A House So Cruel: A Dark Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance by Analeigh Ford

Author:Analeigh Ford [Ford, Analeigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

Now I know.

It’s a relic of time past, when asylums like this were commonplace—not just reserved for those strange and supernatural creatures that are better left tucked out of sight for good. It’s a thing better left forgotten. A treatment center that’s more like a torture chamber.

Not much remains of what it once was. But what does remain … what does remain tells a story all of its own. A sordid story, and one that I’m about to play a part in.

A rack of some kind sits in the middle of the room, with leather cuff restraints dangling on either side. Behind it, the wall is dotted with the faded imprints of lashes, canes, and devices once used to punish wayward patients. I can still see the shape of them burned into the wall from years of use.

But not all of them have been removed, and those that linger leave a pit in my stomach that isn’t entirely fear.

The moment the door swings shut behind us, Ives is nudging me step by step backward until my back presses into the rack. He takes one of my hands and pulls it up and to the side, holding it into place as Price steps up to slide my hand through the loop. Kingsley, moving with his own nervous energy, begins to circle the three of us—his eyes locked onto me, his prey.

“What is this place?”

Price eyes me through his lashes as one hand tugs the restraint tight. I expect the cuff to dig into my skin, but the leather is surprisingly soft.

That’s what happens after years of use.

“I don’t really have to explain that, do I?” he asks, tugging just once more. Just a little tighter.

“Tighter.”

The moment the word slips from my lips, all three of them freeze. Price’s eyes flash, his tail twitching behind him like a creature with a mind of its own.

It’s Kingsley who springs into action. One moment, he’s steps away from the rest of us, his feet carrying him around that endless, anxious circle. The next, he’s shoving his way between Price and me, his hand reaching to pull the restraint so tight it makes me gasp.

Though it comes out more like a sigh.

As the three of them gape at me, I reach my other hand and slip it into the other restraint—my eyes unwaveringly locked with Price. “Again.”

It’s Ives who steps up this time, his hands so large he can barely fumble the metal buckles into place. But he does, only for Kingsley to move alongside him and pull the second restraint even tighter than the first.

Meanwhile, Price just watches me, his expression growing hungrier with each second our eyes remain locked.

All three of them are thinking the same thing. A single, unified, overwhelming thought. An emotion, really.

There’s no one word to describe it. It’s the hunger in Price’s eyes. The determination in Ives’ stance. The spark in Kingsley’s step.

All I know is that I feel it too, and not just from them. From me, too.

It may be wrong, this may be wrong.

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