Page 2 of Feral

“Why do you hate me so much?” I ask him. “You’re so mean all the time and I—” I’m cut off by Rylan and Thomas laughing.

“He doesn’t hate you, sweet girl,” Thomas tells me. “He wants you, but he can never have you. Us Ashby men aren’t used to wanting things we can’t have.” His shoulders shrug up and it makes sense. My brothers have never been told no. A byproduct of growing up as the sons of the Ashby family.

“That’s not true,” Blake snaps again, finally letting go of my neck, only to pick me up and throw me over his shoulder. “I don’t want him trading you off like you’re some kind of real estate,” he grumbles, walking toward the marble staircase. I can’t see much because I’m dangling over his shoulder like a rag doll, but I feel his hand creep higher up my thigh. I squirm when his fingers brush my panties and I hear him curse under his breath again. I know he felt the soft material was damp, and it barely provides a barrier. I can hear Thomas and Rylan’s shoes clacking against the marble as we head up the stairs, and I can feel the buzz of anticipation coiling low in my stomach.

“Where are we going?” I ask, swatting at Blake’s ass because it’s the only thing within my reach. I giggle when I see him clench in response to my hand touching him.

“To lock you in your room,” he says gruffly, his suit rubbing against my exposed skin, and I instantly feel deflated. I was stupid to think maybe he was bringing me up here to finally have his way with me. One night of everything I’ve been dreaming of, but instead he’s just going to lock me in my ivory tower and probably go out with Thomas and Rylan to find girls to sink into for the night.

“Put me down, you asshole. You have no right to do this. I’m not yours to boss around.” I kick my legs, and his hand slaps down on my ass so hard that I cry out. The sting resonates in my pussy, and my hips jerk against him.

“Don’t you ever fucking say that to me,” Blake bites out and I hear my bedroom door opening. He only takes a few steps before he’s tossing me on the bed roughly. I bounce and reach out, trying to find some stability. I feel dizzy from all the blood rushing to my head, but I quickly recover and hop off the bed and dart around Blake to head toward the door. I’m not going to be locked in this room any longer. I’m sick of it. I’d rather be dead than spend another minute confined by invisible binds.

Thomas shuts the door to prevent my escape, and Rylan grabs me by the shoulders and shoves me back toward Blake.

“You can’t leave me here. I’m going crazy being stuck alone all the fucking time until one of you is assigned to take me somewhere. A doctor’s appointment to make sure my fucking virginity is still intact isn’t my idea of a fun outing,” I snap, exasperated.

“It sucks, but it is what it is. You have to be protected. Anything could happen to you if we just let you wander around. You’re a chess piece for Dad and he can’t afford to not have you,” Rylan tells me with a shrug. I know the three of them have been through things that I could never understand. I’ve seen the scars on their torsos when I’ve caught glimpses of them shirtless. None of them will talk about it or invite me into their world, so I’ve decided until they do, they get no sympathy from me.

“I’m not marrying that asshole. I heard Dad. I know he’s selling me off to O’Conner. I’m not laying there and letting some bona fide loser who needs a blue pill rut into me and take me for his own. You can either help me or kill me. I don’t care one way or another,” I look pointedly at Blake, who has taken his suit jacket off and flung it on the back of my vanity chair. He looks absolutely feral, like he’s so unhinged he’s not thinking straight.

“Judging by the way Blake’s looking at you right now, I think killing is more on his mind than helping you,” Thomas mutters and I hear the lock to my door click when he turns it in his hand.

“Because I flashed the three of you? Get over yourself. I’m not a fucking baby. I have desires just like the three of you,” I tell them, but I’m looking at Blake. “You three can fuck the same woman at the same time, filling all of her holes, but I can’t show my boobs? Make that make sense,” I glare at him, and he glares right back.

“I’m not losing my virginity to that prick, O’Conner. He’s gross and I’ll throw up if he even gets near me,” I tell them, being dramatic, but I’m not lying. I can feel my stomach roll at the thought.

“Stop saying his fucking name,” Blake demands, taking a step toward me.

“Blake,” Thomas says in that calm, unaffected tone of his. “Don’t do something we can’t fix. She’s not some whore we can get rid of when we get too rough. Or when dipshit over here forgets the bitch can’t breathe with a cock in her mouth,” Thomas looks pointedly at Rylan like that’s happened more than once. Rylan grins like he isn’t the least bit sorry, and I assume Thomas knows he’s a lost cause because he turns back to Blake. “Imagine trying to explain to Dad how she mysteriously disappeared and not one of us noticed.”

“Yeah, Dad might notice if we switch her out with one of those other bitches,” Rylan jokes, but Blake levels him with a dark stare.

“I'm not going to kill her,” Blake tells them, rolling the sleeves of his white dress shirt up over his tattooed arms.

“Then why do you look like you’re going to slit her throat? You know that arterial spray gets me hard. Are we going to have a bonding moment over it?” Rylan jokes, walking over to sit on the edge of the vanity that Dad had custom-made for me.

“I’m going to make sure she can’t be married off,” Blake says darkly, grabbing me by the arm and tossing me on the bed. “Lay down.” I’ve never seen him like this, not even when he comes home covered in blood.

“Clever,” Thomas says, like Blake just solved a complicated puzzle instead of threatening to take my virginity so they can keep me here locked in this room.

“Hey, I’m all for this, but is no one gonna point out if this shit plays out, then heads are going to roll? We’re gonna need to blame someone because if Dad can’t barter Penny away… well, it ain’t gonna be pretty, if you know what I mean. Don’t fucking look at me like that. I can have intelligent thoughts sometimes. Motherfuckers.” Ry rolls his eyes and I know he’s right, but I’m still stuck on the fact that Blake plans on being my first.

“No,” I bite out. As much as I dreamed of this every freaking night, I don’t want it to be like this. An angry fuck because they want to control what I do. Why is it never doing something for Penny because we love and care about her? It’s never on my terms, only on theirs.

“Maybe you should let one of us do it. You’re too angry. You’re going to hurt her,” Thomas says, and my eyes bug out when I look at him. It hadn’t occurred to me that he and Rylan would be on board with this stupid plan. I don’t want to marry James O’Conner, but I don’t want a pity rage fuck or whatever is going on here.

“I’ll fucking kill you both if you touch her,” Blake says and his voice is even, sure, not wavering a bit. He looks back at me, grabs me by the arm, and tosses me on the bed for a second time.

“You want to act like a whore? Spread your fucking legs.”

2 BLAKE

“B

oth of you get out,” I tell my brothers, but they don’t move. “We’re not leaving you alone with her,” Rylan says, and it’s

the first time tonight he hasn’t cracked a stupid fucking remark. No humor colors his tone. He’s all business right now.

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