Page 63 of Royal
Emory’s free hand finds her hip, tugging her to him at the same time Benneti’s drifts across her clavicle and up to her neck from behind. He urges her tight to his chest, which has her beaming in delight. It’s like a sexy tug-of-war, and I’m here for it. As it progresses, the trio gets closer and closer as their legs and arms intertwine. I suck in a breath as Benneti teases his fingertips over Emory’s chest before he brings his hand up to grip his shoulder. Emory raises his brow, and I swear the look on his face reads something like Please keep touching me so I can go along with it.
But really… should he have to explain himself?No.Is being attracted to Benneti cause for embarrassment?Also no.
Fuck, it’s hot watching them. I find myself wishing again that I could delete that girl from the equation and add myself in instead. Shit, is it getting hot in here? I take another long swallow of my drink, finding it impossible to take my eyes off them. I’m dying here, and no one knows it but me.
A second later, I’m glad I’ve continued to watch the show because Benneti grabs Emory by the back of the neck and tugs his face within an inch of his own. They’re nose to nose, ragged, needy breaths falling from their lips. God, the yearning in their stare. It’s going to be my undoing. My nipples have become taut—visible through the fabric of my shirt—and I run the side of my cup over my forehead, desperate to cool myself down, but I doubt there is anything that would stop me from burning up from the inside out.
A voice in my ear has me flinching hard. I come very close to dumping the remainder of my drink all over the floor. I’d recognize that husky, deep voice anywhere. “You like to watch them, huh? Go ahead and tell me you don’t want to be the one with them, little liar.”
My chest clenches hard, making it difficult to breathe, but I stand, turning to stare boldly up into Royal’s pale-green eyes. “You know nothing about me anymore.”
He narrows his eyes on me, then ducks his head close to my cheek, his warm breath cascading over my ear. “On the contrary, I know your every gasp and moan. Every needy throb of your pussy.”
I see red, and lash out, my hand racing toward his cheek. From there, everything happens in slow motion. His hand darts up to catch mine before it meets his face, he gives me a lethal smirk before spinning me around, then drags me around a corner. I gasp, as the quick motion makes me dizzy.Oh, shit.I hadn’t realized that the alcohol was hitting me until now. Great timing. Holding me firmly, my back to his front, Royal rasps in my ear, “Princess, I know you better than anyone at this fucking party. Go ahead and deny that. Even as you struggle against me, your pussy is getting wetter and wetter. Your body recognizes mine.”
My breath heaves from me, and I try to elbow him, but he merely chuckles as I squirm. “Leave me the fuck alone, Royal,” I seethe through gritted teeth.
“You need me to chase you again so you can rationalize that what you want from me is okay? Your little cunt was begging for me to fuck it last time. Admit it.”
Humiliation burns through me because he’s right. I had begged him. For several minutes of insanity, I’d let him have his way with me because it allowed me to relive a time when we were young and happy. But then he fucking left me stranded in the woods. Naked.Asshole.I struggle in his hold. “Get your hands the fuck off me.” It’s not that I think he’ll listen, but the way he laughs at my demand has my temper flaring. “I’ll scream.”
He chuckles again, and the sound is rough and dark. It elicits a twisted flutter deep in my abdomen. “Oh, I can make you scream, all right.” His arm shifts, and he cups my breast, pinching at my nipple.
My entire traitorous body shudders at his touch. A memory of Royal holding me exactly like this hits me out of nowhere—I envision my greedy fingers reaching back and threading through his hair as his hands roam over my body. My eyes slam shut with the knowledge that even while he’s taunting me, somewhere deep inside, I want him. He steals my breath and robs me of rational thought.
It takes a commotion rippling through the house to finally make me open my eyes, but I can’t tell what’s happening because Royal has conveniently brought me where no one else is able to see us. A moment later, though, the source of the uproar becomes clear.
My eyes go wide as Davis turns the corner, his stance like a raging beast. His fury-filled eyes are pinned on Royal, his jaw tight and twitching. “Take your filthy felon hands off my sister.”
THIRTY
BECKHAM
Thank fuckfor the song ending because Wilder encourages Darcy to dance with her friends, and we’re able to convene over at the side of the room, our eyes trained on the hallway where Royal disappeared with Echo… and then minutes later, Davis followed.
I’m just waiting for the bloodbath to ensue.
“We fucking told him this was a bad idea.” Wilder shakes his head. “I still can’t believe that he fucked her in the woods like an animal and left her there. I mean, I had a feeling based on her appearance in the photos you showed me, but the confirmation from him was just—” He runs his hands over his face, groaning.
I wasn’t shocked at all when Royal admitted that he’d fucked her out there. But dammit, he’d fucked with her head, too. “I know. And I don’t know how she was able to compartmentalize it so fucking well when she was with us.”
“She literally shoved it all aside. She’s good at that. But”—Wilder glances at me from the corner of his eye—“I did notice she was distracted. I kept wondering if she was going to say something about it, and then she never did.”
“I still think the advice to let things cool down was solid. But I dunno.” This whole idea that he should talk to her came from his running buddy. I’d kinda like to throttle the guy. He might know the situation, might even know more about it than we do… but he doesn’t know Echo. I grit my teeth as I run my hand through my hair. I meet Wilder’s dark, assessing eyes. “What do we do?”
He shrugs. “Besides wait for the fallout you mean? I really don’t know. I wish we had an idea of what’s in his head. And now fucking Davis has inserted himself into the situa—” Wilder’s head snaps toward the hallway where there are now very definite sounds of grunts and blows being exchanged and heated voices. I hear Echo, but I can’t tell what she’s saying. There’s no doubt in my mind there’s about to be an epic explosion, and it’s hard to say who is going to get hit when the shrapnel flies.
She reappears a moment later with Davis following hot on her heels. Her hair is mussed, the pretty purple top she’s wearing looks like someone has tugged at it, and she’s red in the face. Davis is much the same, only his shirt is torn at the collar and there’s a fresh bruise forming on his cheek.
I glance back to the hallway where Royal is standing with his arms crossed. He seems none the worse for wear, and the smirk twitching at his lips tells me a whole lot. He feels like he won that round. I catch his eye, and he nods once toward her before backing away and out of view. “Fuck. Does he want me to follow her?”
“I think so. From his expression, he’s pleased with how that went.”
“Whatever happened, it doesn’t look like Echo appreciates any of it.” I swallow, then scan the crowded house. Her red hair stands out like a beacon as she continues to plow her way through the massive throng of people. And of course, because she can’t get through, Davis is right in her ear. The sharp glares she’s throwing over her shoulder are something to behold. The fucking fire there. I’d like her to look at me with that… only she wouldn’t be mad at me. It’d be passion.
“All right. Game plan. I’ll check in with Royal. You see what’s going on with Davis and Echo.” Wilder exhales heavily. “Why do I have a feeling this is going to get ugly?”
My eyes wander back to Echo and Davis. They continue to argue as they move, words flying fast and furious from both of them. I need to get closer, need to know what’s being said.
