Page 19 of Gilded Touches

All I need to do is get myself on the other side of a door with a lock. And then I can make a plan C for how to get out of here. Ivy picked a hell of a time to go dark.

“Anything?” I ask.

Nothing. Not even the crackle of static.

I’m all alone. Nothing new. But I’d hoped being a Belladonna meant someone had my back.

Jasper comes to stand beside Shayne. I’m blocked, but if I move fast enough, I can probably dodge their hands and get to room one hundred and six.

A couple of steps and Voss joins his brothers, killing my idea.

“Who are you speaking to?” he asks.

Playing the quiet one until now, I'm surprised by the wave of body heat that slams into me. It steals my breath just like the man. “Don’t push us to get answers from you. Our methods of interrogation won’t be as docile as our loving caresses.”

As he speaks, the man reaches out and tucks a wayward curl behind my ear. But it’s not that slight touch that has my heart racing and chills erupting over my skin. It is the way he leans in, bringing his intoxicating scent with him to whisper, “Give us the diamonds and we’ll reward you, jungle flower. You can still be ours. We’ll all share your wild honey. Trust us.”

Those two words kill me a little more on the inside. My father trusted the people he worked with and that got him killed. I don’t blame the Ambrose brothers for his death. I blame myfather for not being more on guard. And here I am being a hypocrite and not keeping my own defenses in place.

Voss’ black eyes shimmer with wicked intent when he pulls back and our gazes connect. “Is that a promise?” His hair dips to hang over his forehead in a way that begs for me to slip my fingers into it as I ride him from above. My pussy clenches and releases at the idea. They’ve released a siren inside me I don’t know how to wrestle back into submission.

Shayne holds his hand out. “The choice is yours. I’ve given you a way out. Will you take it?”

Stella’s sleeping face lingers in my mind's eye. I hand the diamonds over so easily and I’ll never have the money I need to help her. No, I’ll have to see this through. Ivy won’t refuse me my earned fifty thousand when I show up with a heavy loot.

“Do you three always work in tandem so well?”

“Another question you can find the answer to if you give us the diamonds.”

When my mouth doesn’t move fast enough for their liking, Jasper steps into me. His moves are fast, concise. Purposeful. He pins me to the nearest door and latches a hand around my throat.

I gasp, shocked more by the speed of his movements, than having his fingers close around my neck.

It’s wrong. I should not like the brutality in his touch.

But I could not be wetter. Do I fear him? I don’t know. The danger he exudes simply breathing makes my nipples hard and my clit throb.

I swallow hard. “I have nothing of yours except this jacket.” My mouth is feeling braver than it should.

Jasper doesn’t squeeze to cut my air off, but his touch is deliciously heavy all the same. My legs spread over his thigh and I have no choice but to rest my weight on him. I take a shuddering breath and drag my eyes off the tattoos on his neck to see him looking down at me. A mix of lust and frustration in this man makes his aura appear darker than the surrounding shadows somehow.

He pushes into me until his eyes are all that I can see. “Luna Moone. Do not make us hurt our friend’s daughter.”

Eight

Luna

Air leaves my lungs. My hands fly to his chest and I push as hard as I can. He doesn’t budge. I’m trapped. “When did you recognize me?”

“The second you raised your eyes and looked at us through the mirror, those moonlight eyes revealed your biggest secret. Do you think there is any other family in this city with eyes like yours?”

My father always called me his moon. One look at my eyes and it is no grand stretch of the imagination why they named me after the celestial body.

Shayne drags the tip of his finger down my cheek. He moves my hair to the side and leans in, placing a kiss just above his brother’s tight hold on me. My pulse jackhammers under his lips.

“Don’t make us do something we’ll regret. Give us the diamonds.”

Shayne’s voice is low and edgy. He’s worried.

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