16. CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Liam

Alarm bells have been going off in my head since we got up from our table.

We’re deviating from tonight’s plan. Taking a hard turn to the right. Or left.

Whatever. It’s a risky one. A worthy one.

When we left the apartment this evening, we had everything worked out.

We’d come here. Let her see us. Let the realization that we’d been conspiring against her—most likely as a group—sink in.

It was supposed to be a chance to scare her. Fear looks so hot on Quinlan.

Then there was the matter of crashing her not-double-date.

One look at the three of us together, and she should’ve rushed outside. If we got lucky, she would’ve called her half-brother on the way home, her voice quivering. He would’ve worried for real this time.

As we’re cornering her in the cocktail bar’s restrooms, I think it’s safe to say our plan has failed. The second part, anyway.

She feared us, all right. Those minutes of recognition were priceless.

Her shouting at Rex over the phone? That was a million times better than having her crying for him.

It turned me right the fuck on. Her anger. The fire in her. Got me wondering how she’d react to us when the truth finally came out. She’ll be a wildfire. Destroy herself with her fury.

But.

She didn’t leave. She was about to go sit with them .

Unacceptable.

“Fuck you, psycho.”

Such a pretty mess. That’s what we’ve turned her into. A panting, growling mess.

My pulse thrums in my ears. My scar is as hot as the day fire scalded my cheek.

For the first time in my life, I’m not choked by the stinging. By the memories. She does it. She makes me want to burn. With her. Jesus.

“Some other night, we’ll fuck you. Tonight, we’ll settle for hearing you beg for it,” Damien counters.

My hand is on her throat. Rome’s on her jaw. Damien tugs on her hair.

Quinlan’s there, standing proud despite being trapped. Wet beads prickle at the corners of her eyes. Blood rushes in her veins. Cheeks on fire.

And her gaze is furious. Like we’re the ones at a disadvantage here.

“Interesting.”

Gray eyes slice to mine. Last night, she was peaceful. Her eyelashes rested on her cheeks while we took advantage of her. There’s nothing peaceful about her anymore.

“What’s interesting?” Her voice is a furious hiss.

“You.” I’ll feel her better if I tighten my grip. So I do.

She gasps, the sound triggering a growl from Rome and a smirk from Damien.

Teasing from me. “Pretending you don’t want this. It’s interesting, since your body says otherwise.”

“You know each other.” An accusation. She’s accusing me .

Rome’s the one who kissed her, who got closer to her. And she points a finger at me.

That could only mean one thing. Quinlan has trusted me the most.

My cock jerks in my pants as if she’d just grazed it.

“We do.” I’m burning. Going up in flames in the best possible way. She’s doing this to me, turning the panic into need. Into hope. It’s too soon to let her have that power over me. “Tell me, Rome. Didn’t we just say talking time is over?”

“You were the one who said I was interesting.”

“We did.” On cue, Rome digs his fingers to her cheek.

That added pressure on her cheeks from Rome silences Quinlan. Her flawless skin blanches around his fingertips. A contrast against the red slashes on his knuckles.

“Stop it.”

“Still whispering,” Damien muses.

His lips haven’t moved from her cheek, and he yanks her head to him by her hair. Rome and I loosen our grips on her in tandem. Damien groans as he presses his mouth to her, forces her to stay while he sucks on her skin. On the tattooed heart.

She makes a voice at the back of her throat. I feel it. I feel her little moan that follows.

He releases her by some, his lips brushing her wet skin. “You need us to stay.”

“No.” Her resilience. It’s beautiful. “I don’t need you. Any of you.”

“Is that so?” Rome’s had enough. He pushes her harder up against the wall, and Damien and I move with them.

“Yes.”

“I don’t remember you fighting me yesterday.” Rome edges closer to Quinlan. Their noses brush. His lips caress hers. “You moaned into my mouth, sweetheart. Your tank top did a poor job of hiding the little peaks of your nipples.”

Her nipples . I groan at the memory from last night. They’re branded into my memory. Soft and hard. Pink and responsive. I loathe her dress and leather jacket. Loathe them. They’re an obstacle. A wall that needs to be torn down.

“They weren’t—I wasn’t—” She’s frustrated. Adorable. “You tricked me.”

I release her throat to go for the offending jacket. Yank it off one of her shoulders.

“What’s wrong with tricking you?” Damien pushes down the other.

The wall isn’t an obstacle to either one of us as we wrangle her jacket off her until it falls to the floor.

“Everything.”

“Like lying is wrong?” Rome asks.

“Stop it,” she mumbles. Doesn’t fight us. Doesn’t resist. Just mumbles and watches the three of us.

“You’re right, Rome. She’s lying.” Damien’s eyes rake over her body, his knuckles tracing the spot he sucked on. “Would you have screamed if you knew who Rome was?”

“What, a stalker? A manipulative asshole?” She’s breathing hard, eyes accusing us. All of us. “You can bet your ass I would.”

“Oh, little flame. Look at you, hiding how badly you need us.” My fingers curl on the underside of her breast, relishing in the weight of it in my palm. She stays still, letting me brush my thumb on her nipple. “There’s no shame in wanting to be fucked. Craving three men instead of one. You can tell us how wet you are. How your panties are ruined. Or we can see for ourselves.”

I’m being cruel. I’m searching for consent. A sliver of it.

We won’t be the cause Quinlan disintegrates into nothing.

“We could take care of that for you.” Damien turns on the charm. Only her eyes slide to him, since Rome’s hold on her is relentless. “We’ll stretch all your holes, darling. Make you cry. You’ll be our whore, and you’ll love it, won’t you?”

“You wish, asshole,” she snarls, infuriated and visibly turned on. A bright shade of red creeps on her cheeks. “I’m no one’s whore.”

“Anyone else…” Damien trails his hand up her arm until his hand mirrors mine, cupping the underside of Quinlan’s other breast. “Any other liar—”

“Not. A. Liar,” she cuts him off.

Her heart beats against my palm. Pupils dilate. Goosebumps rake up her arms.

“You’re beautiful when you lie.” Rome presses a kiss to the corner of her mouth. “You get me so hard. You want me to lose control? Is that it? You’re that desperate to be filled?”

“No, I…” The rest of the sentence is nothing but air.

“Say it,” I repeat, louder than I would’ve liked. Louder than I’m used to. “Tell us you want us to touch you, or we’ll check ourselves. We won’t be gentle about it, either.”

“We’ll tear your dress off you.” Rome slides his hand lower. Hooks his fingers in the keyhole neckline of her dress for emphasis. “You’ll walk out of here naked. Too bad your miserable date will have any idea what to do with you.”

“Not my date.”

“With tears streaking your cheeks.” Damien nudges my thumb with his, telling me he’s running out of patience. “Filthy with our cum on your mouth. Cheeks. Breasts. That’s how you’re going to get out there if you keep lying, darling.”

Her body shivers. She likes the idea. Curious.

“I will never be your whore.”

“What would you call this”—I flick my thumb, brushing her hardened nipple, and I fucking groan—“if not our whore?”

“I don’t belong to you.” The challenge in her voice matches that in her large, gray eyes. “I’m my own person. I’m not yours anything. If you want to touch me tonight, though…”

Her voice trails. Silence ensues. Her body pulses with desire. With the need to say words I assume she hasn’t told anyone before us. Much less to her loser of an ex.

“Yes?” Damien torments Quinlan by pinching her nipple.

“You can…” Her groan. I could swallow it up. Swear off food and just live from her groans.

The slightest shove of Rome’s shoulder, and my lips crush onto Quinlan’s. She groans again, for me . This isn’t frustration. This is lust. She’s wide awake, fighting me. Wanting me.

“Please.” Her hand is on my scar. The slightest brush of her gentle fingers to the damaged tissues.

I’m letting her do it. I never let anyone touch me there. Never let anyone get close.

I let her.

And fuck me, it doesn’t hurt. Doesn’t bring back memories. No flashbacks follow the whisper of her fingertips on my cheek.

None of it.

“Please.” Louder. She’s louder, goddamn it. I can’t think straight.

“Let’s try the truth this time. Were you wet for me?” Rome releases her face, bunching her dress up her hips. “When I took your mouth in the middle of the street? When your soft, fuckable body was in my arms?”

“I—” she starts. I tear myself from her, shoving her face so she’s facing Damien. He kisses her, his hand sinking in her hair.

“You lied to me,” she murmurs between kissing Damien and gasping for air. “You’re a bastard. All of you are.”

“Pretty little thing.” Rome’s hand disappears beneath the thick fabric of Quinlan’s dress. I pull her leg to the side, giving him access to her sweet, perfect pussy. “You know what I think?”

“Don’t care.” We can barely hear her.

Kind of hard to speak when Damien lowers his mouth to her nipple. It closes over the fabric, biting. Rome pumps his fingers in and out of her virgin pussy. Which she is. A virgin, that is. Her medical records say that.

There’s so much I want to do to her. Tease, seduce. Carry a flame to her face like last night.

The restroom isn’t the place for this.

When I use my Zippo on her, she’ll be awake for it. It’ll be special.

“I think you were wet then.” Rome removes his fingers, holding it between them. “Same as you are now.”

His fingers glisten. Slick with her arousal.

“Proud of yourself?” Regardless of how breathless she is, Quinlan manages to quirk an eyebrow at Rome. Manages to spit fire at him. At the three of us. “My body reacted. I didn’t want it. I don’t.”

I’m going to fuck the sass out of her mouth. I’m going to—

“One day, I’ll have my cock so deep down your throat…” Rome doesn’t hear me, yet here he is, finishing my sentence. “So deep, you’ll gag. And guess what? That’ll make you wet, too.”

“Never.” Watching her flush darken sends me over the edge. My restraint snaps.

Just like fucking that.

“Sweet little virgin.” My fingers curl around her wrist, yanking her palm to my throbbing cock. “Keep talking back. If that’s what you’re after”—I squeeze her palm over me—“you got it.”

Her eyebrows shoot down. “How do you know I’m a virgin?”

“Educated guess.” With my free hand, I twist her face to Rome. “Look at him. Sucking on his fingers. On you.”

She sucks in a breath. Loses all ability to talk. She doesn’t need to. We’re here to do everything for her.

Rome pulls his fingers out with a pop, smearing his spit and her arousal on her left cheek, then the right.

“I bet you’re wondering…”

Her hand, not her, starts stroking me while I talk.

Quinlan herself, she might not want it.

Her body does.

It takes every ounce of self-control not to tear her from my friends’ grip, bend her over and fuck her against the wall. Take her pussy. Her ass. Own her.

“Wondering what?” Oh, how things changed. I was wrong to think she doesn’t want us. She does. Her question gives her away. Her question makes her cheeks flush.

“What choking on my friend would be like.” I keep her eyes on him. “I bet you’re soaking for it.”

“She is.” Damien licks her arousal and Rome’s spit off one cheek. I taste the other one while Rome presses a thumb into her mouth. Uses her own spit to wet her lips.

“What are you going to do to me?”

“I thought I was clear. Give you what you need.” Damien rises, staring her down. “Make you come. For us.”

The knob on the door rattles. Rattles harder. A banging on the door comes next. “Anyone in there?”

“Occupied,” I snap.

“Quinlan, it’s Hugh.”

Rome presses his palm to her lips.

“My friend is in there and I’m worried.” Delusional. He’s been around her for less than a minute and already calls her his friend.

No doubt the fucker believes she could be more than that.

She’s not his.

Never will be.

Ours.

“Ten minutes,” Rome thunders. His eyes are narrowed. A storm brews behind them as he glowers at Quinlan. “You come back sooner than that and you’re a dead man.”

“Excuse me?”

Quinlan tries to peel Rome’s hand off her. But she isn’t resisting, not really. Her other hand runs up and down my length. Squeezing me. Silently communicating that yes, she wants this. Yes, she likes it when I rock my hips into her touch.

She won’t call for help. She’s all in. I place a hand over Rome, and it’s enough for him to lower it.

“They’ll worry about me,” she whispers, still stroking me. Such a good girl. “They’ll have someone break in the door. I… I want to be here, okay? Fuck. Here, you have what you wanted. But they won’t let us stay if they don’t hear from me.”

“Just like I thought.” Damien huffs a laugh. An impressed one. “Begging us to stay.”

“It’s not worth the risk,” I lie. Taunting her. Being with her is worth everything. I’m surprised by how much I’m willing to sacrifice to be with her. “Maybe we should leave.”

“Liam, please.” She’s almost crying. Saying my name with my cock in her hand, edging closer to me. “Stay.”

“Tell them you’re okay and I might.”

“I’m okay,” she shouts.

“Quinlan?”

“Go away. Please. I’m sorry.”

The pounding on the door stops.

“You’re staying, then?”

I shrug. Her pain is too delicious to pass up on.

“Touch me.” Gray watery eyes turn to Rome. “Touch me there again. Please.”

This is obviously hard for her. Begging. It’s beautiful.

His nostrils flare. “There where? Say it.”

Fire. It crackles behind her eyes. And she’s trembling. A ball of need and desire so repressed, detonating inside her.

If we’re not quick about whatever it is we want to do to her, we’d be swallowed up in the explosion. We’ll fuck her here for hours. Security can barge in. The police. Fire department.

We’ll be here anyway. Fucking her brains out until we’re spent and then some.

I should do something about it. Give her an unsatisfying orgasm. Anything to get her off and leave her a mess for her brother to see. Just until we have her for ourselves.

I could never.

“Use your words.” Since he’s kept the skirt of her dress bunched up this entire time, I can see his fingers trailing along the side of her panties. Never really touching where she needs him.

“Please.” She grips his cheek. “Touch my pussy. Make me feel good.”

“Say you’re our little whore and I will.”

“Damien.” Her last resort. The one she thinks is…what? Sweeter? More easy-going? No. She doesn’t believe that. The tremor in her chin is a dead giveaway that she sees through him. “I need… I need it so bad. Please.”

“Ours,” he hisses, then does what I wanted to. Steals her from Rome and me and into his arms. “You’re ours.”

“You’re manipulating me.” A crystal drop slides down Quinlan’s flushed cheek.

“We are.” That, and so much more. Damien manhandles her so she’s facing away from us. Presses her cheek to the wall. “Stay there. Be our good little girl and don’t move.”

“Whatever you do, don’t scream.” I toss the skirt of her dress up her waist.

Rome and Damien each have a hand on her hips, yanking on them until the upper part of her body is parallel to the floor. Shoving her panties down to her knees.

“Why would I sc—”

As soon as her panties are out of the way, Damien’s palm cracks on her ass. Then she does exactly what I told her not to.

She screams.

“What’s this?” My hand is on her cheek, gripping her. “I said be quiet.”

“It hurts.” Watery eyes slip from me to the men behind her. I follow her gaze.

Rome raises his hand. I’m quick to look at her face, to not miss a second of her pain.

One, two, three times, his hand lands on her ass.

Her forehead scrunches. Her body squirms beneath our hold. “Stop. Stop.”

He adds another three. Four.

“Stop making you feel good?” Five.

“Oh my God, no.”

Damien pushes her legs to the sides, spreading her for him. Baring her pussy to him.

“Darling, lying again?” By the glint in his sapphire eyes, she’s even wetter than before.

“No.” She wiggles, trying to get out of my hold. “I’m not lying.”

“Little flame.” My voice is a warning. My fingers find one of her nipples, twisting, tugging, pulling. I catch her scream with my palm. “We’re beyond asking for your consent.”

Damien drops to his knees, darts his tongue out, and buries his face in her pussy.

Fuck, it’s beautiful. She moans so beautifully into my palm.

I’m so hard I could die.

“How’s our little liar?” Rome’s fingers bite into Quinlan’s flesh, bruising her.

“Soaking,” Damien groans. He’s back to licking her, making her tremble and arch her back.

Her eyes flutter, her breath hot on my skin.

I want to remove my hand and shove my cock there. Christ, it hurts how much I want her.

Nothing has ever come close to this. Nights of jerking off to her. Hours of fucking my hand in the shower. I even put hot wax to my skin, imagining I was doing it to her. This, right here, is a million times better than that.

Rome stares at Damien. He shakes his head, tilting it to gaze at her. “Quinlan, what’s this? You’re enjoying Damien licking your cunt? Sucking you?”

She whimpers, sound straight to my balls.

“Oh, I see what’s going on. You’re humiliated.” His hand strokes the curve of her ass. I pinch her nipple harder, preparing her for what’s to come. “Can’t believe you have my friend eating you out in a restroom. That you’re going to come like that.”

Yes. That’s what the desperate sound coming out of her means.

Slap. That’s the sound Rome makes when his hand cracks on Quinlan’s red ass.

“Good girl.” He spanks her over and over, hurting her as if he’s punishing her. “Such a good little girl. Take it. Come on Damien’s mouth.”

“Your humiliation is so sweet, little flame.” I’m losing my mind, watching them pleasuring her. Taking her. “You love the pain. Come for him.”

She’s still crying when she pushes her hips into Damien’s face. While Rome continues to paint her ass red with his palm.

She does it until she’s screaming for us. Coming for us.

Quinlan trusts us enough to let go. Enough to climax around three people who are basically strangers.

“Don’t hold back. Let us see you, sweetheart. Let us hear you.” Rome is stroking the skin he’s bruised. I’m being gentle on the nipple I tortured, messing further with Quinlan’s head. “Be our filthy little girl in this filthy bathroom.”

She does, moaning and crying out and giving us her everything. Such a good little one.

Then the knob on the door rattles. “Quinlan!”

“Come on.” I adjust her panties. Help her stand straight after Damien rises to his feet.

Her tears have dried, though she hasn’t come down from her high. The pain, confusion, and shock haven’t left her face. Her body too, I bet.

We should leave her here. Distraught. Untethered.

Ray would take care of our Quinlan until we can. She’s trustworthy. At least that’s what her background check showed.

She’ll look after our messed-up little doll until we’ll take her.

No.

Fuck Ray. Fuck Rex.

I trust no one. Even if it means she won’t go to her half-brother looking like this. She needs to be home. We need to see to it that she gets there.

Us.

“You’re so good, darling.” Damien smooths over her dress while Rome picks her jacket off the floor. “Our good little whore.”

Quinlan scoffs. “I told you, I’m not your anything.”

I spread her arms to the sides, helping Rome slide his dark blue jacket on her. She frowns when she realizes it isn’t hers. She doesn’t say a word.

Even when she twists her head to see he’s folding her jacket and pinning it between his arm and his body. Stealing it from her.

He makes me wish I would’ve ripped her panties off her.

“Come here.” Damien tucks her under his arm and unlocks the restroom door.

“Quinlan, are you okay?” A worried Ray meets us. Her boyfriend and Hugh are there as well. Her eyes are wide, cheeks pale. “Who are these people?”

The music and Ray’s face must sober Quinlan up. She might apologize.

Never.

The three of us push the others back and guide her outside the restroom. We flank her, and Quinlan tilts her head toward me.

Me.

She glowers at me.

As if I’m not fucking hard enough as it is. As if I’m not drowning in desire, she’s glowering at me for the scene we made. I stop, giving her a chance to explain.

“I don’t—” She looks over her shoulder, about to say she doesn’t know us.

I grip her chin, shaking my head. It’s a subtle movement. A silent warning.

She gets it. “People. They’re people.”

Brat.

“Quinlan’s feeling unwell.” Damien aims his lawyer’s smirk at the group behind us. “We’re taking her home.”

At this, Quinlan sighs. She’s relieved. We’re her saviors.

She needs us so bad. Poor thing, she has no idea.

It’ll be long before she accepts it.

I can’t wait for more of her fights until then.

“I’ll take her.” Ray insists. I appreciate that.

Rome, not so much. “No.”

His eyes travel to the food waiting on the table of the group’s booth. When he realizes Quinlan hasn’t eaten this evening, his jaw tics. A curse rushes past his lips.

“Quinlan.” Ray approaches, examining Quinlan’s eyes. “You sure you want to go home with them?”

“My home,” Quinlan clarifies, to us more than to her friend. “And yes. I’m sorry, Ray, for all of this.”

“As long as you’re okay…”

Damien’s already pulling Quinlan away to the front door.

“I’m fine,” she reassures Ray. “Talk soon.”

I linger behind for a moment, reveling in the indignant expression on Hugh’s face. Like I mentioned, delusional.

Outside, Rome eyes the Uber that’s waiting outside. Dame catches the movement, helping Quinlan inside.

Meanwhile, I bury my hand in my pocket. Take out my Zippo.

Flick.

“What now?” Quinlan asks before Damien closes the door.

“Something troubling you, sweetheart?” A smile snakes up on Rome’s face. “Already begging to see us again?”

Her bottom lip juts out. “No.”

Snap. Flick. Snap. “We will anyway.”

“No, you won’t.” Her attention is divided between the flame and my face. “This was the last time any of you tricked me.”

“Of course, darling.” Damien is gentle when he shuts the door. He bends so he’s face-to-face with her through the open window. “I’m sure you’ll hate us tonight too,” he whispers. “When you rub one off, imagining it’s my tongue.”

Her shocked gasp is silenced by the sound of Damien’s hand as he slaps the top of the car twice, signaling the driver he’s free to go. Which he does.

As do we. We get into Damien’s SUV, track the Uber driver, and make sure Quinlan gets home safely.