Sacred by Caitlyn Dare
Sadie
We take the truck to Dane’s apartment block. Rhett knew he’d come here eventually; he didn’t need Pacman to confirm it. But still, the relief I feel at the sight of Dane’s bike is instant.
“Ready?” Rhett asks me, and I nod.
“Just remember, he’s hurting. And when an animal is wounded, it lashes out.”
“Dane isn’t—”
“You know what I mean, princess.” He pins me with a dark stare. “You good, Pretty?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
The two of them share a long look that makes me think that maybe they’ve finally crossed a line where the four of us are concerned.
The thought makes my heart flutter.
“Come on.” Rhett drops a kiss on my head before climbing out of the truck. I follow Wesley out the passenger side. He takes my hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it gently.
“Okay?”
“Yeah. I just want to help him, but I don’t know how.” My heart cracks, imagining what Dane must be thinking and feeling right now.
Pacman greets us. “He’s been inside for the last half hour. Saw me following him but didn’t wait around to chew me out about it. Do I even want to know what this place is?” he asks.
“Not my story to tell.” Rhett grips his shoulder. “Thanks, brother. Stay close by, just in case he bolts again. We’ll take it from here.”
The corner of Pacman’s mouth tips up as if he’s about to reply with some smartass innuendo, but he thinks better of it, giving Rhett a firm nod before taking off toward his bike.
Wes lingers behind and I glance back, frowning. “Maybe I should wait out here,” he says.
“Not gonna happen, Pretty,” Rhett grumbles. “You’re one of us now. Besides, something tells me he’s going to need you. We all are.”
A shiver runs down my spine at Rhett’s words, but despite all the things he said back in Dane’s room, we’re not really here for… that. Dane is hurting. He probably feels confused and betrayed and alone, but we’re here to show him that he isn’t.
That he’ll never be alone again.
“Let me go first, okay?” Rhett moves ahead of me and takes the steps up to Dane’s apartment two at a time. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how big and strong he is. From his broad shoulders and thick biceps right down to his inked skin and shitkicker boots, Rhett is the epitome of scary, badass biker. And he’s all mine.
A deep sense of possessiveness stirs inside me, only amplified when Wes steps up behind me, brushing his hand along the small of my back.
I want this.
Them.
Us.
It isn’t a game to me, something fleeting and finite. It’s real. The way I feel about them—individually and together—is something I hadn’t expected, but it’s exactly what I need.
Rhett knocks on the door, but Dane doesn’t appear. “Stray, open up.” He hammers his fist against the wood again. “Come on, brother. I brought you a present.”
Wes snorts at that, and I jab him in the stomach with my elbow. “Hey,” he grunts, “what the fuck was that for?”
“Behave.”
“With you.” He bands his arm around my waist, dropping his mouth to my ear. “‘Never.”
“Fuck this,” Rhett murmurs, pulling out his wallet. He digs out a key and unlocks the door.
“You couldn’t have just done that in the first place?” I let out a resigned sigh.
“I hoped he would let us in.”
We file inside the apartment, only to be met with eerie silence.
“Dane?” I call out, fear snaking through me. It’s too dark, too quiet.
Where the hell is—
A sound catches my attention.
“The bedroom,” I say, making a beeline for it. I burst inside. Nothing.
“Dane?”
A sliver of light pours out of the crack in the bathroom door. Rushing over to it, I gently open it and peer inside. “Oh my God, Dane.”
He doesn’t notice me, too focused on scrubbing his body with a loofah. He’s naked from the waist up, standing under what I can only assume is cold water due to the lack of steam.
“Dane…” I approach the shower, pressing my hand against the glass partition. He finally looks up, and my heart breaks.
He looks empty… his eyes, dead and emotionless.
“What are you doing, baby?” My voice cracks.
“I can feel them.” He inhales a ragged breath. “I can feel them hurting me, cutting and burning me. I can hear him laughing… my brother. My fucking brother…”
Tears roll down my cheeks as he continues scrubbing his skin, as if he’s trying to rub the scars away. “You have to stop, Dane. You’re hurting yourself.” Before I know what I’m doing, I move around the partition and slip under the water, wrapping my arms around him.
Dane freezes at my touch, the rise and fall of his chest harsh as the water cascades over it. It’s freezing, and I have to fight the urge to let my teeth chatter. This isn’t about me, it’s about the broken boy in my arms.
“I’m here, Dane. I’m right here,” I soothe.
And. He. Breaks.
Dropping to his knees, he buries his face in my stomach, gripping my hips to the point of pain.
“They… they abused me. I was just a fucking kid and they… fuck. Fuck.” He bellows into the water as he clutches my body. “What’s wrong with me, Sadie Ray? What the fuck is—”
I drop to my knees too, wrapping my arms around him. “Shh, baby. Nothing’s wrong with you. Not a damn thing, Dane.”
He tries to pull away, but I grip his jaw gently and force his face back to mine. Reaching up with my other hand, I turn the shower off. “I love you, Dane Stray. I’m in love with you. I don’t care what they did to you. I don’t care about the scars you bear or the darkness you hide inside you. I don’t care about any of that stuff. You hear me?”
His brows furrow as he studies me. “Y-you love me?”
“I do. So fucking much. You’re a good guy, Dane. This doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change what’s in here.” I press my hand over his heart, unable to fight it when my teeth start chattering.
“Shit, princess, you’re cold.”
“So warm me up.” I smile, waiting for him to make a move.
But indecision flickers in his eyes. “Come on, let’s get you dry.”
Not exactly the words I want to hear, but I don’t argue when he stands, pulling me with him.
Dane strips me out of my wet clothes, but there’s nothing sexual about it. He’s clinical in the way he tugs and pulls them off my body before wrapping me in a fluffy towel.
“Go get warm,” he says, barely looking at me. “I’ll be right out.”
“Dane, I’m not—”
“Please, Sadie Ray. I just need a minute.”
Not Sadie, girl.
Not princess.
Sadie Ray.
Another little part of me withers. But I honor his wishes, slipping out of the bathroom and closing the door behind me. Rhett’s head whips up. “Well?”
“He’s… He needs a minute.” I pull the towel tighter and sit on the edge of the bed. Wes walks in a second later, his eyes going straight to my towel-clad body.
“You didn’t waste any time.” He smirks, but it drops when he realizes the somber mood. “What happened?”
“He was… I’ve never seen him like that.”
“Shit, I’m an idiot.”
“Relax, Pretty,” Rhett mumbles. “He’ll—”
Dane slips out of the bathroom, still in his soaked jeans.
“Hey, man,” Rhett jumps up out of the chair, a scowl appearing on his face at the sight of Dane’s soaked bandage and red skin. “How are you feeling?”
“I need to kill something,” Dane deadpans. “Preferably my sick cunt of a brother.”
“We’ll get him, Stray. I promise you that.” A beat passes, and Rhett adds, “What do you need?”
Dane’s eyes flick to me, darkening with lust. “You don’t want to know,” he says, his gaze eating up every inch of my bare skin. It’s so intense, it’s like he’s touching me, tracing his fingers over my collarbone. A delicious shiver goes through me.
“Anything,” Rhett says. “We’re here for you. Let us help.”
Their eyes lock, some unspoken message passing between them.
“You won’t lose control,” Rhett says, and I’m not sure what he sees in Dane’s expression that I don’t.
“No, I won’t,” Dane glances back to me, “because I won’t be the one touching her.”
Oh God.
The heat in his voice, the carnal need… it pulses through my core, making me whimper.
“She’s already wet, I bet.” Rhett chuckles darkly.
“Yeah, asshole, because I was in a freezing cold shower.”
“Maybe we should warm you up then, princess. What do you say,” he challenges. “Want to put on a show for Stray?”
My gaze shifts to Dane. He’s still watching me. Fucking me with his eyes.
“Don’t you want to touch me?”
“If I touch you right now, Sadie, girl, there’s every chance I’ll snap you in two.” His voice quivers, and it’s then I realize he’s trembling.
“I trust you, Dane,” I whisper.
“I know you do, but I need something else from you right now.” He stalks toward me, burying his fingers in my hair and fisting a handful. “I need you to let my brothers play with you. Can you do that for me? Can you let them use your body, your mouth… that pretty little cunt?” He shoves his hand under the towel and finds my pussy, wet and aching.
“Fuck,” he hisses, “you’re soaked.”
“For you,” I murmur. “I’m soaked for you.”
He pushes his fingers inside me without warning and I arch into his touch, smothering a moan. When he tears them away, I cry out in protest, staring up at him through glassy eyes.
“Taste yourself.” He brings his fingers to my mouth, teasing them over my lips. I open wide, taking them into my mouth, the sharp taste exploding on my tongue.
“Stand up,” he demands, and I do. “Pretty, you might want to lose your clothes for this.”
I’m vaguely aware of Rhett already shedding his cut and t-shirt.
“Ready to play?” Dane asks, and I nod, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
All I can think about is him touching me. Rhett’s hands on my body. Wes’s mouth on my skin.
He steps away, leaving me cold, but Wes is right there, pressing up against my side. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Sadie,” he whispers, grabbing my throat and twisting my head to capture my lips in a bruising kiss.
I hear Rhett and Dane discussing something in low voices, but when Wes breaks away and I look over at them, Dane is gone.
“What’s going on?” I ask, every inch of me vibrating with anticipation.
“Get on the bed, princess.” Rhett motions toward it.
“But I—”
“We’re gonna give Dane what he needs. Just trust us, okay?”
With a small nod, I drop to the bed and move into the center, waiting. The air crackles with tension as Rhett and Wes stare at me like I’m their new favorite toy.
Dane comes back into the room, his hands full of… oh shit.
My eyes widen.
He’s carrying a ball of rope, a candle, a lighter, and… a knife. I swallow. Hard.
“Don’t look so worried, princess. This is all for your pleasure… and mine.”
He gives Rhett a knowing look and says, “Grab her wrists.”
