Resolution

Chapter 8

The walls pressed in as if they were breathing, bowing with every pulse of my heart. Flynn’s reflection continued to approach while the blade glinted mockingly back at me.

The faint smell of dust and candle wax was overtaken by the memory of another smell. Blood. My blood. Austin’s blood. Gina’s blood. And her blood. The coppery scent hung on to my thoughts until every breath I took tasted sour in my throat.

Panicked, I turned one way, then the other, but it was no use.

Felix and Flynn were everywhere. To the left, to the right, in front of me, and behind me. There was no escaping. I was trapped in a kaleidoscope of piercing blue eyes and painted smiles.

I suddenly understood what a rat felt like, except a rat got a prize at the end of its maze. In this one, I was the prize.

I shook my head and flattened against the mirror as a bare chest brushed my back.

When Flynn tipped his head, and his breath wafted over my neck, I couldn’t help but wonder what the rat would do in this scenario.

“Don’t be shy now, Poppet. You’ve already taken the first step.” Felix’s hungry eyes gleamed from a dozen reflections. “All that’s left is to stop pretending you don’t like the fall.”

“I don’t.” I lied to myself while Flynn stepped in.

Every move he made was deliberately slow as if he was trying to make the anticipation of what he was going to do as torturous as the act itself. And it was working.

When Flynn lifted his hand, my heart slammed against my ribs. When he let out a breath, I sucked one in. And when he leaned in, just a bit, I could feel the weight of his closeness. A few seconds of that and I was ready to jump out of my skin. And I damn near did when the knife grazed my leg.

I lurched forward, slamming into the mirror.

Flynn let out a silent chuckle that puffed across the nape of my neck and brushed the sharp edge along my thigh, tracing the lace at the hem of my dress. It was far too intimate and all wrong.

Everything about this was wrong. Felix’s reflection surrounded me while his brother pressed in behind me, and I wasn’t trembling out of fear.

Flynn still had Gina’s blood on his hands, and all I could think about was how good it would feel to run my hands over those abs.

It didn’t matter which one. Felix or Flynn.

They both had washboard muscles that were way too tempting.

Felix watched as if the glass between us was a stage curtain he was getting ready to draw back, while Flynn continued to trace the hem of my skirt. I couldn’t help but shudder as the knife scratched along the underside of my ass.

Something in the air shifted. I was still their prey, and they were still going to hurt me. But not in the way I expected, and that was so much worse.

I tried closing my eyes to shut them out of my mind. Then Flynn grabbed my hip and pressed his hard body up against me. So, while I couldn’t see the hunger burning in their stares anymore, I could feel it.

It was all I could feel.

Every inch of it.

“Shutting your eyes won’t work, Poppet.” Felix’s voice wrapped around me like shame and sin. “You can’t deny what you are.”

I shook my head. Yes, I could.

I could choose to be someone else. Not her. Not the girl who craved this kind of thing.

Only a sick twisted person would have filthy images running through their mind at a time like this. I did not enjoy the feel of Flynn’s breath warming my skin. My scalp didn’t tingle when he threaded his fingers through my hair, and I certainly didn’t want to push back against him.

Those were the urges of someone else. Not me.

“Poor, Poppet.” Felix purred while Flynn’s arm curled around my waist. “Did you think you could drown your hunger the way you drowned your sister?”

I could drown my hunger. I didn’t look at men. I didn’t touch them or let myself enjoy it when I did break and spend the night with one.

“But you did enjoy it,” Bethie whispered in the back of my mind. “You like having their hands on you.”

I shook my head.

“Choking you.”

I shook my head harder.

“Inside you.”

“No.” I cried out.

Flynn tsked in my ear and slipped his hand under my dress.

“I don’t want it,” I whispered, trying to convince myself.

“Awe, Poppet.” I could almost feel Felix’s breath on my ear. “Desire is a beast that cannot be contained. Fear won’t smother it. Guilt won’t cage it, and pain enhances it. You ache because you do want it.”

No, I didn’t. I didn’t want this.

At least that’s what I told myself when Flynn’s hand wedged between my thighs.

I would hold onto my resolve.

And I did. Even when his finger pushed between my folds and pressed down on my clit. But when the tip of the knife in his other hand bit into the tender flesh of my ass, I squeaked out a groan.

“Yes…” Felix breathed.

A third hand wound around the back of my neck and threaded into my hair. I wasn’t pressed up against a mirror any longer, but something warm and hard.

Felix.

My eyes flew open to see the ringmaster standing where the mirror used to be.

“How—”

The sharp ache of the knife digging into my skin cut off my words.

I winced.

Felix groaned.

And Flynn let out a staggered breath while pushing his gloved finger inside me.

The feel of satin stroking my inner walls while blood trickled down the back of my thigh was an overpowering concoction. My mind couldn’t decide what to hold back. The cry of pain when the knife once again nicked my flesh, or the moan Flynn’s pumping finger was threatening to drag out.

What ended up coming out was a grumbled-sounding, strained breath.

“Look at our doll, Flynn.” Felix yanked my head back, forcing me to look up at him. “Caught between pleasure and pain… not knowing which one will break her first.”

He let out a low and needy growl before leaning in to brush his cheek against mine. “I can smell your sins, Poppet, and I want to devour your shame.”

A little voice in the back of my head told me to fight. Kick out, slap them, bite down, anything. However, I couldn’t make myself move. I didn’t know why. Maybe I didn’t want to fight? Maybe I was getting exactly what I deserved? Maybe I was secretly hoping they would kill me?

Felix slid his tongue up the side of my face while Flynn thrust his finger into my pussy, stroking a spot deep inside that begged me to give in and let go. My knees trembled, and my body ached for release, yet my mind continued to fight.

“You can’t break me.” I insisted. “I’m already broken.”

Felix straightened up and looked down at me. “You’re not broken, Poppet. You’re just afraid to be whole.”

“I’m not afraid.” There was no option to be whole for me. When Bethie left, she took a piece of me with her. I would never be whole again. Maybe I never was.

“He’s right. You don’t smell like a victim.” Felix lifted his hand and ran his finger over my bottom lip. “Because you aren’t one.”

His eyes snapped up to mine. “You’re a monster, just like us.”

Felix’s lips slammed down on mine, swallowing whatever argument I had, if I had one at all. I couldn’t remember. All I could feel was the way his mouth was moving, coaxing me to let go. When his tongue wrapped around mine, I was lost.

It felt like his kiss was tasting my soul. I couldn’t stop myself from groaning and pushing in for more. Felix tasted like sin wrapped in depravity, and the freedom I used to have before my life went to shit. I wanted to pull him in and push him away at the same time.

Flynn fucked me with his fingers while flicking the blade to deliver tiny slices on my thighs and arms until it felt like blood was trickling from every part of my body. Every wince or moan that I let out, Felix greedily swallowed.

“Spread your legs, Poppet,” Felix whispered against my lips. “Let my brother remind you of who you really are.”

When I didn’t immediately obey him, he growled, “Good little dolls do what their masters say.”

I wanted to scream at him that I wasn’t his doll. That I would never do what he said. But all I did was shudder.

Not away from them, or toward them. It was just the shudder of prey caught between two predators.

Felix pulled his mouth away from mine, and the stare he glared down at me was not one of hunger.

“It seems as if our star doesn’t want to follow her cues, brother.”

Flynn grunted and shoved another finger inside me, so fast that I whimpered while my pussy ached from the sudden stretch.

“Do you know what happens to stars that refuse to perform?” Felix roughly grabbed my chin and tipped my head up. “They get cut.”

Flynn’s fingers tore out of me and were replaced with something thicker and harder. It didn’t take me long to realize what it was.

The hilt of the knife.

“Spread your legs, Poppet,” Felix ordered. “Or get cut.”

Flynn pushed the hilt inside me, and I winced as the blade pierced my inner thigh.

Unlike before on the dinner table, Flynn was not using his hand to protect me from the sharp edge. If I didn’t do what they said, the blade would dig in.

I had so many cuts already that I couldn’t tell if it was sweat coating my body or blood, but I was starting to feel a little woozy.

Whether it was from blood loss or how Flynn had worked me up with his fingers, I didn’t know.

But I didn’t want to risk passing out. Lord knows what they would do to me then. So, I did the only thing I could…

I spread my legs.

“Wider,” Felix barked, making me shuffle my feet further apart, which was not an easy thing to do when one had a foreign object inside them.

If my obedience placated Felix in any way, he didn’t show it. That angry knit in his brow was still there.

“I did as you asked.” I’m not sure why I felt the need to point it out.

The furrow in his brow deepened while the corner of his mouth curled into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Are you trying to please me, Poppet?”

“No,” I grumbled while Flynn pumped the hilt inside me.

He wasn’t fucking me with the hilt in a sensual way like last time. This was rough, fast, and hard, meant to hurt, and it did. But it didn’t at the same time either. My pussy seemed to enjoy the pain.

I hated how they made me feel. They were holding us hostage, forcing us to play their sick games, had killed someone, and cooked her leg. They were monsters. Yet, I was struggling to hold back my moans. Maybe I was a monster, too?

No. I couldn’t let them win.

“I won’t give you what you want.”

“I don’t want your obedience, Poppet.” Felix yanked on my hair, making my scalp scream. “I want your surrender.”

The angle of the knife shifted, causing my pussy to clamp down as it rubbed against a sinful spot inside me.

I bit down hard on my lip, attempting to suppress the spark of pleasure that shot up my spine.

But Felix still saw me shiver.

“You see…” A coy smirk spread across his face. “You can’t help it. Obedience is mechanical. Anyone can mimic it if they fear the knife enough. But submission…”

The way he said submission should not have sounded so tempting. Then again, something this twisted should not feel this good. All I wanted to do was arch my hips back.

“Submission is an uncontrolled symphony of honesty.” Felix pulled my head closer to him, then leaned down to growl in my ear, “You may be able to lie to yourself, Poppet, but you can’t lie to me.”

Every nerve in my body lit up, overpowering me with sensations. The heat of our bodies, Felix’s breath grazing the shell of my ear, the smell of sin in the air, and the desire I long ago shoved away were all right there, waiting to break free.

“I don’t want your obedience, Poppet. I want the truth you keep choking back.”

I came. Hard.

My entire body seized as my pussy clamped down on the hilt. And this time, I couldn’t hold back my moan. I grabbed Felix’s shoulder and held on as I screamed out my ecstasy.

“Finally,” Felix purred. “Your mask slips.”

Flynn pulled the knife out of me while I was still stuck riding my orgasmic waves. At first, I thought it was over. Then I felt something else press against me. Something warm and hard.

Somewhere in the distance, I heard the knife clink on the floor as Flynn’s fingers grip my hips. But none of that registered over the voice in my head whispering, “Come play with me, Mazie.”

“Wa—” was all I got out before Flynn pushed deep inside me.

It hurt. My pussy struggled to accommodate his size, and he didn’t stop with one thrust. Flynn fucked me with no regard for me or the injuries on my body.

He slammed into me over and over again until pain and pleasure mixed, and my mind went blank.

I couldn’t tell if I was moaning, or whimpering, or both.

All the while, Felix growled in my ear, “Give in, Poppet. Surrender to us, and we’ll show you the real meaning of depravity.”

I didn’t want that, or this. The girl who gave in to her selfish needs died a long time ago. At least I thought she had. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

Every time Flynn shoved his cock inside me, I could feel her clawing at the back of my mind. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the delicious way my pussy stretched. I craved it. My body had been starved for so long.

Despite how hard I tried to resist, my hips rolled back, begging for more.

Then I heard a voice that made my blood run cold.

“Mazie.”

Austin was here.