Page 40 of Bound By Ruin

I clench my fists by my sides. I need a fucking drink for this conversation. “Rebel.”

Softer than the rest of them, Ruin’s voice suddenly whispers in our ears. “She creamed all over my knife.”

Thanatos’s eyes damn near bug out of his skull. My ears ring as I process the image burning into my mind: Celia lying on her back, completely naked, while my little brother spreads her legs with the tip of his knife. Then what? When was this?

Rebel’s voice rasps in my ear, sounding as turned on as I feel inside. “Did she take it all the way?”

Fuck. Than is right—we’re all distracted.Way too goddamn distracted.

But so is Thanatos—a vein in his neck throbs in time with his jackhammer heartbeat, and he’s about to crush the glass in his hands. I pull it away from him and down the entire drink in one swallow, feeling the burn all the way to my soul. We’re sinners for wanting to see our girl with a knife in her pussy. Depraved. Savages.

Then Ruin slams the nail in the coffin for all of us. “She can take more. Her pussywantsmore.” His voice cracks as he asks Rebel if she’s wet. “I want a taste,” he admits softly.

My throat clicks on a swallow. So do I, brother.

Judging from the way Thanatos licks his lips, I’m thinking that he does, too.

Can I share her withanotherman, though? I grit my teeth as I fight wave after wave of possessive fury roaring in my veins. It’s hard enough sharing her with Rebel and Ruin—adding Thanatos to the roster just might kill me. That’s four men vying for her attention—when all I want is her eyes on me. Haven’t I sacrificed enough for this family? Or do I have one more in me?

Rebel’s voice derails my train of thought. “Don’t run away, beautiful. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. A little knife play is fun. It’s kinky. We like it.”

Yeah, we like it a lot.

“Maybe I’m not running away,” Celia counters lightly. “Maybe I’m runningtosomething. Who brought the biggest knife, boys?”

Thanatos crumples, bending at the waist like he’s been stabbed in the heart. I snicker, knowing that he brought a gun to a knife fight.Shit, but so did I. The one time that a gun loses that battlehasto be tonight?

Celia emerges from the men’s room, a bounce in her step and a smile beaming across her face. She blows Rebel a kiss before turning to the room—and the three men ravenous for her wet fucking pussy to sit on our faces.

“I think it’s time for a switch. Any volunteers?”

There’s a flicker of light from above, and I can hear thudding footsteps through our comms. I scoff, knowing that if it’s a fight between Rebel and Ruin to snatch Celia up, even if Rebel has a head start, Ruin’s going to win. He’ll pluck her from the crowd like a daisy from a meadow—without anyone noticing that she’s gone missing.

“Tough luck,” I tell Thanatos, clapping his shoulder. “You’ll still get your turn tonight, just not next.”

It looks like Ruin has the honor of stretching our girl’s pretty pussy with his knife—and to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chapter16

Celia

I rushthrough the throng of guests crowding around poker tables, cocktail stations, and sitting areas, recognizing more than a few faces but too preoccupied to smile or wave or pretend that I’m here to socialize.

My heart leaps to my throat as I weave in and out of bodies, my sparkling heels clicking loudly with each step I take. Off-white marble floors and columns give the opulent hall an appearance similar to Cesar’s Palace in Vegas, and as I dart around tables laden with donations for this evening’s silent auction, I can’t help but laugh. I’ve never left the city, yet my life feels a thousand times different than it did a year ago. Six months ago.One month ago.

Life can change in the blink of an eye.

I used to hate that about the world—that one second, you can be breathlessly happy and in love, and the next you can be crumpled on the floor, crying your heart out. It’s cruel to have such heavy doses of whiplash, each one failing to numb us for the next blow. They keep coming, one after the other, until either your body or your heart gives out.

Not long ago, I thought I was ready to carve out the bloody, aching lump of flesh in my chest and offer it to whichever god or demon would put me out of my misery… and then everything began to change. Things weren’t exactlybetter, not at first, but they wereless.

Less painful.

Less broken.

Less difficult.

One day at a time, each breath in my lungs got easier to hold without feeling like my ribs were on the verge of collapse. Ruin and I haven’t talked about the pain of his adolescence or the scars carving through his flesh and bone, but I imagine that for him, it’s the same.

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