Chapter 7 #2
When the final note breaks, the judge who sentenced us rises slowly. The room falls silent, and he asks the question. "What do you choose, Valentina?"
The question slams through me like a blade.
My stomach curls so tight it cramps. A violent wave of dizziness rolls through me.
I clutch the chains holding the scarlet V to the point my knuckles hurt.
My vision blurs at the edges. Every instinct I have screams at me to run, to refuse, to demand another punishment, another rite, anything but this.
There is only one choice. I survive, or I die. I complete the ritual, or I easily get replaced. And I can protect Brax, or watch him bleed for my failure.
I remind myself, I've been trained by the best.
It's just humiliation. There are worse things.
I lift my chin.
The scarlet V shifts with the movement. Its gold chains tighten across my ribs.
The room leans toward me, hungry for my answer.
My knees tremble, but I force my voice to rise.
"I choose—"
The words catch. Emotion hits me harder than I ever thought it could.
Brax's eyes widen through his mask. The faintest shake of his head pleads with me to stop. But there is no reconsidering. There never was and never will be in the Underworld.
I seize what remains of my strength, bite into the wavering fear in my throat, and scream the words the Omni have demanded from me,
"I choose the Ritual of the Scarlet Hour!"
The crowd erupts. It's not in applause but a guttural roar that shakes the entire chamber. The pianist's fingers return to the keys.
Heat sweeps over my skin. The floor vibrates under my feet. The three blood-masked men step forward in unison, and everything inside me fractures.
It's not because of what the next hour holds but because Brax is still staring at me. And I wish I didn't care. I'd give anything for the entire Underworld to see me but not him.
A gold clock lowers from the ceiling behind Brax. It's close to the hour, and every tick of the second hand is loud, competing with the music and chants.
The men lift me, almost reverently, onto the leather swing. Two leather straps get lowered several feet in front of me. They each have cuffs attached and get secured to my ankles, so I'm spread open on display for Brax.
His eyes dart around, taking me in.
I look away.
"Valentina," he barks.
I blink hard and meet a dark, unhinged, heated gaze.
"There you are," he says in a calm voice.
It soothes me. I don't know why.
The clock rings three times, signaling the start of the ritual.
It's sixty minutes of my life.
A man steps forward. Another moves behind me. A third positions himself next to me.
The girls do the same to Brax, dragging their hands all over him and pressing their lips to his skin.
His jaw twitches.
A cart gets rolled next to me. It's full of gadgets. Each man grabs one.
The chants turn to long erotic ohs.
Fifteen minutes of fingers drag over our bodies. Lips touch everywhere but mouths and genitals, teasing, but not going further. Then it's game on.
The white-blonde woman skims her body down Brax's and kneels again. She takes a red-nailed finger and strokes his cock, then gets fixated with the metal. She caresses it over and over.
His erection grows. A flush rolls through his skin.
Nipple rings get placed on my chest. I zone out, focusing only on Brax's determined gaze, right as the man to the side of me pulls it, and sensation shoots right to my core.
I barely register my whimper through the music, chants, and place I'm trying to get to.
The man behind me slides his arm around my neck, bending it like a choke hold, but doesn't squeeze. His fingers grip the gold chain holding the V, reminding me of the lifetime of shame I'll now carry. His lips graze my lobe as his hand grips my ass cheek.
The one in front of me drags his finger through my pussy and then shoves two fingers inside me, pumping while circling my clit with his thumb.
I breathe through my nose, trying to quiet the sensations I don't want to feel.
Brax's expression changes.
I break his gaze, dropping mine down his taunt torso.
The redhead kisses his nipples. The one in the gold dress is bent behind him, doing something to his ass. And the white-blonde is circling her tongue around the tip of his dick.
I cringe, hating the sight of them touching him. Yet the same heat appears as when I learned about his piercing.
"Valentina!" he roars through gritted teeth.
I lift my gaze to his.
He breathes hard.
Several things get pushed into my pussy, then pulled out. The man in front of me holds glistening beads in the air and hands them to the one behind me.
Relax, I remind myself.
"Jesus, you're fucking hot," Brax mutters. His jaw twitches.
"Don't cum," I blurt out.
His hot breath comes out like fire, chest heaving.
"Please. When this is over you can cum in me," I add.
His eyes singe behind his mask.
The beads slide inside my ass as I glance at the clock.
Twenty-three minutes.
A new challenge roots itself deep inside me.
The Underworld isn't getting him tonight.
I am.
No cumming for twenty-three minutes," I tell him, even though he's allowed to orgasm.
I'm the one with the scarlet letter being punished, not him.
But everything within me wants him to wait for me.
I've waited for months for the Underworld to direct me to go to him.
There hasn't been a day my mind hasn't wandered, thinking about his cocky ass.
His eyes widen, but then his determination comes roaring back. He sniffs hard and grits out, "Twenty-three minutes, Minx."
I nod.
A tongue circles my nipples, playing with the clamps just like the woman played with Brax's piercing. I don't look down, trying not to give it any attention. And then everything gets taken up a notch.
The man behind me lowers his mouth, tonguing the bead near my entrance and gripping the chain tighter near my spine.
A vibrator gets inserted inside me. The motor's at a low speed, but I know it's only going to go up, and the sensations are already hitting me. The man thrusts it in rhythm to the music.
"She's so fucking wet," the man in front of me claims, then takes his other hand and traces the V on my chest.
"Don't you dare cum, Valentina," Brax growls.
The woman giving Brax a blow job moans loudly. "Your pre-cum tastes so good. Give me more."
My eyes dart to his cock. She's moaning feverishly and massaging his balls. Sweat drips down his torso in long streaks.
"Don't!" I warn, then gasp for breath as someone's tongue begins to work my clit.
Brax's gaze drops. Jealousy flares in his eyes.
My core heats like a match to dry wood. I blink hard. My breath turns ragged.
He warns, "If you fucking cum, I'll kill you myself, Minx!"
I try to focus on him.
"Fucking hell," he grits.
I glance at the girl going to town on him and the others.
They aren't fucking him. I am, I tell myself with renewed determination.
"How-how much time?" Brax asks.
I glance behind him. "Four and a half minutes."
He nods and clenches his jaw, staring at me.
Everything gets turned up a notch. The man eats my ass like it's his last meal. The other one licks and sucks my pussy to the point I can barely breathe. And the man in front of me puts the vibrator on full power.
I count seconds, not taking my eyes off Brax. My arousal drips down my legs, and the scent flares around us.
When the clock strikes four, the gavels get slammed against the table. The vibrator gets removed. Two men step back, along with the women. There's a grinding noise as the swing gets lowered a few feet, then another sound rips through the room.
The man behind me pushes the swing forward.
The tension on the rope gets reduced. Brax's arms lower, and he immediately reaches for me. He grabs my waist, pulls my head toward his mouth, then sinks his cock deep into me.
A feral groan escapes him. "Jesus Christ, Minx," he murmurs near my ear.
I clutch my arms around him, rocking back and forth over him, so pent up I can't last very long.
He moves my face to his as I break. His tongue slides into my mouth, muffling my cries, and my body collapses into a violent spasm.
He grunts, thrusting into me with a powerful force, and holding me against him with kisses consuming all my breath.
The adrenaline doesn't stop. It overflows into every nerve I have, creating a chaos I've never experienced before.
"Mine, Minx," he cries out in a guttural tone again, then tugs at the anal beads.
Another sensation attacks me.
His cock hardens further, then he groans. He stretches me further, battling my orgasm with his own. He tightens his hold around me, murmuring with his gaze locked on me, "Mine."