Julian flicked a hand towards the house and I inclined my head. It was time.
We sprinted across the lawn and hurried up the front steps. Julian tried the door and turned to grin at me when the door pushed inwards, opening easily for him. He moved into the house and I followed along behind him. I closed the door behind me and I was smart enough to lock it.
Two steps later and we both came up short.
What in the…
Damien was on the couch, on top of Jackie. Her hands were at his ass, squeezing and holding on for dear life. Damien had her arms stretched out above her, pressed into the arm rest and held on tightly between his hands.
Jesus.
How long had he been in here for? All of three minutes? This had to be some kind of record.
Julian made a weird noise and I moved forward. If he laughed now she might start to struggle before we were ready, and we couldn’t have that.
Damien moved on the couch. He straddled Jackie’s waist, with a knee in the couch on both sides of her body. He sat up as far as he could while still holding down her arms above her head.
Jackie turned her head to the side and inhaled sharply, trying to catch her breath. That must have been some kiss.
Thankfully, her eyes were closed, and she missed Julian and I creeping up.
I knelt down on the carpet, beside the couch. Julian moved around to stand before the arm rest.
With a nod from Damien, I wrapped my hand around her jaw and squeezed. Her face smooshed unattractively as she made a fish face.
Her eyes flew open in surprise and pain as she gurgled at me, unable to scream with my hand on her face like that. She tried to shake her head but couldn’t after I placed my free hand on her forehead, holding her still.
A cork popped, and Julian leaned down, getting in her face. Over and over again her nostrils flared as she drew in angry breath after angry breath. Her eyes were wide, showing too much white.
Julian didn’t fuck around and quickly put the clear, glass vial to her lips. He tipped it up and poured the liquid into her mouth. He covered her mouth with his hand and I let go over her forehead in order to plug her nose. Damien jerked on top of her as she furiously bucked her body beneath him.
She made gagging, choking sounds before she swallowed. Once I knew the liquid had gone down her throat I removed my fingers from her nose.
Tears trailed out of her too wide for her face eyes, running down into her hair.
“You can remove your hands now, Quint,” Julian instructed me.
Immediately, I pulled my hands away. I rubbed my palms on my jeans in an effort to rub the feel of her skin away.
Ariel didn’t know it but she gave off a sweet heat of her own. Now that I had experienced it for myself, I didn’t want to have to endure the touch of another female.
“What, are you mute?” Julian mocked in a high voice and I felt my eyes grow wide. What was this now? “No, bitch, but you are now. This is your payment for putting your hands on her. And if you ever, ever tell anyone about this, about us being here, your insides will start to rot and there won’t be a damn thing anyone will be able to do for you.”
Julian straightened, and I stood. Damien crawled off of her now limp body and the three of us loomed over her.
She opened her mouth wide, probably so she could let out an impressive scream, but no sound came out at all.
Silently, she choked as her hands wrapped around her throat.
Julian laughed while we turned away and left her like that. Damien remained silent and I was thoughtful. Thinking on Julian’s comment about being mute and watching her clutch at her throat while no sound came out, I realized something. Dash must have filled him in on something he hadn’t shared with me and I wondered what else could have possibly been said to my sweet Ariel.
The car ride to their house was eerily quiet, each of us lost in our own thoughts. When I pulled up to the curb, they got out of my car without a word spoken or a backwards glance.
We had accomplished what we’d set out to do and we didn’t need to discuss it.
And Ariel never needed to know.
Chapter Eighteen