Page 55 of Striker

With panic still climbing higher, I look around the room and realize it’s completely empty save for the thick drapes and a huge oriental rug. The only light, the dim purple of dusk, bleeding across the floor through the open drapes. He stops in the center of the room and grips my hips, setting me down in front of him. I back away, feeling like a caged animal, my heart hammering, watching him for any sign of danger.

“What are you doing?” I ask again, eyes darting to his hand as it moves to a sheath at the side of his belt.

That’s when I noticed the knife.

A hunting knife.

On instinct, I kick, hitting him in his shin and attempt to run past him. Viper grunts but grips me by the back of my neck.

“Fuck, you’re a wild little thing,” he says, dragging me back, turning me to face him, my chest crashing to his. His eyes gleam dangerously, his gaze dropping to my mouth as I open it, ready to scream. Viper’s free hand clamps over my lips and he whispers, “Shhh, sweet girl. If you scream, I’ll have to gag you.”

My knees grow weak at the same moment my clit throbs. I’m aware my response is royally fucked, just as I’m suddenly acutely aware of his dick straining under his pants and pressing into my belly.

“Where did you put it?” he asks quietly, watching my eyes.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I say, but his hand still covers my mouth, muffling my words.

“You took something from the kitchen.”

If his hand wasn’t already covering my mouth, I’d clamp my lips shut.

“So where is it?” Viper says, slowly lowering his hand.

Shit.Did one of them see me on camera? Or is he guessing?

Refusing to answer, I remain still as Viper releases his hold and backs away. He’s barely visible in the low light, justglowing predatory eyes and a shadowy outline, but I feel like I can breathe again now that a few feet separate us, and suck in a slow breath, resisting the urge to press my thighs together.

“Hand it over, Sweetheart,” Viper says, eyes lowering to my chest, then lower between my thighs like he can sense the carnal pulse in my core. “I’ll have to search you if you don’t.”

My heart slams into my ribcage. Hehasto be guessing. If he’d seen me take the knife, he’d go straight for my boot.

He makes a lighttskingsound when I don’t move or speak, then says, “Strip search it is,” and steps forward.

Just as his words register, he’s dropping, thighs bulging as he dips, gripping my thigh and swinging my body downward, and before I can react, before I can scream, I’m on my back. My hands reach for him as I land, tucking my head into his chest and I grab at him, fisting his shirt, a low squeal slipping out as he shifts and is suddenly between my thighs.

Shit, he’s fast,I think the same moment I realize he took me down in a matter of seconds, and isusing his larger body to pin me to the ground. He slips the hunting knife from its sheath and a rush of fear makes me dizzy. With his free hand, Viper grips my throat and presses the flat side of the blade to the front of my dress between my breasts.

“Where did you hide it?” he asks, his face just a black blur, his massive form a silhouette against the open curtains behind him. The knife catches the row of buttons on the front of my dress. “Is it here?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I say, intending to sound hostile, but fear makes my voice tremble.

“Did you tuck it away under your pretty dress?” he asks, voice husky. I gasp, feeling the slight movement of the knife. He flicks his wrist, and a button flies off. My heart hammers so hard, but I dare not move as he flicks another button, thepingingsound of it landing on the wood floor feels like a shotgun rippingthrough me. “Where did you put it, Sweetheart. Tell me and make this easier on yourself.”

When I don’t answer, he places the side of the blade along the front of my dress, hooking the neckline with the tip, and tugs. I freeze, terror tingling up my hands, moving up my arms, and locking my jaw. The knife slices cleanly through the thin material. The dress falls open, revealing my cotton bra. He makes a sound in his throat, eating up the sight of my pebbled nipples under the material.

Viper leans back just enough to pull the knife lower, cutting the dress all the way to my waist. As he moves back, my thighs spread wider around him, making me aware of how sexual this position is. Releasing my neck, he adjusts his hold on his knife, angling the blade away from me, then grips the cut material and rips it open. Like the sound and his movement are attached to a string in my flesh, I feel the dress tear open as if he were tearing my skin apart, making my body arch up, shoulders pressing into the rug beneath me.

I’m so stunned, I can barely breathe, much less move, so I lie frozen, gasping for air as his gleaming eyes drink in the sight of my exposed flesh.

“Do you know you whimper when you sleep?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper. He gently spreads my dress out, laying the fabric open on the floor like torn wings. “You make these little sounds that remind me of when you’re about to come.”

The mention of me sleeping reminds me they watch me all the time. The reminder of him knowing what I look like as I come makes heat pool between my thighs. His gaze drops to my panties. The way he reacts to me,reacting to himfeels like he can see that feral creature they created last night hidden under all my layers, and he’s beckoning her to him.

And part of me wants to let her out again.

“You made those sounds last night as Reaper spanked your beautiful pussy.” Viper lowers the knife and places it on my belly. My stomach dips, fear and cold making my breaths seize. He grips the inside of my thigh, near the seam of my underwear, and I clench my jaw to keep from moving, scared the long blade will cut into my skin. His thumb skims over my panties. I know I’m wet. I feel it dampening the fabric. Now he does, too. He shifts, pressing into me harder, eyes moving over me again. “When you were begging us.”

I bite my lip, squeezing my eyes shut, fighting that primal part of me that wants to tilt into his touch.

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