Page 95 of Gambler's Fallacy

“They’re ugly,” I whisper. “Punishment for being bad.”

“You’re never bad,” he tells me, easing the shirt down my arms. “Does Caleb tell you you’re bad when he whips you? Does Havoc say nasty things when he roughs you up?”

I shake my head. “No, but that’s different.”

Vortex leans down to kiss my shoulder. “It’s not.” He urges me to lie down on my back, then the bed dips as he joins me on it. “These are marks of bravery, Seven. Of strength.” He moves so he can keep kissing those lines, those burns, those scars I’m so ashamed of. His attention is different, though, and I start to relax despite myself. Tell me, ‘yes, Daddy,’” he says.

“Yes, Daddy,” I echo with a weak smile.

“Good boy,” he says.

A shiver runs through me as he starts to kiss his way down my body. I suck in a sharp breath when I realize what he’s doing, but he doesn’t stop. He unfastens my pants and pulls them down enough to get to my cock.

“Daddy—” I begin, but my words stutter and stop when he wraps his mouth around the head of it. I moan helplessly, squirming beneath him. This isn’t something I’m used to at all. Pleasure has been reciprocated, but not like this.

Vortex ignores my half-hearted protest, taking more of my cock past his lips.

All I can do is moan and writhe as he starts to suck my cock, and even though I know I should tell him to stop, I don’t. It’s selfish, but I want this.

I need this.

“Yes, Daddy, please,” I plead.

Vortex chuckles around my cock, enveloping it in his mouth and swallowing as it reaches the back of his throat.

I don’t know why I’m so surprised he’s doing this — or that he’s good at doing it — but it has taken me so off guard that I don’t know what to think, what todo.

So I take the pleasure, right up until I’m on the verge of climax. “Daddy,” I whisper in warning. “I’m close.”

Instead of pulling off of me, he redoubles his efforts, and I let out a startled wail as I come down his throat. He takes all of it withoutcomplaint, and it isn’t until I’m completely spent and boneless against the bed that he withdraws.

“How was that, beautiful boy?” Vortex asks me, moving up so he can lie next to me. He kisses my eyelids, one arm draping over my bare stomach.

I make a weak noise, unable to come up with words to describe it.

He chuckles, and while I feel the press of his hard cock against my leg, he doesn’t move to fuck me. Instead, he whispers, “Close your eyes, Seven. Get some rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“But—” I start to protest.

“But nothing. This was about you, not me,” he tells me.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want him to come, but exhaustion has started to settle into my bones. Instead of arguing, I only nod and close my eyes, and he pulls me tightly against him and kisses my hair.

“Sleep,” he says firmly.

So I do.

TWENTY-ONE

HAVOC

I headto the event hall, frowning at my phone. There’s no new message from Seven, and he’s late for lunch again. My stomach is tied up in knots, thinking about where he could be. Caleb was vague about the threat he’d received, but I know Seven’s been freaked out all week.

“Hey Havoc!” Della Mortay says from her dressing room. “What brings you here?”

I stop in front of her open door. “Oh, hey. Have you seen Seven? I was supposed to meet him today.”

Despite his protests, Seven’s been going to work diligently. I’m glad for it, because it gives him something to focus on that isn’t all the craziness.

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