Conquest loved sneaking in when the other three were off pillaging and plundering and doing whatever else needed to be done for them to be the proper villains.
“I think Jude was my first,” I tell him.
“No one is telling you who went first,” he’s quick to say.
“It’d make sense,” I proceed. “After all, he didn’t have any firsts yet, and there should be at least a little balance among you four.”
“Your ass was a first too,” he crudely points out. “And there was also your first three-way. And the first time you’ve been on top. And the first—”
“Never mind,” I grumble. “You’ve successfully stifled that entire argument.”
I feel his grin grow as I continue reading.
Conquest would take her, shoving her to her belly and holding her in place while he pushed into her body and subdued her fight. Her fingers clung to the bedding under her as she cried out in fear and guilty excitement.
Guilt could only be felt in mortal form, and it was a rather consuming emotion.
She felt guilty every time she enjoyed the wicked and terrible things they did to her.
“You have to stop reading that, or I’m going to take another turn before anyone else gets caught up to me,” Kai says on a threatening breath so close to my ear as he pulls open one of my thighs.
My breathing gets harder as I start reading aloud to him.
“Conquest wanted her the most in the beginning. The others took a bit longer. But he wanted her every chance he got, and took more than his share.”
He groans against my neck before moving between my legs, pushing the book out of my hands as his lips come down on mine, all of it happening in one swift motion.
My hands go to his hair, fingers twisting in the soft strands as he works the T-shirt up over my hips. I start kissing him harder when he reaches between us to undo his jeans.
In the very next instant, he’s ripped away from me, and my eyes blink open to see Ezekiel glaring at him as he shoves a laughing Kai against the wall.
Kai runs his hand over his lips, his eyes intently focused on me as Ezekiel gripes at him.
“Fucking really, Kai? We’re trying to get all the details of the deal she made. Not fuck her right now.”
Kai shrugs unapologetically, and I arch an eyebrow at him, wondering if he’s going to let Ezekiel just win this.
Kai smirks at me even as his eyes narrow. “The vixen is trying to tempt me.”
I’m the one to shrug unapologetically this time.
“You’re still my favorite,” I remind him. “No one else has done anything to earn the title, and only my current favorite gets to touch me…unless you all touch me at one time.”
I wiggle my eyebrows at them when they both simply stare at me.
“Don’t play games, Paca,” Ezekiel groans as Kai walks out, laughing quietly to himself as he goes.
“I’m apparently a child of the Devil. Games are just a part of my genetic makeup. I’d apologize, but I don’t have the ability to feel guilt,” I state dryly. “Now, were you my first? You seem a little territorial over my vagina right now.”
My gaze stays fixed on him as I wait very expectantly.
He just narrows his eyes at me.
“Can you tell us more about the deal?” he asks, trying to use a softer approach to coax me into sharing all the details yet again.
Going phantom, I let the book drop through me and zap myself to the bathroom doorway before the book ever hits the bed.
“I’m not spending what is possibly very limited time alive repeating myself on a loop,” I tell him dismissively.
He curses as I leave him behind, and I strain my hearing when I feel him siphon out of the room.
Turning on the shower, I zap myself downstairs, staying phantom and quiet as I eavesdrop on their conversation. I remain hidden in the billiard room beside Jude’s bedroom as the muffled voices get clearer.
“If it’s a trap, we’re dead,” Jude is saying.
It’s not a trap—if they’re discussing the deal, that is. The more I think about it, the more I trust it to be true. Lucifer could have simply killed me if he truly wanted me dead. Then again, I suppose he could be playing some sort of game…
I’ve read a lot about the Royals—myself included. Games really are a huge piece of our personalities, though there’s no decidedly logical explanation as to why. Lack of conscience? No true motivation to take things very seriously?
“True, but why bother trapping us when he knows exactly where we are?” Ezekiel asks, bringing me back to the eavesdropping I’m supposed to be doing.
“Because all the previous attempts on our lives have been in vain. What if this is his smart-play to end the game once and for all?” Kai asks quietly.
“He could have done that in hell’s throat,” Ezekiel points out.
“He could have done that when he called us in for a meeting,” Gage adds.
“That’s before he knew Paca had no memories. Knowledge is power,” Jude drawls.
They all grow quiet for a second.
“Let’s say this is a trap, just to be safe. How do we play it?” Ezekiel asks.
So they do suspect Lucifer? Or this is just a precautionary measure? They’ve been trying to convince me it couldn’t be him. Just as I start agreeing with them, they change their minds?
Those moody sons of bitches. I think being moody is secretly their balance, despite all that other drivel about leashing emotions that Gage was going on about in the third trial.
I need a handbook: How to Sync Mensies with Your Harem.
“Then we fight our way out. She amplifies our power,” Gage points out.
“It strengthens our bond to her when we use her,” Ezekiel says quietly, his tone not telling me if that’s a good thing or terrible thing.
“Good,” Kai states flippantly. “The stronger the bond, the stronger we grow. Already I feel stronger than ever, and we apparently need to be at full strength to face whatever the hell is coming for us. Because we all feel it; something is coming.”
A dark chill slithers up my ghostly spine as I continue to listen. Something is definitely coming, I agree, mentally pretending I’m also a part of this important conversation.
“Then we’ll go tomorrow. Tonight, we try to forget we might die tomorrow,” Gage says on a groan.
“I’ll let Paca know once she’s out of the shower,” Ezekiel tells them.
I wait for a second to see if they’re going to object.
When I hear them walking out instead, I zap myself back upstairs and into the shower, leaving myself naked as I turn whole under the warm, inviting spray.
I’m not sure how long I’m in here, but when I’m finally done, I elect to wrap up in a towel instead of turning phantom and cheating the drying process the way I usually do.
Sometimes it’s nice to do the work yourself.
With my hair still wet and the towel tightly bound around my middle, I step out into my room, and—
A scream almost bubbles out of me, but a strong hand clamps around my mouth seconds before the towel is violently ripped away from my body. The only thing that stops me from going phantom is catching sight of Ezekiel in the mirror. He presses against my back as he shoves me forward, pushing me into the bed.
My damp body presses into the bedding, and my sound of surprise gets trapped in a muffled gasp.
Ezekiel stares down at me, even as he keeps one hand against my back, holding me in place, while his eyes rake over my body. He’s fully naked, standing behind me like a blond Adonis in need of something dark and sinful.
A sexy, sinister look gleams in his eyes when he catches my mirror-watching, and a smirk dons his lips as my stomach clenches in anticipation. Roughly, he shoves one hand in my hair, and another, more distinguished sound of surprise slips out of me as he tugs my head back, forcing my body to bow in compliance.
The second I squirm, he thrusts into me without warning, burying himself halfway inside before allowing me to fully bend again, giving himself a better angle for the next thrust. It’s just shy of painful, since I’m nowhere nearly wet enough. But the pain is exquisite.
He pulls back just a little and shoves himself inside me again, this time forcing himself all the way in. I try to move up on the bed, but he’s so damn strong that he just wrangles me in place, pulling my hair hard enough to make me cry out as he starts thrashing with violent control.
Sensationally powerless and exquisitely helpless, all I can do is watch him in the mirror.
His other hand clutches my hip, anchoring me to him as he takes what he wants. Almost angrily, his hips crash against my ass as he drives in and out. His teeth grit in concentration as he watches himself disappear inside me…and withdraw from my body…over and over, his speed building.
I’m so wet now that it’s an easy glide, and my body hums with so much desire that I start to ache. It feels too vulnerable. Too exposed. Too fucking good.
Each sound that tears from my throat is suppressed by my need to be quiet, worried one of the guys will come in and stop him. I’m too desperate to finish to risk that happening.
Movement to my right causes me to attempt to turn my head, but Ezekiel yanks at my hair harder, forcing me to remain right where he wants me. That blessed bite of pain only spikes the heat in my blood, stirring inside me with a vitalizing force.
“She’s fucking beautiful,” I hear Gage say quietly, though there’s a hint of menace in a statement that should sound far more endearing.
“Yes,” Ezekiel grits out as he continues to possess every current piece of me. “She is.”
Gage moves to be in front of us, his eyes on my face as he leans against the wall. He watches as Ezekiel savagely takes my body like it’s his to do with as he pleases. I’m too caught in the thrall to do anything but stare back, lost to sensation—both pain and pleasure bound into one divine package.
After freeing up a hand, I snake it between my thighs, causing Gage’s eyes to flare with heat as I aide in hurdling myself over that line.
“Fuck,” Ezekiel groans when my orgasm surprises me, peaking far too soon.
My eyes stay barely open, even as the pleasure crashes over me, around me, and through me. My gaze holds Gage’s while Ezekiel’s thrusts grow more insistent.
He releases my hair to grab onto my other hip. I almost feel hollow and empty in the very next second when he pulls out and spins me around.
My back drops to the bed as I try to process what’s going on, until he comes down on top of me again, letting me see the desperation on his face as he pushes back inside me and starts fucking me anew.
Gage suddenly grabs my hands, roughly pinning them to the bed above my head.
“Will you be able to?” he asks Ezekiel, which confuses the hell out of me, since I can’t follow a conversation and fully revel in all the incredible sensations going on at once.
Ezekiel’s answer seems to come in an incoherent string of words as his eyes roll back in his head and his hips jerk against me in short, hard motions. He gives another few lazy rolls of his hips, a look of relaxed bliss highlighting every hard feature on his face as it visibly softens.