Page 74 of Hellbent
“Can I ask you something?” The vulnerability in my voice already makes my cheeks warm. “Jake…what are we even doing?”
He lifts a brow. “We’re drinking.”
I roll my eyes. “No. You, me, D. What even is this?”
Jake’s grin lingers, but there’s something more thoughtful behind it now. “Does it have to be something?”
I hesitate. “I don’t know. When you talk like that...like we're a thing. I guess I just wonder, how do I trust that?”
“Because it's real. Even if we don’t label it. We will always look out for you. Not just me and D. All of us.”
“And will it always be like this? The sex and everything?”
He studies me, then shrugs. “As long as it’s good.”
I chew my lip. “But what if it stops being good? What if one of you gets sick of it, or—” I stop short before I can say,what if one of you leaves?
Jake squeezes my hand. “You’re overthinking it, Max.”
“Am I?”
“It goes both ways, you know. What ifyougot sick of it? Of us? That could happen too.”
“No,” I whisper. “That would never happen.” But Ryder's hand on my arm flashes to mind.Say that again.
“Babe, nothing lasts forever. But whether we’re sleeping together or not doesn’t change the fact that I’ll always care for you. You don’t have to swear nothing will ever change. You don’t know that. Right now, we’re good. And you don’t have to worry about picking sides or choosing or whatever it is that’s got you all twisted up.” He pauses, then adds, “We don’t own each other, Max.”
I nod, but the words strike a chord.We don’t own each other.He says it like it’s a good thing. And maybe it is. Billy certainly felt like he owned me, and look where that got me. All the same,I think I want to be owned now—by both Jake and Damian. I just don’t know how to say it.
“I’m not used to that,” I say honestly. “My ex used to keep me on a tight leash.”
Jake lets go of my hand as if to prove his point. “There’s no leash on you now.”
“It sounds like you're saying you wouldn't care if I slept with someone else.”
He leans in close, his voice teasing but warm. “Depends who, but, baby, you must know by now that the idea of you getting fucked just turns me on.”
“You’re really not jealous?”
He chuckles. “That's not my style. But watching, though? Now that’s different.”
My cheeks heat—arousal and shame, all tangled together.
Just then, Damian returns, balancing three glasses with practiced ease—two with brown liquid and one with water.
“What’d I miss?” he asks, his eyes sweeping between us as he sets the glasses down.
Jake lifts his whiskey glass with a grin. “Just telling Max she’s off the leash.”
“Oh damn.” Damian slings one arm along the back of the booth and winks at me. “I’d love to see youona leash.”
Jake’s eyes spark. “Ooh. Now there’s an idea. Max as our little submissive…could be fun.”
The arousal I’ve been suppressing since the garage comes roaring back. My brain flashes to a pornographic vision of myself kneeling between them, leather and chains and filthy praise.
“Jesus, Jake,” Damian says with a crooked grin. “You’re a fucking visionary.”
His hand finds my thigh beneath the table. “What do you think, Max? Little cosplay in our future?”
