Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

MILES

" A nd you believe her?" Braxton asks over the speaker of my iPhone as I text Blaze.

"I do. God help me, Brax, I do. My gut says she's in it for the right reasons and wants this. I know you have to punish her for what she did, and I left her on the bench for you, but I have to do what I must do, too."

Braxton sighs. "I don't know if this is the best idea. I've lost my trust in her, man."

I try to choose my words carefully. Braxton isn't usually this forthcoming with me. Usually, he'd be in the basement, hidden away from the world, but Aella's in the basement, so he snuck off elsewhere.

"Do you think you'll get it back?" I ask, momentarily feeling like a relationship counselor.

It's not odd for us to share, but sharing someone we care about is strange. Usually, it's for a night only. There was the one time we shared Caroline for two weeks, but it was fleeting .

Far more fleeting the Aella feels.

"I don't know if I can. Once the vibe changes…"

"I know, I know. Well, we'll play it by ear, shall we? Where are you, anyhow?"

My brother is ever the one to go off a person's vibe. When someone's off, it throws him off. But I don't need to remind him that her vibe hadn't been off-putting to him initially. He knows. He's more self-aware than anyone I've ever met.

"I needed to take a walk. So, I'm looking into your bartender. If I punished her right then…"

I nod, even though he can't see me. I fully understand. He didn't want to lose it with her. Thus, I am proving she means more to him than he thinks. It must pass on its own when he's in this mood, though. He has to have time to process.

"Well, I'm going to do what I must and leave her for you."

He clears his throat. "Sounds good. And, Miles?"

"Hm?"

"Don't be gentle," he says.

I smile. "Never am."

Blaze confirms he's on his way, and I let myself sink onto the side of my bed as I inhale deeply to calm the skittering nerves.

This is further than I've ever gone with someone before, and I don't know if I'm crossing a line. But she said she's in. She needs to be all in because my mind won't be at peace until she is.

Once Blaze has his things on Braxton's bed, I move in front of Aella. She was fed, let off to use the bathroom, and now is firmly strapped back to the bench, adding new straps to it because I'd cut the first off her with a knife. I can't deny the way her red knees had made my dick fill with blood, but I'd adjusted it and kept it to myself.

"What will you do to me?" she asks, voice shaky.

"You said you were in, didn't you?" I ask, and she nods.

I look over her body at Blaze, and he shrugs as he dons gloves.

I bend and let my lips skim her ear. Her slight gasp is audible only to me, but I know Blaze can see how she tries to turn into my face and how the slightest proximity to one another affects us both.

"Now, be a good girl and tell your president where you want your Cobra, princess," I tell her, letting my tongue dart out and tickle her ear.

She moans, her breathing picking up. "Wherever you want it," she answers.

"Mm, I like that, Aella. You'll let me pick where to mark you?"

She nods, whimpering as I reach up and turn her face toward me with my thumb and forefinger.

"What about Brax? Can he choose where he wants to mark you?" Her eyes are growing heavy the more I tease her.

I'm convinced this is something between us. It has to be. Either that or my gut is losing its touch.

She nods. "Both of you can choose."

I nod, dropping my hand away.

She deflates and turns her head back, facing the front, so I can't see the disappointment at losing my touch.

I dial Brax.

"What? I told you I'm working!" he grumbles through the speakerphone.

I place it toward Aella. "Ask your vice president where he wants to mark you?"

She shivers, and I have to wonder why, but I remain stoic.

"Where do you want to mark me, sir?" she asks, and the use of sir has just gotten under my fucking skin, and I know it has Braxton, as well.

He clears his throat, clearly just as bothered by her as I am, and I smirk. Even though he'd usually be dug in right now, she breaks through that cloud for him. It means more to me than anything else in the world.

Because even though I have always wanted to be that person for him, I'm glad he's found her.

"Between your breasts. So when I'm fucking that tight little cunt of yours, I can watch it dance," Braxton says, and I have to clear my throat to remain unaffected.

She turns her head toward me. "Do you agree?"

I nod, looking at Blaze as he unstraps her from the bench to lie on her back on the bed .

"See you soon, Brother," I tell Brax, and he says the same in return before hanging up.

Her legs dangle off the bed, her breasts covered by her hands that hold them apart as Blaze sets the stencil in the correct position before sticking it to her flesh.

The cobra will be tail-end between her breasts, body snaking down over the belly button, mouth open and ready to strike on her lower belly.

We all have massive tattoos, each in a unique spot. I have to say, as I come to a halt between her thighs, looking down as Blaze works, I'm glad I'd thought to include Braxton in this decision. Watching it dance is going to become my new obsession.

"We'll do the shading once this heals," Blaze tells her, wiping her clean of the soap once he's done with all the line work.

It had been a grueling few hours, but she'd taken it like a fucking champ.

"Now," I say, and she sits on the bed. When Blaze gets to the first step, she frees her breasts, wincing when the weight of them presses against the fresh tattoo.

I clear my throat. "Let me get your shirt." I turn to grab her a shirt, and when I turn back, she's standing naked before me.

I swallow.

"Does it make you feel better that I'm a part of the gang you lord over? Marked forever as your property? "

I can't tell if she's being sarcastic or if it's an honest inquiry.

"Aella, we need to get you back on the bench…"

She shakes her head, and I stop talking. "I think that I'd like you to touch me. It was so painful, but it also made me feel so much. So much I couldn't do anything about while Blaze was over the top of me, Miles."

I'm on her in a second, lifting her and placing her on the portion of the spanking bench meant for her stomach to spread against. I remind myself I don't trust her, but it doesn't stop my lips from crashing into hers like a train barreling into a car not meant to be on the tracks. It's what things feel like with her and me—a collision.

She groans into my mouth, wrapping her body around me like the snake I'd just branded her with.

I pull away from her lips, but her legs tighten behind me. "I'm sorry. I won't betray you again. I swear it. I'm all in."

Her words unwind something in me I didn't know needed unwinding.

"You're going to be away from us for a while when you're undercover," I tell her. "We must keep the ruse up that you're truly back for the right reasons. We can't take the chance of your father having you followed. You can't come back here until it's done."

Her face fills with worry and longing even though I'm right before her. "I understand."

I cup her face. "I'm going to miss the hell out of you," I tell her.

Her breathing grows labored. "No one has ever looked at me like the two of you do. It's overwhelming sometimes," she admits.

It feels like a little too much emotion. It's a little too raw.

"We feel overwhelmed by you, too."

A smile plays on her lips. "Should I call you president now?"

I roll my eyes and slap the side of her ass, making her giggle. "Don't test me. I'm still mad at you."

She bites her lip. "Is Braxton going to hurt me?"

I shake my head. "I think you're the one thing in the world he could never hurt, Aella. But he's going to need time to process that. He's…different."

She nods. "I know. But it's what makes him special."

The way she speaks about him reminds me of our mother. She took him in and never let any of his differences skew her treatment of him. I never knew that existed outside of Mom.

Our lips meet again; this time, it's passionate and slow. Deeper than I've ever kissed anyone. Her hands twine in my hair, and I groan at the feel of her nails against my scalp.

"Careful, princess, I don't want to ruin this body. I have a feeling it's not mine to take."

She breathes heavily between us. "Does that make you mad?"

I narrow my gaze at her. "That you want Braxton to be your first?"

She nods, biting her bottom lip, pouty and red from our kiss.

I shake my head. "No. Somehow, it feels…ri ght."

I crouch down before her. "Though he can't have all the firsts," I tell her, pulling her toward the edge of the bench and slipping my tongue through her folds.

Her pussy is wet and responsive, and it makes my cock strain in my pants. "Always so wet for us," I mutter, nibbling her clit.

"Your ass will be mine one day, and my dick is the first one you'll let in it, right, princess?" I ask, lapping at her to toy with her as she tries her hardest to answer.

I smirk, pulling back and making her growl.

She nods. "It's yours," she offers.

I chuckle. "Good girls get their pussies licked."

"What do bad girls get?" she asks.

"Mm, Braxton will answer that for me. Won't you, Brother?"

I knew he was standing at the end of the stairs, and I knew he was watching, as he loves to do. I just hadn't let Aella realize he was there yet.

I needed to taste her before shit hit the fan.

"Don't let her come," he answers, leaning against the wall, lifting one booted foot.

"I guess that answers your question, huh, princess?" I taunt, diving back into her sweet center and torturing her with my tongue.

Aella whimpers, trying to tug my head away from her sweet cunt, but I resist. If she can't come, she wants me to stop. That's not how punishment works, though. She's going to find that out the hard way.

I get her to the edge of coming four times, only to ruin it by pulling back before Braxton tells me to stop.

She's panting, sobbing, and hanging onto the spanking bench for dear life as if the world is tumbling around her.

I wipe my mouth as I stand, the wet spot in my jeans on full display, but she's too gone to notice.

"What did you find out?" I ask Braxton as Aella's sobs litter the air.

He watches her as he tells me, "Not much, but now isn't the time to discuss it."

I look at Aella, letting his words sink in. "She's one of us now. Go easy on her, hm?"

Braxton shakes his head. "The fact that she's one of us is why I won't go easy on her, Miles. You know that."

I sigh, adjusting my throbbing dick in my pants.

"I don't like the idea of her being back in her world, Miles. I won't deny it," he says as I get halfway up the stairs.

"Neither do I, Brother, but we have to do what we have to do."

"I know. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," I say back, straining as the feel of my jeans rubbing my cock nearly makes me come.

Braxton's chuckle is all I hear as I slam the door behind me and head for my room to fuck my hand.

I'm not sure how far he'll go with her, but one can only hope he fucks her soon. I know that part of her belongs to him. As much as she knows, it's hers to give him.

It's unspoken, but it's sacred.