Page 99 of Two Chambered Heart

“I’m not like other girls.”

“No, Little Fox.” Kayden’s smile was wolfish. “You’re worse.”

She crossed her arms, kicking him under the table.

“Feisty, feisty. Was she this gutsy when you had her hanging from your ropes, Jase?” Corey’s cheeks heated instantly at Kayden’s question.

“No, she was rather submissive, actually.”

“She’s like that with me, too. She’s all talk until my hands are at her throat, and then there’s a lot of begging, isn’t there?”

“Okay, this is crossing a line!” Corey’s eyes were wide, and Kayden was grinning smugly. “I’m going to pee. Do not trade notes on our sex lives while I’m gone. Or you know what? Fuck it, trade notes. I’m the one who benefits in the end.”

She straddled Jason in the booth to get out, extremely flustered, but then she stopped to drop a chaste kiss on his lips. It settled in him like a whisper of wind, softening his hard edges.

But the comfort was gone just as quick. As she walked away, the noise picked up. The contrast was deafening, a crescendo of sound he’d gotten too comfortable without. The farther she got, the louder it got in his head, enough that he couldn’t make out a single thread of thought.

Kayden must have been feeling it too, but it didn’t stop that smug, infuriating look he had on.

“Spit it out.”

“Oh, I really love to say I told you so.”

Jason rolled his eyes and reached for Corey’s cold coffee, taking a sip and sifting through the mental conversations around him. A lot of stupidity.

But there, a thread of thought too familiar to be coincidental—a description of the girl who had just left their booth and a description of them.

“Something’s wrong,” he said to Kayden, who looked like he was also scanning through the noise.

He zeroed in on the man the thoughts were coming from by the front door, glancing from the back hall that presumably led to the bathrooms and then back to the front door again, itching in his chair. The man’s thoughts were a jumble of auburn hair and violence.

“Kay, get the information while you can hear it.” He was out of the booth and down the hall before his brother could confirm that he understood.

Jason slammed the door open to the women’s bathroom and stormed through, internal silence greeting him when he entered.

A man had his hands on her, one pinning her hands behind her back, the other hand holding a knife to her throat. Jason was already reaching for his gun, abject terror passing over him. He was vulnerable enough from his earlier flashbacks that he was having a hard time remaining calm. Corey had hooked her claws into his hindbrain, something intrinsic in him recognizing that she was now fundamental to his survival, and the beast inside him was pushing at the seams.

That realization may have shaken him more than the current predicament.

He blinked and rearranged his face into a terrifying sneer, hoping like hell the guy hadn’t picked up his initial reaction.

“That’s mine,” Jason said through his teeth.

“That’s the point,” the man behind her replied. “Now you’re going to cooperate and come with us, or we’re going to have some fun with your little friend here. She’s pretty, isn’t she?” He grazed her jawline with his thumb. Corey was scared, her pupils so wide there was barely anyblue left.

Jason lifted his gun. He knew he was a perfect shot. But the man, burly and wide, with a thick, wiry beard covering half his face, pressed the blade into Corey’s throat a little more, and blood dribbled from the cut there, slow and languid.

“Do you think the bullet will land before I cut her head off?” It would, but not before he did irreparable damage.

But still, Jason didn’t drop the gun. “Take the blade away from her, or I’ll use it to cut the skin from your bones.”

The man just dug a little deeper with the knife, eliciting a broken whimper from Corey.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. This was why she was so dangerous. With her around, they couldn’t see their threats.

But Corey was strong, and they’d taught her well.

“Okay,” Jason said, lowering his arm slowly. “Okay, you’ve got me.” He locked eyes with Corey, trying like hell to confirm that she’d be able to get out of this quickly. “I’ll come with if you leave her here.”

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