21. CHAPTER 16
SAYLOR
Ican’t stop fucking shaking.
I’m crouched behind a fallen tree with my arms wrapped around my knees. My feet are cut from running through a bunch of twigs. The moss is cold and wet against my bare legs. My dress is ripped, and the bark digs into my spine.
He was going to rape me. If Axl hadn’t appeared, that’s what would have happened. The drugs have made my head fuzzy. My body doesn’t feel connected to me, and I keep seeing that asshole in my head.
Every sound is louder than it should be. A branch snaps somewhere to my left, and I clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from crying out.
There are footsteps approaching. They’re heavy and fast, crunching through the brush and coming right toward me. I don’t know if it’s Axl, so I can’t call out to whoever it is.
I press myself lower behind the log and pull my knees tighter to my chest. My hands are shaking, and I can’t keep them still, but I feel around and find a rock that’s the size of my palm. I grip it and prepare to use it to fight whoever is coming.
The footsteps stop. They’re maybe ten feet away from me. I squeeze the rock tighter, ready to lunge at them as soon as they’re close enough.
“Saylor.”
His voice cuts through everything—the drugs, the fear, the feeling of that man’s tongue on my face that I can’t stop replaying.
Axl.
I stand up behind the log, and he’s right there. He pulls his mask off with his bloody hands as soon as he sees me.
He rushes to me, and I let the rock fall from my hand to wrap my arms around his neck.
He lifts me off the ground, and I wrap my legs around his waist and bury my face in his shoulder, breathing him in. His arms are tight around me, one hand on the back of my head, the other gripping my thigh. I’m trembling against him, and I can’t make it stop.
“I’ve got you, little heathen.” His mouth is against my ear. “He’s dead, and no one is going to fucking touch you again. Only I get to make you cry.”
I pull back to look at his face. His jaw is swelling where the guy hit him, and there’s a cut above his eyebrow that’s bleeding into his lashes. His eyes are locked on the bruise forming around my left eye where that piece of shit hit me.
His hand comes up to my face. His thumb traces under my swollen eye, and his jaw tightens so hard I can see the muscle jump.
“I should have tortured that fuck for weeks,” he growls.
“I’m okay.” Or at least I will be.
“Did he do anything else?” He runs his knuckles along my cheek. “Did he hurt you?”
I shake my head, tears escaping the corners of my eyes. The drugs make my head spin as I try not to think any more about what almost happened.
He pulls me tighter against him. My legs are still wrapped around his waist. He shifts his grip under my thighs, holding me up with one arm. He squats with me in his arms and grabs his mask off the ground and slides it back onto his face. “Time to claim my girl.”
Axl rises and starts walking, carrying me through the trail of brush and trees. I keep my face against his neck and my arms tight around him. His pulse hammers against my lips where my mouth presses to his throat. “I want you, Axl.”
He’s a dominating, possessive asshole. But I know he would never hurt me.
Not like that dead bastard in the woods tried to do.
Axl has proven he will show up for me every time I need him.
There isn’t a safer place I could be than where I am right now.
I don’t care how fucked up it is. I’ll kneel for him.
I’ll crawl to him. I’ll serve my king. Because he’s fucking earned it.
“That was the only way it was going to go, as long as I’m fucking breathing, little heathen.” His hand squeezes my thigh tighter as he carries me. “We’ll get this shit over with, and then no one ever gets to see what’s mine again.”
I can hear the crowd before I can see them. The noise builds as the trees thin out—voices, cheering, music coming from somewhere in the building.
The spotlights hit us as he clears the last row of trees.
Every masked face is turned toward the woods, and when Axl steps out carrying me, the noise gets louder.
The crowd is cheering and whistling. He doesn’t stop.
He doesn’t wave or play to the crowd. He walks straight across the open ground with me in his arms and his mask glowing neon red.
I lift my head from his neck and look around.
Crew is already on the far side with a woman over his shoulder.
I know it’s him from the ink on his body.
I don’t recognize the girl, but she has a big grin on her face.
The men are whistling as one of the Talons claims his Dove, fucking her on the platform while they watch.
It doesn’t seem to bother him that they pierced his dick earlier.
It makes me wonder how much pain Axl is in between the piercing and all the fighting.
I see Justin walking out from the opposite tree line.
Kynlee is over his shoulder, just as they arranged.
I want to call out to her, but Axl is still moving, carrying me past the rows of masked onlookers toward the far archway.
I catch a glimpse of Kase in the stands.
His mask is on his face and not pulled down, and he’s staring at Justin carrying his sister.
I’m pretty sure Priest is beside him, wearing a mask with blue neon.
Neither seem to have noticed Axl and me.
The masks prevent me from finding my parents in the crowd, which is a relief. I’d rather pretend they aren’t watching.
Axl carries me toward a raised stone platform at the center of where everyone watches.
There are two more Talons there now with their Doves.
There are a few chairs, chaise lounges, and even a table on the long stone structure.
They seem strange on something that looks like it’s supposed to be an offering place, but the setup gives the men their choice of options for how they want to claim us.
Crew has his Dove bent over the table and is fucking her with his mask on while she grips the edge and moans.
Another Talon I don’t recognize has his Dove on her knees.
The crowd is whistling and cheering as they watch the show.
This is how it’s been done for over two hundred years, and it’s my turn to serve. I knew it was coming and what would happen when I chose this over auction. And now, I want it even more than I did before. I want them all to know that I’m Axl’s.
Axl steps up onto the platform and sets me down on my feet beside a wingback chair. “You’re fucking mine, Saylor. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.” My pussy throbs, and my body hums waiting for what he’s going to do next.
“Then fucking say it.”
“I’m yours, Axl.”
“Good girl.” He growls, then rips his mask off his face and puts it over my head to cover mine. “They don’t get to see your face when I fuck you.” Axl places his hands on my shoulders and spins me around. “Grip the back of the chair and bend over for me.”
I do as I’m told and grip the smooth leather, leaning forward and arching my back. His mask is warm against my face, and the red glow cuts across my vision. I try to tune out the roar of the crowd.
He shoves my dress over my hips. His hand slides up the inside of my thigh, and his fingers move inside my thong. “You’re soaked, little heathen.”
Two fingers drag through my slit, and I grip the chair harder. He pushes them inside me and I whimper. My body instinctively moves to fuck them. His other hand grabs my hip and holds me still.
Axl shifts so his mouth is close to my ear with his chest pressed against my back. “They don’t get to watch you come, masked or not.”
He pulls his fingers out of me, and I hear his zipper. Then my thong is pulled to the side, and I feel the head of his dick at my opening. “Do not fucking come. Don’t make a single sound.”
Axl grabs my hip with one hand and wraps the other around my throat. He enters me in one slow thrust. I bite my tongue to keep from crying out from the size of him and how good he feels. The piercings make everything even more intense, and my legs almost give out.
“Fuck.” He’s practically growling behind me as he starts fucking me. “I can’t wait to play with you.”
He pulls back and slams into me again. And again. His pace is hard and fast, and he isn’t being gentle. I don’t want him to be. If these bastards want to see that Axl Kade Hollister owns me, well now they fucking know.
He grips my throat tighter, slightly cutting off my air, and fucks me hard. “That’s it, little heathen. Take this dick like a good girl.”
I grip the chair, and my arms shake. The piercings drag on every stroke. Keeping quiet is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. My teeth are clamped on the inside of my cheek, and I taste blood. Every thrust pushes me forward into the chair.
His hips slam against me from behind, and then he buries himself deep and holds me there. I feel him come inside me as he pulls me back by my throat, pinning me against his chest.
He stays inside me for a few seconds, kissing the bite mark he left on my shoulder last night.
Then he pulls out and fixes my thong back into place.
He tugs my dress down over my hips, covering me again.
His cum is already soaking through the thin fabric, and I press my thighs together wanting more.
He picks me up and throws me over his shoulder, walking off the platform and not stopping to speak to anyone.
My pulse is still pounding as his cum coats my thighs. I officially belong to him. I’m his. This is going to be one hell of a fucking year.