“Is this what you want, my sweet girl?” His fingers plunge, sliding through my arousal, and he holds them there as I writhe.

“More,” I groan.

His thumb pushes against my anus, adding enough pressure to make me go still. He’s cupping me, refusing to give me more. His torso blankets my back, and he yanks my head up by the hair.

“How quickly you forget. You lost the game.”

“Please,” I whine, unable to take in a full breath.

Not with the way my heart gallops.

Not so long as his fingers press against my clit, unmoving. A relentless taunt.

I choke out his name, and he shudders, breath hot and raspy on my neck.

“You don’t know the level of control I’m clinging to right now.” Slowly, his thumb invades my backside, burning…burning…

I whimper again, this time from pain.

“You’re sexier than any woman I’ve been with. Fully innocent and too damn responsive. I know what the glove of your mouth feels like, Novalee.” His thumb gains another inch, and I cry out in agony. “My cock is dying to know what this feels like too.”

“Stop!”

Immediately, he pulls away. For several moments, I brace against the bed, chest heaving, terrified by what he implied as his thumb violated my ass. Footsteps thud across the room. A chair scrapes the floor. I push off the mattress and face him.

“Some of my brothers won’t stop.” Darkness shrouds his gaze, accompanied by a crease of anger between his brows. “They’ll use your ass, and there isn’t a thing I can do to stop them, Novalee.”

His statement shakes me to the core, spoken with harsh truth and a hint of helpless frustration, and I almost crumble. “I don’t want to leave you.”

Abandoning his chair and the distance between us, he frames my face in his warm hands. “But you must. Our time together is dwindling fast. I need you to behave yourself. Heath won’t tolerate your attitude.”

“I’ll try.”

“You’ll do more than try.” His voice thickens, deep with a warning. “Because the next time you speak to me with such disrespect, I won’t leave you with a throbbing pussy—I’ll leave welts on your ass. Is that clear?”

Tears sting my eyes, and I blink them back. “Y-yes.”

“You may return to your quarters. You’re to stay there until dinner.”

8

Liam’s threat plays in my head on a nerve-wracking loop. His harsh words struck me in the heart, bringing about an inescapable melancholy that’s only exacerbated by the rain. I try to escape my impending reality by visiting the boutiques on the main part of the island with my ladies.

The thing about reality? It’s rarely avoidable.