Page 54 of Striker

That’s why I need to break into the other rooms and find her. We’re more logical together. We always have been. If we can just find each other, we can figure out what to do next.

Taking one last look around the kitchen, I turn around and scream, my hands flying to my mouth, my bottle of water hitting the floor with a thud and rolling to a stop at his boots.

Viper leans against the doorframe, arms crossed over his massive chest. “What are you up to, Sweetheart?”

I lick my lips, sucking in a breath, my eyes moving from his biceps to the fangs on his skull mask.

His turquoise eyes narrow when I don’t answer, and he pushes off the doorframe to stand at his full height. He’s not nearly as tall as the other men, but just as powerful. Maybe even more so, with a sculpted, broad chest and thick thighs. I flash on him in the club, his hand on my jaw as his cock slid in and out of my mouth. I wanted to touch him then, but Reaper and Striker had restrained me.

I want to touch those thighs now.

“Sweetheart?” Viper says, stalking closer. “Your eyes have that glazed look like you get when you come.”

He stops in front of me. I take a step back, remembering how rough he can be. I pushed him earlier this afternoon, but the other men were there. I don’t know what he’ll do if no one is around to stop him.

“Did pretty kitty forget how to speak?” he asks, gaze dropping to my hands.

I clutch at the dress, trying to control my breathing.He will not hurt me, I tell myself, but I don’t know if I fully trust that. Like Reaper, he has a darker edge to him, though I think his is streaked with something slightly more untamed.

“Don’t make me ask again,” he says.

I clench my jaw. I willnotbe intimidated by this man. He’s nothing compared to my father. Viper is just a large, sexy bully in a stupid mask that is currently trying to use his size to intimidate me into answering.

“I was thirsty,” I snap, unfurling my fingers from my dress, and I shove him aside. My hand lands on his thick arm, and damn him for the way it sends heat to my core. Whatever they did to me last night—hell, whatever they did to me in the club—has screwed me up mentally. I toss over my shoulder as I walk away, “Unless there are new rules, the last I checked, I am allowed to drink water without help.”

“Don’t lie to me, Sweetheart.” He grips my arm and spins me around, lowering his head to look into my eyes. This close, I can really see the vibrant color. Light blue, like turquoise gemstones, but woven with emerald green instead of rusted copper threads. My mother had loved the stone, once telling me it was one of the softness gems even though the blue color was created from traces of copper and the greener ones traces of iron.

Viper’s eyes are blue and green. Hard and soft.

“Where did you put it?”

I blink, biting my lip, too aware of his closeness and his familiar grip on my arm.

“Answer me, Sweetheart,” he says lowering his voice seductively. “We both know I’d love to give you a spanking.”

Jerking in his grip, I snap, “And we both know how much you wish it was Breaker’s ass you had your hands on.”

His eyes narrow and they no longer look soft or pretty. Viper tilts his head to the side, still holding me still with his gaze. “Where did you put it?”

Damn it.There is no way he saw me take the knife. Even if there are cameras in here, I was careful to hide it when I opened the drawers to peek inside, making it look like I was searchingfor food or a cup when I went rummaging through the cabinets, looking for a tool.

“Your criminal activities are making you paranoid,” I snap and twist out of his grasp, relief flooding me when I feel his fingers slip away and let me go.

The instinct to run eats at my gut, but I push it down as I stalk from the kitchen and head for the front of the house. As I walk past the dining room and the piano room, I can feel him at my heels, following just far enough behind to put me on edge. Just far enough that two, maybe three of his strides could close the distance and he’d be on me.

Right before I reach the foyer, Ifeelhim bolt closer. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and just as I’m about to break into a run, he slides around me, dips down, digging his huge shoulder into my stomach, and hoists me over his shoulder. My scream echoes through the empty hall.

“Hush, now, Sweetheart,” he growls, patting my rear. “If I wanted to hurt you, I would have by now.”

“Put me down!” I scream, hitting his back with my fists. Bending my knee, I kick upward, trying to connect with his face, but he clamps his hand down on my thigh to hold me in place.

“Hold still.” Viper turns abruptly and stops in a long, dark hallway. I hear the jangle of keys and hear a lock slide, then a door clicks open. Placing my hands on his lower back, I try to shift so I can see behind me, but the angle won’t allow it.

“What are you doing?” I ask, panic climbing up my throat.

He doesn’t answer. He stops walking and kicks the door closed behind him. I reach for it, trying to grip the rough wood to keep it open or use it to—I don’t fucking know—but it slips past my fingers as he carries me into the room.

The last thing I want is to be alone in a room with Viper. I can still hear his cruel laughter cutting through the woods last night.

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