Chapter 25 Rowan
I yawned, sinking into my mismatched chair at the dining table. Once again, I didn’t feel rested. The nightmare had kept me awake, just like it had been lately. I’d never had dreams like these until recently, and now they were coming more often, and becoming more vivid.
I couldn’t fully remember them when I woke, instead they lingered like ghosts in my mind.
Maybe the trauma from being ripped from my life was finally taking its toll, but deep down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was more than that.
That something was invading my dreams. The thing was reaching for me, calling out.
The delicious smell of bacon drifted through the air, pulling me from my thoughts and making my stomach growl in anticipation. Cade was cooking, and everything he made was yummy. I watched him for a moment, moving around the kitchen with practiced ease, until he turned and studied me with concern.
“You okay, Rowan?” he asked.
Was he asking about the nightmare?
“Are you in any pain? I can get you some ibuprofen and ointment if you are.”
My face turned beet red.
He wasn’t asking about the dream.
He was asking because of last night. Because we’d been intimate. He was asking if he’d hurt me… down there.
I blushed.
He had taken my virginity.
An image of his corded arms caging me in and his skin glistening with sweat, flashed through my mind. I squeezed my legs shut. Not right now.
“I’m fine,” I said quickly, shutting down the conversation just as Ryker stomped into the room and threw himself into the chair across from me in dramatic fashion.
Ryker was in a foul mood. He wasn’t his usual jovial trickster self. He took it upon himself to antagonize Cade every chance he could with openly combative comments. At one point he passed Cade in the kitchen, clipping him with his shoulder and muttering “asshole” under his breath.
Something told me he was feeling left out last night. After all, I was pretty sure his room shared a wall with Cade’s. There’s no way he couldn’t hear what we were doing.
The men were fighting, and I briefly considered how I could use Ryker’s jealousy and immaturity to my advantage.
Maybe if I drove a wedge deeper between them, it would aid in my escape.
While I’m sure it wouldn’t be that hard to do with Ryker, the brothers would prove difficult to divide.
We sat at the table, eating our scrambled eggs in awkward silence.
Finally, Cade, fed up with Ryker’s brooding, combative attitude, addressed it.
“Ryker, do you plan on acting like a child all day?”
“I don't know, Cade. Maybe. Maybe I’ll act like this for-fucking-ever, considering you took it upon yourself to fuck our virgin omega without the rest of us!” he said, crossing his arms and pouting.
Great, so they all knew I was a virgin.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his immature behavior. I knew it! He was jealous.
Cade rubbed his temples, deliberating his response. I expected him to put Ryker in his place and tell him I wasn’t an object. That my decision to have sex with Cade was mine and mine alone. My body, my choice, and Ryker didn’t get a say in it!
Instead, his response was anything but chivalrous.
“You can have her virgin ass first, Ryker. I know how much you like that. Would that cheer you up?” he offered nonchalantly as a consolation prize.
A huge toothy grin split Ryker’s face, seemingly cured of his awful disposition.
I choked on a mouthful of eggs when I heard him mention my ass. The image of Cade, my knight in shining armor, preserving my dignity and scolding Ryker, dissipated with his comment. Fury unraveled inside me.
“I’m not a pet or a sex slave, for the last time! I will decide what I do and with whom I do it. You are both immature assholes, and I’m never touching either of you, even with a five-foot pole!” I hissed. “Also, no one is going near my ass!”
I tried to storm off, but Ryker grabbed me and pulled me onto his lap. He swatted my bottom a few times, not painfully like he had with the previous spanking, but playfully.
He laughed, taunting me, “I just went near your ass, Kitten. What are you going to do, claw me?”
I thrashed about trying to escape his grip. He grabbed a handful of my butt cheek and squeezed, which I protested profusely while calling him every profane name I could think of.
He ignored me, holding me in place with ease before turning to Cade and saying, “I’ll agree to that. Kitten here would absolutely love it, wouldn’t she?”
When I said nothing, opting instead to scowl, he grabbed the bottom of my jaw between his pointer and thumb and squeezed. He raised his voice a few octaves, impersonating me, as he moved my jaw like a ventriloquist doll. “Yes, Ryker, I would absolutely love it if you fucked my ass.”
I twisted suddenly in his hold and elbowed him hard, right in his dick, slipping off his lap as he folded in pain, before storming out of the room to get changed for my appointment with Dr. Zolkos. I heard Ryker groan as Cade chuckled, amused.
“She's fucking feral, Cade!” he whined as I slammed the door to drown them both out.
Cade hadn’t told me specifically what to wear, but I had to be prepared for the possibility of escape at any moment, and I didn’t want to be running through a military base wearing jeans, so I was grateful that he wasn’t feeling bossy this morning.
Wanting to wear comfortable clothes, I found some flared black yoga pants deep in the closet and a simple knit cream sweater.
On my way to the appointment, I would need to record my surroundings, looking for anything that might aid my breakout.
I would also need to track as many routes through the barracks as possible, so I could create a map later on.
I knew we would pass the stairwell and exit when we left the residential dorms, and I hoped to get a better view of where it led to.
This was my first chance to see what lay beyond the dormitory, and I couldn’t waste it.
When I rejoined Cade and Ryker in the common area, they had both changed into camo fatigues.
Ryker had opted for a fitted sandy military T-shirt with an Arca logo, while Cade was wearing a dry-fit camo long sleeve.
Ryker had a thigh holster, which carried his gun and knife.
It clipped together at the crease of his groin, and when he moved, the fabric of his pants strained, highlighting his thick muscular legs and the bulge of his enormous dick.
He caught me staring, grabbed it with a lewd gesture, and asked if I wanted to suck it.
I flipped him off, politely declining his offer.
“You’ve been particularly defiant and bold today, Rowan. I think when we get back from Science, I might let Ryker punish you for all your provocation,” Cade threatened, raising his brow.
My face paled, and I muttered, “Sorry, sir,” to avoid being spanked or whatever deviant punishment I'm sure they would dream up.
I had only gotten a taste of their powerful control, as they submitted my body to pain and then pleasure, but I knew what I experienced was mild compared to what they had in store for me, eventually.
Smug Ryker shot me a little satisfied smirk while I glared at him.
Cade focused his attention on me, surveying my outfit, before saying, “Absolutely not. Go get changed, Rowan.”
I put my hands out in question, looking down at my clothes. “What’s wrong with what I'm wearing? It’s comfortable, and literally the only bottoms you gave me weren't jeans or underwear.”
“Spin around,” he commanded.
I spun slowly so my back was facing him and turned my head over my shoulder to look at them. Ryker bit his lip, and they both stared at my butt.
“Those pants are practically see-through. I can clearly make out the outline of your underwear and the crease of your ass cheeks. You are not wearing those in front of anyone but us. Do not even bother arguing.”
“I agree with Cade,” Ryker added.
Of course, he did.
“Yesterday you were threatening to parade me around the base in my birthday suit, and you're going to throw a fit about yoga pants?! Here, look, no problem!” I said, pulling the sweater down and causing it to obstruct the view of my butt . I spun slowly, just to drive home that my sweater covered the areas they were concerned about now. I didn’t want to change into restrictive clothing in case I happened across an escape opportunity.
“I will not say it again, Rowan. Change, now. Every minute we are late to this appointment is another spank we are going to add to your punishment when we get home,” he said calmly, but there was a dangerous edge to his voice.
I had been playing with fire all morning and knew better than to poke the bear when he was reaching the limit of his patience.
I changed in approximately two minutes and was walking out of the door wearing jeans.
Cade rested his calloused hand at the back of my neck, steering me through the hallway.
Ryker walked directly ahead of me, sandwiching me between the two of them.
His bulky mass obstructed my view, but I began committing everything I could to memory.
As we passed the stairwell, I tried to see into the door’s small glass window, but Cade's grip on my neck made turning my head difficult and obvious.
I noticed a white box with a red light that looked like some type of scanner on the wall near the door handle.
The hallway stretched on as we passed numbered door after door until finally the space opened into a large common area with a few couches and chairs.
Vast windows overlooked the same courtyard my bedroom did, and an elevator adorned the far wall.
Cade pulled a key card from one of the many pockets in his fatigues to slide through a scanner that was like the one I had seen on the stairwell door.
I would need to get my hands on one of those cards if I wanted to even get out of the Dormitory Wing. I assumed they all had their own to come and go freely. Step one of my escape plan: steal a key card.