Page 131 of Wicked and Claimed

The gong sounded again. The chanting stopped. In the sudden silence, Gray’s smile gleamed beneath his mask. “Let the revelry begin!”

His roar had immediate, electric effect. As if a switch had been flipped, the veneer of civilization fell away. Depravity took over as silk whispered against skin and clothes began disappearing. A few masks began to slip as the crowd’s collective inhibitions melted under the influence of drugs and decadence.

Nash pulled Haisley deeper into an alcove, away from the others. She glanced up, her pupils now blown wide as the drugs had fully taken hold. She swayed against him, her skin already feeling feverish under his hands.

Across the room, he caught sight of Gray staring, his narrowed eyes laser-focused and watchful.

“Gray…” Haisley whispered.

“I see him.”

She took in the room, at the twisting bodies and the rising moans. Her breathing roughened. “I’m trying to focus, but the sensations… I ache.”

Son of a bitch.

“I have an idea. Play along,” he murmured against her neck.

“Will you touch me?” she gasped.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll do more than touch you, baby.” He didn’t have much choice.

With a growl, he lifted her off her feet and carried her to the nearest pillar, braced beneath by a pedestal. He backed her against the column, settling her backside on the edge of the support beneath.

At six-foot-seven, he usually towered over people. Great for seeing inside a crowd. Not so great for blending in. This pose put Haisley a head taller than him and gave him the ability to mingle in with the revelers.

He planted his lips at her throat and let his hands wander her body. “Tell me what you see. Everything.”

When his fingers brushed the side of her breast, she gasped. “When you do that…yes! That feels?—”

“Focus. I know it’s not easy. But this is life or death.”

She exhaled a shuddering breath, then gave him a wobbly nod as he devoured her collarbones and the top swells of her cleavage. “People are having sex. Everywhere. In pairs. In groups. In all ways?—”

“Yeah. Talk to me about Gray. The guards. Anyone not participating.”

“Okay.” She swallowed hard, arching her back.

Fuck, having her tits in his face was like waving a red cape in front of a bull. Before he could stop himself, he dragged his lips under the neckline of her transparent dress, laving her silken skin dangerously close to one nipple.

Haisley gripped his shoulders and arched closer. “Please…”

“Give me something, and I’ll give you something.”

“Tease,” she whimpered. “I’ll get you back.”

She would, too. “C’mon, baby.”

After a calming breath, she scanned her room with glassy eyes, her hips wriggling restlessly. “The guards are rotating clockwise. I noticed them doing that as we arrived.”

So had he, and he didn’t like that every one of them was equipped with an M4. Was Gray abundantly cautious…or expecting trouble?

“They’re switching posts every seven minutes, like clockwork,” Kane murmured, suddenly beside them again. “I’ve been watching for a while.”

Nash nodded, then swept his lips across Haisley’s jaw. “Anything else?”

Her nails dug into his shoulders, and it took her a minute to focus. “One keeps checking his phone, like he’s waiting for something.”

“And Gray?”

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