Page 71 of Selling Innocence

“He really will kill you,” I warned Dane.

“Oh, I know he’ll try. Still, you’re well worth the risk.”

Dane slid his hand behind my neck and pulled me in, taking my lips in a kiss that was almost good enough to erase every worry in my head.

Almost.

He chuckled when he pulled back, then ran his thumb along my bottom lip. “Oh, it’s that bad, huh? Not even I can distract you? Well, I guess that’s the reason you aren’t a one-dick kind of girl, isn’t it? I have a feeling that between the four of us, we can get you entirely mindless. I mean, I did promise your father that I’d take care of you.”

“I don’t think he meant like this,” I pointed out. Even as I spoke, I could feel the other men give up whatever they’d been working on. They came closer as if drawn by something, by the threads that bound all of us together, the ones that nothing could break.

“Well, then I guess if nothing else, I might as well give him something worth shooting me over.” Dane kissed me again, silencing any objection, just as Bray, Rune and Colton closed in.

I reminded myself that Jarrod was handling the Kenz issue, that I had done everything I could, so I gave myself over to the moment, to these men, to the pleasure that I knew I could have.

I’d sacrificed so much, had suffered so much, to get this life. Now I had power, security, men I loved and family I protected.

And if it turned out someone had threatened that, that someone had targeted Kenz?

I didn’t mind one bit showing anyone the monster who watched out for her.

Chapter Fifteen

Kenz

The weight on my shoulders disappeared the moment I saw Grisham. How did he do that?

Maybe it was because he was one of the first people I’d met when I’d arrived at college, because he’d guided me through my first year here, because it felt like he always had my back.

Whatever the reason, seeing his face let me plop in the seat across the desk from him and let out a long sigh.

“You look exhausted.” He laughed as he shut the book in front of him the way he always did, giving me his full attention.

It was one of the things that made me feel better around him. He never multitasked, never behaved like I was a burden to him. After spending so much of my life feeling like one, it was a nice change.

Especially as I thought about Tor, standing outside the door, who followed me around today out of obligation.

“I’m having trouble sleeping.” The fact everyone kept pointing that out made me suspect I looked even worse than I realized.

He nodded, then leaned forward and rested his elbow on the desk. “You’ve only got about two months left. How’s your end-of-year exhibit pieces coming along?”

“Not good.” My shoulders drooped. I hated having to admit to failure, especially in art, which was the one thing I was supposed to be able to do.

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. I just can’t seem to get my head in the game. I’ve tried a few things, but nothing feels right.” I pulled out my phone and brought up the pictures I’d taken of the pieces I’d worked on. None were finished—just rough sketches, mostly—but they gave a general idea. I handed it over to Grisham. “I keep trying, but they all feel flat.”

Grisham swiped his finger across the screen, scrolling through the images. Since this was the phone the men had given me, I knew nothing weird was on the camera roll, so I didn’t mind him searching all he wanted. A line appeared between his eyebrows, the expression far from happy.

Guess I was right. These suck.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I whispered, ashamed to bring him such substandard work.

“Everyone goes through this sometimes.” Grisham handed the phone back to me, leaning across the large oak desk. “It’s hard to find our voices as artists. There’s an entire world out there trying to shape us, to tell us what we should do, how we should act, and too often, we fall prey to it.”

Boy, he found the heart of the matter there. I thought about Nem, about the Quad, about Jarrod, about the men in my life now. They all wanted something from me, all pushed me toward whatever they thought was best, and me?

I went along with it all. I might have bitched about some of it, but in the end, I did as they wanted.