Page 218 of Psycho Beasts

Cobra grabbed Xerxes’s ponytail and shoved him to the floor. Playing along, he sprawled across it like he was scared.

Cobra’s cheekbones could cut glass as red shadows painted his glittering jewels and the wicked V that framed his abdominals.

An otherworldly god.

He dug his fingers into his belt buckle and pulled out a whip that I hadn’t noticed coiled against his thigh.

With a dramatic movement, he snapped his wrist, and the long tail cracked through the air. His arm swung forward, and it slashed across Xerxes’s chest, leaving a long trail of red.

Xerxes moaned with pleasure but quickly concealed his expression with a wince.

Cobra cracked it again.

The crowd roared with excitement, loving the violence.

For a second, it was a belt that cracked through the air; my flesh that was split in two; my blood that ran down my chest after a merciless beating.

I gasped shallowly.

There wasn’t enough oxygen in the room.

Jax’s warm hands grabbed my throat and tipped my head back.

He kissed me roughly but pulled back to whisper in my ear, “You’re okay. We got you. No one is going to hurt you. It’s all a show.”

I kissed him back, gasping, “Please don’t let him whip me.”

A roar rumbled through his chest as his hands cradled me softly while his mouth pillaged aggressively. When he pulled back for air, he whispered, “Never. We planned to do this to Xerxes, remember?”

I nodded, but it was a lie.

I’d been so worried about Aran that I’d made a serious mistake by not paying attention to what the men had planned.

Fuck me and my horrible attention span.

Breathing deeply, I reminded myself that they would never hurt me.

Even while Cobra sneered, cracking the whip across Xerxes’s flesh, the shadow snake sent me images of cuddling and warmth.

This was Cobra, Jax, Ascher, and Xerxes. I trusted them, and our lives were at stake.

“I can do this,” I whispered back to Jax.

He kissed me once more, then nodded at the other men.

Cobra threw his hands in the air and bellowed to the crowd, “Who wants to see an omega fuck an alpha?”

Screams sounded, and the platform shook from the roar of response.

Cobra cracked the whip loudly.

Cobra was a show master in his element.

Shifters screamed as his gorgeous face sneered; he oozed sex, depravity, and violence.

Jewels shimmering under the lights. He was demonic.

He slammed the whip across the omega’s chest, red welts blossoming, blood spraying.

---