Chapter 4
4
ROWAN
M y head hung to the side as my consciousness returned gradually. It was hard to keep my eyes open, but I forced myself to focus. My arms were numb, but after a few tries I found that the feeling was gradually coming back. Using my arms, I pulled against my restraints trying to break free.
My back was pressed against a cold wall and my wrists were tightly held above my head leaving my bare chest open and vulnerable. Where is my shirt? My memory was fuzzy, but I vaguely remembered being drugged by Jason and dragged away from Charlotte as she screamed. They were shocking her, a fucking shock collar they use now, making it impossible to run. Even if she had the chance, she couldn’t take it.
The shackles around my wrists dug in the more I moved, forcing me to put weight on my legs and push my body up the wall as far as I could to get a little relief. I was sore all over, and my eyes stung with impending tears over what happened. Think. Rowan. Think.
I didn’t know how much time had passed or what they had already done to Lottie, but I had to figure out a way to escape and find her. Before I could clear my head enough, Walker opened the door and walked through, followed by Jason.
“Where is she?” I slurred.
They ignored me and a pained scream ripped through my gritted teeth, sounding off the walls of the room. Jason was fiddling with something in his hands, before handing it to someone who was standing just outside the door. Then he followed Walker approaching a table against another wall. The table was covered in various instruments, and I knew this to be the area where Jason conducted his interrogations.
My vision was still out of focus, right now all the movements danced around together in shadowy wisps, so it was hard to tell what Jace kept on his table, but I could tell that most of them were shiny, silver, and probably sharp. My heart pounded against my ribcage as he paced in front of the instruments, perusing his options.
I blinked a few more times before asking again. “Jason, where is Lottie?”
Walker approached the table and my head snapped up trying to focus on what he was saying. The two whispered something between themselves, and then Walker spoke loudly.
“Put that mask on him,” he ordered viciously. Mask? What mask?
My eyes bulged as Walker?spoke, trouble was coming, and I had no idea what it was, they never used any sort of mask on me in the past. I was prepared, and?accepted things for what they were. Walker was using devices and methods that purely brought pain. I could handle the physical pain, it’s almost like riding a bike; it was the psychological torture that worried me. Jason shrugged and stalked toward me with it.
“Get away from me,” I said roughly, trying to disguise the fear in my voice.
Throwing my head back, feeble attempts were made to stop him, and I growled as he took a fistful of my hair, forcing me to stay in place so he could tightly?fit it around my face. Pulling at the restraints desperately trying to reach and get it off of my head, I started to panic, my heavy breaths causing sweat to form and condensation to build up around the eyes.
As Jace worked fiddling with the dial that seemed to control the airflow, Walker paced over to me nodding that it was time to begin.
“Rowan, I’ve waited so long for this,” he began. Jason turned the dial and all the air was sucked out of the mask. I gasped for breath as he continued. “Do you know why?”
My lungs burned and I gasped trying to hold on to what little air I had; thrashing my head around as darkness swam in my vision. In my struggle he answered his own question. “That’s right. I’m doing this because you betrayed me. You betrayed the family crest, and I can’t let you get away with this.”
The dial clicked, releasing air back into my burning lungs. I sucked in lungful after lungful of air, taking in as much as I could before the dial turned again and I lost my breath. Dizziness overtook me, and I pulled on the chains, like it would help bring the oxygen back into my lungs. I have to stay alive. Gasp . I promised . The bubbling started in my lungs, and I felt vomit coming forward, threatening to spill out. I wouldn’t be able to last much longer if we kept this up, though they had only begun.
“More than that, Rowan, I can’t have you parading around with the Bennetts. I can’t just allow you full access to the most sought-after woman in the world right now.”
I looked at Walker in confusion, my silence spoke volumes as my body worked hard.
He chuckled at my clueless expression. “I didn’t think you’d know what I was talking about. We’ve been capitalizing on these videos of Charlotte for years now, thanks to these sites, I even saved some of them for myself. She’s got quite the price on her head, and I can’t wait to see what sort of things will be done to that beautiful body. But first, I want to have my way with your Princess.”
Air returned to my mask, and I sucked in a deep breath, calling all my energy to growl my frustrations at Walker's little speech.
“Don’t you touch her, you fucking pig!” I croaked.
Snapping his fingers at Jason, he gave the approval and the dial clasped shut again, sweeping the air away from my lungs once more. I felt like passing out, but I knew Walker wouldn’t allow that, he wanted his victims to feel every part of the process, breaking you mentally; then physically.? “Oh, Rowan. I just can’t wait to see your anger bubble to the surface as I take her over and over again,” Walker said, stepping closer to me with each word.
He was close enough to strike, so I lashed out. I headbutted him hard and narrowed my eyes?as he grunted stumbling backward holding his bloodied nose. I smirked as air returned to the mask.
“Try me,” I challenged, though I knew I was in no position to make a threat.
I’m going to survive this, I have to. She's counting on me, and I will find her. Bracing myself against my restraints, I screamed into the mask and took short breaths as the dial flicked, but my air never returned.
Charlotte
My eyelids felt heavy, and I struggled to open them, groggy beyond belief. I finally pried them open, and?stared up at the ceiling. Where am I? The ceiling was drab and gray, unfinished with beams crossing the wide expanse of space. Bright white lights lit the space and gave the already dark ceiling an eerie look. The air billowed past me gently, caressing my bare skin, and I suddenly got the sense that I wasn’t as safe as my dream led me to believe.
My head began to pound relentlessly, beating like a drum against my skull. Turning my head in any direction proved almost impossible, and as my eyes came into focus, I saw my arms stretched out above me and tied with what I felt was a ridiculous amount of rope.
My wrists were bound tight, and they became numb as I stared at them, trying to wiggle free with as little energy as I could. My head still felt heavy which meant for the time being lifting it to survey further was just not going to happen. My legs were the same, the ropes tied around my aching thighs suspending me into the air. I swallowed, but the motion was stopped in its tracks by the gag that was placed in my mouth.
I fought too much, and they gagged me like an animal, a piece of leather across my face strapped tightly in the back, my hair flowed over it in waves. My jaw was forced painfully open by the “O” ring and a bar that cut into my tongue as it was pushed down. I wished they would allow me some peace from the collar that remained trapped around me. It hurts . What did I do to deserve this?
Memories of being dragged down the basement stairs returned to me, and my mixed emotions plagued me, anger for being so naive, fear for what my life had or would become. The worst pain being the early loss of my father, I hadn't been able to even mourn him yet, and Rowan; Jason told me to say goodbye and I feared for him.
Most of all, I felt frustrated for being so helpless. The Walker’s had infiltrated the house without warning and gathered all my men, killing them in cold blood for not accepting to follow such a dark, evil family.
They’d taken Rowan away and I couldn't get the image out of my mind.
After what they would do to you, death would be a sweet release… His words echoed in my head as I realized my clothes had been stripped away, and when I was finally able to gather the strength to lift my head, I saw that my legs were spread open, offering a clear view of myself to the door that gaped open.
Lacey Walker was standing in the doorway picking at her perfectly manicured fingernails.
“Glad to see you’ve finally woken up,” she said, stepping into the room. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
I pulled at my restraints again, unable to contain the urge to punch her square in the nose. The numbness spread from my wrists down to my shoulders as I fought against the thick material. If I wasn't gagged, Lacey would get way worse than what she got in Hawaii.
“I wouldn’t even try,” she said, stepping closer. “Those restraints are tighter than they should be, and you’re not going anywhere. Now, I’d like to talk a little bit, woman to woman.”
She reached her hand out to touch me, and I shied away. She ran her fingers over my abdomen, gently scraping her fingernails over my skin, causing goosebumps to form and giggled.
“I just came from seeing my father. Rowan looks so good now, doesn’t he? Now that he’s not a junkie, I mean. It's nice to see him tied up for a change, at someone's mercy,” she said, licking her lips. “I can’t wait until Daddy lets me have my turn to have fun. I promise I'll make him feel so good.”
Junkie, I fucking hate that word. He needed help, and they kept hurting him . I bucked against her, trying to tell her to get her filthy hands off of me, but she only continued her stroking.
“You really bruised me up in Hawaii, you know.”
Good… I thought venomously. “And I’m going to make you pay for it. And then I’m going to let you hang here and listen to Rowan’s groans of pleasure as I ride his cock, bringing him to climax over and over again.” She giggled. “Well, you know, during that little bit of time he has to breathe after my Daddy tortures him.”
My body went limp at the thought and a frustrated screech erupted from my throat. I wished I could escape and free us both. As I looked around, desperate for any clues on escape, two men walked through the door and flanked Lacey, waiting for her command.
She pointed at something that I couldn’t see, and they set to work. I turned my head to watch them, which proved difficult given the position I was in. It looked like they were preparing something in a needle and my mind flashed back to what happened to Roe in my father’s study.
As they approached me with it, I screamed through my gag and tried to pull away, but one of them grabbed me, and held my swinging body steady, while the other jabbed the needle into my neck without remorse for the pain being caused as it pierced my skin.
Lacey grinned. “Relax, Charlotte. What they’re giving you is going to make you feel good,” she said.
She circled?around me as her men took their place against the wall and waited.? Through my mind was in a panic, I felt my heartbeat begin to slow and my whole body felt heavy. Lacey was right; whatever I was given made my panicked, tense muscles relax and I became groggy, my hands relaxing and dropping painfully against the ropes.
“She's ready,” she said, motioning for the men to approach once more.
In the blink of an eye they handled me, each one grabbing hold of a leg and spreading me open wider. I didn’t struggle, and I chalked that up to whatever they injected me with. Feeling drowsy, I let my eyelids droop, not caring about whatever was going to happen. It’s not like I could stop it.
Just as I was about to succumb to heavenly sleep, I heard something vibrate and it touched my clitoris, massaging gently. My eyes shot open, and I pushed against the men holding me, trying to get away. But Lacey stayed with me, standing between my legs with a devilish grin on her face.
“You like that?” she asked, rubbing circles over my clit. I stifled a moan and squeezed my eyes shut. “Let’s turn this up a notch then.”
Shaking my head denying the pleasure, she ignored me and turned up the volume, and the sudden increase in intensity sent the most delicious sensation coursing through my body. This isn't right.
I couldn’t stop myself from grinding against the object she pressed into me, and I felt my face heat as I realized she was going to make me come. I could feel the heat run across my abdomen, my wetness coating the vibrator, and I groaned loudly against the gag in my mouth, embarrassed that my body was betraying me like this. I don't want it, yet my body craves more.
“This is getting interesting,” Lacey said, amused at the humiliation she was causing me. “I think you need more.”
She ran her free hand down the inside of my thigh toward my opening, and I tried to object once more, my body writhing and fighting against the men who held me, begging her to stop. She slid two fingers inside me and fucked them into me resting the vibrator on her palm, allowing it to press against me every time her fingers moved.
Giving up a losing battle, I lost control letting the orgasm build within me. My head dropped back onto the chest of one of the men who was grinning back at me, and I couldn't help but moan at the combination of her fingers and the vibrator as they sent me careening over the edge.
But Lacey didn’t let up, and I knew what was coming, only one person being able to pull it from me until now. She continued her onslaught of pleasure and tears streamed down my face as she forced the buildup of another that crashed harder than the others. I felt something wet course down my ass as my cunt pulsed feeling empty, hearing it drip onto the floor as she brought me to a third orgasm.
“Wow, Charlotte. I didn’t know you had that in you. No wonder Rowan fell in love with you,” Lacey commented, and suddenly her touch was gone, and the vibrating stopped.
I sucked in breath after breath, trying to regain myself as the men released me with a grunt or whistle. My eyelids drooped again, and my body relaxed, still in its drug induced state. I allowed myself to drift off, the feel of hanging from the ceiling becoming desirable.
I could hear Lacey and her men moving around the room. Though I didn’t know what they were up to now, I didn’t really care. After what she had done, I figured humiliation was her endgame, but the jokes on her; I quite enjoyed it, the factor of fighting against it bringing a new type of pleasure. Wait what am I saying? What's happening to me?
I felt rough hands on me again, holding me tightly as Lacey pinched and rolled my nipples in her fingers. “I want to hear you scream this time, nice and loud for me,” she said, walking around to my legs.
I kept my eyes closed; I didn’t want to see her smug smile as she continued to assault me.
As I waited for the gentle touch I expected, I felt a burning sensation on my inner thigh, and before I knew it I was screaming in such an inhuman way that I didn’t even realize the guttural sound was coming from deep within me.
I arched against the pain as far as my restraints allowed, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Lacey staring down at me with a triumphant look. I glanced at what she held in her hand and had pressed roughly against my thigh; it was a long metal rod with some sort of symbol on the end.
The pain was unbearable, and I could feel my skin melting at the contact. It burned, and fire spread along my leg.
I just wanted her to stop, but she held it there. “This is the family crest, Charlotte. I’m putting this here, so Rowan knows exactly who you belong to,” she said smugly.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene unfolding in front of me as redness faded slowly to black, my breaths were sharp, and a choked sob left me every time I tried to exhale. When she finally decided to remove it, a chunk of dead skin peeled off with it, and as I stared at the bloody, gaping hole in my leg, I slipped beneath the surface.