Chapter 38
Faint voices swim around my ears, flowing through my veins. My head is pounding, and I feel foggy and distorted like taffy stretched too far. I gently tug at my wrists, but I’m tightly wound against something.
“I’m taking care of my shit, man. It won’t be her,” a sharp voice grits.
“So you’re lettin’ Vesper be the sacrificial lamb?” someone else replies harshly. “Over my dead fuckin’ body!”
A scoff reaches my ears. Kieran’s voice? “Really, bro. You are not capable of feeling anything, man. Don’t pretend you give a fuck about her. I don’t know what the fuck you’re planning, but I know it is for your own selfish gain. That’s the way you operate.”
Movement in the background has me on high alert, though I keep my eyes sealed shut. If I pretend to sleep, maybe I can gather more information.
“Fuck you,” Zain’s voice spits.
I hear someone stumble backwards and slam into a hard surface. I make the mistake of flinching against my restraints.
The room falls eerily silent.
“I know you’re awake, songbird,” his deep baritone cuts through the silence. Suddenly it floods back to me. The computer. The files. The deception. The drugging. “Let me go,” I say weakly. I dare to open my eyes. The bright light burns my irises. My
head is still swimming, so my words come out slurred. The room spins in a hazy blur.
Kieran and Zain hover over me. Kieran has blood dripping from his lip. I don’t have to guess who it’s from. Zain’s head tilts to the side. His eyes flicker to my bound wrists and ankles before meeting my gaze again.
“Not gonna fight?” Zain cocks his head.
His words come out challenging and predatory. I’m petrified in place, as if I could get away anyways. I’d be nuts to think I could ever match his crazy. Escape is futile with him. We both know what Zain wants, he gets.
My eyes skip between both of them. “Help…please?” I look at Kieran, pleading.
He throws his hands up and takes a tentative step back. “Don’t look at me, sweetheart.” He smirks before turning on his heel, leaving me alone with the devil himself.
Zain sinks onto the mattress, making it dip under his weight. “The problem is, songbird, you went snooping. Didn’t you?” He looks at me straight-faced, like I’m a kid he caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
I shake my head roughly against the comforter, causing my hair to fall in front of my eyes, obstructing him from my view.
“Don’t lie to me,” he growls. Reaching for my hair, he tips my head back so I’m forced to meet his gaze. My scalp burns. “Say it. Did you snoop?” he asks mockingly.
I screw my eyes shut and fight back the lump forming in my throat. “Yes.” My voice sounds harsh and dry. Tears well up in my eyes.
His face falls but his eyes hold that dead-eyed stare. “I’m not going to pretend to be your savior, songbird, but right now I’m the only one who can protect you.”
Protect me? From what? From who? What delusion is he living in?
No. This is just another tactic he’s using to exercise control over me.
I lick my dry, cracked lips. “Let me go. I know you. You’re better than this,” I whisper, hoping he can be reasoned with. But I know better; Zain does what Zain wants to do, despite the consequences.
Clearly my words provoke him because he wrenches my head back farther and lowers himself into my face. His lips brush mine. His scent envelops me, embedding into every fiber of my very being.
“Am I?" he mocks. When his hands slowly reach for his belt buckle, I freeze. A wicked smile grows on his lips, but my vision stays locked on his eyes, lost in the endless void of darkness.
I almost think he’s going to kiss me. Then he snaps himself back like a rubber band and rips his belt off in one fluid motion.
I’m panting, utterly ashamed at my body’s response.
The throb between my legs aches. The devil himself was sent here to tempt me, and I am unable to stop the endless stream of emotion flowing through me.
Even tied and bound at his mercy with the knowledge he’s a killer doesn’t deter me from him.
I look down as his bulge tents his pants. Slowly, he lowers his jeans and boxers until his cock springs free. Veiny and thick, it slaps against his shirt. He gives it a few lazy strokes. The metal of his piercings makes him hiss out in pleasure as he squeezes.
A whimper leaves my throat, and he growls in approval. “Open,” he commands.
Without another prompt, I widen my jaw to accommodate his thick, lengthy girth. I’ve never sucked dick before, but it seems Zain is destined to be my first for everything, so I obey willingly. I’m not exactly in a position to bargain.
His eyes darken with a wild bestial look of barely contained raw desire.
His cock slips past my dry, cracked lips, and he doesn’t go gentle.
As if I thought he would. His piercings scrape along my teeth as he fists my hair in one hand and grips my jaw with his other.
His thrusts are claiming and riotous. His unbridled chase for pleasure is all he’s after.
My throat constricts and I gag, choking on my spit.
I can’t even pull back if I wanted to. I tremor against my restraints as tears prick at my eyes and wet my lashes.
I try to time my gasps of air with his thrusting.
“Take it, songbird. All of me. I want to ruin you the way you’ve ruined me.”
Anger fuels his words, and he fists my jaw harder, forcing me to open as wide as I can.
My pussy throbs between my legs, and I rock my hips, rubbing my thighs together for any type of friction. I can feel bruises forming along my jawline already, and it only feeds my shameful desires. His head falls back and he lets out the most sexy, dark, carnal growl I’ve ever heard a man make.
His seed is like an explosion in my mouth.
Salty, warm, and tangy, just like him. I rock my hips harder, triggering my own release.
I moan around his cock, the vibration making him pump more cum into my mouth.
He forces every drop down my tongue, past my throat.
I drink every last drop like a wanton whore.
The moment my adrenaline settles and my desire recedes, shame fills me. My cheeks heat as he steps back to catch his breath. His cock slides from my lips while his salty taste is still bathed on my tongue.
“Good girl,” he praises. I stumble over my words. “Why did you choose me?” I ask breathlessly. I’m desperate for him to touch me again, and it sickens me. “They. Chose. You.” His words leave his lips slowly. He draws each one out with such hatred and looks at me just the same.
Confusion falls over me.
“It should have been me,” he snarls, slapping his chest.
I’m under no illusion he cares for me. I now realize I’m a hole to fuck. A means of pleasure. I need to survive until he grows tired of me, or until I can escape his clutches. Only, I’m not sure I want to.
I yank at my restraints. All I want to do is be free from this prison and force his anger to melt away. If only I could touch him. I could show him he’s not the monster he thinks he is. “Who?” I press.
He strokes my hair reverently, sending a wave of confusion and desire through me.
His moods give me whiplash. “You’ll find out soon enough,” he says slowly.
“This is what’s gonna happen.” He forces my eyes on him with a grip on my jaw. “If I let you go, you need to trust me,” he says with an intense seriousness. His hand moves up to trace over my swollen lips.
I scoff, my voice is desperate. Trust is earned. Zain expects absolute submission. “Are you kidding me, Zain?” My brows furrow.
His face tells me he’s deadly serious. I’m not exactly in the ideal predicament to be smart-mouthed, but I can’t help myself. He’s playing unfairly, expecting me to follow dutifully along.
“You can’t be serious. You need to give me answers first! You’ve followed me for
years. You’ve stalked me, Zain. You expect me to blindly follow you…
” I trail off, searching his eyes for a hint or kindness or understanding.
He offers none. My chest tightens. One minute he looks at me with disdain, the next he offers me a glimpse into his soul before bricking me off again.
What he does next takes me by surprise. He climbs into the bed and tugs me against his chest. His body spoons against mine.
At least, to the best of his ability with my restraints.
“Follow me into the darkness, Vesper.” His tongue lashes out and licks along the shell of my ear.
My name on his tongue sends a jolt through my insides and a shiver up my spine.
He knows the effect he has on me. He doesn’t play fair.
The reality sets in. He has a hold on me and will never let me go.
I open my mouth to speak, but words elude me. Inner turmoil eats away at my insides, tearing me apart like sinew.
“If I trust you but…I need answers at some point. Can you offer that?” I ask softly, hoping he can give me some sort of explanation.
He props himself up and stares at me for a moment as if contemplating my request, his dark hair resting over his eyes. “No,” he says coldly, without remorse or a second thought, and my heart sinks. He places another brick in his wall, closing me off.
I take a deep, shaky breath. “Zain, you killed a guy,” my voice squeaks. “You stole my virginity, and you drugged me…”
I hope he can see the insanity of it all. Something tells me he already knows though.
I realize saying it out loud how unhinged this sounds, and stupidly, I keep coming back. How messed up am I?
I grapple with his offer. He must sense my apprehension because he loses patience and snaps at me.
“Can’t promise I’ll give you answers. You’re at my mercy, Vesper. You have no choice.
Sure, you can go to the dean, but see what good that’ll do. I have more hold on this school than your own daddy. Kieran is on my side. My father is high up on the social ladder.” His threat rings true.
He’s right. If my father gets even a little whiff of me being implicated in anything he will pull me out.
I suck my lip, hating the fact I still want to actually believe him and cooperate.
Nothing about this is normal. I’m pretty sure I’m suffering from some undiagnosed disorder to even consider he’s capable of anything other than destruction.
A stray tear falls down the side of my face. His gaze follows it until it lands on his dark comforter.
“You’re gonna have to be satisfied with the information I’ve given you.” He wipes another falling tear with his thumb before sucking it clean.
“If I agree, can I go?” I confirm, tugging at my restraints again.
He nods. “Gonna keep tabs on you, but yes. Don’t think about removing the cameras either, songbird.”
I nod in agreement and blow out a hot breath. “Okay…I trust you…”