Another figure appeared in front of me, hood up, a bandana with a grinning skull mouth covering most of their face other than their eyes, which were shadowed by their hood, so I was unable to make them out.
“What are you doing, hiding out here, all alone?” he whispered, his tone sinister, sending shivers through me. Definitely a man. If we hadn’t been here, in the dark, I probably would have laughed this off—well, maybe—but here, I was starting to feel a tiny bit scared.
He raised his hand and the moonlight glinted off a sharp, wicked-looking blade.
I panicked and started to thrash around, my assailant still gripping me tightly. “Stay still and you won’t be hurt,” a muffled voice whispered in my ear. Something about his voice was familiar, and I stopped my thrashing, my panic receding slightly until the man in front of me stepped nearer.
I watched, helplessly, as he brought the blade closer, whimpering as the cold metal touched my cheek.
“So pretty,” he crooned, moving the knife away from my face and trailing the flat of the blade down my body, in between my breasts, and down to my waist. I was frozen to the spot, not daring to move a muscle in case he accidentally cut me.
With a flick of his wrist, he sliced the fabric at my waist and it fluttered to the floor. The blade disappeared and I breathed a sigh of relief, only for my heart rate to kick up again when another hooded figure appeared, again with a skull bandana covering everything but his eyes.
“What do we have here?” He joined the other hooded figure. “What’s a beautiful girl like you doing all the way out here, on this side of the castle, with nobody else around?”
My body relaxed at his words, and the person holding me removed his hand from my jaw, placing his arm around my waist instead. “Come closer,” I challenged. “Let me see your eyes.”
“Let me see yours,” the man in front of me countered, stepping right in front of me and lowering my hood. “There you are,” he murmured.
“Cass?” I questioned. I was pretty sure now that this was three of the Four. What the fuck they were playing at, I wasn’t sure, but what I was sure of was that they wouldn’t harm me.
He didn’t answer me but leaned forwards and lowered his bandana. He kissed me softly on the lips, then stepped back, sliding the bandana back into place. Definitely Cass.
“My turn,” came that same sinister voice. That had to be Zayde. Only he could give off those creepy serial killer type vibes.
Cass moved to the side and Zayde was in front of me, cupping my cheek, then sliding his hand down to grip my throat.
“I could crush you so easily,” he mused, pulling down his bandana and pressing his soft, full lips to mine. Despite his disturbing words, he kissed me gently, slowly, taking his time exploring my lips. Nothing like I would have imagined from him.
Whether this was some kind of game to fuck with me, I had no idea. This whole moment seemed so surreal, and somehow, I found myself kissing him back, experimentally, opening my mouth as he slid his tongue in. I gasped as smooth metal touched me. He had a tongue piercing? How did I miss that?
“Enough,” came a voice, and Zayde released my throat, stepping away from me. I saw his face before he pulled the bandana back into place—he flashed me a quick grin, so unlike him, that I could only gape at him.
“You okay?” the person holding me whispered in my ear, and I nodded, as Cass switched places with Zayde. Again, he pulled his bandana down, and again, he kissed me softly, then pressed kisses along my face and down the side of my neck. “You taste so sweet,” he groaned, sliding his hand through my hair.
My brain was scrambled. Was this actually happening, or was I hallucinating?
“What’s going on?” My words were barely discernible, breathed rather than spoken, then Cassius was kissing me, and he had both hands tangled in my hair, and I could feel him growing hard against me. He was suddenly gone, and Zayde was back, running his tongue piercing over my lips, then, when I opened my mouth for him, swirling it around my tongue. He pressed his body against mine, one hand gripping onto my throat again, and the other sliding under my hoodie and T-shirt, onto the bare skin of my stomach.
I heard the klaxon sound somewhere in the distance as I moaned involuntarily, my eyes closed, my body reacting with pleasure at the sensations. Another hand joined Zayde’s, inching higher. Someone brushed my hair away from my neck and kissed me there, then moved his mouth to my ear, nipping at the soft skin, making me shiver, before dropping his mouth back to my neck.
“Enough.” The savagely growled command came from behind Zayde, and my eyes flew open. “I said, enough!”
“Are you sure about that?” Zayde turned around, shielding me from view. “Because now I’ve had a taste, I want more.”
“Get. The. Fuck. Away. From. Her. Now.” Caiden’s tone was low and menacing.
Cassius removed his hand from under my hoodie and moved his mouth from my neck back to my ear. “We thought this might provoke him into action.” He raised his voice so Caiden could hear, taunting him with his words. “Did we turn you on, babe? Did we make you wet? Because I’m horny as fuck right now.”
“On a scale of one to stupid, this is the worst idea ever,” I whispered, dread filling me.
“Don’t worry,” Weston breathed from behind me, his face close to mine. “He won’t hurt you. And if he starts anything with any of us, we can take it.”
In what world did it seem like this would be a good idea?
They were fucking insane.
I gritted my teeth and prepared for the worst.
TWENTY-ONE
The boys melted into the shadows, and it was just us.
Tension grew thick in the air as Caiden stared at me. His hood was partially obscuring his face, but his bandana was pulled down, and I could see the tight set of his mouth as he prowled towards me. I took a step back, then another, suddenly afraid. My back hit the cold stone wall, and suddenly there was nowhere else to go.
His hands hit the wall either side of me, and he leaned his body into mine.
“What the fuck, Winter?” His whole body was vibrating with anger.
I swallowed hard, trying to stop my voice from shaking. “Do you have any right to be angry?” I whispered.
“Yes, I fucking do,” he snarled.
“Why?”
“Because you’re not theirs.”
Fury replaced my fear at his harshly spoken words. “You sound like a broken record, Caiden. I told you that I couldn’t deal with this anymore. Leave me alone, please.”
I pushed against his chest and ducked under his arm, running blindly, needing to get away from him. I tripped over a loose cobblestone, and I was falling, the ground slamming up to meet me.
Arms caught me, and he spun me around, pulling me to his chest. “Stop fucking running from me. You didn’t let me finish,” he gritted out through clenched teeth.
Manoeuvring my arms from his grip, I reached up a shaking hand and pushed his hood back, needing to see his face. In the dim moonlight, his eyes were hard, angry, black and fathomless like the ocean below us. “Finish, then.”
“You’re not theirs,” he repeated, glaring at me.
“Yeah, I heard you the first time. Do you have anything else to add?”