Page 110 of Striker

My gaze slides down his black shirt, the black pants, the military look, and feel of him. Yeah. Okay. Brothers in arms, I suppose. I know so little about him. So little in general.

“Tell me a secret and I’ll tell you one,” I say, offering him the tiny pinch of green leaf remaining. His eyes snap down to my fingers and he takes it. He’s removed his gloves, and I’m glad. He may not let me see his face, but at least he’s not covering every inch of skin like I don’t know his touch.

He holds the leaf to his masked nose. “I have a name.”

My brows knit, unsure what he means. But I remember him saying he got his name because he was fast and mean. The way his confession leaves his chest makes my fingers curl into fists. Like he’s handing me something heavy I need to hold on to.

“Other than Viper?” I guess.

“Yes.”

I lick my lips, tasting mint and the cool night air, silently wishing it was his taste on my tongue. “Do the others not have….” I sit upright, suddenly fully aware that he’s telling me something important. My heart hammers as pieces knit together with the snippets I’ve learned over the last few weeks. “You’re the only one with an actual name?”

“I’m the only one who was old enough to remember before I was Viper. Except Reaper. But I think he’s always been Death trapped in a man’s body.”

I nod, like I understand, which I don’t, my blood zinging with an electric current. “And your names were given?”

“At the school.”

My stomach drops. Images of a military style boarding school flood my mind and I wonder how far off I am. “School?”

“No,” he says, the single word a command. A period. An end to this conversation and my questions.

“Then tell me why,” I ask. “Why us? Why all of this? Why do you hate Rune?”

“Rune killed our brother.”

I nod. I think I already knew it was something like this. Men seek revenge for damaged pride or because they thirst tomake someone hurt as much as they do. It’s rarely ever as simple or as meaningless as money.

“He didn’t want to send you away,” Viper says suddenly.

“But you were prepared to,” I remind him, knowing he means Reaper. Knowing too that they all seem to follow his orders. “Youallwere.”

Bending down, he places his large hands on his thighs, looking me in the eye. “We’re defying an order right now to keep you from him.”

I swallow.

Viper grabs my hand and pulls me up. My jacket slips down my back, but he snatches it before it can fall to the ground. Dipping low, he hooks an arm under my butt, around my thighs, and he hoists me up with one arm like I’m a defiant child. A harsh gasp slips from me as he adjusts my weight and I grip around his neck to keep from slipping down his chest.

“What are you doing?” I ask, feeling small and mildly alarmed, but kind of liking it. His brutish behavior isn’t coated with violence. It never has been. But he doesn’t hold back or treat me delicately either. Like he knows I can handle him.

Not bothering to answer, he carries me into the house as I cling to him, my fingers slipping under his balaclava, feeling his warm skin at the back of his neck. Using his boot, he slams the back door shut, then strides to the counter and places me on top, but doesn’t back away. He stays right there, between my thighs, glaring at me from behind his fanged-skull mask as the tips of my fingers draw little circles on his skin.

“I said I liked it outside,” I say. “I don’t want to be in here.”

“And I said it’s too cold outside,” Viper says, his arm still around my waist. “Our little Vixen needs to learn to behave.”

Ours.

They’ve said this since we woke up. Ours. Our girls.

Maybe they wanted me too.

His breath kisses my face, so hot through the mask I don’t know how he can stand wearing it. “Are you going to be a good girl and listen to us?” Viper says, still inches away.

My breath comes out shaky and my thighs squeeze involuntarily around his hips. “I’ve always been told I’m not good at listening.”

He makes a seductive rumbling sound in his throat. It reverberates through his body, so I feel it between my legs. “Maybe I should show you how to be a good girl for us.”

---