9. Kabir

Chapter 9

Kabir

now

I'm on high alert as I step through the French doors off the balcony.

Hunter and Greedy are standing toe-to-toe, fuming with such ferocity the room is drenched in their energy.

I make it all of three strides into the space before it registers: what's happening right now. What she needs from me.

Halting, I throw out one hand to stop Levi in his tracks, too.

Hunter's arms are crossed over her chest, her hip popped out to one side. Her chest heaves as she glares up at her stepbrother.

"You're a liar," Garrett Reed accuses, his words slurred as he sloppily points a finger at Hunter.

"He's drunk," Levi murmurs beside me.

That he is.

"All you do is lie!" he shouts, his voice cracking. "To me. To yourself. You're a fucking liar, and a sneak, just like your fucking mother."

Hunter rears back as if she's been slapped.

"Oof," Levi mutters under his breath .

"Right." I remove my first cuff link and take a tentative step toward them. This won't fucking stand. Garrett Reed has another think coming if he reacts to his own hurt by lashing out and hurting others in return. "Hunter?"

She whips her head in my direction. Her eyes are filled with unshed tears, her brows knitted in a visible effort not to cry.

"I'm here, love," I remind her. "May I step in?"

The question lingers between us all for a breath. Then another.

Her shoulders lower, and she bows her head slightly when my words properly land.

"Please," she replies.

That's the consent I need.

"You." I stalk toward Garrett, venturing close enough to fully take in just how glassy his dark-green eyes are.

He sways as I approach, then finds his balance and stands taller, as if he's preparing to face off with me.

I tip my chin, remove my second cuff link effortlessly, and cock one brow. "Out."

He opens his mouth to protest, but I've already turned to Levi.

"Get him out of here."

Then I turn to Hunter, my chest going tight.

We haven't been together in ages. Time and experience have created craters between us that I ache to fill in.

Yet when her glassy green orbs meet my eyes, her yearning is palpable.

"On your knees, love. Now."

She drops before me so beautifully—my perfect, obedient girl.

I step closer, reveling in the position she's put herself in. It's a gift. She's the prize. I can't resist brushing my palm against the soft skin of her jaw.

Her lips part on contact. She tilts her head back slightly and locks eyes with me.

"This is what you need?" I murmur.

"Yes, Sir. "

Bloody hell .

Those two words zing right through my nuts, inspiring a half chub in my pants before I've even taken my next breath. This woman. What she does to me. The power she has over me when she submits.

"Out," I bark over my shoulder, waving my free hand absently toward the other men in the room.

"Hunter," Levi hedges, his voice laced with trepidation.

"She's fine," I reply on her behalf.

Hunter's submission speaks for itself. She doesn't so much as twitch as the other two men scrutinize her, silently begging for her attention.

Hunter sits quietly at my feet, palms resting on her thighs, her gaze focused on the floor directly in front of her.

Such a good fucking girl.

"Tem—" Garrett Reed starts. He catches the nonsensical nickname coming out of his drunk facehole, then self-corrects. "I mean Hunter. Get up, Hunter."

My perfect girl remains motionless before us all. I can't help but grin.

"You're doing so well," I murmur, running one hand over her golden tendrils and letting the ends slip through my fingers. Gods, I missed this. I missed our dynamic, sure, but at the heart of it, I just fucking missed her.

"Hunter," Garrett Reed growls out again. Louder. Closer, in fact, as he attempts to snag her attention.

I hold up one hand to warn him off, then hit him with an unamused glare. "She will not speak unless I command it."

Garrett Reed halts in his tracks. "Comm—hand it?" he slurs. "What sort of fucked-up shit is this?"

Levi takes a step forward then, whether to hold back his friend or get to his girl, I don't know. Nor do I really care. They're delaying the inevitable at this point.

I regard them both, feigning boredom to mask the agitation their defiance inspires in me. "My little slut doesn't answer to either of you. "

Garrett Reed lunges. "Don't you dare call her that!" Before he can make it a step, Levi catches him by the arm.

"You're not in control here, Garrett Reed Ferguson the Third. I am. And I said get out."

"Tem—"

"Out!" I shout. Then, softer, I drive my point home.

"Do you see how she submits? How she obeys? She's not yours to command. That is irrefutably clear. Leave this instant and do not address my pretty little cum bucket again unless you're prepared to see what sort of right hook I'm packing."

He doesn't bother sassing back this time, but when he lunges again, Levi has a much harder time containing him.

"Take him away," I tell Levi, waving one hand toward the door.

The blond man's jaw ticks, and the fingers of his free hand curl into a fist. He looks from me to Hunter, then, chin raised, at me once more. Perhaps our little rendezvous on the balcony instilled enough trust for him to see what's happening here.

She's safe. She wants this. She's the one in control.

With a subtle nod, he tugs his friend's arm and heads for the door.

"Stay, love. I'm not leaving. You're safe," I murmur, following the other men. I usher them into the hallway, then lock them out of the room.

I pivot, then quickly stride to the balcony doors.

Garrett Reed is fast in his inebriated state. I'll give him that.

Not fast enough, though.

He must have used Levi's room to get out onto the balcony so quickly.

As I turn the lock on the French doors, I meet his eye, keeping my expression hard.

He bangs one fist into the glass block panel between us, his face red and his eyes wild.

Smirking, I reach for the curtains, but instead of drawing them closed, I pull them open even wider.