Page 85 of Secret Baby Daddies
There was that pesky master talk again. I’d need to reassess later because I found I didn’t bristle against it so much when it was in reference to my men. I was hardly a pet, though.
“Red. Anyone but the three of us touches her and the hunt will turn bloody.” Jace took the glowing red bracelet from the man and snapped it around my wrist. When he took a key next and locked the bracelet there was a hungry haze over his eyes. “This means you’re owned and protected. You belong to us and no one else is allowed to touch you. It’s as good as a big, thick collar around your pretty neck with our names carved into it.”
Another thing to think about later.
“Come on. We need to find him.”
As soon as the door opened and we stepped outside, I froze. The heavyclankof the door closing behind us made me flinch. The hunt was more than I expected. More people. More screaming. More howling. More moaning. Just…more. The grass between us and the forest was littered with people. Women pinning men down, men pinning women down, groups of people rutting like animals with a level of raw, animalistic hunger that made my blood run hotter.
“He’ll be in the woods.” Jace pressed into me from behind and I felt his steel shaft dig into my back. “One of us will be with you the whole time, even if you can’t see us. The other will go find Maddox and let him know you’re out here. Understand?”
I shuddered and pushed my wet hair behind my ears.
“You promise?”
Luc gripped a handful of my hair and used it to force my head back. His face was dark as he leaned in and nipped my neck.
“Promise. Unfortunately for you, little bunny, it’s probably going to feel like you’re being hunted the entire time. Can’t say we’ll offer much comfort but no one else will touch you. No one else will rip that shirt from your beautiful body and fuck you over a downed tree. No one else will make you scream.”
A moan escaped my lips and despite my nerves, despite the fact I’d already run enough for a year, despite the emotional turmoil I still felt, I ran. There weren’t so many people that I had to dodge them and once I was in the forest, it was instantly like there wasn’t another soul around. I could still hear the screams and howls, the longing calls of people searching for each other but I didn’t see anyone else.
My socks grew damp almost immediately and I took a quick second to peel them off and toss them away before running off again. I thought of the day I’d spent in the same woods with Maddox and decided woods turned a lot creepier at night. Even with the hundreds, if not thousands, of twinkle lights which had been strung overhead, it was still so dark that I actually couldn’t be sure there was no one else around. It felt like the woods only glowed in the exact spots I occupied, like they just put a spotlight of warm light on me. I felt even more exposed and vulnerable.
I couldn’t hear anyone close to me and I looked over my shoulder nearly constantly to see one of my guys sticking close to me. They were hidden, though. I whimpered when a twig snapped close by but I didn’t call out like I wanted to. I felt like true prey as I slowed to a fast walk and stepped over a fallen log. I could practically feel someone breathing down my neck and my heart raced wildly.
A sudden ragged shout from somewhere deeper in the woods sent chills down my entire body. I knew that voice. Even if Ididn’t recognize the pain and wildness in it, I knew it. I was pretty sure that Maddox had just found out about where I was.
“Harley!” Yep. Maddox officially knew where I was and it didn’t seem like he was happy about it. It did seem like he was eager to find me, though. That had to be a good sign.
Luc’s low voice came from behind me, a whisper in the breeze.
“Better run, little bunny. The big, bad wolf is coming for you.”
I shrieked and ran faster, away from the sound of Maddox. Where the hell was everyone? The sounds of the hunt were still heavy in the air but I felt like I was alone with the three men hunting me. I ran to a chorus of screams, my entire body filled with the need to get away. Adrenaline made me shaky and clumsy.
I added to the screams when I suddenly heard footsteps pounding at the ground behind me. I ran faster, breathing hard, stumbling around trees as I looked over my shoulder for any sign of who was chasing me. Limbs snagged my shirt and bushes pricked my bare legs but I didn’t slow down.
The footsteps came closer and when I glanced back again another scream was ripped straight from my soul. Maddox wasthere. Naked from the waist up, eyes wild, teeth bared. He looked like a wild man, more animal than human. He was so fast, so big, and so fucking beautiful with dirt streaking his muscled chest.
I wasn’t sure if I slowed down or if he was just that fast but it only took another few steps for him to snatch me up. He didn’t even stop running. He just threw me over his shoulder, clamped his arms around my thighs, andran. He wasn’t even breathing as hard as I was. There were two other sets of pounding footsteps with us then and something settled in me. Even as adrenaline made me want to fight to get away, my heart settled. He’d come for me.
Everything was a blur as Maddox gripped me tighter. I kept expecting him to drop me on the grass and bury himself in me as deep as he could get. I was eager for it. When the balmy night air turned cooler and the grass turned to expensive hardwood, I was almost disappointed that Maddox wasn’t going to take me outside like he had before.
Another vicious sounding growl from him told me that anyone close by when he finally took me, would be in danger of him plucking their eyes out. He even shifted his hand to keep my shirt over my ass, hiding me from anyone passing by.
Up the stairs we went and then we were in their apartment and I was tossed unceremoniously onto the couch. I popped up automatically, chest heaving, eyes probably just as wild as his. Staring up at him, I saw the game wasn’t over, it’d just gone private. Without a thought of how I was going to get away, I jumped to my feet and put the couch between me and my guys.
Luc and Jace looked like they were starving for me and eager to get what they wanted. Maddox, though, stared at me with such intensity that I squirmed. He was angry. His big body was so tense that I could see his veins standing out.
When he took a step forward I acted. I sprinted across the living room and into his room. I tried to close the door but he growled and pushed it open. I backed up, arms out in front of me even as I climbed on his bed and inched away from him.
“Wait! Maddox, wait! Let’s—”
“You know your safe word?” His voice was pure gravel.
I nodded.
“Do you need to use it?” Luc and Jace filled the doorway behind Maddox, blocking any escape I might’ve hoped for.
