“’Cause let me tell you, they touched me all over.” I grin, a dark one. “Going to kill them also? What about anyone who looks at me? You possessive fucking assholes, I’m not yours!” I almost yell.

He steps closer, his eyes cold and locked on me. “You are, you better start accepting it, love, but keep pushing me, I dare you.”

I swallow and tilt my chin back. He doesn’t scare me, not even after what he just did. Not because I know he won’t hurt me—he would if he needed to, if I became a threat, he wouldn’t hesitate—but because I know Ryder. I understand him, and everything he does is for his family. He’s angry, he’s cold, he’s calculating, and very smart…and very fucking dangerous.

“Why? Going to break my hands too?” I challenge, stepping closer. “No, just tie me up? Keep me at your mercy? ’Cause I gotta tell you, even that crazy fucker stands more of a chance than you.”

His eyebrow arches, and he goes silent. I know I’ve pushed him, but I can’t seem to stop.

“What? Nothing to say? Big bad Ryder lost for words? Or maybe you just don’t know how to act with a woman who has a brain, who you can’t buy off, who isn’t fucking scared of you,” I snarl.

“Oh shit,” I hear one of them say, but I don’t look away from him, staring him down.

“Leave us,” Ryder snaps, eyes on me as I stand there.

“Good luck, Little Bird.” Diesel laughs as they all leave.

“Fucking traitors,” I hiss, as I stare at Ryder with my hands on my hips.

“What? Going to punish me for having fun?” I inquire snottily.

“No, for letting them touch you, for distracting them,” he offers calmly, as he unbuttons his shirt one button at a time. My eyes watch his deft fingers as he exposes more and more of his golden, tattooed skin. It covers every inch of him.

“I—”

“They are here to protect you. If you distract them, they can’t do that,” he reasons, as the shirt falls open to expose his perfectly chiselled chest, making my mouth water. He’s built like a god, all perfect edges. “You let him touch you.”

“How the fuck do I stop someone from touching me?” I snap, but my voice is breathless.

“You will learn. Each time someone touches you, they die. Remember that. It doesn’t matter who they are, I will kill them, and you will know it’s because of you.”

“You cruel fucking bastard,” I snarl as he steps closer.

“Yes, I am, love. Better remember that.”

I stare, unable to help it. The same design as Kenzo’s tattoo is on Ryder, but it seems to start on his back and wraps around his side. The snake curves around his pec and ends above his heart. The tongue is out and so lifelike, I can imagine it flickering, those red eyes locked on me.

Ryder throws me off balance. I’m used to being the scariest one in the room, but he scares me because in this room, I’m nothing. All that money, all that power, I should hate him. But I don’t. Not even a little bit. He craves my complete control, but my surrender as well. Total surrender, but I’m so used to fighting, and when he peels back all those layers of stubbornness and hate, what will he find underneath? That terrifies me, that’s why I lash out. Why I push at them, poke and prod until we all explode.

“What? Is this when I’m supposed to fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness?” I laugh. “Not my style, go fuck yourself and your stupid fucking Vipers. I’m done with you all.”

It was the wrong thing to say.

Chapter Twenty-Four

RYDER

Roxxane turns to walk away, so I snap out my arm, the reaction directed by my own anger and need. How dare she? She doesn’t get to walk away, she has to pay for her actions and words. Grabbing the back of her neck, I yank her around to face me and crash my lips onto hers. It wasn’t planned, but I can’t help myself. She isn’t allowed to walk away from me. Not now. Not ever. I would kill everyone in this fucking world for her, anyone who ever dared hurt her. She doesn’t get to turn her nose up at that and act like a brat. Not when there’s a scarred, hard-ass survivor underneath. She can’t know the true depth of feelings I have for her, that even though I try to stay impartial, that I try to hate her, I can’t.

Because I’m falling in love with her.

She freezes for a moment before melting ever so slightly, her lips fighting mine, meeting me head-on. It’s hard and angry, a fight like always with her. It’s a duel, a battle for dominance as I open her mouth and slip my tongue inside, tasting her sweetness. It explodes across my taste buds, the flavour of her now branded on me, and I know this was a mistake because I’ll never be able to go back. Never be able to not touch her, taste her, now. I just put my family at risk, and I can’t seem to care with her in my arms. All that anger, all that bravery and attitude, and she melts against me so easily. My little broken princess. She seems to realise it, and tries to push me away and starts to fight. Thrashing uselessly in my arms, she bites my lip until I taste blood, like I would ever let her go. No, she will be mine tonight. Tonight, I will satiate my lust, let all this desire for Roxxane out, and tomorrow…tomorrow I can be the Viper I need to be to protect my family. But for one night, I’ll be selfish. I will damn the consequences and take what I want—her. Chuckling huskily, I pull away, ignoring my pulsing cock as it aches to be buried inside her when she fights me like that.

No, she needs to learn obedience first, to surrender to me and my control. Only then will I let us bathe in pleasure.

I feel the pounding of her pulse against my hand as it lazily wraps around her throat. Leaning down, I murmur against her lips, unable to help myself. “There is nowhere in this world you can go, nowhere you can escape us, princess.” I crave her heat, her body, her mind, even her fight. She is my ever-growing weakness, a grey area blooming in my dark heart and stretching its colour across my soul until I can’t help but want to be a better man for her, to be the man she deserves. But I will never be, so instead, she gets me. She will have to learn to survive it and get used to it, because I have a feeling she’s going nowhere.

I wanted to punish her, maybe scare her, but I can’t seem to help myself. My cock is running the show now. I’ll sate my desire, then go back to keeping a cool distance. I can still control this, control her, and how I take her.

“Want to fucking bet? Let me go, and we’ll see.” She sniffs, but her lips are bruised from our kiss, her chest pressed against mine so hard, I can feel her stiff nipples just begging for me to play with them. I can see her need in the way her pupils are blown wide with lust as her gaze tracks down my face and back to my lips again, and in the slight tremor of her curvy body as I hold it against me. Roxxane hates that she wants me.

Feeling is mutual, love.

“Let you go?” I smirk. “Never. Now it’s time for your punishment.” She freezes against me, and I chuckle. “Didn’t think you were getting off that easy, did you?” I push her away, and she stumbles back, suddenly looking nervous, her chest heaving and cheeks adorably tinting red.

Circling her, I pick at the long shirt dress she’s wearing, the fishnets underneath letting me glimpse her pale, tattooed skin. Needing to regain some control, I push her until she’s bent over. “Stay,” I order, as I stand behind her.