Kings of Chaos (Dirty Broken Savages #1)(13)
“Is he the big guy, the bossy guy, or the constipated one?” I shoot back.
He actually laughs, seemingly amused by me. Good. The more he lowers his guard, the better.
“You really do have them all pegged, huh? What would you describe me as? The sexy one? The intriguing one? The one you’d like to take for a spin?”
“Sure. Just dying to,” I say in my flattest, driest tone possible.
“I knew it. All you have to do is ask, honey. And probably tell Gage what he wants to know, so he’ll be okay with me taking you out of those shackles. Unless you’d rather stay in them. That’s more than fine, too. I’d never kick a kinky girl out of bed.”
“I bet you’ve never kicked anyone out of bed,” I shoot back, and he laughs.
“You might be right.” His eyes trace over me, taking in my outfit, my hair, my disheveled appearance. I know he’ll be able to see how tired I am, and maybe that’ll get him to loosen up even more. He already seems plenty comfortable, because he’s a flirt and he’s on his own turf, so if he drops his guard just a bit more, it should be perfect.
“Damn, Gage really clocked you, huh?” he asks, leaning in to look at the wound on my head.
That’s all I need.
I headbutt him with all the strength I can muster, and when he reels back in surprise, I yank my hands free and launch myself forward.
I land on Four Eyes, lashing out at him. With my bloody hand, I give him a good punch in the face, then aim my knee for his gut, winding him.
I get a good few hits in, enough to keep him disoriented, hopefully, and then I bolt for the door and shove it open.
Just as I suspected, I’m in a basement, and the stairs loom ahead of me. My outfit isn’t great for this kind of thing, but I’m not letting that stop me. This is my only chance, so I start running, clattering up the stairs, trying to get to the open door.
There are footsteps on the stairs behind me, and before I can reach the door, arms wind their way around my waist, stopping me in my tracks.
I pull against Four Eyes’ hold, but he’s strong, digging in his heels to keep me from getting free.
“You’re a feisty one,” he says, sounding out of breath. “But you’re not getting away from us that easily.”
“Fuck you,” I spit, all the banter gone now that I can see a path to freedom right ahead of me.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time, sweetheart,” he grunts, trying to drag me back down the stairs.
I rear back with my elbow, aiming for something soft and sensitive. His face, his throat, anything will do. He manages to block the blow and shoves me sideways so that I slam chest first against the wall to the side of the staircase.
My chest heaves as I suck in air, and I can feel him pressed hard against my back, breathing just as heavily as I am as he pins me to the wall. The air is electric between us, and his muscles are taut against me. He’s not as thick as Wild Eyes, lean where the other man is beefy, but he’s strong, and I’m not making much progress in struggling to get away from him.
“Let it go,” he hisses in my ear. “You’re not going to get out of here like this.”
The fuck I’m not.
I lift my foot and kick backward, finding his knee with the heel of my shoe. He makes a pained noise, and his grip loosens enough for me to be able to wiggle my way free and start racing up the stairs again.
He’s not far behind me, though, grabbing me and spinning me around to face him. I almost lose my balance, but I manage to shove him back as we fight our way to the top of the steps.
Four Eyes gets in behind me again, and I can feel his breath hot and heavy against the back of my neck. One hand comes around to grab at my neck, and I reach up to try to force it away, but he gets a grip on my throat before I can do anything.
His hand is big enough to cut off my air, and I try to suck in a breath before he squeezes, but I can feel myself going lightheaded.
It’s hard to focus when I can’t fucking breathe, and he’s pulling me, trying to drag me back down toward their shitty dungeon as he chokes me.
But I can’t let that happen.
I claw at his wrist, trying to break his grip, and I keep shoving my body backward in an attempt to throw him off balance. When I give another forceful shove, he stumbles, missing a step or just losing his balance, and that’s enough of an opening for me to push him away and get free, gasping for breath.
My head is spinning from having my air cut off like that, but I sprint to the top of the stairs and shove the door open. I’m barely through it when the man catches me by the arm in a hard grip, and I whirl around, ready to fight back. I’m not giving up until I’m out of here.
But then a voice cuts in, cracking through the air like a whip.
“You’d better stop that shit right now,” Green Eyes tells me, his tone low and serious. “Unless you want a bullet through your head.”
6
ASH
IT’S a hell of an ultimatum Gage just laid down, and I can see the woman struggling with it, the debate playing out on her face. She’s really considering whether she’d rather have a bullet through her head than stop fighting.
I like that. She’s scrappy and never gives up, even when the odds are so clearly stacked against her. Although… I have no idea how she managed to get out of her cuffs down there, and judging from how she was fighting me on the stairs, she might have more tricks up her sleeve that we don’t know about.