Page 12 of Hers To Keep

“Yeah, you girls were trespassing. Intruders beware,” says Alek, with a condescending glare. God, he’s an asshole. Not sure why but out of all the Horsemen, even Ace, Alek gives me a bad vibe. He’s the most loyal of the four, the one who never questions his master, and I have a feeling his loyalty to Wesley Servite is stronger than his loyalty to Ace or the rest of the guys.

“Well, maybe put up a sign next time, Beware Rabid Dogs,” Jade sneers, causing Alek’s scowl to deepen, his blond shaggy hair falling in long layers around his face, as he huffs out a deep breath. I chuckle to myself, remembering when I first called him one of Ace’s dogs and his scowl from then, almost identical to the one he wears now. I suddenly stop when Jade turns her attention back to me, leaning in closer.

“Everything okay?” she whispers in my ear. I cringe at her question, so many answers running through my mind–not one of them is the one I’ll tell her. I’m screaming internally, yelling no at the top of my lungs. But on the outside, my expression remains blank. My heart drops to my feet, my blood ice cold as it races through my veins up to my head, and bile in my throat threatensto come out. But my mind reminds me of the crime I bore witness to.

Chandler Wolfe is dead.

Killed.

Buried six feet under, thrown into the sea, or burned to a crisp.

He’s gone. Jade’s father is gone and with him, so is the hope of ever finding her brother Roman.

I could never tell her what I know, what I saw. A secret that will destroy her if she ever finds out. Jade’s always been indifferent to others. She’s closed off, doesn’t show, or share her feelings and emotions, and in love, she’s incredulous. Everyone she’s ever cared about has left her, forgotten her. Everyone except me, but if she finds out, when she finds out what I am keeping from her, it’ll be her who leaves me.

“Yeah, sis, just a long couple of days. Ace’s family is intense to say the least,” I reply, shifting nervously beside her, my palms sweating at my sides.

“Ugh, tell me about it, his sister is insufferable-always lurking in the shadows. Carrington and Kinsley haven’t shut up since they arrived, but Wynter, she’s just been pouting around with her permanent resting bitch face,” Jade says, rolling her eyes and throwing her arm over my shoulder. Together we walk up the steps, Horsemen in tow, when suddenly, I stop in my tracks, realizing what she’s said.

“Wait, whentheyarrived?”

“Yeah, the pretentious, prissy ass queens are here. Didn’t you know? I figured that’s why you took longer to get here.” I turn, instantly glaring toward a very smiley Ace.

“Didn’t I mention this was my family’s cabin, as in my sister's? Couldn’t really deny her an invitation, could I?”

“Thought you were a ruthless king; your word is law and all that bullshit. Guess you’re not so powerful after all.” His smile turns to an irritated scowl, and now it’s me who smirks back at him.

The inside of the cabin is just as luxurious as the exterior. High ceilings, wooden beams, brick accents, and floor to ceiling windows envelop us in a coat of opulence. A large wooden staircase leading to the second floor, sits behind a brick fireplace with a wide screen TV hanging above it, two large brown leather couches in front of it, and a long chaise beside the window overlooking the dark woods. A fully stocked bar sits to the left, beside the kitchen and dining room, which leads out to the backyard.

“This place is…”

“Incredible,” Ace says from beside me.

“I was going to say flashy, but sure, that too."

“Come with me, Red, and I’ll show you to our room.” I turn and glare at him, raising a brow, silently laughing. He honestly thinks I’m going to share a bed with him after everything that’s happened. He meets my glare with one of his own, smirking deviously and answering my unspoken question.

Yeah, Red, we’re sharing a room, a bed, and everything in between.

I decide to not fight him about our room situation in front of the others who’ve come inside and joined us, so instead I follow him like the good little girlfriend he expects me to be, as he leads me up the stairs. Ignoring the whistling coming from the Horsemen down below, we arrive at a wide, two-sided hallway, leading to about five different rooms.

“This is where the guys and I have our rooms. To the left are Bass, Alek, and Beck. My room is to the right, along with a theater room. Downstairs is where your friends, my sister and her friends are staying. The upstairs is strictly for us and whoever will join us for the night.” He moves closer to me, grabbing my hands and pulling me toward him. “You’re mine for the week,” he whispers across my neck.

I pull my hands out of his grasp, placing them on his chest and shoving him back toward one door on the right. His back slams loudly into it, but he doesn’t even flinch.

Stepping on my tippy toes, I bring my face up to meet him, my mouth an inch away from his, so close I can taste him on my tongue. “You may have convinced me to come here, threatened me to keep your dirty little secret,” he licks his lips, smirking at my fury. “But you are clearly demented if you think I’d ever share anything other than a room with you.”

Without warning, he wraps an arm around my waist turning me and caging me in against the door, his body hovering heavily over me. I bite down on my lip when a rush of pain from the doorknob hitting my lower back rushes through me. He carefully brings a hand to rest on the door beside my face, the other still wrapped around me, as he lowers his head to my neck, licking the heated skin in slow, sensual circles. My body shifts in his hold, a blistering heat rushing to my middle as he bites down on the soft skin of my chin, using his mouth to lift my face to meet his.

“You’re mistaken if you think you can stop me, or fight me, or resist me. You said so yourself, angel...” He licks my bottom lip, sinking his teeth deep into it. “I hold all the power here, and what I want, I get. You’re the only thing I need.” Before I can reply, his mouth comes down on me hard, taking with it any snarky comeback I had planned. His mouth devours me, his lips swallowing mine, his tongue moving viciously inside while strong hands move down to grip my hips, while his fingers savagely dig into the sensitive skin above my leggings. He pushes into me, never once letting go of my lips, his hard cock digging into me, making me gasp desperately in his mouth. I feel his lips curl up at my reaction, a teasing smirk now covering his face. “Your body betrays you, and that filthy little mouth of yours can’t hide what it really wants,” he whispers into the dip between my breasts.

Now it’s my turn to laugh. Ace is cocky and so fucking sure of himself, and that right there is his weakness. As much as I want to, I can’t deny what being so close to him does to me. It’s biology. The pheromones he exudes are too tempting for my overly hormonal, teenage body. It is what it is, but my mind can’t be aseasily tricked. I know what type of man he is. The evil he is capable of, what he’s done.

I open my eyes slowly, fluttering my lashes, and giving him my sultriest gaze. His reaction is instant, his body going tense against mine, his eyes dilating as he looks down at my tongue coming out to lick my bottom lip, and I feel his erection harden as it grinds against me.

“You may take what you want on the outside, but you’ll never have what’s inside, and for a man who needs to have everything, that will be your downfall.” I reach up, once again standing on my tippy toes and place a chaste kiss on his lips, letting my mouth linger on his for longer than planned. His intoxicating scent lingering between us almost making me forget what it is I planned to say next. “Don’t be fooled, Ace, no one willingly follows the devil to hell.” Without glancing back at him, I turn and grasp the doorknob, but his heavy hand lands on mine before I can turn it.

“Little do you know, Red, I’ve already laid claim to every single inch of you, inside and out,” he whispers breathlessly in my ear. With his free hand, he runs his fingers up my back under my sweater, the calloused tips leaving goosebumps in their wake. “And after I’ve decided I’ve had my fill of you, you’ll be begging me to drag you back down.”

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