Page 71 of You Belong With Me

Christian tilts her chin up and slowly leans forward to nip at her bottom lip with his teeth. I get the sense he’s doing it as a test, to see what she’ll do.

Her eyes flutter closed, and she remains perfectly still, her hands balled into fists at her sides. It looks like she wants to run, but manages to keep herself stationary somehow.

Interesting.

My brother lingers for a minute, then steps back, his nostrils flared, jaw clenched tight. If you’ve ever seen an addict take their first hit of a drug—the spark, the sudden awakening—that’s lookin my brother’s eyes right now. That small sample of her has already hit his bloodstream, and he’s hooked.

And can I blame him? Sex and revenge, what’s not to like about that?

“Take your shirt off,” he commands.

I lift my hands. “I’m out. Let me know how this shakes out.”

Christian lifts his hand and snaps at me.Snapsat me. The asshole. “Ah, hold up. Let’s see if this chick is serious.” He turns his gaze back to Eden, and flicks his chin at her, urging her to do as she’s been told.

Her gaze skirts over each face in the room, silently begging us to intervene. But, hey, the bitch said she’d doanything, right? Her words.

When it’s clear no one is coming to her rescue, she swallows and reaches for the bottom of her pink-knitted sweater. Underneath, she’s wearing nothing but a bra. She drops the sweater on the floor beside her.

Christian’s gaze drills into her. “Bra, too.”

This is the true test. She licks her lips, and pulls in a deep breath, like she’s trying to steady her nerves. She looks afraid, and she should be. She’s stripping down in front of a bunch of guys who’d rip her apart for a bit of Saturday night fun, then discard her.

Eden reaches behind her back slowly, hesitantly, and unhooks her bra. It sags on her shoulders, and when she slowly starts pulling it off, Christian snatches it the rest of the way, speeding her up. He tosses the bra onto the floor next to her sweater while his hungry gaze eats her up.

Ever since the ambush, something in Christian has shifted. Gone is his usual charming, laid-back attitude. He’s angry now, and that anger has brought out a ruthlessness I’ve never seen in him before. He’s been hell-bent on revenge, and if this chickis offering him an outlet for all that bloodthirsty rage, then God help her. He’s going to eat this bitch alive.

“Should we give you two some privacy?” I ask with a sigh.

Ignoring my comment, Ash pushes off the wall and steps up to Eden. “How do we know your brother hasn’t sent you here?”

She shakes her head, and in her defense, she looks even more terrified than she was before. Like a field mouse stepping up to a lion. But, instead of cowering, she straightens her spine and pulls her shoulders back. “He’d murder me if he knew I was here.”

Ash lifts a brow, his eyes roving over her tits openly. “Then why come?”

“I’ve grown up in the society, and I know what you’ll do to my brother…” she says.

“And what’s that?” I ask for shits and giggles.

She looks at me. “You’ll kill him.”

“And how do you know we won’t just kill you instead?” Christian asks.

Her gaze shifts to him. “I don’t know that. But I also know that in societies like these, codes of conduct are everything. And I haven’t done anything wrong, so you’d have no grounds to kill me.”

Shit, this chick is good.

Because it’s true. We kill people all the time, but it has to be justified. There are rules around it. And so far, this chick’s only offense is being related to a fucking psycho.

I lift my chin to her. “Wait in the hallway. We need to talk this over.”

She glances down at her sweater like she’s about to grab it, but Christian stops her. “Leave it,” he bites out. “If you’re going to be our whore, then get used to being naked.”

Fuck.The way my brother is eyeing this chick, you’d think her tits were lollipops just begging to be licked. This isn’t good.

With a little nod, she folds her arms in front of her, covering her breasts, then walks briskly across the room, and out the door.

I rake a hand over my face. “Well, what do you guys think? I vote no.”

---