Page 2 of Shattered Jewel

I’m forced to look away from Kaspian first when my eyes roll back as Cav’s finger finds a spot inside me, sending waves of radiance over my vision. I cry out, moaning incoherently as Cav laps up what remains of me, the world blurring under the weight of their demands, losing myself completely to the sensations they so expertly elicit.

I don’t try to resist anymore. I want them all. But there’s a lingering unease.

How can I be so aroused and still want to run away, to escape these men who’ve taken my body and mind hostage?

Another orgasm comes, ripping the worry away and following the path Cav maps out with his mouth and fingers.

It’s a struggle to draw in breath when Cav finally stops. He helps me flip onto my back, still trembling with the orgasm. I reach up to touch him, traces of me glistening on his lips, but he grabs my wrist, his fingers digging in painfully.

Wilder elbows in, taking Cav’s place between my legs and running a single finger along the slick folds of my entrance. His touch is too hard—like he’s staking his claim.

I squirm away, gasping when he slaps my thigh.

The sharp sting jolts me out of the haze of ecstasy. I wrench out of Cav’s hold and scramble off the bed, grabbing the blanket on the floor and wrapping it around me.

Kaspian takes another slow sip of his scotch, still watching from the bar. His eyes are bored, but his grin is diabolical as he finally speaks up.

“Do you think we’re little boy virgins in cloaks, chanting with our candles and Ouija boards in our mothers’ basements and singing devil’s hymns?” Kaspian asks with faint traces of amusement on his lips. “No, beastie. We are from the underworld, honed to inflict pain, trained to torment anyone deemed an enemy by the Sovereigns. And for our failures, we suffer punishments equal to our transgressions, which we’ve now passed on to you.”

In a simple blink, these men can turn into executioners, uncaring of whose head is on their block.

Even if it’s mine.

“You’ve never truly seen us at work,” Cav adds, his mouth and chin sheening with my arousal. He hasn’t bothered to wipe it away. “All you know is our talents in pleasure. We possess pain in equal measure, and you’ve been deliberately separated from it. Don’t make us further prove this to you.”

Stupid, stupid girl. How could you think they’d be anything more?

I flinch away from the cruel internal voice.

The sound of the initiates below, lost in their partying vices, streams into Cav’s lavish bedroom, filling the air with moans, laughter, and clinking liquor bottles.

But all I can focus on is the erratic pounding of my heart.

Axe moves to shut out the cold wind from the balcony with a flick of his wrist against the open French doors. Wilder helps to resettle the blanket around my body, bringing with it a warmth I can no longer feel.

It’s uncharacteristically gentlemanly of Wilder to maintain my modesty, and he proves that when he unleashes his half-cocked smirk and slides his palms down my arms as he smooths the cashmere. His touch, once familiar and pleasurable, sends a shudder through me that I struggle to suppress, blinking back tears.

Clutching the blanket tightly around my shoulders, I face Kaspian squarely, searching his face for the answers I deserve.

I get nothing in return.

It’s with a mixture of indignation and disbelief that I whisper, “I did what you wanted. Now you owe me. How do you know Maverick broke the ruby in half? And why would you ever believe he was killed for it?”

Kaspian doesn’t react. His gimlet eyes hold mine as he responds over the rim of his drink, “I have my ways. But trust me when I say that the Sovereigns will stop at nothing to find where he hid the other half.”

Frustration bubbles up like acid, searing any remnants of desire until it’s nothing but ribbons of smoke. This isn’t a joke, even though it’s clearly amusing to them.

“Maverick was my brother,” I manage to say, my tears blurring the four men surrounding me. “He was only 21 when he died. Younger than any of you here. He had less than a year at TFU before his murder. I?—”

I cut myself off with a gulp. This year, I’ll be older than him.

The realization nearly undoes me.

Kaspian studies me for a moment. Is he feeding off my pain or empathizing with my grief? His granite expression refuses to hint at either.

Finally, he sighs. “I suppose I do owe you a reward for doing what you were told and being our dirty, obedient darling. There’s more to the Heart than meets the eye. It holds power, ancient and deep-rooted.”

Oh, that is it.

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