Page 3 of Devilish

“He’s fine. If he didn’t like it, he would say?—”

“His. Safe. Word.”

Rupert’s jaw clenched. “Fine. It’s?—”

“No.” Several feet away, Malcolm watched and waited for my signal, and when I gave it, he was at my side in an instant. “Malcolm, would you escort Mr. McGuire from the premises and make sure he’s banned from entering any of my establishments in the future?”

Rupert blanched and then his face went fire-engine red. “On what grounds? I’m a paid member?—”

“Werea paid member. One who’s no longer welcome.” I stepped toward him so that he had to crane his neck to look up at me. “Everything at The Veil is consensual and everyone follows the strict rules set out in the paperwork you signed. That means using asafeword when engaging in any kind of bondage play, something your partner knows nothing about.”

“He’s—”

“No longer any concern of yours.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. The second you violated his trust in my space, he becamemyconcern.”

Rupert began to sputter before shaking his head in disbelief. “You can’t just kick me out.”

“Oh, but I can.” I gestured to Malcolm, who moved up beside Rupert and took a firm grip of his bicep. “And no, you can’t get a refund.”

Rupert’s eyes darted to the man still on his knees, and I moved in front of him, blocking his view.

Rupert’s attention flicked back to me. “You can’t just take him.”

“I can do whatever the fuck I like. But to be clear, I’m nottakinghim. I’m saving him—from you. Malcolm?”

Without another word, Malcolm began to tow Rupert away from the corner and through the crowd toward the door. Not caring what happened to him beyond that, I turned back to the one on his knees, who was staring out into the sea of people as though watching his boat sail off into the distance.

Not wanting to startle him, I slowly held my hand out, and those big eyes peered up at me under the light. Not quite grey and not quite blue, his eyes were an unusual shade that reminded me of a misty morning as the sun tried to peek through. But it was the expression in them that had my breath catching.

Where I thought I’d see relief, all I saw was worry and confusion. I’d taken away the one person he was most familiar with, and monster or not, Rupert was who he knew—and I was nothing but a stranger.

2

KAI

NO. WHAT’S HAPPENING? Where are they taking him?

Panic, sharp as a knife, seared my chest as the man in black, the one who’d introduced himself to Rupert as Lucien Vale, held his hand out toward me.

I looked back at where Rupert was being thrown out and rose to my knees, needing to go after him, but I was tangled in the rope he’d been eager to tie around me. Fear clawed at me as I struggled to break free, but somehow the rope was getting even tighter.

Oh God, don’t leave.

But I couldn’t even see Rupert now. He was gone, and he’d left me here all alone, without a place to go. My breath hitched, and I swallowed down the whimper of dread I felt as the realization hit that I was fucked. So fucked.

“Hey.” Lucien’s voice softened as he crouched down in front of me. The rope chafed against my skin as I tried to get free, but when Lucien reached for me, I jerked back.

He held his hands up, and dark, penetrating eyes searched mine. There was something almost hypnotizing about them, and I found myself going still, even though I was breathing so hard I was getting lightheaded.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said, keeping his distance, hands still up where I could see them. “Let me get you out of this mess. All right?”

I swallowed hard but couldn’t get any words out. Not when I was starting to see two of his face and the edges of my vision were turning green.

“You need to breathe or you’ll pass out,” he said. “Can I help you?”

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