Page 30 of Bonded and Betrayed

Itakeadeepbreath and lean back against Zeke’s strong chest, grateful for the extra support. My knees are still weak from the earth-shattering orgasm Everett gave me just a few minutes ago. It took every ounce of strength I had to walk out of that dining room like it hadn’t affected me, but it had. I thought my first experience was intense as I stared at Everett, my pussy clenching around another man’s fingers, wishing they were his, but it didn’t even compare to what I felt tonight. Lust and arousal permeated the room, the sensual lights and music relaxing me, making me forget that there was anyone else even in the room other than my mates and me.

Zeke’s arms wrap tightly around me, and I relax even further into him, remembering the hunger I saw in each of their gazes. I wanted all of their hands on me, but Everett was right—we needed tonight, needed that reassurance that we were both in this, that we were both past our resistance from when we first met.

Everett sits behind his desk, and I take another calming breath and focus back on him. The ghost of his touch still lingers on my skin, making me wish we could continue what we started in the dining room. The image he painted for me, dishes scattered, uncaring of the mess we make as he splays me on the table like an all-you-can-eat buffet, nearly made me beg for his cock right then.

Fucking bastard.

He won’t get his way that easily though. Two can play this game, and I can tease him with just as much skill.

Zeke’s chest rumbles, the sound of his voice vibrating through me and snapping me from my thoughts.

“Skylar was able to locate a camera inside one of the apartments that might have caught the killer,” Zeke says, his arms banding around me tighter in a comforting gesture. “Her friend is going through the footage and will get back to us if he finds anything.”

The weight of all five of their gazes shifts to me at that, reminding me of the possessive attitudes Zeke and Zayn had when Jasper tried to touch me.

I push out of Zeke’s hold, the comforting support now feeling stifling.

“Don’t you even try that with me,” I growl, turning my incredulous glare on each of them in turn. “That possessive bullshit isn’t going to go over well, so get that out of your thick skulls now.”

Everett, of course, holds my gaze, cocking a brow in defiance. I should have known he would be the stubborn one out of them, especially about this.

“And what happened to Skylar’s elbow?” he growls, his icy blue gaze cutting as it shifts back to Zeke.

Here we go again.

“Everett,” I snap, stalking forward and slamming my hands down on the desk. His gaze jumps to mine, his eyes slightly widening as he examines me.

My heart thunders, my anger boiling beneath my skin. “I’m not a fucking child, and I won’t be treated like one.” My tone is clipped and even, only a slight growl betrays my rage. “You might be my mate, but I am my own person. You talk to me if you have a question about me. Understood?”

He leans forward, only a foot separating us as I stare down at him. I hold my breath, waiting for his response that may undo all the progress we’ve made.

“I am your mate, as are the rest of them, and we’re responsible for your safety,” he says, his jaw ticking as he swallows, some of the steel vanishing from his once-hard gaze as he softens for me and only me. “But I understand. I respect you, your abilities, and your position. I should be asking you.”

Silence stretches as we both stare at each other, understanding and acceptance passing between us. Another wall crumbling down. The anger ebbs away, the connection thrumming between us warming my chest and reassuring me of our connection, of fate’s plan for our destinies to be intertwined.

“Well then, little mate.” He smirks, leaning back in his chair. “What happened to your elbow, and who do I have to kill for hurting you?”

The possessive rumble of his voice vibrates straight to my core as my heart and my head battle for dominance. His threat really shouldn’t make tingles of desire sweep up my spine, but it does. I’m seriously grateful for the cool metal of the desk beneath my palms right now, otherwise, I’m not entirely sure I could keep my balance, especially with the toe-curling warmth of my climax still lingering in my bones.

“We don’t know,” I breathe, causing a furrow to form between his brows.

I continue to tell him the rest of what happened this afternoon, explaining the masked figure who shot at us across the rooftops.

“Hopefully, yourfriend—” he pauses, emphasizing the word with a growl “—will be able to find something in the video that will lead us to both the shooter and the killer if they aren’t one and the same, but for now we’ll have to stay vigilant.”

I nod in agreement, pushing back from the table to stand on my own.

“Were you and Arsenio able to find anything today?” I ask, glancing to my fire-loving mate. As I suspected, he has his lighter out, the metal clicking as he lights and extinguishes the flame. His keen eyes examine me and Everett as though he’s been sitting back and observing our relationship this entire time.

“Yes,” Everett says, tapping away at his computer before turning the screen to face the rest of the room. “Our scouts were able to follow the bears back to a storage facility.”

The image on the screen is of a shelter surrounded by brush and thick trees. The outside of the metal shelter looks as though it is painted to blend in with the forest, with deep greens and browns around it. Fallen branches and leaves are stuck to the curved sides, disguising it further.

“It’s so deep within the woods, if we hadn’t followed them, there’d be no way of knowing it was there,” Everett explains. He quickly turns the screen to him, pulling up a video feed before directing it back to us. “The scouts were able to place a remote device in the area that allows us to see the storage facility.”

I narrow my eyes on the live video footage just as a flash of brown fur appears. A large bear passes a few feet from the camera—a guard.

“So, what’s our plan?” I cross my arms over my chest and examine the screen as another bear walks into the small clearing in front of the unit.

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