“After an hour, I would feel confident that the sedative is successful.”
“An hour?!”
I eyed the man behind the glass, who seemed totally unaware of our presence. The window must have been a one-way mirror, because he didn’t even flinch when I held my hand up and waved.
There was something familiar about his face and form. As if I had seen him before but couldn’t put my finger on where.
I knew they were determined to make me go into that room one way or another, and I didn’t feel like dragging it out. I needed to orgasm. Ryker had sent my body into a frenzy, so I just wanted to get this over with, go back to the dorm, and let him take care of the need he had stoked in me.
“Okay,” I told them reluctantly, steeling my nerves.
It wasn’t just their insistence that made me agree to step into the room. There was something else. A strange, magnetic pull tugged at me. Some instinctual part of me yearned to see the shifter. I was curious about him, yes, but it was more than that. I felt drawn to him in a way I couldn’t explain, as if some unseen thread connected us. The feeling was unfamiliar, unsettling... and impossible to ignore.
“Good girl,” Cade said, opening the door to the next room, and allowing Ryker and me to walk through it, before it closed behind us as the lock clicked into place.
Ryker was still invading my space, gripping my hips. I could feel his hard dick against my ass. When I tried to pull away and get separation, he gripped my hips tighter and pulled me closer. I guess he was feeling needy today.
The door opening had drawn Talon’s attention, so he was already standing by the time we entered the room. He was roughly Cade’s size, a few inches taller, and a bit more lithe. He was wearing nothing but grey sweatpants, so I could clearly see his muscles were not as bulky as the brothers, but more defined, graceful, and agile.
Tattoos covered his entire body from head to toe. They swirled around his nimble form, following the contours of his body in a way that highlighted the valleys and peaks of his limbs and chiseled abs. I had never seen such intricate artwork, and I marveled at the way the strong black ink looked against his skin. The contrast was so bold and crisp.
“Hello, I’m Rowan,” I said timidly.
Ryker slid his big palms under my shirt and traced my hips. I swatted him away, turning red with embarrassment at the wayhe touched me so brazenly in front of a man who I had only just met. Ryker ignored my protests.
“Isn’t she beautiful, Tally?” he said from behind me in a husky tone.
Talon regarded me, taking a few steps forward, as Ryker gently turned my hips, spinning me for display. When he finally faced me forward again, Talon was much closer, studying me with an unreadable expression.
With every step Talon took, my breath hitched. His closeness only intensified the pull I felt toward him. The invisible force seemed to grow stronger with proximity.
“She is. Hello, Rowan, I’m Talon Grayson. It’s nice to meet you,” he said in a calm, deep voice that was at odds with the raw intensity he was now looking at me with.
I studied his face, gasping slightly when I realized just how beautiful he was. He had high cheekbones and a perfectly defined jaw. Large full lips adorned his face, and silver hair, which was shaved on the sides and longer on the top, parted in the middle, falling forward on his forehead in two swooping waves.
Perhaps the most striking thing about his appearance was the color of his eyes. They were a vivid, almost glowing yellow that commanded attention. Locking gazes with him felt like staring down a predator. There was something unsettling in them.
I had seen his eyes before.
I remembered them from my nightmares.
But now, as they glowed, locked intently on me, I didn’t feel fear.
I felt heat.
He flexed his hand and cracked his knuckles, which drew my attention to the tattoos that lined his fingers. I wondered where else on his body had tattoos as I visually traced the tattoos across his torso, and under the waistband of his sweats. He stalked forward, making me feel hunted, caught between two vicious predators, with nowhere to go. I was dizzy and disoriented, clinging to Ryker, who was still touching me gently, feeding my arousal.
Ryker’s warm cinnamon scent was all over my skin, and it mixed in the air with a new smoky pine scent. Talon smelled like a forest on fire, charred but also crisp and invigorating. It was a scent that contradicted itself.
Ryker’s hand had traveled downward again and was dangerously close to the band of my jeans. Talon’s intense eyes tracked it moving under my shirt.
I surveyed the room, suddenly noticing marks on the walls, floor, and even ceiling that looked like an animal had been clawing, trying to get out. I realized Talon’s shifted form must have made the marks. At first my heart raced, feeling fear, but then my emotions turned to pity. Had they locked him here in this room, testing sedatives on him as he tried to get out? Were we kin, trapped against our wills? Were we both prisoners in our own way?
“Rowan, Talon has missed all the fun we’ve had for the past few days. He’s been lonely here all by himself. Haven’t you, Tally?” Ryker asked him, while lifting my shirt slightly, exposing a taunting sliver of skin along my waistband.
“Yes, I have been lonely, Ryker.” Talon responded in the same smooth, calm voice as before. His voice may have sounded in control, but his dark eyes glinted with feral, unrestrained need.
He was so much closer now, close enough to reach out and touch me. They sandwiched me between them. I turned my head, looking at the glass, pleading silently to be let out of the room by Cade, who was on the other side. I knew he wouldn’t let me go, though.