Page 87 of Shattered Jewel

Cav strides towards me, his presence dominating the space between us. “It’s the safest place for us right now. Your brother’s intel changes everything.”

Kaspian nods, setting his glass down with a clink. “Your family’s estate is secluded, defensible. It’ll serve our purposes well enough.”

I bite the side of my cheek. Hard. The thought of these men, these dangerous, unpredictable men, living under the same roof as me, sends tremors in places inside me that I didn’t even know they could travel to.

As a last resort, I look to Axe, pleading evident in my eyes. But he gives a slight nod, confirming his brothers’ words.

Worse, I can’t deny the logic behind their decision.

“Fine,” I concede. “But we need ground rules. This isn’t going to be some kind of frat house.”

Kaspian arches an eyebrow. “You think so little of us?”

I meet his stare head-on. “I don’t know what to think of you. Any of you.”

“Good. We’ve lingered long enough.” Kaspian’s sharp tone cuts through my insult, molten green eyes purposefully staying on mine. “You still need to show us the remainder of the manor’s ... defenses, which we’ll keep up, since they are oddly effective against any intrusion.”

My mind reluctantly catalogues everything my mother installed throughout the mansion. The tripwires. The concealed poison-coated spikes. The fake doorways leading to nowhere. The floorboards rigged to collapse beneath the weight of a man. Remnants of my mother’s brilliant, yet troubled, mind, designed to push her imaginary intruders to their limits.

The thought of explaining these lethal surprises to four highly combustible men while wearing nothing but a sheer nightgown is overwhelming, but there’s no one else left to do it.

“Alright,” I agree with a drawn-out sigh. “But you need to stay close and do exactly as I say.”

Wilder leans against the wall and folds his arms, exposing a tantalizing glimpse of toned forearms. “Then you’d better take point, sweetwitch. Unless you require some...” His tongue darts out to graze his lower lip. “Motivation.”

The blatant challenge resonates straight to my core. Rising to meet it, the corners of his lips curl into a half-smile that sends a familiar jolt down my spine, stirring something within me. I’ve spent so much time dreading them, fearing the havoc they’ve brought into my life, but there’s no denying their allure.

I clear my throat of non-existent phlegm. “Let’s get to it then. There are eight on this floor. The first one is?—”

Cav moves closer, his cologne mixing with the antiseptic coating his abdomen.

“We’re not just going to walk through,” he says. His eyes blaze with a wickedness that no Sovereign will ever be able to carve out of him.

His attention shifts to Wilder, who smiles over the rim of his drink. “It’s called turning lemons into lemonade, doll.”

My heartbeat stutters as realization dawns. They plan to make their living here an occasion for... games.

The sort of games men like them play.

A shiver dances across my skin as I turn to the hallway. “Try to keep up, then.”

“I have a feeling you’re going to enjoy being in charge far too much, little witch,” Wilder rumbles behind me.

“If you’re so confident,” I toss over my shoulder, trying to keep my voice steady, “why don’t we make a challenge out of it? Each trap you successfully navigate earns you a reward.”

Cav’s ice-blue eyes flicker with interest as he moves beside me. “And what might those rewards be?”

My body instinctively responds to his proximity.

Heat creeps up my neck. Inwardly cursing myself for showing how easily they can turn me on, I put space between us by striding into the lead. “Let’s begin.”

They follow silently, apex predators stalking their cute, fluffy prey.

I deliberately trigger the first tripwire, unleashing a barrage of darts which I nimbly avoided by dropping down.

But of course, their reflexes are faster than mine, their lithe bodies already hunched near the floor. But Wilder and Axe share a white-hot look as my short nightgown rides up over my admittedly pert derriere.

“Eyes front, boys,” I say with a half-trembling smile. “You’ll need your focus for this next one.”

---