Chapter Six #2
“I don’t mind the colour of bruises, if that’s what they require,” the older man replied as he picked up my phone from the floor and placed it into his pocket.
Raking his hand through his greying blond hair, he toed me on the ground.
“You might have spied one of the more beautiful jewels at the club tonight, Ward, but I fear she will not be easy to train.”
Shaking my head from agonising wooziness, I looked up at the two men. Their long legs and overbearing shadows made dread crush me into the carpet.
Who were these bastards?
What the hell did they want?
And how did I fall so spectacularly for it?
Betrayal lodged like a knife in my chest as I looked at Henri. “How could you do this to me?”
Our eyes locked, and every shred of awareness and intrigue I felt toward him turned to ash.
How could I be so stupid?
How could I believe something existed between us when the only thing inside him was darkness—a fetid, rancid darkness stalking beneath his immaculate skin.
How did I not see it?
See the missing parts, the rotten parts?
The parts that reached out to the animalistic part of me and howled at me to run.
He showed no remorse, no regret. He shrugged as if my life was utterly inconsequential. “You’re the price I had to pay. And...I paid it.”
I sucked in a harsh breath.
I wanted to eradicate any taste from his kiss and erase that fleeting moment when he made me feel something.
That tightening in my belly.
That ridiculous, foolish flutter in my heart.
Bending over me, he cupped my chin with fingers that had the audacity to shoot fire into my veins even now. Sickening fire. Decimating fire. Fire from the devil himself.
“You’re the sacrifice I needed to make to be free.” His lips twisted with a thousand secrets. “I’m sorry. I truly am. But...it’s done now and there’s no going back. For either of us.”
Ripping my face from his hold, I pressed against the door. “I hate you.”
“I know.” He let me go and squeezed his nape. “And, unfortunately, I’ll give you plenty more reasons to hate me before I’m through.”
The older man chuckled and patted Henri on the shoulder. “I’m beginning to like you, Ward, and that’s not an easy thing to accomplish.” Throwing a glance at the man who’d remained by the bar, he nodded. “Okay, Roland. I accept your suggestion to see if Henri will fit within our circle.”
Henri stiffened. He tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace. “Is that an invitation?”
“Not quite.” The older man frowned. “Call it...a deliberation.” Pointing at me on the floor, he muttered, “You bought her for me. She’s mine to use as I please.
Within my Jewelry Box, I encourage my friends to indulge in whichever jewel entices them.
Because you’ve impressed me tonight, you can have first taste. ”
“First taste?” Henri asked.
“First fuck if you want it plainer. I know how you like to speak in black and white.”
I choked.
No.
He wouldn’t.
Not now.
Not after—
“First fuck?” Henri went fatally still. “Here? Right now?”
“She made you hard at the bar.” The older man smirked. “Might as well do something about it.”
Henri flicked me a glance before a dark cloud settled over his face. “Fine. If that gets me into your club...I’ll fuck her.”
The older man narrowed his eyes into slits. “You don’t sound enthused. I thought this was what you wanted, Ward? Why you sought me out. If it’s not, then we have a serious fucking problem.”
“No.” Balling his hands, Henri forced a grin. “Sorry, yes. I mean. I’ve spent my entire life hiding. I’m, eh, I’m not used to talking so freely about this. Not used to being free to do this.”
“You can be honest with him, Henri,” the large-bellied man said. “Go on, you’ve got this far. Don’t clam up now.”
“Yes, go on.” The older man crossed his arms. “You were honest in the nightclub; I expect you to be honest now. What do you want? What do you want to do to her now you’ve stolen her?”
For a tattered heartbeat, Henri didn’t reply.
Finally, his grey eyes darted to mine and he cleared his throat.
“I want to strip her and feast on every inch of her delicious skin. I want to wrap her in ropes and lock her in chains so she can’t run.
I want...” Closing his eyes, he growled, “I want her to scream like she did as I dragged her through the dancers, only this time...I want that scream to be because I’m deep, deep inside her, riding her, fucking her, showing her without a shadow of a fucking doubt that she belongs to me and I’ll never let her go. ”
My lungs seized.
He opened his eyes.
I tumbled into his torment.
My tears welled with terror as the older man chuckled.
“Excellent. It’s settled then. Fuck her like you own her and we’ll see what’s left of you when you’re through.
” Clapping his hands, he returned to the bar and picked up his glass.
Pressing a button beside the beer taps, the red carpet in the middle of the room rolled back.
A trapdoor opened.
A narrow table shot upright.
A table with cuffs dangling on chains and a leather strap with a heavy bronze buckle in the middle.
No.
No!
Shooting to my feet, I yanked on the door with all my strength. “Let me out. Anyone! Help!”
Come on.
Open. Open!
It didn’t so much as creak.
The leader raised a toast. “Strap her down, bind her tight, spread her legs, and fuck her. Fuck her like you’ve wanted to fuck but never could. I want to hear her scream, Ward. Prove to me you are what you say you are, and you may spend the weekend at my estate.”
I lost myself as self-preservation kicked in.
I ran.
This door might be locked, but...there could be others. I bolted around the room, my boots flashing in the many mirrors, my black hair streaming behind me.
Please.
There has to be a way out.
There has to be—
A strong arm lashed around me, catching me mid-flight.
“No! Let go of me!”
I didn’t think.
I just fought.
Fast and furious, I struck and pummelled, kicked and scratched.
I screamed as Henri plucked me from my feet and carried me squirming and thrashing to the table.
He didn’t speak.
He didn’t let me go.
With inhuman strength, he pressed me flat on my belly on the table. I tried to punch him, but he merely snatched one wrist and snapped the cuff around me before imprisoning the other.
In a few short moments, he’d overpowered me, trapped me, and proven just how wrong I was about everything.
Tears burned the back of my throat as I tried to stand. The cuffs kept me bent over the table, the edge of the wood digging against my hips, teetering me on my tiptoes.
The debasement.
The awful, awful sensation of being held down against my will.
“Let me go,” I hissed, squirming in the cuffs. “Please.”
“I told you before...I can’t.” His hot breath wafted over my ear as he folded himself over me, pinning me against the table. The iron rod in his trousers pressed right against my ass.
I moaned.
I couldn’t help it.
It was a moan of helplessness, sheer fury, and absolute despair.
His voice soaked into my heart, almost silent and just for me. “Our deal still stands. It’s just...complicated.”
“Fuck you!” I threw my head back, striking his nose.
“Ow,” he cursed, pulling away and prowling around me.
One hand nursed his bruised nose, the other trailed over my back, sending shivers through my blood.
His finger skated along every rib and every bead of my spine.
A caress. A marking. The most sickening, mind-twisting touch of my entire stupid, short life.
“Let me go!” I struggled to keep track of him as he circled me again.
Coming to a stop behind me, he folded his dominating weight over me. Wedging his erection firmly against my crack, he breathed, “I’ll do what I can to protect you, okay? Just...don’t fight me. I can’t promise I won’t snap if you fight back.”
My eyes flew to the two men muttering together as Henri’s weight vanished. His powerful hands landed on my hips, his thumbs digging into my flesh with a possessive pinch full of ownership and tyranny.
I wanted to curse him in every language, but my throat resembled a sandpit. I tried to buck my hips to remove his touch, but he merely clamped his hands around me, pressing me against the table. The lowest, blackest groan echoed in his chest. “I said...don’t fight.”
Every hair on my body stood to attention.
I couldn’t catch a proper breath as he ducked his knees and placed his right hand on the inside of my thigh. “Just...lie there and be quiet. I won’t hurt you. You have my word. It’s just sex. That’s it. You were prepared to fuck me for a million euros...I’m only taking what you offered.”
“I didn’t offer anything. I agreed to see where the night took us, you bastard.”
“And this is where it took us.” He groaned. “To motherfucking hell.”
I wriggled against him, trying to escape his invading fingers. “Don’t do this.”
“I’ll be quick.” He chuckled blackly. “You have no fucking idea how quick I’ll be. How hard I am—”
“Get off me.” I kicked him. My sharp heel connected with his ankle.
The feral noise tumbling from his mouth made my entire body clench.
“Fucking hell, ne lutte pas j’ai dit!” he hissed. (I said, don’t fight!)
I bared my teeth and summoned five years of French lessons from high school. “Va te faire foutre.” (Fuck you.)
He reared back as if I’d slapped him.
Shadows swarmed in his stare. The first glint of the monster within him. A monster with murderous teeth and vicious claws—
“What on earth is going on over there, Ward?”
Henri tripped away from me, breathing hard. “Nothing. I’m just...I’m not used to fucking someone with two other men in the room.”
The older guy chuckled. “You’ll soon get over that little aversion if you come to my estate. Won’t he, Roland?”