Chapter Twenty
Alia
Metal grinding on metal woke me and I jerked up into a stand, looking at the door. Moth blinked his eyes open, quickly rising when Brandon walked into the warehouse and closed our only exit behind him.
My shoulders squared as I planted my boots firmly on the ground. I wasn't going to take his attack lying down. Literally. I had no idea how long we'd slept, but the flash of light from the sun outside had showed me that it was now daytime.
“She's awake!” Brandon, who had changed into jeans and a tight Tee, strode towards the cage. “And looking gorgeous as ever.”
“Fuck off,” I snapped, “and let us go.”
He chuckled, leaning his elbows on the gate of the cage as he studied us both. “Do you like my little dungeon? It was meant for a couple of women I'd been seeing, but as soon as you got involved with this idiot, I changed my vision. It’s not quite ready, but it won't be long until it's finalized.”
I resisted the urge to cuss him out or wind him up, he would only get angry. And in my experience, his anger was the emotion that drove his dominating sadistic desires. If I could turn him off somehow, he wouldn't be able to get his cock hard enough to attack me.
“You're awfully quiet this morning,” Brandon said to Moth, who stood with his arms to the side and stared at our captor. “Brooding as ever.”
Moth stayed silent, his presence pretty intimidating, even to me. Brandon’s jovial nature dropped and he pierced me with a sneering stare.
“How are you feeling?” He tilted his head in mock sympathy. “Did your friend tell you what I plan to do to you? My cock is hard just thinking about a bit of voyeurism. He can watch me bend you over, fuck your asshole, and then cum inside your tight pussy.”
Clenching my hands into fists, I resisted the shudder that wanted to shake me.
The son of a bitch was sick and twisted.
I knew he would do it. However, he also liked anticipation, which was why, when we were together, he'd tied me up and left me sitting naked for hours, waiting for him to come home and fuck me.
Except, it had only been exciting the once. After that, his time got longer, and my torment got stronger. I wouldn't allow him to do that to me again.
“If you're going to do it,” I muttered, “do it now so I can find peace.”
The corner of his lip lifted into a smirk. “Peace?”
“Yes, peace. Once I'm dead, I'll be free from you.”
“Who says I'm going to kill you?”
“Come on,” I goaded, “Try and get it up with an audience.”
Oh fuck, I'd just decided not to provoke him, what was wrong with me? It was the smarminess; it pushed me over the edge.
“Alia.” Moth bit my name out sharply. “Shut the fuck up.”
“Listen to your man,” Brandon said, “or I’ll kill him. The more you fuck me off, the more I'll hurt him.”
I chanced a glance at Moth, instantly regretting it when Brandon laughed, drawing my attention back to him. Moth hadn't moved from his position, not even to blink by the looks of it. Brandon had seen weakness in my fleeting glance. Fuck.
“You really have fallen for him.” Brandon unlocked the gate and came inside, moving closer to me. “How very sweet.”
Taking a deep breath, I gathered my strength, ready to lunge for him as soon as he stood near me, even if I was hampered by the chains. Except, he stepped between Moth and me, right in the center of the cage.
Moth growled and lurched forward, his whole weight smacking into Brandon's chest. My ex flew back, crashing into the bars behind him.
I tried to get closer to him, but he was up on his feet, spinning towards me.
Pausing, I braced myself and relaxed my arm, ready to swing the chain as soon as he got near.
“Think you’re clever?” Brandon smiled at Moth. “You're just provoking the beast who's going to fuck her so hard, she bleeds.”
He swung towards me, shoving me until I stumbled backwards. I attempted to lift my arm, but he caught me, trapping my arms against my side and pressing me into the bars.
“My cock is ready for you, but I'm going to enjoy the foreplay.” He stroked a hand down my chest, his little finger dragging between my breasts. “You have no idea how many times I've fantasized about fucking you again.”
I gulped, keeping my gaze away from his face.
I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing the fear that shone in my eyes. As Brandon’s gaze roamed down my figure, I looked at Moth, who stood as close as he could, the chains stretched out behind him.
His fierce scowl calmed me, even though I could feel the energy of his rage palpitating in the cage.
Brandon smiled a sick grin and turned to leave. The cage door shut, followed by the outer warehouse entrance, without him uttering another word. I slumped against the bars, going still when I caught sight of a water bottle, on the floor by the gate. Wow, our captor had actually brought us a drink.
Rushing to the bottle, I dropped to my knees and reached through to grab it, smacking my dry mouth in anticipation.
“What are you doing?” Moth's voice rumbled.
Turning, I stood and opened the bottle, taking several sips before doing it up and rolling it towards him. “Drink.”
His shoulders relaxed despite the rise and fall of his chest. He must've been cold but not once had he shown it. He scooped up the bottle and had a mouthful before placing it down next to him.
“Rest again,” he muttered, sitting on the hard ground.
“There's no point!” I paced towards him, frowning when I attempted to lift the chains. “Did you not see how quickly he stopped me in my tracks?”
Waving a hand in dismissal, he pointed with the other one. “Sit the fuck down. Let's… I dunno… talk, or something.”
“You're distracting me from my failure.”
“Do you want to fuck me off?”
Staring at his dark stringy hair and the ropes of muscle on his stomach, I rubbed my lips together.
For a split second, my dirty brain had imagined he’d asked me something different.
And the answer to that would've been yes…
absolutely. He radiated bad boy protector guy and I was here for it.
Except, we couldn't get close enough to kiss, let alone penetrate.
I sighed and retreated to sit in my corner. “I asked earlier, what made you so dark, but you didn't reply.”
If he wanted to talk, I wanted to know more about him. And the burning question on my mind was where he'd been for the years after I'd got him caught. I still didn't know the details.
He scratched the stubble on his jaw and closed his eyes briefly, as if he were bothered about the question. However, he knew he had no choice but to keep me talking. If he wanted to distract me, he could bare his mysterious soul.
“As you know, our families were part of a cult.” He flicked his gaze up at me from under his dark lashes.
He’d told me about the cult when we’d been in the woods, hiding from Brandon. I hadn’t asked too many questions, and he hadn’t offered much either, but he had mentioned that he’d seen a ton of shit.
“Please don't tell me it was one of those fucked up ones that get you to do crazy stuff?”
He stared at me. “Exactly that.”
My gaze dropped to the ground as understanding unfurled within me. I'd seen the documentaries and read numerous reports on the abuse that took place in different cults.
“I'm sorry.” I looked him in the eye so that he could see that I meant it.
He shook his head, his eyes glazing over. “Before we ran away, they were heavily into it, but we still lived in our own houses. We became friends at the meetings, but once we learned that our parents were getting ready to move to the cult's commune, we planned this big escape. And it worked…”
His sentence trailed off, but he didn't look at me.
“Until I ruined it for you.” My throat was tight, a lump forming.
I almost didn't want to hear what happened next. Ignorance was bliss when it came to the torture he’d endured due to my actions. But I stayed silent, ready to deal with whatever he told me. I owed him that much.
“Our families were on the compound when we were brought back to them,” he started, his eyes closed, clearly remembering that time.
“And they punished us as soon as the cops left, tying us up outside their homes, which were wooden cabins, dotted around the land and woods. There was a mansion where the leader lived and five other brick houses for the elders. A warehouse was used for events, meetings and school.”
“Shit, it really was a proper commune.” My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I glanced at the water, quickly dismissing the thought of another drink. We had to make it last. “How long were you tied up for?”
“Five days.” He opened his eyes and looked directly into mine, the pain speaking to me. “We could see one another outside the cabins, too far away to talk, but close enough to witness the beatings.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “Why would they do that?”
A small smile crossed his lips. “We humiliated them and went against their deity. If you do that, you get punished. It was meant to strip us of future ideas of running away. It didn't work, it only hardened us to their beliefs.”
“If that was the start of your time there,” I muttered, shuddering, “I hate to think what happened the rest of your stay. Did you play along to avoid being hurt?”
I imagined the guys at thirteen years old, being forced to sleep outside, tied up and cold.
How could a parent do such a thing? Yes, their sons had probably scared the shit out of them by going missing for a couple of years – I still didn't understand how someone hadn't found them – but they should've been beyond ecstatic to have them back.
“At first, we did… but old habits die hard.” He smirked then, something humorous lifting his mood for a second. “Our transgressions always came with a price, often inventive ones too.”
“So you were abused?”
His gaze snapped to mine and he lifted his hand to chew on the edge of his thumbnail. “Did you notice the scars on our backs?”