Chapter 45 Azrael #2
I felt inclined to do as she wished, but there was no other way.
Red had to see this. There had to be a witness in my case, or no one would believe it.
“Alaric and Havoc will be there,” I told her, knowing that she had grown comfortable with their presence.
“You will be covered up and you will not be doing any favors for anyone. All that is expected of you is to sit and take the brand like the good little whore you are. Once she sees that, I won’t allow her to watch you anymore. ”
She blinked, more tears falling. Her eyes flicked to the right and back in question.
I followed them, finding that rabbit sitting right where she had left it on the bed. She liked cuddling with it.
“No,” I replied. “It isn’t them.” I worked my jaw and released her neck, earning a sharp intake through the nose.
“Two of my brothers and I were assigned caretakers when father dearest decided we couldn’t control our tendencies well enough to focus on the assignment.
” I continued tying the bra around her neck.
“Her name is Poppy. They call her Pops. I call her Red. You’ll understand when you see her. ”
Her tears had dried by the time I finally stepped back, taking her in.
The bra did little to cover her breasts, which wasn’t the point. I just wanted to cover some of them, including her beautiful nipples. “Do you feel that?” I asked, finding her eyes. “The little thing sticking inside of you and the small things encompassing your tits?”
She fidgeted a little and then her eyes fluttered, her hips grinding ever so slightly.
“Good. Walk. We’re going down to the entrance.”
She wouldn’t stop fidgeting the entire way. Every jostle, every slight shift had her soaking through those panties. She would be a blubbering mess by the time this was over.
Anything to keep her distracted from the pain without administering any drugs.
She still had to react. If she didn’t, Red would convince herself that something other than what was actually going on was happening, and I couldn’t have that. I didn’t need anyone having any grandiose delusions about why I was keeping this woman at our house.
Without her, the mission fell apart.
We stepped off the elevator, Red immediately turning from the front entrance to me. “What is going on, Az, who are these…” But her words drifted off the second her eyes landed on Scarlett.
She glanced from her to me. “What the fuck did you do to her?” she asked, taking a step forward.
Alaric stepped up to meet her, forcing her to stop.
She glared at him. “You don’t scare me.”
“He should,” I said on a breath. “I made her cum,” I went on. “Over and over and over again,” I hummed, leading her to the front of the foyer where the two brothers were waiting.
Alaric returned to his spot, but his eyes were trained on Red.
“She’s covered in cuts and scars. I didn’t think…” Red shook her head, her tear-filled eyes finding mine. “I didn’t think you would ever whip anyone, Azrael. Ever.”
My eyes hardened. “On your knees,” I told Scarlett without looking.
Scarlett got on her knees without hesitation, spreading them only to pull them together, remembering that we weren’t alone.
I turned to Alaric, taking in the three brands he had heating in the basin. They were all glowing red. “Is Manson on his way?”
He allowed a single nod.
“Sweetie, are you okay?” I heard Red ask.
I turned, finding her crouched in front of Scarlett, Scarlett’s eyes watching her unflinchingly. She didn’t even twitch.
I couldn’t help but smile in pride. Good for her. So desperate to meet the people of my world and yet here she was, as still as stone, waiting for my command.
Red looked up to me, anger in her eyes. “You’ve broken her.”
“The church did that,” I answered coldly.
“And I’m disappointed in you for assuming anything different.
I’ve given her life. She wasn’t able to look anyone in the eyes until I took her under my wing.
She was born into that church, you know that.
Assuming her trauma comes from anywhere else is absolutely abhorrent, especially from you. ”
She frowned and stood. “You’ve killed women you’ve fucked, Azrael. Killed them. I’ve seen the pictures, heard the stories. You’re going to do the same to her.”
“And she’ll thank me for it when I restart that heart of hers.”
She scoffed, shaking her head, but I could see the horror in her eyes. Probably remembering what they had done to the dear wild rose. “You’re sick. Claiming her to what? Just to get information? Maybe they were right. Maybe Grey should have been the one doing this, not you.”
“Grey doesn’t have the heart,” I said just as a shuffle met my ears.
I looked down just in time to see Scarlett settle back into place. Even from here, I could see the anger wafting from her skin. Look at that. She didn’t like what Red had to say. My smile grew. “Insult me again, Red, and we’ll see where it gets you.”
She worked her jaw, taking several steps back, disgust in her eyes. “Just another soul stolen from this world by your hands. I know I can’t stop this, and I know that you won’t stop until this assignment of yours is over, but for fucks sake, let her live.”
I crouched down behind Scarlett and unlocked her cuffs, my eyes locked on Red’s. “Lean forward and place your hands on the ground, palms up.”
She did as she was told, her eyes still locked on Red’s as well, broken only when I crouched down in front of her.
Her tangled hair was falling on either side of her face, her eyes filled with fire, drool dripping from the corners of her mouth, her nose running. “Don’t worry, little sinner, she can’t touch a hair on my head,” I hummed to her.
Her eyes found mine, softening.
I opened a panel in front of her, revealing two shackles inset into the floor.
She had quickly learned that I had these loops everywhere. In the floors, in the walls, on the ceiling. They were hidden behind invisible to the eye panels and only the Blackheart’s and I knew where they were.
I shackled each wrist in tightly, making sure she had almost no room to wiggle, before I leaned back on my heels. “I have to put you in the dark,” I told her, reaching for my tie. “Instinct will have you fighting, and you can’t fight with this.”
She gave me an imperceptible nod and sat patiently as I tied my tie around her eyes.
“Why did you do that?” Red asked as I stood. “You don’t want her seeing the brand before you scar her for life?”
“She’s already scarred for life,” I explained, walking over to the basin. “I’m giving her a scar she can wear with pride just like the others.”
“This is not like the others, Az, and you know that. They used knives, they cared about their women, you want nothing but to own and destroy her.”
“My language has never been enough for any of you,” I replied, picking up one of the smaller ones. “The way I speak, the way I walk, the way I dress, the way I show my emotions—”
“What emotions? You’re just sick and twisted. You don’t feel love. You aren’t capable of normal joy, normal anything. You’re a monster.”
I heard the shackles shake.
“Just because it’s not the way you feel things doesn’t mean it isn’t as valid.
” I found her eyes on my way back to Scarlett.
“Although, I suppose in a world like this where everyone is told their feelings matter, I can understand why you are so… disillusioned in your importance. The New York Post has a new headline, dearest sister: You’re Feelings Mean Nothing.
Read it, study it, embrace it. Not everyone has a feeling or opinion that adds anything to the narrative. Especially to mine.”
She snarled. “Do you love her?” she asked, raising a brow, her hands fisted. “Are you doing this because you value her?”
I turned from her to Scarlett, taking in the way she was hunched, her breathing labored, her body as still as it could be in this pose.
“I value what she can give me,” I answered.
I pressed a button on the remote in my pocket, watching her jerk, her knees spreading, a low moan falling from her lips.
She tried to grind her hips, but the way I had her seated prevented her from moving too much.
Red’s eyes widened, her jaw dropping as she looked from Scar to me and back to Scar and finally to me again. “Did you put a vibrator in her?”
My cock throbbed as I watched her writhe. There was a small one in her panties, just long enough to tease, and it was set on the lowest setting. Inside her bra were suction cups. They sucked and twisted gently, adding just enough pressure to cause the sensations to build but offer her no relief.
I stepped up to her hands as she fought to keep them flat. “We’re doing this three times, little sinner, so prepare for it.” Without another second of hesitation, I placed the first brand in the center of her palm.
Her entire body went rigid, but not a single sound escaped her mouth.
The smell of burning flesh drifted up with the smoke, the sizzling music to my ears.
I watched her face for a count of five before I pulled the brand away and returned with the second.
Tears streamed down her face as she trembled, her hand shaking and bright red, already swelling. I placed the second brand on her left palm, a shudder drifting down her spine. More tears flooded down her cheeks, her hips grinding, her breathing labored.
“She’s not even screaming,” Red breathed out as I pulled the brand away and returned to the basin. “Why isn’t she screaming?”
Because she liked it. She craved it. She was a whore for it just like me.
I grabbed the third brand, the largest of them, and stepped up behind her, Alaric joining just to push her hair to the front of her body so that her back was clear.
I stared at those scars, feeling the anger drift through me. Thomas and that whip of his. I wanted nothing more than to shove the handle up his ass and wrap the end of it around his neck. Let him fuck himself while he strangled to death.
“This is the last one, Scarlett,” I said, watching her body shake. “This one is meant only for you and I.” I pressed it against the center of her back, her body going rigid, a whimper finally escaping her throat as she shook in absolute pain.
Yet she was still trying to grind her hips, trying to find relief.
I held it against her for a count of five before peeling it away, her body collapsing.
She would need to rest for the rest of the day, maybe two. “Have Manson meet her in the bedroom,” I told Alaric. My eyes lifted to Red’s to see her eyes as red as her hair. She was crying. “She’s mine. Go report it to our dearest Uncle.”
Her throat bobbed. “I asked you to save her.”
I straightened, feeling that black fog burning in the pit of my stomach. “That’s what I’m doing. Just because it looks like damnation to you doesn’t mean it is to her.” I turned away from her, Alaric sticking something into Scarlett’s neck. “Goodbye, Red.”