by Liza James
Wolf doesn't say a word the entire time, and it's suddenly clear to me how incredibly quiet he is. He doesn't speak, he doesn't even seem nervous. Nothing radiates a single ounce of uneasy energy.
He's powerful. Deliberate. Fuck, he looks practically invincible and at least I'm grateful to have another set of hands at our disposal if we need it. I can’t see him being a loose cannon anymore, not after Ruby explained his…methods.
We finally reach her door, and I'm nearly vibrating in anticipation of having her back already. Even the last few hours have been hell, and I'm willing to break shit down in the middle of the day to know she's okay.
Then I'll fucking kill her myself.
Wolf immediately steps up to the door Aura points to, and places his hand on the knob when I quickly dart forward.
"Wait," I say quietly, my eyes meeting his in my own power and strength. "The blond girl in there. She's fucking mine."
He scoffs, and I'd say he smiles, but for some reason, it feels like he hasn't smiled in decades. I don't feel any kind of joy or general satisfaction coming from him. He's all dark, all vile secrets and bitter evil.
"You gonna kill someone in here?" He asks, his voice steady and unfazed.
"Probably."
He simply nods, and before I know it, he's stepping back a foot before lifting his leg and kicking the door directly next to the knob. It busts open in one immediate explosion and I can't stop myself before I rushing ahead and pushing past him.
Where the fuck are you, Lyp?
His hand is tightly twisted into the hair at the back of my head. I’m straining against his hold as he drags me across the floor of my apartment.
"So fucking sinful," he mutters under his breath, and I vaguely hear the sound of other men as they walk into my home.
I'm still in the clothes I wore to K's, my head is pounding with the hold of Dom's fist and the few hits he graced me with once we were behind closed doors.
"Did you think you would get away with that?" He asks, and I can tell he's forcing his voice a bit calmer while he speaks to me. "I saw the way you were looking at her, the way you spoke to her and seduced her away from me."
"I didn't mean to," I start, but god the pain is so strong when he yanks me up and onto my bed. I scramble backwards, until my body hits the wall and I can lift my hands cautiously in front of my face. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry," he replies, climbing over me and letting his hand fall to tightly grip my waist. He yanks me down and below him, pulling his hand back before smacking it across my cheek again. I wince and my head lulls to the side for the tiniest moment when everything falls black.
But I'm aware all too quickly, and I'm trying to catch my breath before I anticipate another hit.
"There's only one way to apologize within The Nation, my Sunflower. Only one method of receiving the forgiveness and redemption your soul so desperately needs." His hands grip my sweats and panties as he yanks them down my legs.
I don't try to fight back. I know what that will get me, and I remember what I surrendered to when I chose to come back here.
Tears spring to my eyes as I attempt holding them back, but it's no use and as his hands move to pull off my sweater and my bra, they fall freely down my cheeks.
"Why are you crying?" He pauses his movements now that I'm completely bare before him. Leaning forward, he gently brushes his fingers over the trails of tears and then drags them over my own lips. "Ahh, for your soul, yes?"
I nod uncontrollably, as more tears escape my eyes and my cries become more than the silence between us.
"You are lost." His touch tightens around my jaw, until a sharp pain is burning through my bones and infecting my skin. "You are vile." His knee shifts between my legs as he thrusts it forward and then rolls his hard cock against my stomach. "You are disgusting. A waste of space amongst the glorious Nation until I've deemed you forgiven by the Omega. Do you understand me?" He suddenly spits against my skin, and I wince and pull back. But his other hand is suddenly there, smearing it across my face before he leans back and unbuttons his jeans.
"Fucking disgusting." He repeats himself and the atmosphere in the room becomes stale and vacant.
I surrender, my limbs suddenly going limp and my heart beat slowing from the erratic rhythm it was maintaining.
"Save me," I whisper, my cries dissipating while my mind works to eradicate me from being present in this moment. Dom leans to the side and reaches for a bag resting on my bedside table. He pulls out a single pill—a pink one–and holds it in front of my face as he rolls it between his fingers.
Suddenly, my skin lights up and my blood craves what he's offering. My redemption. My forgiveness. My strength and validity all wrapped up in one pretty package of hallucinations and forgetfulness.
I launch up as he leans back, tsking me before speaking again. "I have men here, who are new members of The Nation. You'll service them as well as myself in the quest for your atonement."
My heart sinks, but only for a moment before I force myself to detach from this life again. This reality. I nod in agreement as he offers me the pill, motioning for me to open my mouth as he places the drug on my tongue.
I swallow.
Close my eyes.
Forget this is even happening.
It'll be over soon, I remind myself as I lay back on the bed and feel Dom grip my thighs. He calls out behind him and I vaguely wonder if he's calling those men in my room.
He is. But I'm not surprised, and I hear the sound of their footsteps as they walk into my space.
My space. I laugh, a quiet and sad noise when I realize this is the farthest place from my space as it's ever been.
I don't dare open my eyes, I don't want to see who's watching and I don't even care anymore anyway.
But when Dom leans forward and I feel his hard cock against my core, I tense up without realizing it. Tightening my legs together, my body forces the fight even though my mind wants to let go of this.
"Shh," he whispers in my ear as he drags his cock between my legs. I'm not wet, I never am, and I mentally anticipate the familiar burn that'll take place when he finally forces his way inside. "It'll hurt more if you fight this."
I know. Fucking idiot, believe me. I know.
I try to steady my breaths, and the subtle wave of the drugs begins rolling through my blood. My head feels the tiniest bit lighter, and when I breathe in deeply, I can almost focus on that feeling alone over the feel of Dom's hands spreading my legs even wider.
He pushes forward, a slow and painful inch as I gasp and tilt my head back. "You need to confess your sins, Sunflower. Out loud," He whispers, his hand shifting up to my tit as he begins groping me.
"You know my sins," I remind him. He's seen everything there is to know about me. Hell, I've already told him without realizing it in past sessions.
"I know what I've seen, but you must confess what you feel. What you've done, it's the only way to be truly forgiven." His voice is gentle, but I know better. And when he pushes in a bit farther and a pained whimper escapes my mouth, he's already swallowing it with his lips. Kissing me with such aggression that my teeth scrape over his skin and clash against his teeth.
"Please, don't make me," I reply, my eyes finally fluttering open when the high hits me a bit harder.
Instantly, he shoves all the way inside at the same time that the palm of his hand smashes the side of my face and forces me to look toward the center of my room. Fuck, it hurts, and my head was already ringing with a migraine when we got back here today.
Everything aches. All of it, and I wish more than anything this high would take the pain away completely.
"Confess," he bites out, thrusting inside while my legs uncontrollably press tightly against his thighs. It fucking stings, and I swear it feels like I'm being ripped apart as he pulls out again. "Confess."
The word replays again and again, and slowly my body begins giving up the natural fight it's putting out. At the same time, the men in the room step
into my line of vision, but I don't process exactly who it is at first until Dom whispers to me once again.
"Tell them what you're confessing to, my Sunflower. Share your burden with them and maybe you'll find solace in their sins as well."
What the hell?
My eyes narrow as Dom orders them to come closer. He thrusts back inside of me, and I cry out as tears spill through my lashes and soak the bed below me.
Two men. One younger, one older. Two very familiar faces, in a way that shatters my memories and stabs through my heart.
"No," I whisper. "No, wait—"
Immediately, my hands find the strength to push back against Dom, trying with all of my force to move out from underneath him. I don't want them to see this, I don't fucking want to see them either.
I feel sick. Even more than I usually do, my threshold of abuse now threatened again with the sight of these two men.
K's brother, Alex, and her father, Bruce.
"I can't do this," I grind out through clenched teeth as my fists hit Dom's chest. My fingers suddenly scrape into his jaw, trying with all of my might to push him free of my body and out of me.
"You must," he replies, his hands suddenly gripping my wrists and yanking them tightly over my head. "Confess your sins, Lyp. Tell these men what you've been doing to his daughter," he pauses, his voice laced with complete and utter disgust. "To his sister, behind their backs."
"No," I cry again. I wasn't expecting this. I didn't realize they knew each other; I had no idea this was a potential outcome.
"You're disgusting. An abomination to the Omega, a disease to our Nation. You must be healed, cleansed and forgiven to move forward." Dom thrusts inside again and I close my eyes, refusing to see the look of seedy desire on their faces while they watch this.
"Don't be afraid, Calypso," a new voice speaks out, and I'm repulsed when I recognize it as her father’s. "We've sinned as well. We also had to be cleansed before joining The Nation ourselves."
"What?" I mutter between pained groans and my quickly spiraling mind. "I don't understand."
Dom's voice comes back to my ear, whispering in that tone of confidence and power. "I cleansed them of their sins, Sunflower. Just as I do you."
"That doesn't make sense, how could you do that without sinning yours—"
His hand slides over my mouth, stifling my slurred words when his lips pull back over his teeth and he reprimands me. "Do not spew such filth. I am the Prophet, and the Omega has gifted me with the responsibility of cleansing all members of The Nation going forward."
"This is a new era, little Lyp." K's brother steps forward now, and hesitates a cautious touch as he runs his grimy fingers over my cheek while Dom smiles above me. "We've known how K can be. A seductress, a master manipulator. A fucking seed of destruction and sin."
"No," I cry out, just as Dom pulls out and comes across my stomach. He leans back and runs his hands over my skin, spreading it over my flesh before climbing off the bed while Alex quickly takes his place.
I can't believe this is happening.
"Confess your sins, sweet girl," her father groans beside my face. I shut my eyes just after I see Dom leaning against the far wall as he watches with his thick arms crossed tightly over his chest. "Tell me what you've felt around my daughter."
I think I'm going to throw up.
But as Alex thrusts inside of me, I fall numb. The pain becoming so strong that it peaks and vanishes in the next moment. I become limp below him, my mind finally succumbing to the filth and darkness they're pushing on me and into me.
I'll give them anything they want at this point, because I'm far too broken and empty to stand against them.
"K," I whisper flatly, my voice echoing off the walls and disappearing. Groans slip from my mouth but I don't feel anything.
I don't feel anything at all anymore.
"She was different," I say, my head thudding against the wall in a steady rhythm. "She made me feel things I shouldn't have felt."
My eyes fall to her father's hands as he slowly unzips his jeans and pulls out his cock. He's hard, and for some reason, I don't even feel the disgust anymore. "That's good," he replies, his voice kind and needy. "Keep going. What has that slut done to your soul?"
"She stole from me." Thrust. Thrust. Thrust. "But then she gave it back. In her own way."
"Details, Sunflower. Let me forgive you. Receive your impending blessings," Dom's voice breaks out ahead of me, and I understand what he's asking for.
"She fucked me, and I fucked her. I tasted her flesh and made her pay for what she did when we were sixteen." I sound like a ghost, monotone and dry as the hollow words spill from chapped lips.
"When she raped you?" her brother suddenly asks, his voice a nauseous sound of desire as he thrusts even faster. He's close, but I don't even care anymore.
"Pull out," Dom demands immediately, and he does as he spills over my stomach and his mixes with Dom's cum.
"Yes," I reply to his question, a strange flicker in my mind curiously wondering how he knew she did that. But I ignore it, simply because I'm ignoring everything now.
Her dad stands up and continues stroking his cock in front of me, while I lay limp on the bed in filth and the remains of sex.
"And then what?" he urges me to continue as his hand moves faster over the length of his dick.
My mind takes a detour for a moment, silently moving through memories while I try to figure out exactly what did happen next.
"And then things changed, and I kissed her." He pumps faster, a heated groan falling from his lips as cum spills from his tip and on the bed in front of me. He stumbles back, catching his breath while tucking himself inside his jeans again.
"And I remembered I love her," I whisper quietly, as Dom moves closer and slips his cum soaked fingers over my lips as I speak.
He crouches down in front of me. "Good girl, my Sunflower. You've done well. You'll have your procedure tomorrow after the fight, and then you'll have officially received your atonement."
"And these will stop? All of these sessions?" I ask, a sad and depressing flash of hope sparking in my chest as my eyes meet his.
"For now, unless you sin again."
I nod in agreement, knowing full well I'll do everything I can to avoid this.
You could kill yourself. Be free of all of this forever.
I shut my eyes and push the appealing thought away. Being here now, keeps them away from K and the girls. I'm doing good here, and I'll put up with this for as long as I possibly can.
"Come and take a shower. We're leaving in twenty minutes. I'll pack your things." Dom suddenly stands and walks toward the other men.
"Where are we going?" I ask, but another part of me doesn't care. I know I'm fighting tomorrow, and now I'm focusing on getting through that challenge next.
I race ahead of everyone, my feet moving me deep into her apartment as my eyes frantically scan the space.
"Lyp!" I shout, uncaring if Dom meets me first. I know what I'll have to do, and I'll gladly pull the trigger if he doesn't bring her out to me.
But no one answers, and my heart pounds uncontrollably in my chest as fear snakes up my spine.
Bright colors everywhere. The small apartment literally screaming Lyp's loud style and the passion I used to see from her. My eyes move over the area, landing on her dark wooden acoustic guitar resting in the corner of her space.
Absently, I walk toward it as I hear the others vaguely speaking behind me and shuffling around the small area as well. I can't help it; my fingers lift and graze the strings I know she's touched. Moving down the slender neck and over the curves of its body. So feminine, my mind flashing images of Lyp's frame as she moved above me in bed. The sound of her moans, and heavy breaths in my ear and along my skin.
A shiver races over my shoulders and my heart thuds in need of being near her. It's been so fucking long since I've felt anything as strong as this, and I both hate and need more of it.
As I turn
toward the side, my eyes catch the sight of a small sparkle. I move toward it, hidden behind a vined Pothos resting on one of her shelves. Reaching up, my fingers wrap around the small figure and pull it free so I can see what it is.
At the same moment, my heart sinks and cracks splinter free. Without control, tears breach my eyes when they collide with the small dragonfly, the twin to my own. The one I threw across my room earlier this morning.
Shit. God, I hate myself.
I slip it into my pocket and quickly wipe the few tears off my cheeks as I turn around.
"Where the hell is she?" I bite out, just as Ruby walks out of her room with a grim expression on her face.
"She isn't here. Her clothes are gone, even her shoes. It looks like they took her somewhere else," she explains, leaning her shoulder against the wall when Aura walks toward me.
Her heavy eyes meet my own and I have use all of my strength to tell myself we're going to find her. We have too.
"It's not over," she tells me, and she moves to rest her hand on my shoulder in comfort but I sidestep and move toward Lyp's kitchen. There has to be something, some kind of clue as to where she's gone.
"It sure as hell isn't over," I call out as I glance to her counter and find several pieces of mail and documents littering the surface. I begin digging through them, just as Wolf walks into Lyp's room and starts searching there as well. Ruby stalks the perimeter, inspecting certain details while Aura does the same.
Fuck, it's just bills and random trash mail. Nothing incredibly useful.
"I found something," Wolf calls out in a steady voice and I immediately turn and hurry into her room. Ruby comes up to stand behind me, and Aura moves to her side as well. Wolf is holding something in his hand, leaning in close as his brows pinch together in confusion. "I can't tell what kind of pills these are, but I'd guess something close to ecstasy or LSD."
I step up to him, taking a single green pill in my fingers as I lift it up and examine.
A smiley face in the center, and when I glance down to the pink and yellow one in his hand, I see they have the same marking. But it's when I flip it over that I notice something unique.
