Page 150 of Slashers & Secrets

I raise my hand from his shoulder, my fingers grazing the unpainted jawline. “Relax, Reign. Just relax,” I whisper.

Archer’s fingers wrap around my rib cage, and they close in on me, the tension growing between the two of them. I gasp at the crackling heat, feeling like I’m drowning between need and desire.

The room fills quickly, the crowd bustling, shouts and laughs and sexual tension warming the cool, dank space. Though we’re hidden in the small cubby on the other side of the stairs, concealed by the beams and the bricks, while the everyone else mingles in a large group, going wild.

While we disintegrate in each other’s palms.

Reign’s eyes refuse to leave mine, his fingers bruising my hip as he pulls me even closer, until my body molds to his. His gaze holds mine captive, and I can barely blink as my mouth goes dry, my legs clenching together as we slowly grind against each other.

The room glows orange with string pumpkins and ghosts hanging all across the ceilings, the heavy smell of pumpkin spice and marijuana filling the air.

Archer presses deeper into me, and all it does is cause them to sandwich me closer together, until we’re not three, but one.

Reign reaches down, and my skin prickles, the hair on my neck raising, wondering if he’s about to speak to me, or Archer.

“How long do you think I’ll allow his fingers to press against your body, hm?” His gaze lifts, and I know his eyes have connected with Archer’s. “They better not linger or graze any farther than I can see. I allow it because she loves you, but I’ll also forbid it, because I love her.”

My heart cuts in half, shredding at the seams and leaving me in pieces at their feet. I gasp, love filling me and overflowing, and I can do nothing except squeeze him, knowing what he says is true, because I can feel it. I can feel it in my bones.

Archer leans down, and I instantly let out a shiver as his fingers curl possessively around my ribs. “Lakyn’s love is endless, and her heart beats for you, though it also beats for me. It always has.”

I swallow over the lump in my throat.

“Two different beats, only one heart,” he rasps, his other hand curling around my neck. My eyes flare at the same time Reign’s do, and his hand hooks behind my head, both his arm and Archer’s twisted in a weird pretzel, Reign pulls me to him, my lips instantly pressing against his, the same time Archer pulls me back. My lips end up secured to Reign’s, while we lean into Archer, his hand gripping my neck as his lips graze my ear.

“If you break her heart again, Reign, just know I will break every bone in your body.”

His fingers give my neck a squeeze before he pulls away, his body ripping from mine. He’s gone in a flash, cutting himself through the crowd. The loss throws us off-balance, and I nearly fall backward. Reign’s hand shoots out, and his hand slaps the railing to the stairway, holding us up. My spine arches back, Reign curling over me, devilish and handsome.

He pulls me upright, spinning me around until my back is flush with the stone wall.

“I love you,” I gasp, feeling the love in his touch, how he watches me so deeply. The words just pour out of my mouth, and I want to say them again, and again, and again.

My heart lives for Reign.

He leans forward, his paint looking wicked on his face as he stares at me. He licks his lips, his fingers gripping my jaw as he tilts my face to the side, manipulating my jaw as my lips fall open. His tongue dives into my mouth, and I let out a moan as his other hand dips below my collarbone. His hand grips my breast, and I arch into his touch, desperate for more.

Desperate for it all.

He pulls back after a moment, his brown eyes turned black. My chest heaves, and I stare up at him, wanting to jump his bones in front of all of these people, and I wouldn’t mind one bit.

“I need a drink, and then I want to take you somewhere,” he rasps, his thumb grazing against the corner of my mouth.

“Where?” I whisper.

“You’ll see.” His fingers raise to my mask, and he slowly lowers it over my face. His fingers burrow into the hair behind my head, and he grips me closely, his lips brushing my ear. “You are more dangerous than you seem, baby Lake.”

My breath catches in my throat, and my teeth sink into my lower lip behind my mask as I let out a single nod.

He watches me a moment before he nods back, and steps away, slipping between the crowd in search of a drink.

The moment he’s out of sight, my back leans against the wall, and I slouch down, my breath finally settling in my lungs.

Holy shit.

My heart thumps in my ears, and I’m suddenly glad for the mask, because I can’t imagine how I must look right now.

My body tingles with electricity, my skin flushed with heat, and I can feel the perspiration run down the back of my neck.

---