“I’m not sure,” I lied. “Could be … a few people.”
“Who wants to hurt you?” she asked, her voice edging toward hysterical.
I shrugged, but it was another untruth. I knew exactly who wanted to hurt me. His name was Roger Cherlish, a Sadist at Inferno, a man I wanted nothing to do with but had little choice under the circumstances.
“We’ll figure this out,” Everly said sweetly, her hand covering mine.
I nodded, pulled away.
Her touch was painful. It made me want things I knew I couldn’t have. How I’d fallen in love with the woman, I would never know, but it had happened, and try as I might, I couldn’t seem to move past it. I knew there would never be anything between me and Everly, besides a mutual love and friendship. We were too alike for it to work in our favor, so I had never pursued her, choosing to be friends so that I could keep her in my life.
“How do you tell them apart?” I asked Everly, hoping to change the subject as I marched to my closet.
“Aside from the fact they’re night and day as far as personalities?” Her smile was sweet.
“Yes.” Since I’d yet to interact much with either of them, that wasn’t a distinction I was aware of.
“Isaac has a small birthmark on the back of his right hand, between thumb and forefinger.”
Ah. Well, that made sense. Otherwise, I suspected they were identical. Their faces certainly were. Both had dark brown hair, cut short on the sides with distinguishable sideburns, top slightly longer, combed to the right. They were clean-cut, handsome in the traditional sense. But it was the eyes that did it. Sparkling emeralds full of heat and light and…
Of course, the voice was a nice touch. Deep, low, with a distinct accent. Irish, perhaps Scottish. Wasn’t sure I’d be able to tell the difference. It held a lilt that sparked things inside me.
Yeah. Okay. Going a little too far.
I had no business fantasizing about the twin Doms. They belonged to Everly, or so I figured they would eventually. That was the way it always worked for me. I couldn’t seem to nail down one of my own. Not because I wasn’t attractive or obedient. I was. In spades.
However, I was also unconventional in what I wanted. People rarely understood my needs, so I didn’t share them often. I figured these two would come and go from my life long before any of that would ever even matter.
“Ready?” the deep voice sounded from the doorway.
I slipped into the bathroom, tossed in shampoo, body wash, shaving cream, razor. It would do for now. At least until I could come back here. If it weren’t for Everly, I wouldn’t be leaving, but I wasn’t willing to be without her. She needed me. Perhaps not in the same way she needed those Doms, but she did need me. Of that I was positive.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, one of the twins was standing there. I knew without looking at his hand that it was Ian, the one I’d spoken to on the phone and interacted with outside. He might’ve been identical in appearance to his brother, but there was something in his eyes that helped me differentiate.
“Yes, Sir,” I said simply, showing the respect this man commanded with a simple look.
While I wasn’t prone to calling all Doms by their respectful honorifics, I sensed something here. And I wanted to. Not out of obligation, but out of … desire. He was the type of man I’d longed for, the one I wanted to kneel before, to submit to on the deepest, most basic level. How I knew, I couldn’t explain.
“Come on, panda bear,” he directed.
I started to pass, then jerked my head to him. “Panda Bear? Really?”
He smirked. “PB, right?”
“Yeah.” But that was Everly’s pet name for me. No one else referred to me that way, thank God. “How did you know?”
“Wild guess.” He gestured for me to lead the way.
I hoisted the bag over my shoulder, gave the room a quick once-over before stepping in front of him and heading down the hall.
“I’ve checked the doors, windows. All’s secure,” Ian said. “You should consider getting an alarm.”
I nodded. I would. Once this was over. Everly had been attacked in this house. You’d bet your ass I would be ensuring her safety from here on out.
“Hand me your phone,” he instructed.
I paused by the door, dug my phone out of my pocket, unlocked with the passcode, and passed it over.
With skilled fingers, he found what he was looking for and typed something in, handed it back.
“Address entered in your maps app. Added my contact information, too.”
“Thank you, Sir,” I said, meeting his brilliant green gaze.
He stepped forward, tipped my chin with a brush of his finger. “I do like hearing you call me that.”
