Page 11 of Hysteria Rises
I’m on the verge of panic when her chest finally rises under my palm. One breath. Two. Thank fuck. If she’d only kept her questions at a reasonable volume, I wouldn’t have touched her at all, never would have tried to silence her. But I had to shut her up.Hadto. A shudder works its way through my body, vibrating along my limbs. If Nolan were to find out I snuck into his quarters, there’s no doubt I’d face his wrath.
I glance around the small holding room. There’s hardly enough space for the bed—which is a generous definition of the thing to begin with. It’s more of a cot or maybe a pallet. Hell, I’ve read about claustrophobia and if that sort of thing bothered me, this room would be a problem.
Now that the anxiety is passing, I pause, my eyes wandering over what I can see of her pretty features in the dim room. Pert nose. Plump lower lip, long lashes, and hair in wild disarray.
Is she an angel? Maybe. Siren? Definitely. But it’s quickly becoming obvious that I don’t fucking care either way.
I turn my head, glancing behind me. The door remains shut. Fuck, I’m paranoid. But that’s nosurprise. I know I shouldn’t have ventured inside Nolan’s domain.
Why did you come here, siren? My gut twists, head caught up in everything her appearance might mean—and the disorder to the compound she most definitelywillcause. There’s simply no way around it.
I lift a hand and watch as if from outside my body as I skim fingertips along her ankle. Unable to resist, I give myself free rein to ghost my palm lightly over the rounded muscle of her calf and slip my hand behind her knee before gliding it up the back of her thigh. I only hesitate when I encounter the firm globe of her ass cheek.
I’ve never thought to interfere with the strict methods the Collective has for the introduction of new members into the compound. But I’ve also never felt a pull so strong, either. There’s something about her.
She catches me off guard, rolling and lashing out, and clocks me right in the eye. Pain rockets through my skull. I stand, curiously peering at her. In the next instant, this pixie-like girl comes at me so hard, I’m dazed for several seconds. She’s feral. All wild-eyed and aggressive, her fisted hands rain down on my shoulders, chest, and arms. Her ragged breathing fills the small room as her chest heaves with indignation. As if I’m the intruder here and this is her kingdom. Did she strike her head so hard that it messed up her brain? Seriously.
Lightning illuminates the entire room, and the eyesthat glare up at me ensnare me even further into her trap. She’s beautiful.
Just as that thought rolls through my mind, she lashes out, kicking with both feet. I grunt as she makes contact with my thighs and hips and then comes close to unmanning me when the next blow lands to the side of my groin. I rear back, eyeing her. Maybe I should go get Nolan. Because what the fuck is this? My siren is unhinged. I huff out a breathy chuckle as I shake my head, leaning back over her.
I don’t know why I do it, other than wanting a better look. But then she’s right back at it, slapping me senseless and attempting to drive a knee into my gut. Grimacing, I throw a heavy thigh over her waist. There’s only one way to stop this girl’s onslaught, and that’s to flatten the entire length of my body over hers. She’s small in comparison, and I immediately take back control over the situation.
But ohfuck. The feel of her writhing under me makes every inch of my body react. Every fuckingcell. Heat snakes its way down my spine, stiffening my cock, and soon, lust-filled thoughts rage through me like the angry river we’d crossed to return home this evening. I’m walking a delicate line between managing the problem at hand and being on the verge of losing touch with reality.
Try as I might, I’m unable to halt the torrent of feelings slamming into me. One single thrust of my hips, and I release an anguished groan, the sound of my own destruction rattling deep within my chest. Myskin grows tight, muscles straining with effort. Then a second grind of my cock against her soft belly spells my own fucking doom. I can’t stop. I rut against her, completely out of my head.
In the dark, her eyes pierce into mine, and she glares, her frustration practically suffocating me. With every irate huff of breath that leaves her, my heart shreds. But I’m lost to the moment, to everything but me and this girl and the desire crashing over me.
She bucks in my hold, and I grunt, my body heating to the boiling point for her. I thrust over and over, unable to hold back the pleasure-filled moans that tear from my throat.
In response, the way she struggles intensifies, and her teeth bare as she seethes, “Get off me, you pervert!” It was never a question of whether she’s any match for me physically. But fuck me, she’s got me by the dick. I can’t pull away, even though her shouts are threatening to bring the Collective down on our heads.
Anger whips through the air between us, and before she can make another sound, I silence her with my hand. Her eyes widen for an instant, then narrow. Hate flows freely from them, dousing me with her distaste.
I hesitate as my heartbeat thrums inside my skull in a relentless, taunting rhythm while her lips move under my hand and my chest hitches. Wet pressure slides over my palm, causing me to jerk my hand away.What the fuck? Shelickedme. My nose scrunches as I wipe my hand on the thigh of my pants.
Her eyes track my every movement, but as I go to cover her mouth again, she shakes her head. “N-no. Please, no. I’ll be quiet,” she whispers, pressing her lips together. Shifting under me, she swallows hard. “Promise.”
I pause, considering her words. One breath after another gusts from me as our eyes lock. The fire coming to life in her eyes gives me a brief glimpse of her true nature. One harsh drag of air into her lungs, and she lets loose with a shriek loud enough to bring the walls caving in on us—and definitely the likes of which will bring any number of the Collective running.
I heave myself upward, not a thought in my head but one of self-preservation.I’ve gotta get the fuck outta here. As I whip the door to the small room open, I pause on the threshold. “You lied,” I rasp. “And now you’ll have drawn attention you don’t want and can’t afford.” Without a backward glance, I slip from the room, locking the door before scanning the darkness. I tilt my head to the side, craning to hear a shout of surprise or even a quiet footfall that would alert me to trouble on the horizon.
But there’s nothing.
And so, without wasting precious time, I stride purposefully across the room. The door to the sick bay where the girl has been sequestered is still shut. No one is here to witness my escape—or that I was ever here at all. Unlessshesays something.
Would she? No idea. But I can’t afford toworry about that right now, even if overthinking shit is what I do best. Without any further delay, I exit into the long corridor along which my father also has his quarters, then hurry to the staircase and head upward to the room I share with my brothers.
On my way to the third floor, I don’t encounter anyone, but I hadn’t really expected to, not this late—or rather, early.
Why I felt I had to push my luck is beyond me, except there was simply no way I was sleeping without having another look at the girl. Fuckingsiren. My teeth clench hard. I try to fly under the radar as much as possible around here, but how am I gonna do that now?
As I reach our bedroom, I let my eyes wander the length of the space, then lift a hand and probe the area around my eye socket.Wince. She might have punched me hard enough to leave a mark. I can say my hand slipped while working with a tool or something. But I’m unsure how to explain the scratches that girl left all over my torso. Maybe I can blame it on Eight. She’s always been a feisty one. If she weren’t, she wouldn’t have lasted this long in the compound.
I drag in a breath. But can I tell that lie? It hadn’t been Eight who’d raked her fingernails over my skin. And she definitely wasn’t the one who’d given me the erection that continues to tent my trousers.
Exhaling, I rearrange my dick, then carefully check each bed to make sure everyone’s asleep and won’t observe me returning to our room this late. Dragan,Gannon, Rafe, and Evren’s beds are on the wall on the right, all occupied. As I glance through the windows on the opposite side, a streak of lightning zigzags through the night sky. Hayze, Cross, and Malakai are each sprawled across their bunks. The only one that’s empty is mine.
