The Other World_A Reverse Harem Series

by Jessica Sorensen

  “No, I didn’t.” The way my neck tingles in the most wonderful way ever suggests otherwise. “Dude, you’re so about to get your ass kicked.”

  He grins. “Aw, please don’t tease me.”

  I glare at him. “I’m not joking.”

  “Whatever you say.” His smug smile irks me in a way that I just about lose my shit.

  “The neck biting thing was the most unpleasant experience I’ve ever had,” I argue. “And I’m going to show you.” I lean over, put my mouth beside his neck, part my lips, and sink my teeth into him. I don’t bite hard enough to draw blood, but he’s definitely going to have some teeth marks on his skin.

  After a little bit of sucking, I move back and smirk at him. “See? Told you it doesn’t turn me on.”

  He doesn’t respond, just pulls the car over and turns off the engine.

  I glance around and realize we’re parked on the corner of Masie’s street. I start to get out, ready to get this over with, but West captures my elbow and pulls me toward him.

  “We’re not done yet,” he all but growls. Then his mouth is on my neck, and his teeth are gently grazing my skin as he sucks and nips and bites.

  I groan. Oh, my God, do I groan, my chest arching into him as he leans farther over the console and pins me against the seat.

  “West,” I gasp, threading my fingers through his hair.

  He groans, moving his hands to my waist then inching up the hem of my shirt.

  I don’t know if he’s playing a game with my mind or totally getting off on this, and I don’t freakin’ care at all. Not at the moment, anyway. But I’m sure I will later. Right now, it feels too good. And I want to feel good. I want to forget all about Blaine, and stupid Masie, and their dumb kiss, and this … this is working.

  “Harder,” I beg, sounding completely unlike myself.

  He complies, biting harder, slipping his hand all the way up the front of my shirt.

  Wait. What the hell is happening to me? Has the shitiness of the day made me lose my damn mind? I should be freaking out, right? But I’m not. In fact, I’m completely content right now, my body loving the way his fingers graze my skin right below my bra, the way his teeth graze my neck, and the way he moans out my name.

  “Harder,” I beg again.

  Seriously, why do I keep saying that? What the fuck is wrong with me?

  Regardless of why my mind is messed up, he does what I ask until I lose control completely, crying out his name and stabbing my fingernails into his arms.

  By the time I return to reality, I’m feeling utterly confused, and at the same time, kind of pissed off. The latter is more at myself.

  As reality douses over me, I start to lean away from him, but West holds me in place, resting his forehead against mine.

  “Don’t get shy on me now,” he breathes against my lips.

  “I’m not getting shy,” I say breathlessly. “I just think what happened … was just …” Gah, why can’t I get a coherent sentence out of my mouth?

  “An orgasm,” he states bluntly. “Yeah, I know. And it was fucking beautiful. Seriously, the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  I roll my eyes. “I highly doubt that.”

  He leans back to meet my gaze. “You don’t believe me?” His brow teases upward, and the corners of his lips quirk. “Hmm … I guess I’ll have to show you again, then.” Without warning, he grazes his fingers up my shirt again while tracing a path up my inner thigh with his other hand. Instead of kissing my neck again, though, he watches me.

  My lips part to tell him to stop, because it seems like I should want him to, but no words leave my lips.

  “You can tell me to stop,” he whispers as his fingers near the edge of my panties.

  I want to tell him to stop—I swear I do—but the words won’t come out.

  West whispers something incoherent before he suddenly pulls his fingers away from my panties.

  What the hell? Why is he stopping?

  Why do I care?

  But I get distracted as he starts sucking on my neck again and rubbing me between my legs.

  “Ohmygod,” the words rush out of me while I grip the edge of the seat. “West.” Then I come apart again, for the second time in only minutes.

  Seriously, is that even normal? To have two orgasms in less than two minutes?

  West chuckles, his breath warm against my skin. “It is, and the fact that you have to question that means the guys you’ve been with have been doing it all wrong.”

  Oh, my hell, did I just say that aloud!

  My lips part to retract my statement, but instead, I just let out a loud breath.

  “Well, either that or you haven’t been with anyone.” West leans back, searches my eyes, then grins. “Yeah, it’s definitely the latter.”

  My mortification simmers into anger. “Why? Because I’m so hideous?”

  He shakes his head. “Not at all.” He traces a finger down my cheekbone. “You’re gorgeous as it is. But when you’re like this, your cheeks flushed, a content look in your eyes …” He bites down on his lip then whispers, “Beautiful.”

  I have no damn clue what to say to any of this. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be in this situation. Then again, up until today, I never would’ve thought Masie and Blaine would hook up and stab me in the back, and then some person would jack my car as part of a twisted game. A game I still don’t know the point to. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like what just happened. I did like it. A lot, a lot. So much so I want to do it again.

  Which is why I’ll never do it again. Because liking and loving things only lead to heartache.

  “What are you thinking about?” West asks, his voice soft and slightly unsure—completely unlike West. “You’re not upset, are you?” When I don’t answer right away, he curses. “Fuck, I knew I shouldn’t have done that. Not when you’re hurting.”

  I part my lips to tell him that’s not what’s bothering me, when his phone starts ringing and cuts me off.

  He frowns when he catches sight of the screen, then answers with a grumbled, “Hello?” He doesn’t say much, his eyes fixed on me. “Yeah …” He pauses, and then the color drains from his face. “Wait. What?” Then his eyes snap wide, but he’s not looking at me now. He’s staring at something over my shoulder.

  I turn around to see what he’s looking at, when the door is flung open and I fall out of the car, smacking my face on the concrete.

  I hear West curse, and then a door slam.

  My ears ring and my vision spots. “Goddammit, that hurt,” I grumble, clutching my head.

  “Did you find your clue yet?” a deep, male, and familiar voice asks.

  I glance up, and through the darkness, I make out a shadow of a figure looming over me.

  “Who are you?” I ask as I start to get up.

  “Your new best friend,” they say, grabbing my arm.

  A sickly pleased feeling swims through my veins, but the feeling doesn’t belong to me. No, it belongs to the guy grabbing me.

  I reach up with my fist balled. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me, you perv …” The words fade from my lips as a needle sinks into my arm.

  Then everything goes black.

  West

  “I can’t believe I let this happen.” I frown, crossing my arms. “This is all my fault.”

  “Will you chill out?” Steel, my friend and team member, shakes his head as he slumps back on the sofa. “It’s not your fault, so quit whining about it.”

  “Yes, it is.” I continue pacing. “I should’ve noticed the mark on the card. I should’ve realized it was Hacker Hearts Anonymous.” I’m not talking about the mark printed on the card Alexis had either. I’m referring to the watermark in the center of it.

  I only realized there was one after Alexis and I were attacked, and I held the card up to a light. I should’ve noticed it before then, though I was too distracted with Alexis … kissing her … touching her …

  “I fucked up,” I
mutter, rubbing my hand across my forehead.

  “We all fuck up,” my friend and other team member, Ellis, says while typing on his phone. “It’s part of the job, and deep down, you know that. You’re just stressed out because it was Alexis who was attacked.”

  “She wasn’t just attacked.” I sink down onto the corner of the coffee table. “Hacker Hearts Anonymous sent her a message. They were after her, not me.”

  Ellis glances up at me. “Are you sure? I mean, why would one of the most notorious assassin organizations in the world go after some random girl from Honeyton?”

  “I don’t know, but I need to find out.” I glance at my bedroom door where Alexis is sleeping off the drugs the guy injected in her.

  Thankfully, the drug was a mild sedative and won’t have any long- or short-term effects, other than Alexis being sleepy for a bit. I still beat the shit out of the guy who doped her up, to the point where he was barely conscious.

  “I need to get some answers before she wakes up,” I say. “She’s going to have a lot of questions.”

  “What about the guy who injected her?” Ellis asks. “We can question him when he comes to.”

  Steel cracks his knuckles. “Yeah, I’m definitely up for some questioning.”

  “No, I want to do it.” I flick a glance at the door to the room I locked the guy in, where he’s currently sleeping off me beating his ass.

  Every team has access to a cage room so we can lock up and interrogate people when needed. Of course we have to have probable cause, which we definitely have right now. Although, Steel pushes the limits of probable all the time.

  “If he works for HHA, it might take some time to get the truth out of him,” Ellis says. “Especially if he happens to be one of their modified humans.”

  I blow out a stressed breath. “Yeah, I know.”

  “What’re you going to do until then?” he asks. “I mean, with Alexis?”

  I shrug. “I’m going to keep her safe.”

  And I fully mean my words. Whether Alexis realizes it or not, if Hacker Hearts Anonymous is after her, she’s in some serious danger. And I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her. Not just from HHA, but from everything scary and dark in the world.

  As I start toward the cage for the interrogation, my phone rings from inside my pocket with an incoming call from an unknown number. Unknown numbers are usually from the agency, so I answer.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey,” the caller replies, his voice recognizable.

  “Benton? What’s up, man?” I greet.

  Ellis and Steel shoot me shocked looks.

  We haven’t heard from Benton or any of his other team members in quite a while, ever since we formed our own team and were no longer officially part of the Bad Boy Rebels—yeah, I know it’s a silly name, but we can’t seem to get rid of it. We didn’t leave the team because we were pissed off or anything. Although, some of the guys are still pissed off at us for leaving. We just decided that Steel, Ellis, and I worked better together, just the three of us. We do, however, have people occasionally work with us when we need extra help with a case.

  “I actually need a favor,” Benton says, shocking me.

  “Okay,” I reply, confused since Benton rarely asks for anything.

  “It’s about your friend, Alexis Baker,” he explains. “She might be in trouble.”

  “I know,” I tell him. “She actually is … or was in trouble already. But she’s at my place right now and safe.”

  “Let me guess, Hacker Hearts Anonymous?” Benton says.

  “Yep, they attacked her about an hour ago. But how did you know that?”

  “I got an anonymous tip. I’m not sure who sent it, but Zhara and I have been trying to get ahold of Alexis all day to warn her. And you. But you’re a really hard person to track down.”

  “So are you,” I point out. “All agency members are.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He sounds tired. “It just sucks when there’s an emergency.”

  “Yeah, it definitely does.” I pause. “Wait. What’re you doing with Zhara Baker? She’s not part of our agency … is she?” Because that’d shock the shit out of me even more than what happened today.

  “Yes and no.” He sighs again. “Look, I can’t really get into the details over the phone. I just wanted to make sure Alexis is okay and being taken care of.”

  “She’s fine,” I assure him. “And I plan on keeping an eye on her until I can figure out what’s going on with HHA.”

  “Good. That’s a fucking relief,” he says. “Zhara’s been really worried.”

  “So, she knows a lot about what’s going on?” I ask, sinking down onto the armrest of the sofa.

  “Yeah, but not a lot of people know she does, so I’d appreciate it if you’d keep the information on the lowdown.” His tone carries a hard edge.

  “Of course,” I say. “I get it.”

  “Good.” He gives a pause. “Can Zhara talk to Alexis?”

  “Right now, she’s … asleep,” I say, then quickly give him a recap of what happened with the guy tranquilizing her. “I’ll have her call Zhara as soon as she can.”

  “She’s okay, though, right?” he double-checks.

  “I swear she is,” I tell him. “Trust me; if she wasn’t, I wouldn’t be talking to you. I’d be beating the shit out of the person who hurt her.”

  I mean what I say, too. If anyone so much as hurts Alexis, they’re going to pay big time.

  Alexis

  I feel like I’m swimming in a fishbowl, going around and around. My head spins like a top, my arms and legs are rubbery, and as I funnel around in the water, everyone watches. My older brother Loki. My older sister Jessamine. My younger brother Nik. My twin sister Zhara. Even my parents are there, staring through the glass, as if they’ve risen from the grave. Only, they don’t look like zombies. In fact, they look just how I remember them. Happy and smiling. Although, my mom’s smile radiates pain. I don’t know why I never noticed that before. Did she smile like that when she was alive? Was she hurting? How can I feel it now?

  One thing’s for sure, I’m definitely hurting now. I wish I knew why.

  What happened to me? Why do I feel like I’m dreaming?

  As I float around in the giant fishbowl, pondering those questions, answers begin to creep through my hazy mind. Blaine and Masie kissing. My car getting stolen. That weird-ass card I found. Running away. West finding me … him kissing my neck … touching me …

  My mind becomes distracted, my thoughts consumed by West. Suddenly, he’s the only one staring at me from outside the fishbowl, looking distorted through the glass, his eyes crammed with concern. He’s worried. Why?

  A brief memory rushes over me, of me falling out of West’s car and landing on the sidewalk. A needle sinking into my skin and then … well, and then I can’t remember.

  “What’s happening to me?” I murmur as I struggle to swim with the swirling motion of a sudden current.

  A blonde girl appears in front of me, pressing her hand to the fishbowl and watching me float around and around. “You need to wake up.”

  “I’m not awake?” I ask as the water begins to drag me down.

  She shakes her head, strands of her blonde hair falling into her eyes. “No. And if you don’t wake up soon, you’ll get stuck here.”

  Panic flares through my body. I hate the water almost as much as I loathe pink, which is saying a lot because I fucking hate pink. “Where is here?”

  “Nowhere,” she replies. “The worst place to be.”

  “You’re crazy. That doesn’t even make sense.”

  “It will in time.” She offers me an apologetic look.

  “Help me!” I shout as I struggle to swim, kicking my legs and paddling my arms.

  “I can’t. You have to do this on your own.”

  “I can’t.” I gasp for air. “I’m not strong enough.”

  “Yes, you are,” she insists. “If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be here. Now go.” />
  “That makes no sense!” I cry as water waves over my head. “There’s nowhere to go.”

  “Yes, there is.”

  “Where?”

  “To the bottom.”

  I gape at her. “You want me to drown!”

  “No, I want you to start from the beginning, because you can’t see the way forward until you do.”

  “Thanks for the insightful advice.” My tone drips with sarcasm.

  A wave crashes over me, and panic takes over again.

  “Please, help me!”

  “I’m trying to, but you need to trust me.”

  “I don’t trust anyone, and for good reasons. I don’t even know you.”

  “But right now, trusting me is your only choice.”

  She’s right, so I still my body, allowing the current to drag me downward. I sink into the water, all the way to the bottom of the fishbowl. There, I hold my breath and wait. And wait. And wait …

  Darkness replaces the water. Takes over me. Possesses me.

  I can’t breathe!

  I try to gasp for air, but nothing happens. My skin begins to burn, scorching hot, as if I’m about to erupt in flames. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. I can’t move.

  I think I’m dying.

  I think I’ve died before.

  The thought sideswipes me out of nowhere.

  Suddenly, I feel fingers around my neck. I gasp for air. Then everything goes black.

  Alexis

  My eyelids shoot open, and I suck in a huge breath of air. Light instantly blinds me and panic courses through my body, along with fiery pain. The sensation is way too similar to what I felt in my dream, making an unsettling feeling weigh down on me.

  Something’s wrong. My body is broken or something. My mind is broken. I’m dead.

  I’ve been dead before.

  The thought causes adrenaline to course through my veins. Why do I keep thinking this? Am I dead? Did I die?

  Then, why do I feel awake? And why does my skin feel so hot?

  “I can’t see anything,” I whisper, blinking my eyes several times. “Am I blind?”

  “No, you’re just panicking.” The unfamiliar, deep voice startles the shit out of me.