Chapter Fifteen

They’d checked the bar she frequented and the lobby of the hotel, only to find no sign of Kara. It reminded Cullen of how little they actually knew about their wayward thief.

If she wanted to take off, if she wanted to disappear, they couldn’t do a thing to stop her. They had no access to her life, no knowledge of her friends. Hell, they didn’t even know where she lived.

Again, he was struck with what a terrible idea this all was. Not only was she likely to get herself in trouble, but because she was so secretive, they couldn’t even do much to help her.

All the searches had brought them back to the hotel room without an idea of where else to try.

A sound from Damon’s room had them all freezing when they entered.

Kara? It was impossible to tell since her scent already seemed to saturate every item in their suite.

Cullen pulled his gun from the holster at his hip, nodding back toward the room despite the other alphas being on similar alert. Damon never carried a gun and Reese usually left his safely locked at home.

Another sound—a drawer closing—came as the alphas crept toward the open door. Nothing in the main suite appeared out of place, but that didn’t mean anything. A smart criminal would start in the rooms.

When the figure passed the door, Cullen nodded. It had been a smart thief.

Kara went still when she spotted the three of them, her face a mask of hiding. At least toward Cullen and Damon.

She wouldn’t look at Reese.

Over her shoulder was a bag. So, she’d come back only to clear her shit out? It didn’t surprise Cullen but it sure did annoy him.

They all stared back and forth without saying a word, as if waiting for someone to break.

Leave it to Damon to break first. “Where are you going?”

Kara pulled the strap of her heavy pack farther up on her shoulder. “I’m leaving.”

“We haven’t finished the case yet.”

“Yeah, well, I can handle it on my own.” Even as she spoke, she averted her gaze. “I’ll have Grace send you the money for it. You won’t be out anything.”

That was what she thought it was about? She thought they cared about some damned money? It riled Cullen’s temper to realize she still didn’t understand a damned thing. Sure, they weren’t destined for romance, but the fact she actually thought they cared more about some money for the case than about her annoyed him.

She should know better. She should know them better than that already.

“You think we’re just going to go on home, just like that?” Cullen crossed his arms, standing between her and the door she so obviously wanted to escape through.

“Why not?” The shrug of her shoulders was all defensive. “Not like there’s anything between us. You finished the original job, and technically, I accepted Grace’s job. So you can go.”

She stood there, back straight, but eyes down on the floor. The perfect example of someone so terrified of anyone getting close to her, of seeing anything beneath that exterior she liked to hide behind. Reese had glimpsed beneath it, seen the scars—literal in this case—that she’d worked so hard to cover with attitude and posturing. It gave Cullen an understanding he’d lacked before.

The girl was terrified of the idea of people seeing her. She didn’t want to show her wounds, show her imperfections, show any of the things she didn’t like about herself.

Cullen got it. Was he any different? Fuck knew he wasn’t out there telling her how much he hated to see her in danger, was he? No, he kept those worries to himself, safely hidden.

Even understanding why Kara might act that way didn’t excuse it, though. Cullen still didn’t plan on letting her get away with it.

In fact, maybe from realizing his own shortcomings, he recognized how badly he wanted to address it in her.

“So, thanks,” she muttered. “I mean, for fucking things up, I guess.”

She took a step toward the door, but Cullen didn’t move. He kept himself planted directly in her way. She’d have to go through him to leave.

Kara met his eyes. “I’m going.”

“I don’t think so.”

“You really think you can keep me here if I don’t want to stay?”

Oh, the temptation to do so hit him. While he wasn’t a kidnapping sort of man, he wanted to pit her skill against his. Worse? He didn’t know who he wanted to win. Did he want to prove he could best her or would he feel better if she won? If he knew that despite her stubborn, stupid streak she could handle herself?

Thankfully, Reese piped up before Cullen got them in trouble. “You’re pissed. I get it. That doesn’t mean you should leave.”

Her gaze zeroed in on Reese and, hell, Cullen was glad he wasn’t the focus of all that anger. Small miracles that for once, he hadn’t pissed her off.

“Well, I’ve got lots of men to fuck, right? Busy schedule to keep.” Hurt colored the words.

Reese let out a soft sigh. “Look, I’m sorry.”

“Do you know where you can shove that sorry?”

“Up my ass?”

“That’s right,” Kara said.

Still, Reese pushed. “I was pissed, okay? I saw the scars and you were sitting there lying to me again. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not great with lying.”

She shook her head. “I don’t need you to apologize, because I don’t care what you think.”

“If you don’t care, why are you running?”

“This isn’t running. It’s realizing that you all have caused me far more problems than you’ve solved. I’d be crazy to keep sticking around.”

Cullen’s temper slipped another inch at the idea of her just walking out over something so small. “So you’ll run off, and for what? So you can deal with killers on your own? How the hell is that a smart idea?”

She set her hands on her hips and met his gaze head on, staring up, her blue eyes flashing. “Smarter than sticking around a couple of arrogant alphas who aren’t nearly as smart as you think you are.”

He leaned in, towering over her, enjoying the flush on her cheeks and the way her scent exploded. “Go put your stuff down, Kara.”

Her lips pressed together in a tight line. “No.”

“You’re being reckless. You’re acting because you’re pissed. Stop and think about it for one goddamned minute and you’d see it’s a stupid choice.”

He could tell by the look on her face she knew it was stupid. Still, she was more interested in being stubborn than in making good choices.

“Last chance. Move.” She tipped her face up, so close to his that they probably looked like they were a heartbeat away from kissing.

Which he wouldn’t mind. Were there better ways to work out an argument than that?

“You’ll have to go through me.” He said it like a dare.

A dare Kara did not back down from. She swung her head forward, but Cullen was expecting it. A yank back kept her from slamming into his face.

She was wild against him, but he had size and strength. Her elbow struck his side, her knee rising to hit him, probably in a place he didn’t want struck.

He had no doubts that if they actually fought, it wouldn’t have gone that way. She pulled her hits—though he’d have bruises—and of course he didn’t strike her at all. It didn’t take long to quell her snarling, though. He slid his fingers into her hair and tilted her face up to meet his gaze.

She bared her teeth. “You are going to be so sorry for manhandling me.”

He tightened his grip in her hair. “If you really wanted to go, you would have been gone already.”

“I needed my things.”

“You had a few pieces of clothing. You would have left them behind. Sorry, thief, but you wanted us to catch you leaving.”

She didn’t answer that time, but the look on her face said she wanted to.

Quiet? She probably didn’t want to admit she’d come there looking for them. Sure, she wanted to run, wanted to hide those wounds of hers, but she’d still come here.

And Cullen was tired of her acting up. Was this what she did? Push people until they turned their backs on her?

He went still as he realized that was exactly what she did. She pushed and lashed out until people wrote her off, because that was what she expected them to do anyway.

She wanted to snap and send the alphas running so she could sit back and tell herself, See, they didn’t want me, just like I knew.

And with that, Cullen knew exactly what they needed to do. He released her hair, holding her arm instead as he pulled her toward his room, Reese and Damon following.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“Showing you that no matter how much you snarl, you can’t scare us off.”

Cullen peered over at Reese, the two having spent enough time to be on a similar page. A quick nod from Reese said he was in agreement. No need to check with Damon—he wouldn’t understand the question yet.

“Oh, so you all think you’re tough, now?”

Damon shut the door to Cullen’s room once they all entered, just as Cullen let go of Kara’s arm.

She glared at each of the alphas with not a speck of fear. No, not Kara. She wasn’t fragile, wouldn’t wilt at a little roughness. Instead, she stood against all of it, the color on her cheeks deepening, her breath speeding. She wasn’t one to win over with sweet words and gentle touches. No, Kara’s life had been hard and it seemed the only way to break through those walls of hers might be that same roughness.

Reese answered her question, showing he was so on board with the plan. “If it makes you feel better, growl. Curse. Insult us. Whatever it takes you to get through it. Unless you say ‘stop’, sweetheart, we’re going to show you that we’re more than tough enough to deal with your wild streak.”

The way Kara’s pupils grew and the softest, prettiest moan left her lips made Cullen sure they were doing the right thing.

And he was going to enjoy every second of it.

Reese groaned at how hard he was. His cock pressed painfully against the zipper of his jeans and he cursed himself for forgoing boxers.

That fire in Kara’s eyes drew him, especially when she refused to back down.

He liked her hard edges, her challenge. It was just the damned lying he hated.

He’d given her an out. As much as he’d wanted to spank her ass since he’d met her, he’d never do it if she really didn’t want it. There were lines he didn’t cross.

And for her part, it let Kara rage against them while still deciding if she really wanted it or not. Her reaction screamed that she wanted it, though.

The girl didn’t like to accept things, but it didn’t change that she wanted them.

Reese caught her with his hand behind her neck, leading her back toward the bed. She followed as if he had her leashed, her pupils wide and obscuring the blue of her lovely eyes.

He sat on the bed, and Kara bent forward. Reese kept her moving by pulling her in for a kiss before shifting her over his lap. He did it quickly before her brain caught up.

Because the moment it did, she’d kick.

Sure enough, she let out a scandalized gasp. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

Reese shifted her forward so her ass was up, her weight braced on his knees, and his hand on her back held her in place. “Teaching you that you can’t run us off. You think you can bare those pearly whites of yours and everyone will fall in line. Guess what? We won’t.”

She kicked her feet but couldn’t get purchase. Not to mention, Reese had done this before. He knew damned well how to hold a woman still.

He waited for a moment to see if she tapped out. All she had to say was ‘stop.’ If she uttered that, he’d let her up, and she knew it.

Despite her struggle, she didn’t say it, and that didn’t shock him. Kara didn’t like to give in, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, she needed this.

Hell, maybe they all did.

Cullen pulled the chair from the desk over so he sat beside Kara, his knees brushing Reese’s. He stroked his hand over her ass like a teasing promise, hinting at the things to come.

Damon, the one who seemed to give in for her, dropped to his knees in front of her. He stroked his fingers through her hair, the touch seeming to calm her.

At least, it did until Cullen caught the waist of her leggings and pulled them down her legs. Instead of taking them off, he left them around her thighs, just above her knees.

Maybe that will keep her under control. Probably not. He was starting to think nothing could make that girl behave.

The sight of her bare ass helped keep him on track.

“I swear, when you let me up—”

“Does it make you feel better to argue?” Cullen stroked his hand against the curve of her ass one more time. “Does kicking your feet and fighting against us make you feel like you can enjoy it, then? If so, feel free to keep it up, because what you’ve got to learn is that you don’t scare us.”

She opened her mouth to say something—and he was sure it was going to be something they didn’t want to hear—but Cullen landed his hand hard against the flesh of her ass. The sound ricocheted through the room, followed by…a moan?

His cock hardened more, something he’d thought impossible, at the wanton sound that left Kara’s lips. And even better? The red mark left on her skin, the one that resembled the size and shape of Cullen’s hand.

One little swat wouldn’t keep her still for long, though, because as soon as she cut off that sound, as if she couldn’t believe it had left her lips, she resumed her posturing. She kicked her legs, she cursed, she ignored the sweet way Damon stroked his fingers through her hair.

Reese exchanged a look with Cullen, one filled with all the thrill of discovery.

Reese could have guessed Kara might enjoy this, but who really fucking knew? Mostly, the idea had been to break past those defenses of hers, to get her to realize she didn’t need to fight them, because they weren’t going anywhere—at least not right then.

Cullen smirked once before he repeated the action. This time he didn’t slow between each slap of his hand to her ass. No, he kept a steady rhythm as he moved from one cheek to the other, her skin turning a lovely shade of pink beneath the attention.

Kara, for her part, didn’t give in. Then again, she wasn’t the sort of girl to give in easily. “I swear, I’ll castrate you,” she growled out between the gasps and shudders and moans that escaped her.

Reese kept one hand on her back, though she didn’t struggle as much as she had at the start, and reached beneath her with his other. He leaned enough to capture her nearest breast, the nipple already hard and easy to find even from beneath her shirt. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, dismissing her threats. “When you’re done with this little temper tantrum, you just let us know. Cullen here, he spends a lot of time at the gym. Trust me when I say if it comes down to your ass or his arm wearing out first, your ass doesn’t have a chance.”

The shudder that ran through her was delicious, especially because he knew she fought it. That was the thing—even if bodies didn’t like to admit to what they wanted, they always made it clear. Kara needed to keep the alphas at a distance, but the sweet scent of her cunt filling the room showed that she wasn’t as opposed to this as she pretend.

Reese met Damon’s gaze, checking in with the younger alpha. He was sweet and not the type to do this normally. However, Damon’s eyes were filled with predatory lust, with the sort of look that reminded Reese that the other alpha was very much an alpha. He wasn’t rough, offering those same gentle affections as if soothing her through it. Still, he’d lock his gaze on the fall of Cullen’s hand, on the clap of sound against Kara’s ass, and a soft growl would rumble from his throat.

Not quite so sweet, is he?

A hiccupping gasp left Kara. Not tears, but closer than he thought he’d ever hear from her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, so softly Reese doubted he’d heard it.

He had, though. So had Cullen, who stopped and rubbed his hand over her ass. “What was that?”

She sniffed once, her body lax against Reese’s lap, but she didn’t repeat it.

Reese pulled off her leggings then shifted her until she straddled his lap before he grasped her chin between his fingers to force those red-rimmed eyes on him.

No tears, though. Hell, he didn’t think he’d ever see her cry, no matter what happened. “What did you say?”

Another sniffle. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

A slight defiance in her gaze, her back going straight—it all said that even if they managed to tame her for a moment, it wouldn’t ever be for good. Why do I like that?

She hissed, and Reese chuckled to find Cullen had leaned closer and cupped her ass in his large hands, no doubt aggravating the sore skin.

Still, it seemed to work, because she answered, “For running off.”

Reese shook his head. “It’s not just running. You’re waiting for people to fuck you over, so you think you can get them to leave first. You thought you’d show up here and we’d toss you back because you’re difficult. Guess what? We aren’t that weak. You can act the shrew all you want, but you aren’t going to scare us away.”

The shiver that ran through her was like a dream, a tiny crack in that armor. She didn’t give in, didn’t submit, but it was as though something in her eyes said she wanted to.

“Tell us you get it,” Cullen said from behind her.

Kara nodded, a sharp jerk of her head.

Ah, the defiance still in her made Reese want to take it further. He wanted to tie her down and enjoy every luscious inch of her body, to see how her toned muscles flexed as she pulled against her bindings.

He wanted to fuck her until she gave in, until she gave them everything and realized it wasn’t so bad.

But she wasn’t there. In the time they had, she’d probably never get there.

Pity.

“You liked that,” Reese said.

Incredulity filled her blue eyes. “Who could possibly like that?”

Her lie scraped at him, as always, dissipating some of those good feelings. He could call her on this one, at least. He reached between her spread thighs and pressed two of his fingers into her cunt to prove his point. “Really? Because you’re as wet as I’ve ever felt you, hellion.”

Her head dropped back and she lifted her hips—not to escape, but as if the touch was already that overwhelming.

“Admit you liked it and we’ll take care of you,” Damon said from where he stood beside Cullen.

Kara twisted to glare at him. “You’re supposed to be the nice one.”

Damon stroked his fingers down the side of her face. “I am. All you have to do is admit to all of us you enjoy it and you’ll get everything you want.”

Tiny shudders coursed through her, as if each inch were overwhelmed and primed. Reese pumped his fingers slowly, not enough to get her off, or even to get close to it, but enough to keep her on that edge, to make her need more.

How long would she hold out? Normally he’d think someone would have broken well before, but they weren’t as stubborn as Kara.

He planned to win, though. The prize was too important.

Finally, Kara let out a pathetic whine that made his cock twitch in response. “I enjoyed it,” she whispered as her little defiance.

Good enough.

Damon leaned down to take a kiss from Kara, needing to feel her lips. He’d never done something like that before and it unsettled him.

More so with how much he’d enjoyed it.

He, the one who never would think about striking a female, even for fun, had hardened embarrassingly quick and been far too close to coming at the sight of Cullen spanking Kara.

The flush on her cheeks, the moans from her lips—they had been the most erotic thing he’d ever witnessed.

He pulled Kara from Reese’s lap as she undid the buttons of his pants.

Cullen and Reese had both touched her and Damon needed to feel her pussy wrapped around him.

He moved up on the bed before stretching out, Kara all but crawling on top of him. She didn’t need any help figuring out what to do, splaying her knees wide around his hips before she wrapped her small hand around his hard dick. Reese was right—she was soaked. She slid him into her waiting cunt without a problem, the tightness enough to yank a snarl from him and for him to reach up and grab her hips, pulling her down, needing to be as deep as possible inside her.

Once she’d slid down his entire length and the heat and tightness of her sex surrounded every inch of him, she set her hands on his chest and rode him, staring down into his eyes.

This was what had been missing. She’d never kept her eyes open, never looked before. Maybe it wasn’t much, but Damon knew damned well it meant something. Maybe Reese and Cullen’s stupid idea had worked—maybe they’d managed to take down some of her defenses, at least for a while.

Cullen shifted forward behind her, his knees framing both Kara’s and Damon’s.

A shuddering gasp from Kara had Damon tilting so he could see.

Cullen grasped her ass, massaging her. She had to be sore, but the way her cunt tensed up around him, the sounds that left her sweet lips, all said she must enjoy the touch.

To their side sat Reese. He had stripped down as well, and he wrapped his hand around his cock as he watched, lust covering his features.

It all made sense, suddenly.

Before, Damon hadn’t quite understood the appeal of sharing a female. He’d known Cullen and Reese did, but he’d figured there would be jealousy. No alphas could really share an omega without them getting resentful, without them wanting to tear one another apart. He’d never been able to imagine watching another alpha touch a female he wanted and being okay with it.

However, when Cullen grasped Kara’s ass, when Reese reached out with his free hand to capture one of Kara’s breasts, Damon couldn’t find the jealousy he’d assumed he’d be filled with.

A strange sense of contentment swamped him instead. He liked the way she shuddered when Reese tightened his fingers on her nipple. He groaned at how Cullen pressed a hand to her back to lean her forward. The other alphas weren’t in competition. It wasn’t about being better than any of them.

Instead, they worked together to take her apart. Cullen with brute force, Reese with his charm and skill and Damon with that soft side.

They did things together none of them could on their own.

So Damon leaned up to capture Kara’s lips, to swallow down those mouth-watering sounds she made and take a kiss meant to tell her the things he knew better than to say. Kara was flighty and voicing anything might just scare her off.

She curled her hands in, pressing her nails into his chest like tiny bites of pain to mix into the pleasure. Marks. He loved the idea of wearing her marks, of taking his shirt off the next day and seeing little crescent-shaped nail scabs in his skin, like badges of honor.

The thought alone stole his breath, and the aching in his cock couldn’t be ignored any longer.

She rolled her hips again and Damon snarled against her lips before lifting his pelvis in a hard thrust, burying himself as deep as possible. He didn’t need to grab her, because Cullen used his grip on her ass to press her down as Damon’s knot swelled.

Her hands clutched more, a trickle of blood saying she’d probably broken his skin, but he didn’t care. He locked inside her, her cunt squeezing down on his knot as she came again, triggered by that instinctual pleasure that happened between an alpha and an omega, something she couldn’t get from a beta.

As he came, filling her tight pussy, he met her gaze to find those stunning blue eyes still locked to his. He took one more kiss from her, because this was something he’d never thought he’d have.

And he knew losing it would hurt.

Kara couldn’t control anything.

Her cunt pulsed around Damon’s thick knot, her body shivered and moans fell from her lips.

She’d always been in control. No matter how many males she’d used to slake her lust, she’d always put them in their place. She followed a basic truth—don’t let anyone too close. Somehow, the alphas had gotten her to break that one rule.

The sting in her ass because Cullen wouldn’t leave the sore skin alone kept his lesson in the forefront of her mind. Damon’s dick, locked inside her, reiterated just how deeply the alphas had managed to get beneath her skin and how little she had been able to do to stop it. Reese teased her nipples, moving from one to the other as he stroked his cock, a reminder that they weren’t close to done. All of it said the same thing—resisting them was pointless and they weren’t going anywhere.

Would she listen to them from now on? Fuck that. Yet at the same time, some strange understanding had seemed to happen.

She couldn’t run them off.

It had been the first time someone had truly stood against that raging inside her, when she’d bared her teeth and done whatever it took to get them to run.

The alphas hadn’t run. They hadn’t even bent.

Instead, they’d shown her that no matter what she dished out, they could take it.

And that terrified her.

Not that they’d given her time to think about it.

She focused instead on what she wanted, on what she needed right then. Locked against Damon, his cock twitching as he filled her and his knot stretching her in that delicious way that was impossible to replicate, she only needed more.

More of Damon’s sweet lips and more of Reese’s arrogant grins and more of Cullen’s rough hands.

And thankfully, the alphas seemed willing to give her that without her asking.

Cullen rubbed her sore ass once again before using his grip to spread her cheeks.

She tensed against the sensation and Damon groaned when it squeezed his cock.

Cullen didn’t stop, though. In fact, he stroked a finger from where Damon filled her cunt up to her ass, where she’d never let anyone take her.

Cullen must have noticed her reaction, because he chuckled. “Do I make you nervous?”

She twisted her head to glare, ready to tell him off, but Reese took that moment to offer a pinch to her nipple. The slight sting made her inhale sharply instead of saying whatever she would have said.

Cullen went down once more, stroking along her stretched cunt. When he returned to her ass, she realized he’d collected all the slick from her drenched pussy. His now wet finger rubbed against her, coaxing but insistent.

Reese released his pinch, stroking over her nipple as if to soothe it. “I can’t say I’m shocked you’ve never done anal, hellion. Takes trust, huh? You don’t strike me as the sort to let anyone get that from you.”

Cullen’s grip was unshakable as he kept her spread, as he teased her and made promises with that touch that had her mind racing.

It was all too much.

She wanted him to fuck her like this. Some frightening part of her wanted him to stretch her ass with his thick fingers before sliding his hard cock inside her. She wanted to feel Damon beneath her, locked within her, while Cullen filled her ass. She wanted to be so overtaken by them that she couldn’t even think of resisting, that her brain stopped all its gymnastics looking for a reason this was stupid, why it would never work.

Then? Then she wanted Reese to push his shaft past her lips so she didn’t have a single inch of space left inside her. She wanted to just…give in.

Not forever, but just for a while, just to rest, to let someone else handle everything.

Cullen pressed harder, but she still tensed against him.

Reese switched his fingers to her other nipple and once more tightened until all her attention was on the sting of his pinch. Everything else melted away as she cried out.

When he let go, though, when she shuddered in a breath, Cullen took her relaxation for granted.

He pushed forward and his finger breached the tight muscles of her ass, slipping into her in a way she’d never experienced before.

It seemed so much more personal than just sex, and she didn’t like that. Physically it teased her senses, made her even more desperate, but she already felt scraped raw by the alphas.

After they’d spanked her, they’d cracked the carefully constructed walls she’d put up to keep them—and everyone else—at a distance. Now Cullen took even more of her control away, and no matter how much her body enjoyed it, her mind rebelled.

It was too dangerous. They’d see too much and walk out like everyone else. They’d realize she wasn’t worth the effort and she’d end up hurt. Sure, lots of people had walked away from her, but always because she’d been the one to push them.

Losing someone because they really saw her, because she’d let them close and they’d still left? That was a different matter altogether.

She couldn’t say it, though. That was perhaps the largest struggle. She couldn’t tell them why they needed to stop, why she needed that distance and what had always worked before didn’t work with them.

They didn’t scare easily.

So instead, Kara’s body spoke for her. She whimpered at the new sensation of Cullen’s finger, at the thoughts in her head of how much more she wanted. He shifted from one to two fingers, the new stretch causing a burning.

Too much. Not enough. She warred between the two feelings. Even when she shifted, Damon’s knot kept her in place, trapped her for Cullen to play.

Reese tormented her breasts through her shirt, teasing her nipples with feather-light touches before offering a tight squeeze just to keep her guessing.

Cullen withdrew his fingers, shifting behind her.

“No,” she said far too quickly. It was almost a plea.

Cullen stilled behind her, one hand still on her ass. “No, huh?”

She shook her head, her eyes closed, trying to hide all the nonsense running amok in her mind, wanting to keep it off her face. If he went that far, she was afraid she’d shatter.

He caressed her with that large hand before shifting away and resuming his position. She jumped when his finger touched her again, but he slid it into her easily.

“You’ll give in,” he promised her, no anger in his voice. “Maybe not yet, but you will.”

The words sank deep into her, an absolute certainty. It wasn’t about anal and they all fucking knew it. It was about trust, about her giving in to them fully, and she just couldn’t do that.

She twisted her neck to look back, to find Cullen poised behind her, his hand wrapped around his cock, stroking his hard length as he watched himself finger-fucking her ass. He seemed enthralled by it.

Her cheeks heated at the lust on his face, at how lewd it felt, but all that only added to the electric sensations running through her body.

Reese caught her chin and stole a kiss, his lips firm and unyielding. Damon took the chance to reach between them and slid his fingers along her drenched and swollen clit.

She cried out, far past overwhelmed.

Reese stroked his cock when he broke the kiss, starting down her body at where she was locked on Damon’s dick, and Reese’s lips curled into a dangerous smirk. He slid his fingers into Kara’s hair, a grip so tight it made her scalp sting with the most deviant pleasure, before he pushed her down.

His shaft sat there like a gift, but the tug at her hair said she ought to get going. Gladly.

Kara took his length past her lips, though she couldn’t go far because he still had his other hand wrapped around the base. It only gave her the head to work with, but it was hard to care about that.

She lavished attention on him, using her tongue to circle the thick head, to toy with the ridge and rough skin at the bottom. Each bit of pre-cum that escaped him felt like some elixir that her body reacted to.

Everything closed in on her again, and no matter how tired she was, no matter how overworked she felt, she knew she’d come again. Between them, with little control, they’d force another mind-blowing orgasm from her body no matter what.

“Look at me,” Reese demanded.

She couldn’t. They’d already taken too much, put her on display too entirely. She closed her eyes harder, tightening her lips and sucking at his cock in hopes he’d let it go.

His grip on her hair loosened enough for him to offer an almost sweet stroke at the same time as he sighed. “Fine,” he rumbled. Maybe he realized she’d already given all she could right then, that looking at him when she already was so lost would push her past something she was not ready to face.

He stroked himself, his fist butting against her lips, his cock twitching slightly to prove how close he was.

Meanwhile, Cullen fucked her with hard and deep pumps of his fingers, as though, since he couldn’t get his dick into her, he’d claim her with whatever he could.

Reese came first, his scalding cum landing on her tongue in heavy lines. She swallowed it down as quickly as she could, her tongue seeking more from the source.

As soon as it happened, though, as soon as that heavenly taste surged through her, she lost what last little scrap of control she had. She shattered beneath the orgasm that crashed over her, beneath the unyielding hands and bodies of the alphas. Her entire body tightened, sparks of pleasure so intense she felt like she was dying coursing through her.

Cullen withdrew his fingers, and when she found the blunt head of his dick pressed against her ass, she had a moment of worry. Would he ignore her no?

Except he didn’t. She should have known he wouldn’t, either. He stroked his cock, his free hand tight on her ass, spreading her open still, as he found his own release against her. His cum was hot and thick as it landed on her ass, and damn her, it made her almost regret her choice.

She panted hard, her arms having given out, so she rested her forehead against Damon’s chest. Reese stroked his fingers through her hair and Cullen took the chance to drag his fingers through the cum on her. He pressed slightly, drawing a whine from her as he pushed his thick seed into her ass, as though that was where it damned well belonged.

And Kara could only shiver at the way her body was lax, at the absolutely sated sensation inside her, and at realizing for the first time just how dangerous these three were to her.

* * * *

Kara lounged with her head pillowed in Damon’s lap, the heat of him making her want to curl against him like a cat near a fireplace.

After they’d cleaned up, they’d put on a movie and all piled onto the large fold-out couch in the living room. It was probably best, since the bedroom smelled like sex and Kara needed time to process what had happened.

Had she really enjoyed that? Had she given in so easily to the overbearing touch of the alphas? What was I thinking?

Even as she chastised herself for the stupidity, she found herself more relaxed than she could recall being. Tomorrow she’d think harder about it. Tomorrow she’d remember all the reasons this was an absolutely horrible idea. For tonight, she enjoyed it.

Cullen sat to her left, Reese to her right. A bowl of popcorn had been made and mostly consumed during the superhero movie she’d insisted they watch.

Cullen had offered a rom-com, but that was the last thing any of them needed. Nope, she wanted mindless ass-kicking, not romance.

While her body still responded to the alphas, the frantic need had drifted away. It meant that when Cullen’s fingers danced over her side, over her hip—with her clad only in her panties and a baggy top—she could enjoy the caress for what it was. Comforting and almost sweet.

Which unnerved her all the more, especially how much she enjoyed it.

Cullen stroked her lower stomach, and her breath froze in her lungs. He didn’t venture under the shirt, but the careful motions were too deliberate for him to be unaware.

Still, Cullen didn’t ask. He didn’t stop, didn’t question the marks that they all knew sat just beneath the thin fabric.

The silence was thick, the ease of the movie gone until Kara couldn’t fucking think. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t figure out a way to keep going.

Torrin, Erik and Liam had seen her scars, a result of when she’d all but collapsed in their care that first night, but after the healing? After she’d gotten on her feet enough to not need them to change bandages—and they’d claim it was far too soon, really—Kara had hidden them.

She preferred her high-waisted leggings and long tops, and even when living with Torrin and Erik, even after the times she’d slept with Liam, she hadn’t showed them to anyone.

But these alphas—my alphas—knew.

So why didn’t they ask?

Probably because they had to know if they so much as opened their stupid mouths right then, she’d bolt.

Probably.

Maybe she’d knee one in the junk for good measure.

Except the longer she waited, the more she loathed the silence and the way Cullen’s fingers stroked over the shirt. No, it was her reaction she hated, the feelings those strokes drew forward.

“Stop it,” she whispered, her voice lacking the strength she wished it had. That was the moment for attitude, for enough ‘fuck off’ in her tone to keep them from even considering trying that shit again. Instead, it sounded like a plea.

Cullen paused, then pulled his hand away, a soft sigh on his lips. “Why are you trying so hard to keep us at a distance?”

His words were easier than the touches, than the caress too gentle and soft for her, for her life, for these alphas. The gunshots from the movie helped to further unwind the discomfort.

“Because it isn’t your problem. I’m not your problem.” She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, then risked offering up the words. “These are my reminders that life sucks, okay? If I forget for a second that there’s always someone waiting to screw me over, all I’ve got to do is look under my shirt and I damn well remember.”

“Life isn’t fair for anyone. We just do the best we can. You can’t let…” Reese hesitated, as though not sure what to say, how to phrase the statement in a way that wouldn’t piss her off or send her running. “What happened stop you from living your life. We’re not whoever did that to you, and you can’t walk around thinking everyone is like that.”

That was what they thought it was about?

If only. A little broken trust would be easy to get over.

Kara released a soft snort at the simplicity of their wrong guess. “I don’t keep people at a safe distance because I’m afraid of what they’ll do to me.”

“You said they were a reminder?”

“Yeah, they are. The night this happened? The fucker who did it also took a blade to my brother, and it happened because my brother came back for me. He could have gotten away if he hadn’t come back for me. They got to him because of me.” She gulped, then squeezed her eyes tighter closed when they burned. Fucking tears.

Fingers trailed along her arm, thankfully not touching where the scars sat. Another hand stroked through her hair, the touch soothing her against her better judgment.

“What happened to your brother?” Reese asked.

“He pulled through, barely, but he’s got no idea I’m alive. He was worse off than I was—the asshole stabbed him in the chest—and as soon as I got out of the hospital, I went and saw him. He had so many tubes going out of him, and he was so pale.” Kara sat up, unable to stay flat anymore, not when the memories flooded her. She could still smell the disinfectant from that hospital room, the incessant beeping the only thing that told her Kane lived. She’d just kept staring, wondering how the fuck he could be alive.

Large hands stroked over her back as she hunched forward. The touches kept the words flowing. “He was the one who took care of me when we were kids, who looked out for me. I let him because I didn’t know any better, and what happened? He almost died because I was weak, and he was trying to protect me.”

“Where were your parents?”

“Our mom was a junkie who couldn’t care less about us. It was just him and me, even before he got us out of that house. He did everything he could to take care of me, to keep a roof over our heads and food in our mouths. I know he did things he wouldn’t have for any other reason but that he had to.”

“That’s what family does.”

“Maybe,” she said, shrugging. “But what it got him was almost killed. So I took off after the attack, when he assumed I was dead. I’ve done what I can to watch out for him, but he’s better off without me.”

“And the people who hurt you?” The soft growl of Cullen vibrated even through his hands. “What happened to them?”

“Dead.”

“You killed them?” Damon asked.

“Not exactly.” Kara let her lip curl up at the memory. She wasn’t usually a killer, but she’d enjoyed knowing the assholes who had hurt her and Kane were dead. Torrin had tried to get the information from her. He’d sat by her bed one of the nights when she’d been in pain, when she’d woken from a nightmare and would have sworn she was back there with that blade slicing her up. His bright green eyes had bored into her, her chance to see what rested beneath his calm and collected exterior. He’d demanded their names—a funny thing, because Kara had no doubt he could have found them—but she’d refused.

At first, she’d thought it was because she was a coward, but later realized it was because she’d needed to deal with them herself. Torrin must have realized it as well, because he’d left them for her.

“What does not exactly mean?” Damon asked.

“I spent a couple years learning my trade from some friends. After I’d gotten better, I tracked them down. I’m not much of a killer myself, but it wasn’t that hard to set them up. I got them on the wrong side of the wrong people, and they handled it for me.”

Kara would never admit it, but she’d snuck in after the hit was called, after she knew the assholes were dead. She’d needed to see the people, to see their vacant stares. Not for her, despite the way her well-healed scars had burned. No, she’d wanted to spit on the bodies for what they’d done to Kane.

Reese huffed a soft sound that screamed he knew her thoughts without her voicing them. Maybe they’d shown on her face, or maybe he just knew her that well already. “Well, I’m not sorry they ended up that way.”

Kara twisted to look over her shoulder at Reese, who offered her a snarky grin totally at odds with the conversation. Then again, pity would have set her off. She’d take that snark in a heartbeat.

Damon spoke next, his voice careful. “Have you ever seen a doctor?”

“Ever? Sure.” Kara twisted fully to face the three, their reaction meaning she wasn’t feeling the need to gut them for the conversation.

Damon didn’t look amused by her avoidance. “We met a doctor who’s offered to take a look at your case. He might be able to help.”

“I don’t need help.”

“No?” Cullen lifted an eyebrow. “Because you didn’t look all that in control last night.”

The words didn’t sound like a jab as they had before. Instead, he delivered them in as gentle a tone as he could, as though he didn’t want to hurt her but needed to say it.

And…he wasn’t wrong. Maybe it was her time with them, but what had used to be a tolerable but distasteful part of life had turned sickening.

When she parted ways with the alphas, could she go back to how she’d been before?

This wasn’t about them. It was about her.

Reese leaned in and pressed a kiss to Kara’s bare shoulder. “The doctor’s an expert, the best you’ll find. I’ll leave his card on the table by the door, and he already agreed to see you whenever you want.”

“You think you’re smooth, don’t you?”

His gaze heated, moving down her front, pausing on her chest as though he could see her naked already. “Yeah, I do. Seems to work pretty well for me.”

His arrogance should not have been as attractive as it was…

Still, she refused to fall for it. “I don’t know about that.”

He grasped the front of her shirt and pulled her into a kiss, the sort that melted her resolve and turned her into a puddle of want.

When he broke the kiss, his lips tipped up into that smirk. “Lie down again, hellion. The morning is going to come too soon.”