13
LORY
FREE WILL
I want to cry, not for myself, but for Hyde. For all his brokenness and the hurt he carries deep in his soul. For the innocent little boy, he was at some point and the man he could have become.
Life can be so hard. It’s been hard for me, but I’m lucky that I had a grandmother who kept me out of trouble. My past trauma lurks behind me, sometimes creeping closer, but it doesn’t have me hooked in the gut like Hyde’s.
I hate that name. It’s not his real one; it’s just a stupid nickname someone gave him to highlight his volatility. He swings between light and dark so quickly it’s given me whiplash, but now he’s sated as he rests his head on my chest, sucking my nipple softly.
He cried with regret at the way he was with me, but I wasn’t angry with him, not in the way I would have been if Kinkaid or Rock treated me the same. His goodness is bright beneath the pendulum swing of his emotions. He doesn’t always know what he’s doing but has a moral core that will show him the way. He just needs a little nudge in the right direction, and I’m happy to give it to him. I need to keep myself safe in this place.
I thread my fingers through Hyde’s hair, careful not to touch his back or thighs. I have a sense of what’s back there, and it must be bad enough for him to want to hide it. I’d stay this way for as long as he needs me to, but when I hear the code being tapped into the door and voices in the hall, Hyde flinches and raises his head like a meerkat, sensing trouble.
Maybe he recognizes the voice, or maybe he’s just ready to disengage, but he’s up and off the bed, tucking away his dick. “Stay here,” he says gruffly, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
I quickly dress as the rumble of voices gets louder. I’m just adjusting the waistband of my leggings when the door is thrown open.
A man I don’t recognize, wearing a guard uniform, ducks his head in. In his hand, a baton swings menacingly. When he catches sight of me, his eyes bug open, and then a slow, sly grin twists his rat-like features. “What do we have in here?” He bangs the baton against the door, and I flinch.
“Nothing that you need to worry about,” Hyde growls from behind.
“There’s a woman in an all-male prison, a woman in a room that stinks of sex, and you don’t think I should be worried about it?”
“I’m here of my own free will,” I say, desperate to defuse the situation. Behind the man, Kinkaid’s face comes into view, his eyes frantically searching for me.
“Free will or not, you shouldn’t be here.”
“You need to talk to Grady,” Kinkaid says, his expression as flat as it’s ever been. He doesn’t like this man or trust him, and I understand why. There’s a darkness about the guard’s energy, malicious intent that’s oozing from every pore. It’s there in his smirk and the way his smile doesn’t touch his eyes.
“Grady, huh? What’s that old bastard got to do with a woman and three rogue prisoners in a deserted prison wing?”
Kinkaid doesn’t answer, and Rock and Hyde stay quiet behind him, too. I guess they’re stuck, unable to spill the reason I’m here because of the risk to Grady and themselves.
“So, it’s like that.” The man approaches me, reaching out to touch a strand of my hair. His breath is stale and infested with the taint of old cigarette smoke and beer. My stomach roils.
Over his shoulder, Kinkaid fights to keep hold of his restraint. Whoever this man is, he’s in a position of authority, and messing with him isn’t worth it, but as Kinkaid’s fists flex at his sides, I sense he will if I’m threatened.
“Pretty little thing,” the man says. “You fucking these men, sweetheart?” He bends closer to me and inhales. “It smells of pussy in here.”
“Don’t…” It’s Rock’s voice this time, low and calm but laced with threat.
“You know,” the man says, “if you’re offering services down here, and Grady’s cool with it, maybe I need to get in on the act. Get myself some sweet forbidden cunt.” He circles me and I don’t move.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Wilson?” Hyde says darkly. “Sloppy fourths?” His laugh comes out maniacally, and the man flinches and steps back.
Wilson’s weasel face falls. I guess he’s not so keen to share pussy with the men he’s paid to control.
My limbs are frozen, and my eyes are wide and glued on the men vibrating with tension. When Wilson’s arm goes around my neck, I gasp and grip the flesh of his forearm as he hauls me into his body. “Maybe this bitch could be mine.”
Kinkaid and Hyde are a blur, crossing the room as Wilson tightens his grip. I choke as the bones of his forearm dig into my windpipe, and then I’m suddenly released.
I fall to the floor, my hands and knees hitting at the same time. Kinkaid’s voice behind me is cold as death. “You lay another fucking finger on her, and it won’t just be you we snuff out. It’ll be everyone you share blood and air with outside these walls. Do you understand me?”
I turn in time to watch him release Wilson, who stumbles forward, the baton flailing. I guess having it didn’t help him avoid Kinkaid’s grip.
Wilson’s eyes narrow to slits as his face flushes bright. “You’ve got nothing in this place. No control. No power. Nothing.” His hand rubs his throat, making his point mute. Kinkaid has enough power and control to free me and restrain Wilson.
Hyde offers me a hand, and I rise to my feet. I’m passed into Rock’s waiting arms and shiver against his solid form.
Wilson strides back out the door. His black boots ricochet off the floor like gunshots. Rock turns to watch what happens next.
The guard’s eyes scan the board games spread out on the table and the TV in the corner, the half-empty cans of soda, and half-eaten snacks. It looks like a scout camp down here rather than an illicit sex orgy.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” he growls, swiping some playing cards onto the floor. “I’ll be back. And you’ll be in the general population before you even blink, and then you’ll be mine.”
I shiver as the sinister undertone of his voice fills me with unease. The threat isn’t directed against me, but the prospect of this asshole having any kind of power to hurt Kinkaid, Hyde, and Rock makes me seethe.
When he’s left, it’s like he takes half the oxygen in the room with him. Hyde kicks the wall, and Kinkaid folds his arms across his chest. Rock lumbers to the door and listens to the asshole walk away. I wait for them to say something before responding myself.
Questions invade my mind. What would happen if I had to leave after only a day and a half? Would I get paid the full amount or a tiny proportion? Would I get in trouble? I need all the money to help my sister. I rub my throat. There’s no pain there, just an awareness of my fragility.
“We’re fucked.” Hyde paces back and forth, his motions jerky. “Wilson’s going to spill everything, and they’re going to take Lory away from us.”
“Warden will fix this. He has to. There’s no way he’ll let that asshole get one over on him.” Kinkaid’s confidence sounds genuine, but I suspect he’s gotten good at saying what it takes to soothe Hyde’s anxiety. But Wilson was mad, and madmen make foolish, uncalculated moves.
“What can Grady do to stop him from talking?”
“He must have something on the bastard. Wilson’s as dirty as they come. If he wants to keep his job, maybe that’ll be enough to keep him quiet. Maybe Grady will have to offer him a sweetener.”
It all sounds too easy to me, but Hyde takes it on board.
“This shit is getting expensive for Grady,” Hyde muses in response.
“It’s worth it to him. What we did doesn’t have a price.” Rock looks at me when he says it, wondering if Grady told me what they all did to deserve me. He didn’t, but now I wonder. Was it something violent? Something that should scare me? Whatever it was, it was big enough to take this massive risk.
Kinkaid’s solemn gaze shifts between me and Rock, the weight of his words hanging heavy in the air. “If Wilson spills, Lory might have to leave. Maybe you should take her to bed before that happens—if that’s okay with Lory.”
A flood of emotions rushes through me—unease, anticipation, a flicker of fear—but I nod. There’s an unspoken agreement, and when I glance at Rock, his cheeks flush. For such a big, burly man, he’s surprisingly bashful sometimes. He’s waited patiently, always the quiet protector, and it strikes me that he deserves his turn as much as any of the others. More than that, there’s something about being held by Rock’s solid, imposing form that feels like it’ll be reassuring, a fortress in human form.
I can still feel Kinkaid’s words echoing in my mind as I head back into the room I shared with Hyde, Rock following silently behind me like a mountain at my back. The weight of his presence is grounding but also intimidating. They’ll protect me if Wilson returns, but there’s more to this moment than just safety.
Wilson wasn’t wrong about the scent—there’s the unmistakable smell of sex in the room, the heat of it lingering in the air. Rock notices it too, his nostrils flaring as he breathes deeply, the intensity of his gaze on me almost palpable. He doesn’t say a word, but the way he watches me as I strip feels like a brand against my skin, burning with something deep and unspoken. He’s waited for this, maybe longer than I realized, and the tension in the room shifts as I undress.
I can sense that Rock is on edge for reasons of his own, his patience fraying, his need simmering just beneath the surface. He’s been holding back for so long, watching, waiting, and now it’s his moment. The air feels electric between us, thick with both urgency and a strange tenderness. I wonder what he’s thinking, what’s running through his mind as he watches me, knowing this could be his only chance before everything changes.
I step toward him, feeling the shift in the energy, the unspoken understanding that we’re both on the edge of something inevitable.
Will he want me to sit in his lap like I did yesterday, but this time, let him ease his cock inside me, or will he have other ideas?
When Hyde bent me over, the rush of arousal I experienced took me by surprise. I never thought I’d be the kind of woman who enjoyed being taken roughly, but there’s something deep in my psyche that finds his loss of control arousing, something I’m powerless to repress. Rock isn’t like Hyde, though. He’s big and powerful but withdrawn and careful until he gets close. Then his hands grow needier but not rough.
I’m well used between my legs but not sore. Good sex, even the rough kind, doesn’t affect me. I’m lucky that I get slick so easily, especially with the size of these men.
I’m lucky they always want to please me first.
He cups my cheek, then runs his huge rough hand down my neck and over my breast. There’s a gentleness behind the touch, despite his size, as though he’s worried he could hurt me without meaning to.
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “I won’t break.”
His espresso eyes stare into mine, searching.
“You’re so little, and I’m so big.”
“Kinkaid is big,” I remind him. “Hyde, too.”
“Yeah.” His hands span my waist, and his fingers almost reach right around me. He has the power to squeeze the life out of me if he wants. Shivers run up my spine as he draws his hands away despite the huge dick tenting his pants and the naked woman in front of him.
“Rock,” I say. “I’m a sure thing here.”
“You don’t want this.” He shakes his head, so sure. “How can you possibly want this? Fucking men in a prison basement for money.”
The back of my tongue tastes bitter at his judgment until he hangs his head, and I consider that his loathing might be turned inward. He wants something he shouldn’t want and he’s struggling to deal with it.
I take his hand and press it between my legs, knowing he’ll find me hot and wet. “Women like sex, too, Rock. And we can make our own decisions. I’m here for a reason, and you don’t need to feel bad about my motivations.”
His thick finger presses just inside me, and I shift to fuck it deeper. The pain drawing his features only worsens. “I don’t know what to do,” he says.
“Ask me if I want it.”
His eyes search mine, dark and tortured. “Do you want it?”
“Yes,” I breathe, pushing on his wrist for deeper penetration. He groans, and I almost come from the rumble of his reluctance. Maybe I need to ask him the same question.
“Do you want to fuck me, Rock?”
“Yes. Fuck yes.”
His lips remain parted, shocked that I might think otherwise. I reach for his pants, unbuttoning and shoving them down. His dick is so thick my fingers don’t reach around, but I pump him anyway, already fantasizing about being spread open by it because it’s easier to get lost in this connection between us than to focus on what’s happening outside of this room.
This is nothing like I thought it would be.
Rock should be greedy. He should be pushy. His urgency for release should obliterate any concern about my motivations. I’d understand all of that because these circumstances are fucked. But he’s worried about hurting me. He’s worried about taking from me. He’s worried about participating in something wrong.
He’s a better man than most of the guys I’ve met on the outside.
I step up on tiptoes and hook my hand around his neck. Our kiss is slow and searching, and he uses his tongue to test my receptiveness, sliding against mine in measured thrusts that mimic fucking. I remove the tie from his hair, letting it fall loose around his face, and pull back to take him in; he is so big, sexy, and powerful but conscious of his size and the damage he could do. I want him to release his binds and let go. I want to know what it’d be like to be ravished by a man who could snap me in half like a twig, so I turn and bend over the bed, sticking my ass out. This way, he’ll be able to let go without constantly checking my expression, and I’ll experience all his raw power.
He snaps on a condom, and I watch over my shoulder as he readies himself for me. His chest rises and falls fast. He’s on the brink of losing control.
His hand relishes the plumpness of my ass, and his thumbs press into my thighs, spreading my pussy open. Cool air hits my wetness before his big dick finds its home.
The bite of pain that comes with the first thrust sends a shiver of fear through me. He really could hurt me if he lost control, but his thrusts are measured as he works to open me wide enough to take his full length. The stretch is blissful enough that I close my eyes to shut out the world and languish in the push and pull of his cock and his meaty fingers pressing into my flesh.
He’s a mountain of a man but a gentle giant. A gentle giant I want to feel let go.