Page 39 of The Vigilant

“No,” he practically snarled. “Go back to bed.”

“Okay.” I shrugged, the edge of the robe only staying in place because it caught on my nipple piercing. “You missed a spot.” I extended my leg and pointed to the tiniest drop on the floor with my big toe.

He took a deep breath, and I swore he was smelling me—my arousal—and the way his massive body shuddered sent a thrill of power through me.

“Go back in your room, Sutton,” he said with a little more desperation.

“Are you?—”

“Now,” he snapped, his teeth clacking together at the end.

I lifted my chin and then put the final nail in the coffin. “Yes, daddy.”

I shut the door on his ragged growl, feeling far more triumphant than I should.

“I’m going out for a ride,” he called not even a second later. “I’ll be back in an hour.”

Translation: Don’t fucking try anything.

“Have fun,” I called back.

An hour was plenty for me to do what I had to do.

I waited until I heard the door to the garage slam and the dangerous rumble of his motorcycle waking up, and then I grabbed my phone off the nightstand.

I flipped on the shower, letting the water start to heat and steam as I navigated to the Wild Side site.

Flipping over the business card, I entered the invitation code that I was immediately prompted for. Swallowing hard, I tapped in the combination of letters and numbers, praying that Kang hadn’t told anyone he’d been forced to give me a card.

My breath whooshed out when the code was accepted and the site proceeded to the next screen requesting all of my information. I shoved aside the nagging reminder that I should be telling Tynan about this and not going behind his back. The reminder that he hadn’t turned me into the police but instead offered his unmitigated help.

I shivered and steeled my spine. Tynan didn’t have skin in this game like I did. It wasn’t his only loved one in danger.And it was all my fault.

I put in my name and birthdate in the required fields, but just before I submitted it, I stopped, a dark suspicion stapling itself to my mind.

I circled back to my birthdate and adjusted the years back by four until it showed I was under eighteen, and then hit the button to proceed. The dial turned, and a box popped up warning me that the app was for people eighteen years of age or older. I didn’t even get the chance to consider my assumption was wrong before the app proved my suspicion right by proceeding to the next step anyway, regardless of my underage status.

Fuckers.

Now it wanted me to upload photos of myself. I glanced down at the askew robe. This was as good as anything.

Using the bathroom mirrors and the steam created by the shower, I took a dozen provocative photos. Full nude from the back, and revealing enough from the front to showcase my tattoos and piercings.

I had no problem using my body to my advantage. Men certainly hadn’t.

The final step requested that I make a username.

Legalprey.

I submitted it and went back to the bedroom, stopping mid-step when my phone buzzed, the site rejecting my input.

Username already exists.

My heart stopped.Mara. I couldn’t believe it, but it had to be. No one else would come up with that name. No one else would know its meaning.

I tapped back and entered a new name.

SexyScorpio. Made sense with all my tattoos.

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