Deviant Games (The Controllers #8) - L.V. Lane Page 0,16

my calendar with IN HEAT for the hell of it—the Beta could be mischievous on occasion. Yes, I’m not coming in to work today. I’m at home in a nest getting rutted within an inch of my life.

I’d been so distracted by my internal musings that it came as a shock when Ethan announced it was time for us to leave.

The blood drained from my face. He smirked, flashing those damn dimples that weakened my knees. Ryker chuckled. It was still early; surely we would be here for hours yet?

Smoothly, I was whisked away from the program board member I’d been conversing with, and found myself once more boxed in the elevator.

No sooner had the doors closed than Ryker was on me. I was pressed against the wall, and, palming my throat, he nipped at my bottom lip sending my libido rocketing.

His hand began working under my dress, slipping back and forth along the seam of my pussy before easing a single thick finger in.

“Please, Ethan, I need to come,” I mumbled. I was so close to the edge.

“She’s so hot when she begs for it,” Ryker growled. “Our dirty little princess begging for me to get her off in a public elevator.” He began pumping erratically to the tune of lewd, wet slapping sounds. “There is probably a real human monitoring us given the prestige of the event. Some poor little Beta beating his meat while he watches me finger you. Probably hoping I get my big Alpha cock out and fuck you up against the wall.”

Ethan’s dark chuckle was a shot of liquid arousal… I was so close.

The elevator’s electronic voice announcing our floor was like being doused in cold water. Ryker scooped me up into his arms and carried me the rest of the way to the apartment. There were times when I hated being small enough to carry. Today, I clung to Ryker and begged him to make me feel better.

He didn’t. He was under Ethan’s control as much as I was.

I expected to be stripped and taken straight to the nest or the bench. Instead, Ryker headed for the couch where he sat me on his lap. Despite our earlier explosive elevator encounter, he cupped my cheek and kissed me like he had all the time in the world.

I whined. I couldn’t do gentle—didn’t know how to while in my current anxious state. I wanted my heat to come so badly, but not like this. Everything in me was recoiling in terror. And now this gentleness? Ryker could fake sweet when he wanted to. The man could fake anything he set his mind to.

But it wasn’t him.

I’d seen the real Ryker a few times—the evidence of it on others.

He kissed without any sense of urgency, a slow sensual exploration that made a mockery of everything else he had done to me today. My clothes felt tight and constrictive. Tugging his tie free, I popped a couple of buttons open at his throat before he captured my wrists and pinned them to my lower back.

He resumed the kissing with barely a break.

“You weren’t ready for this before,” Ethan said, stirring me from chasing Ryker’s tongue. “But you are now.”

His words settled a dark layer over the sweet kissing.

Was he controlling this? Was he controlling Ryker? No, not Ryker, but definitely me.

I blinked, coming back to myself, realizing that Ryker was sprawled out on the couch with me over him.

“I’m not ready.” I felt like I’d been in a state of numb compliance from the moment Ryker got his hands on me as we left the ballroom. Now a veil had been lifted and I strained and wriggled as I tested Ryker’s hold. I tried to call on my gift, but it was like slamming up against a wall.

I glared at Ethan.

Ethan’s low chuckle sent goosebumps rising across my skin. “Is that defiance I see, Princess?” He tugged the tie from his neck and dropped it on the coffee table. Shrugging out of his jacket, he tossed it over the opposite couch before popping the cufflinks. They landed with a clatter against the table. Slowly, he rolled up each sleeve.

I swallowed.

“Ah, baby,” he said, bringing a flutter to my chest. Ryker was prolific with endearments, but Ethan made them special. “You think I’m going to call it quits because you’re uncomfortable with the concept of a forced heat?” He closed the gap on us while I blinked at him in a daze. “I’m not going to stop.