Page 84 of H E R

Niki faces me and glares. Her elbow bends and she pulls at the leash. The collar around my neck hugs my skin and my Adam’s apple bobs uncomfortably. “You will only speak when spoken to,” she hisses.

My eyes are about to roll and my fingers stretch to smack her ass when Olivia pulls her slightly away from me and shoots me a look that would have any other man eight feet underground.

Liv curls her fingers around Niki’s arm and leans in. “The static is part of the song, but I hope it doesn’t continue. It ruins the music.”

“Our connection is clear. I’m sending a drone to check out the perimeter,” Jason explains, and the women nod a sigh of relief at one another.

Niki moves her wrist and tugs at my collar gently. I smother the snarl that wants to slip out. She’ll pay for this.

We move deeper into the enormous dance hall. I scan the room and spot at least four security guards at every exit. Male servers offer the guests hors d’oeuvres on silver platters and female servers provide guests with champagne glasses. A glittering glass chandelier hangs above us; it clashes with the entire premise of what this night entails.

I keep quiet while Niki, Olivia, and Jasmin keep a steady conversation about shit I don’t care about. Instead of a meek mouse for a pet, I think I look like a massive watch dog. It’s as if Niki brought Max instead of me. Olivia keeps shooting me looks that tell me to ease the fuck up. I roll my shoulders and crack my neck.Fuck. When thinking one of us was going to fuck the plan up, itneverdawned on us that it would beme.

“You made it.”

I’ve never proven myself more true until this very moment. A growl rips through my throat as the fucker I knocked out atNym-Phowaltzes toward us. I should’ve killed him when I had the chance. My hands instinctively ball into fists at my sides.

Niki’s jaw drops, but she recovers quickly and smiles at her admirer. I want to reach out, grab him by the collar, and crack his skull open.

“I was hoping you’d be part of the auction tonight.” He kisses Niki’s hand and then wiggles it in his grip, making the long chain swivel side to side. “What’s this?”

“My pet.” Niki waves a dismissive hand my way and smiles. She doesn’t look at me—I think her facade would crumble—but he does.

“Quite the pet.”

She hums in agreement. “I’d be careful. He’sprotective.”

He drops her hand, and it’s in this moment I realize I was practically standing in an attack stance. My shoulders are tense and leaning forward, my lip is quivering up in a snarl, and my hands are balled still.

“Bummer. Maybe I can offer you special seating for the auction. Right up front?”

“For me and my friends?”

The idiot looks at our group and nods in appreciation. “Of course.”

If everything works out according to plan, there will be no auction.

29

Justice

My palms are all sweaty, and if I didn’t have Dylan practically attached to my left hip, I’d pass out the moment we sat in the Escalade. The metal bracelet connected to the chain that links Dylan and me is my constant reminder, and it works like a fucking pill to my anxiety.

The lights dim and the music pulses. It’s a precursor to the fucking nightmare that will begin in less than a couple of hours. Jasmin and Olivia stick to one another like glue, and they join a few others to dance. Jason mumbles details about a few prestigious members that have arrived and I tune him out.

I wiggle my wrist, twisting it in a circular motion, and then I reach for my mother’s charm bracelet. I count the charms, then twirl each one between my fingers.

Dylan suddenly moves away, and the motion pulls at my wrist. Confused, I turn to him and tug on it, forcing him closer to me. But he continues to pull me and walks toward a hall that leads to a corridor with private unisex bathrooms. I follow and adjust my face. I don’t want it to be obvious that I lack the ability to control mypet.

“Where the fuck are we going?” I whisper.

I don’t understand his barely audible words. “Keep your ears open, but turn your eyes away from us. Give me three minutes.”

Jason’s voice speaks next. “Your three minutes start now.”

Dylan guides us into an empty bathroom, and once he locks the door behind us, he presses me against the wall. I’m about to protest, but he silences me with his thumb over my lips and then replaces it with his lips. He moves his hand down my neck, and I know he feels the instant my pulse quickens. It spirals against his touch and I swallow back a whimper. His eyes darken, and the fucker moves a finger over his lips and then he points to his ear. He’s reminding me that Jason is listening and his words suddenly make sense. Dylan asked Jason to turn our cameras off but to keep the sound on.

His hand resumes its glide over my skin, causing a shiver to run down my back, and then it wraps all around me, shooting a sensation of desire between my legs. My treacherous body leans into his touch as liquid lava is released from the ventricles of my heart. His touch heats every cell in my body and I swear, steam hisses out of every pore.

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