Chapter 11
11
F ear is a curious thing.
For some people, it gives them enough motivation to take action. They’re driven forward by a propelling force beyond themselves.
I see it all the time in the club, with clients, those who frequent the pleasure rooms of this place.
They make choices based out of an inherent concern of doing the thing they know they shouldn’t, glancing the wrong way at their Dom when they’ve been told to explicitly keep their eyes on the floor, or the reactive anticipation of pain.
Others, however, will avoid it at all costs. They’ll go to unfathomable lengths all in the pursuit of a place where fear doesn’t exist.
Avoidance. Escapism. They’re equal paths to the land where fear evaporates and leaves a blank space behind.
However, this girl, she doesn’t yet know what true fear is. Yes, she’s tasted those poisonous tendrils. She’s experienced a side to the underbelly of this city, and somehow come out the other side without so much as a scratch on her.
Physically, at least.
Now, the girl who we’ve been given orders to continue initiating into this world is preparing to run.
I see the stiff set of her shoulders as Grey’s smile broadens like a shark.
Her body tenses, and whatever he says to her drives the decision embedded deep within. The one that tells this girl to flee when others might stay and fight.
While I don’t hear his words from our position across the ballroom, I see the moment he lays it out for her. That much is clear. That much is his adherence to our orders.
With Grey, I never know sometimes. The butcher himself tends to only ever accede to his own set of rules and commands, yet in this, he has agreed to play his part and be the one to tell her.
The girl resembles a ghost, with silver silk billowing around her heels as she races through the doors to wherever she thinks might be a path to freedom.
Angel’s bristling presence at my side grows more menacing at the sight of her running.
“She can’t go anywhere.” I flick my cuffs. “Not without us keeping tabs on her.”
He ignores me, already moving with long, determined strides. Chasing after his pretty little obsession.
I check my watch and glance up to cast my eye over the array of glittering lights and auction bidding in full uproarious flight. There’s still a whole evening of debauchery left to stretch out into the small hours of this night, and my disappearance from this ballroom is hardly going to be noticed for however long this is going to fucking take.
The gathered Household members fill the ballroom, all dressed in their finery and masks they insist on wearing as part of the Anguis’ customs and charades—an adherence to things like rules and orders from some bygone era. Over to the far side of the room I see the array of our security on point for this evening.
My brother is amongst the suited, silent perimeter who stand guard tonight. They’re here to be invisible and do so with impeccable talent.
Or at least, my youngest brother is here, that is.
Fuck knows where the other asshole might be this evening, but he’s still avoiding me, and I don’t have time for his games.
I’ve got more than enough to occupy my time with this particular situation at hand.
Grey strolls toward me, with that familiar look on his face that could mean he’s either about to crack a joke or attempt to slit your throat with a flick of his switchblade. It can go either way with him; there’s no telling.
That man has survived the belly of the beast and come out with the scars to prove it.
“The big fella suddenly has feet like lightning.” He raises an eyebrow. “Wonder how far he’ll let her run this time?”
“Depends which head he’s thinking with. Seems as though he enjoyed their last game of chase plenty enough.”
“Unsurprisingly, she didn’t take the news well.” He pokes his tongue against the side of his cheek.
“Well, then we’d better go elucidate her on the finer points of how things are going to be from now on, hadn’t we?”
“You really are a cold-hearted bastard.” He chuckles.
“Don’t try to sweet talk me, Greyson.”
Those hazel eyes flash with the prospect of a challenge he forever sees in me, even though he knows that particular door remains firmly closed. “Ah, but one of these days, it might work.”
“Unless you’re my sub begging me to fuck you after hours and hours of exquisite edging, there is no need to give me those puppy dog eyes. ”
“You never know, you might quite enjoy me being on my knees for you, Hawke.”
“Wishes are free. Dreams are, too.”
We fall into step, side by side, shoulder to shoulder, as we follow the direction where the other two have disappeared to.
Leave it to Angel to hunt her down and deliver the girl exactly where we require her presence for this next part. Even if she screams, there won’t be anyone to hear her cries for help.
“Sounds like our boy has done his job.” Grey chuckles as we descend the grand entrance staircase to the mansion, all while her flailing protests and feminine curses fly up from the level down below.
“A starving man has plenty of motivation.” With my hands tucked in my pockets, we follow the direction of the commotion. Along the lengthy darkened corridors, and through the paneled entrance that to any regular onlooker would be entirely invisible.
This place is filled with secrets, and this is our domain.
The suite of rooms we have in this area of Noire House serve a multitude of purposes. Sometimes, it’s coated in the heady perfume of pleasure and hedonism. Other times, these interconnected chambers are a world where deals are done away from prying eyes.
Either way, I spend a fucking inordinate amount of time down here. Some days, I can’t help but wonder what it might be like to live a life that didn’t revolve around the steady carousel of writhing orgasms and secretive operations hidden from elite Household members.
The worst examples of humanity, who deserve to have their tongues cut out and their dicks put through a meat grinder. Preferably while still attached to their bodies.
I’m sure Grey has actually done that to a man before, and I wouldn’t put it past him to recreate the scene, given half a chance .
Angel has the girl over his shoulder while she thrashes helplessly, and as we all enter my private study, he tips her to land in a crumple of expensive fabric on the couch. Except the act is nothing but gentle. He’s only playing a role, and I can see it’s killing him to have to be this way with her.
I’ve spent my life around people chasing after lust and pleasure and desire. This man is about to crack at any moment, suffering from a deadly concoction of all of those things.
The utter fool that he is for this girl.
“Leave me the fuck alone.” She attempts to stand up, but one heavy palm presses against her shoulder, forcefully pushing her to sit back against the cushions.
That’s when her eyes go round.
Our added presence to this cozy little scene catches her attention.
I see the wheels spinning frantically behind those dark eyes. Her painted red lips drop open, and the color drains from her heart-shaped face as she takes in the sight of us all in close confines. In the exact same spot as the last time she attended an evening here at Noire House.
Settling myself in the armchair opposite where she’s seated, I drag a forefinger slowly across the leather armrest. Watching her features blanch and shrink as undoubtedly the events of that night rush back in.
Of what she did in this very spot.
How she allowed herself to be used in this very same chair.
What depravities she entered into with the three of us, while we remained masked and our identities hidden.
However, we saw every little detail of her .
Judging by the look she’s leveling me with right now, I can only imagine she’s less than enamored by the idea of us all being together in the exact space where she allowed herself to be at the mercy of complete strangers, and willingly gave us everything we demanded .
Everything the Anguis demanded.
“Isn’t it curious, how you keep insisting on being left alone, Posey? Yet, if we were to have done so, who knows where your body might have been dumped after those men were done with you.” I hook an ankle over my opposite knee.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Grey wander toward the open fire and toss some fresh wood onto the flames. Sparks and glowing embers fly up with a sharp crackling sound.
“Who the hell are you?” She shrinks back against the cushions. “What the fuck do you want from me?”
Angel looms over her, large and foreboding, with arms crossed. The threads holding him back from grabbing hold of her soft little body and rushing her back to relative safety, away from this mansion and the figures lurking in the dark, they’re fraying steadily.
“So many memories from that night, I’m sure you agree. All the ways you were so very accommodating .” I muse. Fixing her with a stare, taking in the way her eyes dart around between the three of us.
Oh, yes. She’s thinking about that night and all that prevailed.
“That invitation was no accident. This is your life now. Better start digesting the truth… that whether you willingly bend in acceptance, or not; this is how things will be for you.”
“Fuck off. There are laws against holding people like this. You can’t just take a person and remove them from their life.”
Her words hang in the air, but she knows the actuality.
We can, and we already have.
“Quite done with your little outburst over there, are you?” I tap my finger against the leather. “This is a world where the likes of your meaningless little life are irrelevant. Your initiation has begun, and that means you are now part of something that few know about, and even fewer ever get the chance to understand. ”
“Screw you. This is pathetic. You can’t keep me here.”
“Ahh. That’s where you’re misguided.” I lean back in my seat. Not missing the way her eyes bounce briefly down to my lap, before shooting back up to my face with a flush coating the apple of her cheeks.
Yes, the exact spot where she sat naked in my lap and did everything she was told without question.
“It isn’t us keeping you here at all. In fact, I couldn’t give a fuck where a prissy little princess like you goes. But we’ve been given orders, and in this place, there are consequences for those who refuse their given commands.”
She stares back, the wheels spinning helplessly on the inside.
“I’m not playing this game—” She tries to get up and Angel immediately plants himself in her path.
A noise of protest fills the room, and she tries to shake him off when his hand connects with her shoulder.
“Don’t you dare goddamn touch me again. You’re a perverted asshole.”
I clear my throat. “Lash your tongue like that once more, and you might find it removed from your head.”
Her hands ball into fists amongst the flounce of shimmering material gathered around her thighs. All the while, Angel doesn’t take his eyes off her, despite her acidic words.
“Consider yourself fortunate the likes of that pervert has willingly sacrificed sleep, and forgone interest in anything but your wellbeing, day and night. If I were you, I’d think twice before hurling bitter, misguided insults at a man who made sure you didn’t choke on your own vomit at three a.m. A man who prevented you from swallowing your own tongue during the fits you went through while in withdrawals.”
Her eyes widen, and I see the way this girl tries her utmost not to look at the guardian she certainly doesn’t deserve .
None of us heathens in this place deserve the kind of heart Angel possesses.
“Be thankful he chose to be stationed at your bedside, to remain unblinking and unflinching throughout every second you’ve been here so far. Because I can tell you now, if the people who have selected you to be initiated had any hand in it, you’d have been left to fester in your own pool of bile and excrement.”
Over by the fire, Grey remains silent, and I can’t tell if he’s remained so out of intrigue or boredom.
He’s either already lost interest in this girl now that he’s had a chance to get his dick wet, or he’ll join Angel in the obsessive pursuit of her cunt.
“Your new masters don’t give a fuck about your life, Posey. As of this moment, you’d better get used to that concept.”
“Then just fucking end it.” Her voice is hardly a whisper. “I don’t want this.”
“Too late, love.” Grey muses, finally deciding to join the conversation. A devious glow of flames lick up the side of his jaw as he examines this scene with a wry smile.
“You caught the wrong person’s eye. That’s all there is to it, and now that you’re here, it’s our duty to educate you on what your master’s requirements will be.”
I drag a thumb along my jaw, letting those words be swallowed down by her.
A fitting preview of the obedient little slut this girl is destined to become.
“There are people in this world who are going to be your gods from now on. If you thought any of us were anything more than a fuck, you’re sorely misguided. You belong to powerful individuals, who will reveal themselves in good time.”
Her expression contorts, and she looks liable to collapse at any given minute.
I don’t give a fuck.
I’ve fought too long and hard and shed too many pieces of my soul in order to get this close. I’m entirely uninterested in some girl to pathetically offer doe eyes and tears in the face of what the Anguis demands of her.
Brats and submissives who try to use emotional manipulation are of no interest to me.
“So take your bullshit, and get out, until your presence is required.”