Page 6 of Kingston
He cocks his head to the side. Watching. Waiting.
Shit.I swallow hard. “Well, I did, but—”
He shakes his head, holding up a hand to stop me. “No buts. And you’re going to find out very quickly”—his gaze bounces from me to Bridger and Taggart—“that when the rules are broken, we’ll use what we’ve learned about you to our advantage. Really, we’ll eventually use everything we know against you.”
I glance around what has become a sea of faces because I can’t concentrate on anything else.
“You found distaste in the idea that we assumed you were a stripper. So you’ll strip. Now. And make it good.” Kingston’s lips twitch, his green eyes boring into mine as if daring me to walk away right this second.
Stunned, I blink. “What?” There’s a low rumbling of approval from the other guys.Fuck my life. Really?
“You heard him right. Down to your panties and bra.” Archer rakes his teeth over his lower lip. “Dance for us. The guys feel cheated. They thought that’s why you were here. You know, being a woman and all, showing up to pledge night for abrotherhood.”
There’s a hoot of laughter from my left, though I have no idea who’s laughing. It’s immediately followed by the same guy barking, “Take it off, honey!” Stuart maybe? I don’t bother to check.Dick.
Wetting my lips, I search for a way out of this, but come up with none. Not if I’m going to stay. “I—”
Archer comes into my line of vision, halting my response as he tilts his head to the side. He studies me, and I know the moment his eyes pierce mine that he knows I’m very much disturbed by their request. “Kingston, I don’t know if she’s going to do it. This might be the fastest we’ve ever had an initiate wash out.” His gray-hued eyes scan my body, then flick up to meet mine again. “You going to walk out the door, Peaches?” When I don’t answer, he turns to look at his buddy. “What do you think, Cannon? Will she do it, or will she leave with her tail between her legs?”
“Sure doesn’t have anythingelsebetween them.” That snarky comment came from one of the other guys, but I couldn’t say which one.
I inhale sharply and shift my gaze to Cannon to catch his reaction. His face is flushed, jaw muscle twitching like mad. It’s like he wants to say something but can’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he gives me the tiniest of nods, urging me to get started. Daring me.
My eyes finally land on Kingston, who is fiddling with his phone. All of a sudden, music fills the room from speakers which must be cleverly hidden around the room. I’ll give him credit for his choice of song. It’s “I Get Off” by Halestorm. He arches one brow, waiting to see what I’ll do and if I’m familiar with the lyrics.
“Let’s go, Peaches.” Archer claps a few times as the three oldest brothers join the others in front of the couch—and I sayin front ofbecause now that there’s some action, the entire brotherhood is on its feet. “Show us what you’ve got.”
Cannon folds his arms over his broad chest, looking peeved despite the fact he agreed to this form of punishment. His nostrils flare as his gaze slowly moves around the room, watching everyone with daggers shooting from his eyes. I don’t know what to make of it, but I have no time to stop to think because… yep. They totally expect me to either strip and shake my ass or get the hell out. The facial expressions on the rest of the brotherhood range from open curiosity to undisguised lust.
My heart rate skyrockets. I know this is a punishment. But they’re also testing me. They want me to leave tonight of my own volition. And I can. I can walk out the door right now and never know what happened to Will. Or I can fucking strip for them, setting aside my deep-seated issues.Gathering my courage, I connect my gaze to Kingston’s because this was his idea and slowly move my hips to the sexy beat of the song he’s personally selected for my striptease.
Fuck them.I’m not going anywhere.
FIVE
CANNON
My chest clenches uncomfortablyas the familiar Halestorm song pumps through the speaker system I’d insisted on having installed over the summer. I bring a hand up, rubbing it over my chest as I watch Elliot begin to move. Kingston chose this song on purpose. The lyrics are meant to rile the guys up as he punishes her by making her strip. I hope like hell these asshats understand they can look all they like, but they can’t touch. Just because we make her do something doesn’t make her theirs.
She’sours—mine, Archer’s, and Kingston’s. I made it so and don’t regret it for a single second, no matter how it looked to the rest of the brothers. No matter if she turns out to be a huge fucking pain in our asses. Because look at her. Look. At. Her.Goddamn.
My eyes are pinned to the sinful curves of her swaying hips, the way her torso twists and writhes in time with the beat of the sultry music. And with every move she makes, my throat becomes more and more dry, like I’ll never be able to swallow again. This girl. She’s fucking perfect.
Elliot slides her fingers along the hem of her shirt, hesitating for only a brief moment before a defiant expression slips over her features. Her act doesn’t fool me. I saw the panicked look in her eyes when Kingston said she’d need to strip for us to pay for her infraction. Don’t get me wrong, I agree she needs to abide by everything in the contract she signed or face the consequences. We all have. We all do. And if she wants to be a part of this brotherhood, she’ll learn really fucking fast—we don’t make exceptions for anyone.
But I can tell this particular punishment has hit the nail on the head. No matter how she tries to hide it, this isn’t easy for her. Kingston’s not an idiot. He got a read on her the moment Archer asked who’d ordered the stripper. She’d been mortified.
This is exactly the sort of thing we use against initiates to chip away at them to see how much they can take. Offended we thought you were a stripper? Guess what—you’re stripping. Scared of heights? You’re jumping off a cliff. Can’t swim? Enjoy your dunk in the lake. Hell, during my initiation period I ended up having to speak in front of the brotherhood, in class, in public. The brothers I’d been placed with had been ruthless with the way they’d used my weakness against me. But I made it through. She can too. But it’ll be an uphill battle.
I doubt Elliot views her gender as a weakness, but in our eyes, it will be. It’s obvious how Kingston and Archer intend for this to go and highly doubtful they’ll back down.
If I were a better person, I’d put a stop to this. But I’m not. I want to see what she’s got hiding under those prim and proper clothes.
I want to see what’s going to bemine.
An infectious energy fills the room as the other guys hoot and holler and laugh. Elliot lifts the hem of her shirt, baring the smooth skin of her stomach. Something deep inside me comes to life, a possessive fuck of a beast. I push him down. I can’t let him out yet.
She drags the shirt up, up, up until her breasts are revealed, supported by a lacy white bra. There’s a fraction of a second when the entire room goes quiet that she pauses, but then she tugs the fabric over her head and off. She flings it from her fingers right at me. I catch it with one hand, and as she continues to gyrate to the song, I bring the fabric to my face, inhaling her scent. She’s sweet like a sugar cookie, all vanilla deliciousness. Our eyes connect as her arms go over her head, her hips rolling in a suggestive manner. So damn inviting.Ah, fuck.My eyes dip to her lower half, willing her to remove the skirt.
