Page 61 of Serpentine

She finally steadies her head, focusing her heady eyes on me. “Both?”

I approach, looming over her as she cranes back to look at me. She licks the sweat off her lips and then parts them, letting the slightest breath expel.

“What am I going to do with you?” I ask, gripping the back of her hair and tugging her body backward.

She squeaks as her hold on the bench snatches away from her. She’s rocking backward, my hold keeping her from falling.

I run my eyes over Blaze’s work. It’s the best one he’s done yet. He knew it was necessary, getting each signet line correct on her flesh.

“You’re ours now, Bambi,” I tell her, lifting her but keeping my lips close to hers. “How does that make you feel?”

“So much. Too much,” she admits.

“Explain. I think I can keep up.”

“Well, I can’t explain it,” she says, looking around at nothing as if she’s diving deep into herself to figure out how she feels. “I should be afraid. Scary men just tattooed me and used orgasm control against me, and I’m certain you have more you’re going to do to me, as well. But I’m not afraid. I’m oddly satisfied by having this mark, by knowing I’m someone’s.”

“Knowing that someone wants you. That you belong to them,” I finish for her, and she nods.

Blaze had wrapped her tattoo and sealed its edges off. That was a good thing, too. Otherwise, the sweat moving across her skin would cause a sting on her flesh as we speak.

“Bambi, you betrayed me…”

She whimpers. “I never thought you’d call me that again. It made me so sad.” A sob chokes out. “How fucked up am I?”

I chuckle softly, tipping her head back to look down at her as I straighten. “Only as fucked up as the rest of us, I guess. But you betrayed me, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to trust you again.”

“That’s the worst punishment of all.”

I smile menacingly. “Oh, you’ll get your punishment. That’s not it.”

Fear licks across her features, and I revel in it momentarily.

“You want to do this for us?” I ask. I need to know. I must look at her as she answers, even if she has already talked to Miles.

She nods, unwavering in her stare. “I need it as much as you two do. I need to know my legacy. Know him.”

Her father. We always assumed she was close to him and that she was the one who stood to inherit it all and become the next issue.

“It’ll be grueling. You’ll need to be careful. If you’re caught, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”

She swallows. “You think your mom found something out about him? Some dirt?”

I nod. “I do.”

“You think my dad…” she trails off.

“Killed her. Yes, we do.”

Her body language shifts as she sits a little straighter.

“You don’t think he has it in him?” I have to ask. I have to know what she thinks. If there’s any portion of her that’s too biased to carry out being back in her world.

She shakes her head absently. “I don’t know the man, Braxton. I truly don’t. I wasn’t the son he wanted, and that’s all I know. I was a pawn in his game.”

Nothing about her vibe feels off. I don’t feel she’s lying, and it has my body settling some.

But there’s still a thrum inside me I can’t ignore. One that needs to see her pay for what she did, even if she gets a slight thrill from the payment owed.

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