Page 43 of Their Lethal Pet
The dark-haired guy snorts as he yanks Timothy’s arms behind his back and secures his wrists. A full-body wince goes through Timothy, his yelp muffled by the gag.
“Ankles, too,” Reaper says, eyes narrowed.
“Is that all they planned?” his friend asks. “To tie her up and take her to the Viscount?”
“No, they intended to play with her once the Viscount finished with her.” Reaper utters the words with a growl, his gaze returning to the dead men. “I should have made them suffer, but their black souls were too tempting to draw out the meal.” He looks back at Timothy. “I won’t be making that mistake again. Once Alina decides how to kill you, I’ll show her how to make it last.”
I startle at his words, the reminder that these men want me tokillTimothy anchoring me in the present once more. “I don’t…” I swallow. “I don’t…”
I don’t want to kill him, I say in my mind. But for some reason, I can’t utter the words out loud. Maybe because my throat is sore.
Or maybe because part of me—a very small, very dark part of me—wants to hurt him like he hurt me. Maybe notkillhim, but scare him a little.
Which is depraved and wrong.
And so very unlike me.
Maybe all the rebelling over the last year has addled my brain.
Or, more likely, thesemonstershave altered my perception of reality.
Why am I still sitting here?I push upright, only belatedly realizing I pressed my palm against a solid slab of muscular man to do so.Wow, he’s hard. And hot. Sooooo hot.
Stop it,I tell myself.Get up. Run.
The commands cause my spine to stiffen, but my legs don’t budge. Meanwhile, my hand… it stays against the masculine wall behind me.
Closing my eyes, I steal a deep breath.
And immediately regret it because it’s full of that fresh-air scent, making my limbs automatically relax. Couple that with his soothing rumble, and I feel lightheaded, like I need to curl up and sleep.
Safe.
Warm.
Claimed.
My eyes widen with that last thought.I need to go. These monsters are…
Well.
They’re…
I don’t know what they’re doing, but whatever it is, it’s dangerous.
“Ihave to go,” I blurt out, finally voicing a proper thought aloud.
My hands and legs finally get the memo as I push away from the vibrating wall of muscular flesh and crawl several feet away.
Except I’m stopped by a pair of vibrant eyes that flash purple in the light. I swallow as the man tilts his head to the side, sending all his dark hair falling over one side of his forehead.
I hadn’t seen much of this one’s features before, his back having been presented to me as he’d held Timothy up against the wall.
But he’s no longer holding the other man.
No, now the dark-haired one is crouched on the floor before me, granting me a perfect view of his stunning face.
He’s as gorgeous as the other two, yet something about him is even more intimidating. More…untamed.
