Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
LIAM
My eyes fluttered open, moonlight filtering in through the window and casting a vibrant glow across the tiled floor. Craning my head to the side, I grinned at Simon’s slightly parted lips and the light snore vibrating from his chest.
I brushed my thumb over his cheek before planting a soft kiss on his nose.
With a slow gentleness I knew he wouldn’t detect, I peeled his arm from me and replaced it with a pillow.
Watching him nuzzle against it, I scratched his head a handful of times before draping the blankets back over him and making my way to the bathroom.
Flattening my palm on the wood, I shut the door slowly, ensuring the click of the lock didn’t disturb his slumber. Once sealed inside, I turned the shower on, waiting a few seconds before stepping inside its warm embrace.
It didn’t take me long, as I simply wished to wash off our exploration of one another.
Before I knew it, I stepped back out into the chilled air.
Running a hand through my hair, I forced the excess water from my locks and snatched my towel from the rack.
Wrapping it around my waist, I flipped the fan on and opened the door once more, smiling softly at Simon’s unmoved frame.
Approaching the bed, I brushed my fingers along his back before I bent down and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to grab a glass of water.”
When he didn’t reply, I moved, making my way down the stairs with a quickness that proved my desire to be back in bed with him.
Flipping on the kitchen light, I tugged the cupboard open to snatch a cup, wasting no time filling it.
With one final look over, I flicked the switch, darkness casting itself throughout the house once again.
Water in hand, I made my way through the hall and toward my ascent back to the bedroom. As I placed my palm on the wall to guide myself, pressure slammed into my back, the force knocking the glass to the ground. It shattered.
Without time to react, fingers tangled in my hair, ripping my head back before the familiar press of cloth settled on my tongue. As the fabric filled my mouth, hot breath tickled my ear, and a deep chuckle rolled through the room.
“Did you miss choking on my briefs?”
Panic bloomed in the center of my chest, my body instinctively recoiling with the realization—Stefan had found me. Thrashing against him, I reared back, my head colliding with the center of his face.
“Fuck! Little lamb, stop.”
Loosening his hold, his hiss burrowed beneath my skin as I ripped the fabric from my mouth. Gagging instinctively, I attempted to continue up the stairs, wanting nothing more than for Simon to hold me.
This was a bad dream. It had to be.
“SIMON!”
Nails digging into the back of my neck, he hauled me further from the one place I wanted to be.
Slamming me chest-first against the nearest wall, his body pressed flush against mine, and the hardness I felt earned an uncontrollable whimper from me.
Thick, coarse rope tangled around my wrist, and with a forceful yank, my other joined.
“Liam?”
Simon.
Crying out for him again, my voice fractured, the fear strangling my plea. “S-Simon!”
Crashes sounded from the bedroom, curses mingling with a desperation I knew resided with his leg. He hadn’t put on the prosthetic; the effort of even getting out of the comfort of the sheets we’d tangled in was difficult.
“Stefan!” Simon screamed.
As if in response to his name, he rubbed his cock against my ass, licking the nape of my neck. “Did you wear this for me?”
“Stop… Stop!” I sobbed, struggling against him as I called for the only man I wanted. “Simon!”
“Sunshine, I’m coming!” His shouts permeated the thickness of the air, but the thuds that followed suggested his battle.
“Stop?” Stefan tugged at the towel, sliding his fingers along the edge. “Your broken man is upstairs hobbling while you’re writhing against the wall. You think I could fuck you before he shows up?”
A dry heave was my response, tears tumbling down my cheeks. Forcing my head backward again, his hand slammed against my skull before forcing my cheek against the wall.
“That was naughty.”
Curling his hand around the fabric, one yank was all it took to expose me. Brushing his fingers down my spine, he chuckled, exploring every inch as if memorizing what he’d missed.
“D-Don’t!” I yelped, thrashing even harder. “Don’t fucking touch me!”
“Your legs are trembling in want, and we’re going to enjoy every moment of those ten years you escaped me.”
It was not a desire. It was fucking fear.
The scream that carved itself from my throat left a coppery tang in the back of my mouth. He was going to take me from Simon… Simon, who couldn’t help me because he’d fallen asleep without his prosthetic, his fear of helplessness coming to fruition.
“Simon—”
Stefan shoved two fingers into my mouth, a visceral gag following. Curling them against my tongue, he snarled. “Stop saying his fucking name.”
With all the force I could muster, my teeth sank into flesh and bone without any remorse. Tensing even further, my bite force only increased with the determination to rid him of the two digits he attempted to defile me with.
“F-Fuck!” he screamed, ripping at my jaw with his hand.
Nails tore into flesh, my essence blooming to the surface, but I continued to hold with a strength that earned a satisfying crack. Iron flooded my senses as my sharpened canines burrowed themselves even deeper.
“Goddamn it!” Yanking at the ends of my hair, he used the momentum to crack the side of my head into the wall. “Fucking. Let. Go.”
Ignoring the building ache and blooming warmth on my temple, I shifted my hold just slightly to lock his fingers between my molars. One intentional grind of my teeth was all it took as I yanked his hand to the side, taking one finger with me.
Blood spurted down my throat, and I opened my mouth, spitting out his missing ring finger. Heaving, he snapped his hand back, a mix of pain and unyielding wrath coating his blackened irises.
Opening his mouth to speak, it wasn’t him who did. Instead, I heard an unrecognizably vengeful tone as the click of a gun sounded.
“Get. Off. Him.”
Simon leaned against the wall, palm flush against the surface as he used it to balance his disproportionate stance. Weapon trained on Stefan, nothing but a darkened glower coated his once-happy personality.
Biting through the pain, Stefan ripped me against him, locking his arm around my neck with enough strength to crush my windpipe.
I kicked my legs, struggling for air as I looked over at Simon with teary eyes. “Sim—”
Squeezing harder, the rest of his name fell away to nothing.
“Are you ready to see what happens when you piss me off?” Stefan whispered before twisting us both to stare at Simon. With a sharpened whistle from his lips, the corners curled into a wicked smirk. “You see his face, Simon? See how scared he is?”
Simon’s gun trembled as he locked eyes with a predator. “I said—”
“Shouldn’t you be memorizing his face?”
“Memorizing—”
The crack of his skull echoed in the dimly lit hallway as he collided with the floor, a trickle of crimson staining the carpet.
Yanking back the butt of the gun, a man dressed in black flicked his eyes to Stefan.
A balaclava mask hid his features, his compression shirt hung snug as he dipped his chin in a nod.
I tried to scream, but no sound came out. Ripping against Stefan, I wanted nothing more than to escape, to run to Simon and make sure he was okay.
“We’re going, little lamb. Hope this image stays with you, because if you ever pull what you did tonight again, I’ll kill him.”
Struggling against the bindings on my wrists, I desperately tried to free myself, needing to reach for him…
to touch him. Each attempt became weaker than the last as the darkness surrounding the edges of my vision closed in.
And as I focused on Simon with that speck of remaining consciousness, it swallowed me whole.