grounds doesn’t extend to Maddox’s properties elsewhere?

I pull back, but it’s too late. Iron hauls me to him, wrapping an arm around me, and we’re in the breach.

The trip is over within five seconds, thankfully, and we emerge in a back-room somewhere. I glance around. It’s an untidy filing room. I hear music thumping not too far away.

‘Where are we?’ I ask Iron.

Maddox pockets the link key and opens the door we just came through, but on the other side of it is now a crowded bar.

I see Jayce and Krase glance at each other, looking half concerned and half wicked, and my eyes narrow as we walk out into the main club. It’s busy despite the relatively early hour, and there are supes of all kinds milling around.

My mouth falls open as my gaze finds a stage at the front where a woman is strapped to an X. She has a corset on and heels, and she’s being flogged by a large guy whom I get shifter vibes from. My eyes cut to the guys.

‘A sex club?’

Maddox chuckles and looks at me like I’m a moron. ‘Where else did you think we’d go to feed?’ He glances at the others. ‘Snacking only. Keep to the rules we agreed on.’

Snacking only. That means no sex. Something that was knotted up in me relaxes, and I try to ignore the fact that not only do I care if Jayce, Krase, and Axel fuck someone else, but Maddox, Iron and Daemon as well.

I’m so fucked.

A supe that appears to be the club’s hostess, judging by her long, black dress and general lack of a waitress uniform, approaches us a little hesitantly.

‘Can I get you a drink, sir?’ she asks.