59. Caden
Caden
Renley Elkins gagged violently around the thick dildo I’d forced down his throat, a custom piece with a hollow core and hole so he wouldn’t choke on his own vomit.
I’d already cut out his tongue earlier, just for the sheer satisfaction of watching the bastard who’d violated Aeris lose the ability to beg, so the phallic gag fit well.
It cost me an arm and a leg to track him down, and I even owed that prick Ryder a favour, but it was so worth it.
He was the last name on her list.
The last person tying her to her past.
“You hanging in there, mate?” I asked casually, tapping the baseball bat against his shattered left knee, the one I’d broken hours ago.
Renley’s eyes rolled back, a wet, gurgling scream ripping around the gag as fresh vomit spurted through the hollow tube and spilled down his chest, mixing with the piss that had already soaked his thighs.
“Pathetic,” I muttered, circling him slowly. “You were so fucking bold when you had her pinned down, weren’t you? When she was fifteen and terrified. When you and your friends took turns like animals.”
I swung the bat hard into his ribs, the crack echoing against the concrete. Renley convulsed, another choked wail escaping around the silicone cock stretching his throat.
A whistle, and I turned to find Langdon walking in with a gigantic fucking sex toy.
“Oh look, it’s your turn,” I chuckled darkly, stepping back so Langdon could show Renley what was about to go inside him. It must have been at least twenty inches long. Longer if you took in the base.
“Where the fuck did you get that?” Sebastian asked, only for Langdon to grin.
“I have my ways,” he signed awkwardly, the toy flapping around wildly.
Renley screamed, or at least tried to, when he finally noticed the silicone tentacle that’s tip was thicker than my fist. And I had large hands.
Langdon sniggered, shooting Renley a wink as he disappeared behind him. Renley’s eyes darted around the room, settling on Aeris at the back.
Liquid fire surged through me, and reaching up I gripped his jaw tightly, forcing his eyes back to me. “You don’t fucking look at her.”
Renley’s eyes bulged, and I knew if Langdon could speak he’d be taunting and laughing maniacally as he impaled this sorry fuck on the monstrous toy.
“This is really going to fucking hurt,” I said, tightening my fingers as Renley fought to free himself. “You better pray for some blood, because it’s going in dry.”
Stepping back, I watched as Renley took everything he deserved. But it wasn’t enough.
“You really shouldn’t have touched her,” I said, voice dropping as I took another swing, this time into his other knee.
Renley’s body jerked violently in the chains, tears and snot streaming down his face as he sobbed around the gag. His eyes fluttered as if he was going to pass out before I clicked my fingers, and Sebastian threw a bucket of freezing cold water into his face.
“What do you think you’re doing? You don’t get to die so easily,” I grunted. “Not unless she gives you that mercy.”
Aeris
“Just so you know, some women get flowers,” I mused, my eyes dragging slowly over the person who still haunted my nightmares. I hated how fear cinched around my lungs, as if this pathetic excuse of a man could still hurt me.
“You’re not just any woman,” Caden said, moving to lean against the wall so he could watch me. Sebastian and Langdon excused themselves, leaving just us three in the cold, dark room.
Renley continued to hang helplessly, silenced and impaled.
“How did you find him?” I asked, embracing the anger because it was better than the alternative.
“I hired Ryder Finn.”
My eyes snapped to his. “Ryder hates me.” And it was for a good reason. I’d once helped him get into a party, a place I knew was too dangerous but had agreed out of purely selfish reasons. It ended with me being punished, and someone he cared about being hurt.
“Ryder only speaks in money,” Caden said, lifting a cigarette to his lips. Smoke curled around his face, softening the sharp edges of his calm, dangerous expression. “I wanted to kill Renley, to drag it out, and make it as painful as possible …”
He didn’t have to vocalise the rest of that sentence, because I knew. He’d restrained himself, quieting his violence for me because he was giving me what I needed. Caring for me in the only way he knew how.
It was strange to think we’d barely tolerated each other for years, and now the thought of this dangerous, ruthless man hunting down my enemies sent dark, twisted butterflies fluttering through my stomach.
“So romantic,” I said, and Caden gifted me a view of that dimple.
Steeling my spine, I turned to face Renley once more. His arms were stretched high above his head, the bones in his shoulders distorted, like they’d popped out of their sockets from his own weight.
His torso was covered in bruises, ranging from hours to days old, and I was pretty sure both his knees were shattered.
At first, I was disappointed in myself for not facing him immediately, for having to raise the courage to face this particular monster.
But now, after seeing how Caden had drawn out his pain, I fucking revelled in it.
In him waiting, not knowing when or how he was going to die.
My heels clicked loudly against the cold concrete floor as I approached, his eyes darting to the black half-skull mask I wore. “How does it feel?” I asked, voice soft. “To be the one without power? To be completely at someone else’s mercy?”
He tried to make a sound, a desperate, animalistic plea, except nothing coherent could escape. Only wet, gurgling noises that bubbled up around the thick cock forced down his throat, made even more pathetic by the stump where his tongue used to be.
“For so long I’ve wanted this, to drag out your fear just like you did to me for so many years.
” Tears prickled my eyes, my rage an almost physical force that I barely held back.
“But now, seeing you hanging there, I realise now that you are nothing. You hold no power over me, and I’m going to take great pleasure in knowing that you’re not even worth my poison. ”
Turning away, every step I took towards Caden made me feel lighter. Stronger.
I didn’t need to torture Renley to heal myself or even be the one to give the final blow, just knowing he was here—restrained, scared, knowing he was going to die, a slow, painful death—because of me was enough. It was better than any fucking therapy.
Caden watched me approach, a faint frown creasing his brow as he flicked his cigarette towards Renley. Without hesitation, I pulled off his mask so I could rise onto my toes and kiss him. It was deep, possessive, and full of everything I still struggled to say out loud.
When we finally broke apart, I rested my forehead against his, breathing him in. “Thank you,” I whispered. “For saving me.”
Caden shook his head. “You saved yourself, Tempest.”
Behind us, Renley hung limp and broken in his chains. The final ghost from my past silenced.
For the first time in years, I didn’t feel powerless.
I felt strong.
I felt free.