Chapter 33 #2
Cross explodes into the clearing first, face contorted, dark mocha eyes gleaming with something broken, sinister, and hungry.
He sees her in my grip and snarls. "About fucking time!
" He lunges toward her to pull her from my grasp, but I snap in his direction, a feral wolf protecting its next meal from a fellow animal.
"Give her to me, Damon!" His demand goes unanswered, but I know he sees my defiance bright and loud in my eyes.
River appears quickly behind him, faster but quieter, eyes locked on Olivia, assessing, calculating, cold as frost. His focus slices through the chaos like a blade.
He's cataloging all her injuries, and a way to extract her from the situation.
Poor little River has gotten a crush on my little monster, but he's forgotten that there is no way out for her.
One way or another, she'll be ours, our pet to break and hurt, ours to punish and destroy.
His feelings don't mean shit here, and he can't save her, not from me, not from Cross, and certainly not from the kindred monster that lurks inside of him.
Olivia twists in my hold, nails clawing at my arm, kicking at the ground, trying to rip herself free.
The strength in her, even slightly still drugged, is unexpected and unreal.
She thrashes so violently I almost lose my grip.
Almost. Cross reaches forward, grabbing her arm, and tries to yank her from me.
He's endeavoring to claim her for himself, and I won't allow it.
The shadows screech loudly, demanding that I kill him, that I tear his throat out and feast on his blood, for trying to steal our little monster, but I do my best to ignore them.
"No..." she gasps, voice shaking, "No, no, let go, assholes! LET ME GO!"
Her bare and mud-caked heel jerks up, and slams into Cross's shin.
He shouts, surprised and furious, while I do my best to keep my grasp on her secure, so she can't get away.
"You little cunt!" He raises his hand, ready to slap her, but before he can even reach her face, River grabs his wrist mid-swing.
"Don't hit her," River growls. "You'll knock her out again."
"She fucking KICKED me!" Cross roars, yanking his arm free and turning his wrath on River. Long gone is the passion from moments ago. Now they’re no better than two animals fighting over a scrap of meat.
"And you deserved it, fucker," River snaps, his emerald green eyes blazing with malice.
Olivia uses the distraction to her advantage.
God, she's fast, as she twists out of my grip for half a second.
Cross grabs her breast, digging his fingers painfully into the soft, round flesh, and she screams in despair before she angles her neck forward, and bites him on his muscled, tattooed bicep.
He grunts in pain, but I also see something else on his features, something savage and dark; he's enjoying all of this.
One look down at his powerful body confirms my suspicion, when I see his large cock straining against his jeans. Fuck.
River catches her other arm, but his hold lacks conviction, as if he's not sure he really wants to restrain her, or if he wants to set her free.
She bares her teeth, and claws down his forearm with her ragged nails, leaving blood-filled welts.
The sight of marks on River does something to me, makes my brain misfire, and I release my punishing grasp, wanting to reach for him, and Olivia instantly witnesses my weakness, and exploits it.
She slips free of all three of us and stumbles backward, wild-eyed, shaking, breath coming in ragged, terrified gasps.
Her bare feet dig into the dirt, ready to run again.
"Why... are... you... doing... this?" She pants, terror written across her beautiful face.
Cross loses it completely, his face contorting into something animalistic at her being free once more. He lunges toward her, and my lips pry open with fear that he might kill her in his rage, "STOP!"
River slams into him, tackling him sideways and pinning him to a tree.
While they're busy exchanging blows like two idiots, I snatch for my little unhinged princess again, but she ducks behind a trunk, breathing so hard I can hear every wheezing pull of air.
"There's nowhere to run, little monster, you can't escape us.
Every attempt you make only makes it worse," I taunt her, and her whimpers cause the hairs on my arms to stand on end with pleasure.
"You're... all... fucking monsters! You DRUGGED and KIDNAPPED me!" Her shrill voice and panting breaths don't dissuade me; if anything, they heighten my senses. "Why?! Why... are you doing... this?!"
Cross fights River, in a frenzy of blows that I witness from my peripheral vision.
"LET ME GO! SHE'S MINE!" His declaration doesn't sit well with me; she's not his, at least not his alone.
For the first time in twenty-three years of friendship, I contemplate murdering one of my best friends over a woman. What the fuck is wrong with me?
"You'll kill her," River snaps, voice low and deadly as he wipes at his bleeding lip. "Get some fucking control."
"NO," Cross roars, spittle flying, his face a mask of rage.
"No control, not with her. I can't." His words might as well be a declaration of his weakness, of the cracking of the tight, ruthless shell he has always maintained.
It looks like River and I are not the only ones struggling with our feelings for Olivia Springhill.
The funny thing is, this could have gone differently if the three of us had thought it through; we could have attempted to charm her, and force her under our spell.
The minute I think of it, an unhinged laugh works its way from my chest and into the fresh air, yeah, that never would have worked with my little monster.
She's too smart, and would have seen right through us.
I ignore them, and their struggle against each other, my eyes sliding back to Olivia.
Her back is pressed against a tree, her chest is heaving, and her legs are trembling.
She can barely keep herself standing, her grip on the bark doing all of the work.
She's out of steam, and what little energy she has left won't be enough to fight the three of us off now.
Her pupils are blown wide and black with fear, as she watches each of us, and every possible angle for an escape.
She's searching for a break, a weakness, a path out of this mess.
I know what she sees when she looks at me.
Not the voices, or the disorder they claim I have.
Just the hunger, the thrill of the chase, the game I refuse to lose.
I step toward her slowly, letting the shadows slide with me. "Run again, little monster, but if you fail to escape us, you have to submit your body to us, and let us use you like the slut you are, no more fighting back," I whisper, smiling. "I fucking dark dare you."
Her throat tightens around a single, shaking breath, then she bolts, and the chase begins again, but this time, I have no intentions of allowing her to make it more than a few steps. My cock is hard and leaking precum, and it wants to be buried in its new home inside of my unhinged princess.