26. Zach
Chapter 26
Zach
What took me so long? I came as soon as I got his fucking message. I scan the room, taking a snapshot of the situation. Trinity tries to dart past me, but I catch the back of her vest and haul her back.
That vest and a pair of white panties is all she’s wearing.
I sling an arm around her throat and put her in a lock. Not enough to choke her. Not even enough to cut off oxygen to her brain. Though I should have if I’d known how much trouble she’d be.
“This wasn’t what we agreed,” I drag Trinity forward with me despite her struggles. She sinks her nails into my arm, but even when she draws blood I barely feel it.
The ache in my wrists and ankles though? That’s another story. That shit’s been keeping me up at night. Getting high is the only thing that keeps it at bay lately.
When she starts gasping and gagging like I’m actually strangling her, I slap her ass. She yelps, whimpers, and goes still. I expect her to start bawling like a little girl, but her only response is a hitched breath.
“I told you to keep her contained until I arrived.”
Cassius waves a hand at the shower cubicle. “Container.” Then, he leans over and turns off the water. “In which she was contained up until a second ago.”
I shake my head through a long-suffering stare. “Where are the ropes and?—?”
At this, the girl lets out an indignant gasp and starts struggling again. Another smack on her ass shuts her up as abruptly as the first time. Her knees give out, but I just drag her up again.
“And the gag?”
She screams.
I haul her up against my chest and clap a hand over her mouth. No one lives on this level and the walls are thick, but we can’t risk someone hearing the commotion.
How could we possibly explain away any of this?
Apollo moves closer. He holds out some cable ties constructed into a set of handcuffs. “No one uses ropes anymore, Zach,” he says, rolling his eyes as he cuffs Trinity’s wrists in front of her while I keep her mouth shut with my hand.
My ankles and wrists ache in protest at that comment, but I don’t challenge him. “And the gag?”
Apollo shrugs.
“Here,” Cassius says, jogging up to us. What the hell happened to his clothes? “Nothing like some used panties to shut a girl up.”
Trinity struggles in my arms, whimpering against my hand.
Not exactly hygienic, but there are worse things in life.
Much, much worse.
I ball up her stale panties and shove them into her mouth.
She spits them out.
I give Cassius a deadpan stare. He rolls his eyes at me and steps toward Reuben, gesturing at his crotch. Reuben lifts his arms like he’s being frisked while Cassius yanks off his belt.
He takes Rube’s belt, plucks Trinity’s panties from the floor, balls them up, and shoves them back into her mouth.
Then he uses the belt to keep them in place, tightening the buckle at the back of her neck.
Apollo comes back to the group, face forlorn. “I broke my camera,” he whines.
“I’ll buy you a new one,” I say, without looking away from Trinity.
“Hmm,” Cassius murmurs as he presses himself against Trinity. “Do we have to leave right now, Boss? Couldn’t we have a little fun with her first?”
“Cut it out,” I snap.
Astronauts can see his hard-on from the fucking moon. I cock my head toward him, making eye contact with Reuben. “Thought I told you to keep an eye on him?”
For once, Reuben doesn’t stay quiet. He shrugs. “We were waiting for you.”
The fuck ?
The last thing I need is Reuben crushing on this chick. She’s already done possibly irreparable damage to our brotherhood—which I’ll make her pay dearly for—but this is a knock we don’t need.
Apollo comes closer, his broken camera dangling from his hand. He starts studying Trinity like he’s never seen a girl before and then steps back with a grimace. “Can we at least clean her up before we go? She really needs a shower.”
Trinity widens her eyes at him.
Was that what I was smelling? My nose wrinkles before I can stop myself.
“Yeah. Just a quick wash,” Cass murmurs close to my ear.
When did he come up behind me? He’s got cat’s feet sometimes, the evil shit.
Trinity shrieks behind the gag and yanks herself free. I wasn’t holding onto her all that tight—where the fuck would she go, anyway? The door’s locked.
She stumbles, probably not expecting to get free so easily, and goes to her knees with a muffled yelp.
“Don’t you wanna see what’s under there?” Cass is right against me now, whispering into my ear like the fucking devil himself. Another inch, and his dick will be poking my leg.
I shove my shoulder back, pushing him away. “That’s not why we’re here.”
Trinity scrambles up, spinning around to glare at Cass and me. She frowns furiously at us as she works to loosen the belt with her bound hands.
I’d caught a glimpse of her ass when Miriam was giving her those lashes yesterday afternoon. It took every ounce of self-control I could muster not to get more than a semi. Especially when her sweet howls of pain echoed around me. When I’d taken her to my room after I’d specifically not lit a candle. But it hadn’t been fully dark yet so I’d still gotten a fantastic view of her bruised ass when I’d put on the lotion.
I’d had just as much difficulty stopping myself from squeezing that ass. From slipping off my clothes and having her bare skin flush with mine.
“It’s two in the fucking morning,” Cass says. He’s moved closer again. “No one’s gonna come.”
Before Trinity can loosen the belt, Reuben steps up behind her. He slides an arm around her waist and snags the cuffs, pulling her hands away. She freezes, eyes wide and sparkling with fear. He hooks a finger into the cable ties and shifts his grip so he’s keeping her close with the same arm.
“We can’t, Cass,” I say in a low voice. “It’s…”
Wrong.
Stupid.
Juvenile.
Reuben strokes her neck. At least, that’s what I think he’s doing. I lean back a little.
What the fuck?
He tugs, and a red rosary slips out from behind Trinity’s vest. He nestles it carefully between her breasts.
Fuck, that’s his rosary, isn’t it? He does like her.
This is the last thing we need.
But who the fuck am I to deny us the things we so desperately need?
“You have five minutes.”
Cassius darts past me, slapping Apollo’s shoulder as he passes. “Rube, bring her!”
Trinity’s eyes are bugging out of her head. She’d been keeping perfectly still while Reuben rearranged her jewelry, like a small fluffy animal trying to camouflage itself from a predator.
Only one problem.
There are four of us, and only one of her.
She can’t hide. She can’t even run.
She’ll have to endure it. Which could prove to be a dear lesson for her.
We’ve had many such lessons and they’ve only made us stronger.
We’d be making her stronger too.
She catches my eye, and her skin pales.
Why?
I guess it’s my smile.