Forbidden (Blood Ties #7)

He looked up to Riven, then turned back to me. “To insert a tracking device.”

My blood turned cold. For a second, I couldn’t breathe.You do this and there’s no escaping them.The words gripped me.

“You want this, right, Helene?” Kane urged, taking one more step closer. His grip on my shirt twisted until he cupped my breast.

“Yes.” I answered, my tone empty.

“Good.” He smiled, those green eyes glinting. “I’ll try to be careful.”

He was careful, leading me to the kitchen counter. Riven stood by and watched as his brother lifted me. He reached around me, unhooking my bra with a single twist of his hand.

“Lie down.” He commanded and a shiver raced up my spine with the tone. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

He disappeared into his bedroom. I did as he instructed, lowering my head to the hard surface. Faint sounds came as bathroom drawers opened and closed before the rush of running water followed. I listened to the sound of scrubbing before the rush of water once more, and when he returned his hands were cleaned, carrying items I couldn’t quite see.

I craned my neck as he placed a small pack of cotton balls, a bottle of iodine, a single-use scalpel, and a small device in a tiny, clear canister at my side.

“Now, I’m sure you already know this is going to leave a small scar.” Kane murmured, opening the pack of cotton balls.

I just looked up at the ceiling, my heart pounding. “Just get on with it.”

There was that smirk again in the corner of my eye. He tugged up my shirt as Riven came closer.

“Hey.” Riven grabbed my chin and turned my head to him. “Christ, you’re beautiful.” He whispered, staring at me.

My pulse stuttered as he lowered his head and carefully kissed me. My mind was so busy racing from the effect of his mouth that I barely felt the sting at first.

“Oww.” I hissed and jerked away to look down.

Kane’s focus was on his hands as he moved to my side and grabbed a set of tweezers to push the tiny device into the small cut he’d made.

“One…small…stitch.” He murmured, working fast and carefully.

His skills would make any surgeon proud. I knew he was a doctor of the mind, but the way he worked made me realize he was so much more.

“There.” He gave one tiny tug, making me wince before he lifted his head. “All done.”

All done? Maybe for him…but this was only the start for me. I was not only about to be put through the most brutal of mind control…I was also tracked for the rest of my life, or at least until I could get that thing out of me.

And I wanted it out.

Almost as much as I wanted this all to be over.

TWENTY-SIX

Helene

I wore red.Red that looked like blood splashed against my skin, swallowing the reflection of the white bathroom behind me. I’d sworn to myself I’d never wear it, not after what my sisters had gone through.

Yet, here I was, dressed in the same vile lingerie—in the same place of terror—about to embark on the hell they’d endured…willingly.

The door to the bathroom opened and Riven stepped in. Those brooding eyes shifted instantly to my reflection before he scowled, then looked away.

He couldn’t even look at me.

How the hell was he going to carry this through?

But then he turned back, the deep crease in his forehead matching the tortured stare. One step and he stood at my back. There were no words between us. Just the brush of his fingers under the satin strapping at my back as he caressed my skin all the way to my shoulder. I shivered with the touch.