Chapter 15 The Ambush
Serena
“Jesus!” I pressed a hand to my chest, clutching my towel like a lifeline. “What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you.” Her eyes flicked over me, narrowing at my dripping hair, my bare legs, the towel barely covering anything worth covering. “You’re the one who just climbed thirty feet up the side of the house in a bath sheet. Master Saint will not approve.”
“Master Saint can go fuck himself.”
The words came out sharper than I meant, because I didn't want to disrespect her. But God, the relief hit hard.
So far, the highest suspicion was that I was messing around with Sin who was supposed to be my brother in law.
Messing around with the dangerous twin was fine.
Let them think that. Better that than the truth: both of them. At once. Them sharing, claiming and devouring me.
Mrs. Hale didn’t even blink at my language. She just inclined her head like she’d heard worse.
“Follow me.”
I did, my bare feet silent on the runner, still clutching my towel tightly.
We slipped out of the study, down the corridor, past shadowed portraits of dead Rivers men who all looked like they’d eaten their young.
I'd never seen these before. I never wanted to see it again. So damn scary.
“What were his instructions?” I asked her.
“To prepare you for the birthday dinner party tonight.”
I stumbled. My little toe caught the sharp corner of an antique side table. Pain lanced up my leg and I winced.
“What dinner party?”
“The CEO of Ashers International is turning seventy. The Rivers received a personal invitation to sit at the high table. Master Saint wants you to look… stunning.”
I stopped dead in the hallway.
“Hehe, I can just sit this one out, right?” My voice was barely audible. “I don’t do parties. I have social anxiety. Crowds. Small talk. People staring at me for long and all that. I’d rather climb another thirty stories in the rain than—”
Mrs. Hale turned, her eyebrows arched so high it nearly disappeared into her hairline.
“You scaled the exterior wall of a five-story mansion, window to window, with no rope or gloves, in a bath towel—and you’re telling me you can’t handle a dinner party?” She looked ready to spank me with a kitchen spoon.
She didn’t wait for an answer. She kept walking.
We reached my room before I even registered it.
Mrs. Hale paused at the threshold.
“Go and take your bath first. You look like a raccoon who spent the night in a dumpster behind a butcher shop.”
I stared at her. She stared back, unblinking.
This woman was tough. Phew.
Mrs. Hale left without another word. The door clicked shut behind her like a guillotine dropping halfway.
I turned to lock it, a habit from too many years of not feeling safe anywhere, and that’s when the hand fisted in my wet hair.
It yanked hard.
Pain exploded across my scalp as Lara dragged me sideways, slamming my shoulder into the wall.
“You. Fucking. Shameless. Bitch!”
Her nails dug into my scalp like claws. She shoved me around, spinning me until my back hit the door.
I twisted fast, out of instinct, not thought, and grabbed her waist with both hands, lifted, and dropped her like dead weight.
She hit the marble with a bone-jarring thud and screamed, high and furious.
I stood over her, breathing hard, the towel still clinging precariously to my chest.
“How dare you ambush me in my own room?” I
Lara pushed up, clutching her hip where she’d landed. Her face was blotchy red, and her eyes were wild and wide with shock. She didn't expect me to flip her like that.
“I’ve seen the pictures, Serena. You’re having an affair with the man who’s supposed to be your brother-in-law.”
“That’s what you think.” I said without missing a beat.
She staggered to her feet, wincing. “The pictures don’t lie. I can’t believe Saint is marrying both a whore and a street fighter like you. Christabel has to hear this.”
I stepped aside, giving her a clear path to the door.
“Go on. Tell her. I don’t fucking care.”
She limped closer instead, her eyes glittering with something manic. “Has Sin shown you the demon inside him yet? Has he cut you? Taken you right to the edge and held you there while you begged?”
My stomach churned. I didn't want to think about this thing about Sin's darkness.
“Get out. Now.”
“I’ll be the one holding the door when Christabel finally kicks you out. Sin is mine. I’m the only one who understands him. Who knows his body. Who can take what he needs to give. You don’t even know why he’s hidden from the world, do you? That’s why you’re sneaking around, fucking his twin behind Saint’s back.”
“I’m not fucking his twin.” My voice was hard like steel. “Now get out before I cripple your other hip.”
It was technically true. I hadn’t fucked either of them. Yet.
God, did I want to? Every second they breathed near me, they tortured me with cravings I didn’t know I had.
My body remembered Sin’s fingers, his teeth, the way his hand had tightened on my throat until the world narrowed to black spots and bliss.
Lara smirked, reading something in my face. “See you at the party, Serena.”
She slipped out.
I slammed the door so hard the frame rattled, then leaned against it, sliding down until my ass hit the floor.
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I could still feel her nails in my scalp, and the ghost of Sin’s bite on my neck.
I wanted to know what lived inside him. What darkness made Lara bleed for him willingly.
What made the Rivers family bury their second heir like a shameful secret.
I could go searching, tearing through the rooms in this white-house sized mansion digging for answers, but not now.
I needed to prepare myself for the birthday party and whatever test Christabel would fling at me tomorrow.
I needed my mind sharp, my body ready, and my spirit armored.
At least Lara hadn’t seen me in Sin’s room. Hadn’t caught us seconds from fucking each other senseless under the shower spray.
Small mercies.
I pushed off the door and headed for the bathroom. I let the spray run until it was scalding hot and nearly punishing. I stepped under it and let the water scald my skin.
My fingers found the mark on my neck, it was slightly bruised and tender, shaped like Sin’s teeth.
I pressed down and hissed at the sweet ache. My mind betrayed me instantly.
I pictured him lifting me, my legs wrapping around his waist, his eyes locked on mine as he lined himself up to position his thick, fat cock at my entrance.
I pictured him pausing when he felt the resistance. Realizing I was still a virgin, his expression softening as if he wished he'd gone in slowly.
Then Saint barging in and growling at him, “You’re not taking her like that. Not without getting her ready first.”
And then, God help me, they’d both do it. Sin holding me open while Saint’s mouth found my clit, sucking slow and filthy until I was dripping.
Saint’s fingers curling inside me, stretching, while Sin sucked bruises onto my breasts, his teeth grazing nipples until I arched and begged.
My own hand slid between my thighs before I could stop it. One finger slipped inside my wet pussy and I bit my lip to keep from moaning out loud.
I imagined it was Saint prepping me, gentle but ruthless, while Sin watched with those black, starving eyes, stroking himself, waiting.
His pierced tip glistening with—
Wait, what the fuck was I doing?