Chapter 21 Noelle
NOELLE
Noelle woke to the sound of a loud metallic clunk and the hiss of the cell door sliding open.
She blinked blearily, momentarily disoriented.
She was still lying between Burn and Bright, her head pillowed on one massive shoulder and her legs tangled with both of theirs.
Their bodies were warm and solid against hers.
The sensation of being surrounded and protected was so comforting that for a moment she didn’t want to move… didn’t want to remember.
But then the sharp smell of something vaguely acidic and fishy snapped her back to the present.
A guard was at the door of the cell. This wasn’t a Skow—it was a huge insectile alien with glinting mandibles and a dull green carapace—and it was shoving three metal trays through the cell door. Each clattered to the floor with a jarring clang.
“FOOD,” the thing buzzed in a deep, robotic monotone. “EAT.”
Then it clanged the door shut and stalked away, leaving the rank odor of its oddly-jointed body behind. Or was that the smell of the food? Noelle wasn’t sure.
Burn sat up first, scowling.
“Smells like somebody skinned a Krathian skunk and dipped it in sewer water.”
“Gods, what is that?” Bright grimaced as he reached for a tray and passed it to Noelle with exaggerated caution. “We’re not expected to eat this, are we?”
She looked down and nearly gagged.
The tray had three compartments, each filled with something worse than the last.
The largest held a gelatinous grayish cube, trembling faintly like it was alive. It smelled vaguely of sour milk and ammonia, and little bubbles kept popping at its surface like a living pustule.
The second held something red and wriggling—long, worm-like noodles tangled around each other like tiny, angry snakes. Every so often, one twitched and hissed warningly.
The third compartment of the tray held something that was only marginally better. It looked like some kind of toasted seed or grain bread—small, nutty-looking things coated its surface. It didn’t smell half-bad—vaguely cinnamon-like, Noelle decided.
“This one might be edible,” she muttered, cautiously plucking one of the seeds from the bread and nibbling it. It crunched pleasantly between her teeth and left a warm taste on her tongue. “Kind of like spicy granola,” she said.
Bright gave her a tight smile as he picked up his own slice of seed bread.
“Let’s pretend the rest doesn’t exist.”
Burn picked up his tray and dumped the first two compartments straight into the waste slot with a snarl.
“Fucking hell,” he muttered, eyeing the remaining bread. “Still smells like roasted bug ass.”
Noelle gave a faint, almost involuntary laugh and shook her head.
She hadn’t eaten more than two bites and already felt queasy.
Now that she was fully awake, the recent past was rushing back to her and the memory of the tentacle monster in the pool and the silver probe mapping her womb churned her stomach worse than anything on the tray.
Burn looked at her then—really looked at her—and his scowl softened slightly.
“You know,” he said gruffly, “You look…different. Not in a bad way. Just…you look younger now.”
Bright nodded slowly.
“You do. You definitely look younger.” He tilted his head, studying her. “It’s like your skin’s glowing. What did they do to you?”
Noelle’s laugh turned sharp and bitter. She looked down at her hands—smooth and unlined now, no sunspots, no calluses, nothing that marked the life she’d lived.
“You don’t know what I had to go through to look like this,” she said hoarsely.
The interest died in both warriors’ eyes, replaced by raw concern.
“What do you mean?” Bright asked, leaning toward her.
“Did they hurt you?” Burn growled, fists clenching, his whole body going rigid beside her.
Noelle looked down, staring at the half-eaten seed break in her fingers. The cinnamon taste turned to ash in her mouth.
“I…” She took a shaky breath. “I’ll tell you. Just… don’t interrupt, okay?”
Bright and Burn both nodded solemnly.
She stared ahead, not looking at them as the words spilled out.
“It started with this… pool. A bath, I guess. But it was filled with this thick, black, tar-like sludge. It smelled awful and felt worse. I didn’t want to get in but he—Lupin—pushed me.
And then…then something dragged me under.
” She sucked in a breath, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
“It was a tentacle. It had suction cups—these horrible, wet little mouths—and it stuck to my breasts, my stomach… my thighs…everywhere.”
Her voice cracked then, and the first tear slid down her cheek before she could stop it.
“I tried to fight it,” she whispered. “But it was so strong—too strong. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. It dragged me under and I kept thinking…thinking I was going to drown.”
Burn made a low, feral noise beside her.
Bright reached across and gently cupped her cheek, brushing her tears away with his thumb. His hand was warm and soft and trembling slightly.
“I’m so sorry, Noelle,” he murmured, his voice thick. “Sorry we weren’t there to keep you safe—to stop it from happening.”
“It’s not your fault,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice steady. “I went of my own free will. I thought if I could just…just endure it…it might help us get out of here.”
She took another breath. Her heart felt like a fist in her chest. She didn’t want to go on…but she had to. Had to get it all out.
“But that wasn’t…wasn’t the worst part,” she whispered.
She could feel their attention sharpen, feel their bodies tense beside her.
“Tell us, sweetheart.” Bright’s voice was gentle. “What else did that bastard do to you?”
“The worst part was after I finally got out of the pool. When he—Lupin—strapped something to my leg. A kind of silver collar. It locked tight around my thigh. And then he strapped me to the chair and there was this silver tentacle and it…it…”
Her voice broke completely and she buried her face in her hands.
“It went inside me.” Her sob was muffled but she could still hear the raw pain in her own voice.
“I couldn’t stop it. It pulsed and throbbed and I couldn’t make it stop—couldn’t even move.
I just had to lie there while it… while it did what it was programmed to do.
It went so deep…Lupin said it was…was mapping my womb. ”
Bright’s hand slid to the back of her neck, warm and anchoring. “Noelle…”
“I feel dirty,” she choked. “And the worst part was it…it made me…”
“What, sweetheart?” Bright asked gently. “What did it make you do?”
“It made me come,” Noelle confessed in a small, shamed voice.
“That wasn’t your fault,” Bright said at once, frowning.
He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes.
“Look at me, sweetheart—that thing was stimulating your body—you couldn’t help having an orgasm.
Coming doesn’t mean you liked what was done to you—it just means your body was being manipulated and stimulated against your will. That’s all.”
“But now I can’t stop feeling it inside me,” Noelle whispered. “It’s almost like…like it’s still there.”
Burn surged to his feet and began to pace. His big hands were clenched at his sides and his dark eyes blazed with fury. She could see the bruises across his knuckles, the rawness of torn skin. What had the Dark Twin been doing while she was undergoing torture in Lupin’s spa? Punching the walls?
“That little fucker!” he roared, his fists flexing. “I want to kill him. Fucking kill him!”
“Settle down, Burn,” Bright said, frowning. “Going into Rage won’t help. Noelle doesn’t need our anger right now—she needs our sympathy.”
Burn turned to grip the bars of the cell. His arms trembled with tension.
“Sorry,” he muttered, looking away. “I’m just so fucking angry that little orange bastard hurt her and we couldn’t do a damn thing about it!”
Noelle looked up at him—at the fierce, broken fury in his face—and felt something tighten around her chest. Something warm and painful.
“I won’t go with him again,” she said hoarsely. “He said… said this was only the first half of the treatment. But I won’t go for the second half, no matter what he says or does.” She winced and put a hand to her lower abdomen. “I still ache inside from that weird fertility machine.”
“Gods, sweetheart, I’m so sorry.” Bright’s hand covered hers. His palm was so much larger—warm and gentle and strong. “So sorry we weren’t there to protect you. But from now on… just stay between us. We’ll keep you safe.”
Burn came back to sit on her other side. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, solid and grounding.
“Bright’s right,” he said gruffly. “We’ll kill that little orange fucker if he tries to hurt you again.”
Noelle let out a shaky breath.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
She leaned into them, into the warmth of their arms and the steady beat of their hearts and the two of them wrapped her in a strong, steady embrace.
Noelle had never felt this protected before. Never felt so… loved?
Was that what this was?
She didn’t know, but it was good. And right now, good was everything.
So she let herself rest between them, lulled by the low murmur of Bright’s voice and the steady weight of Burn’s arm around her.
She didn’t know what tomorrow would bring…but for now, she was safe.