Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
LIAM
Astifled groan left me as I shifted slightly, silken sheets brushing against my back. Lifting a hand, I moved to rub my aching throat, but my fingers met metal instead. Panic bloomed, and as I abruptly sat up, the iron ring around my neck forced me backward with a harsh cough.
No. No no no no…
Attempting to curl my fingers beneath it was impossible; it fit like a second skin. I blinked a handful of times, working to clear the haze that still lingered, and when I realized where I was, my stomach plummeted.
The square iron posts that framed the bed taunted me, their towering presence and the various rings welded into them serving as reminders of far too many things.
A chain trailed from the collar he’d forced me into, its end fused to the headboard, making it impossible for me to move beyond merely sitting up straight.
Black paint adorned the bedroom walls, the dark hue sliding toward me as if the space I occupied were shrinking with each panted breath.
Tipping my chin back to try and gather my bearings, the large mirror overhead sent me slipping into another heightened spiral, my bottom lip quivering as I tried to fixate on the crimson accents within my makeshift cage.
Rubbing the heels of my palms over my pants, I tried to ground myself, but without Simon, it was useless. I whimpered, my eyes darting back and forth as I reached for the blankets around me, covering my clothed frame with them as if they’d somehow save me from him.
The bathroom door opened; water dripped from his slightly greyed black hair as his dark amber eyes met mine. Smirking, he tapped his exposed neck. “Much larger than the one you had as a kid, isn’t it?”
Tears billowed, slipping to my waterline. “Let… Let me out of here…”
“So you’re suggesting I can kill Simon, then, yes?”
“No… No!” Pulling on the chain, I shook my head. “I-I… I can’t… Take it off… Please take it off…”
“No. You ran away, so you’ll wear it as a reminder of who owns you.”
I ripped at the rings again as my breathing intensified. “Take it off. Take it off. Take it off. Take it off. Take it off!”
“Sure, I’ll take it off.”
Closing the gap between us, his fingers brushed against my lips before snaking down to the collar. His touch left ice behind, nausea building, but it heightened as his hands continued their path down to the sheets.
With one tug, he yanked them from my hold, removing them from the bed as he stepped back. Holding up his hand, his right ring finger was bandaged, blood now pooling against the white gauze. Only a stump remained.
“Did you think this wouldn’t have ramifications?”
Trembling, I pulled my knees to my chest, not fully hearing him. “Take it off. Take it off. Take it off.”
I didn’t have time to register the slap before my head twisted to the side, ears ringing as his fingers dug into my cheek. “I asked you a question.”
“And I said…” Gathering a mouthful of saliva, I spat in his face. “TAKE IT OFF!”
Licking at the remnants on his skin, he moaned, lapping up the substance as if it were fine whiskey. “Fuck, you still taste good.”
With the gap between us nonexistent, and my leg coiled in preparation to attack, I drove my heel into his groin as hard as I could.
Using the other, I kicked him in the face, forcing myself back against the headboard as I ripped against the bolt as hard as I could in an attempt to fracture the link.
A sharpened hiss rang from him, blood dropping onto the stark white as he crawled over me, digging his nails into my scalp. “You fucking cunt.”
“Get off me!” I screamed, my knee colliding with his stomach as I fought against him. “Get off!”
“Fuck!” Heaving in oxygen, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a switchblade.
Angling it against my skin, he slammed it into my thigh, twisting the blade as the heel of his palm slammed into my nose. Agony exploded across my face and through my leg, but I forced myself to ignore it as I slammed my fist into his ribs with unrelenting force. Reeling back, I did it again.
And again.
And again.
And again.
Grunting, he caught my hand on the last punch, shoving it away before he yanked the weapon from my thigh, finding a new home for it next to the wound he’d already created.
Another bellowed shout left me as I thrashed, reaching for the hilt sticking out of my flesh.
Before I could reach it, he skillfully pulled it free, tossing the switchblade to the floor.
As I scooted back in an attempt to get away from him, his fingers wrapped around my ankles, and panic blossomed, festering deep as he tugged me toward the footboard.
The chain strained, and with it, the makeshift collar tightened, immediately cutting off my air supply. Smirking, he held his position as his stare bore into mine.
He… He was watching the fear erupt in my eyes.
Gasping, I squirmed in his hold, my hands instinctively reaching for the iron clasped around my neck. Pressure built in my skull, and heat filled my cheeks as my lids fluttered from the lack of blood flow to my brain.
He loosened the tension, and I inhaled precious oxygen as his thumb rubbed my skin. “Little lamb, who do you belong to?”
“Fuck… Fuck you…” I wheezed, the entire room spinning as my lungs burned with each cycle of breath.
Another yank sent me tumbling into the same position. “Wrong fucking answer.”
Whining, I thrashed against him, a numbness threatening to swallow me whole as I fought for reprieve.
My nails dug into my neck, clawing at the flesh as if it would free me from the steel clamped around my throat.
Chest hitching, shadows loomed at the edges of my vision, and with their presence, my hands slowly tumbled to meet my sides.
Releasing me, his sneer permeated the ringing in my ears. “Who. Do. You. Belong. To?”
My throat burned, a visceral ache spreading through it as I struggled to speak. “If you’re so adamant… in… in knowing… I belong to… Simon.”
Stefan’s gaze snapped to mine, and wrath billowed from him in thickening waves. “Wrong. Fucking. Wrong.”
Scooting from the bed, he leisurely walked to his desk, yanking open the drawer as he pulled out tape, fabric, and a knife. In an instant, he closed the distance and jammed the fabric into my mouth, careful to avoid shoving his fingers inside.
I gagged, twisting my head from side to side as I struggled to scoot away from him. “Mmph!”
Ripping a piece of tape with his teeth, he slapped it over my lips, patting my cheek twice before stepping back to admire his work.
“Since you want to be a bitch, I’ll silence you like one.
” Twirling the hilt, he brought the sharpened tip to the corner of my eye.
“I admire your fire, truly, but soon the only thing you’ll remember is the affliction I cause you. ”
Nicking my skin, he trailed the blade to my hairline, breaking flesh. My back arched as a muffled scream built in the center of my chest. Lifting my arms, I tried to shove him away from me.
Grabbing my right wrist, he squeezed, spreading my fingers apart. “Hmm, what if I cut off your ring finger?” Tapping the knife against it, he smirked. “We could match.”
Shaking my head, tears tumbled down my cheeks. “Mmm!”
Pressing the blade against my skin, he cut, blood spraying. Agony swathed my senses as I battled him, trying to pull my arm away from his hold. Whimpers fell as I shook my head, doing anything I could to get him to stop.
Sawing at the tip, he hummed. “Maybe not all of it. Just a piece, like that pathetic whore of yours.”
My nostrils flared with each influx of air, panic building to a point where each breath fractured more than the last. Screams and pleas died out; shock threatened to devour my essence as I settled into the mattress.
I’d forgotten about the two bleeding wounds in my thigh, and the consistent fight only caused more of my lineage to pool on the sheets.
About halfway through, he paused his blade, the tip coated in my life force. Bringing it to his tongue, he lapped at it, a groan tumbling as he bucked his hips. “Fuck…”
Struggling to look up at him beneath heavy lids, my eyes rolled slightly, making it nearly impossible to keep my focus.
Twisting to me, his fingers dove into my hair, forcing me to look at him before he smeared my essence across the tape. “Look at you bleed for me.”
“Mmmf…” My vision shifted in and out, the darkness reaching for me with each slowing breath.
“Don’t worry. If you pass out, I’ll bring you back every time. Because this?” He returned to cutting, slicing through the tip of my finger as he severed it with a final swipe. “Is only the beginning of all I have planned for you.”
I weakly shook my head, a wave of dizziness slamming into me. “Mmm… mmm…”
Knife clattering to the floor, he ripped the tape off, fabric following. He swiped his fingers across my lips, painting them in a hue of crimson. “Lick it.”
“No…” I wasn’t sure if I spoke it or thought it, my body slowly shutting down from the blood loss and building shock.
Squeezing my cheeks, he opened my mouth as his pointer finger glided over the mess of red. With one quick movement, he painted my essence on my tongue before removing his finger and slamming my jaw shut.
“It wasn’t a question.”
Throat instinctively bobbing, my head dipped to the side, coming to rest against his forearm. “Please… No… No more…”
“Then who do you belong to?”
Lips quivering, I swallowed the sob that threatened to burst, knowing that if I didn’t say what he wished to hear, he would go for the man I wanted more than the air I needed to breathe.
“You…”
Groaning, the chain rattled from his release, and with one stroke over his cock, he grinned. “Good.”
The sight was the last thing I registered before my subconscious rescued me from any further torment. And at least in my dreamscape, I was safe with Simon…