33. Soren
Soren
W aking up in bed alone isn’t a huge deal.
I’ve done it all my life, never having had to share the space with a brother or friends during sleepovers. There were no bunk beds for me, either. Just solitude, cool sheets, room to starfish.
Girlfriends, if they were long-term, went back to their places for the night. I never extended the invitation to stay, and if they asked, generally they found themselves distanced, respectfully, in the days that followed.
But waking up alone when I don’t have to, when the girl I’m screwing is across the hallway in her own bed and I actually want to feel her with me, makes no sense.
Why would Gilli want to sleep alone?
I turn on my side, burrowing deeper into the covers, caught in the state between asleep and awake. My teeth grind together, my beard itches, and my cock can’t decide if it’s time to rest or to try its luck warming inside of her.
It should bother me that Gilli trotted off to fuck Tase. I should be jealous or pissed off. One of those two normal and rational reactions.
Or is it better not to care, because she’s not in a relationship with me. Or Aiden for that matter, even though both of us took our turns with her yesterday. She’s single without strings attached. Exactly the way I want it to be.
But she’s my goddamn stepsister, an inner voice insists. Like I need the reminder.
I’ve already gone too far as it is.
My fingers curl underneath the pillow and I yawn. There’s no jealousy, I think hazily. Only a quiet sort of contentment. The three of us have been a unit for a long time. It makes sense to find a woman who fits in seamlessly with us. Who doesn’t mind having us at the same time.
Why haven’t I considered it before?
Did it have to be her?
Yeah, I guess it did.
My mind fills with the memories of Gilli’s cries of ecstasy, the way her face flushes when she’s gagging on my cock. It’s enough to shoot me straight into wakefulness and engorge said cock so that I’m already hard and ready for her.
Fuck me.
I roll onto my back, my dick tenting my pants. I half consider touching myself, getting myself off. But in my head I’m hearing Gilli crying. Is she crying for joy, emotional after having been completely satisfied? My imagination feeds my ego that I am the one who moves her to tears?—
Wait. It’s not just in my head. Gilli is crying, the sound distinct and desperate, frantic, not crying for joy but from terror. Sitting bolt upright, my eyes jolt open, my heart beating a million miles an hour.
Why the hell is she crying? What’s wrong ?
I’m out of bed like a shot, striding out of my room.
The sound is coming from the living room and there are no lights on.
What time is it? Still nighttime, apparently.
Still dark outside, but the glow from the moon casts slanted rays of silver across the floor.
A dark shape is huddled on the couch. Alarm splinters through my system loud and clear.
“Gilli? What’s going on? ”
The words barely leave my lips before agony explodes along my jaw.
Off balance, I lurch forward, catching myself at the last moment and turning just in time to accept another punch to my face for my efforts.
It takes half a second to realize what’s going on, and when I do, it’s too late. The three men are in motion, one on either side and the other with his hand squeezing Gilli’s shoulder.
Her terrified cries turn to an outraged sob.
I work my jaw and stop. The pain is annoying. Mostly because I didn’t expect it.
A hand clamps down on the back of my neck, the dude on the right forcing me down to my knees. The other steps behind me and wrenches my arms back despite my struggles. He pulls them damn near close to dislocation and lashes my wrists together with zip ties.
“This might have been avoided,” a silky male voice says, sounding like it’s spoken through a funnel, “if she hadn’t tried to run. But you did, didn’t you, sweetheart?”
Gilli gasps through whatever gag they’ve wrapped around her mouth before a soft thud of flesh on flesh sounds. I look up as her head snaps to the side.
The man in a ghost mask chuckles. “You thought you’d be ready for me.” He slowly tilts his head, facing me. “You might have been, if she’d decided to stay. No one can say for certain.”
She…what?
Gilli’s weepy eyes meet mine, full of useless apology. She’s lost her glasses. A red line across the bridge of her nose shows where they used to be. They’ve got her bound with a dark piece of fabric, a second piece over her mouth.
She tried to run .
It was a thought in my mind that she might attempt to bolt. I just didn’t plan on how it would feel to come face to face with the realization .
I glare at Gilli, working my arms, but there’s no getting out of the zip ties. She left us. She just ran without even a goodbye.
My objectivity is screwed.
The plastic bites into my wrists as the goons haul me up to my feet.
“He is a tough one, isn’t he? We’ve been watching you for a few days now,” the masked man purrs. “You chose well for your protector, sweetheart. And we can certainly use someone like him.”
The pain obliterates any last dregs of drowsiness. I gnash my teeth when Mask trails a gloved hand along my jaw.
“The tattoos and the hair…he’ll bring in sick cash,” one of the grunts adds.
Though I show no outward signs, my nostrils flare, and my pulse kicks into hyper drive.
I lash out with an attempt at a roundhouse kick, but my kick goes wide, giving them ample opportunity to force me back down to the floor. They slam me down on my stomach and the one on the right shoves his knee against my side to drive the air out of my lungs while the other moves to my feet.
“He’s tough, too,” Mask adds. “This is payday for us, boys. A two for one special.”
The goon on the left snickers and binds my ankles extra tight for good measure. Immediately my toes start to tingle from decreased circulation.
“Leave her alone,” I mumble. “Don’t fucking touch her. You want me, fine, but?—”
“Leave her alone? No, I don’t think so. Not when she needs to be taught a lesson.” Mask clucks his tongue. “No one gets away from me. Not once I’ve decided to bestow my generosity on them. She tried to hide.”
Gilli sobs against the gag.
“She doesn’t need your goddamn generosity,” I grind out .
Where is Aiden?
This isn’t the plan. We anticipated a healthy forewarning, if the stalker chose to show himself, but this is ridiculous.
The goon leans the bulk of his weight into my back and I groan as agony spreads through my vertebrae.
“It’s too bad she didn’t take me up on my offer the first time,” Mask says, tilting his head to the ceiling, working his shoulders. “It would have gone so much easier for everyone involved if she had.”
I catalog his movements, his size. Mask isn’t as brutishly tall as his hired muscle, but he’s no breakable twig either. He’s got a few inches of height on me and a lethal knife at his side.
Mask shifts forward to trail his gloved fingers across her cheeks. Gilli jerks back to avoid the touch but he anticipates the movement and follows her, cooing in the back of his throat.
“So beautiful. You’ve always been so beautiful. If only you followed commands.”
“What do you want from us?” I bark.
Mask chuckles and straightens. “I have everything I want. You’ve made it easy for me.”
My stomach drops. This maniac is in my house. He’s got me and Gilli by the balls, and as hard as I try to loosen my wrists and ankles, the zip ties are so tight they’ve got no give. The plastic heats and burns, digging into my skin.
I’m on the edge of panic, teetering. How are we getting out of this?
Wherever Aiden is, sleeping or tied up or whatever, it’s ludicrous to wait for him to make a move. Then again, if I try any kind of heroic attempt, they might just shoot us and be done. Right now, I’m banking on their necessity for keeping both of us in good condition.
Things can change on a dime .
I’m not sure why they want us, although the sinking feeling in my gut says it’s nothing good.
So what’s the next move? How do I get out of this when I can’t move?
Gilli is crying, unable to control herself, and my head is still spinning from the punches.
“What’s that, beautiful? You want to say something? If you promise not to scream then I’ll remove the gag.” Mask pauses for a moment and I crane my head up to watch him slip the cloth off her mouth.
Tears streak along her cheeks, her lower lip trembling. “Please don’t hurt him.”
Well, fuck. Her first thought is for me?
I try to catch her attention, to tell her silently to forget me and to get out, to run if she can.
“Oh, honey, why would I hurt my merchandise? You’ve given me a gift far greater than what I anticipated. Not only your skills, but him. Both of you are here just for me.”
“You said you were going to kill me ,” she breathes.
Acid churns in my stomach. He said that to her?
“There are times when a change of plans is necessary.”
Mask snaps his fingers, and the pressure eases off my back. I buck, flailing at the ties, only to have the second brute step down on my spine, the tip of his boot between my shoulder blades.
I grit my teeth. This wasn’t supposed to happen. What good are cameras and security if people like this breeze right inside?
The other dude returns shortly with what looks like a tripod and a ring light.
“Set up over by the sliding glass door, if you please,” Mask directs. “I think we’ll be able to utilize the space nicely. Draw the curtain, of course. We want to make the most of the angles without the neighbors watching. Oh, right.” He turns to me. “What neighbors? ”
“You piece of shit,” I spit out. “You’re not getting away with this.”
“Such fire, such bravado.”
“I’ll shove both of those things right up your ass until you choke on them.”
Mask chuckles and says, “We’ll see who is going to be choking when we’re done.”