Page 40 of Sweet Possession (Criminal Underground 1)

Realizing he was right—Ididtrust him—I gazed up at him, utterly confused. When he’d snuck up on me, I hadn’t been scared. When I’d found out that he and the others had been watching me for months—possibly years—I hadn’t felt scared. I’d felt … safe. Relieved. Protected. What was holding me back? There was only one answer.

“I don’t want to fall,” I said, swallowing against a rough throat. “I lost you five years ago, and I just started to build a life away from the three of you. If I let go and give in to you the same way I did then—I’m afraid I won’t ever be able to come back from that.”

The tips of his fingers brushed my chin, a thumb drifted up and stroked over my lower lip. Opening my mouth, he pushed it inside as he stared down at me. I didn’t even think, immediately curling my tongue around the digit and tasting the salt on his skin.

“It’s too late for fear, Mare,” he said quietly. “Whether you realize it or not, when you fell, we trapped you. You left us, not the other way around—a miscalculation on our part. I assure you, there’s no way in hell you’ll get away from us again.” He pulled his thumb away and leaned closer, the warmth of his breath against my face as his eyes bored into mine. “You’re bound to us, Mare. There is no getting away. We own you, and in the same vein, you own us. We’re yours. Fucking completely.” He slanted his mouth over mine and stole the very oxygen from my lungs.

Lifting up on my toes, I snaked my arms around his neck, kissing him back fiercely. I pressed into his sculpted torso, and as soon as I opened my mouth, his tongue thrust inside. My hold tightened, and I was only dimly aware of his hands falling to my hips to hold me in place, to keep me from climbing his body like a fucking tree. When he pulled away—and he had to because God knew I couldn’t do it myself—we were both panting extra hard.

“Now, I need you to make a decision here, Mare,” he said, his chest rising and falling at a rapid pace that told me I wasn’t the only one affected. “What’s it going to be?”

He stepped back, and I sagged against the wall. Closing my eyes for a split second, I lifted my hips away from the wall, hands slipping beneath the bottom of my dress. Hooking my fingers into the outsides of my panties, I pulled them slowly down. I knew the moment they became visible even without looking down because Ian’s eyes followed the entire path from my hips until they pooled at my ankles. I lifted first one foot and then the other until they were completely off of my body before I bent, picked them up, and held the light pink panties out like an offering to my sex god of a man.

He took them from me, but instead of doing what he had yesterday, he carefully tucked them into his pocket and took another step back. “You’re not walking home,” he said suddenly, the abrupt change of topic startling me. I frowned his way, but before I could say anything, he shook his head. “No. Don’t,” he ordered. “As much as I want to, I can’t fuck you here.” Fire licked up my spine. Even though he was denying me, the sheer fact that he was thinking of doing something like that lit me up inside. “And you still need to be punished,” he continued. “So, at the end of your shift, one of the guys will pick you up and bring you to the house. Do you understand? Nod if you do.”

I nodded.

“Good girl.” My breath caught in my chest. “I’ve got to get back to the guys.” He slid a small smile my way. “Have a good rest of your shift, Mare. I’m sure it’ll be … interesting.” It was then—as he turned and walked away—that I felt the air against my pussy lips. I inhaled sharply. Fuck, I was so wet it coated the inside of my thighs. I groaned and slumped against the wall once more. He was a devilish asshole, but still … he was mine.

That last thought brought a smile to my lips as I headed to the bathroom for a quick clean up. As I exited, I plowed right into another familiar body. Hands came down on my shoulders to steady me.

“Mary.”

I looked up and gave the man in front of me a surprised smile. “Hi, Ben.”

“How, how are you? Are you feeling better?” His hands slid away a bit slower than I expected, but he respectfully took a step back as I straightened.

“Good, busy.” I blew out a breath. “You know how it is. We’ve been a bit shorthanded here.”

His head tilted to the side, though his expression remained the same. “I heard one of your waitresses hasn’t been showing up for her shifts.”

The reminder had me groaning as I gave a nod of acknowledgment. “Yeah, she had a lot of shifts too. Are you in my section tonight?”

He perked up. “Sure am. I just came to hit the head real quick.”

“Sorry if you’ve been waiting long, I got … waylaid by another customer.”

“Anyone giving you trouble?” he inquired seriously as his head straightened. I frowned at the way he said it but shrugged it off, figuring it was the same way he acted at the library and not anything to be suspicious of.

“Not really. I should go check on my orders, and I’ll come over to your table after you're done here.”

“Of course, I always look forward to seeing you, Mary.”

I smiled. “Same here.” When he didn’t head into the bathroom, I shuffled awkwardly along the wall. “Well, I’ll … um … see you in a bit.”

He nodded, but again, there was no movement. I turned and headed back to the main dining room, rounding the corner and hurrying when I saw that another waitress had grabbed the food for the guys’ table and was currently bending over and flashing her tits as she set the plates down. I growled low in my throat. Lots of bitches would be tripping before the end of the night if they kept hitting on my men.

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