Page 54 of Cold Bastard
Arms wrapped around me before I made it three steps, catching me mid-lunge.
Strong. Unyielding. Unbreakable.
Scythe was on my left, his fingers digging into my bicep. Wanderer on my right, his arm locked across my chest like a steel band. They hauled me backward, their grips like iron shackles, their voices shouting in my ears, distant at first, then growing louder as they tried to break through the haze consuming me.
“Nano, stop!”
“Brother, you need to calm the fuck down!”
But I couldn’t. Their words didn’t even register. Calm wasn’t an option when every cell in my body screamed at me to go to her. To hold her, to make her mine. I fought against them; my muscles strained and burned. My breath came in ragged gasps as I tried to break free. My boots scraped against the ground as they dragged me back, but I kept pushing forward, fighting their hold with everything I had.
Alex’s head snapped up at the commotion, her eyes locking on mine with an intensity that hit me like a physical blow. And for one brief, terrible moment, I saw it.
Her fear. Her confusion. Her acceptance and the realization that I was completely out of control.
Good.My thought was vicious. Possessive. Unhinged.Let her see what she is doing to me. Let her know she isn’t the only one breaking. Let her understand she crawled under my skin and made a home there, rotting me from the inside out.
My chest heaved with ragged breaths, my hands still clenched into fists at my sides, knuckles white and aching. The room felt too small, too hot, as the walls pressed in on all sides.
“Get him the fuck out of here!” Morpheus’ voice roared through the chaos like a whip, sharp and commanding. “Now!”
Scythe and Wanderer didn’t hesitate. They moved with practiced efficiency, flanking me on either side as they dragged me toward the door, my boots scraping against the floor as I fought them every step of the way, my body twisting and straining against their grip.
I couldn’t stop looking at her. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her face, from the way her lips parted slightly in shock, from the pulse hammering visibly in her throat. I couldn’t stop seeing the way her body had trembled when I stood over her in the basement, caging her in, breathing her air. I couldn’t stop remembering the wet spot on her jeans, dark and damning. The involuntary orgasm that had ripped through her despite everything. How I spent the night jacking off to images of her beautiful face.
The proof that I was just as broken as she was, just as twisted, just as utterly and completely fucked.
Chapter Eighteen
Alex
They dragged him away.
I watched it happen, watched as Scythe and Wanderer hauled Nano toward the door, his boots scraping against the concrete, his body fighting them with every step even though he had to know it was pointless.
My mind struggled to process it. One second, he had been standing over me, his presence suffocating, his eyes promising violence. The next, he lunged at that girl, the one who had been next to him, and wrapped his hand around her throat.
Not me.Her.
And the brothers had pulled him off. Restrained him. Dragged him away like he was the threat, like he was the one who needed to be controlled.
Why?The question burned through my confusion, sharp and insistent.
He had been given permission. Morpheus had handed me over like property, like something to be used and discarded.She’s all yours, brother.So why the fuck had he attacked someone else?
Why had he—“You.”
The word cut through my spiraling thoughts like a blade as I looked up.
Morpheus was staring at me, and the look in his eyes made every nerve in my body scream,run.
I didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate. I scrambled backward, my boots slipping on the concrete as he stormed toward me, his face twisted with fury, his hand already reaching for me.
Shit. Shit, move—but I wasn’t fast enough as his hand closed around my throat and lifted me off the ground with terrifying ease. My back slammed into the wall hard enough to knock the air from my lungs, my feet dangling uselessly as his grip tightened.
I clawed at his wrist, my nails digging into his skin, my breath coming in short, desperate gasps. And then I felt it.
The cold metal between my legs.
