For a moment he feared for the life of every man in that room who dared to look upon her.
She was frightened.And he didn’t need to spare another look at the men circling round her, their cocks already bulging with eager anticipation.
No, he didn’t need to see the evidence to know that she was right to be terrified.The kind of men that lusted after innocent maidens, girls who’d never known a man’s touch…
Vile cretins, the lot of him.
And maybe he was no better, because beneath his rage there was the desire he always felt around Kitty.But he didn’t want to force himself on her like these men.
He’d never be aroused at the sight of fear in her eyes.
When he fantasized about taking Kitty, there was no fear in her gaze, only…
He shook his head.It didn’t matter whathisfantasies were, only that she didn’t fall prey totheirs.
He heard one muttering dirty words to her while Loula joked and teased the men, calling their offers insulting and pitting them against each other.
But the man muttering to her—he wasn’t bidding, he was just getting a sick, perverse pleasure out of scaring her even further.
He could see Kitty growing paler with his every word, and as she paled, the man smirked.
“He will die tonight,” King vowed, to no one in particular.
But apparently Beast heard him and saw where he was because he cut through the crowd and caught the man by the neck, picking him up, kicking and struggling and tossing him toward the door.
King shifted, one part of him itching to follow, his jaw tight at he thought of all the ways he’d torture this man who dared to insult Kitty.
But there were far worse dangers in his midst, and all that mattered now was getting her out of here.
“Oy,” one man shouted from the back.“Me and Leroy here will split her for double that.”
Kitty looked up, her eyes wide and her lips parting, and—
That was it.King lunged forward, only vaguely aware of Tracker and Beast behind him as he strode up to Kitty.He caught the flicker of shock in her eyes, the panic that ran across them.But that was all he saw before he bent forward and tossed her over his shoulder.
She squeaked in surprise as he lifted her easily, his legs coming across the back of her thighs as he turned his head to shout at the unruly crowd.“Auction’s over.”
“But you can’t—”
“We were promised—”
“King!Let the girl—”
“She’s mine!”he snarled.And that was enough to quiet them.Even Loula.Even the vile bastards who’d been battling each other for her virtue.
The silence didn’t last long, but he didn’t stick around to hear what anyone had to say.He took his prize and he strode out the door, not stopping until he reached one of the hidden corridors that linked this building to his.
The whole neighborhood was filled with these passageways.It was how he and his men kept such a close eye on their businesses and their guests.
He and his men were everywhere.Always.
And tonight he thanked all that was holy that he’d gotten there when he had.If he hadn’t…
No.He couldn't think about that.Rage already held too tight a grip on him, and he’d vowed years ago that no emotion would govern his life.That was how gamblers lived; it was how his father and those like him failed.
Kitty squirmed atop his shoulder, and a growl ripped through his throat.He clamped a hand on her bottom to hold her still.He instantly wished he hadn’t.If he’d had fantasies before about taking her from behind, now the feel of her soft, lush bottom would torture his dreams until the day he died.
She went still.