Takeover: The Complete Series

by Lana Grayson

  I tapped the folder. He didn’t know the half of it. “My dad encouraged me to go into genetics.”

  “Yeah. I get how that works. I’m the third son.”

  I shrugged.

  “The Bennetts are an old family, and we adhere to certain traditions. The eldest is the heir to the fortune. The second son enters the military and honors his family’s name. The third…” He smirked. “Clergy. I took over what my mother did. Charity work. Ensuring the Bennett name shines like gold while we hold a woman prisoner in our rooms for our pleasure.”

  “You have a choice. You can escape Darius.” I clutched at the pillow in my lap. I was so close. “I know he had something to do with my father’s death.”

  “Sarah.”

  “Help me. Nick’s takeover will ruin him, but if I could just find out the truth—”

  “Stop,” Reed held up a hand. “Don’t make me pick a side. I like you, Sarah, but you won’t like me if you keep pushing.”

  Goddamn it. I looked away. Suddenly, his shirt wasn’t long enough. I tugged it further down and adjusted the pillow. He noticed.

  “Did…” He asked the question softly. “Did they hurt you? When they took you?”

  “No.”

  “I’m afraid I will. It scares the shit out of me.”

  He wasn’t lying. I sighed.

  “Nick was gentle, and Max wasn’t frightening. You won’t hurt me. You aren’t Darius.”

  He fell onto the sofa. “That’s the problem. He expects things from me.”

  “He has a lot of expectations for his sons.”

  “We’re all gonna get hurt by this. I hate seeing you in pain.”

  “Don’t worry about me.”

  He sighed. “I gotta. Especially when I know what I have to do.”

  The silence crawled over me. I dreaded it more than any touch.

  “Maybe we can fake it?” I asked.

  Reed snickered. “My father anticipated that. He doesn’t think I’ll rape you.”

  “I already said I wouldn’t fight.”

  That didn’t help. “I’m not the Bennett you want, Sarah. Don’t pretend.”

  Dangerous territory. I didn’t like where the conversation headed. My fingers threaded through the buttons on the shirt. I didn’t take it off, but I was tempted, if only to distract Reed from stumbling on any other secret I wasn’t ready to admit.

  Enough games. Enough torment. Delaying it wouldn’t help either of us, and it wouldn’t protect Reed from his father.

  It didn’t protect me.

  I steadied my voice. “How do you…Should I lie on the bed?”

  Goosebumps prickled over my skin. Reed silenced. His jaw tensed, and he stood so suddenly I flinched, the memory of too many strikes with a flogger all too real. He didn’t apologize.

  “Bed’s fine.”

  Reed didn’t wait for me. I heaved a silent breath and softly padded after him. His shirt just barely covered my curves, hardly hiding the last traces of lashed welts still coloring the back of my thighs.

  Why was this so hard?

  Nicholas took me bound to the bed, wrapped in his arms the next morning, and slammed against the shower wall. Max beat me into a puddle of myself and seized what remained.

  But this was Reed.

  Reed.

  Warm, caring, and somehow good Reed.

  Max might have promised his protection through sadism, and Nicholas challenged me in every conceivable way, but I recovered from the asthma attack with Reed. Played video games with him. Watched movies.

  He was a nice guy.

  A sweet guy.

  A friend.

  And I’d break as soon as he laid over me, filled me, and claimed me with every deviancy his brothers possessed.

  His room flooded with brightness—white and clean and washed in the crystal blue of the ocean. The warmth faded as he pulled his shirt over his head. I might have admired his perfect beach body had the darkened tan of his skin not been sullied by the flicks of his scars. The same injuries adorned Nicholas and Max.

  What had Darius done to his sons? And why did he have such power over them as grown men in possession of every wealth, luxury, and opportunity?

  “Do you…” A flutter of panic built within me. I coughed it away. “Should I undress?”

  “What do you want?” Reed asked.

  Nicholas. “I just want this to be okay.”

  “You think this is ever going to be okay?” His voice chilled with the classic Bennett threat. “Do you think you’ll be able to return to your life once this is done? Do you know what we plan to do to you?”

  “I figured it out.”

  “I’m supposed to hold you down. Fuck you. Finish in you.”

  I nodded.

  “You know I’m supposed to knock you up?”

  “Who are you convincing?” I asked. “Me or you?”

  “Why aren’t you scared?”

  I answered him with every honesty. “Because I can’t let myself get scared.”

  I’d make this easy for him, before he had any more questions or pried into something I couldn’t reveal. The stress thickened the breath in my chest, but Nicholas’s warning replayed in my mind. I wasn’t going to let Darius Bennett win. He wouldn’t hurt my step-brothers, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to touch me.

  I pulled the shirt over my head. The material fluttered to the ground.

  I didn’t hide myself—not even as the chill of the room stiffened my nipples. His eyes feasted on me, studying the swell of my breasts, the trimness of my waist, and the bared and silken patch that so enthralled his brothers.

  “I’m not asking for romance,” I said. “Let’s just do it so Darius doesn’t have reason to suspect anything. So he doesn’t hurt me. Let him live this perverse fantasy long enough for Nicholas to do what he has to do to free me.”

  “You’re never going to be free,” Reed sighed. “If you think Nick will release you once my father steps down, you’re in more trouble than you realize.”

  The back of my knees collided with the bed. I didn’t know I retreated.

  Reed wasn’t as intimidating as his brothers—he was younger, brighter, and acted as though he actually meant to spread warmth with his single, amused dimple.

  But that didn’t mean he wasn’t as strong, fierce, and overwhelming as the Bennett name demanded. His scars hardened him. Without his smile whatever violence caused the trauma to his face and neck proved Reed was just as tough as his brothers.

  He stood lithe and graceful, possessing a perfect balance of strength and playful arrogance. As he breathed, the muscles over his chest tensed. Not nearly as defined as Max, and not as inherent as Nicholas. A swimmer’s strength.

  He hardened.

  My nudity had the desired effect.

  “On my back?” I asked.

  “Why are you being so damned formal? Did you ask Nick how he should fuck you?”

  I wasn’t about to tolerate his tone. “Nick tied me down when he took my virginity. Max choked me with a leash. Sorry if I think you might have a particular position in mind.”

  “Should I get some restraints?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Should you?”

  “For Christ’s sake, Sarah.”

  “You tell me! I’m trying to make this easy on us.”

  “Easy?” His voice rose. “You think this is easy for me?”

  “I’m sorry if you’re uncomfortable.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll try to be more sensitive—”

  “Goddamn it!” Reed pushed me onto the bed.

  I didn’t appreciate the force. I ground my teeth.

  “I’m trying to help.”

  “Help?”

  My voice edged with impatience. “I knew this was going to be hard for you. Excuse me for trying to ease you into it.”

  Reed stepped away, laughing and swearing in the same breath. His grin widened, but the coldness prickled my spine.

  “Holy shit, Sarah, don’t you get it?”


  “Get what?”

  “Do you think I don’t want to take you?” The word echoed against his room. He stared at me. “Sarah, my every goddamned thought anymore is how badly I want to fuck you!”

  I stiffened.

  Uh-oh.

  Reed turned from me to kick an ottoman from his path. He paced, ignoring me on the bed though he found my reflection from the mirror hanging on his wall.

  “I have been fantasizing about this since we first captured you.”

  I didn’t answer. I didn’t think I could.

  Reed groaned. “Christ, I’ve counted the hours until I get my turn!”

  I twisted my legs under me. My voice weakened.

  “But…you didn’t…You’ve been defending me?”

  “Fuck.” Reed slammed a hand against the wall. The mirror fell. That was fine. My wide-eyed reflection revealed entirely too much of my shock. It didn’t calm Reed. Nothing would.

  “I know it’s wrong,” he said. “The last thing I should ever imagine is fucking you. But every night I’m dreaming about sinking inside you. Sarah, you have no idea what you do to me.”

  Obviously.

  I tensed as he approached. He pushed me, dropping me against the blankets with the faintest touch.

  “Here’s the sickest part.” He fell to his knees beside the bed and gripped my hips. I yelped as he tugged me to the edge and exposed every part of me. I didn’t fight. I didn’t even cover myself as he spread my legs and groaned at the first gaze of my slit. “I shouldn’t want you. You’re my fucking sister.”

  Those types of thoughts didn’t help anyone sleep at night. I shook my head.

  “Step-sister, Reed.” Why the hell did I try to correct him? It didn’t calm him. If anything, it made him more…aggressive.

  “Like it matters. You’re family. I shouldn’t imagine fucking you. Filling you.”

  My hands cupped his on my hips. The warmth surged through me, far too close to my vulnerable pussy waiting just inches from Reed.

  “Maybe we should talk about this…” I whispered.

  “What’s to talk about?” Reed’s voice layered with a heavy desire as he stared at me. His attention was every bit as overwhelming as Nicholas’s presence or Max’s strikes. The shudder surprised me. “I shouldn’t want to taste you. To touch you. To take you. But I do. Know why?”

  I shook my head. He didn’t see.

  “Because I’m not supposed to. You’re my prisoner. You’re a fantasy no reasonable man would ever imagine. It’s…forbidden.”

  His words tickled my skin. I whimpered as he licked without warning—a single, long taste of my spread slit. I arched. He dropped a hand over my belly to keep me still.

  I wasn’t trying to get away.

  “Look at you.” He murmured over a mouthful of me. A shiver quivered me against his tongue. “You’re absolutely helpless.”

  “I didn’t think you’d like that.”

  He licked me again. “Who wouldn’t? You’re here. Beautiful. Fucking softer than any other woman I’ve ever…”

  I arched as he sunk his tongue within me. My confusion wound tight. I shifted away. He didn’t let me go.

  “Know what’s even worse?” He whispered. “Know what makes me every bit as evil and depraved as my father?”

  My voice couldn’t steady. “You aren’t.”

  “I am.” His tongue toyed with me. I wasn’t ready for pleasure. I wasn’t ready for his admission. “He wants us to use you. He expects us to breed you. And, God, Sarah, nothing gets me harder than thinking about what I might do to you.”

  I tensed. He expected it. His attention turned fervent, suckling and licking at my core as I panted against his ravishment.

  “I’d love to hold you down, fuck you, come inside, and keep you in my bed until I’m certain it’s my child growing inside you.”

  So did all the Bennetts. It was a universal trait—some sort of masculine need to dominate and oppress, to claim and capture, to taste and tease. I expected it from Nicholas. I understood Max’s aggression.

  But Reed?

  I didn’t think he had such thoughts.

  “I won’t molest you,” he breathed.

  The words vibrated against my clit. I gasped. “I think you already are.”

  “Then I won’t indulge any more than I already am.”

  I groaned as his tongue struck against me once more. “It’d be hard to get me pregnant then.”

  He adjusted himself, unzipping his pants and taking his hardness in his hand. His lips sealed over my clit, and the rolling intensity drove me to silence.

  “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Jesus, he was far from hurting me.

  I hadn’t expected any pleasure from Reed, even though his brothers seized me, tormented me, and dragged me through layer after layer of relentless bliss. I imagined awkward thrusting, hollow shame, and frustrating moments trapped within my own mind as his heat forced inside me.

  But Reed was generous outside the bedroom. Why did I think he’d be any different with my legs spread and body offered? I gripped the mattress and fought the revealing groans that threatened to escape my parted lips. Reed’s insistence overwhelmed what fragile defense I mounted.

  I fell limp against the bed.

  Why did sex with three men—three Bennetts—feel this damn good? I should have been mortified. I should have been emotionally scarred, thoroughly damaged, and shadowed for the rest of my life.

  Was something wrong with me?

  Was something wrong with them?

  The shuddering rumbled within me, and I couldn’t stop it. Nothing I did short of fighting Reed and escaping his fixation would have stopped it.

  Reed anticipated my every tremble. He caught my lust, bound me with sensation, and relentlessly chased my hips as I bucked against the blankets. It didn’t matter. He commanded my body and took what he wanted.

  And he wanted my pleasure.

  I arched and crashed and shredded myself. The brightness of the room haloed in my vision. Sweet tingles and darker consequences gifted my orgasm to Reed. I offered as easily as he seized, and I had no idea what he’d expect in return.

  I hadn’t imagined this.

  I hadn’t hoped for this.

  My fear faded in the trembling shock of his attention. I gently laughed. Of course Reed would be gentle and kind, even after revealing his darkness. I panted.

  Reed lapped at the wetness between my legs. I shifted as the strike of his tongue lashed like the flogger. He had me convulsing, and I kicked at his side.

  He groaned but didn’t release my clit from between his lips.

  He nipped instead.

  “Again,” he ordered.

  I covered my face with my hands as the pink flush betrayed how wonderfully skilled he was with his kisses. But another orgasm?

  Maybe Reed was as ambitious as Nicholas.

  “Just…a minute…” I whispered.

  “Again.”

  He suckled. Hard. I pushed to my elbows and jerked away, but Reed’s hand was quicker. He forced me down on the bed, warned me with a muttered growl, and then returned to feasting between my legs.

  “Reed…wait…”

  He didn’t listen. Reed didn’t just ravish. He suffocated me in my own desire.

  I was in trouble.

  He moaned as I twisted and ached. My voice cracked as I cried out against his torment. He flipped his tongue over my clit, winding it again and again until I pulled at the blankets in crippled agony.

  He’d torture me with pleasure and call it kindness.

  “Reed, please!”

  I edged up on the bed. He was stronger than me. His hands gripped my hips, and he tugged me to his mouth. His tongue whipped me, testing my tightness. I moaned for mercy.

  Like all Bennetts, Reed didn’t understand the word.

  He pinned me against the bed with one hand. His other furiously pumped his cock, stroking me in time to the pistoning tongue he teased inside me.

/>   I gasped.

  He wouldn’t fuck me.

  The thought relieved and disappointed me.

  He pleasured himself as he savored me, offering me the delicious bliss he denied himself.

  Sweet, idiot Reed.

  I arched again, biting my lip as painful shudders cracked through me. I wasn’t strong enough to resist him—not after the asthma, the stress of his brothers’ attention, and the pain that still struck me from the punishments. I cried out into the room, dug my hands into the blankets, eased away from his devouring.

  It didn’t matter.

  Reed captured me as thoroughly as Nicholas and as aggressively as Max.

  And, like them, he wouldn’t let me go.

  A second orgasm crested over me, layering my skin in a sheen of exhausted sweat.

  He didn’t stop.

  “Again.” His tongue and lips and words would dissolve me. “Again, Sarah. Enjoy this.”

  Was it enjoyable? My body hummed and fought and offered more and more of my wetness for him to taste. Pain lashed with pleasure, tightening over my chest in an artificial restraint that would either kill me with intensity or worship me in rapture.

  I couldn’t think. My breath rasped between shrill groans and begging for more or less or God only knew. The heat chilled me with shivers, and the trembles burned me against the sheets wrinkling in my clutches.

  And still his tongue savored and stole and adored.

  “Don’t ever stop coming for me, Sarah.” Reed’s order flicked at the end of his tongue.

  Who was I to refuse?

  The third peek cracked my voice and lost my words to moaned nonsense.

  My body rested heavy against the bed, spent and exhausted and thoroughly fucked without Reed once pressing his thickness within my desperate core. I ceased struggling if only to ensure I could still breathe without fracturing into delirious pieces.

  Reed groaned against me, tasting every shiver. His voice turned rough. He pumped his cock harder. Faster. A punishment.

  “Sarah…” He warned. “I gotta do it…”

  He might have slit my throat then and I would have thanked him. His weight shifted over the bed, and his movements jerked hard. His cock thickened in his hand. It throbbed against his palm. The angry red head pulsed.

  I quivered beneath him as he edged between my legs.

  “Quick,” he promised. “I’ll put it in and come. I promise. I won’t do anything else.”