Chapter Twenty-Seven
Aheavy hand clamps down over my mouth, and I scream out, even though my cries are muffled. My eyes widen, and I flinch in fear as I see all three of my sisters and mom sitting, bound and gagged on the couch.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” Will growls in my ear. “Underestimating my ability to find you was a foolish mistake. Did you enjoy your little vacation at that fancy castle? We were going to sit and wait in this house until you came back to us.”
I whimper, wishing I had the strength to bite down on his hand and weasel away, but I can’t move. His heavy, strong body clamps me to him. My sisters look dazed, and the youngest two are lying with their eyes shut.
“They won’t even know what happened,” Will continues, nodding toward them. “I drugged all three, but your mother will watch me defile you the way Ron would’ve liked to. He deserves it for what your fucking dipshit lover boy did to him. I bet it will piss him off more than anything else. The police might not believe me, but I know the truth, and that’s what matters.”
My mother lets out a muffled cry as Will’s hand slips up the front of my shirt, ripping it open and exposing my bare breasts. Tears stream down her face as she tries to move from the couch. My heart lurches for what she’s having to watch.
I’m so sorry, Momma. I want to cry out for her—to tell her that I forgive her for getting us in this situation. She did it out of what she thought was necessary. She didn’t know the monster she was marrying. She was grieving, relying on the bottle to get her through the day.
I don’t hate you.
“Look at these tits.” Will slaps one, and I cry out in pain. “You see these?” He turns to my mother. “Yours aren’t nearly as perky and full. The things I’m going to do to this little bitch. I bet her ass is so tight. I don’t want to dirty my dick anywhere that piece of shit has been, but I know where he won’t have been.”
I shudder against him, recoiling at the scent of his acidic breath. He reeks of alcohol and sweat, and I retch as his hot breath tickles my neck.
“Disgusting whore,” he grunts, dropping his hand for a split second. It goes to my jeans, ripping them open so violently it sends the button flying across the room. I make it a point not to cry, but I meet my mother’s eyes.
“It’s okay,” I mouth to her. I’m strong. That’s what I’ll keep telling myself. I try to fight Will off as he shoves my pants and underwear down, putting my body on display.
“Look at that,” he groans in sick satisfaction. He sticks his thumb in his mouth, and I hear a loud sucking noise. My mother screams through the gag. I fight to hold back the tears, still trying to wriggle out of his grip, but his finger pushes into my ass, sending a wave of sickness through my body. “Oh, this is gonna feel so good. Your little boyfriend already knows.” His voice grows more and more vicious with every word.
I scream as he digs it in deeper, and my vision grows blurry as I try to cope with the feeling. It’s not painful, but it’s so fucking wrong. Will erupts in laughter, and the sensation dissipates as he removes his finger.
“Ready or not, I’m taking you,” Will sneers, and he backs me up against him as he frees himself from his jeans.
And then it stops.
The weight of Will falls to the floor, nearly taking me with him. Knees rattling, I stumble forward, but I am caught by a set of strong arms.
“You’re okay,” Aiden whispers into my ear. “You’re okay.”
I swallow hard, turning back to see the man behind me. I can’t take my eyes off him. I can’t blink. He looks like a dark angel with such tortured emotions swirling on his face that it gives me chills. It’s Aiden. My Aiden. As we lock eyes for heavy seconds, he tilts his head, and in that silent exchange, the understanding passes between us effortlessly.
Sometimes, to conquer the demons within, one must first slay the monsters without.
He drops a gun to the floor and helps me right myself the best I can, redoing my clothes other than the missing button.
I glance down at the man lying on the floor and see a black bullet hole in his temple. Will’s eyes are glazed as they’re open, staring off into the distance.
Fuck him.
I feel nauseous from the dark emotions churning inside me, fully aware that what I just experienced pales in comparison to what Aiden has endured.
But I feel so dirty.
“It’s okay, Sara,” Aiden says, his voice calm. “It’s okay.”
I can’t tell if he’s saying it more to me or to himself, but I fall apart in his arms, sobbing as Carlos comes into the room and makes his way over to my sisters and mother. I try to breathe as Aiden holds me, stroking my hair and kissing the top of my head.
“He didn’t win, Sara. They didn’t win.” Aiden’s words are more comforting than I realize, and I start to wonder if that’s what he’s told himself all these years. Maybe that’s how he coped with all the monstrosity that happened to him. “They’ll never hurt anyone ever again.”
The next few hours go by in a blur as people I don’t know start showing up at the house. They take the body away. Aiden talks quietly to my mother in the kitchen. The girls are taken to their rooms, and I’m fairly certain they’re drugged even further as a means to erase the events of today.
However, nothing will erase what happened to me. In fact, it’s all I can think about as I find my way to my bedroom and take a seat on the edge of the bed. I feel violated and dirty, and I need Aiden to fix it.
But I don’t think he’ll do it.
My head falls to my hands as I start to cry, waiting for the nightmare to end. I want to go back to the castle I thought was my prison. I want to hide there forever and never leave. I want the girls to be there. And my mom. I want us to get away from this place and never come back…
So that’s exactly what Aiden does.
***
“Everyone is settled in for the night.” Aiden steps into our bedroom, where I’ve been hiding for the last few hours, trying to scrub my body free of the grime I feel. I let Aiden take care of everything, and it felt good to relinquish all control to him. I’ve been fighting him since I arrived, and I’m done now.
He takes a seat beside me, placing his hand on my knee. “I would tell you that I’m angry with you for defying me, but I’m not. Things were worse than I imagined. I was hoping to take care of Will before I took you back, but…”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, raising my eyes to meet his. “And I’m sorry that I’ve been… ruined.”
“Is that how you look at me?” His voice stays neutral, no emotion showing on his face. “Do you think I’ve been ruined?”
I shake my head quickly. “No, not at all.”
“Then that should answer how I feel about you.”
I nod, but then hesitate. “I need you to fix it.”
“What?” His brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
“Will told me that he wanted to take me in a way that he knew you hadn’t. I need you to fix that.”
Aiden’s face grows to an understanding. “Are you sure you want that?”
I nod. “Please. I love you, and I need you to take that away from him.”
“I…” Aiden’s voice sounds husky. “I don’t want to hurt you. And it might make you feel worse, Sara.”
“Then I’ll tell you to stop,” I reason, pleading with him. “Please.”
“Okay,” he says softly. He leans over and kisses my shoulder, pulling away the damp towel that covers my body. He lies me down on the bed and tosses the towel to the floor before covering my skin with his mouth. Arousal floods my system, replacing the guilt and shame I felt before.
Maybe he didn’t get the best of me.
I continue to remind myself it’s Aiden as he works lower and lower. His sweet tickling kisses land on my inner thighs, and then in one swift motion, he flips me onto my stomach. Aiden spreads my cheeks, and then runs his tongue from my ass to my clit, burying his face between my legs. I tilt my hips to angle myself toward him in the best possible way.
“Oh my God,” I moan out, trembling from the pleasure. However, as the waves crash, I still, my mind replaying the feeling of Will’s hot breath on my skin.
“Just breathe, Sara,” he murmurs, circling my ass with his tongue. “You won’t remember he was here once I’m done.”
I whimper, squeezing my eyes shut as Aiden lubes me up with his saliva. Once again, I let the pleasure replace the fear, Aiden’s fingers rub against my clit. He’s making it pleasant for me, and I know he is being purposeful.
Pressure fills me as I feel a finger slide into my pussy and my ass. I let out a muffled cry, the sensation so different than what I felt earlier. This feels good. Aiden feels good. He groans as I rock against him.
“Good girl,” he murmurs, thrusting his fingers into me again. This time, I feel a pull, realizing that I have more than one finger in my ass. “I don’t know if you can take me, Sara.”
“I need to,” I moan out, bucking against him again. “I really, really need to.” The guilt of what happened washes away, and all I feel is the primal urge for Aiden to be inside of me in the most forbidden way. “Please.”
“Fuck,” he moans out, carefully stretching me with a third. “This is going to be so good for both of us, Sara. It’s just what we need.” Aiden leans over and spits on my puckered hole before aligning his cock. Except he dips lower, thrusting into my pussy.
I let out a cry as he pulls out quickly and then presses into my ass. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God,” I choke out, the burn is euphoric as he enters me.
“Oh fuck, fuck,” Aiden groans. “Please tell me if I need to stop, baby.”
“No, all of it,” I cry out, nearly coming at the sensation. My mind only focuses on Aiden over me, feeling my tightness squeezing his cock with every pump as he fills my ass with slow and even strokes.
”That”s it… Come for me, princess,” he whispers shakily as he feeds me inches, with every thrust slowly making his way all the way inside.
And I explode.
The pleasure destroys the memories of what Will did to me.
“Oh, Sara,” Aiden groans, shifting his hips. “I can’t fucking hold back. Can I finish too? I don”t want to hurt you.”
“Do it,” I breathe out through the spasm of pleasure.
He grunts as his hips begin to move, pumping in and out of me with full force, and I start pumping back and forth alongside his movements, greedily trying to take in all of him. It feels strangely amazing, and as he fills my ass with cum, I hope it’s as healing for him as it was for me.
“I love you so much,” Aiden pants as he rolls off me. “I never knew I needed that.”
I dip my lips to his. “Me either, but I love you.”
He holds my eyes. “I’ll fuck every one of your holes every fucking day for the rest of my life, Sara. You’ll always be full of me. Marry me.”
I laugh at the vulgar statement mixed with the proposal. “That’s insane.”
“Everything about us always has been,” he says softly, brushing my hair from my face. “Which is why you need to be mine forever and have my last name.”
I nod, drowning in the profound sense of belonging and acceptance. “A fresh start. I like that.”
He smiles, kissing me lightly. “Me, too.”