Rat Race (Devil’s Playground #2)

20. Victoria

Victoria

Negotiations are for people who read the fine print.

K ohl's lips trailed along my inner thigh, nibbling and kissing along the sensitive skin and making me squirm. My face tilted backwards, eyes sliding away from their golden hair to the ceiling, the back of my head meeting the cool glass pane of the mirror.

“Will you permit me to taste you, goddess?” they asked, mouth moving into the crease of my thigh for a seductive suck that made my knees tremble under the weight of my urgent need for them.

Something about seeing Hiram torn to shreds that had me slick and panting, waiting to be freed from the chains of the anchor’s desk so that we could finally have a moment alone. There was a lot to catch up on, after all.

“Yes,” I murmured, a hand grabbing their short hair to control them, moving their mouth where I sorely needed it against my wet, aching center. “I love you, my little slut.”

It was true, had been true for a long time. But it was a relief that I'd finally gotten the chance to tell them.

Kohl's strong hands spread my thighs further, my short skirt bunching around my waist. I'd ditched my underwear the moment we'd gotten back in the dressing room, pushing aside cosmetics to make room for myself atop the vanity. The hot lights were an exciting addition—warming my back and threatening that, if I leaned too far back, I was sure to be burned.

But the mirror? That was nostalgic. Reminding me of the way Khol had thrown me into the glass, the shards raining down on us as I fought for my life against my would-be murderer. Under their shirt, hidden by nothing more than a bit of cotton—polyester if i was being serious—was a scabbed V .

A testament of their worship of me, rivaled only by the magic they were working with their mouth.

Kohl licked at my slit, the flat of their tongue traveling to collect my sticky arousal with a hum of pleasure. Their fingers bit into my thighs, short nails digging into the skin as they devoured me. Desperate to help get my mind off what had been an exceptionally stressful day.

“Good boy, kitten,” I praised, a moan slipping through my parted lips. “Make your goddess come…”

Kohl's lips closed around my clit, sucking firmly and making my eyes roll. Their fingers teased my needy, twitching hole as they continued to slurp at my cunt like they were starved for it.

“Fuck me,” I commanded, hips canting against their face in a clear demand. “Now, Kohl.”

Kohl groaned, their fingers sliding inside and arching, aiming for my sweet spot. The move was successful, my knees trying to draw together around their head as my pleasure increased, threatening to throw me over the edge. I'd just about given in to the waves of my need when the door swung open without so much as a knock, a woman entering with the click of her lacquered stilettos and a raised eyebrow.

The men at her side, clearly hired muscle, leered as they caught sight of Kohl kneeling between my legs.

“Do you fucking mind?” I snapped, pushing Kohl's face further against me as they tried to pull away. “I didn't tell you to stop,” I hissed at them, meeting the disgusted eyes of the woman evenly. “And I don't remember telling you to come in either.”

It likely would've been more impressive if I hadn't moaned in the middle of my sentence, but they were the ones interrupting, not me.

“Can you please make yourself decent?” the woman, a producer named Sarah-Beth with mousy brown hair and thin lips, asked.

I rolled my eyes, releasing Kohl's hair and letting them come up for air. Their little gasp to catch their breath was music to my ears.

“Prude,” they muttered, continuing to finger me like we hadn't been interrupted. Their mouth finding the soft flesh of my inner thigh for a sharp nip.

“I suggest you avert your eyes if you want to keep them,” I snapped at the guard. “Seriously, SB, you needed to bring goons with you to relieve us of our duties? You are such a puss?—”

“Relieve you?” Sarah-Beth scoffed, taking a stylus from behind her ear to mark something carelessly on her tablet. “No, no, why would I be doing that?”

“Because we fulfilled our agreement,” Kohl said, their eyes flashing up to mine for reassurance. “We're done here.”

“Exactly,” I murmured, moving my skirt to cover myself—not that it did much good with Kohl's lithe hands moving inside me and making it hard to concentrate. That edge that I'd been chasing returned quickly with their thumb rubbing little circles against my clit, the wet sound of their fingers fucking me punctuating my sentences. “We're done here,” I echoed.

“Maybe before you pulled that little stunt with Hiram.” Sarah-Beth tsked. “Really couldn't help yourself, could you? If you’d just stuck to the script, you wouldn't be in this mess, you know?”

I scoffed, my mood souring as Kohl removed their fingers from inside me, their glistening digits making their way between their lips as they turned their head to glare at the woman.

“We're done here,” I repeated, firmer this time.

“No, you aren't. Get suited up. The game is about to start.”

“We're not playing in anymore fucking games .” My voice rose now as I slid off the vanity and to the floor with a thud of my boots. “We made our money, made you your money. Now it’s time for us to go.”

“About that…” Sarah-Beth started, a ferocious, eerily excited gleam in her hooded eyes. “I regret to inform you that your contract was violated by inciting violence and failing to be impartial to all competitors.” She fake-frowned, her overlined lips pulling downwards in a mocking pout. “Sorry about that.”

It was clear to me that was a load of shit, clear to Kohl too as he jerked up from the floor to lunge at her, making the woman stumble backwards in her heels, her tight pencil skirt nearly making her topple over.

They would've gotten to her too if her bodyguard hadn’t moved to block them, catching Kohl's shoulder with a massive, ham-sized fist.

“Ah ah ah,” she said, voice lowering into a hiss. “We can either do this the easy way, Victoria, or we can do it the hard way.”

“And if I choose not to do it at all?”

“Well, if you'd like to see your little buddy here in a body bag, that's an option, princess.”

My eyes flicked to Kohl, their arm being held perilously behind their back. Smart of them to go after my partner, even if it set my teeth on edge. It's what I would've done in their position. Manipulate my weak point.

The seconds ticked by as I glowered furiously.

There was no real choice here, not if they were going to hurt Kohl.

“That's what I thought,” Sarah-Beth cooed with a syrupy smile. “Now, get dressed. We need to get you back into hair and makeup.”

“For what?” Kohl asked with a huff as they were released, brushing themselves off and flexing their fingers.

“Truth or Dare, obviously.” Sarah-Beth replied, ticking off something else on her tablet.

Kohl's eyes met mine, wide and anxious. My lip curled furiously—the only one who got that reaction out of them was me.

“Why the fuck would we do that? We're rich as shit as it is, no reason to sign up.”

“Hm, about that. Go off script, no cash. Didn't you read the contract you signed?”

I opened my mouth to argue, but she put her hand up to stop me.

“We aren't monsters , Victoria. Win Truth or Dare, and you can keep whatever money you earn in the game—and we'll pay you your contract amount too.”

“I—”

“I'm going to remind you that we aren't really asking.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek to stop myself from insulting her, the injustice of it all weighing me down.

The idea of walking back into that arena? Of having to watch Kohl walk in there with me?

I'd rather drop dead.

“Fine, but we have stipulations.”

“Negotiations are for people who read the fine print,” Sarah-Beth reminded me. “Get dressed. Game starts in a few hours.”

We didn't want to play the first time, much less twice.

And here we were, staring down re-entry into the arena like it was the barrel of a gun. It practically was. The thing about Truth or Dare was that it was a game of secrets. And who had more secrets than Legacies? Worse, Legacies whose parents became Architects .

Seventy-two hours earlier, I would've laughed this off. What kind of secrets could they have dug up to use to blackmail me with, really?

Now?

I was terrified of what else they'd manage to find.

If Kohl and I managed to survive the game, would our relationship?

“Fine,” I hissed, catching Kohl’s eye.

The TV was still playing highlights of Cam and Aubrey’s win.

Speaking of new relationships and nothing to lose, I had an idea.

Sarah’s balding crony delivered a punishing punch to Kohl’s ribs, making them double over onto their hands and knees with a wheeze.

The moment they left the room, Sarah-Beth tapping her watch like a fucking cunt, I raced to Kohl, catching their face in my hand.

“You okay?”

“Fine,” they spat out irritably. “You had your scheming face on. Have a plan?”

“When don’t I?” I asked breezily, helping them stand. “They really think they can play us like this? Fuck us over and we are just going to take it? As if. Bring in the fucking crazies.”

“The crazies?” they asked in bewilderment, rubbing their ribs.

I reached out to grip their chin, turning their head toward Aubrey and Cam, waving and smiling for the cameras.

“About time we go congratulate our old friend Aubrey, don’t you think?”