Deviant Games (The Controllers #8) - L.V. Lane Page 0,14

from Ryker. He enjoyed the way Ethan could be rough with me, even if he rarely treated me that way himself.

But tonight Ryker had gripped my hair too tightly, pushed me over the couch, and fucked me without care. I stumbled as the wrongness of this sent my stomach into free fall. Ethan wrapped an arm around me. Immediately, Ryker closed on the other side, crowding me.

Oh god! What were they going to do to me?

“She knows,” Ethan said over my head.

Ryker’s soft chuckle sparked both fear and anticipation.

Only, I didn’t know, not completely. Awareness sat on my periphery. Pain—you needed pain to force a heat? I didn’t like pain. Who did? How much pain would I need before I tipped over? Madelyn had said she was close to her time of heat, that Lucian had been rough with her, but she hadn’t mentioned pain.

No, it was Ethan who had let that detail slip in my apartment one day, and long before I’d been taken to Lyus. He’d pressed my forehead to the hard wooden floor and spanked me until a scream had been ripped from my throat. Tonight, they would do whatever they needed to send me into heat.

My panic hung on the verge of blooming, but I was too thoroughly controlled for it to happen. Ryker was far less effective in manipulating the bond, but he didn’t need to be because Ethan had that covered.

“I’ve been waiting for you to be ready for your discipline,” Ethan said. “Long overdue discipline.”

An image flashed through my mind of raised welts on my ass. The shared dreams still happened, but they could also manipulate my conscious mind.

A wicked grin spread over Ethan’s face. “Princess, we’re going to have so much fun.”

Ryker

“What was the deal with Governor Brach?” I asked once Lilly was out of earshot. She was talking to Lucian’s pet, who was wearing a surprisingly normal amount of clothing and a very subtle collar.

The two of them often talked of late. Omegas: sweet, gullible, willful, and scorching hot when you got them underneath you. I was pretty sure they were plotting something Lucian would disapprove of because their eyes kept straying in his direction while they talked.

That was Lucian’s problem, not mine. The corrupt bastard didn’t need his hand held when it came to managing his mate.

“He wants me on a mission,” Ethan said, stirring me from my perusal of Lilly’s ass.

“What sort of mission?” I asked. Once upon a time, I’d have been happy to hear Ethan was leaving so I could get our sweet little Omega all to myself, but things had changed since we’d claimed her.

I rubbed absently at the center of my chest.

“Undercover,” he said.

“What the hell?” I muttered scowling. “Why would you agree to that, asshole?! Lilly won’t like that.”

The broody fucker growled his displeasure—a passing waiter gave us a wide berth. “I didn’t have a fucking choice, asshole. You think I’d choose to leave Chimera once I’ve bred her?”

My eyes widened before a smirk spread across my lips. “Maybe I’ll be the one to breed her.”

I was confident he was about to punch my throat when Lucian joined us. “Wind it down a notch,” he growled. “I’m not getting my ass kicked out before time because I’m trying to break you two up. I’m gonna step back and watch security taser your ass.”

Ethan huffed out a breath, but he didn’t project ‘murder’ anymore, so mission accomplished.

Lucian came from Lyus, like Ethan, although you’d never suspect it now. We all wore tuxedos. Lucian looked like he was born in one; Ethan radiated dark menace… my tattoos were showing at my neck and knuckles, so I figured I wasn’t much better.

“How the fuck do you two share? Little Omega got a raw deal,” Lucian mused. We’d spoken briefly when we first arrived—Ethan had told Lucian we were going to force Lilly’s heat. News Lucian had greeted with a raised brow that said he thought us telling Lilly our intentions was ballsy, foolhardy, or both.

Then he’d been accosted by a senator and we hadn’t seen him since.

“Ethan’s going on another mission,” I said. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. There had been a time when I couldn’t give a fuck about anything or anyone. Sex, killing—in no particular order—and the occasional rutting of a willing Omega had been my lot. Now my mate’s blood was acting upon me, making me hyper-aware of all things Lilly. Anything that might upset or harm her, and I was