You're Next (Devil's Backbone, #3)

by Tate James

“I’m glad you stayed,”

“There were no survivors. I’m so sorry, kids. Your parents are both deceased.”

“You look good in my hoodie,”

If Jocelyn thinks we’re dead, hopefully she is satisfied enough to leave you kids alone.”

“You thought I was kidding, Spark? I’m never kidding when it comes to fucking you. You feel that?”

“I’ve been dealing with that since the moment you changed into this painfully conservative dress. All I could think about while you and Nate spoke about funeral arrangements was whether you were wearing any panties under that skirt…and how I could find out for sure.”

“I think you’re not wearing any…because I’ve inspected this lush ass closely for the last twenty minutes and haven’t found any lines. And

that makes me think you secretly hoped we would find an opportunity to do exactly this.”

“You dirty girl,” he chuckled. “I love it.”

“That’s my dirty little Spark,” he growled, fucking me harder than ever. “You’re going to come all over my dick, aren’t you? With all these coffins around us?”

“They’re empty,” I reminded him. “So it’s not weird.”

“Everything okay in here?”

“Looking at the differences between the wood finishes.”

As if his cum wasn’t sliding down my thigh right then.

“You’re texting her, aren’t you?” I accused, reaching for his phone, but he swiftly jerked it out of my reach. “Bro, she’s supposed to be working. Leave her alone.” He scoffed, sliding out of his seat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

What did they expect?

They’d taken the one person, the one woman, who owned all four of our hearts. They’d taken her, bound and gagged her, and tried

to stab her in front of us? No. No one would be leaving this chamber alive, and I knew my fri...

“Holy fuck,” Carter murmured, sounding impressed. “You’re kinda scary when you’re in love, Royce.” “No shit,”

No one touched our Ashley and lived to tell the tale.

“I said pineapples,” he groaned. “That was too much, even for me. We need a safe word, babe.”

“Nate likes when Squirrel gets rough with him,” he announced with a gleeful grin. “Which I think technically makes her a switch because she likes it when I’m rough. Isn’t that fun?”

“Nate…here’s the thing. I don’t really know what this thing is with us, with any of us, and I definitely don’t know whether it will last. I don’t know if we have a future together, or if you’re all just going through a phase, or if the jealousy will start eating away at everyone. I don’t know how this

even works in the real world…and I don’t know where we even stand, considering how adamant you were that this isn’t what you wanted.”

“Right. I don’t know about a lot of really important factors in this thing between us…but there is one thing I know with absolute certainty, beyond any shadow of doubt.”

“That this won’t be the last time I junk punch you. I can try not to do any lasting damage, and sure, occasionally I might feel inclined to kiss it better after the fact, but even you have to admit…you sometimes deserve it.”

“Yeah. Fair.”

“You wanna tell me your boyfriends don’t gift you extremely rare, stupidly expensive vintage cars to say sorry for crashing yours?”

“Far from it,”

Kissing him reminded me that I was loved and that this wasn’t a passing romance.

“The faster you get across the finish line, the faster you can ride my face.”

“Spark, baby…you could have died today. Again. I don’t know how many of these near misses my heart can handle.” “I’m sorry,”

“I love you, Spark.”

“If I lost you, my life wouldn’t be worth living. Please,

baby, please…don’t scare me like ...

“I love you too,” I told him with total honesty. “And I will try really hard not to nearly die again. It’s really not fun, you know?”

“Whatever you’re thinking right now, Ash…stop it. There is only space in my heart for one woman, and it’s you. Has been for a lot longer than either of us really care to admit. Jade is trying to make you think I’m cheating, and she couldn’t be further from the truth. I’d sooner cut off my own dick than hurt you like that.”

“I believe you.”

Maybe I was too scared to tell him what my gut instincts were, but I could at least admit it to myself. I was falling hard and fast, and if my gut was wrong, I would likely never recover. Oh well, too late to get out now.

Nate: Stop calling me. Stop texting me. I love Ashley and refuse to jeopardize my future over a misplaced sense of guilt. Seek therapy, Paige. It sounds like you need it.

Holy fuck. Some people said I love you, but Nate gave me a sledgehammer and asked me to demolish his mom’s home. Same thing.

“I’ve been talking to my ex behind your back,” he told me in a husky voice, “despite the fact that she talks shit about you in every conversation.”

But the way he stared at me now, eyes heavy and breathing quick…Shit. I was gone for him.

“It’s what I need to balance my guilt,”

“Your guilt? Over what?” “Over how I’ve treated you, Ash. I don’t…I don’t deserve to

have you the same way the guys do. I don’t fucking deserve to even exist in your orbit, and yet no matter how many times I tell myself to simply leave…I can’t do it. So I need you to hurt me, Duck...

“I need it. I deserve it. And if I’m totally honest, that night when you tried to smother me with a pillow shook something loose inside me. Love and hate are separated by such a thin line, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, I guess they are. I hope you’re clear now which side of the line we’re standing on?”

“I’m clear. But the weight of past behavior is still weighing heavily on my mind, and the only way I can…”

“The only way you can come is if I hurt you?”