Page 40 of Cage

I groan and press my fingers to my eyes. Jesus. When did my brothers become a bunch of gossiping hens? I love them more than I can ever express, but damn, they test my patience sometimes. Especially Rylan. He’s lucky he’s so goddamn loyal because otherwise, I might actually worry about him going afterEmber. Then I’d have to kill him, which would be hard to explain to the rest of the family.

Before I can curse them all out, Ember walks in, her fingers twined together. I suppose coming in here can be a bit intimidating. It’s a lot of men, and we aren’t the average kind of guys. We’re all damaged. While some of us wear our scars on the inside, many of us wear them on the outside as well, making other people a little wary. We also carry ourselves differently. Years of training have made us paranoid, on guard, always watching for danger, and on edge. Gotta be ready for anything at any time. The last thing I want is for her to be afraid of us, though. Especially me. Every one of us would give our lives to protect her. She just doesn’t know it yet.

“Come here, firefly,” I say gently as I pull out her chair.

A rosy blush appears on her cheeks as she glances around the room. No one blinks an eye at me using her nickname.

As soon as she sits, I push her in and then sit beside her. “That’s Roman over there. And Jasper is the pale, tattooed vampire-looking dude over there.”

Ember’s mouth drops open as she looks down the table toward my brother. I’m not sure if it’s because of my description of him or because of how fucking scary Jasper is, but then she elbows me in the ribs and glares.

“That wasn’t very nice to say. He doesn’t look like a vampire,” she whispers. “Well, I mean, he kind of has Edward Cullen vibes, but still. That was rude.”

A slow smirk spreads over my face as I watch her nose wrinkle as she scolds me. Fucking cute little thing.

Mine.

All mine.

Fuck. Nope. She’s not.

Not mine.

Thankfully, Jasper interrupts my thoughts.

“Nice to meet you, Ember. Rylan has told me so many nice things about you,” he says while fighting to keep from smiling.

“Jesus, are you trying to start shit, asshole?” Rylan asks, throwing his hands in the air.

“Hey, no swearing. I’m taking away one of your Good Boy Points,” Rowie says.

Rylan shoots her a look. “Try me, brat. Next time I take away some of your Good Girl Points, I’m taking double.”

Rowie scoffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “Rude.”

Ember giggles from beside me, my entire mood lifting with the sound. Hearing that sweet sound is like therapy straight to my soul. So sweet. Angelic. Mine.

“Let’s eat,” Dom announces.

The room grows louder with multiple conversations while we fill our plates, and Ember leans over with a mischievous expression.

“Maybe I should start taking away your Good Boy Points when you do something irritating,” she says quietly.

I raise my eyebrows and lower my face so it’s level with hers. “The only one giving and taking away points here will be me, Little one. And if you don’t watch your sassy self, you might find some points taken away before dinner’s over.”

Her pupils dilate, and she licks her lips at the same time, her tongue peeking out just slightly. My cock grows hard.

She likes the idea of that.

So. The. Fuck. Do. I.

Maybe I need to make her a chart for while she’s here.

This is all temporary, so why not make the most of it?

“Why do you guys always eat dinner together?”

It’s been four days since I found Ember in her bed talking to her stuffed dragon. Four long days and even longer nights. I’ve taken so many cold showers, but it doesn’t matter. My cock is constantly hard around her. My next resort will be ice baths, though I don’t think it will matter how freezing the water is; being around Ember gets my blood racing right to my balls. I’m desperate for her. It’s an out-of-control feeling that makes me uneasy.

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