Page 25 of Filthy Devil

Just his simple touch does that—it comforts me.

I tell him the truth. Bugsy caught me in the hall, he ordered me food, and then all these leather-vested friends of his appeared. When I’m finished telling him, I watch as his gaze flicks over my shoulder, and I know he’s looking at Rev.

“So what the fuck did you chat about?” he asks, his voice so low that I know nobody else heard him.

The conversations resume after the initial surprise of seeing him walk into the room. But I’m under no illusion that they’re not all trying to hear what we’re saying anyway. Men are just as gossipy as women.

“Nothing much. Mostly where I’m from, where they’re all from,” I say with a shrug.

Purposely, I leave out Rev and the naked pole comment, mainly because I don’t think Nash would take that very well. Judging by his wild eyes as he looks around, I’m certain he would not take that well at all.

Worrying my bottom lip, I look up into his eyes. I want so badly to ask him if we can leave, but we aren’t in that place, especially after he caught me trying to play games with him. I wish I could take all of that back.

I feel like the biggest idiot on the planet for that. I wish I could start over. I would never even think about manipulating him in any way, not really. I should have known that he was too smart for that shit.

The other guys… maybe not. But Nash is, without a doubt.

Nash dips his chin in a single nod, and then something happens. Something shifts. He releases his grasp on my wrist and takes a step backward. Without a word, he bends slightly and shoves his shoulder into my stomach before he picks me up off the ground, just like he did in that truck trailer a few days ago.

With a hand on my ass, the other arm wrapped around my thighs, he has me in a fireman’s carry. “Good night, guys,” he calls out.

The other men say good night as well, although I don’t say a word. I don’t even wave. What I do is close my eyes and let out a heavy sigh of contentment. I can smell him—leather and oil, cedarwood, and Nash.

A door slams, and then he slides my body down the front of his. I can feel every hard muscle on my descent. I can’t help but think about that hard muscle naked and pressed against my equally naked body.

When his eyes find mine and my feet touch the floor, I lift my hand and cup his cheek. Scratching my nails against his jaw, I press my lips together and roll them back and forth as I look up at him.

CHAPTER

TEN

JAMES

Inwardly,I beg for him to touch me. Outwardly, I don’t say a single word. His gaze is searching mine, but I don’t know what he sees or, rather, what he’s looking for. It’s clear to me that something is on his mind. I know what’s on my mind, and I’m wearing far too many clothes at the moment for it.

“Do you think that by flirting with my men, you’re going to get anything from me?” he asks. His voice is low, his tone deadly.

He’s serious.

Like, actually serious.

Instead of staunchly defending myself, which would appear a little too desperate, I arch a brow as I continue to look into his eyes. I’m not here to convince him of anything. He’s the one who brought me here. He’s the one who has made it clear that my future is uncertain.

“Even if I was, what does it matter?” I ask.

I watch in awe as his jaw clenches and a muscle ticks in his cheek at the same time. His skin turns a bright shade of pinkthen deepens to dark red. I watch him with amazement but also fear.

The reality is that I don’t know him, and I have no idea what he’s capable of aside from taking a girl from a trailer and giving her some great orgasms and a place to live.

Sucking in a breath, I hold it, waiting for him to speak. He’s pissed off, but I’m not sure he has any right to be.

Nash’s fingers curl around the front of my throat, and he holds me firmly but gently as he looks into my eyes. “You want to be passed around from man to man? I can arrange that,” he growls.

My body trembles, not because he’s hurting me in any way, but at the thought of being passed around to those men in the room. That is exactly what I do not want. I can’t help but wonder if that’s my fate anyway.

I signed that stupid contract, which meant that whoever bought me could do what they wanted with me. Just because I was told it would be an arranged marriage doesn’t mean that’s what it was, and I was stupid enough to blindly agree.

“No, I don’t,” I whisper.

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