When I go up on my tiptoes to kiss him, he turns his head away. “Give him what he wants.” Riley closes the door and I’m left with feelings of dread. He told me he loved me. He talked about marrying me today, and I can’t give him one hundred percent until I know Jesse’s intentions. Reggie looks worried as we arrive to Jesse’s quarters. He unlocks a door and opens it up.
“I’ll be right here. Be loud if you need me.” With that terrifying warning, I walk in and hear the door click behind me. It’s cold and dark in Jesse’s space. There isn’t a lamp on anywhere. There are only shadows of objects and a vivid sense of danger.
“The princess is here alone? No shit,” Jesse’s voice booms, filling the space. Ice rattles in a glass, a breeze from an open window hits, and then his scent is flooding my body. “How many bugs are you wearing?”
I swallow. Jesus, Riley sent me into a lion’s den. Jesse is drinking, and I know he doesn’t or shouldn’t. “What do you mean?” I stammer.
Jesse stands from a chair, backlit by the moon—a mere menacing shadow. “Riley claimed you with diamonds today. There’s no way he’d let you into my locked room without a bug or a weapon. You packing heat, baby girl?”
“I missed you and wanted to see you, Jesse.” I don’t even believe me with the way my voice is shaking. “He gave me a bracelet. I didn’t know what it meant at first. Why are you acting this way toward me?”
He steps forward, and I can hear him sipping, then ice hits his glass. “You were almost killed today. You don’t think I had anything to do with it?”
I blow out a breath because I know he can’t see it. “Of course not. Why would I? You saved me from a life that would have destroyed me. Seems like a lot of work to kill me off now. What do I know though, I’m wrong. Do you want me dead?”
He chuckles. “You sound so cynical. It makes my dick hard.”
Thank God. “I learn from the best.”
“I don’t want you dead. Am I jealous Riley claimed you first? Yes.”
“I’m not an object. I have free will. I can still choose you.”
“You’d do that? Go against Riley and choose the lesser Astor brother?”
“I don’t know, Jesse. You hide things from me, and Riley is clear about how he feels about me.”
“Somehow I knew better than to call you mine,” he replies.
“Fight for me then.” If I can’t get any truths, I can appeal to the dark side of his personality.
He walks closer until I can smell the alcohol on his breath. “How do you suppose I fight against the king?” This is it. This is lead-in. “You say it like it’s that easy.”
“Take his queen. I want you to fuck me, and I want Riley to fuck me. At the same time. Become his equal.”
He leans over and inhales at my neck. I close my eyes and feel his body heat wrap around me. A light clicks on. “You’re really suggesting a fuck-off?” His grin is carnal. “You want that?” At the sight of him, I lose my breath. If it’s possible to love two men at the same time, I think I might. Except I only love parts and pieces of Jesse Astor, the rest of him terrifies me. Jesse takes my hand in his, but not to hold. His fingers slide up, searching for the bracelet, without breaking eye contact. “Where is it?”
“I took it off when I realized what it meant.” I’m taking the information Riley gave me and twisting it. I’m lying. My wrist feels bare, and I hate it. “Honestly though, were you planning on giving me a bracelet or whatever is equivalent?”
“If I were, it wouldn’t matter. He gets what he wants. I have the same last name, but there will always be an order.” He clears his throat, and he winces. “You want to play in a three-way, but does he?”
My heart thuds and my stomach flips. “He’ll give me anything I want. I wanted to come to you, and he let me. If I want you both, he’ll let me have you both.” I smooth my bottom lip with my tongue. “This is what I want. He had a wing secured to lock me away. You think he’ll refuse to give me a baser need? Especially if I demand it?”
Jesse leans over and whispers. “You see what he’s doing then? Whatthey’redoing? Locking you away.”
My pulse races. I whisper, “What? What is he doing?” I’m mindful of the tiny camera in the sole of my shoe. Pulling him closer, I keep my mouth at his neck. “What do you meanexactly?”
“He’s taken everything from you—stripped you of who you were and made you what he wanted. You must rely on him. It’s the first rule of conquering anything. Make your opponent a deal they can’t refuse. They must be helpless.” Jesse keeps his tone just as quiet. It’s doubtful Riley can make out what’s being said word for word. He presses his lips against my neck. “Isolate then dominate.”
The conversation is taking a turn, and I still don’t know if he’s playing a game. Jesse is the person who stripped me of my last living relative. The only member who could tell me anything about my past. “It seems to me it’s been a team effort in the isolate area. There was never much to dominate when it came to my former life. You were the one who saved me.”
His face darkens as he offers a grin. “Saved you? I don’t know about that,” Jesse whispers. “Nothing is safe. No one is saved. The currency is time, and it’s only being traded.”
“Traded for what?” I ask.
He drags his thumb along my bottom lip, his gaze seems to probe, but seeking what, I don’t know. He thinks the answer to his question is held within me. “I don’t know yet,” Jesse says. “I ask again, does he want to share you?” Jesse is obsessed with the question, the way his whole body tightens in response.
“Call him and ask,” I reply, taking his hand, still on my face, into my own. “Tell him it’s whatIwant.” Jesse takes a step back, the shadows cutting across his face and body in the dim light. “I mean it. Call him.”