"Shh..." He laughed lightly, then repeated the gesture, kissing my neck more deliberately this time while his fingers continued their teasing path down my arm.
Before I had time to wade through what the actual fuck was happening—or why the hell I was so totally turned on—the little door flew open, and I swallowed a scream.
"What the fuck are you doing?" the tall dude taking up the entire door frame snarled. The light was behind him, so he was just one huge shadow.
Somehow I got the feeling that question wasn't aimed at me.
My captor’s lips curved into a smile against the side of my neck, but he made no move to create space between us. "What you told me to, bro. Keeping Princess Danvers from screaming." He very deliberately kissed my neck again, then released his tight grip on my waist. "At least not in fear, anyway." His dark chuckle left no mistaking his meaning, and damn if it didn't spark excitement in my belly.
"Fuck’s sake," Tall-and-angry snapped, reaching out and grabbing one of my tender wrists to yank me out of his friend’s casual embrace. "Hurry up."
I wobbled on my heels but quickly caught my balance as he dragged me out into the mirror maze. Shadows danced over the reflective surfaces, distorting our multiple reflections in all kinds of scary-ass ways, but he seemed to know exactly where he was going.
"Hold up," the guy behind me called out just as Tall-and-cranky pushed open a heavy industrial door marked “Exit.”
"What?" Tall-dark-and-shadowed barked, turning back around and giving me the first glimpse of his face. His seriously jaw-droppingly gorgeous face. Black stubble dusted a strong jawline, and a fresh bruise decorated one high cheekbone. His ice-blue eyes ran over me with a lightning-fast glance before dismissing me. His attention shifted over my shoulder, and he dropped my wrist.
I turned my head too, taking note of the handsome guy shadowing us. His hair was bleached platinum blond, shaved on the sides and long enough on top to be artfully messy. His green eyes sparkled with mischief, and his lips... those lips that had just been against my skin...
As if reading my thoughts, he reached up and dragged the zipper of his hoodie down, stripping it off to reveal nothing but smooth, tanned skin decorated with detailed ink across his chest and arms.
"Here," he said to me, ignoring his scary, blue-eyed friend. Instead, he draped his hoodie over my shoulders, indicating I should slip my arms in. He then zipped it right up to my chin and pulled the hood up. "That hair is sexy as fuck, but incognito is probably the only way you're making it out of here alive." He shot me a wink, and his friend growled an angry noise.
I bit back a laugh but didn't hesitate when the angry guy pulled me out of the fun house and into the frigid night air. In fact, I was pretty glad for the warm hoodie.
The two guys weren't running, but they were sure as fuck walking fast to get us out of the park. I needed to jog a bit in my cursed stilettos to keep from falling on my face. Blue-eyes had a death grip on my wrist, too, so I'd probably just get dragged along like a rag doll.
"Boo!" Someone wearing a bedsheet leapt out into our path, then cackled and ran off to join a handful of other "ghosts" hanging out beside the busted-up old carousel.
The guys with me barely even flinched, but I stumbled and would’ve damn near kissed the concrete if the angry one hadn't caught me and physically lifted me back onto my feet.
"Watch it," he snapped with a scowl on his sexy face before taking a left and leading us toward the old Ferris wheel.
Anger finally dominated my whirlwind of emotions, and I jerked to a stop, yanking my wrist free of his grip.
"What's your fucking deal?" I snarled back at him. "I didn't ask for your help, and you're acting like I'm some huge burden on you. Just fuck right off; I can get out of here on my own. Thanks." The last word was shot at the other guy—Green-eyes. I wish I knew their names, but they hadn't even dropped them when speaking to each other.
"You didn't ask for our help?" Blue-eyes growled, getting all up in my personal space and towering over me like a limp-dicked prick. If that was the best he had... "You shouldn't fucking be here, Madison Kate. What in the hell were you thinking? Do you have any idea who was just chasing you down? Huh? Do you have any concept of what would happen if the Reapers got their hands on the Princess of Shadow Grove? And there wouldn't be a fucking thing your daddy could do about it because you made the dumb-fuck move of coming here." His perfect lips twisted in a disgusted scowl, and he ran a hand over his close-cropped black hair in obvious frustration. His left cheekbone was red and puffy with a shadow of purple welling up underneath. He'd taken a solid punch recently. From Zane?
Green-eyes cleared his throat. "What he means is you didn't ask for our help, but you’re damn well getting it. You picked a really crappy night to rebel against your perfect life, princess." He arched a brow at me, and there was just enough teasing in his voice to stop me from punching him in the teeth.
I shook my head, mentally chastising myself for appreciating how hot these dudes were when I should have been more worried about getting out of the fucking amusement park. And what about Bree? Was she still waiting for me? What if one of Zane's guys had grabbed her?
"I'm going that way," I told the two guys, jerking my thumb in the direction of the south gate. "My friend is waiting."
"No, she's not," a third guy replied, jogging up to us from the way I'd been pointing. He was the same height, maybe an inch shorter than Green-eyes, but still made me feel like a hobbit in comparison. He was also male-model handsome, and I almost swallowed my tongue when he turned his steel-gray eyes on me. "Pretty little brunette chick in a white Merc convertible?" He cocked his head to the side in question, and I nodded. "She's gone."
I frowned. "What? No, Bree wouldn't leave me here without a ride home."
The third guy—I’d call him Gray-eyes just to keep things simple—shrugged and grinned. His long, graceful fingers ruffled his brunet hair, and the moonlight reflected off a piercing in his brow. "I told her you had a ride." His suggestive wink implied a whole different type of ride, and my cheeks flushed. "Besides, cops will be here in about three minutes. Your Bree was smart enough to get the fuck away from the crime scene."
"Huh?" I blinked at him in confusion, but apparently that news was all the other two needed to hear.
Green-eyes dropped a shoulder to my stomach, and before I could utter another protest, my butt was in the air with my head hanging down near his ass. "Sorry, princess," he said, starting to run with me over his shoulder. "You'll thank us tomorrow when you're back at your preppy rich-kid school."
"Fuck!" I cursed, resigning myself to what was happening and just wrapping my arms around his bare waist in an attempt to stop my face from bouncing against his butt. His back also had some impressive ink, but I was in altogether the wrong position to appreciate any kind of artistry.
He ran with me through the mess of overgrown paths, stepping effortlessly over debris from fallen-down sideshow booths, and a quick glance showed the other two guys keeping pace on either side of us. Until they weren’t.
The distinctive sound of a fight breaking out made me struggle in Green-eyes’s grip, but he just smacked my ass and picked up his pace. "Quit it!" he shouted at me. "Don't be a fucking airhead."