Page 31 of Dollhouse

It’s not. I need to help, and for this I need toknow. They do their best to placate me without really telling me anything useful.

We’ve got someone tailing Eric. It’s okay. We’ll get him. Blah, blah, blah.

But I can make them bring me whatever I need and it’s the only amount of power I’ve had since Noah has forced me into this situation. It felt strange to write out my list of wants, because who am I to be telling anyone what to do, but Noah encourages it.

“If you want it, it’s yours, Em. What else am I going to do with all this money?”

So I do. Nothing too crazy, but just enough to help with the mood for the holidays.

“Here you go,” Landon says after dumping several bags of food on the kitchen counter. Christmas is two days out and he’s wearing a Santa hat as he scans the room for me, smiling wide when he finds me on the couch. He drops another small bag in my lap and quirks a brow at me. “I bought every string of lights I could find for you.”

I can’t stop smiling as I search the contents, also finding some candles and tinsel. We don’t have a Christmas tree, but I’ll decorate anyway. It will make it feel a tiny bit more normal here, or less like we’re on house arrest. “Thanks Landon, this is going to make tomorrow so much better.”

“Anytime, love,” he says, winking at me and ignoring the growl from Noah as he turns for the door. “I grabbed some stuff for New Year’s. I’ll just put it over here.” He sets it atop a bookcase by the front door and nods at Noah. “See you soon.”

“Let me see,” Jesse says, throwing himself down onto the cushion next to me and digging through the bag. “Oh, garland.” He pops a brow at me, lip ring glittering on his cheshire grin. It’s made to look like tiny icicles, the long string twinkling between us for a beat. “I can think of a great use for this,” he declares, his dark tone making my heart skip.

Before I can answer,duh, the railings,he’s spun me around and pressed my head into the couch cushion, his hand covering my mouth as he drapes his body against my back. “Shh, I don’t want you tipping off Bodhi.”

Ignoring that, I yell into his palm, but the muffled noise dies on my lips as I see Noah enter my line of vision through the hair mussed into my face. The look he wears tells me he’s not here to come to my rescue.

He’s been too long without a haircut, and it hangs into his eyes as he smiles down at me, trapped beneath his cousin. “You always get caught so easily, Angel.”

“Bo!” Jesse yells. “Come here, I want to show you something.”

The sound of him shuffling down the hall has my heart pounding, and he enters the room in sweatpants, hair still wet from his shower. “What’s wrong?”

“Look, baby. Come here,” Jesse beckons, and I watch as Bo approaches, towel still mussing his hair. If he would just quit looking at Jesse’s handsome face for one second, he would see me stuck beneath him.

Jesse simply pushes my face into the cushion to keep me from screaming as I squirm.

Bo peeks his head over the couch, suspicious, and his eyes widen at my predicament. Before he can react, Jesse tugs him forward so that he crashes into me.

In no time at all, I’ve got my hands bound behind my back with a length of the faux ice garland, and a tiny red stocking stuffed in my mouth. What feels like a silk ribbon covers my eyes and is tied neatly behind my head.

My protests are garbled by the fabric and I can feel the couch shaking as Bo is bound. Except he doesn’t protestat all,the traitor.

“Seems loose,” I hear him sass, and then his teeth snap as if he’s tried to bite Jesse's hand.

“Is that right?” Jesse’s low voice is venom laced. I hear another noise and Bo’s light groan as I assume they’re tightened beyond being comfortable.

Noah laughs and I feel his familiar hand at my chin, helping tip me up so that I’m on my knees. “I want you on the coffee table,” he says, guiding me as I stumble forward.

My breath turns shallow as he makes quick work tugging off my leggings and underwear before guiding me onto the glass surface, where I sit back on my feet.

Hair brushes against my ear as if he’s leaned forward to whisper. “If you don’t like what’s happening, Emma, just cross your fingers. I’ll be watching the entire time, okay?”

I nod, breath hitching at his words. Anticipation already thrummed in my blood from the sudden turn of events, but I’ll never get used to the feeling of Noah wanting to play with me like this. I’m basically floating with giddy anticipation.

“Bo, up and under her.”

Uh, what?I bite my lip, wondering what he could possibly have planned in his head for us, when I feel his hands on the inside of my thighs. I jump at his touch, and he pushes on them slightly, spreading them enough for someone’s head to work its way underneath me.

Is thatBo?

Noah’s rough voice cuts through my confusion. “Sit, Emma.”

I pause for a moment too long, questioning the position. I can feel Bo’s warm breath on my thigh, but I don’t want to hurt him. What if he can’t breathe?