Fawn: A Dark Mafia Shifter Romance (Blackfang Barons Book 1)

by Elaina Jadin

  That grabs Bryan’s stare away from me and his posture stiffens as he snaps his focus back to Draven. “Changed how?”

  “Since you neglected to follow my instructions, I’ve made Jemma an offer—a choice, actually. She can stay with us for one week to work off your debt and earn you the extra fifty thousand you asked for.”

  “Okay…” Bryan fidgets, the heel of his foot bobbing up and down as he waits for Draven to reveal the catch.

  “Or, she can remain with us for a month. If she does, if she stays here for thirty days, you’ll still owe us the original fifty thousand and she will receive the extra fifty that you requested. But you… well, you’ll be in debt to us for every cent of it.”

  Bryan’s eyes widen and he swallows hard, his gaze darting between me and Draven. “What? That’s not what—”

  Draven clenches his jaw and inhales sharply, his broad chest expanding even more, and Bryan cuts his protest off mid-sentence, falling silent under his fiery stare.

  “You are in no position to barter. You’re lucky to be breathing right now.” Draven rises from where he’s perched on the edge of the desk and towers over Bryan, his voice lowered to a menacing whisper that sends shivers through me. “Do not tempt me, because I will gladly take payment in blood and watch the life drain out of your worthless eyes right here.”

  Apparently, Bryan’s quickly rethinking his ballsy attitude, and he silently shrinks back in his chair as Draven looms over him. I’m not even the one his wrath is aimed at, but my heart is racing, and my breath catches in my chest as I watch the scene unfold. The way he looks at Bryan, a savage thirst in his eyes, his muscles tensed—he’s aching for any excuse to end the asshole’s life.

  The fury of a thousand suns is burning in my heart right now, all of it aimed at Bryan, but I’ve witnessed people die in front of me and it’s not a scene I want to relive in person. I do enough of that in my nightmares. I’m frozen in my chair as the two men eye each other, my stomach twisted with fear that Bryan will open his stupid mouth and push Draven past the point of no return.

  I dart my tongue out to wet my lips and speak up, my voice nearly hoarse with anxiety. “I agreed to the trade.”

  Both of them turn to look at me, but the difference in their expressions speaks volumes about the type of men they are. Draven regards me calmly, the fire in his eyes fading to a simmer as he straightens up and settles against the desk once more. But Bryan’s look is full of desperate hope even as a condescending sneer of triumph tugs at the edges of his lips.

  My nerves frayed, I glance at Draven before I speak again, and he gives me an almost imperceptible nod of permission to continue. I set my glass down and look right into Bryan’s eyes, readying my lie. “I’ve agreed to what you want.” My voice is quieter than I mean for it to be, but I push on. “I’ll stay for seven days.”

  He bounces up from the seat almost instantly. “Babe,” he exclaims, a wide grin on his face as he reaches for me, “I knew I could count on you.”

  Before his hands can land on my shoulders, Draven’s there—gripping his wrists tightly and dragging him back to his own chair.

  “What the fuck?” Bryan looks shocked, and I am, too. I didn’t even see Draven move from the desk before he was suddenly between us, pulling Bryan away with incredible strength.

  “She’s mine now,” he growls at Bryan, shoving him down into the seat. “No one, especially not you, is allowed to touch her without my permission.”

  His possessive words shouldn’t please me, but they do. And from the heated look Draven gives me, I think he knows it.

  “Whatever,” Bryan mutters. “She’ll be back with me in a week.”

  “Don’t count on it,” Draven tells him, his deep voice filled with a confidence that makes me squirm. “She has the freedom to change her mind.”

  “Yeah, right,” Bryan scoffs, still gloating about his apparent win. Still thinking of me as his.

  “Perhaps it’s time for a small demonstration of this new arrangement.” Draven moves to lean against his desk again and takes another long drink from his glass, letting the silent tension build in the room. When it’s empty, he sets it down and removes his dark suit jacket, laying it on the far side of his large desk.

  I can’t help but watch his fingers as they undo the buttons on the cuffs of his crisp Oxford shirt, and my eyes glide over the muscular forearms he reveals as he rolls up his sleeves. But his eyes are fixed on me, and it’s as if I’m the only thing that exists to him.

  “Take off your dress, Jemma,” he commands.

  I dart a glance at Bryan, whose gaze is bouncing between the two of us, wondering what’s about to happen, same as me. But I like the frown that forms on his lips, and the doubt in his eyes. I don’t know what Draven has planned, but I can sense that whatever it is will undoubtedly be displeasing to Bryan, and that gives me a small glimmer of joy.

  “I don’t like to repeat myself.” Draven’s voice is low, and the quiet threat in his tone makes a shiver crawl up my spine.

  I meet his eyes as I stand up and reach back to unzip the dress. I don’t take it off slow and teasing, as if I’m dancing for him like I did on stage before. Instead, I let it slip off of my shoulders and fall into a puddle at my feet.

  For a brief moment, I wished that I’d picked out better underwear. Something pretty, maybe even racy—not this plain, mismatched ensemble I’m wearing. But as Draven’s eyes drink me in, I realize he doesn’t care about my simple white strapless bra and pale blue panties.

  “Now the rest of it,” he instructs me.

  I can’t help but look at Bryan again, whose face has gone from confused to angry. Draven’s fucking with him and he knows it, but he’s too chicken shit to do anything about it. He thought he’d be long gone by now, busy spending his money and reveling in his genius idea to sell me off. He never planned to stick around, to see what these men would do to me.

  “Please,” I whisper to Draven, trying to make him understand with a simple word. I don’t want him to humiliate me, not in front of Bryan. I don’t want the asshole to see me naked ever again, much less to see me made weak and powerless in front of him.

  The cautious hope I’m clinging to fades as Draven’s eyes narrow at my hesitation. “When was the last time Bryan fucked you?”

  “What the hell?” Bryan spits the question out, echoing my own thoughts.

  Draven silences Bryan’s outburst with a razor-sharp look. “I want to be sure you remember the last time you got to fuck her, because it’s the last time you ever will.”

  Oh damn. I want to look over at Bryan, to see how his ego’s handling Draven’s biting declaration, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction of knowing I’m interested. Draven’s fingers twitch, as though he wants to punish me for not answering him immediately. I get the impression no one ever refuses him for long, unless they like suffering. And it’s clear I won’t be either, not if I’m going to survive the next thirty days.

  “Three, maybe four weeks ago?” I tell him, sincerely unable to remember exactly how long.

  “And how did he do it?”

  Wrapping an arm around myself, I shift on my feet nervously. I’m not sure why he’s asking or where his line of questioning is going, but I know better than to stay silent. “We were in bed, and I... I was on my back. He was on top of me and...” I can’t go on, embarrassment coloring my face as I drop my gaze to his feet.

  I dance for a living—I take my clothes off for strangers, and whisper naughty words in their ears, but when I do it, I’m acting. Playing a character on stage. It’s not really me.

  But this, right now, there’s nowhere to escape, no stage name to hide behind. It’s just me, exposed and vulnerable.

  Undeterred, Draven presses on. “Did he get you off?”

  My eyes snap up to his for a brief second, and I can tell he didn’t expect to ask it. It’s not the question he’d planned, but he couldn’t help himself. As though he’s angry at me for hesitating—and perhaps at hims
elf for letting the question slip—he strides forward, palming my jaw with his large hand, making me look up at him.

  He’s so dominant, so overwhelming. My cheeks hurt where his strong fingers press them against my teeth, and it sends a lightning bolt of arousal straight through me.

  “I don’t like to repeat myself, Jemma. Did Bryan make you come, or not?” he demands, his eyes boring into me.

  “No,” I answer, feeling the heat of the blush staining my face. He pulls his hand away and I stumble forward, not realizing I’d leaned so close to him.

  Draven settles against the desk; his intense gaze is still fixed on me. “When was the last time he did?”

  I bite my lip, trying to recall when I’d last climaxed with Bryan. There’s been no one other than him, and he rarely concerned himself with whether I finished or not. “A few months ago, at least.”

  “Time to remedy that. Come over here,” he orders, curling a finger at me, but he may as well have told me to cut off my own hand.

  “Not in front of—” I bite off a shriek as he moves again—so fast I don’t even realize it until he’s in motion until his hand’s already wrapped around the back of my neck and he’s hauling me to the desk.

  He bends me over it, his grip hard and the strength unwavering. It shouldn’t feel good, having him overpower me, but the damp strip of fabric between my legs betrays exactly how turned on he’s making me.

  “You don’t get to say no to me, remember?” His words caress my cheek as he leans over me.

  Terrified and aroused so much it scares me even more, I squeeze my eyes closed, unable to look at him. With a sharp snap against my back, my bra is unhooked. He rips it from under me and my breasts press against the cool wood of his desk.

  I try to jerk away, my instinct telling me to fight or flee or do something other than lie here. But his fierce grip on my neck holds me firmly in place as his other hand runs down my back. Draven hooks his finger under the edge of my panties and drags them down over my ass until they’re biting into my thighs—revealing me to his gaze and Bryan’s.

  “Bryan needs reminding that I own you now,” he speaks softly, almost tenderly, his hand caressing my ass. “And you need to know that I rule with absolute authority. You are not the first to defy me, nor will you be the last. And just because you’re a woman does not mean that I will be merciful. You will obey me for as long as you remain here. If I want you to come, you’re going to fucking come, is that clear?”

  My mouth and throat are dry, and I know I’m panting—quivering even. My toes barely reach the ground, and there’s no way I can fight him off even if I wanted to. But Bryan is here, and I don’t like that he’s seeing how hot this is making me.

  Then again, Draven is making me wetter than Bryan ever has. Maybe it serves him right to see what Draven’s touch does to me, how he makes me tremble with both fear and need, a response Bryan’s never provoked in me.

  The first slap against my ass surprises me and I cry out, instinctively trying to rise up, but Draven squeezes my neck, pressing my cheek back to the smooth, cold surface of the desk.

  “This is just a taste of what will happen when you defy me,” he tells me with a rumble of pleasure in his deep voice.

  His hand smacks down again and I can feel my ass bounce from the impact. My skin is burning, and tears fill my eyes. His grip on my neck never relents even as he keeps going until my shrieks are reduced to whimpers and tears gather under my cheek.

  With every strike, the heat pools between my legs and my clit throbs, begging to be touched. I’m so fucking turned on, I can feel my thighs are soaked.

  “You thought I just liked to be rough,” he says to Bryan, his hand now caressing the sensitive, burning skin of my ass. “It’s more than that. I break my women. That’s what you’ve sentenced her to. She’s going to be ruined, nothing more than a body I use to wet my dick with.”

  “Now, wait a damn minute.” Bryan sputters. I can’t see his face from where I lay pressed against the desk, but he sounds almost panicky. “I expect her to be in good condition after you’re done with her. She’s still gotta be able to dance.”

  But Draven is ignoring him, and I don’t have time to be angry about the fact that Bryan thinks I’m coming back to him when my time here is done. That he feels like he still has rights to me, even after showing me exactly how little I matter to him.

  I don’t have time to think about how much I hate his guts right now because Draven’s hand is trailing down the curve of my ass to between my legs. He brushes his fingers against me, feeling how soaked I am.

  “Ooh,” he says with deep satisfaction in his tone, drawing out the word. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you? Tell me, did he ever spank you?”

  “No,” I gasp. I can feel the peak of bliss coiling against the base of my spine, twisting me tighter and tighter. I’ve never been this turned on before, this desperate.

  He hums, tapping his fingers against my swollen lips. “A pity for him. Your ass is perfect for spanking.”

  Idly, as if he’s forgotten Bryan is there with us, almost like I have, he explores me. Each slow sweep of his fingers makes me grit my teeth, especially as he avoids my clit and entrance.

  He’s dragging this out, making me burn with need until I’m a bonfire. His fingers inch closer to my sensitive button and my body moves almost on its own volition, my hips rocking as I struggle to get the stimulation I long for.

  But he slides his fingers away and I want to cry.

  On the third tempting tease of his fingers, he pauses, and my heart is caught in my throat. I freeze on the desk, stilling my writhing body. Will he punish me for trying to get off?

  “Tell me, Jemma.” His voice is so low I have to strain to hear it over my heart pounding in my ears. “Are you ready to be a good girl and obey me now?”

  As though to torment me, he finally lets his fingers stroke across my clit, just once. My stomach drops out from under me as my body screams for more. Shame battles with anger and need. It isn’t fair for him to get me so close, so desperate for him in front of Bryan. I’m full of rage at Bryan for putting me in this position, for bringing me here and putting me in the hands of a man I can’t resist. But I haven’t ever felt this desire before, this promise of exactly what I need to chase my demons away.

  I squeeze my eyes tight, trying to push away from reality as I answer him. “Yes.”

  Draven’s reaction is immediate. He presses two thick, strong fingers against my entrance while his thumb barely grazes my tender clit. That touch alone pulls a desperate gasp of pleasure from my lips.

  “Fuck yourself on my fingers,” he whispers in my ear, his hot breath curling against my skin, making me shudder.

  His heated words are all the encouragement I need. I wiggle my hips and rock backward. Draven’s strong fingers push inside me, firm and hard, while his thumb rubs across my swollen bud, tearing a gasp from my throat. I repeat the movement, again and again, no longer caring about anything but the throbbing ache in my core.

  With infinite control, he holds his hand steady, making me do all the work, to chase my own climax down, and I moan as I grind against his hand.

  He’s talking to me, driving me closer with his dark promises. “I think the first time I fuck you, it’ll be like this.” His voice is so even, it’s as if he’s considering menu options. “You’ll take my full, hard length because you desperately need it. You’ll be begging me for it, for me to fuck you until you can’t move. To fill you, over and over.”

  The sound that escapes me is a cross between a scratchy cry and a growl of anger. Everything falls away and all I can focus on is fucking myself on Draven’s fingers. I’m so damn close that I’m panting in heated gasps, my whole body trembling.

  He leans over me, his voice deep and demanding. “Come for me.”

  My body rushes to obey, responding to the heavy thrum of arousal in his words as his fingers curl inside me, stroking the sensitive spot there, beckoning my climax. I’m nearly
floating, weightless and suspended over the edge of bliss as waves of pleasure race through me.

  His grip on my neck disappears and he strikes my ass harder than earlier. Before the harsh sting even registers, he smacks me again on the other cheek, making me scream out as the pain shoots up my spine, bending my back into an arch of agony. But on the heels of the pain, my orgasm explodes, waves of searing hot ecstasy washing over me.

  My scream morphs into a broken sob as I clench down on his fingers, my body seizing from the intensity. My vision is spotted by pools of black nothingness and my legs go numb as I collapse limp against his desk.

  His fingers slide out of me, but I hardly care as my body throbs with aftershocks.

  “You see, Bryan? She’s mine.”

  Draven’s voice is murky, as if I’m underwater, and I blink through a dark, hazy fog, watching as he lifts his hand to his mouth and calmly runs the tip of his tongue across the two fingers he had buried inside me, licking the ample wetness that glistens on them, tasting me.

  A devilish curl tugs at his mouth as he looks at Bryan. “I wouldn’t count on seeing her in seven days.”

  The sound of a dubious snort reaches my ears through the darkness threatening to pull me under. “She can’t handle a month here.”

  “We’ll see.” Even in my semi-lucid state, the formidable confidence in Draven’s voice rings clear. “You will not attempt to contact or see her until my time with her is done. In fact, if I see your face again before then, I will not hesitate in removing it.”

  I draw in shallow breaths, drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to hear if Bryan responds. I don’t know if seconds or minutes pass as euphoria and exhaustion course through my body, but I submit to their lure, savoring the peace settling inside me. I’m grounded once again when I feel Draven’s firm touch on my lower back as he bends over me.

  “Good girl,” he whispers, and I shiver. His warm hand disappears from my skin and I hear him walk away. “Someone will be in to show you to your room, little fawn. I look forward to your stay.”