Savage Desires (Black Rose Doms Book 3)

Chapter 6

This whole situation is surreal.After being paraded out on stage like a prize cow for rich bastards to bid on, I was manhandled into this room. Even though I haven”t put up any fight and have followed all instructions, the fucker in charge of keeping us in line has taken every opportunity to put his hands on me. I”m going to have bruises on my arms from being grabbed and drug around.

Well, I would have bruises tomorrow if I live to see tomorrow… Pretty sure the chances of that are unlikely, considering what the auctioneer said. He confirmed that our buyers are allowed to do anything and everything to us and will be disposing of our bodies as part of the deal.

When the other girls finally learned their fate, they panicked. Two of them tried to run and got all of five steps out of line before they were caught and then chained to the floor by their ankles while they awaited their turn to go on stage. All of them cried. Their fear and despair were palpable.

I stayed stoic and resolved. There”s nothing I can do to change my situation. I can only control how I react to it. Biding my time and taking my anger out on the asshole that bought me is my end game. When it was my turn to go on stage, I kept my head high and refused to cower. It felt like I stood there for hours, awaiting the bidding war to stop. It took longer than with any of the other girls. Soon enough, I finally found out how much my life is worth…

Ninety-three thousand dollars.

Some asshole paid ninety-three thousand dollars to rape and murder me. It”s despicable. I hope he”s ready to get his money”s worth. I plan to give him hell. I”m going to use every dirty trick my dad taught me. My main goal is to cause pain and leave a permanent mark on the man.

I”ve run through dozens of plans on how I will accomplish that. The one that should be most effective is a knee to the dick, followed by clawing his face and eyes. It”s the first time since I”ve been captured that I”m thankful for them requiring us to have our nails manicured to perfection. They are sharp and will do damage. Beyond that, I will fight until I can”t fight anymore.

I”m currently pacing around the room I was shoved into. I don”t know how long I”ve been in here. Long enough to figure out that there is nothing that can be turned into a weapon in here. The drawers and cabinets are locked with a pin pad as the only way to open them. That includes the doors, I assume, lead to a bathroom and the exit. Unless I can make a weapon out of the sheet on the huge bed, there is literally nothing I can use to defend myself. Whoever made these rooms certainly thought of everything.

Even though my body is still exhausted from my time in the cage without food and water, I refuse to sit. I don”t care if I”m in here for hours. I”d rather stand than sit on the bed or any other furniture bolted down and obviously ready to restrain a person. Fuck that. I could sit on the floor, but with how sluggish and sore I am, it would waste precious seconds getting up. If I”m going to succeed in attacking this man, I need the element of surprise and zero hesitation from the moment the door opens.

I pass the time by going through my plan over and over. I imagine how my body will move as I attack. I think about every contingency I can imagine based on my years of training. I am out of practice and weak, but my determination is strong. I”m going to put everything I have into this fight.

My dad”s words float through my head, ”You will always be smaller than your opponent, but that doesn”t mean you can”t win the fight. You”re strong and capable. Use every advantage. Hit where it hurts. Fight dirty. You might be small, but you”re fast. Wear them down.”

My heart aches as I remember his words of encouragement. He always built me up and gave me confidence. His gym catered to male fighters—there are very few female UFC fighters out there—so my training opponents were men. I started sparring with my dad, then moved on to the lightweight fighters.

I always found it funny when they pandered to me and didn”t give me their all. I was just a kid, but I still took down men more than twice my size. Obviously, they couldn”t hit me at full strength, but they all wrote me off as nonthreatening. I loved proving myself.

This will be the fight of my life, and even though my dad will never know, I will fight in a way that will make him proud. I clench my fists and close my eyes, letting my dad”s words and training flit through my mind. When I hear the lock on the door disengage, I open my eyes and let out my breath, waiting for him to enter the room.

I”m ready to pounce when I realize the person entering the room is a nearly naked woman. My jaw clenches at the thought of this fucker buying more than one woman tonight. I thought I was the last to be auctioned, but I could”ve been wrong.

The woman looks at me with scared eyes. She looks like she”s about to puke or faint. I wait for her to walk further into the room. I take a step to the side so she”s not blocking my path to the door. Seconds later, a huge man wearing a suit and a menacing black goat”s skull mask with curving horns steps into the room.

I don”t hesitate to attack. A burst of adrenaline-induced energy and strength fills me as I rush forward. The man is distracted by taking in the room and doesn”t notice me moving until it”s too late. He tries to block my hit, but my knee connects with his balls while I simultaneouslygrab his mask and fling it away.

I hear the woman gasp behind me but ignore her as I attack my new owner. I only get one solid punch in before he recovers enough to grab me. I don”t stop fighting. I kick, hit, bite, and claw while he tries to restrain me. All the while, he”s telling me to calm down and that he”s not going to hurt me.

Yeah, right. You don”t pay ninety-three thousand dollars for a human being to have a nice little chat. I”ve been part of this world for too fucking long to believe that lie.

He finally gets his arms around me in a way that has my arms pinned to my sides. No matter how much I writhe, I can”t get free. I don”t dare give up, though. I fling my head back and come in contact with his face. I”m pretty sure it was just his chin and didn”t break anything, but still satisfying as fuck.

”Calm down, Beauty. Fuck,” he growls.

I instantly still at his words. My mind grabs onto his words and matches them to a voice I never thought I would hear again.

”Come on, my Beauty. It”s time to wake up.”

Have I finally lost my mind and am hallucinating? If I am, it seems like a cruel joke to have the man who”s about to kill me bring up the best memory I have. Kisten is the only bright spot from the last six years of my life, and I hate the thought of it being tarnished so cruelly. I start to wriggle in the man”s arms, desperate to banish thoughts of Kisten because he doesn”t belong here with these monsters.

His grip tightens until I swear my ribs might crack. I can”t hold in the small cry of pain it causes. He”s holding me so tight I can hardly take a breath. Every exhale allows him to constrict me further, so I can”t replenish the oxygen leaving my lungs. It feels like I”m suffocating on nothing.

”I need you to calm down, Beauty. I”m not going to hurt you.”

I laugh weakly at his words and the fact that the man who bought me sounds like my savior. ”I”m sure you tell all the women you buy that,” I say, the words more like tiny gasps with hardly any sound.

”If I admit that I really don”t hurt the women I buy, I doubt you”ll believe me. I swear I have no plans to harm you or Lexis,” he says, sounding earnest.

His mention of her name reminds me that we aren”t alone. The woman—Lexis—is standing against the wall, her hands covering the bottom half of her face as she watches us. She still looks petrified, and the fact that she”s against the wall instead of attempting to help me says all I need to know. She”s not on my side.

”Lexis, have I harmed you in any way?” he asks.

She shakes her head no.

”Did I buy you?”

She shakes her head no again.

”Why are you here?”

”B-because t-they gave me to y-you,” she stutters.

”See, beauty. I haven”t harmed Lexis, and she”s been with me for hours. I swear I won”t hurt you. I”m going to help you both.”

I don”t know what to do. I swore I would fight to the end, but if what Lexis said is true and if I can believe the man who sounds like my savior but can”t possibly be him, then shouldn”t I stop fighting and see what happens? Or is that wishful thinking, and will it end with me chained up for his pleasure?

I”m so damn tired. My arms and legs feel like they weigh a million pounds. I exerted every ounce of energy I had into my attack. The longer he holds me, the weaker I feel myself getting. Not being able to catch my breath is just making things worse. It seems like a stupid idea, but I decide to believe Lexis… not him. I don”t think I could ever believe the words of a man who purchases women from human traffickers.

I nod my head and stop squirming. My body sags in his arms now that I”m no longer struggling against him.

”Good girl, my beauty. I”m going to set you down, okay?”

His voice is strong and sure. The cadence and tone are calming, just like Kisten”s. It makes me want to cry. How can I miss someone I don”t even know? The time in the cage twisted my mind. Conjuring fantasies of Kisten rescuing me and us living a happy life together. Even the dreams of him violently killing the people who kept me a slave were beautiful.

”Okay,” I whisper.

He sets me on my feet, releasing his hold slowly like he”s unsure if he can trust me not to lash out again. I wish I had the energy to do so, but I don”t. Hell, I can barely even keep my eyes open. I”m completely at his mercy from this moment on. When he fully releases me, my body sways. Before I can fall, he picks me up like I”m a bride and carries me to the bed. I whimper when he sets me down on the soft mattress. He steps away, and I get my first look at his face.

My eyes widen in shock and fill with hot tears.

”K-Kisten?”

His name is barely a whisper. A question, not a statement. A prayer. A hope. A dream I never dared to dream.

”Hello again, beauty.”

”H-how are you here?”

”It”s a long story that we don”t have time for. We need to find a way to get you guys out of here along with the four other women sold tonight.”

Lexis gasps. ”Y-you”re helping us?”

He turns his attention to her. ”Yes. I came here to observe and plan. When I saw my girl on the auction block, I couldn”t leave without her. This was supposed to be a standard auction. I would”ve been able to track the girls afterward and rescue them. That plan is fucked, and now I have to figure out how to get you all out and past security without being caught.”

”I can help…” Lexis says. ”I know how to move around the mansion without getting caught.”

”What about the girls in the other rooms? Are they all coded to just our member number?” he asks.

She bites her lip. ”Yes… but the back doors aren”t.” She points towards the door I was shoved through. ”Those lead to a separate hallway and open with a key fob from the other side.”

”How do we get through that door from in here?”

She chews on her lip as she thinks. ”You could knock on it? There should be a guard in the hallway monitoring the doors since they are occupied. He has the key fob that will work for all the doors in the entire mansion. If you get that, we can get out of here easily.”

Kisten thinks it over, then nods his agreement. ”It”s a good plan. It”s imperative that I don”t get caught.”

”It will work,” Lexis says confidently.

Kisten turns to me and smiles. ”I”m going to get you out of here, beauty.”

I nod, tears filling my eyes. I can”t let myself believe this is really happening. Maybe I”m already dead, and this is heaven… I can”t think of a better version of heaven than being saved by Kisten. He reaches out and gently tucks my hair behind my ear. His dark eyes are warm and reassuring.

”Stay strong for me a little longer, my beautiful fighter.”

”Okay,” I whisper.

His big hand cups my cheek for a moment, then it”s gone, and I”m left wondering if his touch is real or imagined. At this point, I”m still not convinced this is really happening. I could still be in that dark room, locked in a cage, with my mind playing cruel tricks on me.

He stands and goes to the wall with doors and drawers. He enters his code and starts looking through them. He pulls some clothes from the drawers and carries them to the bed. These clothes are obviously meant for roleplay because the first thing he picks up is a frilly French maid dress. He tosses the dress to Lexis, and she quickly puts it on. He rifles through the clothes and lets out a frustrated growl.

Without a word, he goes to the bathroom door and enters his code. I can”t see him but hear him opening and closing cabinets and drawers. A minute later, he comes out with a small bundle of clothes. He hands them to me, and I notice they are men”s clothes. It”s a simple black t-shirt, gray sweatpants, and socks. It”s the most clothes I”ve been given in six years. I”ve spent my days either naked, in lingerie, or in the ugly dresses we”re allowed during off time at Mecca.

I finger the soft fabric of the t-shirt and have to fight back irrational tears. I”ve been through so much since I was taken and haven”t broken, yet a t-shirt and pair of pants have me ready to break down.

”Get dressed, beauty. We need to move.”

I choke back my tears and stand. Even though Kisten has seen me completely naked up close and personal already, and this dress is entirely see-through, stripping in front of him feels too intimate. He only watches long enough to confirm I”m changing clothes before he goes back to rifling through the cabinets. I dress quickly. I have to roll the legs of the pants up and tighten the drawstring so they don”t fall down.

”Are there cameras in the hall?” he asks Lexis.

She shakes her head. ”No cameras. They only use guards to keep an eye on things. They don”t want to chance someone getting access to camera feeds. Whoever runs the business is paranoid.

”An incredibly stupid person. Especially since they hire imbeciles to work security. Both things will work to our advantage. What about staff other than security?”

Lexis shakes her head. ”None. The mansion girls do everything here. Free labor.”

Kisten”s eyes darken, and I see unbridled rage burning deep inside him. It speaks to something dark inside me. The part of me that”s spent hours and hours imagining the deaths of every man and woman who has touched me since I was taken. Not just their deaths but being the one to kill them… slowly. I should probably be scared of those thoughts. It”s not normal to fantasize about killing people. I honestly don”t care. My view of normal and socially acceptable is so skewed that I”m not even sure I”ll be able to be normal. I”ve been irrevocably changed since I was taken.

I never had a chance to escape before. Now that it”s in front of me, I”m equal parts terrified and excited. What the fuck am I going to do when I”m free? Do I want to go home to my dad? What if I can”t be who he wants me to be anymore? There”s no going back to what I was. I know that without a doubt. I”m fucked up beyond repair. I can see well-meaning people pushing me to work through my trauma with a therapist. Offering me medication to numb my brain from all the horrors I”ve survived.

Honestly, that sounds dangerously alluring.

I could medicate it all away. That”s not what I want, though. I don”t want to forget anything because if I do, I”ll lose the desire for revenge. I won”t just melt back into society and pretend nothing happened. I have no idea how, but I”m going to find my past owners and make them pay before I burn Mecca and this damn mansion to the ground.

Maybe Kisten will help. I still don”t know why he”s here, which is something I definitely need to get to the bottom of before I ask him for assistance. The fact that he”s helping Lexis and is making plans to help the four girls who were sold tonight, too, says a lot about his character. I instinctually knew that night at Mecca that he was a good man. I shouldn”t have felt safe with him, and yet I did—do.

Kisten walks towards me and sets several items on the bed. My stomach turns when I see an assortment of knives, a scalpel, three different kinds of rope, duct tape, and two ball gags. Seeing the things those cabinets hid makes me want to puke. Imagining what could have been done to me if Kisten hadn”t bought me has my entire body trembling.

I must make a noise because his attention turns to me. His jaw clenches, and he looks pissed. I take a step back, and he lets out a low growl. His hand strikes out, and I wince, waiting for an impact that never comes. Instead, he grabs my arm firmly but gently and pulls me into him.

”It”s okay, beauty. You”re safe now. I swear to you. I would cut my own hand off before I ever hurt you,” he murmurs, running his strong hands down my back in a soothing motion.

It”s been so long since a man has touched me with any kindness that my brain is short-circuiting. I enjoyed his warmth and the safety of his hold that night at Mecca, but I was also terrified of the repercussions of him intervening. I was worried he would get into trouble and what my punishment would be.

His arms around me are so much better than the fantasies my brain came up with during my time in the dark. I let myself relax into his hold, allowing myself to trust someone for the first time in years. Georgie is the only person I felt safe to be vulnerable around, but I also knew she would do anything she was told, including betraying me. It wouldn”t have been personal. In our position, you do what you must to survive. I feel like a jerk for thinking it, but Georgie is weak, and it wouldn”t take much for her to spill any and all secrets.

I take a deep breath and steel my spine. I can”t fall apart now. I need to be strong for a while longer, as Kisten said. I can break down later when we”re all safely out of this hellhole. I step away from him and pull up my proverbial big girl panties.

He picks up one of the knives and hands it to me, hilt first. My hand shakes as I reach out to take it. When I wrap my fingers around the hilt, I relax. I have a weapon. A real means to fight back and do some damage. Kisten picks up another knife and hands it to Lexis, who looks a little green. She seems uncomfortable holding the knife, and I worry that she might be a hindrance in our escape if she can”t get over her squeamishness.

I”ve never actually hurt anyone with a blade, but I have practiced some close combat stuff with training knives with one of my dad”s friends, who is ex-military. I only had a few training sessions before I was taken, but I”m confident I can hold my own as long as my strength holds out. Exhaustion is my biggest worry right now. I exerted a lot of energy fighting Kisten. I need sleep and food. I force those needs to the back of my mind. Right now, I need to focus on survival and getting the fuck out of here.

”You two go into the bathroom. Don”t come out. I”ll come get you when it”s safe,” Kisten says firmly.

We both go into the bathroom without arguing. We”re quiet as we listen to Kisten”s footsteps then him knocking loudly on the door. It”s silent for what feels like hours before there is a beeping sound followed by the snick of a lock disengaging. A deep male voice sounds but is quickly cut off. There is a bit of a scuffle before a low grunt, then silence.

My heart beats almost painfully in my chest. What if Kisten is hurt? What will happen to us if he”s injured? Could we escape on our own? One look at Lexis makes me think not. Kisten is the only hope we have of getting out of here. We need him.

The dangerous thought that I need him flits through my mind. As dangerous as it is, it”s undeniable. He saved me from Todd, and the memory of him built into fantasies that kept me sane during my time in the cage. I know my thoughts aren”t based on reality as much as hopes and dreams I have no right to have.

A minute later, the bathroom door opens, and Kisten is revealed as wearing a mask. It”s not the same one he was wearing before. This one is a typical mask you”d see in a BDSM club like Mecca. It”s not scary like his other mask. That one is completely terrifying.

It was unsettling to not be able to see his eyes beyond the mask when he first entered the room earlier. The mask itself would scare most. Kisten”s imposing size added to the fear factor. He looked like a demon straight from Hell. A little thrill goes through my veins now that I know who was behind that mask. If he”s a demon, he”s my demon right now, and if we weren”t in a life-or-death situation, I would take a minute to analyze why that makes my heart pound and my core tighten. Both are wholly new feelings for me, and I don”t totally hate them.

”Let”s go,” he commands.