Chapter 33
Sugar
When Sugar came to, he was bound to a chair with a blindfold over his eyes.
Where the fuck am I?
He remembered ducking into an alley to take a call from his mother. A strange odor hit his nose, and then, darkness.
“Thank goodness you’re awake.”
Sugar recognized the simpering voice. “Ormond! What the fuck did you do? Take this shit off me right now!”
Ormond removed the blindfold. “I could kill you so easily right now.” His voice was low, almost tender, with a calmness that sent chills up Sugar’s back.
“But I doubt you will.” Moss covered the stone walls of the tiny room, and the air reeked of mildew. Shadows flickered under a single bulb. “We’re underground, but where?”
“Somewhere we can’t be found.” Ormond sat on a cot. “They couldn’t save my eye. I’m permanently disfigured, thanks to you.” He tapped the eye patch.
“You’re lucky you’re not dead.”
“You think I’m angry, but in truth, I’m happy. The empty eye socket is as good as a brand.” He patted his chest. “Property of Sugar Constantine.”
A jolt of dread froze the breath in Sugar’s chest.
He’s insane.
Sugar could handle an egotistical tyrant with ease. Disarm any would-be Lothario with a glance. Deflate a bully with one blow. But crazy? He didn’t have a tactic for that.
“How did you know I was in Graphica? Did you hack my phone or put a tail on me?”
“Both.” He smiled. “Does that impress you?”
“Nothing about you is impressive.”
“But I know better, my love. Just a few weeks ago, you tied me up so beautifully and used my body in the way only a master can.” He sat cross-legged in front of Sugar. “You’re the only one who’s ever made love to me properly.”
Sugar cringed. Made love. He hated that term. Sugar fucked—end of story.
“Yet here I sit, bound to a chair. You’re no supplicant. You’re a disappointment.” Sugar spat in Ormond’s face.
He wiped the spittle and licked his wet fingers. “Your humiliation tastes sweet.”
“Better than Meridian’s ass?”
Ormond flinched as if stung. “I didn’t suck up to him. He came to me for assistance. I thought you would approve!”
“You let him use you. But that’s my job.”
He dropped forward, arms outstretched against the floor, twitching like an insect about to be pinned. “Please forgive me.”
Sugar leaned on his advantage. “I can’t. Unless…”
“I’m punished?”
The bindings on his right ankle had gone slack. He pushed his foot forward. “Lick it.”
“Yes, master.” He greedily lapped at the leather.
“How many times did you let Meridian fuck your ass, whore?”
“Never.” He lifted Sugar’s pant leg and licked his boot laces. “I’m your whore, master.”
Sugar edged toward depravity, and it scared him. How far would he go?
As far as I have to in order to escape.
“That’s right. Your ass is mine. Show it to me.”
Muttering platitudes, Ormond undressed. He knelt facing away, ass up, face down—a typical subordinate. The thought of fucking him made Sugar cringe.
“All mine. To fuck. To whip. To spank.”
“I deserve a solid spanking. But if I untie you, you’ll try to escape.”
“Maybe I’d rather stay here and make you cry for your mother,” Sugar cooed. “Just release one of my hands, and I’ll spank you red and raw.”
“Yes, master.” Ormond freed Sugar’s right hand and bent over his lap, thighs quivering with anticipation. “Show me no quarter.”
The only thing Sugar wanted to touch Ormond with was a steel blade, but he raised his hand and smacked his ass hard enough to welt.
Ormond yelped and rubbed his hip against Sugar’s crotch. “When you get hard, I’ll know I can trust you completely.”
Sugar inwardly groaned. Doling out a brutal spanking usually turned him on, but not now, not with Ormond. He forced his mind somewhere else. Deep in fantasy, a different bare bottom stretched across his lap—this one pale as moonlight.
Yes. Meridian would do nicely. His cock stirred as his hand met flesh.
Ormond shivered in delight. “You do want me.”
“No. I want to break you.” One more smack. “Untie me, and I will.”
Once free, Sugar used the same ropes on Ormond, tying him securely to the cot, face down, arms and legs spread.
“You are such a simple bitch.” Sugar found his phone, wallet, and switchblade on the table. He pocketed the first two but fisted the blade.
Ormond lifted his head. “You t-tricked me?” A solitary tear rolled down his face.
“I can be a real bastard sometimes. It’s my favorite thing about myself.” He hit the homing device on his bracelet. “I’m assuming the stairs are behind that door?”
“You’re just going to leave me tied up here?”
He crouched in front of Ormond’s face. “Did you really think we’d walk out of here together and have a happily-ever-after? Because of you, I had to stitch Gunner back together before he bled out. I had to pull a knife out of Snake’s face.”
Ormond flinched at the sound of the switchblade opening.
“You made the choice to side with Meridian and trick us into a deadly situation.” He pressed the tip of the blade against Ormond’s jugular. “And you have the gall to ask if I’m leaving without you?”
“I didn’t slash your friend’s throat—a Reptilian did! And Roland stabbed Snake for his own reasons, but I left Roland tied to a tree in Turquin as retribution. Blood for blood!”
“Blood for blood? You mock the oath. You left Roland in Turquin and let the creatures do the dirty work. I would have cuffed him to his own bed, cut his dick off, and watched him bleed out. You’re not even close to my level of dastardly. I once gutted a man like a fish because he called me cute.”
Ormond’s body trembled. “I thought that was a myth.”
“Every horrible thing you’ve ever heard about me is true.” Sugar ran a finger down Ormond’s cheek. “When Meridian comes to rescue you, make sure you let him know that even while tied to a chair, I beat you.”
Ormond tried to speak but only sputtered breathless nonsense.
“Of course I knew Meridian was in on this. You don’t have the smarts to pull off a complex plan on your own.” Sugar put his mouth next to Ormond’s ear. “Just like I know we’re underneath Clairidia Castle,” he bluffed.
“How c-could you possibly know t-that?”
Sugar pointed his knife at Ormond’s remaining eye. “What was the rental fee for this deluxe suite? Your ass, your mouth, or your lifelong servitude to his insane majesty?”
“Meridian and I are equals. I’m royal born too, remember?”
He moved the blade closer. “What was his fee?” Ormond squeezed his eye shut. “There’s no way Meridian let you play around in his castle for nothing. You offered something in return. What was it?”
“You!” Ormond shouted. “I said he could use you as bait to get Horatio Slice, but only if he released you to me afterward. Unharmed.” Fresh tears leaked from his clenched eye. “I’m sorry, Sugar.”
Rage filled Sugar’s veins with molten lead. “You offered me up as bait? The one who claims to love me?” He smashed the chair against a wall. “You lying, disloyal bastard!”
“I had to! My days were numbered. I had to live—s-so I can take care of y-you.”
“You did it to save your own skin.” Sugar yanked Ormond up by the hair so hard the front of the cot left the ground. “This one’s for Gunner.”
Using a feather touch, he drew the blade slowly.
Ormond’s pulse throbbed against the steel—sending a hum vibrating up his arm.
Blood welled in a curved line, mimicking the smile that stretched across Sugar’s lips.
He’d left the wound shallow—scarcely deeper than a papercut to ensure death would come crawling—giving Ormond plenty of time to choke on regret,
“Consider this a mercy killing. If I stayed, you’d die screaming.”
The door slammed shut behind him, sealing in the tang of blood and the sound of Ormond’s ragged sobs.
Am I really going to leave him?
Of course I am.
A stone staircase spiraled upward—an intimidating climb. He tried to make a portal, but a magic ward too strong for Sugar’s skills prevented a quick escape. He sighed.
“I picked the wrong fucking day to wear stilettos.”
At the top, a vast chamber stretched. Sugar crept down a hall lined with closed doors and portraits of Queen Claire. Regal and ruthless. How had she birthed a monster like Meridian?
A noise behind one door stopped him cold. He pressed his ear against it.
“Whimper for me, dog.” A slap cracked the air. “Your ass will be bruised for weeks.” The whiny, dramatic tone could only have belonged to Meridian.
A pause, then the sound of a whip, followed by a muffled cry. Sugar winced.
“What a pain slut you are.” Meridian’s chuckle had an evil undertone. “I have business to attend to, but I’ll be back to finish you off.”
Sugar bit his knuckle. If he didn’t find a hiding place in ten seconds, he’d be staring Meridian in the face. He opened the nearest door and ducked inside, holding his breath. The stomp of high-heeled boots grew louder before fading away.
He glanced behind him.
The room was a crime scene, littered with the corpses of torn books.
A leather armchair oozed stuffing from deep slashes, as if someone had tried to murder it.
Red paint spelled “I AM THE FUCKING KING” in a childlike scrawl across a wide window.
Sugar considered using it to escape, but he couldn’t leave the torture victim behind.
He found him in a fully stocked sex dungeon.
Devices hung from the walls and ceiling: chains, handcuffs, whips, and paddles.
A naked man lay face up on an upholstered platform, hands bound, legs hanging from a spreader bar attached to the ceiling.
Angry marks crisscrossed his ass, and his lips swelled around a ball gag.
Sugar crouched next to him. “Don’t scream.
I’m here to save you.” He freed the man’s mouth.
“Save me?” he spat. “I’ve been on a year-long waiting list for this. Go away!”
Reeling with surprise, Sugar stuffed the gag back in. Meridian was a Dom with a waiting list? He couldn’t wait to tell the boys this succulent piece of scandal fodder.
A shadow loomed over him.
“Look what we have here, a tiny Humerian tidbit. Do you have an appointment?”
Chest tight with fear, Sugar turned to face his doom.
Meridian wore thigh-high platform boots, wrist guards, and a chest strap that hid his nipples, all in red leather that matched his famous hair. A timid cock dangled under a whisper of pubic hair, the tip barely peeking from its foreskin. He nudged the man on the platform with the tip of one boot.
“My apologies, Lord Remington. I have to take care of this situation before I continue our session.”
Sugar drew the switchblade from his boot and clicked it open. “Back off, Meridian, or I’ll carve you a new asshole.”
“You must be the one Ormond’s panties are so moist for. I thought you were taller.” He plucked a phone from under his right wrist guard. “I’m in the dungeon. Get your asses down here. Bring backup.”
When Meridian stepped closer, Sugar could see his eyes were yellow with slit pupils.
“Nice contact lenses. The lizard mask isn’t freaky enough on its own?”
“I wore these snake eyes especially for you.” Meridian folded his hands and rested them under his chin. “Poor Ormond. He is so in love—”
“Ormond’s dead.”
Meridian blinked.
“I know you’re using me as bait, and I can’t wait to watch that plan backfire.”
Six Reptilian guards rushed into the room. Sugar clenched everything but his face.
“Except I’m sure Snake will trade Horatio Slice for his sweet little princess.” Meridian sneered. “It’s been almost too easy.”
Sugar snorted. “Bitch, please. You’ve been chasing Horatio for two years. Easy, my ass.”
“Who are you calling a bitch, bitch? I should bend you over and teach you a lesson right now, except you’d enjoy it too much.”
“With that sad excuse for a cock? You’re kidding, right?”
“Cuff him,” Meridian barked.
Sugar clenched his blade between his teeth and jumped straight up, clasping the chain hanging over his head with both hands. He knew the odds of escaping were minuscule, but he was a pirate, and pirates always went down swinging.
A swift kick to the side of the head knocked out the first and second guards, but the chain Sugar dangled from turned out to be a prop. He fell to the stone floor, landing on top of the unconscious Reptilians. His blade skittered across the stone and out of his reach.
Meridian slow-clapped. “Bravo, darling.” He rescued Sugar’s blade, closed it, and tucked it into his left wrist guard, scowling at the remaining guards. “I want him alive.”
The four advanced, and Sugar knew it was pointless to continue the fight. He stood tall while they shackled his hands behind his back.
“Come with me, tiny one.” Meridian wagged a finger at him. “You look like a sweet little girl dressed in Daddy’s suit, not the man-eater I expected. Pathetic.”
Meridian took the lead, followed by Sugar, who was trailed by two guards. He almost tripped over his feet. Hanging from Meridian’s backside was a silky, crimson tail.
“Cute tail. Who’s your real father? One of Mommy’s horses?”
“Shut up.” Meridian grabbed Sugar by his lapel and dragged him into a room filled with electronic equipment. “Let’s see what your vampire lover is up to.” He powered up the wall monitors. Every screen displayed the same horrifying image.
Frances’ cockpit.