Page 33 of Resolve
Jackson slips his hands under the hoodie. His icy fingertips press into my hips, making me gasp. It feels amazing against my hot skin, and I squirm beneath his touch. “She’s been drinking,” he snitches. My traitorous body clenches at the sound of his husky voice as if he’d whispered a sensual secret in my ear instead of outing me to Aiden.
“Traitor,” I mutter, then stop breathing entirely when he shifts his cool fingers lower. The movement’s hidden by his large hoodie, but the simmering heat in Aiden’s gaze tells me he noticed anyway.
“If you’ll excuse us,” Elias interjects. A couple of others have joined us, and Portia is now dangling over the shoulder of someone else before they disappear through the door. “We’ll be taking our leave for today and will you see tomorrow, as discussed.” His gaze lands on me. “Raegan. Your apartment is always open if you want it.” He looks between Aiden and Jack, then offers me a polite smile. “Have a good evening.”
Aiden gives him a curt nod before he exits, leaving the three of us alone. “Well, then,” he starts in a seductive croon. “Let’s take her to the Loft and find a fitting punishment.”
Chapter twelve
Raegan
Adoorcrashesopen,followed by Dane exclaiming, “What the fuck? Is that Rae?”
I kick my feet again, struggling to get free of Aiden, even if it means falling on my ass. My attempts at cussing him out are muted by the gag and the shirt they'd used to cover my head, and my hands are cuffed behind my back.
Aiden doesn’t stop moving. I haven’t heard Jackson since he blinded me with my shirt, giving me a final smirk as my last view before covering me in darkness, but I’m sure he’s still here.
I’m tossed backward and land with a soft bounce.
Knuckles crack. “What’ve we got here?” Kellan.
My shirt is removed, and my hair flies wildly around me in that swift motion. Rocking my body to the side and onto my knees to face them, I bite down on the cloth gag and seek out Aiden, teeth bared in a snarl. All four men stand at the foot of my bed, watching me with different expressions.
Jackson cocks his head and smirks at me as if this is exactly the result he’d hoped for when ratting me out to Aiden. Like he’s seeinga plan in his mind come to fruition at last.
Aiden is next to him, his jacket removed, and sleeves rolled to his elbows. He’s wearing a look of firm disapproval that would make me smile if I wasn’t so pissed at the way he’d restrained and kidnapped me.
Kellan grins at me wide enough to see the sharp points of his canines. He looks like a man about to feast on me—his favorite dish.
Dane’s at the end, worry in his amber gaze as if he might dive between me and the others if he thinks I’m in trouble.
“Someone with complete disregard for her own safety,” Aiden replies smoothly. He tugs the gag free to drop around my neck. “Care to share what you did?”
“Get fucked, Aiden,” I snap.
His smile is dripping with arrogance when he pinches my chin. “That’s exactly what we’re here for. You told me you could handle all four of us, isn’t that right?”
I gawk at him. “This is your punishment? Sex?”
“Are you holding to that sentiment?” he fires another question instead.
My eyes narrow suspiciously. “Yes.”
He releases me. “Jack. Her clothes.”
Aiden moves to the head of the bed and out of sight while Jackson steps forward with a knife and a smile that would be terrifying to anyone else on the receiving end of it. For me, that dangerous light in his eyes makes me tremble with anticipation rather than fear. He pinches the neckline of the hoodie and holds his knife there—the tip hovering at the base of my throat.
His gaze goes from his knife to my eyes, holding me captive and breathless in that instant as if time stands still.
I don’t move; don’t flinch or look away when his blade cuts through the fabric a hairsbreadth away from my skin. I hold his dark stare with defiance as he strips away the hoodie and my bra.
Aiden tugs the sleeve and strap off one arm, then replaces it with something smooth and tight around my wrist before I realize the cuffs are gone. I yank on my other hand, but Aiden’s grip on my arm doesn’t budge when he repeats the steps on that side. The material around my wrists is cool and soft, unlike the hard metal of before. Silk. Attached to a metal loop and then black paracord rope that ties to hooks protruding from the corner posts at the head of the bed.
“Arms up, and lie back,” he instructs—to me, I think—even though he and Jack move my body on either side to do it anyway. The sound of a small motor clicks on, and the rope tied to my silk cuffs pulls taut. Slowly, I’m dragged up the bed. Aiden stops me at its center.
“Her pants,” Aiden directs next. This time, Kellan obliges, unbuttoning and then hooking my underwear to pull them down until I’m completely naked before them.
I tug at the ropes, testing the slight give they still allow me. It isn’t enough to reach anything, but comfortable enough that my hands rest on the pillows above me. “You know these can’t hold me,” I comment mildly. I’m still unconvinced this is a punishment. Curiosity has replaced the initial sweep of anger; lust and alcohol fusing a flush of warmth in my veins.
